Weekly graphic. [volume] (Kirksville, Adair Co., Missouri) 1880-1949, 1886-06-04
Turkey Raising.

Mrs. Griffin, of Pike county,
Missouri, gives her experience of
turkey raising in the Journal of
the Farm, as follows:
We will first give our expert
ence in regard to turkey raising
thinking they are very profitable
to the farmer, not only for table
use, but in their wandering over
the farm in quest of food, destroy
ing all the insects that would 9TH
erwise destroy his crop of grain.
In the first place, select good
kind; the best we think, are large
Bronze turkeys; they being the
largest, are of course the best for
market. 1t is just as easy to raise
a turkey weighing Is pounds,
as to raise the little, inferior stock
of by-gone days, and they are so
much more profitable. The month
of February is the time to buy
turkeys for breeding purposes; to
wait any later makes them SO late
rearing their young. A few days
before they begin to lay, put them
in an enclosure where it is most
desirable to have their nests, and
where they cannot get out. After
they have made their nests, they
may be set at liberty, without any
fear of roaming or straying. Next
take good care of the eggs. They
should be gathered carefully
every day, and placed between
layers of flannel or cotton in II
place of uniformity cool tempera-
ture, and turned over every day.
In spring, after the turkeys begin
to lay it is often cold enough to
freeze the ground when, if the
eggs are suffered to lie in the nests
they will become chilled and will
not hatch. When the hen shows
a disposition to sit, my method of
procedure is to follow nature as
far, as possible. | make. my tur-
keys nests on the ground or in
large shallow boxes, half filed
with mould, that can be dampened
at intervals. The hens come off
regularly to eat, and are supplied
with grain with a liberal hand.
When the young ones are Matched
they are left undisturbed under
the hen until the next day No
attempt 1is1made to cram them, an
absurd practice, which interferes
most injuriously with the due li-
gestion of the yolk, that is absorb
ed at birth, and constitutes all the
food required for tweutyaor thirty
hours. A. THEM first meal should be
warm bread and milk, well, pepper
ed, with hard boiled eggs added
or clabbered cheese, which is
splendid, if q person hasaplenty4of
milk, to spare. Some viii say this
is a. great deal Of ltronble,h but
what can we raise on the farm sue
cessfully, that is not little trouble.
And a little care in these matters
will greatly repay all our efforts.
They should be kept in from rain
and wet dews of morning, for
when they get wet they get drag
gled and die.
Corn meal l have tried, and I
find It does not agree with them,
and in many cases causes diseases
and kill them, and kills them.
Let every one be cautious Of what
they feed their young turkeys un-
til they are a few weeks old, and
then they will know what to eat.
Quite as important as any other
part of the care of the young tur-
keys, is the supply of green food,
and many persons chop up nettles,
onions, ETC., with the food; but if
young turkeys are watched when
grazing, it will be observed that
they prefer bitter herbs belonging
to the natural lowering plants,
such as dandelion, etc. The COM
mon lettuce belongs to the same
tribe, and I feed them largely on
it. The greediness with which
they devour this plant is remark
able. At three weeks old dozen
turkey chicks will eat four or five
large lettuces in a day, and they
even seem to prefer them when
running to seed, at which time
there is an abundance of bitter,
milky jcice in the plants. Anothz
er point of the highest Importance
in feeding young fowls of any
kind, is the hour at which they
get their first repast. If they have
had their first meal deferred until
long after sunrise, they have been