TURKEYS AND HOW TO RAISE THEM 



129 



I give them clean water three times a day in a drinking foun- 

 tain, or if I have not a fountain I make one out of a tomato can. 

 Make a nail hole in the can about half an inch from the top, then 

 fill the can up to the hole with water, invert a saucer over it, and 

 holding the saucer tightly to it, turn it over quickly. This makes 

 a good fountain, for the water will come slowly out of the nail hole 

 into the saucer. I give the turkeys a similar fountain of skim milk, 

 also. A word about the cottage cheese. I am very particular in 

 making it not to allow the clabber milk to become hot. I use either 

 a thermometer, letting the heat only come to 98 degrees, or I keep 

 my finger in the milk, and as soon as it feels pleasantly warm I take 

 the milk off the fire, pour the curd into a cheese cloth bag and leave 

 it to drain. If the milk scalds or boils, the curd will be tough, hard 

 like rubber and indigestible enough to kill turkeys or chickens. 



Overfed Little Ones 



When I lived in the home of the wild turkey, Oklahoma and 

 Kansas, I learned much about the care of tame turkeys. There 

 "corn is king," but I was cautioned never to give corn to the young 

 turkeys until after they "sport the red." That is, until their heads 

 and wattles become red, which happens at about three months of 

 age. It was said that corn always sours on their stomachs. It 

 was there I heard of a man who brought up his turkeys on nothing 

 but onion tops, curd and grit, and they did well. 



One of my experiences in the land of the wild turkey may serve 

 as a warning to others. I had a good old Buff Cochin hen who 

 was mothering a brood of nice little turkeys. She was most as- 

 siduous in her care of them ; she clucked to them all day ; called 

 them up to eat all the time, and it was surprising to see how those 

 little fellows grew, when one after another they began to droop 



MAMMOTH BRONZE TURKEY AND YOUNG. ED. HART, CLEMENT, CAL. 



