THE TUEKET.J 



POULTEY. 



Fthe guinea hek. 



weather setting in, give them boiled potatoes, 

 mashed and mixed with meal, and then chopped 

 small. This should be given them /res/i and 

 fresh, in a vessel perfectly clean, and always to 

 be kept so, lest it contract a disagreeable smell. 

 It must be remembered that turkeys are par- 

 ticularly nice in their appetite, and are also 

 very cleanly in their habits. After a month of 

 this kind of feeding, morning and evening, the 

 poults will be in a condition to be made use of; 

 and, if of a good sort, they ought, at least, to 

 weigh eighteen pounds. During this process 

 of fattening, they should, after their meals, be 

 kept pretty much in the dark ; indeed, a great 

 portion of their time should be spent in dark- 

 ness, and their exercise much curtailed. 



In considering the advantages in connec- 

 tion with the expense which attaches to the 

 raising of turkeys, it must be borne in mind, 

 that until they are wanted to be fattened for 

 sale, there is no necessity for nourishing them 

 to the extent we have just indicated, as, of all 

 our domestic fowls, they are the best providers 

 for themselves. They are also blessed with a 

 good digestion ; therefore, nothing comes amiss 

 to them in the way of herbs, grass, berries, 

 fruit, corn, insects, and even reptiles. This 

 universality of appetite, so to speak, generally 

 enables them, in their wanderings, to find 

 plenty to satisfy themselves, almost without 

 the artijB.cial assistance of man. In its native 

 forests, a favourite food of the turkey is the 

 seed of a kind of nettle, and a small red acorn, 

 on which latter food they soon become so fat 

 as not to be capable of flying, when they 

 are easily run down by a dog. The weight to 

 which the bird attains, in this country, has been 

 much exaggerated ; but twenty pounds is a fair 

 weight for a fat yearling bird. For one only 

 six months old, this is a very great weight. 

 A turkey weighing thirty pounds, of any age, 

 is a fine bird ; and few, save the Norfolk, ever 

 exceed forty. 



Cold, or damp, being fatal to turkey poults, 

 it is necessary that the weather should be 

 watched before allowing them to stray far from 

 their habitation. Intense sunshine is also fatal 

 to them. In such weather, therefore, they 

 must not be led to pasture, unless this can be 

 tlone under shade. Should rain fall, they must 

 be at once housed. 



To the peasant the turkey is a bird of con- 

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siderable profit ; as, among the hedgerows, and 

 upon the roads, it can find almost as much 

 food as sufiices for its maintenance. Worms, 

 snails, and slugs are amongst its most favoured 

 repasts ; and any stream suffices to quench its 

 thirst. From its great partiality to grain, how- 

 ever, it is a pest to the farmer, who should 

 circumscribe its roaming propensities to the 

 boundaries of his yard, until his crops are so 

 strong in their roots as to offer no temptatioa 

 to its depredations. 



THE GUINEA. HEN. 



It is diiBcult to ascertain the precise time 

 when the Guinea fowl was first brought into 

 Great Britain ; but its introduction must, at all 

 events, have taken place at a remote period ; for, 

 in Kennet's Parochial Antiquities, it is stated 

 that it was well known in England as early as 

 the year 1277. Its original country is Africa. 

 The Guinea fowl is a little larger than our ordi- 

 nary barn-door fowl ; but it is inferior in size to 

 the larger foreign breeds, as the Malay and 

 Spanish. In both aspect and character, it ap- 

 pears to occupy a position between the 

 pheasant and the turkey. Although long 

 familiarised, the Guinea fowl has never been 

 fully domesticated. It still retains much of the 

 restlessness and shyness of its primitive feral 

 habits. Its courage is very great, as it will 

 not only attack the turkey, but frequently 

 conquer him. 



The cock and hen are so nearly alike, that 

 it is not easy to discover which is which. 

 Sometimes there is a difference of hue in 

 certain parts ; but this difference only occurs 

 occasionally ; and it is rather on the distinction 

 of voice and demeanour that we must chiefly 

 depend, in order to distinguish the one from: 

 the other. It must be remarked that they 

 pair ; therefore, a second hen will be neglected 

 and useless, except for eggs. 



As a source of profit these fowls are not 

 much to be recommended. The eggs are very 

 small, three of them being scarcely equal to 

 an ordinary hen's egg; and the flesh of the 

 bird is not relished by every palate, though ifc 

 is in tolerable request in the London markets, 

 when the game season closes. Its flavour re- 

 sembles that of the pheasant. 



This bird dislikes confinement, and will not 

 thrive unless it has perfect liberty: where such. 



