Turkey Chicks

The last two lots of Turkey eggs we sat under broody hens came to nothing. We had pretty much decided that our very handsome gobbler was a dud. however
Peter decided to borrow an incubator and put 18 eggs in it. Just a few hours ahead of schedule the first little turkey appeared. So far 13 have hatched out and are doing really well. They are very cute.
We hadnt used an incubator before and were a bit worried as we had a few power outages. Luckily I woke up the other night when the power went off and we wrapped the incubator in a doona with a hot water bottle. It must have worked. I quite like the idea of being able to plan our poultry hatchings a bit with an incubator as some of our broodies are unreliable. just had a duck sit on five eggs for two and a bit weeks and then just up and leave them!
I finally have some broody chickens though and one of them is sitting on a dozen eggs that should hatch tomorrow.
Here is the first little turkey, isnt it cute!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An abundance of eggs

Image
Silkie eggs Duck eggs Turkey eggs Hen eggs With five silkie hens, seven regular hens of mixed breed, four ducks of indeterminate sex and ten turkey hens we generally have an abundance of eggs. Despite the fact that several of the turkeys and hens are not laying, as they are broody the, there seem to be more than ever. Certainly more than two people can eat. Peter generally takes them to work and either sells them or gives them away. The turkey ones have not been that popular though. Today he said someone asked him for more turkey eggs as they had made an omelet with them and it was the best they have ever made. I find they rise up really well in omelets and Frittatas. I plan a big cooking evening sometime this week to turn the eggs into little herb quiches to put in the freezer for over the holidays when we will have a house full.
Read more

On my mind

Image
Puppy proofing my garden so the adorable Elle does not do too much damage! This is the result of my leaving a pot plant at ground level on the back porch. She is having a rest after her gardening!
Read more

A Bumper Citrus Harvest

Image
We have six old citrus trees here, two mandarins, two oranges, two lemons. They have fruited quite well most years since we have been here but this year they have the most extraordinary crop. They are loaded. We probably should have thinned them out but left it a bit too late. We have been eating the mandarins for a few weeks now, they are a bit tart but nice nevertheless. they are getting sweeter every day. We will have to give lots away and find some good mandarin recipes. I might have a go at preserving some segments as well. The oranges are not quite as prolific but will still keep us going for many months. The great thing about the winter fruit is that you can leave it on the tree and just pick it as you need it. We have planted some new citrus trees as well. they are very slow to grow but the ruby grapefruit tree has a decent crop this year. I really like grapefruit for breakfast. I will have to look after the other small citrus a bit more this winter and hopefully th...
Read more