218 TURKKYS, ORNAMENTAL POULTRY. AND WATERFOWL. 



and sitting hens, he may be left at large, if otherwise, he 

 must be kept away. 



The turkey-hen is very prudish, but gives scarcely any 

 trouble while sitting. She sits so constantly that it is needful 

 to remove her daily from her nest to feed, or she would 

 absolutely starve. Nevertheless, when absent she is apt to be 

 forgetful, and, therefore, if allowed to range at liberty, care 

 should be taken that she returns in time twenty minutes. 

 A better plan, however, is to let her have her liberty only in 

 a confined run of grass. Besides her daily feed, a water vessel 

 and some soft food should be always within her reach. No 

 one must visit the hatching-house but the regular attendant, 

 or the hens will get startled, and probably break many eggs, 

 which easily happens from the great weight of the birds. 



Many have alleged that the turkey sits thirty- one days. 

 This is an error. The chicks break the shell from the twenty- 

 sixth to the twenty-ninth day, scarcely ever later. The day 

 but one before the hatching is expected, the hen should be 

 plentifully fed, the nest cleaned of any dung or feathers during 

 her absence, and an ample supply of food and water placed 

 where she can reach it, as she must not again be disturbed till 

 the chicks are out. In dry weather, if the nest be in a dry 

 place, the eggs will have been daily sprinkled as described in 

 Chapter IV. With these precautions, there will rarely fail to 

 be a good hatch. 



The egg-shells may be cleared away after hatching has pro- 

 ceeded some hours, but the chicks should never be taken away 

 from tlw hen, and never deforced to eat. The latter practice 

 is very general, as turkey chicks are very stupid, and do not 

 seem to know how to peck. But a much better plan is to put 

 two ordinary hen's eggs under the turkey, five or six days 

 after she began to sit, which will then hatch about the same 

 time as her own, and the little chickens will teach the young 

 turkeys, quite soon enough, what they should da Watec 



