SELECTION AND TREATMENT OF BREEDING STOCK

There are some rules that must be followed in the selection of turkeys for breeding if it is hoped to succeed. Careless indifference has given no end of trouble to turkey raisers. In some instances which the writer has investigated all the turkeys owned in one locality have descended from the one original bird purchased many years before! In one case it was said that for twenty years no new blood had come into the neighborhood. If this foolish procedure had been continued it would have resulted in the destruction of the constitutional vigor of the turkeys.

A few plain rules which may be observed to advantage are as follows:

1. Always use as breeders turkey hens over one year old. Be sure that they are strong, healthy and vigorous, of good medium size. In no instance select the smaller ones but do not strive to have them unusually large.

2. The male may be a yearling or older. Do not imagine that the large, overgrown males are the best. Strength, health and vigor with a well proportioned medium size are the main points of excellence.

3. Avoid close breeding. New blood is of vital importance to turkeys. Better send a thousand miles for a new male than risk the chance of inbreeding. Secure one in the fall so as to be assured of his healthy and vigorous constitution prior to the breeding season.

No matter what variety of turkey may be selected for keeping, they should, above all things, be strong, vigorous, healthy and well matured, but not akin. Better secure the females from one locality and the male from another to insure their non-relationship rather than run the risk of inbreeding. In all fowls it is well to remember that size is influenced largely by the female and color and finish by the male. Securing an over-large male to mate with small, weakly hens is not wise policy. A medium size male with a good size female of good constitutional vigor and mature age will do far better than the largest male bird with the smallest females.

The wise farmer always selects the very best corn or grain of all kinds for seeds. Equal care should be given the selection of the breeding stock in turkeys. The best raised on the farm should be reserved for producers and the fact should be kept in mind that turkey hens of the best quality after their second and third year make the best producers. Keep your best young hens with this in view. Undersized hens that lack constitutional vigor are not the kinds to select for successful turkey breeding. When you stop to consider that the male turkey is half of the entire flock in the matter of breeding, we may be led to greater care in the selection. None can be too good for the purpose. Constitutional vigor is of the first importance. Without this he can have no value whatever for the purpose intended. Plenty of bone, a full round breast and a long body are important. No matter of what stock or breeding the hen may be, the male should be selected from one of the standard varieties. If the hens are of the same standard variety the male of the same variety should be selected so as to maintain the stock in its purity. Well selected individuals of some one of the several standard varieties will give better results than can be secured by cross breeding, which has a tendency to bring to the surface the weak points of both sides of the cross. Proper crosses may improve the first issue but if followed up they rarely prove successful.

NUMBER OF FEMALES TO ONE MALE

The best rule for mating is to confine in yards, using eight or nine females to one male; some say twelve, but all I ever mate to one tom is eight females. The result of this number is that all my eggs prove fertile.

When they are yarded and from eight to ten females are kept, it is better to have two toms and keep one shut up while the other is with the hens, changing them at least twice a week. When they run at large on a farm they will naturally divide into flocks. Under such conditions use one male to no more than six females.

CARE TO BE GIVEN BREEDING STOCK

March and April are the two months of the year that the breeding hen should have particular care. In the first place, I keep them warm and comfortable, with a box of sand where they can dust themselves every day. There is no bird that takes such pleasure in dusting herself as the turkey. She will roll on the sand for hours at a time in the sun, and this makes her happy and contented.

At this time I feed plenty of Margaret Mahaney’s Turkey Feed with Oyster Shells always within reach and a mixture of wheat, oats, barley, a very little cracked corn and beef scraps fed three or four times a week. Give plenty of drinking water and three or four times a week put a drop or two of tincture of iron to a gallon of drinking water. This keeps the bird healthy and strong. Take half lime and half sand, make a mush of it and spread it on a board to dry. When it is hard, place it in a box and leave it where your turkey hen can get it to eat at her own convenience. That helps to mature the eggs. She is very tender at this time. All through the laying season she must be kept warm and comfortable. It all goes towards making a successful season of turkey raising.

March is the proper time to mate up your pens of turkeys. I put one tom in a pen with eight hens. I watch my turkey hens very closely to see that they are not injured in any way by the spurs of the tom. If the turkey hen goes around with one wing down, you will know that she has been hurt, and if you take her up you will probably find that her side has been torn by the tom. Wash her carefully with a disinfectant, and if the wound needs a stitch it had better be taken as it will heal quicker.

FEEDING DURING BREEDING SEASON

In February and March do not feed your turkey hens too rich food or too many beef scraps or food of any kind that will force the hens to lay too early. You do not want any young chicks hatched out before the first of May or the last of April. When my turkey hens start to lay I feed a ground feed that is put up under my formula by The Park & Pollard Company of Boston, Mass., which they are putting out under the name of Margaret Mahaney’s Turkey Feed, and which can be procured of them all ready for feeding. Have plenty of beef scraps and oyster shells within easy reach. Twice a week put tincture of iron in the drinking water, four drops to a gallon of water; allow one gallon of water to each pen. The tincture of iron keeps the birds strong and in good condition, as a young turkey hen is very apt to weaken after her first litter of eggs is laid. Sometimes they die if not properly cared for.

Keep on hand within easy reach, constantly, a mixture of half sand and half lime made into a soft mush. When dry crumble up and leave it where your turkeys can get it to eat. They will eat this ravenously and it helps to harden the shells of the eggs.

NESTS AND NESTING.

When the turkey hen is ready to lay she will start in first by looking in all the corners, for if she is yarded up, it is her nature to look for a dark and secluded spot in which to lay. I place to eight turkey hens four good dark nests. I make these by using packing cases with the cover on and the opening turned towards the wall of the house, allowing just enough room for the bird to enter. I put good, clean hay in the box. The turkey hen will be very happy when she finds that nobody can see her in her nest. It will make her very contented, and as we are now breeding turkeys in the domestic state, almost the same as the common hen, why not give them just the same care? You will find in the long run that you will raise many more turkeys if a turkey hen is properly housed and kept warm during the cold months of winter. The turkey hen begins to grow her eggs three months before she begins to lay, and as we all know that the turkey is a very cold bird, it is only natural that she should be kept warm. My houses are comfortable, tight and dry, but well ventilated from the south side.

When the turkey hen has laid about eighteen or nineteen eggs she will show signs of wanting to sit. Very quietly take her off the nest, remove her to another coop, give her a good range to run in with plenty of Margaret Mahaney’s Turkey Feed. In the meantime set the eggs under two good common hens. I find that Plymouth Rocks make good mothers. I put eleven or twelve eggs under a good Plymouth Rock hen, and make a good round nest in a half bushel box, stuffing the corners well so that the nest will stay in shape, as a good nest is half the hatching. In the meantime the turkey hen having had her run has forgotten all about sitting, and has started to laying again and I put her back in the mating pen. This process can be repeated three times during the season as a turkey hen will lay three litters in succession. I let my turkey hens sit on my June eggs and these hatch about the tenth or eleventh of July. These make good hardy birds for the coming cold weather. Disinfect the hen with Margaret Mahaney’s Salve, per directions, before setting on the eggs.

HATCHING

To go back to the hatching of the turkeys; the eggs that are right under the breast of the hen will hatch first. Sometimes I do not wait for them all to come out of the shell, taking them away, say four or five at a time, thus giving the outside eggs a chance to hatch. The eggs which I take away I put in an incubator which has previously been regulated to the right heat. When they are all hatched, I have my coop well whitewashed and about six inches of good clean straw on the bottom. I place my biddy in the coop and put the little turkeys all around her. Be very careful in giving them drink or water that the little turkeys do not get wet, for they often take cold in that way.

FIRST FEED

The first feed that I give them is common sting nettle, chopped fine, with a hard boiled egg and a little shake of red pepper. You will find that they will eat the green stuff ravenously, and this acts on the bowels as a regular physic.

When they are three days old I begin feeding them the prepared ground feed,—Margaret Mahaney’s Turkey Feed—with a little wheat bread soaked in milk, squeezed dry and mixed with the egg and nettle. As the Park & Pollard Company carry this ground feed it can be easily had there. I keep this always before them. In the morning I give them nothing but the Margaret Mahaney Turkey Feed with a good feed of lettuce. At night I give them the sting nettle again with bread soaked in milk and squeezed dry and a little chopped onion, if convenient. You will find that the birds you feed the sting nettle to will throw the red three weeks before the ones that do not have it fed to them.

When the little chicks first come out, before you put them in the coop, you must remember to disinfect with my salve on the head and under the wings; also give the foster mother the same treatment with the salve, for if there are vermin on the hen they will leave the hen and go to the little turkeys and unless cared for the little birds will sicken and die. If affected with lice the bodies will become very red and irritated. You will find the lice especially under the wings or in the fringe of the wings. When the feathers do not grow evenly on a little turkey (some growing long while others are short) you will know that the turkey has lice, and you should at once “get busy.” One or two doses of my salve will make a marked improvement. I always disinfect the hen when I put her on the eggs, but never disinfect her after the fifteenth day for at that time there is life in the chick, and you are very apt to kill it, as they breathe through the air cells of the egg.

THE SETTING OF THE TURKEY HEN

In the wild state the hen seeks the most secluded and inaccessible spot where there is protection from birds and beasts of prey. Security against attack is the main thing instinct prompts her to look out for. A tangled thicket of briars, a sheltering ledge, a hollow stump, a clump of brush filled with decaying leaves suits her fancy. With little preparation she drops her eggs on the bare ground in these secluded places. Domestic turkeys are usually allowed a good deal of freedom in choosing their nests. I generally set them the same as I do the common hen. A half bushel basket is a comfortable nest for a turkey hen, and will give plenty of room for fifteen or eighteen eggs.

Turkeys require a good deal of attention while they are on the nests. They should be in one yard or building, or at least, not far distant from one another that it may take as little time as possible to make the frequent visits necessary to each. Give the eggs room and have the nest deep enough to prevent their rolling out of the nest. A turkey hen will lay from fifteen to thirty eggs at a litter, but she cannot always cover the whole lot. Very large old birds will cover twenty eggs; smaller birds will cover from fifteen to eighteen which is about the proper number to allow one bird to take care of.

If you have a dozen turkey hens in your flock,—which is about the right number for a good range,—it will not be difficult to set several birds at once, and this may be arranged by placing the nests containing artificial eggs within a few feet of each other. You can keep part of the hens upon their nests a few days until three or four are ready to sit. Then select eggs of as near equal age as possible and put them under the hens that are sitting persistently. If the hens close together are not set at the same time, there is danger when the first begins to hatch that her neighbor will hear the peep of the first chick and perhaps forsake her nest. If all the group of three or four nests are hatching at the same time, there is no trouble of this kind.

Before putting the eggs in the nest it is well to disinfect the hen with turkey salve under her wings. It will prevent vermin of any kind.

If any of the eggs get fouled with the yolk of a broken egg before or after setting, the shells should be carefully cleaned with warm water to secure their hatching. Two or three turkeys will sometimes lay in the same nest. This will do no harm in the early part of the season, but they should be separated before setting, allowing only one bird to a nest. This may be done by making nests nearby and putting porcelain eggs into each new nest. Turkeys are not liable to crowd onto an occupied nest when there is a vacant one nearby. The group of hens that sit together, and bring off their young at the same time, will naturally feed and ramble together, and this will save time in looking after them.

The turkey is a close sitter and will not leave her nest for several days at a time. Grain and water should be kept near the nest all the time. When the turkeys begin to hatch I take the little chicks out just the same as I do when under a common hen, and give the ones that are not hatched a chance to do so.

When they are all ready to go into the coop, I lift the hen very gently and carry her to the coop, generally putting the little turkeys into the coops first as the turkey hen is a very nervous bird and will scratch around and sometimes walk on the little birds.

That is why I like to have them good and strong before they go into the coop with the mother. The little fellows seem to understand that the mother should not step on them for they will crowd over towards the side of the coop out of her reach. She will soon get used to them and to being fed and will settle down to taking care of her babies in good shape, as the turkey hen is a very devoted mother. She will watch out for those who feed her and take care of her little babies. They will run to meet me when they see me coming, that is, of course, if they are out in the field. I have had them come home themselves when I let them out for a ramble, and when I have gone to feed them the mother would be in the coop with all her little babies.

I give the same treatment to the turkey chicks that are brought up by their mother as I do when they are brought up by a common hen, only the common hen will leave them long before the turkey hen will think of forsaking her babies. I have gone into the turkey house when they were five or six months old and would find a young turkey pullet nestling close to her mother. You do not find this in any other domestic bird that I know of.