Evening star., 1919-04-27
CARING FOR THE HOME FLOCK
H. ".
Poultry Specialist. Maryi.nd state College.

When Cortez with his Spanish fol-
lowers invaded Mexico in 1918. he
found great focks of native turkeys
kept in domestication in the lands oil
the Aztecs. Other wild turkeys were
later discovered inhabitating the
wooded regions of North and Central
America. and from these species the
six standard varieties of the present
day have been bred. These varieties
are known as the Bronze. the White
Holland. the Bourbon Red. the Slate.
the Black and the Narragansett
The bronze. because Of its large
bronze coloring in its plumage, is the
most popular in the United States
The next in popularity is the White
Holland, with its pure white Plpmage, ,Is.a
tom should be about thirty
pounds; of the yearling cock. thirty
three pounds: of the less than one
while the adult hens and pullets
should weigh twenty pounds and SIN
teen pounds. respectively The coiors
of the feathers are black and bronze.
the latter color predominatinS On
the primary feathers and flight COW
erts there are white and black trans,
verse bars, white bars are also found
! on the secondaries. Edgings of pure
tail coverts. A white feather in any
part of the plumage is a serious de-
! tect. indeed, for exhibition purposes
lit is u disqualification. The female
has an edp.n of white on feathers
! of back, w:Gs bows, wing coverLi.
breast and nody, which should be
narrow in front. gradually widening
as they approach the rear.
| The White Holland has plumage
that is pure white in all sections ex-
"A ,t.th 10
deep black.
| The Bourbon Red is brownish red
in color throughout except the wing
primaries. which should be white.
| The Black turkey is luStrous
greenish black throughout.
| All the feathers of the Slate are OF
slate or ashy blue color. usually
spotted with black, though the spots
| The turkey industry in this coun-
try grew rapidly during the nine
| ,eenth century. We were producing
| in the year 1900 6,5S4.sS5 turkeys, but
| since that time there has been such
decrease in production that in 1910.
when the last census was taken, only
about 3.6S0,000 were grown, de-
crease in ten years of AZ per cent
This decline. which is serious prob
lem, is largely due to the development
| of small farms, thus limiting the
1
and to disease, all of which are very
| closely related.
| The ravages Of that infectious and
highly fatal malady known as black
| head (entero hepatitis). has created
+! such concern that for the past ten
| years DR.. Philip B. Hadley. pathologist
at the agricultural experiment station
| of Rhode Island (Which state at one
| time was noted fer the number and
quality Of it's turkeys, the production
-
ebb), has been making thorough
| study Of this disease with the hope OF
fnding . curative agent. but up to the
present time his efforts have been
unsuccessful.
| Chickens sometimes are attacked by
| affected, they do carry the organisms
and communicate the disease in a
| virulent form to turkeys.
After making a careful study Of the
organism the amoeba melagradis. the
amoeba Of turkeys. and it's effects
upon the fowls, Dr.. Hadley came to
| the conclusion that blackhead belongs
| to a class of diseases Of the intestines
which, though infectious, are caused
ther believes that the organisms are
more or less constantly present in the
| intestines, but that improper feeding
causes irritation and Inflammation OF
the intes4ine8 and thus furnishes
favorable conditions for the develop
| ment of the disease To verify this
| belief. he searched the state for
| successful turkey raiser. and was for
! tunate IN locating young woman
who. with her mother. had for many
years raised annually from 200 to $50
turkeys with very little loss. Upon
! being urged, she consented to go to
the college and look after the tur-
KEYS to be grown for experime ntal
purposes She followed her method
of feeding. which was the same in all
essentials as had been used success
fully in the same family for years.
and for the first time in many years
turkeys were raised in large num-
bers on the grounds Of the expert
| uent station, and on the same land
upon which turkeys had died Of black
head by the Wholesale during the pre-
vious season
The outward symptoms OF this disease
which attacks the poults when they are
from six weeks to four months old. are
lin many ways similar to those of other
diseases, in consequence Of which it is
almost impossible to make SUCCESS
| full diagnosis. A post mortem, or ex-
animation after death. is necessary in
order to identify the disease. In most
cases the fowls do not eat but seem to
be thirsty; diarThea, with the excrement
vaJIov fhorrvh often yaryfng in color