TURKEY RAISING 



are by no means rare, however, where inbreeding has 

 been carried on with success over quite a period of time. 

 It is probable that the same condition holds true here as 

 with chickens or with other classes of live stock, namely, 

 that while most strains or families seem to show evil re- 

 sults from continued inbreeding, occasional strains will 

 be found which seem to be able to stand up well under 

 inbreeding and do not show any apparent deterioration. 



Where the turkey grower has stock of exceptional 

 quality and is interested in maintaining this quality he 

 will hesitate to purchase a torn of unrelated blood for fear 

 that the two bloods will not nick well and the quality may 

 be destroyed. In this case it is usual to line breed, or in 

 other words, to use breeders of the same family or strain 

 but not closely related. The turkey grower who is line 

 breeding usually purchases new breeding toms from the 

 same source where he secured his foundation stock. Noth- 

 ing is to be gained by crossing. The increased vigor 

 which may result from such a practice can be obtained just 

 as well by using a male or unrelated blood of the same 

 variety. 



Age of Breeding Stock 



In selecting the breeders, attention must be given to the 

 age of the stock. While early hatched, well matured 

 pullets can safely be bred, it is true that yearling hens 

 produce eggs which are on the average larger and more 

 uniform in size and it seems to be the general opinion 



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