TURKEYS.
Turkeys are not considered profitable except on light, dry soils, which
is said to be the cause of their success in Norfolk. They prosper,
however, in Ireland; but although the air there is moist, the soil is
dry, except in the boggy districts. Miss Watts believes that "any place
in which turkeys are properly reared and fed may compete with Norfolk.
Very fine birds may be seen in Surrey, and other places near London."
The general opinion of the best judges is, that they can barely be made
to repay the cost of their food, which is doubtless owing to the usual
great mortality among the chicks, which loss outbalances all profit; but
others make them yield a fair profit, simply because, from good
situation and judicious management, they rear all, or nearly all, the
chicks. A single brood may be reared with ease on a small farm or
private establishment without much extra expense, where sufficient
attention can be devoted to them; but to make them profitable they
should be bred on a large scale, and receive exclusive attention. They
should have a large shed or house, with a boarded floor, to themselves.
[Illustration: Turkey and Guinea-fowls.]
Turkeys must have space, for they are birds of rambling habits, and only
fitted for the farmyard, or extensive runs, delighting to wander in the
fields in quest of insects, on which, with green herbage, berries,
beech-mast, and various seeds, they greedily feed. The troop will ramble
about all day, returning to roost in the evening, when they should have
a good supply of grain; and another should be given in the morning,
which will not only induce them to return home regularly every night,
but keep them in good store condition, so that they can at any time be
speedily fattened. Peas, vetches, tares, and most sorts of pulse, are
almost poisonous to them. Their feeding-place must be separate from
the other poultry, or they will gobble up more than their share. Turkeys
will rarely roost in a fowl-house, and should have a very high open
shed, the perches being placed as high as possible. They are extremely
hardy, roosting, if allowed, on the highest trees in the severest
weather. But this should be prevented, as their feet are apt to become
frost-bitten in severe weather. The chickens are as delicate. Wet is
fatal to them, and the very slightest shower even in warm weather will
frequently destroy half a brood.
The breeding birds should be carefully selected, any malformation almost
invariably proving itself hereditary. The cock is at maturity when a
year old, but not in his prime till he has attained his third year, and
is entering upon his fourth, and he continues in vigour for three or
four years more. He should be vigorous, broad-breasted, clean-legged,
with ample wings, well-developed tail, bright eyes, and the carunculated
skin of the neck full and rapid in its changes of colour. The largest
possible hen should be chosen, the size of the brood depending far more
upon the female than the male. One visit to the male is sufficient to
render all the eggs fertile, and the number of hens may be unlimited,
but to obtain fine birds, twelve or fifteen hens to one cock is the best
proportion. The hen breeds in the spring following that in which she was
hatched, but is not in her prime till two or three years old, and
continues for two or three years in full vigour.
The hen generally commences laying about the middle of March, but
sometimes earlier. When from her uttering a peculiar cry and prying
about in quest of a secret spot for sitting, it is evident that she is
ready to lay, she should be confined in the shed, barn, or other place
where the nest has been prepared for her, and let out when she has laid
an egg. The nest should be made of straw and dried leaves, in a large
wicker basket, in a quiet secluded place, and an egg or nest-egg of
chalk should be placed in it to induce her to adopt it. Turkeys like to
choose their own laying-places, and keep to them though their eggs are
removed daily, provided a nest-egg is left there. They will wander to a
distance in search of a secluded spot for laying, and pay their visits
to the nest so cleverly that sometimes they keep it a secret and hatch a
brood there, which, however, does not generally prove a strong or large
one as in the case of ordinary fowls. When a hen has chosen a safe,
quiet, and sheltered place for her nest, it is best to give her more
eggs when she shows a desire to sit, and let her stay there. The hen
generally lays from fifteen to twenty eggs, sometimes fewer and often
many more. As soon as seven are produced, they should be placed under a
good common hen, a Cochin is the best, and the remainder can be put
under her when she wants to sit. The best hatching period is from the
end of March to May, and none should be hatched later than June. The
broody hens may be placed on their eggs in any quiet place, as they are
patient, constant sitters, and will not leave their eggs wherever they
may be put. A hen may be allowed from nine to fifteen eggs, according to
her size. During the time the hen is sitting she requires constant
attention. She must occasionally be taken off the nest to feed, and
regularly supplied with fresh water; otherwise she will continue to sit
without leaving for food, till completely exhausted. In general, do not
let the cock go near the sitting hen, or he will destroy the eggs or
chicks; but some behave well, and may be left at large with safety. She
should not be disturbed or visited by any one but the person she is
accustomed to be fed by, and the eggs should not be touched
unnecessarily.
The chickens break the shell from the twenty-sixth to the twenty-ninth
day, but sometimes as late as the thirty-first. Let them remain in the
nest for twenty-four hours, but remove the shells, and next morning
place the hen under a roomy coop or crate, on boards, in a warm
outhouse. Keep her and her brood cooped up for two months, moving the
coop every fine day into a dry grass field, but keep them in an outhouse
in cold or wet weather. The chicks having a great tendency to diarrhoea,
the very best food for the first week is hard-boiled eggs, chopped
small, mixed with minced dandelion, and when that cannot be had, with
boiled nettles. They may then have boiled egg, bread-crumbs, and
barley-meal for a fortnight, when the egg may be replaced by boiled
potato, and small grain may soon be added. Do not force them to eat, but
give them a little food on the tip of your finger, and they will soon
learn to pick it out of the trough. A little hempseed, suet, onion-tops,
green mustard, and nettle-tops, chopped very fine, should be mixed with
their food. Curds are excellent food, and easily prepared by mixing
powdered alum with milk slightly warmed, in the proportion of one
teaspoonful of alum to four quarts of milk, and, when curdled,
separating the curds from the whey. They should be squeezed very dry,
and must always be given in a soft state. Water should be given but
sparingly, and never allowed to stand by them, but when they have had
sufficient it should be taken or thrown away. The water must be put in
pans so contrived or placed that they cannot wet themselves. (_See_ page
38.) Fresh milk is apt to disagree with the young chicks, and is not
necessary. If a chick shows weakness, or has taken cold, give it some
carraway seeds.
In their wild state the turkey rears only one brood in a season, and it
is not advisable to induce the domesticated bird by any expedients to
hatch a second, for it would be not only detrimental to her, but the
brood would be hatched late in the season, and very difficult to rear,
while those reared would not be strong, healthy birds.
The coop should be like that used for common fowls, but two feet broad,
and higher, being about three feet high in front and one foot at the
back; this greater slant of the roof being made in order to confine her
movements, as otherwise she would move about too much, and trample upon
her brood. When they have grown larger they must have a larger coop,
made of open bars wide enough apart for them to go in and out, but too
close to let in fowls to eat their delicate food, and the hen must be
placed under it with them. A large empty crate, such as is used to
contain crockery-ware, will make a good coop for large poults; but if
one cannot be had, a coop may be made of laths or rails, with the bars
four inches apart; it should be about five feet long, four feet broad,
and three feet high.
Keep her cooped for two months, moving the coop every fine, dry day into
a grass field, but on cold or wet days keep them in the outhouse. If she
is allowed her liberty before they are well grown and strong, she will
wander away with them through the long grass, hedges, and ditches, over
highway, common, and meadow, mile after mile, losing them on the road,
and straying on with the greatest complacency, and perfectly satisfied
so long as she has one or two following her, and never once turning her
head to see how her panting chicks are getting on, nor troubled when
they squat down tired out, and implore her plaintively to come back; and
all this arises from sheer heedlessness, and not from want of affection,
for she will fight for her brood as valiantly as any pheasant will for
hers. When full grown they should never be allowed to roam with her
while there is heavy dew or white frost on the grass, but be kept in
till the fields and hedgerows are dry. They will pick up many seeds and
insects while wandering about in the fields with her, but must be fed by
hand three or four times a day at regular intervals.
They cease to be chicks or chickens, and are called turkey-poults when
the male and female distinctive characteristics are fairly established,
the carunculated skin and comb of the cock being developed, which is
called "shooting the red," or "putting out the red," and begins when
they are eight or ten weeks old. It is the most critical period of their
lives--much more so than moulting, and during the process their food
must be increased in quantity, and made more nourishing by the addition
of boiled egg-yolks, bread crumbled in ale, wheaten flour, bruised
hempseed, and the like, and they must be well housed at night. When this
process is completed they will be hardy, and able to take care of
themselves; but till they are fully fledged it will be advisable to keep
them from rain and cold, and not to try their hardness too suddenly.
Vegetables, as chopped nettles, turnip-tops, cabbage sprouts, onions,
docks, and the like, boiled down and well mixed with barley-meal,
oatmeal, or wheaten flour, and curds, if they can be afforded, form
excellent food for the young poults; also steamed potatoes, boiled
carrots, turnips, and the like. With this diet may be given buckwheat,
barley, oats, beans, and sunflower seeds.
When they are old enough to be sent to the stubble and fields, they are
placed in charge of a boy or girl of from twelve to fifteen years old,
who can easily manage one hundred poults. They are driven with a long
bean stick, and the duties of the turkey-herd is to keep the cocks from
fighting, to lead them to every place where there are acorns,
beech-mast, corn, wild fruit, insects, or other food to be picked up. He
must not allow them to get fatigued with too long rambles, as they are
not fully grown, and must shelter them from the burning sun, and hasten
them home on the approach of rain. The best times for these rambles are
from eight to ten in the morning, when the dew is off the grass, and
from four till seven in the evening, before it begins to fall.
Turkeys are crammed for the London markets. The process of fattening may
commence when they are six months old, as they require a longer time to
become fit for the market than fowls. The large birds which are seen at
Christmas are usually males of the preceding year, and about twenty
months old. All experienced breeders repudiate "cramming." To obtain
fine birds the chickens must be fed abundantly from their birth until
they are sent to market, and while they are being fattened they should
be sent to the fields and stubble for a shorter time daily, and their
food must be increased in quantity and improved in quality. Early
hatched, well fed young Norfolk cocks will frequently weigh twenty-three
pounds by Christmas of the same year, and two-year-old birds will
sometimes attain to twenty pounds. When two or more years old they are
called "stags."
The domesticated turkey can scarcely be said to be divided into distinct
breeds like the common fowl, the several varieties being distinguished
by colour only, but identical in their form and habits. They vary
considerably in colour--some being of a bronzed black, others of a
coppery tint, of a delicate fawn colour, or buff, and some of pure
white. The dark coloured birds are generally considered the most hardy,
and are usually the largest. The chief varieties are the Cambridge,
Norfolk, Irish, American, and French.
The Cambridge combines enormous size, a tendency to fatten speedily, and
first-rate flavour. The tortoiseshell character of its plumage gives the
adult birds a very prepossessing appearance around the homestead, and a
striking character in the exhibition room. The colours may vary from
pale to dark grey, with a deep metallic brown tint, and light legs. The
legs should be stout and long.
The Norfolk breed is more compact and smaller-boned, and produces a
large quantity of meat of delicate whiteness and excellent quality. The
cocks are almost as heavy as the Cambridge breed, but the hens are
smaller and more compact. The Norfolk should be jet, not blue black, and
free from any other colour, being uniform throughout, including the legs
and feet.
All the birds in a pen must be uniform.
The American wild turkey has become naturalised in this country, but
being of a very wandering disposition is best adapted to be kept in
parks and on large tracts of wild land. It is slender in shape, but of
good size, with uniform metallic bronze plumage, the flight feathers
being barred with white, and the tail alternately with white, rich dark
brown, and black, and with bright pink legs. The wattles are smaller
than in the other breeds, and of a bluish tinge. They are very hardy,
but more spiteful than others, and are said to be also more prolific.
Crosses often take place in America between the wild and tame races, and
are highly valued both for their appearance and for the table. Eggs of
the wild turkey have also often been taken from their nests, and hatched
under the domesticated hen. The flavour of the flesh of the American
breed is peculiar and exceedingly good, but they do not attain a large
size.