Part 2

When incubators or chicken hens are used to hatch the eggs, the turkey hens may be broken of their broodiness so that they will continue laying. Breaking the hens of broodiness by confining them to a wire-floored coop is very desirable because it permits the hatching of a relatively large number of early turkeys and a larger number from each hen. The birds hatched no later than June are the ones that grow and mature most satisfactorily and therefore attain the best size for the Thanksgiving and Christmas markets. Early hatched birds should be marketed at Thanksgiving or before, and those of later hatches can be used to supply the Christmas and New Year demand. There is some demand for freshly dressed turkeys at all times of the year. To meet this demand turkeys may be hatched from eggs laid during summer and fall. By the use of artificial light and proper feeds, hatchable eggs can be produced in the winter and early in the spring.

It is natural for turkey hens to seek secluded places to lay their eggs. Yards that have comparatively short vegetation and are free from bushes or other places of concealment are best, because such conditions discourage the birds from laying outside the nests provided for them. A lookout for hidden nests must be maintained, otherwise eggs may not be collected regularly and may be frozen, partly incubated, or destroyed by animals. Sometimes the hidden nests can be found by watching the turkey hens carefully as they make their way to them, but an easier and quicker method is to confine the hens early some morning soon after they come from the roosts and then let them out about 2 p. m.; the laying hens will make straight for their nests in order to lay the eggs they have been holding. Nests are easily made of boxes or barrels placed inside the shelter or outside in the yards. Some turkey growers prefer to build nesting batteries with nests about 12 by 24 inches.

CARE OF HATCHING EGGS

Hatchability can be seriously damaged by holding eggs at temperatures above 65° or below 35° F. It is most important to hold eggs in a room that can be kept below 65°, preferably between 50° and 60°. Eggs should be collected several times daily and held on their sides or on the small end. It is best to turn eggs gently once daily while they are being held for hatching, but this is probably not necessary unless they are to be kept longer than a week. For best results they should not be held longer than 10 days but if they are held at a suitable temperature and are turned once a day, fair hatchability will be retained for as long as 3 weeks.

FEEDING

Feeding young breeding turkeys is a matter of supplying a growing ration in the fall and early in the winter, a laying ration late in the winter and in the spring, and a maintenance ration during the summer. Unless breeders are to be kept over for another year, they should be marketed, if possible, about June 1 in order to reduce feed costs and to aid in preventing the spread of blackhead and other diseases that may affect adult turkeys during the summer. If breeders are to be held over for the next season or until fall and if a good summer and fall range is available well away from the growing stock, the breeders are best carried through the summer on a daily feeding of whole grain such as a mixture of equal parts of corn, oats, and wheat. This mixture should be fed at the rate of one-fifth pound per hen daily as a supplement to feed obtained from the range. The toms, if ranged with the hens, should have access to grain in a feeder too high for the hens to reach. A better method is to pen the toms in a separate range lot and give them each one-half pound of grain daily in troughs.

Breeding stock so managed during the summer respond economically to a fattening diet offered in the fall. Beginning about 4 weeks before they are to be marketed, usually early in October, the birds may be offered all they will eat daily of the grain mixture. Within 4 weeks they will acquire a fine finish and make a gain in weight of 2-1/2 pounds or more per hen and 4 pounds or more per tom. About 5-3/4 pounds of grain per pound of gain is required for the 4-week fattening period. A little better finish is acquired in 6 weeks; but the grade is not improved, and the gains are more expensive. Breeding stock that are to be kept over should be held in the range lots as long as possible and should also be fed liberally in the fall, in order to put them in good condition for the winter.

Later in the fall and through the winter the rations for breeders, especially young breeders, may be the same as the growing rations normally fed to young stock. Scratch grain and a simple mash, such as that suggested for growing poults, make a good feed for carrying the breeders through the winter, since they meet the demands of the birds for continued growth or for maintenance. If the climate is such that green feed and sunshine are not available, as in the Northern States, add 5 percent of alfalfa-leaf meal and 1 percent of cod-liver oil to the mash. The birds should have all the mash and scratch they will eat during the fall and winter. Breeders will not become too fat if fed in accordance with this method. They will be fat, but this is desirable if heavy egg production is expected.

For the production of large numbers of hatchable eggs turkeys require a ration containing the various nutrients and vitamins. Good results can be obtained with a simple laying ration, such as laying mixture No. 1, if the birds get an abundance of fresh green feed and have range. When ground oats or ground barley is included in any mixture it should be finely ground. Alfalfa leaf meal should be bright green in color. The cod-liver oil should be a standard good-quality product, or the equivalent in fortified cod-liver oil may be used if thoroughly mixed.

_Laying Mixture No. 1_

MASH _Parts by | SCRATCH weight_ | | Yellow corn or barley (ground) 20 | Mixture of equal parts of Wheat middlings or ground wheat 15 | yellow corn, wheat, and Oats or barley (ground) 20 | heavy oats. (Grain sorghum Meat scrap (50- to 55-percent | may be used in place of the protein) 10 | corn.) Fish meal (60- to 70-percent protein) 10 | Wheat bran 12 | Ground oystershell or limestone 7 | Dried milk 5 | Salt (fine, sifted) 1 | --- | Total 100 |

Laying mash should be kept before the birds at all times beginning about a month before eggs are expected. Scratch mixture should be fed in troughs, at the rate of one-fifth of a pound per day per bird, so that the consumption during laying will be about equal parts of the mash and scratch. The birds must have access to growing green feed, direct sunshine, and water.

If the birds cannot obtain fresh succulent green feed and direct sunshine in abundance, as in the case of those kept in confinement or in cold climates, the ration must be more inclusive. Such a ration may be compounded as follows:

_Laying Mixture No. 2_

MASH _Parts by | SCRATCH _Parts by weight_ | weight_ | Yellow corn or barley (ground) 26 | Yellow corn or grain Wheat middlings or ground wheat 20 | sorghum 40 Wheat bran 12 | Heavy oats 37-1/2 Alfalfa leaf meal 10 | Wheat 20 Meat scrap (50- to 55-percent | Cod-liver oil 2-1/2 protein) 8 | ------- Dried milk 8 | Total 100 Fish meal (60- to 70-percent | protein) 8 | Ground oystershell or limestone 7 | Salt (fine, sifted) 1 | --- | Total 100 |

As with the simpler ration, the mash should be kept before the birds at all times, and the scratch can be hand-fed in troughs at the rate of one-fifth of a pound per bird per day. Clean water should be provided at all times. The same ingredients can be mixed and fed as an all-mash ration with good results. The all-mash formula is as follows:

_Laying Mixture No. 3 (All-mash feed)_

_Parts by | _Parts by weight_ | weight_ | Yellow corn (coarsely ground) 30 | Dried milk 5 Oats (finely ground) 20 | Fish meal (60- to Wheat middlings (standard or brown) 21 | 70-percent protein) 3 Wheat bran 6 | Ground oystershell or Alfalfa leaf meal 5 | limestone 4 Meat scrap (50- to 55-percent | Cod-liver oil 1-1/4 protein) 4 | Salt (fine, sifted) 3/4 | ------- | Total 100

This all-mash mixture is kept before the breeders at all times. Just enough to carry the birds through each day should be given. In this way its freshness is assured, an important consideration in all-mash feeding.

If desired, the oyster shell or limestone may be fed separately in hoppers, but mixing it in the mash saves labor and prevents excessive consumption. Gravel or granite grit should be provided to furnish grinding material. Clean water, placed in contamination-proof vessels, should be provided at all times. Alfalfa hay probably cannot be depended upon to supply adequate amounts of green-feed substitute for hatching-egg production. Only by fresh green feed or green-feed substitutes and fish oils can those requirements be met. The oil should be freshly mixed in the feed every week or two.

All feed should be fed in feeders, never on the ground or in the litter. Feeders should be constructed so as to prevent waste and contamination with droppings. Turkey hens consume a little less than one-half pound of mash and scratch grain per day when practically all of their feed is furnished. Toms consume about 0.7 pound daily; eating mostly scratch grains.

COMBATING DISEASES AND PESTS

Turkey raisers, to be permanently successful, must follow some system of sanitation. Many growers have prevented disease and the attacks of parasites in their flocks by providing range on clean soil; that is, soil on which no poultry manure has been spread; feeding their birds from feeders that cannot be contaminated by droppings; and keeping the quarters sanitary at all times. _Separation of the turkeys from chickens and other poultry at all times is essential._

Diseases and parasites of turkeys are discussed in detail in Farmers' Bulletin 1652, Diseases and Parasites of Poultry. Coccidiosis often causes heavy losses in young turkeys. It is best combated by carefully cleaning the brooder house and changing the litter once a week during the brooding period, keeping the litter dry, and using wire-covered feeding platforms. Turkeys are subject also to the attacks of various species of worms, but treatment for worms should not be undertaken until the presence of worms has been determined by examining the droppings or by post-mortem examination.

BLACKHEAD

Although other infectious diseases sometimes affect turkeys, blackhead is by far the most destructive ailment. It is caused by one of the Protozoa and is primarily a disease of the caeca (the blind pouches of the intestines) and the liver, but the fact that the head of the affected bird often becomes discolored has given the disease its common name, blackhead. It attacks turkeys most frequently, but chicks are often affected by it without showing symptoms; thus the chickens carry and spread the infection to turkeys when allowed to range with them. A combination of spotted liver and ulcerated caeca indicates that the birds have blackhead infection.

Although blackhead affects adult turkeys, it occurs principally among poults between the ages of 6 weeks and 6 months. It is found to a greater or lesser extent throughout the United States. The turkeys affected by blackhead, like all birds having infectious diseases, should be removed immediately from the flock to prevent the spread of the disease. The best procedure is to kill the sick birds and burn or bury the bodies, as no treatment has been found satisfactory. Move the flock to clean ground, if possible; but if this cannot be done, clean out and disinfect the roosting place, plow the ground in the yards, and install a system of yard sanitation. Keep chickens and all other poultry away from turkey yards at all times in order to prevent infection from this source. The organisms which cause the disease may be carried by flies, blown with dust, conveyed in contaminated soil on the feet of the caretaker, or spread for considerable distances in other ways.

Several measures for preventing blackhead are practiced, the chief of which are: (1) Obtaining eggs or stock from flocks known to be healthy; (2) quarantining and worming all new stock; (3) cleaning and changing the litter at least weekly during the brooding period; (4) keeping both young and mature turkeys on clean ground at a considerable distance from chickens; (5) excluding, so far as possible, pigeons, sparrows, and persons from the turkey houses and yards; (6) frequently cleaning and occasionally disinfecting growing houses, feed troughs, and all other equipment; (7) feeding only in clean feeders, never on the ground; (8) immediately killing and deeply burying or completely burning all diseased birds; and (9) eliminating all stagnant water pools where the turkeys range. Clean range, clean quarters, clean feed, and clean water are most important.

LICE AND MITES

Lice may cause high mortality among young poults, those badly infested gradually becoming weaker until they die. Head lice are the most troublesome and are found close to the skin near the top of the head, above and in front of the eyes, and under the throat. Applying an insect powder, preferably sodium fluoride, when the hen is set, is an easy method of preventing lice from getting a start among poults. Apply the sodium fluoride among the leathers, working it well down next to the skin, 1 pinch on the head, 1 on the neck, 2 on the back, 1 on the breast, 1 below the vent, 1 at the base of the tail, 1 on each thigh, and 1 scattered on the underside of each wing when spread. If this treatment is not applied, hen-hatched poults are almost certain to have lice.

If the hen has been treated in this manner before being set and the poults are not exposed to infested stock or premises, they will remain free from lice indefinitely. It is well, however, to examine the poults occasionally and, if lice are found, to apply sodium fluoride sparingly. It should not be applied until the poults are at least a week old, and then only two very small pinches should be used. Distribute one of these on the neck, the top of the head, and the throat, and the other on the back and below the vent. After the poults are old enough to roost, control lice by applying nicotine sulphate solution in a thin line on the top surface of the roosts. Repeat as often as necessary to keep down the lice and be sure that each bird is exposed to the treatment. Sodium fluoride applied as directed for delousing setting hens or as a dip will completely eliminate all species of lice from mature stock.

The dipping method consists in immersing mature fowls in a large tub of solution made by mixing 1 ounce or sodium fluoride to each gallon of tepid water. Immerse the birds for only a few seconds, raising the feathers at the same time to allow the dip to penetrate to the skin. Dip the birds on a warm day, preferably in the morning, so as to give them time to dry before night.

Destroy red mites in the roosting quarters by painting the under side of the roosts and the roost supports with anthracene oil, crude oil, crank-case oil, or any coal-tar disinfectant. Make the application light but thorough, and do it preferably in the morning.

The fowl tick or blue bug is one of the worst pests of turkeys in the Southwest. It can be controlled by the methods advised for controlling red mites.

PROTECTION FROM COLD, DAMPNESS, AND ENEMIES

Protection from adverse weather conditions and enemies is required if turkeys are to be raised successfully. An open-front shed with a reasonably tight roof and dry floor, so arranged that the north, west, and east sides can be closed against storms, will give ample protection for full-grown turkeys. Boosts may be made from good-sized poles or 2 by 4's nailed flat to supports which should be slightly higher at the rear than at the front, where they should be about 2-1/2 feet above the floor. The space between the roosts should be about 2 feet and the space underneath enclosed with poultry wire. In the southern part of the United States there is little need for well-built turkey houses, but during damp, cold, or stormy weather the turkeys should have protection of some kind. They should not be exposed to dampness, but they can stand a considerable amount of dry cold.

In many localities protection from dogs must be provided in some way. High roosts or well-built shelters provide this at night. Keeping the birds confined to high roosts or in dog-proof shelters at night and during the early morning hours gives a good protection. An attendant or a good watchdog is needed to protect the turkeys when they are off their roosts or out of their shelters.

INCUBATING TURKEY EGGS

The vigor of the breeding stock, the manner in which it has been fed and managed, and the care given the eggs will determine to a high degree the hatchability of the eggs. An important measure of success in turkey raising is the number of fully matured turkeys raised in proportion to the number of hens in the breeding flock. An average of 25 mature birds raised per hen is considered very good in well-managed turkey flocks, whereas in most general-farm flocks 10 to 15 mature birds per hen would be a good average.

The period of incubation of turkey eggs is 28 days, and the method is much the same as that used with chicken eggs. Turkey eggs can be successfully hatched by turkey hens or chicken hens, or in incubators. Hatching in incubators is best and is coming into more general use, especially on farms and ranches where turkeys are raised in large numbers. Turkeys hatched and reared by hens, especially chicken hens, are likely to contract disease and become infested with parasites at an early age. Sitting turkey hens can cover from 15 to 18 eggs; chicken hens, from 7 to 10 eggs.

NATURAL INCUBATION

Hatching the eggs under turkey hens is widely practiced and is often the most practical method. When the turkey hen becomes broody and has remained consistently on the nest for 2 or 3 days, she should be given her eggs. If several turkey hens are sitting at the same time, care should be taken that each gets back into her own nest. Nests are most conveniently arranged on the ground, in boxes about 2 feet square or in barrels. If rats are a menace, the nest should furnish protection against them and should always be made proof against larger animals so that the turkey hens will not be disturbed or the eggs destroyed. The nests should be flat and shallow, as deep nests may result in crushed eggs or crushed baby poults. Nests with damp sod bottoms and only a little straw to keep the eggs from rolling into the corners are generally satisfactory. Nesting batteries in which each hen is provided with a small individual run so that she can get off and on the nest at will are very good. With this method the only care necessary is to see that feed and water are always before the hens and that each one remains broody. If individual runs are not provided, the hens should be taken off daily, allowed to exercise and eat, and then returned to their own nests. Plenty of water to drink and clean, wholesome grain feed, such as a mixture of wheat, oats, and corn, should be provided, and fresh green feed or good alfalfa hay should be made available.

Turkey or chicken hens, before being set on turkey eggs, should be treated with sodium fluoride, as previously directed.

ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION

Correct incubator temperatures are much the same for turkey eggs as for chicken eggs, but the greater size of the turkey eggs may necessitate some adjustment of the apparatus used in measuring the temperature. This is true in nearly all kinds of incubators except those of the forced-draft type. The relative position of the thermometer in the egg chamber is important in the accuracy with which it records the temperature. For hatching turkey eggs the proper position of the thermometer is usually indicated in the directions that are furnished by the manufacturer of the incubator. As a general rule, with the bottom of the bulb 1-7/8 inches above the egg tray, the thermometer should read 100.5° F. for the first week, 101.5° the second, 102.5° the third, and 103° the last week. Forced-draft incubators are usually run at about 99.5°. Temperature can best be regulated, however, by using the thermometer that goes with the machine, placing it in the position recommended by the manufacturer, and then following the manufacturer's instructions for hatching turkey eggs, making sure that the egg trays do not sag.

Turkey eggs lose about 3.5 percent less moisture during incubation than do chicken eggs, notwithstanding the fact that turkey eggs require about 7 days longer to hatch. Excellent hatches have been obtained when the loss of moisture based on the weight of the eggs just before they were set, ranged within the following limits: After 6 days of incubation, 2 to 8 percent; after 12 days of incubation. 4.1 to 6 percent; after 18 days of incubation, 6.2 to 9 percent; and after 24 days of incubation, 9 to 12 percent.

On this basis, a dozen turkey eggs of normal size should lose about 1 ounce for every 6 days of incubation. The air cells of turkey eggs are smaller in proportion to the size of the eggs than are those of chicken eggs because normal evaporation in turkey eggs during incubation is considerably less than that in chicken eggs. When more moisture is needed in the incubator it can be provided by putting in water pans, or by placing burlap wicks in the pans. When less moisture is needed the water pans may be removed or the ventilation increased.