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The Huron Expositor, 1978-12-14, Page 27• 2 i 1HE HURON' g P IT R, MB R '14 IRO 9A • /`' -or. Zurich farmer ,Su Turkeys area year round affair - 114- • tint t \ TURKI.X, "There was a time that diseases could be controlled very little arid rare diseases were a problem." said Mr. Hayter. "Now the stock is healthier. The growth rata has increased and they are -more efficient at gaining weight in less time." The breed used' by, almost all turkey growers is Nicholaus, developed in Santa Monica, California. ' "There are very few other breeds that have been developed" Mr. Hayter said. "There have been attempts made at a Canadian breed but the results have not been as successful as the Nieholaus." For two months of the year, January and February the barns are empty and 'cleaned throughly. "That is thesin1 time we c 'n get away for awhile" laughed Mr.. Hayter. Turkeys a e of the few commodities ruled by a Canadian wide marketing board. "Since' the turkey marketing board came into existence the business has become more ,profitable with quotas" Mr. Hayter said. "'They wiork on a supply and demand system and the ' demand has Veen 'increasing." Recently there have been questions raised about the value of marketing boards. Mr. Hayter keeps in close contact with the marketing boards and noted that one' of the drawbacks to the quota system concerned the buying of quotas. Quotas were established in'the late sixties by recording the number of turkeys the oresent growers were able to raise. • , 6. Lower Interest Rates . NOW AVAILABLE ON 1st and 2nd Mortgages • anywhere ITT Ontario oti RES-1-QtN_TIAL — INDUSTRIAL — COMMERCIAL and .. . FARM PROPERTIES . . Interim financing on new construction or land development ... SAFEWAY INVESTMENT S & CONSULTANTS ,LTD. FOR YOUR LOCAL REPRESENTATIVE CALL HANOVER OFFICE: 519-364-3121 [Days] GORD PAGE: [Eireningsj Call Collect 519-881-0101 Head Office: 741 King. Street West, Kitchener, 15191 579:4600 Branch Offices: 705 Goderich St., Port Elgin 15191832.2044 "WE BUY EXISTING MORTGAGES FOR INSTANT CASH" • Boston. Gilbert and Henry with Steven Levy Associates Associates in conjunction who submitted one of six bids 'received froth researchers. Ontario weather forecast( drifting show, icy patches and reduced visibility during the Holiday Season. I 1,1,4 That's why you must be in good condition to drive unde-r' these conditions. .1 From Rural Voice By Rhea Hamilton The festive season is almost upon us and with it comes visions of !'oast turkey complete with staffing and cranberry sauce. , For Harry Hayter 'turkeys are an all year affair, He fattens up between 45,000 and 50,000 birds per year for Canadian consumption. 'The Hayter farm is outside of Dashwood in Huron County and he has been in the turkey business for 30 years. He started out With 200 birds in 1948 on his mixed farm and now produces over a million pounds of turkey. Turkey producers'are few and far between in Canada and are governed by a provincial as well as a Canadian marketing board. At the Hayter farm turkey chicks are bought three times a year and marketed in July, September and December. The day old, pullets are kept in a brooder house and require one square foot of space for the first six or seven weeks and after. wards are moved to larger buildings (pole barns) where three to three and a half square feetarerequired per bird. Like a lot of other livestock being raised for human consumption turkeys never know what it is like not to have food. "We keep feed in front of them at all times and they are not let out to graze" Mr. Hayter sal "We have automatic feed/1.s and waterers but it still takes someone to make sure all the equipment is filled and working right." The Hayter farm e toys two men steadily and one or two part-time men to keep e farm running. Cleanliness Cleanliness is a big issue around the farm. The brooder,house is cleaned and disinfected after each crop of chicks comes in. • "Yoimger people 'can't buy into it (tbe turkey busifiess). It is very difficult and the quotas are expensive." Mr. Hayter said. "Quotas were designed pa help the small farmer but they seem to work the opposite." At present one person cannot owp more than the regulation number of 2 million pounds of quota. Unlike some other marketing boards. quota may be sold " -between individuals rather than back to the marketing board. "Quotas should be sold with the farm" Mr. Hayter pointed out. "What good is a brooding house and barns if the quota has been sold off the farm?" .. Quota The national quota is 230' million pounds but a some of the producers are not working at capacity. The Hayter farm is limited to slionlvine 69 ner rent of the anota. But it looks like there could be a change. Turkey consumption has increased in Canada by 15 percent in the last year. So turkey producers are hoping for an increase in quota. "There is a terrific potential here for developing new products. Different products could be developed to'compete with any other meat product." Mr. Hayter said. There is such a thing as turkey sausages as well as turkey rolls, developed by Cuddy Turkey Comapny. "More of these products you find in the States because they have a greater volume of market they de with." sa' Mr. Hayter. But the turkey marketing bo as bee working on more promotional schemes for the gobblers. Titer have been eat turkey ads on radio and approximately 376 turkey billboards a have been put across Canada, as well as 10.000 posters distributed to point of sale locations. • A revised cookbook is available through the supermarkets and anyone may write to the Poultry Products Institute for promotional material on turkeys. "With thethigher price of turkeys lately the consumers are still buying because it is still cheaper than a lot of other products they could be buying." Mr. Hayter said. The future for turkey producers looks good right now. Mr. Hayter's son is presently working on his second year of a four year program at Guelph. He is intei;ested in Animal and Poultry Science and hopes' to get a job oh a farm. "I am surprised at how so many young people are interested in agriculture" Mr. Hayter said. Mr. Ha.yter has just.. recently hired a Guelph graduate. The, Flayterfarm also is into beef production and the operation , entails a lot of work as well as planning. When asked if he eve; thought the operation would grow from - FroM Rural Voice. by Adrian Vas A hundred years age, John E Read, a farmer and a, contributor to several American farm publication, wrote a • handbook for farmers. The title of the book was almost an advertisement in 'itself. as was the ustom in thoSe days. It read: "FARMING FOR A Hand ook for the merican Farmer Pra -fiat! W Devoted to: Agriculture and Mecha ., Fruit Growing and Garden' Livestock. Business Principles. Home Life. and Showing How to Make Money, Preserve Health and Sectire Happiness,- On The Farm. The book was printed -in Brantford. Ontario. by Bradley, Garretson & Co. in 1880. • This month we chose the ma` trier in which dirkeys were raised by.Great Grandpa. Turkeys, along with chickens, ducks, geese and 'honey bees, were termed: "Inferior Animals". and hereis what Mr. Read had to say on their care. Turkeys can often be profitably kept by farmers who live in thinly Settled sections. The eggs should be put under a large hen. About four and a half weeks are required for hatching. From time to time we, hope to print some excerpts from the book, not only to show the advanccs'made in farming during the past century, but also to how those farming practises "oat have not changed or very Litti • 200 birds on a mixed farm to the massKe operation he rims now, 'Harry Hayter chuckles and shakes his head. "One thing leads to another," he said. "Before you, know it jolt have, become so deeply involved it's hard to imagine it any other way." . • , Young turkeys are extremely tender. and must be carefully handled. A few hours after they break the' shell,' they should, with the hen, be put into the coop which_ stands in a warm dry place.-for at least a month they must be kept from the hot sun: must be shut in the coop in rainy weather and must be kept in every morning until the dew, is off the grass. The coop must not be placed on grass land, and should not be close to mowing lots. Until they are .three months old, the young turkeys must be kept dry and very carefully fed. After this time they must be fed well, bus, will be able to look after themselves to quite an extent. They may be profitably fattened at any time after they are five months old. When it is desired to fatten them quickly, they should be shut into .a comfortable pen, and fed on cooked meal, boiled potatoes and oats, It is said that a small quantity of charcoal, finely\puiverized. with their food proves a great advantage. PlentV of pure water ishoulth.be given, and clean gravel should also •be supplied. r The food should be carefully prepared and regularly given. Continence feeding the chicks when six to eight hours old, with boiled eggs and crumbs of bread broken into fine pieces.,After a few days, boiled sour milk with cooked Indian meal may be given. Uncooked meal should not be given to young chicks. A little meat chopped fine may be given occasionally and oatmeal dough will be good for a change in the diet. Feed often and provide plenty of fresh water. The latter Shotild be so arranged that they can drink when they choose, but still be unable to get • into the dish containing it. Raising turkeys for' fun' and profit; back in 1880 Ontario will gat info for physically handicapped Prompted by a consortium of the approximately 55 agencies which support dis- abled people in Ontario, the 'provincial 'government' has allotted $275,000 for a fats- reaching • study embracing the physically handicapped population in this province, Health Minfster Dennis Timbrell said., . In a presentation to the government, the consortium finds that the planning of assistance programswould be greatly enehanced. and the time, money and energy spent by the agencies would be niore effective if there existed an information. base bE co,mprehensive, quantitiative data , . Mr. Timbrell said. that ,at present there are only rough estimates of how many handicapped there are in the province, ' how severe their -handicap, is and what their living cirucmstances are. "The survey will provide an unprecedented overview of the ext ent of physical handicaps in Ontario," Mr. Timbrell said. "Focus will be on, not simply the underlying physical pro- blems. but primarily on the actual problems of living, working anq ,participating in'• the community, as reported by tho..,.hayijeapped theni- selves ; , , " Altlic.41 a:Wide variety , of voluntary agencies and government) 'programs cur- reytly serve" the apparent needs of the various handicapped groups, Such as the blind, and paraplegics, it has been difficult to plan and develop services for these groups in • n equitable and fair way. ithout knowing eik the numbers and the extent of the handicaps, programs may tend to be directed to those groups which are more suocesstul in having their problems aired. "We need a common body of information to lessen the difficulty of planning service programs. It is expected mat this research will pro- vide 'a basis for sound and imaginative' programming," Mr. Timbrell said. ' The work, to be completed by July, 1980, will be done by - Odds n' ends by Elaine Townshend My you've gotten thin! You've certainly gotten thin! What hap- pened to you? It seems like only yesteiday you were clean and new, fat and full of promises. You tA me that was eleven months ago. A piece CLAM was mercilessly torn away, as each icionth passed, used for a, shopping list and then thrown into the garbage. What's left of you is soiled and covered with scribblings in pencil and in ink. The year took it's toll oYi S,ou, but you still managed to fulfill your purpose. You helped me keep track of the days; weeks and months, the holidays and speciallevents. You tried to remind me of birthdays, 'anniversarierk_and other special occasions. that I was supposed to remembdr. It's not your fault I forgot to look at you until they were over. What you need is flashing lights and blowing horns to catch my attention when important dates are approaching. You showed you had a stubborn streak. When I thought winter had lasted long enough, you refu sed to budge front February, , Even Mr. Ground Hog didn4 co-operate, and I wondered whether I'd survive through March. ' The dandelions finally arrived, just the way you prophesized they would on per April page. You teased me a few times, tee,. In May, you made Inc look at a picture of tnountains every day, reminding me that next month I'd -take a trip throughfthe Rockies. You hid June from me and made it seem fat away. With July and August, you bacattie a Magician and performed a disappeafing act; the Whiffler VaniAed before my very eyes. 'The spring and summer shows I had been attending suddenly turned into fall fairs. In September, you ShoWeittrie.a picture of huge trees that . reminded me 'of the uncut forests on Vancouver Island. It was your subtle way of telling me. all that was left of the trip was photographs and memories and I probably won't go back for a long-time, In reflection', when the whole year of activities is over,, , all that. will be left is photographs and memories, and we won't be able to go back. September was , also the month vou informed me I • would have my first experience driving in Toronto, and with my usual sense of timing, the trip coincided with the city's transit strike. Your October and November pages reflected the blazing autumn colours outside my window. You •gave me a jolt when I turned to, December. What did , I seV - a frozen, stream, snowbanks and hoar frost. ' It was your way of telling; me, we were almost back where we started from. Another year hada! most come and gone; it passed so quickly I could have lost track of the days, weeks and months. Thank goodness I had you to keep me up-to-date. I'll start the next twelve months with a fresh new face hanging oti the wall in your place. In fact, your replacement has already arrived. ' What will happen to you, my friend? After two mere weekyand one Mote shopping list, you'll be tossed in the trash a sad end, to' twelve months of service. Winter driving. For drivers this is the most dangerous season. Con- ditions change without warning. The dry road you're on now can quickly become treacherous at the next bend in the road . . ice patches, frost, sudden snow squalls, even Wet leaves create unexpected hazards. But during the Holiday Season these hazards tend to increase: Poor visibility combined with • heavy traffic, throughout the Holiday Season means you must be in good condition to drive - under these conditions. So must your car. So keep it in good repair. And keep yourself alert-at all times. If you drink, don't drive. And always watch out for the other drivers. Assume there% trouble ahead even when condi- tions look safe., Help make sure you and your family will be here to -enjoy another great Ontario Holiday Season. • James Snow, Minister of nansportation and Communications R. Roy McMurtry, Attorney General Province of Ontario William Davis, Premier