btw the pork belly looks yummy 
I need to find my local processor so I can have some. It's time for my bore to go.
A couple turkeys or a goose are a great addition to a flock, once grown they will protect the flock. Geese and turkeys will both attack a fox, yet run from a rabbit, I don't get it, but they will. This spring I had a 1.6Kg Red Tail Hawk zeroing in on my pasture, four of my young Toms (~6.8Kg each) took flight to intercept. They had a 2M wingspan and it was just amazing to see. The hawk btw out flew them and headed somewhere else.
My friend says more than 1 goose with the flock is bad as they get to socializing and not paying attention. Turkeys are always a challenge. They find all kinds of new and inventive ways to commit suicide. Heritage turkeys take at least 24 weeks to give you a 5.4Kg bird that must be cooked low and slow. BB varieties take 14 weeks and will give you an 8.2Kg bird. And you can cook them any way you like. These are your basic store bought birds.
Donkeys and Live Stock Guardian Dogs are also a great addition to a free range flock. They have no tolerance for snatch and grab predators of the canine variety and they eat the other predators that pose a problem. I know I need a couple LGDs, I'm just not ready for a new dog and don't know how to wrap my head around one that never comes in the house.
I should already have geese but no. I was on the waiting list for 18 months to get a dozen hatching eggs and they never materialized. I'll start next month trying to get onto other breeders waiting lists. I'd love to get a dozen eggs from three different breeders. So that I have three different blood lines to work with.
I need to find my local processor so I can have some. It's time for my bore to go.A couple turkeys or a goose are a great addition to a flock, once grown they will protect the flock. Geese and turkeys will both attack a fox, yet run from a rabbit, I don't get it, but they will. This spring I had a 1.6Kg Red Tail Hawk zeroing in on my pasture, four of my young Toms (~6.8Kg each) took flight to intercept. They had a 2M wingspan and it was just amazing to see. The hawk btw out flew them and headed somewhere else.
My friend says more than 1 goose with the flock is bad as they get to socializing and not paying attention. Turkeys are always a challenge. They find all kinds of new and inventive ways to commit suicide. Heritage turkeys take at least 24 weeks to give you a 5.4Kg bird that must be cooked low and slow. BB varieties take 14 weeks and will give you an 8.2Kg bird. And you can cook them any way you like. These are your basic store bought birds.
Donkeys and Live Stock Guardian Dogs are also a great addition to a free range flock. They have no tolerance for snatch and grab predators of the canine variety and they eat the other predators that pose a problem. I know I need a couple LGDs, I'm just not ready for a new dog and don't know how to wrap my head around one that never comes in the house.
I should already have geese but no. I was on the waiting list for 18 months to get a dozen hatching eggs and they never materialized. I'll start next month trying to get onto other breeders waiting lists. I'd love to get a dozen eggs from three different breeders. So that I have three different blood lines to work with.
