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300 THE FRIEND OF ALL.
TURKEYS.
Breeds . ..........300
Black............300
Bronze . ........ . . 300
Breasts.......... . 300
Common........... 300
Care of Young Turkeys......300
Crooked Breasts........ 301
English Turkeys........ 300
Fattening of Turkeys...... 300
General Management...... 800
History of Turkeys....... 300
Kinds............ 300
Profits of Turkey Raising..... 301
Raising Turkeys ....... . 301
Shelter for Young Turkeys .... 301
Turkeys for the Market ..... 301
Roost for Young Turkeys..... 301
Turkeys.—The turkey has been domesticated for nearly three hundred years, yet it still retains some of its wild habits, doubtless due to the fact that it will bear confinement less than any of the domesticated land-birds. Nearly every color is represented among them, black-bronzed and white-mottled being the common wild color. Some of the species are the Common turkey, Black-and-white mottled ; Black- bronzed ; Mexican; White; Buff; Fawn-colored.
The Black-Bronzed, said to have been produced by a cross of the Wild turkey upon the common Turkey-hen, by subsequent careful selection and breeding, is the largest, as it is the best of the domes ticated land varieties. They are hardy and of beautiful plumage, and will weigh about thirty pounds, while forty is sometimes reached by some birds.
The Common Turkey.—The Common turkeys are the most profitable to breed where only dollars and cents are concerned, as they are hardy, of medium size, little inclined to wander, and mature early. At eight months old they will weigh, when fattened, from ten to twelve pounds, and at maturity sixteen and even eighteen.
In color, they are white-and-black mottled, hav ing the head and wattle of the wild turkey.
English Turkeys, so called, are small and a sub- variety of the common American turkey, but cross- breeding and selection have increased the size and rendered them quite uniform in color.
Besides these breeds there is a Narragansett tur key; the White turkey; Black turkey; Buff turkey.
The General Management of Turkeys.—Those who understand the proper method of rearing turkeys, the appliances and the convenience, do not find it a hard business, and a very profitable one when prop erly managed. The first essential is, to know the habits of the fowl. Turkey geese may be used for breeding at two years of age and the hen at one year. Farmers are very negligent in this respect; the hen which you choose to hatch eggs should be of good size, as the hen will lay an immense num ber of eggs. The first eight or nine should be set under a good hen; and after that the turkey-hen will have as many as she can cover. May and June are the best months for hatching. The hen is very constant in her sitting, and must be watched or she will not get her own food ; she must always be kept quiet. Many turkeys are hatched out in about twenty days, and as a usual thing are very stupid in learning to feed, so that it is a good plan
to put two or three hens’ eggs to be hatched out with the turkeys’ eggs, putting them in about five days later than when you set the turkey-hen, so that at least one or two chickens may come off with the brood of young turkeys, and thus teach them how to feed, which is the same as for young chickens. A little dandelion mixed with boiled eggs is found very good.
Great care must be taken of the little turkeys until they are nine weeks old, or until they com mence to put on the red. Under no circumstances should they be exposed to the rain or cold. Take good care of them and they will become the hardi est breeds known in the poultry-yard, braving with impunity the fiercest storms, and even preferring to roost on high trees in the depth of winter. In fact, turkeys will rarely roost in the fowl-house, and therefore a very high open shed should be provided. They will not bear confinement at all well, and must have plenty of range in order to thrive. They are of a roaming disposition, and they are quite liable to do much damage in gardens and cultivated places and fields. It is always well to remove the turkey- gobbler from the flock before the hens commence sit ting. Foxes, skunks, hawks, and crows are great thieves of eggs. Turkey-hens are good sitters, but sometimes uncertain; turkeys are very liable to steal their nests, being sly in their habits. It is therefore a good plan to decoy, in the places which are fre quented by them, by placing nest-boxes in corners remote from intrusion, and in tops of trees where they are in the habit of roosting; it does not need to be an elaborate nest; it may be in a clump of bushes, or in fact any place that is secure from the driving storms, and which will act as a hiding-place for them.
In setting turkey-hens, they should not be set near together, as one clutch will be hatched before an other, thus enticing one of the other setters to leave her eggs to take care of the young turkeys which she hears near by. As soon as the chicks peep through the shell, you will know it by a peculiar sound which the turkey-hen makes, as she does not make this noise at any other time. Care should be taken lest before you even suspect it, you have a large nest full of young turkey chicks.
Care of Young Turkeys.—Turkeys require no food for twenty-four to thirty-six hours after they are hatched out. They should be put with the mother in a pen, and fed practically the same food as you would feed young chickens; they should always
TURKEYS. 301
be fed four or five times a day. They should be confined in the pen for two weeks, until they are strong enough to follow the mother; for it is always the way with the mother to lead the young brood on long rambles among tall grass and green fields, thus tiring out the little chicks.
Essential care should be taken not to expose them to wet before being full fledged. Dew is very fatal to young turkeys before they are fully fledged, and it is always well to keep them in a covered shed. Sour-milk curds is an excellent j food for young turkeys ; after the first week or two, the egg and bread crumbs may be done away with, and corn meal mixed with skim-milk will take its place. Grass and other green food can be given at that time. Cayenne pepper should also be put in | with the food. As the turkeys grow old, the amount of food may be decreased; and if there is no danger from dogs, turkey-hens may be left to select their own nests, and at the end of four months they will bring home with them a fine brood of young turkeys. When young turkeys commence to droop and appear sleepy and drowsy it is a sure sign that they have vermin, and it will be wise to examine your broods.
Shelter for Young Turkeys.—If a farmer wishes to have a fine crop of young turkeys as well as old ones, it is necessary for him to see that they are well sheltered at night. These shelters can be a shed, barn, or hovel, it makes no difference which. Most young poults up to six weeks old should be kept in a small coop surrounded by a yard, boarded up about fifteen inches high. A very good method is, if the young poults do not come back at night, to have some one go after them, and very soon they will get into the habit of coming by them selves.
Roosts for Young Turkeys.—Turkeys are usually left to seek roosting-places on trees or buildings. This is a very bad practice, and should at all times be avoided. Roosting on trees causes the breast bone to become deformed, especially in the early period of their life. Roosting on barns and other buildings is a very filthy habit, and no first-class farmer would permit it. It is well in locating a roost to put it on the south side of some building, thus protecting it from the winter colds ; it should be high, and four or five inches in diameter; care being taken not to have one side under the other, but along in a parallel line about two feet apart. The advantages of this system can be easily seen in that you have access to your flock morning and evening where you can count them, and by putting a few carloads of manure under neath the roost, you will have a fine mass of com- posit nitrogen.
Crooked Breasts.—This is caused by a weak con stitution, or by injury received from sitting upon small limbs of trees, and it also may be caused by
too much inbreeding; if this is the case, change either the gobbler or the hen. Birds having such deformities should be killed and sent to the market.
Fattening Turkeys.—Turkeys should always be sent to the market in the finest condition possible. The economy in feeding is to give the young tur keys all that they can digest of corn food up to the time they are killed for market. They should be fed morning and night, and should be put through a regular course for fattening. The first of October is the time to kill for Thanksgiving; it is also a first-rate plan to reserve the smaller birds for Christ mas and New Year's market, and they will ninety- nine times out of a hundred pay for the long feeding.
The best food is old corn and warm meal; milk is also an excellent fattening food. The corn should be given plentifully, and a good way to do is to put it in a field of grass if possible, making long throws of corn so that the turkeys can help themselves.
Turkeys for Market—In caging turkeys, it is well to spread the ground over with corn, placing a noose in the center, and when the turkey steps into this, pull it quickly and you have a turkey on the string; but, however, if you follow out our sugges tion and have roosting-places the birds can be very easily caught at night. Prepare in a room, shed, or stable as many nooses as you have turkeys, hang up each bird by the feet as high as will be conve nient for handling; then take a sharp-pointed knife and stick them in the mouth across the roof near the top of the back, thus penetrating the brain with the point of the knife.
As soon as the bird is dead, pick clean of all pin-feathers, cut off the neck as near the head as possible, cut off the wings, and draw the crop and entrails.
The bird should be taken from this noose ready for market. It is also a first-class plan to put the j bird, after dressing, on a table or clean board to cool off. In all circumstances great care should be taken not to break the skin, and not to leave any of the feathers on the birds.
In order to keep up your reputation as a turkey raiser, the bird should be as clean and as fine-look ing as possible, and doing this will make a great difference, not only with your class of customers but also with the size of your bank-book.
The Profits of Turkey Raising.—The profit of tur key raising is very large, the outlay being compara tively small, as turkeys always command a good price in the market.
The one great secret for a large profit in turkeys is to take care of them and to look out for them all [ summer long, and do not think, “ Well, let the tur keys take care of themselves, they are a good hardy fowl,” because if you do this, you will let some of I the smallest details go which are necessary in tur key-raising. Always watch the small ones, and the ! large ones will take care of themselves.
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