I thought it was time for an update on the turkeys.
For those of you that don't remember these guys you can read about them here . There were 4 originally but after a terrible time with an infestation of turkey gnats we only had two to survive. We have now figured out how to get around these blood sucking gnats. After dipping these birds and treating them with chemical pesticides we moved the brooder inside an old shed. It seems the gnats do not like enclosed spaces. It worked and we had no more problems with these gnats after that. That's one of those lessons we learned the hard way.
I am also happy to share that Hickery Holler again has a flock of guineas. We have not released them yet because they love tomatoes and as long as we have tomatoes in the field we know better. The last flock we had was killed by a neighbor's dog so we are a little more protective of these birds. They have been raised in a large enclosure here on the farm from chicks given to us by on of the neighbor kids that we help with his poultry 4-H project from time to time.
You can read about Bus Driver Bob and the last flock here .
It will be nice to have guineas again. They make such nice watch birds and we never have bugs around when the guineas are on patrol. They produce lots of eggs that are also edible and are great to bake with.
Blessings from The Holler
The Canned Quilter
I have Bourbon Reds too,I love them! I too had trouble getting my little flock established only mine was because of predators.I had a guinea egg for breakfast yesterday,lol!
ReplyDeleteThe turkeys are very lovely and the guineas are really good watchdogs, they're quite vocal.
ReplyDeleteThe birds are lovely and clean looking! I don't remember ever tasting them, but they look like they would be delicious...and to get eggs from them too is double the raising for meat..Ginny
ReplyDeleteA man down the road used to have Guineas-and every time I see or hear about them I think of him.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all that information. Never heard of turkey gnats, and didn't know that guineas were edible. I thought they just made noise at strangers and ate bugs. haha.
ReplyDeleteMuch appreciated!