 TURKANA FARMS, LLCGreen E-Market Bulletin March 17, 2024 The well fed hawk Photo by Mark ScherzerIt’s a Bird Eat Bird WorldHi all, and Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Mark here.Just after lunch on a perfect spring-like afternoon this past week, Eric and I had to go out to the supermarket for some essentials. As we drove past the chicken coop, Eric noticed something odd. “I wonder why the chickens aren’t out in the yard on such a beautiful day?”I slowed the car to look, and immediately noticed that there was indeed a chicken outside in the yard. Unfortunately, it had been reduced to a pile of bones and feathers. “Not another one,” I moaned.It’s a sad commentary on the perils faced by the chickens here that I’ve gotten pretty good at knowing exactly what killed them. It was clear that the deaths at the beginning of winter and again while Steve was farm-sitting in February were caused by either a weasel or possum. This time, I knew immediately that the culprit was a bird of prey.How did I know?First, time of day. It was broad daylight. Weasels and possums tend to sneak around to do their evil deeds at night, and I find the victims first thing in the morning.Second, location. This chicken was out in the yard, about 30 feet from the door of the coop. The possum and weasel victims tend to be inside the front door of the coop, because, unlike predatory birds, those predators come inside at night.Third, the state of the corpse. Both the weasel and the possum tend to bite the head of the bird off but leave much of the corpse behind. This chicken was thoroughly demolished.Finally, the reaction of the chickens. I speculate that weasels or possums must quietly grab their victims while the birds are asleep, because the other chickens seem oblivious and go about business as usual the next morning. When a bird of prey swoops in, it chases and kills the chicken in a great spasm of violence. The others are traumatized, run inside, hide under their roosting platform in the back corner of the coop, and often hesitate to go back out into the yard for days unless I’m around, when they seem to assume the predators will not attack.Knowing that the chickens had taken refuge, I saw no reason to attend to the carcass right away. When we got back from the market and I entered the chicken yard, I was shocked to see not only the remains of the victim but also the predator. There it was, a red tailed hawk, in the back corner of the yard, looking simultaneously vicious (in “about to attack” mode) and panicked.It was easy enough to figure out how it got in. When we netted the roof of the yard last summer, we did not do the far east end because it was covered with a dense network of wisteria vines. It didn’t seem necessary to net where a natural barrier shielded that area, affording little place for swooping in. Now, however, with the leaves gone and some of the branches trimmed, the shield was gone.At the same time, there was enough netting up that the hawk couldn’t quite figure out how to get back out of the yard. I had the murderer, in a sense, at my mercy. I was tempted to catch it in a poultry net and do away with it. I was deterred, however, by knowing that raptors are a protected species, and by my fear that I might not be a match for this vicious looking creature.My ineptitude at killing had been demonstrated just a few months ago with a possum. After the third successive night of chicken losses, I went in to the coop and noticed out of the corner of my eye the possum hiding in the back corner. I suddenly understood why my extra security at the front door of the coop had not worked. The murderer was not coming back each night; it had instead taken up residence inside.Assuming that possums did not have the legal protections hawks do (though I’ve since read conflicting information on that) I went and got a shovel, intent on bashing the offender to death. But its location in a back corner under a 2 foot deep roosting platform made it hard to get at. It proved agile, too, at moving to other inaccessible places. After 10 minutes of me chasing it around, it scampered up the back wall, into a space between the plywood interior wall and the exterior siding, and from there outside, not returning for several months.Is attempted murder of a possum a criminal offense? Will this confession send me to the hoosegow, or is there a crime of passion defense like in an Italian opera?I wasn’t going to chance any of this with the hawk. Instead, I closed the door of the chicken coop and opened the yard’s front gate. I tried to get behind the hawk and coax it to fly out that gate. Instead, it flew to the opposite corner of the yard. When I got behind it at that corner, it flew right past the front gate back to the east end with the wisteria vines, where I had initially found it. Then, in a panic, it managed to force its way out through the vines. I’m hopeful that, like the possum, it will be deterred from further visits by the memory of being trapped in the yard for a couple of hours and me chasing it.As is so often true, nonviolent solutions may be the most prudent. Steve recently sent me a hilarious youtube video of chickens on pasture, running around in protective rolling cages of plastic latticework. That would be ridiculously tedious work, getting them buckled in and released daily. Instead, I’m just putting up more aerial netting over the yard. Hawk on the defensive Photo by Mark ScherzerWHAT’S AVAILABLE THIS WEEKIn the red meat department, frozen lamb:Butterflied legs of lamb $16/lbRib or Loin chops (packs of 2) $14/lb Small racks of lamb $14/lb Riblets (breast of lamb) $8/lb Lamb shanks (packs of 2) $12/lbLambs go to market April 9, so you can also order a whole or half lamb, cut to your specifications, for $7/lb hanging weight.In the not so red meat department, frozen heritage breed turkeys, raised on organic grain, see below, $12/lbIn the yellow and white palette: Eggs: $6/dozen, plentiful  WHAT ELSE IS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK –AN 1878 SQUARE GRAND PIANO FREEThat’s right folks, I have received a Department of Environmental Conservation permit to transfer this antique piano, with its ivory keys. It has a venerable history and I want to find it a good home, and my permit expires July 26. You’d just need to come get it. Please email me at markscherzer@gmail.com or call at 917-544-6464 if you’d like to make it yours.HOW ABOUT A TURKEY?HERITAGE BREED TURKEYS: This year we raised Holland Whites, Chocolates and Blue Slates. We still have about 6 birds ranging from 11 to 15 lbs. They were delicious for Thanksgiving. Fed on organic feed, pastured all day once they got big enough to go out, $12 lb  FARM PICKUPS:Email us your order at farm@turkanafarms.com, and let us know when you’d like to pick up your order. It will be put out for you on the side screened porch of the farmhouse (110 Lasher Ave., Germantown) in a bag. You can leave cash or a check in the now famous pineapple on the porch table. Because I’m now here full time, we’re abandoning regular pick-up times. Let us know when you want your order any day between 10 and 5, and unless there are unusual circumstances we’ll be able to ready it to your convenience. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to call or text at 917-544-6464 or email. HEAR OUR SHOWIf you’d enjoy hearing these bulletins out loud instead of reading them, we broadcast them on Robin Hood Radio, the nation’s smallest NPR station. You can find it on FM 91.9, AM 1020, WBSL-FM 91.7 “The Voice of Berkshire School” or streaming on the web at www.robinhoodradio.com, where podcasts of past broadcasts are also available under the title AgriCulture in the “On Demand” section. FM 91.7 “The Voice of Berkshire School”can be heard from just south of Pittsfield to the CT border. You can hear the station on WHDD FM 91.9 from Ashley Falls, MA down through the Cornwalls and in NY from just south of Hillsdale down to Dover Plains. You can hear the station on AM1020 from Stockbridge, MA to Kent and from Poughkeepsie to Pawling to Kent, Goshen, Torrington, Norfolk, and Ashley. Recently added for those in the Route 22 corridor from Ancram down to Pawling is FM frequency 97.5 And of course you can listen in our own neighborhood of Southwestern Columbia and Northwestern Dutchess County, where it is being broadcast from Annandale on Hudson, 88.1 FM. FOLLOW USThe bulletins may also now be found in written form on line as well, at the Germantown, NY, portal ofhttp://imby.com/germantown/userblogs/agriculture-turkana-farms/ ©2024 Turkana Farms, LLC | 110 Lasher Avenue, Germantown, NY 12526 |
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