Flipper
This little turkey had a rough start. Right from the start – he could not keep his head still, it rolled and rolled as though he was in need of an exorcism. He kept launching himself upwards and the propulsion of his body would flip him right over onto his back and there he would lay, his two flat feet waving about frantically, his head swaying from side to side but unable to right himself. He is a big bird – the last one to be hatched. But his equilibrium was totally out of wack. 
So I wrapped him in a cotton hanky, swaddling him like a baby, then after a drink of water I propped him inside the hot mother box on his tummy, legs tucked under,wings tucked in, head in place. So he was forced to sit correctly, with his head and body held in position by the fabric. Countless times I did this, countless times he wriggled out and was found upside down again. So I would give him another drink, wrap him up again and prop him back in place. By the second evening I began to think that he was not going to make it, that he would give up trying to control the awful dizziness in his head. That he would die of relief.
But yesterday morning six little turkeys came out when they heard my voice. The sick one had recovered and was walking all by himself. The hanky abandoned in the back of the box. So we have six turkeys and three peachicks hatched and recovered. I candled the last three eggs and they have not developed.
So today I will scrub the incubator clean and load it up again with peachick eggs. Pania has been sitting on them so they are already cooking giving me an approximate date. I will give her some newer ones that I have saved from Mrs Flowers. 
This is Tui wearing her hot day kimono. Tui does not Lay or Sit, she has no time for that kind of domestic stuff.
Carlotta and her two peachick siblings are growing exceptionally fast. Carlotta must be a piebald chick.
I hope you have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farm
celic
32 Comments on “Flipper”
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Great shot =)
You’ll have a peacock farm!
Will you be swapping all these peechicks for a Llama or miniature donkey in Apr 2016? 🙂 Have a great weekend. Laura
That’s one lucky turkey chick to have you watching over him or her! Have a fab day. X 😀
It’s a lucky thing for the vertigo turkey that he was hatched into your caring hands! Any place else and he would probably have been put out of his misery. You may not always know what to do, but you always do something, and sometimes it seems to be just the thing! Good Morning!
That’s pretty incredible, good thing you were able to give that little Turkey the special attention.
Poor baby. Sounds like a vestibular disorder. We saved a bunny from it last summer. But you saved him! With love and warmth and patience and repetition and common sense you saved him! Yay Miss C.
Mr google tells me that one in 200 poults suffer from this – generally they are euthanised – which I would do if there was no life in the wee fella, but he was fighting it – c
Miss C to the rescue..that what Wonder Woman does…will he be called Flipper now
yes we will call him flipper – though once he is well and truly recovered he will become identical with the others..
I see a pet turkey in the future, following Miss C around the farm much like a dog…thank you for giving him/her a chance Miss C.
Why don’t you let Pania get on with hatching her own chicks?
Christine
she has 11 in there, so i am only taking half, plus Boo and the chicks do not mix, she will have enough trouble keeping those alive.. Mrs Flowers lays all over the place so Pania can hatch hers.. poor old girl she will have lots of babies.. c
Awsome story about that rolling chick. 🙂
You are remarkable C! I am so incredibly sensitive to animals who are weak or in pain or anything of that sort that I would be in a state with the little one – I would be besides myself with worry and I would fret so that I would not be able to sleep. You are a hero for loving your animals so very much!
🙂 Mandy xo
When did the peachicks get named, and how did I miss that? Carlotta is a pretty girl with a very pretty name, and I’d like to be introduced to the others too, please?
I’m embarrassed that I am confused. Who is Mrs. Flowers? I thought there was just a Mr. Flowers. City girl needs tutoring. Who are the parents of the 3 new peachicks? Pania and Mr. Flowers is what I thought. Help! Maybe Carlotta is Mrs. Flowers? I went to the cast of characters but no luck.
Mr and Mrs Flowers were bought at the same time, a peacock couple 🙂 I don’t know when Carlotta the chick was named but it is a very pretty name.
I think Pania and Mr Flowers too.. Carlotta is one of the new chicks.. You had it right .. no confusion at all! I think I should put you in charge of updating the cast of characters each time.. I have forgotton AGAIN! sorry.. c
awesome caring pays off! What a sweetheart you are!
What a beautiful chick!
Glad your little turkey buddy is ok. It knew Miss C believed in him/her and didn’t want to let her down. That little peachick might be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen! Pania does such a good job of looking after the eggs, Tui is content to be the auntie who spoils the little ones. We had a cat with a litter of kittens, but she abandoned them–her mama raised her own litter as well as her daughter’s.
Good to hear that the last Turkey chick is ok! Your TLC did the trick 😃
Celi, you and Boo are in a class all of your own when it comes to caring for the weakest links on the Farmy. Thankfully the tender care worked for little Flipper.
It was a wing and a prayer – literally! have a lovely day Granny mar.. c
Well, the wing, prayer and cotton hanky did the trick. Have a lovely Sinday. At 07:30 mine is looking bright!
amazing recovery; hope he will be fine
Flipper, and Carlotta (clever!)… I love your naming creativity. Feathered chicks of any sort are just too cute, I can see why Boo is a little OTT.
Hmmm: first she brought up five children, now Miss C is swaddling turkey chicks! Truly hope all that caring works, sad if the feisty baby had to be put down . . . Any news from Fede?
The feisty baby is off and running and Fede is home again – he missed the farmy bless him and did not stay in the city one moment more than he had to.. c
As I read this I remembered “Harold” (who turned out to be a female mourning dove) who fell from her nest in an autumn storm. She was in pin feathers with head and neck issues. For a couple of weeks I thought she would not make it as she held her head in a strange sideways position. Then one day she was right as rain, and she flourished in our home over the winter and released in early spring. She was a success story… and it just goes to show that there is self-healing in nature! I love that photo and comment on Tui! How hilarious!! 😀
I’m amazed by (1) the endless stream of ailments and weird defects that show up in nature and (2) how a little care and time can right most of them.