420 POULTRY PRODUCTION 



of 44 ])er cent as compared with the hist census ]irevious, 

 and it is a serious question wlietlier the race is not tra\elling 

 toward extinction. Tiie decrease has continued since 19] 

 according to poultry dealers. This loss in nund)ers has heen 

 due in large measure to the spread of a fatal disease popularly- 

 known as "Ijlackhead" (infectious enterohepatitis), and the 

 reduction of suitable ranges l)y m<irc intcnsi\'e methods of 

 farming. 



With the hope of building up the vitality of the domestic 

 races to a point where they may resist this and other diseases, 

 wild turkeys have quite frequently been crossed with them. 

 In sections where wild turkeys still prevail, the crossing has 

 been almost as frequently without design. This, combined 

 with the fact that turkeys have never taken as kindl.v to 

 domestication as chickens, has made them restless and im- 

 patient of confinement, given to ranging and stealing their 

 nests in out-of-the-way places. 



It has been found that the blackhead disease is apparently 

 harbored by chickens, though causing them little inconve- 

 nience. When it is communicated to the turke3's, however, 

 it proves surely, and usually rather quickly, fatal. Once 

 introduced on a farm, turkey-raising becomes difficult as 

 long as chickens are also kept. 



This condition has led to the use of the western ranges for 

 rearing turkeys, and it appears now as though the bulk of 

 turkej'-raising miglit eventually be found in the semiarid 

 regions where great stretches of country are available. 

 It is now frequently customary to put them out on range 

 in droves, with a drover to look after them. A round-up of 

 over eleven thousand turkeys in a turkey-raising district in 

 Texas is sliown in Figure VM. 



Farm Production. — Tlie farm rearing of turkeys is extremely 

 profitable in those sections in which blackhead has not made 

 its appearance, and where foxes and coyotes are not prev- 

 alent. A flock of turkeys requires but little investment 

 in the way of buildings, and practically no feed, except 

 during the fall when they are Ix'ing fattened for market, 

 and for the breeding stock during the winter. 



The turkey is a valuable aid to the farmer in keeping 



