NATIONAL CITY, CALIFORNIA 13 



hens and helps to keep them free from vermin. Whole corn is a good 

 feed, and fresh water and grit should always be accessible. 



Lice are a great annoyance to sitting hens and are one of the worst 

 enemies of young poults. To prevent their getting a foothold, the hen 

 should be dusted thoroly with some good lice powder before she is placed 

 on the nest, arid then both the hen and the nest should be similarly treated 

 once a week for the firs*t three weeks of the incubation period. The nest- 

 ing material should be kept clean, and if the eggs become dirty they should 

 be washed with a soft cloth dipped in lukewarm water. Just before the 

 poults are to hatch, the old nesting material should be replaced with 

 clean straw. 



The incubation period of turkey eggs is twenty-eight days. The first 

 egg is usually pipped during the first part of the twenty-seventh day, the 

 first poult hatched by the middle of that day, and the hatch completed at 

 the end of twenty-eight days, altho in extreme cases all the poults are not 

 hatched before the end of thirty days. Turkey eggs are tested for fertility 

 and for dead germs, as a rule, on the tenth and twentieth days. 



BROODING 



The average number of poults raised under ordinary conditions is about 

 fifty per cent of those hatched out, or about seven poults for every turkey 

 hen. By far the greater part of this loss occurs when the poults are quite 

 young, that is, under a week old. Seldom are any lost after they are a 

 month old, unless there is an outbreak of disease. The high mortality 

 among young poults is mainly from the following causes: 



(1) Exposure to dampness and cold. 



(2) Improper feeding. 



(3) Close confinement. 



(4) Lice. 



(5) Predatory animals. 



(6) Inherent weakness, the result of carelessness in selection of 



parent stock. 



With the exception of predatory animals, all these causes are easily 

 removed. Experienced and careful turkey growers are able to raise a much 

 higher per cent of the poults hatched. 



As soon as the hatch is completed and the poults begin to run around 

 outside the nest the hen and brood are ready to be removed to the coop 

 provided for them. The coop should be built to keep out rain; it should 

 be well ventilated, capable of easy movement, and be sufficiently roomy 

 for a turkey hen to stand erect and walk about. There should be a sep- 

 arate coop for each hen and brood, and the coops should be scattered about 

 the farm in such places as are easily drained and where natural feed, such 

 as tender, green vegetation (grass, clover, alfalfa, and other green feed), 

 and insects, particularly grasshoppers, can be found. By moving the coop 

 every day the ground will be kept clean and opportunity will be given the 

 mother hen and poults to pick up fresh, green feed inside the coop. Plenty 

 of exercise is essential if the poults are to thrive. At all times, when rain 

 or dampness does not prevent, the poults should be allowed to run in and 

 out of the coop at will. Too much stress cannot be given to the necessity 

 of exercise, and the only way to provide for this is to allow the poults at 

 every possible opportunity to range for feed outside the coop. During a 

 long-continued rainy season it is better to allow them to run out of the 

 coop w r henever it is not actually raining, even tho the grass is somewhat 

 damp. By confining the mother hen to the coop she will always be ready 

 to hover the poults whenever they run to her, which they will do if they 

 become chilled. The greatest care should be taken to keep the interior of 

 the coop dry, and for this reason it is advisable to choose a sandy slope 

 where the water runs off quickly and where there is also protection from 

 heavy rains. If necessary, the mother hen can be confined to a roomy 



