Happy 4 week old birthday to you! Happy 4 week old birthday Baby Turkeys! Happy 4 week old birthday to you!
We Have Turkeys Now
I figured that I wasn’t going to be getting turkeys this year. The shipping was way too expensive.
But, when I checked my email while sitting in the hospital with my mom, I noticed that the shipping was more than half off. So I ordered five. Annnnnd, I didn’t tell Ryan.
When the post office called to tell me they had arrived and were ready for pick up, they told me that they were taking bets on what they were because they were so loud. Their bets were on ducks.
Want the past almost three weeks in a nutshell? I panicked and was so scared that I wasted money on poults that were going to die in a day. But, they survived. Now, they’re so big and so close to out growing their current brooder.
So…we have turkeys now.
I Really Thought I Wasn’t Getting Turkeys
I had actually talked myself out of getting turkeys this year.
I really wanted to raise turkeys. I really did. I like the idea of raising our own Thanksgiving turkeys, and I wanted the experience of starting with little poults and raising them ourselves.
But then I looked at the shipping costs. Nope. Big nope. The delivery charge was absolutely ridiculous. It was going to cost more to have the turkeys shipped than the price of the turkeys themselves, and I just couldn’t justify that.
I even saw two juvenile turkeys at an auction and considered buying them.
They went for $40 each. I wasn’t set up for two big turkeys. Plus, I wanted baby turkeys.
So I decided I just wasn’t getting turkeys.
End of story.
Except, it wasn’t.
The Last Hatch Day
Mom had her knee replacement at the end of August, and I was sitting at the hospital on her surgery day.
I checked my email while I was sitting in the waiting room. And, there it was.
An email about the last hatch day for turkeys.
And they were on sale. Well, theeeeeeyyyy weren’t on sale, but the shipping was.
A really good sale.
Most importantly, the shipping was super discounted.
That was the part that had stopped me from ordering them in the first place.
So I sat there in the hospital, looked at the sale, thought about it for not even half a second… And ordered five Broad Breasted White turkeys.
Because what else does a completely normal person do while waiting for her mother to come out of surgery? Apparently, it’s ordering five turkeys.
I Didn’t Tell Ryan
This might be my favorite part of the whole story.
I didn’t tell Ryan.
Not because I was trying to hide them. I figured I’d tell him eventually. Then the turkeys arrived the next day and I had to tell him. I had to let him know why I was going to be late coming home from work.
Surprise! We have turkeys!
I’m pretty sure this is not how most people communicate livestock purchases with their spouses. lol (I did attempt to clear the feeder calf with him. Shot down. I did successfully clear pigs with him recently!)
The Post Office Was Taking Bets
The turkeys shipped the day I ordered them and arrived at the post office the next day. And apparently they were loud. Like, really loud.
The employees told me they were taking bets on what was inside the box because of all the noise coming from it.
When I picked them up, I heard how loud they were and was so excited. I opened the box as soon as I got into the car and immediately became convinced that I had just spent money on five tiny turkey babies that were going to get home and immediately die.
Because, in my research I learned was that turkeys can apparently be incredibly stupid.
I read that even something as simple as moving their water can confuse them enough that they don’t find it again, dehydrate, and die.
The First Few Days
I was not prepared.
Remember, I had decided I wasn’t getting turkeys.
There was no turkey brooder set up. I had ideas but did not have anything set up. I did have shavings and feed ordered and ready. So I used an extra large dog crate with a few mail order pharmacy boxes to go up around the bottom half of the inside of the crate to keep shavings in and drafts out.
And because Little kept wanting to mess with them, I set up a Blink camera so I could keep an eye on them.
Which means I could sit at work and check on my turkeys. My third graders have asked to see what they are doing a few times now.
Because that’s a completely normal thing to do.
But after the hastily completed set up, somehow they have been fine.
Actually, they were more than fine. They are thriving.
They Have Names
The naming situation is not going to win any awards for creativity. While I think the names are great, one of the Literacy Coaches at work doesn’t think the names are funny at all. Welcome to the farm Baby Thanksgiving Dinner, Baby Christmas Dinner, and the triplets: Baby Turkey Legs.
Well at least for the time being. Because, they are not “forever farm friends”. Spirit is the only one here who has that title. They are “for food friends”.
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