The Glasgow courier., 1916-03-31


Plenty of range is essential to sue
cess in turkey raising.
Breeding
In selecting turkeys for breeding
the most important factors to be con-
sidered are vigor, size, shape, bone
early maturity, and color OF plumage'
The body should be deep and wioe
the back broad, and the breast round
and full. The head should be OF good
size and of a clean healthy appear
ance. A strong, well-made sketeton
is shown by thick, sturdy shanks
and straight, strong toes. 1t should
be the aim of every turkey raiser to
have a flock of pure-bred turkeys,
even though they are sold at market
prices. The male at the head OF the
flock should by all means be pure
bred of the best type obtainable. Inc
male is one-half the entire flock, and
by continually selecting the best 1e-
males of similar type and mating
these with pure-bred male, one can
soon have a flock of uniformly large
early y-maturing, strong bound long
and deep bodied turkeys of the same
color.
Fifteen turkey hens can safely be
mated to vigorous tom. If 70 or
30 hens are kept, two toms should
not be allowed to run with them one
day and the other the next. When
two toms are allowed to run together
during the mating season, they fight
badly and the stronger does practlc-
ally all of the mating.
Turkey hens are wont to "stear'
their nests in hidden places, such
as a patch of weeds, tall grass, or
thick brush, and often wander half
mile or more from home before they
find locations that suit them. 10
find these stolen nests often proves
to be long and tedious task, the
usual method being to follow each
turkey hen as she separates from
the flock and starts toward her nest
care being taken that she does not
know she is being followed. A
much easier and quicker method thar
this is to confine the hens early
some morning soon after they have
come down from roost and let then
out late in the afternoon. Those
that are laying will then head fol
10 1ov
they have been holding.
j. If many turkeys are kept, the use
of breeding pen will be found
j great convenience. This pen shoult
< cover sufficient area to allow tn
4 turkeys some exercise, an acre for l;
n birds being none too large. A hog
e tight wire fence feet high will holt
n most turkeys, and if any persist il
flying out, the flight feathers OF on
= wing should be clipped. Nests shoul'
I be scattered about the pen, thos
which turkey hens take to most read
ily being barrels turned on thei
sides and nests shaped in them wit
straw.
III Turkey hens, chicken hens, and in
cubators are commonly used to incu
bate turkey eggs. During the earl
part the laying season often happen
the laying season it often happen
that one has on hand number of egg
that should be incubated before any o
| the turkey hens are through laying
their first litter and become "broody
| In such case, and also when it is de
sired that the turkey hens lay NOR
than one litter some of the eggs hav
| to be incubated under chicken hens o
in an incubator. About week DE
| fore the poults are due to hatch tu'
KEY hens enough should be allowed t.
| sit to take all the poults Matched
They can be given few egs from tn
incubator or from under the chlckc
hens and allowed to hatch the poult
themselves, or at night a newly hatch
ed poult can be slipped under eac
turkey hen that is to be given
brood of poults and by morning sh
will be glad to take them.
| Lice are a great annoyance to SIT
ting hens and one of the worst er
emies of young poults. To prever
their getting foothold, dust the he
thoroughly with some good lice 30"
der before she is placed on the mes
and once a week thereafter while sh
is sitting. The nesting materi;
should be kept clean, and if the egg
become dirty they should be washe
with lukewarm water.
If the weather is warm and dry r
shelter is required, as the poults c
better in the open. Should it be rain
however, they need to be protecte
for nothing is more injurious than II
them to become wet and chilled. III
g.