Turkey Raising

Part 1

Produced by Tom Cosmas compiled from images made available by The Internet Archive.

Transcriber Note

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+--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | U. S. DEPARTMENT OF | | AGRICULTURE | | | | FARMERS' BULLETIN No. 1409 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | | TURKEY RAISING | | | | | | [Illustration] | | | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Turkey raising is usually carried on as a side line on general farms, though in some parts of the United States it constitutes the chief source of revenue from farming.

The number of turkeys in this country decreased for a time after the 1890 census, but during recent years the industry has been growing, largely because of improved methods of controlling turkey diseases and better methods of management.

This bulletin has been prepared primarily to inform those interested in turkey raising on modern methods of management. Most of the recommendations are adaptable to both small and large scale production.

Washington, D. C. Issued April 1924 Slightly revised February 1939

TURKEY RAISING

By Stanley J. Marsden and Alfred R. Lee, associate poultry husbandmen, Animal Husbandry Division, Bureau of Animal Industry

This publication is a revision of former editions prepared by M. A. Jull, senior poultry husbandman, and A. R. Lee.

CONTENTS

Page

The turkey industry of the United States 1

Varieties 2 The Bronze 3 The White Holland 4 The Bourbon Red 4 The Narragansett 4 The Black 5 The Slate 6

Standard weights of turkeys 6

Selecting breeding stock 6

Managing breeding stock 8 Breeding pens or enclosures 8 Mating 9 Egg production 10 Care of hatching eggs 11 Feeding 12 Combating diseases and pests 14

Incubating turkey eggs 16 Natural incubation 17 Artificial incubation 17

Raising poults 18 Brooding 19 Sanitation 21 Litter 22 Early development 23 Marking 23 Feeding growing turkeys 23 Feed consumption and cost of growing 28

Equipment for raising turkeys 30 Containers for feed and water 30 Houses and fences 33 Protection against dogs 36 Devices that prevent tail-feather picking 36

Range management of growing turkeys 37

Fattening turkeys for market 38

Marketing turkeys 39 When to market 39 Selecting birds for market 40 Withholding feed before slaughter 40 Killing and picking 40 Cooling 42 Packing 43

Dressed-turkey grades 43

THE TURKEY INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES

TURKEY RAISING has long been an important enterprise in the United States because great quantities of turkey meat are required annually and its use throughout the year is becoming more popular. Producers should endeavor to make turkey raising more profitable by overcoming heavy losses from diseases that heretofore have been a serious handicap.

The enterprise is very adaptable, extending to practically all parts of the United States. The more important areas of production are the Middle Western, Northwestern, and Southwestern States, where large numbers of small flocks are raised annually on farms and ranches and where there are also many large commercial flocks. The number of turkeys in this country began to decrease about 1890, but by 1910 interest in turkey raising revived, and in recent years the industry has been growing, largely because of increased knowledge of blackhead disease and its control.

Part 2

According to the census there were 3,688,000 turkeys on farms in the United States in 1910 and about the same number in 1920. The 1930 census showed 16,794,000 turkeys, but this was the number raised to market age instead of the number of breeding turkeys kept. This new census figure provides a much better measure of the industry's actual size. The 1930 figure indicates a moderate increase between 1920 and 1930 in the number of breeding turkeys kept. The nine States leading in turkey production, as shown by the 1930 census, are Texas, North Dakota, Minnesota, California, Oklahoma, Oregon, Colorado, Virginia, and Idaho.

Where conditions are suitable and proper methods of management are followed turkeys can be raised successfully with very simple equipment; therefore the capital outlay in the enterprise may be quite small. Except during the growing season managing the flock is fairly simple. Of course, constitutional vigor must be maintained in the breeding stock; the flock must be kept relatively free from disease; and the soil, especially where the poults are fed, must be kept sanitary. Moreover, turkeys, even when veil fed, will make good use of at least a limited range and in doing so will destroy many injurious insects, eat great quantities of succulent green feed, and pick up much waste grain, weed seeds, and other sources of nutriment. This fact reduces the cost of production and increases the profits.

VARIETIES

All domestic varieties of turkeys have descended from the North American wild stock, comprising the eastern wild turkey, which ranged over the eastern part of the United States from Maine to Florida; the Florida wild turkey, which ranged over southern Florida; the Rio Grande wild turkey, which ranged over southern Texas and northwestern Mexico; and the Mexican wild turkey, which ranged over Arizona, western New Mexico, southern Colorado, and Mexico. It is probable, however, that these four wild turkeys were of common origin and that most of our domesticated varieties, especially the Bronze, have descended from the Mexican wild turkey.

Six standard varieties of domestic turkeys are recognized by the American Poultry Association, an organization having as its primary function the promotion of standard qualities in all breeds and varieties of poultry in North America. The association publishes the Standard of Perfection, which contains concise descriptions of breeds and varieties of poultry, with illustrations of the most important ones.

The following is a brief description of each of the six varieties, namely, the Bronze, White Holland, Bourbon Red, Narragansett, Black, and Slate.

THE BRONZE

The Bronze, often called the Mammoth Bronze, is the heaviest and also the most popular variety. The male (fig. 1) is distinguished by (1) the rich, iridescent, red-green sheen of the plumage on the neck, wing bows, wing fronts, wing coverts, breast, front half of the back, and lower thighs; and (2) the lighter, brilliant, copper-colored bronzing of the rear half of the back, tail coverts, tail itself, and body. The bronzing in the tail, tail coverts, and body is bordered by a distinct narrow black band, which in turn is bordered by a wide edging of pure white. The rear portion of the back has the broad bronze bar with the narrow edging of black but does not have the white tips. The plumage of the female (fig. 2) is similar to that of the male, except for an edging of white on the black bars on the back, wing bows, wing coverts, breast, and body. This white edging is narrow in the front of the body and gradually widens toward the rear. Both sexes have the same color pattern in the large wing feathers and in the main tail feathers and coverts. The main tail feathers and coverts have brown penciling (narrow bars) on a dull black background; the large wing feathers are evenly barred with black and white, the bars of the secondaries becoming indistinct as the back is approached. Creaminess, yellow, or yellowish brown in the pure white edging of the main tail feathers and coverts of the Bronze indicates an admixture of wild-turkey blood and is a serious defect in the standardbred Bronze. Lack of the copper-colored bronzing or a tendency for it to be greenish is also a serious color defect.

THE WHITE HOLLAND

The White Holland (fig. 3) probably originated as a "sport" from the Bronze or the wild turkey. Its plumage should be pure white in color and free in all sections from black flecking or ticking. The shanks and toes in this variety should be pinkish white.

THE BOURBON RED

The Bourbon Red male (fig. 4) is of a rich, deep brownish-red color in all sections except the wings, tail, and breast. The primaries and secondaries of the wings are pure white, and the main tail feathers are pure white except for an indistinct bar of red crossing each feather near the end. The breast feathers are red with a very narrow edging of black. The color of the female is similar to that of the male, but there is a very narrow edging of white on the tips of the breast feathers. More than one-third of any other color except white showing in the large feathers of the wing or tail constitutes a standard disqualification in this variety. The rich reddish color, without some black, is rather difficult to obtain and this black ticking or flecking is a rather common fault. A faded red, approaching buff, is also undesirable.

THE NARRAGANSETT

The Narragansett (fig. 5) generally resembles the Bronze in color pattern, but has no iridescent red-green sheen and no bronzing. The Narragansett colors are metallic black with light steel-gray edging and barring bordered, in certain sections, by a narrow black band on the end of the feathers. The plumage, as a whole, has a dark background of metallic black with a broad, light steel-gray edging, showing more of the light color in this edging as the body is approached. In the male, the colors of the wing fronts, wing bows, and wing coverts are the reverse of the colors found elsewhere, being light steel gray, ending in a narrow band of black. The wing coverts form a broad silvery bar across the folded wings. The neck and saddle are black, ending in a broad steel-gray band. The back is rich metallic black, free from bronzing. The breast, body, and fluff are black, the feathers ending in a broad silvery-gray band edged with black. The large wing and tail feathers and the primary coverts are barred with black and white similarly to those of the Bronze, the barring of the upper secondaries becoming indistinct as the back is approached.

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