FEEDING AND CARING FOR POULTS, 



By Mrs. Julia A. Tapscolt. 



a— o N THE early spring I watch my turkey hens and as 

 I soon as I find they are wanting a nest I put them up in 



m' a large house built entirely of logs, the cracks left open 

 7 so they can get pure air just the same as if they were 

 out of doors. I put them up early of mornings and keep 

 plenty of food, water and grit in the house for them. I 

 keep them up until 5 o'clock in the evening and then turn 

 them out for exercise, and after being put up a few mornings 

 they will go to the house and wait for some one to open the 

 door and let them in. I have nests made on the ground next 

 to the wall and keep some chicken eggs in the nests for nest- 

 eggs. I keep from ten to sixteen hens to one torn. 



I do not have any trouble in hunting turkey nests and 

 losing the eggs by the crows. When the turkey hen goes 

 to sitting I find the best way is to move her to some place 

 where I can keep her shut up until she is satisfied. I set 

 her on chicken eggs and put all the turkey eggs un^er gen- 

 tle domestic hens, for they do not break them so badly. As 

 soon as they begin to pip I take two or three and slip them 

 under the turkey hen, let her hatch them out and she will 

 then own the entire flock. As fast as they hatch out under 

 the domestic hen I take them out of the nest and wrap them 

 up in a flannel cloth in a basket, and keep 'them until they 

 are about twenty-four hours old before I put them with the 

 turkey hen or give them anything to eat. Then they are 

 strong enough to keep out of the hen's way, and if she is 

 gentle she will not mash them. 



I put from twenty to twenty-five little poults with one 

 hen in a good tight-floored house. I feed them on milk curds 

 and a little chopped lettuce and onions, with plenty of fine 

 grit until they are two or three weeks old. I give them 

 water in a very shallow pan and as soon as all have drunk I 

 take the water away from them, for they love to play in 

 the water and will soon drabble themselves. I have a small 

 yard fenced with plank around their houses, and I keep 

 them in the yard until they are ten or twelve days old. I 

 have grass in the yard and they pick the little tender shoots 



and seem to enjoy them greatly. When the weather is rainy 

 and bad I keep them shut up in their houses. These houses 

 have windows with screen wire and outside shutters, and 

 if it is warm I open the shutters. 



When they are ten or twelve days old I turn them out 

 and let them go where they please over the farm, but I call 

 them up and feed them at noon every day. They soon learn 

 to come up just at the same time every day to be fed. After 

 they are two weeks old I feed them corn bread made of 

 white meal, buttermilk, soda and eggs baked in the oven 

 until thoroughly done. I let the cake get cold before feeding. 

 If it gets too hard and dry to crumble up for the little poults 

 soak it in sweet milk or water and squeeze dry. I chop up 

 green onion tops twice a week in their food, and as soon as 

 they are large enough to eat corn I feed shelled corn and 

 wheat. I never allow them to roost from home when they 

 are little. I drive them to their houses every night and 

 they soon leafn to come themselves. 



Just as soon as they are large enough to sit on a plank 

 and roost at night I have trestles set in their houses and lay 

 nariow strips of plank across. I set the poults all up on the 

 planks and the old hens up with them. These trestles are 

 two and one-half feet high, and the little fellows will soon 

 learn to fly up on them. I keep them in their houses at 

 night until there is no danger of their drowning, then let 

 them roost on the planed fence. I sweep their house floor 

 every day, sprinkle air-slaked lime all over the floor and 

 sides and then sweep all the lime out. Once a week I sprin- 

 kle the floor and walls with carbolic acid, and twice a week 

 dust all the turkeys with insect powder until they are full 

 feathered, then I dust them only once a week. 



This may seem to be a great deal of work, but I think I 

 was well paid for my labor last year, as I raised over a hun- 

 dred nice turkeys. I have never kept a torn three years, but I 

 have kept hens until they were six years old. I find the older 

 the hens the better mothers they make, and the little poults 

 are larger and stronger. MRS. JULIA A. TAPSCOTT. 



THE HAPPY MEDIUM. 



By Stanley Williams. 



White Holland turkeys originated in Holland, from 

 which they derived their name. Their plumage is snow 

 white throughout, except the beard, which is jet black. 

 The head and wattles are bright red, which makes the bird 

 very attractive and much admired. They are very gentle 

 in disposition and do not wander away from home like other 

 breeds. Careful investigation shows that instances where 

 a flock of this variety of turkeys failed to come home to 

 roost are very rare. They are the most hardy turkey 

 known, except the wild turkey, and they are equal to them. 

 The hens are exceedingly prolific and have been known to 

 lay as many as seventy eggs in one season when given 

 good care and food. The little ones are the strongest and 

 easiest to raise of all domestic turkeys. They are espec- 

 ially adapted to small places, or where one has near neigh- 

 bors. The quality of the flesh is sweet and tender and 

 their feathers are more valuable for commercial purposes 



than these of other varieties. They mature early, and while 

 they do not attain as great weight as some of the dark 

 colored breeds at maturity, they are as large when six 

 months old as the majority of turkeys, and larger than 

 many of the so-called Bronze turkeys. They are a happy 

 medium in the turkey line, as it is the medium sized 

 "plump" birds that sell the highest in market. Being white 

 in plumage, they have no dark pin feathers to show and 

 present a finer appearance when dressed than any other 

 breed. The chicks are very rapid growers, and if given 

 a good range and well fed during October and November 

 they will weigh at December 1st, toms fifteen to eighteen 

 pounds, hens from ten to twelve pounds. The standard 

 weights of the White Holland turkeys are: Cock, twenty- 

 six pounds; cockerel, sixteen pounds; hen, sixteen pounds; 

 pullet, ten pounds. 



STANLEY WILLIAMS. 



