Poultry pics

Ahh teenagers.....independant awkward and they know everything.

The Turkey poults, they love their temporary perch. They can tight rope walk along it then use it to fly to the top of the plywood that is the wall of the pen.

 

The Blue Swedish ducks. These are the biggest of the ducklings and the quietest. We liked them after watching a P Allen Smith youtube video about them.

We will be calling one of the duck's  Mavis Ann after the star of the video. Of course there will be Olaf, Sven and Heidi! Right now the entire group runs up to us when we call Duck Duck Go!

Here Ralph is holding a Cayuga on the right and a Khaki Campbell on the left. They were not impressed with the photo op and sort of hugged each other. The Cayuga are quiet and slightly bigger than the Khaki and will be a good sized duck. They lay black eggs that, as the duck ages, get paler to almost a light gray.  The Khaki are a bit more nervous but the influence of the Swedish and Cayuga seems to be making them quieter.

Ahh the keets, they are doing well but as gentle as we try to be with them they are skittish. They are eating well and finally getting more feathers, they got wing feathers first while they still had down...it looked very strange like broken wings!

Here is a buckeye, we think a hen. They come right up to see us but are not so happy when we actually pick them up.

 This is the Buff Orpington group and they are about the quietest chickens I have ever seen. They swarm over Ralph's boots when he is feeding them and will actually perch on his toes when he walks!

This little fellow perched on Ralphs hand and gave me the eye when I took the photo. They are quite curious chicks and fearless when a turkey drops in for a visit. They will peck at the turkey's tailfeathers. Well there is an exception. One of the Royal Palm has visited enough that they are used to him. One of the Buckeye chicks made the mistake of sneaking into the Buff pen and the turkey poult actually defended the buff chicks by chasing the Buckeye.

So there it is, a brief poultry tour. They are such fun and we are pleased with our selections so far. Construction on the chicken house inside the tobacco barn is going fairly well, some snags but with innovation and missmatched tin roofing we are making a secure area. The use of the roofing sheets buried into the ground will keep wood away from the manure and moisture and should keep digging predators out. The outer barn walls are not secure yet and replacing the rotted sections is a huge job that we will have to do in stages.

Now have a great day and stay safe. It is raining here and that is making it a very fall like day. The leaves are just starting to turn.
Happy fall!