ADVOCATES WHITE HOLLAND TURKEYS. 



Their Beauty and Market Qualifications Make It Both Pleasant and Profitable to Raise Them— Preferred Weight 



of Turkeys— Inbreeding— Black Ticking on Feathers. 



By Mr. J. A. Lelend. 



FTER five years of experience with White 

 Holland Turkeys I have come to the con- 

 clusion that there is no better variety for 

 beauty and utility. The standard weight 

 for adult toms is twenty-six pounds, for 

 adult hens sixteen pounds, for young toms 

 sixteen pounds, and young hens ten pounds. These weights 



shanks should be bright pink or flesh color, the former much 

 to be preferred from a beauty standpoint, and rather large 

 feet. My turkeys are never housed, nor should they be, 

 except for convenience in handling, but we consider it best 

 to have them roost some place sheltered from severe winds 

 and storms. 



I would clip the flight feathers of one wing so that an 



White Hollands, as Bred by Mr. J. A. Lelend. 



are often exceeded, but not as a rule to the advantage of 

 the breed, although the majority of fanciers try to produce 

 the heaviest birds possible for show purposes. In our ex- 

 perience young stock must reach these weights when about 

 six months old if they ever attain standard weight when 

 mature. Very heavy specimens are not prolific breeders 

 and. stock weighing standard in breeding condition is gen- 

 erally to be preferred. 



Inbreeding is a thing that tirrkeys cannot stand, there- 

 fore, it is imperative that new blood be obtained each year 

 if we wish to raise a large number of hardy, heavy boned 

 fowls that will top either the market or show room. As 

 to color I have never seen a White Holland turkey that did 

 not show some black ticking in its plumage during some 

 period of its life. However, there is a great difference in 

 specimens in this respect and we should breed from stock 

 as free from this fault as possible, if we ever expect to cor- 

 rect it. We believe an ideal White Holland should have a 

 very full, round body (an egg with large end forward gives 

 a good idea), neck of good length, rather long tail and 

 pure white plumage. They should have stout legs, the 



ordinary five-foot fence that they could not get through 

 nor under, would confine them. 



We would not consider it profitable to raise large num- 

 bers of turkeys in small enclosures as they require a large 

 range, where they obtain the greater part of their food at 

 no cost. If all food were bought the cost of production 

 would be too great and turkeys do not thrive in close con- 

 finement. 



About the middle of March we place boxes and barrels 

 for nests in out of the way places about the farm buildings. 

 The hens find them and soon begin to lay. If turkeys are 

 not furnished suitable nests they are apt to choose them in 

 places exposed to crows and vermin. A crow will watch 

 a hen half a day to get an egg and generally finds the nest, 

 while I have found hens dead on their nests, killed by minks 

 or skunks. If their first clutch is taken away they will lay 

 another and sometimes a third. The broody hens should be 

 confined a few days if their eggs are taken, as they some- 

 times will sit on their nests all the rest of the summer and 

 may die while molting in the fall. It is often a good plan 

 to set the first clutch under domestic hens, as the conditions 



