ESSAY ON REARING TURKEYS. 169 



them carefully with a few leaves or spears of dead grass. To 

 be sure she does this in warm weather as well as cold, but 

 the covering serves equally in both to screen them from obser- 

 vation. 



When she has laid her litter, the turkey manifests her desire 

 to sit by remaining on her nest, even if no nest egg be under 

 her. She should be permitted to do this for some days before 

 the eggs are placed under her, observing however to drive her 

 off at night if the nest be out of doors. When this is the case, 

 it will not be safe to let her sit there, as the eggs and herself 

 will be exposed to rats, weasels, skunks and other midnight 

 marauders. A nest should therefore be prepared for her under 

 cover. The barn is a good place for this purpose, and the 

 scaffold or a mow of hay more suitable than the ground floor. 

 Better still is a shed or an out-house, which can be kept fast- 

 ened, as the liability to accidents is thus diminished to almost 

 none at all. For a series of years I have kept my hen turkeys 

 in a workshop, during the process of incubation. On one side 

 of this is a carpenter's bench, the space under which is parted 

 off with boards, making a number of apartments about three 

 feet square for the nests, the hay of which they are composed 

 being kept in its place by a narrow strip of board laid on the 

 floor in front. The nest should be rather shallow, and spread 

 out over sufficient space for all the eggs to rest on the surface. 



The number of eggs that can be covered to advantage by a 

 turkey, depends upon her size ; twenty is a large number, and 

 better success may be expected with fifteen or seventeen. 

 Having placed them in the nest, allow the hen turkey to re- 

 main on her original nest, if out of doors, till dusk, and then 

 carefully take her in your arms and remove her to her new 

 abode. Sometimes she will be frightened and disposed to es- 

 cape. To prevent her leaving, T secure a piece of lattice, made 

 of laths, in front of the nest under the bench, immediately on 

 placing her there. Similar screens I have attached to all the 

 nests, thus keeping the inmates as securely shut up, as if they 

 were in so many cages. This arrangement demands more care 

 of the turkeys than when they have their liberty, as the3' must 

 be let off every day or two to eat and drink, and for health and 

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