Show RAISING TURKEYS IS NOT GAMBLING study being made of parasites and diseases with no poker game handy the farmer who was overtaken by a spasm of the gambling fever has always been able to get his excitement by raising turkeys ow the united states department part ment of agriculture Is trying to spoil the sport by removing from it the element of greatest uncertainty parasites and parasitic diseases the parasites have been alie factors responsible for the greatest losses in the turkey flock and for making turkey raising a side issue and a gamble tor the average farmer or A foundation flock of turkeys raided for experimental purposes has been established at one of the federal ex perl ment stations tn montana and the specialist in charge has devoted all his time to the investigation of par disease tn the flock ue will do other work later however the flock was established by artl fic lally incubating the eggs and brood ing the boults in brooder houses with clein yards until they were eight weeks old these alons were takeo in order to prevent infestations by pira introduced by adult athen large enough to range the boults were given large fenced lots and shelters artificial brooding has been of pir value in preventing losses from blackhead disease which at one time threatened to destroy the turkey in austry says the specialist in charge of the flock prevention of this als ease calls for rearing the young tur keys on clean ground and away from chickens and other turkeys check up on flocks production for year in case you wish to check up on your flocks production for the past year the average per hen should be about as follows december 10 january 10 february U march 19 april 21 may 20 june 18 july 16 au guit 13 september 0 october 7 vember 8 or a total of ago per hen hen records are kept it Is tn to check each month by these figures to see where the hens fall below the average and where they exceed it these agures have been taken from miny records made by hens that were trap nested for the purpose ot finding the average egg production per month for a number of years the hens in the egg class lay almost all of he eggs in the spring and early summer while those in the class lay every month during the year night light will pay for chicks in brooder experiments at massachusetts ag ri cultural college seem to prove that a dim light burned at night in a brooder house increased the growth of small chicks from 8 to 15 per cent at four weeks of age this gain did not come from eating during the night but more from the chicks spreading out and sleeping more corn fort ably and to finding their way back to the hover without being chilled about a 10 watt electric light seemed to give the best results in the expert ments poultry facts place the egg on its si denot on end poultry need direct sunlight and ventilation to keep in the best health the hens should be laying an aver age of ten eggs each during decem ber when chicks are crowded in the house respiratory diseases such as cold and roup are more likely tc occur adding cod liver oil to the poultry ration will help to maintain the health of the flock and also to improve the texture of egg shells clean litter on the floor plus clean in the nests will eliminate most of alie dirty eggs in some cases additional nests will be required chicks should be raised on a plot of fenced ground not used for poul try raising operations last year or if such a plot cannot be provided turn under the surface soil to clean contaminated soil in n poultry yard the first best tiling to do Is to disinfect the surface there should be enough hopper space to give each bird clience to eit whenever she Is hungry io factor in brooding chicks or boults Is more important than an even and correct temperature bior that reason the selection of a good colony brooder stove and its careful atten lon Is well the money und time involved s |