CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF TURKEYS. 



Raising Bronze Turkeys In Canada— Best Soil for Turkeys— Inbreeding and Line Breeding—Shape, Color, Markings- 

 Roosting Houses Used with Success — Young Hens as Breeders — Setting the Hen — Care of 

 the Young — Diseases — Catching and Weighing— Selling Stock. 



By W. J. Bell. 



L.THOUGH I am aware that turkeys are raised 

 successfully on allkinds of soils and in nearly 

 all locations, I believe that sandy land or clay 

 with an abundance of gravel is a better place 

 thanheavy clay soil, especially if the latter is 

 not well drained. On two of my turkey farms 

 the soil is gravelly clay and there is running water all days of 

 the year and from those farms have come my largest turkeys. 

 When I moved to my present farm in 1893, whioh has no 

 sand or gravel in its compo- 

 sition, I noticed the poults a 

 day or two after they were 

 moved out on tha ground 

 from the nest commenced to 

 look sickly. I could not im- 

 agine what was the matter, 

 as they were free from lice 

 and their treatment was the 

 same as previously given on 

 the home farm. In watching 

 them going around I noticed 

 they were picking at small 

 substances. I immediately 

 procured some fine gravel 

 for them, and an improve- 

 ment was noticeable in about 

 a day's time. This shows 

 what is gained by close ob- 

 servation and also that the 

 dying of poults is caused— 

 not by the food given, which 

 is usually the cause assigned 

 —but through overlooking 

 what may seem unimportant 

 matters. I consider a fifty- 

 acre range necessary for 

 even a small flock. 



BREEDING SHOW STOCK. 

 Some writers say that to 

 mate Bronze turkeys you 

 have only to "discard all 

 specimens disqualified by 

 the standard." After thir- 

 teen years spent in breeding 

 these birds I must say I disagree with them, for I have found 

 the selection of the largest specimens and inbreeding them 

 to certain extent will increase the size instead of decreasing 

 it, but when carried too far inbreeding will impair the vital- 

 ity and produce deformities. Therefore, to properly mate 

 those birds is, I claim, as much of a problem as mating any 

 of the standard, breeds of fowl. I wish the reader to remem- 

 ber that I am referring to the production of Bronze turkeys 

 for breeding and show purposes. 



In regard to the shape of the male I like one that stands 

 well up. By this I mean one that carries his breast high, the 



Flg /_ Showing a Well-shaped Bird for Breeding or Show Purposes. 



Feathers on rear of back were slightly raised by the bird's excite : 

 ment at having his picture taken. 



same to be moderately full and well rounded. I have no use 

 for the bird that carries his breast and body in a straight 

 line parallel with the ground. Fig. 1 is my idea of a good 

 shaped bird, either for the breeding yard or show room, ex- 

 cept that the feathers on the rear part of the back were 

 raised a little when the photograph was taken. Select a bird 

 with good, heavy 'bones, and see that the toes are straight. 



COLOR. 



When you examine the different birds in the show room 



you will find on breast and 

 neck almost as many shades 

 as birds. There is the green 

 bronze, the black bronze, a 

 dull brown bronze and a 

 yellow bronze. The latter is 

 my preference, and what I 

 think is called for in the 

 standard, although plenty 

 of judges favor the black 

 bronze color. The body and 

 back will be darker, with 

 bronze reflections. The lags 

 should be pink. 



In the wings and tail are 

 where the faults appear. 

 Spread the wing and look 

 for solid black feathers in 

 the primaries, irregular bar- 

 ring in both primaries and 

 secondaries and also a white 

 edge along the bottom of 

 each feather in the latter. 

 They are bad faults. Fig. 2 

 is a good wing. The tail, 

 which includes tail coverts, 

 is seldom perfect; in fact, I 

 have never seen one. The 

 black bars near the end of 

 the tail coverts (I mean the 

 row of feathers lying far- 

 thest out of the tail proper) 

 are generally missing, and 

 two center feathers of the 

 tail proper always have the 

 whits tip, the black bar and the brown barring more or less 

 mixed. I have noticed the latter peculiarity in the wild part- 

 ridge. Spread the tail coverts apart and look at the bottom of 

 the tail proper and in a great many cases you will find white 

 barring the same as on the wing. This is another serious 

 fault. Some breeders are satisfied with a tail which is all 

 speckled with black and brown so long as it has the black 

 band near the tip and a white tip. Now I am satisfied that a 

 feather regularly barred with brown and black, with the 

 broad black band and dull white or gray tip, is the proper 

 color. Fig. 3 is as good in color of tail as I have seen. 



