134 TURKEY CULTUREc 



weeks old I could not get a chance to feed them more than 

 once a day, at night, as I did not shut them close, after a 

 time; and soon they had no feeding, except what they for- 

 aged for over field and pasture. They grew like weeds, and 

 I lost but three out of the flock. The turkey hen takes the 

 hen away from the house, and the hen brings the turkey 

 and brood home at night ; so they are kept strong and 

 healthy by free ranging ; and, roosting near the house, are 

 not so much exposed to wild animals, while two mothers 

 can watch and protect the brood better than one, and they 

 get along splendidly. The turkey will fairly take the 

 heads off the rest of the hens if they come about to help 

 eat the feed ; but she will riot touch her nurse, the hen ; 

 but will circle about and chase the other hens away while 

 her hen and young turks do the eating. She doesn't get 

 time to eat much herself. 



If you have a half-dozen or more turkey hens, it is 

 still a good plan to use a few common hens as hatchers 

 and mothers. Beware of lice always. No young turkey 

 can thrive with them, but when the turkeys and thickens 

 run together they will get them. Trees are the safest and 

 best roosting places for turkeys, young and old ; so I let 

 my young ones take to the trees as soon as possible. Never 

 try to raise young turkeys by hand, if you can avoid 

 it; it is a hard job. Never hatch turkey eggs in an incuba- 

 tor if it can be helped, unless you have hens or turkey 

 hens to put them under as soon as hatched. 



One spring my turkeys began to lay very early, while 

 the snow was still on the ground ; the hens were also lay- 

 ing, but not one of them would even talk about sitting. I 

 kept eighteen turkey eggs until I teared they would spoil, 

 and then fired up my incubator (one of my own inven- 

 tion) and put the eighteen turkey eggs and some hens' 

 eggs in it. Although the turkey eggs had been laid while 

 the weather was so cold and kept so long, the whole 

 eighteen, when the time was up, had live poults chipping 



