RAISING TURKEYS. 203 



GENERAL HINTS ABOUT TURKEYS. 



The greatly increased attention paid to the turkey 

 crop in the Eastern States, and in the Southern and 

 Western States as well, seems to call for a few more 

 notes. Without a good range it will not pay to raise tur- 

 keys; they create trouble between neighbors. I have 

 found that, when confined to a yard, one turkey will re- 

 quire as much food to bring it to maturity as will make 

 forty pounds of pork on a well-bred pig. Where they 

 can have extensive range, they will pick up most of the 

 food they require until autumn. The young are very 

 delicate, and the hen must be cooped until they are well 

 feathered and able to look out for themselves. The same 

 food recommended for chicks is suitable for turkeys. 

 Two weeks before marketing, confine them in a small, 

 clean pen, and feed them all they will eat, not forgetting 

 plenty of fresh water and gravel, and they will fatten up 

 quickly and nicely. 



TURKEY-NESTS. 



In the wild state the hen seeks the most secluded and 

 inaccessible spot, where there is protection from birds 

 and beasts of prey. Security against attack is the main 

 thing that instinct prompts her to look out for. A tan- 

 gled thicket of briers, a sheltering ledge, a hollow 

 stump, a clump of brush filled with decaying leaves, 

 suit her fancy. With little preparation she drops her 

 eggs upon the bare ground in these secluded places. 

 Domesticated turkeys usually are left to a good deal of 

 freedom in choosing their nests. Some farmers have 

 prepared nests, made of loose stones and boards, or old 

 barrels, placed by the roadside, or near the barn, and 



