Cleaning the coop...

Today was a beautiful day, sunny, breezy and around 70.  A good day to clean the chickden coop and the turkey kennel.  I can kick the hens out into their fenced area and close the door to keep them out. 
They are producing about 9 eggs a day on average.  Below is a pic of my nest box arrangement from the outside.  The 5gal buckets are slightly tipped so the eggs roll into the tray, and the tray has something blocking the ends to prevent eggs from falling out.  Trust me, the hens will turn around and try to move the eggs around, I have lost quite a few that way.  Duct tape and a cut up Coca-cola bottle do the trick of blocking the ends up nicely.

This is a nest box from the inside.  the white strips are bathtub skid strips to help the hens grip the slick surface.  You will also note that the hole is surrounded by black duct tape.  That is because the hens were sliding around and getting their feet cut up on the jagged edges of the cut out opening.  Duct tape is a simple and cheap solution to prevent wounded feet.  If you know anything about chickens, they are mercilessly curious, and they like the taste of blood.  'Nuff said!

The turkeys live in a dog kennel that measures about 8X12', it has some straw bales inside to block the wind with a couple low ones so they can hop up on them if they want.  The back half is covered with a heavy tarp that goes almost to the ground.  After being cooped up all winter there is a TON of poop.  Trust me when I say that turkey poop smells worse than chicken poop.  So I kick the boys out and let them roam the yard.  Adult turkeys are very easy to catch because they move pretty slow, and besides, they follow me pretty much everywhere I go.  Social critters that they are, they will follow almost anyone so long as no one tries to touch them.  I touch them anyway, because it keeps them easier to handle.  I have to herd them into the kennel when we leave, because they will wander over and pester the neighbors. The fact that they don't enjoy being touched makes it much easier to herd them.  They just move away from my outstretched hand, which gives me the ability to steer them. Big is the friendlier of my two boys, and he is a little larger than his brother Blue.  The easiest way to tell them apart is that Blue has a mostly blue head, while Big is usually sporting red.  Of course, as their moods change, so does their color.  DH calls them "Mood poultry". (DH is shorthand for Dear Husband) DH can't be bothered with helping clean the turkey kennel, but he does get brownie points for helping me to rotate it.

I use an old red plastic sled to move the manure to the garden, one backbreaking load at a time.  Since we rotated the kennel, I don't have to do all of it, just the part that is still full of poo.  The area that we moved the kennel off of can wait for a couple of days.  I pull the loaded sled with a rope back to the garden, then flip it over to dump it on the part of garden that could use the enrichment  After 4-5 loads, the turkey kennel is clean enough.  I spread a layer of straw, which is very helpful next time I need to clean the kennel.  Pitch fork tines can pick up straw, so if it is the bottom layer, it comes up pretty well.  We are going to have a killer garden this year, I have moved about 20 sled loads of manure into it, and have been turning it by hand to work it in.  I am going to plant peas in one of the beds later today.  Last year the peas didn't do very well because the groundhog ate every plant.  I still have a few more loads of manure to move and to work in, but for now the chicken coop is clean and fresh, and the turkeys have dry clean ground to stand on!  Yay for them, and Yay for me getting it done!

This is a picture of the part of the garden that I have already turned.  These are raised beds, and I have worked the chicken and turkey manure in by hand.  The farthest bed is going to be potatoes and peas, and the next one in will be zucchini and sweet white radishes.  Interesting radishes, they are white on the outside, and watermelon color on the inside,and they are supposed to be sweet.  We will see how they turn out.  Since they are such a short season crop is isn't like I have much to loose by trying them.

This is the quarter that I have only just started to work with.  That is all manure and bedding that I need to work in.  I think that I will try some cantaloupe there this year.  I did Honeydew last year, but I planted it too late to get much fruit.  Don't care much for watermelon, so won't bother to plant any.

This is a portrait of Blue.  He is very handsome, and he knows it.  I have Big Breasted Bronze turkeys.

This is a pic of the boys following me around the yard.  Big is in the foreground, with Blue close behind.  They are not even a year old yet, but they are pretty big.  I don't feed them food to put weight on them, because I am not ready to eat them.  Right now they get layer hen pellets, and that seems to suit them fine. We had a 3rd tom who we gave to one of DH's brothers, and as soon as he was put on meat builder food his weight zoomed from about 25lbs up to 75lbs.  He dressed out at 45lbs.  That is a HUGE turkey!  I think that these two weigh about 40lbs each, although I haven't picked them up in a while to find out.  I don't think I am going to try it either...

Well, it is the day before Resurrection Sunday, so I better get some more work done in order to enjoy tomorrow without having to deal with things left undone.  Hope you all have a blessed holiday, and can spend time with loved ones!