Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-20
TURKEY RAISING ASA :.
PROFITABLE INDUSTRY
Rearing the Poults Not Difficult If
Common.Sense Methods Are
Employed.
BY ARCHIE E. vANDERvoRT.

BY ARCHIE E. vANDERvoRT.
Copyright, 1885,
There is no question but that the
greatest secret in successful turkey
raising is in having strong. vigorous,
healthy parent stock. If you hatch
eggs from this kind Of stock the battle
is half won. In selecting the breeding
stock the best birds are none too good
Select a male with, lots Of vigor and
of good size. but do not use bird of
extreme heavy weight. Select females
having long. deep bodies, good bone
and lots Of vigor. If yearling or two
year-old hens are used as breeders
mate them witt, young tom; If pullets
are used select an older tom to head
the flock. A good. vigorous tom can
be mated with fifteen to twenty hens,
but as a rule 1t Is not advisable to
mate one tom with over ten or twelve
hens.
The care of the breeding stock is
so-called bad luck" in turkey raising.
namely, infertile and soft -she lled eggs
and impaired vigor. Is due to overfeed-
ing. If the birds that have been Sc
to fatten with the stock intended for
market they should be reduced to me-
dunn flesh during the winter. as good
results cannot be obtained from over
oats to be the best food for the turkey
hens during the breeding season, with
an occasional feed Of wheat OF corn.
Charcoal, shells and grit are kept
70. s- ~ hFnn a
is also fed. as it has a tendency to
make the eggs more fertile. Just be-
fore the hens begin to lay make nests
of straw along the fences. in over
and usually little trouble will be ex-
perienced in inducing the hens to lay
in the nests provided for them.
Matching the Eggs.
The eggs should be gathered every
day, kept in a cool place and turned
once a day until they are set. tur-
key hen will lay from fifteen to eight
cen eggs and then become broody. 1t
is a very easy matter to break one
from setting if taken. in time. and in
this way secure an extra clutch OF
eggs, for she will lay again in a few
days. / always allow the turkeys to
hatch their own eggs. although they
The turkey hen seems to understand
the weakness of the poults better. She
| moves about slowly, brooding often.
while the chicken hen hustles about SO
| that she soon tires out the tender
poults. If chicken hens are used for
! hatcning they should be set at the same
i time with the turkey hens. to whom
all the poults may be given;
set turkeys in coops and make the
nest by scooping out the earth to a
! depth of two or three inches This
prevents the eggs from rolling out ana
! gives the required moisture. then
set eighteen eggs under each hen. It
is a good plan to sprinkle the nest with
| q good lice powder or lice killer pc
| fore putting the turkey on the nest:
| nest until she has set two days on the
old one, and then carefully remove her
at night and place her upon the nest.
Care Of the Poults.
| II takes twenty-eig days for turkey
eggs to incubate The poults are not re-
moved from the nest until they are
twenty-four hours old. then if the weather
Ia dry they are removed to a coop in the
orchard. which is inclosed with high
wire fence. Their coop should be dry
and roomy with a roof to shed the water
40 that they may be kept there during
severe RAINY days They are then given
water and grit, and when they are thirty
! six hours old are given their first food,
consisting of stale bread soaked in sweet
milk and squeezed dry with the hand. I
i mix fine grit and little pulverized char
coal with this and feed 1t for several days.
! after which I bake corn bread or Johnnie
cake, made of cornmeal mixed with water
or sweet skim milk and very little salt
added. and thoroughly baked. This is
moistened with milk and mixed with grit
| or sand and charcoal and given several
days. They are given what they will eat
IN at once and none is left to sour. They
should not be given sloppy or sour food,
az bowel trouble will result. The turkey
hens with the poults have the range Of
the orchard during the day and are driven
into their coops at night. If the weather
| is damp, or the grass wet, the brood must
| be kept in, for dampness is fatal to the
poults.
un1il they are ten days or Two VEGAS
old and then given the range of the farm.
Int are driven up and confined in the Or
cha, d every night until they learn to come
thev are fed cracked wheat and oat
eroats. but the baked cornmeal is con-
| tinued, alternating the two. Grit is in
every feed whether wet or dry, and char
coal at least once day. Whom the young
pouits begin to get their long fight feath-
ers they require extra care and attention.
These seem to grow so rapidly sometimes
as to sap their vitality, ana when they
begin to walk around with wings dropped
/ pull out these flight feathers. wnich stops
all this trouble.
BY this time the pouits are six weelss
old and weigh around two pounds. They
are then fed more literally on grain and
I also keep before them cottage cheese in
! which l put little onion tops chopped
fine. After they shoot the red" at which
time most Of our trouble. are over. / place
whenever they want it, 1t IL an excellent
food and they will eat large quantities Of
It. From this time on they are practical
| iy given their liberty to roam over field
and woods receiving light feed Of grain
at night Just before they are shut up.
Young Turkey Troubles. -
Filth is a persistent enemy of young
| turkeys, and all food and drink dishes
and the coop itself should be kept scrupu-
| lously clean. Lice. perhaps, cause the
death Of more little poults than any other
one thing. The turkeys should be busted
frequently with good lice powder. If
head lice are found. little vaselins or
cream put ON the heads, throat and wings