Show MANAGING THE TURKEY ALL HAVE STREAK OF WILDNESS IN THEIR NATURES birds will not do well if there Is too much management in rals ing free range Is one of most important factors the turkey Is the only one ot of our domestic fowls fouls that originated I 1 la america while the chicken has been bred up from the wild jungle cocks and hens of southern asia the white men found the turkey here when they came and the turkey has changed very little in the or four cen since the first caucasian came to america turkeys all have a streak of wild ness in their natures A turkey hen will III always do better when allen she la Is al III lamed to steal her nest it if left angis sho she will bring oft off much bet ter hatches than it if interfered with mith by well ell meaning rae aning poultry keepers kvepers says a kentucky writer in farm progress these wild birds resent interference and many times I 1 have known them to dese desert V thier nests when molested I 1 aldays let them alone until after the brood has been brought off in their wild state they are able to rear their young very well uell as they run in woods and along streams where the underbrush and weeds do not inter inte r fere with them in fields and around farm houses it Is jest best to keep them up for a week or ten days after hatch ing the young turks are not able to stand being dragged through wet grass and weeds eeds wet with ith dew anyone who understands turkey na cure ure can make some profit from the breeding of these birds if there is room tor for them to have considerable range As a bird for yards and coops the tur key Is distinctly out of place I 1 have never known anyone to raise them successfully in confinement and do doubt abt if it such a thing is possible akin to wild turkey tho the bronze turkey Is very closely akin to the wild turkeys still found in small nocks flocks in various parts of the country when columbus Te returned turned to spain after his first voyage to america he took with mith him a few of these beautiful birds later voyagers took a great many of them to spain and from there they were taken to england the old world has been raising these domesticated birds longer than we ue have but four centuries of confinement and breeding have tailed failed to breed all the wildness out ot of their natures the bronze turkey direct descend ant of the wild turkeys of tropical and subtropical sub tropical america la Is the larg est eat of these birds bird now grown the old traits of wildness caution and a tendency to hide when about to set are still characteristic of the bird some of the bronze turkeys reach a weight of 45 pounds which seems greater than any birds of the wild varieties careful and selective breed ing has increased the weight and deepened the colorings and plumage mark ings dark eyes coppery bronze and glistening black plumage offset and heightened by white markings at the feather tips are some of the most notable characteristics of the bronzo bronze turkey the basic color of the plumage Is black and over this plays a combi nation of at iridescent greens and coppery lights |