The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1891-07-02
FARMER AND PLANTER.
REARING TURKEYS.
Profitable Birds to Raise, but They Require
Watchful Care.


Profitable Birds to Raise, but They Require
Watchful Care.
The turkey is among the most profit
able birds that the farmer can raise.
On account of the fact that they require
wide range, and insects upon which to
feed, they do not thrive well in confne-
ment and are hence beyond the scope
of the town-resident's ambition. In a
recent article we took occasion to refer
to the origin and varities of the domes-
tic turkey. Hence in this we shall refer
more particularly to their breeding and
management
The female commences laying about
the middle of March. Previous to do
ing so she emits peculiar, wistful
cry, going around prying into out
of-the-way places, and evincing a
special desire to conceal her
movements from the male bird, who,
if he finds her on the nest, will ill-treat
her, drive her away and break the eggs.
She prefers to choose her own nest,
which will probably be on the ground
in tall weeds or grass, or in an inviting
fence corner. By carefully watching
the nest can be located. If possible, it
is better to prepare her nest for her, of
dry leaves, straw and earth, either in a
roomy manager in the COW stable, or in
one of the many hooks she seems to fire.
quent. More readily to attract her at
tention, a nest-egg may be placed in the
selected spot, which will in all likeli-
hood induce her to take up the perform
ance of her incubative duties at that
point The eggs should be taken from the
nest when the hen turkey is out of sight,
leaving the nest egg as a decoy. They
should be placed on end in flannel. wool,
sawdust or meal, and at all times be
carefully handled until needed. They
are of dull cream color, speckled with
reddish dots Young turkeys will lay
more eggs than older ones, but not of
as large a size; neither are the young
birds so strong and healthy as those
Matched from eggs laid by two and
three-year-old hens. For the same rea-
son eggs from late-hatched birds of the
preceding year will not produce as fine
birds as eggs from the stock raised
earlier in the year. If obliged to breed
from young hens, let the gobbler be
two or three years old, or even older,
and not related to the hens.
1t is customary to set the first clutches
of eggs laid by the hen turkey under
common hens. If the hen turkey is
broody shut her up in coop for three
or four days, after which she will mate
again and resume laying When she
becomes broody the second time she
should be allowed to hatch and rear the
young herself. As the common hen
will wean her brood more quickly than
the hen turkey, the first brood will then
join that of the turkey, and the COM
bined force, under a skillful general,
will traverse the woods and fields to-
gether. In setting the common hen, it
should be borne in mind that she will
hatch larger proportion from six eggs
than from nine, and she will be better
able to cover them as they grow older.
Precautions must also be taken against
lice by carefully sprinkling the hen and
eggs with insect powder when setting
her. This parasite is especially danger
Gus to young turkeys, and is the cause
of many presumably mysterious deaths
among them. Special provision must
also be made against rats by the use of
wire netting around the coops at night,
as this rodent is especially fond of an
ticipating some ones Christmas dinner.
readily passing by young chickens to
get a taste of turkey.
If it is desired that both clutches of
eggs should hatch out at the same time.
let all be kept until the turkey is broody
the second time, then give her what she
can nicely cover-say from twelve to
sixteen eggs-and divide the rest among
common hens. In this case all the
young turkeys can be brought up by
their real mother. The period of in
cubation for turkey eggs is twenty
eight days, although they are almost
always Matched on the twenty-seventh
day. If the season has been a dry one.
it is desirable to sprinkle the eggs with
luke-warm water once or twice during
the third and fourth weeks to insure the
breaking of the shell by the young tur-
key within. This should be done with
as little disturbance of the sitter and
her eggs as possible.-C. K. Westbrook.
IN Country Gentleman.