TURKEY RAISING 



ner, or in some cases where the birds are especially hard 

 to handle it may be necessary to grasp them by the shanks 

 and pull them out in this way. This last practice should 

 not be employed if it is possible to avoid it since the bird 

 is sure to struggle, flap its wings and more or less injury 

 is done to the plumage and to the wings in dragging the 

 bird through the door. 



If the judge understands thoroughly how to catch and 

 handle birds it will be better for him to insist on doing all 

 of this work himself rather than to let some assistant do it 

 who does not know how so well and who might do the 

 birds damage. After the birds are taken out of the coop 

 they should be carried to a good light where the different 

 sections can be examined for perfection of color and 

 markings. It is well for the judge to have an assistant or 

 two so that he can have them hold one bird while he holds 

 another for the purpose of comparison. Not infre- 

 quently broken flights will be found in turkeys. Other 

 things being equal these broken flights count against a 

 bird considerably but they are not such a serious defect 

 as to prevent a superior bird from winning over an in- 

 ferior one. A missing flight feather or a missing main 

 tail feather is a much more serious defect than is a broken 

 flight. 



