Carroll County democrat. (Huntingdon, Tenn.) 188?-1971, 1913-11-14

than his tame brother and that the
cross between the native wild turkey
and the Bronze makes the handsom
est bird Of the turkey tribe has beer
demonstrated most successfully by ex
~ peTiments along these lines.
Amor enterprising Virginian waE
lucky enough few years ago to cap
ture five baby wild turkey chicks
they were only two days old when he
caught them
They were given to a tame turkey
Rien-Who already had a brood Of
young ones44after they had been in
captivity only two days.
AT first these shy little fellows
seemed to distrust everything, but
( soon becam6 accustomed to the Vir-
n EiniaAajwho paid particular attention
70. his mixed flock, bringing them ber-
ries and other delicacies, at the same
time teaching them to come to his
Z, call to be fed '
Every one of the. FIVE birds grew
up and they turned out to lbe one
gobbler and four hens. 1t is inter
esting to note that although there
was mortality Of SO per cent among
Che domestic birds that season, the
flve wild turkeys were not affected in
any way.
AT the approach Of winter wire
enclosure was made, this was also
covered, over with wire, making a.
perfectly enclosed space Of 15Ox45
feet, and at one end was small tree
that was enclosed in a 25-foot square
rSof wire fencinga natural roosting
s,place -the enclosed space had al
growth Of bushes and wild vines
growing upon it, also natural sod.
~ The turkeys put in this limited
Apaee, must naturally be fed on such
stuf. as, would as nearly as possible,
faIeesenfBle the food that nature intend
lnBd for them, $50 they were given corn,
:, wheat Is pRtsaWild berries, acorns. per-
simmons, grit in abundance, and fresh
water lad libitum
dtlltThe' winter season passed, the birds
rwere we'll and hearty. With the adj
vent Of spring the hens made their
nests In the enclosure, where honey
snclIe vines afforded the privacy that
they so longed for Later on the
young poults arrived, both they and
their half domesticated mothers
showed aversion to man, their nat
sural enemy--so the broods were taken
away from the wild hens that had
PATCHED them, and were given to
some Bronze hens, who raised SO birds
eout Of a hatch of 49,
The first adventure being SO sue
.cessful, the Virginian followed out
the same methods with the 3S birds
that he had used with the original
i've, and the loss Of only two birds
was a striking example Of the hardi-
ness Of the wild birds.
It is interesting to note that after
the young birds and their mothers
had been given their freedom, they |
showed no disposition to revert to
their wild state, but always returned |
home at night, roosting on the upper |
limbs Of their tree along with the
other turkeys, the young birds taking
more kindly to domestic ways than
their parents.
After two years of hard work the /
virginian began to realize some finan-
cial returns from his labor, and the
88 birds above mentioned, we're sold
at price aggregating slightly more
than $400, while the extra eggs gave
him another $3.50. The price Of the
young hens was $40 each, while that
received from gobblers was from $12
to $40 each. Eggs easily sold at 81
apiece. At present he is getting SIS
for hens and $40 for gobblers.
Keeping II birds during the second
winter. 1O2 chicks were Matched. and
US Of these were raised to maturity,
the losses we're caused by accident
or dogs and not by disease, although
the domestic birds on the farm that
year were decimated.
The wild turkeys roasted under the
wire enclosure the domestic birds
over It, The droppings of the latter
naturally fell into the enclosure, None
Of the Wild turkeys contracted the
fatal disease, but showed themselves
not only immune to it, but to long
spelI OF wet weather. These birds
have been thoroughly tested and have
shown themselves immune to the
dread disease. black head as we'll as
from other diseases which affect the
domestic breeds.
Experiments have demonstrated
that an infusion of wild blood will
undoubtedly make harder strain OF
domestic turkey.
In order that there will not be In
breeding to an extent that would re-
duce the natural vitality of the birds,
fine specimens of wild turkeys from
Nexico. Oklahoma. Louisiana, North
Carolina. and other sections have
heen secured from hunters and others
interested in the experiment
Believing that the domestic bird Of
she present day Is not descended from
shs native turkey. as is commonly
supposed but traces its origin back