Thread by @hiitaylorblake

Hi friends. I’ve tried countless times to write this post, but it’s been extremely difficult for me. We had a massive tragedy strike the farm, and I have been doing my best to wrap my head around it.

I’ve taken time to process and grieve as much as possible, while also dedicating all of my time to the animals and their well-being. It’s hard to grieve when so many lives depend on you.

We’ve had an issue with wild Egyptian Geese flying into our farm. At one point, there were are many as 50 of them that would fly in every night at the same time. We would chase them off, and they would return under the cover of darkness.

Not many people are aware of the dangers that wild birds pose to domesticated birds. Wild birds carry and transmit a deadly virus known as Avian Influenza. Our farm was heavily impacted by wild geese bringing in AI, and we lost 99% of the birds on our farm.

I cannot even begin to express the guttural feeling of watching innocent animals die. Daily. Innocent animals that did NOT deserve to die. It’s even harder to swallow the fact that we did nothing wrong, it was not our fault, and there’s nothing we could’ve done to prevent it.

(It’s relatively impossible to vaccinate for AI because there are so many mutated versions of the virus. We have been in contact with the state and have followed all protocols. They believe all of the standing water after Hurricane Ian made the virus run rampant)

I lost Emily, Eliza and Elliot. The virus hit them extremely hard and very quickly. I tried my best to save them, but I was unsuccessful. We lost every single chicken and duck on our farm. We lost all of our geese. We lost our 2 female black swans. We lost both of our turkeys.

We lost 50+ birds in 3 days. I am still trying to wrap my head around it. We thought we were out of the woods, when Emmanuel unexpectedly went down this past Wednesday...💔

I will do anything and go into any amount of debt to save his life. My vet came out and was able to sedate and stabilize him until I could find an avian specialist. I have been treating him around the clock since Wednesday.

I am running on about 4hrs of sleep in 4 days bc all that matters to me is saving him. Currently, he is stable. His neurological symptoms have subsided but he still won’t eat or drink on his own. I am hand feeding him & giving him subcutaneous fluids every 2hrs around the clock.

The issue we are having is he has a bit of nerve damage in his right leg and foot, he went down in the middle of the night and we didn’t know until the next morning. He spent hours lying on one side and it’s caused some damage.

He is a fighter and I wholeheartedly believe he is going to make a full recovery. My girlfriend and I researched how to build a sling for an emu, but apparently there are absolutely zero resources for such a thing!

We put our brains together and built Emmanuel a sling so that we can start physical therapy with him, in the hopes that he will regain function of his right foot/leg. We have been tweaking and perfecting it over the last 48hrs.

He has a long road ahead, but I know in my heart that God is healing him. I know all of this won’t be in vain. I know that Emmanuel Todd Lopez will make a full recovery and will continue to spread love, light and joy.

It seems like I haven’t been able to catch a break these past few months, but I am so incredibly blessed. I have so much gratitude in my heart that Emmanuel is still alive. That he is fighting. That my best friend is making a comeback. I am going to be ok, we are going to be ok!

This entire experience, albeit very traumatizing, has taught me so much. I will always use my platform to spread awareness. To hopefully use the knowledge I’ve gained to save someone else from this heartbreak. AI is running rampant in the USA right now, please be aware!

For now, I am asking for prayer. I am asking for any and all good energy sent his way. I am asking for anyone who has any experience with large bird physical therapy, please reach out to me. I would love to chat with you about options.

As of now, the only birds left on the farm are Emmanuel and Rico. Please say a prayer for us. Please keep us in your thoughts. It is an absolute miracle that he has made it this far, and I will never give up on him. The road to a full recovery will be long, but I am dedicated.

I wouldn’t have been able to get through this past week without my incredible girlfriend, my amazing family and best friends who have gone above and beyond to support me, pray for Emmanuel and pray over me when I was having a breakdown.

At this time, I ask that you refrain from any negative comments. I ask that you don’t ask any intrusive questions. I ask, if you have nothing positive or uplifting to say, please don’t say anything.

I am trying my best to remain hopeful, tap into my unwavering faith, and trust that God is in control. I am also doing my best to remain thankful in the face of loss, for I have so much to be grateful for❤️ Thank you for reading.