Back in June of this year my husband and I purchased 3 turkeys from the local feed store. At $12 per bird we were pretty protective of the little buggers. As my better-half finally gave in and agreed to raising a few turkeys, he received the honor of naming the birds. Quite creatively he dubbed […]

Poultry Breeds and Species Sponsored by Brinsea In this episode of MOTHER EARTH NEWS and Friends Kellsey Trimble, of Grit, sat down with Alison Martin from the Livestock Conservancy and Cindy Gibson from the Guinea Fowl International Association to discuss popular poultry breeds and species that you may want to add to your homestead.   […]

From an impacted crop to sour a crop, this food storage organ can effect your birds in a big way. Whether you are raising chickens or turkeys it’s important to pay close attention to your flock. Taking queues from a bird’s behavior can help detect issues early on. The first and easiest way to diagnose […]

I thought with the new chick season among us, some of you might be considering adding a few turkeys to the backyard flock. Our local feed store usually gets in a variety of fowl in addition to chickens; including ducks, guineas, turkeys and last year they even had quail and geese. One of the most […]

A home-grown turkey for Christmas dinner was part of our vision when we started on the turkey raising journey. I was so excited to raise two turkeys – one for Thanksgiving dinner and one for Christmas dinner.  It all seemed nostalgic to me.  I envisioned a male and female, happily living at LL Farm.  In […]

It’s not really the season to be looking to find turkey poults to raise for table. That usually takes place in the spring. But it is an excellent time to let your taste buds do some research for you. Homegrown turkeys can be delicious and what you eat this holiday season, might determine what fills […]

….they were dogs. …or possibly cats. …or even, perhaps, a boy. If you’ve followed my blog, you’ll know that my friend and I raise turkeys. They come to us as day old poults, and usually leave in time to be nicely dressed for Thanksgiving dinner. We treat these turkeys like we treat most of our […]

I have struggled with putting my words together for this post. However, I do believe that it is important to share this … to show that homesteading is not full of good times only. Homesteading is physically hard work. It can also be emotionally hard. In dealing with this, my emotions have been all over […]

It’s been a wonderful, fruitful year at Iron Oak Farm. The garden is coming along nicely, I’m picking ripening cucumbers every day and adding them to our refrigerator pickle jar. We also just finished kidding season, one of the most joyous times of the year. Our last pregnant doe gave birth to triplets last night. […]

I’ve been worried about Big Tom, our Black Spanish male turkey. Through the years I’ve become quite attached to Big Tom. He’s a large, impressive bird. The heavy folds of skin above his eye give him a foreboding look and he can be quite intimidating. But really, he’s a puppy at heart. Tom follows us […]