TURKEYS— THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



25 



advantage gained by feeding out of your hand is that there 

 is no food left on the ground to sour — a fruitful source of 

 bowel trouble. 



TJp till five weeks of age I feed five times per day and 

 cut dandelion leaves fine and mix with the shorts nearly 

 every meal. I occasionally cut onion tops instead of the 

 dandelions. Give plenty of milk — any kind — to drink, and 

 keer fresh water before them all the time. Something which 

 should never be neglected is to move the coop the breadth 

 of itself every day. In mixing the shorts it is important to 

 have them quite damp, but not sticky. There is one fine 

 grade of shorts it is Impossible to mix properly. I am aware 

 some claim that feeding five times per day will kill the 



Fig. 4-W J. Bell's Turkey House. 



With roof cut away to show Interior Arrangement. 



poults, but they surely have not tried feeding shorts and 

 milk. Shorts digest very fast and I believe is a preventive 

 of bowel trouble. At any rate I have found it a very slow- 

 killing process. 



At about five weeks old I give the hen her liberty and let 

 them have free range of the farm and roost on the fences or 

 buildings until fall. I only feed twice per day during the 

 summer— shorts mixed with milk in the morning and clean 

 wheat at night. If grasshoppers are plentiful they will oft- 

 times refuse the wheat, but with toe they never refuse the 

 shorts. 



HOUSING. 



When I first started I found great difficulty in getting 

 them to roost in a shed at night during winter. I would 

 spend over an hour keeping them from going on the fences 

 and buildings, so I thought of a plan which has worked sat- 

 isfactorily ever since. I built a lean-to on the south side of 

 my farm barn. Twelve feet from the barn and parallel 

 thereto four posts were placed twelve feet apart and seven 

 feet above ground. On these were placed a four by four-inch 

 scantling. Then to the side of the barn, twelve feet from the 

 ground, another scantling was spiked, and on these were 

 placed the rafters. The two ends were then boarded up 

 close and also the front, except what was required for doors 

 and windows. 



Now the rafters were not cut off close to the building, 

 but extended over about four feet. Straight under the points 

 of rafters I placed four short posts twelve feet apart and two 

 feet above ground and boarded this two feet up solid. From 

 these boards to the point of rafters was strung poultry net- 

 ting. One and a half feet from the ground and against the 

 two-foot boarding was nailed a V-shaped trough the entire 

 length, thirty-six feet, and a door placed on the end of this 

 "run." The inside or house proper can be divided into two 

 or three compartments as required, with roosts, and a large 

 sliding door and a window for each compartment. I advo- 



cate placing the roosts on a level and about four feet from 

 the ground. All I have to do now is to place food in the 

 trough, drive the turkeys into the "run," leave the sliding 

 doors open and they have plenty of light to see their food and 

 are compelled to roost inside. Then, again, if the weather 

 is warm the windows can be raised and the sliding doors 

 left open all night, and if cold all can be closed. Figs. 4 and 

 5 will give an idea of this building. Of course the rafters 

 are boarded over and shingled. 



DISEASES. 



I shall touch very lightly on this part of the subject. I 

 have had very few turkeys die from disease. At one time I 

 housed them in a building much too small, and 

 they contracted roup. I tried doctoring, but 

 found it was not a success, and now use all my 

 energies in preventing disease. I firmly believe 

 if you let your birds have free range in daytime, 

 feed at regular intervals and keep them free 

 from lice you will have no more trouble than in 

 raising any other line of live stock. My greatest 

 troubles have been soft shelled eggs and fcxes. 



CATCHING AND WEIGHING. 



While our Provincial show was judged by 

 score card and all birds were weighed, I was 

 generally asked by competitors to catch their 

 turkeys and place them on the scales, as I could 

 handle the birds more easily than any other. In 

 catching a turkey, if on the ground, I stand on 

 left side, place my right arm over its back and 

 grab both legs. Lift by placing left hand under 

 the breast. It may try to break loose for a 

 second or two, but hold steady, and it will give up. If the 

 bird is on a perch, grab by both legs from behind — right 

 hand for right leg and left hand for left leg — and draw 

 quickly from the perch so its breast or wings will not strike 

 it; then hold steadily while it flaps, afterwards it will re- 

 main quiet if held by the legs. In placing on the scales 

 hold its feet toward you with the right hand and breast with 

 the left. Lay it on its right side and pull its right wing 

 down towards its breast as much as possible when with- 

 drawing your left hand. 

 Make your movements grad- 

 ual and quiet and you will 

 have very little trouble. It is 

 almost impossible to get 

 their weight while standing 

 on their feet. In weighing as 

 above if small counter scales 

 are used it is advisable to 

 place a box of the same size 

 as the scales and about one 

 foot high under the scales, 

 as the head and tail of the 

 turkeys will droop a little on 

 each side and having the box 

 under the scales prevents 

 them touching the floor. 



SELLING STOCK. 



It would require a whole 

 book to treat this subject 

 properly, as it includes ad- 

 vertising and making coops. 

 I think the best advice I can 



Fig. 5. 



Runway In Turkey House. 



Showing Feeding Trough and 

 Wire Netting. 



give is to be perfectly honest and truthful. I have found 

 more persons lie about the weights of their turkeys than 

 about any other one thing in this world. I have bought tur- 

 keys at different times to he a certain weight and in almost 



