TURKEY RAISING 



Winter Shelter for the Breeders 



Many turkey raisers provide no shelter whatever for 

 their breeding stock even during the winter, allowing 

 the birds to roost in trees or upon roosts especially pre- 

 pared for them. This is particularly true in the more 

 southern localities. In the North where the winters are 

 severe some form of shelter should be available as a 

 protection to the birds. This may not be used during 

 most of the winter but should be available so that the 

 birds can be driven into it during severe stormy weather 

 especially during sleet or ice storms. 



Turkeys can stand a greater degree of cold than hens, 

 but like them they are more susceptible to a damp cold 

 than to a dry cold. During severe sleet storms the tur- 

 keys roosting in the open sometimes have such a coat of 

 ice frozen on them and become so stiffened that they may 

 be blown from their roosts and injured in their fall to the 

 ground. Any shed or barn can be utilized as a shelter for 

 turkeys during storms. Where turkey houses or sheds 

 are provided they usually take the form of a shed with 

 most or all of the south front open. Such sheds may be 

 used to shelter the breeding stock during all of the winter 

 season, but as soon as the weather moderates in the spring 

 the birds should be turned out of the house and made to 

 roost outside. This they will readily do and will keep in 

 better health as a result. 



Where turkey houses are used it is necessary to keep 

 the interior of the house very clean, removing the drop- 



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