TURKEYS DOMESTICATED— INTRODUCTORY. 



A Native American Fowl that far Utility Yields the Palm to None— Its Home, the Farm— Its Patron, the Farmer's 



Wife— Its Destiny, a Thanksgiving Feast. 



IONG native American fowls the turkey is 

 entitled to rank first. Proud and brilliant as 

 any, it possesses the additional attribute of 

 being the greatest among utility fowls. Al- 

 though to an extent domesticated, it retains 

 the instincts of a wild bird, and this fact must be 

 recognized by those who desire to make a success of turkey 

 raising. 



The farm is more and more becoming the home of the 

 turkey; its wide acres form a natural breeding spot and pro- 

 vide an abundance of food that is particularly palatable to 

 the taste of this king of the poultry kingdom. The nature of 

 turkeys is now so well known that few persons even attempt 

 to raise them in confinement. 



In its wild state the male generally has only one mate, 

 but in some cases two females reciprocate his advances. In 

 domestication there is a wide difference in this respect, toms 

 being occasionally mated to twenty hens, and generally to 

 eight or twelve. Some breeders are glad to introduce wild 

 blood in their flock when opportunity offers, which is but 

 seldom. By such introduction the vigor and size of the birds 

 are increased and the plumage in some sections is rendered 

 even more brilliant. 



Turkey breeders have not given the same attention to 

 line breeding asi have fanciers of the domestic fowl. With 

 hardly an exception they advise — "Do not inbreed," and per- 

 haps it is well, for the majority of turkey raisers are farm- 

 ers, or rather, farmers' wives, whose sole aim is to produce 

 a marketable fowl and who have little inclination to attend 

 to the details of line breeding. The advice, "Do not in- 

 breed," is therefore based upon the knowledge that vigor 

 would soon disappear from, a flock indiscriminately inbred. 

 Prominent exhibitors to some extent do breed in line, but 

 they so often outcross that their flocks retain few character- 

 istics to denote a distinct strain. There is no absolute neces- 

 sity for line breeding in the case of this ancient fowl, for it 

 naturally breeds true to shape and color, and will continue 

 to do so if the standard makers will allow. A fowl known to 

 have been bred to its own kind for hundreds of years may 

 claim the right to be admittedly line bred, and nothing but 

 crossing can eradicate the tendency to breed true to shape 

 and color. During all these years the introduction of wild 

 blood has kept alive the wild nature in the domesticated 

 turkey. At the beginning of this period the birds were 

 totally wild, and for many years it was easier to procure a 

 wild bird than a partially tame one. The use of wild blood 

 was therefore frequent, becoming less common as years 

 rolled by, until now it seldom occurs. Year by year tur- 

 keys will therefore become more and more domesticated and 

 less inclined to range over a wide stretch of country. Wild 

 turkeys are becoming fewer, domestic turkeys more numer- 

 ous; and gradually the habits of the wild fowl will be dis- 

 placed, and the gobbler and his mate will be content to limit 

 their wanderings to the boundaries of the farm, while "the 

 better half" may be induced to deposit her eggs in any old 

 barrel, as the domestic hen does now. 



So long as the tendency of the turkey is to be wild, it is 

 best to adapt its surrounding and care to its desires and 

 constitution. 



The custom is to allow turkeys to roost outside. A little 

 attention during their youthful days will induce them to 

 come home to roost. 



In the case of young stock the general rule is to confine 

 them, and to be careful that they are not exposed to storms, 

 wet grass, etc. This is well, but it may be overdone. One 

 of our correspondents whose farm we have visited allows his 

 young stock to run with the mother over extensive grounds 

 where the grass is kept short. They are healthy and big. 

 Timbered lands are ideal spots for young poults if the vege- 

 tation is not dense and they usually thrive in such a loca- 

 tion. That, dreaded "bowel trouble" which causes the death 

 of a large proportion of young stock is less liatile to attack 

 birds raised on the range, because they are not as likely to 

 be overfed, and because lice do not multiply so rapidly as 

 when the birds are cooped. 



There is a general impression among farmers that tur- 

 keys are difficult to raise; so they are if the same method 

 is adopted with them that holds good in raising chickens on 

 the farm, but if the habits of the wild turkey are studied and 

 the flock allowed to imitate them during the breeding season 

 there will be but few obstacles to success. The domestic fowl 

 when it hatches its brood of chicks is usually cooped for 

 a week or two, and when it is released it seldom wanders far 

 from the coop, so that in case of storms or change of tem- 

 perature shelter is easily reached. Not so the turkey. She 

 may be cooped for a time, but it makes little difference in 

 her habits, and when she is released it seems that the fur- 

 ther she can get from her late prison the better she is 

 pleased. The poults have hitherto remained near the coop 

 within call of the mother, they have been fed by the breeder, 

 and the change of life which the wandering spirit of their 

 parent renders necessary is entirely different from that they 

 have been accustomed to and calls for more robust constitu- 

 tions than they possess. The mother has passed that period 

 which cautions her to limit the exercise of her young, as she 

 naturally would do if at liberty when the poults are first 

 hatched, and instead of gradually increasing the length of 

 her rambles in search of food, she now forces her young 

 beyond their strength and runs chances of exposing them to 

 weather to which they have not been accustomed. It would 

 have been better to allow the mother her freedom from the 

 first. The very weakness of the poults when hatched would 

 keep them within reach of shelter for a time, and the 

 weather hardening process would be gradual. 



We have heard old breeders say that the morning dew, 

 and dampness harbored by fields of hay and grain do not in- 

 jure poults that have had their freedom from the start. 

 Nevertheless if there is a choice between such a location and 

 pasture fields or woodlands take either of the two last 

 named. Turkeys with young will frequent the .woods if 

 there are any in the neighborhood, and among the trees they 

 find sufficient vegetation to harbor insects, and the ground, 

 is comparatively dry and free from long grass. 



