POULTRY. HOI 



else. The third week commence feeding cooked corn meal. Do 

 not give a full feed of rneal at first, but add a little more each 

 day until at four or five weeks they may be fed entirely on 

 corn-meal, cooked potatoes, and about any cooked food that one 

 would give to chickens of the same age. A very little cooked 

 meat may be mixed with the food once each day until they are 

 big enough to forage for fresh meat; but when plenty of sour 

 milk can be had the meat is not necessary. Onion tops and 

 lettuce chopped fine and mixed with the food is greatly relished 

 by young turkeys, and is very beneficial during the first few 

 weeks. Never feed any raw meal to young turkeys; it should 

 always be cooked for the first ten or twelve weeks. Feeding 

 young turkeys raw meal, feeding meal too soon, and feeding 

 grain before they are able to digest it will kill about one-half 

 of the number hatched. 



Feed young turkeys often, five or six times a day, until they 

 are three months old. If you expect fine large birds for Thanks- 

 giving you must keep them growing right straight along; full 

 feed for the first three months will make a decided difference 

 in the weight of the bird when market day comes. When they 

 are three months old feed cracked corn, wheat, oats, wheat 

 screenings, etc., but no whole corn until cold weather. After 

 the third month turkeys will, if insect food be abundant, pick up 

 a good deal of their living, and as long as the insects hold out 

 they will thrive on two meals a day. 



Young turkeys must be kept dry and comfortable during the 

 first ten or twelve weeks of their lives, or until they are fully 

 feathered and have thrown out the red on their heads. Expo- 

 sure to cold and wet, tramping about in the grass before the 

 dew is off, and damp, filthy coops will thin out a flock of young 

 turkeys with alarming rapidity. To keep the young turkeys out 

 of the wet grass use the safety coops and runs like the one 

 illustrated by Fig. 23, or else make a pen in front of the coop 

 by placing wide boards on edge and fastening in position. The 

 boards should be from fifteen to eighteen inches wide, and for a 

 dozen young turkeys the pen should inclose some fifteen square 

 feet. For a few days after the poults are hatched, whether you 



