POULTRY. 45 



then you will have done your duty to them, and they will richly 

 pay you for all your care and attention to them ; although you may 

 not realize to the extent of the old ballad about a speckled hen, 

 that 



*• Used to lay two eggs a day. 

 And Sundays she laid three." 



Careful breeding greatly increases the size of the turkey. 

 Experience teaches conclusively that turkeys from two to three 

 years of age are much better for breeding purposes than young 

 birds. To breed good turkeys, the best females from two to three 

 years of age should be selected, then procure a male about the 

 same age, and not related to the females. Breed from these three 

 or four years, and then procure another male not related to the 

 hens with which he is to breed. This course should be repeated 

 every three or four years. The size of the young chicks depends 

 as much upon the hens as upon the cocks. By following these 

 simple rules, with proper feeding when young, the breeder will 

 have the satisfaction of increasing the hardiness and strength of 

 the young chicks and the size of his mature birds. Turkeys have 

 been very much increased in size, and improved by the infusion of 

 wild blood from Canada and the West. When we take into 

 consideration that this splendid bird becomes once in the year 

 almost a religious necessity to every one of the people of New 

 England, it is something to have it increased in size fully 25 per 

 cent. These birds are very shy about their domestic arrangements. 

 Their nests are usually secreted in the most out-of-the-waj- places, 

 and apart from other fowls. They should be indulged in this ; 

 nesting places should be prepared for them in some quiet corners of 

 the out-buildings, where they will not be disturbed. The hen 

 turkey sits very steadily, and hatches in about twenty-eight days. 

 When she comes off her nest with her young, great care is 

 necessary in keeping the chicks from the wet ; make a pen about 

 10 or 12 feet square and 16 or 18 inches high (in some dry grassy 

 place) to confine the young ; the mother will not wander far from 

 them ; they should not be allowed out of the yard until after the 

 dew is oif, nor during rainy weather, until four or five weeks old. 

 Then they may be allowed to shift for themselves. The food of all 

 young animals is of an animal nature. In the earlier period of the 

 existence of young birds, it consists of the yolk of the egg. On 

 this they live before and some time after they leave the shell. They 

 are never hungry when first hatched, and may go two or three 



