FEED AND CARE OF POULTS 



551 



they ^o desirable as breeders, they may be grown as broiler 

 poults and as such sold to advantage. 



Poults Unlike Chicks. — Many poultrymen have met with dis- 

 aster with turkeys because they tried to apply the same care to 

 the poults that they were accustomed to giving little chicks. 

 This is a great mistake, for on vital points the turk and the chick 

 are widely different. Poults have a ravenous appetite, without 

 the chicks', capacity for digesting and assimilating large quan- 

 tities of food within a short space of time. They require a cer- 

 tain amount of exercise as an aid to digestion, yet too much 



(Courtesy V. S, Dep't Agriculture) 

 Fig. 333. — ^Typical pigeon house and fly. 



running around wearies them to the point of complete exhaustion. 

 To guard against this, especially if chicken hens are being used 

 for mothers, the hens should be confined for the greater part 

 of the day for the first week, or until the poults have gained 

 sufficient strength to be taken far afield. Chicks seldom tire in 

 this way, and will trudge along unceasingly from dawn to dark 

 without ill effects. Still another point: soured food or partially 

 decayed food, which a chicken might eat with safety, works 

 havoc with the turk's digestion. 



Diet. — Many of the difficulties with turkeys spring from the 



