I’m sure I
don’t even have to say it anymore, but I have been busy over the past week,
hence the lack of updates. It all started with a heritage turkey mass die off
brought upon by who knows what. We are thinking that they spent more days in
the mail than was necessary, and that probably had something to do with it.
When I picked
them up from the post office on Friday, there were nineteen live turkeys, and
one dead one lying on the bottom of the box; the next day another one died in its
new home (a larger box with a heat light in our dining room) bringing our total
down to eighteen. I went to bed that night and when I woke up the next morning,
there were five more dead little guys in the bottom of the box. We bought the
best available turkey starter, tried using both basic water, and electrolyte
enhanced water, we tried giving them a warm half of the box and a cooler half
so they could choose their ideal temperature… the next morning another five
were dead!
We appear to
have stabled out for now… we haven’t had any die in about three days; there are
eight left, which brings the average price per chick to twenty-two dollars apiece.
More than likely we couldn’t have done anything different; they probably just
spent more time in the mail than was sustainable to their fragile little systems.
We are probably going to order another batch of twenty from a closer hatchery sometime in early June… fingers crossed that
we have a much better survival rate with them.
Another few
quick updates while I have the time. The weather here is shit, my salad garden
is dying off, and I’m still not smoking –but I’m sensing a complete relapse in
my near future.
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