TURKEYS, GUINEAS, PEAFOWLS 27I 



-daily is sufficient and the feed may consist of whole 

 grains, which should be kept up until killing time if 

 you want to have the stock large. Feed very little 

 corn unless you want to fatten them for market. Give 

 a variety, if possible, such as wheat, oats, buckwheat 

 'and barley. Wheat is the best food if only one kind 

 is given. Procure some whole black pepper, and every 

 morning look over the little ones, and whenever one 

 is noticed to appear droopy pick it up and look for lice, 

 and at the same time give it a grain of the pepper. 

 Most of the trouble with young turkeys can be traced 

 to inbreeding and lack, of vigor in the parent stock, lice 

 •and improp>er feeding. Corn meal and skimmilk curds 

 are favorite feeds for young turkeys. Either alone is 

 enough to kill them; combined they are not quite so 

 bad, yet they are a very poor ration. 



After turkeys "shoot the red," or are full feath- 

 ered, they will largely take care of themselves, but 

 before that they will require constant watching. Build 

 a little pen with some short boards in front of each 

 coop and don't let the little fellows out of this for the 

 first four or five days. After that time they may be 

 let out on every fair day — after the dew is off. Also 

 let the hen out with her brood after the seventh day. 

 Always know where your turkeys are and if a shower 

 comes up get them under cover as soon as possible. 



It pays to herd turkeys where they are raised in 

 considerable numbers. A peculiar thing about herding 

 turkeys, especially if the poults have turkey mothers, 

 is that once their day's route is established they will 

 go the same round each day and generally on schedule 

 time. The best plan is to keep the flock restricted to 

 ■the territory adjacent to their coop until the poults 

 are feathered, when the broods can be flocked together 

 and started out to the woods and fields. Here is where 

 the herder is needed. The losses from various sources 



