Part 1

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Transcriber Note

Text emphasis denoted as Italics and =Bold=. Whole numbers and fractional parts denoted as 12-3/4.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | 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.