MANUAL ON POULTRY. 47 



On pleasant, bright days the hen may be allowed to take out the 

 brood on the run, but must be carefully watched to prevent being 

 caught in rain. 



The gobbler will sometimes maliciously destroy the young tur- 

 keys, and hence prudence demands his confinement when the hens 

 come off with their young. He will destroy many by merely 

 trampling upon them but will often peck them until all of the prin- 

 cipal bones in them are broken. If there are hens, still laying with 

 whom he consorts, there is less risk of his injuring the young tur- 

 keys, but it will be prudent to prevent any risk of his giving vent 

 to his malicious propensities. 



The wild turkey hen instinctively conceals her nest and her 

 young from the gobbler. When the young turkeys acquire suffi- 

 cient strength and activity to keep out of the way, the gobbler may 

 be allowed his liberty, even in company with the mother birds and 

 their young, but even then he will be a disturbing element in the 

 flock. The young turkeys do not become hardy until the red be- 

 gins to appear upon their heads. After they reach that stage they 

 are quite hardy, and will take care of themselves if allowed a lib- 

 eral range. 



Turkeys are not profitable unless they glean a large share of their 

 food from the fields where what they gather would otherwise be 

 wasted. They are ravenous eaters and very destructive of some 

 kinds of vegetation. 



THE GUINEA FOWL. 



The guinea fowl is noted for its great egg-producing qualities. 

 The hens commence laying in Ma*y and continue through August. 

 Generally a number of them will lay in the same nest ; indeed so 

 great is this tendency that it is difficult to induce enough of them to 

 have nests to themselves to secure sitters to keep up the stock. In 

 view of this difficulty therefore it is well to set the early laid eggs 

 under chicken hens. 



The guineas seldom sits until too late in the season to rear a good 

 brood, but if they can be induced to sit they generally hatch well 

 and are remarkably successful in rearing their brood. 



Another advantage in having chicken hens raise the young gui- 

 neas is that they grow up more gentle and manageable than when 

 reared by the guinea hens. Guineas have a natural disposition to 

 roam and are disposed to seek their nests in secluded spots at a dis- 



