Four weeks is the time required to hatch turkey eggs. Newly hatched
turkeys are far from spry. They have no interest in food nor in the
world about them. It is forty-eight hours or even longer before they
begin to take notice. Hard-boiled eggs chopped fine is a good first
meal for them. Some growers take a pint of sweet milk in a saucepan,
let it come to a boil, and stir into it two eggs well beaten. This
makes a sort of custard and this quantity is said to be enough for
fifty new turkey chicks. Cottage cheese without salt is recommended.
A dusting of black pepper in the food is good for week-old turkeys,
especially in cool weather.
Two deadly enemies of little turkeys are lice and wet. These are
responsible for the high rate of mortality in flocks of all breeds.
Keep them free from these by all known methods and with ordinary care
in other details your profits are safe. If you tide over the first two
months you will see the delicate chicks transformed into hardy little
poults, holding their own with any kind of fowls.
I don't know of any one who ever made a success of turkeys on a
small lot. Their habit of ranging can be restrained to the extent
of keeping them off the neighbours, but close cooping opposes their
natural instincts. They are great insect eaters and will pick up a
fair living away from the feed trough. It is best to train them by a
regular evening feeding to roost at home. You will want to count them
frequently, especially as November draws near and the price begins to
soar.
There are a number of breeds in cultivation. The biggest and perhaps
the hardiest is the bronze turkey. Some consider their flesh less
delicate than that of the smaller kinds. There is always a good market
for any size. If all your neighbours have bronze turkeys and the flocks
are always getting mixed, why not try the buff or black or the white
Holland? The latter are almost as beautiful an ornament to the country
home as peacocks, and can be seen at a great distance because of their
brilliant white plumage.
If one wants to get enthusiastic over turkeys let him drive through
a thrifty farming community in the fall and catch glimpses of the
sunshine reflected from the burnished backs of the great flocks which
ornament every farm yard. Or, if inclined to a meal of turkey, just
inquire the price on the farm or in the market, and you will decide to
raise some for your own use next year, and a few to sell.
RAISING PEACOCKS