48 



TURKEYS— THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



low them to rest twenty-four hours after receiving them; 

 longer will not hurt if kept in a cool, dry place; put them 

 under a quiet hen in a quiet place and disturb her as little as 

 possible. If the weather is dry sprinkle the eggs with warm 

 (not hot) water a few days before they are due to hatch; be 

 sure they are clean. If an egg should be broken the others 

 must be washed with a clean cloth in clear rain water; be 

 sure there is no grease about it, as grease will prevent the 

 eggs from hatching. 



BEGINNING WITH STOCK. 



I should advise the beginner not to buy more than a. 

 trio. The mistake of almost all beginners is that they want 

 to start with too many. 



When writing for breeding stock state just what line of 

 business you are in. Do you wish to sell your stock on the 

 market or as breeders'? Do you wish to raise exhibition 

 birds or simply good pure birds'? Much of the unpleasant- 

 ness between customers and advertisers would be obviated 

 if each inquirer would make his wants clear. 



Mrs. Machey and Her Turkeys at home 



I think from the 25th of November to the first of Febru- 

 ary the best time to buy breeding stock. The sooner it is 

 purchased after the first of December, the better, for at that 

 time fanciers have plenty of good birds, while later you may 

 have to take what you can get. Turkeys always pay, and 

 while it may seem expensive to pay for a torn to change 

 blood, it will pay in the vigor of the young turkeys next year. 



Do not hunt for the cheapest, but try for the best. This 

 is not always the heaviest in weight, but the best bodied and 

 the best in quality. Look out for healthy, vigorous stock. 

 Do not wait until the weather is too cold to have the birds 

 shipped without getting the roup. You may think this 

 strange advice when I tell you my turkeys roost in trees all 

 winter, but I have noticed that if you take a turkey that has 

 been used to the cold and put it into a warm place and then 

 expose it to the cold it is liable to take cold. This is what 

 is done when turkeys are shipped in bitter cold weather. 

 They are put into warm cars and exposed to the cold after 

 being taken out and changed into a new home. Buy your 

 breeding stock early and turn it out and let it get acclimated 

 and used to the new home by breeding season. 



The most important part of turkey culture is to start 

 with strong breeding stock. I will not breed from a fowl 



of any kind that is delicate. If I have weakly chicks or 

 poults hatched I am always glad when they die. Yet it is 

 true that a chicken or turkey may take cold and have a sore 

 eye or head for a short time and not be materially injured 

 as a breeder. But when the disease becomes very bad or 

 chronic, better kill the bird, for the progeny from a bird 

 with a chronic disease will never be of any account. 



INBREEDING AND LINE BREEDING. 



In selecting or buying breeding stock, do not buy inbred 

 turkeys. If you do you will lose by it. Possibly you may 

 get better markings, but can you afford to sacrifice the vigor 

 of your flock for these? 



I have been asked if I think it will do to breed from the 

 same torn two years. The question, I presume, has reference 

 to using a torn with his pullets. There may be circum- 

 stances where this could be done to advantage. In order to 

 secure certain points it might be done, yet I think not with- 

 out loss in the number of turkeys raised. Demand, when 

 ordering a trio of turkeys, that the breeder send male and 

 female not related. 



I advocate line breeding and practice it. But this may 

 be done very easily without close inbreeding. I do it by mat- 

 ing on different farms every year. By looking up every sale 

 and the yard from which the stock was taken, I avoid selling 

 related stock. If a pen or trio is ordered, the torn is taken 

 from one yard and the hens from another. These are 

 booked, and if the same customer orders again he gets new 

 blood. To introduce new blood, I buy eggs and use the torus 

 in one yard, the pullets in another, thus keeping my own 

 line, but introducing new blood. If necessary, I import a 

 torn at the breeding season. 



One who has common turkeys would like to know 

 whether it would be best to grade them up or start with 

 thoroughbreds. I think this is simply a matter of what you 

 wish to do with them. If only .for market, the cross with a 

 full Bronze torn will increase the size and beauty as well as 

 the vigor of your flock. But why not get the best and sell 

 your toms as breeders to your neighbors? If you have the 

 full blood and are the first in your neighborhood to get 

 them, you can more than replace the cost in the excess of 

 the price over market turkeys. 



Another asks, "How can I get larger turkeys? I have 

 the Bronze, but they do not get as large as some I see ad- 

 vertised." 



Very often those advertised are never seen except in the 

 advertisement. But it is a fact that the size of turkeys may 

 be increased by breeding from not only good individual 

 birds, but from birds of good stock. The greatest reason for 

 production of smaller turkeys is in the breeding. To save 

 the price of a torn, a breeder decides to use one from his own 

 flock, year after year. I do not know that using the same 

 torn two years would cause the turkeys to degenerate in size, 

 but the habit of inbreeding is injurious. 



Again and again comes the question, "Do you prefer an 

 old torn or a young torn?" I can truly say, yes and no. It 

 all depends on the conditions. I let the purchasers have 

 their choice, but I always give to customers preferring young 

 toms those which were bred from either yearling toms or 

 yearling hens, and often both. Where young toms are bred 

 with yearling hens or pullets of large bone and large ances- 

 tors, I see no difference in the size of the young. Still in 

 my own breeding yards I use the old toms, for people want 

 eggs from the largest stock to be found. 



VIGOR, SIZE AND FANCY POINTS. 



Several have written asking which I think is the most 

 important point to consider in breeding stock. My reply is, 

 first vigor, then size, and then fancy points. The reason I 

 consider strong, vigorous birds the first point to be looked 



