TURKEY RAISING 



ing the black and nearly white offspring from Slate mat- 

 ings together to see if they would produce all blue off- 

 spring as is the case in the Blue Andalusian chicken. 

 While there do not seem to be many breeders of Slate tur- 

 keys, more or less Slates will be found in practically any 

 flock gathered together for market. It is probable, how- 

 ever, that some of these Slates occur as the result of the 

 general crossing and mixing of varieties which is so often 

 practiced by market turkey growers. 



The Bourbon Red Turkey. In color this variety 

 should be a good deep red with white flights and secon- 

 daries and with white main tail feathers. It is rather 

 difficult, however, to get good depth of red color without 

 more or less black throughout the plumage. This black 

 occurs most commonly as an edging or lacing at the end 

 of the feathers. In the fluff and in the undercolor of 

 various other sections there may also occur a dim trans- 

 verse penciling of black or dark. More or less black fleck- 

 ing or ticking is likely to occur throughout the plumage. 

 As there is a tendency for the plumage color to run too 

 light in shade it is necessary to guard against a body 

 color which is on the buff rather than on the red. There 

 is quite a likelihood of more or less red occurring in the 

 sections of the wing and tail which should be white. 



More than one-fourth red in any of these sections con- 

 stitutes a disqualification but it is seldom that birds are 

 disqualified for red in any of these sections. It is com- 

 paratively easy to keep the primaries white, a little more 

 difficult to keep the secondaries white, and still more diffi- 



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