240 



How' to raise Turheys. 



Vol. IX. 



looking dells of the woods, grasses and herbs 

 are yet of a vivid green. Birds are still 

 here, — three this morning were singing on 

 the trees in my yard. There are some cu- 

 rious facts in the early history of horticul- 

 ture in this region, which I meant to have 

 included in this communication ; but insen- 

 sibly I have, I fear, already prolonged it be- 

 yond your convenience. 



Indianapolis, Dec. 25th, 1844. 



How to Raise Turkeys. 



The attention of our rcarlers has been repeatedly 

 called to the subject of raising poultry— in the vicinity 

 of our large cities, perhaps no stock is so profitable. 

 ,Some good practical hints may be taken from the fol- 

 lowing, which the editor of the New Jersey Journal 

 gives as the result of considerable experience of his 

 own. The young turkey is proverbially a tender 

 chick, and it is a nice matter to know how to manage 

 him properly. — Ed. 



We believe it is common among farmers 

 to say that a turkey's head costs twice as 

 much as its body is worth when fattened. 

 This we do not believe to be true, if he 

 is properly managed; but on the contrary, 

 we believe that nothing can be raised and 

 turned to so great a profit. But turkeys must 

 have care, especially when young ; but this 

 care will not entrench on the business of 

 the farmer, as it may be done by females or 

 the younger branches of the family, — and 

 beside, the little damage they may do to 

 grass, or other things, must not be magni- 

 fied tenfold, as is usually the case. But by 

 proper attention they will do no damage at 

 all. 



Before giving our rules to be observed in 

 raising turkeys, let us draw a comparison. 

 There are but few farmers but can raise 

 100 turkeys, — these 100 turkeys will weigh, 

 when fattened, in December, upon an aver- 

 age, seven and a half pounds each, full 

 dressed. We say full dressed, for it is the 

 practice in some places to divest the turkey 

 of nothing but its head and feathers, and 

 then take it to market. A practice as un- 

 civilized as it is disgusting. These hundred 

 turkeys then will weigh 750 lbs., which in 

 market are equal to 1,500 lbs. of pork. But 

 if the male turkeys are kept until February 

 or March, they will not only increase in 

 weight, twice the amount of their feed, but 

 the price in market will be much higher. 



We will now give the rules to be obsened 

 in raising and fattening them founded wholly 

 on our experience. Turkeys intended for 

 breeders, must be kept well during the win- 

 ter. If put in good condition, however, in 

 December, it takes but little feed to keep 



them so. Their nests for laying must be 

 made with hay or oat straw under cover, 

 and be well protected from the weather, and 

 from vermin. When incubation commences, 

 the turkey must not be disturbed, and if she 

 does not come from her nest for food and 

 water, she must have both placed by her on 

 hor nest. When the young turkeys are 

 hatched, they may be allowed to remain 

 one day on the nest, or if removed let them 

 be sheltered in a warm place, and plenty 

 of straw for them to set upon, for they are 

 now extremely liable to take cold. The 

 second day feed them with curds, or warm 

 clabbered milk mixed with a little Indian or 

 barley meal. They must be kept up and 

 fed in this way for two or three days, and 

 longer if the weather should be cold or 

 rainy, but as soon as a warm and pleasant 

 day comes, let them out at nine or ten 

 o'clock, and shut them up at four — and this 

 practice of letting them out and shutting 

 up must be followed for five or six weeks, 

 and on no account let them get wet. When 

 a young turkey begins to droop there is but 

 little hope for it. There is no danger of 

 keeping them too warm. When they are 

 five or six weeks old put a little grease on 

 their heads to preserve them from lice. 



At the age of six or eight weeks the tur- 

 key is more hardy, but still should not be 

 exposed to rains or the damp nights, for a 

 'levf weeks longer. If the farmer has a plot 

 of grass let him enclose a yard with a high 

 fence, and crop the wings of the old turkeys, 

 and continue to feed them with clabbered 

 milk, and whatever else he pleases that 

 comes from the kitchen, such as broken 

 bread, potatoes, and the like. If he has a 

 clover field, as soon as it is mown, let them 

 run on it, and they will live on young clo- 

 ver. And as soon as the crops are o9' the 

 ground, say in August or September, let 

 them range on the farm ; but see to it, that 

 they come to their roosting place at night, 

 and have water. 



In December the turkeys will be large 

 enough to fatten, and for this purpose select 

 as many as you please, and shut them up, — 

 next take to the mill a few bushels of ears 

 of Indian corn and have it ground — then 

 boil potatoes, and mix the meal v/ith the 

 scalding water and potatoes in a tub, say in 

 tlte proportion of one bushel potatoes to one 

 peck or more of meal, and stir them well 

 together, then let it cool, but give it to the 

 turkeys as warm as they will bear it, and as 

 much as they will eat, and in two weeks 

 and a half, they will be fat enough for mar- 

 ket, and for an alderman's dinner. 



We do not take this from books, but from 

 several years experience. We kept an ex- 



