How old are the bushes? When were they planted? Was a soil test ever performed?
Need some more info before I can help.

fake high bush crap, or real low bush blueberries?

That's funny
Since he said bushes, we will assume high bush.
I have about 30 high bush varieties at my place that we planted this year. I also have about  2 acres of low bush wild blueberries in one of my fields

I deal with a few hundred acres of lowbush every year.   Im not sure on the best way to deal with high bush.



Low bush I would cut back in the fall and transplant, not this late in the spring.

I am guessing that you use more than a traditional blueberry rake to harvest.
As far as I know high bush would be the same. I would transplant them when dormant.

This is how I pick blueberries.







 

You are making me hungry.
Where in Maine are you located?
Shoot me a PM if you don't mind.

Waldo,

They should do fine in a little to partial shade. The damn things go feral, and grow like weeds in the woodlines around my fields.;)

Before you do anything, verify the issue. There is no point in moving bushes that don't need it, and moving those in decline usually, ends up with shocky and slow recoving transplants.

Soil ph and composition, drainage, nutrition needs. Soil, and leaf tissue analysis if possible, but soil alone would go a long way.

What's going on that you call it decline? Pics of leaves, new growth, underside of leaves would help. How old are they?


Phomopsis and Botrytis can double whammy bushes and lead to decline, and some varietys are prone to viruses.

Whatcha got goin' on?

LOL!!

That's a Mower.

THIS is how they are harvested, and we don't have to clean crtter shit out of 'em.

I dunno if my old BEI, is older than your power rake or not...

That harvester head is at least 25 years old and has picked around 2 million pounds so far.





Critter shit makes them grow better.  The only critter shit I see is bear, and it's mostly blueberries anyway.

You can't tell the difference in your muffins anyways.



 

ROFL!!!

IIRC the old Handys are still selling for almost as much as the newer units. Must be nice.
New tires set me back close to 4k!

Our old BEI was made in 73'. she's good for about 40 tons season and has been since new.
I converted it over to hydraulic from 110v drives, and the previous owner converted everything else in the 80's.

Dunno if you heard, BEI went under and everything was sold off back in May. Blower/cleaner lines, harvesters, everything...done.
Old Man McKibben's son is starting over in the old Barn where it all started in 64'....so if you guys need parts and such, drop me a line, as I am compiling a list of where parts and bits can be sourced.

Right now folks are panicking trying to find parts sources, and nothing has been consolidated yet, to support all the customers.
The cleaner lines are where things get interesting. I know there are hundreds of them there in Maine, as well as out west, and only one guy is known to have components.

Speaking of Bear shit...
The USDA GAP auditor gigged me for Turkey tracks in the field two years ago, because our "Wildlife mitigation policy" was ineffective".
I'd love to be able to throw a Bear terd at her!

Good luck with the SWD!!!

All of our stuff is made by Bragg (DBE) out of Canada, no problem with parts at all.  Not sure what a single head like that goes for now, probably around 40k.



We haven't had any SWD on our crop yet, but neighboring fields have.  Just keep spraying the shit out of it I guess..lol

Take them to the cabin, they might grow if they find water

If they'll survive until late fall or winter, I'd wait until then.  Nothing w/ leaves on it likes to be moved...





 

If they are already snipped back by the deer, and only 3-4 small canes, you wont need to bother with more than digging and moving.
If they are hip high or better, and have more than 4 canes, prune off a Cane to decrease the demand on the roots.

Early to mid June isn't too late to move them, and they will have a better shot moving them now.  The roots grow year round, and winter is no time to deal with transplant shock.
We plop all our transplants and replacements in late spring, as most do around here. Fall transplants tend to get popped out from frost heave too, and nothing is as aggrevating.

5yr olds should have a root ball about the size of a Basketball, and then a crapload of hair fine roots extending out in a 3-4' radius.
Dig around them about 8-12" out, and down about a foot, and you will get most of everything important.
The Mycorrhiza already established, are more important than the fine roots you wont get.

Just loosen up the ground a good foot or two around the root ball, so new roots can get going easily. Hit them with water daily, and a good foliar fertilizer weekly for the first couple weeks, and if you have it on hand, chuck some bone meal or 3-20-20(1/2 shot glass full)  mixed in with the back fill.  

Bury to flush, and leave loose to settle on thier own. Just hand compact around the root crown and they will do the rest.

One of the best foliars we have found for transplant, or switching from beds to pots, is plain old Miracle Grow "Miracid" for acid loving plants.
If your PH is off a tick, it's enough to get by on until your ammendments kick in, and helps the bush get through the transplant shock from change in ph, as well as loss of uptake...they have a crapload of roots because they suck at uptake.

I have gouged up whole mature bushes with the harvester, usually at the row ends, and just shoved them back in thier holes without killing the things.
If they have water, light, and chow to suppliment the uptake losses, they are damn hard to kill.

Some that I pushed out(Nematode issues) into a pile a couple years ago, tried like crazy to get going again, and several bloomed right in the brush pile a year later because they had enough soil on the crown, and surrounding crowns to establish root growth into. If the ground is loose and well drained, and near 4.5-5.5ph don't worry about them. They will take.

One thing to consider before moving them.
Fungal issues and viruses.

You have a couple sick kids on the other side of the room from the healthy kids.
Make sure the decline is not from Phomopsis or Botrytis, or a Virus like shoestring before moving the sick kids in and amoung the healthy ones.

A good systemic fungicide like Pristine or Quash applied to the whole mob is a good idea, and our common practice, before planting replacements in an established field.
At the very least check over the sick kids for obvious stuff like weeping little phomopsis zits on newer tissues, light mold on leaf undersides and spotted leaves.

Ya don't want to kill the healthy kids, trying to save the sick ones.

PICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SWD has put several growers under around here. Spraying every 5-7 days and rotating between expensive products was expensive, and then they got the fly any way which dropped prices from 35 cents a lb to .05
in the middle of harvest with a couple weeks to go.

If your neighbor isn't spraying, you're gonna get nailed. I have an Organic Vegan liberal jackass for a neighbor on one field., and the expected happened. He could only afford to spray 1-2 times thanks to the OMRI approved pesticides bieng so expensive, and his Organic crap became a breeding colony real fast. My traps would get 30-40 a day in the rows next to the line, and 3-5 just 6 rows in.

I got Mustang Maxx from XS ag for $118 Gal. and can't be happier with the stuff in rotation with Malthion, immidan, and Lannate.

Good luck to ya!!!

Pics of foliage and new growth?
The closer the better.

If nothing else, spray everything with Bonide "Fruit tree spray" 3-4 days before transplanting, and then a week later.
It has Captan for the fungicide, which is a GP protectant, and will knock back any Phomopsis and Botrytis a bit.

Bushes get knocked back a bit by transplanting, no matter what, and any fungal issues present, will be accellerated.