Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-06-06
THE POULTRY YARD
RAISING TURKEYS
BY ED WEBER
BY ED WEBER
In the days of our grandfathers every

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key and her brood hidden in the tall
grass, and bringing them to safety and
security. Many, too, were the fine birds
they raised. Nowadays one may travel
for days in some localities and never
see flock of turkeys. andswhere they
are raised in moderate abundance there
is never enough to supply the market.
At Thanksgiving and the holiday sea-
son prices for turkeys soar. and fortu-
nate is the person who has a fair flock
Of them. Many reasons combine to ac-
count for this scarcity of turkeys. The
farm women have more social, if not
more household cares in these latter
days. and have not the time to care for
turkeys. But chiefly turkeys have come
to be considered hard to raise and sus-
ceptible to disease. Again, foxes play
havoc with the flock in some sections.
Good Profit In Turkeys.
Now the remuneration for turkey
raising is very great, perhaps greater
than in any other branch of the poultry
business. Can the difficulties be over
come or minimized so that one may en-
ter the field of turkey raising with some
prospect of success? We believe that
they can. We would not, however.
promise glowing success from the start.
Nor could we in any other department
of poultry raising. The business must
be learned. Mistakes will e made and
must be overcome and guarded against
for the future. But for the person who
is willing to learn, willing to take pains
and who can stick to a thing until good
results come, there is a great opportu-
nifty in turkey raising
There are certain principles for guild
ance in this business as in all others.
One of the first is in the selection of
stock. The choice of one of the seven
varieties must be a matter of taste.
But if your locality is infested with
foxes. or your farm is range of a hun
bred acres or less. you would wisely
choose one OF the more domestic tur-
keys, such as the Bourbon Red or the
White Holland.
If you have a large range of land,
and your market is pleased with dress
ed turkeys of large size you may safely
choose the lordly Bronze or the Nara
gansett.
Breeding Stock Important.
OF more Importance is the quality Of
the breeding stock. 1t should be healthy,
of good shape and size. Weight should
never be confused with size. A bird
may weigh well and not have size.
Small framed turkeys may be so fed as
to weigh well when young, but fat I'M
dersize when young never make large
birds when matured. If you are buy
ing get the best you can afford. That
is the rule for buying stock of any
kind. Money put into the best of breed
ing stock is as safe an investment as
government bonds. barring accident,
and taking care of stock for
granted.
A word of encouragement to those
who have little money and yet want to
get start is not out OF place If you
have to buy inferior stock or go with
out, you have the possibility of breed
ing up inferior stock year by year un-
til it becomes the best. Every year
should see an improvement in all stock
of whatever kind. And ii you have per-
severance and patience you will win
out
The breeding flock Of turkeys should
be absolutely unrelated.
In-6reedine Is Fatal.
In-breeding is fatal with turkeys
and is probably the cause of tie great
difficulty some people have in raising
turkey poults. If the parents are un-
related the poults will start life with
hardy constitutions and the .5-esumn-
ton OF life in their favor 1t will then
be possible to carry more o. them thru
to maturity. The turkeys should be so
cared for during the winter that they
come to the laying season in vigor,
and not too fat. Instead of feeding corn
exclusively during the cold weather,
take pains to give them variety. Feed
more wheat and lots of corn. and give
them some green stuff. such as cabbage,
of which they are very fond. Be sure
that they are supplied with grit. oyster
shells, fresh water and dust bath In
most places it is desirable that the tur-
keys roost in large, high. airy shed,
which can be locked. ,tIstead of roost-
ing in the trees the year around. They
need some protection from the severe
storms of winter. and from marauding
animals, and we have found from
thieves.
The turkey hen makes a much better
mother than the chicken hen. The ner-
vous, fussy chicken hen hustles the
little poults around until they are
nearly dead from WEAKNESS The tur-
key hen, with her slow. calm move
ments, is mindful of the weakness of
little poults and stops often to brood
them. Young turkeys should not be
allowed to wander in the wet grass of
early morning late in the season.
Avoid Oampness to Pouits.
Little pouits nave four chick enemies
improper food, lice, filth and damp
ness. Many methods of feeding are
used successfully with different tur-
key growers. We have had the best
results with good prepared chic food,
using also plenty of grit, oyster shells
and fresh water. Great care must be
exercised not to overfeed the little
turks. Many die from this cause alone.
Feed little less than you think nee
essary. As soon as possible feed wheat,
the one best food for turkeys.
Each brood should have large coop,
rainproof. but we'll ventilated, into
which they are fastened at night and
kept until the dew is off in the morn
ing and kept in altogether on rainy
days. Poults must be kept dry. II a
shower comes up you must get them
in. The coop shouldpbe cleaned daily
! Clean It ami wi,itewasn il every
spring. Keep all food and drinking
dishes scrupulously clean.
Perhaps the greatest cause Of mortal
ity among turkeys is lice. Lice must be
fought vigorously. We find a weekly
! thc-c d-sting with IT insect ncwde:
the surest means of keeping turkeys
! free from lice.
The directions for raising poults
seem numerous, but they are all sim
pie and quickly and easily accomplish
ed 1t is possible to succeed and raise