Our rooster is an @$&@#%!, but my turkey toms are MY HEROES!!!

Ok, no posting for a while then bam bam, two in a row! Was out throwing scratch to the ladies, and was hand feeding a couple of our toms. Out of nowhere, Dunderhead jumps in and spurs me through the fence. $&@%!! Well, the toms didn't take too kindly to Dunder attacking me, and two of them cornered and WHALLOPED him! Atta boys! I laughed til I cried, then gave the toms a bit more scratch and went in to scrub my new battle scars.

Quick pic Thursday... More chicks hatched

The other broody's chicks hatched yesterday. Providing I'm correct about Dunder over a barred hen producing sex-linked chicks where the boys have a white head spot.... 3 of 4 maran eggs in this hatch produced boys, one of which is in the pic above. Ugh. I'm gonna name him Stewy. :) At least Belly gave me 2 girls of the 3 maran eggs she hatched.

I think the white head spot means that he should be barred? If so, with that brown face... Interesting.

Critter and project updates

Still haven't managed to get to my computer for some real posting, so via iPhone pics, here's an update on some of what's been going on around here.


We were getting lots of these (like 18 a day), but cold weather and short days have the girls laying only 4-9 a day now. Haven't seen a white egg from Miss Blue in about 3 weeks. Either she stopped laying, or she's hiding them somewhere.

The girls are enjoying the new pen I fenced off for them.

And Dunderhead, with his wicked unruly eyebrows, seems recovered (knock on wood).

It is getting colder, and according to LJ, it started snowing after I left for work.

This is just pretty. Snapped while hiking the trails on our property. We've had some raging storms over the last week, so I doubt this lovely web is still out there.

I made this stool for our library so I can reach the top shelves, and I have begun organizing my books. I ordered a roll of dust jacket covers from Brodart, and have only managed to get about 1/3 of my hardbacks covered.

I also made a woodbox for in the house. I got the andirons for $8 at an antique show, painted them satin black (they were a really awful antiqued gold before), and mounted the box on them. I put legs on the back of the box. Works well, holds two sling-loads of wood, keeps bark and chips off the floor, and is PERFECTLY square. I'm pretty proud of that last part. :) (Please excuse the unfinished tile work on the hearth, and the lack of baseboard on the wall...)

Also been working on this little side table I just picked up at the thrift store. It took me about two hours to chip out that awful concrete and glass mosaic. Yuck. Makes me sad, as originally this little table would have had tiles made by, or in the style of, a company like Taylor, Catalina, or Malibu. I've had a few of these tables with their original tiles intact, and just love them. I'm going to refinish this, and see if I can get repro tiles that will fit. If anything, I only paid $7.95 for it, and have some mexican tile that I could make work.

I made some of this (mandarin ginger marmalade), as well as apple sauce and blackberry jam, and learned that the Ball recipes put too freakin much sugar in everything. Luckily, I've skimped a bit, except for the blackberry jam, which unfortunately came out painfully sweet.

I also took some of our pig fat...

And rendered some lard. It's awesome! Though, the crockpot method was gross, and slow, and a pain in the butt. A gal I know swears by the dutch oven method, so I'll try that next. If I don't get a dutch oven for my birthday next week (Mom hinted I would), I'll go out and buy one. We need one anyway. :) (Lard is cooling below. Came out pure white once fully cooled)

And that's about it for now. Gonna spend the weekend cleaning and prepping for Thanksgiving.

Have a great weekend!

Rooster update

So, on Tuesday night, Dunderhead still wasn't really walking. When I came home, he was 20' or so outside the coop, but was sitting and wouldn't/couldn't get up. I picked him up, made sure he ate and drank, and put him back in the coop with the ladies. Yesterday, he would walk a few steps and then lie down. Eating and drinking, though. According to LJ, Dunder attempted to mount one of the buffs, and she promptly flipped him over and dumped him on his head. At least his spirits seemed good. :)

Today, though a little wobbly, he is walking around and patrolling his yard as usual.

I don't get it. It happened the same way a few months ago. He's always been big and a bit wobbly. Could it be neurological? Perhaps something funky with his spine? Anyhow, he seems to be on the mend, which is awesome, because while he can be a serious butthead at times, I really like that bird!

Injured rooster... Again

Some of you may remember the problems I had with Dunderhead a few months ago. He started limping, and it progressed to where he couldn't even walk. We brought him in the house for a week or so, confining him to one of the brooders. Eventually his limp went away, and he was returned to the yard with his girls.

Yesterday evening I went out to close up the coop and saw him nestled down on the other side of the run. I went over to shoo him towards the coop, but when he tried to run off, he fell over. Couldn't walk. I caught him, and we checked his feet and legs. Couldn't find any injuries. Bones seem whole and unbroken. When I put a finger across the pad of his foot, he grips it with his toes. But he can't walk. Unable to find the problem, I made sure he drank and ate, and nestled him down in the straw in a corner of the coop. I'll see how he's doing this afternoon when I get home.

Cross your fingers for me. Dunderhead can be a pain, and will occasionally come after me if I'm trying to catch one of his girls, but I still really like this bird. He's an awfully pretty boy and takes good care of his ladies. I don't want to have to put him down. LJ sent me an email this morning and said that Dunder was crowing his head off this morning. LJ didn't get a look at him, as it was still dark when he left. Hopefully his exhuberant singing is a good sign.