544 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



cases of drooping and death formerly attributed 

 to other causes, were really due to insect 

 vermin. 



Where turkey-rearing is a business, it is best 

 to provide each hen with about twenty-five 

 chicks; and as she can only properly cover 

 fifteen to seventeen eggs herself, it was formerly 

 the custom to put six or seven at the same 

 time under a common hen, giving the whole 

 when hatched to the turkey. This plan is still 

 often followed, but many now prefer to place 

 the surplus eggs in an incubator, which hatches 

 perfectly well, though brooders do not answer 

 for rearing so well as with chickens. The 

 turkey often lays several eggs after she has 

 begun to sit, and the eggs should therefore 

 always be marked. The time for incubation is 

 normally twenty-eight days, but it is not unusual 

 to hatch either a day sooner or a day later. The 

 day but one before hatching is expected, it is 

 well to give the nest a good cleaning from any 

 excrement and feathers, and both nest and hen 

 another dusting with insect powder. She should 

 not again be disturbed, though food and water 

 may be left within reach. It may also be well 

 to mention that the turkey cock should not be 

 allowed access to the sitting-house unless he is 

 known to be harmless ; as the wild bird seeks 

 to destroy the eggs or young chicks, and some 

 of the domestic race retain the same strange 

 instinct : others, however, are quite free from 

 it, and walk about proudly with the chicks 

 which some would, if allowed, trample to reath. 

 All experienced breeders agree that the hen 

 should be left with her chicks quite undisturbed 

 for twenty-four hours after they begin to hatch, 



after which they must of course be 

 Turkey put out. At this stage there are 



Chicks. three requisites to be considered, 



viz. shelter from wet, fresh clean 

 ground, and plenty of air. In an uncertain 

 climate like that of England, a very good plan 

 is to put the mother under a large crate in a 

 cart-shed, or any other shed entirely open in 

 the front, taking care that there is fresh dry 

 earth underneath, and keeping it clean by 

 diligent attention. Some breeders do very well 

 with a large covered coop, moved every day on 

 to fresh ground, as turkeys should not be 

 hatched till there is likely to be fine weather. 

 If the chicks themselves should get wet, a 

 proportion generally perish ; and while the 

 weather is treacherous, therefore, there should 

 always be shelter at hand under which the 

 mother and brood can be driven when a shower 

 threatens. Yet in dry weather, on fairly dry 

 soil, there is no doubt that young birds thrive 

 much better with free range after they are a 



week or ten days old, and have got strong upon 

 their legs. This can often be afforded in favour- 

 able seasons, and there is no prettier sight than 

 the stately march of a turkey hen with her 

 brood, across an ample run where they can 

 in great degree forage for themselves. 



These cardinal requisites of shelter from wet 



while young, while yet securing fresh air and 



ground, with ample exercise, lead to great 



differences in even successful turkey 



Rearing rearinsf. Mr. Tegetmeier did useful 



Young . ° =» ... 



Turkeys. service some years ago m drawmg 



attention to the success obtained 

 by some breeders in America, on the plan of 

 leaving the young broods with their mothers 

 entirely in the open, with no artificial shelter 

 and very little feeding. Such facts have their 

 lessons for all breeders; but conclusions have 

 been drawn from them which are entirely un- 

 warranted, and which fail to take into account 

 the wide difference in American circumstances. 

 When, for instance, it is said that the American 

 climate is " more severe than the British," the 

 only reply possible is that, in regard to rearing 

 young birds, the exact contrary is the case. 

 Every one knows that adult turkeys are hardy, 

 and we have already enlarged on the necessity 

 of open shedding for the roosting birds. But 

 at the season whilst the chicks are growing, the 

 American climate is not only warmer, but far 

 more uniformly dry than in this country, so 

 that the great danger in England of exposure 

 to wet during the period of infancy, is almost 

 non-existent. Land is also abundant and cheap 

 in America, and very great numbers are sel- 

 dom reared on one farm. The largest breeder 

 cited for the " natural " plan, Mr. Tucker, of 

 Providence, R.I., only raises three or four 

 hundred ; and" when it is stated that his 

 daughter had to walk three miles to go the 

 round of the broods, it will be obvious that such 

 a system would fail absolutely to manage the 

 large numbers reared by some producers for the 

 British Christmas market. The same plan has 

 been followed, and with the same success, by 

 gentlemen in England who have parks, coverts, 

 or similar advantages, and who have not to 

 make a profit out of a market price ; but for 

 such market purposes, and in a thickly popu- 

 lated country, other methods must necessarily 

 be followed, even leaving such risks as those 

 from poachers and foxes out of account. 



Neither are the older methods necessarily 

 attended by " disaster," as is freely alleged by 

 some. It is by them that the British market is 

 mainly supplied, both from England itself and 

 from France ; and the large numbers reared at 

 a profit are a very simple reply to extreme 



