The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1936-02-13
Talking Turkey
(Agnes Plant)

Hope we were all able to supply
some shelter for the turkeys dur
ing this cold weather. If one has
rectangular roosts or feet high
it is easy to protect them by u.s.
ing old blankets or canvasses on
extended Stats. One can also pile
boxes on the end of the roosts and
build up brush shelter. A pound
Of sulphur to 100 pounds Of feed is
recommended to put the birds in
good condition. There was a farm
telephone call last week that
could not make hear my answer,
the question being: how can I get
my turkey hens to lay at an earlier
date? In answer I will say that five
or six weeks before the expected
date of breeding start feeding q
complete laying ration. Keep both
the grain and mash before the
birds at all times. Give plenty Of
oyster shell and charcoal. The
breeders should be placed in quar-
tiers with limited amount of
range. The toms should be placed
with the hens by the last Of jan
uary. Egg production is usually
much greater with pullets than
with yearling or older hens. It Is
good idea to be sure that your
breeders are free from worms, lice,
and mites, well in advance Of the
breeding season. Band each hen
with numbered leg bands and
save and mark her eggs with her
band numbers. Hatch in pedigree
baskets and toe mark and band
number, then when poults are full
ly matured you can see which hens
proved best mates with your TOM
Mate these back to him again to-
gether with his best pullets and
again pedigree offspring and pick
the most outstanding ones produc.
ed and use as breeders. It Is very
easy to produce the double rain
bow tail Simply pick toms with
wide bands of bronze around main
tail and very large spots or bands
of bronze on greater coverts. (See
Standard Of Perfection Book
Mate them to females with wide
bands around main tail and spots
or bands on their black bands and
nearly all of the offspring will have
the double rainbow. Now as to the
number of eggs to expect from q
turkey hen a lot depends up.
on the breeding of the hen, and
the feeding and care you give her
AS rule with the proper feed and
care and a we'll bred hen you car
expect 40 to so good Matching eggs
The hen will lay more eggs blu,
we suppose that you would expect
all poults Matched reasonably ear.
ly. It has been known that some
hens will lay the entire summer
producing from 100 to $50 eggs blu;
these late eggs would be of no val
ue as Matching eggs. On the other
hand there is the poor producer
which will lay or eggs (get rio
of these) and become broody anG
continue in this way the entire sea
son, producing a total of only ter
or twelve eggs.
Fix the laying nests early. A
good way is to get wooden boxe!
the size Of apple boxes or larger
Shovel out the ground deep enough
for a nest and fill in with brai
chaff or fine straw. Knock the tw,
ends out of the box and place owe
the prepared nest. Cover the boz
with brush if you desire. This sor
of nest allows the hens to come ant
go, in their sneaking manner, an,
several hens will not pile w
breaking and soiling the eggs a!
they often do when barrels art
used.
Turkey for lunch! And turkey
for dinner are being placed on tht
eastern hotel menus. At the presen
time statistics show that only {
half turkey is being consumed an
nually per family in the United
States. Our hotels and restaurant!
can be equally helpful in expanding
the turkey market. Eat more tur
key!