MANAGEMENT OF TURKEYS 191 



attributes to other causes. The average hen turkey lays only 

 eighteen or twenty eggs in the spring. Some hens lay even less. 

 Once in a long time a turkey hen lays continuously for many 

 months. A turkey grower who raises eight or ten turkeys for 

 each hen in his breeding flock does very well. To do much better 

 than this the hatches must be exceptionally good and the losses 

 very light. Those who grow turkeys for profit expect them to 

 pick the most of their living from the time they are a few weeks 

 old until they are ready to fatten for market. A grower will, 

 therefore, rarely undertake to hatch more young turkeys than he 

 thinks can find food on the available range. It takes a very large 

 farm to provide food for a hundred young turkeys and the old 

 birds which produced them, after the young ones are well started. 

 On many large farms where turkeys are grown regularly, not 

 more than seventy or eighty are ever hatched, and if losses are 

 heavy, not more than two or three dozen may be reared. A 

 farmer who grows from seventy to a hundred turkeys is in the 

 business on a relatively large scale. Flocks of larger size are 

 sometimes seen in the fall, but not very often. The ordinary 

 farm flock of breeding turkeys rarely has less than three or four 

 or more than ten or twelve hens. 



Shelters and yards. The wild turkey living in the woods, 

 with only such shelter from the rigors of Northern winters as the 

 trees afford, is perfectly hardy. Domestic turkeys are most thrifty 

 when they roost high in the open air yet are not fully exposed 

 to storms and cold winds. If left to themselves they usually 

 select convenient trees near the farm buildings, or mount to 

 the ridge of a shed or a barn, or perch on a high fence. A high 

 perch to which they can mount by a succession of easy flights 

 has such an attraction for them that it is a common practice 

 to place strong perches between trees that are near together, 

 or on tall, stout poles set for the purpose, where other trees 

 or buildings form a windbreak. The turkeys, if at home, will 

 not fail to go to such a roost as night approaches. One of the 



