Meriruka's Tales - need advice on squash

[justusnak]

When I got my first turkeys....I was HORRIFIED to see them mate. I was constantly chaseing him off of her...thinking he was going to hurt her. :/ Ummm, we didnt get fertile eggs that year.
The next year....I just let them be....and the tom killed one of the hens. This year....I will take charge, and try to make sure if the hen is in distress....I will move in with a stick. I can't afford to lose another hen! For the most part tho, they SHOULD be fine. It looks WAY worse than it really is.

 

[The Vail Benton's]

Oh my!

 

[modern_pioneer]

me thinks you ladies need to leave ole tom and the misses alone to do the turkey thingie. Sides, you go a messen aournd out there you might get your eye shot out.

*runs to corner and hides*

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

hee hee hee i kinda feel like the 'after school special'

some times when a daddy turkey loves a momma turkey very much........

hee hee hee

and to justusnak point... its good to keep a watchful (semi-covered eye) on whats happening. and whatever you do make sure that your setting hens are separated from the tom!!! he will try and 'give her the business' while she is on her nest - at worst he will kill her, at best he'll kill all the eggs. better safe than sorry.

some one built little 'nest boxes' out of bales of straw (three sided and one on top) which were very low so their tom couldnt get to the setting hen. we just remove ol' TZ and he has to cool his heels in the Bachelor Shed until we can integrate the poults and the momma back into the group.

my turkeys always seem to 'get down to business' in front of my city-fried friends.. much to their horror. for heavens sakes its like those birds do it on purpose!!!

 

[Blackbird]

Hey Meriruka.. How are things? Haven't heard of you in a while.. Hope all is well.

Is that neighbor guy still pestering you? Do we need to grab our beatin' sticks and pay a visit?


--
Yes, I can't STAND watching turkey's mate. They either take FOREVER before they do anything, or they stand on her for what seems like HOURS when they are done, playing king of the hen or some sick game.

Our roosters are just as bad, they'll grab a hen by the neck, swing her around and proceed to trample, then of course an entire GROUP of roosters comes over and think they need to get their fill. That is when I rush over kicking. Nasty thing.

Ducks are much more romantic.

 

[farmerlor]

Turkeys ain't nothin' after you've seen two draft horses go at it. We took in a Belgian stallion the first year we lived here. He was scheduled to go to be gelded in a day and we went to town to run some errands. The kids called frantic because the stallion had broken down the corral and the fence and the gate to the other pasture to get to my beloved mare. We went back home. Here's how stupid I am: I decided to GET this stallion to stop what he was doing and separate these horses before it was too late. The neighbors were watching with little score cards while we actually got in the middle of two 2200 pound horses trying to mate. And the mare was kicking the stallion in the chest so hard you could hear it all over the neighborhood and there we are la-di-da trying not to get run over.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Our bourbon tom is confused...today he tried to mate a muscovy duck. I had the beating stick out and chased him all over the yard before he finally gave up and left my ducks alone.

I hate turkeys.

 

[meriruka]

Hey Meriruka.. How are things? Haven't heard of you in a while.. Hope all is well.

Is that neighbor guy still pestering you? Do we need to grab our beatin' sticks and pay a visit?

I sort of went a little crazy when the weather got warm and there's been a frenzied burst of activity around here.
Here's a brief run-down:
Took down the garden fence, plowed the garden, spread some absurd amount of compost over it (something like 10 square yards, one wheelbarrow at a time), disked it, made my rows and put the fence back up. Moved & rebuilt the turkey run, cleared all the brush around the trees, raked up all the yard waste, raked out all the leaves off the flower beds & herb garden, have the burn barrel going non stop, painted the back of the barn, fixed the rain gutters, started my seedlings/transplants, divided my chickens by breed & filled up the incubator and got my very first turkey egg a few days ago.

The tom's technique has improved, he at least has learned to move hens' tails out of the way & does more then just stand on top of them. Haven't broken the egg to see if it's fertile, too busy admiring it. Nice of them to start laying after I stuff the 'bator with chicken eggs.

I scored a brand new, (still in the plastic) loveseat at an auction for $100. It stood in the kitchen for two days while I struggled to get the huge armchair it replaces up my narrow stairs to the spare bedroom. Got said armchair nicely wedged in the stairway. Nothing like a little mountain climbing in the morning to reach the coffee maker.

The loveseat looked nice for about 10 minutes until the cats found it, so now it's covered in an old quilt, probably never to see the light of day again. On occasion the cats will let me perch on a corner of it if they feel like curling up into balls instead of stretching out like jaguars on a warm boulder.

The neighbor has cooled his geriatric jets, without my having to really do anything. My guess is now that the weather is warm, his wife goes for walks at night and sometimes strolls up here & we chat for a while. He drove up one day while we were talking (the look of mortal fear on his face was priceless) and maybe it dawned on him that pursuing me is a bad idea. Anyway, he is back to being his usual nice guy self.

I'll try to post some fun pics later, I not only got my daffodils to grow but this year they stayed where I planted them. They usually end up in the neighbors cow pasture behind the electric fence. I went over there and got them back and of course got caught and had to convince him that no, RipVanWinkle daffodils are not indigenous to Virginia cow fields. This year I saved the receipts & pictures, but luckily have not had to produce evidence to retrieve the bulbs.

Time to go plant my potatoes.......

 

[Blackbird]

Yeesh!!!

You have been VERY busy!

Congratulations on the furniture find and your turkey egg! What kind of chickens did you say you have again..?

 

[meriruka]

Mostly Orpingtons, (buffs & blues), seramas & silkies and a bunch of rescues of all different breeds.