Milford chronicle., 1903-01-09
HOW TO RAISE TURKEYS EVERY
YEAR.
BY B. F. B. wooDALL.

In forty years on a Delaware
farm, with few exceptions a gooC
aunt of mine raised a flock of tur
keys to sell at Christmas, to hell
fill the Christmas purse. l had th(
good fortune of passing eighteer
years of my boyhood under hel
care, therefore | can give some
practical points on this subject.
First, you must select one COB
bier and two or three hens-the
first Matched and largest in your
hock-this is very important Each
hen will lay from eighteen to
twenty-four eggs. About the first
of March the hens will give their
peculiar call made at the lay ing
season, as they wander around;
this indicates that they will soon
begin to lay. To prevent them
from going to the woods to make
their nests, drive some stakes or
boards down in the ground i'll a
circle about the size of bushel
basket, and cover with green pine
or cedar brush; make five or six of
these i'll secluded places back of
buildings or fence corners. You
must try to secure every egg from
your own turkeys, for turkey eggs
can't be bought. They lay their
egg about the middle of the day,
and you should get the egg as soon
as the hen comes off.
This is the beginning of a task
and steady job for a boy, who is
to be the shepherd of flock Of tur-
keys; and I would suggest here,
if some of these town boys, especi-
ally those whose parents are able I
to keep them without wOrk-would .
go out on the farm for four months
May, June, July and August, for
several years only to be a shep-
herd in raising a flock of turkeys
for the farmer,it it would be the best
college that he could attend, and
make his other eight months of
study in the school room of some
benefit to him; for, a boy who has
been a faithful shepherd of a flock
of turkeys for ten or fifteen years, II
will make a success in any bust
ness he chooses in life.
must get back to my snbject-
keep the eggs in basket in a cool /
room wrapped in woolen clothes
do not let them get chilled-turn !
them over every two days. Set the {
hen on the ground where she has t
laid, or move her, if desired, to {
good tight place where she will not
be mOlested by any ANIMAL fasten l
up tight at night, but open every S
day. After sitting two or three /
days watch if she comes of, and see t
that she goes on, Put from seven v
teen to twenty-One eggs under each a
hen. If proper care is taken of Q
the eggs before setting and the o
heus are watched during the period D
of incubation, every egg should i
hatch turkey. AS soon as the h
hen is done Matching, which is d
about twenty eight days, have pre- v
pared a large tight coop with a ii
small pen arouud it of wire netting. lC
Take the young turkeys and pick n
off the little pip of the end of bill, D
put in the coop a little dough for a,
the turkeys to eat; then dip the D.
turkey in a bucket of cold water Ia
and wrapup until dry: A
1 give these two acts in the tur- c:
Keys life which might seem a lit ie
lie superstitious, and I used to ask II
ny aunt why she did it. The an h,
wer was: IT'S necessary to insure til
heir life" l have since done it te
or thirty years. Keep the hen in III
he coop at night and bad weather, n,
md let them run out in the pen m
Turing the day, for at least four d,
weeks; then let them out after the th
lew is off, and get them up before ca
ate i'll evening, or rainy weather. er
20 not let them be out in a heavy w
ain. As soon as you see signs of 10
ain, look for the turkeys, and get m
hem in dry place. Feed FIVE or fr,
tx times a day while kept up in SC
,en-with this mixture; j. e., for le
wenty turkeys, each day one hard of
'oiled egg ard few onion tops or ca
,epper grass chopped up fine OF
most any green plant is good-let A
uce or clover, a small pinch Of red vc
,epper, half pint corn meal, small bt
ian of clabber cooked, drained and al
made into co .tage cheese. Increase w
he quantity as their appetites in cl
rease. Give all the cottage cheese
hey want, and do not be sparing in
With eggs-especially while they W
re kept up in the pen, for these ca
wo acts in place of their natural m
oOd, insects. tr
ffer thew are let rt,o ottt food :.