ktl umm mnmiL £i "^ MEMORIAL POULTRY LIBRARY — ^ CORNELL 0g^ t'he Giyf Of ItW Y»Y ay Y»V1 V V vv» V vvv v^,^■^7»^ ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY New York State Colleges OF Agriculture and Home Economics AT Cornell University SF 507.M3T9l5a """•'' '-'''"'' "^lliffii iimiw!'^^ '^"'^ ^''°"* »"'-l-■-- 4<^.^ very devoted mother. She will watch out for those who feed her and take care of her little babies. They will run to meet me when they see me coming, that is, of course, if they are out in the field. I have had them come home themselves when I let them out for a ramble, and when I have gone to feed them the mother would be in the coop with all her little babies. I give the same treatment to the tur- key chicks that are brought up by their mother as I do when they are brought up by a common hen, only the common hen will leave them long before the tur- key hen will think of forsaking her babies. I have gone into the turkey house when they were five or six months old and would find a young turkey pul- let nestling close to her mother. You do not find this in any other domestic bird that I know of. Page fifty-one THE THROWING OF THE RED AND YOUNG TURKEYS THE THROWING OP THE RED AND YOUNG TURKEYS AS there seems to be some differ- ence of opinion about the "throw- ing of the red," first let me tell you what the throwing of the red means. More or less blood must flow into the brain and head of the turkey when it shows so plainly through the skin. When a turkey is five weeks old or even four, it is time for it to begin to "throw the red," as when blood comes from the liver and heart, of course it must have some action on the little pullets. I have had young turkeys throw the red in five weeks, and show it very plainly, — that is after being fed twice a day on sting nettle. On the other hand, before Page Hfty-ftve I knew what to feed to them, I have had them linger along up until seven or eight weeks, and at the end of that time, they would usually die. What had happened was that the blood had re- turned to the liver, become stagnant and caused diarrhea, which, of course, caused the death of the young turkey. When a young turkey is in good condi- tion it ought to shoot the red from the beginning to the end in ten days. Of course it will not be as prominent as in a larger bird. As the bird grows, the red becomes more apparent. When the little turkey is about four weeks old the feathers will begin to fall from the head some. Then you will know that the critical time is at hand. The little bird begins to shoot the red. It mopes around sometimes for days. There will be nothing wrong with him except that he just does not feel well. Page fifty-six Give plenty of sting nettle and a little tincture of iron three times a week (4 drops of tincture of iron to a gallon of drinking water) and you will see an improvement in a couple of days. The young toms are much stronger than the pullets. Some of them will shoot the red and grow splendidly all through it with no signs of any droop- ing whatever, but there is always a marked change in the little pullets. After the red is grown, the secret of success in turkeys is to keep them growing. You can give them all the skimmed milk and all the sour milk they will drink. Feed them all the lettuce they can eat three times a day with net- tle in the feed, if you have it on the place. It is one of the necessities in raising turkeys that you keep the liver clean and if you feed lettuce two or Page fifty-seven three times a day, the droppings will be a bright green and in good condition. For my birds I have large runs, 6 ft. each way, which makes a good square run. I move the runs every day to clean ground; the straw is taken out and aired. If it is damp weather, put clean straw in at least every other day. My coops are high and well ventilated at the top which takes off all the hot and impure air, and helps keep the little turkeys strong and healthy. I allow about ten runs out at a time consisting of ten birds each and let them go for a good long ramble. They do not stay away from their houses very long, how- ever, but soon get tired and come back, usually staying out about two hours. Then I put them in their coops and let out about ten more runs. When I put them back into the coops I feed them lettuce and clean drinking water. Page fifty-eight (I continue this process until I have let out the entire flock.) I let out so many runs at a time so there will be no confusion in putting them in. I do this daily, every fair day, until the tur- key is four or five months old. Then I let them all out together. I put them in larger houses every night, keep them good and warm, with good roosts and clean straw, and I have very little trouble from disease. Every turkey should be allowed out for a while each day if the weather is fine and there are no signs of rain. If it is lowery or dark, do not let them out until the weather is pleasant again. This method of letting them out keeps them growing rapidly and makes them very tame so that they can be handled much more easily. Why not give a turkey the same care that we give a hen. People tell me Page fifty-nine many ways in which their turkeys are neglected. They seem to think that they do not need to look after turkeys and after they are hatched they turn them out and let them wander and for- age for themselves. The time of that kind of treatment for turkeys is past. Remember we are raising turkeys now by the approved methods and full feed- ing applied to modern poultry raising. People will come to me and tell me that their turkey hens are roosting out in the trees nights when it is below zero. As I have stated before, if it is in January these turkey hens are beginning to grow eggs. What vitality is there back of eggs grown under conditions of that kind? None whatever. On hot days you must cover the runs with burlap or shade of some descrip- Page sixty tion. I use the burlap sacks in which I receive dried bread waste that I buy. With reference to feeding bread, be sure never to feed bread that is mouldy for if you do you will start diarrhea in the young turkeys in no time. When fall is coming on you must be very careful of the pullets. As I said before, they are much more subject to blackhead than are the toms. When I house them up, — that is, in large houses, say forty or fifty to one pen, I have my prepared feed for turkeys {Margaret Mahaney Turkey Feed) before the pullets all the time. The less corn you give any turkey hen the less trouble you will have from black- head, for corn is heating. To keep the pullets in good condition you will find all the ingredients in this prepared feed, which is put up and sold now by The Park & Pollard Company, 46 Canal Page sixty-one street, Boston, under the name of Margaret Mahaney Turkey Feed. Give more or less whole corn to the toms if you want to get them in good condition for shipping or for dressing around Thanksgiving. They do not fatten up as quickly as the turkey hen, which is the reason I keep all corn and corn meal away from the turkey hens. Put one-half teaspoonful of salicy- late of soda in the drinking water in each pan at night. In the mornings give them fresh water and twice a week place in it a little tincture of iron (4 drops to each gallon of water). Do this up to about January, and then, if your turkey hens are kept warm and comfortable, they are over the dangers of the blackhead season. Give the same treatment to the young toms. Page sixty-two INVESTIGATION OF DISEASES INVESTIGATION OF DISEASES U T T 7 HAT is the disease?" is the \\ first and most important question to ask. The number of peo- ple who fatefuUy assume from the be- ginning that the answer to this ques- tion is beyond their reach is inexcus- ably large. If the non-professional reader would apply even a limited amount of study and common sense many of the lesser ills might be avoid- ed, and many others successfully treat- ed. A little special instruction is here given to enable one to detect a disease before it is too late, and thus, in a great measure, to avoid those disheart- ening ravages which, at times, come up- on the uninformed owner of turkeys. Page sixty-five The small number of diseases which are liable to be confused makes it com- paratively easy to form the right con- clusion by eliminating from the pos- sible list those that do not show the par- ticular symptoms of the other diseases. A general knowledge of the organ- ism, habits,- and appearance of turkeys when in health is, of course, very desir- able. A reasonably close observation is about all we can expect in this mat- ter from the ordinary owner of a large flock of turkeys. The experienced fan- cier adds to this a frequent handling and more detailed study to learn the normal hardness and suppleness of the flesh and the warmth, moisture and col- or of the skin, especially about the vent, and the outline and structure of the skeleton. It is also eminently desirable that one know what is a right condition of all the organs, but this is particularly Page sixty-six true in respect to the liver and other di- gestive organs. One of the most common mistakes in the discovery of a disease is the forming of a decision after too little study. Finding one or two symptoms which are known to attend a suspected ailment, one is prone to jump at the conclusion that he has detected the real difficulty, when a further investigation would re- veal other symptoms, which, in conjunc- tion with these, would lead to the true conclusion. Every examination, there- fore, should be thorough until a degree of certainty is felt. It is essential, too, that the raiser not expect that the dis- ease will invariably present just the symptoms mentioned in any book, for they will vary more or less in different turkeys, and even in the same one at different times, — a caution which mere- Page sixty-seven ly calls for the exercise of judgment and common sense. When any doubt is felt on the conta- gious nature of a disease, the affected turkey should be removed from the flock until the possible danger is passed. When a bird dies from an unknown cause, it should be opened and the con- dition of the internal organs noted, along with a study of their condition as taken up in the following pages of treat- ment. In general, it may be observed that the presence of lice and mites is often the cause of weakness and loss of condi- tion, especially if the turkeys are al- lowed to roost with the common hens. Page sixty-eight BLACKHEAD BLACKHEAD A GREAT many people write to me, saying that they lose their pullets and young turkeys after they have grown the first feathers. I never lose a turkey at that time. I grow my turkeys in runs as you would chickens and it is a beautiful sight to see well onto three hundred healthy, strong tur- keys in runs placed side by side. I never have any trouble with my young turkeys. As I said before in another part of my work, blackhead never ap- pears in my flock until the turkey is six and seven months old. When I see any signs of blackhead, I move all my tur- keys to new ground, disinfect all my coops with Presto Disinfectant, and Page seventy-one start in to cure my blackhead, as de- scribed on page 79. I wait for a wet day, and put lime on the ground that I moved the coops from, as turkeys are very apt to return to their old dwelling place. In that way, I keep down black- head. It is a very simple disease if taken in time and easily cured. When I first started raising turkeys, my little pullets died after they were feathered and about seven or eight weeks old. Some of them would not shoot the red until they were weighing two and a half pounds. Their heads would be dark, and their steps slow and dragging. As I said before, the blood lay dormant in the liver, and thus start- ed blackhead. If a turkey does not throw the red, when seven or eight weeks old, on close examination it will be found that the abdomen is dark and of a bluish cast. The flesh is not in Page seventy-two good condition, whereas in a young healthy turkey that has thrown the red at that age, the flesh will be pure and white. MY FIRST SUCCESSFUL FIGHT AGAINST BLACKHEAD When I first started to raise turkeys, and one came down with blackhead, I thought that there was no cure for her. I did all I possibly could, and if she died, I judged that she had to and that there was absolutely nothing that could be done to prevent it. One year I brought two handsome pullets in from Kentucky. They were fine, strong handsome birds, well marked, with splendid barrings, and a beautiful bronze. I grew extremely fond of them. When the spring of the year came on, about the last of March, around laying time, one of those two Page seventy-three birds came down with blackhead and I determined that I would make a fight for her life. She was an extremely sick bird. I took her into the house, placed her in the back hall, in a cast-off oval shaped clothes basket. I put soft burlap un- der her and wrapped her up warmly. I had a good knowledge of homeopathic remedies, and I started to cure bowel and liver troubles. The fever I kept down with aconite by giving a drop in a little water every hour. I stayed by the side of that turkey all night long. There were times when she would scream with pain, and then I placed her feet in water as hot as she could bear it with plenty of mustard in it, and allowed the water to come up as high as the first joint of her legs. I allowed her to stand in that about ten minutes at a time, and then I dried her feet and legs and placed her back in the basket. She would be very weak Page seventy-four after this treatment, but seemed easier. At other times she would become weak and lifeless, and I would then take her up in my arms, go out-of-doors and let her have the benefit of the cool air. The fight went on in this way until four o'clock in the morning, when she opened her eyes, raised her head, looked up at me and chirped a little. I decided then and there that there was such a thing as curing blackhead. I did not know then so much about the stoppage in the bowels. I did know, however, that nothing had passed through her bowels. I gave her a lit- tle warm whisky and milk, some more of my remedies, and then went for a couple of hours' rest myself. When I went to her again about two hours af- terward, the red had begun to flow back into her head, the fever had left her, and her pulse was normal. The pulse Page seventy-five of a turkey begins to beat just above the crop and in case of death, will gradual- ly creep up until, just before the breath leaves the bird, it will have reached a point under the throat. I kept the pulse in this bird down to the middle of the neck ; I never let it get any further. There were times when I had to place a cloth dipped in ice water on her head, but I was fighting for the life of my lit- tle pet, and she seemed to realize what I was doing. She was very weak all the morning. I took her up, placed her out on the lawn in the sun, and she stag- gered to her feet about twelve o'clock of that day, and then a solid core came from her bowels. This had lodged in the cecum. At that time I knew very little about this trait of the disease. Attached to the core was a part of the lining of the intestine. The turkey hen was very weak for days. One thing in Page seventy-six F'RIKNDS (MISS MAHANET AND "GRANDMA CLEAVES") her favor was that she had an empty crop, and I immediately fed her a table- spoonful of cold water in which was dissolved four grains of common alum. That was given in order to form a skin and harden the sore and raw place in the bowel after the bird had passed the core. The turkey hen did not fully re- cover for three or four days. That turkey hen is about one of the best I have on my place. I call her Grandma Cleaves. The Agricultural colleges maintain that a bird that has once been afflicted with blackhead is un- fit for breeding stock. I have in my possession a young torn that wias hatched out the fifteenth day of July, 1912, by that bird. He weighs 31 lbs. and is well developed in every way. She laid three litters of eggs last sum- mer, and sat on the last litter, hatched twelve turkeys and raised eleven in that Page seventy-seven flock. In my opinion, a bird that has passed through blackhead is one of the best and strongest birds to breed from. I never had a bird come down the sec- ond season with blackhead. It is just like any other common fever that is contagious, and can afflict a person but once. After winning that fight, I made up my mind that something could be done for blackhead, and from that time on I have had great success in battling against this disease. My breeding grounds are not so far distant but that the people of Massa- chusetts can come to see me. I would be very glad to show them my runs and turkeys and my methods of breeding. TO DETECT BLACKHEAD Blackhead is the disease to be most dreaded by the turkey raisers in New England and all over the country. Page seventy-eight When you go into the turkey house in the morning, go directly to the drop- pings board and see if you find any yellow droppings. If you do, look care- fully over your flock. It will not take you long to discover the bird that has blackhead. The head is an unhealthy dusky gray, and the bird will mope around, apparently wanting to eat and yet not doing so. Then you can decide that you have blackhead in your flock. TREATMENT OF FULL GROWN TURKEYS Take that bird away immediately; disinfect her head and under the wings with salve; massage the crop gently to see if it is full of undigested food. If it is,* give a scant half teaspoonful of Epsom salts in a little water. In about an hour's time give a tablespoonful of olive oil and follow with a quarter of a teaspoonful salicylate of soda in two Page seventy-nine tablespoonfuls of warm water. After the crop is emptied put her in a box, say a good sized packing case, with plenty of straw, and cover with burlap. Give a teaspoonful of warm whisky and a tablespoonful of milk mixed together. This will keep up the vitality of the bird. A long necked milk testing bottle comes in very handy in a flock of any kind of fowl, for you can place the neck down below the windpipe and inject the liquids into the crop without any choking on the part of the fowl. Then watch and see if the droppings are yellow. If they are give one of the Mahaney Blackhead pills every hour until the droppings become normal. You can place the pill on the tongue of the turkey and make her swallow it. If there is nothing in the crop except a brash of sour wind, give the pills and hot milk and whiskey at once. Page eighty Be sure to keep the bird warm for a few days, and then disinfect before she goes out with the rest of the flock. Look over the droppings board every morning and see if there are any yel- low droppings. Use plenty of lime. Twice a week, in the morning, give sulphate of iron, powdered (one level teaspoonful in a gallon of water in an earthen dish). The other days, at night, give salicylate of soda in the same amount in the drinking water. This will keep your flock in good con- dition. BLACKHEAD IN YOUNG TURKEYS The first symptom of blackhead in the young turkeys has the appearance of a common cold in the head. The turkey will sniff and water will some- times come from the nose. The loss of appetite is apparent. The wings droop and when you let the turkeys out of the Page eighty-one coops, the one affected will drag itself along behind the rest of the flock. I take that bird away from the rest. I disinfect the head and under the wings with my salve. Rub the salve lightly on the head. Hold the turkey gently across the back, press the wings down to the side. If you are not very gentle with them, and very careful, you are liable to break the wings. The moment you see one become life- less, with dragging steps and loss of appetite, disinfect the whole flock with the salve twice a week. Dissolve in an earthen dish four or five of the Mar- garet Mahaney Turkey Pills in a little warm water; then mix the solution in a quart of drinking water and give to the young turkeys to drink. This, re- peated every day, with the straw well aired and kept clean, and the coop dry and water-proof, will make them show Page eighty-two ^VliMl-;X MAKE THE JIllST SU( '( 'BSSFU T. TURKEY RAISERS a marked improvement in three days. I never lose a young turkey. They thrive just as well as little chickens, and I think they are just as hardy. As vermin is one of the enemies of young turkeys, use the salve twice a week always, and use it in the morning. Do not shut them up after putting on my salve because it is very strong. Let it evaporate before the little chickens go to bed at night, and you will have no vermin. There is an old saying about a louse in the head of a turkey which enters the brain and causes blackhead. I know very well that that does not cause blackhead, as this dis- ease comes from a common cold, which descends to the bowels and liver and kills the turkey after a few days' suf- fering if not relieved. Page eighty-three STARTS WITH A COMMON COLD. Treatment of a Common Cold. Blackhead starts from a common cold. When you have a bird in your flock afflicted with a cold, place a small teaspoonful of Epsom salts to one gal- lon of water. Do this three or four days in succession and put plenty of lime around your turkey houses. I put lime on the droppings boards every day; it will kill the disease in no time and do no injury to the turkey. Of course I put clean straw in my turkey house in damp weather every other day as the straw becomes damp and is very liable to breed disease. Give this Epsom salts treatment in the hot weather whether the birds show symptoms of disease or not. It keeps their blood cool and avoids the tendency to disease. The time for blackhead season is in Page eighty-four what is commonly called "dog days," that is, mid-summer. The weather is heavy and dark and is very injurious to young turkeys. That is the time you must keep your coops good and dry and give plenty of green stuff, with aconite in the drinking water about twice a week to keep down any fever. Three drops in a pint of water is all I give them as aconite is very poisonous. If you have any sting nettle at the time be sure to feed it, as sting nettle is one of the greatest aids to success in raising young turkeys. When the turkey dies of blackhead the crop becomes apparently black and inflamed, and is very foul. The liver is enlarged, and has white or yellowish spots all over it. In some places it has the appearance of being eaten away. Underneath the liver, next to the back of the bird and around the heart you Page eighty-five will find a brownish substance, just the same as you would find in a person who dies from peritonitis. You will also find in what is called the second stom- ach, that is, the bowel leading to the gizzard, a l^rge core. Sometimes this will be very dark brownish yellow or ochre color, mingled with blood. This core forms a stoppage, and unless it is removed, is certain death for the turkey. I have had turkeys die with what is commonly called in human beings, "ap- pendicitis," as the appendix was mat- terated and badly swollen. In fact, in a bad case of blackhead all the bowels of the turkey become swollen. The giz- zard is twice its natural size, the abdo- men becomes swollen and black and the odor is very obnoxious. In a bad case of this kind there is nothing that can be done, the disease having become too Page eighty-six far advanced, and that is why one ought to watch turkeys very closely. If the turkey is taken in time and Margaret Mahaney pills given, and the turkey is kept warm, (for they will take the disease first with a chill just the same as a human being would take malaria) there is no need of any loss in the flock from blackhead. All the colleges of agriculture have diagnosed the case as a parasite on the intestines, but I have thoroughly investigated that theory, and wish to say that I have found no grounds for such a belief. Page eighty-seven COMMON DISEASES COMMON DISEASES RHEUMATISM (Sometimes confused with Blackhead) I HAVE a great many people write me in regard to weak legs in tur- keys. Of course, this is common rheu- matism. The limbs suffer an impair- ment or loss of use, are hot, swollen and stiff. The toes then being drawn out of shape, the fowl persistently sits down and cannot use the perch. The heart may become involved and this produces death. I had it in my flock one year, — that is, I had several birds victims to the disease. They would squat down all the time. The breast bone grew all over to one side from sit- ting so much. They were fat and ap- parently healthy, except that they could not seem to stand up any length of Page ninety-one time. I bathed their feet with mus- tard and water as hot as I thought they could stand it. I saved most of them, but it seemed to me that they never could walk as well as the flock that had not been affected. The cause of this affliction is that the turkeys are allowed out too early in the morning when the dew is on the grass and allowed to roam around in damp places. At this time I was raising my flock on lowland. I have never had any of it in my flock since I moved to high and dry land. Give five drops of bryonia in a pint of drinking water to six turkeys. After using the mustard water be careful to wipe the turkey's legs dry and then rub well with camphorated oil the backs of the legs leading into the body. Keep in a warm and dry place and give sul- phur in the feed (about a half teaspoon- ful to four turkeys). Page ninety-two "rotten crop" sometimes mistaken for blackhead Another disease very common in tur- keys which is called blackhead and yet has nothing to do with blackhead, is what you would call "rotten crop" in a common hen. When this takes place the crop becomes very foul and heavy. The bird will drink water, which stays in the crop and becomes sour. I have often had to take the bird up, hold the head down and rub the crop gently so that all the water would run from the mouth. With the aid of a long neck milk testing bottle I fill the crop with warm water with a quarter teaspoon- ful baking soda in it, and relieve the crop by massaging the second time. Then I give a tablespoonful of olive oil. Put the bird away from the rest, with very little feed for a couple of days. I never have any difficulty in saving a Page ninety-three bird affected with what is commonly called "rotten crop." If not relieved, however, it will turn into blackhead and the turkey will die. COLD — CATARRH — COUGH — BRONCHITIS All of these are substantially differ- ent stages and symptoms of the same disorder. Exposure to wet and cold is the general cause. Cough is, indeed, a symptom, not a disease, and is connect- ed with the other three. It may, how- ever, attend other diseases, and when its cause is not known, the article pertaining to roup should especially be consulted. Bronchitis is but an advanced stage or aggravated form of cold or catarrh. The three are marked by more or less discharge from the eyes and nostrils, sneezing, wheez- ing, and, particularly in bronchitis, coughing and a rattling sound in the throat. To distinguish this from roup. Page ninety-four see whether the discharge is offensive. If it is, roup is to be treated; if not, catarrh or bronchitis. In all cases of doubt, use the precautions detailed for roup. Turkeys are subject to roup from the time they are babies, more so than com- mon hens, as a cold is the cause of all their trouble. Treatment: Remove the turkey to warm, dry shelter, and give warm, soft food. These measures will usually be sufficient, but the following will be val- uable as aids: For cold or catarrh merely, and no distinction between them is here made, put three drops of strong tincture of aconite in a pint of the drink. If there is a swelling about the throat, two or three grains of the second trituration of mercuries three times a day will be useful. For bron- chitis, in addition to the measures just Page ninety-five named, give sweetened water for the drink, adding a few drops of nitric acid or sulphuric acid. For both catarrh and bronchitis give some stimulant, such as ginger or cayenne pepper in the food or whisky in the water. Treat catarrh and cold promptly, to keep them from developing into roup. Do not neglect bronchitis lest it run into con- sumption. ROUP Roup is a highly contagious malady which first affects the lining membrane of the beak and then extends to the eyes, throat, and whole head, eventu- ally involving the entire constitution. According to its manifest symptoms, it has been called diphtheria, sore head, swelled eyes, hoarseness, bron- chitis, canker, snuffles, influenza, sore throat, quinsy, blindness, and by other names. It attacks all ages, and will Page ninety-six kill young turkeys in a very short time. Turkeys given poor shelter, and kept in filthy quarters, are subject to roup. Symptoms : — Roup develops either slowly or rapidly, with the general signs of a bad cold in the head, such as wheezing, or sneezing, high fever and great thirst. The discharge from the eyes and nose is yellowish, being at first thin but growing thicker as the disease develops, and very offensive, closing the eyes, nostrils and throat (these parts and the whole head are swollen, sometimes enormously, so that blindness ensues, making the turkey unable to get its food, and thus hasten- ing the decline of the system) ; pustu- lar sores about the head and in the throat, discharging a frothy mucus; the breathing is impeded; the crop is often swollen; the comb and wattles may be pale or dark-colored. During; Page ninety-seven the course of the disease the turkey is feeble and moping. A fatal case termi- nates in from three to eight days after the distinctive roup-symptoms set in, and those which are not treated when an epidemic is prevailing will generally be fatal. Upon opening a turkey that has died of roup one will find the liver and gall bladder full of pus, the flesh soft, of a bad odor, and, particularly about the lungs, slimy and spongy. Treatment : — It is of the highest im- portance that the treatment begin as soon as the first symptoms appear. To detect the approach of the disease (and any turkey in the flock should be sus- pected if one has been infected), raise the wing and ascertain whether the feathers beneath it are stuck together, as the turkey has the habit of wiping Page ninety-eight its nose under the wings, and naturally the feathers will become matted and foul. Remove the turkey to a good warm place ; wash her head with warm water with a drop or two of sulpho-napthol in the water ; dry well with a good soft cloth and rub Mahaney turkey salve on her head, throat and crop ; open up her beak and oil the inside of her mouth and throat well with the salve. A little swab can be made for that purpose. Give one of the Margaret Mahaney blackhead pills, three times a day, and make a pill as large as a good sized bean as follows: one-half mustard and one-half sulphur, equal parts. Give the turkey one of these pills every night, and if swollen eyes and head has prevented her from seeing her food, feed her a little bread and milk, soft and warm, until she is able to feed her- Page ninety-nine self. A drop or two of kerosene oil in the drinking water makes a good dis- infectant for turkeys. When a disease of this kind enters your turkey house disinfect your drop- pings boards, and feed five quarts of hot mash from Margaret Mahaney Turkey Feed with one or two onions chopped fine and put in the mash. A teaspoonful of red pepper also given to them every night before going to roost will help to prevent the disease from spreading. Keep your turkey house clean and dry, and if you see any sign of this disease, it is much bet- ter to remove the droppings every day, and if taken in time roup is not a fatal disease. CONSUMPTION OF THE THROAT The special symptoms of consumption of the throat are a frequent cough. Page one hundred roughness of the voice, and often a failure to partake of food either from loss of appetite or from pain caused by swallowing. Attacks of fever, fol- lowed by shivering, are more or less regular. For treatment keep the bird in a very warm atmosphere, chop up onions very fine and mix in the feed, also give a teaspoonf ul of olive oil three times a day with one to two drops of aconite to a cup of water. I generally have what is commonly called a hospital for sick birds ; that is, I set aside one coop, keep it warm and have it heated with an incubator lamp, a large one. The temperature should be kept around 70 degrees, until the bird ceases to cough. CONSUMPTION OF THE LUNGS A distinct feature of consumption of the chest or lungs is a tubercular de- Page one hundred one posit in the chest, liver and bowels. The first symptoms are a thinning of the voice and occasionally sneezing. When the sneezing comes on in the morning and continues during the day, the lungs have become involved, and eventually a puffed appearance will be manifest in the chest. Give the same treatment for consumption of the chest as given for consumption of the throat. Add a few drops of tincture of iron (four drops to a gallon of water) to the water each day until the appear- ance of the bird has improved. Light, ventilation and pure air are three of nature's most potent agencies in counteracting disease. Every tur- key should have a liberal allowance of sunlight, though the power and direct- ness of the rays should be determined by the climate, which is only natural. Among those that need frequent sun Page one hundred two baths are the wild birds of the air and as the turkey was originally a wild bird, in the very nature of things, it demands a great deal of sunlight. It makes no difference how hot the day is, the turkey will lie in the sun and seem to enjoy it when the temperature isi even up to 100 degrees. This is the reason I keep my turkeys warm and comfortable, as it is a preventive of consumption or any disease of that nature. A good dirt bath should be provided for a turkey all winter: light sand, half clay, with a measure of air-slacked lime. The turkey will wallow in that for an hour at a time, thoroughly enjoy it and seem so much brighter after it. If turkeys are allowed to run on the frozen ground and roost in the trees all winter, how can one reasonably expect them to remain in a healthy condition Page one hundred three when they positively need warm, com- fortable quarters? If suitable houses are provided for turkeys, warm, clean and comfortable with plenty of lime, grit and charcoal during the winter months, it will be found that there will be very little trouble with blackhead during the summer and consequently less tendency to consumption and other diseases in the colder months. SWOLLEN HEADS Swollen heads in turkeys seems to me to be the prevailing disease this spring of 1913. Complaints have come to me from all over the country, also sick birds have been sent to me to treat. I do not know whether it would be called roup or canker, but the appear- ance of it is that of a common cold, a watery discharge from the nose, eyes half closed, and sometimes wholly Page one hundred four closed, with a large projecting forma- tion in the orbital cavity under the eyes, which, if left there, will cause the death of the turkey after the turkey loses its sight. Press your hand gently on the formation. If the formation has not become hard, but is still in a spongy condition, press firmly on both sides of the nose under the eyes, and force out the thick, foul discharge which has gathered. Wash the head with Sulpho-Napthol or Presto Disin- fectant, dry well, and then disinfect with my salve. Repeat this every day until the turkey is well. In the mean- time the turkey will have a little hack- ing cough that is caused by a watery discharge from the head, which flows down inside the nose and drops on to the windpipe. A human being has a chance to relieve the head and throat, but the turkey does not have this ad- vantage. Page one hundred Hve If, however, the formation in the orbital cavity has become hard, an operation is necessary. Have some one hold the bird gently on its side, with its wings close to the body in nat- ural form, for in the struggle, the bird is very apt to break its wing. Wash the head with Sulpho-Napthol or Presto Disinfectant and dry well. Have ready a good sharp operating knife, thor- oughly sterilized, and also sterilize your hands. About one-fourth inch below the eye you will find one or two leaders. You must try to avoid cutting through these. Always try to avoid cutting through any veins. Make a clean cut about one-half inch in length, running straight down the orbital cavity to the beak so that when it heals up it will leave no scar. If the turkey is in good blood and a male bird, they are very apt to bleed quite a little. I would then Page one hundred six stop the blood with cotton batten, or by bathing with water mixed with a little alum. Leave the bird for that day. The next morning open up the cut, take out the canker, which you will find to be a yellow, cheesy substance, with a very bad odor. Remove all this canker, wash out the cavity with peroxide of hydrogen, dry well, fill the cavity with Margaret Mahaney Salve, which keeps the head soft and clean. Wash the head lightly for a few days. When the wound heals up you will find a sort of dry core in the wound. Remove this, wash out, and your turkey is all well. Trust the rest to nature. If you find that the lump under the eye has become hard and white before you operate, and that the blood has flowed back from the head, there is no Page one hundred seven need of waiting for the wound to stop bleeding. You can remove the canker at once.* In the meantime, in the feed put a half teaspoonful of sulphur each morn- ing for a week in a warm mush made from Margaret Mahaney Turkey Feed. This will keep the bowels in good con- dition, and hasten the recovery of the turkey. This canker is sometimes found in the rectum of the turkey. Syringe the bird with warm water in which has been dissolved a little piece of Castile soap. Add to one quart of water a half teaspoonful of boric acid, and after the bird has been thoroughly washed out, wash again with the above solu- • For the operation above described I have been _ ^^=i^^JS*tg a using of late, and can- ^^-^-^•'s^&e0 not recommend too highly, a knife which may be procured at Park & Pollard's, called a Killing Knife. Page one hundred eight tion. Dry the vent thoroughly and sponge on a little sweet oil. Do this for a few days with sulphur in the feed, and you will find that the bird will be all right. Use about y^ teaspoonful of sulphur to % pint of feed. SORE EYES AND HEAD The eyes may become sore from dust, excessive heat, dampness and other causes, and give out a watery discharge. The whole head may be- come involved in the inflammation. Such mild afflictions are to be distin- guished from canker and roup, but it is always safe to keep a sharp lookout for the latter when the eyes are sore. Wash the parts with a weak solution of white vitriol (sulphate of zinc) or with alum-water, or with a solution of alum and camphor. If the discharge has become gummy or hardened, re- move it with warm water and Castile Fage one hundred nine soap, followed with alum and water. Dry the head well with a soft cloth, and then rub gently with Margaret Mahaney Turkey Salve, as it con- tains all the ingredients that heal and cleanse. To about four turkeys put one-half teaspoonful of sulphur in the feed with a shake of red pepper three or four times a week, and a little tincture of iron in the water (about four drops to a gallon of water). CONSTIPATION IN TURKEYS Constipation is caused by indiges- tion, taking cold, too close confinement, too much dry feed and too little green, a deficient supply of good water and the like. It is indicated by frequent attempts to evacuate the bowels, either wholly unsuccessful or resulting only in hard, dark droppings. The turkey is uneasy and perhaps staggers. Page one hundred ten Give an abundance of green food and a soft mixture of bran and oatmeal and ten drops of sulphate of magnesia to a pint of the drinking water. Along with these directions for the feed, it will be well to give two drops of aconite to a half glass of water, giving the bird a teaspoonful of the solution every hour until the fever disappears, following this with a solution made of two drops of nux vomica to a half glass of water, giving a teaspoonful of the solution every hour until well, or if a cold is the cause, use two drops of bryonia in the water instead of the nux vomica. I have often had this disease in my flock when the turkeys are about three months old, just before I let them out for a good day's ramble, so that is why I always recommend plenty of good let- tuce. It keeps the bowels in good con- dition, keeps the intestines cool, and makes up itself for all fever remedies. Page one hundred eleven DIARRHEA. This disease is often mistaken for blackhead in grown turkeys. It may result from an excessive use of tainted food, mouldy bread or mouldy grain, impure water, extreme heat, exposure in damp weather, filthy quarters and ' general indigestion, poison, or any in- flammatory affliction of the intestines or the stomach. The symptoms are loose droppings of different colors which befoul the feathers, lassitude, and a loss of condi- tion. In dysentery which results from a diseased condition of the intestines, the droppings are more frothy and mingled with blood, and attended with rapid prostration. A form of diarrhea essentially dif- ferent from the two described, occurs in an old female turkey in which a white discharge comes away more or Page one hundred twelve less constantly, often dribbling out, and keeps the feathers about the vent in- crusted with a white, chalk-like deposit. It is doubtless due to some derangement in the shell-making function, and can best be treated by promoting the gen- eral health and using the means noted below. Treatment: Have your pharmacist make up pills made of a mixture of five grains of powdered chalk, five of rhu- barb, and five of cayenne pepper, add- ing a half grain of opium in severe cases. Give two pills daily. Another good remedy is camphorated spirits of barley meal, three to six grains for each bird according to age, or ten to twenty drops of the same may be put in a pint of the drink. For mild cases and in the early stages of others, powdered chalk on boiled rice may be sufficient. The remedy last named is recommended Page one hundrefl thirteen for the white discharge of old females, for which the pills described above should be used as well as a little lime water, made by allowing about y^ tea- spoonful air-slacked lime to ^ pint water for a bird. Dissolve and then pour off the liquid for them to drink instead of plain water. Restrict the drink in all forms of these disorders and put into it a little tincture of iron (four drops to a gal- lon of water). Dysentery with blood discharges is a serious disorder. It is best to give a teaspoonful of castor oil, followed with three to six drops of laudanum every few hours, supplying an exclusive diet of mild food. It is important that the afflicted bird be kept quiet and apart from the flock, especially in dysentery. Isolate the afflicted bird when you are at all doubtful regarding the nature Page one hittidred fourteen of the disorder. Give a couple of table- spoonfuls of ground chalk to a pint of warm mash made from Margaret Mor haney Turkey Feed. This will also be found beneficial at any time to the laying turkey hens of five or six years old. Allow one pint of mash to four turkeys three times a day. A little camphor, about the size of a good sized bean, to four turkeys will hasten the recovery; dropped in the drinking water once a week, will help to keep the birds in good laying condition. Diarrhea in Little Turkeys Diarrhea in a little turkey is white, something the same as that trouble in a common chicken, and if you look very carefully you will see that the little legs are dotted with white, and the little turkeys will be lifeless and not appear- ing to thrive. That is the time to give them Mahaney pills (four to a quart Page one hundred fifteen of drinking water for 10 or 11 young turkeys). Boil a piece of meat, grind fine, and put in the feed, and that will help them get back their vitality. A drop of aconite in the drinking water on damp days will help to prevent fever of any kind. GAPES There are many remedies for gapes, but the following is always beneficial and dependable. It manifests itself first by the birds gaping around just as a person would yawn. Fill a common, long-necked oil can such as is used for oiling a sewing ma- chine, with kerosene oil; open the tur- key's mouth and wait until it breathes in order that the windpipe may be open, then inject a good spray of the kerosene, perhaps a teaspoonful in all. Three doses will usually cure the turkeys of the gape worm. Give treatment three Page one hundred sixteen times a day, in the morning, at noon and night. Shut the turkeys up in their run for about a week, then move them to new ground. TAPE WORM The tape worm is an entirely differ- ent thing and is rather more serious, and will produce substantially the same symptoms as indigestion. If they are in the bowels, costiveness or diarrhea may be more marked, while the turkey will be uneasy and picking at the vent if they are in the lower part of the in- testine. In all cases there will be more or less loss of flesh and often diminished gloss in the feathers, while the bird has either an impaired or a voracious appe- tite. The' only unmistakable symptom is the presence of worms in the drop- pings when they first pass out. An unhealthy condition of the diges- tive organs is the main cause. The Page one hundred seventeen treatment for this is a teaspoonful of castor oil followed by a light addition of sulphur to the feed, and this may expel the worms and restore the gen- eral health. A little cayenne pepper in the feed and tincture of iron in the water will aid the cure. The use of four drops of oil of ferm to a table- spoonful of water is beneficial in a case of this kind. Give in the morning be- fore the bird has eaten anything. I had one bird this last year which had a tape worm. I noticed the worm in the droppings first. I took the bird away and put her on a board floor and gave her a good dose of castor oil. She had only passed half of the worm at one time, and I watched her very closely until she passed the head. In a case of tape worm the droppings will be more or less white and limy. A turkey requires a great deal of lime. Page one hundred eighteen I have even seen turkeys pick at an old wall where it had been plastered. Lime, mixed with sand, should be left in all the corners of the farm for tur- keys to eat, as it is a sure |)reve$itive of worms. PERITONITIS Peritonitis in turkeys is often mis- taken for blackhead. It is a very diffi- cult disease to treat, and it is only with the milder cases that success can rea- sonably be expected. The affected bird must be kept quiet, protected from any current of air, and opium in doses of one (1) grain every four hours is recommended to quiet the pain and reduce t^e movement of the intestines, or mix three or four drops of aconite in a half glass of water and give a tea- spoonful three or four times a day. In- jections of tepid water are recommend- ed to counteract constipation. Take a Page one hundred nineteen hot water bag. Do not have the water so hot that it would be uncomfortable for the turkey; wring a flannel out of warm water and lay it over the hot water bag, and ,then place the bag against the wall of thesabdomen. Re- new them as often as necessary to keep up a moist heat. This treatment should be continued from a half hour to an hour. Repeat three or four times a day, drying the surface of the wall afterwards so that the bird will not take cold. If there is a great weak- ness, one or two drops of ether, or four or five drops of tincture of camphor may be injected under the skin as a stimulant. In case the disease is due to rupture of the oviduct or perforation of the intestine, treatment is useless; if it has followed inflammation of the intestine, the treatment for enteritis should be combined with that for peritonitis. Page one hundred twenty On opening the abdominal cavity of a turkey which has died from peri- tonitis, the lining membrane is found to be a deep red in color, and is some- times covered by an exudate, which may consist of a thin, transparent layer, or it may be thick yellowish or reddish yellow. The abdomen may contain more or less liquid which may be transparent or it may be turbid with a yellow or reddish color. If the trouble is due to the perforation of the intestine, the liquid will have a very offensive odor from the multiplication of the putrefactive germs. If it has resulted from the rupture of the ovi- duct, the egg, either intact or broken, will generally be found in the abdom- inal cavity, and the ruptured place in the wall of the oviduct is easily dis- covered. Page one hundred twenty-one The writer had two cases of peri- tonitis in her flock of turkey hens just around the laying season. One died and the other I succeeded in saving by the breaking of the bound egg and washing out the rectum with a syringe. For a wash of this kind four or five drops of iodine should be added. It is good to relieve pain and acts as a stim- ulant for the bird. The bird must be kept very warm and comfortable after a thing of that kind for three or four days. It is well to feed the bird on stimulating food and keep her away from the breeding pens until she re- covers her strength. Page one hundred twenty-two THE BRONZE TURKEY THE BRONZE TURKEY THE ORGANS AND SIZE THIS variety holds the place of honor. It probably originated from a cross between the wild and the tame product. Its beautiful, rich plumage and size have come from the wild progenitor. To maintain this quality, crosses are continually made. In this way the mammoth size has been gained. Their standard weight ranges from twenty, thirty-six to forty and fifty pounds, according to age and sex. Probably more of this variety are grown each year than all the others. They have been pushed on all sides, almost to the exclusion of the others. Until within a few years, if possible. Page one hundred tweny-Uve Missing Page Missing Page ing than the turkey. This should be guarded against at all times if it is hoped to gain the best results, SELECTION OP BREFDING STOCK Naturally the bronae turlray should be the largest in si?;c, the riiost vigorous in constitution and the most proiitable to grow. This would be the status of the variety at present were it not that too little attention hss been given to the selection of the females for breed- ing stock. It should be fully under- stood that size and constitutional vigor come largely from the female, and to have this ir flacnce to the fullest extent, well proportioned, vigorous females in their second or third year should be selected as breeders. Do not select very large specimens for this purpose; those of a medium size are usually the best. Discard undersized females at Page one hundred twenty-seven all times, as they are of little value as producers. Length of shank and thigh, if out of proportion, should not be mis- taken for size. Full rounded body and breast indicates value most clearly; size and strength of bone indicate con- stitutional vigor which should be main- tained through the selection of the very best at all times for producing stock. When especial care is given to the selection of breeding birds, and the grower bears in mind those profitable market characteristics — compactness of form, length of breast and body, and constitutional vigor, the most satisfac- tory results may be obtained from the growing of this variety, but no matter how much care may be given those con- ditions, only partial success will come if inbreeding is permitted. The use of over-sized males with small females Page one hundred twenty-eight is of less advantage than the use of smaller males with well matured, me- dium sized females. MARKETING Of course, we cannot all sell our turkeys for breeding. That would en- tirely rob the table of its Thanksgiving luxury. After the turkeys are grown and ready for market, quite as much care and attention should be given to the killing and shipping as to the proper growing. When these things cannot be done to good advantage, it would be better to sell them alive. Buyers who are prepared to kill, dress, pack and ship turkeys and to save the feathers, should be in a position to pay what they are worth alive, and should be able to handle them at a profit better than can the grower, who may not be prepared to do this work to advantage. So Page one hundred twenty-nine much depends upon marketing them in the best condition that small growers should either dress and sell to their home market or, providing it can be done at a fair price, sell alive to some- one who makes a business of handling such stock. Kill nothing but well fat- tened stock. It seldom pays to sell ill- favored stock to the market. Do not give any feed to the turkeys for twelve hours before killing. This allows their crops and entrails to become empty and avoids much of the danger of spoiling. Full crops and entrails count against the value; they often taint the meat, and prevent it from being kept for any length of time. DRESSING Dry picking is always to be preferred when preparing fowl for market. When in fine condition, nicely picked, and sent to market without having Page one hundred thirty been packed in ice, the turkey is at its best and consequently commands the highest price. When the fowl is plucked, hang its head down in a cool place until all the animal heat is gone from the body, being careful not to hang it where it will be exposed to the cold as it is likely to freeze. Do not re- move the head, feet or entrails, but have the whole carcass, including the head and feet, perfectly clean. SHIPPING For shipping, pack as closely as pos- sible into close boxes or barrels, nicely lined with white or manila paper. Do not use brown, soiled or printed paper. Have the package completely filled so as to prevent the poultry from shifting. Have all the heads laid one way, breasts up. Do not use hay or straw for pack- ing as it marks and stains the fowl, de- Page one hundred thirty-one tracting from the value. The above method can only be used when the poul- try is sent to market without being packed in ice, and when this can be done in safety either in refrigerator cars or for a short distance in cold weather, it is by far the best. The greater part, however, must be packed in ice. When necessary to do this, use nice clean barrels, cover the bottom with broken ice, then put in a layer of turkey, then a layer of ice ; con- tinue this until the barrel is packed full. Always use perfectly clean ice for pack- ing. Head the barrel tightly, and mark its contents plainly on the head. Never ship mixed lots of poultry in the same package if it can be avoided. Page one hundred thirty-two