7 THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
ee ee een ______——_—__ 
niiles from the station homestead. TheY 
have a decided objection to being fed on 
wheat morning and evening. I have taken 
particular notice of their method of feed- 
ing, and have invariably found that they 
had good appetites when variety of food 
abounded, i.¢., first a seed, then an insect; 
possibly a grasshopper would cross their 
trac’, and a bad time the grasshoper would 
get when a flock of 200 bronze turkeys set 
‘sail. 
Bust Breeps To Farm. 
The bronze turkey being large, and the 
flesh so beautifully white and succulent, 
ia perhaps the breed par excellence, yet it 
should be always borne in mind that the 
40 lbs. gobbler is not the most profitable 
to breed. Birds of 14.and 18 lbs. weight 
are usually those which consumers prefer. 
provided sufficient flesh is presented to 
the chief by which he can satisfy a fairly 
large number of visitors. The black 
turkey gobbler of good size, and two years 
at least, and unrelated, and twelve or’ 
thirteen large bronze hens (two year old), 
make an ideal breeding flock. Many add 
a very large bronze gobbler, which is un- 
suitable for the hens, non-fertilization of 
eggs being the result. Hach hen averages 
eighteen to twenty eggs before going 
broody. 
Turkeys need little attention if kept 
away from fowls and ducks. Turkey 
farming pays best by itself, and the north- 
ern areas are more suitable than the 
southern, They lay their eggs in 
a secluded spot : a cement barrel laid on 
its side with a brick each side to prevent 
rolling, and a branch of a tree partially 
covering its entrance, is all they want to 
encourage them. It is best to permit the 
eggs to remain in the nest. The hen is 
usually very cautious on ehtering and 
leaving her nest, and seldom breaks an 
egg, unless she has not had sufficient shell 
formers in her diet. See that she gets 
ample cinders, burnt bones, and charcoal, 
and, when possible, plenty of dry oyster 
shell. Much depends on the farmer 
whether she breaks the egg and hatches 
her young. : 
Maxine Nasts, Evo. 
Always provide the hen with an inviting 
spot and plenty of green grass for the 
nest: a too dry nest often causes trouble 
—lack of moisture. In districts in the 
far north I have strongly urged that one 
side of the barrel be removed: make the 
nest on the ground, oval in shape, and 
keep a fair amount of moisture around the 
nest. Give the hen opportunity to dust 
herself in a damp spct; she will get it if 
possible, ana there will be little fear of 
dead chickens in the shell unless breeding 
from immature birds is practised. A — 
gobbler at twelve months is not the best. 
He should be at least two years old; like- 
wise the hens. Above all, introduce fresh 
bloud every second year: thisis of great 
importance in the raising of turkeys for 
profit. Again, a vigorous gobbler will 
tertilize.all the eggs of a dozen hens in less 
than four weeks: that is to say, suppose 
a turkey hen, after she has had the com™ 
panionship of her mate for say a month: 
lays seventeen eggs at a stretch, the whole 
batch laid prior to her brooding will be 
fertilized. In short, you need only bor- 
row a good gobbler for one month in the 
season, provided you are not hatching late 
chicks. See that his toes are not like a 
raizor, otherwise serious results may 
follow ; I have, this season, stitched three 
beautiful bronze hens, the backs of which 
had been laid bare. 
Of one thing there can be no doubt, 
turkeys do best in the fresh air, and will 
not stand coddling; they should be housed 
in large airy sheds, open completely on 
the eastern side, with perches fairly wide 
{three to four inches). The straighter 
the breast bone, the better satisfied wil 
the consuming public be, and narrow 
perches mean crooked breast bones. Do 
not place the perches too high, especially 
where the ground is hard or stony, as 
turkeys are, like fowls, subject to bumble 
feet, which often spoil hens for a whole 
season. [am quite convinced that turkeys 
must be encouraged to accustom them- 
selves to shed roosts; they prefer the 
limb of a tree or the top of a harvester, 
but that should not be. A little coaxing 
for a week, a kindly bucket of oats by way _ 
of encouragement, will do much to form 
the habit of coming home each night at 
dusk instead of their straying away, or 
being found in the field in the morning 
with their heads off—the work of foxes, 
which are very troublesome in most 
districts. 
Ferepina TURKEYS. 
The adult birds usually find most of 
their own fvod, yet itis an absolute ne- 
cessity to feed the flocks when natural 
foods are not available, i.e. in autumn and 
winter they get down in condition if not 
attended to, although they have unlimited 
range. Insect life is then scarce, grass 18 
of poor quality, and is also usually wet, 
and the consequence is they scour and 
often die from the effects. Barley meal, 
maize meal. and bran (one part each ), 
with a fair amount of chopped up boiled 
rabbit, and when available a few sliced up 
raw onions, all mixed with the soup in 
which the rabbit or other animal food has 
been boiled, should be used. Mix as dry 
as possible, turkeys do not thrive on slops 
Curded milk is much relished, and is a 
splendid flesh former, and a whitener of 
flesh; nothing is more objectionable than 
afatty breast. Too much maize feeding, 
ora constant supply of wheat, will not 
improve the colour of the flesh. Oats are 
by far the best of the grains to assist in 
keeping down fat, 
Fresh Water—Always provide fresh 
clean water daily, and keep the vessel out 
of the sun: neglect in this regard will 
cause losses by disease. Add charcoal in 
case of bowel disorders; it is an absolute 
necessity in successful turkey rvising. 
Grit—They must have an unlimited 
supply of grit, without which they suffer 
much from indigestion. Small pebbles 
’ duction, but at what a cost ? 
February 2, 1097, 
coarse sand, and peices of broken crockery. 
and. smashed up burnt bone all aid in 
digesting their food: this is especially 
required prior to their going to roost 
Borngen Gratn—There is no necessity 
to boil any grain; they are better with- 
out it, and prefer the hard food to that 
of a sloppy nature. 
Eaa Propucesns—The so-called “ egg 
producers,” ;mentioned by some of my 
correspondents, would, if fed in sufficient 
quantities, in some cases assist egy pro- 
The best 
egg producer is insect life, and when not 
available in sufficient quantities, add the 
best substitute, 1.e., beef and mutton 
scraps, sheep or bullock’s liver, or rabbit, 
soaked in cold water evernight, and then 
lightly boiled. Use the liquid for mixing 
the morning meal and avoid making it 
pasty, but use the hands well in mixing 
hard and friable. Curded milk when 
available should be a magnificent aid to 
egg production, and when topping tur- 
keys off for market, give them as inuch as 
they will take, as it softens and whitens 
the flesh: milk fed turkeys eat like six 
weeks old chickens. 
Youne Turknys—For young tuaocys 
many successful raisers use hard boiled 
eggs mixed with stale bread crumbs, and 
a little five oatmeal, moistened with skim 
milk (crumbly, not sloppy). This is given 
the very young chicks for the first week, 
after which egys should not be given, but 
plenty of finely pulped raw onions added, 
and the milk curds, and a little dry bone 
meal and charcoal mixed well through 
This not only keeps their bowels in order 
but supplies the additional phosphoric 
acid necessary to quick growth of bone, 
and increases stamina, thus decreasing 
the chance of ‘ leg weakness,” 4 complaint 
to be guarded against.. “Encouraye the 
very young turkeys to eat millet seed at 
night, and after two weeks feed on hulled 
oats for best results, until old enough to 
have a little wheat or oats. 
Keep the young turkeys dry. Nothing 
kills sooner than long wet grass: once 
they get a soaking, death may be expected 
Always keep them in confined pens, well 
sheltered from wind and rain. Do not 
on any account allow them on the dewy 
grass, but keep them in until the sun has: 
dried the grass off a little, Examine all 
young poulits for vermin, which is 80 
troublesome at the back of the head and 
near the vent; hundreds of bird die 
through no other cause. The pest is 
similar in habits to the tick. holding op 
and penetrating the skull. The young 
birds should be freely dusted with insecti- 
bane, and a little carbolic paste applied 
at the back of the head, Neglect in thia 
matter is the cause of many deaths. The 
fact that late hatches do not develop a5 
fast us the early hatches is of importance 
to-all farmers of poultry, be it turkeys« 
duc-s or fowls. The early chicks may be 
relied on to produce the best results. The 
longer a hen lays in a season, the more 
impoverished she becomes as a result of 
hard work. Thus we find the embryo be~ 
