I get a lot of visits from wild turkeys lately. I'll be taking a nap in my hammock (which I absolutely love doing during the summer):
and I'll hear their sounds. They have a unique sound. They kind of click, or cluck, I don't know how to describe it but it is certainly unique to the turkeys. Anyway, I wake up look out and there the turkeys are.
Can you even spot the turkeys in this picture? There are two. A mama turkey and a little baby turkey. In reality there are more. At first I feel like I used to see quite a few. Two adults and maybe 6 or 7 babies. Lately It's been down to 4. I assume one is the mama, the others are definitely babies.
Why would they think I'm a farmer? Well, I do have two dogs and I did have 5 cats this summer. Sansa had babies.
And well, I also have chickens.
These were my first batch of chickens that I got. I bought 10. I had no idea how to care for them but I tried to learn everything "chicken" as fast as I could and I ended up being the caretaker. And well, I can't blame the turkeys for thinking I'm a farmer, I feel like a farmer when I take care of the chickens.
My first batch of chickens I named all after the ladies in the office. There was Pam, Jan, Phyllis, Karen, Kelly, Angela, Esther, Erin, Holly and Meredith. I was proud of what my chickens were becoming and was looking forward to their eggs, when one morning I awoke to the scene of a crime. Going out to sing to them(yes I sing to them) and feed and water them, I found 8 of my 10 chickens dead. There were big bear pawprints and scratches explaining the sounds I had heard early that morning. A bear had gotten to them. The front side of the coop had been ripped off. The back side too and we surmised that those silly chickens, safe in their coop, were frightened by the bear paw and fled outside...a deadly decsion for the ladies of the office. Chicken bodies were strewn one by one down the hill. Not all the ladies had made a poor decision the day of the bear attack, two remained safe. Holly and Jan decided to stay in the coop and guess what....Holly and Jan survived. So I suffered a terrible loss that morning and Brad has been after the bear ever since. We haven't caught the culprit yet. Also Brad made Jake screw on the sides of the coop. I guess he had only nailed them on prior to the Bear attack which is why they bear was able to tear the sides off.
Just so you know, bears aren't the only visitors we've had to the coop. Brad and the boys got to see two young mountain lions hanging around too. I was too scared to go look at them. Man I live in a cool area...bears, lions, wild turkeys, moose (alright I haven't seen the moose this year). And while it is cool to see these wild creatures I really don't want an encounter with them. I'm not a hunter for sure.
Anway, farmer me missed my chickens so I ordered a second batch. 16 this time. Upon arrival one of the little chicks was dead. So I was automatically down to 15. Then three of the chicks wanted to escape...and die. I say survival of the fittest so when I could hear them in my neighbor's yard...I let them go. And...they didn't return. So, we were down to 12 plus Holly and Jan. Then Holly decided to run away. And now we have the 12 newbies (I think they are 10 weeks old) and good old Jan who laid her first egg for me today! Yay. Turkeys you are right, I definitely am a farmer.
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