Can't have too many babies!

Happy news tonight as one of our mama turkey hens brought us 6 brand new babies.  Well, it wasn't her intention to bring them to us but, since she was showing them off, we scooped them up and put them in a brooder.  She's very distressed and her calls tug at our hearts but we know from experience that predators will take their toll and she'll lose most of them.  She had her nest up in the woods, stayed with it for four weeks and hatched all but two eggs so she's done a very good job.

The 15 chicks we ordered from the hatchery (plan B) arrived on time.  Those plus the first 3 a turkey hen hatched make 18.  One of the babies died (17), plus these 6 make 23 chicks.  There are still two hens sitting and we think one is in the process of hatching as she's all puffed out instead of sitting tight like the other hen.  Hopefully, we'll have a lot of turkeys to choose from when it's time to butcher in November.

Tomorrow I'm teaching two workshops at the Gorge Grown Food Forum in White Salmon; one on raising backyard poultry and one on canning.  I'd love to take a couple of these chicks to show off but they're just too new to be without a brooder for a whole day.  Besides, they're really noisy calling for their mama!  I was also going to take equipment as an example but that's the last of our extra lamps and feeders.  Pictures in a Powerpoint presentation will have to do.  One interesting note - White Salmon zoning doesn't allow backyard poultry so I've got a little information to help change the city father's  minds if folks are so inclined to ask for a zoning change.  Every backyard ought to have a chicken or two in my opinion!  Happy birthday, baby chicks.

Time to Prune

There's a new predator in town. Our turkey hens are very broody and doing their best to find a safe, dry place to nest. Bourbon Red turkeys are known for their maternal insticts. Because they're free range, they travel into the oak woods, under the landscape bushes, into the garden cart, and under scrub oaks along the driveway laying eggs. If we spot them going to a nest, we will gather their eggs for future hatching in our incubator. Occasionally the dogs will find an egg and enjoy a little snack. Today I spotted a big ol' raven stealing eggs. She swooped in and landed by the nest, picked up that big turkey egg in her beak and flew off. A few minutes later she was back for another. We'll have to do something about that raven if we want to have any chicks. Last year a raven killed a good number of the babies before we caught her in the act.

We never seem to hit the late winter pruning tasks at just the right time before the trees and vines break their dormant sleep and the sap starts to run towards the sky. This year has been particularly difficult to gauge as the day time temperatures are unusually warm. The fruit trees just need a little trim so being late isn't a problem but the grape vines need over half their stems cut back so that fruit will form on the new growth. We started making cuts and they started weeping, so we stopped to make a decision - to prune or not to prune?

Pruning can be risky when done incorrectly. Sometimes pruning is necessary to prevent disease or to cut out dead weight. Done carefully and with thought, pruning forces new growth and produces more fruit. I feel that way about life. Like plants, people need to prune in their lives. Trouble is, when the weeping starts, we stop to think it over. If I think of this philosophy in terms of my relationships, job, mental and physical health, and priorities, "pruning" can be a very effective way to take control and focus on the joy in life.

The sun is shining this afternoon. I think I'll get out the pruning shears and ignore the weeping. Those grape vines need some tough love!