TURKEYS. 



213 



To prevent her leaving, secure a piece of lattice, 

 made of laths, in front of the nest on placing 

 her there. Similar screens may be attached to 

 all the nests, thus keeping the inmates as se- 

 curely shut up as if they were in so many cages. 

 This arrangement demands more care of the 

 turkeys than when they have their liberty, as 

 they must be let off every day to eat and drink, 

 and for health and cleanliness. The way once 

 learned into the building, there is no trouble in 

 their returning to it afterward. 



The turkey is a close sitter, so close that we 

 have almost uniformly been obliged, on remov- 

 ing the lattice, to use some efforts to drive her 

 off. She quits reluctantly. When off, she feeds 

 and drinks eagerly; she runs about quickly, 

 pecking the green grass, and if she can find any 

 dry loose dirt she settles herself in it, flapping 

 the dirt rapidly with her wings over her body, 

 and then hastens back to her nest. This ad- 

 hesiveness to her eggs grows stronger as the 

 time of hatching approaches. She should then 

 seldom be disturbed. Four weeks is the usual 

 term of incubation, but it is protracted some- 

 times a day or two longer. Turkeys' eggs may 

 be placed under common fowls, and hatched 

 with success, if no more eggs are used for this 

 purpose than can be fully covered. This is 

 convenient in the spring, in order to enlarge 

 other Jbroods. 



As soon as the chicks break the shell it may 

 be known by a peculiarly soft and tremulous 

 sound uttered by the mother, as if recognizing 

 the new-born brood, and expressing the anx- 

 ious sensations that now throb in her bosom. 

 We know of no sound more touching and plain- 

 tive ; a sound which she never makes till this 

 epoch in her existence. A turkey will almost 

 always hatch out the larger proportion of her 

 eggs on which she has sat, and not unfrequently 

 the whole of them. We have known instances 

 when, on removing the old bird for the first time 

 after hatching, the entire brood presented them- 

 selves as lively as crickets. 



Now that the young have fairly entered on 

 life, what is to be done with them ? Were she 

 in the woods, wild and undomesticated, leave 

 them to the care of the mother ; for Nature is 

 the best guardian and provider. But she is un- 



der our protection, and in our hands is the des- 

 tiny of her offspring. We must do something 

 for them at least after they are one or two days 

 old, or they will perish by starvation. In doing 

 this, however, avoid the too frequent and mis- 

 chievous practice of stuffing and overloading 

 them with food. They are but tiny birds, with 

 delicate constitutions. In a state of nature, 

 ants' eggs are eagerly devoured by them ; curd, 

 or thickened milk, chopped fine, we have found 

 a good substitute. Crumbs of bread, softened 

 in milk or water, is excellent food for them when 

 quite young. The same food of which the pa- 

 rent turkey eats, except grain in an unbroken 

 state, the chicks will eat. They are great de- 

 vourers of insects. Did you never observe 

 them, when they espied a bug or fly, and notice 

 with what precision and unerring aim they seize 

 it? They should, for one or two weeks, be 

 kept in a dry place under cover, and they may 

 be placed out of doors in some inclosure to keep 

 them from rambling. A frequent practice is to 

 tie the mother to a stake, with a string tied to 

 one of her legs ; but this is a bad practice, and 

 liable to many accidents. The best way to 

 confine the mother is to place a crockery crate 

 over her, at the sides of which the little ones 

 could have an easy passage in and out. To 

 confine the young and prevent them from going 

 abroad before the dew is off in the morning, 

 boards may be placed at the sides and ends, 

 and secured by driving stakes in the ground. 

 The top should be covered with boards also, to 

 protect them from rain. There should also be 

 a floor of boards an old door would be still 

 better, as it would be tight, and keep out rats, 

 etc. The floor should be covered with hay or 

 straw, which should often be replenished and 

 removed frequently for the purpose of cleanli- 

 ness. The cleaner they are kept the less liable 

 are they to be infested with lice. 



As the chicks grow, they will need larger 

 supplies of food. Curd and thick skim-milk 

 are good articles of diet. Beware of giving any 

 salt with the food of young turkeys. For drink, 

 let them be supplied with water placed in shal- 

 low vessels. 



After a few weeks, the young brood may be 

 allowed to accompany the mother in her ram- 



