Let's Talk Turkey

Whew! It has been a very busy week. So busy in fact, when I sat down to update the blog I was going to apologize for not posting in over two weeks, but when I checked the last blog date it was only 8 days ago. Apparently we have managed to fill this last week with two weeks worth of work. Jeff and I have been hitting the pasture before the children awake and working until breakfast time, then heading back over after dinner and going until dark. This makes for much cooler working conditions and I have even come to enjoy those times of shared purpose and accomplishment. Farming is definitely not for the lackadaisical. So here is what has been going on since last week: the broiler chickens have grown exponentially,

we built 2 more hoop pens,

and started 40 turkey poults out on pasture (aren't they so cute?).

Those are just the highlights, but you get the gist of our workload. I will let Jeff fill you in on all the drama and excitement that has accompanied our latest projects, so think of me as the play-by-play announcer and he's more the color commentator. So far our brooder experiment has been successful. The brooder ring within the hoop pen out on pasture has been a lot easier to manage and a lot cleaner than the traditional boxed-in on litter approach. We have only lost one turkey so far which is a very good percentage, considering this is our first experience with turkeys. The second batch of turkeys (our heritage breeds) arrives later this week and then we can take a breather for about a day and then the work begins on getting everything spruced up for the Turtle Rock Farms Tour Day on Sunday, August 8th. Be sure to let us know if you are coming. The event is free, but we need to know how much food to have on hand. I'll be posting directions to the farm on the Locally Grown Markets and sending out an email to those that RSVP to turtlerockfarmsgood@gmail.com account. This is really getting fun now!