Paradise in Disguise Hobby Farm Blog

Finally, here's some photos of the new members of Paradise in Disguise Hobby Farm: 3 Narragansett Turkeys, which just so happen to be two toms & one hen. The other tom may be later traded for another hen, but we'll see if how things play out as they continue to grow. Now, on to the photos. The first few photos were blurry, as they can move quite fast and I was someone new. There was only one that the somewhat clear, taken the evening I brought them home - 7/10/15. Five days later, I let them out to "free range" in a large grass paddock that the chickens hadn't been in, so it was very overgrown. I knew they were good flyers, so I added extra netting & fencing, so there would be less of a chance for them to escape. Yes, that is a rabbit - who's been also "free-ranging" inside the grass paddocks and living off all the nice, green grass and weeds.  The turkeys mostly wandered around, looking things

Once again, my blog posts have fallen behind, but that’s okay, since there’s more important things to be done around here than sitting at a computer and writing. But, I needed relax a little tonight after playing and trying to keep up with 4 young boys (not mine, a family we know). Finished the animal’s “feed prep” for Friday, got the eggs washed, and am waiting for supper, as Mom went to go find my brother Joel & hasn’t come back inside yet. Anyways, lots been going on here – the previous post I wrote about phasing out the rabbits. What I didn’t mention, though, was that I’ve added 3 Narragansett Turkey poults, who were about 7 weeks old. It’s another one of my experiments, and we’ll decide by fall if they’re for the freezer or if I’ll keep all or some of them over the winter. I don’t know yet if they’re toms or hens, but the lady I got them from is only about 15 minutes away & said I could trade if I got too many of one gender. They’re in a semi-quarantine, in that they we

While I love the cuteness of the rabbits, they're just "one more thing" that I simply don't have time for, and therefore can't devote my full attention to.  I'm not totally giving up on them, simply with our current location (only 3/4 acre, including where the house sits) = lack of space. Plus, being the main person who takes care  of everything, it was getting to be too much. Plus, not everyone in the family was happy about picking out all the small rib cage bones, despite very carefully de-boning the meat after it was cooked. I still have 11 rabbits currently, with not much interest for the rest, but I did have 28, including the young kits.   I think the only way they'd "pay for themselves" is if I bred them either year-round or at least late winter to late fall, giving them a break in the coldest months. But, that would require a barn or greenhouse or some structure that would keep them warm enough that they'd want to breed in the