412 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS. 



TURKEYS. Next to the common fowl, turkies form the 

 most numerous tribe, and at the same time the most useful of 

 the farm-yard. They are natives of North America. About 

 the commencement of the sixteenth century (1525) they were 

 introduced into England first eaten in France at the marriage 

 feast of CHARLES IX., in 1570, at which period they were 

 already common in Spain; and so rapidly were they propa- 

 gated in England, that we are informed that in the year 1585 

 they were not only scattered over the whole kingdom, but had 

 become a common dish at country feasts. In those early days 

 he was called the Indian Cock, and sometimes the Peacock of 

 the Indies. 



In his wild state, the colour of the turkey is black, variegated with bronze 

 and glossy green; and his quills towards the ends are tipped with white. By 

 domestication he acquires that variety of colours which we see him to possess. 

 In his native woods, the turkey is found in large flocks; he roosts upon the 

 highest trees, and becomes an easy prey to the hunter; he retires before the 

 progress of the settler, taking refuge in the boundless forests of the interior. 



The turkey is an important addition to the domestic fowls. There is but 

 one species of the domesticated turkey, but great varieties, distinguished chiefly 

 by their size and colour. The turkey is more tender, and difficult to rear, 

 than the common domestic fowls. The hen lays a considerable number of 

 eggs in spring; the period of her incubation is 30 days; and from 10 to 15 eggs 

 are usually assigned to one female. She will sit upon her eggs frequently 

 without the desire to leave them, and hence the propriety of supplying her 

 with water and food while sitting. Her cry at the period of maternal solici- 

 tude is plaintive and expressive, but she treats her young with less seeming 

 care than might have been looked for. She travels with them very fast to 

 great distances, and often leaves them straggling behind her; hence it is usual 

 to confine her to a coop till the young have acquired strength to follow her. 

 And frequently even, on account of her wandering habits, her eggs are given 

 to be hatched by a common hen. She is wonderfully vigilant when birds of 

 prey appear; and by a peculiar cry, gives the alarm to her brood, which in- 

 stantly seek for shelter, or couch themselves upon the ground. 



As soon as the young are hatched, they must be withdrawn from the nest, 

 and kept warm. The hen and brood must then be housed for some time, 

 after which she must be cooped during the day in the open air, till the young 

 acquire strength to follow her. During this period the young are fed on fari- 

 naceous food, kneaded with water, and mixed with cresses, nettles, or other 

 green herbs, cut small. Though they are tender at first, yet when half-grown, 

 and well feathered, they become hardy, and will range abroad, providing 

 themselves with insects and other food; but care must be taken that they be 

 well fed when let out in the morning, and when they return in the evening. 

 It i.s to be observed, that if a large wood be near, the creatures, with the in- 

 stinct of their race, will stray towards it, without any seeming wish to return. 



When they are put up for final feeding, sodden barley, or the meal of oats, 

 barley and wheat, are their appropriate food. A common practice is, after 

 they have been allowed to glean in the stubble-fields in autumn, to put them 

 up for fattening. A good weight for a turkey is 15 Ibs.; but they are sometimes 

 fed to 20 and even 30 Ibs. The abominable process of cramming is sometimes 

 also adopted with the turkey, and thus it is compelled to become fat in the 

 shortest time. The eggs of the turkey are regarded as delicate by those who 

 are used to them, but they are not much an article of consumption. 



These birds are exceedingly voracious, and if grain merely 

 were given them, greedy as they are, they would merit the 

 appellation of wheat-coffers. But there are other modes of 



