424 POULTRY PRODUCTION 



turbed, slie slioukl be either allowed to set in the nest 

 where she lays regularly or she may be moved. Mo\ing a 

 hen to a nest more suitably loeated should be done at night 

 and two or three china or hard-boiled eggs should be placed 

 under her as nest eggs. The nest should also be darkened 

 during the day after removal, and the bird allowed off for 

 food and water near night. If the moving is carefully done 

 and the hen is thoroughly broody the change may be done 

 without "breaking up" the hen. After she has been setting 

 for two or three days a clutch of fifteen to twenty eggs may 

 be placed under her, depending upon the size of the bird 

 and the season. A large bird in warm weatlier may cover 

 the larger number easily. At the time the turkey sets, from 

 seven to nine turkey eggs should be placed under a broody 

 common fowl, and the poults when hatched given to the 

 turkey hen. The number allowed each hen should not exceed 

 twenty to twenty-five. 



Turkey eggs hatch in from twenty-six to thirty days, the 

 average being about twenty-eight. At the time of hatching 

 the first hatched poults may be removed and placed under 

 hens, if they will own them, or kept wrapped in a flannel 

 in a basket in a warm place, or placed in a brooder, thus 

 encouraging the hen to remain on the nest until the last 

 hatched ])0ults gain strength, rather than to start oft' with 

 the first hatched, leaving the weaker ones behind. The 

 poults removed may be placed under the hen at night, when 

 she will own them without difficulty. The hens should be 

 dusted three times with insect powder while setting, the 

 last time on the twenty-fourth day. 



Nesting of Turkeys. — Turkeys mate the first clutch of eggs 

 from the first of March until the first of April, and commence 

 laying during the latter part of jNIarch or in April. These dates 

 are subject to variation, due to climatic conditions. The breed- 

 ing fowls should have been selected not later than the first of 

 the year and only those birds held over which are to be used 

 as breeders or sold on the holiday market. It is natural for 

 a hen turkey to steal her nest, therefore many breeders 

 place boxes ami barrels tipped on their side and a nest made 

 therein about the farm, in order to entice the turkeys to 

 lay in them, where the eggs may be easily gathered. Other 



