TURKEY RAISING 



ated to raise turkeys for profit. In the main, turkeys are 

 produced as a small side-line upon the general farm. Even 

 in those sections of the country where the bulk of turkeys 

 is grown, it is usual to find flocks of not more than 50 

 or 60 turkeys on any one place. In fact, the average 

 flock is undoubtedly much smaller than this. In Texas, 

 the banner turkey state, flocks numbering as high as 100 

 to 150 are more or less common. In certain parts of the 

 Southwest and in some sections on the Pacific Coast there 

 are a few persons engaged in turkey raising on a larger 

 scale, as high as 1,000 or more turkeys being produced in 

 a year. Men on horseback are employed to drive these 

 flocks out on range and to herd them. It must be remem- 

 bered, however, that this is in a section where there is 

 unlimited range and in a climate which is well suited to 

 growing the young poults and where disease does not 

 seem to develop to so great an extent. The semi-arid or 

 irrigated sections of the West and Southwest because of 

 their natural advantages will undoubtedly continue in the 

 future to be the places where turkey raising in its most 

 specialized form will be practiced. 



Grain and stock farms are particularly well suited for 

 turkey raising and it is on such farms that most of the 

 turkeys are found at present. For greatest success in 

 this industry plenty of range is essential, and where this 

 can be given, the turkeys will find large quantities of 

 insects such as grasshoppers, quantities of green vegeta- 

 tion, berries, weed seeds, waste grain, nuts and acorns of 



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