Baby Turkeys!

Molly is a great comfort to Sean's plague-ridden carcass.

Mary calling her young back. ♥

Our family has been sick with a virus that we're affectionately calling, "The Plague" for just under a week. Sean's fever broke yesterday; mine the day before. Now, Meg seems to have the first signs: sore throat and fever. Thus far, only Kristen seems to be unaffected. She has quarantined herself in her room with her notebook, some music, and her books resolved not to emerge until this passes. Smart girl.

Life on the homestead pauses for nothing. Sean's fever broke just in time to discover newly hatched turkey babies. Both nests hatched overnight. Mary is the proud Momma to five new babies. Priscilla hatched a single baby from her clutch of two eggs. Of course, we knew and tentatively planned that we would move the Mothers and their chicks to safer quarters once hatched, but what with being stricken for the past week, thinking about it was all we had done. We had not actually built any of the new fencing we knew we would need. And, as tired out as we both are, constructing fencing was not in the cards today. The easiest remedy we could conceive was to remove some of the garden fencing panels and add them to the already existing turkey fencing to create a safe and separate pen for the new chicks and their Moms. So, that is what happened.

Priscilla and her solo chick. ♥

Priscilla's chick is already walking all over mom. :) 

In the next few days, we'll have to do something more than pray that the dastardly trio of Abigail, Haddie, and Anna refrain from wandering into the garden and eating all our seeds for next year. Since the weather forecast is calling for three days of rain, it is a chance we decided to take. And, by "decided", I clearly mean, it is what it is. The fencing is down and moved. If we can muster the energy, we'll collect what we can for seeds today.

I am choosing not to focus on that. It is much more pleasant to think about new babies. I am so happy to introduce these new littles to you. :)

Thanks for stopping in to visit today. We're glad you're here.

~Sean & Sonja ♥

Unexpected Turkey Babies are a Cookin'.... Maybe...

Priscilla's turkey chicks July 2015

Look how they've grown! Sept. 2015

When people tour the homestead, one of the most common questions upon visiting with our heritage turkeys is, "Don't they fly out?" and "Aren't you worried that a Tom will come and lure them off?" These are reasonable questions and in truth I have worried about these possibilities. Just not enough to take the time to cover their pen or clip their wings. I love our turkeys and I want them to be safe. I, also, want them to be turkeys. It gives me great joy seeing them strut across the back yard and come investigate what we are doing. And, though I know it is safer to live in captivity, it just makes me sad to think of them entirely penned up. My honest and usual response to these well-meaning questions is, "They do fly out. But, they stay around the yard. The day may come when they wander, but so far, they are content to live with us." And they have been.

We had a bit of a scare a couple weeks ago. Mary, our blue slate hen did not put herself to bed with the other turkeys one night. A pattern that continued. We saw her wandering the yard early each morning and in the late afternoons, but when evening came, she was gone. This went on for several days. I worried a little about predators. As more than a week passed and her routine became habit; Mary always returning during the day and roosting in some unknown place at night, I found myself watching for her return each day with a sigh of relief. Yes, I know it would have been easy enough to cover the yard with bird netting. We talked about it. But, neither Sean nor I wanted to pen her in permanently. Besides that, based on her pattern of missing feathers on her breast and along her back, I had a strong suspicion that she was laying eggs in a nest. If that was the case, I wanted to give her every opportunity to hatch out chicks. Our intention was to follow her to wherever she was roosting to see if our hunch was right. I will tell you this, turkeys are as dumb as the day is long, but this old girl had NO intention of leading us to her nest. She just disappeared before we could follow her. Seriously. Fast like a freak.

About a week into Mary's new routine, Priscilla starting behaving in the same way. She'd disappear during the day for a bit and then not come back to roost with the toms at night. The difference with Priscilla was that she almost immediately stopped coming home every day. It was every other day and then, every third day- long enough to hop into the pen to eat and grab some water and she would disappear before we could throw on shoes to follow her to her roosting place. Frustrating for us. We were also relieved each time we spotted her, happy to know she was safe.

Last Monday, after I returned home with Angus from Ridge Runner Veterinarians, I caught sight of Mary in with the toms. I grabbed my cell phone and already had on my shoes and cannily followed her back to her nesting spot... the tall grass behind Ebony's shed. Standing 2 feet in front of her, I would have walked directly passed it, had I not seen exactly where she disappeared. Relieved to find her spot, I had no intention of disturbing her. I was happy just knowing that she was close by and that there was a possibility of more turkey babies this year. It took another 10 days before I had the opportunity to check the empty nest while Mary grabbed a bite to eat and drink. There

were 7 eggs in the nest and 1 that looked like it had no shell, only a soft sac encasing a partially developed chick. It smelled terrible and was covered with hundreds of nasty, wiggling bugs. It quite turned my stomach! But, I only had a small window and with the chance that the other eggs were growing normally and viable, I grabbed a large, green leaf nearby, scooped up the sac and removed it from the nest- just in time for Mary to return and me to beat feet in a hasty retreat. I am always sorry to lose any animal, but the excitement over the potential of Mary hatching out seven chicks soothed its loss.

Last Wednesday night, Sean and I caught sight of Priscilla. We quickly ran outside and was in time to watch her disappear into the alders near this year's fledgling guinea keet pen. Even with both Sean and I watching and following from two different sides, I lost sight of her in the brush. Sean had a better vantage point and directed me to where she had her nest. Can you see her?

No? How about now?

She blends almost perfectly into the scrub. Priscilla's nest is still in our yard, but on the edge of the woods- closer than I am comfortable with. But, with a nest of eggs underneath her, I dare not try to move her. Instead, Sean marked the area behind her and Molly spread her scent around the perimeter, too. We rely on the scent of larger predators to dissuade smaller ones from coming too close to our animals. It works decently. In six years, we have only had one loss due to a fox. Priscilla's nest should be close to full-term. As soon as it is, we'll move her and her chicks to a safer place. We'll do the same for Mary and her young. :) Tonight in a pleasant turn of events, I caught Priscilla off her nest and Sean was able to count her eggs. It seems she only has two in the nest. Whether that means she only laid a small second clutch or whether something bothered her nest already, we do not know. Time will tell and we'll keep you posted.

But as of now, we have the potential for 9 more turkey poults to hatch this year. If they all do, we'll double the size of our flock to 18 birds. We'll keep many of the hens since we are trying to increase our ability to provide turkey poults to local folks who would like to raise their own turkeys. Most of the toms will be for sale in the spring.

We miss Angus and I think of him often. The thought of new life growing brings some measure of comfort, though, something to look forward to in the days ahead. I owe you posts about entering an apple pie contest, one about making elderberry syrup- just in time to need some as Sean and I both came down with colds, and how foraged mullein seems to be helping with Meaghan's asthma and sleeping. And, I have a tale to share of Asher, the teleporting goat, messing with my breeding schedule. All these will come in the next few weeks. So, stay with us.

Thanks for the visit tonight, friends. It is nice to share your company.
~Sonja ♥

Angus Og's Passing

I am supposed to be making soaps... and cheese... and sorting my studio to attempt to get back into anything that remotely resembles a creation schedule. I have dishes to wash. I have recipes to share about dilly beans and salsa. None of these are getting done. It is 12:13 pm and I am alternately sitting here staring at this blank screen, writing and rewriting what I hope are the right words and popping up to wander the house haphazardly to this task or that, accomplishing absolutely nothing. All of this punctuated by randomly tearing eyes hastily wiped dry in favor of some other task for my hands. Except, as I have already confessed, nothing is actually getting done. So, here I sit once more. Perhaps this time I can get it all down.

I struggle with how much to share with you. How much of a window do you want to see into our lives? How much access do I want to allow you? For those of you interested in mainly the cuteness and bounty that we share or only the gloss-over of our lives, the statement that our faithful companion of 11 years, Angus, was laid to rest this morning will suffice. Do not read on, but please return another day to share in that which you choose. For those of you who need the bones and marrow of this life, Angus's story follows...

Meaghan and Angus Summer 2005

In another life and at another time, I (Sonja) owned a child daycare in Searsport, Maine. Always having had a family dog growing up, I thought it an important love to pass onto my own children. Finding the perfect dog for us was difficult, since there were few breeds available to own while operating a child care- all the large breeds that I loved were prohibited. After much research, we decided to try to find a cairn terrier. We contacted our local animal shelter asking to be contacted if a male, 6 month- 2 year old Cairn came in. It took nearly 2 years, but the call came and we met Angus. That was 11 years ago. Since then, the daycare closed, we moved to a new home twice, I became an HR/Marketing Manager, Sean married us, and together we built this homestead and started Lally Broch Farm. Angus was there all the time. His faithful companionship got me through a difficult divorce, a change in homes and employment and together we found a love in Sean that we never knew we could have.

At the top of Maiden's Cliff with the Daycare Kiddos. Summer 2005

It was a two-way street. Angus needed us, too. We cared for him through a broken pelvis (dog vs car; car won) where he spent 6 weeks wrapped and immobile. We used a towel to sling his back end so he could relieve himself and cleaned the messes when he couldn't make it. Angus developed food allergies and needed to be fed a special diet to help with dermatitis and hair loss. There were days that boy was a hot mess! About 4 years ago, Angus could no longer control his bladder, but he was spry and not in pain, so we made some accommodation for him. We tiled the laundry room floor and converted it to a dog room with access to a large fenced in yard. We adopted Buster to be a constant companion for him. In the last year, Angus became completely blind. But, even that did not stop him. Two weeks ago, we watched him chasing the Black Swedish ducks around the yard by sound. If they were quiet, he ran right past them unless we called him back to us or he bumped into another obstruction. If they quacked, he turned towards the sound and the chase was on! (Lest we get some outraged readers on this one: there was no way on earth that he was going to be able to catch a duck to harm it. At a slow stroll they out-paced him by a mile. But, it gave him a little sport to think he was on the trail of something.) On one especially good day, he wandered into the wooded land behind the house, refused to come back to our calls and forced Sean to go in to find him and carry him home. He was so pleased with himself, he decided to give Molly some male attention. The fact that he had been neutered for 11 years and that Molly stands a good foot and a half taller than he made no difference to him!

Molly, Buster, and Angus in front of the wood stove 2014

Our old man, Angus Og Sept. 14, 2015

For the past 2 years, Sean and I discussed what to do when it was time to make the difficult decision to lay Angus to rest. Every person has their own opinion about it. For us, the time would come when Angus was in pain or when he could no longer function. Often I prayed that Angus would pass in his sleep so that it did not become up to me to make that call.

Two nights ago, Angus could not navigate the stairs to come inside on his own and Meaghan had to carry him inside. Last night, he could no longer stand under his own power. The time had come. This morning, Sean called our vet and made an appointment to have him seen. Dr.Emerson agreed. There was no medicine that was going to prolong Angus's 14 year-old life or help him regain his ability to walk. There was really no choice. I held him and pet him, saying, "It's okay. You're a good doggie, Angus" while she administered the two injections that laid Angus to rest. His passing was quick and painless, but the feeling in my heart is neither.

I brought a box and blanket with me in preparation for this outcome. Since the office was packed with people and busy, I did not want to alarm them by carrying Angus out in my arms. With tears running down my face, I barely registered a stranger's query to me, "What do you have in the box?" as I walked quickly past. She repeated to the receptionist, "What does she have in the box?" I didn't pause, but in my head, I said, "One of my best friends." I know she didn't mean anything rude by it. She probably thought I had kittens or some other creature, but I was in no mood to be civil. I'm still not, to be honest. Until that passes I will stay off of facebook and refrain from answering the telephone.

When Sean returns home from work, Angus will be interred in a special place in our yard and a garden of flowers planted there to mark his resting place, though the memories of him will live in our hearts and minds. He really was a good doggie.

~Sonja ♥

Hello, this is Meaghan writing now. I've decided to say a few things in remembrance of my dear friend.

I don't have a very clear picture of being there that day when Angus and I first met, but one thing I do remember: Angus peeing right in front of us from excitement. And whenever we had apples, we had to be careful of how we disposed of them. He loved eating apples, and it didn't matter to him that the poor puppy's stomach couldn't handle them. And carrots. Don't get me started on the carrot fetish. If there is a dog who loved carrots more, I have yet to meet him (her?)

But one of my most fondest memories will always be Angus's desire to be a hairdresser. You don't believe me? No really. If you were laying supine, all of a sudden he'd come up behind you and just start biting your hair. And it didn't even matter if you weren't laying down (Well, it did to me: I had short hair,) he'd bite your hair if it was long enough for him to reach.

I regret having to say my farewell to such a companion. 

Open Homestead Day 2015

At 12:07 am, Sean is creating Bee's Wax Wraps in the kitchen and I am steady at work trying to find the posters I created from last year's farm-welcome of friends and neighbors. With less than 48 hours before you all come to visit us, there is no point in reinventing the wheel, if little tweaks are all that is wanted.

Wanted. Hmmm. Well, I am going to be honest and straight up tell you, we did not finish all the projects on our list to prepare for your coming this year. I wanted to get a new deck framed and planked for you to sit on while enjoying a snack near where the baby chicks and Momma Wyandotte live. But, money is tight. Too tight, really, and the choice came down between spending money we don't have on wood for the use of the visiting peoples or using that money to expand some fencing areas for our birds. The birds won out. Both the duck yard and turkey yard gained an additional 200 square feet. They will grow larger through this year, but it is a good beginning. I also wanted to get the entire yard mowed, the herb garden weeded, and pretty flowering planters set out to welcome you. None of that got completely finished and the pretty flowers did not even get a foot hold. Folks, this is a working homestead. It is not a pretty lay-out in a homesteading magazine, no matter how hard or often I wish that to be. Sean and I work our tails off, but there is NEVER enough time in a day to keep up with everything. Just when Sean got the goat stalls looking clean and well-arranged, three of our goats started scouring. (For those of you not familiar with the goat lingo, that means diarrhea. Delightful, right?) Tonight, I attempted to make a couple quarts of dill pickles and dilly beans only to discover that I ran out of pickling salt. Undaunted, I moved on to start a batch of chevre for you, got the milk all pasteurized and at the right temperature to ripen with its culture, looked in the freezer for said culture... denied. I have 4 packets of Feta culture and 2 empty bags that once contained Chevre culture. (Who leaves empty bags in the freezer!?!?!?! It must have been me. I am the only one that makes cheese, so I don't even have a scape-goat here.) And, the best part? The closest store to carry it is 45 minutes away and closed 2 hours ago. *Forehead Slap* Add that back onto tomorrow's list. The point I want to get across to you is this, we are looking forward to your visit so much and we can't wait to see you, but if you are looking for a picturesque Martha Stewart-type farm, this is not that.
What we can offer you is a warm welcome and a peek into a small-timey family homestead with all its ups and downs. And, of course, tons of happy babies and their parents to visit with and learn about and maybe a scouring goat or two to round out the day. ;)

Here is what we have planned for you:

We are located at 435 Loggin Rd in Frankfort, Maine. The Hiking with Goats will leave promptly at 10 am, so if y'all want to participate in that, make sure you come a little early or call to let us know that you are en route to us. You can reach us at 323-0520 if you have any questions.

Hope to see you on Saturday!
~ Sean and Sonja ♥

Give Away to Celebrate "The Maine Gathering"

Man! It is high summer and we are so busy around the homestead and preparing for shows, craft fairs, and shops, we don't know whether to scratch our watches or wind our elbows! It is wonderful to be busy creating and building and to have the chance to meet some of you in person. At the same time, I got to tell you, the idea of being snowed in by 3 feet of snow is looking mighty inviting some weeks! We are often asked where we will be next, so for those of you wondering where you can find us, here is what we know about our schedule...

Weekly Markets:

Bucksport Bay Farmer's Market Thursdays 2pm-5pm through September (at least)

Belfast Art Market Fridays 9am-1pm through August

Fairs, Festivals, and the like:

The Maine Highland Games August 15th, Topsham Fair Grounds

The Union Fair August 22- August 29th, Union Fair Grounds

Shops & Retail Stores:

Silkweeds Route 1, Searsport, Maine

The Maine Gathering 8 Bayview St. Camden, Maine

Eden Rising 39 Cottage St. Bar Harbor, Maine

Pendant Set Prize $30 Retail Value

We are so pleased and humbled that these quality shops have chosen to carry an assortment of our original Mosaic Eggshell Jewelry, Goat's Milk Soaps, and/or Massage Melts. Of course, we love our creations. It just really feels good to know that someone else loves them, too- enough to carry them in their shops. I have always felt that we all rise together, so to speak. To that end, I often mention the shops we are associated with and other artists and their creations along with what is happening in our world. I figure, if you like us, perhaps you might like them, too. It is my habit to host give-aways when we sign on to a new shop. Besides being a nice reason to gift one of you with a piece of jewelry you might not otherwise own, it is a way to introduce you to new shops that you might not be aware of and a way for those shops to visit with new guests and make new friends. With this in mind, we are very pleased to announce a Give-Away!!! One reader will win this pendant set. There are four ways to enter using the entry form below; (1) visit Eden Rising on Facebook. (We can't ask you to give them a like, but we sure would appreciate it if you felt inclined to do so. ♥) (2) Leave a message for them. Be creative. You can do this each day and gain another entry each time. (3) Visit us on FB. If you haven't already "liked" us, feel free to join the fun! And, (4) leave a comment for us here on the blog. I love hearing from you. This give-away begins tonight at midnight and ends on August 11th at midnight. I will post the winner's name here and on our FB pages. The winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize or another winner will be chosen randomly from the entries. How easy is that?

Are you ready? Get Set. Go! (Well, you know, as soon as the give-away begins... :) )

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Stay-cation 2015

Stay-cation- a vacation spent at home or nearby; a vacation that is spent enjoying all that home and one's home environs offer; a vacation spent at home involving day trips to local attractions.

It is totally a thing.

With our homestead growing each year, both in terms of animals and gardens to care for and our participation in shops, markets, and fairs, a stay-cation creates the perfect balance for us. When our family visits afar, I feel too worried about what might be falling apart at home to enjoy my time away. Then, too, I carry an inappropriate amount of guilt over the cost of EVERYTHING-whether it be the time away or the money spent. The time we spend lounging at a beach competes with the stalls that need mucking out, the goat fencing to be extended, and the gardens that need attention. The $18.99 I would love to spend on a new skirt weighs against the cost of 2x4's for fencing, cement for posts for the horse pasture, a bag of grain or 6 bales of hay. A skirt is gone without and we make do with what's had already. I don't mind (most of the time), but there are minutes in life when these little things add up and something has to give- just to maintain sanity. Sean knows me well and understands this balance. As I worried about all that needs doing, to help ease my mind, Sean reminded me of a principle explored in a Season 2 episode of The Waltons "The Honeymoon", which we watched together recently:

[Narration as John 'John Boy' Walton, Jr. reading from his journal] Growing up on Walton's Mountain during the Great Depression, we learned early to concentrate on the essentials of life. With many of the necessities so hard to come by, we had little money to squander on extravagances. But there came a time when my father decided another kind of survival was important and, to nourish the human spirit, it was necessary to indulge in extravagance.

Just as we empathize with episodes of The Little House on the Prairie where Ma and Pa fight against the elements to eek out a decent living for their family, watching The Walton's cash poor and family rich lives ring with echos of our own venture into building our modern day homestead with all its ups and downs. It may be summer- the time for traditional family adventures- but these homesteaders need to balance making family memories and caring for daily necessities.

When I remember where we started and compare where we are now, I am proud of the life we are building with good, honest sweat and hard work. Consider this, last year we cared for three CSA shares. This year, we support shares for six families. We doubled the size of our garden space this year and will increase it again before the year is out. Last year, we supplied four goat rentals. This year, we have increased that to eight goat rentals. We welcomed 11 healthy goat kids into our world this season. Last year, you could buy our soaps, massage melts and mosaic eggshell jewelry in Belfast, Searsport, and Brewer. As of last weekend, you can now find us in Camden, Maine at The Maine Gathering and in Bar Harbor at Eden Rising. There is so much still to do, but we have made a good start of it, a place from where we can grow.

As for making those family memories, homestead building projects took a back seat to spending time with our teenagers in spiritual activities and day trip adventures- on a budget that would make the Walton's proud of our thrift. Thursday night, Sean and I set up our booth at the Bucksport Bay Farmer's Market. It is fast becoming our favorite market. There may not be as many people wandering through the stalls, but those that are there, have come to support locally grown food and products. Return customers are becoming friends that we look forward to seeing.

Original pieces available at
The Maine Gathering

After milking in the morning on Friday, Sean and I headed to the Belfast Art Market. We were especially excited to be rolling out our latest product offering; mosaic eggshell Mother~Child Pendants, ready to be made on-site for those who were interested. We were so thankful at the positive reception from shoppers and happy to create FIVE custom pieces! And, we met Margaret Gallagher of The Maine Gathering, a shop in lovely, coastal Camden, Maine. By the end of our short visit, Margaret selected a nice assortment of jewelry pieces to stock in her shop. We ended Friday by driving to Augusta for some supplies and then, to Camden to meet up with friends from whom we were stealing their teenagers for the weekend for a visit. With four teenage girls in the house we anticipated much laughter, loud musical sing-a-longs, and lots of fun. We were not disappointed.

Our group woke early Saturday morning. Sean and I milked the goats while Meaghan and Sierra collected eggs from the coop and Kristen and Sammy fed Chloe her morning bottles of milk. After a home-made breakfast of French toast from our eggs, milk and farm-fresh bread smothered with their choice of blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries, we cleaned up and headed out to preach the word together for the morning. The plan was to spend a few hours in our ministry work followed by an afternoon day trip to the Bar Harbor area. The first stop was a picnic lunch at Bird's Acres in Ellsworth, followed by a hike to "Egg Rock" and "Queen's Chair". From there, we drove up the Loop Road to the summit of Mount Cadillac. Our next stop was to Eden Rising on Cottage St. in downtown Bar Harbor, Maine to deliver mosaic eggshell jewelry, goat's milk soaps, and 2 oz jars of massage melts. We finished the day sharing two $6.99 medium pizzas at Pizza Hut for dinner before coming home. Total cost for our trip= gas money and $18 dinner. Memories made= PRICELESS.

Mount Cadillac Cairns

I have visited with the rescued birds at Bird's Acres for many years. This poor guy is blind in one eye and cannot hunt for himself any longer. That makes me sad, but I am glad he has a safe place to live, warm from the elements, well care for. I have been inspired to create some new owl pieces recently, now I have a model for some new ones.

Views from the top of Mount Cadillac~ Bar Harbor, Maine

Fort Knox Labyrinth

On Sunday morning, Sean discovered that Priscilla's chicks were in the process of hatching. She did such a good job at brooding, that we left her to do her thing with hatching them- though we checked them from time to time. (More details about them further down. ♥) After morning chores, I baked our crew their choice of home-made muffins; blueberry, raspberry, coconut, and cinnamon before our meeting for worship. When we returned home, we had a light lunch together and then Sean left to mow his Daddy's lawn while I worked on making some new jewelry pieces and the girls visited together. After Sean got home, we drove over to Fort Knox to explore and play some hide-and-seek in the dark labyrinth of the fort until we all were ready to go home for some dinner. We stopped at Wilson's Corner Store for 1/2 kiddie cones on the way home. That's right. Half Kiddie Cons each. At Wilson's that means a generous 1 1/2 scoops of Hershey's ice cream- more than enough to savor. If you order the "Large", I strongly recommend bringing a large bowl with you. You'll need it! Total cost for our trip= $25. Tired Teenage Girls= PRICELESS.

Granite for Fort Knox was cut
from Mount Waldo's quarry.

We let the girls sleep in on Monday morning and I had hot home-made cinnamon buns waiting for them when they roused. Sean suggested we take Molly, a few of this year's goat kids, and all the girls to hike up Mount Waldo. It is a nice easy hike with fantastic views made even better with bouncing goat kids romping about the granite. Since this was to be the last day of our Stay~cation, Monday was a "Free Day" of activities with plans to end it with a double feature at the new Drive In in Bangor. Unfortunately that did not happen as we planned, due to some unforeseen issues. As a consolation, we rented Big Hero 6 and made another stop at Wilson's. Total cost for our adventures $12. Weekend Spent With Friends= PRICELESS.

I think John Walton would be proud. ;)

The hike begins. Chloe does not need a leash. She is quite happy to stay with her people.

Anna and Bo

Chloe was a natural at hiking with us. She enjoyed exploring and finding tidbits to nibble on. Anna and Bo were not convinced that this hiking business was fun... until they reached the granite blocks. Their feet knew what to do, even if their brains were stuck on crying for their herd. Within a few minutes, they settled down and began to explore. By the time we were ready to leave, the twins were enjoying themselves and able to walk with us without needing leashes.

If you think hiking with goats would be a fun experience for your family, drop us a message and we would be glad to tell you all about our program. :)

This week on the homestead brought us the birth of more babies. Priscilla did a bang up job of hatching her eggs in the rafters of the barn. All eight eggs hatched into fluffy balls of turkey chicks. Turkey chicks or poults are by far the most docile and friendliest of any of the birds on the farm. Guinea keets are sweet and can be handled easily.... for about the first week. Then, a switch flips in their bird brains and they become aware that they are prey animals. Attempts to hold and play with them become more of a game of capture the keet, which is no fun for anyone involved. It does not dissuade us from holding, petting and handling the keets to help "tame" them, but in our experience, it really is a mostly futile effort, producing guinea hens and cocks that tolerate humans when food is offered and running from them at all other times. Ducks are very similar in nature. Our ducklings happily follow us around for a couple months, but once they are introduced to the other ducks, it is all over for us. Their preference for their own kind becomes clear. Chickens and roosters are considerably better. Ours gladly come running to greet us, especially if treats are involved. They willingly hop up on shoulders or laps. But, turkey poults are by and far the most helpless and friendly of all the chicks. Of course, we don't eat our turkeys. Still, either they don't realize they are delicious prey or they just don't care that you know it, too. They sit calm and still when my hand reaches into the brooder, then trill in my hand softly until they fall asleep content with the knowledge that I have them and all is well in the world.

I love baby turkeys.

Thanks for visiting with us, friends. We're glad you're here.

Sean and Sonja ♥

Ducklings, Chicks, and Poults... Oh my!

As the days warm, the "Drakes of Summer" return to this part of the world. Our normally stand-offish hens take one look at the boys that have been pestering them all winter long and are only too eager to fly away with some fresh looking young drake. A sadder lack of morals you don't want to see! One of our errant Mallard hens returned a couple weeks ago with a brood of ducklings trailing behind, as is often the result of such tomfoolery. I don't mind the new babies. In the wake of bird flu warnings in other states, I do wish our ladies would stay to home. Maine is not one of the states currently fighting this epidemic, but with the return of wild birds from other parts, it could all too easily happen here. I hate to pen our birds up, but we are considering it- for their safety until this passes.

As with the goat kids, we usually leave chicks, ducklings, keets, and other babies born on the farm to the care of their respective Mothers. It means less work for us; changing brooder pen litter, extra time feeding separately, etc. And, we feel that it makes for more naturally cared for creatures. We are not trying to tame our chickens or goats into behaving like domestic dogs, after all. So long as the Mommas are providing for their young, we leave them to it.

For the past couple weeks, we left the ducklings to the care of their Momma. They all looked healthy and in fine form. We could easily spot them in the morning learning what they should eat or washing up in an extra deep puddle in our drive way. By afternoon, Momma and the ducklings meander to the back yard to nibble on this and that on their way to the shallow stream bed. Sean and I bandied about the idea of capturing them and moving them into the barn, but hadn't made any real attempt to. After all, she managed to set on her nest for a month and hatched a good clutch of young, without our interference.

In the wake of several days of cold rain, we had a bit of a scare. Sean found Momma duck wandering around, but she only had 4 ducklings with her! Sean backtracked and searched in the direction she came from and heard a very faint "peep, peep, peep" from one very cold and miserable duckling, tucked into an island of tall grass beside the stream. This baby was in danger. Sean brought it inside to me to warm up while he collected the other ducklings and Momma Mallard and searched for the two still missing ducklings.

Inside the house, this little one needed to get warm and dry as fast as possible. I started by partially filling the sink with tepid water. Then, slowly added hot water until the bath was toasty warm. I thought this would be the quickest way to bring up the duckling's body temperature. Within a couple minutes, the duckling was peeping and alert. The next order of business was to get it dried off. I wrapped it in a warmed towel, grabbed the heating blanket and made a cave of warmth. Meaghan watched over it while I went to see if I could help Sean locate its two missing siblings.

Sean met me in the back yard with them. Momma Mallard was NOT interested in joining her babies, though. We tried to lure her out by bringing the basket of ducklings to where she was hiding from us. We hoped that she would hear their calls for her and come out. Ducks are smarter than chickens. Instead of coming out or revealing exactly where she was hiding, Momma Mallard called to her ducklings to come in to her! And, they were listening! They made a mad scramble up the side of the basket in an effort to get to their Momma hiding somewhere in the thicket. But, with the thought of finding cold, dead ducklings after the storm, we decided to intervene and bring the babies inside with us. Momma Mallard would weather the rain storm just fine, those babies maybe not.

We settled the ducklings into the brooder with the three month-old chickens living there for the night. Not a perfect solution since the ducklings like nothing better than to slosh about in the water container making a grand mess in the pen, but it would do until morning when we could move them into the barn. The duckling in danger perked up in no time and was able to rejoin its siblings.

The next morning, Momma Mallard was spotted calling for her young in the yard. Being apart from them overnight made her much easier to catch. She wanted to get to those babies! Sean lured her into a corner and gently swept her up. Three slightly older ducklings (from our hatch) were already living in the barn. We hoped Momma Mallard would not mind the addition of three more babies to tend. She didn't. We watched in case she tried to bite or shove them away. Because the other three were several weeks older, we also had to be sure that they wouldn't be too rough on the new ducklings. All was just fine.

Look at the size difference between full grown, one month, and one day. 

In a few weeks, all the ducks will be reintroduced to our flock. I love happy endings.

I also love surprise beginnings...

 Sean discovered a very broody Wyandotte sitting in a bucket full of eggs! 10 eggs in all. We spirited one away to candle it and discovered that they were very nearly ready to hatch. So, we let her be to do her thing. And, just a few days later brought us a bucket full of peeping chicks. Had she nested in a bucket downstairs in the barn, we would have left them alone. She didn't. She laid her eggs in a bucket upstairs with no real safe way for them to get down for food or water other than navigating a flight of stairs. This thought gave me visions of peril and terror. We decided to move Momma, bucket of chicks and all, to a safer location- an unused coop from last year.

All nestled in are Momma Wyandotte, six Wyandotte chicks, and one very distinctive Rhode Island Red chick. Apparently, another hen discovered her nest and laid an egg before Mrs. W got broody. She hasn't noticed or minded that one looks quite different. :) Chickens are good like that.

You can just see the lone chick with the chipmunk stripes tucked snugly under his Momma's feathers in this image.

Now that the duckings are sorted and the bucket of chicks is settled into its home, perhaps hatching will begin to run  on our schedule....

Or, in light of our broody Red-breasted Bronze Priscilla's unauthorized nest up in the rafters of the barn, we have a ways to go yet... Stay tuned! ♥


Thanks for visiting today, friends. We hope you have a good one- wherever you may be.
~Sean & Sonja ♥