CHICKENS 245 



and oats in the afternoon. In the winter corn and buckwheat 

 may be added and plenty of greens should be fed. Cabbage is 

 excellent. Especial care should be taken not to overfeed turkeys, 

 old or young. 



The mother turkey chooses her nest in the early spring, begin- 

 ning to lay in March or April. The method of raising the 

 youngsters is very practically described by Miss Sara A. Little 

 in the American Poultry Advocate, extracts of which here fol- 

 low: *'From three to six hens may be safely bred to each torn. 

 During incubation turkey and hens should be well dusted with 

 insect powder each week. When hatched annoint each poult on 

 the head and around the vent with softened lard, only using a 

 very little. A box two yards long, a yard deep and a yard high 

 makes a fine coop. Cover the bottom of the box with dry sand 

 or sifted coal ashes. Supply with water in a small fountain and 

 with little chick grit in some handy receptacle and then build a 

 portable detaining yard by staking foot-wide twelve-foot boards 

 at each end of the front of the coop, connecting them at the other 

 end by a similar board the length of the coop. 



'' When the poults are hatched and dry, remove them in a 

 warmly lined basket to the kitchen stove and take the turkey hen 

 to a quiet room Avhere she should be given shelled corn and 

 water. In about an hour she may be taken to the coop, which 

 should be installed some distance from the haunts of other 

 poultry, and the youngsters given to her. Care must be taken 

 not to frighten her, as some turkeys get much excited when 

 hatching and getting settled with their young. The little fellows 

 will need no food for forty-eight hours, and then the principal 

 thing to learn is not to feed them too much. Once in three hours 

 is none too often to feed them, but they must have very little at 

 each feed. Bread soaked in milk is my first resort, but it should 

 be squeezed dry. Finely chopped leaves from onions and dan- 

 delions should be given them with their food. Turkeys need 

 close attention. They must be kept dry. Their quarters must 

 be cleaned and well aired. They must have plent}^ of fresh 

 water, well guarded, so they cannot get wet when drinking.'' 



''I usually keep the hen cooped for two weeks or more until 

 the little birds seem strong. Then the hen is liberated with 

 the little folks, when the grass is dry in the forenoon. She should 

 be watched so she will not w^ander too far, and returned to the 

 coop not later than four p. m. and shut in, though the poults need 

 not be housed till later. I shut them in closely at night, making 

 sure they cannot escape." 



