148 TURKEY CULTURE. 



know when to look for little turkeys, which will be twenty- 

 eight days from the time you set her. 



After the turkeys are all hatched, I take the mothei 

 and place her in a large, dry coop with floor, that has 

 been previously provided. Take the little turkeys and 

 dust each one with Persian insect powder; rub on the top 

 of head, under the wings, and sprinkle on their backs. 

 Take an old pan or basket, put paper in the bottom, put 

 little turkeys in, and cover them over with old cloth or 

 sack ; let remain a half-hour and then give them to the tur- 

 key hen. You will find the dead lice in the bottom of 

 pan. By treating them this way, the insect powder has 

 more effect than letting the little turks run immediately 

 after using it. Rub the mother with it, also, and use it oc- 

 casionally during the first two months of the turkey's life. 

 The powder can be obtained from any reliable seed mer- 

 chant for twenty-five cents, postpaid. 



The little turkeys will commence to eat in twenty, 

 four hours after hatching. I feed mine on hard-boiled 

 eggs chopped fine, or bread soaked in sweet skimmed 

 milk, for a week or ten days, then I give them corn meal 

 and curds. Scald sour milk, pour off the whey, and the 

 curds will be wet enough to moisten the meal sufficiently ; 

 add a little ground black pepper. I feed the little ones 

 five times a day, and the mother twice, giving her corn 

 and oats, and keep plenty of fresh water for them to 

 drink, also sweet skim milk if I have it. I keep the 

 hen confined in the coop for two months, but allow the 

 little turks their liberty at all times. After they are two 

 months old, I allow the mother her liberty, and then I 

 have no more trouble with them, only to feed them with 

 the other poultry. I kno^w that keeping the turkey hens 

 shut up so long is contrary to all directions, but I do so 

 nevertheless. The coop must be kept clean, and must be 

 large. I use large dry-goods boxes ; they cost about fifty 

 cents apiece, and will last for years. 



