40 PROFITABLE POULTRY PRODUCTION 



however, would be a good one to avoid unless the 

 would-be grower can learn the methods in vogue 

 by actual contact. 



TURKEYS 



The turkey presents a case exactly opposite to 

 that of the duck; it has not yet been raised in a 

 commercial way. For farm conditions, however, 

 it is better adapted than the duck, because of its 

 ability to shift very largely for itself and to con- 

 vert into profitable flesh large quantities of food 

 that would otherwise go to waste. Turkeys have 

 been and still are grown in limited areas, but al- 

 ways in small numbers. They do best where there 

 is unrestricted range. The great demand for tur- 

 keys and the best prices come between the middle 

 of November and the middle of January, a time 

 which suits farmers best. 



Another point that favors farm turkey raising is 

 that hatching can be done at the natural season, so 

 that the poults will grow to salable size in time to 

 reach the markets already mentioned. Nothing 

 perhaps argues so strongly in favor of turkeys for 

 the farmer than these two facts. Another thing 

 that favors turkeys for the farm is that farmers' 

 wives and daughters usually take kindly to this 

 branch of poultry raising, even more than to 

 chickens, ducks or geese. Probably this is because 

 of the extra money that the turkeys seem to bring. 

 It is questionable whether they actually do yield 

 larger actual net returns than chickens raised either 

 for meat or egg production. But the money seems 

 to be mostly profit, especially as a larger sum is 

 brought in by the sale of individual turkeys than 

 by that of individual chickens. 



