34 w. cook's turkey, goose, and pheasant book. 



When turkeys are fed in this way at the beginning of 

 February they usually commence laying by the end of that 

 month, sometimes in the middle of the month, but if they 

 commence to lay the last week in February, or the first week 

 in March, that is quite early enough. If young turkeys are 

 hatched too early, the cold chilly mornings are liable to check 

 them very much. 



When turkeys commence laying or are about to lay they 

 should always have a good supply of cinders and oyster 

 shells for making the egg shell, plenty of sharp grit must be 

 given also ; flint grit is the best, as it is harder and lasts 

 longer in the gizzard. If turkeys have a large range, they 

 may have a good deal of maize given them. When they 

 commence laying, maize, wheat, barley, and French buck- 

 wheat are the best grains for them. 



Turkeys should be fed much in the' same way as laying 

 hens, with a good supply of fresh water. The latter is very 

 necessary when they are in full lay. 



Good laying turkeys will sometimes lay 20 eggs in 21 

 days, in fact, if the laying qualities of these birds were 

 studied more we should get a far larger number of eggs 

 than we do at the present time. I know some now which 

 lay right up in the autumn. A turkey egg is very rich for 

 eating purposes, as the yolk is very large for the size of the 

 egg- 

 When stock turkeys are kept in confined runs, if they 

 have no grass to range over they should have plenty of cab- 

 bage leaves or other green stuff cut up for them. Mangel 

 wurzels are good for them to pick up. They should always 

 be supplied with a certain amount of flesh food in the lay- 



