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There are 15 new photographs on the Photo Page Lynne…

There are 15 new photographs on the Photo Page. Lynne said that it was about time I got rid of the Christmas photographs. I will put those she sent in to replace them in a few days time.

4 sent in by Vicky of Dennis. The third one you can see the Chickens Dennis would hang around with.

5 sent by Simon. Had these since before Xmas

1 sent in by Elaine. Have been looking through my memory sticks and found a photo of Robin’s bridesmaid dress don’t know if you want to put it on the gallery so everyone will know what we are talking about.

2 foot long icicles hanging from my gutters!
Janice.Leeds

Fieldfare’s that have been visiting our garden(not best photos I know, they were taken through a window) Rose W’canton

Last one from Julia. There are more that I will put on over the next few days.

Who would ever believe that a Turkey could be a pet. We never did for one moment, but after hatching them we soon realised what a friendly bird they were. After hatching they were kept in our wash room until they were sold or could cope with being put outside in a stable under heat lamps. Very quickly after hatching when ever Mrs.Farmer went into the wash room to feed the Turkey Chicks they would fly to her and perch on her shoulder or arms. Dennis was one of many who did it.

A friend who had given us a lot of Bantam eggs would not take any payment for them. As payment we decided that we would give her a pair of the Turkeys that we knew she would keep as an edition to her large collection of Poultry. Four Turkey chicks were kept to let grow on. Two for our friend and two for ourselves.

Fortunately the four Turkey chicks turned out to be two Hens and two Stags and as Turkeys do they grew very quickly and soon reached a size that we could give our friend her pair of Turkeys. Our Friend collected her pair a week after we told her they were ready, but unfortunately one of the hens died. We promised a pair so we finished up with one Stag, our Dennis.

Dennis very quickly made friends with our Buff Orpingtons and Silky’s when we allowed him to free range around the Farm Yard and when ever any of our Holiday Guests in the cottage next to the Farm House would sit outside Dennis would lay by their feet, sometimes even on them. He was a big hit and a favorite with every one who met him. Tass and Kye would often give him a sniff and a lick. Every night when Mrs.Farmer put the Chickens and Bantams in their houses Dennis would follow her as if he was helping. When he strayed into the Horses corral the Horses would often reach down to him, always being careful not to step on him.

It was about three days before Dennis died that we noticed that he was not himself. Nothing that would cause a lot of concern, only that he needed watching. Yesterday morning he had obviously got worse and was scouring so I gave him antibiotics. He sat on the lawn in front of the Farm House getting no better or worse. One of our Holiday Guests came to tell us that Dennis was being bothered by the Buff Orpingtons. They were not bothering him, one was gently pawing his back to get him up, an other lightly touching Dennis around his face with its beak. It was very touching to see, and we really did not expect to see such concern by Chickens.

As Dennis had not got any better by the time he would have been put into his house we decided to take him into the Farm House for the night so that we could give him a little water, as with him scouring he must have been dehydrating. Tass and Kye just accepted Dennis in the Kitchen, going to him now and then as if to see how he was. We managed to give him a little water but at about 9.30pm he was having a type of convulsion. At about 10.10pm Dennis died.

We have no idea what caused Dennis to die. He was scouring but if it was something that he had eaten. The other Chickens would have been eating it to and they have shown no signs of illness.

Dennis was very special pet to us so we decided to bury him with where we bury our other pets at the end of their lives. It was very sad having to dig his grave, and very upsetting burying Dennis.

We will hatch another Dennis very soon as Turkeys are really great and nice to have around. As all of our Holiday Guests and any one who met Dennis will tell you. Who would ever believe a Turkey could be a pet.

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There are 15 new photographs on the Photo Page Lynne…

There are 15 new photographs on the Photo Page. Lynne said that it was about time I got rid of the Christmas photographs. I will put those she sent in to replace them in a few days time.

4 sent in by Vicky of Dennis. The third one you can see the Chickens Dennis would hang around with.

5 sent by Simon. Had these since before Xmas

1 sent in by Elaine. Have been looking through my memory sticks and found a photo of Robin’s bridesmaid dress don’t know if you want to put it on the gallery so everyone will know what we are talking about.

2 foot long icicles hanging from my gutters!
Janice.Leeds

Fieldfare’s that have been visiting our garden(not best photos I know, they were taken through a window) Rose W’canton

Last one from Julia. There are more that I will put on over the next few days.

Who would ever believe that a Turkey could be a pet. We never did for one moment, but after hatching them we soon realised what a friendly bird they were. After hatching they were kept in our wash room until they were sold or could cope with being put outside in a stable under heat lamps. Very quickly after hatching when ever Mrs.Farmer went into the wash room to feed the Turkey Chicks they would fly to her and perch on her shoulder or arms. Dennis was one of many who did it.

A friend who had given us a lot of Bantam eggs would not take any payment for them. As payment we decided that we would give her a pair of the Turkeys that we knew she would keep as an edition to her large collection of Poultry. Four Turkey chicks were kept to let grow on. Two for our friend and two for ourselves.

Fortunately the four Turkey chicks turned out to be two Hens and two Stags and as Turkeys do they grew very quickly and soon reached a size that we could give our friend her pair of Turkeys. Our Friend collected her pair a week after we told her they were ready, but unfortunately one of the hens died. We promised a pair so we finished up with one Stag, our Dennis.

Dennis very quickly made friends with our Buff Orpingtons and Silky’s when we allowed him to free range around the Farm Yard and when ever any of our Holiday Guests in the cottage next to the Farm House would sit outside Dennis would lay by their feet, sometimes even on them. He was a big hit and a favorite with every one who met him. Tass and Kye would often give him a sniff and a lick. Every night when Mrs.Farmer put the Chickens and Bantams in their houses Dennis would follow her as if he was helping. When he strayed into the Horses corral the Horses would often reach down to him, always being careful not to step on him.

It was about three days before Dennis died that we noticed that he was not himself. Nothing that would cause a lot of concern, only that he needed watching. Yesterday morning he had obviously got worse and was scouring so I gave him antibiotics. He sat on the lawn in front of the Farm House getting no better or worse. One of our Holiday Guests came to tell us that Dennis was being bothered by the Buff Orpingtons. They were not bothering him, one was gently pawing his back to get him up, an other lightly touching Dennis around his face with its beak. It was very touching to see, and we really did not expect to see such concern by Chickens.

As Dennis had not got any better by the time he would have been put into his house we decided to take him into the Farm House for the night so that we could give him a little water, as with him scouring he must have been dehydrating. Tass and Kye just accepted Dennis in the Kitchen, going to him now and then as if to see how he was. We managed to give him a little water but at about 9.30pm he was having a type of convulsion. At about 10.10pm Dennis died.

We have no idea what caused Dennis to die. He was scouring but if it was something that he had eaten. The other Chickens would have been eating it to and they have shown no signs of illness.

Dennis was very special pet to us so we decided to bury him with where we bury our other pets at the end of their lives. It was very sad having to dig his grave, and very upsetting burying Dennis.

We will replace Dennis very soon as Turkeys are really great and nice to have around. As all of our Holiday Guests and any one who met Dennis will tell you. Who would ever believe a Turkey could be a pet.

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Starting from number one there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number one there are five new photographs on the photo page. All sent in by Simon.

Yesterday was one of my favorite days of the year. No wonder the Druids celebrated the Winter Solstice. I don’t mind if it had rained, snowed or even if there had been a hurricane, it was the shortest day of the year and the days will start getting longer telling Spring is on its way. Mind you I just went to look for one of our Emu in the Horse Field. It was so misty I could not see more than 3 feet in front of me.

Emu in the Horse Field. A week ago when I checked the Valley camera first thing in the morning I saw what I thought was a Deer in the distance. On zooming in to the Deer it turned out to be an Emu. We went to try to catch it fearing that it would start to run as soon as we went close. To my surprise it wanted to follow me, but it would not cross the Bridge over the Stream as the gap was to small. After twenty minutes of coaxing it to within just a foot or so of crossing we decided to go a different way just in case it got bored and decided to walked away. We decided to go through the gate in between the Valley Field and the Horse Field to make our way back to the Emu Field. It was our only option but the gateway was a lot wider allowing the Emu to see through from one field to the other. Without any calling or enticing it followed us for nearly four hundred metres. I didn’t push our luck to try to walk the Emu up our drive from the Horse Field to the Emu Field as there are a few places that it may have decided that it would rather go other than the way we wanted. So the Emu has been in the Horse Field ever since. Normally it waits by the gate when it here me going to feed the Mob of Emu on the Quad, but this evening I forgot his bucket. When I returned to feed him he had disappeared and the mist had come in and it was impossible to see where he was. The Horse Field is big, but I eventually found him and he followed me back to the gate. I take it that it is Male and that it was chased by another. How it got out of the Emu Field I really cant make out.

The Emus are producing lots of eggs, 57 up to now. We have 31 in the incubator and more to go in. I am not to sure how many of the first eggs
are fertile, or if any have been affected by the cold. Tonight just before dusk I went to collect a couple of eggs, the first time so late and for the first time I saw the Emu mating so I am sure we will get some Emu Chicks. I must admit the Emu are nice to have. They are very friendly, inquisitive and seem quite intelligent.

All of the other animals are doing well. The Horses are rugged up and stabled at night having the freedom to walk about in the corrals in front of the stables during the day. We did part with the Bagot Goats. The only place for them was in the Paddock with the Rhea. Although we fed them at the same time, the Goats wanted the Rhea food so we were spending nearly two hours a day stopping them. We made a pen for them to feed in, but they didn’t want to go in. The Rhea were not getting the amount of feed that they needed so the Goats had to go. They have gone to a nice home with young Children and a Field full of Sheep. Thornton is doing well. It is to cold for him of a night and he barges his way in very early.

Don’t know what dialect this poem is written in, but I am sure one of you will tell me.

Talking Turkeys. A tribute to Dennis who is still running about the Farm Yard at Denbury and he wont be going in the oven.

Be nice to yu turkeys dis Christmas
Cos’ turkeys just wanna hav fun
Turkeys are cool, turkeys are wicked
An every turkey has a Mum.
Be nice to yu turkeys dis christmas,
Don’t eat it, keep it alive,
It could be yu mate, an not on your plate
Say, Yo! Turkey I’m on your side.
I got lots of friends who are turkeys
An all of dem fear christmas time,
Dey wanna enjoy it, dey say humans destroyed it
An humans are out of dere mind,
Yeah, I got lots of friends who are turkeys
Dey all hav a right to a life,
Not to be caged up an genetically made up
By any farmer an his wife.

Turkeys just wanna play reggae
Turkeys just wanna hip-hop
Can yu imagine a nice young turkey saying,

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Starting from number eleven there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number eleven there are five new photographs on the Photo Page, sent in by Marie whilst she a Margaret were on Holiday at Denbury.

Sorry Elsie I forgot to tell you that it was Mrs Farmer who named Dennis the Turkey. When he was younger he had large eye lashes like Dennis Healey. Dennis was one of four that we kept as pets. A pair for a person who gave us Bantam eggs, and a pair for us. Unfortunately our female died. I actually went over to he Farm where the other pair went. Basil and Rosie they have been named. They have a very nice home just a few mile from us. The Lady who has them has like us lots of pet Chicken, Geese, duck, Geese, Bantam and now Basil and Rosie who she absolutely adores, and who now she admits are her favorites. Like Dennis they follow her around. If you ever meet a pet Turkey you will understand why. They really do have a character of their own and they are lots of fun. We may keep one of next years Turkey Chicks to grow on for a friend for Dennis, although he really is happy with his Silkie friends who he lives with. Where ever Dennis is for sure you will find the Silkies or visa versa.

One of our Holiday Guests found a Pepitrelle Bat in the lamp shade of their bedroom this morning. No one wanted to go into the room all day until one of he men caught it. It caused a lot of excitement with the Children. The Bat was put somewhere safe until it was ready to fly off.

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Starting from number eleven there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number eleven there are five new photographs on the Photo Page.

Pied Turkey

The Male cardinal, one of the joys of winter BETTY CANADA

Do I really want to go out and play BETTY CANADA

Looks lovely from indoors! BETTY CANADA

Winter welcome in Canada BETTY CANADA

The picture of a Pied Turkey was taken from the Internet to show you what our new editions to Denbury will look like when they are mature. We have seven of the Pied Turkey that are about ten weeks old, that is about the same age as Dennis our pet Turkey. They were transported from North Wales, arriving here yesterday. They came from a remote farm. By the nervous way they were acting they are not use to people. They will soon quieten down once they get use to the different noises. The intention is to breed from what we have. Looking at them we reckon that there are two Stags and three Hens. I will take a photograph of them for the photo page in a day or two.

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Starting from number one there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number one there are five new photographs on the Photo Page.

Only a couple of days of photographs left.

Some pics taken at Nauticaa, Sealife Centre, Boulogne at Easter.

1. Black tipped harbour shark. Jill.

2. Iguana. Jill.

3. 10ft. shark. Jill.

4. Tropical fish and coral. Jill.

5. Sealion teeth cleaning. Jill.

We candled the Turkey and Geese eggs last night. All of the Geese eggs are fertile, even three from our own Geese. That was a bit of a surprise as I thought that the disturbing that they went through when we moved them the eggs would have been infertile. Out of twenty seven Turkey eggs five were infertile. Considering that they were posted to us from Scotland that was good. If I remember I will take a photograph of the candling of an egg to show the air sack forming.

We are still fencing around the Lake to protect the Geese and to stop the Otter from taking any of our Fish. I am sure that the fencing the Geese will have protecting them should keep this lot alive. Once it is up we are going to try to let the Geese that we purchased out of the stable that they are in. If we let them out before the fencing is finished they will go onto the Lake and disturb the Canada Geese that are nesting.

Tass and Kye have just come in with a squealing baby Rabbit that they have just dug out of a Rabbit Burrow. The Kitten is so small that it has not yet opened its eyes. We have managed to find the Burrow and replace the Kitten. The Mother should return, although she may move her young to a safer place away from the Dogs.

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Starting from number eleven there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number eleven there are five new photographs on the Photo Page.

Memorial for USS San Diego. Penny Chicago Chicago Chicago

Interesting Tree in Seaport Village. Penny Chicago Chicago Chicago

Here is another photo of a Ganada Goose in the fork of a tree where her nest was. She has her nest there every year. It is a very large tree with 3 forks coming off it. When the youngsters are ready to leave the nest, about 6 of them, they tumble down the tree and then their parents take then down to the water nearby. Occasionally a gosling does damage its wings and this shows up when they are ready to fly and can’t, which makes them very vulnerable to foxie loxie if the injured goose leaves the pond. Usually the park staff capture the goose and send it to a sanctuary to live out its life. These photos were taken in a beautiful Toronto Park. Rosie’s Mum in Toronto.

Couple of pictures for the gallery if you can include them. Pete.

Our incubator is now up and running and ready for our first eggs to go in to start incubating. 25 Bronze Turkey eggs arrived yesterday, they will go into the incubator tonight. We will be collecting 10 Goose eggs tomorrow that with the 2 that our Geese have layed will go in the incubator tomorrow. The temperature of the incubator is 37.5 c or 99.5 f. The humidity for Turkey and Geese eggs need to be at about 55 per cent.

Turkey eggs will take approximately 28 days to incubate. Geese eggs about 30 days. About two days before the eggs hatch they will go in to a hatcher. That is when we hope to be able to show the hatching on the webcam. We are trying to find one that will be suitable for the webcam.

It is better to have all the eggs hatching at the same time. That would need for the Geese eggs going into the incubator a couple of days before the Turkey eggs. For the first couple of weeks we will put the eggs in the incubator as we get them. We will also need to candle the eggs to see if they are fertile. That will need to be done after 6 days. We have got to cross our fingers and hope that most of the eggs are fertile. At this time of the year when the birds are just beginning to mate, it can be a bit hit and miss. I will try to take a photograph of a an egg when we candle them.

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font color red We wish you all a very Merry…

We wish you all a very Merry and Peaceful Christmas.

I have put on five new photographs on the photo page. Scroll down to number eleven. The first three are from Elsie and the last two were emailed to me from Julia.

This was taken at Tor Cross Devon. Duck on it’s nest. at Golden Acre Park. Some kind of Eagle taken at The Great Yorkshire Show. It is from a Bird of Prey Sanctuary.
Elsie

Hello Mr. Farmer,
We were driving Mum to visit some relatives on Thursday afternoon and when I saw these trees I just had to stop to get some pictures! I had to use my phone, not my camera, but I’m quite pleased at how well they turned out! The frost on the trees was amazing!! Julia.

We are getting to the end of the photographs that have been emailed to me. Surely some others of you have some good photographs, that we could use.

The Computer was reinstalled at the Lock of the Lowe’s this morning, but unfortunately although the webcams were streaming at the Lock, they were not connecting to the Servers. Although it is not a major problem and I know that attempts are being made to get the webcams going before Christmas, we may be unlucky. They will be going as soon as poss.

After hours of messing about with our Aga I finally got it going late last night, so we are able to cook our Turkey in one piece. Although I can cook reasonably well I very rarely do any. The exception is the Christmas meat, that I have been doing for as long as I can remember. Mind you if I say so myself, it is always good. It would have been a good idea if we had some of the ways that you all cook your Christmas Dinners. Every year I hear a lot of people say that they have had a dry Turkey. We never have. No secret, and I should think that many of you do the same as us. We always cook out Turkey breast down. We firstly cover the bottom of the roasting dish with very fatty bacon covered in butter to lay the Turkey upside down on. We then cover the top of the bird with the bacon and butter. If we use stuffing in the bird, it is very little. We then cover it in foil to cook.

We usually have three meats for Christmas, Turkey, Beef and Pork. We cook three so that it will last the week, not needing to do any major cooking. The Butcher hangs our beef for a couple of weeks, and it is then traditionally roasted. The Pork we get is milk fed and is very tender. Most family Butchers can source it. If you have never had any, give it a try. I first had it before I moved to Denbury, a Farmer friend introduced it to us. He got it from a Farmer in Devon, who produced Pigs close to the Ambrosia Rice Manufacturers, from where he was able to get the surplus milk, cream and whey to feed his pigs with. That pork was even better tasting and tenderer than what we get now. We stuff our pork with home made stuffing with crushed hot red and black peppers and bay leafs. Depending on the size of the leg. we score slots in it about half way in and three inched long quite close to each other. We then smother it in salt, tightly wrap in foil and cook at a very low temperature, ours normally takes from six to eight hours.

Breeze has made a new friend. Not that she initiated the friendship, it was imposed on her, initially to her irritation. But the friendship matured to what now could well be lasting. Breezes new friend is the Ewe that we have been unable to catch, way back since the beginning of the Summer, when the Sheep were shorn. Since we managed to catch the Ewes two lambs a few months back. Over time she has been getting nearer to the Horses. Ewy as she has been named, has been hanging about in the Horses field getting closer by the day, until now she eats the hay with the Horses, that we put out every night in their field. When ever Breeze has been going off on her own, Ewy has been following her, she has recently been trying to come in from the field with the Horses, when they come in for their feed morning and evening time. She sometimes manages to get to the stables. Being not very trusting, as soon as there is any noise she has it away so fast that a Greyhound would have trouble catching her. More often than not she wont even pass the fields gate. Today the friendship between Breeze and Ewy was made official. This afternoon Breeze attempted as she often does, to get Arnie, Lady and Willow to follow her. They were having none of it. Breeze then went up to Ewy, who was laying down and nudged her bottom, Ewy obediently got up and followed her. The idea was to catch Ewy and send her off to Market. It looks as if she has now got a home for life.

We recently watched a television programme about a flock of Geese being herded. It has started a conversation that maybe we should keep some on the Farm. We have thought about it before but haven’t taken it any further. What we have got to think about is that would we be able to send them off for slaughter Christmas time. We haven’t managed to be able to send much else off, once they have been ready. When we keep a type animals, we are unable to eat the same species. One of my favorite foods is Lamb Kleftiko, but we have been unable to eat it since we got the Sheep. A Greek Restaurateur fiend gave me the recipe when I lived in London. If you remind me I will give you the recipe in the New Year. Even if you have eaten Kleftiko before, this will be the best. If we do decide to try to keep Geese next year, we will have a small amount, maybe twenty, with a couple of Turkeys. Another thing that we have got to consider is the Fox, just one forgetful moment, leaving them out of a night could cause loosing them all. I will let you know what we decide.

I cant believe how dry the weather has been. This is the first year that we have still been able to leave the Horses out until this late in the year. We are hoping for it to stay dry through the Holiday, to save us a lot of work and be able to have a rest. We will still have about four hours of essential work to do a day through the Holiday period. If we have to muck out the stables it will be six hours, so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

I wont be doing a Diary on Christmas or Boxing Day. Here’s wishing you all a very Merry and Peaceful Christmas. And thank you all those who kindly sent us Christmas Cards.