402 POULTRY PRODUCTION 



may consist of the following grain mixture fed at the rate of 

 one quart for six or seven turkeys each night and morning: 



Cracked corn ... 3 parts 



Barley - . 2 " 



Wheat . 2 " 



Data . .... .1 part." 



Both hen and poults should be carefully examined for lice, 

 and if they are found should be carefully dusted with lice 

 powder twice a week. The lice may usually be foimd, if 

 present, in the vicinity of the vent, on the head and neck 

 and at the base of the wing feathers. The walls and roof 

 of the roosting-house may also be sprayed with a liquid lice 

 killer or creosote dip, but it shoujd not be applied to the 

 floor, as the fumes rising under the feathers of the hen will 

 sometimes suffocate the poults. Lard in very small amounts 

 may be rubbed on the head of the poults to kill the head 

 lice, but care should be used not to apply too much, as it will 

 kill the poults if applied in excess. A piece the size of a pea 

 is sufficient for each bird. 



Feeding for Market. — As soon as the supply of feed on the 

 range fails the turkeys begin to hang around the buildings 

 more. Unless the birds are penned up it is practically im- 

 possible to do much in the way of fattening until they quit 

 ranging, which is hardly early enough to get them ready 

 for Thanksgiving trade in most sections. 



Bolte' found that while greater gains could be secured by 

 crate-fattening than by corn-feeding on range, the increased 

 gains were not great enough to pay for the extra labor 

 involved. 



Blanchard^ tried feeding turkeys in darkened pens for two 

 weeks, admitting light only at feeding time, and could secure 

 no gains. Other birds fed the same ration and confined in 

 roomy pens having a runway of twenty by fifty feet gained 

 two pounds to ten and one-half pounds each in two weeks. 

 The ration consisted of 6 parts corn meal, 2 parts wheat 

 middlings, 2 parts meat scrap by weight, moistened with 

 milk. \No statement is made as to the cost of the gains. 



' Rhode Island Bulletin No. 126 ' Washington Bulletin No. 96. 



