Transcriber's Note When italics were used in the original book, the
corresponding text has been surrounded by _underscores_.
Some presumed printer's errors have been corrected, including
normalizing punctuation. Further corrections are listed below with the
printed text (top) and corrected text (bottom):
to defect the approach of the disease
to detect the approach of the disease (p. 98)
[Illustration: MISS MAHANEY AT TURKEY PARK]
MARGARET MAHANEY
_Talks About Turkeys_
Price, $1.00
Margaret Mahaney
TALKS ABOUT TURKEYS
_By_
MARGARET MAHANEY
THE SKILLFUL NEW ENGLAND
RAISER TELLS US SOME OF THE
SECRETS OF THE SUCCESSFUL
RAISING OF TURKEYS
_PUBLISHED BY_
THE PARK & POLLARD CO.
BOSTON, MASS.
Copyright 1913 by
THE PARK & POLLARD CO.
Boston, Massachusetts
------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTRODUCTION
BY PHILIP R. PARK
More than a century and a quarter ago there was fired in Concord,
Mass., a shot that was heard around the world. This shot terminated
the domination of monopoly and marked the opening of a new era,—the
building of a new empire.
Not less important to all lovers of turkeys is the shot fired in this
same beautiful old town by Margaret Mahaney, when she first put an
end to the bogy that has been hovering over the Turkey industry so
long, i. e., _Blackhead_. Not less triumphant has been her conquest
of practically all the ailments besetting this beautiful bird.
It is really beyond belief that Miss Mahaney has raised in a season
300 turkeys with a loss of less than 2 per cent, when for years the
Experiment Stations and Agricultural Colleges, as well as nearly all
poultrymen, have claimed that turkeys could not be raised in this
State. All would recognize this as wonderful work if applied to
chickens, but when accomplished with turkeys it is doubly wonderful.
These same Experiment Station directors had told Miss Mahaney that
she could not do the things she was already accomplishing, but when
they visited her farm they held up their hands and departed,
acknowledging that here was a woman who had performed the miracle.
[Illustration: MISS MAHANEY’S $150.00 PRIZE TOM]
Miss Mahaney was a wonderfully capable trained nurse who broke down
at her work and was ordered to the country to save her life, urged
particularly to take up some out-of-door work. Poultry keeping
appealed to her from the first, but turkeys particularly for the
reason of the difficulties to be surmounted. If she could do what
others could not she would be satisfied. Anyone could raise chickens,
but hardly anyone could raise turkeys. Here was a task that delighted
her and a problem that appealed to her. The difficulties she
encountered would have discouraged any one but a pioneer of her
character. Her deep maternal instinct (and she is, figuratively
speaking, mother to everything and everybody upon the beautiful
estate where she lives) brought the babies and old turkeys through
their blackhead troubles, and from her medical training, together
with the aid she received from contact with members of her family who
were physicians, she recognized symptoms and remedies which one could
acknowledge as miracles and not overstep the truth. She has applied
the fruits of her life work to the solving of a problem, and some day
the country at large from Maine to California will raise its hat to
Margaret Mahaney, the lady from Concord, Mass., who restored what was
supposed to be lost:—the art of raising turkeys,—and that in
confinement in poultry houses under practically the same conditions
as chickens.
If you find time to go to Concord, by all means call on Miss Mahaney
and she will make you welcome. She will show you more turkeys than
have ever before been raised in one flock in the eastern states, and
she will delight in telling you the simple methods she uses. On the
following pages she will tell you in her own way how she accomplishes
it.
We repeat, Miss Mahaney is a wonderful woman. She has a beautiful
estate on which to produce these birds, but others are doing just as
wonderful work with them by following her teachings.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION iii
A LETTER TO MY READERS 3
FACTS ABOUT TURKEY RAISING 13
Breeding 15
BRIEF OUTLINE OF MY METHOD OF RAISING TURKEYS 23
Throwing the Red 27
BREEDING 31
Selection and Treatment of Breeding Stock 31
Rules for the Selection of Stock 32
Kind of Hens to Select 33
Number of Females to One Male 35
Care to be Given Breeding Stock 36
Mating 38
Feeding During Breeding Season 38
Nests and Nesting 40
Hatching 42
First Feed 43
Avoid Vermin 45
The Setting of the Turkey Hen 46
THE THROWING OF THE RED AND YOUNG TURKEYS 55
INVESTIGATION OF DISEASES 65
BLACKHEAD 71
My First Successful Fight Against Blackhead 73
To Detect Blackhead 78
Treatment of Full Grown Turkeys 79
Blackhead in Young Turkeys 81
Starts With a Common Cold 84
Treatment of a Common Cold 84
COMMON DISEASES 91
Rheumatism 91
“Rotten Crop,” Sometimes Mistaken for Blackhead 93
Cold—Catarrh—Cough—Bronchitis 94
Roup 96
Consumption of the Throat 100
Consumption of the Lungs 101
Swollen Heads 104
Sore Eyes and Head 109
Constipation in Turkeys 110
Diarrhea 112
Diarrhea in Little Turkeys 115
Gapes 116
Tape Worm 117
Peritonitis 119
THE BRONZE TURKEY 125
The Organs and Size 125
Coloring 126
Selection of Breeding Stock 127
Marketing 129
Dressing 130
Shipping 131
FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
Miss Mahaney at Turkey Park _Frontispiece_
Miss Mahaney’s $150.00 Prize Tom v
Showing Style of Runs 17
The Mahaney System Develops Strong, Hardy Birds 23
“Give the Turkeys All the Milk You Can” 26
R. I. Reds and Plymouth Rocks Make Excellent Mothers 43
Breeding Pens 47
Turkeys Should Be Tamed 51
Friends (Miss Mahaney and “Grandma Cleaves”) 77
Women Make the Most Successful Turkey Raisers 82
Turkeys Thrive Best on High Land 92
Turkey Raising Is an Interesting and Healthful Occupation 126
A LETTER TO MY READERS
TURKEY PARK,
CONCORD, MASS.
My dear Readers:—
The following is a copy of a letter recently received by me, and
which represents the type of communications I have received daily for
over three years from all parts of the country:
My dear Miss Mahaney:—
Altho we are strangers to each other, I am writing you today,
regarding turkey raising. I read some time ago in the “Boston
Post” that you had good success in raising turkeys, so I take the
liberty of writing you for instructions, if you will kindly give
them to me. I have tried for several years to raise a few, but it
has been a hard job. They would do well for about six or seven
weeks, then grow sick with liver and bowel trouble and fade away.
Now what is the trouble? What must they be fed with? Must they
range or be kept in a yard? In fact, what way must I manage to
raise turkeys? What is your experience? Please write me.
Sincerely,
etc.
It is in answer to such letters as the foregoing that I am
placing my methods in book form on the market, in order to
enlighten the breeders of turkeys and to inform them how I first
succeeded where others have failed.
In the first place, I visited two or three farms in the country.
I found that no care whatever was taken of the turkeys. A common
hen was fairly well looked after, fed and kept warm. The turkey
was supposed to forage for itself, roost on old wagons or any
sort of roost that the bird found convenient, at night and in all
kinds of weather. Conditions were anything but sanitary.
Inbreeding was permitted year after year, as one tom was thought
sufficient for the hen turkeys of five or six neighbors.
I visited one farm in particular, which had on it turkeys from
very nice stock, about twenty in all. Of course they were small
and pale, and had not developed as they should have. They roosted
in a sort of shed right off the barn cellar, so that they had
access to the barn cellar, and they roamed around on the manure
pile all day. The manure was turned down through an opening under
the cows. The roof of that shed had no shingles on it, and in wet
weather the rain simply poured down on those birds. It is only
natural that conditions such as these will bring on roup and all
kinds of diseases. The birds will not be developed and cannot
possibly be strong enough when the spring comes to fulfill the
duties of the breeding season.
Birds hatched amid such surroundings are tainted with roup and
other afflictions.
It is not very long ago since I had a talk with a gentleman from
Vermont. He told me that at one time Vermont made a large amount
of money in turkey raising. When the turkeys got to be four or
five weeks old, the raisers simply turned them out, and let them
take care of themselves. Those that lived through the summer,
weathered storms and all other sorts of hardships, they rounded
up in the fall, fattened for market or sold for breeders. This
was what they called “clear profit.” Everyone can readily
understand to what that “clear profit” has led.
The result is that our splendid bronze turkeys are dying out by
the thousands each year, and within seven or eight more years, if
something is not done to strengthen the turkey and keep it up to
the standard of at least the common hen, our famous turkey of
America will be a thing of the past. Whereas, if the turkey when
hatched is given good feed as described in another part of my
book, taken care of until the red is thrown, and then turned into
a good, warm shed at night, kept dry and warm in damp weather,
and fed reasonably, three-thirds of the trouble in raising
turkeys can be avoided.
Care must be given to the breeding hens. They must be kept in
sanitary quarters, given plenty of good feed, with four drops of
tincture of iron to a gallon of water, plenty of lime and sand,
about half and half, and left where they can eat it at their own
convenience. If you give ground bone, have it very fine, for it
is apt to lodge in the corner of the mouth and sometimes will
cause ulceration. When this happens, the jowl of the bird will
become swollen, and on close examination, there will be found a
small piece of white bone which will have to be removed and the
mouth washed with sulpho-napthol or Presto Disinfectant. I
generally use my salve two or three times before the wound is
healed. If the bird that lays the eggs is good and strong, the
turkeys that are hatched will be strong and rugged, and to “_keep
them growing from the start_” has always been my motto.
In my closing paragraph I wish to say to all my readers that I
have been most sincere and straightforward in everything that I
have written in this book. To one and all who may read this, I
extend a cordial invitation to visit my turkey farm in Concord,
Massachusetts, that you may see for yourselves the progress I
have made in the last eight years in raising turkeys in yards
under the same conditions as chickens, a feat which has been
claimed heretofore by experiment stations to be impossible to
accomplish, in poultry-congested New England.
I have labored with the problem of turkey raising for many years,
and sincerely believe myself to be in a position to advise others
who may be beginners, as I once was, concerning the difficulties
of turkey raising, and the best method of overcoming them.
I remain,
Sincerely yours,
MARGARET MAHANEY.
March 19, 1913.
FACTS ABOUT TURKEY RAISING
The one great essential on the part of a person raising or
attempting to raise turkeys is patience, or persistency,
whichever you care to call it. To anyone thinking of starting in
this work I can only say that you will meet with plenty of
difficulties and much that will discourage and dishearten you,
but when you remember that each failure or discouragement means
just that much more added to your knowledge of, and experience in
this work, it should give you heart to keep on, and if you do
keep on and on, using each little bit of experience thus gained
and using it to good effect, in the end success is bound to come.
I am going to tell you a few of the discouraging things that
happened to me, and also of my method of raising turkeys, a
method based on long experience and perfected in the face of many
discouragements, and I hope that in the telling, you may learn
something that will be of benefit.
I started with twelve turkey eggs. Had I known then how hard they
are to raise, I wonder if I would have attempted it? I hatched
out eight turkeys from that lot of eggs, and I raised just one. I
named her Hen-Hen, and she is on my place today, and is at the
head of all my flock.
The following year I hatched out over thirty turkeys, and only
succeeded in raising four. My work was then carried on on low
land. The next year, I put old Hen-Hen on higher ground, where I
am raising all my flock today. She hatched out fifteen turkeys,
and I raised all but one. I killed off some of the young toms,
and kept all the pullets, all of which I still have, and they are
splendid, strong stock, short-legged, heavy and a splendid bronze.
I then sent to Kentucky and brought out some of the best stock I
could find down there, and then began my battle to raise turkeys.
I had very good success, that is, as far as I went. At first, I
knew hardly anything about the proper way to feed, and the right
food to give my turkeys, but as the years went by, my experience
in feeding taught me a great deal.
BREEDING
Now I will tell you in as concise a way as possible, the method I
consider proper in raising turkeys. In the first place, it is
necessary to have a good, strong two-year-old hen to breed from
with a tom that is no relation whatever to the family. One of the
foremost things you must be particular _not_ to do is to inbreed.
I much prefer a common hen to put my first hatch of eggs under;
that will give the turkey hens a much longer time to lay. I
consider it better to put my _turkey_ hens on my June eggs. I put
fifteen eggs under a turkey hen, and eleven under a common hen.
When the little turkeys come out, I disinfect their heads and
under the wings with my own salve. Have you ever seen a little
turkey that has a cold in its head wipe its beak under its wing?
I have many times found the feathers under their wings matted as
a result of this ill-bred habit of theirs. That, of course, is
not a healthy state for a young bird that is growing, and that is
the reason that I disinfect with my salve under their wings and
on their heads, and they always seem brighter afterward.
[Illustration: SHOWING STYLE OF RUNS]
I have good, strong runs, 5 feet long and 4 feet wide, with high
coops and thorough ventilation from the top, which carries off
all the impure and overheated air, and keeps the temperature
normal at the bottom of the coops for the little turkeys. On hot
days I cover my runs with burlap.
The turkeys must be kept clean and dry and their straw must be
well aired every day. Once a week, I wash out the bottom of the
coop with disinfectant, and put in clean straw.
I give them all the lettuce they can eat three times daily, as
the secret of raising turkeys is to keep their bowels in good
order, and the droppings a bright green. Just as soon as I see a
little turkey with its wings drooping, I take it away from the
others and treat it as described on page 82.
I have invented my own pills for the cure of blackhead and they
are now being largely used by turkey raisers all through New
England.[1]
When my little turkeys are about three or four days old, I give
them _Margaret Mahaney’s_ Turkey Feed, and a little skimmed milk
with a good solid feed of lettuce—all they can eat. At noon, I
feed them lettuce again and clean water containing tincture of
iron, 4 drops to each gallon of water. At night, I feed them
bread soaked in milk and lettuce cut up fine with an onion and a
shake of red pepper. After having dry feed all day, they relish
the soft feed at night. There is no reason why, if you use my
method in raising turkeys, and have your runs on high ground, you
cannot be successful.
If the turkeys are raised in the right way, they are no harder to
raise than chickens. When the pullets are about four months old,
they should be given epsom salts twice a week (a small
teaspoonful to a gallon of water). This keeps the turkey in good
condition and the blood cool. Also a tablespoonful of sulphate of
iron in a pail of water should be left in some place where they
can drink it. Keep them good and dry until they are ready for
shipment, for turkeys are subject to blackhead until they are one
year old.
I will be only too glad to give any information in my power to
people who are interested in this subject. While the Experimental
Colleges have put out some bulletins on the care of turkeys, the
person that is going to issue a report on the raising of turkeys
must get out in the field and be with them from the time they are
baby chicks until they are ready to be disposed of, and then it
will be many years before he will know all there is to know about
turkey raising. I have spent years on my turkeys, and I think
that I am now in a position to give any information that any
grower may require in regard to this matter.
[Illustration: THE MAHANEY SYSTEM DEVELOPS STRONG, HARDY BIRDS]
BRIEF OUTLINE OF MY METHOD OF RAISING TURKEYS
In the first place I select a good quiet hen that has been
setting two or three days and put her in a deep, warm nest, not
too far from the top of the box, so that when she goes to feed,
the hen will not break the eggs by jumping on them when she
returns to the nest. Twelve eggs seems a great number of turkey
eggs to put under one hen, but that is what I put under every
common hen, and I sometimes hatch out all the eggs. I spray the
nests well with sulphur and also use my salve on the hen up until
the sixteenth day. I never put any disinfectant on the hen or on
her nest after that because there is life inside the eggs by that
time, and the disinfectant is very apt to kill it.
When the eggs begin to hatch, some will hatch out before the
rest; these I take away, placing them in a good warm box wrapped
in flannel and keep them good and warm until all the eggs are
hatched out and the mother able to receive them. When they are
two days old, I put the young turkeys in a good clean coop, well
whitewashed and waterproof. My runs are 5 ft. long and 4 ft.
wide. I shut my little birds up in the coop for the first four
days, until they become good and strong. After that, if the
weather is fine and warm, I let them out about ten o’clock and
put them in about three o’clock.
Their first food consists of a hard boiled egg, a shake of red
pepper and three parts dandelion, cut up fine. You can give them
all the green food they will eat, and also powdered charcoal and
fine grit. After they are 3 or 4 days old, I give them bread and
milk squeezed dry, and the _Margaret Mahaney_ Turkey Feed.
The young poults are kept in runs which should be moved to a new
spot each day and care taken that they are kept clean, dry and
warm, and the straw must be taken out of the coops and thoroughly
aired and kept good and clean, as the sanitary condition is half
the battle in raising turkeys. Place your runs on a side hill,
facing the south. On hot days, cover the runs with burlap.
Let them out into the runs for two hours or more every afternoon
that is pleasant and dry until the time the birds are nine weeks
old. Do not let them out in damp weather before they are two
years old, for they are very susceptible to dampness and should
be kept housed and warm in rainy and damp weather. While the
little birds are out, watch carefully for hawks and pests.
Give the turkeys all the milk you can afford to give, as this
will keep them growing. Plant a good field of lettuce and give
them all this vegetable they can eat, and you will find that they
will eat lettuce three times a day with good relish.
One of the secrets of raising turkeys is to keep the droppings a
bright green; that, of course, keeps the liver in good condition,
and goes a long way in keeping blackhead out of the flock. Take
some lime, slack it, put half sand with it and make a sort of
soft mush out of it. Place this on a board and dry it; then
crumble it up and leave it around where your little turkeys can
get it to eat.
[Illustration: “GIVE THE TURKEYS ALL THE MILK YOU CAN”]
Keep them in dry, tight houses with the south side open so that
they may have an abundance of fresh air without draughts.
When it is time to let them out of the runs, you can let them out
for three and four hours at a time; you will find that they will
want to go back to the runs when they become tired. Do not give
them much feed at night; give them plenty of time to digest
everything in their bowels, and they will then be ready for a
good morning meal.
THROWING THE RED
When they show signs of throwing the red, put four drops of
tincture of iron to a gallon of drinking water three or four
times a week. If it is cold, rainy weather, put a drop of aconite
in the water every day while the wet weather lasts. This will
prevent their taking cold, and, as cold is the first sign of
blackhead and diarrhea, it can be easily seen that a little
precaution is worth more than a pound of cure.
In regard to keeping lice off the little turkeys—you must
disinfect your hens and the turkeys very frequently. My salve for
that purpose is a convenient and effective remedy.
If you will do as I have instructed you in the above paragraphs I
do not think you will have much trouble in raising turkeys. Keep
them dry by all means until they are five months old.
BREEDING
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.
RULES FOR THE SELECTION OF STOCK
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.
KIND OF HENS TO SELECT
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.
MATING
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.
[Illustration: R. I. REDS AND PLYMOUTH ROCKS MAKE EXCELLENT MOTHERS.]
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.
AVOID VERMIN
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.
[Illustration: BREEDING PENS]
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.
[Illustration: TURKEYS SHOULD BE TAMED]
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.
THE THROWING OF THE RED AND YOUNG TURKEYS
As there seems to be some difference of opinion about the
“throwing of the red”, first let me tell you what the throwing of
the red means.
More or less blood must flow into the brain and head of the
turkey when it shows so plainly through the skin. When a turkey
is five weeks old or even four, it is time for it to begin to
“throw the red”, as when blood comes from the liver and heart, of
course it must have some action on the little pullets. I have had
young turkeys throw the red in five weeks, and show it very
plainly,—that is after being fed twice a day on sting nettle. On
the other hand, before I knew what to feed to them, I have had
them linger along up until seven or eight weeks, and at the end
of that time, they would usually die. What had happened was that
the blood had returned to the liver, become stagnant and caused
diarrhea, which, of course, caused the death of the young turkey.
When a young turkey is in good condition it ought to shoot the
red from the beginning to the end in ten days. Of course it will
not be as prominent as in a larger bird. As the bird grows, the
red becomes more apparent.
When the little turkey is about four weeks old the feathers will
begin to fall from the head some. Then you will know that the
critical time is at hand. The little bird begins to shoot the
red. It mopes around sometimes for days. There will be nothing
wrong with him except that he just does not feel well. Give
plenty of sting nettle and a little tincture of iron three times
a week (4 drops of tincture of iron to a gallon of drinking
water) and you will see an improvement in a couple of days.
The young toms are much stronger than the pullets. Some of them
will shoot the red and grow splendidly all through it with no
signs of any drooping whatever, but there is always a marked
change in the little pullets.
After the red is grown, the secret of success in turkeys is to
keep them growing. You can give them all the skimmed milk and all
the sour milk they will drink. Feed them all the lettuce they can
eat three times a day with nettle in the feed, if you have it on
the place. It is one of the necessities in raising turkeys that
you keep the liver clean and if you feed lettuce two or three
times a day, the droppings will be a bright green and in good
condition.
For my birds I have large runs, 6 ft. each way, which makes a
good square run. I move the runs every day to clean ground; the
straw is taken out and aired. If it is damp weather, put clean
straw in at least every other day. My coops are high and well
ventilated at the top which takes off all the hot and impure air,
and helps keep the little turkeys strong and healthy. I allow
about ten runs out at a time consisting of ten birds each and let
them go for a good long ramble. They do not stay away from their
houses very long, however, but soon get tired and come back,
usually staying out about two hours. Then I put them in their
coops and let out about ten more runs. When I put them back into
the coops I feed them lettuce and clean drinking water. (I
continue this process until I have let out the entire flock.) I
let out so many runs at a time so there will be no confusion in
putting them in. I do this daily, every fair day, until the
turkey is four or five months old. Then I let them all out
together. I put them in larger houses every night, keep them good
and warm, with good roosts and clean straw, and I have very
little trouble from disease.
Every turkey should be allowed out for a while each day if the
weather is fine and there are no signs of rain. If it is lowery
or dark, do not let them out until the weather is pleasant again.
This method of letting them out keeps them growing rapidly and
makes them very tame so that they can be handled much more easily.
Why not give a turkey the same care that we give a hen. People
tell me many ways in which their turkeys are neglected. They seem
to think that they do not need to look after turkeys and after
they are hatched they turn them out and let them wander and
forage for themselves. The time of that kind of treatment for
turkeys is past. Remember we are raising turkeys now by the
approved methods and full feeding applied to modern poultry
raising. People will come to me and tell me that their turkey
hens are roosting out in the trees nights when it is below zero.
As I have stated before, if it is in January these turkey hens
are beginning to grow eggs. What vitality is there back of eggs
grown under conditions of that kind? None whatever.
On hot days you must cover the runs with burlap or shade of some
description. I use the burlap sacks in which I receive dried
bread waste that I buy.
With reference to feeding bread, be sure never to feed bread that
is mouldy for if you do you will start diarrhea in the young
turkeys in no time.
When fall is coming on you must be very careful of the pullets.
As I said before, they are much more subject to blackhead than
are the toms. When I house them up,—that is, in large houses,
say forty or fifty to one pen, I have my prepared feed for
turkeys (_Margaret Mahaney’s Turkey Feed_) before the pullets all
the time. The less corn you give any turkey hen the less trouble
you will have from blackhead, for corn is heating. To keep the
pullets in good condition you will find all the ingredients in
this prepared feed, which is put up and sold now by The Park &
Pollard Company, 46 Canal Street, Boston, under the name of
_Margaret Mahaney’s_ Turkey Feed.
Give more or less whole corn to the toms if you want to get them
in good condition for shipping or for dressing around
Thanksgiving. They do not fatten up as quickly as the turkey hen,
which is the reason I keep all corn and corn meal away from the
turkey hens.
Put one-half teaspoonful of salicylate of soda in the drinking
water in each pan at night. In the mornings give them fresh water
and twice a week place in it a little tincture of iron (4 drops
to each gallon of water). Do this up to about January, and then,
if your turkey hens are kept warm and comfortable, they are over
the dangers of the blackhead season.
Give the same treatment to the young toms.
INVESTIGATION OF DISEASES
“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.
BLACKHEAD
A great many people write to me, saying that they lose their
pullets and young turkeys after they have grown the first
feathers. I never lose a turkey at that time. I grow my turkeys
in runs as you would chickens and it is a beautiful sight to see
well onto three hundred healthy, strong turkeys in runs placed
side by side. I never have any trouble with my young turkeys. As
I said before in another part of my work, blackhead never appears
in my flock until the turkey is six and seven months old. When I
see any signs of blackhead, I move all my turkeys to new ground,
disinfect all my coops with Presto Disinfectant, and start in to
cure my blackhead, as described on page 79. I wait for a wet day,
and put lime on the ground that I moved the coops from, as
turkeys are very apt to return to their old dwelling place. In
that way, I keep down blackhead. It is a very simple disease if
taken in time and easily cured.
When I first started raising turkeys, my little pullets died
after they were feathered and about seven or eight weeks old.
Some of them would not shoot the red until they were weighing two
and a half pounds. Their heads would be dark, and their steps
slow and dragging. As I said before, the blood lay dormant in the
liver, and thus started blackhead. If a turkey does not throw the
red, when seven or eight weeks old, on close examination it will
be found that the abdomen is dark and of a bluish cast. The flesh
is not in good condition, whereas in a young healthy turkey that
has thrown the red at that age, the flesh will be pure and white.
MY FIRST SUCCESSFUL FIGHT AGAINST BLACKHEAD
When I first started to raise turkeys, and one came down with
blackhead, I thought that there was no cure for her. I did all I
possibly could, and if she died, I judged that she had to and
that there was absolutely nothing that could be done to prevent
it.
One year I brought two handsome pullets in from Kentucky. They
were fine, strong handsome birds, well marked, with splendid
barrings, and a beautiful bronze. I grew extremely fond of them.
When the spring of the year came on, about the last of March,
around laying time, one of those two birds came down with
blackhead and I determined that I would make a fight for her life.