Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1901-06-13
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RAISING TURKEYS.
hrs. Jones Describes Her Method of
Feeding and Caring For Them.

hrs. Jones Describes Her Method of
Feeding and Caring For Them.
A lady in the eastern states wrote
that she Matched $50 and raised one
young turkey, writes Mrs. Charles
Jones in The Poultry Keeper. If by
giving my way of caring for the poults
can assist any one in avoiding such
loss,4 shall be very glad. Although /
have given my way of feeding and
caring time and again, will repeat 1t
here, as some readers may not have
seen it.
When I take my young turks out Of
the nest, l spray box with lice killer
and put the old hen in, not closing it
up SO tight that she cannot get some
fresh air. leave her for two or three
hours, keeping the poults wrapped up
warm. l have large dry goods box
with a sliding lath door to keep the
old hen in and let the little turkeys run
out in a tight yard. / have a board
door to let down to keep vermin out at
night and to keep them warm until the
weather gets settled.
My first feed is an egg put in cold
water and boiled hard for half an hour
or more and chopped shell and all.
only feed a little at a time and only
feed three times a day, as that is all
can get time to do. | put in a little
chick size grit every morning and
cracked oyster shells. l find that both
chickens and turkeys are healthier by
having grit mixed a little each morn
ing with their food. 1t is better than
risking their picking up enough out of
the grit box.
Ny next ration, after about two days,
is dandelion leaves chopped with the
| eggs, with sour milk curd mixed in.
This is their morning feed. At noon
| they get curd; at night, onions chopped
with the egg and curd. l only feed
what they will eat up clean in short
| time.
After week or two l feed millet
mixed with the feed and oatmeal. l
see by an article written for The Poul-
try Journal by Mr.. w. J. Bell that he
| feeds turkeys shorts, and l think
shall try them later on, as I am always
| bothered to find food enough after they
get bigger, but like my way of feed
ing at first, as l can get them so they
| will jump over a board a foot high
when less than week old. This way
Of feeding makes them strong, and
| they grow SO rapidly.
| Exercise is one Of the great elements
| to success with turkey raising, and
| after the third day l always turn my
| turkeys out to run during the day after
the dew is off the grass until about
o'clock, when they are driven in and
fed for the night.
l think If the lady that lost so many
will try this way she will save hei
turkeys. I scarcely ever have droopy
or sick turkey, as my way of caring
for them keeps them healthy. Over
| feeding, filth, lice and running in the
wet are death to turkeys. l always
raise my young turkeys in the breed
| ing yards with my old turkeys, and
| find they are like the human race, they
| have the same love of home, and wheI
the breeding season comes around they
pick out their old breeding yard to rur
in, and by yarding them year after
year in the same place it is very little
trouble to get them to stay in their ole
haunts. Some people contend that tur
keys poison ground and that it causes
sickness to keep them in the same
| place year after year. This is myth
| fIoa hn ORC n
month purifies any soil unless large de
posits of droppings are left for them t.
| pick over.