TURKEY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 



209 



to tell me something that will help him 

 as I should feel very badly to lose him. 

 Mrs. S. H. J. 



Answer I would advise you first to 

 stop dusting that gobbler with insect 

 powder, as it may be disagreeing with 

 him. Secondly, I would give him small 

 liver pills, and at the same time, for at 

 least a week, a pill of one or two grains 

 of quinine every night Also notice his 

 droppings, if possible, because he may 

 have intestinal worms, although the 

 symptoms are more like kidney trouble. 



TAPEWORM IN TURKEYS I have over 

 100 turkeys that seem to be healthy but 

 do not grow as they should. I find now 

 they are full of long worms, probably 

 tape worms. What shall I do? Mrs. 

 L. B. D. 



Answer If your turkeys have tape- 

 worms, the best remedy I know is male 

 fern (felix mas). It may be used in 

 the form of a powder; (dose _ thirty 

 grains to one dram) or of liquid ex- 

 tract (dose fifteen to thirty drops). It 

 should be given in the morning and ev- 

 ening before feeding. Oil of turpentine 

 is an excellent remedy for the comm.on 

 round worm; dose one to three tea- 

 spoonsful in an equal amount of castor 

 oil. Feeding stewed garlic or raw 

 onions will help the cure. 



SHIPPING TURKEYS Can turkey eggs 

 be hatched successfully in an incuba- 

 tor or are they more apt to die? Will 

 it hurt the little turkeys to be carried 

 on the car any great distance? Mrs. 

 A. P. 



Answer Turkey eggs can be hatched 

 in an incubator, if you don't mix them 

 with other eggs, otherwise they do bet- 

 ter under the hen. They can be raised 

 in brooders, and it will not hurt them 

 to travel on the cars if they do not get 

 chilled. 



How MANY TOMS? I want to ask 

 you how many turkey toms I should 

 have for 24 hens. I have two fine toms 

 weighing about 22 pounds each. Their 

 beards are well developed and they ap- 

 pear to be very good birds. WiM those 

 two be enouirh for 24 hens? Mrs. 

 C, B. L. 



Answer It really would be better to 

 have three toms, but under the circum- 

 stances I would rather risk having two 

 good toms than to buy a third of un- 

 known quality. 



The rule is one yearling torn to ten 

 hens. One torn will do for twenty 

 hens sometimes, but ten hens is about 

 the best number. 



LIVER TROUBLE We are in trouble 

 with our little turkeys, and would like 

 to ask you to help us. They were fine, 

 strong fellows until a few days ago, 

 when four of them, suddenly died. I 

 just noticed two of them, a little droopy 

 in the afternoon, and four were dead the 

 next morning. There was the slightest 

 touch of diarrhoea noticeable, and I im- 

 mediately put a little germazone in their 

 water, and they have had it for several 

 days. They have no signs of it now, 

 but four more died last night, and sev- 

 eral others are drooping. We made an 

 examination this morning and found the 

 liver all blotched and spotted all over 

 in dark rings. That is all we could find 

 wrong. The gizzard was healthy and 

 full of grit and seemed perfect and in 

 order. Mrs. A. H. 



Answer The spotted liver is all that 

 killed them. It denotes congestion of 

 the liver. This is usually brought on 

 by wrong feeding, or overfeeding, but 

 it also comes from their taking cold ; 

 either from being too warm at night, 

 under the chicken hen, getting them hot 

 and sweaty, and then coming out in the 

 morning into the cool, foggy air, which 

 gives them a sudden chill. This would 

 affect the liver, and make even the 

 proper food disagree with them. They, 

 may take cold and get a chill affecting 

 the liver, from running in damp alfalfa ; 

 or the chicken hen may drag them about 

 and make the exercise too much, and 

 this also would weaken their liver and 

 make them susceptible to cold, which 

 would affect their liver. I can only givs 

 you these suggestions, as I do not know 

 all your conditions. One of the best 

 remedies for diarrhoea in both chickens 

 and little turkeys, is rice boiled in milk, 

 with a tablespoonful of ground cinna- 

 mon to everv pint of milk. Rice given 

 even dry will help in a case of this kind. 



