104 ESSEX SOCIETY. 



can fasten their bills. As accidents of various kinds may be- 

 fall the young chicks, it is well, when two broods are hatched 

 at about the same time, to join them together, and to house 

 them with their mothers in the same coop at night. The old 

 ones will shortly associate together, taking equal care of the 

 members of t'e families thus united, and forming a double pro- 

 tection in times of danger. And if it be necessary to hunt 

 them up at evening, you will thus save many steps by making 

 but one journey for both flocks. If, however, they be fed reg- 

 ularly at night, they will soon learn to come home of them- 

 selves. 



At six weeks or two months old, the young turkeys begin to 

 "shoot the red," as it is called, by which is simply meant that 

 the red granular excrescence on the head and neck, begins to 

 develop itself This is a critical period in their existence. If 

 there be much wet weather, they will drop off in considerable 

 numbers. It may safely be asserted, that from loss at this time, 

 and before, not more than two-thirds of the chicks that are 

 hatched, survive. But when they have shot the red, turkeys 

 are thenceforward the hardiest of all poultry. They have lit- 

 erally passed their climacteric, and food, and a plenty of it, is 

 now nearly all that they require. This they will obtain, till it 

 is time to fatten them, principally in the fields ; and of coarse, 

 unless there is a sufficient range for them, they cannot be reared 

 to advantage. They may soon be made to roost on a tree, 

 provided with boards for them to go up into it. It is safer, 

 however, for them to make their first efforts at roosting in a 

 shed or barn, as they sometimes lose their hold of the roost, 

 before they have become accustomed to it, and if out of doors, 

 may be picked up by some of those midnight prowlers that in- 

 fest farm premises. After they have become accustomed to the 

 tree on which they roost, they will generally repair to it every 

 evening, seldom manifesting any desire for a change. 



They now range farther and farther, sometimes so as to be 

 mischievous to the grain fields and orchards of neighbors. To 

 check this rambling propensity, the old one may be fettered by 

 fastening her legs together with a piece of list a few inches in 

 length, so as to allow her just to hobble. The fetter can be 



