Breeding Turkeys 291 



select the smaller ones. Do not strive to have them 

 unnaturally large. 



"Second. The male may be a yearling or older. 

 Do not imagine that the large, overgrown males are 

 the best. Strength, health, and vigor, with well- 

 proportioned medium size are the main points of 

 excellence. 



"Third. Avoid close breeding. New blood is of 

 vital importance to turkeys. Better send a thousand 

 miles for a new male than to risk the chances of 

 inbreeding. Secure one in the fall so as to be assured 

 of his health and vigor prior to the breeding season."* 



"Mr. Grinnell, who lives on a farm near the 

 Experiment Station, raises from 50 to 60 turkeys 

 every season. Others in his neighborhood have 

 poor success. He does not believe in changing 

 gobblers when a good one has been secured. When 

 he gets one that sires good stock he keeps him as 

 long as he is good for anything. The one he now 

 has is four years old. The hens also are kept as long 

 as they live. . . . One hen that he has had for 

 five years was said to have been eight years old when 

 he bought her. She still lays from two to three litters 

 of eggs each season, and her turkeys are larger than 



the others."f 



Number of females to one male. The question is 

 often asked as to how many females can be placed 



*T. F. McGrew in Farmers' Bulletin No. 200. 



t Bulletin No. 25, Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment Station. 



