09/13/2026
This baby is in the TLC ward of the hospital ship. This morning, when I went out early to feed, he was getting the futon treatment. Three little turkeys were sitting on him like he was a warm, down futon. They were happy, he was not. His legs akimbo, his eyes closed, he was breathing hard. I picked his little floppy, feathered near-corpse up. His feet were cold and gray-blue. His beak was filled with wet mud. Why does this happen? It's not the first time. They bully the timid ones occasionally. Fifty near-month-old babies were thriving yesterday. And today, I have this TLC project. Every farmer does it. If there is a breath still in them, there's a chance. They are helpless, you can't just leave them, they will surely succumb. So he hung in the crook of my arm, flopping around, while I finished chores and loaded the truck to the gills for market day. I set him in a bucket of kitchen towels that will definitely be ruined, threw in a jar of mixed up oregano and electrolyte water and a syringe to feed the water in little squirts and off we went.
He sat in my lap for the 40 minute drive, and by the time we pulled up to the bustling, grassy, open-air market, he was holding his head up and his feet were pink. He still kept his eyes shut tight, but he seemed to like perching between my arm and my side. I kept him in the bucket when I was busy, but when a kid came by, I pulled him out for a little more TLC. One little 3 yr old girl named him Jack Alex. When she spoke, he popped his eyes open. He even gave a little peep and she giggled. People were intrigued. There were many questions and many pets. "What is that?" "Is that a chicken?" "How old is he?" "What's wrong?" It was great to share a farm story with folks and let them help him feel better. And that he did. With each pet, he seemed better. By the end of the market, he was drinking his electrrolyte water, and trying to stand on his stiff, spindly legs. TLC is the best medicine! And isn't that true for all of us? By tonight, he is happily sitting on his warm towels, eating giant mouthful, grabbing at water with his uncoordinated beak, generally making a big mess -- like every baby turkey should. You got this, Jack Alex!
