PRIZE ESSAYS ON TURKEY CULTURE. 141 



min. Watch the hen and eggs closely during the period of 

 incubation, and see that the hen has plenty of food and 

 water within reach, so that she will not stay off the eggs 

 too long. It is a good plan to take the hen off the nest 

 every morning, and she will then usually go back to the 

 nest immediately after eating. In about four weeks, the 

 young turkeys will begin to break the shells, eager to enter 

 upon life. Do not disturb them at this time, except to 

 take the shells out of the nest, and do that as quietly as 

 possible. 



Let the little fellows stay in the nest undisturbed for 

 at least thirty hours after hatching, then place them in a 

 nice, dry, roomy coop in a sunny location. Place before 

 them some fine chopped, hard-boiled egg, or a little bread 

 soaked in milk, or both, and a shallow dish of pure water. 

 Melt a tablespoonful of butter, add to this a few drops of 

 kerosene ; mix well, then dip your finger in the mixture 

 and touch the young turkey on top of the head and under 

 each wing. This will keep away lice, and that means a 

 good deal, if you want your birds to thrive. After the 

 young turkeys get so they can eat nicely, make some curd 

 for them from sour milk. This is made by putting the 

 sour milk on the stove in a tin dish; when hot, the curd 

 will separate from the whey ; pour the whey off, and when 

 the curd is sufficiently cool, crumble it up and feed to the 

 turkeys every two hours. Mix a little soaked bread with 

 it (either brown or white will do), and put a little pepper 

 in it, about twice a day. When about a week old, mix 

 some corn meal (bolted) with sour milk or buttermilk, to a 

 stiff batter, put in a little salt and enough soda to make it 

 light. Bake in the oven until done. Then, when you 

 want to feed your turkeys, soak a little of the bread until 

 it is quite soft, then mix it with equal parts of the curd, 

 and it will do you good to see the little fellows stuff 

 themselves. Keep plenty of milk, sweet or sour, and good 

 fresh water before them constantly. Gather a lot of fresh 



