Today was the day!
The lambs are OUTSIDE!!!
Woo Hoo!!
Sweet Husband and I hacked, chopped and mowed
a fenceline through the weeds and tall grass
and put up the electronet there, plugged it in
and viola! A fenced pasture.
I walked them out to the shaking of
the grain bucket and they are happily munching away.
It was a long walk of 250 feet
past very loud and active chickens,
but they did great.
Of course, I have to worry about getting
them back in again. But for now..
They are OUT!!!
Ok.. they went back inside the barn too!
Not one bit of trouble at all.
Happily trotted behind me into their
stall where they were rewarded with a pan of
mixed grains.
I bet they will sleep well with very full tummies tonight.
I am so very happy!
I just found your blog, linked from Homesteading Today. Like it a lot. I too do the small farm/self sufficiency sort of thing to some degree.
ReplyDeleteI read that you love your poults -- I have been tempted to order some, but have heard they are fragile when young. Do you take any special steps (as opposed to chicks, which I have raised before)?
Thanks for the blog.
Jo.. you like my blog?! Your blog is awesome.. except for all of the flat ground. As a mountian girl, it gives me the willies. There is nowhere to hide!
ReplyDeleteAs far as my poults.. nope. No special care and I haven't really noticed them being anymore fragile than chicks or ducks.
And AI ahve hatched them, gotten them from local folks that let their hen sit them, but only let her raise a few and I have bought them at the feed store.
All good.
They do really like being able to get under your palm like it was a mother turkey though.
I hold my hand down in the brooder adn they all crowd under it and their eyes close.
They seem to need their mothers much more than chicks do.
I feed either gamebird starter or chick starter. If I feed chick starter I supplement their feed with smooshed boiled eggs to give them the higher protein they need.
They seem to need the heat lamp more too.
Other than that... perhaps throw a chick or two in with them to help the get the hang of eating and drinking though.
So, when you order turkeys, order a chicken or two as well.
I love, love, love my turkeys and find them more pleasurable than the stupid chickens.
They are not destructive.
They are not loud and annoying.
They do the strut thing, which is so adorable you laugh until you cry when the toms weigh all of 4 oz.
Get some.. today!!!
So glad I found your blog. I love western NC & hope to move there in a few years. I am in Georgia now. Much hotter & more crowded here.
ReplyDeleteI think we are neighbors... we are on Mount Olive Church Road in west Burke County.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the lambs. They should do great.
Matt tells me you have hens you would like to part with. What type are they?
Hi Katie.. I called you tonight..
ReplyDeleteI look forward to seeing you guys soon.
jen