Turkey Cottage in the Woods

 Turkey Cottage

Snuggled in the Woods

It’s our October vacation week and what better way to enjoy the foliage, then to spend it building a new cottage in the woods for the turkeys.

If you remember earlier this summer, our Narragansett turkeys arrived in the mail.  They had been growing at a good pace and were ready to move out of their indoor quarters.

 We spent some time choosing the perfect spot for this project.  We needed it to be mostly flat to minimize the site work.  There was a desire to set the turkeys back in the woods to be closer to their natural environment, but we also wanted it to be a smooth path and accessible from the barn for chores (feeding and watering).

You might be wondering what this contraption is in their backyard; it is a group of roosting posts for the turkeys to feel safe off the ground at night. We have netting above to keep them from flying off.

So, a peak at the process in photos below.  Justin and Pepere Larry made this in just one week!

We did take apart an old shed and so had a little head start on some of this structure.

Here the Turkey cottage is taking its form.  Down below continue to scroll to see the inside perches,  screened window, and outdoor pen.

I personally love the little solar lanterns Justin added to the sides of their front door.  They can be taken off and hooked on the back for chores in the dark.

Here is the first turkey to move into the cottage.  Notice her beautiful feathers.  Now they’re all moved in!  What a productive vacation!

It’s early yet to count our poults before they hatch,  but hopefully we will have some for sale this coming spring.

We do still have one 20 pound frozen turkey available at $3/pound. Processed this September 2021. 

Litchfield Fair

 Litchfield Fair

2021

The Litchfield Fair was a very busy weekend and the turn out was impressive.  Our little this’n’that farm and the kiddos won some nice first place ribbons.  Ava’s sunflower won tallest for youth entry.  My adult entry for tallest sunflower came in second place.  We’ll definitely enter this contest again next year.

We spent a lot of time at our spot in the barn.  Here I am at our little demonstration table.  Alexia’s poster is on display in the back explaining about shearing and washing the wool.  We had samples of wool out on the table for people to feel.  Here is a close up of the shearing poster.

We were right beside our three stalls totaling six sheep. They had a relaxing weekend, while we catered to their every need.

Here we have their name tags hanging up above their pens.  Above is Boston and Lambert, the boys.  Lambert is our white Southdown ram and father of next year’s lambs.  Boston is the little Hampshire sheep; his wingman.  

Alexia painted the signs. She did a great job.

If you notice the recycled hay feeders that the sheep are using… this was Alexia’s 4H project a couple years ago.  If you never saw it, check out her video still published on Pinterest. The video will play even if you don’t have Pinterest. Alexia’s hay feeder video.

We filled an entire farm display with our farm product and Art.  Zoom in and check it all out.  Everyone contributed, even Jordan had his maple syrup on display.  We have sheep wool, canned goods, and eggs from both our ducks and our chickens.

Our Lady fisherwoman scarecrow caught a small fish, but a first place ribbon!

Pig Races

 

We had two groups of racers in the program this year.  The left side had pigs named Doby, Hank the Tank, Flash, Bacon, and Piggy Sue.  On the right is Jasper the pink pig and the rest of the tan and spotted pigs are our pigs.

Look at our happy, tired pigs.  They had a fun weekend of racing.  Here we have “Starflight” Ava’s pig, “IO” Acadia’s pig, and “Amber” Amelia’s first place pig.  LOL at Acadia’s pig IO sitting in the picture below!

Let’s start the races. 

The pigs were big this year and so it was decided that we would not lift them over the paneling of the pen but instead create a chute to start off their race from the barn through the chute and into the ring.  Justin released the pigs and Pepere Larry guarded the chute.

This had the unintended benefit of being a lot more fun and faster paced racing.  

Here is Starflight reaching her trainer: Ava and is rewarded with her cheese stick. I was Ava’s body guard from the nibbling pigs and that’s how I got this winning shot!

There is so much going on at the fair.  There is something for anyone and everyone. Here is a little peak at our ventures away from the barn.

Ox Pulling in the large show ring.

The horse ring was busy all weekend with a variety of events… this was as close as we ever got, but it looked like fun.

A free bike lottery happened for the kids every day of the fair! You just have put your name in at the main office.

Cow Show

Sheep Show

Pig Scramble

When I tell people that we race pigs the first thing they think of is this pig scramble. But this it’s not a pig race as you know from earlier in this post. The pig scramble goes like this. Put five little piggies on one end of the arena.

Step two: line up 10 little children. Their names are chosen by lottery and some of them have no experience with pigs. But it is very funny to watch them try and catch a pig.  Ready, set, go!  Running, stooping, diving and squealing by pigs and kids. There are lots of cheers of encouragement from family and the crowds.

The Wee Farm has such great, fun learning opportunities for the young ones.  As always, there was such a variety, but we will just have to explore more and share more photos next year.

Thanks for taking a peak at Castonguay this’n’that Family Farm’s experience at the Litchfield Fair! 

While I have your attention: we processed turkeys today and have one left for sale.  A 20 pound Turkey for $60.  Fresh backyard Turkey meat today, frozen after tonight. Contact us at castonguaythisandthatfarm@yahoo.com