Turkey Lurkey

Early one morning we got a call letting us know there was a noisy package waiting for us at the post office.

Inside:

15 turkeys, 2 days old! Caden's primary teacher happened to be at the post office at the same time. He told her what we were doing and she said, "Seriously? OK, I'm waiting. I have to see this." I guess turkeys don't arrive by mail every day. The post office worker held the package by the corners and wouldn't let me open it on her counter so she could vouch if any had arrived dead. I'm surprised she didn't pinch her nose and hold her breath until we left, sheesh.

In case you wondered, chicks absorb the remains of their yolks right before hatching, and so have stored energy to survive a 2-day postal delivery without food. Even baby chicks born to mother hens often won't eat for the first day. They all arrived alive, vocal and hungry! We took care of the latter right away!

Tiny, fluffy little things. Who would have known the headache they would be?

First, we noticed one who seemed facinated with the others' eyes and kept trying to peck at them. His attacks got a little too intense so we had to section off a corner of the bin and give him his own food and water. I hoped that he'd grow out of it, but after 2 weeks and dozens of attempts, he would not change. It was time for him to go.

Then we found another who was a little to interested in the other's behinds. After a few sharp squeals of pain we found it had pecked 2 of the turkey's little rears enough to make them bloody and swollen. So then we got to section off another corner of the bin for him, plus get out a new box for the two injured turkeys to recover in (because the others may potentially peck at the blood if they noticed it, and it's a little hard not to notice it when they bend over to eat. I mean, it's right there at turkey eye-level). Getting a little high-maintenance, don't you think? That one found a new home along with Eye-Pecker. We debated leaving the two together in a box and letting them duke it out. Maybe the new owners will.

Then 2 died. No apparent causes. Tears were shed by all and good death discussions were had.

Then last week we noticed a turkey was "spraddle" legged, meaning their hip joints were not developing properly and they were basically doing a wider and wider splits. As we looked, we were like, "Hey, that one has it ... and that one ... and that one ..." Yeah. Eight in total. The spraddle toll is now at 10. We only have one normal turkey.

You can fix the spraddle with a simple application of wrapping a Band-aid around one ankle, leaving the gauze between the legs to created the proper distance, and securing the other leg with the adhesive of the rest of the Band-aid. This aligns the bones properly so they grow right and straighten out, eventually correcting themselves. It also efficiently hobbles the poor things so they can hardly move and decide they'd rather sleep then try to stumble over each other. So we've been up several nights until 1 am, securing bandaids and re-attaching them and basically being amazing poultry physiotherapists. One has a leg that is turned though and at a 90' angle to what it should be. Perhaps this will be our ballerina turkey? Hmmm.

So yes, this was TMI about turkeys.

All in all: If you are interested in poultry, get some chickens and buy your turkey frozen :)