TURKEY RAISING 



Breeding and Laying Season 



The breeding season for turkeys usually begins in the 

 South in the early part of February and in the North 

 nearly a month later. Laying usually begins in a week 

 or ten days after the turkey hen has mated for the first 

 time. A single mating suffices to fertilize all of the eggs 

 in a litter but usually the hen mates several times before 

 she begins to lay. The greater proportion of the .mat- 

 ings occurs either early in the day, soon after the birds 

 have come down from the roosts, or later in the day, not 

 long before they go to roost again. 



The number of eggs which a turkey hen lays will de- 

 pend upon several things : First of all upon her age; sec- 

 ondly, upon whether it is a first, second, or third litter, 

 and, thirdly, upon the individuality of the hen herself. The 

 hens do not all begin laying, of course, at the same time 

 and variation in this respect may be as great as six weeks 

 or two months from the time the first hen begins to lay 

 until the last starts. Pullets, as a rule, begin laying 

 slightly earlier than do yearling or older hens. The aver- 

 age number of eggs in the first litter is about 18 but in- 

 dividual hens may lay anywhere from 12 to 30 eggs. 

 The number of eggs laid in the second litter is smaller, 

 being about 12, while in the third litter the average num- 

 ber will not be much over 10. 



The following table gives the individual records of lay- 

 ing of a number of females which were kept under close 

 observation. Attention is called to the fact that the num- 



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