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.
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 diarrhœa, 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.