July's End

Seems like summer is just flying, doesn't it? 

I have posted quite a bit about Penelope the turkey hen and her poults but you may remember that we have 10 more poults that were hatched in the incubator.  The silly things have been able to go outside for at least a couple of weeks but have been too afraid to venture out.  Today they made their tentative first foray into the great outdoors.  If the fence looks a little odd, it's because it's a temporary enclosure out the front of the coop while the pigs were in residence in the back.

I always protest when people say turkeys are dumb.  I have no experience with the big white commercial type of course, but my turkeys are not dumb.  Now that I can observe the difference between the two groups of poults, my conclusion is that little turkeys need mamas to teach them about life.  These little ones from the incubator are not dumb, they are just uneducated.

Kevin generally moves the pigs every week or so, and sometimes more often.  Something new with this group is that they are split up now.  The four largest pigs moved out of the coop yard to a portable shelter and pen east of the garden and the two smallest stayed behind.  The one is just so small it hardly seems to have grown at all.  I suppose in a bigger pig operation it would have been culled, but we will see how it does.  These two smaller pigs will be getting most of the extra milk and whey from cheesemaking to give them an extra boost of nutrition for a while.

A happy pig just waking up from a nap. You can see they are almost in the driveway!

The littlest pig - can you see his buddy's nose there?

I will close this farm update with a nice sunflower picture that I took just today.  They are just starting to bloom and are just so pretty! 

Until next time, be well friends!