Circle M Farm

Just seven poults left of 15. Those that remain, though, are really feathering out and starting to think about getting loose! Unlike chicks, they do a lot of running back and forth in their stock-tank brooder. They are a riot to watch and have great big expressive eyes. Whenever I come near the cage, they turn their heads sideways and up to fix their gaze on me with one liquid eye. They better live.

All the advice I’ve gotten from neighbors who’ve raised turkeys has to do with various antibiotic feeds and medicines in the water. But it’s just this sort of management that we’re trying to avoid! We go to great lengths to find non-medicated feeds for our calves, pigs and poultry, because most feeds do include daily antibiotics. But we figure if these animals can’t live without antibiotics we don’t want to raise them. Even thought it’s heartbreaking to lose animals, we don’t really want to eat that sort of food and that’s why we’re growing our own meat here on the farm.

There are various herbal and vitamin supplements we can offer to these poults, and I’ve put some vitamins and apple cider vinegar in the water. We regularly feed our new calves aloe vera and garlic. I’m now researching what other natural immune support is used for poultry, though I guess I should have done that before I brought them home. Hopefully, these few make it, and we still have time to order another group to fatten up on pasture before Thanksgiving.