His Majesty, the Turkey 



How the young birds, more delicate than 

 babies, are coaxed along to your table 



ON turkey ranches the flocks are 

 managed like sheep. By day they 

 are herded by men on foot and horse- 

 back and by dogs specially trained for the 

 task; at night the flocks are driven home 

 to roost. But the small cultivator of 

 turkeys has discovered a way around the 

 natural roving instinct of the fowl. In 

 order that he may not lose a good portion 

 of his flock, or all of them, through their 

 wandering too far away, he keeps them 

 confined in a lot of about an acre or more, 

 until noon time, when he lets them roam 

 where they will. The reason for this is 

 that turkeys do most of their roaming in 

 the early morning. During the middle of 

 the day they loll about in the shade, 

 starting toward their roosting place as the 

 afternoon wanes. 



The inexperienced may find difficulty in 

 locating the nests of the turkey hen, but 

 to the initiated rancher the task is easy. 

 He simply keeps all the hens penned up 

 until late in the afternoon. When they 

 are finally let out, those that are laying 

 will strike out on a run in a bee-line for 

 their hidden nests. 



The eggs are gathered daily after the 

 turkeys have gone to roost, so as to pre- 

 vent them from being chilled or stolen. 

 When the hens become broody they are 

 allowed to sit on about eighteen eggs, 

 which hatch out in about twenty-eight 

 days. Then, according to the poulterers, 

 the turkey-raisers' real troubles begin. The 

 young poults are more delicate than babies 

 and require constant care. This means 

 that the youngsters catch cold easily from 



wet feet and from dampness in general. 



In the illustration pictured below, a 

 method is shown of housing the nesting 

 turkey hens which minimizes the danger 

 from dampness. The birds are placed in 

 an enclosure as close as possible to the 

 farmer's house, so that they may be easily 

 watched and cared for. The nests are 

 made on well-sanded and preferably slightly 

 sloping ground, under a low shed, each 

 nest being tightly enclosed on three sides 

 and open toward the south. Here the 

 young birds can be given constant over- 

 sight. After the poults have feathered out 

 there is little further trouble with them. 



About the first of October, fattening is 

 begun by gradually increasing the evening 

 allowance of grain. Soon afterwards comes 

 the marketing period. This, among the 

 small poulterers, is preceded by a regular 

 turkey-picking bee, similar in social jollifi- 

 cation to the corn-husking bees, famous 

 in song and story. 



Nests made on well sanded, sloping ground under a low shed close to the- farmer's house 

 where the birds can be under constant watch. Each nest is open only on the south 



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