18 



about $30 apiece. An intervening space was left between yard 

 B and yard C. On June 1 young turkeys hatched by a turkey 

 hen in yard A were placed with the old turkey in a small 

 enclosure designated as D. Various additions were made to 

 this lot so that it became necessary to furnish more space, 

 which was provided by yard D'. 



No case of blackliead occurred in either the brooder-raised 

 turkeys (yard C), or in the hen-raised turkeys (yard B). 

 Blackhead made its appearance in yard D' shortly after the 

 middle of September. Two turkeys died of the disease at 

 this time. With the view of preventing further losses this lot 

 of turkeys was moved to new ground, yard E. It appeared 

 advisable to construct an additional fence so as to leave a 

 space between yards E and B, but owing to the pressure of 

 other farm work this could not be accomplished. Yard E 

 was, however, divided into halves by a cross fence, so that the 

 larger turkeys could be separated from the smaller ones that 

 comprised the mixed lot that had occupied yard D'. There 

 were then no further losses from blackliead in these yards. 

 About two months later, after the turkeys had been moved to 

 the hennery on account of the onset of winter, blackhead again 

 appeared. 



The conditions of the experiment thus resulted in the rearing 

 of one hundred and twenty-three high-grade turkeys. The loss 

 from blackhead was so slight as to be almost negligible, and it 

 should be noted that the only cases occurring on the newly 

 enclosed areas were in the hodgepodge group that had been 

 exposed, to some extent, to hennery conditions as well as to 

 an old hen turkey. Those brooded by old hens also "got by" 

 without blackhead as well as the brooder turkeys. Two cases 

 developed in cold weather after the young turkeys had been 

 moved to hen houses. 



What may be regarded as our "good luck" by some may be 

 attributed to a favorable season by others. To refute the latter 

 possibility it is only necessary to point to other farms in the 

 vicinity where blackhead was very prevalent in young tiukeys 

 this same season. It appears to us, therefore, that, until other 

 preventive measures for blackhead are found, isolation is prac- 

 tically essential to the successful rearing of turkeys. 



