Yesterday, as M was siding the turkey house (that they never use), the turkeys put on
the display. Watching them puff up and act all cool is really fun.
The males walk around with their feathers up and blowing air... they act quite intimidating....until you feed them.
Then they go back to pipping little sweethearts that act like they are always starving to death.
They eat out of a planter base because we never got around to getting them a "real" feeder. We made one from a bucket, but it was too labor intensive. Instead, I have a section of downspout that goes through the fence. I simply pour the food down the spout and it ends up in their dish. The 2x4 keeps the turkeys from flipping the dish over when they stand on the edge.
This is one of the chicks that hatched out yesterday. You can see the difference between this egg and the egg in yesterday's post. That egg looked like it had been squished from the outside before the chick was ready to hatch.
Managing the hatching process is almost as fun as having the chicks themselves. It takes about 21 days for chicks to develop. You can see the beginning of the embryo when they are only four days along. I "candle" the eggs every once in a while to check for quitters. About halfway through the development, you can see movement! It is
almost as thrilling as seeing a human baby on an ultrasound! Sometimes the eggs get stepped on by other chickens and baby is lost. This is always a very sad find for me. People avoid this by either using an incubator or by separating the hen from the rest of the flock. I haven't gotten around to making my own brooding box, but that is in the plans this summer. Right when the chicks are ready to hatch, they break through the membrane into an air pocket and start to peep. I love picking the eggs up, holding them to my ear, giving them a little tap, and hearing the chick peep back at me.
