more turkey herding....

The brooder house is divided in the middle by a mesh fence. We move the front half of the house to the farthest grow-out house, and the back of the brooder house to the nearest grow-out house. Why move them? The feed and water system in the brooder house is designed for chicks, not grown birds. And, they literally fill up the house as they grow!



 














 



"Yep, that's your destination, girls" (these birds are all hens).






The crew makes the drive. It's an unusually cool day for August, with a little cloud cover and a slight breeze...








 

Donnie pushes them further inside their new house, while we prep the door to close it. The rain began about half through the last drive. We were movtivated to get them inside!
We'll move the back half of the two brooder houses later this week. Let's hope they move as readily as these girls did.

Herding Turkeys

 
7am, on a farm in Pender Country. Turkey herding day. The birds are younger than they usually are when we move them from the brooder house to the grow-out house, just 4.5 weeks old. They are in fine shape, and nice size. Mr. Morris gets a drink before we start....

 

















Three herders go inside, cut out a group of birds to move. We hope they haven't chosen too many for one drive. This is not an example of bigger is better. But, too small is a waste of time. Worth and Ronnie make a cut...

 













At least two herders stand outside, far back from the door, at the corner of house to keep the renegades from running away. They wouldn't think about running away (they very little brain power), they'd just wander off. When the first birds in the cut get to the door, there is a slight hesitation, then they appear to spill out of the house.
 

Mr. Robert and Boyd, urging them to their new home...