18 POULTRY FEEDING AND FATTENING 



an hour and it will be easily crumbled. When four or 

 five days old begin feeding curds, and give all the sour 

 milk they will drink. Chop onion tops and lettuce and 

 give with the food until they begin picking young and 

 tender grass. Twice or three times a week give a little 

 pepper in the food. Don't give too much — their mouths 

 are not lined with sheet iron — but season as if you 

 expected to eat it yourself. 



By the third week, begin feeding cooked corn meal. 

 Do not give a full feed of meal at first, but add a little 

 more each day, until at four or five weeks they are 

 to be fed entirely on cooked corn meal, with all the sour 

 milk they will drink. Never feed any raw meal to 

 young turkeys. It should always be cooked by baking, 

 until the turkeys are two and one-half months old. 

 Feeding meal too soon, feeding uncooked meal and 

 feeding grain before they are able to digest it will kill 

 fully one-half of the brood. 



When six or eight weeks old, feed cracked corn or 

 wheat screenings at night. From the time when yoa 

 begin feeding until they are fully feathered and have 

 thrown out the red on their heads, feed five or six times 

 a day; then if insects are plenty they will thrive on two 

 meals a day, cooked corn meal and potatoes in the 

 morning and cracked corn or other grain at night. 



Should a sudden shower come up while the young 

 turkeys are out foraging, drive them to their coops. 

 If any get chilled and refuse to eat, take them to the 

 house, dry and warm them thoroughly, return to the 

 mother and give a good feed with plenty of red pepper 

 or ginger mixed in. Where insect forage is abundant, 

 turkeys will pick the greater part of their living for 

 three or four months and in such localities it will do 

 to turn them out after they are three months old 

 without any breakfast, but they should always have 

 a handful of grain at night. 



