so I just candled my eggs. WOW that is soo cool. when I was a kid if they hatched they were fertile and growing but if they didnt they were bad. I love candling and seeing them veining and growing. I am super excited that I have eggs due on the 7th of October and the 13th of October.
Sorry I have not been around much guys. I have been really busy. I am building some breeder pens to seperate my birds for fertile eggs. They are 4x12 and will hold a trio or quad. I would have liked them larger but I am taking advantage of existing shade and proximity to our house and safe fencing.
I also had something crazy happen today. We were out this evening working on the pens and I heard something or someone making a racket near the porch of the vacant house next door. I'm thinking someone is breaking in or tearing wiring out or something. It was a huge racket. My dogs were going wild barking and I'm sneaking around looking through the bushes trying to figure out what the heck is going on. All of a sudden a GIANT tortise comes tearing through the bushes like a bulldozer. We threw it some lettuce and it ate but took off again. About 5 minutes later my horses started freaking out and running around their pasture in a panic. By this time it was almost dark. My boyfriend straps on a head light and goes into the corral and the giant tortise had bulldozed its way into the horse pen. So he took our big two wheel rubbermaid cart out there and picked up a 75lb Sulcata Tortise. It is so big it filled the whole cart. We sprayed it with some water and let it soak for 30 minutes. I put some hay in the back of my Escalade truck and we put the tortise in there. He is happily snuggled into the hay and sleeping peacefully.
It just depends on the turkeys. My Lavenders started laying the earliest this year, but the tom was ready and first eggs were infertile. This year and last I didn't have a good number of poults out until April. 2012 they were earlier. I think every year is different. I may try lights on them next year to try to kick start them a little earlier because my pens are set up for summer heat---lots of shade---and they need the extra light in the winter/early spring for the hormones to kick in. I am taking orders (deposits) any time now for next year.
