A Dinner Guest

The family had an interesting experience today on a more positive note than those trespassing beetles. We were sitting down to dinner and enjoying another excellent meal. Suddenly we were interrupted by sounds of distressed chirping, looking out the window there was a small bird ducking in and out a pile of rescued lumber stacked along the edge of the woodline. As we watched for a few moments, we did not notice any other birds around and none of the chickens were in the vicinity [as the sound was distinctly similar to young chicks, which made us think maybe the broodies had hatched their eggs]. Our next move was to take a closer look, much to our surprise it looked just like a chick, except we do not have any chickens with markings or colorings of that nature. It appeared to be at least a week old, as it did not have any egg tooth remnants. We decided to watch it for a bit and see if it was lost or if anyone [mom or siblings] might show up. No one ever did. We couldn't just leave the little guy, so we gathered him up and put him in one of the bins we use for newly arrived chicks. As we made him comfortable, the investigation began.

It didn't take long to determine that our guest was a young wild turkey poult. We can't figure out how he arrived alone on our homestead, and further searching of the area where we found him has not revealed any answers. We do have a good sized wild turkey population that ranges through our land and the surrounding area, so I am not surprised. We have tried to ease his transition and provide him with as much hospitality as possible. Adding leaves, food and water to his bin made him a bit more comfortable. Much like with young chicks, we have been encouraging his exploration of the waterer and added some crumbled feed. Having had a similar situation last year, when one of our hens hatched a single chick and abandoned it, we were greatly concerned about his health and the fact that he is alone. We contemplated adding him to the three ladies batch once they hatch but we are not positive when or if they will be successful. One of the girls volunteered her little stuffed cardinal to keep the poult company. Surprisingly after a bit of chirping, he has cuddled up with the cardinal and is resting peacefully.