698 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 17 
TURKEYS AS HATCHERS. 
THEY MAY BE TRAINED TO SIT AT ANY 
TIME AND USED FOR LONG PERIODS 
IN PLACE OF INCUBATORS. 
Part I. 
How many of The R. N.-Y. readers 
know that common turkey hens can be 
persuaded to sit at the pleasure of their 
owner, and used to hatch brood after 
brood of chickens, ducks or geese ? This 
is nothing new, for it has been followed 
in France for a very long time. As long 
ago as 1865, when Mr. Geylin, an Eng¬ 
lish poultry producer, visited France in 
the interest of the National Poultry 
Company, he found hatching establish¬ 
ments in which as many as 60 turkeys 
were hatching or sitting at the same 
time, and he was informed that as many 
as 100 were used in this way at one time 
in this establishment during the winter. 
In his report to the National Poultry 
Company, he carefully describes how it 
is done there. He said, “The hatching- 
room is kept dark and at an even tem¬ 
perature, summer and winter. In this 
room, a number of boxes, two feet long, 
one foot wide and one foot six inches 
deep, are ranged along the walls. These 
boxes are covered with lattice or wire 
work, and serve for turkeys to hatch 
any kind of eggs. Similar boxes, but of 
smaller dimensions, are provided for 
broody fowls. The bed of the box is 
formed of heather, straw, hay or cocoa- 
nut fiber. The number of eggs for 
turkeys to hatch is two dozen, and one 
dozen for hens. 
Training Turkeys to Sit, in France, 
1865. 
“At any time of the year, turkeys, 
whether broody or not, are taught to 
hatch in the following manner : Some 
addled eggs are emptied, filled with 
plaster of Paris, then placed in a nest, 
after which a turkey is fetched from the 
yard, placed on the eggs and covered 
with lattice. For the first 48 hours, she 
will endeavor to get out of her confine¬ 
ment, but soon becomes reconciled to it, 
when fresh eggs are substituted for the 
plaster of Paris ones. She will then con¬ 
tinue to hatch (sit) without intermission, 
for from three to six months, and even 
longer, the chickens being withdrawn as 
soon as hatched, and fresh eggs sub¬ 
stituted. After the third day, the eggs 
are examined, and the clear ones with¬ 
drawn, which are then sold in the mar¬ 
kets for new laid. But as they may be 
soiled or discolored from being sat upon, 
they clean them with water and silver 
sand to restore their original whiteness. 
“ The turkeys are taken off the nest 
once a day, to feed and to remove their 
excrement from the nest, but after 
awhile, they cease feeding, when it is 
necessary to cram them, and give them 
water once a day.” At one farm, he 
saw “ a turkey that was then sitting, 
and had been upward of six months, and 
as 1 considered it rather cruel, the 
hatcher, to prove the contrary, took her 
off the nest, put her in the meadow, and 
also removed the eggs. The turkey, 
however, to my surprise, returned im¬ 
mediately to her nest, and called in a 
most plaintive voice for her eggs. Then 
some eggs were placed in a corner of 
the box, which she immediately drew 
under her with her beak, and seemed 
quite delighted.” 
Turkeys and Capons for Rearing. 
Referring to the practice of having 
young chickens reared or brooded by 
turkeys and capons, he said, “In some 
parts of France, where poultry breeding 
is carried on as a trade, they seldom 
allow a hen to lead the chickens after 
being hatched, as the hen is more valu¬ 
able for laying eggs ; but they intrust 
this office either to capons or turkeys, 
which are said to be far better protec¬ 
tors to the chickens than hens. They 
require, however, a certain amount of 
schooling preparatory to being intrusted 
with their charge, which consists in 
this : When a turkey has been hatching 
for some months, and shows a disposition 
to leave off, a glassful of wine is given 
her in the evening, and a number of 
chickens substituted for the eggs. On 
waking in the morning, she kindly takes 
to them, and leads them about, strutting 
amidst a troop of 75 to 100 chickens 
with the dignity of a drum-major. 
When, however, a troop leader is re¬ 
quired that has not been hatching, such 
as a capon or turkey, then it is usual to 
pluck some of the feathers from the 
breast, give it a glassful of wine, 
and. while in a state of inebriation, to 
place some chickens under it. On 
getting sober the next morning, it feels 
that some sudden change has come 
over it, and as the denuded part is 
kept warm by the chickens, it also 
takes kindly to them.” 
Hatching and Rearing Chickens With 
Turkeys in France, 1896. 
An article in the American Fancier 
recently, written by a woman poultry 
keeper in France, for the English Fan¬ 
ciers’ Gazette, shows that this practice 
is still followed there. She advises the 
giving of wine or whisky to the turkey 
as she is put on the nest, but several in 
this country who have tried it according 
to Mr. Geylin's directions find that the 
use of spirits is not necessary to make 
turkeys willing to sit. 
She writes as follows : “ I have made 
up my mind to outdare the smiles of the 
skeptical, and give the French process 
of training turkeys for the benefit of 
those who, in following my advice, can 
have a broody hen whenever they want 
one. In our large centers of poultry 
raising, in France, where enormous 
quantities of eggs are hatched in winter, 
turkey hens are mostly used as sitters. 
Each breeder possesses from 30 to 100 of 
these fowls, which are brooding with 
interruptions, the whole year ’round. 
Even the large poultry hatchers (this is 
a separate trade) who have always 20 or 
more incubators at work, have them to 
do a part of the labor. * * * To 
those who do not possess an incubator, 
turkeys are still more precious, as they 
generally get broody after a few days 
training. * * * The process is simple 
and not beyond the reach of every 
purse. 
“ Secure a box long and wide enough 
to give the turkey her complete ease, 
though not high enough to allow her 
to stand up in it. This box must be 
shut by a cover, fastened by hooks, or 
kept down by a heavy stone. Four 
laths nailed together over a piece of 
wire form the best cover to use; but one 
or two boards put over the box, with a 
little space left between them for air, 
will do quite well. A piece of canvas 
covers the whole, and keeps the bird in 
the dark. On the bottom of the box 
place a good bed of hay, slightly hol¬ 
lowed out in the center, and in this 
place a few clear or china eggs. Then 
take the turkey gently, and give her 
five or six pieces of bread, soaked in red 
wine, or brandy and water (half and 
half) or whisky and water, or any other 
liquor capable of giving a slight ‘ eleva¬ 
tion ’, after which place her on the nest 
and cover her. Morning and evening 
take her from the nest, put her under a 
coop, give her water, grain, a dust bath, 
and again bread soaked in some kind of 
spirits. Repeat this until you see that 
the turkey settles herself on the eggs 
and remains quietly on them without 
being covered. Then you may give her 
good eggs and depend upon her to do 
her duty conscientiously. 
“ An important point upon which I can 
not insist enough, is the necessity for look¬ 
ing for vermin before placing the hen on 
the nest, in order to prevent her becoming 
troubled by these pests and becoming rest¬ 
less, as such large birds are more liable 
than others to break eggs. A good 
sprinkling of pyrethrum powder through 
the feathers and in the hay of the nest, 
is to be recommended. The first opera¬ 
tion should ^take t place fc by ^daylight. 
The turkey, being plunged from full 
light into complete darkness, when the 
effect of the wine begins to act and 
makes her feel rather funny in the head, 
gets so frightened that she will remain 
on the eggs without moving. The con¬ 
tact with these, and her long tete-a-tete 
with them, develops her maternal in¬ 
stincts, and, as a rule, a few days are 
sufficient to provoke the brooding fever. 
I have known turkeys to get broody the 
day after they were set. I never train 
them more than eight or nine days, and 
give liberty to those who have not taken 
to the nest by that time. If properly 
managed, they will sit from six to eight 
weeks consecutively, without showing 
any trace of fatigue. Some breeders 
make them brood much longer, but it is 
cruel and dangerous, for sometimes the 
birds die on the eggs. When they do 
sit, it is not necessary to feed them twice 
a day ; take them off in the morning 
only, but let it be regular.” 
SAMUEL CUSHMAN. 
IHisicdlmtcous 
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