VARIETIES OF TURKEYS. 



54' 



" Austrian " Whites, why we do not know, as 

 they can be traced back in England for over 

 a hundred years, and there were little imports 

 of any kind from Austria at that time. These 

 birds should have flesh-coloured or pink beaks, 

 and white or pale pink shanks and toes, the 

 eyes being of the same dark hazel as the Blacks, 

 from which they were no doubt sports. The 

 plumage must be pure and clean white all 

 over except the " beard " or tuft of hair on the 

 breast, which is black, deep, and ungrizzled. 

 They are beautiful birds, and very widely spread 

 over the country, though seldom in flocks of 

 any size. We found many small lots about 

 Sussex, where they are rather liked for their 

 white feathers, and are stated by the Susse.x 

 farmers (who should be as good judges of table 

 quality as any) to be very fine in skin and 

 flesh, and rather long, though not large, in 

 body. They have been said to be delicate, but 

 those who really kept them did not seem to 

 consider them any more so than others. 



The Fawns are much less common than 

 Whites, and may be described as pale buff. 

 The tails of those we have seen appeared a 

 little long in comparison with other colours, 

 and the bodies a little more slender. The shanks 

 and toes are flesh-colour in such as have come 

 under our notice. There have usually been 

 one or two of each sex at Birmingham, but they 

 are certainly less seen than we can remember 

 some years ago, are not standardised, and 

 appear to be gradually dying out in this country. 

 We have not seen enough of them dressed for 

 table, to judge how they compare with others 

 in this respect. 



Besides the beautiful Bronze breed, which 

 is sufficiently described in the Standard at the 

 end of this chapter, these are all the varieties 

 bred in England. They are also 

 American recognised in the United States 

 Turkeys. g^j^^j Canada, where the fawn-colour 



is known as Buff, and the Norfolk 

 breed as Black, while it is singular that Whites, 

 instead of being termed White " Austrian " as 

 in England, are known as White " Holland " 

 turkeys. Besides these, Americans have three 

 varieties not known in England. One of them 

 is standardised as Slate, the colour being an 

 ashy-blue resembling Andalusian colour of 

 the dull cast, but without lacing, and which is 

 often rather peppered with black. This does 

 not appear much thought of ; but another breed, 

 known as the Narragansett, is next to the 

 Bronze the largest turkey in America. The 

 beak is light horn, the shanks salmon-colour 

 or brown or pinky-brown. The plumage is 

 mainly black, but most of the feathers have 



a band or bar of light grey or steel grey near 

 the tip, the tip itself being a jet-black band 

 beyond the grey, and the wing feathers barred 

 with grey. Only in the tail feathers and inner 

 webs of the primaries some brown is found, 

 and the tail feathers terminate in a broad black 

 band edged with light grey. The third variety 

 is that known as the Bourbon Red, which came 

 from Bourbon County, Kentucky, and had its 

 origin in what was once known in America as 

 the wild Yellow Turkey. The predominant 

 colour of this variety may be described as 

 brownish red, since that tint should be seen on 

 the neck, back, wing-bows (deep), breast, body 

 (deep), fluff and thighs ; the tail, primaries and 

 secondaries are white, and the shanks and 

 feet reddish pink. Adult gobblers should 

 weigh 30 lbs., and hens 18 lbs. 



We may now proceed to practical considera- 

 tions. Whether turkey-breeding is profitable 

 or not depends very much upon circumstances, 



and of course still more upon 

 Breeding management. In regard to circum- 



Turkeys. stances, they thrive best upon rather 



high and dry land, such as grows 

 rather poor grass, and are not well adapted as 

 a rule for low-lying rich pastures. On a holding 

 where there is much variety in these respects, 

 it often happens that turkeys will thrive in one 

 field, and not in any other part ; and this in 

 spite of the general rule that they do best on 

 fresh ground, other things being equal. On the 

 whole they are better avoided by such as farm 

 heavy land. Another important point is, not 

 to rear turkeys and other poultry together. 

 This is often seen as regards small lots ; and 

 with only a brood or two, the evil may not be 

 apparent if there is good range ; but it does 

 not answer, and with larger numbers would be 

 ruinous, the turkey needing ground as sweet as 

 can be managed, and the poultry suffering 

 somewhat also. On any given portion of a 

 holding there may be one or the other, but 

 should not be both. 



This is the more important because a turkey- 

 house should never be enclosed. Even through 

 the winters of North America, houses open at 

 the front are found best, and many breeders 

 prefer to let the grown birds roost in trees, on 

 the sheltered side of some large building. 

 Any ordinary fowl-house is poison to them, 

 and even if the birds have a high and roomy 

 house to themselves, but closed in, unless the 

 ventilation be very much more free than it is 

 at all easy to give, they will be seen to hurry 

 out in the morning, pining for fresher air. A 

 high and open cart-shed may do, or a high shed 

 open in front, and preferably with the highest 



