TURKEYS— THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



Half the battle of raising turkeys is won if the breeders 

 are allowed free range for some time before the breeding 

 season, and receive only an evening meal sufficient to induce 

 them to return home. This treatment renders them hardy, re- 

 moves the surplus fat that has accumulated during the heavy 

 winter feeding, causes the eggs to be strongly fertilized, and 

 the poults to be on the jump from the time they are hatched. 

 Rearing healthy poults is a pleasure, not a hardship. 



It is better to let turkeys imagine they are having their 

 own wild way in preparation for the laying season. There 

 is a happy medium between the continual struggle of the 

 attendant to make madam turkey lay in a hen's nest, and the 

 struggle of the madam to deposit her egg on the next farm. 

 Coax her to think she has found a secluded nest, which of 

 course you will have arranged for her not too far from home. 

 This will need to be done a month or so before the laying 

 season, and is one way to avoid loss of eggs and poults. 



"What is a farm without a turkey'.'" might well be the 

 plaint of the farmer's wife who "once had" but now "has 

 not." In days gone by she has watched them grow day by 

 day, looked for them to come home evening after evening 

 with their appetites allayed, and a store of animal and vege- 

 table food treasured up in their crops for the formation of 

 the bone and muscle which signifies size; and it has cost her 

 — nothing; the growing clover has been protected from in- 

 jury by insect pests; grasshoppers have hopped in vain 

 from the graceful gliding of the mother who quickly teaches 

 her flock that these pests may be turned to account; the 

 farmer seeing it, has been content to let them have their 

 way, and his wife has been happy in the thought that "I 

 shaK wear a bright new bonnet." 



Imagine a little poult weighing only a few ounces, and 

 then picture to yourself the same bird after a period tipping 

 the scales at thirty-five or forty pounds. In this growth and 

 in the nearly perfect beauty of a matured torn lies the attrac- 

 tion to the turkey raiser. 



The Bronze turkey is king of all varieties. The standard 

 places the weights high, but it should be understood that 

 this law of weights is but a safeguard to prevent loss of size 

 in the noble bird. Standard weights, are, we may say, the 

 lowest weights that may be possessed by Bronze turkeys bred 

 for exhibition. Certainly there are exhibited turkeys that 

 do not come up to the requirements in weight, but the pen- 

 alty in such a case is so severe that these cases are few. If 

 a Bronze turkey in the show room is two pounds under 

 weight its chances of winning the chief honors have gone. 



Notwithstanding the importance of weight in the show 

 room, experienced fanciers prefer that their breeding pen 

 shall contain birds of less rather than greater weight. The 

 eggs will be better fertilized and the young birds more vig- 

 orous than if heavy weights had been mated. As, however, 

 the principal demand among turkey raisers is for birds of 

 great size, the fancier is forced to breed rangy birds in order 

 to satisfy this demand. 



As a dressed fowl it is necessary that the outlines of the 

 carcass should not be marred by any deformity, and with 

 this in view, the American Standard requires that birds 

 having wry tails or crooked backs shall not be allowed to 

 compete for prizes in the show room; further, that a de- 

 formed keel shall receive a cut or penalty, which in pro- 

 nounced instances may be placed at three points. This, as 

 in the case of weight, is a wise law, intended to maintain the 

 utility qualities of the fowl. 



So far as the plumage of the Bronze variety is concerned 

 there appears to be little trouble in securing magnificent 

 color. It seems to be a perquisite of the Bronze turkey, and 

 enables it. to score far higher than other birds of parti-color. 

 This is a rule and not an exception. 



To observe a matured torn strutting in the sunlight is to 

 see one of the most beautiful utility fowls that has been 

 created. No farm is complete without its flock. The range 

 they require is an obstacle to keeping them in large flocks 

 and the very fact that they are at home upon the range is 

 one of the reasons why they are so economically raised. 

 They require very little food during the growing season and 

 in the fall the farmer's wife finds that she has at compara- 

 tively no cost, a flock of birds, which sell at $1.50 to $2 each. 

 This is the result of a little care and common sense, and 

 occasionally she realizes more profit on her flock than her 

 husband does on his farm. 



The Bronze turkey is not alone in its marketabla quali- 

 ties: in fact, we have been told by experienced breeders that 

 they prefer the Narragansett; it has been corroborated, too, 

 by local dealers who find that among their customers there 

 is more call for the medium sized Narragansett than for the 

 larger Bronze. The standard weights for the former range 

 from two to six pounds lighter than for the latter. 



There are comparatively few Buff or Slate turkeys bred. 

 Their standard weights are alike, ranging from twelve 

 pounds in the pullet to twenty-seven pounds in the cock. 



White Holland turkeys are second in favor to the 

 Bronze, notwithstanding the Narragansett is creeping up in 

 the race for the place. There has been difficulty in raising 

 White Holland turkeys of standard weight, but by careful 

 breeding and paying special attention to vigor we now find 

 among experienced breeders White Hollands that tip the 

 scale at weights above those required by the standard. 

 White Holland turkeys are favorite table fowls, the color of 

 their legs giving them an advantage over the Bronze, al- 

 though so far as utility requirements are concerned the 

 lines dividing leg color are not so distinctly drawn as in the 

 case of the domestic fowl. 



The Black turkey is a variety seldom seen in the show 

 room. 



It has been said that the number of turkeys bred in the 

 east is decreasing yearly, but we believe that statement has 

 only a local application. Speaking generally, there are far 

 more turkeys exported now than was the case a few years 

 ago, and we know the best of them do not all come from the 

 west. In the fall there is annually a round-up by turkey 

 buyers, and thousands of turkeys are killed and packed for 

 export in many an outlying town or village. These turkeys 

 never reach the central markets of this country and that 

 perhaps is the reason why it has been said that they are 

 decreasing in number. Breeders will welcome the news of 

 such a decrease. Export of turkeys means higher prices at 

 home, more demand, and what naturally follows— greater 

 profits. In the export business one mistake has occasionally 

 been made, and that is the holding back of stock for the 

 Christmas market in Europe. Such a course is bound to 

 cause a glut in the market, and a reduction in the profits. 

 There is, except during the summer months, a continual de- 

 mand in the old country for good stock at remunerative 

 prices, and this demand will dispose of all the surplus that 

 can be raised in this country for years to come. 



ROBERT H. ESSEX. 



