308 POULTRY BREEDING 
thought that they are sometimes infected before they are 
laid. 
The diseases of turkeys apart from blackhead are the 
same as those that afflict chickens and are treated in the 
same way. They are quite subject to colds and roup 
when exposed to these diseases, but if kept away from 
sources of infection rarely contract them originally. In 
the South and Far West turkey breeding is very profit- 
able, as there are wide ranges on which they can find 
their own feed and grow to full size at small cost. 
The best time to market turkeys is just before Thanks- 
giving, but there seems to be a tendency to make the 
turkey a Christmas bird also and late-hatched ones may 
be held over with good prospects of meeting a ready sale. 
Breeding turkeys for fancy purposes as a specialty is 
not usually a profitable venture, but when they are kept 
in connection with other poultry a good many can be sold 
at good prices. The demand is not large, but it is quite 
constant and a great many poultry breeders who make a 
specialty of breeding for the fancy trade find turkeys as a 
side line a branch of fancy poultry business worth taking 
up. 
For show purposes the largest and most brilliantly-col- 
ored specimens should be selected and they should be 
made fat enough for market, as poultry judges are partial 
to a well-rounded, plump and hard-fleshed specimen in 
the showroom. 
TURKEYS, SUMMARY OF BREEDING.—Never 
let the young turkey get wet; the slightest dampness is 
usually fatal. Feed nothing the first 24+ hours after they 
are hatched. Before putting them in the coop see that 
they are perfectly clean and free from lice, and dust them 
with insect powder. Be sure the hen is free from lice and 
