DH and I have been working on our new 30x32’ greenhouse. Holy Smokes that’s a hard tent to set up! We have the ribs/bows up and some of the purlins. The girls will have a heckuva winter residence when it’s finished but every step is harder than we expect. We’re like, “well at least that’s done; the next thing can’t be any worse,” but yup, it can. (Sigh) I guess we’re old after all... Anyway, we’ll getter done eventually unless the global warmers let us down too very badly.
I’m thinking the chicken girls and the turkey girls will stay in the big plastic chalet and maybe the Sweetgrass poults all, until the boys start getting too rowdy. I’ll put the toms and the waterfowl together and leave the roos in the grow-out coop until I get fool-hardy and decide I want to make baby chicks... or poults, though nobody in my turkey flock is old enough for
that yet.
Right now the turkeys are staying in the back yard with the geese and roosting on the faux iron fence I put up to keep my mom from wandering off. There’s a tractor in there for them in case of wind, but do you think any of them will use it? Ha! They are turkeys, they are, and that means TOUGH... at least the boys. Some of the girls seem to prefer life with the hens & pullets along with sleeping civilized-like in the henhouse. If they fly in, I let them stay so long as they’re nice. I’ve got a final count on turkey girls: one Black, one Bourbon Red, five Narragansetts. That leaves me two Black, three Bourbon Red and three Narragansett jakes.
I suspect the tri-color mottled black I got from R2 is a boy. He and the Tri-color mottled slate flew the coop a week ago. The older jakes (who pretty much come and go as they please) were harassing the TCMB before I rescued him, but no one troubled the TCMS. Plus he’s one of the bigger R2 poults. I can’t get a count on suspected girls and boys amongst the Sweetgrass. They move around too much, too fast. They’re sure getting pretty, though. They’ve got all my roosters but one in with them and everyone gets along hunky dory.
Mid November if I can find a good day or two I’ll process the extra toms, probably I’ll keep a Narragansett and a Bourbon Red. That’s six. I don’t like killing chickens, but I *really* don’t enjoy killing turkeys. Oh well... it’s gotta be done. At least the heritage toms will be smaller than the BBWs.
Anyway that’s my big update. I’ll try to remember to get some pics of the herd of turkeys on the fence rail.
It’s quite the sight though it’s not doing the grass underneath any good, at least not aesthetically.
