Spring has sprung!

Spring is upon us, here in Sierra County, New Mexico.  While today has been chilly, we are only at 62 degrees, we've had many days upward in the 70s.  This is good for warming the soil.  We have put a few things in the ground, but are waiting just a bit longer before we put out the tender plants, like Tomato and Tomatillo, which are busy growing under lights.

We've decided to try something new this year.  We are raising turkey and chicken for the food, not the eggs.  This will be a bit different for us.  We ordered 75 chickens and 20 Turkeys.  Ouch, by the way, we will work from eggs next time.  After a terrible experience with closed post office and freezing temperatures, we decided to keep it local this year.  We ordered from Privett Hatchery in Portales.  They hatch on one day, mail to arrive the next.  Last Tuesday, (19th) we got our 9AM phone call from the Williamsburg Post Office to say the chickens were here.  Then we got the the same phone call on Wednesday, though Phil was on his way to pick up the Turkey poults.  http://www.privetthatchery.com/Home/CareTips.aspx

Learning lots about Turkeys.  They aren't all that smart, but they are cute.  They grow quickly and at 1 week, they already have a better wing than the chickens.  They are singing.  We woke yesterday to one of them with a floppy neck.  Phil found it.  Quick research found it to be Wry's Syndrome.  A potential to be either nutritional deficiency (we do have them on Turkey chick mix for now) or it could be a few other, more dangerous things....like a respiratory infection caused by Mycoplasm. 
We had the Vitamin E, but had to get selenium.  Crushed pill, Vitamin E down the gullet and all seemed well pretty quickly (2 hours).  Short time later, no problems, so we put it back with the others and now you can't tell which it is (except that it has a backwards C on it's head). 

We are quickly running out of space as they grow.  Tomorrow, week 1 for Chickens, we will split them into two brooders and move the Turkeys to the Mud Room.  We understand that the Turkeys will begin perching by this coming week.

One of the most interesting things is to see how different these animals are in terms of their reaction to sound.  The Chickens are....well, chicken.  Someone drops something, they all startle and freeze.  At 1 week, I've started entering the room talking to them, softly, so they get used to us.  Our first batch of Chickens 5 years ago, we never touched them and left them as naturally reactive as they need.
Now, Turkeys are different raising game.  In fact, they encourage you to touch, hold and be with them.  I spend some time holding each of them (when I can figure out who is who). They may not be smart, but they are interested in the world around them.  We did lose one Turkey.  Somehow he/she got under the water container.  We are VERY careful now.

Overall, we are looking forward to the next couple of months.  About September or October, they will (almost) all head to the freezer for our poultry supply for the year.  In the mean time, I'll be learning more about Bourbon Reds and this straight run of Hatchery Choice chickens.