Poultry Update

I thought I'd do a little update on the various feathered members of our farm family....

Big guys working on newly planted strawberry field....EAT THE WEEDS!!!! Our 14 big guys are free range on the farm. I see them walking up and down aisles munching away. We have to figure out how to fence them once strawberry season starts! They have LARGE poops. As the Manitoba Farmer lady described them to me "Processed grass with a bit of icing sugar on top" She neglected to mention they are close to dog poop size! I can imagine they might turn a few customers off even though they are not stinky at all, they are seriously JUST GRASS!

Lucy is sitting on 6 eggs in her goose barn - 2 are hers and 4 we stuck in a week later (When we found a nest in the cover crop) We've got to be careful and try and remove the two eggs that are further along to hatch out in the house and let her keep the 4 later ones.....or the other way around, we haven't got that far! We're looking forward to the goslings though!

The girls are laying 12-14 eggs a day and we are still getting a large double yolker every day, we love the eggs and at this point aren't managing to accumulate any to sell, but we are saving money on purchased farm fresh eggs.....

Broilers: The inflato chickens are inflating. They are almost 4 weeks old and are pretty big now. Hubby had to modify our brooder room - we added another 4x8 sheet of flooring and gave the chickens and turkeys each a section.

We are readying an outdoor fenced area for them to roam. We're not sure how much they will roam, but the option will be there. The soil isn't so good so I'm picturing the soil being improved with copious quantities of chicken poop, cover crops being planted in between broiler batches which the next batch can then munch down.....We built the fenced area so the tractor can get in if necessary. (Not planned, the wire fencing ran out so hubby made a modification that turned out to be a tractor gate-brilliant!) Our weather is unseasonably cold and we can't let the turkeys out until it's 20 degrees out (70)....

Turkeys: They are CHARACTERS. One sits in the feeder and eats. If we leave the top gate open they are checking out how they can escape......They have a funny gobble-cheep right now and are acting like turkeys with their wings and tails. They are inquisitive and remind me of raptors on Jurrassic park - especially with the sounds they make...I bet the developer of the raptors had heard turkeys! I can only describe it as a turkey purr! WE have to figure out where to build a permanent pen/shelter for them but the nights are still a bit cold for them....

DUCKLINGS/Weeder Geese: I LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM! My guys can munch through about 5 buckets of chopped greens a day now. They chow it down! I REALLY want them to develope a liking for creeping clover, devils thumbprint and other pesky weeds.....They are not tame, but will come for me if I bend over and talk to them. They are outside all day every day now in their duck tractor which we move every two days. They seem pretty happy! I've thrown in slugs but have yet to positively see a duck down one. EAT THE DANG SLUGS!

I call it a guck tractor - goose + duck - And truly the guck they produce in one day is amazing! Hopefully our lawn grows well behind them! It's the only part of our lawn that is mowed....with all the rain we've been having getting anything mowed or ploughed is a bit of a challenge right now!

We have a "Duck house" that we put them in at night....an old coffee kiosk we bought off craigslist and converted....This will be where the ducks are trained to go at night so we can get their eggs.....but somewhere out on the range, not on the driveway in front of the barn.....We want them to be free range once strawberry season is over....We're not sure yet about the chinese geese going in at night....must explore options!

Did I mention we're behind in the strawberry farming work?

The pigs arrive the day after tomorrow......