Ibt RURAL NEW-YORKER 
389 
The Story of Turkey-Raising 
Arranging Nests. —With the approach 
of Spring there comes to many of the 
farmers* wives the peculiar noise or call 
of the turkey hen. She, too. is trying to 
tell us she is' making ready to lay. As 
she hurries hot r e and there, gathering a 
bite of food, peeking in this corner, and 
"skewing” elsewhere, all the time talking, 
those who are acquainted with the proud 
bird’s nature, and have studied their hab¬ 
its. know it is time to get some nests 
ready for Mother Turkey, for she soon 
will be laying. I then place some barrels 
on their sides in corners of the turkey 
yards and houses. If the turkeys are on 
free range, place them in the corners of 
the fences, and lay some brush about them 
as a screen. The turkey lien likes to 
think she is hidden from view when she 
selects her nest. If she persists in wan¬ 
dering where you think the sly crow will 
rob her nest, coniine her in a building a 
few days where there are nests in readi¬ 
ness, with china eggs to tempt her to ac¬ 
cept one. After she has once made her 
choice, you will have no trouble, unless 
another turkey crowds her away. 
Care of Hatching Eggs. —When one 
buys birds with which to start turkey- 
raising. the hens may usually be expected 
to start laying about the last of March 
or first Of April The chilly wealiicr at 
this time of year makes it imperative that 
the eggs be gathered promptly, in order to 
prevent the chilling of the life germ. After 
gathering they should be kept, in a room 
of moderate temperature. I date each 
egg as laid, wrapping them in several 
thicknesses of paper. This serves to hold 
the moisture and the move even tempera¬ 
ture. I then place them on their sides 
in a box just a little higher than they 
require side by side, until the box is tilled. 
When full, fill in with more paper and tie 
the cover on, and the box can be turned 
over each day and save the time of turn¬ 
ing each egg separately, as is necessary 
until they are put to incubate. I hear 
some one say: "That's too much work. 
My eggs hatch, and I don't bother like 
that.” Before I started doing all this I 
had many complaints from egg customers 
that the eggs arrived in good condition 
and were very fertile, but one, or two, or 
several, failed to get out of the shells, or 
the eggs hatched well, but two of the little 
turkeys seemed to be very weak and soon 
died. etc. The past three years this 
trouble has been entirely done away with 
by caring for the eggs as I have described. 
Setting the Turkey TIen. —When a 
turkey hen chooses her nest wisely, where 
she will not be disturbed, it is best to let 
her finish her laying and allow her to sit 
in this place. If. however, there is an¬ 
other turkey laying with her, or for some 
other reason you prefer her to sit else¬ 
where, 1 have found that the task of 
moving the Bourbon Bed hen turkey is 
more easily accomplished than the moving 
of the average chicken hen. 1 prepare 
a nest of large, thin pieces of sod. joined 
together and slightly rounded out. Scat¬ 
ter dry grass or leaves lightly over it. 
Give her several china eggs, using these 
only until it is an assured fact that she 
will stick to her job. As it gets dusk, I 
gently take her from her ,.ld nest. I then 
part her feathers and dust her with sul¬ 
phur or bulk insect powder, generally 
used for fiies and other insects. I prefer 
an insect powder bellows, as this can he 
run through her feathers with little 
trouble. This ridding the mother of ver¬ 
min is the first step towards successful 
turkey-raising. Now fake her to her new 
nest and let her see the eggs. After plac¬ 
ing her on the nest, close the opening up 
with a slat door. This to prevent her 
from leaving her newly acquired wealth 
before she lias inventoried her treasures 
and accept them for keeps. 
Care of Sitting Bird.— Each day I 
open her nest and feed her from my hand, 
or place the food near, so she can get it. 
My Bourbons like the table scraps, and 
look forward to my coming and feeding 
them. Some will even drink from a dish 
held out to them. In some cases T find 
the hen will not leave her nest for several 
days. It is best to take her from her 
nest and close it for a time, that the hen 
may air her eggs- and get the proper grit 
and exercise needed. If barrels are used 
for nests, they should be fastened securely, 
that the eggs and barrel do not start 
rolling, and thus cause loss. Before they 
hatch, allowing 28 days for incubation, 
place a board at the bottom of the nest. 
This will prevent the first hatched little 
turks from going bughunting. aud soon 
deciding they are lost and thus causing 
their mother to go to rescue them, leaving 
the remaining eggs to chill and spoil the 
hatch. Entire hatches have been ruined 
this way, as turkey eggs do not always 
hatch at one time. I always leave her on 
the nest 24 hours, to make sure they are 
all out of tin* shells. If your breeding 
stock is nnu-related and healthy, vour 
turkey eggs will be very fertile. Often 
100 per cent hatch after traveling by par¬ 
cel post or express. 
Co-operative Hatching. — An ordi¬ 
nary-sized hen will cover IS eggs, and a 
chicken lien 10 or 12 eggs. When I kept 
but a few hens and wished as many little 
turkeys to come off at one time as pos¬ 
sible, I found 1 could set a couple of 
good bens when I did the turkeys, ami 
give them all to the turkey, provided it 
was warm, settled weather when they 
hatched. Sometimes another turkey would 
decide to sit before they hatched, and I 
would give the hen’s eggs to her and let 
the two turkeys run together. It. is good 
policy to do this when possible, as two 
turkeys together can protect the young 
and fight off wild animals much better 
than one alone. Especially is this true 
if an old and young turkey run together. 
The older one knows the dangers and 
will teach the younger one to care for her 
brood. - 
Chicken Hens as Mothers. — I)o 
chicken hens make good mothers for tur¬ 
keys? The heavier breeds make excellent 
mothers. They do not hustle about as fast, 
and are more willing to be led by the 
young turkeys. Some of the best success 
I have had, and that of others I know, 
was due to the care of the good, old 
chicken hen. T.ittle turkeys prefer to 
leave the mothers and gather their 
choice of insects. All they ask of the hen 
is to tag along and watch out for ene¬ 
mies. and give them warning. When they 
get coltl they like hovering for a short 
time. 
Why I Trefer tiie Bourbon Reds.— 
My start was made with Bourbons, two 
hens and a tom. They laid so many eggs 
more than the other breeds around me 
that I especially prized them for that 
quality. One young hen laid 128 eggs 
that season, while the 'mother laid a 
large clutch and took care of two chicken 
hens’ broods, together with hers. That 
Fall I had 42 fine birds, my first season’s 
work. I found that they stayed about 
the farm and wore always at home "at 
night. They never bothered tin* near 
neighbors, as did my neighbors, other 
farmers some: distance away. They laid 
near the house, and often with the chick¬ 
ens. and l could handle the young and 
old much as T did little chickens. Here 
in Southern New York I find they grow 
and make good weight by Thanksgiving, 
if hatched the last of May or in June. 
The weather is more settled at this time, 
and the poults require less attention. 
They can be turned out in the muiming. 
when the dew is off, and they seem to 
grow so fast. Young grasshoppers are 
just hatching, and they will gather insects 
all day long, coming in at night, and need 
only a dry place to sleep. 
Care of Little Turkeys, —When the 
little ones are all hatched. I remove them, 
with their mothers, to a dry place on 
hoard floor: I have lo re food and water , 
for the mother, and 1 give each little 
turkey a drink of sour milk. When they 
are hours old I give them, their first 
feed of bread crumbs, cut onion tops, and I 
a little hard-boiled egg chopped fine. 1 
dampen this with milk a very little. 
After a few days I add steamed cooked 
chick feed until their feed is only this, 
and all the sour milk they want to drink. 
Clabbered milk is as good. There is little 
danger of its being too sour. Keep plenty j 
of grit or coarse sand before them, and 
fresh water. Ground dry egg shell is 
good. While they are confined to the 
coop 1 accustom them to being handled, 
and they soon learn my voice, and will fly 
to meet me. I always reward them with 
some food, if only a little. These first 
lessons learned, always stay by them. I 
have found it a great help later, when 
gathering them in at night to their new 
houses, and when a sudden storm comes. 
When their wings are well crossed over 
their backs, there is little danger of their 
getting hurt from the storm, unless it 
be a long, cold, drenching one. Until this 
time it is best to keep them in until the 
clew is off in the morning. As they grow 
older I keep a dry feed in a hopper where 
they can have access to it any time. This 
is any good growing chick feed or mash. 
When possible, continue to give sour milk 
once a day. When the.\ are on full range 
they will gather nearly all the food they 
need. A very little to induce them to 
come homo is plenty. 
Some Essentials. — I really think 
there would be many people very suc¬ 
cessful with turkeys if the old saying, 
"Turkeys are hard to raise,” was forgot¬ 
ten. Go at it as if you were raising some 
valuable incubator chickens, keeping this 
in mind: little turkeys require only one- 
fourth the food that chickens do. and they 
must be kept free from lice. Turkey lice 
will be found between the starting wing 
quills, aud sometimes on the head. Dust 
the mother with sulphur, aud the fumes 
will drive the mites from the young. Take 
sweet oil or olive oil, and dissolve a por¬ 
tion of camphor gum aud oil the young 
with ir. A little will be sufficient. Keep 
rhe young from the srm for a time, as it 
might blister. I house my turkeys the 
year around in an open-faced coop. Here 
they are protected from wild animals and 
cold storms. They know their home, and 
are always here at night, the same as the 
chickens in their coops. I have a special 
coop for the mothers and their young to 
go to as soon as they are large enough to 
take to the roost poles. Several Hocks 
can be put together in this, and thus 
they learn to run together during the day 
and return at night. The young will come 
ahead, leading the mothers, for they de¬ 
light in sitting on the new roost poles, 
"turkey fashion.” to sit and pick their 
feathers. 
Things to Remember.— Eggs of the 
older turkeys are stronger than young 
liens’ eggs. Never keep eggs over three 
weeks before setting. When purchasing 
eggs, let them settle 36 hours before set¬ 
ting them. FLONA HORNING. 
New York. 
We will give $250 for a set 
of dishes like this picture: 
Part of the Main Design 
THE COLOR IS LIGHT BLUE 
The dishes were made in Engtand about ninety years ago. 
We will also give $50 to anyone informing us w r here we 
can purchase such a set. 
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