Raising Wild Turkeys

Most of you know that we raise Eastern Wild Turkeys. I really enjoy interacting with them, as much as they let me, and raising the poults. Since they are wilds they don't behave as domestic turkeys. For example, we have two toms that are about 4 years old. Both of them, and all of the other adult birds, roost in the trees at night. We allow them to free range but since they are pen raised they do not leave our place. The only problem I have free ranging them is when the turkey hens start laying, twice a year once in the spring and again in the fall, and begin looking for a secure nesting place. To them a secure nesting place is in the woods and out of sight. Their actions produce two problems: 1) I have to find them and bring them and their eggs in to hatch (If you have ever looked for a wild turkey in the woods how many did you find?) 2) Often predators find the nests before I do and we lose the eggs and over the years have lost 3 breeding hens to coyotes. I don't like losing them but I can't bring myself to pen these beautiful birds year round.

Life, uh, finds a way.

In the now classic 1993 movie, Jurassic Park, Scientists from InGen told Dr. Ian Malcolm (portrayed by Jeff Goldblum) that the dinosaurs could not breed since they were genetically modified. Dr. Malcolm skeptically replied "Life, uh, finds a way." We raise several breeds of poultry and some are good layers such as our Phoenix. They are also good brood hens, a little too good, so we take their eggs daily to prevent the hens from becoming broody and hatching too many chicks. The Phoenix have their own pen and nest boxes where they lay many small white eggs. Each day I gather the eggs, often taking them from under an objecting hen. We currently have 12 adult Phoenix hens and 2 adult roosters. One day, about three weeks ago, I noticed I could only account for 11 hens. We free range our birds so it is not unusual for one or two to roost in other locations for a night if it gets dark and they are far from their roost, however, they usually turn up the next day. My search for the missing hen did not find her. A couple of days passed and still I could only account for 11 of the 12. We have had a lot of predators this year, so I began thinking we had lost one of them, probably to the big coyote I have seen around, and now I would only have 11 hens. If you have been raising chickens for a long time you know where this is going. If you are relatively new to the chicken business then you have some surprises in store, and some are heartwarming. Fast forward to a couple of days ago. As I made my morning rounds I found the missing hen out with 3 new baby chicks teaching them to scratch for food. 'Well', I thought, 'now I know what you have been doing but where have you been?' I decided to leave her out and search for her near where I had seen her and her chicks. That evening while closing the coops for the night I found her by sheer accident. As I rounded our hothouse, which is near the Phoenix pen, I heard a baby chick calling for its mom. Outside of the hothouse and under the edge of the plastic sheeting, where the plastic drapes to the ground, the chick, which was still outside, had gotten as close to its mom as it could get. His position and her clucking to call the chick lead me to the mom and the other two chicks. Inside the hothouse next to the wall, under some of the hay, and completely out of sight, was the hen, the other two chicks, and several unhatched eggs. I gathered the hen and chicks up, moved them to a safe pen, and went back for the eggs. Checking the other eggs showed no others would hatch.

We keep the door and window open on the hot house during much of the year because it gets so hot inside, around 140 degrees, where nothing can live. The hen had found a place I never thought to look for her or her eggs. Just inside the door to the left we keep some hay on a pallet that is used for nests. There was just enough space between the hot house wall, the pallet, and the floor that the hen had managed to lay more than a dozen eggs and hatch her 3 chicks. It was a miracle that any of the eggs hatched considering how hot it got in the hothouse. The only thing I could figure was the hay offered some insulation from the worst of the heat and the hen did what she wanted to do despite my interference into her daily routine of laying, hatching, repeat…. All are well and growing now.

Sad Day at Singleton Roost

When we first started with the chickens back in 2014, my cousin gave us a Phoenix rooster and hen.  We named them Woodrow and Charlotte.  They have been wonderful, gentle, great pets as well as amazing breeders for our Phoenix.  Woodrow has always been so easy on his hens.  Despite having long sharp spurs, he never once offered to use them on us.  We could pick him up, pick up Charlotte and his other hens, pick up chicks or whatever we needed to do and he seemed to understand that we were helping, not hurting.  I cannot say enough about the experiences we have had with this amazing rooster who has become a beloved pet.  He has given us gorgeous chicks with Charlotte and a few other hens we acquired. 

Woodrow was the first rooster to crow on this farm, and today we lost him.  He will be sorely missed!
Although we still have Phoenix roosters (his sons), there will never be another like Woodrow!

We Could Learn a lot From a Chicken

In this day and age where everything is disposable from our dishes to some of our children, we would do well to follow the example of our feathered friends. 

Probably my favorite part of raising chickens is watching chickens raise chickens.  Have you ever just sat and watched the interactions of these birds?  Roosters are amazing.  They take their job very seriously!  Invariably a rooster will choose a few "favorite" hens.  This rooster and his hens form a "family" of sorts.  They stay together when free ranging and roosting.  Upon "flying the coop" each morning, the rooster will set about finding food.  When he has located what he's looking for, he will stand over it, pick it up, put it down and call for his hens to come and eat.  He will do this until one or all join him.  Normally the hens rush to see what he has found for them.  Roosters will make sure the hens have first shot at the food even if that means that he gets very little.  The rooster will also stay on guard, looking out for danger.  If he spots anything that he senses is dangerous, he will then "alarm" his hens and the rest of the flock.  They will all run for cover when this alarm starts.  He will fight for his hens if need be.  The Rooster is normally the last one on the roost.  We have one or two roosters that we call "yard bosses" and they are the very last to go to roost.  They make sure all the others of their roost are in before going to roost themselves. 

In this protective environment, the hens are free to go about the business of being hens.  Their main worry is laying eggs and hatching chicks.  Hens decide when to get broody (in the mood to sit on a nest).  A hen will find a place to lay her eggs that is hidden well and safe if she is not provided with a nest box.  Several hens may lay in the same nest.  Then when there are enough eggs or she is ready (which ever comes first), she will sit on any eggs in her nest.  We have often given a broody hen some eggs from a different breed because she went broody with no eggs.  She will brood for 21 days until the eggs are hatched, only leaving the nest for a few minutes a day to eat and drink.  During these 21 days, she will "turn" the eggs and keep them at the perfect temperature and humidity level to insure that they hatch.  All of this is done with her body.  We have had numerous hens pluck the feathers from underneath their body so that they are in direct contact with the eggs.  A broody hen is nothing to mess with!  She will defend her eggs with everything in her.  She first will offer up a loud warning accompanied by fanning her tail and wings to look menacing.  If that doesn't work, she will not hesitate to peck! A broody hen will risk her health and well being to sit on her eggs.  Her ferocity grows while hatching and caring for her young chicks.  Shortly after hatching, she will lead the chicks out of the nest to find food and water.  Their "mama" (and for many she is a surrogate) teaches them to scratch for food.  She will search for food small enough for the chicks.  Once she finds it, she picks it up, puts it down, and calls for the chicks.  She will peck the ground near the food to show it to them.  The chicks typically follow her around for 6-8 weeks.  They then start becoming independent.  Eventually, she stops being so protective and goes back to her normal life of laying more eggs.  Once this happens, it's a signal that she has finished her job as their "mama". 

Through all of this, the rooster cares for the hens and the chicks in most cases.  We have seen roosters sit on chicks to keep them warm while the "mama" gets out and about.  For a time, they are a family unit.  They take this very seriously!  If the rooster doesn't do as the hen thinks he should with the chicks, she will let him know as well.  She doesn't let anybody mess with her babies - not even "daddy". 

Over the years we have had Turkey Toms that would get the poults under their wings to keep them warm. 

Our feathered friends are pretty amazing.  It would be nice to see everyone care for their children in such a way as these birds do!  We could learn a LOT from a chicken!
                                     

So Ready for Spring

Here in Northeast Texas, we are just not seasoned for extremely cold weather.  Give us 110 degrees in the shade and we can deal (we may complain, but we can handle that).  It's hard to plan for the spring when you step outside and freeze.  We have managed to devise a plan for our little farm for this spring, summer and fall despite the current weather situation. 

We (mostly my husband) have managed to get the green house ready by building a planting table, installing a sink and water connection for watering our plants.  He has managed to schedule plantings and has several things sprouting in the greenhouse.  Our garden has been plowed, but not ready for planting yet.  Now we are facing the possibility of two weeks of rain.  This would make it impossible to use the tractor or tiller to finish getting the garden plot ready.  IT WILL BE DONE - eventually!  We have plans for a garden for us and some extra to sell. The deer who think we plant just for them are also counting on the garden.  Hopefully we will be able to keep them from eating the entire garden. We will also have watermelons, cantaloupes and a pumpkin patch.  This fall we would like for kiddos and families to come out and be able to pick a pumpkin and get the kids picture made with George (our pet turkey).  George will pose or do anything you wish for a few meal worms!  He is gorgeous but a bit of a mooch! 

This summer we will offer watermelons and cantaloupes for sale here on the farm.  We will have fresh eggs, chickens, turkeys, guineas and peafowl for sale as well.  We hope that some of you will make your way out to the Singleton Roost for a visit.  Oh yeah, there will be baby rabbits hopefully in time for Easter. 

Hickory Dickory Dock

If you have ever had chickens or other small farm animals that require having feed around, then you've encountered our next guest!  Yep - field mice!  They are the "clean up" crew for chicken pens.  Our pens and runs are predator resistant, but not mouse proof!  We try very hard to minimize the feed that is scratched out of the feeders by the chickens, but let's face it - there is NO WAY to avoid some feed being on the ground.  The mice dig nice tunnels from outside to inside the pens.  I have watched a grown mouse go through 1/2 inch hardware cloth.  Just when I thought I'd seen everything, I saw a mouse that started into a pen through the 1/2 inch hardware cloth and something scared it.  Before it got completely into the pen, it decided to go back out.  It didn't back up, but instead it threaded itself back through the hardware cloth, which rendered it STUCK in and out of the pen.  I am not good with the little rodents.  I am not afraid of them, but as with anything that appears from nowhere and is all under or around me - they scare me!  Our latest goal, is to set traps at night while the birds are up and see what we can catch.  I do NOT recommend this if you do not wish to know just how many rodents can tunnel into a chicken pen.  Our goal to rid ourselves of these critters has turned into a daily chore!  The larger birds and our barn cats catch and eat their fill and still we trap many many mice each day.  I am beginning to wonder just who will win this battle - THEM or US!  We are about to have to winterize our coops for the cold weather.  I wonder if they suspect that we are creating a warm cozy place for our birds, who will no doubt be happy to scratch out food all over the pens.  For any of you that are new to chickens or other small animals, I suggest you start out right.  Place mouse traps from the beginning.  Maybe if you start early and are diligent, you won't have to suffer the masses of mice! 

Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right...

Deer in the garden and skunks on the back porch - such are the days of our lives!  My poor husband plowed the ground for the garden numerous times in preparation for our fall garden.  When it was "just right", he bought some plants and we had some seed to plant as well.  He got it all planted and it was doing so well!  "Was" being the key word here.  He planted squash, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, beans and peas.  Everything was coming up and doing well!  One morning he finds all the bean sprouts pulled up and eaten, the peas too, and the tops eaten out of all the pepper plants.  He also finds the tracks of the beautiful deer that we have enjoyed watching morning and evening for many months.  It seems that not only have they discovered the garden, they have eaten a good bit of it.  My husband, normally a tolerant man, is not in such a tolerant mood anymore.  Each morning we go and sit on the porch for coffee, as always, but now we watch as the young deer play their games all over the plowed land.  They chase and buck and have a wonderful time in the freshly plowed dirt.  This also seems to be their chosen place to bed down in the evening.  A neighbor loaned my husband some Night Guard predator lights to put on all four sides of the garden.  I couldn't help but notice the deer remained unaffected.  It seems they realize that the predator lights are for predators!  Since they are not predators, they are perfectly safe in that well protected plot of ground.  My husband, normally a tolerant man, is losing patience fast!  All that remains of the plants and seed he planted are the squash, zucchini, and a few tomato plants.  They must be saving those for later!  He has given our sons permission to hunt on our place this fall.  I am not in agreement!  We must find a way to have deer AND a garden!

If this wasn't enough, I went upstairs a little while back and could smell the faint smell of skunk.  I just figured it was somewhere on our property.  Upon returning downstairs, I went to the front door to smell and there was no smell in front of our house.  I walked into the living room, where my husband was watching TV and he remarked that he could smell a skunk.  I asked him if the entry under the house had been closed after the termite inspection.  I'm always a little leary of under the house after the skunk incident of 2001!   He assured me it had.  I pointed out to him that there was no skunk smell in the front yard.  He immediately heads for the back door and throws it open to see if  he can smell it out there.  Well, needless to say, he could smell it alright.  It was up close and personal on the back porch.  Still not knowing for sure if the skunk was just out back or where, he tells me to look out the patio door that also opens onto the screened porch and see what I can see.  I go and find a flash light and start looking through the patio doors to see if it's on the porch. Meanwhile, he has gone and gotten in his van to pull around back and see if he can scare it off the porch if it's on there.  I see it there, on the opposite end from the pet door, running back and forth scared and no doubt spraying!  I run and flag him down and tell him it's on the porch for sure.  He pulls his van to the door and starts flashing his lights and honking.  The skunk heads for the other end and gets to the pet door and goes out about the time my husband decided to get out of the van and see where it was.  I'm yelling and waving the flash light at him to get back in the van, and of course he looks at me puzzled and says, "what?"!   Finally I get it across to him that he must get in the van quickly!  I just knew the skunk went out the door and headed his way.  Fortunately it left but not without leaving us something to remember it by.  The house smelled terrible all night.  The next morning was some better!

All of this happened within a matter of days, and people think country living is boring.  Really?  It reminds me of a song from my younger days - "clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you!"  Here we are stuck in the middle of a life we absolutely love - deer, skunks and all!