We were highly disappointed when a fox (or coyote) got our turkeys, including babies. Then, a month ago, our remaining hen turkey disappeared from the chicken yard. OMG! I hunted through the grass and weeds along the inside of the fence and sure enough, there she was, hunkered down over 10 eggs — in July! She persisted through a 60 MPH windstorm with inches of rain, heat, and cool nights. Then a day ago, she came off the nest with 8 baby turkeys following her. She’s a good mom and the brood is doing well.

Just a note: We have had to cancel our August homesteading seminar due to lack of participants. We only had one person who signed up. I guess the economy is getting worse, huh? Next year we will only have one seminar, in August, to cover canning and other things. We’ll have more time to advertise and let folks save up who want to come.

14 COMMENTS

  1. Katie,

    We’re excited to see all of you Alumni, too! It’s exciting to us to hear of all of your successes. Like how you’ve learned to hang drywall and are planning your new barn! Go girl.

    Jackie

  2. I can hardly wait until next August – and it looks like there will be lots of returning ‘Alumni’ at the seminar!!! That should let everyone know how awesome the time with you was, and how worthwhile and FUN… Did I mention I am no longer afraid of power tools and now can drywall with the best of them?? Am now planning the replacement barn. Hope you and Will have a fabulous rest of the summer.

  3. Jackie–
    We lost 7 turkeys (out of 24) to a mountain lion last week! And they were just two weeks from butchering. We couldn’t figure out what happened as they are in electrified netting that was running 4500 volts. Then our neighbor stopped by and told us he saw a mountain lion in our pasture where the poultry are. That explains it! (And freaks us out a little…) So glad your hen came through!!

  4. Bobbie and all the May seminar attendees!

    So happy to hear so many of you plan on coming again. It was a wonderful time for us, too! We’ll be so glad to see you all again.

    Jackie

  5. Janice,

    We just like turkeys and like turkey meat too. So far, all babies are growing and doing great!

    Jackie

  6. Deborah,

    So sorry you couldn’t open my flyer! If you’d have e-mailed me back I could have pasted it into an e-mail so you could read it without photos. We’re going to schedule our next year’s seminar in August so we can do a whole lot of harvest/seed-saving and, of course, canning. I’ll keep everyone posted as to date very early in the year.

    Jackie

  7. Jackie, Wonderful news about the new babies. It encourages those who loose animals to natures predators. I really love your column. It’s so informative and usually the first thing I read.

  9. Hi Jackie,

    Deb and I are coming too in August. Bobbie, it will be great to see you again! Let me know when I can send in a deposit so I can secure my place. I can’t wait!

    For all of you who are sitting on the fence…hop off and come to the seminar. It is awesome!!!

    Sheryl

  10. I wanted to come but August is a difficult time for me to get time away. I was hoping for another early season seminar next year.

  11. Jackie,
    I wanted to come to the seminar but the email brochure you tried to send me would not open.
    Please, do not be discouraged. This probably happened to a lot of people. I would have happily come if I could have opened the email and gotten registered.
    Deborah

  12. Jackie, so glad to see the new baby turkeys!
    I will be saving vacation time for your seminar next year, so when you have details let me know. I know money is tight for all, but the things you and Will taught us have already helped me save, and start to be more productive in my small space. plus it was the best time ever!

  13. What a wonderful story! Your Turkey hen is beautiful! I started raising Rhode Island Red chickens this year and really love them. What made you start raising Turkeys?

  14. Your turkey hen looks great and the babies are so cute!

    I, for one, would come to a seminar but every nickel, dime and dollar counts right now!! Everytime I look at chicken feed it has gone up again!

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