Harp Turkey Ranch

We got our new puppy about a month ago, but she is not much of a puppy now. Took some training to get her to not chase the turkeys but to guard them and not let anything chase them. After two weeks thinking that it was going to be impossible to get her not to chase them, I think I did it. This weekend I just happened to be outside with the camera and look at what I got. She is doing soooo much better. About two times a week she has a moment but other then that she is doing great. They are out side all day with her and nothing bad has happened. When anything messes with the turkeys she starts barking and is protecting too. 

Cassey Watching the Turkeys

 

Our 2 new pigs are about the funniest thing to watch. I can watch them for over an hour and just lose track of time while they entertain me. The kids just absolutely love 'em. The pigs have gotten really use to my voice and seeing me. When they first arrived at the ranch they where kinda skiddish and not fond of people. Just after two days they have changed 100%. When they see or hear me they come running as fast as they can to where I'm at. Every time they see me in their pen they expect me to pet them.They look very happy in their new home.24'x48' seems to be just right for the two pigs for now. They run from one end to the other playing in between. The female has not stopped rutting with her nose since she got here. She has made their pen look like I took a rototiller through it before I put them in there. The turkeys have not figuered out what to think of them yet. The turkeys go in their pen to try and steal some of their grain and the pigs come to check them out and the turkeys get scared and run and fly away like they where getting attacked. The turkeys really love going in their pen though and picking through all over the freshly over turned ground looking for bugs and worms that the pigs left behind. They also seem to like to eat all the fresh roots and stuff under the dirt that the pigs turn up for them. I think in the long run they will make a perfect match and they will help each other. 

 Close up of the two piggies - Pinky & Maxx

 

Finally the rains have stopped after about 48 hrs of pure rainfall. Yesterday I woke up to a lake/swamp farm again. This morning all back to semi normal, my drainage ditches must have worked in normal conditions. The pigs didn't seem to mind. But the Turkeys and the Goats just didn't want come out of their homes, only to get a bite of food and right back in.

 We have a new website, you can now go to the website and reserve your bird with pay pal for 2009 Holidays, don't be caught next year with out a bird. Reserving a bird now is the only way to guarantee you a holiday bird. You can also go there to find out about poults (baby turkeys) & heritage chicks for sale. I'll be updating it often as needed. Please feel free to visit and reserve your bird when ever you want. Here is a link to the site. www.harpturkeyranch.synthasite.com

Last night our 2 new pigs made it to the farm. They arrived to a wet rainy farm but never the less they started rutting around in the soft dirt all night. They finally bedded down around 11pm. My daughters have wanted pigs for a while now so we decided to get them two one for each girl. Their names are Pinky & Maxx. I'm starting them out in a 24'x48' pen for now. I have plans for them on helping around the farm, using their snouts. And boy did they start last night !! I plan on moving their pen around about every other week or so, see how they do in the next couple weeks. After they clear one spot on to another spot fresh full of weeds and stuff for them to eat. I will re seed grain behind them for the turkeys to eat. So now my plan is goats in an area first then the pigs after the pigs re seed and let the turkeys and chickens go. Like to improve my land the natural way first, but if things don't work out, well I do have a tractor that can get the job done.

The two new pigs in there pen the next morning

 

We are expecting a second storm like we just went through tonight and all day tomorrow.  So I decided today to get a early start on the pens. I need to to make sure there was going to by sunlight on the ground in the pens to grow grass for my turkeys to eat.

Well the rains have stopped for now. What a relief. Yesterday I was out planning and measuring ground for the turkey breeding pens. Since when we moved here there was nothing. I came up with an area that measures 75' wide x 160' length. When I divide that up in to the 4 breeding pens that we need, I came up with 4 - 40' wide x 75' length pens. So now that the planning part is over, now comes the hard part. We figured to fence off the the two sides that are not fenced now as we will be using the outer perimeter fence for the other two sides. After the fence is built, time to release the Boer goats to concur the brush. Planning on giving 2-3 goats till about February '09 to get the area all cleaned up. After the goats are done then I'll start cleaning up the big branches etc. and build the cross fence to make up the pens. I want the pens to be as natural as possible. They are set in amongst the trees.  This first year I will probably have to supplement the grass with hay and grass clippings from our yard. After the breeding season is over I will then be planting grasses after most of all the weeds and brush are gone, so that way next year they will have their own grasses to eat during the days.

Here is a few pictures of what the area looks like now.

 

Here in the great pacific northwest, the rains have not stopped. We have a drain pond on our property and it's full. Spent all morning digging ditches to help relieve it's depths. We have received about 5"-8" and suppose to get more tonight, some tropical storm is what the news says. When I woke up this morning the farm looked more like a swamp then a farm !! 

Like to start by saying welcome.

 Here at the Harp Turkey Ranch we are farming the heritage way. We specialize in pastured raised heritage turkeys and chickens. We also raise Boer Goats & Pigs. The goats clear any and all brush that we need cleared. Then the chickens come in behind the goats and help clear the rest and clean up any weed seeds that are left. After all that I seed the area and let mother nature take over. After the wheat and rye grow I let the turkeys in the area and they eat all the bugs and the new grasses that are growing. It is a good natural cycle to regain pasture land that we need.

  Harp Turkey Ranch is a family ran farm.

 I planted the acre that the goats had cleared out with winter rye. It is all comming up fast. The turkeys grazing over it love the new growth and it has been a chore just keeping them out of the new stuff.They have their very own half acre that they can eat and they choose to go else where, with less feed ?? When we moved I just kept some of my old breeders and now a tough road ahead of re-building a successful farm. We didn't keep any of the chickens, so now I have to order a new batch to raise and pick my breeders out of. The best thing about chickens they are pretty fast at growing and being ready to breed, as with turkeys it takes a year to grow and mature then you have to wait for spring. We raise all of our own chicks and poults from our own breeding stocks.

  The breeds of poultry we raise are the following.

 Chickens -
- Freedom Ranger ( meat -  Label Rouge Grown )

- Golden Cuckoo Marans

- Black Copper Marans

- Blue Splash Marans

Heritage Turkeys -
- Bourbon Red

- Molted Black Spanish

- Narragansett

- Wishard Bronze

Please visit our web page at - http://harpturkeyranch.synthasite.com