The PopPops are officially released into the big field. And, so far, they have not escaped. And the turkeys have not escaped either! Though I was not trying to keep the turkeys in.
I covered the lower half of the big green gates in chicken wire so the PopPops could not use the gates as an easy escape hatch.
The turkeys who frequently perch on top of the gate stood brooding behind the gates all day, muttering amongst themselves, mystified at being locked in. Forgetting that they can and have flown onto and over these gates before.
At least the porch got a break from being pooped on for the day!
The PopPops, who cannot fly, are being kept off the streets. So far so good anyway. There are a million places for tiny pigs to escape and I am sure they will point them out to me shortly!
They are so small.
But they spent their time out frantically eating as many greens as they could find. They are voracious foragers.
I put the piglets back into their small enclosure at night. They can only be out roaming when I am out farming. We don’t want to lose these little fellows in the corn!
But those turkeys!! Snort. I wonder how long it will take before they realize they are not locked in.
The ducks have been locked out. The ducks are annoyed that they can’t go down and pester the turkeys anymore and eat their food. But these two white ducks are way too fat to fly and do not need to be stealing turkey food. This is an added benefit of lining the gates in chicken wire.
The third cutting of hay is mown and, if there is no rain, this cool weather with a little breeze and low humidity will produce some lovely bales.
I need to get into the barn and make a space for this batch.
Another gorgeous clear cool morning.
Look at this:
(11C) It is August- in Central Illinois – usually way hotter than this! But a delicious cool morning. I’ll take it!
We have meat chickens arriving this week so R and I are readying the brooder. These are R’s chickens. It is my absolute pleasure to have another group of families growing their food on this property too. R is their matriarch and this is our first year of what is proving to be a stunning and successful collaboration. Busy. That’s true. But my objective is to get good food into the good kitchens of local people. And all people need good food. Teaching the young people in R’s family to grow their own food is an investment in the health of their future.
Have a great day!
Celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
3 responses to “Turkeys are not Clever”
Quite cool here the last few days too. How great! Love that you have a collaborator! A community effort.
They no where their bread is butered! Don’t count on the ducks being to fat to fly though. Ducks and geese stuff themselves stupid in order to fly thousands of miles. That’s how the Ancient Egyptians discovered foi gras. Some birds eat so much their livers burst!
Birds roosting or hanging out on porches are very messy indeed! How fortunate Boo is learning to chase them away in a calm way! I’m wondering about the PopPops… Will each provide much meat? They seem so small. And I’m thinking they won’t get very big. Will they get as big as Tima and Wai?