ADVICE ON RAISING TURKEYS. 



Description of the Mammoth Bronze — Turkeys Need Room— Care and Management of Young Turkeys. 



By Mrs. S. A. Met lellun. 



F ALL branches of poultry keeping, raising 

 turkeys is perhaps the most interesting, 

 as well as the most profitable. We i'eel 

 that we have accomplished something 

 when we take a downy little poult weigh- 

 ing only a few ounces, and by care and 

 attention raise him up to be a strong bird that will tip the 

 scales at thirty pounds or more at less than a year old. I 

 have heard of young males weighing much more than this, 

 but if mine reach thirty pounds without extra pushing or 

 fattening I think I am doing pretty well. 



Of the several varieties the Bronze is at present the 

 favorite, and justly so, it would seem, when we consider 

 their many excellent qualities. The Bronze possess the hand- 

 somest plumage, attain the largest size, take on fat readily, . 

 and being gentle and docile in disposition, are easily con- 

 trolled; while the young poults are healthy, hardy, grow 

 rapidly and are easily raised. 



Pure-bred stock I would have by all means to begin 

 with as they mature early, which is desirable for home use, 

 as well as for market purposes, and if the strain be brought 

 to anything like perfection, there is always a demand for 

 young stock for breeding as well as for hatching. A fine 

 specimen of Bronze sometimes scores as high as 98% points 

 out of a possible 100. 



Although a great deal has been said about the weight 

 of Bronze turkeys, yet when selecting the stock one should 

 be guided nearly as much by the symmetry of the bird and 

 the beauty of its plumage as by its weight or size. The 

 body should be long and deepest at the center, with a full 

 breast, broad back, stout thighs and shanks- of moderate 

 length. In young birds, the shanks are a dead black, but 

 they grow lighter with age until they finally become a sort 

 of pink or flesh color. 



TURKEYS NEED ROOM. 



No one should attempt to raise turkeys who has not 

 sufficient space for them ; for it is useless to attempt to raise 

 turkeys in limited runs. This is where many poultry breed- 

 ers make their mistake, and when failure meets them they 

 put it down to every cause except the right one. It must 

 be remembered that the turkey is really the last of our 

 domestic fowls that has been brought from its wild state 

 and placed under domestication. 



You must not be afraid of work when you go into the 

 poultry business, either with turkeys or -chickens. It takes 

 all the patience and perseverance possible. But turkeys 

 will pay you well for your trouble, and when six weeks old 

 the most of the work and danger are over and you will be 

 proud of them, for after that they will be things of beauty 

 and joy while they last. It is pleasanter to feed turkeys 

 than chickens. They know when they have enough and can 

 be satisfied with a reasonable amount; that is, all except 

 the gobbler — he never stops eating as long as there is any 

 food in sight. 



A great deal has been said and written about turkeys 

 still, to the uninitiated, raising turkeys is a great mystery — 

 so much so in fact that after one or two futile attempts, 

 many give up in despair. The scientific poultry raiser of 

 course knows exactly how it is done, but the wife or 

 daughter of the farmer in moderate circumstances can afford 

 few of the conveniences which tend to lessen the labor and 

 which are considered absolute necessities by the professional 

 poultry raiser. To be sure it requires a considerable amount 

 of exercise to keep up wih a large flock of turkeys when 

 they have the whole surface of the broad earth to range 

 over, but then it is healthful exercise; it takes us out of 

 doors into the wholesome fresh air, and sends us back to the 

 house with glowing cheeks and a hearty appetite. 



The exact degree of restraint to be placed upon turkeys 

 at laying time requires for its solution the nicest sort of 

 judgment. If entirely left to themselves, the most secluded 

 spot at the farthest limit of their range will pro'bably be 

 selected as a nesting place. Then sometimes they will con- 

 ceal their nests scarcely a hundred yards away, and be so 

 cunning about it, with their sudden appearances and dis- 

 appearances, as to keep us in the dark for some time as to 

 its whereabouts. 



If we knew that a hen would keep the same nest dur- 

 ing the laying of one clutch of eggs, and that the crows 

 or varmints would not find the eggs and destroy them, we 

 might be- more willing to humor her in regard to its location, 

 even though it should cost us quite a lengthy walk in visit- 

 ing them. (Sisters, did you ever think how near, in sweet 

 communion you could come to God during those long walks 

 in the early twilight, when all nature is bowing to the L»i- 

 vine will'.') But the greater number of people err at the 

 ether extreme, and confine their turkeys to a close pen from 

 sun up to sun down. 



Of the two methods the latter is to be avoided more than 

 the former, as the hens thus kept in confinement not only 

 produce a fewer number of eggs, but a larger per cent prove 

 infertile. But there is in this as everything else a happy 

 medium. Have a good-sized inclosure in a rather secluded 

 place: make partly concealed nests of old boxes and barrels 

 turned down, with a nice nest in them made of straw and 

 leaves; shut the turkeys in every morning for two or three 

 weeks before they commence laying, and most of the hens 

 will willingly accept these nests. 



TURKEYS NOT HARD TO RAISE. 



While the turkeys are laying gather in the eggs every 

 evening, leaving two or three hen eggs in the nest. There is 

 little more time or labor expended in rearing a flock of sev- 

 enty-five turkeys than so many chickens, and the result is 

 much more satisfactory— turkeys being subject to fewer dis- 

 eases and, barring accidents, one can usually succeed in rais- 

 ing nearly every one hatched. 



If the hen lays in a suitable place for sitting do not 

 remove her; but should you desire to set her somewhere else 



