Turkey update

We still have 11 turkeys. Here they are a week before I left for the cottage, they were quickly getting too big for the small enclosure next to the turkeys, so I moved them to the large turkey coop (aka temporary goat birthing room).

It seemed like within days of moving them, they doubled in size. Now they are HUGE, and they make that wonderful gobbling sound (they are ready to speak to Carrie, the turkey whisperer).

Once I got home from the cottage, I set up their outside enslosure using old calf panels held together with ties. They LOVE being outside and they love eating grass and weeds, and in no time they had devoured everything green in their small yard. A week earlier, that area was full of uncut grass, dandelions, clover and plantain weeds.


We are going to have to extend their yard, in the meantime, they are enjoying garden clippings and table scraps.

Memorial

Over a month ago, Wicket was killed on the road in front of our house. It was horrible as he was very important member of our homestead. He was very loved and he knew it. And he was still a very good hunter and we all knew it. It happened when Matt and the 2 oldest boys were away. The 4 youngest kids and I buried him at the back of our property next to a lilac and a young willow. The children and I stood around and retold our favourite memory of Wicket. Then we walked back to the patio and the girls wanted to draw Wicket, so I remembered that I had canvases and I encouraged them to paint a picture of Wicket or a memory of Wicket. This is what they painted:
Griffin

Hanna

Kira

Campbell

Damon selected a stone to mark Wicket's grave.



We have wonderful memories of our short time with Wicket, but we still miss him terribly.

Hatch countdown!

I have been a negligent blogger lately. I'm going to blame going to the cottage, even though that's not the whole story. I will try to catch up with a few posts this week.

When I got home from the cottage, I discovered that my Silkie hen, Jill, had laid eggs. Jill doesn't lay them too often. She is 3 years old and I think in the past 3 years, she had laid up to 20 eggs in total. In the week following my return, she laid an egg a day and then decided to sit on them. I replaced her 8 little white unfertilized eggs with 5 big blue and 2 big brown fertilized ones. She threw one egg out of the nest and has decided to sit on 6.

Jill has hatched 3 babies for me before and was a very good momma to Goldie, Miss T and poor little Chris.

It takes 21 days for chicken eggs to hatch. Jill started 5 days ago, so we should see some new chicks in 16 days (give or take a day).