Farm Fresh: New Chicks and a Sad Turkey

Our friendliest and favorite mama hen made a hidden nest in a box in the barn loft and is hatching a new batch of chicks. I discovered her up there when the eggs had been incubating for over a week.  I reduced the number of eggs to only 8 so that she could keep them all warm. 

Yesterday, we noticed that one chick had hatched and I decided to move her and the box into the basement for easier access and observation.  When all the eggs have hatched we will move her and the babies into one of our portable chicken coops. 

I spent most of my garden time this week spreading manure and mulch. The chickens happily helped spread it around while looking for tasty bugs. 

Hubby helped me hang up the glass in my new apothecary cupboard. 

It took a lot of time and effort to get them stenciled the way that I wanted, but I am pleased with how it turned out. 

Stenciling the glass will help protect the herbs from exposure to sunlight. 

In sad news, our turkey Rosie reached 6 months of age and stopped being able to walk.  His legs just would not support his weight any more.  He is a commercial breed, so we knew that it might happen, but hoped that he might last awhile longer since he was a runt. 

I watched for 2 days to see whether or not he might get back up. Finally, I set up my processing station and sent him on to his happy hunting ground.  We have appreciated the many meals that he provided so far. I also just happened to be using the bones to make a big pot of bone broth when I found out that our neighbor/friend who is suffering from an intestinal cancer needed some nourishment. He is on a high protein diet, mostly only able to eat things like broth. I was happy to share the bounty that Rosie blessed us with.  There is no comparison for the nourishment coming from a pasture raised homestead turkey and what you can buy at the store.