TURKEYS— THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



57 



erally prevent gapes. Turkeys having vermin are more like- 

 ly to be affected. I have been advised to use sour cream in- 

 stead of lard to groase young turkeys. 



If I find the poults have gapes I put Dalmation or Per- 

 sian inseer powder in the food and have no further trouble. 

 I sprinkle the powder into the food just as I would pepper. 

 I have cured several chicks of (he gapes by first puffing the 

 powder in the wind pipe. This kills the worms, and I ex- 

 tract them with a gape extractor made of a piece of soft 

 grass. If the worms are taken out the chicken will recover 

 unless it is injured by the operation. They are easier to 

 take out dead than aiive and I find the powder good, but one 

 has to be careful not to get too much in the wind pipe or 

 the poult or chick will not be able to breathe. 



air putr. 



One night I noticed that the neck of one of my young 

 turkeys was so badiy swollen it could not get its mouth to 

 the ground to eat. 1 picked it up and found its whole body 

 in the same condition. The skin only seemed puffed. I took 

 a pair of sharp scissors and clipped the skin in several 

 places. The air escaped and the turkey began to chirp. I put 

 it with the others and it ate heartily. I put a teaspoonful of 

 coal oil in the drinking water with a few drops of carbolic 

 acid. 



The next morning I noticed its wings drooping down 

 and it was as badly puffed as before. I repeated the clipping 

 and this time I clipped around the neck; I went deeper 

 than I 'intended and the neck began to bleed freely. I felt 

 that this would kill it, but I knew it would die anyway 

 if not relieved, so I did not grieve. I took a feather and 

 dipped it in tar and covered the bleeding wound, then I 

 greased it with pure lard. My husband said: "You have 

 killed that turkey." I replied: "Yes, I think I have, but 

 I was trying to save it." To toy astonishment it came up 

 that night as lively as any of the others. I cut both wings 

 and in the morning 1 showed it to my husband. We were 

 both surprised. Ten days after it was as strong to all ap- 

 pearances as any of tlie others and it never puffed after- 

 ward. I concluded the bleeding was good for it, yet I would 

 not know just how to advise it to be done, as I did that by 

 accident. 



BUMBLEFOOT. 



Bumblofoot is a hard place on the bottom of the foot 

 which often becomes very sore and contains pus. It is 

 claimed that it is usually caused by the fowls roosting high 

 and coming down on the ground with such force as to 

 bruise the foot. I am inclined to favor this theory, though 

 some high in authority deny it. At any rate, turkeys and 

 chickens are often found with feet in this condition. I 

 wait until the sore becomes soft, open it with a sharp knife 

 and squeeze it until all the pus and the core, if I can get it, 

 run out. If the core does not come out it will run out in a 

 few days if the foot is bound up with a good salve. 



I find one of the best salves I ever used to be vaseline, 

 turpentine, a few drops of crude carbolic acid and tincture 

 of iodine. I cannot give the proportions because I do not 

 measure or drop by count. I generally make about a tea- 

 cup full in the fall or early winter and it lasts me all sea- 

 son. A friend told me that resin- would add to its merits. 

 I put.;the ingredients all on the stove and mix them together 

 and the next time I make this salve I think I shall add the 

 resin. 



Salva is also good for sore head, but it is better to wash 

 the head with copperas water before using the salve. If you 

 can afford to buy Mexican Mustang Liniment it is even bet- 

 ter thai? salve, but one often does not have the liniment at 

 hand and can make the salve. 



BOWEL TROUBLE. 



The coops in which the poults roost must have plenty of 

 fresh air as well as be rat proof. If the weather is cold 

 and damp iiiey must be kept in pens, so they can be hov- 

 ered by the hen. If she is at liberty she is liable to walk 

 around in the weeds or grass and the poults will chill and 

 become locse in the bowels. And they generally .die when 

 this disease is caused by the above treatment. However, 

 if they are not too mucli chilled, pen them up, make a very 

 weak pepper tea and give this for drinking water. Sweet 

 milk is a good remedy for bowel trouble with poults. 



If you do not over feed your young birds nor give them 

 too much water while young, and do not let them get wet 

 and chilled, thereby contracting cold, they will not have 

 bowel trouble. They are not as apt to drink too much 

 where they can run at large as they are when kept in con- 

 finement. When running at large I keep water where they 

 can have access to it, but when penned up I give them a 

 drink only three times a day. 



Do not let the poults get wet. I am trying to plan a 

 way to have them roost on a dirt floor, yet not on damp 

 earth. I think the dampness of the ground gives them rheu- 

 matism, or makes them delicate, but the hen mashes the 

 poults on a plank floor. I think if the dirt can be thrown 

 up around the coop, so as to keep the ground dry, it will 

 be better. 



Where milk curd, seasoned with black pepper and salt, 

 is fed for the first ten days, there will be no danger of loose 

 bowels, provided other health precautions are observed. 

 Lice will cause bowel trouble, as will too much heat. When 

 caused by heat give a teaspoonful of carbolic acid in a gal- 

 lon of water. 



Keep the drinking fountains clean and fresh. This can 

 be done by washing them out with carbolized water. 



Logwood is excellent for loose bowels. I have used and 

 recommended it for years. There is no danger of using too 

 much and there is nothing better for ordinary bowel trouble 

 either in chicks, poults or grown fowls. It comes by the 

 pound in boxes and sells here at ten cents per pound. I put 

 a lump of it in a glass fruit jar, using as large a lump as I 

 can get into the jar and pour warm (not hot) -water over 

 it. Every morning I put just enough of this into the drinking 

 water to color it an.l it keeps the bowels in a healthy condi- 

 tion. If fowls are sick I use it stronger. 



Overfeeding produces indigestion and indigestion causes 

 bowel trouble. Vermin and overfeeding kill more poults 

 than all other causes. Lice will produce all the symptoms 

 of disease. When a poult dies from overfeeding a post mor- 

 tem will usually disclose the liver swollen and probably 

 splotched. When it is 'in this condition there is no chance 

 for the poult. If taken in time a radical change of diet will 

 effect a cure. 



HOT MASHES. 



A lady in Maryland writes: "I can't agree with you that 

 hot mashes cause roup, tor in my native home (Canada) I 

 fed my turkeys hot mashes from the time they were a few 

 wefks old until they are grown, and so did my neighbors, 

 and we raised large flocks and were never troubled with 

 roup. Here I have not fed the mash and have the roup." 

 Roosting in tr.ees may be the cause of roup in her flocks 

 now, as she says they never had it when roosting under 

 shelter. I agree with her that in extreme climates a shel- 

 ter is better. She also gives me a preventative for fighting 

 which I certainly shall use. I give it to the readers of this 

 book: Tie a small bell around the neck of toms showing a 

 disposition to fight. The noise attracts their attention so 

 they forget to fight. 



