266 PROFITABLE POULTRY PRODUCTION 



to lay. After the first two or three days of laying 

 the hen turkey will rarely desert her nest, so that 

 when the whole flock has begun to lay it may be 

 allowed full freedom. As a modification of this 

 plan, breeders keep the flock confined until about 

 noon each day, until all the hens are laying. This 

 practice saves the turkey raiser much time which 

 would otherwise be needlessly wasted in watching 

 turkeys to find out their nesting places and then 

 walking daily from nest to nest to collect the eggs. 

 A score of hens may be kept without difficulty in a 

 yard 75 feet square. This inclosure need not be 

 fenced very high. Few turkeys will attempt to fly 

 over a woven wire fence 5 feet high. 



The same practices in breeding discussed in 

 Chapter VI apply to turkeys. It seems advisable, 

 however, to lay special emphasis upon the selection 

 of breeding turkeys because throughout the coun- 

 try the practice of breeding from inferior stock is 

 the general rule. Most farmers select their best 

 turkeys for the Thanksgiving market so as to get the 

 high prices. This is well enough so far as the 

 market is concerned, but if it leaves the slower 

 growing stock for breeding, it is to be condemned. 

 The best way in order to improve one's own flock 

 is to select the breeding stock first of all, irrespec- 

 tive of any market considerations. None but the 

 very choicest, quickest growing, best birds in every 

 respect should be selected from each year's young 

 flock to replace the old ones that have survived 

 their usefulness. In this way, one can be 

 continually improving, especially in size, pre- 

 cocity of development and stamina. Too much 

 emphasis cannot be laid upon this fact. For best 

 results turkey hens should be two years old and 



