Hutchinson gazette., 1901-04-18
DAIRY AND POULTRY.
INTERESTING CHAPTERS FOR
OUR RURAL READERS.
Vow Successful Farmers operate Thl,
Department of tho Farm - A Few
Hints AS to tho Care Of Live stock
and Poultry
Sumo MInta on TurkeYa.

TO the Farmers Review; In the
years we raised turkeys the following
hints were rubbed Into Vs, with greater
or less force. Experience ls q good
teacher, but II 10 often more profitable
to the pupil to profit by and from the
experience Of others, TO make a sue
cess OF II, strong, healthy hens and
Toms are an absolute necessity. This
does not mean the birds should be
overly large, but they must have good
frames and be In the best OF health,
Breeders must not be confined; the
hens will lay, OF course, but they are
dissatisfied, and II the eggs hatch they
will not produce healthy chicks II
the hens conclude to lay in the chick
en- hens'-nests, or near the premises,
good; you are saved many a long and
vexatlous hunt; but TO conhne them In
order to save yourselves work In hunt
Ing nests, will only result In added
work and worry In trying to save the
weakly turks.
Gather the eggs every evening, re-
placing the turk eggs with other eggs,
for although they may stay In the
nest during inclement, even freezing
weather and yet hatch, II II an unsafe
practice, and one not to be recommen-
ded Keep the eggs until you have
several dozen; keep them In u dark,
cool place, and turn every other day,
Set several chicken hens on these eggs
at the same time, and be sure to select
your gentlest, most motherly hens for
this purpose, giving them nice, soft
dry nests placing from nine to twelve
under each hen; large hen can cover
twelve all right II she has q warm nest,
such as one down In box or barrel
When the hen Is Matching, do not
bother her, for while by examining her
will sometimes cause you to save one,
you are apt to cause some to be killed
by disturbing the hen.
When the turkey hen has laid her
clutch out, and wishes to set, gently re-
move her to a comfortable coop, with
feed and water at hand. In three days
1t Is generally safe to let her out, but
II she goes back to the nest, shut her
up again. She will lay two or three
eggs after being shut up, as they al
ways commence setting before the
clutch is laid. 1t Is not best to destroy
the nest as they sometimes go back
to the old nest to lay the second clutch
Usually they begin laying the second
clutch in ten days or two weeks after
being let out of the jail coop After
laying out the second clutch let them
set either upon their own eggs or upon
hens eggs,
Old turkey hens will not lay as many
eggs as younger ones, but their eggs
are larger and will hatch out much
stronger poults; the eggs turkey lays
the first season rarely pay for being
set, they may every one hatch, II you
mate to an extra good Tom, but the
poults are weakly and II you succeed
in getting them through they hardly
pay for the bother. Often there does
not single egg hatch. My preference
would be for hens from three to nine
years old, mated to large-boned Tom
one year old. It Is much better to re-
ceiye two dozen large eggs OF strong
fertility per hen, than to have twice
that number Of small (or large) eggs
containing a weak germ,-Emma
Clearwaters.