24 



TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



Fig- 2— A Good Wing. 



Bred and Owned by Mr. \V. J. Bell. 



I do not refer to all the shape or color sections, but only 

 to those which are usually faulty or in dispute. The above 

 will give you my idea of a good male to head a pen, except 

 on one point, and that one in my estimation is the most im- 

 portant, viz., you should insist on having a line-bred bird. 

 If you use a bird produced from two strains entirely different 

 in build and in a great many sections in color as well, what 

 can you expect? My advice is to have a good male sired by 

 good males of one line of breeding. 



What I have said in regard to shape of male will apply 

 to tbe females also. The standard says of the female: "The 

 entire plumage is similar to that of the male, but the colors 

 are not so brilliant or clearly denned, and the edging of the 

 feathers dull white or gray." Now some breeders say that 

 hens should have a gray edge to breast and back feathers, 

 and I must admit that the great majority of hens are 

 marked that way; still the meaning I take from the "color 

 of the female" section in the standard is that they should 

 have the same color as the male, and I claim that the fe- 

 males in all our shows are scored too high. It is not impos- 

 sible to produce them, for I have produced quite a few and 

 find a great demand for them. 



Young hens in my experience have proved the most sat- 

 isfactory breeders. The old hens in a great many cases (and 

 young hens sometimes) will lay soft shelled and misformed 

 eggs in spite of all I can do. I have starved them; have had 

 an abundance of old mortar and lime before them; have 

 given them free range and everything I could think of, but 

 I cannot stop them entirely. I consider it the only fault the 

 Bronze turkeys have. Usually I mate seven or eight hens 

 with one male, but I think more than that number would 

 still give satisfactory results. Any shed or building not too 

 warm will do for a roosting place for breeding stock. They 

 should be given free range during the daytime in all weather. 

 I would advise feeding the male pretty well, but the hens 

 only lightly. 



SETTING THE HEN. 



At this stage it is a good plan to have nests prepared, as 

 I have noticed hens looking up nests a month in advance of 



laying. Have them roomy, so the hen can turn and come off 

 without breaking the eggs, and place them in all the corners 

 and secluded places that you can find. By doing this early I 

 save myself the trouble to a great extent of hunting the tur- 

 key nests. It is a good plan to watch which hen lays in a 

 certain nest, and mark the eggs as you gather them, placing 

 them in bran in a cool room until the turkey wants to set. 

 Then dust the nest well with insect powder and give them to 

 her — about seventeen eggs if she lays that many. Some 

 advocate placing the first laying under domestic hens and 

 forcing the turkey to lay a second lot, but here in northern 

 Ontario the late July hatches are seldom a success. About 

 two days before the eggs are due to hatch dust the hen and 

 nest well with insect powder. I consider this one of the 

 most important things to do, as a young turkey cannot stand 

 a dose of lice the first thing. 



CARE OF THE YOUNG. 



When you bring the young from the nest mark them on 

 the web of the foot with a small poultry punch. If marked 

 when about twenty-four hours old they seldom bleed and the 

 hole never grows together. By doing this and keeping the 

 hens' eggs separate you can ascertain which hen is produc- 

 ing the best birds. I now come to a period in which my treat- 

 ment of turkeys radically differs from other successful breed- 

 ers, but I have had very few casualties under this system and 

 so I intend to continue following it, and, further, I can raise 

 them by this system just as easily as chickens. About twelve 

 hours after the last poult is hatched I take them to a larger 

 box — turkey and all. I feed them bread soaked in milk. 

 They will not eat much at first, but by sticking a little of it 

 around the sides of the box and working it on your hand 

 among them, they get started. I keep them in this box from 

 one to two days, depending on the weather, and get them 

 taught to eat off my hand. Then I change them to an A- 

 snaped coop with no bottom, and a lath front, and gradually 

 I substitute shorts for the bread in their food. 



I feed them their shorts entirely out of my hands until 

 they are sold. I am very often told by my customers that 

 they are surprised at the tameness of my turkeys. Another 



Fig. 3—4 Fair Tall. 



Bred nnd Owned by Mr. \V. J. Bell. 



