A day at the turkey farm.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Yesterday, we drove a few hours west, to visit my mom's cousin, who just happens to be a turkey farmer. So, of course, we got a tour of his turkey farm, and a wealth of information on what it takes to farm turkeys - which was quite fascinating! We had a great time learning about turkey farming, seeing animals, visiting with relatives and being outside on a gorgeous day.

Those little birds that look like little chickens? They are baby turkeys, and are called poults. Paul (my mom's cousin), has two turkey houses, that together hold 2,100 poults. They arrive on a truck the day after they hatch (the ones in the photos are only a day or two old!), and stay at his farm for 5 weeks, until they are about the size of a chicken (3 lbs), and then they go to another farm to continue growing. Once they leave, he has 4 weeks in between groups of poults (to clean and disinfect the turkey house), and then he gets another batch of baby turkeys!

There were SO many little poults running around. The cardboard corrals are used in the first week, to keep the poults closer to the heat source (those silver spaceship-looking things), until they get big enough to not need as much proximity to the heat. Then the cardboard comes out, and the poults occupy the entire turkey house. They get fed a mixture of corn and soybeans, and drink water. It was seriously so neat seeing the poults and learning more about turkey farming - it took me back to my NDSU days of studying Animal Science, and working with livestock - I miss being around animals and getting dirty :)

Paul also has some cattle, so we drove out to see the herd, which ended up being a blast. It was an absolutely beautiful day, and we enjoyed being outside and visiting with the cows and pony.

This calf was adorable, and the setting was just lovely.

Hey Little Man! (Yep, that's his name...)

Paul was telling us that whenever a mama cow goes off to have her baby, the pony is not far away. And when she rejoins the herd (and the calf is working on getting up to also join the herd), the pony, Little Man, stands guard over the calf, until it has the strength and stamina to get up - so they always know when a new baby has come, because Little Man is off, hanging out on the outskirts of the herd, keeping watch over the new addition.

L, with her Bibi and Babu. And the camera she was obsessed with.

I was naming the calves in my head. That one, in the top picture, on the far left?! I named him Oreo.

Hanging with her Babu, and checking out the calves.

I think I could have spent a few hours out there, just being outside, enjoying what God has created. It was filling and refreshing and a day that my heart needed. Thank you, Jesus!