TURKEY RAISING 



the thigh, back, tail coverts and breast. This black fleck- 

 ing corresponds to what is known as ticking in white 

 fowls. White turkeys sometimes occur as a sport from 

 the Bronze, and white turkeys also occur occasionally 

 in a natural state as a sport from the wild turkey. It is 

 undoubtedly from this sporting that the White Holland 

 variety has arisen. As turkeys of this variety age there 

 is a tendency for the pink leg color to fade and this color 

 also fades in the female with laying. 



The Black Turkey. In this variety a plumage color is 

 desired in both sexes which is a lustrous greenish black 

 throughout. In other words, this should show a good 

 clean black with a prominent green sheen. The tail 

 coverts often shade to a brownish cast especially in the 

 female, and this, of course, is undesirable. It is likewise 

 necessary to guard against any bronze cast over the back. 

 It is also necessary to guard against barred feathers or an 

 edging to the feathers either of bronze or white. This 

 white edging which occasionally occurs is especially likely 

 to appear in the breast, neck and tail coverts. Not in- 

 frequently young Black turkeys will show white tips to 

 the small finishing feathers under the wings until they 

 moult in as yearlings when this disappears. Young tur- 

 keys are also quite likely to show white tips to some of 

 the wing feathers but this disappears as the mature plu- 

 mage is obtained. There is likewise a tendency in young 

 birds for white feathers or bronze stripes to appear over 

 the back, but such birds usually come out as good black 

 birds when they get their mature plumage. When the 



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