TURKEYS 425 



bree(]ers yard tlieir turkeys until about four o'clock in the 

 afternoon, when all eggs have been laid, thus conii)elling the 

 hens to lay in nests provided for the purpose. Either method 

 is good, and better than allowing the hen to steal her own 

 nest, where it is suljject to the raids of f(jxes, weasels, hawks, 

 and skunks. 



A hen turkey will lay from twelve to twenty eggs in the 

 first clutch before evincing a desire to set. If broken up 

 at this point she may begin laying a second clutch after an 

 interval of ten days. As soon as the hens begin to lay, the 

 eggs should be gathered daily and kept in a cool place of 

 even temperature and turned gently at least every two days. 

 One egg of some kind should be left in the nest as a nest 

 egg. More eggs will be laid when the eggs are gathered dailj 

 than when allowed to accumulate in the nest, because the 

 large number of eggs in the nest seems to induce the hen to 

 set sooner. 



Care and Feeding of Young Poults. — The attitude of inves- 

 tigators toward the black-head disease (infectious entero- 

 hepatitis) in turkeys has recently untlergone a marked 

 change. Iladley,' who is perha])s the foremost American 

 authority on blackhead in turkeys, gives the reasons for this 

 reversal of attitude in a recent paper. lie now takes the 

 position that the organisms causing this malady are onmi- 

 present, and that effort to avoid them is useless. Wild 

 turkeys are quite free from the trouble, however, while their 

 domesticated brothers are highly susceptible. This is in 

 spite of the fact tliat the ^\ild birds proI)ably ah\ays harbor 

 the organisms in the digestive tract. The difference is that 

 modern methods of domestic turkeys feeding have somehow 

 broken down the defensive agencies of the species, whatever 

 they may be. 



The problem in feeding poults, therefore, is to so feed 

 that the "normal antagonistic factors" can operate advan- 

 tageously with regard to the disease. 



Dr. Hadley tentatively suggests the following routine for 

 feeding to avoid blackhead. He points out that "it does 

 not make so much difference what young turkeys are fed as 



' Jour. Am. .\.ssii. In.st. ami Invest, in Poui. Husli , vol. ii, Nu. S. 



