XXVI 



THE NATIONAL BIRD 



The Handicap in Turkey Raising — Resistant Power — 

 Destroying the Sick — Lessons from Experience — ■ 

 Bronze Turkeys — Habits — Feed — An Excellent 

 Ration — ^ Bourbon Reds 



No ; I don't mean that proud bird of freedom, the 

 eagle. But the turkey, although not the emblem of 

 freedom, is almost as insistent on it as the eagle. One 

 hates to write turkey literature, in these days when 

 blackhead is reported here and there all over the coun- 

 try. "Blackhead " is a germ disease, largely fatal, and 

 spreading from bird to bird and from flock to flock. 

 This troublesome disease begins in the blind entrails 

 or pouches, like long pockets, in the lower intestines. 

 There is inflammation, enlargement, and thickening 

 of the contents of these. These pouches, when spoken 

 of together, are called " caeca." 



In connection with the change in the caeca are also 

 changes in the liver. Other diseases show spots on 

 the liver, but blackhead shows circular or ' annular 

 spots, often over the whole area of the liver. The 

 color may be yellowish. Yellow color in a liver always 

 means something wrong. The natural color — what we 

 sometimes call " liver-colored " when it appears in the 

 color of dogs — verges toward a dull, dark, purplish 

 red. Changes in the liver are the quickest and most 

 certain evidence of blackhead. If the caeca are also in- 

 volved, the diagnosis is pretty certain to be accurate. 



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