For the birds...

Pearl Guineas

Nosy Chickens

Bird at feeder

Royal Palm Turkeys 'standoff'

It seems like everywhere you look around Morning Meadows Farm you see birds! Between the turkeys, chickens, and guineas in the outdoor pens, the crowd that gathers around the feeders and suet blocks in the back yard, the chicks in the brooder (in the bathroom), and 2 cockatiels in the dining room, there is always something avian happening. And this could just be the beginning

We are currently incubating a batch of 30 chicken eggs which include the varieties Ameraucana, which lay the blue / green eggs, Cuckoo Marans, which lay the dark brown eggs, and Black Copper Marans, which also lay a dark brown egg. The Black Copper Marans will be used primarily to provide eggs to sell to others for hatching as chicks. They are a reletively rare breed and the genetics we are raising is directly from the Wade Jeane / Beverly Davis line of French Black Copper Marans, which are highly regarded as the top lines of genetics in the United States. So we are very hopeful that they do well.

One of our goals here, is to help preserve some of the rare breeds of livestock that are quickly fading from existence. A couple of our other animals on the endangered list are the Royal Palm Turkey , a relatively small heritage breed bird that is very limited in number, and the Golden Campine chicken. If you would like to learn more about preserving heritage livestock check out American Livestock Breeds Conservancy and also The Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities .


That's not to say that there aren't plenty of run-of-the-mill varieties as well! We also have plenty of the more common breeds including a few hybrids such as our golden comets, which are egg-laying machines! Don't think, though, that just because they are more common or less showy that they aren't highly thought of. All of the birds here have their role to play and are considered partners in our agricultural endeavors. The guineas are voracious feeders of ticks, flys, mosquitoes and will even take on a small snake if one is handy. The chickens provide plenty of eggs and compost for the garden. The turkeys also are good with the compost and make great recyclers of garden weeds. So between weed control, pest control, compost production, food production, and just plain entertainment value, it truly is 'for the birds' around here.