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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS—POULTRY, PET AND LIVE STOCK SECTION.
Turkeys—Their Care and Management
Poultry Raising From a Woman s Standpoint
My experience has been that If one
wants to raise turkeys, to have Rood,
strong, yearling hens and youns toms
and feed them moderately during fall
and winter. About March 1 begin to
feed them liberally, giving them wheat
for the morning feed and corn in the
evening, giving them free range and
make them roost in trees or on high
poles In the open air. As soon as they
mate make some nesting places with
brush and straw or pine and cedar
boughs. When they begin to lay col
lect the eggs dally, leaving a glass egg
In the nest. Keep the eggs In a box or
basket in a cool dark place, turning
them dally. When the hen gets broody
give her from 15 to It eggs, according
to her size and the season. See that
she has feed where she can get it at
any time. When the hatch comes off
jive her free range, being careful to
know where she hovers them at night,
so that you can always know where to
locate her in case you hear stray dogs
about. Have a good double-barreled
shotgun loaded with buckshot, ready
and handy, and shoot every straggling
dog that you see about the premises.
When the poults arc five to six weeks
old begin to feed them wheat in the
evening and later cracked corn; then
whole com. all they will eat, until
Thanksgiving and Christmas market
time.
Managed In this way. thev cost very
little. They not only forage their living,
but they destroy Innumerable insects,
slugs, grubs, weeds, .wild onions, etc.
They will pay for all the feed they con
sume as scavengers on the farm. What
breed? No matter, so they are turkeys
and so that every farm has a small
suo tsuoj ouij; kuiAjas^uBiix IV '3000
and be thankful.
CAL HUSSELMAN
Virginia.
Turkeys! Twenty-five cents per
pound for good, plump, young turkeys
looks good to me. This was the pre
vailing price In the city of Richmond
during the Christmas holidays of 1910.
What does this mean? It means that
many farmers are neglecting a very
profitable line of poultry culture. I say
farmers because turkeys can not be
grown successfully in small inclosurea.
To he successful with turkeys one mbst
have range for them. Another thing
must be borne in mind: Turkeys do
not thrive on low or marshy land. The
hilly and mountainous sections of tho
great states of Virginia, North and
South Carolina. Georgia and Tennessee
are the natural home of this noble bird.
1 have seen within the oast year flocks
of wild turkey within ten miles of the
< anltal of Virginia, showing clearly that
the soILand climatic conditions must be
very favorable to their existence and
vigor. Where I live. 50 miles northwest
from Richmond. It is a very common
sight to see small flocks roaming thru
forest and glen. We have one old wild
tom that must be four or five years old
ns fine a specimen as I have ever seen,
that roams the forests and fields alone,
excepting during the mating season,
when he is usually seen with two or
three hens.' It has been my good for
tune to see much of the "home life” of
these wild denizens of the forest during
the breeding and rearing season. Sev
eral years ago It was my good fortune
to find a nest when but three eggs had
been laid. These were covered with
twigs and leaves. The nest was not
disturbed, but carefully watched daily.
Fourteen more eggs were laid In four
teen consecutive days, when the hen
took to the nest. Twenty-nine days
later at about 4 p. m. I found the neat
deserted, every egg hatched, and the
hen and brood gone and she never re
turned to the nest. Seven days later I
saw them, with on excellent opportunlJ
ty to observe und count them. They
were ranging in a pasture ■ field tor
fully two hours and with a field gloss I
was enabled to see them sip the dew
drops from the grass and pick Insects
and seeds us they crept from tuft to
tuft. There were sixteen young In the
flock at this time. This was about June
20. They disappeared from their ac
customed haunts a few days later and a
long spell of wet weather intervened.
The next time I saw them they were In
my oat field adjoining the pasture. The
oats were on shock and rag weeds and
clover afforded them same protection,
but by careful maneuvering 1 was en
abled to watch them a long time and
count them. At this time thev were
about as Urge as half-grown Leghorn
chicks, and there were fourteen young.
From this time I saw them almost dally
and counted them frequently until
about November 1. when they were
driven or frightened Into the woods and
only four of them survived the hunting
season. I have observed In this wav
several broods of wild turkeys, and 1
believe from-these observations and
from my experience with domestic tur
keys, that the wttj- to raise turkeys is
to give them natural conditions as
nearly as possible and allow the mother
hens to raise them without any artifi
cial housing; yarding or feeding; 1 have
advocated anil practiced this for fifteen
years with excellent results. One vear
1 hutched 86 poults out of 94 eggs'set.
and raised 84 ■ to maturity. Another
year 1 set 69 eggs, hatched 56 and
raised 54 to'maturity. Some years ago
I .sold 15. eggs to a neighbor lady and
advised her to' put them under u turkev
lien und then give the hen her freedom.
the hen., in a large poultry- run, shut I management.
them Into a coop ererv night und dur-1 Every farmer should grow better pool
ing every ruin storm -fed" them conn-try. It Is better to have good quality than
meal dough. Clabbered milki pepper and •■SB* ousnuty . • > -•
"chicken powders." afad in four wreks L™* «{!mws
*5 e batf,micceeded In killing twelve’btrt'j.j5£er*and*aiSi3" 1 |n^/’basket^tharo**
Again the pe«p of the little chick is
heard throughout he land. And so long
as it is the peep of content and happiness
it is quite welcome, but when it changes
to the peep of distress^ why then, we had
rather not hear it. We have several
hundred little fellows, from six weeks old
to fresh babies, and so far this spring
they have given us very little trouble
Of course, sonte have died, some are born
to die, and the sooner they do die the
better for all concerned, as they will
never make good chicks, tho they may
live for several weeks. It is hard to ex
plain why this is so, but the fact remains
nevertheless. Our chicks have done very
nicely and the eggs have hatched well.
One customer writes us that he neve**
had such little hustlers as the chicks
hatche.1 from our eggs, and a hustling
chick is jilaays a pi oft table chick, as
much as a hustling hen is always a prof
itable l.cn.
So far I have not baked a johnny cake,
ntr dr> 1 intend to if I can possibly get
along without doing so I have baked
Johnny cakes every spring for fourteen
years, and I think it is time I called a
halt for one spring. However, Where one
Nuggets
Throw some clover or alfalfa hay where
the hens can get to it. They will relish
It these days when green stuff is scarce.
Chaffy straw Is plentiful on most farms.
Don*t'be stingy with It ip the scratching
shed.
Securing hatches at a time of the year
when It Is too early to get them with
hens. Is one thing that makes the incu
bator and brooder profitable machines.
Above all things, do not buy an in
cubator without its twin brother the
rrepared^ohnny cake, arc I shall watch
S ut rrd if our babies do *»ot seem to oe
dug well. 1 shall res me the mr.nufac
lure of them.
We have fed cracked wl.'At ani corn,
steam c«« kcd. This is much less work
and overcomes the temptation of feeding
them too much. I really do,not think it
would be possible to overfeed them with
thisr inasmuch as the grain has steam
cooked and swelled until the little fel
lows can eat lust all they can hold and
still not have enough to overload them.
Of course, when it is so cooked it is
doubled in size and hulk, but the food
value has not increased. Then, too, I
think that any cooked food Is safer for
little chicks for the first few weeks, as
it is not so conducive to bowel trouble.
Our incubators are all full and we shall
hatch until the first of June. June is a
good month for Leghorns which mature
rapidly, but for the heavier, slower ma
turing breeds it is well to get .them out
earlier. We do not think it will be nec
essary for us to do any hatching after
the first of June, but shall not hesitate to
do so, if we do not' have the number
which we desire to raise at that time. ■ *
We have Installed two gasoline heaters
in as many colony houses, and think we
are going to like them very much. If
this proves to be the case we shall place
them In each colony house. They will
save a great deal of work and give the
chicks better ventilation and more room.
We know of several persons who have
tried them and find them valuable.
We have started our chicks In the In
door brooders, which are placed in the
brooder hotfse, and shall move them to
the colony houses when they are ahbut
two weeks old. The reason of this is
that the brooder house is so much nearer
the dwelling house tliat It makes It more
convenient for us to care for them, while
they require so much attention and need
us so many times a day.
The weather we have been enjoying
(?) has been anything but propitious for
chicks. Cold and sour with no prospects
of anything better is rather discourag
ing. but we are hoping for a brighter
and warmer May, which will make up for
the bad March and April of If09.
The price of eggs still remains high,
and I note by a recent exchange that
cold storage proprietors are worrying
over the present high prices of eff». ana
state that a good many storages will not
be filled this season if the present prices
continue. Efcg* have been extremely high
all the post winter and at the present
high price* for grain they should continue
so? and I do not believe they will lower
very materially throughout the coming
summer. The fact that farmers sold most
of their old stock last season, keeping
only their pullets and young stock. Msscns
the number of eggs brought or sent to
markets from the country, andthis .same
fact makes us certain of a good market
for birds next fall. The country around
about here was well cleaned out last fall
and I do not know of any farmers who
have keep their usual number of fowls
this post winter. So »f one J* contemplat
ing a start In the work they can certainly
be sure of a good fall to start Im—Mrs.
Irving F. Rice, in American Poultry Ad
vocate. .
place, and then the yolks will not harden.
The arrests in several large cities of
dealers in rotten eggs has certainly given
the ‘•rots** and ••spots” business a blow.
Bakeries generally bought up these de
cayed eggs. The expose showing the ex
tent of the business and the publishing
of the names and addresses of the bakers
using these bad eggs, together with fixing
the blame upon the health officers who
made this trade possible, will have a de
cided tendency to put a stop to It, at least
for a time.
If you use wet mashes let the water be
warm. Cold victuals go down hard with
man. beast or fowl.
cuwmir wunuui us twin oroiner uic i will stand
brooder. Both are needed to make a sue- "“h SSf
CC A brooder for Oven an M .«&3K S€r
ssssrsisrg ™*
chicks can be looked after without taking
too many steps.
See that* the nest of the early sitter Is
airtight. This can be accomplished by
placing a sheet of heavy paper in the bot
tom. Sprinkle the paper well with coal
oil to discourage lice, and use plenty of
4ftraw. . •
•Do not give eggs to an early broody
heil until she is surely broody, as hens,
like the weather at this season of the
year, are rather changeable.
Of all disheartening things, .poor
hatches and puny chicks are the limit.
To get good hatches and strong chicks it
is necessary to have a high state of vigor
In the parent stock. Both male and fe
male should be well matured and devel
oped. Fowls will transmit any weakness
to their offspring as surely as. the sun
rises In the east and sets In the west.
February' is the "bantam** month-short
but very prominent.
Those who failed to attend a poultry
show this season certainly missed a great
at/- -
tlie fourteen hatched j then she
opened the yard and “shooed** them out
Into-the wide-, wide world aafr the*two
lived to call her blessed. •“
feed. The hens
Ul) iririr own v, euu.,.*. V ,
F. White, one of cKfolk*. has turned
the morit* of the ben into rhyme. Read-
what h,
doubly. lined with .newspaper and packed
with excelsior.-'. .... -V..
Peter Tumbledown believes In fresh air;
that's the reason, -ho says. he allows his
fowls to roost outdoors all Winter. Peter
himself.' however, prefers toasting, his . .
* Itoom may be^plineddby overcrowding I "The'beri has many Useful things. .
the flocks, but results will be crippled. Including. feather*. neck and wings.
Proper selection and breeding are what I And while moat, dark meat, wishbone,
make the great egg strains, and not thei. -legs. - : v.
breed. J ■■ • • I And stuffing .side bone, gizzard, eggs.
Tell our folks that when eggs freeze to'j.She.dous the very beat she's able ,.
let them thaw out Id not too warm a] To make us satisfied at table.’
COLLINS’
Barred Plymouth Rocks
Win Everywhere.
First cockerel, Atlanta, 1910.
First cock, Newnan. 1910.
First cock, Atlanta, 1111.
Write for prices.
M. H. Collins
Fairburn, Ga,
How about the under side of the roosts
in your houses? Turn them up now and
then to see what kind of living , things
may be there, and act accordingly.
It Is a mistake to feed poor wheat to
hens. Are thev not worthy of as good as
there Is? No economy about shrunken,
spoiled wheat. .
A corn shelter Is not an essential. The
hens will do their own shelling If you
throw out the ears in short, broken pieces.
Take a few of your best layers out of
the main house-and keep them In a place
by themselves with the best male bind yon
can get. The eggs from these hens will
be vour stock for the chicks 'that are to
be Get up « little higher this year.
The fresh-air system seems to many a
mere notion. It may be well, however, to
Care of Little Chicks.
We believe that young chicks should be
fed strictly a dry food, and very seldom
do we feed a mash. When do we, we put
_ lot of charcoal In the mash. The char
coal prevents the mash souring In their
crops. Some may differ with us as to
which Is the best—a dry food or a wet
one. but we found out by experience that
we raised more when we fed a dry mixed
grain feed. We use plenty of charcoal,
grit and beef meal. We feed our young
chicks four to five times a day. wo
don't keep the feed before them all the
time, hut give them an abundance at a
feed, and as we have our serious doubts
whether a growing chick after It was
three weeks old. was overfed. A grow
ing chick should have all It can eat. This
is necessary for proper development If
you want them for the showroom. Mne-
ty-nlne per cent out of 160 fall In the
show room caused by lack of feed when
chicks were young, where one falls that
was overfed. When our chicks reach the
proper age. and they have strength to
follow the hen, we allow them to run In a
grass lot we have, after the sun has dried
the dew off the grass, where they catch
bugs and insects. Out of the large num
bers we have had hatched, we have lost
but tivc this season. Some hens we have
given, as many as *0 chicks, too.
The best way to have no lice on the
chirks Is to rid the hen of them before
the chicks are hatched. If head lice get
on them, we have found either of the fol
lowing remedies would do the work; Rub
on top of their heads a little salty pease,
or take a little vaseline and add to tt a
few drops of either oil of cedar or. penny -
. royal. We have used salty grease, and
When I was a hoy on the farm with my „ ke lt best of *u. We keep our ekicks In
mother, she used, now and then, to boll the houge a week before allow-ng ahem
a mess of oats for her chick*. The bp i out door*. I- R- TOUNG. .
kettle was set oh the stove with the oats : :
in It. well covered with water. They Fow i, should be fasted from fourteen
»ro«Ued.good.to US hoy* and »nd 1 to <lxtean hourB before killing. U this is
have-mJ-doubt they did to Urn biddie*, toe I , done „ d they m full.of food rerhen
After they, were fairly roM. so that the, HU|e(1 , he rarcMa soon decomposes, burns
would not burnth* .throats of the heins. | , h . birds green and renders it conq
we used .to take this, food down to-the
house. My. how the hena did pltch.into It.
And the egg* j*aid Jor the grain and the
work* «. ,
Houses vrUhan Upstairs to them are.not.
the birds green
tively worthless.
even If the food -—— .-— — -
crop Into the bowel*, the fowls mm-not
keep long, as the half digested Joed Jn
the Interior causes them to spoUmwdrgive
an excedlngly unpleasant flavor.
In turkey culture a single union of
male'and female fertilizes all «hee«*gs
the hen .will lay in one Benson; -hence,
one gobbler should be enough Tor twenty
or more hens. •.»
Photo by Mathewson.
. S! 0 '. 1 ’ *•?■* P riz * c0ck . Orpington, shown by V. A. Ham, of Newnan; No. 2, first priz* cock. White Plym
outh Rock, shown by Frank J. Coll, of Atlanta, owner shown in picture; No. 3, first prize, Buff Orpington hen,
shown bv V. A. Ham.