Bt^-^^^^at ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY New York State Colleges OF Agriculture and Home Economics AT Cornell University THE GIFT OF W, D. Termohlen Cornell University Library SF 507.M9 1899 Turkeys and how to grow them. A treatise 3 1924 003 171 083 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924003171083 THE AMERICAN WILD TURKEY. Photographed for this work direct from Audubon's great colored pic- ture, painted from life. TURKEYS —AND— How to Grow Them, A treatise on the natural history and origin of the Name of Turkeys; the Various Breeds, and Best Methods to insure success in the business of Turkey growing. With Essays from Practical Turkey Growers in different parts of the United States and Canada. EDITED BY HERBERT MYRICK. Witb the assistance of Samuel Cushman, late Poultry Manager Rhode Island ExperiDient Station; Breeds and Show Foiuts treated by H. S. Babcock, Sec- retary Rhode Island Poultry Association and Editor American Standard of Perfection; Articles hy GJeorge Wolf, Judge of Turkeys at Chicago Fat Stock Show, A. F. Greene of Massachusetts, E. Richardson of California, Creorge Entyof Pennsylvania, J. F. Barbee of Ken- tacky, and otherfamous breeders of Thoroughbred Turkeys, or specialists in raising Turkeys for market. COPIOUSLY ILLUSTRATED. NEW YORK ORANGE JUDD COMPANY 1899 6F 607 . -' > E 8730 Copyright, 1897, BY ORANGE JUDD OOMPANS PREFACE No book in existence gives an adequate account of the turkey, — its development from tlie wild state to the vari- ous breeds, and complete directions for breeding, feeding, rearing and marketing these beautiful and profitable birds. The present book is an effort to fill this gap. It is based upon the experience of the most successful experts in tur- key growing, both as breeders of fancy stock and as rais- ers of turkeys for market. In the preparation of the work we make full use of the valuable and original work on tur- key culture done at the Rhode Island Experiment Station, quote from Harris' (English) Turkey Book, and print the prize-winning papers out of nearly two hundred essays submitted by the most successful turkey growers in America. We have also given one essay on turkey cul- ture, from different parts of the country, including Can- ada and New Brunswick, that the reader may see what ways have proven successful in each locality. A method that succeeds in Tennessee might not do in Nebraska; the cold winters of Vermont would kill the turkeys if the systems were in vogue there that succeed in Southern Mis- souri. Much of the compilation has been done by Mr. Aaron F. Greene, who includes also many points from his own experience, as well as many points contained In the nu- merous essays not printed, that will help to success in rearing turkeys for profit and pleasure. It is thus hoped that the book will be found comprehensive and useful and to contain all that is of practical interest on this subject. n TUEKEY CULTUEE. EXTENT OF THE TURKEY BUSINESS. We are also able to present some fairly accurate statis- tics as to the extent of the poultry industry in the United States. It is probable that the annual sales of turkeys for meat exceed the number of turkeys enumerated by the census of 1890— over 10,000,000. With the sales of breed- ing stock and eggs, it is probable that the turkey trade of the United States exceeds $12, 000, 000 annually. The prin- cipal turkey-growing States appear in the tables below, and the American Agriculturist has shown that the number in the United States June 1, 1896, was over 12,000,000. We also copy a table from that magazine, showing the tur- keys in the principal turkey counties of these States, from some of which choice breeding stock is shipped to all parts of this country, England and Europe. NUMBER OF TUEKEYS IN EACH STATE ON JTJNE 1, 1890, ACCOEDING TO THE FEDEKAJL, CENSUS. Total for United States, 10,754,060. Maine ]New Hampshire Vermont Massachusetts Rliode Island Connecticut New York New Jersey Pennsylvania Delaware Maryland I3isirict of Columbia, Virginia West Virginia North Carolina South Carolina Georgia .-. Florida Ohio Indiana Illinois Michigan "Wisconsin Minnesota Iowa 15,269 10,207 72,164 5,805 11,656 30,176 402,642 162,270 635,828 70.578 278,522 215 477,414 214,756 197,420 149,126 148,797 34,426 621,171 50.5,111 ,043,947 185,847 206.230 r^l.i'iO 940,849 Missouri North Dakota. South Dakota . Nebraska Kansas Kentucky Tennessee Alabama Mississippi — Louisiana Texas Oklahoma Arkansas .Mt)nlana Wyoming Colorado New Mexico. .. Arizona Ut.ih Nevada Idaho IWashington... Oregon California I Total 928.751 33,928 60,163 218,636 530,397 672,106 430,333 177,681 194,398 74,680 535.916 5,931 118.816 5,077 2,441 20,872 928 2,744 9,220 4,193 6,433 17,187 43.556 287.799 0,754,060 PBEFACE. Til The principal turlcey counties, showing the number of turkeys in eacli in June, 1889, as returned by the census, also the number on Jan 1, 1896, as estimated by American Agriculturist, are as follows : Last three figures (OOO's) omitted. 1889 Vermont T2 Adcllsoii Co 12 Orange 13 Windsor 14 Otliers 33 New York 403 EiieCo 5 Monroe 13 Onondaga 15 St. Lawrence 30 Steuben 8 OUiers 332 NEW Jersey 162 Burlington Co 26 Hunterdon 16 Mercer 17 Monmouth 22 Salem 22 Others 59 Pennsylvania 536 Berks 23 Chester 37 Lancaster Co 30 ■Waslilngtou 31 York 23 Otliers 393 Delaware 71 Kent 39 Newcastle 12 Sussex 20 Maryland 279 Charles 19 Frederick 19 Harford 16 Queen Anne 24 St. Mary 21 Others 180 Virginia 477 Princess Anne 18 Rockingham 21 Tazewell 13 Washington 14 Wythe 12 Others 399 WEST Virginia 215 Greenbrier 12 Harrison 26 Lewis 10 Monongalia 10 Monroe 12 Others 145 North Carolina . 197 Currituck 6 Edgecombe 5 Greene 5 Lenoir 7 '96 83 14 15 16 38 483 6 15 18 194 31 18 20 26 26 73 589 24 40 33 34 26 433 78 43 13 22 307 21 21 18 26 23 198 525 20 23 14 15 13 440 237 13 29 11 11 13 160 207 6 5 5 1889 '96 Nash 6 S Others 169 179 South Carolina 149 1B6 Abbeville 6 6 Beaufort 13 14 Berkeley 8 8 Darlington 7 7 Edgefield 7 7 Others 108 114 GEORGIA 149 164 Bartow 3 3 Burke 4 4 Houston 3 3 Screven 4 4 Thomas 3 3 Others 132 147 OHIO 621 699 Fairfield 8 9 Franklin 10 11 Montgomery 12 13 Freble 9 10 Others 482 556 INDIANA 505 581 Boone 11 12 Hendricks 15 17 Henry 13 15 Montgomery 13 15 Putnam 13 15 Others 440 507 Illinois 1044 1252 Iroquois 30 36 Lee 21 25 Livingston 22 26 McLean 25 31 Vermilion 34 40 Others 912 1094 Michigan 186 214 Kent 8 9 Lenawee 14 16 Monroe 7 8 Oakland 10 12 Wasihtenaw 13 IS Others 134 154 Wisconsin 206 237 Columbia 9 10 Dane 17 20 Dodge 11 13 Fond du Lac 9 10 Rock 12 14 Others 148 170 Minnesota 151 166 BlueEarlh 6 7 FaribauU 7 8 rillmore 7 8 Freeborn 6 6 Martin 6 7 VUl TUEKEY CULTURE. 1889 Others 120 Iowa 941 Dallas 16 Davis 16 Greene 27 Linn 16 Polk 16 Others 850 Missouri 929 Audrain 23 Hoone 24 Callaway 22 Monroe 24 Pike 23 Others 813 NebuasKA 219 Clay 8 Gage 7 Lancaster 9 Saline 6 York 6 Others 183 Kansas 530 Cowley 18 Dickinson 18 McPherson 13 Marion 12 Sumner 15 Others 454 Kkntuoky 672 Bourbon 23 Harrison 25 Madison 27 Mercer 20 Shelby 20 Others 567 Tennessee 430 Bedford 22 Giles 20 Lincoln 16 Maury 20 Rutherford 19 Others 333 '96 132 1129 19 19 32 19 19 1021 1022 25 26 24 26 25 896 241 10 7 7 201 683 20 20 14 13 17 499 706 24 26 28 21 21 685 462 23 21 17 21 20 350 1889 '96 ALABAMA 178 187 Bullock 7 7 Dallas 9 9 Lowndes 11 12 Montgomery 11 12 Wilcox 6 6 Otliers 134 141 Mississippi 194 204 Hinds : 7 7 Madison 6 6 Monroe 7 7 Noxubee 7 7 Panola 5 5 Others 162 170 Louisiana 75 80 Avoyelles 3 3 DeSoto 4 4 Ouachita 4 4 Rapides 3 3 St. Landry 5 6 Others 66 69 TEXAS 536 643 Bell 12 14 Ellis 12 14 Fayette 14 16 Grayson 13 15 Lavaca 10 12 Others... 475 672 Akkansas 119 125 Crawford 3 3 Jetfevson 6 6 Phillips 3 3 SebMstian 3 3 Washington 6 6 Others 98 103 California 288 360 Colusa 15 19 Fresno 22 27 Sacramento 15 19 Tehama 17 21 Tulare 40 50 Others 179 224 THE TURKEY. CHAPTER I. THE TUEKEY— ITS KATTJEAL HISTORY AND ORIGIN OF NAME. BY E. RICHARDSON. It is well known that the origin of the name of the do- mestic fowl called the turkey is involved in much obscu- rity. iNTo dictionary that I know of gives its true etymology, but the name is supposed to arise from the belief that the bird came from the country of Turkey. It is the object of the present essay to trace the origin of the bird and its name, showing how the former camt- from the West and the latter from a far Eastern clime. The origin of the turkey is, however, not nearly so uncer- tain ao that of its name, for no fact of natural history is better established than that it was introduced into Europe from Mexico ; and as to the date of the introduction, there can be as little doubt, for it is recorded by Prescott in his "Conquest of Mexico" that the followers of Cortez, soon after their landing, first met with this bird on their march to Cempoalla. It is told how they saw deer and various animals previously unknown to Europeans, and among them pheasants, and a species of peacock, as they described it, which was none other than the Wild turkey, the pride of the American forest and the progenitor of our proud and stately domestic fowl. The introduction of the bird into Europe naturally followed, as soon as circumstances permitted, and not long after, — for in the month of July. 1519, Cortez dispatched his "first letter" to his emperor. 3 TtlRKET CULTUEE. Charles the Pifth, with a collection of fabrics, minerals, and other products of the New World. Three years later he dispatched another communication, together with a royal fifth of the spoils of Mexico, embracing a rich collec- tion of all the products of the country, and it is not to be supposed that the turkey was omitted, especially as it was easily obtained. This consignment, however, was captured by a French privateer and fell into the hands of Francis the First, who is said to have gazed with wonder and envy upon the spoils of the Aztecs, and to have expressed the wish to see the clause in Adams' last will and testament that authorized his imperial rivals of Castile and Portugal to divide the New World between them. Prescott further says, in describing the manners of the Mexicans: "The table was well supplied with substantial meats, especially game, of which the most conspicuous was the Wild turkey, erroneously sujjposed, as its name sug- gests, to have come originally from the East. ' ' He also says that this noble bird was introduced into Europe from Mexico, where it was domesticated, and was very common and abundant not only in Mexico, but all along the continent. Thus we see how history records its introduction into Europe and refers to the error of supposing it to have come from the country so called. The Spaniards recog- nized its relation to the peacock by calling it gallopavo, the name of -the true or Indian peacock being pavon. Naturalists place it in the same order in which are in- cluded pheasants, quaii, etc. The peacock is the proud ornament of this order, and, as I have said, is a native of India, and is mentioned in the history of the East. His- tory fm-ther tells us that the turkey was first brought to England in 1524, five years after Cortez first sent specimens to Spain. At first it was only in the hands of the rich, as naturally would be the case, but in course of time became accessible to the poor as well. So much, then, as to the THE TURKEY. 6 origin of tlie bird itself, in which is shown how it is a native of Mexico, and was introduced into Europe by the expedition of Cortez to the New World, and called by his followers the "American" or "Mexican" peacock, from its habit of strutting. Strange, then, how the bird came to be called turkey, a word in no way similar to the Anglo-Saxon pawa, the Ger- man pfau, the French paon or the Latin pavo, all names similar to one another and derived from the Latin, the bird having been brought from the East by the Romans. The mystery then is how, in view of all these facts, the name "turkey" came to be applied to this bird. It is obvious that we must look to some other language for a solution of the problem. Going to the far-off home of the peacock, we find in the Tamil language of India, a word toka, peacock, the primitive meaning of which refers to a train or trail- ing skirt. This word, adopted into the Hebrew language, becomes tukki, and by a slight change by the genius of the English language, becomes what we are looking for, turkey. But, it is asked, How came it through the Hebrew ? Let it be said, then, that at the time of the expedition of Cor- tez to Mexico, the despised and persecuted Jews were very numerous in Spain, and engaged, as they usually are, by their natural adaptability for gain, in merchandising. Their acuteness led them to deal in foreign birds, and curi- osities and rarities, by which they reaped large profits, as these things were only purchased by the rich. Naturally, then, they saw in this new importation an opportunity for gain, which they seized, and as they used their own lan- guage as much as possible, it was not long before the He- brew name for peacock became well known. Doubtless they designated it as the "American" peacock, for it was well known from whence it came. Thus it would be that the word tukki would constantly be heard in the market places, while the more scientific name of pavo would only be heard among the educated few, and so by force of numbers the 4: TUEKBT CULTUEE. name was used and anglicised into turkey, a name that gives rise to pleasant fancies about Thanksgiving day. Purther- more, the name was formerly spelled turhy, as when Corbet, Bishop of Oxford, writes to Buckingham : "Like very pooi'e or counterfeit poore man, who, to preserve their turky or their hen, do offer up tliemselves." In tracing the word to the Hebrew, the rules governing etymologies have been complied with, since here we have preserved the radicals t and k, which fact only tends to prove the origin of the word, according to the views here- in set forth. And tlius we see how the American peacock was introduced by Cortez to its gaudier Eastern rival, and received its ancient name, and how these proud birds of the Eastern and Western hemispheres became united to each other by a name which, traced backwards, reveals facts of linguistic interest, no less than the affinities and glories of earth's most important feathered tribes. CHAPTER II. THE WILD TUEKEY (Meleagris gaUop), BY GEORGE ENTT. Every American has heard of these birds, and not a few have seen them hanging in the market stalls of the large cities in some parts of the country, while a much smaller number have seen them alive in all the glory of their woody surroundings. And though he has never seen one alive or helped to kill or eat one, I believe there is not an American to-day who is not proud of this king of the for- est. And well may we all be proud of our Wild turkeys, for of all of our useful birds it is the only one domesti- cated and made to serve our purpose to the fullest extent. Once found all along the Atlantic coast, all through the territory now known as Mexico and the Central American States, and in the great interior plain of North America, the turkey in a state of nature is to-day limited to the mountainous regions of New York and Pennsljrvania, Vir- ■ ginia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, a few in Kentucky, some parts of the Gulf States, and rare sections of the Western States. Like all game, it is rapidly giving way to the in- cessant warfare of dogs, guns and hunters. The loggers go into the forest, followed soon by the farmer and his boys, and the poor turkeys lose their right to the land and to their claim on life. Thus it goes on all sides, and it will not be many years before they become almost as much of a rarity as a wild buffalo ranging his Western prairies. The habits of the turkey have not changed much by do- mestication. The bird has become less shy and timid, but hardly less watchful. It nests now along a fence, or in a bunch of weeds, grass or briers, where formerly it sought 5 6 TUEKET CULTURE. the most secluded spots along the mountain side. It roams with its young now in the wheat stuhble, through the growing corn, and over the mown meadows and short- cropped pasture land, while its wild sister scratches among the leaves of the distant chestnut lidge, or gleans among the open oak glades for food. But although the first ex- plorers of this continent found the turkey domesticated by some of the Indian tribes,' yet to this day many of the Wild traits show plainly in the common turkeys of the farm. And these latter probably have had no infusion of Wild blood for a hundred years, or more in many instances. Wild turkeys in their native haunts are remarkably alert, cautious, and apparently possessed of a large share of rea- soning powers. It is something wonderful, the manner in which they elude the oldest and most exi^erienced hunters. My grandfather said that the whole countryside of gun- ners were out on the watch for a renowned albino gobbler that ranged the hills along the Allegheny river, in his young days, and although the spotless-white bird was fre- quently seen, on a bright morning or evening, flying from one hilltop to another, yet it was two or three years be- fore he at last fell before the unerring aim of one of my grand uncles. And it was a source of much chagrin to my youngest brother, then a lad, not to be able to locate Min- nehaha's nest the first season we had her. She was a full Wild hen, one year old, obtained from the mountains in central Pennsylvania, and was the beginning of our efforts at crossing Wild and Bronze turkeys, to improve the plum- age and liardiness of the latter. But watch and trail her as he might, and with all the casual assistance a half- dozen brothers and sisters could give him, our turkey-hunt- ing expert could not find the Wild hen's nest until after the poults were hatched and away. This, too, in a place where the woods were in small and isolated tracts. Early in the spring the largest and strongest gobbler drives off the weaker ones, and assumes a royal charge of the flock THE WILD TURKEY. 7 of hens about him. The young gobblers meekly stay with the flock until it breaks up for nesting ; but any old gob- blers in the flock leave it at once if they discover they cannot rule, and live in solitude, excepting that, attracted by his beauty, or perchance out of pity, or on account of some dislike for the ruling gobbler, some hen consorts with the banished bird, and shares his solitude. Again, two or three young gobblers will" be found together, living in peace and plenty during the pleasant summer months. The nests are made exactly as the domesticated turkey's, and the number of eggs laid by one hen ranges from eight or nine to 18 or 20. The eggs are more thickly spotted with reddish-brown dots and blotches than those of tame turkeys or of all other than Bronze turkeys. They are not as large as domestic turkeys' eggs, yet a nest is occasion- ally found with eggs as large as White Holland eggs. If the eggs are taken from the rest and hatched under a do- mestic turkey, the young poults will run off to the forest as soon as hatched. This experiment in domestication was frequently tried by an uncle of the writer, who passed his youthful days in the midst of the finest Wild turkey county in Pennsylvania. The little poults are very hardy, and, like quail and grouse, frequently mature without the loss of a single bird. The mother turkey takes most excellent care of her family, leading them slowly and carefully about the woods, turn- ing over the dead leaves in search of worms, etc, and find- ing the wild berries in season, where the poults soon fill their little crops. In late summer or autumn, several hens and their broods frequently go in one flock, and then, with some old gob- bler as chief, whose plumage glistens like a leaf of gold, and emeralds, and garnets, and all the hues of the rain- bow, they range the hills, plains, mountains and valleys in search of food. It is astonishing to the young hunter what an extended amount of territory a flock will travel 8 TTTEKEY CULTUEE. in a day. I know a fast walker, while in the mountains a few years ago, who every Sabbath took his rifle and fol- lowed the trail of a large flock of Wild turkeys that kept along the mountain side, or on its siunmit. Yet this hunt- er never caught sight of the birds. A few lost feathers, and an extended list of ruffled grouse and squirrels that he could have shot had he not been expecting each minute to discover the turkeys, was all the reward he got for breaking the fourth commandment. In autumn and early winter Wild turkeys are very plump and fat, and are the first game birds of the land. They are juicy and fat from long feeding on beechnuts, chestnuts, acorns, berries, and in the neighborhood of farms an occasional meal of wheat, corn, or buckwheat, the whole seasoned and spiced by the rich insects gathered in the forest, and made tender by tlie sharp frosts ; and the purest meat food imaginable is produced by such constant living in the pure air and wood-scented forests, with the absence of all filth and vermin. The painting of a Wild gobbler made by the great natu- ralist Audubon, is perhaps the best ever made, and will give a good idea of what a fine two-year-old gobbler is like. The hens are less brilliantly colored, but are finely marked, and the "rainbow tints" are more brilliant than the coloring on many Bronze gobblers seen at the fairs and poultry shows. My father shot an old gobbler which he thought would have weighed 25 lbs had it been fat. It was early in the sj^ring, when turkeys are always lean. This bird, when cut up and salted, filled an empty powder keg. (Kegs hold 25 lbs of blasting powder. ) A friend of ours in Mifflin county, Pa, raised a Wild gobbler which at matu- rity is said to have weighed 32 lbs. I think this weight was only estimated, and it is known that few people are correct judges of weight. And it may usually be taken with considerable allowance when weights of pure Wild hens are given much above 15 lbs, and gobblers above 20 THE WILD TUIiKEY. y lbs, wliile most hens -weigh under 12 lbs and most gobblers under 16 lbs. But, although when compared with large Bronze, White Holland, or Karragansett, the Wild turkey may appear small, its power to so reinforce the constitutional stamina of any turkeys with which it is crossed, and thus give prog- eny of superior size, is well known to many turkey raisers, while it is the only known way of retaining the brilliant marking so characteristic of well-bred Bronze turkeys. This fact should be better understood. I can conceive of nothing more ornamental, taken all in all, than a stately Wild gobbler, with his beard almost touching the turf, his widespread tail with its black bars and rich chestnut edging, his trailing wings, the crimson and blue coloring of head and neck, and all the colors of sky, and sea, and autumn leaves glistening upon each feather — such a bird and his half-dozen mates strutting about the lawn and shrubbery of a gentleman's grounds. And no sight would be half as much appreciated by all lovers of nature as such an one. It would instinctively take the mind of the busy city resident back to his child- hood on the farm ; or, if so unfortunate as to have been born in town, back to his father's or mother's childhood, as oft related to him ; back to the time when excitement ran high when the Wild turkeys were discovered feeding on the green wheat in spring; back to the great Thanks- giving hunt when father or brother brought in this noble chief of the wood to crown the feast ; and back again to the long summer days spent roaming through the forest in search of juneberries, huckleberries, nuts, or wild grapes ; and to the moment of supreme delight, when a flock of Wild turkeys suddenly start up from some hiding place, and with flashing eyes, spreading tails and notes of alarm walk away, slowly, a few steps, and then, with a rushing of brown leaves, like so many phantoms disappear in the dim light of the distant wood. 10 TUKKBY CULTXJBE. May the day never come when it shall be said the noble Wild turkey roams my native mountains no more. THE WOOIXG OF THE WILD TUEKEY. BY J. M. MUKPHY- The males commence wooing as early as February in some of the extreme Southern States ; but March is the opening of the love season throughout the country, and April the month in which it reaches its highest development. The males may then be heard calling to the females from every direction, until the woods ring with their loud and liquid cries, which are commenced long ere the sun appears above the horizon, and continue for hours with the stead- iest persistency. As both sexes roost apart at this period, the hens avoid answering the gobblers for some time, but they finally become less obdurate, and coyly return the call. When the males hear this, all within hearing respond promptly and vehemently, uttering notes similar to those which the domestic gobblers do when they hear an unu- sual sound. If the female answering the call is on the ground, the males fly t^ her and parade before her with all the pompous strutting that characterizes the family. They spread and erect their tails, depress their wings with a quivering motion and trail them along the ground, and draw the head back on the shoulders, as if to increase their dignity and importance; then wheel, and march, and swell, and gobble, as if they were trying to outdo each other in airs and graces. The female, however, pays little attention to these cerfmonioiM parades, and demurely looks on while the rivals for her affection try to outdo one another in playing the gallant and dandy. When the strut- ting and gobbling fail to win her, the candidates for mat- rimony challenge each other to mortal combat, and which- ever is successful in the contest walks away with her in the most nonchalant manner. The easy indifference of the THE WILD TUEKEY. 11 hen as to which she will follow may not be pleasing to persons imbued with romantic feelings, yet she is only obeying a wise law of nature, which decrees that only the fittest should live, and in the lower animal world these are necessarily chosen for their physical qualities. The battles between the males are often waged with such desperate valor that more than one combatant is sent PIG. 1. TRAP FOK WILD TUBKEYS. to join the great majority, as they deliver very heavy blows at each other's heads, and do not give up a contest until they are dead, or so thoroughly exhausted as to be scarcely able to move. When one has killed another, it is said to caress the dead bird in an apparently affectionate manner, as if it 12 TUBKET CULTUKB, were very sorry to have been compelled to do such a deed, but could not help it, owing to the force of circumstances ; yet I have seen the winner in a tournament in such a rage that it not only killed its rival, but pecked out its eyes after it was dead. When the victors have won their brides they keep together until the latter commence laying, and then separate, for the males are so jealous that they would destroy the eggs if they could, in order to prolong the love period, and the hens, knowing this, carefully screen them. The males are often followed by more than one hen, but they are not so polygamous as their domestic congeners, as I never heard of a gobbler having more than two or three females under his protection. The adult gobblers drive the young males away during the erotic season, and will not even permit them to gobble if they can, so that the latter are obliged to keep by themselves, generally in parties of from six to ten, unless some of the veterans are killed, and then they occupy the vacated places of the bridegrooms, according to the order of their prowess. Some aged males may also be found wandering through the woods in parties of two, three, four, or five, but they seldom mingle with the flocks, owing, apparently, to the waning of their salacious disposition. They are exceed- ingly shy and vigilant, and so wild that they fly immedi- ately from an imaginary danger created by their own sus- picious nature. They strut and gobble occasionally, but not nearly so much as do their younger kindred. Barren hens, which also keep by themselves, are almost as demonstra- tive in displaying their vocal powers, airs, and feathers as the old males, whereas they are exceedingly coy and un- pretentious when fertile. This fact would seem to prove that ordinary animal nature is changed by circumstances. "When the love season is over, the males are very much emaciated, so, when the hens leave them, they keep by themselves until they recover their strengh, and then re- unite in small bachelor parties; but, instead of being THE WILD TURKEY. 13 exceedingly clamorous, as they were in the early part of the mating period, they become almost silent. Yet they sometimes strut and gobble on their roosts, though, as a general rule, they do not, and content themselves with elevating and lowering the tail feathers, and uttering a puflBng sound. They keep at this exercise for hours at a r^ via. 2. "CALLIKG" WILD TUKKEY3. time on moonlight nights, without rising from their perch, and sometimes continue it until daylight. When the hen is ready to lay, she scratches out a slight hollow in a thicket, a canebrake, beside a prostrate tree, in tall grass or weeds, or a grain field, and lines it rudely with grass or leaves, and then deposits her eggs in it. 14 TURKEY CULIUBE. These, which vary in number from ten to twenty, are smaller and more elongated than those of the domestic turkey, and are of a dnll-cream or a dirty-white color, sprinkled with brownish-red spots. Audubon says that sev- eral hens may lay their eggs in one nest, and hatch them and raise the broods together. He found three hens sit- ing on forty-two eggs in a single nest, and one was always present to protect them. If the eggs are not destroyed, only one brood is raised in a year ; but if they are, the female calls loudly for a male, and when she is rejoined by one, both keep com- pany until she is ready to commence laying again, when she deserts him or drives him away, as he has the very strongest penchant for destroying the eggs, in order to keep her in his company. This forces her to build her nest in the most secluded spot she can find, and to cover it carefully with leaves or grass whenever she leaves it. We present pictures showing how Wild turkeys are. "called" by hunters to them with whistles, and how they are entrapped. When once enticed within this trap, they are so confused as to be unable to find their way out. Fig 1 makes the trap plain. An inclined path or trench is ar- ranged, which deepens gradually and ends inside the pen. Corn is strewn over the bottom of the trench, the turkeys follow along head down led by the corn until they are inside, and then with heads up they see no way out. CHAPTER III, THE BREEDS OF TURKEYS. There is less variation in the ordinary domestic turkey than among common fowls, not so many being kept, and more care being taken to keep them pure. The follow- ing classification may be considered as correct and is ac- cepted by breeders:— The Wild The Domesticaced ■ Mexican Honduras North American American Mammoth Bronze White Holland Narragansett Blaclc Buff Slate or Lavender The Mexican is generally considered to be the progenitor of the common domesticated turkey, as is fully set forth. The Honduras or Ocellated turkey, found in Central America, appears to have baffled all attempts to domesti- cate and rear it outside the tropics. It is said to possess a plumage equal in brilliancy to that of the peacock, and also to have the feathers of its tail "ocellated," or eyed. The North American Wild turkey resembles the Mexican in color, but rivals it in size. It is a somewhat longer bird than the domesticated variety, and differs from it in an ibsence of pure white in any of its feathers, the pencil- ings of its wings and the dull white or gray of its tail be- ing of a chestnut color. Our second chapter treats in detail of this superb progenitor of the useful domestic tur- key. Audubon's fine painting is still the best portrai- ture of this noble bird, and from it our frontispiece is pro- duced. The Wild turkey is still of the most importance to breeders, because fresh infusion of pure, wild blood into 15 16 TUKKEY CULTUEE. our breeding stock seems to be necessary, to prevent de- cadence of vitality, and to insure thrift and health in our improved breeds— that is, for those who raise turkeys for market. THE BRONZE TUEKET. H. B. BABCOCK. The Bronze is the largest variety among our turkeys. The standard weights are : For cock 32 lbs, cockerel 24 lbs, hen 22 lbs, and pullet 15 lbs. These weights, though high, are often exceeded by the birds. Porty pounds and even more are reached by the old toms, and we know of one hen turkey which weighed, when we saw her, twenty-nine pounds, and her owner expected her to reach thirty pounds in a short time. There is some obscurity about the origin of this variety, although there is reason to believe that it resulted from crossing the Wild turkey, the original of all the domesti- cated varieties, upon the Black turkey. Early references to the variety show that it was at first known as the "Black Bronzed," but the term was too long and it became short- ened into Bronze. This variety is interesting as showing that, after a marked departure from the earfy color, it has come back to very nearly the color of its Wild original. The Black had departed a long distance from the rich hues of the Wild turkey, but the lines are restored in the Bronze variety. The male has a long head, with good breadth of skull, the rich red skin being carunculated. The strong beak is well curved, and is of the color known as horn, darkest at the base and growing light as it approaches the tip. The eyes are dark-hazel in color, contrasting with the rich red of the face and jaws. The wattle, or snout, is of the same color as the face and of good size, and hangs down from above. The long curving nerk is clothed in plumage of rich bronze. The back of the male, starting from its June THE BREEDS OP TUBKETS. 17 tion with the neck, rises in a gentle curve to about the center, which is the liigliest point, and then descends to the tail. The feathers are of the richest bronze, each end- ing in a narrow band of black, and in the sunlight they are indescribably beautiful. The broad, full and promi- nent breast is covered with plumage of dark bronze. The body is long, well rounded, and midway of its length quite deep, and the feathers are black with bronze shad- ing!<, less lustrous, though beautiful, than those upon the back and breast. In fact, in almost all fowls kept by man, the top plumage is much the richest, and is so, probably, because of the effects of the sun upon it. Even in varie- ties which are supposed to be uniform in coloring, like the BufE Cochin, the upper plumage is much the richest in coloring. The wings have a wide spread, and the muscles are strong enough to enable the heavy bird to rise to a considerable hight from the ground. The primary feath- ers, when the wing is opened, are seen to be black or nearly so, with more or less regular penciling of gray or white. The secondaries are like the primaries but as one counts from the primaries, they are seen to have more and more brown and bronze, and less and less of white or gray. The wing bows are black with a rich greenish or bronzy luster, and the coverts are similar in color, each ending in a broad band of black that makes a bar across the wings. ' The long tail consists of feathers the ground color of which is black, and across which are irregularly placed narrow bands of light brown, terminating in a broad band of black with a wide gray margin. The tail coverts do not differ materially from the main feathers of the tail, except that as they approach the back thoy grow richer in bronze shadings. The stout thighs, of good length, are clad in dark, bronze- colored feathers, and the shanks, which are long and stout in bone, are in immature birds almost black, but in adult birds they become flesh-colored. This fact will enable one to decide with some certainty upon the age of a turkey. 18 TUEKET C0LTUBE. As the female is colored very much the same as the male, it will be unnecessary to describe her markings in detail. But it is to be noted that the lines of the female are never so rich as those of the male, that the markings are apt to be less distinct, and that the margins of the feath- ers are, as a rule, gray in color. Considered by herself the female would be considered a very handsome bird, but regarded in connection with her more richly colored mate, she has a very sober and modest dress, as becomes her sex. The Bronze is the most poisular variety among turkeys, due probably to its great size, and perhaps also due in some measure to its increased hardiness, secured by the in- fusion of Wild blood in its origin. Au any rate, whatever be the cause, the Bronze turkey is bred very largely, and more largely than any other variety. Mr Barber adds : "When the golden sun is slowly sinking in the sky, what lovelier sight can meet the eye than a flock of brilliant-hued Bronze turkeys, as they homeward plod their weary way, to eat and drink, to roost, and per- chance to dream of the fat grasshoppers they will find on the morrow." JUDGING BRONZE TURKEYS. EY GEORGE WOLFF. [We presume the average rearler will be interested to know that Mr Wolfl, although a paralytic siTice infaiiey, is oiieof tlie most expe- rienced breeders and judges (>£ tnrkeys. His being a cripple lias made him a close student in liis work, an ll (R^^ ^^^^H R >. J 4 ^HBbw ^"^ * ' .^di^^^H^Bi^^K [_ J ^^ H hh IH H Domestic. Halt Wild. FIG. 9. WILD BLOOD TUKKBTS. Krom piiotographs of stock at the Rhode Island Experiment Station. the part of the owner of the latter. Scores of cases are recorded where a wild gobbler from the woods has taken possession of a flock of common turkeys, sometimes after first battling with and killing the domestic gobbler. The 58 TURKEY CULTURE, results of such a cross in almost every case have been so satisfactory that such matings are much desired by tur- key raisers in those sections, and young wild birds are caught for this purpose and brought up with common young turkeys. Very often nests of wild turkey eggs are found in the woods and hatched on the farm. These domesticated wild birds usually persist in roosting sepa- rate from the others, generally in the woods or on the top of a house or barn. When raised from the egg they be- come more gentle and fearless than the domestic turkey, but if chased or frightened they recover their wild habits very quickly. Wild turkey crosses are hardier and healthier than common turkeys, and rarely have disease. Half-blood hens are generally too wild, but half-blood gobblers are not as wild and are suitable for crossing with domestic hens. A small proportion of wild blood im proves the size, form, and general appearance, as well as the vigor, without being a disadvantage in any way. A quarter-wild cross is better, for practical breeding, than a pure wild or half-wild bird. Half-wild crosses do well if allowed a large range, but are not well suited for woody countries or as easily kept on small places as the domestic turkey. Wild turkey hens under domestication and wild first-cross hens often disappear in the spring and are not seen until fall, when they usually return to tlieir own home with a brood of nearly full-grown turkeys. Half-blood mothers m.ake their young too wild. Half-bloods reared by domestic turkey hens are not nmch inclined to stray. Quarter-bloods, under certain conditions, may be as wild as the wild bird of the woods." The wild blood gives the cross an astonishing ability to care for themselves. It is apt to have the strongest in- fluence in breeding. If first crosses are bred together, the stock resembles the pure wild, and after several genera- tions cannot be distinguished from the pure wild by good judges. The older the bird grows the more he ehows the THE BREEDS OF TURKEYS. 39 wild blood. Crosses have much of the superior game tiavor of the wild, and command a higher price for the table. The half or one-fourth wild are active, hardy, and unusually heavy and firm in flush. They may attain great size, but will prove specially popular because they will produce poults weighing ten to twehe pounds the first autumn after they are hatched, and thus make a most popular market bird. The Rhode Island Experiment Station has found this invest- MG. 10. PURE WILD GOBBLER BRED IN CONFINEMENT. By courtesy of the Ebode Island Agricultural Experiment Station. Reproduced from colored plates in Wright's Illustrated Book of Poultry. ment of wild blood so beneficial that it has obtained wild stock and distributed half- wild gobblers all over the State. This is having a most beneficial effect, unless the tijrkeys are so bred as to make the proportion of wild blood greater than one-fourth. In that case they are sometimes vvilder and smaller than is desired for practical purposes. Bead the experience in the latter part of this book, of Mr. Twcker of Prudence Island with three-eighths wild turkeys, fully confirming the above. These birds were not tame but were managed all right, and of those hatched mpre lived 40 TURKEY CULTUEB. than of any other lot Mr. Tucker has ever had, and they were larger, more uniform in size, ate heartier, fatted quicker and were plumper and handsomer when dressed. Some wild Bronze crosses that are half and three- fourths wild blood, are occasionally as large as the pure Bronze turkeys. Several years' crossing, however, with the selections of the largest for breeding each season, gives the greatest size. See Fig. 11 for an illustration of this fact. Wild and wild-cross birds, especially the hens, owing to their slim heads and necks and their having less red about the head, are, when seen among common turkeys, often taken for sick birds by those not familiar with them. Half-wild crosses are very hardy, but smaller than domes- tic turkeys, and the hens roam so much and steal their nests so far from homo, that tliey are undesirable in breed- ing for market purposes. They often roam off and stay away all summer, but are almost sure to return in the fall. Their flesh is about as fine as that of a wild turkey. Half- wild gobblers are more manageable than the hens, and just the thing to cross with common turkeys. The birds raised from such a mating are not only of good size, but hardy and thrifty, and make fine dressed turkeys. The gobbler has the most influence on size of prog- eny. It will not do to coop wild-cross hens, as they thrash about and kill their young in their attempts to escape. It is to be hoped that the lime when wild turkeys are to become extinct is far distunt. The methods fol- lowed by the average turkey raiser so depreciate the stock that, without the occtihional introduction of fresh, hardy blood from the forest, it would become very much degen- erated. 'When there are no wild turkeys except those preserved by man, the salvation of the domestic turkey will depend on fanciers — those who breed for beauty and utility. They maintain the varieties pure and perfect them. They, only, expend the required time and money, and follow the laws of breeding Tiecessary to prevent the THE BKEEDS OF TURKEYS. 41 FIG, 11. PART WILD BLOOD BRONZE TURKEY. This bird. Eureka, was from a thoroughbred Bronze hen, while his sire had one- fourth wild blood. At sixteen months he weighed thirty-six pounds, and at twenty-eight months tipped the scales at forty-eight and one-half pounds, winning first prizes both years at New England and York State poultry shows. The accession of wild blood only three,removes back, even if it added noth- ing to the great weight of this bird, unquestionably contributed to its vitality and the brilliancy of its plumage. 43 TURKEY CULT0EE. stock from running out. When will farmers, generally, appreciate the value of such service and cease to scoff at fancy prices? STANDAED OP EXCELLENCE. The American standard of excellence gives the fol- lowing scale of points for turkeys, by which judges determine the qualifications of exhibition birds : Sym- metry 10, weight 30, condition 10, head 5, wattle 5, iieck 5, l.aok 1, breast and body 10, wings 8, tail 5, legs 5, total 100. CHAPTER IV. TtTEKEY GROWING AS A BUSINESS. Not every one can engage in the turkey business as an occupation or means of liveliliood, because so much is dependent upon surroundings. All farmers are not so situated that they can raise turkeys without incommoding their neighbors. The laws of trespass are rigid in most States, and any neighbor who objects to your birds roam- ing over his fields can make you trouble, if he be so dis- posed. Turkeys must have range, and if your own fields are not wide enough to allow them that necessary element of success, either be sure of your neighbors' good nature, or do not embark in the business at all. Many turkey- growers believe that turkeys haie a perversity of disposi- tion, which impels them to leave their own premises, where there is plenty of room, grain and grasshoppers, and trespass on some neighbor's land, to get less food. A few turkeys can be grown on a small farm ; but there are plenty of abandoned farms in Xew England, which can be bought for the price of the buildings alone, large enough to grow large flocks. The convenience to large markets enhances the profits. In the Western and Southern States still greater numbers may be kept, owing to wider ranges and cheapness of grain. Common fowls, with proper care, can be kept with profit in any city or village lot, but centuries of domestication have not changed the turkeys' natural love for a necessity of free range. They can be made tame by gentleness ; they learn to be familiar with those who care for them, and can be taught to come home every night ; but, as soon as they have left the stage of "infancy," as shown by "shooting the red, '' 43 44 TUEKEY CULTURE. their propensity to wander in search of their food asserts itself, and tliey must have that privilege or they will sicken and die. This is a fortunate trait, for two reasons. First, it makes the bird's flesh better food for man ; second, it limits the business to fewer persons, who get paying prices for their labor. If turkeys could be raised at a profit in confinement, their fiesh would not be so wholesome, and so many people would go into the business that the FIG. 12. WHITE HOLI/AND TtTRKEYS. From a photojjraph of a Khode Island flock. price would come down to a non-paying point. Turkey nature itself effectually prevents all danger of overdoing the business. Turkeys are not hard to raise after you know how. For the first few weeks of their lives they require more care than any other domesticated bird, but aftf r they are fully feathered and have "thrown the red," they require less care than any other fowl. It requires but little capitaL TURKEY GROWING AS A BUSINESS. 45 Houses, except in tiie extreme North, and turkey sheds in other sections, are not ni'inlod. Turkeys must be raised on farms, and farmers raise mucli of tlie grain tliey need. One torn and tliree to live lien turkeys are enough to begin with. Wlien you can raise all, or nearly all, of their prog- eny, then it will be time to think of enlarging your business. From a flock of six you ought to raise seventy- five to one hundred turkeys. Turkey raising is an excellent business for women. Many a farmer's wife, whose husband does not care to "bother with poultry," can earn from fifty to three hun- dred dollars a year, according to the size of the flock, the range and the market, without seriously impeding the other necessary work which falls to the lot of farmers' wives. It is unnecessary to quote market prices here as a criterion, for they vary so in different localities. In 1894, for Thanksgiving and Christmas, turkeys retailed in Indianapolis for ten to twelve cents per pound ; in Boston, from eighteen to twenty-five cents, according to quality. Whoever engages in turkey raising must remember that success in raising turkeys is bought at the same price as liberty — eternal vigilance. Ehode Island Experiment Station : "To the fore- going it should be said, that we have found the largest and most thrifty looking turkeys on rather light land, and where new blood is frequently introduced. If a flock becomes diseased, the land which they wander over may become contaminated, and affect other flocks which occupy the same ground, hence it is sometimes necessary to change the land on which they run, from one year to another. If turkeys are kept where they may drink from stagnant pools in barnyards, pigpens or privy vaults, sudden and fatal attacks of bowel trouble must be expected. A run- ning stream is of great value on a turkey farm. ' ' CHAPTEE V. 8ELECTI0K OF PAKENT STOCK. In reserving or selecting parent stock from which to raise turkeys for the market, do not overlook a most im- portant matter, the age of the parents. Ten- or twelve- months-old turkeys are not sufficiently mature to produce the strongest progeny. Old turkeys lay larger eggs, and the young are larger and stronger when hatched. If neces- sity forces you to breed from stock of your own raising, keep the hens three, four, five or six years, if necessary. No judicious fanner will kill off his good heifers after they have dropped their first calves. He knows the progeny will become better and better, until age enfeebles the parent. So with turkeys. The same breeding stock may be kept, after they have proved their value, for some time. When you wish to replenish or renew the parent stock, select the best of your young hens and get a first-class tom not related to them ; then you have your new stock to take the place of the others, whenever it may be deemed proper to dispose of the old ones. As Mrs. A. J. Sexson, who took the first Farm and Home prize for essays on turkey culture, says: "The future stock depends very much upon the parent birds, or their ancestry. Ee- peated breeding from inferior birds makes inferiority hereditary." When grown for exhibition purposes, pure strains only should be kept, but for marketing, cross breeds are not objectionable. One essayist produced the best results by mating two- year-old toms to four-year-old hens. A four- or five-year- old tom is apt to attain a great weight if kept well fed,— 46 SELECTION OF PARENT STOOB.. 47 too heavy for the hens. Besides, if he be too fat, the eggs fail to get fertilized. It is surprising how many attempt to raise turkeys from small aud immature birds. Many who know that tur- keys two years old are too young, continue to kill off the young hens for market after breeding season. As Mr. Cush- man says : There seems to be a dread of having something too old or unsalable left on their hands. To breed from immature or poor specimens is to violate one of the first ■'*^«*%y!^• FIG. 13. MB. BLOODGOOD'S FLOCK OF WHITE HOLLAND TUKKETS. laws of breeding. Selections of the best, for generations, has given us the best and most profitable breeds of stock. The hereditary influence of such selections is of great value. The most inferior bird out of a flock of such blood may "throw back" and breed very fine stock, and do better than a much finer specimen froai a poor-bred strain ; but the repeated selection of inferior birds for a number of generations, makes this inferiority hereditary. The stock depends mainly on the parent birds, or their ancestry. 48 TUEKET CULTUEE. The most successful raisers often pay $15 to $25, including express charges, for a satisfactory gobbler. Instead of hesitating to pay the killing price for the best hen or gob- bler in a flock, the turkey raiser should think himself fortunate to secure the best at three or four times the market value of the bird. Unlike other domestic fowls, the male turkey fertilizes the eggs of an entire litter by the first copulations ; the number of hens, therefore, with which he may run, may be any number from three to twenty, according to his vigor and strength. The male bird should be proud, stately, haughty, ready to resent the presence of a stranger, yet seeming to attract attention to his plumage by the display of its beauty. His voice, as he "gobbles," should be strong and rapid. He should be always gallant to his wives, insisting that they shall admire him, and nothing and nobody else, as doubtless tliey do. The female turkey should be of modest demeanor, yet with a quick, alert, brigliteye; ready to respond to the gentle ministrations of the good woman who has charge of the flock; solicitous for the welfare of her young; wilhng and able to roost high in some tree near the house, where the proprietor may think them safe from thieves; she should have a soft flute-like voice, as she utters her peculiar cry, that so charms her lordly master; these qualities, combined with a graceful form and carriage, as she quietly and gently moves about foraging for food, . make her an object of interest to every one. No wonder that the raising of turkeys had such fasci- nation for many people. Lords and ladies of high degree in Europe ; people of all ranks in life, in nearly all parts of the world, engage in this charming pursuit; some for pastime, more for what money the work brings them; but all with an enthusiastic love for the beautiful birds. Even in Ehode Island it is customary to kill off and SELECTIOK OF PARENT STOCK. 49 market the largest birds, and to breed from late turkeys and small gobblers. This inevitably decreases the size, and runs out the stock. There is a tonstuiit temptation to get the largest amount of money possible from the flocks in one season, but the returns are less in the long run. Save the best for breeders. Some experts change FIG. 14. A mSSOUBI FBIZB-WnnrENG BBONZE. &. portrait by Sewell'for Farm PmUry, of the first-prize bird at the Mid-CoDtl- nental (St Louis) show. On this bird " was a plumage with a luster like bur- nished copper; with saddle tips almost pure white, on a body with lines truly thoroughbred, and as a thirty-six pound yearling was a most shapely Bronze gobbler. He carried a deep, round breast, and thick thighs; heavily meated, with fine-grained fiesh. He was a qnlek-maturing torn of twenty-eig^t pounds at six months and two weeks of age." gobblers every season, or every other season, but they either test the gobbler as a breeder, or know how his prog- eny have turned out before they depend upon him. It is 50 TURKEY OULTUEB. best to have an extra gobbler to fall back on, should the lord of the flock be lost by disease or accident. Many western breeders agree that one can seldom obtain thrifty chicks from a young gobbler, and that a three-year-old is better than a two-year-old. Many successful turkey grow- ers also maintain that to change gobblers every season, or every other season, as was suggested, is to make a mis- take, but we don't think so, if you know the bird you buy. I. K. Pelch maintains, that if one procured the finest gob- bler that could be found, and mated him with extra-choice hens, they could be kept and bred from as long as they lived; not until the gobbler failed should another be procured, and he should be kept with the same hens. The progeny should be disposed of yearly and not bred from, unless mated with a strange gobbler. Of course, the breeding birds should not be too large, as hens weighing over twenty pounds are apt to lay soft-shelled eggs. Mr Barber adds this note upon the Kentucky method : "For breeders, select broad-backed, full-breasted and short-legged ones of any variety you decide to raise. Twelve hens mated to one torn is the correct number, and some prefer young hens to adult ones, as they will lay more eggs, and if they are heavy-weight varieties, when incubating, they will not break so many, or mash so many of the young poults, as the old hens would do, while the old ones lay larger eggs, and will hatch from them stronger and hardier poulta." CHAPTEE VI. CAKE OF BBEEDING STOCK. The unanimous testimony of the one hundred and seventy-seven turkey growers who responded to the call of the Farm and Some for essays on Turkey culture, is, that to have success in raising turkeys, attention must he given to the care of the hreeding stock. This must hegin "the fall before." In the northern part of the United States, and the colder portions of the Middle, they should be housed in winter, though they can stand more cold than common fowls. Freedom to roam, on warm, sunny days, is req- uisite. In the Southern and Pacific States, and some portions of the Middle States, a shed open to the south is sufficient protection, so far as the climate is concerned; even trees or high rails would be better, if the temperature be not much below the freezing point. Some of the best turkeys I ever saw were in Central Illinois, and never knew shelter, their nightly perch the year round being the ridge pole of a small barn. But the rule to "follow nature' ' must not be misunderstood. Turkeys in their wild state seek the shelter of forests and thick shrubbery in cold weather; an open prairie, in zero weather, is not recommended for domestic birds. Where but few turkeys are kept, they may be housed with other fowls, and receive the same feed and care, but are much more liable to disease. In all cases, the floor of the house should be covered six or more inches deep with forest leaves or straw litter, being renewed as often as it is badly soiled and trodden down. 51 5:i TUKKEY CULTCKE. Do not overfeed or starve your flock. The natural food of the turkey, in its vrild state, consists of insects, worms, grass, berries and seeds. You can approximate that diet with your domesticated birds by tlie use of meat scraps, grain and soft feed. After fasting through a long, cold winter's night, such as we have from Maine to Idaho, the birds' crops are empty. The best breakfast then is a hot mush, made of wheat screenings, corn meal, cropped onions or other vegetable matter, as turnip tops, — which grow on the turnips in the cellar, — or mashed potatoes, all mixed with boiling wuter. Two or three times a week season this with cayenne or black ijepper. A little salt now and then may not be objectionable, but that is less essen- tial. Turkeys are not linrued cattle, which need much salt. Here is my mixture for the birds' breakfast: One part by measure of corn uicul, two parts wheat screenings, one i)art chopped onions (or twojiarts mashed boiled pota- toes, or two parts raw chopped sweet apples), and one part meat scraps, mixed with boiling water to the consistency of thick dough. Let it stand, covered, until the meal is thoroughly swelled. Fifteen minutes is long enough. Feed what they can eat up clean. Don't let them surfeit them- selves. Then throw a little grain broadcast over the litter on the floor, and let them scratch for it. Keep clean water in clean vessels before them all the time, also pounded crockery. Xo need of having an unsightly pile of broken dishes behind your barn or outhouse if you keep poultry. The avidity with which fowls devour this material is astonishing. I have found, by experience, that in the winter time it is better than gravel. Feed chopped rowen or clover occasionally. Keep crushed or granulated oyster shells before them always. In the short days of our northern winters, not much need be fed at noon. Remember, you are not fattening your turkeys for market. Keep them too fat and the eggs are in danger of proving sterile. Many breed- CARE OF BKEEUING STOCK. 53 ing turkeys are over-fat in the spring, having been overfed, or given too fattening food. Frequently they die at this time as a result of overfeeding. The prog- eny of over-fat birds are less vigorous. Late-hatched hens that are growing all the time need more food ; tliey cannot store up a surplus, and will lay earlier because they are thin. Feed the old turkey hens clover and less starchy food in the latter part of winter, and they will give better satisfaction. Throw thom some grain at noon. Then just before sundown, give them all the hot whole grain they can eat. You may heat it in dripping pans in the stove oven, or put the grain into an iron kettle over the fire and fill with hot water. Let it come to a boil, or until you know every kernel is hot. Then scatter the hot grain well over the fioor, and let the turkeys fill their crops, or until they cease calling for more. A long win- ter night of fourteen or fifteen hours is before them, dur- ing which they cannot eat, so a full crop of whole grain stands them in need. I followed this plan of feeding and always found it kept my poultry in good condition. These directions, it will be seen by the observant turkey grower, are adapted to our northern latitudes. In .the South and California the foregoing directions as to feeding are not wholly applicable. As regards cleanliness they are. Diseases are treated under their proper heading. Presuming that we have taken one flock of the "Birds of America" through the winter, we now come to another epoch, which requires even more care and watchfulness— the laying season. CHAPTER VII. t-ATTNG AND HATCHING. As the laying season approaches, we find that four hundred years of domestication have not changed the sliy nature of the turkey, nor robbed her of her love of secrecy. From the middle of February to the middle of April, ac- cording to the latitude and climate, she begins to seek hiding places in which to lay her eggs. Here the watch- fulness of the keeper must begin, and not cease until the young are able to take care of themseU'es. The essays given in this book are some of the most A'aluable contribu- tions to turkey literature ever published. Being the sim- ply told tales of varied personal experience, they are invaluable in the details they give of attention to little things. The hen turkey begins to make that peculiar, musical, craking noise, and the torn is more assiduous in his at- tentions to his wives. He grows jjrouder and more gallant, and "gobbles" and displays the beauty of his plumage more than ever. In her wild state, the hen turkey lays her eggs on the ground, the nest being made of «lried leaves. She selects dense shrubbery on a dry soil for its location. Your domesticated turkey will do the same, if allowed the chance. But the danger from foxes, skunks, weasels, minks, coyotes and other obstacles to success, com- pels you to assist nature a little. The saving of the eggs, to you, is an important matter. One Vermont woman writes, "As soon as I hear any of them making that peculiar craking noise, which they always do before they begin laying, I drive them into the horse barn, where I have prepared nests in the hay, with nest eggs in them. Some- 54 LAYING AND HATCHING. 55 times I have to drive them in several mornings, keeping them shut in all the forenoon, but I always persevere un- til I conquer them. After they have laid two or three eggs, they will become attached to their nests. I like to have them finish laying and begin to set about the first of May." One man, who has great success with turkeys, encloses a large space by a high fence of wire net- ting, to prevent the turkeys laying and setting in the woods and fields. Nests are provided within the en- closure. During the laying season, the hen turkeys are driven within the enclosure to roost, and confined during the forenoon each day, until all have selected nests. When hatching, they and their young are more readily cared for and controlled. Humor the turkey's love for secrecy, if you prefer to have her lay out of doors, by setting laying coops for her in secluded places not far from your house and barn. Barrels, or "A" coops, with dried leaves or litter in them, will do. If she steals her nest in some bushes not far from the house, leave her alone, but remove the eggs daily, leaving a nest egg in the nest. When she has layed her litter she will rest awhile, and then lay another litter, when she should be allowed to sit. The eggs should be taken into the house and kept in a cool (not cold) place, packed in wheat bran, small end downward. Turkey eggs require twenty-eight days for incubation. Coincide with the hen turkey's desire for secrecy, and let her sit in places hidden from the sight of men and dogs. Bottomless boxes that will shed rain, old barrels with two or three staves knocked out, "A" coops, measur- ing not less than three feet square at the base, plac- ed in retired situations not far from the house, are all that are necessary for hatching purposes. If the turkeys were taught to lay in them, all the better. The nest should be upon the ground, and made of forest leaves or chopped hay. If turkeys are set in barrels laid on their sides, holes 56 TTJEKET CUITTTEE. should be bored in the underside of the barrel to let out rain water, or it may hold water enough to spoil the eggs. Carefully save the eggs of the first litter, if they are laid earlier in the season than you want to set them, and wait until the turkey has laid her second litter. Calculate your time, so that the chicks will come out in May. March or April in the South, and June first in the extreme North, are not far wrong. Presuming that tlie first litter was layed quite early, set these eggs under broody common hens of good sitting stock, as Brahmas, Cochins, or Ply- mouth Rocks. Under each hen place seven or eight turkey eggs ; the turkey may cover sixteen to twenty. If the tom annoys the sitting turkeys, confine him, although he will not be likely to do that if one or more other turkeys are with him. If the season be late and cold storms with snow prevail, the incubation must take place in barns or sheds. Set all the eggs, if possible, at the same time. While common hens come off to feed and bathe every day, tur- keys rarely lea\e their nests oftener than once in three days; some have been known to starve on their nest when danger threatened their eggs. Keep whole corn, wheat, oyster shell?;, clean water and a good dust bath accessible to them all the time. In setting the common fowl and turkey, thoroughly powder them with Persian insect powder (Pyrethrum), using the little bellows made and sold for the purpose. Hold the hen by the legs while doing this, that every part of the skin and every feather may receive some of the powder. Scatter flour of sulphur well over the nest. If lice are detected before the four weeks are up, go through the same operation again, for of all enemies, hindrances and disarrangements which assail the poultry grower, no half dozen of them equal lice in power and persistency, or are so prevalent. Yet they can be conquered, subdued and ex- terminated. Two days before hatching, thoroughly powder the hen again, but put no sulphur on the nest. If the LAYING AND HATCHING. 57 nest be upon the ground, no sprinkling of the eggs with tepid water will be necessary. Remember, that while care and watchfulness are nec- essary, the shy nature of the turkey resents "fussing." After she has settled down to business, let her alone. She knows when she is hungry, and needs a bath, and if they be convenient to her she will not need your help. Incubators may be used in hatching turkey eggs, but my advice is, learn the old-fashioned way first. The batching is easy enough, but the disposition of the turkey to roam makes the rearing of it in confinement so far impossible. CHAPTEE VIII. TEAINING TTIKKEYS TO SIT AT ANY TIME. In France, turkeys are used as sitters and mothers when broody hens are scarce. In certain sections, turkey hens are mostly used as sitters, and many breeders keep from thirty to one hundred turkeys, which are employed for incubation, with occasional interruptions, the yeai round. The large hatching establishments, where a large number of incubators are used, employ turkey hens to do a part of the work. A French woman, who has had great success in beguiling her turkey hens to sit whenever she wants them to, gives an account of how it is done, in the English Fanciers' Oazette. "To those who do not possess an incubator, turkeys are still more precious, as they generally get broody after a few days' training. It is not expensive business. The process is simple, and not beyond the reach of every purse. Secure a box long and wide enough to give the turkey her complete ease, though not high enough to allow her to stand up in it. This box must be shut by a cover, fastened by hooks, or kept down by a heavy stone. Four laths nailed together over a piece of wire, is the best cover to use ; but one or two boards put over the box, with a little space left between them for air, will do quite well. A piece of canvas covers the whole, and keeps the bird in the dark. On the bottom of the box place a good bed of hay, slightly hollowed out in the center, and in this nest a few clear or china eggs. Then take the turkey gently, and give her five or six pieces of bread, soaked in red wine or brandy and water (half and half), or whisky and water, or any other liquor capable of giving a slight ' elevation ; ' 58 TBAIKING TURKEYS TO SIT AT ANY TIME. 59 after which place her on the nest and cover her up. Morn- ing and evening take her from the nest, pat her under a coop, give her water, grain, a dust bath, and again bread soaked in some kind of spirit. Repeat this until you see that the turkey settles herself on the eggs and remains on them quietly without being covered up. Then you may give her good eggs and depend upon her to do her duty conscientiously. "An important point upon which I cannot insist enough, is the necessity for looking for vermin before plac- ing the hen on the nest, in order to prevent her being troubled by these pests and becoming restless, as such large birds are more liable than others to break eggs. A good sprinkling of Pyrethrum powder through the feathers and in the hay of the nest, is to be recommended. The first operation should take place by daylight. The turkey, being plunged from full light into complete darkness, when the effect of the wine begins to act and make her feel rather funny in the head, gets so frightened that she will remain on the eggs without moving. The contact with these, and her long tete-a-tete with them, develops her maternal instincts, and, as a rule, a few days are sufficient to provoke the brooding fever. I have known turkeys to get broody the day after they were set. I never train them more than e'ght or nine days, and give liberty to those who have not taken to the nest by that time. If properly managed, they will sit from six to eight weeks consecu- tively, without showing any trace of fatigue. Some breeders make them brood much longer, but it is cruel and danger- ous, for sometimes the birds die on the eggs. When they do sit it is not necessary to feed them twice a day ; take them up in the morning only, but let it be regularly. " Not all turkeys are willing to be forced to sit; still, the restives are rare. When these birds are desired as sitting 'machines,' they ought to be carefully selected. . Breeders who intend to go in for them should purchase once 60 TURKEY CULTUEB. more, as wanted, and give them a trial ; those which do not give entire satisfaction can be fattened and sent to market ; they will pay for the remainder. "Above all others, may it be animated or artificial brooders, turkeys are the first ; to breed with them is not so expensive; as using incubators or foster mothers, and gives much less trouble. Some of my readers will jump from their chair at reading this; I beg them to sit down again, and listen quietly to me. In the country, a flock of turkeys, be it very large, costs nothing to keep. Mine are turned out on a lawn, partly planted witli wood, and they never get a handful of corn or any meal, until severe win- ter sets in — that is, when the snow covers the ground. All are in splendid condition. At night, they come home, their crops always full, and are shut up in a stable, where they find their ideal perch — an old wheel, fixed on a stake a few feet from the ground. In our climate, the winters are not long, and rarely very severe. We may calculate to have to feed our turkeys during two months. The manure, which they produce in great quantities the whole year round, i)ays amply for the expense of food dur- ing that jieriod, winch is also the time we require their services for brooding. Thus the cost of feeding ought not to be taken into account ; nevertheless, if we do, the food of four turkeys, which will breed one hundred eggs, will not come to the cost of the heating of an incubator of same capacity. Such a machine will consume, x>er day, about one litre of petroleum of first quality, at the rate of five pence the litre. Four turkeys will not eat more than threepence worth. As for the trouble, I do not think it makes more labor to take the hens from the nests once a day than to turn, morning and evening, a quantity of eggs, clean the lamp, fill up the water, etc., without counting that the slightest neglect may expose the whole contents of the incubator. With turkeys, nothing like this is to be dreaded. Of mild and submissive disposition, they can TEAINING TURKEYS TO SIT AT AKT TIME. CI be handled in any way, and seldom break any of the eggs entrusted to tlieir care. They will breed with the same tenderness all sorts of eggs, be tliey of geese or of pheasants. " Last year I received from England a few sittings of Bantam eggs. Having no broody hens ready, I got three in my neighborhood. At the sight of the small eggs, so different from their own, the broody hens got quite wild, and would have destroyed the lot had we not taken them away. I sent them back from where they came, and immediately began to train a few turkeys. My flock con- sisted of three large birds, which get broody after twenty- four hours' training. Two days later, I gave all the eggs to one of these, which brooded them without breaking a single one. ' ' Turkeys are very attentive mothers, and protect their chickens well. I never had one taken by vermin or birds of prey, which abound in the grounds around, because of the proximity of a forest, although my turkeys, with their young ones, are free to run where they like, and go some- times three or four hundred yards from the house. If they know each other, several may be allowed to run together without danger of fighting. These goodies will accept any change or addition of chickens, and brood the newcomers as tenderly as their own. I often saw turkeys, whose chicks had been joined to others, adopt large chick- ens more than two months old, which had been forsaken by the hen. " Training turkeys to force them to sit does not take away their laying qualities, when they are properly . managed. Therefore, allow them to lay their batch of eggs after they have brooded and raised your early chickens. They will ask to sit immediately they have finished lay- ing ; you may let them, and have no fear of overworking. "And now, if my readers will believe in one who speaks by experience, and not upon hearsay, they will give my favorite brooding machines a trial, and admit afterwards 62 TUEKET CULTUEE. that we French people do not always tell boastful stories or propagate hoaxes. ' ' Doubtless many would be opposed to giving whisky or any spirits to poultry for any purpose, and this may not Le necessary, even to insure success. Mr W. E. Steven- son, of Arkansas, writes the Reliable Poultry Journal that he trains his turkeys to sit at any time, and succeeds with- out administering either corn or grape juice. He treats his turkeys kindly, so as to have them very tame, and uses hens that are from three to ten years old. In the winter, when he wants to set them, he makes a nest in a barrel or box of suitable size, then warms six to ten china eggs and puts them in the nest, and puts the turkey on them. This is done in the evening, or when it is growing dark. A sack or quilt is hung over the opening, to darken the nest. He feeds very lightly for three days. By the third day he can tell whether the turkey has become broody. If she has, from twenty to thirty eggs are given her, according to her size. Turkeys, imder proper care, can be depended upon to keep to their nests for ten weeks, but for best results should not be made to do this work over six weeks. Mr Stevenson thus successfully sets his turkeys at any time, without violating his Prohibition principles. Mr. Samuel Cushman says, from his own experience, that turkeys can be made to sit whenever required. A young turkey hen that never laid an egg was shut on a nest of china eggs, and there was no trouble in getting her to settle down. The first two times she was put ofE to feed, she was caught and placed on the nest and shut in, but after that tlie nest was left uncovered and she came off when whenever she chose. We never found her off the nest. The shed in which she was set had a slat front, so she was confined and could not go out of sight of the nest or get away. This turkey was not a tame one, by any means. We can control our turkeys better if set within a large building TBAINING TURKEYS TO SIT AT ANT TIME. 63 or enclosure. Turkeys can be used to hatch the eggs of hens, ducks and geese, and the raiser who does not hive an artificial hatcher will not have to delay operations until hens get ready to set, or until he can secure tha desired number. CHAPTER IX. EEAEING THE TUHKEY CHICKS. The turkey chicks having been hatched, they will require the breedei-'s utmost and constant attention for the first eight or ten weeks, for on the management of the chicks depends the success or failure of turkey rearing. Turkeys, when chick^ being exceeding delicate (the most delicate of any douiesticated i)oultry), and liable to be not only decimated, but entire broods exterminated by a sudden cold wind or a slight shower, and requiring, as they do, feeding every two hours, or sis times a day, it is advisable for those who are unable to spare the time to give the necessary attention, not to attempt breeding turkeys, for they will only meet with severe losses and disappointment. The chicks, having broken the shells by themselves, without any fussy interference by the owner, may be left to themselves for twenty-four hours, though the shells may be removed and something placed in front of the nest, if it be made in a box, to prevent any of the chicks falling out and getting cold. The chicks having, just previously to emerging from the shell, drawn into their body the yolk, they are sufficiently sustained for twenty or twenty-four hours or so, and require no feeding until the following day. If the day be warm and fine, they may be placed outdoors, in a dry situation ; if cold and damp, or windy, they are better kept under cover, though not in a close atmosphere, but where there is plenty of ventilation, a large open shed protected from the wind being the best. A warm bed having been provided, made of chaff, dry saw- dust or dry horse droppings, all over a bed of dry sand and EEARING THE TUEKBY CHICKS. 65 coal ashes,, to prevent damp arising, place the coop, which should be previously lime-washed, over it, facing pouth, and the mother and chicks inside. The poults hatched under common hens should be given the mother turkey in the night. Some breeders prefer bottoms to the coops, but unless the ground be very damp, that is not necessary. If you dusted the mother with insect powder two days before hatching, there will be no lice to annoy them. On the second day the chicks may receive their first meal. On one point all turkey growers agree : no "sloppy" food must be giv- 1 en the young birds. In a nat- ural state, turkey chicks feed large- ly upon ilies, spi- d e r s , grasshop- pers, grubs, snails, slugs, worms, ant eggs, etc., and if watched on a bright day will be seen to be con- stantly chasing flies, etc., about the meadows and woods. Berries, seeds, etc., make the variation. The first meal should be hard- boiled eggs (boiled twenty minutes), and stale wheat bread dipped in hot milk, the milk squeezed out, and both crum- bled fine and seasoned with black pepper. This feed may be continued for two or three weeks, with now and then a variation to thick clabbered milk, or Dutch cheese in place of the egg. Let it be known that the egg is a substitute for insects, which the young turkey has in its wild state ; so. as opportunities open for the chicks to get insects, the egg should be omitted. Dry meal must not be given 5 FIG. 15. PEN TO CONFINE LITTLE TUKKBYS, UNTIL OLD ENOUGH TO JUMP OVER; MOTHEK AT LIBEKTY. 56 TUKKEY CULTUKE. them, not wet meal insufficiently swelled. If the meal swells in their crops, death is almost certain. The best way to feed Indian meal is in the form of corn bread or "Johnny cake. " After the young birds are three weeks old, omit the eggs and give meat scrajj^^ and ground bone. Clean water or milk must be before them all the time. For runs, the best are three fourteen-inch boards set on edge so as to form a triangle, with the coop in one cornep, or shorter boards over one corner, for shelter from the sun by day and dews by night. Every day or two, move two of these boards so as to form another triangle, Fig. 15, adjacent to the site of the old one. By the time the chicks are old enough to jump- over the boards, they may be allowed to wander about with their mother, after the morning dew is off. After that time, three feedings a day are sufficient, and when they are weaned, feeding at morning and night only is enough. Witli a good range over wheat stubble, which they can have in the Western States and territories, and plenty of grasshoijpers, no other feeding is necessary after they are educated to come home to roost. Mr Barber writes : " Our turkeys lay and sit in large roomy coops, two and one-half feet long by two feet wide, two feet high in front, with a slope of six inches to the rear ; we keep the turkey hens, with their broods, in a lot, on short grass." Instead of cooping brooding turkeys to prevent them from roaming too much, W. P. Lewis, who raises 90 per cent of his hatch, fastens the hen with a cord to a peg in the ground, after the manner cows are tied out to pas- lure. After being pegged down for a few days, the hens are "shingled" so they cannot fly over walls and fences, and are then allowed free range. In "shingling, "or "boarding, " turkeys, a thin board or shingle, in which holes are bored, is- fastened across the shoulders of the bird by soft cords, tape or strips of cloth. When of the proper shape and the EEARlKG THB TURKEY CHICKS. 67 boards are in the right place, and tlie cords are not tied too tightly, they may be worn twelve months without injury to the turkey. By this method the birds may be confined to one field as easily as sheep. This is better and surer than clipping one wing. The only objection to it is that turkeys thus hampered are almost at the mercy of dogs. When the board is f * * ^ first adjusted, the turkeys x. i | } try to free themselves, but ^T . ' | / „, ^ , they usually accept the ^^'J>- L -iJ.'^ -^ situation in less than an o «-t-»>. hour, and do not seem to fig. ie. bhode island tukkey mind them afterward. Va- shingle. rious other boards are used. Fig. 16 giving the Ehode Island pattern, and Pig 17 the Western style. The strings are usually tied on the top of the board. In fastening the Western style of board, the string is passed down from one hole in front of the wing, close to the body, and fig. 17. WESTERN STYLE OF TUBKET SHINGLE. around under the wing and up through the other hole, and is tied on top of the board. An ordinary shingle is strong enough for most hens, but large gobblers require some- thing stronger, and light barrel staves are often used ; a three-eighths-inch auger hole is then necessary, but usually a gimlet is sufficient. 68 TTJEKET CCLTUEE, The young chicks must have green food. If they can- not obtain plenty of grass, give chopped lettuce, dande- lions, onion tops (these last sparingly), turnip tops, e c. Buckwheat, cracked corn, and wheat may be given at night, after they get large enough. Do not leave food around. Feed each time only so much as will be eaten up clean. After the first two weeks give sour milk freely. After they can get insects, no other meat than the milk will be necessary. The particular enemies of the young turkeys are lice and diarrhoea, but both may be conquered. These will be treated in the chapter on Hindrances. During the feathering period, the chicks must have plenty of bone- and feather-forming material. This is supplied best in the form of finely chopped meat and green bones. A good bone mill or cutter is indispensable when much poultry are kept. See that they have grit, in the form of pounded crockery, oyster shells and clean gravel. The best thing I ever used was small sea shells from the sea coast of Connecticut. They cost about a dol- lar per barrel. In addition to the foregoing, the following hints brought out by the most careful inquiry by the Rhode Island Experiment Station, of the methods pursued by the best turkey specialists in that State, are of interest : Little turkeys do best if kept and fed separate from fowls and chickens. They are weak and tender creatures, and as they grow very fast, require an abundance of nutritive and easily digested food, but it must not be too concentrated. Too rich food, too much food that is hard to digest, or a lack of green food, will cause bowel trouble. Little tur- keys require food oftener than little chickens. Peed little and often. Give cooked food until they grow enough to develop the red about the head, or green food, like chopped onions and lettuce, if they are confined to a pen. Eemem- ber that little chickens thrive under confinement that EBABISTG THE TURKEY CHICKS. 69 would cause disease and death among little turkeys. If the little turkeys are cooped, remove them to fresh, dry ground frequently. Dampness, lice and filth make short work of them. Give them their food on clean surfaces. Young turkeys should not be out in heavy showers until their backs are well covered with feathers. If they get wet, they may die from chill, unless put in a warm room to dry. Black and red pepper and ginger in the food or drinking water aid them to overcome a chill, and are of great value on cold or damp days, and are a preventive FIG. 18. COOP FOK BKOODING TURKEY, WHILE THE CHICKS AEE AT LIBBRTY. of bowel trouble in both old and young turkeys. Some find that young turkeys do best when neither they nor the hen is confined, providing they are put in a pasture lot, high and dry, where the grass is short and there are no trees. No more than three litters are cooped in a five- acre lot. Ehode Island turkey growers are careful to use only Northern com, at least a year old, in feeding both little turkeys and grown ones, as new corn is apt to cause diarrhoea. Messrs Browning & Chappell, an illustration of 70 TUEKEX CTJLTUEE. one of whose flocks is given in Fig. 21, use com bread, as suggested in this chapter, but in making this bread the meal is mixed with sweet milk, and is given time to swell, and is then baked. After a few weeks, a portion of scalded cracked com is mixed with the crumbs, and the proportion is gradually increased until clear scalded cracked corn is giv- en. They consider it very important that the cracked corn be always well scalded, and allowed to swell before feed- ing. On cold or stormy days a small quantity of black pepper is added to the bread crumbs or cracked corn. They find that turkeys that forage on green oats will have diarrhoea. At the Rhode I^^land Station it was found that confin- ing the little turkeys at night prevents their being entangled and lost in FIG. 19. SHED FOR SHELTERING LITTLE TUEKEVS AT KIGHT. '« FIG. 20. SHED FOE SHELTERING LITTLE TUKKEYS AT NIGHT. the long, wet grass, but it is detrimental to their Wfei'^re and should not be contin- ued too long. If pos- sible, they should have full liberty where the grass is short. Their nature is such that they need cold air and a great deal of exercise. Eestriction of liberty, with light feeding, soon puts them out of condition; while full feeding, even with liberty, prevents their tak- ing full exercise, and causes disease of the digestive organs, and they are lost or do not thrive. If the young birds have done well at six or eight weeks, they begin to "throw the red," as it is termed. REAEING THE TURKEY OHIOKS. 71 viz : to develop the red carunculous formation about the head and neck, so characteristic of the turkey. If the tur- key chicks be late hatched or weakly, it is retarded some- times another month. Should the growth, from what- ever cause, be checked when young, they will never make large and vigorous birds. After they have "thrown the red, " the sexes can be distinguished, and they are then termed poults. They should not be allowed to perch too early, but bedded down upon chaff, leaves, etc., or they will have crooked breasts. Later on, the fleshy appendage over the beak, and the billy or horsehair-like tuft on the breast, make their appearance in the male birds, which, with tail erected and outspread, and with the whole body inflated with pomp, can be easily distinguished from their more somber sisters. At the time of "throwing the red, " the young turkeys pass through their chicken molt, another critical period in their life. The birds lose their appetite and languish several days. They require now more stimulating food and a larger meat diet. Being insectivorous, the best range young turkeys can have is among shrubbery, bushes and such like. If the weather be open and fine, and the birds have a little extra care for a short time, they become as hardy, as adults, as they were delicate when young. In Kentucky, writes Mr Barber, the young should be fed for the first week on corn bread in which there is plenty of egg, and stale light bread soaked in milk. With the range of a blue-grass woodland, and plenty of insects, the poults grow very rapidly ; when they are six to eight weeks of age they are permitted to roost in trees. CHAPTEE X. FATTEKIKG AND MAEKETn^Q — FEATHERS. After the first of October, especially if frosts have lessened the supply of insects and other food which they have gathered themselves, begin issuing extra rations to your turkeys. This is to keep them in good growing con- dition until the fattening begins, which should be three or four weeks before Thanksgiving. For breakfast, feed boiled potatoes, carrots, sweet apples, etc., mixed with bran and corn meal, seasoned with black pepper once or twice a week, and twice a week add pulverized charcoal to the food. At night give whole grain. Keep pure water or milk in convenient vessels for drink. Three weeks before Thanksgiving, separate from the rest of the flock all that you design for the Thanksgiving market. This separation is necessary, because it is not desirable to fatten those which are to be kept over for breeding stock, or the late-hatched ones that are not yet large enough for market. Feeding the whole flock extra rations of fattening food is not only a waste of food, but works injury to all which are not soon to be killed. But do not confine the flock to be fattened in small pens ; remember, the nature of the birds requires liberty ; rather confine those which you wish to keep over. Turkeys having full liberty will devour much food and take on fat rapidly. Fattening turkeys will not wander so much, as after being put on full feed they will be more content to remain nearer home. Give the fattening turkeys all they can eat four times a day, from the time when you commence full feeding until twenty-four hours before slaughtering time. The 72 PATTERING AND MARKETING — EBATHEB8. 73 first three of the daily meals should be of cooked potatoes and corn meal, or of corn meal scalded with milk or water, and the last of whole corn, varied with wheat or buck- wheat. Always use corn a year old; new com causes much trouble and may kill them. Give the first meal as soon as possible after daylight, and the last just before dark. Feed each time all they will eat up clean, but leave no food by them. Feed the pounded charcoal occasion- ally, and keep a supply of gravel where they can help themselves. Twenty days of such feeding will put turkeys that have been growing and in good health, in the best possible condition for market. In Rhode Island, turkeys are not fed much in September and October, but in November they get all the whole old corn they will eat, but are kept away from barns and buildings. TURKEY BROILERS FOR FANCY PROFITS. Turkey raisers who are located near summer resorts where the wealthy congregate, can probably make a mar- ket for turkey broilers. At places like Newport, and similar resorts, there is a demand for such birds in July and August. They may be sold when they weigh from one and one-half to four pounds each, and bring from $1.75 to $2.25 each. They are generally sold by the price or pair, instead of by the pound. Near by raisers can control this trade, because turkeys at this age cannot be shipped long distances. If dressed, they are so lean and tender that they do not keep well. If placed on ice, they become discolored in a very short time. Where more young turkeys are raised than can be brought to maturity without overstocking the place, it will be wise to seek such'a market for the surplus, or for all of them, where disease is almost sure to kill them off after they become larger. TUKKEY CULTUEB. CATCHING TURKEYS IN THE FALL. Beginners, especially, have much difficulty in securing their turkeys when they desire to kill and market them. A bungling and unsuccessful attempt to catch a flock may make them so suspicious that they cannot be surrounded or approached the remainder of the season. Repeated attempts to catch them increases their wildness, and fre- PIG. 21. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH OP BROWNING & CHAPPELJj'S FLOCK, RHODE ISLAND. quently the only way to secure them has been to shoot them. This is more apt to be the case if the stock con- tains wild blood. Old hands at the business have learned by experience the proper course to pursue. The usual plan is to get the birds into a barn or carriage shed and shut them in. In order to do this they are fed for a long time in front of or just within the place in which they FATTENING AND MARKETING — FEATHERS. 75 are to be caught. Later, the feed is placed within the building, and they become so familiar with it that they are unsuspicious when within. The feeder takes pains not to appear to notice or watch them, and moves about very slowly and quietly. When they are to be caught, the doors of the building are suddenly closed, or a covered yard of wire netting is built in front of the building and closed when all are in. Usually when they find they are confined, they become frightened, and fly back and forth, or huddle up in corners, and sometimes many are smothered beneath the pile of frightened birds. In flying back and forth against tlie netting, their wings become bruised, and their appearance when dressed is injured. To overcome this drawback, certain raisers have im- proved the usual makeshift catching place by building a long, low, dark pen back of the barn or shed. This pen extends alongside of the building, and is at right angles with the entrance to it, and at the extreme end is about two feet high. Up to the time of their being caught, the end is left open and the birds frequently find their way through it. When closely approached from the front, when feeding in the building, they rely upon this means of escape and are not frightened. When they are to be caught, only what the pen will comfortably take, are driven in. They do not discover that the end is closed until it is too late to try to turn back. The turkeys that are not to be caught are first driven away, otherwise they may be alarmed and become unmanageable. No turkey that is thus caught and has learned the mysteries of the trap, is ever allowed to escape, or its suspicions would be communicated to the others. When shut in this pen they are quiet, and when a man goes to catch them there is no struggle ; he simply reaches out and takes them by the legs. The pen IS too dark and narrow for them to fly, and too low for them to crowd one upon another. 76 TUEKEY CULTtJEE. KILLING AND PICKING. Poultry shrinks about one-third in dressing. If you make your own prices, bear this proportion in mind. Live turkey at twelve cents a pound is nearly the same as six- teen cents dressed, not reckoning the cost of labor in dressing. If you market your turkeys where you get eighteen cents dressed, you cannot afford to sell them alive for less than thirteen and one-half cents a pound, unless you deduct cost of dressing, which is worth about eight cents per head. Deprive the birds of food and drink for twelve hours previous to killing. This length of time is sufficient to empty the crop, which is necessary to have the dressed turkey keep well. If starved for more than twelve hours, the birds begin to pine, or shrink in flesh, giving them more or less of a woody appearance. The length of time they are confined without food beyond twelve hours, will affect the appearance of the stock. Kill by bleed- ing in the mouth or neck, and pick clean, but do not attempt to stick poultry in the mouth unless you under- stand it, because, if not properly done, they will only half "bleed out," and when being picked, the blood will follow every feather, giving the bird a bad appearance, and rendering it almost unsalable. Xever stun them by knocking on the head or pounding on the back, as it causes the blood to settle, and injures the sale of the stock. If you sell the birds with the heads removed, kill them by beheading, leavnig the neck as long as possible. Have two stout cords hang from a joist or horizontal pole overhead, with a loop in the lower end of each. Place a loop over each foot of the turkej', and have the body hang at a convenient bight for you to pick, stand- ing. After killing, hang the body quickly, and remove the feathers before the body gets cold ; pull out tail and wing feathers clean. Practice will soon perfect you in this, so FATTBKING AND MABKETING — EEATHEKS. 77 that you will have all done, the intestines drawn and all, while there is yet heat in the body. For the Boston market it is fully as well to leave head on and entrails in, on all turkeys up to the regular Thanks- giving shipments, but no turkeys should ever be scalded for this market. Never remove liver, heart or gizzard. For the New York, Philadelphia and Chicago markets, tur- keys should never, at any time or at any season, be drawn or headed, and scalded stock will sometimes sell fully as well in those markets as dry picked. PACKING AND SHIPPING. In packing turkeys, assort them carefully, putting the large ones, also the small ones and any old bulls, each by FIG. 22. TDKKEYS PACKED FOK MARKET. themselves, and mark the number of turkeys in the pack- age. During Thanksgiving week, large fancy turkeys, weighing from twelve to fifteen pounds each, generally command the best prices of the year. The market is then usually filled with "fair to poor" stock, which goes at low figures; but even ten-pound turkeys, fat and well dressed, bring good prices, unless, as is sometimes the case, warm, rainy weather demoralizes the market. Make your pack- ages as uniform as possible. Nice boxes of regular dimen- sions are much better than irregular ones. We subjoin a cut giving best sizes used for turkeys and chickens, and show- ing style of packing generally preferred by our customers. 78 TUEKEX CULTUEE. Western shippers who send large quantities had better adopt these packages and style of packing, even if at con- siderable trouble and expense, as it will give them a de- cided advantage over other shippers who use old boxes of all sizes, ready to fall apart on arrival — because, when ship- ped as above suggested, it insures quick sales, prompt returns and highest market prices for quality of stock. During cold weather, poultry can be shipped any day in the week, either by exjjress or freight. It should be entirely cold, but not frozen, before being packed. 'Boxes are the best packages. Line them with paper and pack so closely that the contents cannot move, but never use straw, and never wrap dressed poultry in paper. On the cover, distinctly mark the kind and quality of contents — the gross weight and correct tare in plain figures, thus : 20 No. 1 250 Turks, 40 210 Choice 125 Chicks. ' 20 105 ADDRESS OF COMMISSION MERCHANT. ADDRESS OF COMMISSION MERCHANT. Also the merchant's name and that of the shipper, unless he is known by the number of his stencil. Stencils are furnished free for this purpose, when desired. When the correct tare of a package is omitted, the entire contents have to be removed to ascertain the weight of the poultry, and if frozen, it is often impossible to do this without tearing the package to pieces, and if not frozen, it causes much extra work and delay, which will sometimes prevent the sale, especially if the customer is in a hurry, as is usually the case in the busy poultry season. All these little points should be closely observed by turkey raisers and shippers, for they all count in selling turkeys to the best advantage and at the least expense. lAHEHIKG AKD MARKETING— BBAIHESS. W BEST TIME TO SELL. The greatest market for dressed turkeys is Boston, but It is more particular tlian Western and Southern market centers. Yet the best goods sold at the right time will always command ihe Lest prices ;n any market. W. H. Rudd, Son & Co., one of the largest concerns in the turkey and poultry commission business, in addition to the above directions for packing and shipping, write : In years past few shipments of turkeys were received on this market previous to Thanksgiving, but it has been the aim of producers and shippers to make earlier ship- ments each year, until at present we can say our season for young, small turkeys ( "chicken turkeys, "so called) opens in September. Some lots, in the vicinity of New- port and other celebrated shore resorts, are offered as chicken turkeys to broil, as early as August; but the gen- eral market is not supplied until the middle of September. There is, at this time, a very limited demand for a few small turkeys to broil, but the market is overstocked with this grade after a few shipments have arrived, and shippers are advised to send none dressing under eight pounds each. The majority of early shipments are from Indiana, Southern Illinois and Ohio, and the market generally opens at twenty to twenty-five cents per pound, but is dependent, in a few days, on the supply and demand, an oversupply sometimes forcing the market, in October, to very low figures. Shipments from Vermont and New Hampshire, the early part of October, have for the last few years held quite steady at twenty cents for large nine- or ten-pound turkeys, and as at this time they need not be drawn or headed, it is quite profitable to the raiser to make early shipments. Stock, at this season, should be ice packed, and the bulk from Western points are packed in barrels. The early part of November, Kentucky commences shipments to our market, and the quality of stock from this State has shown a great improvement in the past three 80 TURKEY CULTURE. years. Stock from there is generally headed and i^acked dry in boxes and shipped by express, and for some years we have seen but few lots at this time that liave not come through in good condition. It is question whether it is necessary or not, to draw and head any turkeys before the regular Thanksgiving shipments, as up to that time we think all lots will bring fully as much not drawn or headed. Boston, at Thanksgiving time, is the distributing point for all cities and large towns in Is'ew England ; the bulK of shipments first arrive here, and the number of turkeys dis posed of five days previous to that time is enormous, some FIG. 23. OPEK CKATK FOE BHIPPIXG DKESSED TIJEKEYS IX COOL WEATHEll. of the large commission houses sometimes selling $10,000 to §12,000 -worth the Monday previous. Shipments intend- ed for this trade should always be timed to arrive here not later than Saturday or Monday previous, and some shippers have found it advantageous to get their stock hcii; one or two days earlier. There is a special poultry train tlirough parts of Vermont and Xew Hamiishire, which lands their shipments the Saturday afternoon previous to Tlianksgiving, and raisers should arrange to get all their large-sized turkeys here for Thanksgiving, as they are wanted at that FATXEmSG AND MAKKETIifG — FBATHEBS. 81 time as large as possible, while later in the season smaller sizes command a premium. After Christmas, stock weigh- ing over twelve pounds each are hard sellers, but for the Thanksgiving trade there is a- demand for as large stock as can be produced, and for some years past extra large fancy stock from New England points has ranged in price from eighteen to twenty cents, the latter quotation being ex- treme, and only for exceptionally fine stock. Fourteen cents has been a fair average for fine Western stock, the range being twelve to sixteen cents, with No. 2 stock ten cents or under. But few lots of turkeys from the New Eng- land States are received here after Thanksgiving, every- thing of suitable size generally having been rushed in at that time, and from then until shipments cease in February or the early part of March, the supply is dependent on the Western States. At Christmas there is some demand for large turkeys, but medium sizes are called for, the prices at this time ranging from twelve to fourteen cents for stock of good quality. Dealers buying to place in cold storage for the spring and summer trade, take advantage of any unusually low prices at this time, but the general bulk of cold stor- age stock is placed through January and February, and usually at prices ranging from eleven to thirteen cents. The regular shipments from the West are generally cleaned up by the last of February, and stock arriving after this date is much below cold storage stock, as regards quality ; that stored being depended on for best trade until the new crop begins to move again, in September and October. There are, of course, regular shipments through the spring and sum- mer months, of fresh-killed ice-packed turkeys, old hens and toms, but such stock is about the same quality as fowl and old cocks, and the range in price is wide, from eight to eleven cents per pound. There are not enough turkeys' eggs arriving on this market at any season of the year to establish quotations. 83 TURKEY CULTURE. Late in the season a few are received from the West and North, mixed in with hens' eggs, and which sell at the same price. TURKEY TEATHEKS. There is some profit in saving and marketing turkey feathers, but this depends largely upon circumstances. The choicest tail feathers are worth more than any other kind, and are put to various uses. An industry which has grown to considerable proportions in the last few years is the manufacture of feather dusters from turkey tail feathers. These, to a certain extent, replace ostrich feather dusters, which are so expensive as to put them out of the reach of very many people. Carefully selected turkey tail feathers are freed from imperfections, and so much of the quill split away that the ' ' backbone' ' of the feather is elastic, yet strong. These are grouped, and bound and finished into a very serviceable duster. A few of the wing feathers are used in this way. Another use of certain choice feathers is in making featherbone, entering into dress stays. At certain seasons and in certain years, there is a considerable demand for white turkey feathers for use in the millinery trade, decking the bonnet of a fashiona- ble woman, who rests content in the belief that she is wearing a Parisian headdress made perfect by ostrich feathers from South Africa. A certain class of trade handles only body feathers, having no use for those with stiff quills. Choice body feathers are very much used for cheap pillows and for mattresses ; they must, however, be treated by a process which makes them soft and fluffy, and the prices paid for the feathers in the raw state are usually so low as to prevent much profit in the handling of them. The most favorable time to market turkey feathers is late in the fall and during tlie winter and early spring months. Then there is a larger demand, and established market prices at all leading cities, while during the sum- rATTENING AND MAEKETING— FEATHERS. 83 mer the inquiry is irregular and quotations often purely nominal. To command any sort of attention in the mar- ket, the feathers should be dry-picked after the turkey is killed and before being scalded. Scalded turkey feathers are shown very little favor in any market and are often quite unsalable. They are frequently received in the big markets in such poor shape that they are sent to the dump. The best way to ship feathers is in crates or light boxes. They should be sorted, tail, wing and pointers. The lat- ter are used only in making corsets, and can be packed in any style, a good way being in muslin sacks. The wings and tail feathers should be handled carefully and kept clean. The tail feathers should be free from body feathers in order to bring top prices. Shippers sometimes send wing, tail and pointers, without sorting. While they will sell this way, the price is based on an allowance for the cost of separating and repacking. The feathers should be laid straight and packed tightly. Shoe or hat boxes are well suited for this, or light cases made of laths will be found strong enough, and still afford a saving in freight or express charges. A point to be remembered is that the feathers must not be jammed and packed crosswise, but should appear regularly placed when the box or crate is opened. Unless large numbers of turkeys are slaughtered, it may not pay to ship the feathers. But when one dresses the turkeys of an entire neighborhood, it might be well to sort the feathers and find a market for them. At times, a de- mand exists for pure white wing and tail feathers, at a slight premium over colored feathers. The proportion of white feathers, clean and perfect, is so small, however, as to scarcely pay for the time and labor of sorting. To com- mand top prices they must be sorted clean of all short feathers. This is a slow and laborious undertaking to any but an expert feather sorter, and if such is employed espe- cially for the purpose, the added cost frequently equals si TUBKET CULTURE. the net value of the feathers after deducting freight, cart- age and commission charges. The subjoined table repre- sents recent quotations in Chicago, and the price at St. Louis and other leading markets is much the same, freight differences considered. The rate of freight from interior shipping points can be readily learned, remembering that the railroad company charges for one hundred pounds for any single package weighing less than that. Turkey tail, choice and clear, per pound, , . . 15 and 25 cents Turkey tail, mixed with skirt feathers, . . . 12 and 18 cents Turkey wing, fiom first two joints Sand 12 cents Turkey wing, tail and pointers, 6 and 12 cents Turkey wing and tail, clear, 10 and 15 cents Turkey wing and jiointers, 5 and Scents Turkey pointers Sand 4 cents Turkey body, dry and choice, 2 and 3 cents CHAPTER XI. SHELTER — MARKING. As mentioned before, much housing of turkeys is not needed. Health, vigor and strength of constitution, both in the parent and young stock, are the all-important con- siderations. High roosts, if they perch out of doors, are necessary, that foxes, etc, do not get them. Large fence rails set horizontally on uprights, ten or twelve feet from the ground, are the next best things to the large limbs of trees. In the more northern latitudes the housing need not begin until snow falls. The birds" should always roost near the house or barn, that they may be kept tame. There is more danger that turkeys will be kept in too warm houses, than in too cold. A tight house with draughts from a ventilator, such as is used with common hens, would be too confining for turkeys. The healthy adult can stand almost any amount of cold, rain or snow, but must have cold, pure air, and a dry place to roost and to stay in when he feels like it. Observe the nature of wild turkeys in this respect. A windbreak is highly de- sirable, but a house is not the thing for old turkeys unless it is the size of a barn and built as open. At the Rhode Island Station, although the turkey house was airy and high, the young turkeys which were allowed to roost therein did not thrive. The slat door was open after dark, that they might leave in the morning as early as they chose, but th«y seemed to be affected unfavorably. Those allowed full liberty and outdoor roosts were much more thrifty. During the winter it was the same with the old turkeys that roosted in the house. Young and old were out of condition and had colds, with swelled faces, T»hil9 85 86 TUKKET CULTUEE. those in the trees seemed bright and healthy. The con- trast was so great that in midwinter, during the coldest weather, those roosting in the building were shut out and compelled to roost in the trees, and in a few days they had improved and many of them were as well as ever. The shed was kept perfectly clean and they were not over- crowded. Satisfactory results may be obtained in winter if the roosts are placed in the center of an old, empty hay barn, with quarter-inch cracks between the boards on all sides. The less housing turkeys have, except as described for young turkeys, the better. When turkeys are confined, a dust bath is indispensable. Take two boards, each four or five feet long, set them on edge in one corner of your house, where there is good light, so as to form a square, and fill it with dry loam in late summer or early fall. Sifted coal ashes may be used to mix with the loam, but wood ashes should not, unless they first be leached ; even then, they will prove of more value to you on your garden soil. ISTever, in any case, allow wood ashes to mix with poultry manure. The alkali of the ashes liberates the ammonia of the manure, and be- sides the dreadful odor which arises, you lose much of the fertilizing properties of the manure. TUBKEY SHEDS. Turkey sheds are for housing young turkeys in stormy or boisterous weather. Almost always in May we have, in the Northern States, a cold rain storm, lasting from three to nine days, that will kill more turkey chicks, unless they are guarded from exposure to the rain, than the ax will kill at the next Thanksgiving. When the farmer's wife has but two or three broods of young turkeys, she can move them into dry coops in the barn, woodshed, or any place where they can be kept dry, until pleasant weather returns, but the turkey grower who intends to grow 200 to 500 or 1000 turkeys will find turkey sheds necessary. Prop- SHELTER— MAEKING. 87 erly constructed and judiciously used, they will save their entire cost in one or two seasons. Build them any convenient length, twenty or more feet. Let the width be ton feet at the bottom, roof ten feet, with a receding front seven and one-half feet high, and four and one-half feet high in the rear. Have the roof boards project a little in front, and six or eight inches at the rear. It can be made of rough boards battened, and the roof covered with Standard roofing paper. Keep the mother hens in coops in the back part of the shed, and give the little turkeys the freedom of the floor. On pleasant days, after the dew is off, open the doors and give all lib- erty until night, but on rainy days keep the broods shut in. Move the coops often and rake the sand. In a shed like this, say twenty feet long, you can shelter one hundred to one hundred and twenty-flve young turkej's easily, until they are grown of sufficient size and age to be out at all times in all weathers. Sheds for sheltering broods of little turkeys at night may be made, as shown in Figs. 19 and 20. These are six feet long, three feet wide, three feet high in front, and two feet at rear. Of course they may be made higher and wider. Slats are best for front, if sheds are large, as there is less danger of injury to turkeys by flying against them. MARKING TURKEYS POR IDENTIFICATION. SAMUEL CDSHMAN. As previously stated, turkeys do not thrive unless al- lowed free range. If enclosed in a large park by woven wire fence, or kept on an island, they can be controlled, but when given full liberty they roam over adjoining farms. In a neighborhood where many keep them, the different flocks are liable to meet, run together and get pretty well mixed. If not separated immediately, thej- may roost together, and roam as one flock the rest of the 88 TURKEY CULTURE. Tronl Toe Marks FIG. 2i SUGGESTIONS FOK MARKING TPEKEYS BT THEIR FEET. SHELTEB — MARKING. 89 season. The first night a flock fails to return to its home roost, it should be looked up, separated from the other flocks and driven home. To do this is comparatively easy if immediately attended to, but each day they run to- gether makes their separation more difficult. To readily distinguish their ov^n birds, many raisers try to have turkeys of a different color from any of those of their neighbors. By breeding for several seasons from a gobbler of a breed different from those kept near by, the flock takes on characteristics of its own, and each individ- ual is readily distinguished. The White, Buff, Slate and Red or Golden varieties are valued principally for such use by growers. An additional advantage is gained, be- cause first crosses between pure breeds are much more hardy, and some combinations are much larger. The grading up of common stock by the repeated use of males of a pure breed also improves its profitable qualities. This means of identifying a fiock is an excellent one, but is not sufficient for all purposes, for it is often desira- ble to distinguish the birds of a flock from each other, the stock raised one year from that of another, or that of a favorite hen or gobbler. Your turkeys may be lost among similar colored birds, or they may be captured by thieves, and dressed before you get a clue to them. If you have a private mark you can tell them, dead or alive. A private brand is desirable, for many reasons. In turkey-raising sections, where there is a flock on nearly every farm, a system of marking their feet is fol- lowed. This is done by clipping off one or moi'e of their nails, or tips of their toes, as soon as the little turkeys are hatched. At this age they take very little notice of the operation, and there is little or no bleeding. Each raiser has a different mark, and in some towns these are regis- tered at the town clerk's office, the same as the brands of sheep or cattle. As a turkey has three front and one back toes on each foot, or eight toes altogether, many different 90 TUEKEY CULTURE. brands maj' be made by clipping the different toes. The illustration on Page 88 shows some of them. Six different marks may be made by clipping only one front toe. Nine more by clipping but two front toes. By clipping either the right or left back toe, the number may- be doubled or trebled. By clipping more toes, combina- tions almost without number may be made, but it will be rarely necessary to remove more than one to two nails, even in a turkey-growing section. Should mature turkeys thus marked be stolen and dressed, they may be identified, as the marks cannot be changed without showing the fresh mutilation. The marks of little turkeys may be changed without detection, pro- vided sufficient time passes to allow them to heal before they are examined. The more toes you clip, the more dif- ficult it is to change your marks. Other marks, in addition to the foot marks, are some- times necessary. The beak maj' be filed, holes punched in the skin or web of the wing, or a loop of colored silk fas- tened in the flesh where it can not be seen. Although you may feel that such a precaution is not necessary in your case, probably if you follow this practice, you will at some time be very glad that you have done so. CHAPTER XII. HINDRANCES AND DISEASES. The chief hindrances and obstacles to turkey growing are human and animal thieves, lice and disease. You can always find a market for your dressed turkeys; you can generally make satisfactory arrangements with your neigh- bors, if your birds trespass upon their land ; but all the obstacles may be overcome by patience, perseverance and intelligence. In the more thickly settled portions of the country, thieves are the worst enemies the poultry grower has. In some parts of New England, poultry thieving seems to be a profession with some people, as our court records, when a culprit is caught, will show. But these thieves rarely steal in their own neighborhood. They cen- ter in some large town or city, and go out by night, with teams, five, ten, and sometimes twenty miles in their predatory excursions. If your turkeys roost out of doors, it will be necessary to keep one or more dogs to warn you of the approach of the thieves. You cannot shoot them as you can foxes and coyotes, but you can do something which the thieves dread more than the shot gun ; cause their arrest. As your action must be determined by the laws of the place where you live, no further advice can be given than always to bear in mind that eternal vigilance is the price of success in turkey raising. Of animals, dogs do more mischief than foxes. If you cannot cure your dog of worrying turkeys, shoot him. For other animals, the gun, traps and poison, judiciously used, are effective remedies. Lice, a great annoyance to the poultry keeper, may be exterminated from your flock, if they get possession, but it 91 92 TUKKBT CTJLTUEB. Is easier to keep them away. If the sitting hen or turkey has been treated with insect powder, as advised in. the chapter on Incubation, no lice will be on the mother or in the nest to begin work on the newly hatched poult. But if they do come,— and they may in spite of all pre- cautions, — you must quickly rid the birds of them or your losses will be great. If the young turkey begins to droop, refuses to eat, and acts depressed, at once examine the head for lice. You may find three or four large brown ones half buried in the flesh. Remove them and rub the head with sweet oil, or fresh lard mixed with kerosene. Examine, also, the ends of the wings. There you may find some large gray lice, which must be treated in like manner. If you know that all insects, from the largest dragon fly to the minutest hen louse, have no lungs like animals, but breathe through countless pores in their skin, — the same as though we breathed through the pores in our skin in- stead of through our nostrils,- — then you must know that anything which closes those pores quickly, produces suffo- cation. The best two things known to do that are oil and Pyrethrum (Persian insect powder). Neither produces any harm to lung-breathing creatures. Having applied the oil to the head and the wings, throroughly apply Py- rethrum to the rest of the body by means of a little blower, which can be obtained at a drug store. Also dust the mother turkey at night the same way. Never use sul- phur on young turkeys. Carefully watch your flock, and if you detect the lice again, go through the same opera- tion. When the poults are fully feathered and have "thrown the red," they can wander about and keep the lice away themselves. If the broods are cooped, thor- oughly scald their coops with boiling suds ; burn the lit- ter in them, replacing it with a fresh supply. Filth will soon make short work of them. Peed on clean surfaces. Give them full liberty on dry, warm days, and keep a space of dry sand at all times convenient, for grit and dust. HINDRANCES AND DISEASES. 93 PREVENTION OF DISEASES. Although the greatest trouble in raising turkeys may be due to a lack of vigor or hardiness, — the result of breed- ing from young, inferior or closely related stock, — there is no question but that turkeys, as well as other living crea- tures, are liable to be destroyed by diseases which even the most vigorous may not escape, if exposed to the most viru- lent form. Overfeeding, underfeeding, lack of exercise and various influences may make individuals more suscep- tible, but certain infections are so powerful as to over- come even the strongest and finest specimens. The Rhode Island Experiment Station says : ' ' Cholera, scarlet fever, diphtheria, and many other serious diseases which affect man, are all prevented from becoming gen- eral by nearly the same means. These diseases are propa- gated by germs given off by the patient. If infected per- sons are not immediately separated from the well, and iso- lated, — prevented from coming in contact with others, — they would cause an epidemic, which, once well started, might sweep the country. . Not only are such patienjts kept in quarantine, but those who care for them are also prevented from coming in direct contact with the well. When the disease has run its course, the patient, the at- tendants, the rooms occupied, and every article that the germs may have come in contact with, are disinfected, — cleansed with some solution that kills germs. If this is properly done, all of the germs within doors are destroyed. If this were not done, every one using the same rooms, clothing or articles in the room, would be liable to infec- tion, even a long time after the patient had vacated the premises. Germs of disease may dry up, and, if not de- stroyed, again become active a long time after, if given suitable soil to grow in. They grow faster and multiply with greater rapidity in some soils, and, as in the case ol weeds grown in sand and rich loam, the ranker the growth, the more rapidly they spread, the greater the 94: lUBKEY CDKXUBE. .^M_^^:M^ M»'.. I vl":*' FIG. 25. NO MOEE TEOUBLE FEOM STRATTNG TUBKETS. This illustration shows Mr. Dawley's turkey park, described on Page 112 of this book. The fence Illustrated above is a cheap but very durable affair made solely by the Page Woven Wire Peuce Co., of Adrian, Mich. HINDRANCES AND DISEASES. 95 number of germs thrown ofE and the greater their power. Living surfaces having healtliy secretions are poor soils for germs, while abnormal secretions may enable them to thrive. Filth and decaying matter nourisli certain germs. Healthy organs resist and may destroy a certain quan- tity of disease germs, but may be overcome by a much greater number. "Purchasing birds here and there in making up a flock, may bring all sorts of diseases and parasites together, thus infecting a place at the start to such an extent that it is hard to get rid of them. Each new bird should be thor- oughly examined for disease of any kind and treated for lice before being allowed to run with others. A few days' quarantine is very desirable. Do not buy birds showing the slightest trace of disease. Avoid all that are suspi- cious, for a mild case of disease may introduce a serious trouble. Keep your flocks away from those of your neigh- bors, as a single infected fowl or turkey may infect a dozen or more different flocks, if allowed to run with them on common ground. Isolate your own stock from that of others as completely as possible. Do not feed uncooked of- fal. Entrails of animals are liable to contain parasites and germs of disease that will affect fowls, therefore should be long and well cooked before being fed to any living thing. Do not feed milk from cows that are suspected of having tuberculosis. Do not allow persons having consumption to expectorate where they are. Every fowl which dies from any cause should be subjected to post-mortem examina- tion. Persons making such examination should make sure that the skin of their hands is not cut or abraded. This would make them liable to receive infectious matter that might result in blood poisoning. All instruments used in post-mortem examinations should, as well as the hands, be afterwards cleansed in a solution of some antiseptic, like carbolic acid. By such examinations a disease may be discovered before it becomes very prevalent. It is best 96 TUEKET CULTUEE. to sacrifice inferior and sickly specimens, as they are usu- ally the first to become infected, and are apt to become disease breeders. Carcasses of diseased birds should be promptly buried, deep under ground, in a location remote from the haunts of fowls or animals, or, better still, boiled or burned, that the infectious germs may be destroyed. Coops or buildings that have been occupied by them, or the ground where they have lain, should be thoroughly sprayed or drenched with a solution of copperas or carbolic acid. The great bimefit in doctoring fowls whose worth is but a few dollars, lies principally in the preventive treat- ment of large nunibers at one time. An early diagnosis of a disease makes this possible. But one has to be on the alert to observe signs of sickness on first appearance, and something of an expert to recognize what it is, the cause and cure. "Immediate isolation and disinfection should be as promptly enforced in the case of diseased turkeys as with diseased persons. Every infected flock is a menace to other flocks. Kill and bum, or bury deep, all diseased birds, disinfect that which they have contaminated, if pos- sible, and remove the survivors to fresh, uncontaminated land, and keep this up. Other turkeys should be prevented from going onto the infected land. This, in combination with the use of vigorous stock only, bred and fed and cared for according to the best methods, should do away with the mortality among turkeys." DiAEEHCEA. — Of diseases, the most to be dreaded are diarrhoea and roup, when the turkeys are fed and housed like fowls. Diarrhoea attacks the young, and is caused by exposure to cold and wet, lack of grit with their food, sour, uncooked food, access to stagnant water, etc. Give scalded milk to drink, and feed on hard-boiled eggs, stale bread crumbs and boiled rice, according to your convenience. Never give "sloppy" food. Use black pepper freely. Some of our essayists keep on hand and use occasionally whole HIKDEANCBS AND DISEASES. 91 black pepper, for its wholesome properties. Adult turkeys taken with diarrhoea can be fed with boiled rice, and thus cured. I have cured a whole flock by the use of the Douglas Mixture alone.* Roup is one of the most to be dreaded of all diseases which afBict poultry. It rarely affects turkeys that are not housed, pampered, or overfed, or that do not run with fowls. The prominent cause is exposure to cold and wet. So prominent is this, that the disease may be properly called malignant catarrh. It is worse than influenza in human beings. Prevention is better than cure. The con- flnement necessary to properly doctor roup would spoil r turkey. Kill and bury the first case. Wring the necks or the diseased ones and bury them so deeply that no disease germs from them ever could come to the surface. Never cut ofE the head of a roupy fowl ; the very blood is poison. If any of the pus from a diseased bird gets into your eyes or on your hand where the skin is abraded, trouble will ensue. Dry quarters for the young turkeys ; clean, whole- some food and free range when the grass is not wet, will keep your flock free from this scourge, if they are kept away from diseased stock or contaminated premises. The importance of this subject impels me to subjoin the following extract from the publication of the Fancier!? Review called "Five Hundred Questions and Answers on Poultry Eaising. " It is a well-known fact that exposure to cold and wet will cause — 1. Eoup, as more correctly stated, will produce acute inflg,mmatory action and resulting exudation, eventually embracing the entire surface of the membranes of the nose, mouth, throat and windpipe. If this exudation is not speedily checked, it degenerates into m ♦ Following Is the formula for the Douglas Mixture: Sulphuric acid,- 2 ounces Sulphate of Iron (copperas), V2 pound Water, 2 gallons Keep in a stone jug or vessel. Add one tablespoouful to every quart of water in the drinking vessel. 7 98 TUEKET CULTUEE. pup, which is the discharge present in the last two stages of roup, and is the only mode in which this disease is dis- seminated. 2. In this stage, termed diphtheritic roup, the exuda- tive membrane, becoming permanent and pressing upon the subjacent tissue, acts as a foreign body, causing ulcera- tions to appear on the surface. These ulcerations are the so-called "cankers." 3. This condition arrived at, there is a stagnation of the nutritive processes, the blood becomes impaired, and scrof- ula and liver disease supervene. These conclusions have been arrived at after studying the disease for three years, during which time diseased fowls have been experimented upon, killing some at the various stages and dissecting them. They are easily cured in the first stage, curable in the second, and not worth curing in the third. The following will be found to be unequaled t^-eatment for all stages of the disease, combined with nutritious, soft food: Pills. — Sulphate of copper, half grain; cayenne pepper, one grain ; hydrastine, half grain ; copaiba, three drops ; Venetian turpentine, quarter section. In pill, night and morning. Lotion. — Sulphate of copper quarter ounce, dissolved in a pint of rain water. To wash out the mouth and nostrils, if required. The simplest means of preventing their drinking water acting as a means of spreading the disease, is to add a lit- tle tar water to it, prepared by stirring about one pound of tar in two gallons of water and decanting the clear water as required for use. • Gapes.— These are very fine red worms found in the trachea or windpipe of young birds, most destructive to chicks when they are from three to six weeks old. On many farms in Rhode Island, gapes had caused the death of fifty HINDEASrOBS AND DISEASES. 99 per cent of little turkeys for years, and many who suffered such losses, while they realized the cause, were ignorant that much could be done to prevent or cure the trouble. It attacks all other poultry, also, being most prevalent in July and August. The chief symptoms are a suppressed cough and a peculiar gasping, from which the malady is named. As many as twenty or thirty of these worms, averaging five- eighths of an inch in length, have been found attached to the mucous membrane of ^^ the trachea, which, together with the lungs, was badly inflamed. This so-called forked worm in reality consists of a male and fe- male permanently united. Their food is the blood of their host, which also gives them a red appearance. The matured fe- male contains several thousand eggs, which emerge only after her death. It has been said that the eel-like embryos never leave the eggs while they are within the living body of the mother, however complete the development of both may be, and that only by the death of the female and the destruc- tion of its body are the ova placed at lib- erty. Late investigations dispute this state- ment. The embryo will emerge from the egg if the surrounding medium offers fa- ^^EwoBmcf vorable conditions. These are moisture Four times natural and a temperature of at least 68 degrees worm is the maft, ^ , , . ^ , , the smaller one the Fahrenheit. In a moist state, the eggs pre- female, serve their vitality for months, or even a year, if the tem- perature is kept below 59 degrees Fahrenheit, but under these conditions the contents of the eggs eventually become dissolved. If placed in a dry medium, like dry sand, their contents dry up the more rapidly in proportion to the ele- vation of the temperature. If an unimpaired egg is kept 100 TURKEY CULTURE. moist and subjected to a temperature of 77 degrees, the embryo within the egg moves and turns about and finally escapes by pushing away one of the coverlets. Twenty- eight to thirty days of such a degree of warmth, with moisture, is sufficient for tlie development of the embryo and its escape from the shell. These embryos live in water, where they swim about in a serpentine manner. They have been kept alive at this stage almost a year by subjecting them to a low temperature, but with a temperature of from 68 to 77 degrees, they did not live more than eight or ten days. The illus- trations, Figs. 26 and 27, reproduced from report of United States Bureau of Animal Industry, 1884, represent the various stages from the egg to the mature worm attached to the trachea. Fowls become infected m sev- eral ways, food and water containing eggs or the live embryos being prob- ably the two most common. The vitality of gapeworm eggs is very strong and may be preserved for a long time in the soil or wherever the eggs may fall. Birds affected FIG. 27. WINDPIPE OF JL with this malady frequently expel, ^°^"" in a fit of coughing, plump gape- Slit open and pinned back to show a large number of the nrorms full of egSS. Other fowls gapeworms attached to the Inside, natural size. near by Consume with avidity the worms thus ejected. Two or three weeks later these same young fowls are sure to present symptoms of the malady. Dr. H. D. Walker has pointed out that earthworms act the part of host to the gapeworm embryo, and believes HINDBATTCES AND DISEASES. ]01 that they are the prime means .of spreading the gapus. More recent experiments show tliat while earthworms in infected soils often contain the embryos, the earthworm is not a necessary host, because the disease is found where earthworms are not natural to the soil. Dr. Walker still maintains that if chicks are kept from eating earthworms, they will not have the gapes. He argues that without the aid of earthworms to carry gapewornls below the first line, they would soon be exterminated in the North. He admits that chicks fed on fresh eggs of the gapeworm might not contract the disease, but thinks it is perhaps because their digestion is so rapid that the eggs pass ofE before they have time to hatch. Older chicks are not so susceptible, because they have more power to dislodge the worms from the trachea, and are not embarrassed by a few. Wherever gape-infected chicks or poults have long been kept, the ground becomes infected with the germs, and re- mains infected just as long as chickens are kept there. Curing the birds will not remove the infection, but if no poultry are kept for a sufficient length of time, the infec- tion dies out for want of necessary conditions for develop- ment. It is folly to put young chicks on a plat of ground or field infected with gapeworms, unless the soil is freed from contamination. This can be done by spreading half a bushel of fresh air-slaked lime on every hundred square feet of ground. Chicks kept in pens for eight weeks, the soil of which has thus been purified, usually escape infec- tion. The same quantity of coarse salt may be used in place of the lime, but it must be dissolved by water or rain before the chicks are put in, or they may eat it and die. Avoid giving water from an infected source. For destroying the infection in the soil, water containing a large quantity of salicylic acid or sulphuric acid is recom- mended by Megnin. There are many very old and effective remedies for re- moving gapeworms. Air-slaked lime has long been used 103 TURKEY CtTLTUEB. and has been found to promptly remove the worms from the trachea. Afflicted chickens are placed in a box, which is covered with a sheet of thin muslin. On this muslin is placed a handful of air- slaked lime, the muslin is then jarred to cause the dust of the lime to fall through, which enters the lungs of the chickens and causes them to cough off the worms. The lime is supposed to affect the worms, which release their hold or do not retain so strong a hold on the windpipe. This is said to do no harm to the chick and to be a sure cure. Another old-f ashionea method of treat- ment, which seems to have been quite gen- erally followed with great success, is to confine the chickens to a canvas-covered box while they are fumigated with the fumes of carbolic acid. The fumes are produced by pouring a teaspoonful of car- bolic acid on a red-hot brick placed in the corner of the box. If there is glass in one end of the box, the chickens will huddle against it and keep away from the comer where the brick is, while their actions may be watched through the glass. If the I fumes seem too dense, ventilation may be given. A minute is usually long enough to expose them to the fumes. By the use of a sliding door in the box, the chickens may be driven into the box from their coop in any number desired. An upper compartment for the chickens, having a ""ntoi^iS?''Seil!| slat floor, under which the acid is burned, whiiTthe iwlfwin^ would be most satisfactory where a large girtor iSca!"' ''"'"* number are to be handled. Dr. Roth, Mrs. FIG. 28. C^CA HINDRANCES AND DISEASES. 103 Carson, and many others, have long followed this plan of treatment with great success. The only objection to it is that if the chickens are fumigated too long, they may be killed, as well as the worms. This treatment is also valuable for the cure of roup. Another common practice is to drop six drops of strong salt and water down the windpipe with a feather, as it will quickly and surely cure them, and is simple and not as severe as most other remedies. Cam- phor and water, cam- phorated sweet oil and crude petroleum, are each recommended ; one drop in the windpipe from a medicine drop- per,, oil can or feather, is said to be all that is nec- essary to kill and cause the removal of the worms. A feather strip- ped of its web, except at the tip, and moistened with a mixture of sweet oil and turpentine, is used by some. It is in- serted in the windpipe, and twisted as it is with- in " Waokliead " disease. drawn. Worms may be destroyed in this way, but it is not practicable where large numbers of chickens are to be treated. Some poultry keepers simply apply turpentine externally to the mouths or throats of the chickens having gapes. Pine tobacco, petroleum or kerosene, turpentine. FIC 29. DISEASED C^CA Of turkey, thickened, enlarged and ulcerated 104 TUEKET CULTURE. assafoetida and alum, all have been recommended for mix ing with the feed, to prevent and stamp out the gape dis- ease. M. Megnin gives each pheasant seven and one-half grains of assafoetida combined with the same quantity of pulverized yellow gentian in their feed. Five to ten drops of turpentine to a pint of meal and made into dough, is used by some. When garlic or onions are faithfully fed, the trouble is much reduced. The explanation is that the volatile part of these substances, being absorbed into the system, is thrown off through the lungs and brouglit into contact with the parasitic worms in the windpipe, to which it is fatal, and they are ejected with the mucous. Meg- nin recommends adding about fifteen grains of salicylic acid to each quart of the drinking water. Prevention is better than a cure. The importance of the total de- struction of the parasites after their removal, should be realized. If the worms are killed and thrown upon the ground, it is scarcely likely that the mature eggs will have sustained any in- ^'°" ^' jury. Decomposition will set One sifle or wing of the caecum cut open, showing its diseased state, free the eggs, the young embryos escape and enter the soil, and ultimately may find their way into the air passages of some bird. The worms, as well as the dead bodies of anything affected with them, should be burned, if we wish to prevent the spread of the disease. If infected birds are buried, earthworms or skunks may bring the infection to the surface. Pools and wet places are supposed to be favorable to the preservation and development of these germs. It has often HIKDEANCES AND DISEASES. 105 been observed that gapes are more prevalent during a wet spring and during those summers following a mild winter. In stamping out this trouble, the importance of the addi- tion of a small quantity of some germicide like carbolic acid, salicylic acid, assafoetida or petroleum to the drink- ing water, sufficient to destroy worms or eggs that are ejected therein, should not be overlooked. "BLACKHEAD" IN TUKKEYS IS CONTAGIOUS. For more than fifteen years there has been great loss among turkeys raised in southern New England, from a supposed contagious disease known as "blackhead." It has entirely prevented turkey rais- I ing on many farms, and has j caused great de- struction. Pub- lic attention was first directed to this disease by I Prof. Cushman of the Khode Is- land Experiment Station, in the fig. ; summer of 1893. me other caxJum mi_ j-i from rig. 29, cut The matter was crosswise to „ . . , , J. „ 1 show thicken- ehow thickened mucous membrane, closely lOllOWed ing. at that institution until the work was taken by the United States Bureau of Animal Industry. A report on it ap- peared in Bulletin 8 from that Bureau, which illustrated and described the disease, and indicated that it might be infectious. Circular No. 5, just issued by V. A. Moore, Chief of the Bureau of Animal Pathology, gives later re- sults, showing conclusively that blackhead is contagious. Not only is this true, but instead of being confined to the New England coast, certain flocks in the Middle and no. 31. One csecum from Fig. 29, slit open to 106 TUEKEY CULTURE. Western States are affected. The disease has extended into the Western States, though not yet found in the South, while the losses of Eastern turkey growers from this source alone are very large. Evidence accumu- lates that the entire Northern third of the country is sprinkled with I infected districts. The disease is usually accom- panied by a diarrhoeal discharge from the bowels, while the head turns dark or purple. It attacks young turkeys at all ages, and gradually develops. More turkeys succumb to the trouble in the latter PIG, 33. part of July and early in Spotted liver due tij"))iai;kijead." August, and at the ap- proach of cold weather, than at any other time. The affected birds seem able to hold out against it during warm, dry weathc-r, but they quickly succumb in wet, stormy weather. The turkeys dying from blackhead almost invariably have a disease of thi- liver and a part of the intes- tine. The turkey is infected early in life, and infection does not take place later on ; hence, it may be transmitted from old to young. The disease appar- ently first affects the cjecum or pronged part of the lower bowel, which becomes thickened and enlarged and badly ulcerated. The liver is also spotted, and in advanced stages is covered with circular areas, showing destruction of tissue within the organ (see Figs. 28 to 34 inclusive ). The Klfi. 34. Natural size of spots on liver. HINDRANCES AND DISEASES. 10? changes in the liver and bowel are so pronounced when it causes death that turkey raisers may in many instances learn whether their own turkeys are affected by examin- ing those that die. Blackhead is a hitherto undetermined disease, and is caused by a minute organism, which places the malady among the infectious diseases. It is now demonstrated that turkeys contract the disease from the droppings of diseased birds. Hence sick birds must not remain with the breeding birds, nor should stock be ob- tained from infected sections. Broods of young turkeys should be kept away from buildings where turkeys have passed the winter, and be kept on ground uncontaminated by the droppings of diseased turkeys or suspicious breeding stock. The droppings from all roosting places should be frequently and thoroughly collected, and the place well dusted with air-slaked lime. If the disease is known to exist in the flock, sprinkle the premises liberally with a mixture of crude carbolic acid one-half gallon and crude sulphuric acid one-half gallon, to which twenty gallons of water are added. The droppings collected may be dusted thoroughly with air-slaked lime, and mixed with several times their bulk of muck or loam, to absorb the ammonia that would otherwise escape, and thus become a valuable fertilizer. Turkeys should not be fed on the same spot of ground day after day, but as far as possible in a new place every day, that the danger of infection through the food and droppings may be lessened. Dr. Moore's circular suggests that those who have recently had this disease in their flocks should dispose of their old turkeys and begin new by hatching turkey eggs under hens, or with turkeys obtained from non-infected districts, "preferably from the South, as this disease is not known to exist there." 108 TUKKET CULTUEE. PKEVALENCE OF TAPEWOEMS IN TUKKEYS. PROF. SAMUEL CUSHMAN. Our work with the disease known as "blackhead" ena- bled us to examine the intestines of each bird the entire length for tapeworms, and we found that they were more generally infested than we had even suspected. Turkeys affected with blackhead were free from tapeworms, but of the sixty-five examined that showed no traces of that dis- ease, the intestines of forty contained tapeworms. Worms from a quarter of an inch to several inches in length were found, and occasionally those a foot or more long. Some birds contained only great numbers of very minute worms in the upper intestine, others only large fully developed worms in the lower intestine, while in still others small ones were found in the upper, and numbers of long and large ones in the lower intestine. In one or two instances these worms were found only in the blind prolongation of the lower intestine. One bird found in a dying condition in a flock from which turkeys had been dying for over a month, and from which thirty had been lost within a week, was found to contain a very large number of tape- worms of medium size, and no other cause for sickness could be discovered. Frequently the lower part of the in- testine was fairly crowded with great numbers of long worms. One little turkey three or four weeks old had many small worms in the duodenum, and the remainder of the intestines was almost completely filled with those that were several inches long, about fifty in number. A microscopical examination of apparently mature segments by Dr. Smith, showed that ripe embryos were present. As these sick turkeys come from many different farms in various parts of tlie State, and but one or two birds were secured from any one place, it seems that this trouble is very prevalent among young turkeys during the summer months in Rhode Island, and this HINDRANCES AND DISEASES. 109 may account for loss of turkeys that is often reported from other sections. I am convinced that tapeworms cause the death of great numbers of little turkeys, and that some suitable worm medicine should be frequently given them throughout the season. Turkeys are troubled with tapeworms from early spring until late in the fall, and sometimes have spasms from this cause. Very young turkeys suffer the most. After they are three months old they are better able to with- stand the injurious effect. The worms apparently irritate the bowels, causing digestive derangement, diarrhoea, weakness and death. At certain seasons, segments of worms may be found early in the morning under the roosts among the droppings of the infected turkeys. Evi- dently the younger they receive the parasites, the more they suffer. Doubtless if the birds survive until the embryos have developed and have mostly passed out, they may gradually recover. A few worms may do little harm, while a great number may be fatal. How the young receive the embryos in the spring is an interesting question. Whether snails, worms or insects harbor them and thus scatter the infection, or whether they receive the infection from the droppings of old tur- keys, is yet to be determined. Dr. Stiles, of the United States Bureau of Animal Industry, says that ten different species of tapeworms from chickens are described by inves- tigators, and that according to certain Italian authors two species— one of them the most common of all — pass their lar- val stage in the house fly. Another species, it is said, has for its intermediate hosts various slugs, while another has a snail as its host. Dr. Salmon thinks it will be found that earthworms, insects and snails are the intermediate hosts for these tapeworm embryos, and that there is, at present, no reason for thinking they will be able to develop with- out some intermediate host. 110 TURKEY CULTTJBE. In whatever way young turkeys receive the embryos of these parasites, doubtless they may be promptly freed from them, and any injurious results prevented, by the fre- quent use of simple worm medicines in their food or wa- ter. The longer infected turkeys have been kept on a farm, and the greater the number annually grown, the more thoroughly will tapeworm eggs be sown upon the land, and if slugs, snails and earthworms are their inter- mediate host, the more generally will the turkeys contain infecting embryos. Where there have been no tapeworm eggs, snails and earthworms will not harbor the embryos, and young turkeys will not become infected in this way. If we can keep turkeys free from wornis we will prevent them from sowing the seed for the tapewoiin crop ; there- fore, dosing the breeding turkej's in the winter and spring would be a preventive measure. Raise the little turkeys on fresh, uncontaminated land that chickens or other turkeys have not run upon for years, and give them an occasional dose that will destroy tapeworm and gapeworm embryos. Give up keeping turkeys, either old or young, on ground infested for several years. Confine infected flocks to an inclosure, and treat them with worm medicine until they are free from worms; meanwhile, frequently disinfect the gi-ound in the pen, to destroy the eggs that pass off. Then move them to new ground. If it is found that wild birds, or any of the animals that wander over the same ground, harbor the same tapeworms, additional measures will have to be taken to entirely stamp out the infection. Which of the well-known remedies for tapeworms in animals is best suited to the turkey, and what amount should be given to turkeys at different ages, are ques- tions that naturally arise. Until we can advise on this matter from knowledge gained by practical experience, we leave it for turkey raisers to test for themselves. Probably the best results may be expected from the use of freshly powdered kousso or cusso. According to the HINDEAKOES AND DISEASES. Ill United States Dispensatory, the treatment for a human being is, for an adult half an ounce ; for a child of six years, one-fourth ounce ; taken in the morning upon an empty stomach. A previous evacuation of the bowels is recommended, and should the medicine not act on the bowels in three or four hours, a brisk cathartic should be administered. One dose is usually sufBcient to destroy the worms. Should the quantity mentioned not prove effect- ive, the dose may be doubled. Kousso seems to act only FIG. 35. TAPEWORM FROM A TURKEY. Illustration of one selected from about fifty found In a turkey three or four weeks old. There is so little known about tapeworms of fowls, and so much confusion as to description and classification, that experts have been unable to Identify it- a, head; 6, neck ; c, d and e, segments in various stages of de- velopment. The segments or joints are formed next to the head, are gradu- ally pushed back by the growth of new segments, and finally become terminal (e), where they mature, separate and pass away. Each adult segment con- tains complete male and female organs, and when it separates from the main body, is full of embryos, which are supposed to find their way into some tem- porary host before they reach their final host, the tai^s^^y .—Rhode 1 sland EX' periment Station. as a poison' to the worms, and is said not to seriously af- fect the patient. Koussein or kosin, the active principle of kousso, is highly recommended, two scruples being the dose for a man. Male fern is an effective remedy, but an overdose is a distinct poison. Six drams of the oil have caused the death of a person. It has been known to cause blindness in the lower animals, and should be used with extreme 112 TURKEY CULTURE. caution. It is often given in combination with castor oil. Tansy is much used as a preventive, and powdered areca nat is used for the removal of tapeworms from dogs and other animals. The latter is frequently combined with male fern. Ground pumpkin seed is also used as a remedy. The dose of these remedies would have to be much re- duced for turkeys. Turkey raisers may administer very light doses to a few turkeys, and larger doses to others, and thus learn how great a quantity may be given to healthy turkeys with impunity. It is to be hoped that many may be able to apply thesc. remedies with success, and immediately prevent loss from this cause. Assafoetida, which is highly recommended for preventing and overcom- ing the gapeworm disease of fowls, is also said to possess virtues as a tapeworm remedy. This is administered either in the food or water. SI. Megnin, a French investigator, gave each jjheasant seven and one-half grains assafoetida, combined with the same quantity of pulverized gentian, in their food, and overcame the gapeworms. Turpentine ad ministered in slight quantities in the food is recommended by some, and may possibly enable the turkey raiser to kill both parasites. Liver Disease. — Turkeys may have enlargement and other non-contagious diseases of the liver if inbred, overfed, given too little chance for exercise, etc. All suspected birds should be immediately slaughtered, examined and buried. Leg Weakness.— Caused either by inherited constitu- tional weakness, wrong food or bad management. Clean such specimens out of your flock at once and avoid the cause. HOW TO KEEP TUKKEYS AT HOME. Our illustration on Page 94 shows what is probably the largest turkey ranch in the world. It is owned by F. E. Dawley of Onondaga county, N. Y., who is manager of the farmers' institute work in that State. He raises tur- HINDKANOES AND DISEASES. 113 keys in a wholesale way, and entirely avoids any trouble from their wandering away by keeping them in a large pas- ture and orchard, fenced with the Page twenty-flve-bar deer park fence, eighty inches high. Many of the young poults are hatched at home in incubators and raised in brooders, and otliers are hatched on outside farms and brought home in the fall. Their feed is made as nearly as possi- ble to conform to the diet of turkeys roaming at large, by giving butchers' scraps that have been run through a bone mill, to take the place of insects, plenty of succulent green stuff, and a good supply of broken limestone grit. By careful account, Mr. Dawley finds that turkeys which are kept in partial confinement will lay on flesh at a less cost per pound than those which roam without restraint, and the quality is much better. One of the most profita- ble lessons learned from Mr. Dawley's experience is, that those who have had to give up turkey raising because of the damage th