Quinn

“Oh come all without, come all within
You’ll not see nothing like the mighty Quinn
Come all without, come all within
You’ll not see nothing like the mighty Quinn.”

Bob Dylan’s character, “The Mighty Quinn” was an Eskimo who changed despair into joy and chaos into rest, and attracted attention from all the animals. Lefty’s Place’s Mighty Quinn changed chaos into rest and he certainly brang joy to the place.

Quinn was found standing in a disgusting cage ready to be sold at the Dandenong Poultry Auction in May, 2016. He was standing there with another turkey who was incredibly ill and huddled in to a corner. My friend made a snap decision, opened the cage door, got him out of that cage and took him to the car. We couldn’t leave the other turkey behind, so she was also saved. Sadly, the beautiful sick turkey (who we named “Clara”) died on my lap just minutes after rescue whilst on the way to the vet. Quinn, was incredibly distressed at his sister’s passing and sat next to her dead body all the way home.

Quinn joined the poultry gang at Lefty’s Place and grew in to a spectacular turkey.

The Mighty Quinn earned the nickname “Puffer” as he got older because of how he would puff his chest out. As he matured to an adult he decided that his arch nemesis was our beautiful rooster named Super Chicken. Puffer would spend most of his days devising plans to kill Super Chicken so this heralded Puffer’s new and improved turkey coop and run which he shared with his beautiful girlfriends – Magic, Amalthea, Galadriel and Maleficent.

The love of his life was Amalthea who was from a different poultry auction. Amalthea was a silver beauty who sparkled all over the property. Quinn loved her so much and would spend less time plotting Super Chicken’s death and more time following Amalthea around and being a clingy boyfriend.

In early 2018, Quinn’s attentions turned to another lady. Her name was Babette. The thing was that Babette was not a turkey hen, she was a Muscovy duck!

 Quinn loved Babette. I had the ducks in with the turkeys for about a month because they did get along so well with each other, but when Quinn started getting just a bit too friendly with Babette, I had to break up the friendship and move the ducks away from him. Quinn then had to deal with his unrequited love by pacing Babette’s  enclosure daily whispering sweet gobbles to his duck girlfriend through the fence whilst ignoring his beautiful turkey ladies who were waiting in the wings for his love.

Puffer loved oats! After Amalthea,  plots to kill Super Chicken, his muscovy duck friends and spinach, he loved oats!

On June 11, 2018 Quinn was brutally slaughtered by trespassers on my property. A week and a bit earlier my partner of 13 years suddenly died and I suddenly became a target in the area. Beautiful Quinn had his head cut off whilst he was in his coop. He was a gentle, big guy who only wanted to live out his days wandering the property with his ladies and he was killed in the most horrific way. Personally, my guilt about this will never cease. We saved him from backyard slaughter only for him to be killed in the same way, but in a place he knew as his safe home.

Sweet Puffer, how sorry I am.

“You’ll not see nothing like the mighty Quinn”

Please don’t use my images without permission. All images are Copyright Tamara Kenneally