A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

Bogtown Chick said:

I’m jumping over from the Minnesota thread with red faced bawly tears learning about Memphis. I almost got to meet her at the Minneapolis airport! Ha! We were about 1/2 hour difference in timing. Will miss Her colorful stories of course with beautiful compassionate detail. Adopting a slate blue hen from the highway in heels heading to work (my gosh what a heart of gold) , fuzzy butts on her garden gate or down helping her garden. Or offering you her covered porch for sweet tea when snow was as high as your keester. This southern lady was pure class and generous in spirit to all. I will miss my friend and lapper stories. My sympathies to you all as you got the most here.... I may just start reading this thread for her beautiful posts.
Life is beautiful and always too short.

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Ribh said:

I think you need to get your camera out, Sue. Plenty of time for some picture taking... hint. hint.

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OneMountainAcres said:

I got the fabric today. The flowers are a bit smaller than I expected but it's still very pretty and I think very appropriate. Memphis would've loved it I think.

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Flashpoint said:

Bless their hearts. ❤
I had forgotten @memphis and I shared a birthday.

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AltonaAcres said:

Hey turkey peeps! I have a question for ya'll. I just got a new heritage tom and let's just say he's not the brightest. The first day he was here he didn't seem to be able to find food or water. That afternoon he seemed weak and sat down a lot. The next day I was able to separate him into a tiny pen to feed him and he ate. This morning he seemed to be finding food and water. How do I know if he's going downhill because he is starving or dehydrated?

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OneMountainAcres said:

I got the fabric today. The flowers are a bit smaller than I expected but it's still very pretty and I think very appropriate. Memphis would've loved it I think.

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Flashpoint said:

1st week of June 2000.

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Bogtown Chick said:

I’m jumping over from the Minnesota thread with red faced bawly tears learning about Memphis. I almost got to meet her at the Minneapolis airport! Ha! We were about 1/2 hour difference in timing. Will miss Her colorful stories of course with beautiful compassionate detail. Adopting a slate blue hen from the highway in heels heading to work (my gosh what a heart of gold) , fuzzy butts on her garden gate or down helping her garden. Or offering you her covered porch for sweet tea when snow was as high as your keester. This southern lady was pure class and generous in spirit to all. I will miss my friend and lapper stories. My sympathies to you all as you got the most here.... I may just start reading this thread for her beautiful posts.
Life is beautiful and always too short.

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Flashpoint said:

Not that this is at all related, but as something to think about.

I have a blue slate tom that was hatched approximately the 1st week of June 2000. It wasn't until last month that I noticed he was acting "odd" and I had started to think maybe he was a tad "slow" or maybe had a neurological problem. He was walking very slowly and taking very measured but hesitant steps before making any moves. The art of observance is not my strong point - but after another week, we determined he has gone blind.

My only guess is that because he has been in the same pen and run for the most of his life and I don't tend to change locations of where my water and food is located, he had either learned where they were and continued eating as normal as there is little difference between him and his siblings regarding weight and size. He may have also been slowly going blind all along and it just didn't become glaringly evident until it had progressed to almost total blindness.

The only thing I could find in trying to research the issue is that blindness (and esp in blue slates?) may be a direct result of excessive inbreeding.

In any event, now I just keep an eye on him, watch for situations where he might get in trouble (like finding him on a 4 x 4 post ramp at the very top end and where most of the other turkeys are using that spot as a launchpad) and making sure he is eating and drinking.

After having 3 years of absolutely nothing going wrong with the turkeys, this year has been a continuous and hard-driven learning curve - from rats that will kill turkeys, to seizures where Brandie died in my lap, and now this.

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OneMountainAcres said:

It is a very difficult blow to all of us. I'm just glad that you got to meet her. She touched so many lives. R2elk is incredible and has started gathering all of her posts from here and putting them together in a single, read only thread. I've been reading through it, reliving it all. Here's the link: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/tribute-to-memphis-and-her-lapper-turkeys.1421335/

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Finnie said:

I don’t use saddles, and I don’t have any turkeys atm, but I would like to reserve a chicken size one, if you are willing to make it, just so I can have a keepsake. It is a gorgeous fabric, and I too think Memphis would love it.

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R2elk said:

The plan is to eventually open the thread to comments. It is closed at this time so her posts can be added without interruption by posts from others. It is going to take quite awhile since there are still nearly 3,000 pages to go through.

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