NATIONAL 



CITY, 



CALIFORNIA 



15 



Successful turkey raisers use many different kinds of feed, some of the 

 most common being as follows: 



(1) Hard-boiled egg chopped fine and corn-bread crumbs for the 

 first week, and then whole wheat and hulled oats. 



(2) Stale bread, soaked in milk and squeezed dry, for the first few 

 days, and then common chick feed. 



(3) Clabbered milk seasoned with salt and pepper, corn-bread crumbs. 



(4) Equal parts "pinhead" oats, whole wheat, and cracked corn. 



(5) Cracked wheat. 



(6) Corn meal and wheat bran mixed in the proportion of three to 



one and baked into bread. 



(7) Bran or middlings one- 

 half, cracked Egyptian corn one- 

 quarter, wheat and hulled oats one- 

 quarter. 



In addition to the above, skim- 

 med milk and buttermilk are quite 

 often fed, with excellent results. A 

 good plan is to keep the milk in 

 front of the poults during the 

 morning and water during the af- 



j^ a^PTCrwBiM ternoon. If grit and green feed 



1 ^l^iSJJJ^ can not k picked up outside the 



coop, they must be provided in 

 some other way. Chopped onion 

 tops, lettuce leaves, dandelion 

 leaves, and alfalfa make excellent 

 g-reen feed. Grit can be furnished 

 in the form of coarse sand. 



While confined to the coop the 

 mother hen should be fed twice a 

 day on a mixture of grain, such as 

 equal parts corn, wheat, and oats, 

 and green feed, while water and 

 grit should be kept before her all the time. An occasional feed of meat 

 scrap or fresh, lean meat is greatly relished and helps to keep her in good 

 condition. In feeding the hen and poults, it is advisable to feed the latter 

 outside the coop and the former inside, in order to prevent her from eating 

 the feed intended for the poults. It is seldom necessary to keep the hen 

 and poults confined for more than a few days at a time, and the sooner all 

 can be given free range the better. Whether or not they should be put into 

 the coop at night after ranging during the day depends on the weather and 

 the danger from predatory animals. 



THE AGE AND SEX OF TURKEYS 



At the age of four weeks there is no trace of red on the heads and 

 necks of the poults, but at five weeks the caruncles or comb begin to form, 

 and when six weeks of age a trace of red can be seen forming in the 

 caruncles under the feathery down of the neck; this down is gradually shed 

 from the under part of the neck. At seven weeks the red can be seen at 

 some distance on the under part of the necks of males, but is not plainly 

 visible on females until about the eighth week. It is only by careful com- 

 parison, however, that the sex of young turkeys can be distinguished before 

 they are three months of age, at which time a very small, fleshy protuber- 

 ance appears on the breast of the male, emerging from which the beard 

 or tassel can be seen about two weeks later. At the age of about three 

 and one-half months the beard begins to grow from the breast of the male 

 turkey, and at one year of age it is from three to five inches long, becoming 

 longer each year. When about a year old turkey hens begin to grow 

 beards. The beard of the torn is much longer and coarser than that of the 

 hen, however, and his feathers stop far down on the neck, while in the 



"GOBBLE" 



