FIFTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VI. 439 



or insect parasites of any kind being in or about the nest or upon the body 

 of the hen. A dirt foundation covered with some slaked lime is a good be- 

 ginning in the construction of a nest. Upon this should be placed a fresh 

 nest of soft straw or hay. No other enemy is so destructive to young 

 poults as lice, which are very apt to infest them as soon as they are 

 hatched, if a determined fight is not made to prevent it. After the poults 

 have begun to grow, they must be watched continually to guard against the 

 presence of lice. 



Period of incubation. — It takes twerity-seven to twenty-nine days for 

 turkey eggs to hatch. Those that are perfectly fresh will hatch a few hours 

 sooner than those that have been kept a week or longer before placing them 

 under the hens. 



Number of eggs for a sitting.— The eggs are usually fertile; quite fre- 

 quently each egg in the nest will produce a living poult. Place under each 

 hen just as many eggs as she may properly cover— no more. Some may 

 cover fifteen better than others will cover nine. If the hen is given too 

 many eggs a poor hatch is likely to result. 



Two broods in a season. — When broody turkey hens are driven from 

 their nests, they are quite likely to quit their eggs and select another loca- 

 tion where they will nest and lay the second clutch of eggs. Some turkey 

 hens will rear two broods in a season when permitted so to do. Late- 

 hatched poults are not desirable for winter roasts, nor are they valuable for 

 breeding stock, but they may be grown for broiler poults and sold to good 

 advantage. 



Feeding and setting ^«f«.— While incubating their eggs the hens should be 

 supplied with food and water; these should be placed close at hand where 

 they may go to them at will; or their coming from the nest, as they will 

 each day, should be observed so that they may be fed and watered. Good 

 sound wheat and corn are best for their food at this time. 



GROWING THE POULTS. 



The most difficult part of turkey raising is to know how to care for the 

 poults— to know what to do and when to do it. All that one can learn from 

 others or from reading will not be of equal value to one year's actual expe- 

 rience in caring for them. 



METHODS OF HANDLING. 



There are almost as many ways and methods of feeding as there are lo- 

 calities where turkeys are grown, A considerable number who allow their 

 turkeys a good deal of freedom will succeed; others do equally well who 

 follow methods quite the reverse. Some never house the mother hen or the 

 young, while others house them both. 



Semiwi Id nature of turkeys . — While our present day turkeys are classed 

 as ' 'domestic fowls", they are rather semidomestic when compared with 

 other poultry. For this reason the treatment given them must differ from 

 that given to hens and chickens, and houses or coops that will serve for the 

 latter will not meet the wants of the turkey hen. She must have a house or 

 box in which she can stand erect and stretch her neck and look about. The 



