“What is the disease?” is the first and most important question to ask. The number of people who fatefully assume from the beginning that the answer to this question is beyond their reach is inexcusably large. If the non-professional reader would apply even a limited amount of study and common sense many of the lesser ills might be avoided, and many others successfully treated. A little special instruction is here given to enable one to detect a disease before it is too late, and thus, in a great measure, to avoid those disheartening ravages which, at times, come upon the uninformed owner of turkeys.

The small number of diseases which are liable to be confused makes it comparatively easy to form the right conclusion by eliminating from the possible list those that do not show the particular symptoms of the other diseases.

A general knowledge of the organism, habits, and appearance of turkeys when in health is, of course, very desirable. A reasonably close observation is about all we can expect in this matter from the ordinary owner of a large flock of turkeys. The experienced fancier adds to this a frequent handling and more detailed study to learn the normal hardness and suppleness of the flesh and the warmth, moisture and color of the skin, especially about the vent, and the outline and structure of the skeleton. It is also eminently desirable that one know what is a right condition of all the organs, but this is particularly true in respect to the liver and other digestive organs.

One of the most common mistakes in the discovery of a disease is the forming of a decision after too little study. Finding one or two symptoms which are known to attend a suspected ailment, one is prone to jump at the conclusion that he has detected the real difficulty, when a further investigation would reveal other symptoms, which, in conjunction with these, would lead to the true conclusion. Every examination, therefore, should be thorough until a degree of certainty is felt. It is essential, too, that the raiser not expect that the disease will invariably present just the symptoms mentioned in any book, for they will vary more or less in different turkeys, and even in the same one at different times,—a caution which merely calls for the exercise of judgment and common sense.

When any doubt is felt on the contagious nature of a disease, the affected turkey should be removed from the flock until the possible danger is passed. When a bird dies from an unknown cause, it should be opened and the condition of the internal organs noted, along with a study of their condition as taken up in the following pages of treatment.

In general, it may be observed that the presence of lice and mites is often the cause of weakness and loss of condition, especially if the turkeys are allowed to roost with the common hens.