Horse and Chicken Update

Bye-bye, Daisy.  Theresa ended up selling her sweet little mare to a family south of Houston for their twin boys who are disabled.  She's the perfect fit for them.
In the meatime, we ended up buying this sweet boy...

He's an Appaloosa that comes compact.  He's a playday horse that will be great for beginner kids at church to ride....not to say that they've won but to say "I did it!"  Our last playday got rained out and rescheduled for the end of August so I'm very anxious to get him out there.  As a matter of fact, we've got a work day at church tomorrow to get the arena up.  We've been using the arena at the county fairgrounds.

Red is coming along well.  He's putting on some weight and looking a lot better. I have to admit, he is the sweetest horse I've ever owned.

I think we can definitely confirm that Lincoln is a tom...

and Lucille a hen...

my little Salmon Faverolle rooster is growing...can you see all those toes and feathered legs?

This is one of my black sex links...isn't she pretty with those gold feathers?

An Ameracauna hen....check out those precious feathery cheeks!  She's one of my favorites.

Every time I order Ameracaunas from Ideal, I always get a white one.  This one is ALL white.  The others have had some brown in the feathering and my granddaughters always name them Snow White. I was asked by them again if I'm going to name her Snow White.  And...oddly enough, she doesn't have the typical feathered cheeks but I know she's an Ameracauna because her legs are dark green.  I heard the eggs they lay will be close in color to their legs.  I can't wait to see hers!!

By the way, I appreciate all the names suggested for The Bathroom Lady.  I think Prairie Barbie fits her.  A big thanks to TexWisGirl that always gives us some great pictures from The Run Around Ranch Report. I even had one of my friends suggest Stepford Barbie!  Yes, she is donning her white gloves.  The truth be known, those gloves are holding her fingers on!!  If ya'll only saw this girl naked you'd be coming up with a whole new set of names!  I wish I could have caught a picture of Lucille, the turkey, sitting on her shoulder earlier this evening..She had pulled off her hair and her hat... poor Prairie Barbie...I won't even go there...well, okay, she has a sizeable hole in the back of her head.  Duh...who would have thought Barbie had a hole in her head?!?!?

Don't forget about the GiveAway here.
Happy Trails...
Berte

Around the Chicken House

Look what Jacob made for me!  Originally intended for cedar stays but I kinda like the rustic pecan limbs. 

The turkeys love it!

Jacob has been working hard. He rehung the hinges on the trap door to the chicken house so I can close it from the outside.  And Lucille is always right under foot making sure everything is done just right.  I'm hoping this is a "Lucille"...I'll show more pics of her later.

 These silly chicks sleeping on their sides.  The one little Buff Orpington will sleep on her back with her legs stuck straight out.  Still hoping to catch a picture of that! It's hilarious!

This is Lincoln.  He has already displayed his feathers. 

Two of the three 6 mos Black Australorp pullets.  I couldn't stand it.  I had to have something to start giving me some fresh eggs.

Now I'm hoping this is a hen.  When I brought in the new pullets, "she" semi-fluffed her feathers out.  She is much smaller than the tom and not displaying the same physical features as him.  Does anyone out there in blogland that has turkey hens ever have one that displays it's feathers?  I read online that some hens do this.

Happy Trails...

Berte

Calling All Turkey Experts

My turkey poults will be 8 weeks old this Sunday.  I think I have a tom and a hen but not sure.  The smaller one, which I think is a hen, just peeps and the larger one has gobbled when we're out yelling for some reason or another.  The larger one's neck is starting to bud out those ugly turkey caruncles which are already turning blue and red.

This is the one I think is a tom.

And in the bottom two pictures, is the one I think is a hen.
So...I'm asking all you turkey experts out there to tell me what other clues can give me a hint to the sex of these guys.  I pretty much know the first one is a tom but not sure about the second one...it's much smaller, only peeps and it's neck is not changing at the same rate as the tom.  I guess if  "it" starts changing like the other one, I'll know I have two toms.....lovely...
Happy Trails...
Berte

Boy, Was I Wrong!

How could I miss all these cute little toes?  I thought my rooster was the little dark chick but then I remembered that Salmon Faverolles have 5 toes...so this is my little man.

The Ameracaunas have the sweetest fluffiest cheeks!  I have three dark ones and they are getting heavy and so much bigger than the others.  The other Ameracauna is going to be white.  She's the one in the upper right hand corner of the picture.

The little chicks are growing and have been moved out to the playpen area of the chicken yard during the day and come in at night because they're not completely feathered out. I'm anxious to get them in their chicken house but won't push it.

You can see the turkeys hanging around the chicks. 

Unfortunately, these are two of the four poults left.  Two died overnight in their house.  I think they flew up too high on the roost and fell to their death.  It was soooo sad.  I think I have a tom and hen left.  A few more weeks and maybe I'll be able to tell.  There seems to be a difference in the two already.  I'm growing pretty fond of these ugly little birds.  When I open the back door, they come running.  It seems they can't get close enough.

 

 The chicken pen has a hot wire running along the bottom completely around it.  A few of the dogs have already been zapped and won't go near it.  Did you notice the satellite dish is gone?  Poor little chicks, no more night time tv.  We're still wanting to get some netting to tent over the top of the pen.  I've seen it on Randall Burkey.  Can anyone recommend a good source for getting the netting?

Happy Trails...

Berte

The New Peeps are Here

 Starting completely over with new peeps.  I've been buying farm eggs (ugh) but, for some reason, they just don't taste the same as I used to get from my own girls.  There are 4 black sex links, 4 golden sex links, 2 plymouth barred rocks (they are the black with the white spot on their head), 4 ameracaunas (two will be white - they are the light colored ones) and one Salmon Faverolle rooster.

This is the Faverolle rooster.. isn't he precious?  He's the little brown guy sitting in the bowl.

We're still working on the pen...coming along but not quick enough.  The turkey poults have been moved out to the house.  They are almost 4 weeks old now.  I'm still learning a whole lot about these fellows...they are interesting but not near as much fun to watch as the peeps. 

We've also been invaded by these little guys.. yep, little tiny frogs EVERYWHERE!  And they're disgusting!  I don't even like to look down when I'm walking around because I know I'm stepping on them but I have to watch out for snakes.  They are from the house all the way to the barn and out in the pasture.  Yuk!  Now I wish I had a mess of ducks to turn loose on all the frogs.

Happy Trails...

Berte

Turkey Hunts and Baking

Ya'll are gonna get sick of my posting about these turkeys but I never dreamed they would be so amusing.  I sure hope this one is a girl because I keep calling her "What's the deal, Lucille?"  She will not stay in the tub.  I'm trying not to get attached to them but, regardless, this one is a keeper.  It just insists on being noticed.  I finally had to put wire over the top of the tub to keep me from going on turkey hunts.

Tonight is Bible Study so I had to fix something to take for dessert.  This is Lemon Crumb Cake.  I actually needed something quick so I used a Duncan Hines cake mix and got the recipe off their website.  Looks and smells good...I think I'll drizzle some lemon sauce over the top... Yummmm.

Here's yet another batch of One Rise Bread.  You can find the recipe here.  This time I used honey instead of sugar.  Can't wait to try this too!!  Oh my goodness, it smells so good.
Happy Trails...
Berte

"Mama, Mama, Where Are You?"

One, two, three...where's #4?  Hmmmm....where's #4?  Great.....
"Mama, Mama, here I am...do you hear me?" 
Here he comes from the other end of the room just a chirping.. here I am, here I am!!

Yes, they are in my back porch room and this little guy is loose, running around, trying to find someone to help.  He has walked passed a very large stuffed horse and then comes up to a stuffed chicken.  Hmmm....what's this?

Ahhhh, safe and sound, back in the water trough with my friends...

Thank goodness, at two weeks the imprinting has paid off.  I called out for little one and he came running and let me scoop him right up.

Happy Trails...

Berte