But, I wanted to show you what I got yesterday:
Baby Turkeys! 6 of them. These are Bronze turkeys. My own mother thinks I'm nuts, but I think being nutty is fun! :) I enjoy these animals. I love interacting with them, and I love knowing they are producing (or will produce) something that is much healthier than we would get from the store and is affordable for my family.
I put our new bought baby chicks (from last Friday) in with the chicks that we hatched over a month ago, and they seem to be doing well together (sometimes the age difference makes the bigger ones pick on the smaller ones, but these aren't!). We put them in our bigger brooder, and they have lots of room to run... for a while anyways. Since there is now 30 of them, they are going to run out of space quickly...
Here is our little Max. He FINALLY found some friends who accept him, and don't try to bully him around:
This was our baby pups first day out in the sun. They have been under our back deck, and the boys brought them out yesterday. They loved the sun, and Max was like another mother, ooor brother. Anyways, it was sure cute to see them interacting together...Well, I WILL warn you: we ARE getting 2 more animals. We are getting 2 beef cows. That will be in about a week. Aside from that we are not expecting to get anymore for a while... Well, that is OUR plan anyways...
7 comments:
more cuties!! I'll be watching your turkeys... I'm tempted to get some! Love turkey meat!
We started off with turkeys last year, and they all died. 2 were unknown problems, the last one got pretty big but when released to be with the chickens (because he thought he was a human, he lived in my basement!), the chickens killed him. I have read that they are harder to raise than chickens, because they are a little more sensitive... SO hopefully I can be sensitive to their needs and we can have some full grown live turkeys! :)
Oh how fun! And two cows, too! Wonderful!!
I enjoy reading about your animals. I also am a animal lover. I get too attached to raise anything for food though. I want to keep them all for pets. My husband doesn't like that idea.
I hope you don't mind me asking a personal question, but I was wondering how you are balancing the wonderful animal explosion and feeding all of them with your monthly budget? If you feel this is to personal just ignore me....I also love to hear what creative things others are doing to balance new additions....I realize most of the little ones are nursing from their mamas for now and don't cost you a penny at this point.
Thanks for the update! I am enjoying watching your Hobby farm GROW!!!
Your question is OK! And a good one! Actually, our BIG animals are all grass-fed. Our goats, sheep and soon-to-be cows will partake of an all grass diet. In the winter in Indiana, there is no grass (obviously) so we feed them hay (part of grass-fed diet). They actually don't eat a LOT of hay. With all of the animals we have, a small square bale will feed all of the big animals. SO the cost there is about $3 or less. We DO buy grain, but it's only to give as a treat, or for nursing mommies to help them keep their fat up. For our chickies, we probably spend $15 a month on feeding them. It will be even less now that it is summer, because they are also "free-range". Our ducks don't eat anything except what is on the pond, with the exception of winter when we give them cracked or whole corn, which is very inexpensive.
So initial costs of animals is high, but if you grass-feed (which is WAAAAAYY healthier), the costs go down. On figuring for a cow, if you take all of the costs including processing, you are going to pay about $3 a lb or less, for a very healthy meat. And in trying to eat a healthier diet, we would be spending OVER that amount. A decent hamburger around here costs $2.99... so we thought it was worth it!
Plus in raising our own, we KNOW what they are eating. The costs are about the same to LESS for fresh meat, eggs, milk (hopefully one day!)... Plus we sell eggs, and get money to help pay for feed, which is a bonus!
Hope this book I wrote makes sense! :)
You will love the turkeys! We raised two broadbreasted bronze last year, they were like more dogs. Played in the sprinkler with the boys on the hot days, layed out on the grass with me in the cool evenigs. Mrs. T got a reprive from "freezer camp", as she is now laying some great big, gorgeous omlet eggs! Averaging one every 2-3 days.
For the longest time the turks didn't realize they were bigger than the chickens, as they weren't brooded together. The chickens delighted in pushing the big birds around, but Mrs. has now learned that she can push back.
Love your farm, and I can totally relate!
You can see our new leppy calves and other critters at my blog. :)
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