The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1870-03-31
Farm, Garden, and Household,
TURKEYS.

Hon. w. A. Browning, Il successful turkey-ras-
er in Eastern Connecticut gives the following val
liable hints in relation to turkey-rasing: There
should be yard, of from One-cighth to one quar-
ter of acre, where nothing else is allowed to 90
but turkeys. In the latter part of March suitable
nests should be made in the yard, and the turkeys
should be watched and kept in the yard till they all
lay. Ii two or three lay i'll one nest, when they
have laid halt dozen eggs each build nests on
each sde of the where they all lay, and put in
eggs; for, as general thing, they will not crowd
on to "A nest with another turkey when there is
good nest by its side. If they continue to all lay
in one nest, when one begins to set. shut her on
for All hour or So-say from eight TO twelve each
day, and then the others will 90 into the adjoining
nests. Where turkeys lay near together, they
should be set At the same time, for if one matches
few days before the Others the peepnS of the little
ones will make them uneasy, and not unfre1uently
they forSake their nests. Besides, if the turkeys
set side by side, when they hatch and come OFF,
they will almost invariably 90 together and not
fight Set the first turkey on some old or added
eggs and let her set till all get to setting, and then
put under the eggs
1t is well to take the eggs in every night, to pre-
vent their freezing or being destroyed by vermin.
The eggs that are laid first should be put in dish
or basket, to the number of seventeen or eighteen
rs many you wish to set under one turkey, and
then mark them one, two, three, sc. The reason
OF this is, that eggs that have been laid three weeks
will be two days longer in Matching than eggs just
laid; consequently, some would hatch and be off
running around. while other eggs were just being
pipped. If eggs are left i'll the nest, the turkey
sitting on them every day ito lay) VIII warm them,
and they will all hatch together.
Nests should be made so tight that when a tur
KEY is taken OIL the little ones cannot get into the
wall.
When turkey or turkeys are ready to take of
make yard twelve feet square, with boards n
foot or eighteen inches wide tight that the little
ones cannot get out. In this put one, two, three
old ones, and let them stay two three days. with
a pie-pan of water, so that the little ones can get
in and out of the pam When turkeys are taken off
with their little ones, have strong decoction of
tobacco (Which, by the way, Is Just tit to Kill sheep
ticks aud lice and Saturate the old ones under the
wings. Setting turkeys and soldiers in the army
arr very apt to get lousy and lice are death to
Young turkeys. II the old turkeys are not lousy,
the tobacco does no harm. If the young ones get
lousy put yellow snuff and grease under their
wings.
Young turkeys should be fed ON the homeopathic
principle They need but little to eat, but need it
often. The best feed for little turkeys is corn
ground coarse, and then mix it with sour or cur
died milk, scalded so rs TO make curd, and eggs
boiled hard aud chopped fine, and all mixed or
mashed rather dry. Then as the young turkeys
grow larger have the meal ground coarser until
some of the kernels of the corn come out whole.
Fine meal is liable to bake i'll their crops
Turkeys should never be fed after six O'Clock at
night they are great sticklers for health, and of
course they go in for early and light suppers.
Turk keys must not be kept shut up after they are
"a week old. They cannot bear confinement. They
regular Yankees, possessed of the spirit of
change and enterprise. Turkeys must be driven
home and yarded every night, else the skunks or
foxes VIII XIII them. turkeys should De watched
from morning till night for three weeks after they
are turned into the fields, to keep the hawks and
crows away; and see that none of the little ones
lmger behind and get lost.
In rain-storms they should be shut under the
barn, or the barn floor, in a large stable, on
ly putting flock in place; for if you shut two
or focks together, they will kill more than
they would lose to be out of doors.
Get as many old ones to herd together as poss-
ble for it takes no longer to hunt up eight old
and hundred young ones than one old one and
dozen young ones; then if they get on to your
neighbor's land, it will take no longer to drive off
large flock than Il small one; but they should not
be allowed to get on to neighbor's land, for a
neishbor is under no more obligation to keep his
neighbor turkeys, than he is his neighbors sheep,
for both are taxable property, and both should pay
damages when done.
Old turkeys, as general thing, are better to
raise young ones than yearling turkeys are, be-
cause they are more gentle and they lay larger
egg, and the young ones when Matched will be
larger and stronger. Turkeys, two, three, or four
Years old, are the best ages Save over the winter
the best and gentlest of your old turkeys and some
young ones Never save little late turkeys for
breeders; they lay small eggs and hatch small,
weak young ones.
1t is best to change gobblers every year In or
der TO nave good turkeys, feed them from the day
they are Matched till the day before they are killed.
A large flock of turkeys needs more feeding ac-
cording to numbers than small flock, there is
only the same amount of bugs and worms. One
great secret of raising turkeys is to take o f
them; and then you can't always raise them, for
they won't lay or they won't hatch, or something
may hefall them.
1t is of little to try to raise them when the
fields in the immediate neighborhood of the house
are in heavy moving. They get into the grass
and getting tired 90 to sleep in the sun. and are
lost.
They should have a range of pasturc-lands while
they are young; when August comes, they can
take care OF themselves.
Last year kept eight hen turkeys and one Tom
and raised one hundred and t,cel0e young ones,
one hundred of which We're of the first brood, and
twelve of the last.
OF these I sold at Thanksgiving:
%, weight 34s 3-4 lbs, average - lbs
at 2Tc (s325 apiece, S941S
At Christmas:
II, weight 1912 lbs, average 10 G-16
lbs, at Doc (S3117 apicce), 26sO0
On hand January /, 1870:
u, worth Cat east) s., 24.OO
Total sales from eight hens, 1886 Is
Up to June lst, fed 8 bus. corn, 81 20 o.60