Turkey Update

13....count them if you can see them in the clover. Auntie Momma Turkey, who helped raise chicks last spring, hatched 3 poults for us at Christmas has brought her brood out into the big world.

She had successfully hatched 14, 1 egg did not hatch and 1 poult died. We had put a turkey nest box in the woodshed when the turkey hens were wandering around deciding where to lay. Auntie Momma laid claim to it right away. We did have an incident with a chicken trying to share the nest. A couple of serious pecks from a turkey beak soon made her find a safer place.

Everyday during the hottest part of the afternoon, Auntie Momma made a fast dash to get water, then she ran by the feeder getting some food. She grazed and stretched her wings on the way back to her nest. The entire loop took all of 5 minutes.

So may we present "Turkey's 13"....the up and coming poults at our farm.

Now you ask...no white ones? Royal Palm are hatched pure white, it seems the white is recessive to the brown of the Chocolate Tom "Spike".

Then you say..."Are there black ones too?"

Yes, it seems Lilac, the only slate Turkey we had, was quite the layer. Sadly she decided to make her nest in the woods to the east of the farm and our Amish neighbor's son found her feathers.

Once a turkey hen gets an idea she is incredibly stubborn, we had tried to catch Lilac as she would sneak off to nest, hoping we could find her and lock her up. We had been saving all the turkey eggs and put some under Auntie Momma when she decided to set. We were very happy to see the black poults.

The tiny little things are going to drive Auntie Momma crazy, they do not follow like chicks do they go where they want to. It is a gift though to see them.

A video of them:

Now just one more Photo, I had not been able to get a good photo of the Rooster "Smoke". Today I  managed to snap  one of him as he was on hen lookout. He is the Australorp X Red Comet.

We think  he is a fine boy! Why did we call him smoke? When  he was a just small he had a very distinct gray neck. It has changed a lot as he matured.

God Bless and Keep you