1850. 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



283 



THE TURKEY. 



Perhaps we could not choose a better time to give a 

 picture of a good looking Turkey than the present, 

 wheii so many are looking forward to the Christmas 

 and New Year's dinner in which he is to act a con- 

 spicuous part. The following remarks are from 

 The American Poultry Yard: 



" The domestic turkey can scarcely be said to be 

 divided, like the common fowl, into distinct breeds ; 

 although there is considerable variation in color, as 

 well as in size, but no Bantam, or dwarf race, exists, 

 unless we except the small delicate-fleshed turkeys 

 of Hempstead Plains, near New York, which often 

 weigh, when dressed, not more than 4 or 6 lbs. The 

 finest and strongest birds are those of a bronzed black, 

 resembling, as closely as possible, the original stock. 

 These are not only reared the most easily, but are 

 generally the largest, and 

 fatten the most rapidly. 

 Some turkeys are of a 

 coppery tint, some of a 

 delicate fawn color, while 

 others are parti-colored, 

 grey, and white, and some 

 few of a pure snow-white. 

 All of the latter are re- 

 garded as inferior to the 

 black, their color indicat- 

 ing something like degen- 

 eracy of constitution, if 

 not actual disease. A va- 

 riety is said to exist in 

 the aviary of Madam Bac- 

 ker, at the Hague, with a 

 topknot springing from 

 tlie crown of the head, re- 

 sembling that of the plum- 

 ed Poland fowls. 



iNctiBATio^. — The tur- 

 key hen is a steady sitter, 

 and in this respect resem- 

 bles the wild bird — noth- 

 ing win induce her to 

 leave the nest ; indeed she 

 often requires to be re- 

 moved to her food, so 

 overpowering is her in- 

 stinctive affection ; she 

 must be well supplied 

 with water within her 

 reach ; should she lay any 

 eggs after she has com- 

 menced incubation, these 

 should be removed— it is proper, therefore to mark 

 those which were given to her to sit upon. The 

 hen should on no account be rashly disturbed ; no 

 one except the person to whom she is accustomed, 

 and from whom she receives her food, should be al- 

 lowed to go near her, and the eggs, unless circum- 

 stances imperatively require it, should not be meddled 

 with. 



On or about the thirty-first day, the chicks leave 

 the eggs. Now, in a state of nature, the wild hen 

 always manages far better than she wliould do if in- 

 terfered with by man, were his interference possible, 

 and so we believe with the domestic turkey hen, if 

 her nest be placed (and it might in a certain degree,) 

 as it is in nature ; this we know, that turkeys which 

 have laid their eggs in out-of-the-way places, and 



have been allowed to incubate there, have brought 

 their troop of downy younglings into the farmyard 

 with evident pleasure and satisfaction — no extra at- 

 tention having been paid to them. It is usual, 

 however, in Europe and the northern parts of the 

 United States, to remove the young chicks, one by 

 one, as they make their exit, and place them in a 

 basket of warm flannel, tow, or feathers, until all are 

 out, and then restore th?m to the hen ; this is done 

 as a precautionary measure, lest any acciuent should 

 happen to them. 



In a state of nature, the turkey only rears one 

 brood during the season, unless her eggs have been 

 destroyed or removed, nor will the domestic hen in- 

 cubate twice, if allowed to rear her own brood ; some, 

 however, which like, as the common phrase is, "to 

 work a free horse to death," recommend that the 

 turkey be induced to hatch a second time in the season. 



This is efffected by taking her young brood from her 

 as soon as possible, and mixing it with another brood 

 of the same ago, as nearly as may be ; her cares 

 being no longer required for her young, and her in- 

 stincts unsatisfied, she seeks for the company of the 

 male, and in about three weeks commences laying 

 until the number of eggs is complete, when she re- 

 engages in the task of incubation. But I object to 

 this practice in toto. It is cruel and it taxes the 

 system ; she has already sat patiently for thirty 

 days, that is four weeks and two days, and surely 

 that is quite enough. Besides, the brood thus hatch- 

 ed will be late in the season, and late broods of tur- 

 keys cannot be reared without very great care : they 

 cannot stand the chilly mornings of autumn nor the 

 frosty nights. 



