Those lazy days of summer are upon us.  The herd is spending time in the shade just relaxing in the heat.  Our last two babies, Ruth and Isis will be leaving us in August.  They are in the center of the photo.  This season is coming to a close.  We are looking forward to next season and incorporating more of Blu Dyumani.  He produces beautiful and correct kids with great length.  Our breeding schedule is posted and ready for reservations.  
     The turkeys are growing quickly.  We ended up hatching out more toms than I would have liked.  Therefore I'll be acquiring more hens this next year until we have reached an adequate breeding colony.  This might cause us to have fewer poults available this next year for purchase than originally planned.  Otherwise we've been cleaning and preparing for the next winter.  The chicken coop has been deep-cleaned and the barn washed.  The garden beds are getting additional soil.  Work around our little farm is never done but always enjoyable! 

     This has been our most challenging kidding so far to date.  Poor Eye Candy's babies were breech.  And on top of that issue, she is also a first-time mom.  She, with incredible assistance from us, managed to deliver two does.  Unfortunately one of the does was not alive at birth.  The other little girl that you see here is quite a fighter.  I was quite amazed that after such a traumatic birth she was alive and is thriving!  We have named her Baby Ruth to go along with her mother's name being Candy.  I am pleased with her sweet disposition and vest for life.  Baby Ruth has a great future ahead of her.  And EC (Eye Candy) is proving to be a devoted and caring mom.

     Spring has sprung!  We are preparing our kidding pens for our three little soon-to-be mamas.  I'm very excited to see these breedings.  Our new kidding pens will allow each doe to spend individual time with her kids.  We've found that using a one stall method would sometimes confuse the moms and babies on who belonged with whom!
     
     The rest of the farm has been busy as ever.  We have more turkey eggs coming from an excellent breeder in Idaho in the next couple weeks.  The will be going briskly into our new Brinsea incubator.  Then in 25-28 days, we will have a bunch of sweet little turkey poults.  Exciting times coming up.  We'll keep you posted on all the new additions! 

     We are pleased to announce two new additions to Franke Farm.  Please welcome Franke Farm's Illuminati and Blond Adonis!  Star had an easy kidding and so far the babies are doing well.  We will be keeping both of these little ones and are looking forward to what they will add to our herd.  It is always a pleasure having new little ones around.  I love just sitting in the barn and watching them play.  We are so blessed to have these two.
     Also, our does, Ginger, Aura and Luna are all due in December.  This will be Ginger and Aura's first kidding and I'm excited to see their mammary systems develop.  If all goes well this season, we will have babies ready to sell in March.  Please keep checking back as I will update often.  Thanks for looking!     

     Here is our new brooder box that my lovely husband, Daniel built.  Our 3 poults are thoroughly enjoying the additional space.  Next up is building our turkey shelter.  And hopefully we will have more hatching eggs this October.  Summer is wearing down now and I'm actually looking forward to the fall.  I'll be harvesting the rest of our vegies in the next two weeks and composting the garden beds. 

     The goats are starting to grow their winter coats.  And our load of hay and alfalfa comes tomorrow.  It feels good to be ready for winter.  The barn is really coming together.  We should be adding our sink this October.  The little improvements really make the difference!  We are excited to grow and grow....  Please stay posted and enjoy our fun! 

     We have finally gotten the berry trellises in the ground.  All we need is the wire strung up now.  So far we've planted our Triple Crown blackberries, Heaven Can't Wait blackberries and Fall Gold raspberries.  I'm still waiting on our Black Magic blackberries and Tayberries to arrive this October.  Then its berries next season! 
     Other goings on around the farm include preparations for this coming fall.  The chicken coop has been deep-cleaned.  They seem to appreciate it!  We are working on the chicken fence so they can once again enjoy the freedom of our yard.  Hopefully we will be seeing some turkeys soon.  Our one broody chicken has been doing a spectacular job sitting on the eggs, even with all my fussing. 
     Shooting Star is due at the end on August.  We are so excited to meet her little ones!  Her kidding pen is already set up and ready to go for her.  And we are forunate enough to get the buck, Spots Gone Wild from Diji Farm on lease this November.  He is going to add so much to our breeding program.  Thank you so much, Carol!  
     As the seasons roll along, we continue to grow and add more to both our breeding program and our little farm.  I'm looking forward to linear appraisal this next year.  It will be such an assest to better analyze our goats.  Also, we are working on updating each of our goat's section to include their complete pedigrees.   So keep a look out for that.  Once again, thanks for stopping by.  All of us at Franke Farm wish you and yours a wonderful summer! 

     Well, here we go again.  We have recently acquired some White Midget turkey eggs.  Hopefully in 28 days, we will have a bunch of baby turkey poults running around the pasture with our goats.  Our very lovely, very broody chickens are working overtime trying to hatch these eggs for us. 

     We've actually been thinking of adding some poultry back to our property since the first attempt with geese didn't quite work out.  But we've learned a lot.  And hopefully we will just keep learning!  So if everything goes good, we will be able to offer poults for sale next year.

     I really enjoy White Midget turkeys.  This hertiage breed was created in the 1960's at the University of Massachusetts.  It was developed as a smaller alternative to the commercial broad-breasted.  Nearly being lost to extinction, it was rediscovered by Dr. Wentworth and reestablished in the University of Wisconsin's poultry program.  At his retirement, birds were dispersed to poultry hobbyists who maintain the breed entirely.  We were fortunate to receive our eggs out of Wisconsin from some of the original strain. 

     White Midget turkeys are small in size, toms reach 13lbs and hens reach 8lbs.  They make wonderful table birds.  These smaller birds have a surprisingly friendly personailty and are easy to care for.  We are thrilled to have an opportunity to raise these lovely birds!