Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1876-02-17
BREEDING TURKEYS.

AOl IalSIuS tuAAcyo, Hdy Plo'S "
many of our farmers who are engaged in
the poultry business On a small scale, as
turkeys always bring from three to four dol
lars each in the fall and winter
Turkeys kept for breeding stock should
not be fed as high as those intended for
market, but should be fed well give shorts
snixed with boiled potatoes, for morning feed.
The feed at night should be oats, u ckwheat
and corn, but do not feed corn every day.
The turkeys should have plenty Of cracked
bone and oyster shells kept by them. They
should be learned to roost under cover, but
should run where they please in the daytime.
Turkeys do not do well shut up. Begin to
slack up on the feed of the turkeys when
they show an inclination to lay too early.
After the turkeys get to laying, feed all
they will eat. Learn them to lay under COW
er. A good way is to shut them into the
shed where they roost every forenoon until
they get to laying. Nests can be made in
-four barrels put on the side, and make a
nest in them. After the turkeys get to lay
ing they will rarely ever leave their nest.
The eggs should be removed from the nest
daily, and the date laid marked on the egg.
Then the oldest eggs can be set first. The
eggs should be kept where they will not
chill.
/ usually set my eggs under turkeys. If
set under hens the young turkeys should be
put under turkeys when Matched, for if they
run with hens they will stay around the
house and will not forage enough. Set the
turkey on the ground, or make the nest on
damp earth, covered with straw. A turkey
will cover from sixteen to twenty eggs, &C
cording to size OF the turkey. After the tur-
key has set two weeks, sprinkle the eggs
two or three times a week when the turkey
is off. Sprinkle a little sulphur in the nest
to kill lice. See that the turkey comes off
regular, and has plenty to eat. My practice
has been to shut the turkey on the nest twen-
ty-four hours before she is expected to hatch.
Then she will not leave her nest before the
chicks are all out. coop the old turkeys
and let the young ones run until about six
weeks old.
If the turkeys do not ramble too much,
and can have a dry pasture where there are
plenty of insects, it will do to let the old ones
have their liberty after the chicks are two
weeks old. They must come up every night
sure. It will not do to run any risks of loss
by vcrmine.
/ fed very often-say every two hours at
first. I fed curds and shorts with a little
coarse ground corn-meal at first. After the
chickens get older, feed boiled potatoes or
shorts, and the last feed at night Of cracked
corn. Keep plenty OF fresh water by them,
and use the Douglass MIXTURE regularly
In the water that the dough is wet up in. /
consider it a great help to the successful rails
ing Of turkeys, and costs but little.
After the chicks get out the sred," social
ed, the danger is past. If nothing troubles
them they will be all right. They should
have plenty to eat, if they do not come up
with full crops. Begin to feed boiled pota-
toes and meal about September and feed them
all they will eat. About Nov. LIST begin
to feed more meal and corn. 1t usually pays
to keep the gobbler over until Christmas.
Care should be taken in dressing. 1t
makes a wonderful difference in the price, if
the turkeys look well. will not give direc-
tions for dressing, as every farmer has his
own way. Remember and keep the best
for breeders.
A good lot of turkeys will always sell at a
%goodprices. It don'tpay to raise little runts
that will not dress more than six Or seven
pounds. With good location, good care and
good stock, turkey raising will pay, for you
can raise a pound of turkey as cheap as a
pound of pork.