Newark post., 1911-03-22

who has made study OF the turkey and
has had remarkable success in the rails
;rg OF them, read an exec lent paper
IN which she generously passed her ex-
nerience on. beiore the Farmers III
sttute held in Oxford Opera House
recently.
The following extract is taken from
this paper. which is printed in full in
the oxford Press OF March 10th:
Ii the turkeys have absolutely free
range as most people give them),
and it is desirable, as ii is their nature
10 range out quite a way fro mthe
buildings; it is quite a task to locate
the nests and gather the eggs before
they become chilled during the first
part Of the laying season, (the she'll
OF turkey egg being SO much thicker
than hens egg it can stand much
colder weather without the hatch be-
inc interfered WITH. As locating the
nests takes so much time, | found it a
much better way one year to drive my
turkeys ina we'll ventilated enclosure
at night and keep them there until
they had laid the next day! then turn
them out from 3 to O'Clock Ior
range out This also saves manv
eggs. as crows are very fond OF tur-
key and guinea eggs in the early
spring and often sit on a tree and fly
to the nest for the egg as soon as they
see the hen leave the nest. | keep the
eggs in the cellar, and though it is
said to be so ''old fogyish.'' still ad-
here to our grandmother way of
turning eggs; ii is best not to keep
| them long, but as | generally set a
chicken hen or two the same time
set turkey hen, | wait until | have
enough eggs for them all at once.
| think it a good idea to place bar
rels about carelessly, covering some
OF the tops with brust, etc; place some
straw or leaves inside and leave nest
egg: frequently the hens will lay in
these barrels and save lots OF time
hunting for nests. Anyone who has
ever spent time watching a sly old
"juky' turkey hen. knows just how
tiresome it is. and can recall how many
times she will change her mind as to
her course before she will finally give
up to go to her nest.
| use a good insect powder on the
sitting hens, and try to keep them free
from vermin; when the poults hatch
remove tllSlll Al olll tiiS lSSt, "HSh a.
dried off, as so often the turkey her
mashes them. | always look carefully
iorior lice on the heads OF poults, ane
put little sweet oil on their heads /
! find any: but never use much greaSt
on turkey. for it will kill them.
keep close watch for vermin for the
first six weeks; after that they vii
usually dust with the mother hen ant
keep themselves free of lice, un'ess w
have long, wet spell, when it is bes
to examine them, as lice are death t.
turkeys, and so 1T is up to US to b.
on the alert.
do not feed them for 90 hours aite
hatching; then give them some SAN
and water: the next iood is usually
little dry bread soaked in sweet milk
squeezed dry; in this | sprinkle lit
tie black pepper and sometimes Tor
greater variety OF food. mash har
boiled egg in with the bread. 1t /
best to feed sparingly but often. an
never feed heavily with grain | tr
to vary the ration as much as possible
and do this by giving them scrap
from the table, Johnny cake or cor
cakes; then, after the four, or hit
day. | give them chick food. as It
composed OF small grams and Secds,
find chick food splendid Tor youn
turkeys or guineas. Either who
wheat or cracked wheat is good tc
thcm also. \ range over clover neit
is ideal or them, as they get the
natural ration OF grass-hopperc, seed
bugs, etc, and come in at nigh.j wit
their little crops sticking way out, ali
one can almost see them grow Viii
looking at them.
Coops should be large ana room
they should have board floors, al
should be tight enough TO keep G
the rain; if too small, and one has
keep them shut up for several da.
when it storms, it is vary hard
the little fellows, as it is against the
! nature to stand close confinement, l
matter how large the coop may be.
soon as they get started well and see
age, | allow the hen to take II