Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-05-22
AGRICULTURAL SELECTIONS.

TURKEY TALK.-There is no doubt but that
the chief cause of the mortality among young
turkeys is their exposure to wet before they
are fully feathered. The ordinary turkey
raiser trusts good deal to the instinct of the
mother turkey, and the mother turkey if left
to herself, squats down just where night hap
pens to overtake her; gets up early in the
morning and wanders around in the wet grass
in search of food, and as a natural conse-
quence. more than half of her brood die of
chills and elamps before they are month
old and more than likely the other half is
cobble6up by some four-footed prowler Dew
is ab5ut as fatal as poison to young turkeys
before they are fully feathered, and if you ex.
pect to raise your turkeys and make the rear
ing of them profitable, you must keep them
out of the grass when it is wet with dew, until
they are about two months old. l have a
large well.lighted gravel fioored shed, where
l can confne my young turkeys in the morn
ing until the sun has dried the dew off the
grass, and on rainy days they are kept in the
shed all day. The mother hens are confined
in slat coops placed along the rear of the she'd
When one raises turkeys in large numbers, [
think some such arrangement would pay, but
the ordinary farmer who only raises few
dozen for market each year. would not care
to go to the expense of putting up such a
building and for their benefit will describe
pen that have found very useful sFor
family of dozen or so of young turkeys, we
make square pen by placing boards, sixteen
inches wide and six feet long, on edge and
fastening them in position. At one side is a
large slant-roofed, tight-coop, the front of
which opens into the pen. There is no floor
in this coop, but as it is perfectly tight, ex-
cept the auger holes for ventilation, and we
always set it in dry spot where the rain can
not wash under it, and move coop and pen
often, the young turkeys are always dry and
comfortable. But where the ground is damp
and the rain would be likely to wash under
the coop, there should be board floor, COW
cred with gravel, which should be cleared out
and renewed often. For few days after the
poults are Matched, whether you raise them
with hen mother or turkey mother, they
must be confined to this coop aud pen then
if all appear strong and well, ard the weather
favorable, open the pen and give the young
liberty after the sun has completely dried the
dew off the grass. Should a sudden shower
come up while your young turkeys are out in
the fields, you must turn out and drive them
to the coops. Ii any are chilled, take them
to the house, dry and warm them thoroughly,
give them good feed with plenty Of ginger
or red pepper ia it, and then return to the
mother hen. See that your turkeys come
home every night. At first, if you raise
them with turkey mother, you will have to
hunt them up and drive them home, but if
You feed regularly every morning and always
at night they will soon learn to come home
as regularly as the cows. After they are
fully feathered and have thrown out the red
on their heads, which usually occurs at about
three months, young turkeys are hardy, and
may be allowed unlimited range at all times
and from this time on as long as the supply
of insects lasts, they will thrive on two meals
day. Keep your turkeys growing right
straight from the shell and you will find that
it will pay when payday comes. Some farm
ers as soon as their young turkeys are feath
cred up, turn them out to get their living the
best way they can until few weeks before
Thar ksgiving then they stuff them for few
weeks. and wonder why they do not equal in
weight those of their neighbor who has kept
his turkeys growing all the time from the day
they were hatched. Where insect forage is
abundant, turkeys viii pick up the greater
part OK their living for three or four months,
and in such localities it will do to turn them
out after they are three months old, without
any breakfast. but think they should always
have handful of grain at night, even if they
come home with full crops.-[ Fanny Field
In Prairie Farmer.