THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1446, 22 May 1912, Page 4

THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

(By Chantecler.)

Turkey Breeding. Willi a fail- amount of room, lurlce.vs may be relied ii]ion to give a goad profit, anil it is surprising that more people who have land at theii' disposal do not give full attention to that popular bird. There is always a good market lor turkeys at a remunerative price, and the birds are lunch more easily reared than many people suppose. T'no rearing of turkeys fell into disrepute in the old days, for the stock we then held were a decadent race— under-sized, and very much inter-bred. At tho present time there is no need for inter-breeding for suitable stock, birds, unrelated, may be purchased without difficulty. In Australia, owing to some excellent importations of the mammoth American bronze i.not bronzewing, as many call them) turkey, and which have been going on for the past thirty years, our race of turkeys is of a very ime class. Instead of tho old lot, weighing from 101b. to 121b., we find plenty of young gobblers from eight to ten months old easily lowering the scale at 201b., and not infrequently soma Sib. or 10ll>. more. A fruitful cause for failure in turkey rearing is by breeding together immature birds. A lien turkey ought to be at least, two years old beiore her eggs should be used for reproduction. And tho gobbler, if three years ok'i_, will be better than if placed-in the breeding pen at two. All animals should be mature before being bred from, that is to say, if tho raco is to be improved and perfected. Breeders should, therefore, remember that in breeding turkeys the parents must not be from inter-bred stock, must not be of a weakly constitution, and must not bo under-sized, Speaking of size, it should be noted (hat it is a mistake to breed from a gobbler whoso weight is too great for the hens placed with hiru. Tho iieus se'ectcd should be as large as can be procured, and the gobbler bred to them must be in proportion, otherwise injury may occur to the liens, and the consequence bo failure instead of success. It is not generally know that a turkey hen onco mated may lay fertile eggs for the rest of the season, and therefore, providing that the right stamp of lion can be secured, a gobbler's harem may ho rather large. Sometimes it has been Ync cii&lom to securo a gobbler's services for ,the mating of the liens from a neighbour, and then to return, the bird, but, although that may be done satisfactorily, it will be found in the long run that a gobbler kept at home will give better results. Turkey hens are excellent sitters. In many instances they may require to be taken from their nests for the purpose of feeding and watering them. In every case they need watching, for I havo known cases where a hen has starved herself to death on the nest. Such instances are well known, and are not at all rare. Thoro is another peculiarity with a lien turkey. It may bo made to "sit" without becoming "broody" in Hie natural way. To effect this, place a turkey lien on "a nest in. a dark room with a few artificial eggs, and give her then a dose—say, a tablespoonful—of a strong wine (port). This will cause her to doze, and, if necessary, tho wine may be repeated, after winch the proper eggs mav bo placed under her, and she will "sit 1 ' as steadily as an old Cochin lien. So strong does the "broody" feeling come over lier that 1 have known a turkey lieu so treated to lay tliree eggs after being placed on the nest. Making the. Most of Eggs. It is pointed out by a lady writer in the "Country Gentleman" that eggs may be made to "go further" if used in conjunction with other food, tho special advantages being that eggs are more prudently used, and' breakfast dishes' made more palatable by their addition. The writer says:—"Eggs make an almost perfect breakfast dish, being nourishing and easily digested. They need not always be fried, boiled, or poached. There are other delicious ways e-t' serving them. When prepared with the remnants of fish, meat, and vegetables left over from the day before they make a more substantial dish than when served alone. Many delicious and economical omelets may bo made, with the addition of cold fish or meats, or with finely-minced cooked vegetables. used as a filling. Take a cup of any cold boiled fish, preferably salt, free it .from tins bones, and flake it; then heat in a white sauce, made by blending together in a double boiler one tablespoonful each of butter and flour and one cup of sweet milk. Use this as a fiilin.g for a plain omelet, spreading it lightly on one-half of the omelet folding it over. Finely-chopped cold chicken, venl, or ham, or any frond lean meat, liiey be warmed up in a white sauce or a thickened gravy made with stock. The meats can be seasoned with chonned parsley, finely-cliop-ped onion, or with lemon imce-. according to the tastes of the family. Peas, limn beans, asparagus, ehopned notaloes, and even 'tomatoes, if thickened, make good fillings for omelets."