Bad Breaks (Bad Brakes)

If you have ever had the opportunity to watch a baby bird hatching from its egg,
you will agree with me that it is rather miraculous that we have any birds on this earth
at all!


Peck, peck, peck...
they work so very hard with their little beaks...
which are equipped, by the way, with a little "egg tooth".
This sharp projection on the top of the beak helps to break through the tough egg shell,
and eventually wears away.


The hatching process takes several hours and is exhausting for the tiny bird.

For the past 28 days we have had 7 of Edith's eggs in our incubator.
Edith is our female bourbon red turkey.


Sadly, we had no luck hatching baby turkeys....
in fact, it was a rather tragic weekend.
Three babies broke through their eggs and all three died in the process.


We had read all we could find about hatching turkeys.
Some sources claimed that you must help the chick to break out of the shell.
Other sources claimed you did not need to help them.

We tried both methods...
both failed.
If anyone has any ideas for us....please share!

Sad!

On a happier note, however,
I added 12 chicks to my new flock of guinea keets....
4 Barred Rocks, 4 black sex links, and 4 Rhode Island Reds.
All are doing quite well.


The weekend's weather prediction included a bit of rain...
of which we received none!
Instead, it was fabulously beautiful....


With no rain, though, we were forced to hand-water our 100 blueberries and
20+ young orchard trees.
Hopefully we will get some rain this week!

Saturday, our gator (which was parked at the top of our driveway by the garage)...


decided to let loose of its parking break, make its way backwards down the driveway,
and wrap itself around a tree.


It could have been worse....
if the tree had not stopped it, it might have gone over the edge of a rather steep hill and
ended up in the "holler"!

On this week's To Do List:

1. fix gator
2. order turkey babies
3. do a rain dance... continue watering!

Comments

Cindy said…
We (in Indiana) got all of your rain this weekend. Maybe it is on your way! We needed it, but it put a damper on our gardening plans. I put out a few plants, but I'm looking forward to some warmer and drier days this week.
so sorry about your baby turkeys and your gator. Such is life in the country, right?
TxFarmhouse said…
Ugh..that's a bummer about your gator..you're right, though, could have been worse.
I'm new to turkey poults; got 4 last week and tried sexing them by their wings. I think they're all toms. Can you sex them by their wings. I can see it clearly with chickens but not these.
Unknown said…
Sorry about the gator..glad it wasn't worse.
So sad to loose such sweet babies, I now know how hard it can be. Glad you have replacements coming. A friend said she would give me two of her adult chickens to replace Rosa.
We can share some of our rain...if you like.
Junebug said…
Sad, no baby turkeys, Happy, gator stopped, Active, doing the rain dance. Now it's finish drinking my coffee and off to a start of a new week. Hugs!!
Anonymous said…
So sorry about your baby turkeys not surviving their egg-breaking ordeal. My thought upon reading this was what you are planning on doing ... buying some turkey chicks to add to your turkey flock. Keep them safe! Love your blog!! Hugs ... Marcia in S. CO
Country Gal said…
Thats a shame about the Turkey chicks I guess mother nature had other plans for them ! Hope you get rain soon and are able to get your gator fixed ! All part of runing a farm isnt it ! , I remember all the ups and downs on our hobbie farm all part of the course . Have a great day !
This N That said…
The gator hit a tree with no help from Hubs ?? :)
Sorry about the turkey chicks..That's why I was always so amazed when the ducklings went from just hatching to my pond to the long walk to the wetlands..That's a lot to do in ones first hours of life..Have a wonderful week..I'll join you in those rain dances..
Kris said…
How sad about the baby turkeys!! I would have been right there trying to help them break free, then give mouth to beak CPR. I was at the feed store yesterday for supplies, and almost came home with more chicks. I really want specific kinds, so I refrained. Maybe next week they will get my Australorps and Buff Orpingtons in!!
Bummer about the gator! Hope it is an easy fix!!!
Hoping for rain for you!
Kris
Anonymous said…
Poor turkeys.... I wonder what the problem is? Hope you can figure it out and have a few more of them running around the yard soon.
Anonymous said…
It sounds like an all-round rough weekend. Hope things improve.
This N That said…
The ducks across the street hatched and took off in the last 24 hrs...guess I'll have to go on another duckling hunt!!!
Poor Gaitor! That's such a shame about the turkey chicks having such a hard time hatching and then not making it even with help. I can imagine how sad it was for you and your hubby...you work so hard to give all your critters a good home and a happy life. I really hope Edith comes home with new babies at the end of this month...I know that would cheer you up. It's time for us to water again but so far this spring hasn't been too bad for rain here in our part of Kansas..I hope it keeps it up. Get out there and do your rain dance...you know you could record that for us ;)