3 Leaflet No. 229. 
Turkeys always prefer to remain on their pei-ches until let 
out in tbe morning, when it is their habit to fly straight out 
and alight on the ground at some distance in front of the 
house. For this reason and to prevent the birds damaging 
themselves, the whole of the front of the house must be 
made to open with folding doors or gates consisting of strong 
frames, hung on hinges and covered with wire netting. It 
is only from stock housed in a healthy open-air manner that 
a healthy progeny can be expected. An excellent house can 
be made of a thatched shed with walls of wattled furze. 
The Breeding Stock. 
Many failures have been primarily due to in-breeding, and 
the use of immature stock wanting in stamina. The use of 
well-bred and well-grown cocks for mating is of the first 
importance, and close-breeding should be avoided. Well- 
grown birds for breeding are not necessarily of great size. 
An approximation to 20 lb. in the males and 15 lb. in the 
females would be suitable weights for ordinary breeding 
purposes, other considerations including width of shoulders, 
contour of breast, and a medium length of leg. The stock 
birds should preferably be from two to three years old, and 
from six to eight hens may be run with a vigorous cock, 
although a more usual proportion is four or five hens. One 
service is usually sufficient for the fertilization of a batch of 
eggs, but permanent mating is preferable. 
During March the hens require watching or they will 
choose some out of the way spot in which to nest. It is 
advisable to place boxes or barrels on their sides in sheltered 
positions, in which the birds may lay. April is the best 
hatching month, and it is generally inadvisable to continue 
hatching beyond June, but although late birds have in- 
sufficient time to come to full maturity, they may be dis- 
posed of as poults. Turkey hens are usually good mothers, 
but their eggs may also be hatched under ordinary hens. 
Artificial methods of hatching and rearing are not recom- 
mended, though incubators are frequently used at the time 
of hatching. A turkey hen will cover from fifteen to 
sixteen eggs, and a large barn-door hen from eight to ten. 
The period of incubation is twenty-eight days. The nests 
should be upon an earth bottom, and the general manage- 
ment should be similar to that in the case of ordinary hen's 
eggs. 
Feeding Stock Birds. 
The correct feeding of the stock birds has an important 
bearing upon the result. If the food be too fattening 
the male will fail to fertilize the eggs and the hens will be 
