Some evenings this place feels like a circus. Take last night for example. After a long week of work, Eric gets out late from work, only to arrive home and once again have to fix the broken tractor and take care of the turkeys. One would think that fixing the tractor would be the more difficult task, but we beg to differ. Lets start at the beginning:
Wednesday Evening
On Wednesday evening while moving the turkey tractor, Eric slipped on the wet grass when the handle broke loose. The tractor continued forward, pinning one of the girls underneath. She had an obvious broken wing and her leg was dislocated, as it hung at a strange angle. We debated putting her down, but the thought of processing a turkey at 9pm wasn't appealing (and besides, how much meat could be on a little bird?). The decision was made to wait until Thursday to see how she was doing.
Thursday Morning
Thursday morning Teresa found her in the same spot, eyes closed and Teresa was convinced she was dead until she touched her and the turkey hopped away on one foot. Her little head was all red from the other turkey's biting at her. At first this seemed cruel, but as you observed longer, they only did this until she would open her eyes and then they would snuggle in next to her. Right before leaving for work Teresa checked in on her again and she was sleeping by the food bowl! She would wake-up, eat and then immediately close her eyes again. This was a good sign...dying animals usually don't eat. Right before leaving for work, Teresa made a little pen for her inside the tractor to keep the other turkeys from picking on her during the day.
Thursday Evening
All day long Teresa couldn't wait to get home to check on the bird. You know your crazy when you start saying prayers for a turkey. Upon arriving home things appeared the same. Occasional eye opening, and then back out cold. Right before bed, she was caught (excuse the pun) gobbling down food! She emptied half her food dispenser; a good sign.
Friday Morning
During the morning goat walk, Teresa peeked in on the turkey and she was sitting in place, but this time her head was up and she was alert and looking around!
Friday Evening
It was once again time to move the turkey tractor. It's quite the balancing act trying to walk inside a 3 foot tall pen, while not touching the ground (which is covered in turkey poo). At one point, we had 6 turkey's, two people and three goats inside the turkey tractor...quite the circus act.
We wonder how full-time farmers survive and figure sometimes it's better to just laugh at yourself.
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