Freeeeeeedom!

When the turkey poults are very little i keep them in the "nursery". Which is a stall that i have closed off from everyone else so the mothers are less stressed and the babies have a better chance at survival.

Today I let Bearded Lady and her poults out as well as the poults I hade been raising in the brooder in the house. The were all more happy for it and the "ki-ki-run" of the babies, which is an assembly / here-i-am call, can now be heard all over the yard as they peck about carefully under the watchful eyes of Mum.

Justin came down to the garden to help with some weeding while I watered the plants.

The poults stood by and watched as Bearded Lady showed them the finer points on bathing.

Bearded Lady also felt it necessary to show the poults the other side of the road on day one... I am not super pleased about that but not much I can do.

All in all she's a good mother it would seem.

Heat wave

With the extreme heat and the high humidity, everyone has been feeling it. The littlest poults did not do well, we lost five of nine. The four left are hardy and healthy though.

The pigs have been wallowing in the mud and the cows have been spending a lot of time in their shelter close to the water trough.

There were even a few moments where the birds were able to relax, soak up some rays and have a dirt bath. The first time we saw chickens sunning themselves we thought they were in distress but it turns out they like tanning as much as we do.

Even Maya was grilling her belly.

When the rain finally comes it is a relief. Everyone spends as much time out as possible. The turkey perch on the top of the old fence to rest and enjoy the cooler temps.

And the good news is that the eggs Palmer was sitting, which I suspected she had abandoned, started hatching today.

Moving day on the farm

It was finally time to move the piggies out of the barn and into the field to train them to recognize and respect an electric fence. My happiness regarding this event is due to the little guys and gals getting out on pasture and having a better day to day life. I am also happy because they will be out of the barn since it was starting to get hard to keep up with cleaning their stall.

It seems as though everyone is getting along :)

A happy, muddy Pork Chop. Now she has some friends to boss around.

I love these guys' red hair. It looks awesome in the sun and they are already enjoying the mud and rooting around in the dirt.

The guinea fowl posing as usual.

As you can see the flies would not let up even for a selfie :/

And the weigela is finally blooming after surviving dog urine and goat horns.

We also finally moved the turkey poults that were in the brooder in the house out into thw barn. I put them with the momma turkeys so they wouldn't hurt themselves trying to get to the crying poults.

Habits and some morning photos

One of the funniest notions that we had before we got our animals was that the animals would immediately make a break for the woods the second there wasn't a fence to hold them in.

Once the birds got old enough to fly over the fence (yes, chickens fly) the point was moot. If they wanted to run they would. But what we quickly realized is that the birds were animals of habit and liked the comfort of a barn to sleep in and regular feed at the same time every day.

Now the only reason I have birds "penned" in is to introduce them to the flock or to isolate baby birds to help the mothers avoid harassement.

I believe it would be the same for the pigs since the goats stick close to the barn as well. I just don't want to risk any of them getting onto the road and they are pretty destructive with their rooting so I don't want to make enemies out if ny neighbours :)

Here are some morning photos as the birds head to the pool for a morning drink and chat around the "water cooler".

The newest additions to the chicken flock are very inquisitive and friendly and have no problem coming right up to me to check out what I am doing.

As they say "birds of a feather". The turkey poults have adopted the two big males as their surrogate fathers and follow them around the yard.

And the pigs are growing fast. They have almost doubled in size and are becoming a little less skittish and little more inquisitive. It is pretty entertaining watching them interact with each other.

Here two of the pigs rolled a third and were poking him in the belly with their noses.

Twister is rearing up for a headbutt here. He is all full of energy in the morning like any normal kid :)

Pool and a strut

Today was a humid, hot one. After Justin's nap we bundled him into the car and headed off for Grandad's for a cool dip. The water turned out to be about 78° and so we are able to spend about two hours soaking in the pool. Of course Justin wanted to go in the spa after even though the spa was at 104°.

Then I pruned some trees for Dad which resulted in a broken satellite dish a.k.a. no more Internet for Dad. Then we jumped back in the car and headed back home.

When we got home we were treated to one of our poults displaying with the big boys, strutting and spitting with the best of them.

Which of the two is more impressive?

He even tried a little gobble when the others let loose :)

The guinea fowl interrupted the photo shoot to show off their own beautiful plumage and brightly coloured wattles.

And the Bearded Lady was protective of her babies but still allowed a photo or two.

Great day, great company :)

Evenings are so peaceful

It seems that the evenings are the best time for photos. Not only has the frantic morning pace subsided after a day of sand baths, bug and grass eating and sun bathing, but the lighting also makes for great shots. I do love the mornings but there is definitely something almost magical about doing the rounds in the evening when everyone is winding down and getting ready for sleep.

Justin spent about two and a half hours in the wading pool and had a blast when we kicked it up a notch by combing a play structure with the pool.

As usual the guniea fowl are active until the last minute.

Twister had to come out of the barn and say hi one last time before "lights out".

The poults are very comfortable flying and perch up off the ground like "big birds" where as the chicks still huddle together in a corner to bed down for the night.

Pork Chop has clearly been rooting around for a few final bites to eat before bedtime and the cows, as usual, are deadpan and stare at you in what I once thought was a creepy way. Now that i have raised Faith from a small 300lbs calf to a "huge", beautiful, lady cow, i am less disturbed by the emotionless bovine stares.

What a great day

A relaxing afternoon for everyone at the farm today.

Maya spent some time in the hammock with me...

... While the guys were walking by...

... The other guys are enjoying the pool