Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1903-02-12
RAISING TURKEYS.
A Few Hints as to Their Proper Care.

A Few Hints as to Their Proper Care
Information For the Beginner.
If beginner, select three or four Of
the best shaped hens you can find in a
large flock and mate to a gobbler from
another flock that is not related to the
hens. Never inbred turkeys. If you
raise any young birds at all from the
inbred stock, they will be worthless as
breeders for the next season. AS to the
age of breeding stock, yearling and two
year-old hens produce the most vigor-
GUS offspring, and hens of that age will
lay more eggs in a season than older
birds. Feeding the breeding stock has
everything to do with the number Of
eggs laid and their fertility. Feed very
sparingly of grain, as fat turkeys do
not lay fertile eggs nor many of any
kind. Give little or no corn to the
breeders. Buckwheat will keep them
in better condition. and cut clover is
very good. A head of cabbage is greatly
relished by them and is one of the best
things you can feed them through the
winter months. Give them all the grit
they can eat once week. Keep your
turkeys as tame as possible; they are
easier cared for and will not wander so
far away. Do not keep turkeys with or
near other poultry. Do not let them
run around the barnyard or farm build
ings, and keep them away from stag
nant pools of water.
An open shed with wire netting
front facing the south and situated in
an upland pasture makes an ideal
place for raising turkeys. May 10 is
early enough to hatch the first poults
in the northern states The ground is
generally very cold and damp previous
to that time Feed the young for the
first time when thirty-six hours old,
and the first food should be grit in
some form. Seashells make the best
kind of grit for the young, and crushed
clam shells are very good when the
turkeys are four months old or older.
The young should have but very little
water until after they are two months
old. have raised rs per cent of
flock of young turkeys to maturity
that did not have drop of water I'M
til they were over a month old. A tea
spoonful of Douglas mixture added to
every quart of drinking water is very
beneficial. 1t prevents cholera and
diarrhea and is a great help in de-
stroying tapeworms. Tapeworms kill
more turkeys than most people have
any idea of. Ground pumpkin seeds
mixed with their food are as good
remedy as / have ever tried for tape
worms. Cleanliness in every way is
absolutely necessary. Remove the
droppings at least three times a week.
Always cover the dropping boards
with road dust or dry earth. Have
dust box five or six feet square and
a foot deep, with a roof or cover that
will keep out all storm. A good dust
box is of untold value in keeping down
lice. Lice are sure death to young
turkeys, and every means of keeping
them down must be used. See that the
sitters are free from them, and dust
three or four times while incubating
with some good insect powder. Re
member that you can easily overfeed
the young ones, and that means death
to them. In good dry season insects
are always plenty, and the young tur-
keys need no feed at all after the first
week-"H. NJ p" in Rural New
Yorker.