MANAGEMENT OF TURKEYS. 171 



have been prepared for them, and where they can be regularly fed and in- 

 spected. 



"The success of the year depends very much upon your knowing where every 

 ))ird is, where she spends the day and especially where she lays and where she is 

 brooding. If you have failed to make their nests in the yard or building pre- 

 pared for-them, it is best to leave the bird to finish her litter in the nest she has 

 selected. A few days after she has begun to brood, remove her to a secure place 

 in the yard or shed where you want her to sit. Put a coop over the nest, with 

 moveable slats in front, so that she can be fastened on her nest tmd let out at 

 pleasure, and put a few addled or artificial eggs in the nest until the bird gets 

 wonted to her new quarters. Remove her from her old nest at night and fasten 

 her upon her new nest, and keep her caged for three or four days. She will not 

 suffer in that time for want of food or water. Bemove the board from the front 

 of the coop, and watch for her first coming off, about the middle of a pleasant 

 day. Yon may have to drive her back and cage her for a few times, but she will 

 soon accept her new quarters, and sit as quietly as tfie other hens near her. It 

 may require some painstaking and watching to effect the change of base, but it 

 can always be accomplished, 



" It sometimes happens, in the process of incubation, that eggs are broken by 

 the hen as she turns them over to equalize the heat. Her instinct leads her to 

 remove the broken egg and to keep her nest clean; but she cannot always keep 

 the raw egg from the shells of the remaining eggs. This matter should be looked 

 after every day when the hens come from their nests, for the albumen and yelk 

 will stop the pores of the live eggs and kill them. While the turkey is off, 

 wash off the fouled eggs with warm water, wipe them clean, and after putting 

 in some clean hay, put the eggs carefully back again into the nest. This is a fre- 

 quent c&use of failure in the hatching of the eggs, and should have careful at- 

 tention. If the turkeys have had plenty of broken oyster or clam shells during 

 the laying season, or have been fed with a little lime mixed in the dough, they 

 will generally make thick-shelled eggs and escape this trouble. It saves a 

 great deal of time in watching for this and other causes of damage while the 

 hens are brooding, to have the nests all in one yard, or near to one another. 

 Generally the sitting hens wUl come off about the same time of day, and it will 

 take but a few minutes at this time to examine every nest, and ascertain if any 

 eggs have been broken and everything is going on satisfactorily. 



" The period of incubation lasts thirty days, and on the thirty-first you may 

 listen for the evidence of new life in ttie nest. The old bird is expecting thi 

 advent, and answers the first peep from the broken shell with a soft, tremu- 

 lous sound, expressing her anxious emotions. This touching and plaintive note, 

 so expressive of maternal sympathy, is continued as the chicks one after an- 

 other break out of their sheUs, and thrust their heads into her soft feathers 

 forwarmth and protection. If the incubation has gone on prosperously, they 

 will all break the shell within a few hours of each other. If the mother Bird 

 has been used to your presence, there will be no difficulty in approaching the 

 nest at this time and examining the chicks. Generally nothing needs to be 

 done but to remove the shells, and this the hen will often attend to herself. 

 The chief damage at this time is from the stepping of the bird upon the ohickfl; 



