TURKEYS. 



617 



this respect. It is too frequently the practice to sell off the largest and heaviest birds about 

 Thanksgiving and Christmas time, and retain the late birds of inferior size for breeding 

 purposes. This is a very grave mistake, for with fowls, as with horses, cattle, and other 

 domestic animals, the best of matured parents should always be selected for perpetuating the 

 stock. Another very objectionable practice is to breed only from yearling hens, the old 

 birds being sold off under a mistaken idea of economy because they will weigh the heaviest. 

 It should be remembered that the turkey does not attain its full maturity until the third year, 

 and the largest and strongest chicks can only be secured from matured parents. 



Turkeys will not bear confinement well, and must have plenty of range in order to 

 thrive. They are impatient under restraint, and retain a love for roving, a trait of the wild 

 bird that has never been subdued or bred out by domestication. This roving disposition is 

 the chief objection to raising them unless there is plenty of range for them to forage in, as 



OCELLATED TURKEY. 



they are liable to do much damage in gardens and cultivated fields. After the hens have 

 fairly commenced laying they become more quiet, and are less inclined to roam, until they 

 have the care of their young broods. 



It is the custom with many successful breeders to remove the cock from the flock before 

 the hens commence sitting, as he often does much harm when a nest of eggs is half hatched 

 through his stupid and persistent attentions. Old turkey hens are more reliable as sitters than 

 young ones, although it is thought by some that young birds are less liable to steal their nests, 

 than old ones, and thus considerable trouble and loss may be obviated from the depredations 

 of foxes, skunks, hawks, and crows, which latter are known to be great foragers on eggs. 

 Turkey hens are generally good sitters, but are sometimes uncertain in this respect. A 

 Cochin or Brahma hen is frequently used for hatching the eggs of turkeys, especially those 



