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The brooder should be provided with a cage of chicken wire 

 having a top with a door for feeding, but no bottom. We 

 have used a cage 8 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 2 feet high. At 

 one end is an opening to correspond with the door of the 

 brooder. Such a cage will be ample for twenty to twenty-five 

 young turkeys until they are two and one-half to three weeks 

 old, when they may be moved from the brooder and provided 

 with a hover without artificial heat. Their housing from now 

 on may be varied according to the number to be raised and the 

 surrounding conditions. 



A small flock of turkeys, one to two dozen, may be raised in 

 cages, as described above. They are then safe from hawks, 

 cats, etc., and there is no danger of their getting out of bounds 

 or into the hen yard. A dry goods box, with a hole in one end 

 and with a movable top covered with roofing, is provided as a 

 shelter in each cage. Within each box should be placed a 

 hover with strips of flannel for warmth. In case a hover is 

 not provided the young turkeys may suffer from cold at times, 

 and their crowding into a corner may cause losses from suffoca- 

 tion. While a single cage and hover will take care of a dozen 

 turkeys for a time, it will later be necessary to separate them 

 into lots of not more than six to a cage. The cages should be 

 shifted a foot or two daily to furnish new forage, and a piece 

 of roofing across the cage top furnishes both shade and pro- 

 tection from rain. We have raised turkeys in such cages up 

 to 6 or 7 pounds' weight. 



In case there is no poultry near, the young turkeys may be 

 let out of the cages to range after they are of a size to take 

 care of themselves. They should always be brought back to 

 their cage for feeding, and shut in at night. In fact, ranging 

 for a few hours each day will be sufficient for their needs. 

 Later on they may be allowed to roost in trees or elsewhere. 



The tendency of turkeys to wander makes it imperative to 

 have some sort of an enclosure for them after they become too 

 large for their cages. If their pasture is divided into two or 

 more yards, the birds may be kept in one yard while the forage 

 is growing in another. They should always be shut into a 

 cat-proof shelter at night. A fairly good plan is to have doors 

 open from this shelter into the various yards. It will be a 



