1180 CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK AND COMPLETE STOCK DOCTOR. 



her neck and look about. The floor of this must be of boards, but dry, 

 clean earth is best for both the hen and the poults. This natural environ- 

 ment has a beneficial influence upon the mother and the young turkeys. 

 It adds to both health and spirits, and helps to develop constitutional 

 vigor. 



Satisfactory results can never be secured by handling turkeys like cage 

 birds or hothouse plants. Avoid overdoing the care and attention. Treat 

 them like turkeys, and use common sense in looking after them. Their 

 native home was in the woods and fields; in their present semi-domestic 

 condition they need more shelter and care, but they should never be shut 

 in so close as to deprive them of plenty of light, room, and air. They 

 should not be pampered and fed upon unnatural foods; neither should 

 they be over-fed at any time. In their wild state they ran about here 

 and there, seeking small grains, seeds, and bugs, getting plenty of exercise 

 as well as food. Their domestic condition deprives them of the necessity 

 of hunting for their food, and consequently of the exercise that comes 

 from so doing. 



When quite young, the poults are apt to receive more attention than 

 they need. Then, as they grow older and the novelty of attending to 

 them wears off, they are too often neglected just at the time when more 

 care should be given to them. For instance, when their feathers are 

 growing and the unusual heat overcomes them, special care may profitably 

 be bestowed; again, the same is true when the frost destroys their natural 

 food supply in the fall. Thousands are lost at these critical periods from 

 lack of a full food supply. 



An open coop, made of slats or lath, may be placed over the mother 

 turkey just prior to the hatching of her eggs, as this will prevent her 

 wandering away with her young when they are hatched. It may be. 

 covered on top with tar paper as protection from rain or sun. Such open 

 coops are frequently used in turkey-growing districts, and those who use 

 them could not be induced to change. They should be large enough to 

 provide plenty of space for the mother turkey. Quite often a box too 

 small for the hen to turn about or to stand erect in is used for a coop for 

 the hen and poults. This annoys her and she becomes restless, tramps 

 about, kills her young, and is blamed for taking bad or indifferent care 

 of her offspring, when more than likely, if she had room to move about, 

 she would be a model mother for the poults. 



In a suitable coop, the brood of young turkeys can stay for a day or 

 more in comfort, sheltered from wet and storm or cold, with space enough 

 to move about. In such a coop the very young poults can stay while the 

 mother goes about on the outside for exercise. To have this use the coop 

 when the hen is out, set up in slides inside the door a piece of board a foot 

 wide; this will keep the poults safe from the hot sun or the wet much 

 better than will the triangular pen so often made of three boards. 



