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MILLER PURVIS.
Poultry
- Breeding

A Complete Guide for Keepers of Poultry

By
MILLER PURVIS

oe

CHICAGO:
SANDERS PUBLISHING CO.
1910

+
Kg. “ESO
COPYRIGHT 1910.

SANDERS PUBLISHING CO.
All rights reserved.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

 

 

 

PAGE
POU TSCA ST TOs cans caer exw a 24 Vr eeRe ACOs kee eee Saaa wees & fo
SILVER SW WAIN DODDS | <i seid 5.020, 6, ohaneserted-s Saatwitauddte w sansa ueuned-quciecd se mand Rite 18, 15
BARRED PLYMOUTIE ROONSee: 9 ses aes sae akieresceees Ty Ass. 35, 8 of
LOL RE WY AR OOTYES | eas 4 os cod ceeaeer¥da needs eoxeeue 15, 31, 35
BUG PLYSIOUTID ROCKS) side awe era a aio satan aad yaa eae eee 19
BEY COON ceiistess lua had bie eueeesa ened ernie teaedeebets a 19, 47
BURER GUY DOING de doenioweehad enews ny tebe hea edna ee eae 19
SUVER PENCILED WYANDOTTE. ..0...6...20065 ites tl malo eee 19, 43
HUI WEARERS ke ves 250k 0 ee aes 448 eee ese wea Rea EES 21, 25
WTGUT: WRAIPIINS:c.cadions wed waw nadlsuwle eg pantige a shea a a vale 24, 24, 01
WHITE ‘COGHIN “BANDAS § cso ae rece teamannn aac aentnancinae ve 25, 51
WHITE PLYMOUTII Rocks 39, 59
GOLDEN DUCKWING BANTAM... 02.0 cece cece ete cet e eee tees 25
PeLACK. ORPINGTIONS 4421055044400 0 00x95 4a 4 oa ede eee e Oeu Lede RE 27, 61
BURY WYANDOTTES age oaeou e'veckwes ewonandiaiesaade adsense’: 25, Oa, 43
WHIUITE LEGHORNS 2.2.40. .000004 5 eee MEd a 215
BLACK: MENORCA, sid sw td tianlian rage comin as eee diel Oo. (GD

BROWN LEEGIIOBN js seiedaaud pac dad ba eanaaeru te @adannaeen cal, 0S, G69

   

SILVER PENCILED PLYMOUTH ROCK.......... sax Wk SSA SE Mabas S eae aga 43
WHITE CORNISH ‘ago cnevesn s bu dken sees BE eee Men eiNTeveRl sea G ey 45,
BLACK ‘COGTUIN’ x vaac ci waa isn btepos esa ae ae Daeo¥ Se eames . AT
WERE COOCUIN. ca cenw dhs Che eo eR eNO EA De mOHES Chea he a4 8 oem ee 47
We TASES «  caceing se Mik DGG oN ees 6 ee eae Deeks Eee ES 7
Burr COCIIN: BANTA Minos oo co2 naar < welehars bee eet eenemann ees 51
SHIVER .DUCKWING BANTAM: 3 savsiinideaioe waite giced 4 ag aadiangerele sey . 5D
ORPINGION “DYPES: Syosset seawtagenninaaetinwks yhanehonreseass 55
JUBILER ORPINGTON: 4.)-2 taciuamecawmauwolnb need habe. a nt Schoen paioes . 59
UAE TGR os ook eta de tune beead BOO5 KOs Eeaendiess 59, 157
BUR? ORPINGTONS 3 jaa Saunas eae Gece Seka eeeeas ae ea edema ae wigs 0

WEE POLISIE ah caqdee ew eGrewede eit ga reac eae cae Gees 65
4 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

   

PAGE
ROSE COMB. BINCGK MINORCAs deaiessassns 5 sen 2 rans ose aN 6)
ROSE: COMB, WHITE: VEGHORN gy gsciccas ig ccs oo dece ns neal Nace 69
BUFF: PLYMOUTH ROCK inc. cancerous 12 Ae aehand ne hele Baer 69°
SILVER SPANGLED HIAMBURGS........ 00. c ec eee eee canteen ne eeee Ts
Broop Coop FoR HEN AND CHICKS...........0. 000 ccc cece cnet 80
WIRE-COVERED SHELTER: COOPwrj9 652 0cgaeig4% chan ga vamer Dena gine 80
BROOD COOP WITH WIRE NETTING RUN........0. 00 ecee eee eee 80
ROO FIOUSE FOR WARE CHICK Bic cas mca aaayekeaees ireareste 80
Ses PROGOU. BIG Gh jc nde cece bec candee ddeeh anes daceodehenniee 85
PIVEIRSS BIMCHER. os pis yeah oaew  Siicudad adden ed acbenses Aes Sr
Brooper House Puss oes 4 dices ss guatea ieee geese ere eerses O8, U1
PEKIN DUCKS ON A LONG ISLAND FARM..........00 00 eee eeeeeeeee 111
SE TU an 36 Siw aend ood oo aah oh AWARS ae OARRY SORE ARAN eee dle
DECRCONE ECRS ces aaed idee nda tae vbend £4 600re oem 6 hee RS RR EES 119
INDISN, RUNNER: DUCKS «4 gar4'a eda eg reeed gees hee ees Ree eh Aa
UG, SUCTION OP AN sieenansaveiny os 06s s tee HOKE we eRe EeROR G0 4 0b 5 184
RANGE FOR CHICKENS: osc cieceanuds. @ aw psenrarten cud nen a Wane wieder ... 143
CALIFORNIA POULTRY RANCIIES AND HOUSES...............-. 151, 174
POPRICR Se (ARERR pce ce ees dds aeeneneeesieeSiseecukeewe 64Xed Wa
BROWN CHINA GEESE............ foe tod Mit Ace Sal oS eR List
WeRee Ce, GSEs nev os ly 42 A nSo hee ORE COR ee HRN EDEL E SUE 115
EIMBDEN (GEESE as. scan acntaond aian wa Aidans groemacaeeie es Tis, 179, 183
WiED SGERSE) pork voaie ace & ace ara sate ieamars Gant nied cantare toed ee 19
GEESE AT GETTYSBURG.......... 0.20.00 ieccher eyed Sand kB a oeataeg es 183
GUINEAS AND CHICKENS: «. said gin aied oe 45e 004 GGee se wae a eGo SeAa ES 187
PIANO BOX POCLIRY IOUSES: vaginas aa'eein's wauedsaule de ga eee gd ease 191 |
INCUBATORS, OLD AND NEW TYPES OF ....... ccc cece eee teenies 195
PENNSYEVANIA, WOG “MARM y.5 ais sited dedi wie Dawa ai pedis Oe Bute aa 199
SHADY YARD’ POR: OWLS htc ciccante-e wa olehis-evih teats fe aveaee od ednane eS Ge ~ 206
WANING CHICKS, PLEAS TORks «enoris Gaadiinasieacas 2 <¥takee erg He
HATCHING JHOUSE HOR. HENS accnwawnwcadigiieeiaes evan a galas £0 224
TANE-BREROING CUARD cc ccicadas de eiwaemend hanhebens ee ee
Di Be cas see ea ee ead dh pend anew GdDRRSO Game Gees Se
DRESSED POULTRY READY FOR MARKET................ er crer ewer rs
CRATES FOR SITIPPING DRESSED POULTRY.............00.0 0000s ee 247

DBRT BOG TOR TEN Sodus yccckee vias a diedeve dene ens aeeer eases ane ZAG
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

 

PAGE
FORCE-FEED HOPPER ‘i LAT
PIRGIESE INGEST nec g 8004 diesen pend ceases ya ean v eae ye enews 247
OPEN-FRONT POULTRY HOUSE............00c ccc ec e ccc eee e eee ees 255
JIAINOTS POULTRY TOUS iis iiss ciccas tind eames. Kade oe dne wee 255
CURTAIN-FRONT LAYING HOUSE.................... os, 2h, 2, 2G
MINNESOTA, POULTRY HOUSE... 5 tugasqena es eee date Deed 48 ee 263
POULTRY HOUSE FOR SOUTH OF PACIFIC COAST. .oc5 . wiong ovens 265
HOUSE WITH ALLEYWAY ON NORTH SIDE............0 0.2.00 267
HOUSES MADE FROM PIANO BOXES.......... 00000000 cee eee . 269
TRAPNEST, PLAW POW mss a2 42694 00209 46 hediee 45 deb dkee das woessemus 301
BOURBON Rey CV R iver: oceses ose 4 5 eee. ewer ie 505
BEAGK, TURKEY TOIL: a,c 5 bin cemlecieenRe tow Eerewioes HORMEL 8 ge a8” ebodsteniate ce BOD
WHITE: UERKEY DOM y4co064 oa a aared GA eed a piace Sissons, Hine mati 505
BRONZE (LURREY OMB Ss 94 a cekaaannde ates dusted ead cstnabhaak 28 wheat 305
WHite TURREYS nxoass Ge 4 a04 4095 240 pow § OREO Ni de oo ees eas 809
FOREWORD.

In February, 1882, the writer bought his first setting of
eggs from pure-bred hens. From that day to the present,
the dominant interest of his life has been centered in the
poultry industry. \Wuth the experience of these years to
took back to, and with access to the conclusions reached
by poultry investigators, the task that the writer set him-
self to do was so to condense and arrange a vast mess of
information that it would be readily available. Thus it
happens that while the words used are almost entirely
his own there are many ideas in this book which orig-
inated with others. Proper credit has been given for the
ideas so appropriated, but the writer desires to make for-
mal acknowledgment for the help received from Prof.
James E. Rice, Prof. Horace Atwood, Prof. James Dry-
den, J. L. Nix, Prof. Graham of Canada, Prof. F. L. Stone-
burn and others whose work has been consulted. Wiith-
out their work this book would have been impossible.
The arrangement of topics in alphabetical order will, it
is believed, meet with general approval. The illustra-
tions are from photographs taken by the writer for the
most part, although a few are from photographs of fowls
of exceptional quality secured from other sources. This
book has not been written to read consecutively but
rather to furnish information in every emergency in a
form which makes it quickly available.

In the hope that this book will be of practical value to
all who are interested in poultry, the author submits it as
a cheerful service.

February, 1910. My oR,
POULTRY BREEDING.

AGE OF BREEDING STOCK.—\WV hile there is much
to indicate that pullets are as valuable as older hens as
breeders, it is a general opinion among poultrymen that
hens more than a year old are better for this purpose than
yearlings. It is certain that hens past their second sum-
mer-lay larger eggs than pullets and it would seem that
the older hens would be more fully matured.

ANIMAL FEEDS.—The hen is a meat-eater. A bul-
letin by Prof. James Dryden, of the Oregon Experiment
Station, gives the following concerning animal feeds for
fowls: “Animal feed of some kind is necessary to fowls
to maintain their health and vigor and make them pro-
ductive of either meat or eggs. A knowledge of this has
done more to increase the poultryman’s profits than any
other thing in poultry feeding. The scarcity of eggs in
winter is largely due to lack of animal feed. The fact
that when chickens are given the liberty of fields in sum-
mer they find feed in the form of bugs, angleworms,
grasshoppers and other insects, escapes the notice of the
farmer, and in the winter he does not see the necessity
of feeding it. In most parts of the country in winter
chickens are unable to obtain animal feed in the fields,
especially in sections where snow covers the ground. In
western Oregon, with its mild winters, they find many
angleworms, especially during the rainy season. But in
most sections, if not in all, fowls must be liberally fed
with animal feed for best results.

“There are a number of ways in which animal feed may
be fed. Fresh, lean meat is undoubtedly the best kind of

(9)
10 POULTRY BREEDING

animal [ecd. It is the lean meat that furnishes the pro-
tein. but there is no objection to having the lean mixed
with a little fat; this may be an advantage at times.
Fresh meat scraps from the butchers’ stalls are an excel-
lent egg-maker. Some butchers keep a bone-cutter and
sell the meat and bones ready ground and cut up. Where
one has a sufficient number of hens, say 25 or more, it
will pay to buy a good bone-cutter and cut the bones. The
scraps contain a large proportion of bones, and fowls eat
these very greedily as well as the meat. They furnish
the mineral matier necessary for the bone-making as well
as the egg shells. Skimmilk will take the place of other
animal feed if it is fed liberally enough. The trouble with
skimmiulk is that it is not concentrated enough; that is, it
is too largely water. In other words, in 100 pounds of
skimmilk there are only 10 pounds of feed. Even with
milk kept before them all the time, laying hens will not
get enough of it to supply the demand for animal feed.
if wet mashes are fed, by using skimmilk to wet the mash
they will get more of it in this way. By feeding it clab-
bered the fowls will get more feed out of it. Probably
the best way to feed milk is to make ‘cottage cheese’ of
it. This is a splendid feed when properly made. In this
form fowls will consume enough to meet the demand for
aninal feed. Our dairy department makes it in this way :

“Set a can of skimmilk in a place having a temperature
of 75° to 80°. In 18 to 24 hours the milk will coagulate
(thicken). Then break up into pieces the size of peas or
smaller; set the can in a pail of hot water, stirring the
curd until a temperature of 85° or 90° is reached; hold
this temperature 15 to 20 minutes, withcut stirring. Then
pour the contents of the can into a cotton sack and hang
‘t up where it can drain off. The milk should not be
A GULDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 11
4

boiled. Salt it a little. It will keep a day or two. Beel
serap is the most convenient shape in which to feed ani-
mal feed. This is a by-product of the large packing
houses, and contains meat and bones in varying propor-
tions which have gone through a boiling process and then
have been dried. It contains, therefore, little moisture as
compared with fresh meat scraps. It varies considerably
in composition, but should contain 50 to 60 per cent of
protein. Beef scrap varies also in quality. It should be
light-colored with a meaty odor and somewhat oily to the
touch. When boiling water is poured over it it should
have a fresh meaty odor. If it gives off a putrid odor do
not use it.”

Prof. Dryden estimates that 30 pounds of skimmilk, 12
pounds of cut-bone or 8 pounds of beef scrap have the
same value.

AVERAGE EGG PRODUCTION.—According to the
census.of 1890 the average production of eggs by the hens
of the United States is 65 each. In Canada the result of
carefully prepared statistics gave approximately the
same number.

BEEF SCRAP VS. GREEN BONES.—Six very care-
ful, separate recent tests to compare the nutritive value
of beef scrap or meatmeal and cut green bones showed
in favor of the beef scrap three times and-in favor of cut
green bones three times. This indicates that the differ-
ence in value is a negligible quantity. As beef scrap and
meatmeal can be kept in warm weather, and sufficient
bought for several months’ use, while cut green bones
spoil almost at once, it is evident that the poultryman
will find it more convenient to use the beef scrap, unless
he can secure a daily supply of cut green bone without
inconvenience.
12 POULTRY BREEDING

BONE.—Bone either coarsely crushed, so fowls can
swallow it, or ground into meal, is a valuable component
of the rations of fowls. Bone furnishes lime for egg
shells, phosphorus for nerve and bone material and some
nutriments in the shape of protein, if they are not too old.

BREEDS OF FOWLS.—The American Poultry Asso-
ciation recognizes 56 distinct breeds of fowls in this coun-
try. Of these 39 are domestic fowls of the order Galli-
nacea, or-more commonly, “chickens,” 1 of turkeys, 10 of
ducks and 6 of geese. In this country shape is consid-
ered in distinguishing the breed and color the variety.
The several breeds are much broken up into varieties, as
to most of them, although there are a few breeds of which
there is but one variety. For convenience in classifica-
tion the breeds are first separated into ‘‘classes,’”’ the
country of their origin or some other peculiarity being
used in designating the class to which a given breed
belongs. In the classes we have the following:

Chickens.—American, Asiatic, Mediterranean, English,
Polish, French, Dutch, Games and Game Bantams, Orien-
tal Games and Bantams, Ornamental Bantams, Miscel-
laneous.

Turkeys.—One breed.

Ducks.—Pekin, Aylesbury, Rouen, Cavuga, Call, East
India, Crested, Muscovy. Indian Runner, Swedish.

Geese.—Embden, Toulouse, African, Chinese, Wild or
Canadian, Egyptian.

American Class.—In this class there are the following
breeds and their varieties:

Plymouth Rocks.—Six varieties. as follows: Barred,
White, Buff, Silver Penciled, Columbian.

Wyandottes.—Silver, Golden, White, Buff, Black, Par-
tridee, Silver Penciled, Columbian.
‘A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY

13

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 and 2, Rhode Island Reds, 38, Silver Wyandotte. 4, Barred Plymouth Rock,
14 POULTRY BREEDING

Javas.—Black, Mottled.

Dominiques.—One variety, Rose Comb.

Rhode Island Reds.—Single Comb, Rose Comb.

Buckeyes.—One variety.

American Class.—The breeds in the American class and
their varieties are all of American origin, having been
made by crossing foreign varieties or having been bred
up from indiscriminate mixing of other varieties.

Plymouth Rocks.—The first mention of the Plymouth
Rock fowl which we have been able to find is a descrip-
tion which appeared in “The Boston Cultivator” for Aug.
25, 1849, and copied into a book entitled “The American
Poultry Yard,” which was written by D. J. Browne and
published in New York in 1860. The article copied from
was written by Dr. J. C. Bennett, who says: “I have
given this name (Plymouth Rock) to a very extra breed
of fowls, which I have produced by crossing a cockerel
of Baylies’ importation of Cochin China with a hen, a
cross between the fawn-colored Dorking, the great Malay
and the wild India. Her weight is 6 pounds and 7 ounces.
The Plymouth Rock fowl then is in reality one-half Co-
chin China, one-fourth fawn-colored Dorking, one-eighth
great Malay and one-eighth wild India, having five primi-
tive bloods, Shanghe, Malay, game, Turkish and India.
traceable by referring to the history of these breeds and
their crosses, respectively. The pullets commenced lay-
ing when 5 months old, proving superior lavers. Their
eggs are of medium size, rich and a reddish-vellow in
color. Their plumage is rich and variegated; the cock-
erels are usually red or speckled, the pullets darkish-
brown.”

This description does not apply in any wavy te the
Plymouth Rock of today. Plymouth Rocks were again
15

FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY

A GUIDE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,

Barred

Plymouth Rocks.

2,

Columbian Wyandottes.

3,

Silver Wyandottes,

 

 
16 POULTRY BREEDING

mentioned in “The New England Farmer” under date of
Nov. 24, 1849, in a report of a Boston poultry show held
Nov. 15 and 16 of that year. The reporter evidently had
a very poor opinion of the new breed, as he dismissed it
in these words: ‘This is a new variety, recently formed
at Plymouth, and which has gained an early, and we
think, a short-lived fame, unless their intrinsic properties
excel their appearance. But few of this race were shown
and some of them were very good in appearance.”

The next mention of a breed of fowls called Plymouth
Rock was about twenty years later, when the “Poultry
Bulletin” of New York mentioned them, so it appears
that the prophecy of the Boston reporter was well-
founded. It is probable that about 1870 several Ameri-
can poultry breeders brought out a Dominique-colored
fowl calling it Plymouth Rock. As nearly as can be
learned the breed as we now have it was originated from
a mixture of Dominiques, Black Spanish, White Cochin,
Buff Cochin, Black Java and a breed now lost, known as
the White Birmingham fowls.

It became immensely popular after its second introduc-
tion and immediately was taken up and improvement be-
gan. As a fgwl for farmers it occupies a leading place,
although itis to breed to Standard requirements.
The hems are quite good layers and the chicks mature at
an early age; mature cocks weigh 914 pounds and mature
hens weigh 71% pounds.

The White Plymouth Rock was introduced by a Mr.
Frost of Maine, about 1880. The mixed lineage of the
original variety caused it to throw white and black chicks
and those of mixed colors, and there is no doubt that
White Plymouth Rocks originated from sports of the
original barred variety.

 
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 17

Buff Plymouth Rocks were first exhibited at Worces-
ter, Mass., at a poultry show by the late Rollin G. Buf-
fington, who told the writer that he got his first stock
in the Little Compton district of Rhode Island from the
same stock that has since been named Rhode Island Reds.

Partridge Plymouth Rocks followed the Buffs, coming
about ten years later. They were doubtless produced by
crossing Buff Plymouth Rocks and Partridge Cochins, or
were selected from Partridge \Wyandottes on account of
their single combs and named after the popular Plymouth
Rocks to attract more favorable attention to them. They
are not very widely bred.

Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks have probably very
little real Plymouth Rock blood in them. At least one
very good strain of them was originated by Mr. \Wittman
of Pennsylvania, who used Dark Brahma and Silver Gray
Dorkings in making his strain. These were admitted to
the Standard in 1907.

The latest variety to be named after the Plymouth
Rock is the Columbian Plymouth Rock. This variety is
probably a selection of Single Comb Columbian \Wyan-
dottes, selected and bred to Plymouth Rock shape. A
few men are breeding a variety which they call Golden
Barred or Buff Barred Plymouth Rocks®™Bhis has never
been offered for recognition. It is largely of pure Plym-
outh Rock blood, the bars being white and a golden buff,
making a very attractive combination.

Wyandottes.—No other breed has been the subject of
so much controversy as the \Vyandottes. Apparently
they appeared in two different places at almost the same
time. That they were deliberately built up is bevond be-
lief and there is no evidence that such is the case. It is
probable that the foundation blood was Dark Brahma and
1

18 POULTRY BREEDING

Silver Spangled Hamburg, but who first made this cross
it is not known. They were called Hambletonians, Am-
brights and American Sebrights when they were first
brought to notice. At the time they came up for recog-
nition by the American Poultry Association (about 1882)
they were named Wyandottes at the suggestion of a Mr.
Houdlette. Luther Whittaker of Michigan and John P.
Ray of New York were among the earliest breeders, and
to them is due much of the credit for perfecting the breed
and forming it into its present shape. The original
Wyandottes were the variety now known as Silver
\Vyandottes, and for several years no other variety was
known. Wyandottes are one pound lighter in weight
than Plymouth Rocks, mature cocks weighing 8% pounds
and mature hens 6% pounds. They feather out almost
immediately after hatching and grow up symmetrical
and distinctively Wyandotte in shape without passing
through the stage where they seem awkward and long of
leg. They are very hardy, their close-fitting rose combs
saving them from suffering from frost as do breeds with
larger single combs. The hens are very good lavers,
especially in winter, when they are properly housed and
fed. Their blocky, plump bodies make them favorite
market fowls.

The distinctive color characteristic of the Silver \Vyan-
dotte, as the original variety is now called, is that the
feathers of the hen are white with a narrow edging or
lacing of deep black around the edge. This lacing should
be as narrow as possible, extend entirely around the edge
of the feather and should be clear black without any
white “frosting” on the outer edge. The breast of the
cock is of the same color, while other parts of the body
are silvery white, the neck or hackle and saddle feathers
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 19 ))

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1, Buff Plymouth .Rock. 2, Buff Cochin. 3, Silver Gray Dorking, 4, Silver-
Penciled Wyandotte.
20 POULTRY BREEDING

having a black stripe through the center, while the tail
is a greenish black.

Golden Wyandottes appeared in about 1885. They
were of the same color as the Silver variety, except that
the white is replaced by a deep golden color. They orig-
inated in northern Illinois or southern \Visconsin, a Mr.
McKeen first bringing good specimens to notice. For a
while they were quite popular, but of late years they do
not seem to be making much progress. In all practical
qualities they are as good as the original variety, and
seem easier to breed true to color. It has been claimed
that the golden color came from a breed locally known
as Winnebagoes, now extinct.

White Wyandottes followed the Golden variety. They
are of pure Wyandotte blood, having been bred from
sports of the silver variety. They have become very
popular and are one of the leading varieties of this
country.

Black Wyandottes were originated from a selection of
the darkest of the Silver variety. The writer bred them
as long ago as 1889. They have never become very
popular, although they are among the best layers in the
\Wvandotte family.

Partridge Wyandottes are of the same color as the Par-
tridge Cochin. They were admitted to the Standard in
1900. For a time they bade fair to take a leading place
among the popular breeds, but they failed to hold their
position, and comparatively few of them are now bred.
They possess many good qualities, but have failed to at-
tract any considerable number of admirers.

The Columbian \Wyandotte is the latest member of this
family to secure recognition. It was originated by a Mr,
Briggs of Rhode Island from crosses which seem to have
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 21

 

 

 

 

 

 

1, White Wyandottes. 2, Light Brahmas.
22 POULTRY BREEDING

been made accidentally. Since their introduction other
strains have been originated by the use of Light Brahmas
and White Wyandottes. In color the Columbian is iden-
tical with the Light Brahmas, and it has become very
popular.

Two varieties of the Wyandotte family that have at-
tracted considerable attention are the Buff Laced, the
plumage being buff with a white lacing, and Violettes, a
variety in which the ground of the plumage is buff with
blue lacing. Neither of these varieties is bred in this
country except by a few breeders.

Javas.—This is an American production, but its origin
is lost in impenetrable mystery. No tenable theory of the
foundation bloodlines has been advanced. It is character-
ized by a long, flat back, deep body and long keel. At
one time it was the candidate for the first position among
American varieties, but for several years it has lost
ground and good specimens are now hard to find. Javas
were at one time bred in three varieties—Black, White
and Mottled. After White Plymouth Rocks were brought
out they so closely resembled White Javas that the Amer-
ican Poultry Association declared the two varieties prac-
tically the same and dropped the White Javas from the
Standard with the understanding that breeders of White
Javas might consider them White Plymouth Rocks.

Mottled Javas are black and white in color, the black
predominating. But very few of them are now bred.
They are a hardy and prolific breed, and were it not for
prejudice which exists in this country against a black
fowl they would no doubt have maintained their position
among the leading favorites.

Dominiques.—Among all the breeds of domestic fowls
kept in America the Dominique is the oldest. It has been
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 23

called the native fowl, although of course it descended
from the same original stock from which all our other
fowls trace their descent. It has been in this country
certainly from the time of the Revolutionary War, or
longer. It is a hardy prolific breed, but it has never
received the attention it deserves, and is probably the
rarest of the American breeds.

Rhode Island Reds are generally considered a new
breed, and so they are so far as recognition by the Amer-
ican Poultry Association is concerned ; but they are really
an old breed, only they were not recognized as a distinct
breed until a few years ago. For many years the farmers
of the Little Compton district of Rhode Island had been
selecting red fowls under the impression that they were
hardier than those of any other color. In the first place
the sea captains whose homes were along the south shore
of Rhode Island had brought from other countries fowls
that they picked up in the ports to which they sailed.
These fowls came from the Mediterranean ports and from
Chinese and Malayan ports. The Mediterranean fowls
were called Red Leghorns, being the foundation from
which we get the Brown Leghorns of today. From the
Malay Peninsula came the large Malay fowls, a pea comb
breed of great size and vigor. From China came the old
Red Shanghai fowl. The mixing of these breeds went on
for many years, and the red fowls of Little Compton were
developed from crossing them without regard to anything
but the production of red fowls, which could endure the
rather severe winter climate of that part of the country.
They were of many shades of red and had single, rose and
pea combs. The writer has seen in that district flocks
of fowls with all styles of combs and of many diverse
shapes, running together on the farms. Some were buff,
24 POULTRY BREEDING

some cinnamon color and some decp red. Some were
long of limb, others showed plainly their Malay parent-
age, and some were fairly good Leghorns so far as shape
was concerned.

The late Dr. N. B. Aldrich was attracted to these fowls
and he selected some specimens that met his views of the
ideal fowl and began to breed them, introducing them to
the public through showing them at some eastern poultry
shows. Soon these fowls began to attract very favorable
attention, and they are now considered among the best of
our general-purpose fowls. The Rhode Island Red is
bred in two varieties, the only difference being that one
variety has a single comb and the other a rose comb.
The mature cock weighs 8% and the hen 6% pounds.
They are very much esteemed as winter layers and hold
a high place as a market fowl. The Rhode Island Red
has a long body and a deep breast, the keel coming well
forward. The ideal shape is oblong and as near rectan-
gular as it is possible to get a fowl. The general color
is red, but the tail feathers are black, and there is some
black in the wings. The females also have some black
“ticking” on the feathers of the neck.

Buckeyes were first recognized by the American Poul-
try Association in 1905. They enjoy the distinction of
being the only recognized breed of fowls owing its origin
to a woman, the originator being Mrs. Nettie Metcalf of
Ohio, now of California. She first called her new crea-
tion Pea Comb Rhode Island Reds and then asked for
their recognition under the name of Buckeye Reds. but
the Association gave them the name of Buckeyes when
they were admitted to the Standard. They were made
by crossing Pea Comb Rhode Island Reds with the In-
dian game fowl, now known as the Cornish fowl. In
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 25

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

White Cochin Bantams. 2, White Plymouth Rock. 38, Silver Wyandotte,
4, Golden Duckwing Bantam, 5, Pair of White Plymouth Rocks,
26 POULTRY T:REEDING

color they are very much like the Rhode Island Red
except that they have a bluish undercolor, a marking
that Rhode Island Red breeders try to eliminate from
their fowls, although it is hard to do. For all practical
purposes the Buckeyes are the same as Rhode Island
Reds, being equally valuable as general-purpose fowls.

Asiatic Fowls.—To this class which contains fowls of
Asiatic origin, the following breeds and varieties belong:

Brahmas.—Two varieties, Light and Dark. Cochins—
four varieties, Buff, Partridge, White, Black. Langshans
—Two varieties, White, Black.

Brahmas.—This breed has been the subject of much
discussion. It has been claimed that they were bred up
from the Chittagongs,a breed introduced from the Far
East about the middle of the last century, but this seems
hardly probable, as the Brahmas have pea combs, while
a copy of the Standard published in 1871, the first Stand-
ard ever published in America, describes the Chittagong
as being a single combed fowl, although almost exactly
identical in color with the Light Brahma, described in
the same edition. The writer has seen a mounted speci-
men of a Light Brahma cock hatched about 1850, which
was identical in color and comb with the modern Light
Brahma. The sire of this bird was of the same color and
was bought from the captain of a ship in the India trade,
who brought him from the East Indies, having bought
him originally for use on his table during the voyage.
The Chittagongs have disappeared and are no longer
bred, and it is possible that the two breeds were merged
in some cases. The pea comb is a rather persistent char-
acteristic in breeds which are pea-combed and it is not
probable that a single-combed breed would produce pea-
POULTRY

POR KEEPERS OF

GUIDE

a

 

 

 

 

 

 

1, Black Orpingtons.

2, Light Brahmas,

3, Buff Wyandottes.

4, White Leghorns.

 
28 POULTRY BREEDING

combed progeny, which invariably comes true as to comb,
as do the Brahmas.

Light Brahma.—This is a noble bird, the cock weigh-
ing 12 pounds and often more. The mature hen weighs
91% pounds. In this variety the two sexes are colored
in the same way, both being mainly white with black
stripes in the hackle feathers and black in the wings and
tail. Like all the Asiatic class the Light Brahma has
feathers down the shank to the ends of the outer toes and
almost to the ends of the middle toes. The chicks are
slow to mature, reaching full size at 8 or 9 months. The
pullets begin to lay at about 7 months. The eggs of
Light Brahmas are very large, frequently going above 30
ounces to the dozen and of a rich reddish buff color,
much esteemed in some markets. As a market fowl the
Light Brahma is considered one of the best, the only
objection being the feathers on the shanks. It was at
one time our most popular fowl, but its vogue has greatly
declined, other and newer varieties having replaced it.

Dark Brahma.—This variety is identical in shape with
the Light Brahma, but is not quite so heavy. The males
weighing 11 pounds and the females 8% pounds, one
pound less in each case than the Light Brahma. The
origin of the Dark Brahma is involved in much doubt.
It first attracted public attention in America at a poultry
show in New York in 1866, as an importation from Eng-
land, but it seems that it was before this time sent from
this country to England, British breeders having merely
improved the fowls sent to that country. As near as can
be learned, the Dark Brahma was made up from cross-
breeding two Asiatic breeds brought over by ship cap-
tains. These breeds were known as Gray Shanghais and
Gray Chittagongs.
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 29)

In color the Dark Brahma cock has silvery white hackle
feathers, striped with clear black. The back is a clear
silvery white, the saddle feathers being striped like the
hackle. The breast is pure black and the tail feathers
_greenish black. The hen is a clear steel-gray in every
part of the body, the feathers being penciled with three
narrow black lines, running parallel with the edge of the
feather. This variety is beautiful but not very useful,
being slow to mature, rather poor layers and persistent
sitters. Good specimens are becoming quite rare, and it
seems that the breed. is destined to die out for lack of
attention. Silver Penciled \Vyandottes and Silver Pen-
ciled Plymouth Rocks are of the same color and Ameri-
can breeders like them better because they are better
layers and have clean legs instead of the feathered legs of
the Dark Brahma.

Cochin.—The ancestors of the Cochin family appeared
in England shortly after the English obtained a foothold
in China in 1843. The English found around Shanghai
very large fowls of many colors, mostly ranging from
almost white to a reddish brown. The Chinese paid no
attention to color but simply bred for size and eggs.
They were more interested in the food question than in
fancy colors. Some of these fowls were sent to England
where they were called Shanghais, Cochin Chinas or
simply Chinese fowls. Probably about the same time
some of the same varieties were brought to America,
where they were introduced as Shanghais, Brahma Poo-
tras, Cochin Chinas and as Chinese fowls. It is alto-
gether probable that some of the same blood was used
in both the Cochin and the Brahma make-up. It is quite
certain that the modern Cochin in this country and in
England was made up from crossing the red, yellow and
30 POULTRY BREEDING

buff fowls from China. In England the breeder sought
a long leg, a stiff vulture hock and an upright carriage.
In America the ideal sought was a low, forward carriage,
the leg very short, the breast dropping low and the back
rising to a distinct rounded cushion just in front of the
tail. This makes a very deep-bodied, “chunky” fowl.
Add the very heavy leg feathering, concealing the legs
and feet, and we have what some one has called “an
animated feather ball,” which is not a bad description
of the show Cochin of today.

The first edition of the American Standard of Perfec-
tion (1871) described Buff Cochins, Lemon Cochins, Sil-
ver Buff Cochins, Silver Cinnamon Cochins, Cinnamor.
Cochins, Grouse or Partridge Cochins, Grouse Cochins,
White Cochins and Black Cochins. This shows how
popular this breed was in that day and how much of a
struggle breeders were having to determine just what
color they really wanted in the descendants of the orig-
inal Chinese fowls. Originally the Chinese fowls had
both single and rose combs, but breeders finally settled
on the single comb. ‘ variety of Pea Comb Partridge
Cochins was brought out at one time, but it did not find
favor enough to keep it in existence. Breeders finally set-
tled on one shade of buff, and the various shades of red,
yellow and buff were merged into one, and the Standard
was fixed, calling for a clear golden buff color in every
part of the plumage of Buff Cochins. There is always a
tendency for black to appear in this variety, but pure buff
specimens are not hard to find.

Buff Cochin——This is not a valuable fowl for eggs or
for market, and it has taken its place as a fancier’s fowl,
bringing high prices and always attracting attention at
the shows. The weight of all Cochins except the Blacks
31

FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY

A GUIDE

 

A Likely Group of Columbian Wyandottes Feeding.
OZ POULTRY BREEDING

are 11 pounds for the cock and 8% pounds for the hen.
In Black Cochins the cock is one-half pound lighter,
other weights being the same. Black Cochins are of the
same shape as the Buffs, one-half pound lighter in case
of the cock, and a brilliant greenish black in every part
of the plumage. They have never become very popular,
although a great many were bred previous to the early
70s, at which time the introduction of the Langshan gave
them a set-back from which they have never recovered.

White Cochin.—This variety is a white replica of the
Buff, and probably is descended from selections of the
palest buffs, as in the early history of that variety many
specimens almost white were found.

Partridge Cochin.—This variety was at one time quite
popular, but it has now taken an inferior position in the
popular fancy and only a few of them are found. The
cock has a brilliant red hackle, each feather striped with
black, a red back and saddle, the saddle being striped as
is the hackle, deep black breast and greenish-black tail.
The hen has a red hackle, rather lighter than that of the
cock, each feather striped with black. The primaries in
the wings and the main tail feathers are a dull black,
while the remainder of the plumage is a rich mahogany
red, each feather penciled with three narrow rows of
black conforming to the outline of the feather. All the
Cochins are persistent sitters and lay but few eggs ina
year. It may be said that they lay best in winter when
eggs are highest in price, but the smallness of the number
who breed them proves that they are not highly esteemed
by practical poultry-breeders.

Langshans.—This latest of the Asiatic breeds to be
introduced is held to be the most profitable of the .\siatic
family. Langshan hens are excellent layers and their
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 33

eggs run about 30 ounces to the dozen. The eggs are a
rich buff in color and are produced very plentifully in
winter. The Langshan was introduced into England in
1871 by Maj. Croad of the English army, who discovered
them in the district of Langshan, China, and sent some
of them home. At first they did not attract much atten-
tion, but later became very popular and were brought to
this country where they have held their own very well.
The Langshan cock weighs 10 pounds and the hen 7
pounds; they have a few feathers on the shanks but not
so many as the Brahmas. They are long of leg, hold their
heads high and the males have a high, flowing tail. They
are very short in the back. They have been called the
“triangular” breed, because a line drawn from the high-
est point of head and tail to the feet would describe two
sides of a triangle, the line from head to tail completing it.

Langshans come in two varieties, White and Black.
The Black Langshan is the original variety, and has the
distinction of being the only breed of chickens kept in
this country which is still bred in all respects as it was
by the Chinese poultrykeepers of remote Langshan. The
English have bred this variety with such long legs that
it resembles a gigantic game fowl, spoiling its beauty
entirely. White Langshans are not known in China nor
are they popular in this country. They are perhaps de-
rived from a sport of the original variety having blue or
willow legs and pure white plumage. Not enough of
them are bred to give them an important place among
our domestic fowls.

Mediterranean Class.—This class is composed of those
breeds of fowls which were first introduced into this
country from the countries which border on the Mediter-
ranean. These fowls are all alike in certain character-
34 POULTRY BREEDING

istics. They are all non-sitters, being disinclined to sit,
although an occasional hen will show signs of broodiness,
and once in a while one will sit from two or three days
to the full period required for incubation; but such hens
are usually the old ones, which are nearing the end o}
their productiveness. All the breeds in this class are
neatly built and of medium size, and all are very prolific
layers of pure white eggs. They have large single combs
in their original state, but American breeders have bred
some of the breeds to produce sub-varieties with rose
combs. In every case we believe the rose combs have
been produced by crossing with the Hamburgs.

Brown Leghorns.—All that is positively known about
the origin of the Brown Leghorn is that it was brought
to this country from some Italian port early in the last
century. As now bred this variety is not known in Italy.
Some authorities claim that the first Italian fowls were
introduced about 1235. Others set a later date. A. H. Hal-
stead, an old-time poultry breeder, told the writer that he
bought some red fowls from a ship captain in 1847, which
the captain had bought in an Italian port, and bred these
fowls for several years. They had red breasts, but in
other particulars were like our Leghorns of today. I. K
Felch says the white ear lobes of today were secured by
crossing with the Spanish fowl and the black breast and
deep red color of the cock were secured by crossing with
the Black-Breasted Red game cock. Mr. Halstead con.
firmed this by saying he got disgusted when fanciers he-
gan to cross with games and gave up the breed. The writer
began to breed this variety in 1882, and at that time there
was much trouble with red in the ear lobes, and it was
not uncommon for the females to come with the willow
colored legs of the game fowl.
35

KEEPERS OF POULTRY

FOR

A GUIDE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3, Black Minorca. 4, Barred Plymouth Rock,

1 and 2, Columbian Wyandottes,
36 POULTRY BREEDING

If the Brown Leghorn was introduced as early as 1835,
as some claim, it is strange that Bement did not mention
them in his “American Poulterer’s Companion,” pub-
lished in New York in 1847. In 1850 “The American
Fowl Breeder” was published in Boston, as the work of
“An Association of Practical Breeders,’ who it seems
should have been familiar with what was being done
around Boston; yet this book does not mention Leghorns,
although it notes the presence of Spanish and Italian
fowls at a poultry show held in Boston in November,
1849. In 1860 “The American Poultry Yard” by D. J.
Browne was published in New York, and at that late day
no mention is made even of fowls from Italy, although a
long list of breeds is given. It is certain that the first
Brown Leghorn fowls ever seen in England were sent
over from this country in 1872, when Lewis Wright,
author of a very voluminous work on poultry, imported
some in order to have them portrayed to illustrate his
book. The first reference to the Leghorn in American
literature is found in “Saunder’s Domestic Poultry,” pub-
lished in 1866.

We have for several years been inclined to think that
Mr. Halstead’s Red Leghorns were the first importations
that made an effective impression on Americar poultry
culture. No doubt Italian fowls were brought to this
country before he secured his, but they seem to have been
absorbed without leaving any distinctive trace of them-
selves. If a breed as attractive and as prolific as the
Brown Leghorn had been introduced as early as 1835 it
seems to us that it would have become known to at least
one of the three authors of exhaustive poultry books pub-
lished in this country previous to 1866. \Whateyer may
have been its origin, or whenever its time of introduction
® GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF TUULTRY 37

to this country, it remains certain that to the skill of
American poultry breeders is due the beauty of the
Brown Leghorn of today, as the variety that stands at
the head of the Leghorn family, so far as appearances go.

A well-grown Brown Leghorn cock will weigh up to.
6 and a hen up to 5 pounds, although these weights are
not commonly reached. No standard weight is fixed for
them, and size is not considered as being important in
this breed. The cock has a large upstanding comb with
five serrations, the hackle is a deep, brilliant red with a
black stripe down the center of each feather. The back
and shoulders are deep red and the saddle is the same as
the hackle and the breast is dull black. The primaries
are dull black and the main tail feathers a lustrous green-
ish-black. His carriage is proud and upright and his walk
as deliberate as that of a soldier on parade. The Brown
Leghorn hen is equipped with a large comb, evenly ser-
rated and drooping gracefully to one side of her head.
Her neck is golden yellow with a black stripe down the
center of each feather. The breast is a reddish-salmon
color and the primaries and main tail feathers are black.
The remainder of her body is a soft even brown, finely
stippled with short lines of a darker brown. She is trim
of body, alert of movement and a splendid layer of pure
white eggs of the standard size.

White Leghorns have been known in this country as
long as have their brown cousins, They are perhaps a
little higher on the leg than the Brown Leghorn, but in
all other respects they are of the same shape. In color
thev are pure white in every part of the body. In comb,
weight and prolificacy they are the same as other Leg-
horns. White Leghorns have been adopted as distinc-
tively the egg-farmer’s fowl in this country. Of all the
38 POULTRY BREEDING

great egg farms of this country at least 90 per cent of
them keep only Single Comb White Leghorns. Their
color is perhaps the main reason why they have been
chosen.

Buff Leghorns originated in Denmark, where they are
called Italiens. Mrs. Lister Kay was probably the first
to give them prominence in England and from there they
were brought over to America. They were very popular
for a few years and are valued yet, but for some reason
the great breeders have never taken them up, and they
have so far remained a fancier's fowl. In everything that
makes for real value Buff Leghorns are equal to any
other members of the family, the only difference being
their clear, golden buff color, which in its perfection is a
beautiful color.

Black Leghorns and Silver Duckwing Leghorns are
recognized in this country, but very few of them are
bred, no large flocks being kept. The Pile Leghorn is
bred‘in England but only an occasional pair is found in
this country. Brown, White and Buff Leghorns are also
bred with rose combs, the rose comb being the result of
a Ifamburg cross which has reduced the size of these
birds.

Minorcas.—The Minorcas are supposed to be identical
with the old Castilian fowls of Spain. It is supposed that
the first of them which appeared in England rather more
than a century ago were obtained in Spain and imis-
takenly credited to Minorea. It is known that they were
bred in England as long ago as 1780, but they did not
attract widespread attention until 1875, when they were
brought to notice by an enthusiastic writer, and imme-
diately became popular. Soon after this they were
brought to this country and widely introduced. The
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS

OF

PAU LTRY

39

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1, Brown Leghorn. 2, Barred Plymouth Rock. 3, Buff Wyandotte,. 4, White

Plymouth Rock,
40 POULTRY BREEDING

American prejudice against a black fowl worked harm
to them, but now they are regaining some of their old
prestige, especially since a prominent breeder sold sev-
cral specimens at the largest price, with one exception,
ever received for a lot of fowls in this country. Single
Comb Black Minorca cocks weigh 9 and hens 7% pounds.
The Rose Comb Black Minorca weighs a pound less, as
they are smaller than the original variety, which seems
to point to the presence of a Black Hamburg cross in this
variety.

Minoreas come in solid black and solid white. The
white variety has never received much attention in this
country, probably because of the \White Leghorn taking
its place as a layer, the Leghorn having the advantage of
yellow skin and legs, while that of the White Minorca
is white, Americans preferring yellow-skinned fowls. A
description of Black Minorcas will answer for both Black
and \WWhite, as the sole difference is in color. The Minorca
has a very large comb, deeply serrated, upstanding in the
case of the cock and drooping flat against the side of the
face in the case of the hen. They have rather long necks,
stand high on long legs, and have very long, sloping
backs. Their earlobes are large and pure white. The
Black Minorca has a dark skin, not black but rather
grayish, and dark slate shanks. The \Vhite Minorca has
white skin and pearly white shanks.

Black Spanish Fowls.—This is one of our oldest pure-
bred races of fowls. Columella, who wrote in the first
century, mentions a breed of fowls, kept in Spain, which
had white earlobes and thought more of laying eggs than
of sitting. The Black Spanish fowl resembles the Minorca
very much, having the same stately carriage, the same
large comb and the samme iridescent, greenish black
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 41

plumage. The main divergence in type is in the face
and earlobes. The writer can remember when the Black
Spanish fowl had white earlobes exactly like those of the
Minorca of today, but now this breed has been bred so
as to have a white face and earlobes, the skin of the face
having the appearance of fine kid leather. The breed
Was at one time very popular, but of late years it has
dropped back to such an extent that but very few ol
them are kept, and their economic importance has alto-
gether disappeared. Only now and then is a specimen
seen at the largest poultry shows. They are slow to
mature, but very good layers, their eggs being very large
and pure white. The cock weighs 8 and the hen 6%
pounds.

Andalusians.—The Andalusian is also of Spanish de-
scent. It was introduced into England about 1851, but
its advent in this country was not heralded in a way to
make a permanent record. Andalusians are a peculiar
slaty blue in color, and very good layers of pure white
eggs of ordinary size. The cock weighs 6 and the hen
5 pounds. It is supposed that this breed originated from
sports from the Minorcas, black and white having been
bred together. Cases are known where sports of this
color have been thrown by such a cross, and they have
Blue Plymouth Rocks and Blue Langshans in England
made by a similar color cross. Andalusians are not bred
in large numbers in this country. They are very hard to
breed to color, throwing white and black chicks and those
with red feathers in them. They do not give any promise
of becoming more popular, although a profitable fowl
to keep.

Anconas.—Anconas are another of the Spanish breeds.
They are single-combed, about the size of Leghorns and
42 POULTRY BREEDING

mottled black and white in’color. They are good layers
and hardy. They have white earlobes and yellow skin.
The standard shape is the same as the Leghorns.

English Class.—This class is composed of breeds which
had their origin in England. These are the Dorkings,
three varieties—White, Silver-Gray and Colored: Red-
caps, one variety; Orpingtons, 10 varieties, only three
of which have been admitted to recognition by the Amer-
ican Poultry Association (Buff, Black and White). Be-
sides these three we have three rose comb varieties in
these colors, Spangled and Diamond Jubilee, more com-
monly called Jubilee Orpingtons, having been given this
name because they were introduced the year that the late
Queen Victoria celebrated the jubilee year of her reign.

Dorkings.—These are no doubt the oldest pure-bred
breed of poultry with which we are acquainted. Some
fanciful writers have tried to trace them back to the time
of the Roman invasion of Britain. Columella described
fowls very like the Dorkings of today, but there is no
means of connecting them with the Dorkings we now
have. In Brown’s “Races of Domestic Poultry” we find
the first authentic reference to Dorkings attributed to
Bonington Moubray, who wrote a book on poultry breed-
ing in 1815. In this book they were described under the
name of “Darkings.” It seems that it is not even knewn
when the “a” was changed to “o” in the name. Dorkines
vary in weight and the style of the comb, a difference not
allowed in any other breed, except a variation in the
weights of Single Comb and Rose Comb Black Minoreas.

White Dorkings.—This variety has a rose comb, while
the other varieties have single combs. The White Derk-
ing cock weighs 714 and the hen 6 pounds. The Silver-
Gray Dorking cock weighs 8 and the hen 64 pounds;
A GUIDE FOR

KEEPERS

OF POULTRY

43

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1, Buff Wyandotte, 2, Silver Penciled Plymouth Rock.

Wyandotte. 4, White Cornish.

8, Silver Penciled
44 POULTRY BREEDING

the Colored Dorking cock weighs 9 and the hen 7 pounds.

‘The shape of the Dorking is very striking, the body being
very deep and the back very long and level. The tails
are heavy with a majestic sweep and the combs of the
single comb varieties are large, the comb of the cock
standing upright and that of the hen drooping over the
side of the face. The White Dorking is pure white, and
this variety is very rare in this country.

Silver-Gray Dorking.—This is the favorite in this coun-
try, if it can be said that a variety is a favorite when it is
rarely seen except in the larger shows. The hackle of
the cock is silvery white with some gray which runs into
black over the shoulders or cape. The back is silvery
white, the breast dull black, the tail greenish black, the
upper parts of the wings are white and the primaries are
mostly black. The hen of this variety is a beautifully-
colored bird. Her hackle is silvery white with a black
stripe down the center of the feathers and the breast is
salmon-colored, running into an ashy-gray in the lower
part, this color extending over the lower and rear parts
of the body. The back is an ashen-gray, finely marked
with stippling of a deeper gray. The tail is dark, pen-
ciled with gray and the wings are grayish.

Colored Dorking.—This variety is rare in this country.
Even those who visit the larger poultry shows rarely see
specimens. The neck of the cock is a light straw color
striped with a wide black stripe; the shoulders or cape
are black. The body and fluff are a dull black. The
wingbows are light straw-color and the primaries black.
The secondaries, which are greenish black, show as a bar
across the wings; the tail is a greenish black. The hen
may be described as having the color of the Silyer-Gray
hen, the colors being deeper and black markings show.
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 45

Dorkings have five toes, the absence of the fifth toe
condemning a bird as not being pure-bred. They are
not good layers, but are considered the very best table
fowls. They have the white skin characteristic of Eng-
lish fowls. The flesh is very tender and palatable.

Red Caps.—This is an old variety in England, and was
very much talked of in this country a few years ago. It
probably descended from the same stock as the Golden
Spangled Hamburg. This is the view held by Brown in
his “Races of Domestic Poultry.” They have almost
disappeared in this country, from reasons which are not
well understood, as they are of good size and reputed to
be excellent layers. They are characterized by the im-
mense rose comb they carry. The cock weighs 71% and
the hen 6 pounds. The hackle of the cock is a rich black
with a red edge on each feather, the breast is blue black
and the body and fluff black. The back is a rich red,
saddle feathers deep red with a black stripe, wing red
on the upper parts and primaries black. The hen has a
deep black neck, the feathers edged with red, body and
breast a rich brownish-red, each feather having a black
spangle at the outer end; the tail and primaries are dull
black; the shanks are slate-colored.

Orpingtons.—Orpingtons were originated by the late
William Cook, an English breeder, who brought them
out in 1886.

Black Orpington.—This was the first of the Orpington
family to be introduced. Mr. Cook made this breed from
black sports from Barred Plymouth Rocks, Black Lang-
shans and Black Minorcas. He seems to have had a defi-
nite ideal in mind from the first, and when the Black
Orpingtons were introduced they at once became great
favorites. They are short-legged, deep-breasted, wide-
46 POULTRY BREEDING

backed fowls with greenish black plumage all over the
body. The Orpington is a fairly good layer, but not by
any means a heavy producer, except in some strains of
Blacks, which have given a very good account of them-
selves. They are said to be excellent winter layers, and
have met with favor as market fowls on account of the
good qualities of their flesh, The Orpington cock weighs
10 and the hen 8 pounds.

Buff Orpingtons.—These were brought out in 1&94,
and at once arose a fierce discussion in England, many
claiming them to be an old variety known as Lincoln-
shire Buffs, Mr. Cook stoutly maintaining that he had
made the breed by a definite system of crossing and had
worked fcr the shape of the Black Orpingtons. The new
variety was longer of leg than the Blacks and not so deep
in body, but breeders set themselves to work to bring
about the desired shape and succeeded to a great extent.
In the meantime, the tendency to show black feathers in
wing and tail was being bred out, as well as the tendency
occasionally to throw white feathers in wing and tail.
These defects rapidly are disappearing, and the Buff
Orpington has become numerous at the shows, although
not yet largely adopted by practical poultrymen.

White Orpingtons are the same as the Duffs in every
way, except that they should be pure white in every part
of the plumage.

Spangled Orpingtons are mottled black and white.
They have the Orpington shape and other characteristics
of the breed.

Diamond Jubilee Orpingtons, more commonly called
Jubilee Orpingtons, are a mottled breed, the feathers be-
ing red, white and black. It is not popular in this coun-
try and but few of them are bred. The Spangled and
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 47

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1, Black Cochin. 2, White Cochin. 3, Buff Cochin. 4, White Langshan,

 
48 POULTRY BREEDING

Jubilee varieties have not yet been admitted to the
American Standard of Perfection.

The Polish Class is composed of eight varieties—
White-Crested Black, Bearded Golden, Bearded White,
Bearded Silver, Buff Laced, Non-Bearded Golden, Non-
Bearded Silver and Non-Bearded White. The origin of
the Polish fowl is lost in the mists-of antiquity. It is
characterized by a “topknot” or “crest” of feathers cov-
ering the top of the head. This crest grows’from a round,
bony protuberance on the forward part of the skull, one
of the most peculiar departures from the normal to be
found in nature and one which has puzzled those who
devote their time to discovering the secrets of nature. In
the cock this crest is composed of long feathers that flow
back over the head, making a round, rather soft mass of
plumage. In the hen the feathers of the crest are stiffer
and grow more directly at right angles from their base,
making a ball-like growth, which is considered very orna-
mental.

Sixty or 70 years ago a crested breed known as Ham-
burgs was bred. A crested bird is figured as a Hamburg
in “The American Fowl Breeder,” published in 1850.
Brown says that the breed might have originated around
Padua, Italy, as Aldrovandi, who wrote in the sixteenth
century, described crested fowls. Darwin called them
“Crested or Polish breed.” The American Poultry Asso-
ciation assumes that the breed came first from Poland,
but it has been almost definitely decided that it did not.
In England the breed is still called the Poland fowl. but
it is very likely that the name comes from the “poll”
which is the most easily distinguished feature of these
fowls. The Polish fowl is a very good layer of large
white eggs, but is inclined to do most of its laying dur-
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 49

ing the summer. The eggs are of standard size and pure
white. The hens rarely sit and the breed is considered
to be among the non-sitters. While no standard weight
is fixed for this breed cocks usually weight from 5 to 6%
and hens 4 to 5 pounds.

White Crested Black Polish.—This fowl is a very strik-
ing bird, and the favorite of all the Polish family among
fanciers. This variety is intensely black in every part of
its plumage except the crest, which, in the best speci-
mens, is pure white, although usually some black feathers
appear in the front part of it.

Golden Polish.—This is a golden bay in color and each
feather should be laced with a narrow edging of black.
The Silver Polish is pure white with the feathers edged
with black, as in the case of the Golden variety.

Buff Laced Polish—These fowls are of a golden buff
color, each feather laced with a narrow white edge. The
Golden, Silver and White varieties come in two sub-
varieties known as Bearded and Non-Bearded. The
bearded fowls have a thick muff or “beard” around under
the throat. The non-bearded do not. The other varieties
are non-bearded.

Dutch Class.—This class was formerly called the Ham-
burg class. It is composed of six varieties of Hamburgs:
Golden Spangled, Silver Spangled, Golden Penciled, Sil-
ver Penciled, Black and White.

Hamburgs are exceedingly trim-built fowls, small in
size and very active and graceful in their movements.
They have been called ‘Dutch Everlasting Layers,”
“\ooneys” and “Everyday Layers.” Their eggs are small
and pure white. Apart from their striking color the
Hamburgs are distinguished by rose combs, the spike of
which extends straight back from the head instead of
50 POULTRY BREEDING

conforming to the shape of the neck, as in the case of the
Wyandottes. The color schemes of the varieties almost
prove that they are related to the Polish fowls, except
that the markings of the Hamburgs are more often per-
fectly distinct and perfect than is the case with Polish
fowls of the same color. This is especially true of the
penciled varieties.

Golden Spangled Hamburgs are a rich reddish bay,
each feather ending in a round “spangle” of greenish
black. The more perfect this spangle the higher the
value of the bird, from the fancier’s point of view. A
crescentic-shaped spangle or one running to a sharp point
at the upper end is considered defective. The legs of all
Hamburgs are slaty-blue, except in the Blacks, which
have leaden-blue or black shanks.

Silver Spangled Hamburgs have the same black mark-
ings as the Golden Spangled, but the body color is pure
white. This variety is the favorite in this country, and
more of them are seen than of all the other varieties
combined.

Golden Penciled Hamburgs are of the same body as
the Golden Spangled, but instead of spangles each feather
is barred or penciled with narrow black bars transversely
of the length of the feather, making a very striking ar-
rangement and a very uncommon combination of color.
The Silver Penciled Hamburg is identicai with the Golden
Penciled with the exception of the body color, which ts
pure white with the distinctive black penciling. Black
and White Hamburgs eet their names from their color,
pure black and pure white respectively.

Hamburgs are cf no economic importance of late vears,
as they are bred by only a few fanciers and cut no figure
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 51

 

 

 

 

 

1, Light Brahma, 2, White Cochin Bantam. 3, Buff Cochin’ Bantam.
52 POULTRY BREEDING

in the markets, having given way to more practical
breeds.

French Class.—This class is composed of three separate
breeds, each of one variety coming from France, viz:
Houdans, Crevecoeurs and La Fleche. These breeds can
not be said to be common, although a considerable num-
ber of Houdans are bred in this country and they seem
to be gaining in favor to some extent. They are all very
good layers, their eggs being large and white. They are
also very highly esteemed as table fowls, their flesh being
considered as first-class. Authorities disagree on the or-
igin of this breed. It has been claimed that it has both
Polish and Dorking blood in it, because it has the crest
of the Polish fowl.and the five toes of the Dorking. On
the other hand, a French’ writer, M. Perre De La Roo,
in his book, “Monographie des Races de Poules,” Paris,
1902, points out that neither the crest nor the plumage
is similar to those of the Polish fowl. Other authorities
claim that the Dorking gets its five toes from French
fowls taken over from Normandy by William the Con-
queror, while still others try to connect it with fowls
bred in Britain since the days of Julius Caesar. Certain
it is that it has been bred practically in its present form
in the Department of Seine-et-Oise, France, for at least
a century, an infusion of Crevecoeur blood having been
made in that time, without materially changing it. Brown
is inclined to think that the breed was made from crosses
of Black Polish, Crevecoeuer and a common five-toed
breed.

Houdans were introduced into this country in 1859,
according to Thomas F. Rigg of Iowa in his “Origin and
History of Breeds of Fowls.” Later importations were
made in the 60's and many since that time. The Houdan
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 58

is a mottled fowl, the feathers being black and white, with
black predominating. They have a crest and beard simi-
lar to the bearded Polish varieties, and five toes, as in the
Dorkings. The cock weighs 7 and the hen 6 pounds.
They lay very large, white eggs and are considered very
good layers. It is not easy to determine why this breed
has not become more popular in this country, as it has
a rare combination of good qualities in its good laying
and fine flesh. While a considerable number are bred
they are not by any means popular.

Crevecoeurs are a large solid black fowl coming orig-
inally from the neighborhood of Crevecoeur, Department
of Calvados, France. They have the crest and muff or
beard of the Polish fowl, but are larger. The comb is
V-shaped and small. They are held in very high esteem
in France, but are rarely seen in this country. Indeed,
they are so rare that many poultry breeders, who have
been in the business for years, freely declare they never
saw a specimen. For this reason they are of no impor-
tance to American breeders.

La Fleche fowls are intensely black in every section.
They are a large, square-bodied breed, with a peculiar
comb, composed of two spikes which stand erect in the
head like horns. They are met with only occasionally in
this country. They are of so little importance that fur-
ther attention need not be paid to them.

Games and Game Bantams.—All the varieties of game
fowls are put into one class by the American Poultry
Association. This association does not recognize any
game fowls used for cock-fighting, but only what are
known as exhibition games. Pit games—those used in
cock-fighting—are not bred pure, the varieties being
crossed to suit the fancy of breeders whose only criterion

 
54 POULTRY BREEDING

of excellence is the quality of “standing the gaff,” that
is, the courage to face an opponent armed with sharp
steel spurs in the cock pit and fight as long as it can
stand. This brutal sport is not recognized by American
poultry breeders as being a legitimate use to which to
put fowls; therefore pit game fowls are not recognized.
To distinguish between the games and game bantams
fanciers usually call the game fowls which grow to ordi-
nary size “Standard” games while they speak of game
bantams as “bantams.” The only difference in the sev-
eral varieties between the larger and the bantams is in
the size. The “Standard” game weighs 5 to 6 pounds
as to the cocks, the hens being a pound or more lighter.

The game fowl has a history running back to the time
the original Gallus Bankiva or G. ferruginous was domes-
ticated by man. No doubt the original purpose of do-
mestication was to breed the cocks for fighting, in accord-
ance with the temper of men in those times, when war
was the only work men had to do. The original game
fowl was bred on fighting lines. It was set low on its
legs, had a massive thigh and a deep muscular breast
with a strong leg. In the quaint language of Gervaise
Markham who wrote “The Fightinge-Cocke” in 1615:
“Hee would bee of proude and uprighte shape with small
head, like unto the Spar-hawke, a quick, large eye and a
strong, crookt beak. The beame of his leg would be
verie strong and, accordinge to his Plome (plumage),
blew gray or yellow. For his colour the grey pyle, the
red pyle, the yellow pyle, the redde with black breast, is
esteemed best.”

The red with black breast has continued to be the fa-
vorite to this day. In 1849 the British Parliament passed
an act forbidding cock-fighting and from that time the
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56 POULTRY BREEDING

exhibition game fowl has been known. The exhibition
game has been bred so far away from the old style of
fighting cock that except in the matter of color it might
be called a new breed. The modern exhibition game is
very long of leg and neck, very high in station, carrying
its body erect and its head high, with the small “whip”
tail carried almost horizontally. As a fowl for economic
purposes the game fowl is of no value, as it is nowhere
bred for market purposes, the hens not being good layers
and the pugnacity of the cocks making them undesirable
to the poultryman who seeks peaceable fowls.

Game Class.—This class is composed of the following
varieties: Black-Breasted Red, Brown Red, Golden Duck-
wing, Silver Duckwing, Birchen, Red Pyle, White, Black.

The Game Bantams included in this class are identical
in name and color with the above.

Black-Breasted Red Game.—This variety is without
doubt the original variety of games. It is almost identi-
eal in color with the Gallus Bankiva from which it prob-
ably descended. The writer has seen a hen of Gallus
Bankiva, which was mated with a Black-Breasted Red
game cock, the chicks being good in color and vigor, the
effect of the cross being perceptible only in the matter
of the size of the chicks, which were smaller than the
mother and larger than the sire. The cock of this va-
riety has a bright red neck, red back and wing bows and
a rather short, narrow tail of a greenish black. The
breast is a brilliant black and the shanks are dark willow
or nearly black. The hen has an orange or lemon-colored
neck, each feather with a dull black stripe down the cen-
ter of each feather. The breast is salmon red and the
back a soft gravish-brown. The main tail and wing
feathers are dull black. This variety is the favorite with
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 57

game fanciers, and is bred to great perfection in this
country, although it is strictly an exhibition fowl and
there is not probably a single poultry farm in this country
where any game variety is kept for market purposes.

The Black-Breasted Red hen lays a tinted egg, not
large. She is not counted as one of the good layers,
but is among the best mothers, as she will fight for her
young to the death. The writer has seen a game hen
attack and drive away a hawk which swooped down on
a flock of poultry and tried to carry away a chick, al-
though the chick was not a member of the brood owned
by the militant hen. While some of the friends of the
Brown Leghorn are inclined to deny that game blood has
ever been introduced into that variety, there is no doubt
that Black-Breasted Red game blood was introduced
many years ago. This is shown by the willow legs that
a few years ago were often found in Leghorn females, in
the occasional appearance of a yellowish tint in the eggs
of Brown Leghorns.

Brown Red Games are probably close relatives of the
Black-Breasted Reds. The cock has a lemon yellow neck,
each feather striped with black, back and saddle lemon,
the saddle striped with black; breast black, the feathers
laced with lemon; shoulders, primaries and tail black.
The thighs are black and the shanks willow or dark
willow. The female is dull black except the hackle,
which is lemon striped with black, and the breast, which
has a lemon lacing around the feathers. The thighs and
shanks are nearly black.

Golden Duckwing Games are generally of a golden yel-
low color with black breast, body, primaries and tail.

Silver Duckwing Games are like the Golden Duckwing
in color markings, but the colors are silvery white and
58 POULTRY BREEDING

black instead of yellow and black. These differences are
of course quite conspicuous.

Birchen Games are very like Silver Duckwings, except
that the hackle and saddle of the cock are striped with
black and the back of the female is black instead of sil-
very gray.

Red Pyle Games are rare in this country. They area
mixture of red and white in color the red appearing on
the hackle, saddle, back and wing bows, this red running
from a reddish yellow to a rather deep red. The female
is red on the breast and almost clear white over the re-
mainder of the body.

Game Bantams.—These little birds are exact reproduc-
tions of the larger birds of the same name. They have
been produced by careful selection and are quite orna-
mental, but otherwise not of great value, except when
kept for pleasure. Their eggs weigh about 14 ounces per
dozen, but none of the bantams are good layers. All the
bantam varieties of the game class have a standard
weight of 22 ounces for cocks and 20 ounces for the hens.

Oriental Games and Game Bantams.—This is another
class presumably of oriental crigin, which includes Cor-
nish fowls, colored and white, Sumatras, Malays and Ma-
lay Bantams.

Cornish Fowl.—\Vith the exception of the Cornish
fowls the oriental class may be passed with but little
attention. Cornish fowls were formerly called Cornish
Indian Games because they were bred for many years in
Cornwall and from there spread to other parts of Eng-
and. Brown is of the opinion that this breed is an Eng-
lish production, formed entirely from a cross of Aseel
game, English game and Malay fowls. .\ few vears ago
it was introduced into this country and boomed until it
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4, Barred Plymouth Rock (Laid 251 Eggs in a Year),
1, White Plymouth Rock. 2, Jubilee Orpington. 8, Black Langshan,
60 POULTRY BREEDING

had considerable vogue, but its poor qualities as a layer
condemned it in the eyes of many, and it has never be-
come popular. As a table fowl the Cornish is of high
quality, having a deep breast, heavy thighs and very solid,
firm, sweet flesh.

In color the males are a very deep mahogany, approach-
ing a lustrous black. The hen has a black hackle with a
red shaft to the feathers, the remainder of the body being
deep mahogany red, each feather penciled with two or
three rows of fine black lines conforming to the edges of
the feather. Cornish cocks weigh 9 and the hens 6%
pounds. There is a white variety, but it is rarely bred.
The Cornish fowl has not yet assumed importance as a
market fowl but a specialty club is trying hard to push
it into notice.

Sumatras.—Sumatra fowls or Sumatra Games are mas-
sive in shape with a peculiarly malignant appearance.
They are the most lustrous of all black fowls. They are
scarce in this country, not being fancied except as rarities
by those who pride themselves on keeping uncommon
varieties.

Black-Breasted Red Malays.—This breed is one of the
rarest in this country. In general it may be said to carry
the colors of the Black-Breasted Red Game. It is not of
enough importance to be considered.

Ornamental Bantams.—These little ornamental fowls
are put ina class by themselves. The breeds and varie-
ties follow: Sebrights, two varieties—Golden and Silver:
Rose Combs, two varieties—White and Black; Booted,
one variety—White; Brahma, two varieties—Light and
Dark; Cochin, four varieties—Buff, Partridge. Black and
White; Japanese, Black-Tailed, White and Black; Polish,
 

A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 6l

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black and Buff Orpingtons,
62 POULTRY BREEDING

four varieties—Bearded \Vhite, Buff Laced and Non-
Bearded of both these varieties.

Miscellaneous Class.—This is made up of Silkies, Friz-
zlies and Sultans. Silkies are fowls with soft shaftless
plumage. The plumage is white, while the face, comb
and wattles are a dirty purple. They are considered cf
no importance.

Sultans.—This breed might be called a booted Polish
breed, as it has feathers down the shanks. It is a white
breed of no importance. Why it is retained in the stand-
ard of perfection no one seems to know.

Frizzlies are characterized by the disordered appear-
ance of their plumage. The feathers are twisted and
turned forward in a way that makes one want to smooth
them down. They may be white, black, red or bay, so
long as pairs match in the show pen. Thcry are neither
ornamental nor useful.

Turkeys.—The turkey is the largest of our domestic
fowls, and the only one that can be credited to America.
To get its early history, as far as civilized countries are
concerned, it is necessary to go back to European records.
Until a few years it was thought that its first introduc-
tion into Europe occurred about 1524-5, but in Brown's
“Races of Domestic Fowls” there is a supplementary note
saving that the librarian of the Royal Palace, Madrid,
recently (in 1906) discovered that it was introduced into
Spain as early as 1500, eight vears after the discovery of
America. Pedro Nino, a Spanish adventurer, discovered
this fowl on the coast of Cumana, north of Venezuela in
1499, and the next vear took it to Spain along with such
other curtositics as parrots, monkeys and bright- colored
birds of other kinds. Turkeys were bred in great num-
bers by the Aztecs and other nations of ATexieo and Cen-
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 63

tral America. The bird was not found further south than
the mouth of the Orinoco on the east coast but on the
west coast it was found as far south as Peru.

How this bird got its name has been a matter of
curious speculation and much traditionary lore been put
forward as authentic history. As a matter of fact, not
a single one of the old writers attribute its origin to
Turkey, all agreeing that it came from America. Wright
thinks the name might have been given it from the red
head and neck. Others suppose that the name comes
from the domineering habits of the bird. Unfortunate
as the name was, it has been accepted and speculations
as to its origin are of no value. The turkey was brought
into England in 1521 or 1524. In 1541 it was so highly
esteemed that Archbishop Cranmer prohibited the serv-
ing of more than one dish of turkey cock at state dinners
and the serving of turkey hens was forbidden altogether,
as they were too valuable to eat. About 1570 the turkey
became the recognized Christmas dish with the English
farmer.

It is said that the first turkey was eaten in France at
the wedding feast of Charles XII and Elizabeth of Aus-
tria, June 27. 1576. A large number of the birds had
been sent over from Boston to St. Malo and when the
ship reached that port the provincial governor sent a
dozen of them to the king’s cook. The king was so
pleased with them that he began to breed them, and the
breed spread rapidly over all France.

It is quite probable that turkeys as domesticated fowls
were first bred in this country from fowls brought from
Europe, as the northern races of aborigines knew nothing
about them except as wild fowls in the forests.

Bronze Turkeys.—This variety as bred today is the
64 POULTRY BREEDING

direct descendant of the wild fowl, although seemingly it
has decreased somewhat in size, as wild ones weighing
60 pounds are recorded. There were three varieties of
turkeys in America at the time of the discovery: the wild
turkey from which our Bronze variety comes, a smaller
Mexican variety, and still further south a variety which
lacked the tuft of hair on the breast but has a crest or
aigrette consisting of a single row of feathers on the head.
The latter is indigenous to South America and is easily
domesticated, but does not endure removal to colder cli-
mates.

The Bronze Turkey is the heaviest of all the varieties.
It requires two years to get to full weight at which time
it should weigh 36 pounds for cocks and 20 pounds for
hens.

Narragansetts.—This variety was largely bred around
Narragansett Bay a few years ago, but has largely been
replaced by the Bronze of late years and pure-bred flocks
are hard to find. This variety is not as bright-colored as
the Bronze, being more inclined to whites and blacks. It
was highly esteemed as a market fowl by the turkey
breeders of Rhode Island and Connecticut, but disease
began to invade that region and to invigorate the stock
Bronze blood was largely mixed into the pure Narragan-
sett flocks. Full-grown Narragansett cocks weigh 30
and the hens 18 pounds.

Buff, Slate and Black.—These varieties are variations
bred from selections, all of the color from which they get
their names and smaller yet than the breeds already men-
tioned, adult cocks weighing 27 and the hens 18 pounds.

White Holland.—This variety is another example of
misnaming. There is no known reason why it should

have been named after a country in Europe. as white
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 65

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1, White Polish, 2, White Leghorn. 3, R. C. Black Minorca, 4, White Polish.
606 POULTRY BREEDING

sports from Bronze Turkeys are by no means rate and
these white sports breed true to color. The White Hol-
land was at one time smaller yet than the Buffs, but of
late years the standard weight has been 26 pounds for
adult cocks and 16 pounds for hens, weights that do not
do justice to this variety, as they very frequently out-
weigh the other small varieties, and not rarely will com-
pare favorably with the Bronze in weight.

Bourbon Reds.—This variety is said to have originated
in Kentucky from crossing the Bronze and the Buff va-
rieties. It is of large size, with a deep reddish color, the
primaries being white. It is still quite rare, but very fine
specimens are sometimes seen at the larger shows.

Ducks.—The American Poultry Association recognizes
10 breeds of ducks, only two having more than one va-
riety. The following are the breeds and varieties: Pe-
kin, Aylesbury, Rouen, Cayuga, Call, two varieties; Gray
and \Vhite, East India, Crested, \luscovy, two varieties—
\Vhite and Colored—Indian Runner and Swedish. It is
generally conceded that all our breeds of domestic ducks,
except the Muscovy, are of Asiatic origin, although this
is merely speculation on probabilities. Ducks have been
known as domestic fowls since before the beginning of
the Christian era. Columella says that the eggs af wild
ducks hatched under common hens produce ducklings
which soon became tame, and this is as true now as it
was 2,000 years ago. The wild Mallard Duck is common
from eastern Asia to the western shores of America. and
it is quite probable that it was first domesticated in
Asia before history began. The duck has always been
esteemed for food, and its attractiveness as a bird would
have brought it under the rule of man as early as any
other wild bird or animal. The larger breeds are very
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 67

profitable as markct fowls. Almost all the breeds are
good layers. Young ducks have been considered a dainty
dish from very early times, and much attention has been
paid to breeding them.

The white breeds no doubt are descended from albino
ducks bred together. That this can be done is a matter
of recent record, as an Englishman secured two wild
white Mallards and bred a flock of white Mallards from
them, noticing that they increased in size under domes-
tication.

Pekin Ducks.—This breed is the favorite in America.
It was first brought to this country about 1874, and at
once became the favorite breed, a distinction it has main-
tained up to this time. They are excellent layers and the
young make very rapid growth, reaching the weight of 10
‘pounds to the pair at 10 weeks of age, at which time
duck-farmers sell them in the market. This breed came
to us in its present form from Pekin, China, where ducks
are a very important branch of industry, millions of them
being bred along the river. They are creamy white in
color, with orange-colored legs and bills. The drake
weighs 8 and the hen 7 pounds.

Rouen Ducks.—This breed was probably named for the
city of Rouen in France, although there have been va-
rious theories about this. It has been claimed that they
were once called “Rone” ducks, from the River Rhone
and “Roan” from the roan color of the females; but as
they have long been bred in the country about Rouen and
are known to have been sent from there to England in
large numbers, it is altogether likely that they get their
name from the city.

The Rouen duck is a beautiful bird, so far as colors go,
as it is an exact reproduction of the wild Mallard. The
68 POULTRY BREEDING

males have a greenish black neck with a narrow white
ring at the lower part where it joins the body. The back
is greenish and ash-gray running to a rich green over the
rump. The shoulders are gray marked with very fine
black lines and the breast is a purplish-brown or claret
color, free from admixture. The sides of the body are
steel-gray. The wings are grayish-brown mixed with
green and across them runs a blue bar with a distinct
white edge. The duck is more sober in color, being of
light brown, each feather penciled with a darker brown,
Aylesbury Ducks.—This breed gets its name from the
vale of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England, where
it has been bred to perfection for many years. It is a
heavy, quick-maturing, white breed. It was quite a fa-
vorite in this country until the Pekin came, when .Ayles-
burys and Pekins were crossed and it has almost disap-
peared, the hardier Pekin displacing it. The Aylesbury
has a white skin and when a yellow-skinned variety like
the Pekin became available it could not hold its own.
Cayuga Ducks.—There is a tradition that Cayuga ducks
originated on the shores of Lake Cayuga in New York.
There seems some foundation for this, as it is known that
in 1870 a Mr. Clark bred them in considerable numbers
in Cayuga Co,,N. Y. It is an intensely black breed. It
is supposed that it was made from a cross of some black
wild breed and the Rouen, or possibly from some other
cross. It might have come froma cross of the East In-
dian and the Mallard. The drake weighs 8 and the duck
7 pounds. The Cayuga has never been given the credit
it deserves and has become so rare that it is hardly to be
found, although a few good flocks exist in this country.
Call Ducks.—The two varieties of Call Ducks are bred
only by those who keep them for ornament. They are
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 69

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1, R. C. Black Minorca. 2, Brown Leghorn, 3, RB, C. White Leghorn,
4, Buff Plymouth Rock.
70 POULTRY BREEDING

the bantams of the duck family. The Gray Call is marked
like the Rouen in both sexes and is probably a very near
relative of the wild Mallard. White Calls are pure white
in every part of the plumage. They are of no importance
commercially.

Black East India Ducks are supposed to have origin-
ated in India, and were probably the progenitors on one
side of the Cayuga. They are pure black. They are
rarely seen except in the largest shows, and not always
in them. 4

Crested White Ducks.—This is a pure white breed or-
namented by a large crest. They are of unknown origin,
Brown does not mention them. Neither are they men-
tioned in Wright’s “Book of Poultry.” Beeman in “The
American Poulterer’s Companion” (1847), describes and
figures a Crested Duck, describing them as pure white,
black and mixed in color, remarking that the white ones
were thought to be better than the colored ones, a clue,
perhaps, to the reason why we have them only in white
now. Bement disclaims any knowledge of their origin.
As the best European writers fail to mention them they
may have originated in America. The drakes weigh 8
and the ducks 7 pounds at maturity. They are not bred
in large numbers, although they seem to be a fairly good
variety. The crests are rarely symmetrical, usually fall-
ing to one side.

Muscovy Ducks.—This breed is no doubt of South
American origin, as all the evidence points to the fact
and they have been found in their wild state in South
America. Mention of this breed was made as long :go
as 1670. It has been called the Brazilian Duck, and
earlier had several other names, such as Indian, Peru-
vian, Musk, Muscovite, Turkish and Barbary. That it is
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 71

a distinct breed is proved by the fact that crosses be-
tween the other varieties of ducks and Muscovies are
sterile. The Muscovy drake is considerably larger than
the duck and is inclined to be quarrelsome with other
poultry. These ducks are very strong of wing and de-
light in flying about, frequently perching on trees and
houses. We have them in two varieties in this country
—the colored, lustrous blue black broken with white and
pure white. They are not highly esteemed as layers, al-
though occasionally a good layer is found among them.
The flesh is fairly good when the birds are young, but
later is rather coarse and tough. The drake weighs 10
and the duck 7 pounds in good specimens.

Indian Runner Ducks.—This is an old breed perfected
in England, although first found in India. Importations
have been made from India as lately as 1898, but they
have become so well disseminated that it is not necessary
to go back to their native country for new blood. This
breed is noted for its laying qualities, the ducks fre-
quently laying as many as 200 eggs in a year and a
record of 160 eggs is not considered at all remarkable.
The eggs are larger than those of hens, but not so large
as those of other ducks. The drakes weigh up to 4% and
the ducks to 4 pounds. The prevailing color is a pleas-
ing shade of fawn. They have narrow heads, rather long
necks, a very upright carriage and instead of waddling
like other ducks they run very rapidly, a trait which gives
them their name. While too small to make good market
fowls, they are profitable on account of their laying quali-
ties and are rapidly gaining friends in this country.
These ducks are almost entirely silent, not being given
to the loud and raucous quacking which is a disagreeable
feature in keeping other breeds of ducks. They are re-
72 POULTRY BREEDING

markably good foragers and range the fields in search
of bugs and worms from morning until night.

Geese.—The American Poultry Association recognizes
six distinct breeds of geese as follows: Toulouse, Emb-
den, African, Chinese, two varieties—Gray and White;
Wild or Canadian and Egyptian. While there are several
distinct breeds of wild geese, it is probable that all do-
mestic geese are descended from one variety, the great
lag goose (Anser cinereus), which has a natural range
from western Europe to northern India, and is of the
same color as the common gray goose of the farmyards
of Europe and America. Crosses with this wild breed
are fertile, which is not the case with other wild breeds.
The goose has been known as a domestic fowl for at
least 4,000 years, as it is figured freely on Egyptian monu-
ments and temples. It is mentioned in ancient literature
as any other everyday matter. No class of domestic
fowls has changed less from the original wild state than
the goose. In color and shape it still carries the sober
gray of nature, and the most ancient drawings show it
to have been practically of the same shape in ancient
times as it is now. The exceptions are the snow-white
Embdens, but it must be remembered that the original
wild goose had considerable white on it, and the domestic
geese of all ages have exhibited a tendency to become
pied or parti-colored, so it would not be very hard to
breed them pure white by selecting those with most white
in their plumage for a few generations.

The goose is the only one of our domestic fowls that
is entirely vegetarian in its habits. It is the most cleanly
of all our domestic poultry in its selection of feed, and
has all through the course of history held a high position
in the dietetics of all people.
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY

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74+ POULTRY BREEDING

Toulouse Geese.—Toulouse geese are a gray breed,
named from the city of Toulouse, France. The sexes are
identical in color, grayish above and on the breast run-
ning to white under the body and in the rear. Males
weigh 20 and females 18 pounds. They are considered
good layers, but are not trustworthy as sitters. They
are not considered the best market geese, as their flesh
is inclined to be coarse and somewhat flabby. They
make heavy weights on coarse feed and are much used
in feeding for the livers, from which pate de foi gras is
made.

Embden Geese.—This breed is pure white and gets its
name from a town in Hanover, large numbers having
been bred there at one time. They are of the same size
as the Toulouse and are considered somewhat better as
table fowls. This breed owes its present good qualities
entirely to English breeders. The progenitors were
brought to that country from Hanover about 100 years
ago, but they have been greatly improved in size since
that time. Brown thinks the Embden of today was pro-
duced by crossing a white breed long kept in England
with the Hanoverian goose,

The Embden goose of England and America is a grand
bird. Its flesh is much esteemed and it is considered a
very good laver. The goose begins to lay early and is
avery good sitter. It might almost be called a persistent
sitter. It is much bred to supply the market with green
geese, as the young grow rapidly. If kept for the Christ-
mas trade, it makes heavy weights and finds a very ready
sale.

Chinese Geese.—The Chinese goose comes in two va-
rieties, Gray and \Vhite. It is the smallest of our domes-
tic geese—and the noisiest. It is esteemed for its small-
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 75

ness and when put on exhibition the smallest specimen is
awarded the prize, other things being equal. The Chi-
nese goose is a splendid layer and with proper attention
there is no doubt that it could be bred up to become
profitable for its eggs alone.

Chinese geese have a remarkable knob at the junction
of the bill with the skull. This is black and the larger
it is the better it is liked. Gray Chinese geese are of the
same color in both sexes, the prevailing color being a
brownish gray running to a lighter shade on the under
parts of the body. The White China is pure white in
every section.

African Geese.—This breed is not bred to any extent
in this country. It is of the same weight as the Toulouse
and of the same general color. The principal differences
between the two breeds are that the African has a knob
at the base of the bill, similar to that of the Chinese and
the throat has a distinct and well-developed dewlap.

Canadian or Wild Geese.—These are the wild geese
common to the country. They are not properly to be
considered as being among our domestic breeds as they
can not be held in check without removing the outer
joint of the wing, this operation being known as “pinion-
ing.” A few are kept in this country, chiefly as orna-
ments or to use as decoys in shooting wild geese.

Egyptian Geese.—The Egyptian goose is probably de-
scended from the wild gray goose, which ranges from the
Mediterranean to the southern point of Africa. It was
probably the ancestors of the modern Egyptian goose
pictured by ancient Egyptian sculptors. Males weigh 10
and females 8 pounds. In color the Egyptian is a com-
bination of chestnut, gray, black and buff. It is rarely
met with in this country.
76 ROULTRY BREEDING

BACTERIA IN EGGS.—It is necessary to keep de-
cayed eggs from contact with good ones because the bac-
teria that cause decay find their way through the shells
and infect the good ones in the same box. All eggs con-
tain bacteria but these do no harm as long as the tem-
perature is kept below 38°. The bacteria begin to
multiply rapidly above 38° and grow rapidly, decaying
quickly.

BEST AGE FOR LAYING.—\'ery careful tests have
established the fact that hens rarely lay as many eggs in
their second year of laving as in the first. The difference
is great enough to make it an object for the poultryman
to try to raise each year enough pullets to take the places
of the hens which have finished a year of laying. Pullets
hatched in the spring begin laving in the fall, if they have
been properly cared for, and by a year from the time they
begin laying they have made the best yearly record they
ever will make. It may be given as a general rule that a
pullet that makes a good record the first year will make
a better record as a hen the second vear than will be
made by a hen of the same age that did not make a good
record in her first vear. This indicates that the record
for the first vear of laying may be taken as an indication
of the quality of the hen. The Maine Experiment Station
tests the pullets the first vear and reserves the best of
them for breeders the second year, thus always having
tested hens in the breeding yards.

BIRD.—The poultryman uses the word “bird” to des-
ignate any individual member of his flock of poultry, no
matter what the class may be. The plural is used to rep-
resent the whole flock in the same manner.

BLACKHEAD IN TURKEYS.—In 1895 Dr. Theo-
bald Smith, then of the Bureau of Animal Industry, re-
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 77

ported an infectious disease among poultry, stating that
in Rhode Island the disease was known as “blackhead.”
This disease he called ‘Infectious Entero-hepatitis.” Dr.
Smith said in his report that it might be well to retain
the common name of the disease, although he did not
beileve all cases of blackhead were the specific diseases
he named. Dr. Moore of the Bureau of Animal Industry,
who wrote a bulletin the same year for the bureau, re-
tained the name, and although it has been considered an
unsatisfactory one it has been used ever since. The dis-
ease created havoc among turkeys in Rhode Island and
Connecticut and where thousands of turkeys had been
raised the business fell off until it was almost ruined. In
the meantime this fatal disease began to spread, and at
this time it has been found in nearly every state east of
the Mississippi and north of the Ohio.

Dr. Cooper Curtice of the Rhode Island, after studying
the disease, published several bulletins concerning it, and
after he severed his connection with the Rhode Island
station Prof. Philip B. Hadley of the same station con-
tinued his work. Blackhead is caused by a minute pro-
toplasmic animal which Dr. Smith named Amoeba melea-
gridis, which may be described as “a minute parasitic
animal capable of living within the tissues of the turkey
its host. It can therefore eat, grow and reproduce itself
in large numbers, thereby causing irritations, destruction
of the tissues and nearly always the death of the invaded
turkeys.” Dr. Curtice says:

“Although so elementary in its structure this parasite
has practically destroyed the turkey industry of New
England and is rapidly depleting western flocks.”

The writer has been called on to determine the nature
of diseases occurring in flocks of turkeys as far west as
78 POULTRY LREEDING

the Dakotas and Missouri and in this way has found the
disease in isolated areas in nearly all the mid-west states,
The symptoms vary and it is not always easy to diagnose,
especially as the dark discoloration of the head is not
always present. Indeed we have reason to believe that
in the West it rarely appears, except when old birds are
attacked, and then not always, nor is it always a symptom
of blackhead. In most cases the victims die so quickly
after the disease becomes noticeable that no change is
observable in the color of the head. Diarrhoea is a reli-
able symptom of the disease, and in the older of the in-
fected young turkeys droppings stained with yellow is
almost characteristic of its attacks. ‘‘There is, however,
no other sure means of diagnosis than the presence of
large sores made in the cecal (blind gut) walls and in the
substance of the liver, and in finding the parasites.” As
the average turkey breeder is not equipped for finding
parasites he must confine himself to an examination of
the liver of the birds that die. If on the liver are found
sores circular or rather annular in character, resembling
a ringworm on a human being, the evidence that black-
head is present may be considered conclusive.

As no remedy which produces favorable results has
been discovered the turkey breeder must resort to means
for preventing it from appearing in his flocks, and it has
not yet been demonstrated that any such measures are
more than partially effective. Dr. Curtice concluded that
the germs of the disease were very frequently found in
common fowls (chickens), although only two or three
cases had ever appeared among the fowls kept at the
Rhode Island station, they seeming to be immune from
the effects of the parasites. By removing the eges from
under the hens three or four days before hatching, wip-
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 79

ing them with a cloth dampened in 90 per cent alcohol
and finishing the hatching in incubators, then brooding
the young for a few weeks on a disinfected board floor,
the mortality was reduced from 80 per cent to 15 to 20
per cent. Even when the turkeys were kept on new land
at a distance from all other poultry, the disease appeared.
Since Dr. Curtice made his investigations the Biological
Division of the Rhode Island station has been continuing
the work, but nothing of importance has been discovered.
Slowly the details of the disease are being brought to
light, but so far no system of treatment has been dis-
covered that promises to protect turkeys from contract-
ing it or that will halt its progress. The best advice that
can be given is for those whose flocks show the presence
of the disease to cease to breed turkeys for a few years.

BROOD COOPS.—The illustrations are of several
stvles of brood coops suitable for housing chicks from
the time they are hatched until they are ready to be put
into permanent quarters in the fall. The brood house for
chicks after weaning is 6’x8’ and 6’ high at the front. It
need not be carefully made, as it is used only in warm
weather. A tight roof to keep out the rain, and a wire
netting over the window are all that are needed. One
poultryman builds houses of this size, making them tight
and using them for little flocks of a dozen hens through
the winter. He builds them on skids and in the fall hauls
them from the fields, where they are set in summer to the
house, setting them in a row, facing south. He keeps
\Wyandottes and cares nothing for winter eggs, as his
principal business is selling day-old chicks and broilers
and roasters in a nearby city, so he need not prepare for
the production of winter eggs.

The other coops need no further explanation than the
POULTRY BREEDING

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A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 81

illustrations give. The writer has built many coops of
this kind from the boxes in which cereal foods are packed,
buying the boxes for a few cents each and using the lum-
ber without cutting.

BROODERS.—.\ brooder is an absolute necessity for
those who use incubators and brooders are very often
used by those who use hens for incubation, because it is
easier to rear chicks in a brooder than to let them run
with hens. The brooder is safer than a hen as a foster-
mother as it is always in one place. It never distributes
insect pests to the chicks, unless brought into it from the
outside. It is always warm and comfortable for the
chick and furnishes a comfortable place at all times. A
chick that becomes chilled is often deserted by a mother
hen, but if it is being raised in a brooder it learns as soon
as it begins to feel at all uncomfortable to run inside un-
til it gets warm. The brooder is rat and weasel-proof and
no predatory animal of any kind can get into it to disturb
the chicks after it is closed at night. Chicks raised in a
brooder never having become chilled and stunted grow
better, mature quicker and make better fowls than those
raised by natural methods, unless the season is espe-
cially favorable.

A large number of chicks in brooders may be cared
for by one person with the minimum of labor. The cost
of operation is very small per chick and the number of
hens that would be required to take care of 100 chicks
will. lay enough eggs to pay all the cost of keeping
the brooder warm. The directions furnished with each
brooder are so definite that it would be a waste of space
to give definite directions about operating them. They
are so simple in construction and so easy to operate that
anyone can use them with success.
82 POULTRY BREEDING

BROODERS.—BEST SIZES.—The brooders on the
market are usually rated as 50-chick size, 100-chick size
and so on up to as large as 300-chick size. The capacity
of brooders is almost universally overrated by the mak-
ers. Asa rule the 100-chick size is about the size that
should be used for brooding 50 chicks, and this is as
many as should be put into the ordinary brooder, or any
brooder unless they are to be given the most careful
supervision. At the Cornell Experiment Station we have
seen a large number of brooders in operation which were
used to raise 200 chicks each. These brooders were
heated with gasoline and seemed to be giving satisfac-
tion; in fact, Prof. J. E. Rice, the designer, claims that
they gave perfect satisfaction. Notwithstanding, we
would hesitate to recommend their use on a farm poultry
plant or any place where poultryraising was not a special
business, taking precedence over all other work.

BROODERS.—FIRELESS.—\Within the past few
vears fireless brooders have come into use and. seem to
be perfectly adapted to brooding chicks which are hatched
at the time in the year that hens usually hatch chickens.
They are not recommended for cold weather, but those
who use incubators and do not start them until after
March 1 can use them with satisfaction. Fireless brood-
ers are not recommended for outdeor use at any time, as
they are not built to withstand stormy weather. They
may be used in any building, however, as there is no fire
about them and they are absolutely safe as far as fire is
concerned. The principle of the fireless brooder is to
conserve the animal heat of the chickens themselves and
keep them warm, much as the mother hen does by sup-
plying them a safe place to hover together, with an op-
portunity to spread apart if they become too warm. In
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 83

the southern states and in the Far West and Southwest
this style of brooder may be used exclusively. A fireless
brooder is illustrated on page 85 and is described by L.
E. Keyser, a Pennsylvania poultryman, as easily made
and very satisfactory. This brooder may be made from
a cracker or soap box, but it is better if made nearly
square. Fig. 1 shows the brooder open with the hover
in place and Fig. 2 shows how the hover is made. To
make such a brooder procure or make a box of suitable
size, say 24” square and 8” deep. On the inside, on right
and left sides, nail a cleat the top of which is 4134” from
the bottom of the box. In the side that is to be used for
the front cut a hole for the door 8” wide, as shown. Take
a strip of burlap which will reach from one side of the
door around the side and back of the box, across the
other side and to the side of the door opposite the start-
ing place. Have this strip wide enough to reach from
the bottom of the box up to the cleats which have been
nailed on the sides. Tack one edge lightly around the
bottom, draw it up and pack behind it soft straw or hay
and tack the upper edge, so the box will be lined below
with this packing to keep out the cold. To complete
this part of the work tack a strip of common plastering
lath around the bottom of the box so as to secure the
burlap used as a lining and make a neat job of it. I
preferred the lining may be put in before the side cleats
are nailed in place and the upper edge secured by tacking
the cleats over them firmly.

To make the hover, cut two pieces of lath the length
of the box and three pieces 1%” short of the width of it:
Lay the two pieces down and fasten the three pieces on
them, as shown in Fig. 2. On the side to be used as the
front of the hover tack a curtain on the under side of the
84 POULTRY BREEDING

long lath, so when the hover is in place this curtain will
hang down over the door, Then on the under side tack
some heavy material as long as the box and wide enough
so that when the edges are tacked to the frame it will
sag down about 244”. Fig. 2 shows how this is done, the
illustration being exaggerated slightly to show the sag
in the cloth more plainly. Using the middle piece of the
frame as a handle lift it up and set it down on the cleats
in the box and the brooder is ready for the chicks, as far
as the brooder part is concerned. A lid is used on this
brooder that may be propped up when the weather is
warm or during the day, as shown in Fig. 1. Before put-
ting the chicks in the brooder cover the bottom with
newspaper and over this put a thick coat of chaff, cut
clover or short straw. A door is provided for the front
of the brooder. For the curtain and hover material Mr.
Keyser recommends cotton bed blankets of the quality
that costs 50 cents a pair in preference to the more com-
monly used Shaker flannel. The curtain is slit every 3”
so the chicks can easily run out and in. Note that the
cleats which support the hover are nailed on the right
and left sides of the box and that the hover frame from
front to back is 4” narrower than the width of the box.
This leaves 44” space between the front and back sides
of the box and the hover for ventilation. To secure ven-
tilation a 4" hole is bored in each corner at the back and
three 14” holes are bored in each end and five in the back
34" from the top. These allow air to circulate in suffi-
cient quantities for the chicks in cold weather and in
warm weather the cover is kept lifted, giving free cir-
culation of air. For sudden cold weather a cushion made
of feathers, chaff or cutton batting the size of the hover
frame is laid on top of the hover at night. Clean the
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 85

 

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86 POULTRY BREEDING

brooder every day and do not put too many chicks in
one brooder. Fifty may be kept in one 2’ square for two
weeks, but it is better to make them a little smaller and
put about 25 in each brooder. The chicks require a little
attention until they have learned to go into the brooder,
when they begin to feel cold. They soon learn this if
not allowed to hover together in the sun outside.

Fig. 1 shows a house adapted to keeping two of these
brooders in. It is 6’x8’ and 5’ high in front, the whole
front being protected by wire netting, except the space
taken up by the door. A muslin curtain is fastened at
the top of the opening to roll down in very cold weather.
This curtain should have the bottom weighted so as to
hold it down when in use. This can be accomplished by
fastening a shingling lath of the proper length to the bot-
tom edge, using this to roll the curtain on when it is not
in use. In this brooder the chicks rest on the litter in
the bottom and push their way under the sag in the hover
which keeps them warm. If they get too warm they
spread out as chicks do when under a hen. If this
brooder is not used too early in the spring it is unneces-
sary to line it around the sides. The top and the door
in front may be hinged with leather hinges. The total
cost of such a brooder made from a soap box need not
exceed 25 cents to any one who can use a saw anda
hammer.

BROODERS — HOME-MADE.—WVe have used a
home-made brooder with perfect success. This was made
from a common pine packing box about 30” square and
20” deep. The top was sawed off in such a manner that
a sloping roof was put on it, this roof being hinged so
it could be lifted up with ease or fastened down with a
hasp and staple. On the higher side a door 6” square
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 87

was cut and 2” above the bottom on both sides of each
corner an auger hole 1” in diameter was bored, making
eight of these holes in all. Burlap was then tacked
loosely around the inside of the box and the floor was
bedded with soft straw. At the tin-shop a galvanized
tank was made which was about 12” high and the same
in diameter, both ends being closed, except for a gasket
in one end through which warm water could be poured.
On this end a handle was also placed, so the tank could
be lifted with ease. This tank was filled with hot water
and covered by drawing over it two burlap sacks, which
fitted very loosely around it. The tank was then set in
the middle of the floor of the box and it was ready for
the chicks. They could cuddle up to the tank without
danger of crowding, and if it was too warm there they
could sit farther away, the brooder always providing a
place suitable to the comfort of the chicks. The tank
was put in at evening and left until the next evening. It
was then taken out and set on top of the kitchen stove
until the water in it was hot and again put in the brooder.
For an indoor brooder or for use outdoors after the
weather became warm this brooder proved perfectly
adapted to the use to which it was put.
BROODERS—INDOOR.—Indoor brooders are de-
signed for use in brooder houses and should never be
used outdoors. After permanent warm weather has set
in it is often practicable to use indoor brooders in cheaply-
built sheds, but by that time outdoor brooders might be
used and are better adapted to such uses. It is quite
common to protect outdoor brooders with a roof or put
them ina shed enclosed on all sides but the south.
BROODERS—OUTDOOR.—Brooders designed for
outdoor use work very well if not used during severe
88 POULTRY BREEDING

weather. From the time hens naturally sit on into the
summer outdoor brooders give very good results, but
they should never be used when the weather is too cold
to admit of letting the chicks out into the open air every
day.

BROODER HOUSES.—Many plans for brooder
houses are available to those who read publications de-
voted to poultry, but all these may be separated into
three models. The pipe system houses are heated by a
system of hot water pipes controlled by a heating plant
located at one end or in the center of the system. The
individual brooder house is arranged so as to make it
convenient to handle a number of individual brooders of
the indoor type. The individual brooder house or, as it
is sometimes called, the colony brooder house, is a
smaller brooder house designed to accommodate one
brooder. Such houses are now usually heated with one
of the brooding systems designed to make the house it-
self the body of the brooder, the manufacturers furnish-
ing only the heating system,

The hot water or pipe system is losing ground because
of inherent defects which manufacturers have not been
able to eliminate. The principal difficulty seems to be
their inflexibility, it being necessary that each section of
the house shall be of the same temperature as all others
or so nearly so that the difference is not worth consider-
ing.

The brooder house designed for the use of individual
brooders has many friends and is largely used. It is
recommended by a great many leading poultrymen and
many have remodeled their brooder houses, changing
them from the pipe system to the individual system.
This system requires more work perhaps than the pipe
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 89

system, but it admits of individual variations in the tem-
perature for the several sections, which is a strong point
where chicks of different ages are kept in the same house.

The colony brooder house is convenient for the poul-
tryman who breeds ona smaller scale and who would
not be justified in building a large house. With the ad-
vent of the separate heating systems plans were brought
out by which brooder houses could be made very cheaply.
A very good house of this kind has been made by simply
laying a piano box flat on the ground, the widest side
down, cutting necessary doors and windows in it and at-
taching one of the heating systems. <A brooder house uf
this kind may be made of any large packing case with
but little trouble.

With every brooder house equipment whatever the
style may be is sent full directions for using the heating
plant adopted.

BROODER HOUSE.—A good type of brooder house
built a few years ago for the Storrs Experiment Station
in Connecticut, by Prof. F. H. Stoneburn, and described
by him is shown on pages 90 and 91. This was built for
individual brooders and has been found very’ successful.
It is easy to build, cheap and perfectly adapted to be
operated conveniently. The house as described was built
on a slope, but we have seen one which was built on per-
fectly level ground, the alley being excavated and drained,
but instead of a stone wall in the alley it was lined with
concrete, which was water-proofed in the ordinary way
with cement mortar. We have seen several brooder
houses built on this plan, or a simple modification of it,
which seemed to be everything that could be wished in
a building of this kind. The slope on which this house
was built sloped with an eastern exposure. A better ex-
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A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 91

 

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Detail of Sunken Alleyway and Floor Plan of Brooder House,
92 POULTRY BREEDING

posure would be one to the south or southeast. The
house is 13’x30' in size with a 4’x5’ extension on the east
end. This latter is used as an entry permitting the
operators to pass in and out of the house at will without
exposing the chicks to draughts. An alleyway extends
entirely along the north side and the remainder of the
floor space is divided into pens. These are 6’x11’ in size.
An examination of the plans will show that the vital fea-
ture of the building is the elevated chick floor, or rather
depressed alleyway, the latter being 3144’ below the for-
mer. This arrangement secures several advantages. It
enables the attendant to care for the brooders withcut
the constant stooping required where they are operated
on the floor in the usual manner. It reduces the en-
closed airspace fully one-third, affecting a corresponding
saving of heat required to maintain a given temperature.
The chicks are nearer the ceiling, the warmest part of
the room, thus giving them the benefit of all available
warmth. Repeated tests showed the difference in tem-
perature at the chick-floor level and the bottom of the
alleyway was 14° in favor of the chick-floor. It exposes
the smallest possible wall-space to the weather, which is
worth considering in wind-swept localities. The only
disadvantage is in going into the chick-rooms, the low
ceiling making it awkward, but the work was done with-
out serious inconvenience.

The alleyway was formed by digging a trench along
the north side of the proposed site of the building. This
trench was 4’ wide and 314’ deep. It was walled with
stone which are plentiful where it was built. These
were joined by a wall of the same height at the west end,
the east end being reserved for the doorway. In build-
ing the south wall of the alleyway provisions were made
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 93

for the lamp-pits for the brooders. These pits were
three in number, each 214’x5’ and 1’ in depth. They
were placed where the partitions in the chick-floor would
come in the center of the pit, so two brooders, one each
side of the partition, could be operated in one pit. The
plans show how these were located. The remainder of
the foundation was a plain wall built up so the top was
level with the tops of the alley walls. The entire floor
was cemented, including the bottom of the lamp-pits.
This building was 15’x30' and was divided into six rooms,
each 5’x1l’ in size. Because of the small size of the
building the frame was constructed of 2”x4” material,
except the sills, which were 4”x4"”. The walls are 3%’
high and the roof an even span with a rise of 2’. The
rafters are tied with collar beams which are spiked on
level with 734’ from the alley floor. The entire frame
is covered with 7” matched boards and covered on the
roof with a good quality of roofing and on the sides with
one-ply prepared roofing. This gives an absolutely wind-
proof building. Eaves troughs are required to carry the
roof water away to prevent it from making its way into
the alleyway. If the alleyway were drained and ce-
mented the roof water might be allowed to soak into the
drains, in a place where the soil was porous, but the
eaves trough would be better. The inside is lathed and
plastered with fire-proof asbestos plaster board. The
plastering is carried across the collar beams, making an
attic that is a great help in controlling the temperature.
A sliding door opens from each pen into this attic and
a door in each gable end makes it possible to regulate
the temperature at any time in the year.

In the south side are six windows. one for each pen,
each single sash containing six 10x12” lights. These
94 POULTRY BREEDING

windows are hinged at the bottom and controlled by
cords running to the alleyway. Chick doors 6"x7” in size
are also operated by cords. The partition between the
alleyway and the rooms and between the rooms are
made of 1” wire poultry netting. A door is placed in
the partition between each room and the alleyway and
the outside door is made wide enough to admit a whieel-
barrow which is used to wheel out litter and droppings
when the building is cleaned.

Prof. Stoneburn remarks that this building might be
made 2’ narrower and considerably cheapened by using
less expensive lumber, and the entry extension might
be dispensed with, but he believes this would result in
decreased efficiency. [or heating such a house there are
several brooder heaters extensively advertised which
could be installed with very little trouble. Any manu-
facturer of incubators would undertake to furnish the
heaters and hovers for such a building at a very consid-
erable reduction from the price of a complete brooder,
the hovers being all that are absolutely necessary in it.

BROODY HENS.—\When a hen shows signs of be-
coming broody she should be broken of her broodincss
at once before she becomes confirmed in the disposition
to sit. This may be done without resort to cruelty* of
any kind. Prepare a slatted crate, large enough for the
hen to turn comfortably in, having this slatted on all
sides. Put the broody hen into it and support it above
the floor or earth on blocks such as pieces of brick or
other sinilar risers. This allows the air to circulate on
all sides of the hen, gives her a comfortable place to
stand or sit, but leaves no chance for a nest. The perfect
circulation of the air around her cools the fever of broodi-
ness and she will soon be cured.
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 95

Another way is to put the broody hens of a flock in a
pen with a vigorous and active young cockerel. He will
not allow them to sit and will cure their broodiness in
three or four days, when they may be put back with
their mates to get ready to begin laying again.

BROKEN FEATHERS.—It frequently happens that
the conspicuous feathers in the wings or tails of exhi-
bition birds become broken by accident in such a way as
to injure the show qualities of the birds. If this happens
six weeks before the show season the feathers may be
plucked out and will renew themselves nicely before
time to show. The same process is often used where
biack fowls show white or gray in primaries or wing
feathers. The feathers are plucked out in time to re-
new themselves before the bird is to be shown. This is
not always successful, however, as the writer knows
from very recent experience. A Black Minorca cockerel
showed white ina primary. This feather was plucked out
and when it grew in again there was more white in it
than there was in the original feather.

BUMBLE-FOOT.—Bumble-foot is an ulceration aris-
ing from a bruise in the sole of the foot in poultry. Its
origin is the same as that of a stone bruise on a boy's
foot. Heavy breeds which have perches too high from
the floor frequently bruise their feet by jumping down
on a hard floor. The remedy is to watch the swelling
until it becomes somewhat soft in the center and then
with a very sharp knife cpen it freely to release the pus
that has formed under the thick skin of the sole of the
foot. Wash with castile soap and water and hind up
after applying carbolated vaseline. Keep the patient
on soft litter away from other fowls for a few days.

BUCKWHEAT.—This is considered a valuable con-
96 POULTRY BREEDING

stituent of a ration in winter, as it is fattening, containing
the substances that go to maintain vital heat and energy.

CAPONS.—Capons have been a favorite dainty with
epicures for several centuries, but it is not known who
introduced them. Shakespeare speaks of one of his
characters as having a “good round belly with fat capon
lined,” indicating that the man able to have capon
served on his table was likely to present an appearance
of being well-fed. It is a common belief that capons
make an extraordinary growth after being operated on,
but this is a mistake. Capons may possibly make a
slightly larger growth than an uncaponized cock would
if he were well fed, but the difference is not great in any
case. Capons do take on a heavy weight of fat because
they become quiet and listless after being caponized and
do not take exercise enough to reduce their weight.
Caponizing does not tend to increase of weight so much
as to the lengthening of the period of growth. It is
comparatively easy, for example, to make a Plymouth
Rock cock weigh 10 pounds at a year old by feeding
heavily, and a capon of the same breed, fed in the same
liberal manner, would probably not weigh more than a
pound more than the cock at the same age. The advan-
tage of caponizing is that the flesh of the capon retains
that tender, sweet and palatable character which makes
spring chickens so popular.

Capons usually sell for two or three times the prices
of cocks of the same age. As a concrete example a
neighbor sold a lot of capons for 21 cents a pound at a
time when cocks were selling for 8 cents as the top of
the market. Caponizing is slowly gaining favor and
more capons appear in the market from year to vear.
Farmers are conservative and do not readily take the
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY YF

initiative, so caponizing spreads by slow growth from
neighborhood to neighborhood. Some one begins capon-
izing cockerels and sells them at a very high price com-
pared with the prices paid for other classes of poultry.
This induces others to begin caponizing cockerels and a
center of production is formed from which city markets
draw supplies. Thus in many parts of the country there
are isolated points where capons form a considerable
item in the poultry receipts, and poultry-keepers in these
places make profits accordingly.

There is much ignorance concerning the whole sub-
ject. A very large number of people do not understand
that a capon may belong to any breed of fowls. They do
not understand that a capon is simply an emasculated
cockerel. As these words are being written a letter lies
on the writer’s desk asking him where capons for breed-
ing may be secured. Nor is this a solitary instance.

CAPONIZING.—Caponizing is the art of removing
the sexual organs of the males of our domestic fowls in
order that they shall not become sexually active and that
their growth may be retarded and the quality of their
flesh improved. Caponizing is performed with instru-
ments invented for the purpose that may be bought of
any dealer in poultry supplies. As full directions are
furnished with every set of caponizing instruments sold
it is needless here to describe the process.

Caponizing usually is performed about the time cock-
erels begin to exhibit sexual proclivities, say about the
time they begin to crow. The operation seems to be
comparatively painless, as birds frequently begin to eat
at once after being released after the operation. The
operation is comparatively safe, but from 2 to 5 per cent
dying from it and these die by bleeding in a few minutes,
98 POULTRY BREEDING

leaving them as good for table use as they would have
been if bled to death by a cut in the neck, the only differ-
ence being that the blood is let out from a different
place.

CATARRH.—See Roup.

CHARCOAL FOR POULTRY.—Charcoal is not
alone a preventive of disease because of its great capacity
for absorbing gases, but it seems to exert a beneficial
effect on the growth of fowls to which it is fed. It may
be fed in the form of crushed charcoal in a trough where
fowls have constant access to it, the pieces being about
the size of grains of wheat, or it may be still more finely
crushed and mixed with soft feed. Four turkeys were
confined in a pen and fed cornmeal, boiled potatoes and
oats. Four others were confined in the same way and.
given the same feed with the addition of one pint of fine-
ly-powdered charcoal. They also had a plentiful supply
of broken charcoal in their pen. The eight were killed
the same day and there was a difference in the quality of
their flesh, which was very noticeable, as well as a differ-
ence of 1144 pounds in weight in favor of the birds which
had been fed charcoal. If it is not convenient to procure
charcoal near home it may be made at home. Corncobs
piled up and burned until they are each a glowing coal
and then doused with water make charcoal of excellent
quality.

CHICKS DYING IN THE SHELL.— One of the most
serious difficulties incubator users are called upon to
meet is the number of chicks that die in the shell after
having matured to the stage when they are almost ready
to come forth. Prof. E. F. Pernot of the Oregon Expri-
ment Station has published some results of recent inves-
tigations into this trouble that seem to point the way to
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 99

combating it. Tle thinks the chicks die from poisoning
from the operations of germs growing in the yolks. He
succeeded in isolating a bacillus, named Bacillus No. 9,
which he believes caused the mortality among chicks just
before they emerge from the shell or shortly after. He
believes newly-laid eggs are free from these germs, but
that eggs may become infected after being laid, as the
germs pass readily through the shell. He thinks in many
cases where chicks die when very young that the bacillus
enters the unabsorbed yolk through the umbilicus (navel)
before the opening is thoroughly closed, where it finds
ideal conditions for development and rapid multiplication.
He recommends fumigating incubators before placing
them in use. The plan he adopted was to put in the
‘incubator a pint jar containing + drams of permanganate
of potash in small crystals and 10 cubic centimeters of
formaldehyde. On this basis it requires 16 ounces of for-
maldehyde, 40 per cent strength, and 6% ounces of per-
manganate of potash to fumigate 1,000 cubic feet of space.
To fumigate an incubator having an egg chamber with 3
cubic feet of space costs about 1% cents and a brooder
having 76 cubic feet of space costs about 7 cents. He
tried fumigating incubators by putting in them a small
glass dish of formaldehyde as soon as the first egg
pipped. Although the fumes of the gas were very strong
it did not seem to hurt the chicks in the least, as they
grew up hardy and thrifty with very small loss from any
disease. This late fumigation would of course not save
the chicks that had become infected in the eggs as the
gas could not reach them. (See Eggs—Disinfecting and
Incubators—Disinfecting.)

CHICKEN POX.—This is a disease in which sores ap-
pear on the face and comb of fowls, these sores becoming
100 POULTRY LREEDING

filled with pus, scabs forming over them. It is said that
a cure may be effected by thoroughly washing the sores
with carbolic soap suds and applying carbolated vaseline
afterward.

CONTAMINATION.—A great many breeders think
that if a hen runs with a male bird of another breed her
chicks ever after will shows signs of contamination, from
copulation with the bird of a strange breed. There is no
ground for this belief. Sometimes when a hen is not lay-
ing the effects of a copulation made a long time before
will be observable in the first eggs she lays, but 1 1s
perfectly safe to say that a laying hen will not show any
effects of copulation after ten days have passed from the
time it occurred. The writer has had many breeds of
pure-bred hens and cocks running together out of the
hatching season, and he has never noted a single instance
of contamination arising from this miscellaneous inter-
course.

COOKING FEED.—As a rule it does not pay to cook
feeds. Most feeds give better results fed raw. Potatoes
are probably better cooked on account of their starchy
nature, and when liver or lights are fed they should be
cooked to kill any possible disease germs that may be in
them.

COPULATION OF TURKEYS.—It is generally
agreed that one service by a tom turkey is sufficient to
fertilize all the eggs in one clutch or “laying” of a turkey
hen. Instances are on record where one service has fer-
tilized all the eggs for the whole season. A hen turkey
will lay three clutches if prevented from sitting when she
becomes broody.

COST OF FEEDING A HEN A YEAR.—In Bulletin
No. 35 of the Oregon Agricultural College we find the
GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 101

following table showing what a hen should he fed in a
year. The table, as will be seen, gives five formulas for
a ration, the amount in each being calculated for one hen
a year, or the quantity in each formula would make a
ration for 365 hens for one day. By estimating the cost
of the ingredients in any one ration the poultryman can
determine very quickly what it would cost to keep a hen
a year at the prices he is charged for feed:

TABLE SHOWING KIND AND QUANTITY OF FEED FOR ONE HEN ONE
YEAR OR 365 HENS ONE DAY.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

RATION. | No.1 | No.2 | No.3 | No.4 | No.6
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60 cee ee 10 | 20
15 10 | #10
| 10 10 | 10
Middlings 5 Bi Ht)
Linseedimeals ages c agent gad seed gr eeretein rare aaa iat A | 5
SkimmilkS, Otiescics ance acieatianeiiwnan wea. 30 30 30 a0 30
COU DONES, ORs wusicecege ouch: SE ee. See: 12 12 12 12 12
Beef SCrapssscen. scueer agaiga. sheqel aves ca cule ce Gan 8 8 pe) 8 8
Alfalfa or Clover, OF. .....0.6. cece eee ene eee 15 1b 15 15 15
AIG? sind Gain ane SH’ RES, BEES oes 20 20 20 20 20

 

 

 

The foregoing are suggested rations for one hen a year (or 365
hens one day), with the estimated value of each, ration No. 1
being rated as the poorest and No. 5 as the best. The choice of
animal feed is left to the breeder in each case, 30 pounds of
skimmilk, 12 pounds of cut bone and 8 pounds of beef scrap
being estimated as of equal value. Likewise of green feed, 15
pounds green alfalfa or clover being equal to 20 pounds of green

kale. (Weights are in pounds.)

In this table Prof. Dryden gives kale as a green feed.
This would be available in the Coast States, where it
flourishes, but in some of the states where it does not do
well cabbage or rape might be used. As clover grows in
almost any state and alfalfa in most of the western states
102 POULTRY BREEDING

either could be used as suggested without reference to
kale. z

CRATING FANCY FOWLS.—\Vhen fowls are sold
for breeding purposes it is very desirable that they should
not be injured on their journey to buyers and they should
be carefully crated so as to go comfortably and safely.
Crates are now easily procurable for this use, but where
they are not convenient they may be made of old boxes
that can be bought for a few cents at any store. The
corners should be reinforced with posts at least 1” square
and the sides and top should first be slatted and then cov-
ered with thin muslin, as express companies discriminate
against a crate made with muslin sides only. Make the
crate large enough so the birds enclosed can turn around
comfortably and pass each other easily. Make it high
enough so they can stand erect with a few inches to spare.
If they are going to be on the road more than 30 hours
put a tin cup in one corner, nailing it to a post in such a
way that the express messenger can fill it with water
without difficulty. Also put in the crate a supply of feed
for the trip. If the birds are to be several days on the
road tie to the crate a small bag of feed and on the top
tack a request to the express messenger to feed at noon
each day. The writer has shipped breeding fowls to
every part of the United States, to Canada and Mexico
and has never had ene injured on the road in any way.
Express messengers take good care of fowls in transit as
they have orders to be careful with all breeding stock.
(See cut of shipping crate on page 247.)

CROSS-BREEDING.—Poultrymen in this country are
prejudiced against cross-brceding pure breeds, although
this very often results in fowls better than either of the
parent breeds. In [england cross-breeding is very cam-
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 103
mon and cross-bred fowls are offered for sale. their
parentage being stated in advertisements. It is not safe
to breed cross-bred fuwls together, as. the resulting
progeny is very likely to show the defects of remote
parentage, as well as to fail in that uniformity in size
and prolificacy that the breeder has reason to anticipate
in breeding stock of known bleod. Many times a verv
common flock is bred up to show good quality by intro-
ducing pure-bred males, and continuing to breed to pure-
bred males, always using the same variety that was used
in the beginning. Where this is done it is quite possible
within five or six years to breed a flock up to the point
where it is practically pure-bred.

DAY-OLD CHICKS, HOW TO CRATE.—The busi-
ness of shipping day-old chicks to buyers is constantly
growing greater. Some breeders ship them in flat trays
about the size of berry crates, one tray above another,
held apart by tacking strips on each corner. Others sep-
arate the chicks in pasteboard holders similar to those
used in egg cases. In any event the tops of the trays
should be covered with burlap, which gives plenty of
air and keeps the chicks warm. Chicks are frequently
shipped more than 1,000 miles without injury, but further
than this they are liable to become stunted and show the
effect later. (See cut of crate on page 247.)

DEAD FOWLS A MENACE.—Dead fowls should be
burned or buried deeply at a considerable distance from
the poultry range to prevent others of the flock from he-
coming diseased. It is best to burn such dead fowls, if
it is convenient, as the fire absolutely destroys disease
germs, while burying them does not alwavs completely
destroy them.

DIARRHOEA.— Various forms of diarrhoea frequent-
104 POULTRY BREEDING

lv appear among fowls, especially young chicks. The
ordinary forms disappear after treatment as a rule, but
what is known as white diarrhoea (see White Diarrhoea)
has so far not been treated successfully. ‘In fact, no
remedy that will even relieve it has been found. For
common forms of this disease any one of the following
treatments is recommended by government authorities:

1. Subnitrate of bismuth in one to four-grain doses,
two or three times a day.

2. Pulverized cinchona bark, one to two grains three
times per day.

3. Quinine one-eighth to one-half grain two times per
day.

4+. Dry feed or cooked and slightly moist feed.

DISEASES OF POULTRY (SYMPTOMS).—It has
seemed advisable to treat each disease under the proper
alphabetical classification in order that when information
is sought it readily may be found. A great many times
when fowls show symptoms of sickness the poultryman
is at a loss to know what the trouble really is. In order
to set him right in this respect we have set down the
symptom characteristic of the principal diseases to which
fowls are subject. By observing the actions of a sick
fowl and consulting the symptoms given, it will be pos-
sible in most cases to arrive at a proper diagnosis, al-
though mistakes may be made because so many diseases
have practically the same symptoms to those who are not
accustomed to observing every detail. However, it is
believed that this list of symptoms affords the best plan
that can be followed.

Dealing with a sick fowl is a difficult proposition at
the best. We are obliged to guess a great many times
as to the nature of the disease, as we must depend en-
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 105

tirely on symptoms ‘readily observable, as there is no
practical means of taking the temperature or judging as
to the circulation. In all intestinal diseases the trouble
lies in getting medicine to act, as the digestive organs
cease to perform their functions and medicine lies inert
in the crop, often doing harm rather than good. A great
many authorities frankly recommend that a fowl which
seems seriously ill be killed to save the remainder of the
flock from danger of contracting the disease. Where a
fowl-is valuable it is quite often feasible to save its life
if prompt remedial measures are taken, but a very sick
fowl is as likely to die as to recover, no matter what is
done for it. Fortunately fowls kept under sanitary con-
ditions, such as dry, light and warm houses, fed sound
and wholesome feed and given plenty of exercise, have
little tendency to become affected with any disease. It
may safely be said that at least three-fourths of the dis-
eases that afflict the fowls are of a kind that easily might
be avoided. One who pays any particular attention to
his poultry will at once note any departure from the nor-
tal. Dullness, lack of activity, a disposition to stand
with the head drawn down and the eyes closed, halting
in walking, lack of luster in the eyes, congested appear-
ance of the comb, are all noticeable at once, and denote
that disease has fastened on the birds showing any one
or more than one of these symptoms. If this disposition
to droop is accompanied by a diarrhoea the character of
the droppings will often give a clue to the nature of the
disease. If the droppings are a sulphur yellow the
trouble is likely to be a very severe intestinal disease and
may be cholera, although this is now very rare. ‘Chalk-
white droppings indicate coccidiosis in chicks.

If the fowl seeks isolation the trouble may be cholera
106 POULTRY BREEDING

or worms. If the inactivity reaches a stage which may
be called stupor, liver trouble or vertigo is indicated,
either of these diseases being very, hard to combat. If
the fowl is very stupid or in a condition of torpor enter-
itis is indicated. Drowsiness is seen in attacks of atrophy
of the liver and pneumonia. Extreme weakness and slug-
gishness are present in aspergillosis and entritis.

Extreme emaciation is a symptom of several diseases,
but a fowl which has become very much emaciated by
disease is never worth saving and should be promptly
destroyed.

Fowls frequently make a swallowing motion when they
have mucous in their throats, but where this is accom-
panied by a writhing motion it denotes crop-bound.
Staggering motions indicate the last stages of cholera,
especially when convulsions follow. Staggering also de-
notes vertigo.

Lameness is present in liver trouble and rheumatism.
Restlessness indicates a feverish condition which may be
present with almost any disease. Continued gaping in-
dicates the presence of gape worms.

If the comb is pale the fowl may have anaemia, tuber-
culosis or enteritis. If it is purplish in color it indicates
one stage of enteritis and congestion of the lungs. If
yellowish warts appear on the face and wattles chicken
pox is indicated.

When feathers drop off parts of the body and the skin
is scurfy it is a symptom of favus. Generally rapid
breathing indicates lung troubles or some difficulty in
the air passages, such as bronchitis. Sneezing or a
croaking sound from a chicken shows that it is in danger
from roup.

A waterly discharge from the nostrils, the gathering
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 107

of foam in the corners of the eyes, or a fetid smell, known
to poultrymen as the “roup smell,’ indicates danger from
roup. Bloody mucus in the mouth indicates pneumonia.
Yellowish patches in the mouth indicate diphtheretic
roup, a most dangerous infectuous disease.

A rough condition of the plumage is observable in
many diseases and also where body lice are present, but
the plumage may be much worn and broken in perfectly
healthy fowls.

When fowls present symptoms of disease it is well
first to look for mites in the poultry house or lice on the
bodies of the birds, as the presence of insect enemies may
be shown by several of the symptoms of other diseases,
especially when the fowls are worried by large numbers
of them,

Fortunately there are but a few diseases common to
poultry in this country. These are roup, intestinal dis-
eases, aspergillosis and coccidiosis, which are frequently
mistaken for each other, as the symptoms are very simi-
lar, chicken pox (often called “sore head’’) and the weak-
ened condition brought about by parasites, There is an
occasional case of worms, but worms are not common.
Liver troubles are usually so far along before they are
discovered that they are rarely combated with success.
Rheumatism is not very common and its presence indi-
cates carelessness on the part of the owner.

Blackhead in turkeys is very fatal and may be looked
for whenever turkeys die in numbers, the symptoms be-
ing diarrhoea, lassitude and stupor. Sometimes the
head turns black.

Roup is not a clearly-defined disease, authorities mix-
ing it up with diphtheria and catarrh, but as all three of
these diseases yield to the same treatment we have treated
108 . POULTRY BREEDING

them as one. Whenever there is an offensive discharge
from the nostrils, a swelling on the side of the face, yel-
lowish patches (canker) in the mouth or throat, roup or
one of the allied diseases is present and should be treated
as directed under “Roup.”

“Chicken pox or sore head manifests itself by wart-like
sores on the comb and face. It is not very common in the
North but is quite common in the South and Far West.

Aspergillosis and coccidiosis are indicated by diarrhoea,
the droppings being whitish and sticky, great loss of
strength, sleepiness or stupor. It is fully discussed in
the proper place. Other intestinal diseases, except en-
teritis, usually yield to treatment without much trouble.

The best medicine is prevention. If fowls are kept in
clean houses, which are kept free from insects, have pure
water, good feed in variety and are always kept comfort-
able, disease will very rarely appear.

DISINFECTING EGGS—(See Eggs—Disinfecting to
Prevent White Diarrhoea.)

DRINKING FOUNTAIN.—Fill a pan or other shal-
low vessel with pebbles about 1” in diameter and then
pour in water till the vessel is full. Little chicks can
drink from such a vessel without danger of getting pushed
in and becoming wet and chilled. The pebbles should be
scalded twice a week in hot weather.

DRINKING FOUNTAINS.—Drinking fountains may
be bought in almost any town, but where they are not
found in the stores they may be made very cheaply. A
common stone jug with a small hole drilled in it 1” above
the bottom may be used for the reservoir. It is easy to
punch a hole in a jug with a wire nail, if care is used to
tap the nail lightly, sm as not to break the jug. Set the
jug in a six-quart milk pan, fill with water and cork
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 109

tightly. If the cork is tight enough to keep air from
entering at the top the water will only run out enough
to cover the hole punched in the jug, and as the fowls
drink it more will run out, keeping the level the same as
long as the water lasts.

Another good drinking fountain is made by making a
galvanized iron basin 8” in diameter with sloping sides
two inches high. Then have a can made of the same
material just large enough to fill the bottom of the basin.
Have the can made so it can be corked tightly. Punch
a hole in the can so it will be just below the top of the
basin when the can is in position. Fill with water, cork
tightly and set in a cool place in summer and where it
will not freeze in cold weather. The water will always
stand at the level of the hole in the can so long as any
remains in the can.

A fountain for little chicks is very easily made by
melting the top off a tin tomato can, being sure to have
the edge smooth and level. In one side cut a V-shaped
notch 4" deep. Fill the can with water and over it put
a common coffee saucer upside down. Pick the can up
with the right hand and with the left hold the saucer in
place and turn over quickly, leaving the can standing up-
side down in the saucer. This will not empty itself, but
the water will run out to the level of the notch in the can,
the same as in any other fountain. For little chicks in
brooders this is a very convenient way of supplying
water.

DUST BATH.—Ii fowls are confined to a place where
they can not find dust to wallow in a boxful of fine, loose
soil or road dust should be provided in which they can
take a dust bath, as this is necessary to their health, act-
ing as a cleanser and lice-killer. If soil or dust is not
110 POULTRY BREEDING

procurable sifted coal ashes will answer, but wood ashes
should never be used, as the alkali in them destroys the
oil in the plumage and, what is equally objectionable,
takes the gloss off the shanks.

DUCKS, PRODUCTION OF.—The breeding and
marketing of ducks in a large way is localized in a com-
paratively small part of this country. In Massachusetts,
New York and Pennsylvania are to be found all of our
extensive duck raising establishments. The product of
these farms (largely green ducks) is consumed in what
may be called the northeast corner of the United States.

There is no apparent reason why duck-farms should not
be located in almost every state in the Union, but this
part of the poultry business has not been developed any-
where but in the localities named, although there is no
-doubt that it could be made to pay near any large city
after the appetite for green ducks had been created. On
sume farms in the states named ducks are raised in ten
thousands and sold at the ages of about 10 weeks as fast
as they can be produced, at prices which make the busi-
ness very profitable.

These great duck-farms are stocked without exception
with Pekin ducks, as this breed seems to have obtained
an impregnable position in the market as a source of
young ducks for summer use. It is true that thousands
of ducks annually are marketed in all our large cities, but
these are bred in small Iots on farms and gathered in the
regular course of trade. .\ll breeds of ducks require prac-
tically the same treatment, but at this time only two
breeds are of commercial importance, the Pekin and the
Rouen, and the latter makes no impression on the great
market as a factor in supplying the demand. The Indian
Runner duck scems to be making very rapid headway as
A GUIDE VOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 111

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pekin Ducks on u Long Island Duck Farm,
-

112 POULTRY BREEDING

an egg-producer, but it is too small to make it a possible
rival in the food markets against the large Pekin.

The houses for ducks need not be made as warm as
for chickens, but they should be free from drafts. As
ducks do not lay in winter and have no combs or wattles
to freeze, they may. be allowed an outdoor run every day.
Particular care should be taken to have the floor of the
duck house dry, as ducks fall victims very easily to damp-
ness in sleeping quarters, notwithstanding their aquatic
nature. The floor should be kept covered with clean
straw and this should be frequently renewed. Ducks are
not bothered with lice and mites. They are free from
such diseases as roup, catarrh and diphtheria. In fact,
ducks are naturally very healthy and if they are given a
good house where they can sleep on a dry floor and have
a clean run they are not likely to suffer from any disease.

Ducks should have water where they can get it to
drink at any time, but it is not necessary that they have
water to swim in, although if it is possible to have a
small, rapid-flowing brook run through the yards it will
be better. The great duck-farms on Long Island are so
situated that the yards are built down into the water of
an arm of the sea where the tide rises and falls, thus
washing the yards daily, the clean sandy bottom of the
inlet making an ideal place for ducks to bathe and swim.

As ducks never lay in any certain place until they are
ready to go broody, it is necessary to keep them inclosed
in the morning until they have laid. Occasionally they
delay this until late in the forenoon, and a small yard
should be attached to their house so as to give them some
liberty until they are let into the larger yards.

In mating breeding ducks not more than + ducks should
be used for each drake. Very often a drake will take
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 113

care of more ducks than this, but this is at the expense
of egg fertility. It is not necessary to divide the flock
into pens of one drake and his mates, as they can be kept
in larger flocks, maintaining the proper proportions of the
sexes. In selecting ducks for mating, choose strong, vig-
orous birds of large size but perfect proportions. An
overgrown duck or drake usually lacks in typical shape
and these are likely to transmit their defects.

With the colored varieties the difference in the plumage
at once marks the difference in the sexes, but with the
white breeds the sexes are of the same color, The drake
has two feathers of the tail curled over into a short curl,
but these are frequently missing, especially in the show-
room, where a large male is sometimes offered as a fe-
male, the curled feathers being plucked out. The deceit
will be at once discovered if the ducks are made to make
a noise. The femiale is the only one of a pair that
“quacks.” The voice of the male is thin and not at all
loud, being more of a chuckle than a distinct call, as is
the case with the female.

When well-cared-for ducks begin to lay in the spring
they lay very regularly, usually every day for a consider-
able period. Early-hatched ducks begin to lay in the fall
sometimes and lay a few eggs, then stopping until the
early months of the year. Early-hatched Indian Runner
ducks often begin laying in the fall and continue to lay
during the winter and on into the next summer, fre-
quently laying 200 eggs each in a year. Indian Runner
ducks often continue to lav well for three years.

Where only a small number of ducks are raised it is
best to use hens rather than ducks for hatching, as ducks
are not very good mothers in domestication. Duck eggs
hatch in 28 days, but the eggs frequently pip in 26 days.
114 POULTRY BREEDING

It is much safer to help a duck out of the shell than it is
a chicken, but this should not be attempted until it is
found that the duckling can not free itself. Duck eggs
hatch in incubators fully as well as the eggs of hens, and
once a duckling is out of the shell it is quite safe to count
on raising it to market age. Young ducks are very hardy
and are not troubled with any of the many diseases that
afflict young chickens. Sometimes young ducks will con-
tract sore eyes, but washing them with warm water and
anointing them with vaseline will usually overcome the
trouble at once. Young ducks are voracious eaters, but
they should not be fed too much until a week old, after
which their feed supply should be governed by the quan-
tity they will eat. When we consider that a Pekin duck-
ling will grow to 5 pounds in 70 days, if properly fed, we
readily understand that they must consume a large quan-
tity of feed early in life.

On the great duck-farms the pipe system of brooding
is used almost altogether. Ducklings thrive under this
system, as they are hardier than young chicks and do
not require such careful attention as to temperature. One
of the most extensive duck breeders, who lives about 80
miles from New York, says it costs him about 60 cents
to bring a 10 weeks duck into market. This covers labor,
feeds, cost of marketing and other expenses. Such a
duck will be sold in New York for about $1. As this
duck-farmer raised and sold about 40,000 green ducks in
one year it will be seen that the business is a very profit-
able one. The incubators on this farm had a capacity of
24,000 duck eges, and the average hatches were about
50 per cent, so that about 12.000 ducklings were hatched
every four weeks for about three months.

Following are two different methods of feeding young
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 115

 

 

 

 

 

 

1, Pekin Drake. 2, Ducks in a Park Lagoon,
116 POULTRY BREEDING

ducks to be sold at 10 weeks: From the time of hatching
until five days old feed the following mixture: Cracker
or bread crumbs and cornmeal, equal parts by measure;
hard-boiled eggs, 15 per cent of the crackers and corn-
meal; sand 5 per cent of the total. Mix with water or
milk and feed four or five times a day. Stale bread
crumbs may be substituted for the broken crackers. ix
into a crumbly mass and feed four or five times a day,
always remembering to have water where the ducklings
can get it while eating. The eggs used are the infertiles
tested out of the incubators during the hatch. From five
to 20 days feed the following mixture: \Wheat bran, by
measure 2 parts; cornmeal 1 part; rolled oats 50 per cent
of this bulk; beef scrap 5 per cent; sand 5 per cent; green
feed 10 per cent. Mix with water to a crumbly mass and
feed four times a day. On Long Island the green feed
is water grass, a plant that gruws in the inlets along the
shore, having a peppery taste, ducks being very fond of
it. Where this is not available green clover or lettuce,
rape, or even tender grass of any kind, oats, rye or any
such tender green stuff may be used. It should be cut
into short lengths before being mixed with the other feed
stuffs. -

From 20 to 40 days feed the following mixture: Wheat
bran by measure, 2 parts; cornmeal, | part; beef scraps,
5 per cent of this bulk; sand, 5 per cent; green feed, 10
per cent. Mix and feed as above.

From 42 to 70 days feed by measure: Wheat bran, 1
part; cornmeal, 2 parts; beef scrap, 10 per cent of this
bulk; coarse sand or grit, 5 per cent; green stuff, 10 per
cent. Mix and feed as before. Feeding should be done
at6a.m., 10 a.m., 2 p. m. and 6 p. m.

It is a good plan to have grit accessible to the duck-
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 117

lings, and a box of crushed charcoal is valuable, as char-
coal seems to help the digestion. On Long Island the
method of feeding is as follows. This is perhaps a bet-
ter system where large numbers of ducks are raised:

From the time of hatching until seven days old, feed
equal parts by measure of cornmeal, wheat bran and No.
2 grade flour. This grade of flour is sometimes called
“red dog” flour. To this add 10 per cent of the bulk of
coarse sand. Mix with water to a crumbly mass and
feed four times a day.

From seven to 56 days feed equal parts by measure of
cornmeal, wheat bran, and No. 2 flour. 10 per cent of this
bulk of beef scrap; 10 per cent of coarse sand and about
12 per cent of green stuff. Mix and feed as before. From
56 to 70 days feed 2 parts by measure of cornmeal; 1 part
wheat bran; 1 part No. 2 grade flour; 10 per cent of this
bulk beef scrap; 12 per cent green stuff. Mix and feed
as before.

It should be remembered that both green stuff and
beef scrap are absolutely necessary to the best growth of
ducklings, and no one should undertake to raise them
without feeding both, as ducks deprived of them never
make as good growth as those which are supplied with
them. Mix the feed fresh for every day in a trough, and
if the weather is hot mix twice a day. Keep the mixing
troughs clean and sweet. Feed in troughs, giving at each
feed as much as will be eaten clean before the ducks stop
eating, and no more. A little observation will show how
much to feed.

Ducks that are to be reserved for breeders should not
be forced as rapidly as those to be sold in market. \Vhile
the rations for breeding ducks should be rich in protein,
they should not be such as to produce a surplus of fat.
118 POULTRY BREEDING

In raising breeding ducks the object is to secure large
size, which needs a large frame, thick muscles and great
vitality. For this reasen less cornmeal is fed and the
beef scrap is reduced somewhat. An excellent ration for
reserve ducks follows:

Equal parts by measure of cornmeal, wheat bran and
green stuff with 5 per cent of beef scrap and 5 per cent
coarse sand or grit.

Ducks in laying time do well on the following mixture:
Three parts cornmeal; 3 parts wheat bran; 2 parts green
stuff; 1 part beef scrap; 1 part No. 2 flour; salt lightly,
mix with water and feed twice a day. Give the birds a
grass run if possible; if not, give them boiled turnips
mixed with cut clover hay.

These rations are calculated for those who keep a large
number of ducks. While they are the best that have been
devised, those who keep only 40 or 50 ducks on a farm
will be able to simplify them to a considerable extent by
allowing the ducks to run on grass and hunt bugs and
insects about the farm. Ducks are good grasshopper-
catchers and industrious insect-hunters, but they should
be given beef scrap regularly, even when they have their
liberty. Ducks thrive on the whole grains, but those who
keep them in large numbers prefer to have most of the
grain ground.

Ducks are profitable on the farm, as they are good
layers, make weight economically and are always in de-
mand in every market. Such a thing as overstocking the
market with ducks has not yet occurred, and many farm-
ers might keep a small breeding flock and raise 100 or
more ducks every year to advantage.

Young ducks are invariably marketed dressed. They
are killed hy running a sharp knife through the brain from
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 119

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1, Muscovy Ducks, 2 and 3, Indian Runner Ducks,
120 POULTRY BREEDING

the top of the mouth, the knife being twisted so as to
sever the jugular vein. They are hung up by the feet to
bleed, and picked as soon as they cease to struggle, the
feathers coming off at that time very easily. The large
duck-farms have regular pickers who make good wages
picking ducks. As soon as the ducks are picked clean,
they are put into very cold water (ice water usually) to
plump them, and are then laid on racks to cool, after
which they are placed in barrels or boxes with broken ice
and sent to market. Old ducks from country places are
often sent to market alive, as they are gathered up a few
at a time. For any one who has even 50 to sell it will
often pay to dress them before sending them to market.
They may be scalded, but most markets prefer them
dry-picked. The feathers will make quite an item, and
dressed ducks usually bring enough more than live ones
to pay for the trouble of dressing them. If they are
dressed in cold weather, pack them in clean boxes or
barrels, which have been lined with clean paper, packing
them in so they will not be pressed out of shape, and put
a layer of paper between each two layers of ducks. In
sending anything to a commission merchant be certain
that the merchant is reliable and will deal honestly. Un-
fortunately the cities are infested with sharks who pose
as commission merchants and defraud thousands of peo-
ple every year. Having selected the merchant, simply
mark the goods to him and write him, sending him a
duplicate way bill. Tell him how many boxes or barrels
you have sent him and what they contain and he will
receive, sell and remit for them.

EGGS, BAD-FLAVORED.—Not only will strongly-
flavored vegetables, such as onions, garlic and heavy
feeding with cabbage give a characteristic flavor to eggs
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 121

from hens which feed on such things, but the New York
Experiment Station noticed that hens fed a carbonaceous
ration laid eggs which were strongly-flavored, although
not offensively so. A fairly balanced ration gives the
best eggs as well as the most of them.

EGGS.—DISINFECTING.—.A correspondent of the
“American Poultry World” writes that he has saved hun-
dreds of chicks by disinfecting the eggs with creolin dip.
Dr. \Woods gives the formula for making this dip as fol-
lows: Mix 1 gill of creolin with 814 quarts of soft water,
the solution to be mixed fresh each time before using.
The eggs are dipped in this and allowed to drain before
being put under the hen or in the incubator.

EGG-EATING.—Hens sometimes acquire the vice of
eating their eggs, learning to do this from eating an acci-
dentally broken egg. If one hen learns how to eat eggs
the whole flock soon learns from her. Egg shells should
never be fed to hens unless they are very finely broken
or are mixed with soft feed of some kind. To cure this
costly habit cut off the points of the mandibles of the
beak, using a very sharp knife. Cut back a little at a
time until enough is cut off to leave the tender flesh
slightly exposed. As soon as a tiny drop of blood exudes
from the cut enough has been removed. Then boil some
eges very hard, selecting those with the thickest shells
and put them on the floor of the poultry house, where the
hens can easily get at them. They try to break the shells
by pecking at them, and this hurts the nerves in the
shortened beak so they will give it up after a few trials,
and thereafter not try to break an egg. In a short time
the beak will grow out into its normal shape and the hens
will have forgotten the vice.

In preparing eggs for breaking hens of egg-eating, if
122 POULTRY BREEDING

some ege's are opened at each end and the contents blown
out, afterward filling the shells with plaster of paris mixed
into a paste with water, this will soon become hard and
the eggs will be more resistant than boiled ones. Such
filled eggs can afterward be used for nest eggs or for
“dummies” to put under hens until they have settled
down to sit steadily, when they are to be used in hatching.

EGG-PRODUCTION WITHOUT MALES.—It has
been quite well established by tests that hens kept sep-
arated from male bird will produce more eggs than those
that run with males. In one experiment 5 hens, 5 pullets
and a cock were put in one pen and 5 hens and 5 pullets
in another. All were of the same breed and were given
the same care. The experiment continued from January
until September. The mated females produced 959 eggs
and the unmated ones 972, a difference of 23 in favor of
the unmated ones. In another experiment practically the
same results were secured. The theory is that unmated
hens are not worried by the male and being more quiet
retain more energy to be devoted to the production of
eggs. In the Australian laying competition, continued
year after year with 600 hens, an average ege production
of 186 eggs per year has been secured, the hens all being
unmated.

EGGS, EFFECT OF THUNDER ON.—There is a
tradition that thunder during the period of incubation
destroys embryo chicks. This belief is as old as the first
century of the Christian era, but is absurd on the face of
it, as during the hatching season heavy thunder storms
are not at all uncommon and yet we do not hear of any
widespread damage from this source. Careful observa-
tions have shown that thunder has no appreciable effect
on the growth of embryo chicks.
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 123

EGG-FOOD.—The best poultrymen do not use egg-
foods, as they believe that stimulation at one time leads
to loss at another, but a good many think this class of
condimental feeds necessary, and we give a formula that
is probably as good as any other—certainly as valuable
as the so-called egg-foods so freely offered for sale:

Powdered mustard Seed ..... 6... cece cere en eens 5 ounces
Powdered Tentiereek 3s. .c.jantes ut osha headaia eae 4 ounces
Sodium: sulphate seis vesesesicss veanngiews ca canes teaeueawes 1 ounce
Table salt, carbonate of iron, red pepper, ground gin-

ger, black antimony and bone meal, of each ..... 46 ounce
Linseed meal sxssivisscscsuis coma sens eekeetoe wanes 5 ounces

Mix and keep dry. Use one tablespoonful in each quart
of the ground feed used in making mash. Feed two or
three times in a week.

EGGS, FLAVOR OF.—Feed affects the flavor of eggs.
There is a certain delicate flavor in a fresh egg from a
hen fed sound, wholesome feed that is never found in the
egg from a hen that has been compelled to dig her feed
out of a manure pile or that has had access to decaying
animal matter or sour vegetable feed. Hens should never
be fed anything that their owner would not eat without
fear of disaster if he were really hungry.

EGGS, FEED COST OF.—During 1909 the Kansas
State Agricultural College tested two pens of hens with
a view to determining the feed cost of eggs. These hens
were pure-breds but of unknown pedigree, as there was
no record of the performance of their dams as layers.
One pen contained 11 Plymouth Rocks and the other 19
White Leghorns. The Plymouth Rocks in the eight
months from Feb. 1 to Oct. 1 laid 1,499 eggs, an average
of 136 each, at a cost for feed of $8.81—practically 10
cents each per month. The eggs sold for $25.56, leaving
124 POULTRY BREEDING

a profit above feed cost of $17.75 or $1.61 for each hen.
One of these hens laid 174 eggs and another 181] during
the test. The White Leghorns averaged 152 eggs at a
feed cost of 9 cents a month for each fowl and a profit
above feed cost of $1.87 for each hen, the profit above
feed cost being $35.69.

EGGS, FOOD VALUE OF.—It has been asserted that
eggs at 25 cents per dozen are cheaper than beef, when
nutritive value is compared, but this is not correct. Com-
pared with other foods eggs at 12 cents per dozen are
comparatively cheap; at 16 cents per dozen they are fairly
expensive and at 25 cents a dozen they are very expen-
sive. Eggs are valuable as furnishing a light, easily
digestible nitrogenous food, especially suitable for break-
fast or other light meal—an important item for people of
sedentary habits. That eggs at 25 cents per dozen are
cheaper than meat is true in one sense, because of the
smaller amount of money required to purchase a meal.
It would require at least 114 pounds of beef to supply
meat for a family of 5 and this would cost 25 cents at
20 cents per pound, while 5 eggs would cost but 10 cents,
even if they were worth 24 cents a dozen. If the family
were hearty eaters and would require 2 eggs each, the
eges would then cost but 20 cents as against 25 cents for
the beef, a saving of 5 cents.

EGGS, NUTRITIVE VALUE OF.—A<\ case is on rec-
ord where a man lived two weeks with but one egg a day
to take the place of both food and water, and at the end
of that time was able to walk a considerable distance.

EGGS, HOW TO TEST.—A good many incubator
operators, and more who use hens for hatching, pay no
attention to testing the eggs and removing the infertile
ones or those containing dead germs from the nest or
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 125

incubator; but this should always be done, as the infer-
tile eggs or the dead ones may cause loss of some of the
fertile eggs. There are numerous egg-testers on the mar-
ket. They may be procured of any incubator maker.
Experts in testing are able to make a very satisfactory
test simply by holding the egg by surrounding it with
the thumb and forefinger before a strong light. It. is
best, however, to use a tester. A strong light from a
lamp or electric light should be used. The first sign of
fertility may be noticed after the first day, as a reddish
spot will show about the center of the egg when held
before the light in the tester. This spot is quite dim at
first but gradually becomes more pronounced until it is
quite a deep red in the center. The spot should be about
as large as a cent. Two days later a black spot may be
observed, this being the rudimentary heart, and a little
later “the spider” appears. This is the eyes of the embryo,
which appear like a black spot, about the center of the
egg, from which extend veins filled with blood to repre-
sent the legs of the spider. Later the body of the egg
shows increasing opaqueness, with blood veins around
the inner side of the shell and still later the egg appears
black with semi-transparent spaces at the lower end and
the point. The air-space at the point gradually disap-
pears if the chick is growing normally. About the 15th
or 16th day a fertile egg shows a large air-space, the
remainder being opaque.

If an egg is infertile it remains transparent or as we
call it “clear.’ A very faint pinkish spot rather smaller
than a cent may show in an infertile egg which contains
a very yellow yolk, but this appearance does not change
as time goes on. All such eggs should be removed the
5th day. Later it will be found that some eggs which have
126 POULTRY BREEDING

started all right will show a dark spot partly surrounded
by a dark-colored ring, without any appearance of veins
such as are seen when “the spider” appears. These eggs
should also be removed. Germs may continue to die from
time to time up to the time the chick is full-formed, but
no description can make their appearance plain to the be-
ginner. Learning to recognize dead eggs after 10 days
is a matter of experience. Usually the expert operator
can detect a dead egg as soon as he takes it in his hand,
as he senses the difference in temperature between an egg
that is dead and one that contains a living embryo. Eggs
should be tested the 5th and the 10th days after they have
been put in an incubator or under a hen.

EGGS, RELATION OF FEED TO.—In a bulletin
issued by the Oregon Agricultural College, Prof. Dryden
says: “The hen puts into the eggs what the poultryman
puts into the hen. If the cabinet maker puts oak lumber
into a furniture factory it will come out oak but in a dif-
ferent form. If we put wheat or corn into a hen it will
come out wheat or corn but in a different form. There
is a close relationship between the feed eaten by the hen
and the eggs laid. This much we know. At the same
time no one can say certainly what kind of feed or feeds
will give the best results in egg yield. Chemistry does
not tell us. Practical feeders do not tell us. This can
only be determined by experimental work which will in-
volve long and careful testing of different feeds and dif-
ferent rations in actual poultry feeding. We know, how-
ver, that the egg has a certain combination of elements,
and we know that to produce eggs the hen must have
feeds containing certain elements that the egg contains.
Knowing the composition of eggs, we must study the
composition of feeds in order to feed intelligently.
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS UF POULTRY 127

“The composition of the egg never varies appreciably.
The hen is an honest manufacturer, and she does not
adulterate, her product, even though she may |e fed adul-
terated feed. She puts the same kind of feed into each
and every egg. If she does not get the right kind of
feed she does not make the egg. An egg contains 4-
ounce of protein. If the hen be fed wheat and nothing
else she may eat 4 ounces in a day. Of that she will
need about 3 ounces to supply bodily needs. This leaves
1 ounce to make eggs from. In the ounce of wheat there
is about 1/10-ounce of protein. Now supposing the pro-
tein is all digested, which is not the case, she will not get
half enough protein to make an egg a day. But an egg
every two or three days would not be so bad at certain
seasons. The egg, however, contains other things. It
contains also 134-ounce of ash (mineral matter) with
which to make shell. An ounce of wheat contains less
than 1/10 as much ash (mineral matter) as one egg con-
tains. The egg also contains fat. It contains less than
¥Y-ounce of fat, but the wheat would contain 34-ounce of
fat-formers

“\WWhat would be the result if the hen were fed wheat
alone? She would get enough protein to make about one
egg every three days; enough lime (mineral matter, ash)
to make one egg every 12 days and enough carbohydrates
and fat to make three eggs a day. What will the hen
do in this quandary? She could put more fat into the egg
to make up for the lack of protein. She could make a
counterfeit article but she will not. She must get the
right kind of feed or she will not make eggs. It is poor
economy to feed wheat alone; the same is true of corn
and nearly all the cereals. They are not balanced for egg
production.”
128 POULTRY BREEDING

EGGS FOR MEDICINAL USES.—In cases of poison-
ing by salts of lead, mercury, copper and acids, adminis-
tering the whites of eggs will render them harmless. The
whites should be mixed with water and drunk. The
albumen in the whites of the eggs is curdled by the poi-
sons and renders.them inert for long enough a time to
allow an emetic to act. The white of one egg will neu-
tralize 4 grains of bichloride of mercury (corrosive sub-
limate).

The yolks of eggs, or even the white and yolks rubbed
into the hair, make a most excellent stimulant and pre-
vent the hair from falling out. Wash thoroughly in soft
water after the eggs have been rubbed into the hair.

The white of an egg is an excellent application to
spread over a newly-made burn or scald, especially if the
skin is broken. Several coatings should be applied.

Mustard plasters if mixed with whites of eggs will not
blister, yet will lose none of their efficiency.

EGGS, METHOD OF PRESERVING.—There are
several methods of preserving eggs, but the easiest and
best one is known as the waterglass method. Waterglass
is a thick, syrup-like fluid technically known as sodium
silicate. To preserve eggs by this method boil 9 gallons
of water and let it cool. Then add 1 gallon of water-
glass and put the solution in a very clean vessel. Stone
jars are best, but kegs or barrels which have been scalded
until they are very clean and free from odors may be
used. Put in the eggs from day to day as they are gath-
ered, being very careful not to use any with cracked or
dirty shells; see that every egg is perfectly fresh. If the
eggs do not remain beneath the surface of the solution
weight them down. Keep the vessel containing the eggs
in a cool, dark place and do not disturb it more than nec-
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 129

essary. When the eggs are to be used remove them from
the solution and wipe them.

Eggs preserved by this method will keep for a year in
good condition. April, May and June are the best months
for preserving eggs. Those put down during very hot
weather do not come out quite so good as those put down
earlier in the season. If eggs are put down during the
months named use those put down in June first, those in
May next and those in April last, as they will keep in
about the order named. The cost of preserving eggs by
this method will vary from 1 cent to 2 cents a dozen,
according to the cost of the waterglass. The average
price is probably about $1 per gallon.

EGGS, PACKING FOR HATCHING.—Eggs for
hatching shipped long distances should be very carefully
packed in some springy material so as to avoid jarring
as much as possible. Bran, chaff, cut straw, cork dust,
excelsior and other soft materials are used. Excelsior is
best, as it dissipates sudden shocks perfectly and remains
elastic during long trips. Each egg is wrapped in paper
first, then it is wrapped in a ball of excelsior and laid in
the basket, the small end down. \Vhen the number to be
packed in a basket are all in, they are packed tightly with
excelsior and a cloth cover is sewed over the top, under
which excelsior is packed closely so as to protect the eggs
from being broken. Packed in this way eggs will travel
to Europe and hatch well. Some breeders prefer boxes
made for the purpose for packing eggs for hatching, but
baskets specially made for shipping eggs or the light
splint baskets found in most stores, are light, convenient
to handle and eggs are transported in them with as little
loss as in any other package.

EGGS, PRODUCING GOOD.—Bulletin 140 from the
130 POULTRY BREEDING

Department of Agriculture gives the following 14 rules
for the production of good eggs:

1. Use hens that produce not alone a goodly number
of eggs but those of standard size. Such breeds are
Plymouth Rocks, Wyandottes, Rhode Island Reds, Leg-
horns, Orpingtons and Minorcas. 2. Good housing, regu-
lar feeding and, above all, clean, dry nests. 3. Daily
gathering of eggs and, when the temperature is above
80°, gathering twice a day. +. Confining all broody hens
as soon as they show symptoms of broodiness. 5. Re-
jection of all doubtful eggs found in a nest that was not
visited the previous day. Such eggs should be used at
home where each one can be broken separately. 6. Plac-
ing all summer eggs as soon as gathered in the coolest
place available. 7. Prevention at all times of moisture
coming in contact with the eggs. 8. Disposal of young
cockerels before they begin to annoy the hens. Also con-
fining or selling all old male birds except during the
hatching season. 9. The using of cracked and dirty
eggs at home. Such eggs if consumed when fresh are
perfectly wholesome, but when marketed are discrimi-
nated against and are likely to become an entire loss.
10. Marketing all eggs at least once a week, and oftener
if convenient. 11. WKceping all eggs as cool and dry as
possible while on the way to town and while in country
stores. 12. Keeping all eggs away from bad odors and
out of musty cellars. 13. The use of strong, clean cases
and good fillers. 14. The shipping of eggs to the final
market once a week and as much oftener as possible.

If every poultryman would follow these rules there
would be much less loss between the producer and the
consumer. All these losses the producer ultimately pays,
as buyers discount prices enough to make good any short-
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 131

age from dirty eggs or those which may be found in bad
condition as to freshness.

EGGS, SELLING BY WEIGHT.—There is a great
difference in the size of eggs. There is a considerable
difference in the eggs produced by different breeds. For
example, the eggs of Hamburg hens are very much
smaller than those of the Light Brahma or Langshan
hens. As the composition of all eggs is very much the
same it follows that eggs are valuable for food purposes
exactly in proportion to their weight. In connection with
some experiments the North Carolina Experiment Sta-
tion recorded the weights per dozen as well as the num-
ber laid by pens of several breeds for a period of six
months. Asa rule the largest eggs were laid by mature
hens, and the hens of a given breed laid larger eggs than
the pullets of the same breed. The eggs laid by Pekin
ducks, both old and young, were heavier than those of
any breed of hens, weighing 35.6 ounces per dozen. Of
all the breeds tested the largest eggs were laid by Light
Brahma hens, weighing 28 ounces per dozen. The Black
Langshan and Barred Plymouth Rock hens’ eggs weighed
a little more than 26 ounces per dozen, while those laid
by Single Comb Brown Leghorn, late-hatched Plymouth
Rock, White Wyandotte and Buff Cochin hens, ranged
from 21.7 to 23.7 ounces per dozen. The Black Minorca
pullets laid the heaviest eggs of any of the breeds tested,
their eggs weighing 26.5 ounces per dozen. The lightest
eges were laid by Single Comb Brown Leghorn and Sil-
ver Wyandotte pullets, their eggs weighing 17.5 and 22.1
ounces per dozen respectively. Barred Plymouth Rock,
White Plymouth Rock, White Wyandotte, Black Lang-
shan-and Buff Cochin pullets’ eggs all weighed not far
from 24 ounces per dozen.
132 POULTRY BREEDING

At the time these experiments were made the market
price of eggs in North Carolina was 1314 cents per dozen.
Taking this price as the basis from which to compute
values, and assuming that the eggs from the Single Comb
Brown Leghorn pullets were worth this, the following
table would represent the value of the eggs laid during
this experiment, if they had been sold according to their
weight : °

TABLE SHOWING VALUE OF EGGS IN PROPORTION TO THEIR WEIGHT.

 

 

 
 

Relative | Value above
BREED. value per doz. market price,
cents. | per cent.

Single Comb Brown Leghorn pullets....... ..........0. 18.5 |
Single Comb Brown Leghorn hens...............05. 0+ 16.3 i 20.7
Silver Wyandotte pullets...... ides Shh ess Blesmrisieeetus ve apd navoaetices 16.6 | 23.
Late-hatched Barred Plymouth Rock hens....... ..... 17.6 30.4
White Wyandotte Lensinc.. a: isos sincvisn vena dome sencvecivn 17.6 | 30.4
White Wyandotte pullets............000 cece ee eee wees 17.7 | 30.4
White Plymouth Rock pullets. ........0000606 ceeeeseees WF 30.4
‘Buff Cochin hens 17.8 31.8
Black Langshan pullets 1.8 31.8
Barred Plymouth Rock pullets....... 6-2 ......5.00 5 6. | 18.3 34.8
Barred Plymouth Rock hens....... 6... ...... 4 shane 19.7 46.
Buff Cochin and Black Langshin pullets................ 19.9 47.2
Black (Minorca PUlletsssicca sescicmnaes, aacae sat aeons 19.9 S28
Blaek Taneshan WES ssid os ocng ees seca aon GS ae anasad 20.44 51.4
Light Brahmas henSens veces gevaceaasers xe een ge en #5 21.6 60.
Pekin ducks, young and o]d............ 06 eee eee ee vee 26.7 oT 8

 

 

 

The table shows how much difference there is in the
value of eggs, but it should not be taken as giving the
real size of the eggs of the different breeds mentioned.
For example, there are strains of Single Comb Brown
Leghorns that lay eves as large as those of the Plymouth
Rock or Wyandotte. So far Iowa is the only state that
A GUIDE FOR KREPFRS OF POULTRY 133

has legislated on the weight of eggs. A law in that state
provides that eggs shall weigh 2+ ounces to the dozen
and a buyer who buys by the dozen has a right to de-
mand 2+ ounces in weight instead of taking them by
count. Two ounces has come to be considered the stand-
ard weight for an egg in this country. In Denmark eggs
are assorted and sold at different prices, according to
weight. The figures given in the table show that it
would be more rational to sell eggs by weight than by
count. .

EGG AND OYSTER SHELLS.—The remarkable
similarity in the composition of egg shells and oyster
shells is shown by the following analysis of each:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Egg shell. Oyster shell.
ATMA MAGEE: cxsg origin etas. woe) Cede sy NEES 2.0 per cent 0.5 per cent
Phosphatesof Mme cai vincis weege (gsqgesosn wesvisuentis 1.0 per cent 1.2 per cent
Carbonate OfTImMe. onc casssmesnsaae waco nome’ mrad 97.0 per cent 93.3 per cent

 

It will be seen that the only material difference is in
the content of animal matter, this being the membrane
lining the shell. It is reasonable to infer from this that
oyster shells are very valuable as supplying material for
egg shells. Clam shells or sea shells would be of the
same value.

EGG, STRUCTURE OF THE.—A<An egg is most ad-
mirably adapted to the environment in which it is likely
to be found when expelled from the ovary of the hen. Its
circular walls are stronger than the same material would
be in any other shape, yet the easiest for the chick to
break from the inside. It is bluntly pointed at one end
which causes it to roll in a circle if placed on a level or
slightly inclined surface or to tend to roll to the center
134 POULTRY BREEDING

of the nest with the larger end highest, which is the most
favorable position for hatching. The shell is composed
of calcareous material arranged in minute crystals be-
tween which there are openings through which the air
can pass from the outside, and the carbon dioxide, elim-
inated in the process of incubation, can pass outside.

 

SECTION OF AN EGG,

A, Shell; B, Airspace; C, Shell Membrane; D, White; E, Vitelline Membrane;
F, Yolk; G, Germinal Vesicle; H, Chalaza.

Next the shell is an exceedingly tough fibrous lining,
made up of thread-like fibers, crossing each other in every
conceivable direction. At the larger end of the eggs this
fibrous lining separates into two parts, one of which fol-
lows the shape of the shell and the other is depressed so
as to form a sack or empty space, called the air-bubble
or air-space. Immediately inside the shell membrane, is
the white, mostly albumen and water, and suspended in
the white is the yolk, which is more than one-third fat
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 135

or oil, with a small quantity of coloring matter, albumen
and mineral matter. The white of an egg is of different
degrees of density. If an egg be boiled hard and dis-
sected with care the layers of the different degrees of
density may be peeled off one by one. The yolk is sus-
pended in the center of the white by a sort of a cord of
albumen much denser than any other part of it. This
cord is known as the chalaza, and is attached to each
side of the yolk, extending on one side to the air-space
and on the other to the point of the egg. To keep the
yolk globular it it surrounded by a very thin membrane,
known as the vitelline membrane. The yolk is also made
up of several layers surrounding a small white spot from
which extends a canal to a spot on the outer circum-
ference of the yolk known as the germinal vesicle. This
spot, on the yolks of all eggs, is mistakenly thought by
many people to be an indication that the egg has been
fertilized, but this is not the case. It is simply the spot
where the germ of a fertile egg is attached to the yolk,
this germ being of microscopic size. The yolk is so
weighted that no matter what position the egg is placed
in it immediately turns so this germinal vesicle is on the
upper side. The chalaza, by which it is attached to either
end of the egg, twists one way or the other to allow the
yolk to turn, but always keeps it suspended in the center
of the egg, at the same time acting as a spring to prevent
the delicate germ in the fertile egg from being injured by
any sudden jar.

EGGS AND INCUBATION.—Prof. Dryden found
that the loss in weight of eggs incubated by hens in a
dry nest was 14.87 per cent in 18 days. At the Ontario
Experiment Farm, Prof. Graham found that eggs incu-
bated under a hen in a nest which was open lost an aver-
136 POULTRY BREEDING

age of 10.9 per cent in hatching. The highest evapora-
tion noticed was in nests lined with chaff which were in-
side a building. This was at the rate of 15.15 per cent.
In tests made at the University of Missouri Ecleshymer
found that the loss from evaporation was 13 per cent.
The loss was controlled so as to reduce it to 9 per cent,
yet good chicks were hatched. Then the evaporation was
increased to 20 per cent and still good chicks were
hatched. These tests led Ecleshymer to conclude that
the moisture in an incubator should be controlled so the
evaporation would be about 13 per cent.

At the West Virginia Experiment Station Prof, Atwood
gave as the result of a number of tests of eggs set under
hens a loss by evaporation in the eggs hatched amounting
to 16.54 per cent. He tabulated his results and showed
that 100 eggs would lose 8.28 ounces the first five days;
12.05 ounces next seven days and 12.44 ounces the next
seven days. This computation is made for fertile eggs.
Infertile eggs lose slightly less than fertile ones.

EGG, WHAT IS AN?—A chemist would say that an
egg is a chemical combination of lime, water, proteids,
carbohydrates, fats and ash, of which the lime in the shell
is approximately 11.2 per cent, the water, 65.5 per cent,
the proteids, 11.9 per cent, the fats, 9.3 per cent and the
ash, 9 per cent. The average egg of the hen is 2.27” long,
1.72” in diameter at the largest place and weighs about 2
ounces. This egg is 11 per cent shell, 32 per cent yolk
and 57 per cent white. Here the chemist would stop.
Prof. Dryden has gone farther. He says: “The only
difference between a bushel of wheat anda bushel of eggs
is that the eggs are more palatable and more nutritious.
They are also more valuable in the market. A pound of
eggs is worth from 10 to 30 cents, according to the sea-
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 137

son, while a pound of wheat is worth from 1 to 2 cents.
By giving the wheat to the hen to market it is converted
into a form of food so palatable that it is worth ten times
as much as it was in the grain sack. More than this, the
hen is thrifty; for every pound of wheat she puts into
eggs she puts in a pound of water; and she gets a good
price for water. In selling a dozen eggs for 40 cents the
poultryman gets 25 cents for the water in them. That is
a pretty good price. It is more than the dishonest dairy-
man gets for the water he puts into his milk.”

EPSOM SALTS, PURGATIVE DOSE.—Epsom salts
is one of the most useful drugs we have in combating in-
ternal diseases in poultry. An ordinary dose is 20 to 30
grains administered in water. The dose for different
ages¢ where quick purgative effect is desired, follows:

 

 

AGE OF BIRD. Amount per bird in grains.| How administered.
L tO! 6 WEEKSisecscovens serene 10 grains In feed
5 to 10 Weeks. .....-.cccn eee eens 15 grains In feed
10 to 15 WeekS............ceeeeeeee 20 grains In feed
15 to 26 WeEEKS.......:cecenseeeenes 30 grains Dissolved in water
6 to 12 months .............5-4. . 35 grains Dissolved in water
1 year and OVer............. eee eee i 40-50 grains Dissolved in water

One ounce apothecary weight is 480 grains. One
ounce is a quick purgative dose for 12 mature fowls.. An
ordinary dose is half this quantity.

EXHIBITING POULTRY.—The exhibitor who best
understands how to groom a specimen which he intends
to exhibit has the better chance to win high honors.

“Grooming or conditioning for the show room 1s recog-
nized as a part of the education of the breeder of exhibi-
tion poultry. When preparing birds for exhibition the
138 POULTRY BREEDING

poultryman should first accustom them to being handled.
This makes it easy for the judge to examine them with-
out trouble and improves their chances of winning. They
should be in perfect physical condition, but not too fat.
The standard requires most of the large breeds to weigh
in at a certain weight, cutting all that do not reach this
weight. The large breeds are cut for underweight and
the bantams for overweight. Birds so fat that they weigh
above the standard requirement usually become mis-
shapen on account of the excess of fat and therefore take
a lower place than they would if exactly at weight.
Judges are required to give the highest award to those
specimens nearest standard weight, other things being
equal.

Fowls intended for exhibition should be separated
from the general flock some time before they are to be
shown. The varieties that have feathers on their. toes
should be kept on soft straw, so that the feathers will not
become broken. They should be fed grain alone, as such
feed is always used in the showroom, and they should
not be subjected to a sudden change of diet at this time.
Two or three days before going to a show white fowls
should be washed. Have two tubs of warm water in a
warm room. Dip the fowl in one of these tubs and then
rub good soap into the feathers, taking care to rub with
the feathers. Gently manipulate the feathers until the
soap has loosened all the dirt and grease in the feath-
ers. Then wipe the bird as dry as possible and dip it
into the tub of clean water to rinse out the soap. Rinse
all the soap out, wipe the bird again and put it into a
very warm room to dry. Many breeders give a third dip-
ping, the last being in a tub of water in which a little
pure indigo has been dissolved to clear the color, the
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 139

same as a laundry woman blues her white things in wash-
ing. When the operation is finished the fowl will be a
rather sorry-looking bird, but soon it will begin to preen
its feathers and before long it will have them smoothed
out in perfect order and be perfectly white. Keep the
birds in the drying room until they are perfectly dry, and
then put them in a coop in the bottom of which there is a
good coat of clean straw.

Dip a bit of flannel in sweet oil and then sprinkle on it
a little emery powder and with this polish the beak and
shanks. If there is dirt under the scales on the shanks
remove this with a toothpick and a little sweet oil. Ina
vial keep a mixture of 2 parts of sweet oil to 1 part of al-
cohol and with this wash the face and comb to remove
dirt that has collected in the creases and depressions. If
the owner is going to the show with his birds this face-
washing may be delayed until just before the judge is to
examine the birds.

Be careful not to break any of the large feathers in
wings or tail. If any small feathers in breast or back are
broken or twisted by accident it is perfectly correct to
pluck them out. Most exhibitors also pluck out black
feathers in Barred Plymouth Rocks and the feathers
which show a black speck in all white breeds. There is
some dispute about the regularity of this, but there is no
doubt about the practice. How far an exhibitor may go
without being accused of “faking” is not clearly settled,
but it is generally agreed that cleaning a fowl, polishing
beak and shanks, cleaning the face and removing any
small broken feathers is legitimate. Blueing fowls is dis-
countenanced by many exhibitors, but it is noticeable
that none of these has ever exhibited white fowls.

FANCY FOWLS.—This is a common but rather in-
140 POULTRY BREEDING

correct term used to designate pure-bred fowls of any
kind. The term “fancy” no doubt comes from the cus-
tom of calling a breeder of pure-bred fowls a “fancier.”

FANCIER.—A breeder of pure-bred fowls of any kind.
A breeder of pure-bred dogs is called a “dog fancier” and
a breeder of pure-bred pigeons a “pigeon fancier.”

FAKING.—Faking the standard defines as any “self-
evident attempt to improve a fowl” by clipping its comb,
changing the color of the earlobes, staining or splicing.
feathers, filling up holes from which feathers have been
plucked in clean-legged breeds or using any device to
deceive the judge in such a way that he will have a more
favorable opinion of it than he would have had if it had
not been manipulated. This is not held to include wash-
ing, oiling the plumage or any legitimate grooming cal-
culated to give the fowl a more cleanly and attractive
appearance.

FEATHER-PLUCKING.—No one has ever found out
just why hens begin to pluck and eat the feathers from
one another. A flock of hens which has animal feed in
plenty, green stuff and a variety of grains, rarely acquires
the vice, but sometimes it is taken up when every condi-
tion for perfect nutrition is correct. Usually the feath-
ers from the neck of the cock begin to disappear, then the
hens begin to look ragged from lost and broken feathers
and the whole flock begins to look disreputable. Hens
rarely pluck one another's feathers in human presence,
not because they are smart enough to conceal their wick-
edness, but because their attention is on the onlooker. If
the guilty ones can be discovered by hiding and watching
for them it will not be necessary to treat the whole flock.
If not, and the flock is a valuable one, every bird in the
pen must be treated. The treatment consists in trim-
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 141

ming the edges of both upper and lower mandible of the
beak, cutting away the translucent, sharp edges until
they are flat, cutting the hook on the end oi the beak flat
also. The lower mandible of a hen shuts into the upper
one so when she takes hold of a feather to pluck it out
she grips it so tightly that a short kink is made in it.
This gives her purchase enough to pull the feather out.
If the edges of the mandibles are trimmed flat they will
not quite touch at the point and further back there will
be only a flat surface. She cannot get a grip on the
feather that will hold to pull it out and soon she abandons
trying to do so. It will not be long until the mandibles
grow out again, but by that time the vice will have been
forgotten.

FEATHERS, USES OF.—Large quantities of the
hackle and saddle feathers of the red and black breeds,
such as the Brown Leghorns, Partridge Cochins and
-breeds of similar color, are used by fishermen in making
flies for luring game fish. Millinery supply houses use
numbers of the same kind of feathers, as well as pure
white and pure black hackle and saddle feathers in mak-
ing wings, aigrettes and other ornaments for women’s
hats. The soft feathers are also used in making boas
and feather trimming for garments. Feathers carefully
dried and packed in bags bring from 60 cents per pound
for pure white goose feathers down to 20 cents for white
chicken feathers. This shows that it is worth while to
save the feathers from poultry eaten at home.

FEED AND PROFITS.—The most costly feed is not
always the most profitable. It is entirely possible to feed
such costly feeds that the very best results will mean
loss. It is not absolutely necessary to use any certain
brand of feed. Grains are largely interchangeable, and
142 POULTRY BREEDING

no proprietary mixture has any value above the value of
ordinary feeds. No patent so-called egg-food is worth
the price asked.

FEEDS AND FEEDING.—With good houses and
proper feeding, the poultry business can successfully be
carried on in almost any place. Location, exposure as to
sunlight, accessibility to markets and even breed are all
secondary to these two things. All fowls do well under
many varying conditions if properly fed and housed. The
products of the poultryyard are of such nature that they
can be sent to quite distant markets at comparatively lit-
tle cost. Irregularities of climate do not count for much
if fowls are fed and housed in the proper way. The prin-
cipal trouble in feeding fowls is that no one seems to be
able to determine what a balanced ration for fowls is
composed of. We know from experience that the vari-
ous grains, grasses, vegetables and animal substances of
various kinds are all greedily relished by fowls, but the
exact combination of the various nutrients has never
been determined as exactly as in the case of other stock.
So far investigators along this line have assumed that the
feeding tables that apply to other stock are approxi-
mately the ones that will produce best results in feeding
poultry. Prof. Rice of Cornell University has expressed
some doubts concerning this. He thinks it possible that
a laying hen would do better on a ration that would be
considered rather wide for a farm animal, basing his
theory on the fact that fowls have a higher temperature
than cattle or swine and require rather more carbohy-
drates to maintain animal beat.

It may be stated with a considerable degree of confi-
dence that a fowl requires a larger proportion of the
mineral elements that are found in feed stuffs than other
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Right Sort of Range for Chickens,
144 POULTRY BREEDING

farm animals require. Thus the laying hen must have
lime in liberal quantities to furnish the material for egg
shell, phosphorus and silica in supplying material for
feathers and the other mineral elements (usually spoken
of as ash) in order to supply the material for eggs, if
they are produced in more than the average numbers.

A good laying hen not infrequently produces eggs toa
weight that will exceed her own within a period of three
months. This rate of production requires a very liberal
quantity of feed stuffs so composed that the several com-
ponents of an egg shall be properly distributed in the
feed.

Three methods of feeding fowls are recognized. These
are the all-grain, grain and dry mash and grain and wet
mash methods. The all-grain method consists of feeding
whole grain alone, no ground grain being used. This
method is not now considered economical and the most
advanced poultrymen do not use it. The grain and wet
mash methods consist in feeding whole grain once a day
and ground grains, meatmeal or beef scraps and clover
or alfalfa meals once a day, with often a feed of vege-
tables at midday. This method has many advocates and
is much used by those poultrymen who adhere to the
older methods. The grain and dry mash method con-
sists in feeding’ whole grain once a day and ground
grains, meatmeal and clover or alfalfa meal dry once a
day. Very often those who feed “dry mash” put it in a
self-feeding hopper and allow the fowls constant access
to it.

The time at which grain and mash should be fed is a
matter over which poultrymen disagree. Some think the
mash should be fed in the morning and the grain in the
afternoon. Others reverse the time, while many of the
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 145

dry-mash advocates compromise by feeding the ground
feed in such a way that it is always before the fowls.
The more logical method is to feed the mash in the morn-
ing, when wet mash is fed, and the grain in the after-
noon. \Whole grain naturally digests more slowly than
that which is ground, and feeding it in the afternoon or
evening gives the fowls full crops of this slowly digesting
whole grain to dispose of during the night. Stewart and
Atwood of the West Virginia Experiment Station con-
cluded from a careful experiment that it made very little
difference whether the mash was fed in the morning or
afternoon. The New York Experiment Station carried
on an experiment for nearly a year to test the compara-
tive value of whole and ground grain in feeding for eggs.
Common hens having a whole grain ration laid much bet-
ter than did those having ground grain. Leghorn hens
consumed 20 per cent more feed when fed whole grain for
the same egg production than did similar hens having
half their grain ground and moistened. The Hatch Ex-
periment Station experimented with a lot of Plymouth
Rock hens, feeding one lot mash in the morning and the
other mash in the evening. During the winter the hens
having morning mash laid 793 eggs and those having
evening mash laid 758 eggs. During the summer the
hens having morning mash laid 583 eggs, while those
having evening mash laid 570 eggs. In this case, as in
others, the time the mash was fed did not seem to make
any particular difference in egg production.

In the discussion of feed formulas we shall begin with
those for chicks just emerged from the shell, and carry
them forward until they arrive at mature age. From this
we shall give formulas for feeds for fowls being finished
for market and for promoting egg production. The
146 POULTRY BREEDING

Maine Experiment Station has probably given as much
study to the proper feeding of chicks as any other insti-
tution, private or public, in this country. It should be
understood that slight variations in methods do not
usually produce serious results. One sort of grain may
usually be substituted for another without seriously af-
fecting results. For instance, if “pinhead” oatmeal is
not available it may be left out of the ration, although its
value is undisputed and it should be used if it is procura-
ble at local stores. Broken rice usually can be secured
in any town. If not, whole rice of the cheaper grades
may be used. Cracked peas will probably be hardest to
find in many localities. They are so valuable as a chick
feed that they should be used if possible. Many poultry
breeders seem to think it a waste of money to feed such
costly feeds as “pinhead” oatmeal, cracked peas and
broken rice.

While these are comparatively costly the quantity
needed by one chick during the time chicks are fed will
be so small that the cost should not be considered. Their
value has been established by those who breed enough
poultry to make it an object for them to economize and
they cheerfully pay the price for these feeds. The very
poorest economy in raising young poultry is to try to
save money by restricting the quantity or quality of feed
which will produce the best results. Chicks will grow to
maturity on very cheap and coarse feeds, but if they are
deprived of any of the elements really needed to promote
symmetrical and normal growth they will not be so valu-
able as if given proper feeds.

The Maine Experiment Station has paid much atten-
tion to feeding fowls. We give its methods, as follows:

Method 1.—Infertile eggs are boiled half an hour and
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 147

rubbed together with about six times their bulk of rolled
oats, the eggs having been put through an ordinary meat
chopper. This mixture is fed the first two or three days
until the chicks have learned to eat. It is fed with chick
grit on the brooder floor, which is covered with clover
hay cut short, or clean chaff. Beginning with the third
day the chicks are fed a mixture of hard, finely-broken
grains, as soon as they can see to eat in the morning.
This grain mixture, which we will call mixture No. 1, is
composed as follows, all parts being by weight:

Cracked Wheat siccscc: cccisaaacewans sania venesien wascae 15 parts
Pinhead oats (granulated oat meal).............. 2.005 10 parts
Fine-secreened cracked com...... 0... ..eee sees eee eee 15 parts
PUNE: CRACKED PSass. cca cwFas hogs beau gd acauq sien 398 3 parts
Broken: MCO.s.cre5.h Zozoth daca SuREAE Basse ss. ARE os Mee 2 parts
SHICR Brit eect cin Pa heer see senenink ntaeumns Men mera saieealenes 5 parts
Fine charcoal (chick s8ize)............ 0200.5 ceeneseees 2 parts

This is fed on the litter on the floor, care being taken
to limit the quantity so the chicks will be hungry again
by 9 o’clock a. m. At 12:30 the grain mixture is fed
again, as in the morning, and at 4:30 or 5 o’clock they are
fed all they will eat of the rolled oats and egg mixture.
If more convenient, almost any of the commercial grain
mixtures for feeding young chicks may be substituted for
the mixture described. Where only a small number of
chicks are being reared the commercial mixtures are
probably as cheap as the mixture given, and it is often
more convenient to buy them ready mixed than to buy a
small quantity of small grains and mix them at home.

When the chicks are three weeks old the rolled cats
and egg mixture is gradually displaced by a mixture
(No. 2) having the following composition:

Wheat bran, Clean ........ ccc eect eee eee eens 2 parts, by weight
Cormmme@a) ase sapiien saueentiesassanrass 26 ees 4 parts, by weight
Middlings or “‘red dog” flour......,......... 2 parts, by weight
Linseed-meal ......6. ccccecccceeee ne ttenee nes 1 part, by weight

Screened beef SCrap .......ccseeee sere e ences 2 parts, by weight
148 POULTRY BREEDING

This mixture is moistened with water cnough to make
it fall apart when squeezed in the hand and released.
While the rolled oats and egg mixture was fed in tin pans
with low sides, the moistened mash was fed in light
troughs with low sides. Young chicks like moist mash
better than that which is dry, and they will eat more of it
in a short time. There is no danger from a properly-
made mash twice a day, and as the grain is ground the
young birds can eat and digest more of it than of all
coarse feed. This is important and should be taken ad-
vantage of at the time when young chicks are most sus-
ceptible to rapid growth, but development must be mod-
erate for the first two weeks. The digestive organs must
be kept in normal condition by the partial use of hard
feed, and the gizzard must not be deprived of its legiti-
mate work and allowed to become weak by disuse. Proper
feeding insures vigor at maturity.

About the time the chicks are six weeks old the broken
grains are discontinued and the two feeds of hard grain
on litter each day are begun, wholly of screened cracked
corn and whole wheat. Only corn and wheat that are
sound and sweet should be used. This method has al-
ways produced very satisfactory results, if the chicks
have not been given too much scratch feed, and if the
ground feed has been removed immediately after the
meal was completed. The sole objection to this method
is the labor of mixing the eggs and rolled oats, making
the mash and removing the feed dishes at the proper
time.

Method 2.—In Method 2 eggs are not used but fine
beef scrap is substituted. The mash instead of being fed
moist is fed in its dry condition. Early in the morning
Mixture 1 is given on litter as in Method 1. At 9 o'clock
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 149

they are fed a mixture (No, 3) having the following com-

position:
Rolled OatSs. vaccs seeds ein cave areas aoe 2 parts, by weight
Wheat brani: aisis sos casas teten can 2 pts, by weight
COMM: sganinec d venemnacee ade sated aane 2 parts, by weight
TARASCCOSTGCAN cs issaada cum oad baad bow’ Zeman des 4% part, by weight
Screened beef serap...... 6. seceee ee eee - lpart, by weight

Mixture 3 is given on plates or in troughs and removed
after ten minutes’ use. At 12:30 Mixture 1 is fed again
and at 4:30 or 5 o’clock Mixture 3 is fed again, giving
them all they will eat till their bedtime. Mixture 3,
being fed dry, the chicks cannot eat it as readily as they
can the eggs and rolled oats or Mixture 2, which has been
moistened. For this reason it is left for them to feed on
longer than when moistened feed is given. The aim is
to give them enough at each of the four feeds so their
desire for feed may be satisfied at the time, but to be sure
that they have nothing left to eat between meals. It is
desired to have their crops empty before feeding them
again. When treated in this way they will have sharp
appetites when the feeder appears and come racing out of
the brooder to meet him. If overfed a few times they
become debilitated and worthless.

Methods 1 and 2 are designed for feeding chicks which
are hatched so early in the spring that it is impossible for
them freely to run outdoors.

Method 3.—This method is like Method 1 except that
the first feed has the following composition:

Wheat brant eames tdede Gin ca oonteenmegdains 4 parts, by weight
COTM Gales ssance: danas und idaaddeedanense 344 parts, by weight
Linseed-meal.... 1... eee eee eens ly part, by weight
Screened beef scrap .............--002 nee 2. parts, by weight
Alfalfa, 1Mi@dl 2cssie xaees Be areeye 1 part, by weight

Mixture 5 is scalded and then dry rolled oats are mixed
150 POULTRY BREEDING

with it in the proportion to 2 parts rolled oats to 6 of the
mixture. The reason for mixing in this way is that it has
been found by experience that if the rolled oats are mixed
in before scalding the mash has a tendency to become
soggy after it is wet. Mixing in the way here outlined
has been found greatly to improve the mash. This mash
and Mixture 2 are fed as in Method 2 until the chicks are
about three weeks old. From three on to six or eight
weeks the composition of the mash (Mixture 6) 1s as fol-
lows:

Wheat DEAisoeca na cosaiaes oe eronzaes ee $48 2 puris. by weight
COMME Alisascres nasuinaans wi ae pectin coarea we 3 parts. by weight
Linseed-meul.. .... 0c... 2 cee eeeee cee eee WW «part, by weight
Daisy flour (a coarse grade)... wee ee 1 part, by weight
Beet SCR 0Y- is) cata, saad a atadanuied vee 1 part, by weight

Method 4.—This method is planned for chicks hatched
a atime in the year when they may freely run outdoors
“.om the time they are hatched. This time corresponds
.o April in the latitude of Chicago, earlier south and later
north of that city. Under these circumstances Mixture 3
is kept before them at all times with good results. It is
kept in protected troughs. \Vith this they have two feeds
a day of Mixture 2 in htter, which gives them hard feed
enough to insure health, and they can safely pick away
at the ground feed—a mouthful or two at a time
they happen to think of it. The results from this method
ave always been good, except in raw. cloudy weather.
At such times the little birds have been held inside and
have hung around the troughs and have overeaten,

when

 

Method 5.—This we consider as good as any, if proper
attention is paid so as not to clog the appetites of the
young birds. Tt consists in feeding cracked corn, cracked
wheat and pinhead oatmeal in the litter four times a day,
151

A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY

 

 

 

 

 

 

1, A Large Poultry

Ranch in California.

2, House on Same Ranch.

 
152 POULTRY BREEDING

with beef scrap always in a protected trough where the
chicks can get at it. The Maine station recommends mil-
let seed in addition to the ones enumerated, but we are
inclined to think millet is not very good for very young
chicks. In this we are supported by Prof. Graham of
Canada.

Pure water and chick grit should always be accessible
to fowls, young or old, and they should have a dry place
kept at a comfortable temperature to which they may
retire for warmth or sleep. Another method which has
proved to be very successful does not require any mixing
of wet mashes at any time during the period of chicken-
hood. It is known as the dry-feed method and is in great
favor with many successful poultrymen. By this method
the chicks are not fed until they are from 36 to 48 hours
old. If they are hatched in an incubator they are left in
the machine during this time, or put into well-warmed
brooders and allowed to remain in perfect quiet. In fact,
no young fowl should be fed until more than 24 hours
old, as nature has provided for its wants. It has heen
determined by J. L. Nix and other investigators that
chicks do not acquire the faculty of selecting their feed
for about 10 days. Before that time they will pick at al-
most anything and are likely to swallow anything which
is light-colored. This true, it is necessary for the care-
taker to select the feed to be given to young chicks in
brooders.

The first thing given to chicks under the dry-method
is water, pinhead oatmeal and fine chick grit. The grit
is necessary so the chicks may have grinding material for
their feed, but only a little should be given. Pinhead
oatmeal goes by several names locally, besides the one we
have used. It is sometimes called “steel-cut’” oatmeal
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 153

and sometimes “granulated” oatmeal. It may seem a
costly feed for chicks, but the quantity used during the
time it is fed is a very small item for each individual
chick. This pinhead oatmeal constitutes the sole feed of
the chicks for the first week. After that half oatmeal and
half cracked wheat are used for a week. Then finely-
cracked corn and cracked wheat are used and the oatmeal
is no longer fed. Do not try to substitute rolled oats
for pinhead oatmeal, as the rolled oats are cooked in
preparing for market and form a soggy mass (when fed
alone) as soon as they get into the crop of the chick. At
three weeks a little sweet beef scrap is put before the
chicks and they are allowed to become accustomed to it.
By the time the chicks are four weeks old whole wheat
and cracked corn in the proportion of 1 part corn to 2
parts wheat constitutes the grain feed, and the beef scrap
is placed in a protected trough where the chicks can help
themselves.

During all this time tender green stuff is given in as
large quantities as they will eat. Lawn clippings, green
clover cut into short lengths, fresh lettuce leaves, onion
tops, radish or mustard leaves, tender young oat or wheat
blades, dandelion leaves, rape or any similar tender green
stuff, is good for growing chicks and there is no danger
of feeding too much. The grain is fed twice a day in
such quantities as the chicks will eat clean within half an
hour. Besides this, a mixture of equal parts of corn-
meal, coarse wheat middlings and linseed oilmeal is kept
in a protected trough where the chicks can eat between
meals.

For the first two weeks some care must be taken that
the chicks do not overeat. After that they safely can be
allowed to help themselves, but at no time should grain
154 POULTRY BREEDING

be allowed to lie uneaten from one meal to another.
When it is observed that the grain is not all eaten less
should be fed. The object is to keep the appetite good,
but not to allow the chicks to become hungry enough to
stop constant growth. Pure water, plenty of chick grit
or coarse sand and fine gravel, and a box of charcoal,
chick size, should always be kept where the chicks can
help themselves.

~ At the Maine station the chicks hatched in April are
moved out on the open range about the middle of June.
The time for making this change may be regulated by the
weather. In warmer parts of the country the change
could be made late in April or some time in May, accord-
ing as the season was early or late. This is a matter
where each one must judge for himself. If the weather
is fine the chicks might be moved any time after they
were eight weeks old. The change is made by simply
moving the portable brooder houses and the chickens out
into the grass fields. The method now followed at that
station gives the maximum of benefits with the minimum
of labor. Two acres are allotted for 1,000 growing chicks
and the same land should not be used two years in suc-
cession if it is at all convenient to put the chicks on fresh
land.

When the chicks are moved to the range the sexes are
separated. The method of feeding the pullets is very
simple. Separate protected troughs are kept filled with
cracked corn, wheat, beef scrap, cracked bone, oyster
shell and grit, one kind of feed in a trough, where the pul-
lets can help themselves whenever they desire. Fresh
water is kept before them. There are no regular hours for
feeding, but care is taken that the troughs are never
empty. Since 1905 another trough containing the fol-
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 155

lowing mixture has been kept where the pullets had free
access to it:

Wheat Draniscnccnciex ave garde cimiws aes 1 part, by weight
Cornmeal vssayscsaancsiies cotia seuabeaasinecearve 2 parts, by weight
MIGGIIM eS ida teats eee. Beto. < Kine, “eed sii l part, by weight
BECLl SCTAD:. giacouics, Syabs: aarnw hed seaiewltn 1 part, by weight

The result has been satisfactory. This method saves
labor in feeding and the chicks do not hang around the
troughs and overeat, but help themselves to a little at a
time, then going off to hunt insects, and coming back
when hunger inclines them to do so. It has been found
that chicks allowed to choose for themselves eat just
about the same quantity of beef scrap that experience
teaches is best for them. The method of feeding cock-
erels is practically the same as that followed in feeding
pullets. About 100 are kept in each flock, the portable
brooding houses being large enough comfortably to house
this number. Where cockerels are to be sold in the mar-
ket for food a different method is used toward the last to
finish them for sale. It has been found that a special
method of fattening pays, as plump soft-fleshed cockerels
bring a better price than those picked up from the range
without having been specially fed. The grain mixture
used is as follows:

Cormimeal secs coves eesti ade wees eames abexe teased 100 pounds
Whéat mldGlngs! cccccesesweesge sees eae See 100 pounds
Méatmeéal, ssio0 eves oeee get actan 2 Meese ceanaeed 40 pounds

This was fed as a porridge thick enough to drop, but
not to run from a spoon.

No one may say positively what method is best in feed-
ing laying hens. We know in a general way the kinds of
feed that best promote egg production, but so far almost
every investigator has a method of his own, which he
156 POULTRY BREEDING

had adopted because it has given him satisfactory results.
Apart from a few whose experiments and experience do
not carry the weight of very much authority, our investi-
gators say that promoting egg production by any system
of feeding is a matter on which they do not feel like
speaking positively. We have thought it best to give
several methods on the authority of a number of poultry
investigators, with full particulars as to the breeds used
and the conditions surrounding the work.

It is quite definitely determined that some breeds pro-
duce eggs at considerably lower feed-cost than others,
but when we begin to discuss the profits derived from
keeping one breed or another several factors appear in
the problem which involve it in difficulties that leave the
whole question open to discussion with good arguments
on each side. On the authority of \W.S. Thompson, after
he had conducted five great egg-laying competitions in
Australia, each one extending through an entire year, we
have reason for saying that Leghorns produce eggs at a
much lower feed-cost than the largcr breeds. However,
Mr. Thompson does not base his opinion on anything
more tangible than daily observations, although being a
close observer there is no doubt that his opinion should
carry much weight. At the Maine station, where Barred
Plymouth Rocks are kept, the method of feeding fol-
lowed has been found very satisfactory, inasmuch as it
secures immunity from overfatness to which this breed
is very liable, after reaching maturity. Further than
that this method has given good results nothing is
claimed for it, nor does it need any other claim to estab-
lish it as a good one. It should be remembered that
while a full-fed hen can lay to the limit of her capacity it
is equally true that the full-feeding of Plymouth Rock
157

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Six Black Langshan Hens that

Laid

1,411 Eggs in One-Year Australian Competition,

 
158 POULTRY BREEDING

hens, unless correctly done, results in disaster. Mr.
Thompson is a thorough believer in what he calls the
“full and plenty” method of feeding; that is, he believes
in keeping hens full-fed and his practice is along this line.

We may add that Prof. Rice of Cornell University
said he had been able to select the best layers by exam-
ining the dressed carcasses of a lot of hens. These hens
had been under test and were then killed in order to settle
some questions in doubt. Their records were known,
and after they were killed he was able to select the best
layers by selecting the fattest among the dressed car-
casses.

The Maine method follows: Early in the morning for
each 100 hens 4 quarts of whole corn is scattered on the
litter, which is 6” or 8” deep on the floor. This is not
hidden, for the straw is light and dry and enough of the
grain is hidden that the hens begin scratching almost at
once. At 10 o’clock they are fed in the same way 2
quarts of wheat and 2 quarts of oats. This is all of the
regular feeding that is done.

So much has been said against corn as a feed for laying
hens that some experiments were made which resulted in
the conclusion that whole corn produces as good results
as either cracked corn or cornmeal. Besides the whole
grain, a dry mash is kept always before the hens. Along
one side of the room a protected feed trough is kept sup-
plied with dry meals, mixed together. This dry meal
mash has the following composition:

Wheat bran ...... igaes std s «aa ana 2 parts. by weight
CORNIMCAV eo yi3 6 aad, Lage.» Sa Paawdewleas 1 part, by weight
MIGGUNES sieisioesegetir Gbcuaia var mani beeneomite 1 part, by weight
GUUITENZMIGAL: sped a cues) dy eke C sade Caweead T part, by weinlt
TANBCCO-ME aceon seen 4 sha dietenciansied ones 1 part, by weight

Beck s@raniy soso aed stan ewe ‘eer ensg 1 AM, DY WEE TIE
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 159

Brewers’ grains are sometimes substituted for gluten
meal in this mash. The several meals in this mash are
thoroughly mixed and the troughs are never allowed to
become empty. The mixture is constantly before the
hens and they are allowed to help themselves. Oyster
shell, dry cracked bone, grit and charcoal are kept in
other separate protected troughs where they are accessi-
ble at all times. A moderate supply of mangels and
plenty of clean water are furnished. For the mangels,
turnips, cabbage, or other sorts of beets, would make a
perfect substitute. About 5 pounds of dry clover hay,
cut to 4” lengths, is fed to each 100 hens every day. Tor
clover hay alfalfa could be substituted to advantage, this
not being fed at the Maine station because alfalfa can not
be grown in Maine. Clovermeal or alfalfameal used as a
part of the dry mash would probably be a satisfactory
substitute for the cut hay, but the bulkiness of the hay
makes it preferable, as hens need bulk as well as nutritive
elements in their feed. When the wheat, oats or corn is
given the birds they are always ready for it, although
there is an abundance of the dry mash accessible to them.
They scratch in the litter for the last grain. It is evi-
dent that they like the grain better than the dry mash,
although they by no means dislike the latter, for they
help themselves to it whenever they need it, and never go
to roost with empty crops. They apparently do not like
it well enough to gorge themselves on it and sit down,
loaf, get overfat and lay soft-shelled eggs, as is so com-
monly the case with Plymouth Rocks when they are
given warm morning mashes in troughs.

Some of the advantages of this method of feeding are
that the troughs may be filled at any convenient time,
only guarding against allowing them to become empty,
160 POULTRY BREEDING

and the avoidance of the mobbing that always occurs at
trough-feeding when that is made the meal of the day,
whether it be at morning or evening. There are no tail-
ings to be gathered up or wasted, as is common when a
full meal of mash is given at night. The labor is very
much less, enabling one person to care for more birds
than when a regular evening meal is given.

For green feed in winter and spring mangels are used.
They are liked by the birds and when properly harvested
and cared for will remain crisp and fresh until spring.
They are fed whole by impaling them on projecting nails
about 18” above the floor. Care must be taken not to
feed them too freely, as they are laxative when too freely
used. In Denmark great attention is paid to egg produc-
tion, the Danish government interesting itself in the im-
provement of poultry. Ina report to the National Poul-
try Organization Society (England), Edward Brown,
F L. S., gives the following method of feeding White
Leghorns on a Danish farm where the hens averaged
about 160 eggs each in a year, a record that should be
perfectly satisfactory to any one. In the morning a mash
is fed. The following is the composition of-the mash:

Growin! OAtB «ces ceouiswars aeseimnansens oy aeamnes 4 parts, by weight
BIO sa:casnanniqunsinte. wharrgete ns wearin © 4 parts. by weight
= Cornmeal is iz 5. seas rcanecmessa aie & pelioiie ata 2 parts by weight
Bonemeal and meat, each.................05 w% part, by weight

This is mixed with skimmilk obtained from a nearby
creamery. During the day chopped turnips and alfalfa
is fed, as much as the hens will eat. In the evening a
mixture of grain of the following composition is fed:

CORN, icone qaeemiaaar tienen danni eee at 2 parts, by weight
WHEDE sesien- nicsnsaaesne praaat eh ae oLee HAS l part, by weight
OAL 6 asisien, orecoats conn ueeany sade tae Bead 2 parts, by weight

Barley ssvasanea wesvacns, ox somes oan an vawedewe 2 parts, by weight
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 161

After considerable experience we have come to the con-
clusion that wheat and barley may éither be used. There
is not enough difference in their composition to make any
material difference in results. We would never feed
barley without having it ground or crushed.

The Kansas Experiment Station gives the following
mixtures as being very satisfactory in promoting egg

production:
Grain mixture:

What scsi secsuinss sewed ena awateminiea wen oe 10 parts, by weight

 

10 parts, by weight

OAS: Seeaan> ae € enter eae eapemieaies 5 parts, by weight

This is thrown in litter on the floor in the morning.

Dry mash mixture:

 

 

Midi eS secon eonusemesnnenee meas ve 6 parts, by weight
Cornmeal 6 parts, by weight
PES aadocls etnies wea eG anne aiaeKetea Pas 3 parts, by weight
OU MEAs caisssiesssisins vie oe mdstne Aalsian aw eeaeRaleae nae l part, by weight
Alfalfa-meal.... 1 part, by weight
Bee HS Cry asaivinia vemciat deus siheweten wen acaunes 5 parts, by weight

Feed this in the afternoon in protected troughs, giving
as much as the hens will eat. For green feed mangels
or sugar beets may be used. Cabbage or rape also are
recommended. In winter more alfalfa meal may be sub-

stituted if green feed is hard to secure.
California mixture for eggs:

 

MUGABE S oig.ocscd anddee sseene MEME AEASS 3 2 parts, by weight
BYAW i-sbtidenkedeies aabaaey Yt WE eam arene 2 parts, by weight
COPMMESD sca oceans saan 4 deedeoe Hee ees oa l part, by weight
Shorts lpart, by weight
Bolted barley. ......... ce ceee eee e eee eee eee 1 part, by weight
IMEATMIEGAT we eiieke, caine: ceo aninseneminns Wiad Sout l part, by weight
Bonemeal ... 4 part, by weight

 

This mixfure is the sole grain feed.

In connection

with this mixture potatoes, cabbage and other vegetable
162 POULTRY BREEDING

feed was used. The objection we have to this ration is
that it contains no hard grain, and its continued use
leaves the digestive organs nothing with which to main-
tain a healthful condition, as a fowl needs hard feed so as
to keep the gizzard in good condition. We would say
that this mixture should be alternated with grain once a
day.

FEEDS, INTERCHANGEABLE.—It is the consen-
sus of opinion among investigators that the several
grains used in feeding poultry may be interchanged with-
out making a material difference in results. This is true
so far as using wheat, barley and oats are concerned.
These grains may be interchanged if necessary, as they
do not vary widely in composition. While they do not
altogether take the place of each other it is sometimes
better economy to sacrifice something in one direction if
by doing so we may make a commensurate gain in an-
other. Thus corn may be scarce and high-priced in one
place and wheat low in price. In such cases it would be
more economical to feed wheat than corn. In like man-
ner Kaffir-corn may be substituted for the more common
sor*, or used in the place of wheat or oats, although either
wheat or oats is better for laying hens than Kaffir-corn.
The poultryman must use his own judgment in such
things, for no set rule will apply alike in every place and
under all conditions.

Buckwheat makes a very good substitute for corn, but
should not be made the sole grain feed, as it is too fatten-
ing. This is true of corn also.

FEEDS, NUTRITIVE VALUE.—The'nutritive value
of feeds can be determined by analysis. Three principal
nutritive elements are considered in detérmining the
value of a given feed—protein, carbohydrates and fat.

 
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 163

Other elements are necessary to nutrition, such as sul-
phur, phosphorus, lime, salt, iron and other minerals.
‘These are the inorganic residue which remains after burn-
ing and are known as ash. Burn the body of a fowl and
the little pile of ashes that remains will represent all the
mineral matter contained in the body. All feed contains
these mineral elements, and the feeder need not pay any
attention to them, for if the feed is properly constituted
as to protein, carbohydrates and fat it will almost al-
ways contain sufficient of the mineral elements to supply
all the needs of the fowl. It should be remembered,
however, that these mineral elements are as important as
the three to which so much attention is paid. When a
hen is laying regularly her feed may be deficient in lime,
because she requires a large quantity of this element in
order that she may supply material for egg shells. In
order to meet this demand we feed crushed oyster shells
or crushed bone. Very often a flock of hens otherwise
properly fed fails to lay as many eggs as it might be-
cause of a deficiency in lime in the feed. For this reason
poultrymen should always keep a supply of oyster shells
or crushed bone where laying hens may have constant
access to it.

Protein is the most valuable and the most costly part
of any ration. All protein-rich feeds are more costly than
those which contain a relatively small quantity of this
substance. A protein-rich ration is called a “nitrogen-
ous” ration because nitrogen is a large component part
of the elements grouped and denominated protein. Pro-
tein is that material in feed which goes to make brain
matter, nerve cells, vital organs, intestines, tendons, skin,
feathers, beak, claws, skin and, in combination with lime,
bones and muscle (lean meat). In short, it is largely the
164 POULTRY BREEDING

material from which is built up the vital, machine we call
a fowl. This is also true, of course, of any animate crea-
tion from the lowest organism up to man.

While protein is the material from which the machine
is made carbohydrate is the fuel which supplies the en-
ergy to keep the machine going. Carbohydrates are com-
posed largely of carbon and a carbohydrate-rich ration is
denominated a “carbonaceous” ration. Carbohydrates in
food becomes fat in a fowl, except that part of it which is
used in maintaining vital heat and the energy that is ex-
pended in living and moving. The heat of a fowl’s body
is maintained by the consumption of carbohydrates just
as the heat in a steam engine is maintained by the con-
sumption of coal. The sugars, starches and gums that
form a part of all feeds are included in the term carbo-
hydrates. These substances first keep vital heat and
energy up to the normal standard in a healthy fowl, and
any surplus is stored in the body in the shape of fat,
which may be stored in the bodily cavities or in the tis-
sues of the body in the shape of minute globules. A
properly fatted fowl is tender because the minute fat
globules stored in the tissues melt in the process of cook-
ing and leave the fibers of the flesh open and easily cut or
masticated.

The fats and oil contained in all feeds are used for
the same purpose to which carbohydrates are put. They
are consumed by the body in furnishing heat and energy
or are stored as fat in the body. In computing a ration
the fat content of any feed is multiplied by 2.25 and added
to the carbohydrates, as fat is believed to be 2!4 times as
valuable as carbohydrates for feed purposes.

In order to be able successfully to conduct operations
there are some points that a feeder must have fixed in his
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 165

mind. Protein, in the absence of carbohydrates, may be
consumed in maintaining vital heat and energy or even
in producing fat in the body, but carbohydrates never can
take the place of protein. This fact should be firmly
fixed in mind, as on it depends very often the success of
feeding. An animal fed carbohydrates alone would starve

 

GRAIN FEEDS ARRANGED IN ORDER OF DIGESTIBLE CONTENT
IN 100 POUNDS.

 

 

 

 

 

een dana Protein. een eer ee
matter. - i ratio. 100 lbs.
Flaxseed 90.8 1.3 20.6 $2.3 1: 4 -0657¢.
90 2.6 16.8 53.4 1: 3.2 .0548¢.
V5 | Bt 12.1 85.8 1:71 .0428¢.
90 1.8 10.2 73 1: 12 -0426¢.
88 1.9 9.9 70 Ts Gl -0829¢.
88.4 2.9 9.8 55.9 1. 5.6 -0462¢.
89 3 9.2 56.8 Le 6.2 -0378¢.
86 3.3 8.9 52.2 Ls b.8 -0365¢.
sy Pak: a 69.2 Ae iad) -0288¢.
89 Le ie) Tht L907 -0326¢.
87 2 Te 53.3 1: 6.9 -0247¢,
$4.8 dasa: 8 63.2 1$ 851
85.9 3.4 id 54.8 1: 7.4 .0245c.
3t.2 2.1 7 59.1 1: 8.4 -0281e.
87.6 0.4 4.8 1249 1:15.2 -0175¢.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to death—not as quickly as it would if deprived of all
feed, but it would starve in the end, because it would
have no supply from which to replace bodily waste. It
follows that as protein is the most costly part of the feed
in any ration we should take care that a ration has
enough carbohydrates in it to supply heat and energy and
at the same time enough protein to keep the machine in
166 POULTRY BREEDING

perfect repair. Any surplus of any elements of nutrition
beyond the quantity the body properly can assimilate
passes off in the droppings. It will be seen that a sur-
plus of protein is pure waste, and the same is true of car-
bohydrates. Here is shown the necessity of a ration
containing the proper percentage of each of the elements
of nutrition. Hence the necessity of feeding a balanced
ration.

All feeds contain some woody matter known as fiber,
which has no value as feed. For convenience this is
counted as carbohydrates. All feeds also contain more
or less water. In computing rations this water is not
taken into account, as it is simply pure water. The table
on the preceding page shows the nutritive value of the
several grain feeds used by poultrymen, with the digesti-
ble content in 100 pounds.

As a balanced ration for a fowl is about 1 part of pro-
tein to 4.6 of carbohydrates, as determined by Wheeler of
the New York Experiment Station, it will be seen from
referring to the table that no single grain is exactly pro-
portioned as to the requirements of a perfect ration.
With the single exception of peas all the grains contain
too great a percentage of carbohydrates. Peas being a
very expensive feed in this country they are rarely used,
as we can furnish the protein to balance the grains much
cheaper by using some by-product, such as gluten feed,
beef scrap, bloadmeal or oilmeal. The table on the next
page gives the nutritive value of the several by-products
commonly used in feeding poultry in this country.

In order to promote thrift, produce rapid growth in
voung fowls and provide elements from which laying
hens may secure the materials used in the composition of
eggs, thus inducing heavier laying, the poultryman must
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 167

feed vegetable feed of some kind. If only grains, by-
products and meat feeds are used they do not digest so
quickly nor so thoroughly as when fed something coarser
and bulkier. The hen resembles the cow in this, as she
must have bulk as well as nutritive value in her feed to
put it to the best use.

There also seems to be something which escapes the
chemist in green feed that adds to its value, as deter-
mined by chemical analysis. Among the most available
vegetable feeds are mangels or other kinds of beets, tur-

BY-PRODUCTS USED IN FEEDING POULTRY. DIGESTIBLE CONTENT IN 100
POUNDS. (Computations from Cornell University College of Agriculture.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ash or 84 ,.| Nutri- " ees
matter, mineral |Protenm.|irfege| ttre | Malue

Old-process oil meal....} 91 | 5.3 | 20.3 4> 5 Isla | .096e,
Gluten meal... .... .... 9 8 | 23 8 | 05.6 Ti JUiTe.
Buckwheat middlings..| sv gx] | 45 12.1 | 0260.
Gluten feed..... ...... 92 al 19.4 63.3 1:3.3 |
Wheat middlings.. renee 8s or a) eS | 60.7 LAg us
Wheat bran........ .... ‘$8 5.8 | 11 45.3 1:3.8 | -043¢.
Alfalfa meal..........0-- W 4 | i. ' #3 1:8.8 0483¢.
Beef scraps...........++ 89.3 41 ub 2 | 33.1 1:0.5 | 175.
Animal meal. .... ...... 9257 4.9 | 32 \ 23 1:0.7
Green cut bone .... -- 65 Lol 18 Sdn 122
Skimmilk .......... SB ee os: tet a8 Le

nips, cabbages, potatoes, green grass, clover or alfalfa
cut fine, dandelion tops, lettuce. Swiss chard, dwarf Es-
sex rape, collards, parsley, and all similar tender green
stuff. Some-of these are procurable only in summer,
when they are fed to fowls kept in confinement. The
others are fed in winter, either in their natural state or
168 POULTRY BREEDING

chopped fine. Sometimes they are cooked soft and mixed
with bran or middlings in making a mash, but it seems
better to feed them raw. Clover or alfalfa hay makes a
very good substitute for green feed in winter, if it has
been cut at the proper time and carefully dried, so as to
retain all its value. It may be cut into short lengths and
fed in that shape or it may be brought in the shape of a
fine meal and used as one of the components of a mash, or
as hay it may be used for the litter on the floor of the
poultry house so the fowls may eat the leaves and smaller
stems. The latter is wasteful, but where hay is cheap
this does not much matter. The fresh vegetable feeds
are very poor in the nutritive elements, being largely
water, but this very succulence is apparently the quality
in which their greatest value lies. The table gives the
nutritive value of several of these vegetable feeds:

VEGETABLE FEEDS USED FOR POULTRY. DIGESTIVE CONTENT
IN 100 POUNDS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dry matter.| Ash. | Protein. Hotes A NS
Red clover, ereen..... .. 29 21 | 29 16.4 135.6
Cabbage. 20. 0.2... 15 la lio v1 1:51
Mangels (beets),......... 13 1. 1 | 10.4 1:5.1
WOPMIDS: ccsce Gece cose 9.5 os | 11 7.05 Loe
Potatoes .............00055 21 1 |

0.9 16.5 | 1:18.38

 

The animal feeds used for poultry are composed almost
entirely of the waste products of packing houses. These
are bloodmeal, made from blood dried and ground to a
powder, very rich in protein and valuable as a feed for
growing chicks or laying hens, if not fed in too large
quantities ; beef scrap, made from the waste scraps which
remain from cutting meat, bloody pieces, the meat from
bones and other waste meat. This is first boiled and
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 169

then pressed under heavy pressure to extract the fats,
after which it is dried and coarsely ground. This also is
very rich in protein and a valuable feed.

Green cut bone is almost invariably butcher's bone
ground at home in a bone-cutting mill. It is rich in lime,
phosphorus and protein, with some fat. This green cut
bone is the most valuable of all feeds, but not too much
should be fed, as it is laxative when too much of it is fed
at a time or when fed too frequently. The following
table gives the nutritive value of the several animal feeds:

THE ANIMAL FEED USED FOR POULTRY. DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS IN

 

 

100 POUNDS.
Dry matter. Ash. Protein. settles, Aubin ye
Bloodmeal..... .......645 92.7 1.7 32 23, 1:0.7
Beef serap...............- 89 4.1 66.2 33.3 1:0.5
Green cut bone.......... 65 11.5 18 43 1:2.5
Dried ASW paces, asain ese 89.2 39.2 44.1 23.2 1:0.5
Skim, aices vee oe os 9.4 0.7 2.9 5.9 1:2

 

Dried fish is sometimes used as a poultry feed. It is
very rich in protein and contains more phosphorus than
ordinary meat feeds, but it is likely to flavor the eggs
when fed to laying hens. It is not to be recommended as
a regular feed.

Skimmilk is very highly recommended as a poultry
feed. \Vhile it contains but a low percentage of nutritive
elements to its whole bulk, it has been found to be a very
cheap nutrient in those places where it could be bought
at the price most commonly charged.

FERTILITY AND “HATCHABILITY.”—It was
found in experiments at the Maine station that hens
which laid through the winter laid as large a percentage
170 POULTRY BREEDING

of fertile eggs in spring as other hens in the flock, but
while these eggs were fertile they lacked what Prof. Rice
calls “hatchability,” that is, they would not hatch, the
germs dying before the end of the period of incubation in
a large percentage of them. This would indicate that it
is best to discourage winter-laying in breeding stock. -If
this were done systematically it would be impossible to
select the best layers for’breeders unless the pullets were
tested the first year as layers and the best of them used
the second year as breeders.

FERTILITY OF EGGS.—Some experiments were
made in Canada to determine how long eggs would re-
main fertile after the male had been removed from his
mates. Ten hens were separated from the male. The
eggs laid each day were placed in an incubator and tested.
Of the eggs laid the first four days after the male was
taken away 70 per cent were fertile; of those laid the fifth
day 60 per cent; the seventh 49 per cent; the eighth 12
per cent; the ninth, 2 per cent; the tenth none. A test
was made with 6 hens to determine how soon the eggs
became fertile after the males were placed with them.
On the third day 30 per cent were fertile; on the fourth,
42 per cent; on the fifth, 50 per cent; on the sixth, 60
per cent; on the seventh, 70 per cent; on the eighth, 68
per cent; on the ninth, 70 per cent, and on the tenth, 74
per cent. As rarely more than 75 per cent of the eggs
produced under average conditions are fertile, this goes
to show that mating a hen 10 days before the eggs are
needed for hatching is sufficient.

There is some reason to believe that the effect of mat-
ing lasts longer than the figures indicate if hens are not
laying at the time of copulation. In one case that came
under our observation a pullet that had been running in
171

F POULTRY

LEPERS ©

A GUIDE FOR K

 

 

A California Poultry Ranch with Eucalyptus

hae nia

 

Trees in Background.
172 POULTRY BREEDING

a yard with a White Leghorn cockerel, from which she
was separated in the fall, laid eggs in February that
were fertile and showed White Leghorn blood in the
chicks hatched from the eggs.

FLAVOR OF EGGS.—At the North Carolina station
wild onion tops and bulbs were fed to hens, and the
length of time before there was a change in the flavor of
the eggs produced by these hens noted, as well as the
time that must elapse after the onion feeding was dis-
continued before the objectionable flavor would disap-
pear. At the beginning of the trial %4-ounce of chopped
onion tops was fed daily to 12 hens of different breeds.
Repeated tests did not show any onion flavor in the eggs
until the 15th day, when it became distinctly noticeable.
The quantity of onion tops was doubled and this fed for
four days and then discontinued. The eggs laid while
the larger quantity was being fed were so strongly flay-
ored that they could not be used. After discontinuing
the onion feeding the flavor became less noticeable and
at the end of a week the eggs had returned to the normal
flavor.

The main point is that flavor may be fed into eggs.
Not only the flavor of onions may be noted in eggs but
the feed the hens consume may give the eggs they lav
a musty flavor or a rank, disagreeable flavor that comes
from the hens scratching grain out of a manure pile.
Some years ago the New York station in studying the
effect of nitrogenous vs. carbonaceous feeds for poultry
reported observations on the effect of different kinds of
feeds on the flavor of eggs. One lot of fowls was ‘fed a
mixture of wheat shorts, cottonseed-meal and skimmilk ;
another cracked corn and corn dough. The former ra-
tion contained much more nitrogen than the latter. The
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 173

hens fed corn laid fewer eggs than those fed the nitrog-
enous rations, but they were larger. The eggs pro-
duced by the nitrogenous ration were of a disagreeable
flavor and smell, had small yolks and did not keep well.
The flesh of the poultry fed this ration, however, was
darker, more succulent and tender than that of the fowls
fed the carbonaceous ration.

These experiments show, as did those of the North
Carolina station, that feed affects the flavor of eggs. The
writer has noted a great many times this tendency of
feed to affect the flavor of eggs.

FLOOR FOR POULTRY HOUSES.—Where the
poultry house is situated in a dry location it has been
found that a hard earthen floor is better than any other.
If there is any tendency to dampness a board floor is
better than an earthen one. Where a board floor is used
the house should be set far enough from the ground
to allow the air freely to circulate beneath.

FORCE FEED HOPPER.—On page 24/7 is an illus-
tration of a force feed hopper modeled after one invented
by Prof. Rice. The dotted line at the end indicates how
a sheet of galvanized iron is bent and fastened the en-
tire length of the bottom of the hopper. This forces the
last grain of the feed in the hopper to the front where
the fowls can reach it. A dotted line indicates how a
partition may be put in for two kinds of feed.

FOWL.—A fowl is strictly any domesticated bird used
for food; therefore ducks, geese and turkeys are really
fowls, but the more common usage is to restrict the use
of the word to the domestic chicken (Gallus domesticus),
and we have adopted this usage with few exceptions.

FRACTURES.—Sometimes a valuable fowl gets a
leg fractured below the hock (knee) and it is desirable to
174 POULTRY BREEDING

save it. Cut a piece of soft leather large enough to go
around the leg twice and as wide as from the foot to the
hock, dampen it until it is perfectly flexible and bind it
on the broken leg in such manner as to make it straight
and in a few days it will unite and be as good as ever.
Be sure to leave the bandage on the leg until it is per-
fectly well.

FROZEN COMBS.—\Vhen the combs are frozen and
the injury is discovered before it has thawed, dip the
comb and wattles in very cold water until the frost is
drawn out. Then bathe freely with turpentine and anoint
with carbolated vaseline. If much swelling occurs with
a very sharp knife cut incisions in the comb and wattles
on each side, but not very deep. This will let the serum
that causes the swelling drain away, and often save
the comb and wattles and retain the good appearance
of a valuable fowl. If the injury is not discovered at
once and the freezing is extensive enough to make it
probable that comb or wattles, one or both, will be lest,
the most humane thing to do is to cut the injured mem-
ber off as far as frozen. This is no more painful than
the pain of the injury and the wounds thus made will
heal over in a few days, while it takes weeks for a frozen
comb or wattle to slough off and heal. If a feather
plucked from the breast of a bird which has been treated
in this way is laid along the cut comb it will stop bleed-
ing at once and usually is perfectly healed in a week. if
all that was injured was cut off.

GAPES.—This disease manifests its presence by the
disposition of the victims frequently to gasp. It is caused
by a peculiar worm, the male and female being joined
together. This worm is known as Syngamus trachealis
and is picked up by youne chicks in their rambles in
175

FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY

A GUIDE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,

African Geese,

2, Brown China

Geese,

3, White China Geese,

4, Embden Geese.

 
176 POULTRY BREEDING

search of feed. It finds lodgment in the trachea and
when it is present in numbers it obstructs the passage of
air to the lungs, causing the chick to gape, which gives
the disease its name. They often become so numerous
that they strangle their victims. This worm at maturity
passes from the fowl which has been its host and de-
posits its eggs in the soil where they hatch or lie until
picked up by some fowl or bird. As soon as the eggs are
deposited in the digestive tract of the fowl which has
picked them up they immediately find their way to the
trachea. Very often several of these worms are present
in a bird that shows no sign of their presence.

There are two methods of destroying these parasites
and curing the disease. One is to double a horse hair and
push the loop down into the trachea, twist it around a
few times and, thus entangling the worms, they can be
drawn out. The other is by fumigating with sulphur
smoke. The gaping chicks are placed in a basket and
covered with a cloth. A little sulphur is thrown on some
live coals and the basket passed through the sulphur
fumes that arise, quickly swinging it back and forth two
or three times. The cloth is then removed from the
basket and the gasping chicks are allowed to get their
breath, when the treatment is repeated. This must be
carefully done or the chicks may be asphyxiated by the
fumes. The basket containing them should be moved
back and forth with moderate speed.

GEESE.—The breeds of geese have been considered
elsewhere. Geese are not as popular as chickens and
ducks and there is no place in the country where goose-
breeding is made a special business. In some restricted
locations the breeding of geese has attained considerable
importance and a great many of them are bred, but much
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 177

the larger part of the geese which appear in the markets
have been gathered a few at a place from the farms of
the country. Where wild geese can be procured to cross
ou tame geese the progeny brings a good price in the
market, but such progeny is not fertile and the parents
must be obtained in the regular course of breeding on the
one side and capture on the other, as wild geese rarely
breed in captivity, and when they do they mate in pairs.
The common gray goose is not a very profitable bird. In
fact, geese are not as profitable as ducks, unless markets
are near or there is a market for young geese, which is
close at hand. Geese are grazers and will do very well
if they have nothing but grass and water during the
warm months.

Laying geese should have a little grain but should not
be allowed to get too fat. Geese should have plenty of
water to drink and a place in which they can bathe fre-
quently. They require very little in the way of housing,
a dry shed to protect them from wind and rain being
sufficient. The floor should be bedded with straw fre-
quently renewed. The larger breeds lay from 15 to 20
eggs and then become broody, but if removed from their
mates for a few days they will forget their broodiness
and soon begin to lay again. They will lay three litters
or clutches in a season, the last two being from 10 to 15
each.

Goose eggs hatch in about 30 days, sometimes a day
or two longer. It is best to hatch them under hens,
giving a medium-sized hen about 5 eggs and a large one
7. Some breeders dip the eggs in water about blood-
warm two or three days before it is time for them to
hatch, but it is doubtful whether this is of any help to the
hatch. \Vhen the goslings begin to hatch the hen should
178 POULTRY BREEDING

be watched in order to save any of the young birds from
being trampled to death. As goslings are usually hatched
only in warm weather they are often raised without the
help of the mother that hatched them. A very quiet old
hen may be allowed to run with the goslings that she
has hatched, but if the mother hen is cross or uneasy it
is better to take her goslings from her and raise them
by hand.

Samuel Cushman of Rhode Island was a very success-
ful goose breeder. He gave the following method for
feeding young geese which has the merit of simplicity
and his success proved it to be practicable:

The young geese are kept dry and warm for 24 hours
and are then given grass that is tender and water to eat
and drink. Later they are given finely-cracked corn that
has been well scalded and are allowed to run on tender
grass, the pen confining them being moved to new grass
every day. They must be fed often. Much the largest
part of their feed should be tender grass and if the
weather is stormy they should have freshly-cut green
clover, oats, rye or other similar tender green feed sup-
plied to them. They should be protected from rains until
the feathers on their backs begin to appear, after which
they are perfectly hardy and may be allowed to graze in
the fields, coming home at night for their grain feed.
Where there are low, wet pasture lands geese mav be
kept with profit, as they will make such lands return
something while other stock would not do well on it.
Good farming does not consist in letting lands lie un-
drained, therefore there is not a great encouragement
for the good farmer to keep more than a few geese.

Geese have not been favorites in the markets, but for
a few years there has been more inquiry for them, espe-
A GUIDE. FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 17

 

 

 

 

 

 

1, A Fine Pair of Embden Geese, 2, Wild Geese,

 
180 POULTRY BREEDING

cially in those parts where the breeding of turkeys has
become precarious on account of the presence of the dis-
ease commonly known as black head. The dressing and
marketing of geese is not different from that of ducks,

GEESE, WATERTOWN METHOD OF FATTEN-
ING.—In the country surrounding Watertown, Wis., a
large number of geese is fattened each year by a special
process and sold at very high prices. The demand is
such that the supply is always quickly taken, and dealers
who supply the trade with these geese go so far as to
send representatives to buy them direct. The number
fattened each year is not large, probably about 3,000, but
the method is so simple that it may be followed by any
one, This industry was started about 20 years ago hy
German farmers and they were so successful that others
have taken it up and it is growing.

The geese are hatched and raised in the ordinary way,
the special feeding requiring about four weeks. The
raising of geese is an incident to the diversified farming
and the special work comes at a time when other activi-
ties are not insistent, making the industry very profitable,
filling in a time that would otherwise be wasted,

The average weight attained by these specially fed
geese is about 25 pounds each, and the price, which seems
to be definitely fixed, depends on the weight. A goose
weighing 20 pounds sells at 20 cents per pound; one
weighing 25 pounds at 25 cents per pound, the price
being 1 cent per pound for each pound the goose weighs.
The highest price ever paid was 28 cents per pound for a
lot averaging 28 pounds each. These geese go to New
York, Chicago, Philadelphia and even as far as San
Francisco. The principal buyers are Jewish people who
use the oil in the place of lard. The livers of these geese
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 181

are the portion most desired, as the system of fattening
causes the livers to grow to immense size. The liver will
cover a dinner plate heaping full and often weighs as
much as 3% pounds. In France geese are specially fat-
tened in a similar way and the livers are used in making
the delicacy known as pate de foi gras, a mixture of goose
liver and truffles, much prized by epicures who are able
to satisfy their appetites at any price. The geese spe-
cially fattened in Europe have their feet nailed to the
floor so they cannot move, but-no such cruel practice is
followed in Wisconsin, as the \Wisconsin goose fattener
merely pens his birds in a limited area. The skin also
is prepared as a delicacy and the breast cured and smoked,
selling at delicatessens at something like 50 cents per
pound to certain people, who have learned to prize it.
After the geese are hatched they are raised in the ordi-
nary way, most farms having a running stream along
which the geese graze. They are fed corn and other
grains to keep them growing thriftily until about Thanks-
giving, when the special process of feeding begins. They
are then confined to dry, clean quarters 10 to 15 in a
flock, from 8 to 14 square feet being allowed to each
goose. Thus a fleck of 10 would be confined in a pen of
from 8’x10’ to one 10’x14’, according to convenience or
the estimate of the owner as to the best size for the flock.
Geese are naturally timid and shy when allowed to
run at large, and the first thing in beginning feeding is to
reconcile them to the presence of the feeder. Strangers
are not allowed to enter the yards and they are treated
in a way to gain their confidence. The feeding or “stuff-
ing,” as it is called, is begun gradually, the geese being
fed lightly three times a day. Gradually the quantity of
feed is increased and the number of meals in a day in-
182 POULTRY BREEDING

creased until when on full feed they are literally stuffed
every four hours, full feed being reached in about 10 days
from the time the process begins.

The feed is cooked and is locally known as “noodles,”
this feed being composed of 2 parts ground and sifted
oats or barley, sifted cornmeal 1 part, and wheat flour 1
part. These are well mixed with warm water into a stiff
dough, which is then worked into “noodles” about the size
and shape of the small pork sausages that butchers sell
under the name of pig sausages. Usually the dough is
run through a sausage mill to form the rolls, being
clipped into the proper lengths by a pair of sheep shears
as it comes from the mill. With the fingers the ends are
molded into a dull point. This makes noodles 3” in length
and about 1” in diameter. Some feeders bake these
noodles and others boil them. Boiling is the favorite
practice. They are put into a wire basket the shape of a
wash boiler made from the kind of screen wire that ash
sifters are made of, and this is set inside a wash boiler,
being supported so the bottom of the basket is above the
bottom of the boiler. This prevents them from burning.
The noodles when thoroughly cooked rise to the surface.
The basket is then lifted out and plunged into cold water,
which prevents the noodles from sticking together. When
so treated they may be heaped into a basket without
danger of their sticking together and becoming jammed
out of shape. To facilitate feeding there is a small pen
in the corner of the goose yard into which a goose is
driven. The feeder sits on a low stool, at the entrance
of the yard, thus keeping the goose confined. A basket
of noodles and a pail of water are ready at his side. The
mouth of the goose is opened and a noodle dropped in
water is slipped in. The goose will readily swallow
A GUIDE FOR

KEEPERS OF POULTRY 183

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1, Geese on the Gettysburg Battlefield. 2, Embden Geese and Goslings.
184 POULTRY BREEDING

enough to satisfy its normal appetite and after this is
appeased the feeder gently pokes the noodles down its
throat until it is stuffed full. It is then released and
immediately it goes to the water trough in the yard and
drinks fresh water that is kept in the yards constautly.
Thus one by one the whole flock is stuffed, after which
the geese are not disturbed until the next feeding time.
If at feeding time a goose has not digested all of its
previous feed it is given a lighter feed. Occasionally it
is deemed best to let a goose miss a feed, especially if it
shows any signs of indigestion. Sometimes a goose goes
off its feed and must be turned out for a day or two. Some
feeders make a regular practice of reducing the allowance
occasionally, after they have been on full feed, gradually
bringing them back. This will prevent them from be-
coming “stale” before the process of fattening is finished.

GRAINS, SPROUTED.—Wvheat or barley may be
sprouted the same as oats and will answer the same pur-
pose.

GREEN FEED AND EGGS.—At the West Virginia
station Atwood conducted a test during 360 days with
two flocks with 22 White Leghorns in each to determine
the value of green feed to promote egg production. The
green feed was composed of apples, rape and cabbage.
In other respects the feed for the two flocks was the same.
Wheat, oats, corn, buckwheat, cornmeal, brown mid-
dlings, ground oats, wheat screenings, green cut bone
and beef scrap were fed. Of these the flock given green
feed consumed 58 pounds each while the flock not receiv-
ing green feed consumed 61 pounds each, showing a
slight advantage in the matter of costly feeds.

During the 360 days the flock receiving green feed laid
an average of 114 eggs each, while those not receiving
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 185

green feed averaged only 90 eggs each. As these hens
were 5 years old this is a very good showing, the hens
having green feed laying a little more than 25 per cent
more eggs than those not having the green feed.

GRIT.—Grit is absolutely necessary to the health of
fowls. There has been some dispute concerning the use
fowls make of grit. The larger number of investigators
believe it is used solely to grind hard grains after they
have entered the gizzard, but many breeders think the
grit furnishes material for feathers, giving them gloss
and hardiness. Grit may be any hard material except
metals. Coarse sand, fine gravel, crushed granite, broken
earthenware or even broken glass may be used for this
purpose. Young chicks should be given coarse sand or
regular chick grit as soon as feeding begins, as they will
need it from their first meal.

GUINEA FOWLS.—Guinea fowls seem to have been
known to the ancient Romans who called them Meleagris,
but it is doubtful whether the guinea fowls of ancient
times were the same variety that we now know as domes-
tic birds, which have never given up all of their wild
traits. The Meleagris of Rome may have been a variety
of the same species common to eastern Africa, or it may
have been the variety now known as the Vulturine
Guinea fowl, which is only seen in the largest collections
in zodlogical gardens or private collections. We know of
but one pair in this country, that being owned by Homer
Davenport, the artist. The guinea fowl of our barnyards
is identical in color and shape with a variety common to
western Africa—the Guinea Coast of slave hunter days.
The domestic fowl! is slightly larger than the wild one,
a difference common where wild animals or birds are
brought into domestication.
186 POULTRY BREEDING

White sports have been bred together until a white
variety is known and a good many farms carry guinea
fowls which are partly white. In color the guinea is a
grayish blue or rather purple, the feathers being studded
with round white dots arranged in symmetrical fashion.
These birds are not so large as they seem, rarely weighing
more than 3% pounds each, the cock being slightly
heavier than the hen. Cock and hen are identical in color,
the cock being slightly coarser about the head. The cock
has a clattering cry, which the hens often use, but the hen
alone uses the characteristic “buckwheat,” “buckwheat”
which fancy translates her cry to be, and this only when
comfortable and ccntented.

The guinea is a wanderer and can not be kept with
success in confinement. It naturally sleeps on some high
perch outdoors and is entirely indifferent to the most
severe weather, after it is a few weeks old. It may be
taught to sleep in houses with other poultry, if it has
been hatched under a hen. A guinea hatched under hens
refuses to be weaned and will follow the mother hen
until the next spring after hatched, when it mates for
itself. We have known guinea hens which were laving
to persist in following the hen that had hatched them the
year before.

Guineas should be hatched under common hens, as the
guinea hen is a very careless mother and except during
the most favorable seasons will only bring up a few of
the chicks she hatches. Care must be taken to watch
young guineas when they hatch or they will almost at
once run away and get lost, only to die. They should
be confined in a tight pen with sides at least 1’ high until
they learn to follow the mother hen, which will be in a
few days. <A young guinea can escape through a mar-
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY

187

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guineas and a Farm Flock of Poultry,
188 POULTRY BREEDING

velously small hole. The pen should be close-built so
that no fear of escape need be entertained.

Feed guineas as common chicks would be fed and as
soon as they will follow the mother hen give them liberty.
As they grow larger they will wander farther and after
they get full size they will wander afield, hardly waiting
in the morning for feed. Guineas like to hunt for their
own feed, eating weed seeds, green vegetation and in-
sects. They usually begin laying in March or April and
will lay until August without sitting, if the eggs are
removed from their nests. The ‘guinea hen if brought
up with chickens frequently lays in the same nest with
common hens, but as often she seeks to hide her nest
and must be watched. The guinea hen lays from 70 to
more than 100 rather small, sharply-pointed eggs, the
shell covered with fine dots of brown. The eggs are too
small for market but are of excellent flavor and good for
home use.

There is a growing market demand for young guineas
and old ones are readily taken when offered. The flesh
has a gamey flavor and is often substituted for game
birds of the same size. Indeed guinea fowl is growing
into such favor that some of the large hotels regularly
put it on their bills of fare under its own name. As
guineas hunt their own feed during the larger part of
the year, and are not heavy eaters at any time, it would
be found profitable to raise them in considerable num-
bers. Guineas are almost as good and useful for another
purpose as a watch dog, as they detect the presence of
a stranger at once and, day or night, raise an alarm if
any one with whom they are not acquainted comes about
the poultry yard. They protect their young from assault
with great bravery, all the hens in a flock joining to de-
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 189

feat an enemy. Guineas are coming out of the orna-
mental class and making a place for themselves on farms
in many parts of the country.

HENS VS. INCUBATORS.—Some very interesting
comparisons between hens and incubators for hatching
and breeding chicks were made by Prof. Dryden when in
charge of the Utah Experiment Station. A summary of
these experiments gives the following results:

From 879 eggs set, incubators hatched 533 chicks, or
60.6 per cent. From 279 eggs set, hens hatched 219
chicks, or 78.8 per cent.

Eliminating eggs broken in the nests, the hens hatched
88.2 per cent of the eggs set. The incubators hatched
78.5 per cent of the fertile eggs set, and the hens 96.5
per cent. Eggs incubated artificially tested out 22.7 per
cent infertile, while those incubated by hens tested out
11.8 per cent infertile. The incubators showed 16.6 per
cent dead in the shell and the hens 2.8 per cent. Chicks
hatched under hens weighed heavier than chicks hatched
in incubators. The mortality of hen-hatched chicks
brooded in brooders was 10.8 per cent in four weeks, and
of incubator hatched chicks 33.5 per cent. The mortality
of hen-hatched chicks brooded under hens was 2.2 per
cent and of incubator chicks 49.2 per cent. In other tests
the mortality was 46.5 per cent for incubator chicks
brooded by hens and 58.4 per cent brooded in brooders.
Hen-hatched chicks made a greater gain in weight than
incubator chicks whether brooded by hens or brooders.
In all these tests the eggs used were from the same breed-
ing vards, and alike in every respect.

These conclusions are derived from several separate
tests during the whole of the hatching season, and are
averages of the several tests. The tests were made at an
190 POULTRY BREEDING

elevation of about 5,000 feet above the sea level in a dry
climate (Utah).

HOPPER.—The poultryman uses this word to desig-
nate any vessel containing dry feed which acts automa-
tically. (See Force Feed Hopper.)

HOUSING.—A\ few years ago whole books were writ-
ten concerning houses for poultry, some of these books
showing dozens of plans, most of which were uselessly
elaborate. We had many systems of ventilation which
were explained in such detail that the beginner became
confused and could not decide which was best. The re-
sult was damp houses, frost-coated walls in winter, roup
and other kindred diseases. A great change has been
brought about since practical poultrymen, seeking cheap-
ness with satisfaction, have taken up the problem. \Where
a few years ago it was common to build poultry houses
with double and triple walls, supplied in many cases with
means for furnishing heat in cold weather, we have now
gone back to first principles, and the modern poultry
house is a very simple affair. The conclusions derived
from careful and long-continued experiments at several
experiment stations and on many private plants, agree
that air-tight, artificially-heated poultry houses are not
necessary in any part of the country and are sources of
continual dissatisfaction and loss. The modern poultry
house is cheaply built, well-lighted and the best of them
have openings in front running from a few square feet
to the whole space of the front, protected with wire net-
ting and enclosed with a canvas or muslin curtains in bad
weather. Such construction provides abundant ventila-
tion, prevents draughts, sccures dryness and maintains
the health of the fowls.

It is not always possible to locate a poultry house in an
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 191-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Houses Made From Piano Boxes,
192 POULTRY BREEDING

ideal position, as reference must often be had to the lay
of the land as regards other permanent buildings. The
very best location is on a southern slope where the land
is well drained naturally, so the direct rays of the sun
will enter the windows from early morning until late
afternoon. Next to a direct southern slope a southeast-
ern exposure is best and then a southwestern. Never face
a poultry house to the north, unless absolutely necessary.
There is still much diversity of opinion as to the best
style of poultry houses. The arguments for and against
are taken up in detail under the head of Poultry House
Construction. Good housing is one of the cardinal points
in successful poultry-keeping. This does not mean costly
houses, for the hen cares nothing for architectural effect
if she is comfortable. Good poultry houses may be made
of very cheap materials and we have seen many examples
of houses that were made from the crudest materials
which met every need of the fowls housed therein. In
the plans given in this book it will be found that con-
venience and comfort are emphasized. The builder of a
poultry house may make it as ornamental as he wishes,
but the plans given are thought to be the best that are
now in use and any of the houses may be built at com-
paratively low cost. The point kept in view has been
practical utility rather than ornamentation.
INCUBATORS.—Incubators have been known for a
great many years—how long it is impossible to say.
Curiously incubators were first used with success by
people who are not usually considered far advanced in
the sciences of civilization. Incubators have been used
with success in two countries as far apart as Egypt and
China for probably hundreds of years, and notwithstand-
ing the fact that there is no probability that one of these
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 193

nations learned the art of incubation from the other the
incubators they use are very much alike, being mud ovens
heated in Egypt by burning dried camel dung and in
China by burning twigs and straw. The incubators them-
selves are rude mud ovens without any attempt at careful
ventilation and without means to regulate the tempera-
ture. Not even a thermometer is used to determine the
temperature, the operator judging this from his own sen-
sations when he enters the incubator to take care of the
eggs. For more than a hundred years scientists have
been struggling with the art of incubation in this country
and Europe, yet up to this time an unlearned Egyptian
fellah or a Chinese coolie is able to produce results the
equal of those produced by the best machines of this kind
made in any country.

The first mention of the artificial incubation of domes-
tic fowls occurs in the writings of Aristotle. Later Pliny
relates that the Roman empress Livia hatched chickens
in her bosom, a very doubtful story in the light of our
latter-day knowledge that the temperature required to
bring chickens to perfection is 5° higher than that of the
human body. The first authentic account of artificial in-
cubation outside Egypt and China is of a machine in-
vented by Rene Antoine Ferchault de Reamur,the French
inventor, to whose credit stands the thermometer which
bears his name. Reamur lived from 1683 to 1757, so the.
authentic history of artificial incubation in civilized coun-
tries extends back at least 150 years. The machine in-
vented by Reamur is figured in “The American Poul-
terer’s Companion” (1847), from which work our illus-
tration is reproduced. Reamur published a work of 500
pages treating on incubation, in which he said the proper
temperature was 90°. This must have been according to
194 POULTRY BREEDING

the Fahrenheit scale, as Reamur’s scale makes 90° equal
to something like 225° F., a temperature which would
very quickly destroy the life in anegg. It seems curious
in face of the statement Reamur succeeded in hatching
eggs that he should give the temperature so low, as we
know that it requires 103° to hatch chickens in an in-
cubator.

Later M. Dubois improved Reamur's device by making
a low rocm 10’ square and heating it from the pipe of a
stove below, putting the eggs in wicker baskets and hang-
ing them from the ceiling, raising or lowering the baskets
to get the eggs in the proper temperature. MM. Copineau
tried using hot water pipes along the floor of the room
and still later M. Bonnemain invented the first hot-water
incubator, illustrated on page 195. In the early years of
last century a hatching machine was shown in London
called an ‘“Eccaleobion,” literally an “invoker of life,”
which attracted much discussion but soon passed from
view,

In 1843 C. Appleyard showed an incubator before the
Royal Agricultural Society, but beyond a mere mention
of the fact the record does not go. About 1845 a “hatch-
ing machine” was exhibited in operation at 160 Nassau
St., N. Y., and was visited by thousands. However, this
was not the first incubator of record in this country as
one was shown in Brooklyn by E. Bayer in 1843. Mr.
Bayer seems to have got the temperature about right. as
he gave the correct figure as being 101° to 102° F. He
called his machine a “polotokian,” and claimed to hatch
from 75 to 80 per cent of the eggs he put into it, a record
which would be perfectly satisfactory even in these days.

A hot-water incubator was exhibited in New York
about the same time. It was claimed for this machine
195

A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY

 

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Dubois’ Incubator (About 1750),
196 POULTRY BREEDING

that it would hatch all but 2 per cent of the perfect eggs.
This shows that the incubator manufacturers of these
days have some precedent for the claims they make as to
the hatching qualities of their machines. These early in-
cubators seem not to have created any permanent impres-
sion, as did the first reaping machine, as there is no direct
line of descent from them to the incubators of the present
day.

A Mr. Halstead, who was a well-known poultry
breeder 50 years ago, invented an incubator known as
the “Model,” which was a hot-air machine. James Ran-
kin, the originator of the modern system of raising ducks
in large numbers, invented a hot-water incubator some-
time in the 70's of the last century, and a Mr. Campbell
of Pennsylvania put out a machine of the hot-water type
a little later. Mr. Campbell’s machine was called the
“Eureka.” It had a clock-work attachment to turn the
eggs at regular intervals and an electric alarm to denote
when the temperature became too high. Mr. Halstead’s
machine had an ingenious regulating device that operated
by the expansion of air in a cylinder, and Mr. Rankin first
used the expansion of water in the tank to regulate the
temperature. As none of these machines survived for a
very long period, it is evident that they lacked in the
essentials that make for success.

Later numerous inventors turned their attention to in-
cubation, and a large number of machines of this kind
were offered, many of them being crude and unscientific,
although they were sold in large numbers.

There are now two types of machines on the market.
One heats the egg-chamber with currents of hot-air or
by the radiation of hot-air, and the other heats the egg-
chamber by means of hot-water in a tank above the eggs.
-\ GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 197

For some reason not easy to understand the cheaper
styles of the incubators now on the market are built on
the hot-water plan and the high-priced ones are hot-air
machines. Curiously enough our great egg and duck
farms almost invariably use hot-air machines, while the
farmers and smaller operators seem inclined to buy hot-
water machines. While it is true that a good many thou-
sand hot-air machines are sold singly to farmers and own-
ers of small poultry plants, we do not know oi a single
large poultry plant equipped with hot-water incubators.

Many devices for regulating the temperature have been
tried, but all have been discarded by the modern incu-
bator manufacturer, except the style that controls the
heat-valve by a device which takes advantage of the ex-
pansion of metals and the one which is controlled by the
expansion of ether confined within a brass disc made with
two sides, so that when the heat causes the ether to ex-
pand the sides of the disc are forced apart, suitable mech-
anism operating a system of levers to cut off the heat
when this occurs. Here again is a sharp distinction.
Most if not all of the hot-water incubators use the disc
regulator, while all the hot-air machines, which have be-
come standard, except two or three, use the expansion
of metals for regulating.

The modern incubator, whether hot-air or hot-water is
used in heating, has arrived at a stage where its economic
value is acknowledged; it has become one of the essen-
tials of the well-equipped poultry plant, and is rapidly
coming to be considered indispensable on the farm, as it
saves time and labor and expense. The incubator makes
it possible to hatch a large number of chicks at the same
time, giving them an equal chance to grow up, bringing
them to market size at the same time and allowing of
198 POULTRY BREEDING

the maturing of pullets to the laying age at the same
time. All the theories that hatching chicks in incubators
year after year would eventually destroy the vitality of
a flock have been thoroughly disproved and modern poul-
trymen give the incubator their unqualified approval.
INCUBATION.—\WVhile the art of incubation is a very
old one, the science of it is just beginning to be under-
stood. The Egyptian or Chinese operator uses his mud
oven and successfully hatches chicks without knowing
why he uses the methods he does, only knowing that his
father and his father’s father for generations have done
the same thing in the same way with the same results.
Strangely enough civilized incubator operators have
never undertaken to hatch chickens in an incubator large
enough for a-man to enter, and today there is probably
not a single hatching machine in this country or Europe
large enough to allow the operator to enter it and per-
form his work from the inside. There is no good reason
why this is not done, for the temperature is not higher
inside an incubator than it often is during the warmest
days of summer in almost any state in the Union. We
have what are called mammoth incubators in these days,
capable of hatching thousands of eggs at a time, but they
are controlled and operated entirely from the outside.
Our incubator knowledge has accumulated slowly and
through many mistakes. For years it was comparatively
easy to hatch chicks in an incubator but hard to raise
them after they were hatched. This trouble was attri-
buted to the brooder used in raising them and many
experiments were made along this line. \When it was
decided that brooders were not at fault the trouble was
attributed to carbonic acid gas (carbon dioxide) liberated
in the process of hatching, and we had incubators made
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 199

 

 

 

 

 

 

Views on a Pennsylvania Egg Farm,
200 POULTRY BREEDING

with a view to getting this out of the egg-chamber as
rapidly as it was formed. Then Graham of Canada, Nix
of Pennsylvania, and Dryden of Utah (now of Oregon),
began to experiment, and they discovered that there is a
greater percentage of carbon dioxide under a sitting hen
than there is in any incubator, and they concluded that
carbon dioxide was necessary to a good hatch in some
way not yet understood.

Later experiments leave the whole subject in much
doubt, but have brought out some facts that seem to
indicate the proper methods by which vigorous chicks
may be hatched with vitality enough to live and mature
normally. We know that we can now hatch chicks that
are perfectly normal, and this is the point at which in-
cubator operators have been aiming all these years. It
seems at this time that scientists were going to get back
to very nearly the ancient mud-oven conditions before
they get to the place where the greatest success will be
achieved with artificial incubation.

Some diseases seem particularly likely to attack chicks
hatched in an incubator, and it is now well known that
infection may be conveyed through the shell of an egg
or even exist in it before it is laid, thus carrying to the
embryo chick the germs that lead to its early death. To
prevent this, the best practice of the latest investigators
is thoroughly to disinfect the eggs and the incubator be-
fore hatching is begun. To accomplish this the eggs are
wiped with a cloth dampened in alcohol and the incubator
is washed with a solution of some antiseptic, such as creo-
lin, every part of the inside and the egg trays washed and
then set in the sun to dry.

The process of incubation is interesting, although sim-
ple in its essentials. An egg is a very complicated piece
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 201

of mechanism, admirably adapted to the circumstances
which are likely to surround it from the time it is ex-
pelled from the ovary of the hen until the life-germ it
contains has completed its growth, becomes a complete
chick and has made its way out of the shell.

The egg is so constructed that the living germ it con-
tains is always at the top, no matter how often its posi-
tion may be changed. This provision of nature gives the
germ the benefit of the heat of the body of the mother
when the natural process of incubation is going forward,
and it follows that the heat of an incubator should be ap-
plied from the upper side, and the heat from all incu-
bators is so applied.

A fertile egg will begin to hatch at somewhere near 90°
F., but this temperature is not high enough to continue
the process of incubation, and an egg exposed to this tem-
perature for some time will merely decay, as the germ
dies and decays, communicating the elements of decay to
the other parts of the egg.

Many otherwise well-informed people think that the
chick is evolved in some curious way from the contents
of the shell, but this is not the case. The germ of life
that exists in a fertile egg bears the same relation to the
remainder of the contents of the shell that the loaf of
bread in a baker’s window does to the man who shall
eat it. When the proper temperature is applied to an
egg the germ starts into life and begins to grow into a
chick, consuming the contents of the shell as growth pro-
ceeds. At the moment of hatching a perfect chick has
consumed the contents of the shell, except the yolk of the
egg, which is practically unchanged. The last process of
incubation is the inclusion of the yolk into the stomach
of the chick and the closing of the navel through which
202 POULTRY BREEDING

the yolk is admitted to'the stomach. When the chick
first emerges from the shell the yolk lies in the stomach
as feed for the chick until it shall have gained strength
to eat for itself, and the process of digestion and assimi-
lation begins at once. The yolk supplies all the feed
needed for the first 48 hours, and no chick should be fed
until this period has elapsed, as such feeding may so
disarrange the digestive system that very serious results
may follow.

The first change after the process of incubation has be-
gun is the formation of a tiny blood speck as the heart
of the embryo begins to perform its functions. A few
hours later this minute speck of blood has divided into
a V-shaped form and the circulation has begun. From
this rudimentary heart veins begin to branch out and
through these the albumen in the white of the egg is
changed to blood and this in turn contributes to the
growth of the body and vital organs of the chick through
the wonderful alchemy of nature. At the end of two days
the pulsation of the blood is plainly visible. One branch
of this rudimentary circulatory system is the left ven-
tricle of the heart and the other is the great artery. At
the 50th hour one auricle of the heart appears and the
beating of the heart may be observed. Gradually the
blood vessels extend themselves through the umbilical
cord and a network of veins is formed which extends
along the inner side of the shell through which oxygen
must come for the purification of the blood and to make
the life processes possible. At this time if a thin-shelled
egg be observed through an egg tester the appearance of
the embryo will be that of a many-legged insect, the
heart being the body and the radiating blood veins the
legs.
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 203

A series of bulbous masses now begin to show as the
beginning of the vertebra, the eyes begin to show, seem-
ingly disproportionally large, and the several sacs which
are to develop as the brain may be seen. The wings,
skin, thighs, stomach, intestines and liver now begin to
develop, and on the fifth day the lungs begin to appear.
Two days later the beak, skin and feathers may be dis-
tinguished and by the eighth day the beak, wings, thighs,
legs and brain begin to assume distinctive form. By the
eleventh day the circulation begins to take permanent
form and the arterial blood is distinctly brighter than
that from the veins. From this time growth is rapid.
All the vital organs except the lungs are working, and
the body of the chick rounds out to completeness until
at the 18th day the complete and perfectly-formed chick
lies in the shell, the yolk still being outside the body. At
this time the chick is apparently doubled and cramped
into the space in the shell in a way completely to prevent
it from action, but this is only apparent, as it is in the
best possible position to break its way to liberty. The
legs are doubled up against its body and the head is
tucked under one wing so far that the beak extends be-
yond the line of the back.

The chick now begins to tap against the inner side of
the shell, unavailingly at first, as its blows with its beak
are too weak to make any apparent impression. The
wing supports the head so as to make it possible for the
chick to deliver the strokes of the beak in the same line
all the time and finally the shell is broken through. Now
the position of the claws is such that by a little exertion
they catch into the lining of the shell so as to revolve the
chick in the shell. The break once made in the shell, the
revolving motion of the body causes a thin line to be
204 POULTRY BREEDING

broken around the shell, the larger end of the shell is
broken entirely around its circumference and an opening
is made through which the chick is able to extricate itself
from its narrow prison and struggle out, a weak and help-
less creature unable to lift its head or stand on its feet.
For several hours it lies half dormant, gathering strength
to struggle more and more until finally it is able to stand
and walk. Here is seen the wisdom of the chemical com-
position of the yolk of the egg. While the white of an
egg has hardly the faintest trace of fat in it the yolk is
one-third fat. The heat of the mother has up to this time
kept the fires of life going, but as soon as the chick
emerges from the shell it requires fuel with which to
maintain vital heat and the fat in the yolk is this fuel.
The whole process of incubation is wonderful and in-
teresting, and one who studies it closely will come to look
upon the egg as a most wonderful creation.
INCUBATORS, HOW TO OPERATE.—No incu-
bator produces as good results in hatching eggs as can
be produced by using hens; nevertheless incubators are
recognized as being more profitable to use than hens. An
incubator may be used at any time in the year, giving the
poultry breeder an opportunity to hatch his chicks early
in the season before hens naturally become broody. With
an incubator a large number of chicks may be hatched at
one time and the chicks being of the same age have an
equal chance to grow up. Again, one man can attend to
the hatching of thousands of chicks when incubators are
used, while comparatively few sitting hens would occupy
his whole time. Where 100 or more chicks are to be
hatched in a season an incubator may profitably be used.
When those who use incubators extensively can be per-
suaded to make an estimate of the percentage of the eggs
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 205

that hatch when incubated in incubators, they usually put
the figure at about 50 per cent. That is, the incubator
operator who uses a good machine, selects the eggs with
care and gives the machine good attention may reason-
ably count on getting 50 chicks from every 100 eggs he
puts into the machine. It has been estimated that for
every + eggs put into an incubator one chick may be
counted on to arrive at maturity. Very frequently a bet-
ter result is obtained, but it is not probable that the
average is even this high.

This seemingly poor result should not frighten any one
from using an incubator, as a careful record of the eggs
used for hatching when hens do the incubating would
show that the difference between the natural and the arti-
ficial method is not very great. The use of good ma-
chines and reliable eggs is not all there is to operating
an incubator. The following concerning the use of in-
cubators was prepared by special request by J. L. Nix
of Pennsylvania who, with Graham of Canada, and Dry-
den of the Oregon Experiment Station, has been giving
the subject of artificial incubation very close attention for
several years. Mr. Nix is probably as well known as any
other investigator along this line, and his experiments ex-
tend over many years of close observation. As a manu-
facturer of incubators he has been vitally interested in
the problems involved in artificial incubation and his con-
clusions can not be said to go wrong in the matter of the
showing made in the number of chicks hatched and their
“livability.” It will be seen that Mr. Nix quotes Prof.
Graham who has collaborated with him in many experi-
ments. Mr. Nix says:

“All those who are interested in raising poultry arti-
ficially are anxious to secure all the information possible
206 POULTRY BREEDING

on incubation, so they may use the incubators they have
intelligently or to familiarize themselves with the art suf-
ficiently to make a wise selection of an incubator when
the purchase of equipment is under consideration. Arti-
ficial incubation is old as an art but new as a science:
briefly stated, all that is required to hatch eggs artificially
is a temperature of 100 2/5° at the center of the egg (101
to 103° by contact). At the same time the eggs should
be immersed in still air (quiescent atmosphere) contain-
ing moisture of relative humidity from 45 to 70 per cent.
This atmosphere should change sufficiently often to carry
off the waste gases eliminated by the eggs. Any excess
of ventilation beyond this may be deleterious. This is
all that is known about artificial incubation at the present
time, apart from many things that are known that will
not work and have a bad effect on the development of the
eggs.

“\Vhile the law of incubation seems comparatively sim-
ple, yet the proper application of these principles in an
incubator is extremely difficult. They require the use of
a well-built case to withstand both moisture and changes
of outside temperature, a reliable and constant source of
heat, a uniform distribution of the heat so each egg gets
a uniform quantity, a sensitive and reliable regulation,
constant ventilation, the constant supply of humidity to
prevent excessive evaporation of the eggs, all so arranged
as not to introduce undesirable conditions to work injury
to the developing embrvo.

“The best method of obtaining the temperature of the
center of the egg is with Dr. Wagner's Inove thermom-
eter. Eggs are run at a temperature of 100 2/5° the
entire time of the hatch. To obtain the same degree of
heat by contact means 102° in cold weather, 101° in
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 207

 

 

 

 

 

 

1, Young Fowls in a Shady Yard. 2, Good Arrangement for Waning Chicks.
208 POULTRY BREEDING

warm weather the first week of incubation, 102° the sec-
ond and 103° the third week. With the hang-up ther-
mometer the readings will run from 103 to 108°, depend-
ing on the machine and the season of the year, to obtain
the same temperature, the object being the same degree
of heat as in natural incubation. The heat should be ap-
plied to the top of the eggs from above. Bottom or side
heat will not do the work. No incubator using other
than top heat ever made a commercial success. The
maximum quantity of heat that can be apphed with safety
is 108° and this not for very long at a time. High tem-
peratures cause too rapid growth and low temperatures
retard growth. In either case when extremes of tem-
perature are prolonged the chick dies in the shell. The
heat used must be distributed so the eggs will develop
equally and will all hatch at once. With bad distribu-
tion, hot and cold spots in the egg-chamber, the eggs are
greatly weakened and, where variation is too wide, are
killed outright.

“The measured quantity of air required to incubate has
as yet never been determined, although many workers are
engaged on the problem. Eggs placed in tightly-corked
bottles in an incubator live but a short time, even in the
beginning of incubation. The embryo breathes through
the shell until the time of exclusion. Experience has
taught ‘the great necessity of ventilation in securing
healthy, hardy chicks. Not only must the incubator be
ventilated, but the ventilating current must not be con-
taminated by leaky heaters or bad air in the room where
the incubator stands. The embryos are particularly sen-
sitive to gaseous or vapor influences. Prof. Elford at
McDonald College found that the vapor of kerosene oil
from an ordinary tank in the hatching room reduced the
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 209

hatch by 17 per cent. Ina room with no ventilation only
11.9 per cent of the eggs hatched and of these 55.5 per
cent died the first week. In a well-ventilated room 36.3
per cent hatched and only 9 per cent died the first week,
the difference being in the first case 5 1/3 chicks in 30.
This shows the influence of bad air outside of the incu-
bator, a trouble easily avoided by free ventilation or pip-
ing off the lamp fumes. Prof. Graham found that even
in natural incubation vitality was affected by the way the
hen was set. The number of chicks alive at the end of
four weeks was as follows:

With hens set on the ground...............6. cee ee 62.2 per cent
With hens set on straw in a bOx...............005. 43.4 per cent
With hens set in ventilated nest..............:0e0+ 39.1 per cent

“This shows conclusively that natural secretions from
the hen’s body—as moisture—must be retained even in
natural incubation to secure chicks that will live. Where
the non-moisture incubator was used, run according to
directions without applied moisture in the egg-chamber,
while the hatches were fairly good the mortality was
high, being over 60 per cent of all chicks hatched, while
the number of chicks alive at the end of four weeks out
of every 100 set was only 16. These were very good
eggs, above the average, and these were the results from
12 tests. By the use of moisture the percentage of living
chicks from 13 tests was 32:7 per cent. As the hens aver-
aged 43.7 per cent and 48.7 per cent respectively this
shows the difference is due to the missing factor in arti-
ficial incubation, this being carbon dioxide or some other
volatile agent. By the use of zenoleum, which contains
volatile carbon compounds that the eggs absorb, prac-
tical results approximate very closely those obtained by
natural incubation, and by its use mortality is much re-
210 ( POULTRY BREEDING

duced and the percentage of livable chicks brought up
from 32 per cent to 44 and 45 per cent of living chicks at
the end of four weeks for every 100 eggs set, which is
very close indeed to the results obtained from using hens
under the most favorable conditions. Further experience
has shown that zenoleum is not always beneficial, as in
about one case in ten it is harmful rather than beneficial.
Prof. Elford found that zenoleum reduced the hatch about
10 per cent but by the use of volatile salts the hatch was
increased 33 per cent, from 51 to 77 per cent of the live
germs. The experiments show that during development
the embryo is particularly sensitive to outside gas and
vapor influences. This is a new field of experimentation
and we look for practical results shortly.

COMPARISON OF METHODS IN HATCHING.

 

 

 

 

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Crowded nests.......6. 60. viene 179 | 15.9] 4 50 2.5 | 43.7 | 16
Incubators—
Whole milk and zenoleum 110 | 19 1 64 2158 45.5 2
Water, C O02* and zenoleum..... 44 | 13.6 11.3 Doe 13 454 1
Waterand zenoleum .....,. «| 464 | 32 lL.4 52.8 16.7 44 6
Water and CO2*............. 04. 129 | 20.1 rita 48.1 21 as 2
Water Once excea ates. Sed 23 1,221) 18.9 [2 11.3 51.9 at B27 13
Dry egg-chamber....... ........ 1406 | 16.3 12.6 40.7 60.5, 1.1 12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*C O02 carbon dioxiule,

“Speaking of moisture machines and dry machines
Prof. Graham says: ‘It will be noticed that the moisture
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 211

machine has fewer fully formed chicks dead in the shell,
it hatches more chicks, a higher per cent of the fertile
eggs as well as a higher per cent of all the eggs set.
There is a difference of 10.9 per cent of the eggs set or
13.1 per cent of the fertile eggs in favor of moisture. If
a comparison be made between the two methods of oper-
ating as to percentage of live chicks to the eggs set, we
find that all moisture machines average 35.9 per cent, or
if we eliminate those in which tarry compounds were
used we have an average of 32.3 per cent, whereas all dry
machines give but 13.4 per cent, or eliminating one in
which the tarry compound was used they then average
12,1 per cent. In other words, 100 eggs hatched in the
machine with moisture gave us 30.3 chicks alive at the
end of four weeks.’

“Speaking of evaporation and moisture, Prof. Dryden,
now of the Oregon Experiment Station, says: ‘Tests
were started in March, 1907, with a view to determining
whether applied moisture in the incubator is necessary.
Nine incubators were used in the first test. The ma-
chines were all of the same make and size. Six were
operated in the basement and three in the room upstairs.
They were run in three sets, three machines in a set. In
each set one machine was with no moisture, one with a
medium amount of moisture and one with a large amount
of moisture, or double the amount of the one getting a
medium amount. In this way each machine was checked
by two others. Great pains were taken to make the con-
ditions in each set the same except in point of moisture.
Each set of three machines had the same kind of eggs.
The eggs were from different flocks, but the same num-
ber from each flock or pen was put in each machine. They
were also divided equally as to ages. The moisture was
212 POULTRY BREEDING

supplied by pouring water on a tray of sand under the
egg tray, the sand tray covering the whole bottom of the
incubator. In the machines without moisture a similar
tray of dry sand was kept.’

“After giving tables on maximum moisture, medium
moisture and non-moisture machines the following is
given:

““Tt will appear from a study of these tables that nearly
100 per cent better hatches were obtained by the use of
moisture, and there was no contradiction in all the tests.’
Under the ‘Weight of Chicks’ the following results were
found which show that the weight of the chicks varied
with the method of hatching: ‘In the machines supplied
with maximum moisture the chicks weighed 1.185 ounces;
in medium moisture machines, 1.159 ounces; in non-mois-
ture machines, 1.072 ounces. Hen-hatched chicks weighed
1.258 ounces. The results of these weighings would in-
dicate that vigor in chicks demands a greater amount of
moisture during incubation than the incubator as at pres-
ent made can furnish.’

“On moisture and germ development another point is
verified in favor of the ‘hatchability’ of the moisture ma-
chines. Prof. Dryden says:

““Another point has been brought out in the moisture
tests. The evidence is somewhat contradictory, but our
tests seem to indicate that proper germ development can
not take place where the proper conditions of humidity do
not exist. Our records show that a larger number of
eggs were tested out of the dry machines as infertile or
dead than out of the moist machines.’

“Further under the heading ‘Evaporation of Eggs’ this
statement is made: ‘It is plain that artificial incubation is
faulty where it does not more closely approach the con-
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 213

ditions of natural incubation. In this case the excessive
evaporation is undoubtedly due to the dryness of the air
in the incubators, because the drier the air the more mois-
ture it will take from the eggs just as more water will
be evaporated from a wet bulb thermometer.’

“As a climax to this very careful and extended series
of experiments under varying conditions the best en-
dorsement of our own discoveries is unknowingly given
in relating facts as they were found from actual experi-
ence. Speaking of sand as a means of supplying mois-
ture the bulletin says: ‘To show the difference in evapo-
ration from a tray of sand and a pan of water, incubator
No. 6, set June 1, was provided with a tray of water in-
stead of sand. The tray was the same as used in the
other machines. The loss of weight in the eggs in this
machine was 16.13 per cent as against an average of 12.28
per cent for the maximum moisture machines where sand
was used. The sand is therefore more effective as an
evaporating surface than water.’ ”

Profs. Graham and Dryden and Mr. Nix are probably
the highest authorities we have on artificial incubation,
Profs. Graham and Dryden making their experiments in
the line of their duties in connection with the experiment
stations to which they are attached, and Mr. Nix for his
own benefit as a manufacturer of incubators. It will be
seen that all of them agree that moisture is necessary to
the best results in artificial incubation. However, it is
but justice to add that we have used two non-moisture
machines with perfect satisfaction and the chicks hatched
from them were healthy and vigorous and grew to matur-
ity with no more than the normal loss. These machines
were used within two miles of Lake Michigan where the
atmosphere is naturally humid and the conditions favor-
214 POULTRY BREEDING

able for non-moisture machines. In California, and on
the high plateaus of the inter-mountain states, we would
not expect as good results from non-moisture machines
as from machines supplied with moisture, because of the
low humidity of the coast country and the high altitudes
of the mountain country. In California we found that a
machine capable of evaporating considerable quantities of
water produced the best results.

Prof. Dryden’s experiments were made at the experi-
ment station at Logan, Utah, at an altitude of probably
5,000 feet above the sea level, which would indicate a
very dry atmosphere, as, in fact, they have at that station.

Speaking of turning and cooling the eggs Mr. Nix
says: “There is no question that turning and cooling the
eggs at regular intervals is essential in obtaining good
hatches. Of eggs that are not turned only 10 to 15 per
cent will hatch. Turning every 12 hours is the common
practice and until the eggs pip, when it should be dis-
continued, but experiments have shown that in some
cases more frequent turning has slightly increased the
hatch. Some operators claim that cooling is waste of
time, but the experience of operators in general, and cur
own experience as well, has shown that cooling in mod-
eration is beneficial. It increases the hatch from 10 to
15 per cent and the chicks that are hatched will live
better where cooling is practiced.” ;

Egg infection, Mr. Nix thinks, should be guarded
against. He says: “One potent cause of poor results
in incubation is infected eggs, either with bacteria or
with moulds. This infection may take place in the nest,
while in storage waiting to be incubated, in the incubator
room or in the incubator itself. To avoid infection the
eggs should be incubated as soon as possible after being
215

F POULTRY

ERS O

KEEP

FOR

A GUIDE

Six White

Leghorn Hens that Laid 1

482 Eggs in One-

 

Year Australian Competition.
216 POULTRY BREEDING

laid. Keep the nest boxes clean and fill frequently with
fresh straw. Store the eggs in clean packages in a tem-
perature from 40 to 60° if possible. In extremely low
temperatures, and when temperatures in storage exceed
75°, deterioration is very rapid. The incubator room
must be kept clean and well ventilated. The incubator
in many cases must be cleaned and thoroughly disin-
fected after every hatch, with a good coal-tar disinfect-
ant or a 2 per cent solution of creolin, or the machine
can be scrubbed out with hot water and cresol soap.
Infection is more likely to occur in a badly-ventilated
incubator or poorly-ventilated incubator room, Any con-
dition surrounding the eggs tending to sap their vitality
makes them more subject to infection. In extreme cases
the careless use of disinfectants in an incubator has been
detrimental rather than beneficial to the hatch, probably
from using too much of it, as the vapor or odor arising
from it after the eggs are in the incubator seems to have
a bad effect. (See Incubators, to Disinfect.)

“Successful incubation means good eggs. The great-
est, most common cause of poor results or failure in incu-
bation is the use of poor eggs of low vitality. Successful
incubation begins long before the eggs are laid. The
eggs must be from stock of strong vitality that has never
been forced, that is fed all the green feed the fowls will
eat and a portion of animal feed as well as grain. While
fowls will lay a goodly number of eggs upon grain or
even corn diet, yet these eggs are lacking in those feed
elements required by the embryo, they hatch poorly and
the chicks that hatch will be of impaired vitality and
very hard to raise. The condition of the breeding stock.
feed, housing and the range should carefully be looked
after, as the neglect of any one of these factors may
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 217

impair the vitality of the stock to such an extent that the
eggs will not give good results in the incubator or under
a hen. Eggs only a few days old are much to be pre-
ferred to those more than 10 days old, as they deteriorate
very rapidly after the first week.”

INCUBATORS, HOW TO OPERATE.—Manufac-
turers of incubators always send with every machine
they sell full directions as to operating them. These
directions apply only to the machine with which they
belong, and should be closely followed, as the manufac-
turer naturally knows more about his machine than any
one else. Some machines have a ventilating system
which allows air to circulate more freely than others,
and such machines evaporate more moisture than those
not so freely ventilated. Other peculiarities of structure
require different treatment and all these are important
to success; the operator should therefore observe direc-
tions. The beginner who thinks he knows better than
the manufacturer how an incubator should be operated
is very likely to fail. There are a few points on which
manufacturers do not agree, and this is our excuse for
securing the opinion of Mr. Nix on the factors that make
for success.

The best place to operate an incubator is in a dry,
well-ventilated cellar. A cellar in which an incubator
is being operated should be free from any odors of de-
caying vegetables, should have a free circulation of air
and should not vary widely in temperature throughout
the day. Such a cellar makes the operating of an incuba-
tor a very simple matter. The next best place is a room
in the house which has windows in the north only, so
the sun will not shine into it at any time in the day
during the weeks that hatching is going on. Should such
218 POULTRY BREEDING

places not be available it is entirely possible to operate
an incubator in any room, and thousands of chicks are
hatched in vacant bed-rooms, kitchens and even living-
rooms. The modern incubator is finished so that it does
not detract from the appearance of a room, even a well-
furnished one.

We have dispensed with all devices for turning the
eggs; the best incubators do not have them. The best
way to turn eggs in an incubator is by hand, one at a
time, or by taking a row of eggs from one side of the
tray and with the flat hand gently rolling those remain-
ing in the tray over to the side the eggs were taken from,
replacing the eggs which were removed in the space left
empty on the side opposite from where they were taken.

It is not necessary to turn eggs half over. The hen
merely stirs the eggs under her by running her beak
among them, by moving them with her feet and by
changing their position by a shaking motion of her body.
We believe in cooling eggs. We have had better hatches
by following this method. The embryo chick receives
its supply of oxygen through the pores of the shell, as
its lungs have not developed to the stage of use. If the
eggs are cooled down about 15° every day the air inside
the shell contracts and to supply the vacuum thus left
outside air is drawn into the shell, thus insuring a larger
supply of oxygen than would have been possible had
not the eggs been cooled.

We turn eggs every morning and evening Take the
egg tray out of the egg chamber and set it on the top of
the machine or on a table kept conveniently close to the
machine. Shut the door of the machine and then turn
the eggs with care, taking about 10 minutes to do it. If
the weather is very warm leave the eggs out from 20 to
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 219

25 minutes. If quite cool shorten the time to 10 minutes.
There is not much danger of destroying the vitality of
eggs by cooling them except during the first 10 days,
and not as much then as is generally supposed.

Run the incubator for a day or two without eggs in it
and get the regulator adjusted before putting the ma-
chine to use. When it has been adjusted to 102° then
put the eggs in. The temperature will fall immediately,
as the cold eggs will cool the egg-chamber almost at
once. Do not change the regulator because of this, but
let the eggs warm gradually and the temperature will rise
again to the proper point.

Do not open the machine unless absolutely necessary,
except when turning and cooling the eggs. Many
hatches have been spoiled by opening an incubator to
show friends how it worked. One would not expect a
very good hatch from a hen that was constantly being
taken off her nest. Do not turn the eggs until the third
day nor after the 18th day. After the first shell is pipped
close the egg-drawer and do not open it except for a
very urgent reason until the chicks are all hatched. As
soon as the chicks begin to break open the shells the
moisture inside them escapes into the egg-chamber in
the form of vapor, which often obscures the glass in
front. This shows that the air inside is saturated with
vapor and to open the machine at this time is to cause a
sudden drop in the temperature which often chills a chick
until it is unable to get out of the shell.

Do not try to help a chick out of the shell. A chick
that is not strong enough to get out of the shell without
help is not worth saving. Sometimes when a very good
hatch is coming off the chicks will gather at the glass in
front and pile up, unless there is a nursery untlerneath
220: * POULTRY BREEDING

for them to drop into. In such cases it is permissible to
open the door and quickly roll the chicks in front out into
a basket lined with soft material, but do not do this
unless there is danger of losing some chicks.

Chicks often struggle and gasp when they first come
from the shell. This is but natural and the struggling
gives them strength. Do not try to help them into an
easier position at this time. Leave the chicks in the
incubator until they are thoroughly dry. If they are left
there 24 hours no harm will come to them.

The most successful incubator operators are those who
worry the least about their machines. With good eggs
and good oil in the lamp the average incubator may be
trusted to go on without needing much outside assist-
ance, once it is properly started. Do not forget that the
directions given by the maker of the incubator are more
reliable than those from any one else. General principles
are well enough and every one should understand them,
but minute details which are given by the maker should
be constantly kept in mind.

INCUBATION, NATURAL METHOD.—Notwith-
standing the fact that incubators have been sold in this
country by the hundred thousand very much the largest
part of the poultry of the country is hatched by hens.
This is nature’s method, and the ingenuity of man has
not yet devised a machine that will produce as good
results as can be produced by hens, Artificial methods
depend for their popularity on other factors of success
than the percentage of eggs hatched and the percentage
of the resulting chicks raised to vigorous maturity.
Where hens are used it is much better to arrange so as
to set several at one time. This brings the chicks off at
the same time and they grow up of the same age with
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 221

equal chances to get feed and without the dangers that
arise from having large and small in the same flock.

It will pay the poultryman who lives in the country to
buy broody hens if his own do not become broody so as
to enable him to set a number at a time. A broody hen,
especially if she is a confirmed old ‘“‘cluck,” is usually
not highly valued if the owner has no use for her and
may be bought cheaply. If a broody hen is moved after
dark and handled carefully she rarely refuses to sit in her
new quarters if she is given eggs to occupy her attention
and require her care. A room where no other hens are
allowed to run, a box-stall in a stable or any other safe
and sanitary place where sitting hens may be isolated
from their companions, may be used for this purpose.
The packing boxes in which canned fruit is packed may
be used for nests, selecting those used for packing two
dozen three-pound cans. Remove the top and one side
except a strip 3” wide at the bottom of the side removed,
this strip being left to keep the nest material in the nest.
In the bottom of the nest box so made put enough garden
soil or sand to make a shallow saucer-shaped nest. Do
not make this too much like a bowl. The bottom should
be concave enough to cause the eggs naturally to work
toward the center but no more. Press this down firmly
and cover it with soft straw or hay or any similar nest
material. Then replace the top of the box and the nest
is ready for use. It is best first to put the hen in the nest
and then put the eggs under her, one at a time, letting
her arrange them under herself. Turn the opening in
the box to the wall and leave the hen to sit in quiet
and seclusion for 24 hours. Treat all hens alike.

In the room where the hens are sitting keep a liberal
supply of whole grain, corn preferably, a box filled with
222 POULTRY BREEDING

dust or coal ashes, a box of grit and a box of charcoal.
At a certain time each day put a vessel of fresh water in
the room and turn each nest with the opening toward the
inside of the room so the hens can come off to feed. If
any hen refuses to come off, gently take her off and then
turn all the nests with the opening to the wall again, so
no hen can return to her nest until the feeding time has
passed. If the hens fight, as they usually will for the
first day or two, they cannot damage the eggs, and there
is no danger that they will hurt each other. Aiter from
20 to 30 minutes turn the nests around again and let the
hens return to them, seeing that each hen returns to her
own nest. In three or four days they will learn where
they belong and return to their own eggs without being
interfered with. Repeat this each day until the 19th,
after which do not force the hens to leave their nests
because as soon as the chicks begin to peep the hens will
not want to come off. \\Vhen the chicks begin to come,
watch the nests and visit them every hour or two, taking
all the chicks that are hatched away from the hens hatch-
ing them, except one. To this hen give all the chicks that
are hatched, taking eggs from under her to substitute for
the chicks given to her. As soon as the first hen has 15
chicks begin giving the newly-hatched chicks to another
hen and so on, giving each hen 15 chicks until the hatch
is finished. This usually leaves one or more hens with-
out chicks, and they may he returned to the laying flock
to get ready to resume laying.

The day after the hatch is finished the hens with their
broods should be removed to the brood coops provided
for them. A. C. Hawkins, a veteran poultryman of Mas-
sachusetts, hatches many of his chicks with hens, but
instead of putting each hen and her brood into a coop by
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 223

themselves he puts three hens and 45 chicks into a larger
brood coop and lets them run together until the chicks
are weaned, We have seen a large number of these triple
broods running in his poultry yards, the hens seeming
perfectly to agree and the chicks running at the call of
either hen without distinction, although they do not heed
the call of any hen but the three with which they run.
Mr. Hawkins says that putting two hens together always
breeds trouble, as the hens fight continually, but three
get along without trouble.

Another plan for hatching with hens has been exploited
extensively and is used by many poultrymen. The first
time we ever saw it in operation was on the poultry farm
of Mr. Hawkins. The illustration (Fig. 224) shows how
this plan is operated. A long coop is made and divided
into compartments 18” square, the divisions of these
compartments extending for 10’ in front of the coop.
These divisions are made solid so as entirely to separate
the hens from one another. The outer end and top are
covered with poultry wire fencing, except a space at the
outer end which is covered with a board hinged to the
frame so it can be lifted like a trap door. This serves
for an opening through which feed and water can be in-
troduced into the several compartments. The roof of
the coop is also hinged at the higher side so it can be
lifted up to examine the hens and their nests when neces-
sary. The ground plan and elevation make the manner
of constructing such a hatching arrangement so plain
that further explanation is unnecessary. Such a hatching
coop may be used as a brood coop also, keeping the hen
and chicks in it for the first week or two, if necessary,
but it is better to provide regular brood coops, such as
are described elsewhere in this work,
POULTRY BREEDING

224

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A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 225

INCUBATORS, TO DISINFECT.—Dr. Woods rec-
ommends that incubators be thoroughly scrubbed with a
solution of one gill of creolin in 8% quarts of water each
time before putting eggs in them to prevent the chicks
from contracting white diarrhoea and other bowel trou-
bles. The machine should be thoroughly dried before
putting the eggs in. Every part ‘should be scrubbed in-
side and out, and the egg trays should be especially well
done. If the eggs are also disinfected there is very good
reason to believe that the ravages af c oeinite diarrhoea will
be largely diminished.

JUDGING FOWLS.—The art of judging fowls can
only be learned by observing an expert judge or being
taught by such a judge. It is admitted that the system
of judging by the use of a score card is not accurate, and
most of the larger shows now have the fowls judged by
comparison. Every breed of fowls is given a “scale of
points” by the American Poultry Association. All fowls
have the same points but the points are not valued alike
in all breeds. For instance, the comb of one breed may
be valued at 10 points while in another breed the comb
may not be valued at more than 3 points. The reason |
for this difference is that in some breeds it is much harder
to get a good comb than in others. So with all sections
of the body in all breeds. Those hardest to breed to per-
fection are given higher values than those easy to breed.
Perfection is taken to be 100 points and the requirements
in the American Standard of Perfection are made so
strict that no fowl could ever by any possible skill of
the breeder reach 100 points. A bird which scores 90
points 1s considered a fairly good one while one scoring.
95 points is rare. As a basis to begin with, the body of
a fowl is divided into sections as follows: Symmetry,
226 POULTRY BREEDING

Weight (in some breeds Size), Head, Comb, Wattles and
Ear Lobes, Neck, Back, Breast, Body and Fluff, Wings,
Tail, Legs and Toes.

In most of the breeds many of the sections are valued
both for color and shape. We will say, for instance, that
we have a breed called North Americans—as the copy-
right on the standard prevents us from using a real
breed—and that we want to make a scale of points for it.

We proceed as follows:
SCALE OF POINTS.

SYMMEGrY sae lece casts jeaaw senaions cd sire: x seman Bea Ree Seder ele 8
"Weight.(OrSize)s:. .iawas rca cin vaca satis canto FHRAE ate we enue de 6
Condon. .acc szsiserica ved GuSie Maan Oe Semedatiers eee 4
Head—Shape 8, Color 8S 2.0... cee cece eect eee renee eens ae 6
WOMUDS . cagans ora Sukie Vise daca Wie ee tEsan BORE seNs 8
Wattles and Ear Lobes—Shape 2, Color 4...........-065 0 cree eee 6
Neck—Shape 3; Colort.c.ccee. icon ciseueasiae eveon de fee ison Be 9
Back—Shape 6, Color 6 viesscc vccsae Gade cacarvewnesenee seas agi 12
Breast—Shape 5, Color 5. .....0 cess ccs e ete cece ee conte eeeees 10
Body and Fluff—Shape 3, Color 3.,..........0 6. 5 cece cee nee 6
Wings—Shape-4; COlOr Giiicvessuisdinte & wadenaee 6 idm ve awh cane 10
Tail—Shape 4, Color 5.. -...6.00eeeeee yatta be ast =” ets eaacet ti 9
Legs and Toes—Shape 3, Color 3....... 6... cece ee cece eee eee 6

“100

The judge examines the bird section by section, re-
membering what the standard requires in each section of
the breed and for all defects he finds in shape or colo: in
any section he sets down the deficiency or “cuts” that
section for the deficiency as much as he thinks it de-
serves. When he has gone over the bird in this way he
adds up the cuts he has made, subtracts this sum from
100 and the remainder is the “score” of that bird. This
is called “judging by the score card.”

When a judge is judging by comparison he goes over
the birds without setting down their defects and elim-
inates from the competition all that are plainly not good
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 227

enough to win prizes. He then goes over more carefully
the birds still considered eligible and applies the stand-
ard requirements, without making any record of his cuts,
simply keeping them in mind, until he has selected the
best and those that follow in rank of merit, awarding
the prizes accordingly.

KAFFIR-CORN.—Kaffir-corn is a good grain feed for
fowls. It is about half way between oats and corn in
nutritive value, being richer in protein than corn and
poorer than oats. The size of the grains makes it a valu-
able feed for chicks after they are four or five weeks old.
It is very much esteemed by pigeon breeders as a feed
and poultrymen who live where it can easily be secured
would do well to use it rather freely.

KNOWLEDGE OF POULTRY FEEDING.—We
have not yet reached the point in our knowledge of poul-
try feeding where we can say definitely that a certain
method of feeding is the best. Yet a knowledge of the
best methods and the reason for following these methods,
together with a general knowledge of the science of feed-
ing, will help the poultryman very much. Knowledge
along these lines will often enable the poultryman to
select between two rations and save money while obtain-
ing as good results with a cheaper ration as he would
with one costing more.

LAYING HENS, COOK’S SIGN.—William Cook,
originator of the Orpington fowls, told the writer that
he could select a good laying hen every time by observ-
ing the short feathers that grow on each side at the base
of the comb. If these feathers curl up and are inclined
to point forward the hen is a good layer and if they lie
smoothly, the points lying flat, the hen is a poor layer.
228 POULTRY BREEDING

LAYING HENS, HOW TO SELECT.—While no
given laying type of hen has ever been found, pirereby
certainty can be assured, some general/ principlas may
be applied with considerable chance of guessing. cor-
rectly. A good-laying hen usually has a coshb’ rather
larger than the average of her breed; the gémb is bright
red; the eye bright; neck rather longer ‘than the aver-

; breast broad sod somewhat receding from top to
on back long and wider at hips than’ shoulders;
ainicenar deep, the lower line being lower than the lower
line of the breast; tail well spread; legs wide apart. An
examination of the pelvic bones will show that those of
a good layer are far apart. The pelvic bones are the two
rather pointed bones which may be felt in the rear of
body just below and at each side of the vent. Ina laying
hen the points of these bones will be wide apart. If they
are close together the hen is not laying and the chances
are that she is not a good layer. If three fingers can bé
laid between the points of these bones the hen may be
taken for a good layer. A good layer, even when not
laying, shows the pelvic bones well apart, although not
so far as they will be when she is in full lay. If the bones
are close together and hard to press apart the chances
are that the hen is a very poor layer.

LICE AND MITES.—Lice and mites cause a great
deal of loss to poultrymen. Lice and mites are respon-
sible for more loss than all diseases combined. This is
not a startling statement to those who understand the
extent of the ravages of insect pests. Three kinds of lice
live on poultry, completing their whole life cycle on the
bodies of their hosts. The common hen louse is very
active and dull yellow in color, It has six legs and its
head is rounded in front. During the night the lice move
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 229

from one fowl to another and thus a whole flock is soon
infested. They multiply very rapidly, especially in warm
and damp weather. A new generation matures about
every three weeks. Two kinds of lice infest the heads of
fowls—a small gray one, whitish in color and very small,
and a large gray louse frequently found on the heads of
chicks and young turkeys.

Body lice do not live on the blood of their victims but
they cause so much irritation that diarrhoea and death
often follow their presence. The lowa Experiment Sta-
tion recommends the following lice powder which anyone
can mix: To a mixture of 3 parts gasoline and 1 part
crude carbolic acid add as much plaster of paris as it will
moisten. This makes a pinkish-brown powder perfectly
dry, having the characteristic odor of carbolic acid. Hold
a fowl up by the legs and sift the powder down through
the feathers and fluff, working it down to the skin. More
than one application may be needed to kill off those which
hatch after the first application. The second application
should be made a week after the first.

Sitting hens should be thoroughly dusted before eggs
are put under them. There are many liquid lice-killers,
made chiefly from coal-tar or gas-house wastes. A mix-
ture of 1 gallon of kerosene and 1 pound of crude car-
bolic acid is perfectly effective. This should be painted
on the perches and sides of the house, using the mixture
plentifully. Ifa sprayer is handy it is better to spray the
mixture on the sides of the house, dropping boards and
perches. Every inch of the surface should be touched
by the mixture to make the work effective.

Red mites that destroy many fowls are not true lice
but blood-sucking spiders. They live on the blood of
their victims and when allowed to increase without hind-
230 POULTRY BREEDING

rance they multiply amazingly. They live in cracks and
crevices of the house and under the perches during the
day unless they are very numerous, when some may be
found on the fowls at any time. The mixture described
will destroy them without fail, if faithfully used. Poultry
houses should be painted with this lice-killer at least
once in a month, and oftener if lice are found. If there
are any present they may be found by lifting up the
perches, as they cluster together and are at once revealed
by their intense red color, the color being that of the
blood on which they have gorged themselves.

Every poultry house should have a dust-box in it, as
dust is the natural lice-killer for fowls and if they are
furnished with a supply of it lice will rarely get a very
good foothold in the flock. The Iowa station gives the
following directions for making cresol soap and recom-
mends it for disinfecting and killing lice and mites:
Shave one 10-cent cake of laundry soap into 1 pint of
soft water; heat or allow to stand until a soap paste is
formed; stir in 1 pound of commercial cresol and heat-
or allow to stand until the soap paste is dissolved; then
stir in 1 gallon of kerosene. For a lice-killer use undi-
luted, painting the perches and sides of the house with
a paint brush. If used as a spray add 50 parts of water
and stir. This will make a milky fluid which may be
used in the sprayer. Cresol is a coal-tar product and
druggists supply it.

LIMBERNECK.—This is a disease in which the fowl
loses the power to hold its head up, and often the neck
-is twisted. It is usually caused by eating decaying ani-
mal matter, although on rare occasions it may be caused
by eating some other poisonous matter. To prevent it
bury or burn at once all dead animals or fowls. To
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 231

cure it, give the sick fowl an equal quantity of turpentine
and olive oil. Give an adult fowl from one to two table-
spoonfuls; for a chick from a 10-drop-dose to a teaspoon-
ful according to age. Keep in a warm place and feed rice
boiled in milk.

LINE-BREEDING.—The whole subject of line-breed-
ing has been so fully and clearly treated by Prof. H. C.
Pierce of the Iowa State College in THE BrrEEvER’s Ga-
ZETTE that we reproduce it entire:

‘Line-breeding may popularly be defined as systema-
tized inbreeding. It is a system of inbreeding to per-
petuate and intensify in their offspring the good qualities
of individuals, and at the same time avoid the difficulties
and failures that often result from too close inbreeding.
Persistent close inbreeding, such as the mating of brother
and sister for several generations, often results in im-
paired fecundity, loss of size, and decrease in constitution
and vigor. Cross-breeding or outbreeding, on the other
hand, where birds of different varieties or even different
strains within a variety are mated together, tends to
break down the blood lines and cause variations from the
types of the parents.

“In many cases where birds of outstanding excellence
but different bloodlines have been mated together the
offspring has been decidedly inferior to either of the
parents, because the bloodlines did not ‘nick’ to perpetu-
ate their good qualities, but allowed the defects of each
to appear. Cross-bred stock, however, usually possesses
good fecundity and constitutional vigor.

“Line-breeding therefore endeavors to secure the good
properties of both systems without the faults of either.
A clear conception of the methods followed in line-breed-
ing may be had by studying a chart (page 232) which
2323 POULTRY BREEDING

has been drawn from one published several years ago by
I. K. Felch, the veteran Light Brahma breeder. In this
chart the solid black circles and segments represent the
blood elements, and the solid lines that a male has been
chosen from the group from which they start. The white
circles and segments represent the female blood elements
and the dotted lines that the females had been chosen

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from the group from which they start. The shaded circle
represents a scheme for the admission of new blood.
Suppose we have two extra good birds which when mated
together produce high-class offspring. Then the problem
is how to perpetuate the quality of the parents and off-
spring without the dangers of close inbreeding or of
destroying the results of several years of work by violent
out-crossing. By following line-breeding three blood-
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 233

lines may be developed, one of which shall contain a pre-
ponderance of original male blood, one a preponderance
of original female blood, and the third equal proportions
of original male and female blood.

“In the chart let 1 represent the original male and 2
the original female. Then by crossing 1 and 2 the result
is group 3, which possesses equal parts of the blood of 1
and 2. Selecting the best pullet from 3 and mating to
her sire 1, group 4 is produced, which contains 34 of the
blood of the original sire and %4 of the blood of the
original dam. In a like manner the best cockerel from 3
mated to his dam (2) produces group 5, which is made
up of 34 of the blood of the original dam and 14 of the
original sire. Proceeding in a similar manner by mating
the original parents to their offspring in the third genera-
tion, we obtain at groups 6 and 7 offspring which con-
tain either 7% the blood of the original sire and 1% the
blood of the original dam, or 7% blood of the original
dam and % blood of the original sire, as the case may be.
Thus the blood of the original sire has been practically
eliminated from the female line, and the blood of the
original dam from the male line. If the original parents
were still in breeding condition the blood of each could
be intensified to 15/16 in the fifth generation. To obtain
the original cross, however, at any generation after the
second, it is only necessary to select parents from corre-
sponding groups on each side of the line. As for instance
‘a cockerel from group 6 mated to pullets from group 7
will produce in the fifth generation group 9, which con-
tains mathematically %4 the blood of the original pair.
Similar results can be obtained by selecting parents from
4 and 5, for the fundamental law involved works in the

same way.
234 POULTRY BREEDING

“The fifth and sixth generations, as shown in the chart,
indicate only a few of the possible groups that may be
obtained from various matings. Thus if the original sire
and dam cannot be used for breeding purposes beyond
the fourth generation their blood may be maintained in
13/17 of its intensity by choosing parents from groups
4 and 6, or 5 and 7, to produce groups 8 and 10 respec-
tively. Then parents chosen from groups 8 and 10 will
produce group 13, which is again mathematically 14 the
blood of the original pair, and the original offspring again
reproduced as far as blood lines are concerned. By
choosing parents from 6 and 8 the male line contains in
group 12, 27/32 of the blood of the original sire and 5/32
of the blood of the original dam. By choosing parents
from 7 and 10, 27/32 of the blood of the original dam, and
5/32 of the original sire is produced in group 14. If it is
deemed advisable to vary the proportions of the bloods
of either side in any mating, groups 11 and 15 show that
by selecting parents from 8 and 9, or 10 and 9, 21/32 of
the blood of either line and 11/32 of the other may be
obtained. Many other proportions may be worked out
by combining different groups.

“Tf it is advisable at any time to introduce new blood,
it may be done satisfactorily by adding a female to any
mating desired and distributing the new blood through
her progeny. Thus by mating a female of outside blood
(N) to male from group 8, there is produced group 16
in which the offspring contains 14 new blood, 13/32 orig-
inal sire blood and 3/32 blood of the original dam. It is
a safer course to add new blood through a female than
a male, as there is less danger of an entire mating being
rendered worthless in case the blood does not combine
to good advantage.
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 235

“By continually selecting the best individuals in each
generation line-breeding offers a system to the careful
breeder whereby the quickest and safest improvements
may be obtained. It must be remembered, however, that
although no brother and sister matings are made, it is
a system of inbreeding, and that faults in the stock will
be intensified as well as excellencies. Especial care
should be taken therefore not to mate together any indi-
viduals which have the same faults in common. The
practice of buying cockerels of unrelated blood each year
to cross upon the breeding flock is a most common prac-
tice of out-breeding. This tends to maintain constitu-
tional vigor, but is not conducive to the perfection of
type or egg-laying capacity. But as constitutional vigor
is the most important factor in the breeding of utility
poultry for the man who pays but little attention to his
breeding stock the practice should not be too hastily
condemned.”

MARKING BETWEEN THE TOES.—As soon as
the chicks are hatched a hole is punched in the web be-

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tween the toes. This hole will remain’ as long as the
chick lives. The cut shows different combinations are
possible and by keeping a record a number of differ-
ent pens may be recorded and their breeding kept
straight. Poultry markers for marking chicks in this
way are for sale by supply houses, or an ordinary sad-
236 POULTRY BREEDING

dler’s punch may be used. The operation 1s simple and
seems quite painless.

MARKETING POULTRY.—It requires some ability
in the way of salesmanship to get the best results from
marketing poultry as well as to sell anything else. Mar-
keting poultry successfully depends in a great measure
on getting the fowls well finished before they are sent to
market. If they are to be marketed alive in the general
market they should be consigned to some honest com-
mission merchant. The reputation of the merchant
should be carefully looked into before making consign-
ments, as the cities are full of swindling commission
merchants, although there is no lack of honest ones, if
trouble is taken to find them. Having the fowls in prime
condition, feed them fully and put them in crates without
crowding them in too closely. Many a consignment is
shipped at a loss because the fowls are crowded too
closely into the shipping crate. Advise the merchant of
the shipment and call his attention to the quality of the
fowls, so he will understand that they are better than
the ordinary ones picked up out of a barnyard, Ship old
and young separately so as to get the advantage of the
ditference in price. Never send a crate of poor fowls to
market. Make a reputation for your name and you will
soon get the highest prices. If you have anv of poor
quality to sell dispose of them to the home buyer, as he
handles so many thin, skinny birds that a few more or
less will make no difference to him.

If the fowls are to be dressed before sending to market
take pains to have them look plump and clean. In the
great packing houses fowls are dry-picked, and most
cities prefer them picked without scalding. The fowls to
be dressed are hung up by the feet, each foot being
IN
my

KEEPERS OF POULTRY

FOR

A GUIDE

Well

Fitted Fowls Properly Dressed for the Market,

 
238 POULTRY BREEDING

slipped into a narrow hook which prevents the feet from
passing through. These hooks are far enough apart so
that when the fowl is hung in them its legs will be well
spread. The killer then runs a sharp-pointed knife
through the top of the mouth into the brain and giving
the blade a turn severs the jugular vein. The bird is de-
prived of sensation instantly and any struggles it makes
are only muscular contractions, of which it has no control
or power to feel. In a moment the skin relaxes, the
feathers drop slightly and the fowl can easily be picked
without tearing the skin.

After the feathers are off the fowl is laid on a cooling
board, with its head hanging down until all of the animal
heat is cooled out. It is then packed in boxes large
enough to hold one dozen fowls. The box is first lined
with white paper, then the first layer of fowls is placed
in with the feet pressing against the breast and the head
neatly tucked under the wing, breasts down. The top
laver is then put in, backs down, with heads and feet dis-
posed in the same way, a layer of white paper laid over
them and the top nailed down. Before packing, the
heads are wiped clear of blood, the feet and legs care-
fully cleaned and the carcass is arranged so as to present
a clean and attractive exterior. The boxes should be
clean and bright and the paper with which they are lined
white. Dressed poultry is sometimes packed in barrels,
but commission merchants prefer boxes. Never put
straw in with poultry nor wrap the carcasses in paper.

In the neighborhood of cities and large towns the
poultryman who has the ability to sell will often be able
to work up a trade with families that will bring him
better prices than he can get from merchants. It is best
to have regular days to deliver either poultry or eggs, and
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 239

take orders one trip for deliveries the next. If one family
is satisfied the members tell their friends and the business
will increase, if the poultry proves all it should be. In
seeking a private trade it is a good plan to have each fowl
in a neat pasteboard box by itself, as it makes an attrac-
tive package that increases trade. When dealing with
families never deliver a fowl that is not in perfect con-
dition. If there are some that are not quite first-class sell
them to the stores. It does not require a very large town
to use a large quantity of poultry and many poultrymen
make a good profit on such a trade.

MASH.—This is ground grain, mixed into a dough
with water or milk. Usually the word is used to desig-
nate a mixture of ground grain made into a dough before
feeding. Later methods have brought ‘into use the
words “dry mash” to designate a mixture of ground grain
fed dry. There is some difference of opinion as to the
relative value of wet and dry mashes. Experiments have
shown that for feeding chicks there is not much differ-
ence, but in feeding laying hens some careful experiments
at Cornell indicate that dry mash was preferable to wet.

MATING.—There is no system of mating cross-bred
or mongrel fowls by which any improvement can be
brought about because so many bloodlines enter into the
composition of such fowls. We assume that no one will
try to mate mongrel fowls for the improvement of the
flock and proceed on the assumption that this section
relates to pure-bred fowls only. In the mating of his
breeding pens the poultrvman shows how much progress
he has made as a breeder. When he has learned so to
mate his fowls that he can produce a large percentage
of standard fowls and a smaller one of exhibition fowls
he has taken his place as an expert breeder. In mating
240 POULTRY BREEDING

fowls the object is to improve on both parents. If Dar-
win’s dictum were entirely true we should only need to
mate high-class fowls together to produce high-class
progeny, but unfortunately the Darwinian rule is weak-
ened by the very large number of exceptions that occur
when we try to work by it. There is a law which works
to reproduce species, but when we come to work for indi-
vidual specimens of high quality we find that the law of
variation interferes and our best matings produce many
inferior or very ordinary specimens, and the best the
most skillful breeder can expect is to secure a few excel-
lent birds, a somewhat larger number of good ones, a
still larger number of standard birds and many culls,
having defects that preclude their use in the breeding
pens of a breeder who 1s careful about his bloodlines, for
defects have a way of showing up in an intensified form
in the progeny of any kind of stock.

The poultry breeder must contend with several factors.
He must be careful in making his matings, that he may
secure both shape and color, and must at the same time
breed from healthy stock only, for disease also intensifies
itself when bred into young stock. A hen that has had a
bad case of roup should never be used as a breeder, for
the tendency to fall victim to the roup germ will be trans-
mitted to her progeny, and there is reason to believe that
such progeny will have less power of resistance to other
diseases. So with any other diseases. Use for breeding
only such fowls as have a perfect record for health, and
especially those which, having good digestive power, are
easy to keep.

The poultryman who keeps standard poultry will of
course have a copy of the American Standard of Fx-
cellence. He cannot very well do business without one,
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 241

He should study it and know exactly what it requires in
the breed or breeds he keeps. In mating most breeds
fowls of high standard quality should be mated together,
as a rule, but there are several exceptions. In making
the standard, the ideal of the fancier did not coincide
with the plans of nature and the poultry-breeder will find
it difficult in several breeds to breed standard require-
ments by breeding standard fowls together. For ex~
ample, in mating Barred Plymouth Rocks the best
breeders find it necessary to make two distinct matings:
one to produce cockerels and the other to produce pullets.
The tendency of this variety is to produce cockerels much
lighter in color than the pullets, yet the standard re-
quires that the birds “shall match in the show pen.” -This
peculiarity in this variety has been explained by Prof.
W > J. Spillman, of the Department of Agriculture, he
having discovered that the male of this breed transmits
barring to both male and female of his descendants, while
the female transmits barring only to her male descend-
ants. This peculiarity naturally causes the males to be
lighter in color than the females.

In order to get exhibition birds the breeder must prac-
tice double mating. To get good cockerels he uses a male
of standard color and a female much darker than would
pass as a prize-winner in the show room. The male
should be perfectly barred to the skin, his color being
bright and “snappy,” so as to transmit this distinct bar-
ring to his male progeny. The female should be several
shades darker and the barring should be to the skin, For
pullets of good color an opposite mating must be made.
Select a male very light in color, yet distinctly barred to
the skin. For this purpose the male should be so light
that he would not be considered in the show room. The
242 POULTRY BREEDING

female mated to him should be standard in color and very
distinctly barred to the skin. Very few breeders make
what is called a ‘“‘middle mating” in mating Barred Plym-
outh Rocks, but such matings produce too many culls,
although it must be said that they produce a few very
fine birds. Such a mating is made with medium-dark
hens and medium-light cocks, the object being to get
good chicks of both sexes. Both parents should be per-
fect in comb and color of eyes and shanks. The eye
should be distinctly red and the skin yellow. Avoid hens
with willow-colored shanks or those with a number of
blue spots on the shanks. Light Brahmas are now bred
by double mating by our best breeders. The standard
says the primaries shall be black and white, black to pre-
dominate. Judges almost invariably prefer the primaries
almost entirely black and a prize often hangs on this
point.

In selecting breeding stock choose those birds which
are strong in this respect in the wing. The tail also
should be greenish black, except the coverts, which should
be distinctly laced with white. Be very particular that
the combs are as near as possible according to standard
requirements, especially in the females. In every part of
the plumage where black is called for in the standard
select birds strong in that part, the black being a brilliant
clear black without dullness or rustiness. The skull
should be flat and wide, the eyebrows overhanging. The
neck should be medium in length, not as long as the
Langshan nor as short as the Cochin. Take birds with
full, round breast, wide back and great depth of body.

Buff fowls are difficult to breed, as the buff color is a
hard one to hold. Either black and white is likely to
appear in the tail and primaries. Select males of a clear
A‘GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 243

buff throughout and females rather reddish in color but
stopping short of red. Examine the undercolor and re-
ject any bird with white next the skin.

Brown Leghorns must be double-mated to produce the
birds to which judges award first prizes. For breeding
cockerels select hens very dark in color. If there is some
lacing on the breast so much the better. Keep away
from brick color on the wingbows or reddish feathers on
the body. See that the shanks are bright yellow. The
comb should be evenly serrated and rather small. If it
stands erect it is better. The male for cockerel breeding
should be dark-red in color with a brilliant black breast.
The hackle and saddle should be distinctly striped with
black. The comb should be large, perfectly erect, free
from thumb marks, evenly serrated and velvety in ap-
pearance. :

For pullet breeding, select females that are as perfect
in color as possible, always avoiding brick color in wing-
bows or back. The feathers should be free from shaft-
ing; that is, the shafts of the feathers on the back should
be black instead of light in color. The breast should be
a deep salmon-red, the comb heavy, but thin, lopping to
one side. Mate such hens with a male which has a yel-
low hackle and-saddle, without striping in the saddle. If
there is a little show of red in the breast the cock will be
all the better for pullet breeding. In both sexes be par-
ticular that the undercolor in mating for either cockerels
or pullets is dark, avoiding any appearance of white. If
the male used is a cockerel not more than a year old see
that there is no white in his face. Choose typical shape
in both sexes. The hock should show at least half an
inch below the line of the body, as one fault in this
variety is the shortness of the upper half of the leg.
244 POULTRY BREEDING

Black fowls have a fashion of coming with white in
their plumage. This goes to the extent that black varie-
ties not infrequently throw pure white chicks. In select-
ing breeding stock take particular pains to exclude any
bird with more than the faintest showing of gray at the
tips of the larger feathers of wing, and it is better if they
are absolutely black. The ideal color of black fowls is
brilliant black with a greenish iridescence. These breeds
have a tendency to come purple instead of showing this
greenish sheen. This purple often shows as a purple or
plum-colored barring on the feathers. This is quite ob-
jectionable.

To establish a strain of fowls that will throw a large
percentage of high-class birds is the ambition of every
poultry fancier. To do this inbreeding or line-breeding,
as some prefer to call it is practiced. This method of
breeding intensifies the blood and reduces the chances of
having the chicks come with faults, because it reduces the
number of ancestors to which any particular chick may
run back. Inbreeding requires great care in selecting the
breeding stock in order to avoid any tendency to inherit-
able diseases ot faults in color or shape.

MILK ALBUMEN FOR FOWLS.—Tests with milk
albumen in the place of beef scrap or beef meal showed
that the albumen was not as effective as the meat feeds.
The price at which it is sold makes it too costly to be
profitable as long as beef scrap can be obtained almost
anywhere.

MILK FOR FOWLS.—Milk in any form, sweet, sour
or as buttermilk, is a very valuable feed for fowls of all
kinds, as it takes the place of meat feeds to a considerable
extent. Experiments at the West Virginia Experiment
Station by Atwood showed that milk was worth about 1
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 245

cent a pound when fed to laying hens. Milk fed to laying
hens or growing chicks makes better returns than when
fed to pigs.

MINERAL MATTER.—The mineral matter or ash in
the feed of a laying hen is so important that we want to
emphasize the fact that unless feed contains a liberal
quantity of mineral matter the hen can not produce the
largest possible number of eggs. There is nearly eight
times as much mineral matter in the dry substance of an
egg as there is in corn or wheat, and no system of feed-
ing with grain can supply a good laying hen with enough
mineral matter to manufacture eggs. To supply this de-
ficiency we must feed crushed bone, oyster shell or lime-
stone grit in abundance. One or more of these should
always be kept before laying hens and growing chicks.

MOLTING OF FOWLS.—The most careful series of
observations covering the molting of fowls at all ages
that were evér made were those of Prof. James E. Rice,
Miss Clara Nixon, and Clarence E. Rogers at the Cornell
University Experiment Station. To Miss Nixon is due
the honor of having discovered where the down that
covers a chick at birth goes. She discovered that this
down is really the tips of the feathers which appear later
in the life of the chick. As the chick grows the feather
pushes its down tip farther out and the down is worn
off while the feather appears in full form a little later.
Miss Nixon also discovered that a pullet molts four or
more times before reaching the laying period, the feathers
dropping out to be replaced by others more in accordance
with the size of the chick from time to time.

The so-called Van Dreser method of molting consists
in cutting down the rations of fowls at the time the molt
would naturally begin until. they lose something in
246 POULTRY BREEDING

weight. The reduction in the ration is made gradually
and really consists in putting them on starvation diet for
a week or two. Then the ration is gradually increased
until the fowls are on heavy feed again. This seems to
hasten the molt and cause the whole flock to molt quickly
and at one time. The experiments at Cornell indicate
that there ig no advantage in this method and possibly
some disadvantage, although this was not clearly demon-
strated.

In order to determine just how molting proceeds White
Leghorns were used and these were colored blue, red,
green and various other colors, so that when new feathers
came in they could be noticed at once. It was found that
the average time required for the full molt was 104 days
with three-year-old hens, 101 days with two-year-olds and
82 days with yearlings. It required 42 days for a body
feather plucked out to renew itself and somewhat longer
for a tail feather.

Hens should be fed a highly nitrogenous ration during
the molting period, as the demand for materials from
which to supply feather material is very heavy. Wheat,
wheat bran, middlings, beef scrap, meatmeal, gluten feed,
oats, oilmeal and similar feeds rich in protein should be
fed freely.

NEST BOXES.—On page 247 are shown several types
of nest-boxes. The nest-box should be easy of access, par-
tially darkened and so arranged that hens feel secluded
and hidden while on the nests.

OATS.—This grain comes very nearly being a balanced
ration, so far as chemical composition is concerned, but
it seems to have too much woody hull to be considered
the best grain to feed in its natural condition. Clippea
oats make a very valuable grain feed for laying hens.
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 247

 

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248 POULTRY BREEDING

Sprouted oats or even oats soaked a few hours are better
than the dry grain.

OATS, SPROUTED.— Oats that have been dampened
and kept in a.warm place until they have started sprouts
about an inch long are considered a valuable addition to
the ration of either laying hens or growing chicks. The
nutritive elements are changed as in the process of diges-
tion when the grain begins to grow and the fresh sprouts
take the place of other green feed. The common method
of sprouting is to put the oats in a suitable receptacle,
such as a box, and dampen them with warm water, leay-
ing them in a warm place for 24+ hours. After this they
are spread out to a depth of about an inch and kept damp,
but not wet until the sprouts are the proper length. An-
other method used in warm weather is to spread the oat
on a platform laid on the ground in a sunny place and
cover with about an inch of soil. This is kept damp un-
til the sprouts appear above the surface, when it is taken
up and given to the chicks or hens, the roots making it
easy to cut out blocks with a hoe or spade.

OVERFAT HENS.—The overfat hen is a myth. A
hen never gets too fat to lay if she is given an opportunity
to take plenty of exercise. Hens may be confined and
fed until they are too fat to be healthy, but it is almost
impossible to feed a hen too much if she is compelled to
hunt her feed by scratching for it in litter. The best lay-
ing hens are fed plenty of grain and beef scrap or green
cut bone and green stuff or its substitute, clover or al-
falfameal.

OYSTER SHELL.—Oyster shells furnish material for
egg shells. Ordinary feeds do not furnish enough lime
for this purpose, and hens can not lay eggs without shell
material.
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 249

PEPPER.—Pepper is frequently fed to laying hens in
cold weather under the mistaken notion that it warms the
birds. Pepper is stimulating and should never be fed to
healthy fowls. It is sometimes useful in sickness in the
flock. In case the flock seems afflicted with colds a little
red pepper often seems to produce a good effect.

POULTRY AS FOOD.—Poultry long has been re-
garded as a delicate as well as a nourishing form of ani-
mal food, but not until within a few years have any
attempts been made to determine exactly the place poul-
try occupies in the dietary of man as regards its nutritive
qualities. The Storrs station published a bulletin on this
subject, containing some elaborate tables of the nutritive
values of poultry of all kinds, game birds, flesh of domes-
tic animals and a few of the more common vegetable
foods. These tables show that more value can be bought
in poultry for the same amount of money than in most
other animal foods; that eggs at 24 cents a dozen are as
cheap as mutton at 20 cents or fowl at the same price.
While cheap beef is more economical than high-priced
poultry, the housewife who buys poultry at the same
price at which she can get good cuts of beef is not wast-
ing money. Farmers can well afford to eat poultry that
they have raised on their farms rather tltan sell the poul-
try and buy other meats at the average market prices.

POULTRY, BEGINNING IN.—There are two ways
in which to start in the poultry business—buying fowls
and buying eggs to hatch. The better plan is to buy
good fowls from a reliable breeder, but this has the dis-
advantage of being much more costly than buying eggs.
If one is disposed to begin moderately a trio of good
fowls will produce enough eggs to give the beginner a
good flock within six months. When this is done the
250 POULTRY BREEDING

beginner knows exactly what kind of stock his fowls are
bred from. From two hens and a cock it is entirely pos-
sible to hatch 100 chicks during the season, without be-
ginning too early or continuing too late into the summer.
Of these one-half would be cockerels and probably one-
half the pullets would not be good enough to breed from,
but they would be as good for laying as any. Counting
the chicks worth 25 cents each the day they are hatched,
which is a fair price for chicks from good stock, the be-
ginner can afford to pay $25 for a trio of fowls, and this
amount should procure a very good trio with which to
start.

With $25 to invest the beginner can buy from 100 to
200 eggs for hatching from reliable breeders. Of these
it is safe to count on about two-thirds hatching with the
same reductions for cockerels and inferior pullets as in
the case of buying fowls. As fowls mature and come into
profit-making within six months from the time the eggs
are laid, the matter of making a start does not much
matter. If either method is chosen the beginner will
begin to receive returns before the end of the first year
and the rapid increase among fowls makes it possible to
build up a large flock within the limits of two seasons,
and as the difference between the two methods is not
enough to be of first importance the beginner may safely
adopt either without fear of going far wrong. If cir-
cumstances point to one method as being more con-
venient than the other the more convenient should be
followed.

POULTRY DROPPINGS.—Discussing the fertilizer
value of poultry droppings the New Hampshire Experi-
ment Station says: “As is well known when poultry
droppings accumulate under the roost and when they are
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 251

left in barrels there is a strong odor of ammonia notice-
able. The development of such an odor is a sure sign
that gaseous ammonia is escaping into the air to be lost
for the present. How to prevent such a loss is to pre-
vent the development of the odor. Several chemicals,
of more or less fertilizing value in themselves, may be
added to the droppings from time to time with good
effect, both in stopping waste and in making the air of
the henhouse more wholesome. The best materials for
this purpose are gypsum or land plaster, acid phosphate
and kainit, a cheap potash salt. Each of the chemicals
has the power of forming new compounds with the am-
monia as fast as it is set free from the original combina-
tion. Wood ashes or slaked lime should never be used
because neither combines with ammonia but forces it out
of its compounds and takes its place. Plaster is apt to
form a dry, lumpy mixture when used in large enough
quantities to arrest the ammonia, while acid phosphate
and kainit effect a moist, sticky mass.”

Bulletin 98 of Maine Experiment Station describes an
experiment in which sawdust was used in addition to
chemicals. By this addition of an absorbent, the kainit
and acid phosphate could then be used with excellent
results. “Using these results as a basis for calculation
the weekly droppings of 25 hens, when scraped from the
roosting platforms, should be mixed with about 8 pounds
of kainit or acid phosphate and half a peck of sawdust.
If one wanted a balanced fertilizer for corn or other
hoed crops, a mixture of equal parts of kainit and acid
phosphate might be used instead of either alone. Good
dry meadow muck would be equally good as sawdust, if
not better as an absorbent. In the experiment men-
tioned more than half the ammonia was lost in hen
252 POULTRY BREEDING

manure without chemicals when compared with that
which had been mixed with them.”

Fresh poultry droppings at present value for fertilizers
would be worth about 60 cents per 100 pounds. Figures
from different experiment stations would give the prod-
uct of 25 hens for the winter season of six months as 375
pounds from the roost droppings alone. Poultry drop-
pings are particularly valuable as a top-dressing for grass
because of their high content of nitrogen in the form of
ammonia compounds, which are nearly as quick in their
action as nitrate of soda. A ton of such droppings pre-
served with chemicals and sawdust would be sufficient
for an acre when compared with a chemical formula for
top dressing. On the same basis of comparison 100 fowls
running at large on an acre shouid in the summer season
of six months have added to its fertility for the equivalent
of at least 200 pounds of sulphate of ammonia, 100 pounds
of high-grade acid phosphate and 60 pounds of kainit.

POULTRY FEED, LOW COST.—Several persons
have made much money selling so-called “secrets” for
making poultry feed cheaply, claiming to be able to make
it for 8 or 10 cents per bushel. These secrets merely tell
how to sprout oats, wheat or barley, causing them to
swell and throw out green sprouts until the original
quantity is largely increased. No nutritive value is added
to the grain by sprouting, but a very palatable feed is
produced and probably the process of sprouting changes
the starch into a more easily digested feed. The oats
are wet and put into a box open enough in the bottom to
allow surplus water to drain away. This box is kept in
a warm place and warm water is sprinkled over the grain
to keep it damp, but not wet. When it sprouts the
sprouts are allowed to grow to a length of 2” or more
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 253

and the feed is ready for use. Chicks, laying hens and
other poultry eat this greedily and it is a very good feed,
as it is something in the nature of grain and green feed
combined. Another much-lauded cheap feed secret is
merely clover hay cut into short lengths and steamed
until it is soft, then mixed with cornmeal, wheat mid-
dlings and bran. Alfalfa hay is better for this purpose
than clover, as it is richer in protein.

POULTRY HOUSE CONSTRUCTION. — When
building a poultry house the lowest probable temperature
that will be experienced in the locality where the house
is to be built should be kept in mind because the comfort
of the fowls to be housed is the main consideration.
While it 1s possible to keep out the cold no house, built
at a reasonable expense, will keep out the heat. There-
fore it is the weather of the coldest months that we must
contend with and depend on ventilation to let the heat
escape or moderate its effects. Any shed is good enough
for the summer months, but where the winter tempera-
ture runs low we must try to secure comfort for our
birds if we would secure the greatest profits. It is the
winter-laying hen that makes the largest profits.

In a country as large as this it is manifestly impossible
to give any one plan that will apply in every locality. It
is thought best to give several plans, allowing those who
build after them to modify them to suit the climate in
which their fowls must live. In the plans described and
illustrated it will be noticed that it is recommended that
the rear wall be double and that the roof be ceiled under
the rafters as far forward as the front edge of the drop-
ping board, from which the curtain that drops down in
front of the dropping board is fixed. If the wall of the
house and roof are properly constructed it would be a
254 POULTRY BREEDING

waste of material to make this double wall and ceiling in
any locality where the temperature never goes below
zero, as the fowls will be perfectly comfortable when
inclosed in a single wall and a roof with the drop curtain
in front in such a temperature. The walls and roof of
a poultry house should be absolutely wind-proof. The
best way to secure this condition is to use one of the
roofing papers, of which many kinds are obtainable in
any town. If they are not kept in stock by local hard-
ware or lumber firms any of them can get them with not
more than a short delay. The side walls should be made
of shiplap or of lumber which fits closely and then cov-
ered with one-ply roofing paper. The roof should be
sheeted with shiplap or other straight-edged lumber and
this covered with three-ply roofing paper. If shingles
must be used the roof should be sheeted with cheap
flooring and the shingles laid on this. The object is to
make the roof and sides perfectly tight, except where the
muslin or canvas-covered windows are put in to secure
ventilation.

In some localities the entire front of the house may be
open most of the year. Such houses are closed in front
with poultry netting to keep marauders out and the
fowls in when this is desirable. Frames covered with
canvas or muslin are made in sections to fit the opening,
hinged at the top and swung up and fastened to the roof
when not in use. On the next page is shown such a
house, used through very severe winters in Chicago to
house Rhode Island Reds, with perfect success. The
writer gave the plan to a poultryman in Ohio and he
wrote, after using it one winter, that his hens were never
more healthy and prolific than they were during the time
they had been kept in this extreme type of the open-
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 255

 

 

 

 

 

 

1, Open-Front Poultry House. 2, An Illinois Poultry House,
256 POULTRY BREEDING

front house. The illustration is so plain that the plan
need not be discussed in detail. The house was 12’x20’
and 7’ high in front. The total cost was $42 and it com-
fortably housed 50 fowls. Such a house is not recom-
mended for large combed breeds in the colder sections,
although it would be a very good house for these breeds
in the South or the warmer sections of the West and
Southwest.

Poultrymen disagree concerning the best model for
poultry houses and probably always will disagree. Some
favor the colony house system, setting the single-room
houses some distance apart. Others favor the long house
of several rooms with an alleyway the entire length.
Still others contend that the long house should not be
built with an alleyway, as the alley wastes room and
allows draughts to sweep from one end of the building
to the other without restraint. Some want wire parti-
tions between the rooms; others say a wire partition
allows draughts to have free access and that the parti-
tions should be solid, with a door in each one to allow
the caretaker to go freely from room to room, The writer
prefers the long house with tight partitions and no alley-
way, thus making each room a separate apartment. A
house built on such a plan is very easily enlarged, as
each room is a separate unit, and in the plans this should
be kept in mind. The \West Virginia house, for example,
may have any number of rooms from one up, without in
any way interfering with the plan, as each room is metely
a separate house closely joined to others. We believe
this plan is the better one for another reason, which
seems good. A flock of hens which has become thor-
oughly familiar with its caretaker lays better than one
that is. not accustomed to the presence of human beings.
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 257

In a house built after the West Virginia plan the care-
taker is going back and forth among the fowls at every
feeding time, and they soon become so familiar with
him that they will cluster around him and allow them-
selves to be picked up and examined without fear, while
hens kept in houses so arranged that they are fed from
outside their quarters are more or less timid.

Although a detailed estimate is given to show how
much material is required for one or two of the houses it
is not thought necessary to do this in the case of all of
them, as any competent carpenter can make an estimate
in a short time. Nothing has been said about the cost
of the houses because the price of lumber varies widely
in different sections of the country and prices that would
obtain in one place might not be applicable to another.

The West Virginia house, plans for which appear on
pages 258-261, is 180’ long and 16’ wide, divided into
9 compartments, each 20'x16’, the middle one being used
as a feed-room. Each compartment is used to house 75
hens the size of Leghorns. The foundation is of con-
crete and the floor of cement. The floor was made by
filling in and tamping down clay and spreading over
this 1” of cement mortar made by using 1 part of Port-
land cement to 3 parts sand, spread directly on the dirt
and leveled by using a straight-edged board. This makes
a cheap floor, keeps out rats and dampness and is easily
cleaned. The house was constructed of cheap oak boards
and the roof is of three-ply roofing. In each room in
front are a door and two windows and an opening cov-
ered with wire netting, which can be closed when neces-
sary by a cloth curtain. The perches consist of 2”x4"
scantling 20’ long extending parallel with the north wall,
which is double-boarded and the space between the studs
POULTRY BREEDING

258

Plate 1.

 

-Front -Elevation—

Curtain-front Laying House.
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 259

 

 

 

 

 

 

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filled with shavings. Under the perches extend the drop-
ping boards and under this platform the nests are located.
Plate 1 shows the front elevation of one room, the door,
the two windows and the wire screens in the openings
between the windows, covered with wire screens. Plate
2 shows the floor plan, where perches, nest boxes, dust
260 POULTRY RREEDING

Plate 3.

   

 

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box and feed box are located and the location of the grit

box and water fountain.
partition is also shown.

The double swing door in the
Plate 3 illustrates two sections

in which are shown the section marked C-D above
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY

Plate 4.

 

Se -Section-A-B-
262 POULTRY BREEDING

and section E-F in the same illustration. Section C-D
shows the location of the dropping board, perches, nests
and how far the ceiling above the perches extends, with
the muslin canvas drop curtain swung up to the roof.
It also shows the batten door in the partition, which is
swung on double hinges and the pen or cage in which
broody hens are confined. This broody cage has a slat
floor, as indicated in the plan. Just under the broody
pen will be noticed a strip with two notches in it. In
warm weather the perches are removed and supported in
these notches, which places the perches just under the
screen windows and gives the hens the benefit of all the
air going. Section E-F shows how the water fountain
is supported on a platform, the feed box raised from the
floor with a platform in front for the hens to stand on
when eating, and the canvas-covered frame which is
dropped down before the screened openings in the front
in cold weather. The runway by which the hens reach
the perches is also indicated. Plate 4 is the elevation
of the back wall, as viewed from the line A-B shown in it.
The dimensions of every part of the house are indicated
in the plans.

The Minnesota house, the plans and perspective of
which are shown on the next page is simpler than the
West Virginia one. It was built by a Minnesota poultry-
man, who finds it perfectly comfortable in that state
where very severe cold weather may be anticipated. This
house has no glass windows. The windows are covered
with wire netting and inside is a muslin-covered frame
hinged at the top which is used in cold weather and
swung up and fastened to the roof in warm weather.
This house is 12’x40’ and is designed for 100 fowls. The
sectional view at the bottom of page shows a double rear
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A Minnesota Poultry House.

 

 

 
264 POULTRY BREEDING

wall, and the rafters are ceiled as far forward as the
dropping board extends, from which point a burlap cur-
tain is dropped down to protect the hens in severe cold
weather. The partitions are made of wire netting, except
two feet next the floor, and a door swinging either way
on spring hinges is placed in each partition. The water
pans are on platforms, a hole being cut through the par-
titions so each pan furnishes water for two rooms. This
house was sided with shiplap and the roof was sheeted
with fence-flooring and covered with two-ply roofing.
The foundation was made of concrete and built up one
foot above the surface. This was then filled with gravel
and a cement floor laid on top, making a floor that is
always dry. The following materials were used:
Cement and gravel for foundation, quantity not given.
Dimension stuff—10 pieces 2”x4”x16’—107’; 29 pieces 2”x
4"x12’—232'; 12 pieces 2”x4"x14’—112’; 12 pieces 2”x4”x
8’'—64’; No. 3 fence flooring 696’; No. 1 shiplap 672’; 6
squares two-ply roofing paper; 2 squares one-ply roofing
paper; 1 roll red rosin building paper; netting for parti-
tions; muslin for windows. In this plan the dimensions
are shown on page 263. -
A house for the South or the Pacific Coast is shown on
page 265. This house is made with a single wall, the
weatherboarding being any common lumber of a cheap
grade. At each end is a room 10’ square and between
these is a room entirely open in front, except that it is
covered with wire netting. The enclosed rooms at each
end may be arranged as shown in the plans for the Min-
nesota house (page 263). The open front space between
the rooms is divided in the middle by a wire partition,
except that two feet next the floor is boarded up to pre-
vent cocks from fighting through the wires. We saw a
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Poultry Houses for the South or Pacific Coast,

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266 POULTRY BREEDING

house of this kind in which the partition was made en-
tirely of wire nailed to 2’x4” studding set so the wire
was nailed to the narrow edge. For two feet from the
floor netting was nailed on both edges of the studding,
making two netting partitions to that height 4” apart. It
was impossible for cocks to fight through this double
partition, as they could not reach each other. This house
is a model used in’ many places in the colder parts, as
fowls can be allowed to run in the open front scratching
room when the weather is quite cold. It makes an ex-
cellent house for suburban poultry yards and for places
where no inclosed yards are used, as the fowls can be
shut in the house, taking exercise in the scratching shed.
The windows in the rooms are 6’ wide and 4’ from top
to bottom. The burlap curtain is used to drop down be-
fore the dropping board, as 1s the Minnesota house, il-
lustrated on page 263.

On the next page are given diagrams of a plan for a
house with an alleyway. The house is 6’ high at the
plate in front and the peak of the roof is 3’ from the north
side. The water vessels in this house are let into the
partition under the dropping boards, so that they can be
filled from the alleyway. Many houses of this stvle have
the nest boxes also under the dropping boards, while
some have arrangements for feeding mash in troughs
under the dropping boards. The windows are 4’x5’ and
are made of muslin or have glass in them to suit the
fancy of the owner, muslin being preferable. The muslin
is stretched on frames hinged at the top so as to swing
in. Access to the yards, if there are vards attached. is
gained through gates’set in the dividing fences next the
house. This is a costly house to build, as it takes more
lumber and labor to build it than are required for the
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A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY

 

 

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268 POULTRY BREEDING

other houses described. It is not nearly so common as
it was a few years ago.

The next page shows two houses that can be built
very cheaply. The colony house on skids can be moved
from place to place about the range and the house with
the wire-covered run is adapted to those who keep 15 or
20 fowls in the backyard to furnish eggs for the family.
Detailed plans are not necessary. Neither of these houses
requires studding, the corner boards being set up and
girts nailed to them. The wire run for a few fowls is 30”
high, this being high enough to give head room to almost
any breed. This run is covered with wire and gives
absolute assurance that the fowls will not escape and
that strange birds will not meddle with the flock. The
writer has kept 15 fowls in a yard like this months at a
time, the run being 20’ long and 5’ wide. Of course every
want of the birds was supplied and they kept healthy and
laid as well as they would if they had been at liberty.

The piano box house has often been described and
many plans for building a poultry house from the lumber
in an ordinary piano box have been discussed. The piano
box is a cheap source of lumber and on page 269 are
given two views of houses built from piano boxes. On
page 191 is another plan. It is not necessary to go into
detail. The pictures show how they appear after being
built. The larger two were built from the lumber of
two piano boxes and the smaller from one box. At least
two extensive poultry plants are equipped in full with
houses made of piano boxes and they are entirely satis-
factory.

The foregoing plans are not submitted as the only ones
but it is believed that from them a plan may be selected
that might be followed in constructing poultry houses,
POULTRY 269

KEEPERS OF

A GUIDE FOR

 

 

 

 

A Goop COLONY House

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i. 6x12 FT
Wo || ON SKIDS FOR MovING
HANDILY
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lr
CHEAP HOUSE AND WIRE COVERED RUN

 

FOR ISOR20 FOWLS-HOUSE 8X12 FF
RUN 8X(2ZFT. BYBOIN. HIGH. SUITABLE
FOR A TOWN BACK YARD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Types of Houses That May Be Made From Piano Boxes,
270 POULTRY BREEDING

that will cover the necessities of any poultrykeeper in
any part of the country. These plans may be modified as
to dimensions or interior arrangements to suit the owner.
Any attempt to give plans of all the models of poultry
houses in use would only mean confusion to the seeker
after knowledge.

POULTRY, ORIGIN OF BREEDS OF.—There has
been much discussion concerning the origin of our do-
mestic fowls. Scientists are agreed that the original
wild fowl from which the domestic races sprang had its
home in the far East—India, Ceylon, Java and the islands
farther east, perlaps from one, possibly from all these
sources. It was long thought that our domestic fowls
were descended from Gallus Bankiva or jungle fowl of
India, but later claims have been made for G. Stanleyii,
G. furcatus and G. Sonnerati. As good an authority as
Darwin concluded that the Asiatic fowls, such as Brah-
mas and Cochins, were descended from a different variety
of wild fowl, arguing that the feathers on the legs, the
smaller pectoral muscles, the short wings and the differ-
ences in the structure, could not point to any deliberate
effort to make changes in these respects, as they were
largely defects which a semi-civilized owner would not
value. It has been noted by one writer that the earlier
specimens of the Asiatic fowls were tame and quiet, and
instead of seeking a secluded place to build nests sought
rather open places above the general level of the sur-
rounding land, these traits indicating that these breeds
were descended from wild fowl which had lived for ages
in an open country where the land was level and subject
to overflow, remarking the difference in these respects
between the Asiatic fowls and those with clean legs
which were descended from the tree-roosting, nest-hiding
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 271

jungle fowls of the wooded sections of India or the
islands adjacent thereto.

These speculations do not lead to anything. We know
that the wild jungle fowl of today (G. Bankiva), re-
sembles the Black-Breasted Red game fowl of our poul-
tryyards in color and shape and in the crow of the cock
and the cackling of the hen. We know also that these
wild fowls will cross with tame ones and produce fertile
progeny, and that Asiatic fowls and other breeds inter-
mix without the least difficulty. To be sure several races
of wild pheasant interbreed to such an extent that pure-
bred birds are now hard to find, but the fact remains that
the authentic history of the domestic fowl, so far as it
has been possible to trace it, takes us back to India, the
Sanskrit language and the “institues” or “codes” of
Manu, 1,000 years before the beginning of our era.

From that time we have a tolerably connected history
and a logical theory as to their introduction into the
western world, as represented by the European countries.
So long as man ran wild, was a nomad traveling to and
fro, he sought food and raiment among the wild things
that grew or bred in the countries through which he
passed or in the territory about which he wandered.
Later life became more complicated. Communal life had
its origin and tribes became fixed in villages or confined
to certain restricted territory. It now became necessary
to till the soil and secure domestic animals in order that
the food supply might be constant and dependable. It is
doubtful whether this motive impelled the ancient tribes-
man to tame the wild fowl of the woods and mountains.
He was fond of war and so was the jungle fowl. With
less frequent forays to soothe his turbulent spirit he cap-
tired and subdued the wild cock of the jungle and made
272 POULTRY BREEDING

him the instrument of his pleasure by watching him fight,
an amusement that is in high favor today in our semi-
civilized possessions in the Far East. One writer says
many wild jungle cocks are captured by taking tame ones
to their haunts and getting them in a fight with their
wild kind.

The story of the distribution of the domestic fowl) is
the story of how history was made. Two theories have
been formulated to account for the presence of domestic
fowls in the more civilized parts of the world, as early at
least as the beginning of our era. One is that when the
Aryans swarmed out of India and began their long jour-
ney to the West to become the empire-builders of the
world, they brought with them domestic fowls as well as
other domesticated animals. If they did, the fowls were
the only living things that survived, as there is no evi-
dence that any of the domestic animals we now have
descended in a direct line from the farther eastern coun-
tries of the ancient world.

Another seemingly and more reasonable theory is that
when Cyrus made his great foray into India more than
500 years before Christ he brought back to Persia fowls
such as the inhabitants of India kept in domestication.
Two centuries later Alexander overran Persia and from
his invasion fowls came to Greece. These the Grecians
called “Persian” fowls, this being strong proof that this
theory of the distribution of domestic poultry is a better
one than the first.

In the period reaching back to 500 or 600 years before
the beginning of the Christian era, literature has frequent
references to domestic fowls, and they were figured on
monuments and tombs. Zoroaster, who lived more than
500 years before Christ, and founded a religion named
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 2738.

after him, gave the cock a high place as the herald of the
dawn and the guardian of light and the sun. On the
tombs of the Harpies in Lycia, now in the British mu-
seum, is a figure of a god to whom a cock is being offered
as a sacrifice. This would indicate that domestic fowls
were known in the \West before the Persians became
world-conquerors under Cyrus the Great. On the other
hand, it seems impossible that the Lycians were ac-
quainted with the domestic fowl and that the Grecians
were not, yet that they were not is evidenced by the fact
that Homer does not mention them, nor is there any men-
tion of them by his contemporaries or followers. Surely
if the domestic cock had been known in those days, when
clocks were unknown, his regularity in greeting the com-
ing of morn would have appealed to the poetic souls of
the nature-loving Greeks and he would have had mention
if not much praise.

The earliest authentic mention of domestic fowls in
western literature is found in the writings of Aristo-
phanes, who died about 400 years before the beginning
of our era. Nowhere in the Old Testament is there any
reference to domestic fowls but there are mentions in
the New Testament where reference is made to the hen
that gathers her brood under her wings and in the crow-
ing of the cock the night before the crucifixion. It is
probable, therefore, that during the time between the
writing of the last book of the Old Testament and the
advent of Christ we may place the introduction of fowls
into the countries of western Asia and probably eastern
Europe.

While domestic fowls were slowly making their way
westward there is no doubt that they were known in
China centuries before western nations were acquainted
274 POULTRY BREEDING

with them. Mention is made of domestic fowl in a
Chinese encyclopedia, reputed to have been written at
least 1,400 years before the Christian era.

Summing up all the evidence Brown thinks that do-
mestic fowls may have reached us in two ways: Through
Asia by way of China, Siberia, Russia, and thence into
Europe from the north, or from India to Persia and
thence to Greece and the more western nations of Europe,
That they had even penetrated Britain at an early date is
proved by Caesar, who tells of the fighting cocks of the
Britons at the time he overran and subdued that island.
When the original breeds broke into the numerous varie-
ties of modern fowls we do not know nor is it probable
that we ever shall know. How it happened that the
Chinese began to breed fowls with feathers on their legs
and toes or how the original ancestors of the Polish fowls
were secured, is lost in the mysteries of prehistoric days.

It is probable that there were good reasons why some
of the pheasants with plumage of brilliant hues were not
chosen rather than the sober-hued jungle cock, but what
these reasons were have been forgotten. Brown in his
“Races of Domestic Poultry” enumerates and describes
67 distinct breeds or races of fowls, many of these being
further sub-divided into several varieties. Surely the
poultry breeder of today should be at no loss to secure a
variety exactly to his liking. Yet the making of varieties
goes on, and even new races aré being built up from inter-
breeding two or more of established breeds. Of the
making of new varieties there seems to be no end,

PROTECTION FOR POULTRY YARDS.—The best
protection for poultryyards is a thickly-set row of ever-
green trees, set on two sides so as to shield them from
the prevailing cold winds. In this country these usually
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 275

come from the north and west, but in limited areas they
come from other points of the compass.

PROTECTING CHICKS FROM OLDER ONES.—
Frequently it is desirable to allow young and old fowls
to run together. This creates trouble, as the young
chicks require more frequent feeding than the older ones.
To avoid this trouble a “creep” is used, similar to an
arrangement used by shepherds to feed lambs and keep
away older sheep. A creep is made by making a pen
about 6’ square and covered with wire netting. This pen
should be made on a framework so it can be easily
moved. Feed for the chicks is scattered in the pen far
enough from the edge so the older fowls cannot reach
it from the outside. Then the pen is raised on blocks
just high enough to allow the chicks to pass under but
prevent the older fowls from getting inside. As the
chicks grow the creep is raised enough to easily admit
them. This saves watching the chicks while they are
eating and allows them to get feed at any time, or to
escape from the persecutions of the older fowls. It is
not recommended that chicks and older fowls should run
together, but sometimes this is necessary and then the
creep comes in very good play.

PROTECTED TROUGH.—The protected trough is
designed to prevent fowls from wasting ground feed
when fed dry. It is simply a trough protected by upright
slats, roofed over. The fowls can eat from between the
slats but are prevented from throwing the feed on the
ground. They may be made of any size suitable for any
breed of fowls. For mature fowls the slats are usually
2” wide and spaced the same distance apart. Very often
a V-shaped trough is made and the slats nailed across
the top. This form of protected troughs is not as satis-
276 POULTRY BREEDING

factory as the one illustrated, as the fowls often walk
along the top and foul the feed with their droppings.

PURE BREEDS.—The fact that those who make a
business of keeping poultry for market purposes invari-
ably keep pure-bred fowls should be sufficient answer to
the question, Does it pay to keep pure-bred poultry? On
general principles a pure-bred flock will be more profit-
able than one that is of mixed blood because the uni-
formity of breeding makes it easier to feed the flock as a
unit and get the best results. In a mongrel flock there
may be some birds of the meat breeds, some of the egg
breeds and nondescripts of all kinds, large and small.
Uniformity always attracts attention in the market and
uniform lots bring the best prices. However, no one
should buy chickens or other fowls merely because they
are pure-breds, for some pure-breds are no better as
layers than mongrels.

QUILL FEATHERS.—The large feathers in the
wings and tails of turkeys and the quill feathers in geese
find a ready sale in city markets. These feathers are used
for making brushes, toothpicks and in the case of white
wing feathers large numbers are used in making orna-
mental quills or artificial wings for women’s hats. They
should be thoroughly dried and tied in bundles before
being sent to market. Commission merchants in large
cities will dispose of them.

QUININE.—Quinine as a tonic is often useful in
doctoring sick fowls. It is especially useful in treating
colds that do not yield readily to treatment. It should
he given in capsules holding one grain, and the doses
should be about 12 hours apart in ordinary cases. More
than three or four doses should not be given.
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 27a

QUICK FATTENING.—To fatten fowls quickly, ac-
cording to the American method, shut them in small
numbers in a place that can be darkened so as to main-
tain just light enough for the hens to see to walk about,
except when they are eating. Feed a mixture of ground
oats, cornmeal, cracked wheat and wheat middlings,
scalded and made into a dough with hot water. Feed as
often during the day as they will eat the feed clean. Give
them all the water they will drink and keep grit where
they can get it. Do not feed green stuff of any kind.
Boiled potatoes, rice, cornbread, cracked corn or whole
wheat, may be fed for variety. By this method fowls
can be made very fat and plump in from 10 to 14 days.
They should be disposed of as soon as fully fitted for the
table, as they will lose their appetites if fed too long,
after which they will lose weight rather than increase it.

QUICK-FATTENING METHOD.—A method of fat-
tening quickly, which appears to work as well as the
cramming method used in Europe, is to shut the fowls in
a small run where they cannot take much exercise and
feed them all they will eat of a mixture of cornmeal,
buckwheat flour and milk, mixing these just so the mix-
ture will drop from a wooden spoon but not run. Feed
all the fowls will eat and remove the feed troughs as
soon as they have eaten. Give them plenty of water,
charcoal and grit. Feed in this manner for 10 days or
two weeks before they are to be sent to market and
market at once. If fed in this way for more than two
or three days after they have become fitted for market
they lose appetite and weight. Some fowls will fatten
in 10 days while others will not become thoroughly fitted
for two weeks. Fowls fattened in this way are delicious-
ly tender and palatable. Chicks fed in this way are
278 POULTRY BREEDING

known as milk-fed chicks and bring the highest prices in
city markets. Some feeders add a little tallow to this
ration during the latter half of the feeding period. The
tallow should be raw beef suet chopped into small pieces
and should be fed sparingly. If milk is not available in
mixing this mash water may be substituted, but it is not
as good,

RATIONS, BALANCED.—A ration is the whole
quantity of feed supplied in one day. This should be
borne in mind because it is rather common to call a
ration the feed supplied for one meal. A balanced ration
is a ration so compounded of a variety of feeds that it
meets all the requirements of a fowl in the way of nutri-
ents, so as to promote symmetrical growth, maintain
health and vigor and, in the case of laying hens, supply
sufficient nutrients to enable them to produce eggs to the
utmost limit of their capacity.

While no ration will make a good layer of a hen that
is naturally a poor layer, it is quite possible to feed a
ration so badly compounded that it will be impossible for
a good layer to which it is fed to produce eggs to the
limit of her capacity. When we use the term “feeding
for eggs” we mean feeding a ration that will supply all
the nutrients needed by a hen to produce eggs to the
extent of her limit, be she a good layer or a poor one.
In considering the balanced ration it is perhaps best to
inquire into the essential elements of such a ration before
going into the composition of it and the manner of com-
puting it. In this connection we quote Prof. James E.
Rice of the New York College of Agriculture:

“Fowls do not always use the nutrients in the same
proportions. For instance, it is to be expected that if
fowls are kept in very cold quarters, or if they are com-
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 279

pelled to take vigorous exercise, they will use up more
of the fuel nutrients than they would otherwise. So too
hens in active laying will require a larger quantity of
protein than hens not laying in order to secrete the white
of the egg, which is a form of protein called albumen.
The same principle will apply to the ration for growing
stock. Toa certain extent fowls are able to adjust them-
selves to rations deficient in carbohydrates. This is a
wise provision of nature. It enables a fowl to survive
under misuse. The good feeder, however, will not take
advantage of this quality to feed improper feeds because
the ultimate result will be loss of production and im-
paired digestion. For example, if a narrow feed (one
very rich in protein) be fed, the kidneys and liver are
unduly taxed in an effort to work off the excessive
quantity of nitrogen. There being a deficiency of carbo-
hydrate feed the animal burns up protein, a more expen-
sive fuel than carbohydrate feed. It would be like burn-
ing mahogany instead of maple because mahogany hap-
pens to be in the house.

“Fowls are not able to adjust themselves to rations
deficient in protein. In their effort to do so they con-
sume more carbohydrate feed than can properly be di-
gested and assimilated. The first result of this excess is
to produce fatness; in extreme cases it ultimately ends
in starvation because the fowl cannot eat enough feed to
obtain a sufficient quantity of protein to satisfy its needs.
In other words, although protein (growth nutrient) may
take the place to some extent of carbohydrates (fuel nu-
trients), no amount of carbohydrates can be substituted
for protein in a ration for fowls. The fowl can burn up
protein if necessary. Therefore we should make the
ration suit the fowl, and not ask the fowl to adapt itself
280 POULTRY BREEDING

to the ration. The condition of the fowls is always the
best guide in making rations. If they are getting too fat
cut out feed rich in carbohydrates and put in feeds rich
in protein, in their place, feed less liberally, and induce
the fowls to take exercise.”

Here Prof. Rice gives the key to an important fact in
poultry breeding. It is the fat, lazy hen that does not
lay. A hen rarely becomes too fat to lay well if she is
given an opportunity to take abundant exercise. Keep
the hens fat, but keep them in good hard condition by
keeping them at work. The good farmer likes to keep
his horses fat but he knows a stall-fed fat horse is not
worth nearly so much for work as one that has been
made fat while at regular work. Continuing Prof. Rice
says:

“Some of the essential points of a good ration are: It
should be composed of feeds every one of which the fowls
like. It should contain a sufficient quantity of digestible
nutrients to supply the needs of growth and large pro-
duction. It should contain enough bulk to enable the
digestible nutrients to act quickly upon it. It should not
contain an excess of indigestible fiber, which must be
thrown off by the system, thus causing waste of energy.
A certain portion of the ration should be of whole grain
in order to provide muscular activity for the digestive
organs. This is made necessary in grinding grain. Under
certain conditions a quantity of the ration should be of
ground grain. This is for the purpose of providing
quickly available nutrients to supply the immediate de-
mands of rapid growth or heavy, continuous egg yield.
It must provide a good variety of feeds in which are in-
cluded grain, green feed, meat and mineral matter in
proper proportions. The feeds in the ration must not
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 281

have an injurious effect upon the color or flavor of the
product. The age of the fowl, the breed, the kind of
product which it is desired to produce, must be taken
into consideration; as to whether the feed is intended to
grow bone and muscle or to produce eggs or to fatten.
It pays to give such points close attention.

“The ration must provide the two classes of feed nutri-
ents, the protein and carbohydrates, in such proportions
that they will supply the daily need of the fowl’s system.
It must also provide sufficient digestible protein to sup-
ply the waste of tissue with new growth, and to produce
eggs. It must provide sufficient carbohydrates to furnish
heat, energy and to lay by a little surplus fuel in the form
of fat. It is not how much a fowl eats, but how much it
can digest, that determines the value of feed. Various
classes of animals differ in their capacity to digest the
same kinds of feeds. Feeds also vary in their digestibility
when used by the same animal. Unfortunately, the pro-
portions of each poultry feed which fowls can digest
ordinarily have not as yet been determined. Therefore
we are obliged to accept standards of digestibility which
are used in formulating rations for other animals as the
result of many experiments.”

The principles laid down by Prof. Rice contain every-
thing that it is necessary we should keep in mind when
formulating a ration for fowls. As he remarks, we have
no such authoritative feeding tables as have feeders of
other classes of stock. Investigators have never made
the careful experiments with poultry that Wolff and
others have with horses, cattle, sheep and swine. The
best and about the only work of this kind that has been
done in this country was by Wheeler at the New York
station. He found that about 500 pounds live weight of
282 POULTRY BREEDING

hens, that is about 100 hens weighing 5 pounds each,
would require per day:

Dry Matte tives aseareeseaie lasses 20 os vetoes emeaawia 27.5 pounds
ABhwiccisyecsmuse ar, aegiessrae canamianemoseee mamta 1.5 pounds
PROP arsidiand davmrsiawinrnrntematis mein aa TERS ES 8. pounds
Carbohydrates & wacin: isiseatan siniaciaasd: wee sini ckneaees 18.75 pounds
At etcte Sh CAae CS Skee Giehnewwteowdseonmed ati e 1.75 pounds

This has a nutritive ratio of 1:4.6.

As carbohydrates and fat have the same duties to per-
form in nutrition it is customary to add them together in
formulating rations. In the foregoing formula the fat
content is 1.75. This multiplied by 2.25 gives 3.9375.
For convenience we call this 3.94. This expresses the
fat in terms of carbohydrates. Adding this to the carbo-
hydrate content of the ration (18.75) we have 22.69 as
the carbohydrate content of the ration.

In order to save time and make it plain an invariable
rule is followed in describing the nutritive value cf a
ration. This is to consider the protein content as repre-
senting unity, making it easy to determine the nutritive
ratio of any ration and to see at a glance whether it is
balanced as it should be. To get this ratio we divide the
carbohydrate content by the protein content. In this
case we have 22.94 as representing carbohydrates and 5
as representing protein. Dividing the carbohydrates
content (22.94) by the protein content (5) we have 4.59,
so we Say the nutritive ratio is one of protein to 4.59 of
carbohydrates. In practice we write it thus: 1:4.59, or
still further to simplify the matter we call the 59
hundredths six-tenths and write the nutritive ratio thus:
1:4.6. It is customary to ignore small fractions in com-
puting feed values in this way.

When formulating rations for fowls it is customary to
accept a ration that is anywhere from 1:4.5 to 1:5.5 as
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 283

SAMPLE RATIONS FOR FOWLS. FORMULATED BY PROF. J. E. RICE.

 

 

 

 

Nutri-
Dry Carbohy-
Ash. | Protein. : tive
matter. drates. | patio.
1

10 pounds wheat middlings......... 8.80 380 1.28 6.07 1:4.7

18 pounds corn meal...............00- 16.02 22T 1.422 13.752 1:9.7

10 pounds oats, ground......... ...., 8.9 2B -92 5.68 1:6.2
15 pounds potatoes, boiled........... 3.15 15 1385 2.475 1:18.38
lpound meat serap............. eee 893 041 662 .831 1:0.5

10 pounds skimmilk.................. 94 -094 229 .b9 | 1:2
Total, 64 pounds.... ............. 38.703 4.231 4.709 | 28.898 | 1:6.1

 

The above ration is deficient in protein, but would make a
very good ration to feed to fowls which were being fitted for

 

 

 

 

 

 

market.
Nutri-
Dry : Carbohy-| *\;
matter. | ASB | Protein. | “Grates. aye
10 pounds wheit..... 0.2.6... eee eee y .180 1.02 7.3 1:7.2
pounds Cormiesaecs ccavswosss se ce7e es 8.9 15 -79 7.64 1:9.7
HNOUNGS;OStS sd. secede amsie GeAas 4.45 | 15 46 2.84 1:6.2
4 pounds wheat bran..............605 3.52 232 488 1.812 1:3.8
4 pounds oats, ground................ 3.56 ale: 368 2.272 1:6.2
2 pounds wheat middlings. ... ..... 1.76 076 256 1.214 1:4.7
2 pounds meat scrapS.... ...-... 06. 1.786 -082 1.324 -662 1:0.5
10 pounds mangels, raw.............. 1.30 AL lL 1.04 1:5.1
5 pounds turnips, boiled............. i 475 04 05 3825 1:7.7
10 pounds skimmilk............-..+-. 094 07 29 .59 1:2
Total, 72 pounds............ ..6ee 35.691 1.210 5.156 25.7525 1:5

 

 

 

The above ration has a nutritive ratio of 1:5. It is a little
too rich in carbohydrates, but would make an excellent ration
for hens to keep them in laying condition in winter. Keep in
mind the fact that in cold weather more carbohydrates are needed
than in warm weather. The Esquimau lives on seal blubber be-
cause he must have an abundance of carbohydrates (fuel, etc.), to
maintain animal heat in his arctic climate. So with a hen; she
must have more fuel in winter than in summer,
284 POULTRY BREEDING

being near enough for all practical purposes. Unfortu-
nately there is no rule by which a ration may be figured
out and we are obliged to go by the “rule of thumb” and
work out the rations we feed by trial. When grain and
ground feed are given in a formula for a ration it is not
because they are to be fed together, but because they are
a part of the feed for the day. The grain may be fed at
one time in the day and the ground feed at another. The
formulas on page 283 are given as examples. They were
worked out by trying various quantities of the several
feeds until a ration suitable for the purpose for which it
was needed was found.

It will be noticed in the ration last given that it con-
tains raw mangels and boiled turnips. If both of these
are not easily procured either might be used in the place
of the other without materially affecting the value of the
ration, although the mangels are better than the turnips,
as they have a nutritive ratio of 1:5.1, while turnips have
a ratio of 1:7.7. In case of either of these feeds it is the
bulk we are after rather than nutritive value. Both the
rations contain skimmilk. This is not always procurable,
and where this is the case a little more meat scrap may
be added to the ration and water substituted in mixing
the ration. Notice that wheat middlings are almost ex-
actly a balanced ration. This is one of the most valuable
of feeds for growing chicks or laying hens. It will also
be noticed that wheat bran is rich in protein. One of the
most successful poultrymen keeps a protected trough of
wheat bran where his chicks and laying hens could have
access to it.

When describing rations we say they are “balanced,”
“wide” or “narrow.” The meaning of a balanced ration
has been explained. A ration is called narrow when it
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 285

contains an excess of protein and wide when it contains
an excess of carbohydrates. If we accept the ratio 1:4.6
as a balanced one for hens, a ration containing more than
4.6 of carbohydrates to 1 of protein would be called a
wide ration, and one containing less than this quantity
would be called a narrow one. A thorough understand-
ing of this subject gives the poultrykeeper a chance to
feed to produce the desired results at the least expendi-
ture for feedstuffs.

In the tables given under the head of “Feed” the fats
have been reduced to terms of carbohydrates and added
in to save trouble in computing the-value of several feeds.

RATS IN POULTRY HOUSES.—Rats may be kept
out of a poultry house by sinking wire netting all around
it to the depth of a foot. Dig a ditch around the poultry
house and line the inside bank with wire netting, 1” mesh,
1’ wide and replace the earth. \Vhen the house stands
off the ground the wire should be wide enough to reach
from the lower edge of the wall to the depth of 1’ below
the surface. If an earthen floor is used the use of a stone,
brick or cement foundation sunk into the ground 1’ will
prevent rats from getting in.

REGULARITY.—Fowls should always be fed at regu-
lar times. If this is done they will soon learn to know
when feeding time comes and will not worry until after
that time passes. Above all feed fowls so as to keep
them in good condition. Many a poultryman has thrown
away the profits of his flock of laying hens by letting
something prevent his feeding them properly for a few
days. On Sundays and holidays fowls should be fed the
same as on other days and as regularly. A flock of laying
hens fed by a hit-or-miss system will never produce at
its best.
286 POULTRY BREEDING

ROUP, CURE FOR.—The following treatment for
roup when it has extensively infected the flock is recom-
mended by the New York Experiment Station: A solu-
tion is made of one teaspoonful of permanganate of pot-
ash, dissolved in one pint of water. All the cheesy matter
is picked off with a toothpick and the spots painted with
iodine. Then the heads of the sick fowls are dipped in
the solution. This treatment to be repeated daily until
a cure is effected.

ROUP.—Roup is a very contagious disease of poultry
caused by a specific germ. Some authorities speak of
roup, diphtheria and catarrh in fowls, but Prof. Philip B.
Hadley of the Biological Division of the Rhode Island
Experiment Station classes all the symptoms usually as-
cribed to these three diseases as different forms of the
same disease. Stripped of its technical form his descrip-
tion of roup includes a discharge from the nostrils, the
eyes, the slit in the top of the mouth, the throat and wind-
pipe, the disease extending even to the intestines and
blind gut. If allowed to go unchecked the majority of
cases terminate fatally from a combination of the poison-
ous action of the microbes which cause the disease, from
choking or from a wasting away of the flesh owing to
internal complications. The specific germ that causes
the disease has not been definitely isolated, but it appears’
to be closely related to the germ that causes white
diarrhoea in chicks and blackhead in turkeys—not the
same germ probably but a nearly related one.

Roup often appears in isolated localities where it could
hardly have come through infection, and it seems quite
probable that the germ causing it is evervwhere present
ready to take advantage of favorable conditions to multi-
ply and become the cause of an epidemic. It would seem
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 287

that it always originates in a cold, when it appears in a
healthy flock that has not been subject to contagion.
There is very good reason to believe that the disease is
not infectious, as the writer has known it to rage in one
yard while the fowls in another near by showed no
symptoms. The following from “The Breeder’s Gazette”
agrees very closely with present knowledge of the dis-
ease and gives a course of treatment which has been
found as efficacious as any tried:

“The very best way to treat a bad case oi roup is to
kill the patient and burn the body. Then try to save the
remainder by using some thorough system of disinfection
that any druggist will recommend. Roup starts from
carelessness, possibly through ignorance or lack of knowl-
edge. No one would deliberately expose his fowls in a
way to ruin their health, but many do not know that a
little crack in the wall of the poultry house or some other
exposure to unequal temperature may start a cold with
disastrous consequences. Colds are shown by a watery
discharge from the nostrils and a gathering of a frothy
substance in the corners of the eyes. Sometimes hens
will rattle in their throats when they breathe or they will
sneeze, especially after going to roost. Usually common
kerosene will cure a simple cold, if taken when it first
shows. Put the oil in a sewing machine oil can and
squirt it into the nostrils and the slit in the top of the
mouth. If the cold seems severe give the patient a one-
half grain capsule of quinine once a day for two or ‘three
days.

“Another good cure is peroxide of hydrogen, reduced
one-half with water. Drop a few drops of this in the
eyes, nostrils and the slit in the roof of the mouth. Keep
this ina glass bottle and use a glass syringe when admin-
288 POULTRY BREEDING

istering it or simply drop it out of the bottle. To prevent
colds and keep roup at bay, put enough permanganate of
potash in the drinking water to give it a slight reddish
color. This permanganate of potash dissolved in water
until the water is a deep claret color and used as a wash
for the head and mouth is a very good cure for mild
cases of roup.

“When a cold degenerates into any of the diseases
known as roup it is time for the owner of the sick fowl
to take immediate action. Roup has several phases and
is known by several local names. It is called ‘swelled
face,’ ‘pip,’ ‘canker’ or ‘catarrh.’ Some authorities call
the kind that appears as a swelling on one or both sides
of the face, ‘catarrhal roup,’ and the kind that develcps
a tough yellowish membrane in the throat and mouth
as ‘diphtheretic roup.’ Either kind may easily be known
by the foul odor known to poultrymen as the ‘roup smell’
which once met is always recognized. When it reaches
this stage it has become contagious. The pus clogs up
nostrils or throat, according to the form of the disease,
interfering with the breathing of the patient. The fowl
coughs and sneezes to throw the obstruction out, wipes
its beak on its feathers and the diseased and germ laden
matter is scattered about the feed boxes, the poultry
house and on other birds only to be swallowed and pro-
duce disease.

“Radical measures must be adopted to effect a cure.
If the face is swelled near the eye or one or both sides,
watch the swelling and when it becomes soft in the cen-
ter open it freely with a sharp knife, cutting from the
upper to the lower side. Cut deep enough so the enclosed
pus will drain out, then wash the wound with a mixture
of peroxide of hydrogen and water, half and half. Drop
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 289

the mixture into the wound and continue until it ceases
to foam. The foaming shows that diseased tissue is be-
ing burned out although the operation is almost abso-
lutely painless. After this, anoint the wound with a
good carbolic salve. Put some of the mixture in the
mouth so as to wash out or kill the germs, and keep the
patient in a warm, dry room for a day or two. If the
disease shows the ‘canker’ spots of diphtheria take a
sharp splinter of soft wood, such as a match whittled to
a flat, sharp point, and gently lift the ‘canker’ or false
membrane and thus loosen and remove it. Then wash
thoroughly with the mixture of peroxide of hydrogen and
water, or better, put the mixture in a glass tumbler or
fruit jar and dip the head of the patient in it deep enough
to cover the whole head, allowing the patient to strangle
slightly, so as to force the mixture into the throat, nos-
trils and every part of the mouth. Keep the patient un-
der observation and if the raw spots where the membrane
was removed do not begin to heal at once repeat the
operation. Keep the sick fowls by themselves in a warm,
light room. Feed them on warm mashes. If the fowl
will not eat force the feed into its crop. Stale bread
soaked in milk and squeezed dry enough to make into
little balls makes a good feed for sick fowls.

“Roup can be prevented. Cold and roup come from
keeping fowls in badly ventilated houses; keeping too
many in one room; and allowing dampness in the
poultry house; and-allowing the droppings to accu-
mulate in the house. Hens will endure cold without in-
jury but a very small hole in the side of the house may
allow a draft from a high wind to strike a hen and start
her on the way to a case of roup. They may run out of
doors in verv cold, windy weather without injury if they
290 POULTRY BREEDING

have a dry, windproof house to go into when they begin
to feel cold. They will dabble around in mud and slush
all day and escape trouble if they have a house which is
free from dampness to retire to at night.”

SALT.—Salt is as necessary to fowls as it is to human
beings. It aids digestion and makes the blood richer.
Two ounces a day to 100 hens is enough. Fowls some-
times eat salt and die because they have been deprived
of it and eat too much when they get a chance to help
themselves.

SCALY LEG.—This is the work of a very minute in-
sect which burrows under the scale on the legs of fowls
and lives there. Its excretions are of a lime-like consis-
tency and if the insects are allowed to remain at work
these excretions form unsightly masses and destroy the
scales as well as the symmetry of the shanks. This
trouble is very easily combated. Simply grease the
shanks of the fowls with lard, rubbing it in so as to get
it lodged under the scale. This kills the insect, softens
the lime-like growths and stops further progress, but the
shanks never recover their natural condition. If the legs
of fowls are greased lightly occasionally this disease will
not attack them. It rarely makes its appearance whiere
poultry houses are kept clean and properly whitewashed.
Asiatic fowls are more liable to scaly leg than the breeds
with clean legs.

SEPARATING THE SEXES.—It is best to keep the
sexes apart except during the hatching season. This
gives the poultryman infertile eggs, which will keep fresh
and sweet in hot weather for weeks, while a fertilized egg
will spoil in a few days, when the temperature is high.
It also has been shown by careful experiments that un-
mated hens will produce more eggs than hens which have
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 291

males in the same yards with them. In the Australian
laying competitions 186 eggs were laid in a year by 600
hens, this record being the average for the whole number.
An average of 241 eggs each was made by six of these
hens kept in one pen.

SHIPPING CRATES.—On page 247 are given illus-
trations of the crates used in shipping breeding fowls to
distant points. Where the fowls are to be more than 24
hours on the road a cup of water should be fastened in
one corner at a convenient distance from the bottom for
the fowls to drink from, and so placed that the express
messenger can easily put water init. The shipping crate
for young chicks (page 247) shows how the separate trays
are fastened together and how each tray is divided into
four sections in order to prevent too much jostling of the
chicks. The trays should be lined with some soft ma-
terial and each covered with burlap.

SHRINKAGE OF DRESSING FOWLS.—Fowls lose
from 8 to 11 per cent in dressing without removing the
intestines. When the intestines are removed the shrink-
age runs from 25 to 30 per cent. These figures are the
result of numerous tests. When fowls are well fattened
and have been deprived of feed for at least 12 hours be-
fore being killed, as all fowls should be, the shrinkage will
not exceed the smaller percentages named given. The
foreman of a large packing house has estimated the
shrinkage from dressing at about 10 per cent, but the
fowls he referred to were fattened perfectly and left with-
out feed for 24+ hours before being killed. The shrinkage
from other classes of poultry does not vary widely from
the figures given.

SIX HUNDRED HENS.—One of the most instructive
experiments on a large scale ever carried out was con-
292 POULTRY BREEDING

ducted by Prof. Horace Atwood at the West Virginia
station in 1907. To determine the profits of keeping a
large flock he took 600 \White Leghorn pullets averaging
5 months old, weighing an average of 2.53 pounds when
the experiment began, and carried them through a year,
keeping careful account of all expenses connected with
the keeping of the flock. These 600 hens laid during the
year 67,769 eggs or 5,647 dozen and 5 eggs, averaging
113 each. The eggs were sold in the market at from
20 to 40 cents a dozen and brought $1,458.87, an average
of a fraction more than 24 cents a dozen the year through,
an average price easy to reach when hens are kept so as
to lay well in winter when eggs are high in price. The
house they were kept in is described and a plan given in
another place. That the hens were well kept is shown
by the record for December and January, in which
months they laid 3,372 and 4.645 eggs respectively. The
quantity and cost of feed for the year follows:

 

Pounds. Cost.

COMME es: wes: ere eeax Gere Ree: YAR GOReRS Oe 3.441 $42.88
Wheat bran........ Ai mani mnagavage gixey DBL Td
Wheat middlings........ .... wid & ee (ran BENBY 39.82
Oilmeal 0.6 c0c002 oes SecaNe Tek RK BEAL aA 950 18.72
Wihea tts icing eacawideaninda eg ale. aes aia wae 10.509 152.21
COMMS as eal os eoese di bind adores aa caae 8.952 103.81
BEE Sha Deri. wings seeseraa , : BAAR 57.70
Green cut bone.. .... 0.2.4... 5; ge) 8 1.33
BnSilag@scccsseusese sans 2 43 Z 1 536 3.75
FRUG sie craton: ttdy ita: sass ae eal BREE AAs tae 1,120 16.80
Ground outs... . OO Hc) og ddim wn ome wag BBM 5.78
Oyster Shellie. ic wea oom aon ancl lO 8.30
Mica crystal grit... 6... 26... Pas ite * setae “dishes aRe 1,400 7.70

Gals

Skim m Me scccgdanenad- iv sovess ive | de) =| Ree 205 4.10
$534.59

These hens consumed more than 36,000 pounds of
grain, beef scrap and cut bone, an average of 60 pounds
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 293

each at a cost of about 89 cents each, which may be taken
as the average fecd cost of keeping a hen where prices
range as they did at this time. During the year 54 hens
died, and these were charged to expenditures at $8 per
dozen, the price fixed for the other fowls. At-the end of
the year 25 per cent was charged for depreciation and
$66 charged to the interest account. When the balance
was struck at the end of the vear the account stood as
follows:

EXPENDITURES.

 

WOr{eGdisass  weseqrane eideew choses Asse nenepoanaantis $534.59
POPIAWGOY: vcore. to cee oie amas wae aah Ga a Tioan aE oes 120.00 >
For fowls which @ied.......... :06 ceeee bese sees eeee eee 36.00
For depreciation in the value of fowls due to age ........ 100.00
For interest on investment..... 6.6. cee ee eee ee cee nee 66.00
Pornroheon Cw hens 2c 3 he aa ees aes ae 602.28
$1.428.87
INCOME.
POMGZESs canna Katedra de A ews 2 Satine “Bo Who ba whew $1,458. 87

This shows a profit of a little more than $1 per hen,
which is net profit instead of the profit above feed cost, as
is frequently the case in published accounts of the profits
of poultrykeeping.

It will be noticed that $120 was charged to labor. This
would indicate that one man was kept busy about one-
third of the time in caring for these fowls. It seems safe
to say that one man could easily care for 1,000 hens and
under similar conditions could make $1,200 per year.

HENS, COST OF KEEPING.—Prof. Atwood esti-
mates that it costs 25 cents per pound a year to keep the
average hen at the prices prevailing in 1909. He bases
his estimate on the cost of keeping a large flock at the
West Virginia Experiment Station. It has been asserted
that it costs twice as much to keep a Light Brahma as it
does a Leghorn. We would say that we think the differ-
294 POULTRY BREEDING

ence is probably not quite as great as this, as the Leg-
horn hen would require proportionally more feed to sup-
ply material for the larger number of eggs she would pro-
duce, although Prof. Thompson of Australia has asserted
that the larger breeds consume “a great deal more” feed
than the Leghorns. In our own yards we once weighed
the feed for a pen of Leghorns and a pen of Brahmas and
found that the Leghorns consumed but three-fifths as
much feed as the Brahmas.

SKIMMILK FOR CHICKS.—At the Indiana Experi-
ment Station W. B. Anderson tested the value of skim-
milk in feeding young chickens. He selected two lots
that received the same treatment except that Lot 2 was
given all the skimmilk the chicks would eat, in addition
to the grain ration. The test was continued eight weeks.
Lot 1 consumed 180 pounds of grain and the average
weekly gain per chick was 2.62 ounces. Lot 2 consumed
217 pounds of grain and 90 pounds skimmilk and the
average weekly gain per chick was 4.46 ounces. The
milk was very profitable as it improved the digestion of
the chicks as well as making the ration more efficient,
resulting in more rapid growth. The experiment was re-
peated with practically identical results. If a 10-pound
baby would make the same proportionate gain it would
weight 260 pounds when three months old. This shows
that the digestive organs of a chick work at high pressure.

SKIMMILK FOR LAYING HENS.—At the West
Virginia Station Prof. Atwood made a very thorough
test of the value of skimmilk in feeding laying hens. The
milk was allowed to sour before being fed and then was
used to moisten the mash of the flock to which it was fed.
Two flocks were used in the experiment. One was given
a mash moistened with the sour skimmilk and the other
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 295

a mash moistened with water. In all other respects the
fowls were treated alike and the birds themselves were
as near alike as possible. In two trials 802 quarts of
skimmilk were fed, resulting in an increase in the egg
production of 702 eggs. These eggs sold at from 20 to
23 cents per dozen. At these figures the value of the
skimmilk for hens was from 1% to 2 cents per quart. In
reporting this experiment Prof. Atwood remarks that
thick sour milk seems to have greater value for hens
than sweet milk and that more experimental work is
needed to clear up this matter. Very recently an eminent
European physician announced that he has discovered a
preparation of milk, which is fermented, that promotes
health in human beings, and it has long been understood
that the koumyss of the Tartar tribes (which is fer-
mented milk) is a very wholesome drink. It seems to be
well established that the lactic acid in sour milk improves
digestion, and is beneficial in assisting the organs of
elimination in throwing off the waste matters of the sys-
tem. No doubt something of this kind is brought about
when sour skimmilk is fed to hens. At any rate, Prof.
Atwood has demonstrated that skimmilk is more valuable
when fed to hens than for any other purpose to which
it usually is put.

SORGHUM SEED.—The seed of sorghum cane is es-
teemed as a feed for poultry. In many sections it is freely
grown for the purpose of making syrup for table use.
The seed is produced freely and is usually allowed to
waste in the field where it was made. If it were saved
and fed to poultry it would go a long way towards pay-
ing the expense of growing the crop.

STANDARD OF PERFECTION.—The “Standard of
Perfection” is a book published by the American Poultry
296 POULTRY BREEDING

Association which describes with great minuteness the
shape and color of every variety of poultry recognized in
this country. It assumes the prerogative of passing on
the eligibility of all new breeds for a place among recog-
nized breeds. The standard is the copyright property
of the association and its revenue is derived from its sale.
The standard is revised every five years, at which time
new breeds, or newly-introduced breeds from foreign
countries, are examined and their eligibility passed upon.

STANDARD WEIGHT OF EGGS.—Custom has
made the standard weight of eggs 2 ounces each. Iowa
has a law making this the legal weight, but no other
state has legislated on the subject.

STANDARD WEIGHTS OF BREEDS.—The Amer-
ican Standard of Perfection requires that most of the
breeds of fowls mentioned in it shall reach a certain
weight. This varies considerably in the different breeds
and even in the varieties of the several breeds. We give
the weights required for matured specimens, the weights
of cockerels and pullets being usually about one pound
lighter than cocks and hens in the respective varieties.
The weights follow in pounds and fractions: Plymouth
Rocks, all varieties, and Javas, cock 91% and 714; \Wyan-
dottes and Rhode Island Reds, cock 8% and hen 6%;
Buckeyes, cock 9 and hen 6; Dominiques, cock 8 and hen
6; Light Brahmas, cock 12 and hen 9!4; Dark Brahmas
and all varieties of Cochins, cock 11 and hen 8%; Lang-
shans, cock 10 and hen 7 Leghorns, no weight require-
ment; Black Minorcas, cock 9 and hen 713; White and
Rose Comb Black Minorcas, cock 8 and hen 6%; Black
Spanish, cock 8 and hen 6%; .\ndalusians, cock 6 and hen
5; Anconas, no weight requirement; White Dorkings,
cock 744 and hen 6; Silver Gray Dorkings, cock 8 and
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 297

hen 634; Colored Dorkings, cock 9 and hen 7; Red Caps,
cock 7% and hen 6; Orpington, all varieties, cock 10 and
hen 8; Polish, no weight requirements; Hamburgs, no
weight requirements; Houdans, cock 7 and hen 6; Cre-
vecoeurs, cock 8 and hen 7; La Fleche, cock 8!3 and hen
71%4; Standard Games, no weight requirement; Cornish
and White Cornish, cock 9 and hen 6%; Black Sumatras,
no weight requirements; Black Breasted Red Malays,
cock 9 and hen 7. Bantams are valued according to their
smallness and are disqualified if they weigh a few ounces
more than the standard weight. Bantam weights follow:
All Game Bantams, cock 22 and hen 20 ounces; all Se-
bright, Rose Comb, Booted White, Polish and Japanese
bantams, cock 26 and hen 2? ounces; Brahma and Cochin
bantams, all varieties, cock 30 and hen 26 ounces; Silkies,
Sultans and Frizzlies, no weight requirement.

The standard weights of turkeys are in pounds: Bronze,
male 36 and female 25; Narragansetts, male 30 and fe-
male 18; Slate and Black, male 27 and female 18; \Vhite,
male 26 and female 16.

The standard weight of ducks, in pounds: Pekins, Ca-
yugas and Blue Swedish, drake 8 and duck 7; Aylesburys
and Rouens, drake 9 and duck 8; Crested \White, drake 7
and duck 6; Muscovvs, both varieties, drake 10 and duck
7; Indian Runner, drake 4% and duck 4.

The weights prescribed for geese follow: Toulouse,
Embden and African, gander 20 and goose 18; Chinese,
both varieties, and Wild or Canadian, gander 12 and
goose 10; Egyptian, gander 10 and goose 8 pounds.

SQUAB BROILERS.—Recently there has grown up
a demand in the large cities for what is known as “squab
broilers,” chicks four weeks old weighing half a pound
each. It has been found by an extensive producer of
298 POULTRY BREEDING

squab broilers in New Jersey that White Leghorns make
the most desirable of this size. At the time they are to
be sold they are plump and compact in body and delici-
ously tender and palatable. These little broilers sell in
New York at a price which nets the breeder from $1.25
a pair, for the earliest ones in the spring, down to 70
cents per pair for the last ones sold. The business is
growing and extending to the cities farther west. Squab
broilers are fed largely on a mash mixed with milk, which
gives their flesh a peculiarly delicious flavor, and caterers
who have a high-class patronage take them quickly when
offered.

TAPEWORMS, DESTROYING.—In Europe consid-
erable loss is experienced in poultry through the ravages
of tapeworms. In this country this form of parasitic
affliction has been comparatively rare until quite lately
when several outbreaks have been reported. The Mary-
land station reports that almost invariably these worms
were expelled and the fowl cured by adiministering a
stiff purgative dose of Epsom salts following this with
two teaspoonfuls of turpentine introduced into the crop
through a rubber tube. (See Epsom Salts, Purgative
Dose.)

Fowls afflicted with tapeworms become very much
emaciated and the droppings usually contain considerable
quantities of yellow mucus. In such droppings may be
found the segments of the tapeworms that have passed
from the intestines. During the last stages the birds be-
come dull and listless. At first the appetite of the bird
is in no way disturbed but when the disease reaches the
stage of listlesness the appetite fails and the victims show
a tendency to huddle. Most cases in Maryland exhibited
a marked diarrhoea. On several occasions the birds
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 299

suffering from the disease appeared weak and epileptic.
Death usually came suddenly with convulsions.

Birds suffering from tapeworm should be isolated and
their droppings destroyed or treated with a disinfectant.
There seems to be no certain method of diagnosing this
disease except the finding of segments of the worms in
the droppings.

TESTING EGGS OUT OF INCUBATORS.—It is
necessary to test eggs out of an incubator in order to
prevent the contamination of good ones from the bacteria
that begin to infest eggs with dead germs in them. If
these bacteria do not entirely destroy the life of the
good eggs they frequently weaken the germs to such a
degree that the chicks hatched from such exposed eggs
come out weak and incapable of growing into a vigorcus
maturity.

TESTING EGGS FOR FRESHNESS.—Dr. Wiley of
the Department of Agriculture says if one cup of salt
be dissolved in 10 cups of water and a perfectly fresh egg
put into the solution it will sink. After a day or two the
egg will not sink so far and it continues to lie higher in
the water until an egg two weeks old lies well up on the
surface.

TRAPNESTS.—Trapnests show which hen lays the
egg. They are the only things that show without mis-
take just which hens lay enough to make a profit and
which ones do not pay for the feed they eat. If any
poultryman will use a trapnest a year he will learn some
astonishing things about his hens. He may find he has
hens that lay 200 or more eggs in a year and others, seem-
ingly just as good, that lay only a few eggs in a year.
By selecting the best layers and selecting their best
daughters, always breeding from a male that is from a
300 POULTRY BREEDING

good layer, it will be possible to improve the laying quali-
ties of our flocks until from an average of 64 eggs in a
year flocks may be built up which will lay from 150 to
200 eggs ina year. Not every one has time to take care
of trapnests, but every one might select a few hens and
test them by trapnesting and from these hatch chickens
for the improvement of the flock. It does not require
much time to attend to a flock that is being trapnested.
The writer has seen the trapnests in which 400 hens were
laying gone over in 30 minutes and about four visits a
day are enough. Where a dozen or two hens are being
trapnested the time required would be only a few min-
utes four or five times a day and in the end it would pay
to take this trouble.

TRAPNESTS, HOW TO MAKE.—The trapnest here
described was invented by Prof. James Dryden of the
Oregon station.several years ago, and it has been used
by him in his experiments and by several other experi-
ment stations with perfect success. It can be made by
any one who can use a saw and drive a nail. It can be
made out of one board 1”x10’x12’, as shown by the oppo-
site diagram. There is no patent on the Dryden trap-
nest, and Prof. Dryden has publicly announced that any-
one is at liberty to make and use it. The description may
not seem plain on casual reading but if the directions are
followed, a step at a time, it will be found that the build-
ing of the trapnest is involved in no difficulties whatever.
The following is the material used:

1 board 1°x12"x10’; 6 screw eyes No. 210, bright; 2
pieces round iron 3/16"x12"; 2 pieces rawhide 9”x12”

With a square lay off the board, as shown in the dia-
gram. The shaded places are waste pieces of the board.
The solid black lines show where the board is to be cut.
 

301

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY

 

 

 

Front Brace

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trip
% Board

fc Er 2
Ke IK He

 

 

 

Detail of Construction of the Dryden Trapnest,

 

 
302 POULTRY BREEDING

When cutting the sides apart it will be necessary to cut
only as far as X, then split the boards apart and saw the
required angle. After sawing the pieces the nest is ready
to put together.

1. Nail the sides to the bottom so the ends will be
even. 2. Stand the nest on end and nail on the back.
This will square sides. 3. Stand the nest on its back
and nail in the front piece. 4. Nail on the front brace,
which should be set into the sides at lines indicated by
A and B. 5. To the end of the bottom board nail the
nest end front. 6. The two front pieces are nailed on
either side of the door to the sides and the front brace.
7. Put in the piece (1014"x334") on which the door is bal-
anced; nail it in between the sides so that the inner side
will be flush with the outer side of the front pieces. In
this piece put a screw eye 4” from each side, the outer
edge of the screw eye being flush with the inside of the
piece. 8. Turn the nest on its side and bore the holes
in the sides through which the 3/16” iron is to pass. The
holes are 1” from the bottom and 114” from the nest front.
9. On the bottom of the trip-board put in a screw eye
7%" from the end and 1” from each side. At the other
end of the trip-board bore two 3%” holes 1” from the end
and 3” from each side. 10. On the bottom and at each
side of the door put in a screw eye 114” from the end and
3%” from the sides. On the upper side tack the two raw-
hide strips, using a small staple or nail for each. The
strips are tacked on so the ends of the strap will be 2”
from the end and 1%” from the side of the door. 11. Place
the door in front of the trip-board, the screw eyes down;
push the rawhide strips through the holes in the trip-
board; turn the board over and draw the strips up tight;
then bend the door back over the trip-board until there
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 303

is a full 34” between the boards when laid flat; the strap
should then be tacked to the lower side of the trip-board
(see 2 in illustration), 12. Put the trip-board and door
in place. This should be done by pushing the iron rods
through the side of the box and the screw eyes in the
trip-board and through the screw eyes and in the front
piece and the door. Care should be taken in putting the
screw eyes in the proper place or the door will not
balance.

The nests may be built singly or in groups, or they
may be put under the dropping boards where dropping
boards are used. When so placed they do not need a
top. In any case it will be an advantage to have the
nests made separate and installed in a frame so each nest
can be pulled out when a hen is to be released. Occa-
sionally a hen is slow about coming out and pulling the
nest out makes it easier to handle her. These nests are
intended for indoor use and must be sheltered if used
outside the house. The dimensions of the door as given
are calculated for hens of medium size. If larger hens
are kept the door should be made slightly wider. The
door should not be large enough to admit two hens at
one time; therefore the size of the door should be cal-
culated for the size of the hens kept.

TURKEYS, COMMERCIAL.—For a history and de-
scriptions see “Breeds of Fowls.” Turkeys are not
the kind of poultry for the man with a limited range.
They have never given up the tendency of their wild
ancestry to wander far from home and they will not
brook confinement even for a few days, except when very
young, and then they do better if they have their liberty
during the warmer hours of the day. Under domestica-
tion the turkey seems to have lost some of its vitality,
304 POULTRY BREEDING

as young turkeys are rather delicate and require good
care to bring them up to the age where they are safe.
Aiter a young turkey has begun to show the characteris-
tic red caruncles that cover the neck of the mature bird
it is as hardy as anything in nature, enduring with per-
fect impunity any stress of weather.

The Bronze turkey is the favorite in this country, al-
though considerable numbers of white turkeys are bred.
The Narragansett turkey was at one time a general fa-
vorite in some parts of the East, but it is now hard to
find pure specimens, as the variety was crossed with the
Bronze to improve its vitality and the stronger variety
dominated to such an extent that the Narragansett in its
purity it is hard to find. Bronze turkeys attain great
weights but it has not been thought best to breed from
the largest males, rather choosing the largest hens and a
male slightly below the heaviest weight attained. Rather
small-boned and plump turkeys are favorites in the mar-
ket and make weight as economically as large ones. Tur-
keys do not attain full size until two or three years old
and two-year-old birds make better breeders than year-
lings. One male is sufficient for 10 or 12 females, as one
copulation fertilizes all the eggs in one laying or clutch
and sometimes all laid in one season.

Turkey hens should be given entire liberty and allowed
to seek their nests at their own will. If barrels partially
covered with brush are placed on their sides in fence
corners and places somewhat hidden, hen turkeys will
usually accept them as nests. «A thick coat of straw
should be put.in the barrel for the hen to arrange as a
nest. The eggs should be gathered regularly and handled
carefully, keeping them in a dry cool place and turning
them every day. Turkeys may be hatched in incubators,
 

305

RY

F POULT

PERS 0

GUIDE FOR KEE

A

 

 

 

 

 

1, Bourbon Red Tom, 2, Black Tom. 3, White Tom, 4 and 5, Young and Mature Bronze Toms,
306 POULTRY BREEDING

but a common hen is better. The hen turkey will lay
about three clutches in a season. A good layer will lay
about 30 eggs in a season and she should be kept laying
by breaking her up when she goes broody. Merely de-
stroying her nest will cause her to give up the notion of
sitting and put her to laying again.

‘The hen turkey is a rather good mother. If she is al-
lowed to sit she must be set where she laid her eggs.
The eggs hatch in four weeks. Young turkeys should be
left in the nest from 36 to 48 hours after they hatch, with-
out being disturbed in any way. If the hen is shut up
on her nest she will usually sit quietly without worrying,
her whole attention being engrossed in the young birds.
When the young are taken from the nest they should be
put in a dry coop, in front of which is a grassy run. This
need not be large, a run + wide and 10° long being amrle.
This should be made of wide boards set on edge or of
wire netting with a mesh small enough to confine the
young birds, as they must be protected closely for the
first few days. The run and coop should be moved every
day or two.

Curds made by scalding clabbered milk, squeezed as
dry as possible, make a good feed for turkeys at first.
This is mixed with onion tops, chopped fine and a little
black pepper is added. Others feed bread soaked in
sweet milk and squeezed dry. Still others mix hard-
boiled eggs and stale bread into a crumbly mass and feed
it with good results. * This system of feeding should be
continued for about two weeks. The run should be
moved every day or two, as young turkeys require plenty
of green feed. The brood coop should have a board
floor and the mother should be confined to it. Use in-
sect powder freely, as lice seem to like young turkeys
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 307

and they usually grow a large crop of them from the
beginning.

The young birds should be supplied with water, char-
coal and grit from the first. After two weeks begin to
feed other feed. Table scraps and cracked corn, con-
tinuing to feed curds, if they are convenient, as they are
very nutritious and easily digested. By the time they
are six weeks old they may be fed grain only and allowed
considerable liberty through the day. They should be
fed every evening, no matter how good a range they have,
as this will accustom them to coming home to sleep. If
they are allowed to sleep one night away from home they
will not come back to the house again, but wander here
and there and sleep on any convenient fence when night
comes,

In the western states where turkeys have free range
they require but very little feed until time to fit them for
market. Then they should be given all they will eat of
sound old corn. If new corn is fed to them in large quan-
tities it sometimes gives them diarrhoea and prevents
them from putting on weight. Turkeys are usually sold
alive and dressed by the buyer. Where they are dressed
at home they are killed and dressed the same as chickens
and the directions given under the head of “Marketing
Poultry.”

The deadly disease known as blackhead has of late
years destroyed so many turkeys in the eastern states and
has appeared in so many localities in that part of the
Middle West east of the Mississippi River, that the
breeding of them should be undertaken with considerable
caution. Care should be taken to buy only healthy breed-
ing stock. It is better to begin by purchasing eggs, as
these rarely carry any infection with them, although it is
308 POULTRY BREEDING

thought that they are sometimes infected before they are
laid.

The diseases of turkeys apart from blackhead are the
same as those that afflict chickens and are treated in the
same way. They are quite subject to colds and roup
when exposed to these diseases, but if kept away from
sources of infection rarely contract them originally. In
the South and Far West turkey breeding is very profit-
able, as there are wide ranges on which they can find
their own feed and grow to full size at small cost.

The best time to market turkeys is just before Thanks-
giving, but there seems to be a tendency to make the
turkey a Christmas bird also and late-hatched ones may
be held over with good prospects of meeting a ready sale.

Breeding turkeys for fancy purposes as a specialty is
not usually a profitable venture, but when they are kept
in connection with other poultry a good many can be sold
at good prices. The demand is not large, but it is quite
constant and a great many poultry breeders who make a
specialty of breeding for the fancy trade find turkeys as a
side line a branch of fancy poultry business worth taking
up.

For show purposes the largest and most brilliantly-col-
ored specimens should be selected and they should be
made fat enough for market, as poultry judges are partial
to a well-rounded, plump and hard-fleshed specimen in
the showroom.

TURKEYS, SUMMARY OF BREEDING.—Never
let the young turkey get wet; the slightest dampness is
usually fatal. Feed nothing the first 24+ hours after they
are hatched. Before putting them in the coop see that
they are perfectly clean and free from lice, and dust them
with insect powder. Be sure the hen is free from lice and
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 309)))))))))))

 

 

 

 

 

 

White Turkeys and a Flock-Header.
310 POULTRY BREEDING

dust her too. Look out for mites and large lice on the
heads, necks and vents. Grease heads, necks and vents
with lard. Avoid kerosene. Use only a little lard, but
work it well into the down. If the down sticks together
after lard is applied too much has been used. Nine-tenths
of the young turkeys that die, die from lice. Remember
this. Filth will make short work of young turkeys. Feed
on clean surfaces. Give water only in such manner that
they cannot get wet above the beaks.

The first week feed a mixture of eggs beaten and mixed
with ground oats or rolled oats, salted to taste, and cooked
as bread, then crumbled for them with milk or curds so
they can drink all they want to. Feed every two hours,
early and late. Give a little raw meat every day; also
chopped onions or other tender green feed. After the
first week keep wheat and ground bone in boxes before
them all the time but feed three times a day on a mixture
of cornmeal and wheat middlings, cooked, to which green
feed has been added. Mashed potatoes, cooked turnips
and cold rice are always in order. Too much hard-boiled
ege will cause bowel disease. Remove coops to fresh
ground often to avoid disease. Ground bone, fine gravel,
ground shells and a dust bath must be provided. They
must be carefully attended until they become well
feathered. Finely-cut ground bones from the butchers,
with meat adhering, are excellent for them. Give them
liberty on dry, warm days. A high roost in an open shed,
open to the south, is best for grown turkeys. A single
mating of male and female fertilizes all the eggs laid in
a season, hence one gobbler will suffice for 12 or more
hens.

Two-year-old gobblers with pullets or yearling gob-
blers with old hens make a good mating. Turkeys may
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 311

be hatched in an incubator and raised in a brooder until
three months old, but only in lots of 25, as they require
constant attention. Capons make excellent nurses for
young turkeys. It is not advisable to mate a 40-pound
gobbler with common hens, as injury is likely to result. A
medium-sized gobbler is preferable. Young gobblers may
be distinguished from the females by being heavier, more
masculine appearing about the head, heavier caruncles
and a development of “tassels” on the breast. A little
experience is required at first. Adult turkeys can not be
kept in confinement, as they will pine away. By feeding
in the barnyard a little night and morning they will not
stray away very far, but can not be prevented from roam-
ing. The hen prefers to make her own nest. Gobblers
and hens of the same age may be mated but it is better
to have different ages.

USEFUL INFORMATION ABOUT EGGS.—\Within
a few years the poultry industry has become fourth or
fifth in rank among our rural industries, and promises
soon to become of yet greater importance. In view of
the very large preventable losses in every stage of the
progress of eggs from the producer to the consumer, it
becomes important to give the subject of the production
and handling eggs serious thought, that these losses may
be avoided. For this reason it seems advisable to give
in this connection some information about eggs that will
add to their value and thus increase the net revenue de-
rived from them by the producer and those who handle
them on their way to the ultimate consumer. It is im-
possible to give more than a guess at the aggregate value
of the eggs produced in this country. While the average
farmer can closely approximate the number of bushels of
wheat, corn or other farm crops he produces within a
312 POULTRY BREEDING

year, he is rarely able to give an intelligent estimate of
the number of eggs produced on his farm. Secretary of
Agriculture Wilson has estimated that the value of the
eggs and poultry produced in this country in a year is
about that of wheat or hay, roughly $625,000,000, and
these figures are thought to be well within the facts by
those who keep in touch with the poultry business,

Secretary Coburn of the Kansas State Board of Agri-
culture is probably able to give as close a guess at the
egg production of his state as any one in a similar posi-
tion in any other state and he gives the figures for Kan-
sas for five years as follows:

1908: icc cnd Gouna aes Baie See. GF. <asuduacelt AG $6,498,856
MOOS s syeces os sie oxen Ssdinis CORRE I SORRY tan eee oan 7,551,871
W905: secre: sags ages Re SERIES gue ee cee mee Eee 8,541,153
WQOG Sniping x erceepnait g ac yetgingung: adag nr dnenepeialne agak Caper Nee 9,085,896
MOE sriccsitiasah arctan issih sehepancre aug BW nee ha EON 10,800,082

This shows an increase in five years of $3,801,226 or
more than 50 per cent. If other states have made similar
increases, and there is reason to think they have, the fig-
ures given by Secretary Wilson are exceedingly conser-
vative. In spite of this rapid increase in production the
supply has not kept pace with the demand, as is shown
by the constant rise in prices. The farm price of eggs
in 1899 was 11.15 cents per dozen, as averaged in the
United States; in 1903 it was 12.37 cents; in 1904, 17.2
cents; in 1905, 18.7 cents; in 1906, 17 cents; in 1907, the
last year for which statistics are available, it was 18.2
cents. The units of production are so small that we fail
to realize the enormous aggregate value of poultry
products.

The most important source of revenue in the poultry
industry is the production of eges. It has been estimated
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 313

by several statisticians, working separately, and using
different methods, that the revenue derived from eggs is
about two-thirds of the total amount received from the
poultry industry. In New England in the East and in
the states commonly called the Coast States in the West,
those in the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast sections
of the country, eggs are uniformly high in price. In the
southern states eggs are almost uniformly low in price,
as compared with other sections. Heretofore it has been
accepted as a foregone conclusion that eggs would be
high from Nov. 1 to about the latter part of February. It
is common for farmers to look forward to Easter Sunday
as the time after which there will be a sharp decline. It
seems that the rule may be abrogated in the future, as
during 1909 instead of declining eggs actually rose in
price during April and May. The cost of producing a
dozen eggs has not definitely been determined. Some
Canadian estimates indicate that about 6 cents a dozen
would be the proper figure. Experienced poultrymen in
this country estimate that the cost is from 10 to 12 cents
a dozen. A few years ago the experiment station at
Cornell University undertook to settle this question
through the co-operation of a number of poultrykeepers.
The reports varied so widely in the matter of feed-cost
that they were not of much value, especially as some of
them were admittedly more in the nature of guesses than
carefully kept records.

In the Australian laying competition, beginning April
1, 1908, and ending March 31, 1909, 300 hens in their first
laying year, divided into flocks of 6, were fed at a cost of
$568.62, counting the pound Sterling at $4.86 American
money. These hens laid 4,506 dozen eggs, almost ex-
actly 180 each, the feed cost per dozen being: about 12.6
314 POULTRY BREEDING

cents per dozen. The feed was bran, middlings, corn,
wheat, meat (mostly bullocks’ livers), green feed
(chopped alfalfa), shells and less than $5 worth of sundry
feeds. Prices for the feedstuffs used did not vary widely
from prices for the same things in this country. Inci-
dentally it may be stated that these eggs were sold in
the open market at an average price of almost exactly 31
cents, American money.

The best results ever obtained in America from care-
fully conducted experiments were those of Graham at the
Ontario Agricultural College. Two pens, one each of
Barred Plymouth Rocks and Andalusians, each pen con-
taining 12 hens and one cock, were confined in yards
from April 22 to Aug. 22, a period of four months, and
the feed consumed by them was carefully weighed and
the cost computed. For the four months the feed-cost,
of Plymouth Rock eggs was 6% cents and the feed-cost
of eggs from Andalusians was 54/10 cents per dozen.
This is a remarkably good showing, but the test was
made during the period of highest laying and at the time
in the year when feed is likely to be cheapest and the
smallest quantity required. If the same hens have been
kept through the year the eggs would probably have
averaged 10 or 12 cents per dozen for the year.

The price of eggs in the final market depends alto-
gether on the quality, and tracing back through every
change of ownership every buyer has discounted the
price he could afford to give for eggs in perfect condition
enough to protect himself from every probable—one
might almost say every possible—loss that he may ex-
perience through any lack of quality. To command the
highest price eggs must be perfectly clean, weigh 2
ounces each and be perfectly fresh. Every deficiency in
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 315

any of these will reduce the price, and producers are the
only ones who feel the effect of any reduction in price
from any of the causes.

Eggs very readily spoil during warm weather or when
kept in damp, ill-smelling places, such as cellars or stor-
age rooms. Because of this readiness to spoil the term
“fresh eggs” has come to mean a good one. The condi-
tion of an egg does not depend altogether on its age.
An egg 48 hours old would be considered fresh if it had
been kept under proper conditions, but an egg which has
laid in the south side of a damp straw stack for the same
length of time in warm weather would not be fit to eat,
and, therefore, would not be classed as a fresh egg. How-
ever, eggs of this sort are often marketed.

The first thing an egg-buyer looks at is the size and
condition as to cleanliness. ‘Then he examines the egg to
determine its condition as to the freshness of its con-
tents. This is done by holding the egg between the eye
and a light, known as “‘candling.”” In the cities candling
eggs is a distinct and lucrative profession and candlers
become remarkably proficient in judging eggs in this
way. Usually an incandescent electric hght is put in a
tube or box in which there is only a single round opening,
rather smaller than an egg. The candler picks up three
eggs in each hand, taps them gently together to discover
if any of them have broken shells, and then rapidly re-
volves each egg between his eyes and the light, judging
their condition by their appearance.

In candling eggs they are separated into several quali-
ties. Those with cracked shells are called “checks.”
Those in which the shell is broken and pushed in are
called “dents,” and “leakers” are those broken enough so
the contents can run out. All such eggs, if the contents
316 POULTRY BREEDING

are fresh, are sold to bakers and other people who can
make use of them.

Eggs in which decay has begun are known as “spots”
and “rots.” The spots are those in which the bacterial
growth has just begun and shows by a dark spot when
the egg is candled. Rots are those which are entirely
opaque as viewed by the candler. Eggs which have been
held too long may be in fairly good condition, but by
evaporation may lose a part of their contents. These are
called “shrunken” eggs and when the contents have be-
come watery they are known as “frothy” eggs.

Dirty eggs may be simply stained by contact with wet
straw or other nesting material or they may be fouled
by chicken droppings. All these departures from perfec-
tion are counted against them when they change hands
and every time such a change is made. It is estimated
that 17 per cent of all the eggs produced are lost through
some of these disqualifying defects. This loss has been
estimated as follows:

DInHOSi ivictda matcaenticistinintonane Rai setiadiennanws Londnnnnes 2 per cent
BiedkagGinciedssaciacameeinne. FOF WSR samen al 3 2 per cent
Chick Gevelopmentiacss. . rawacediertive tcasenniie weeden 5 per cent
Shrunken Or held €8ES: o.060- cases. seansinareen ene 5 per cent
FROCKAN NOSES yc RS Raed GEREN GagSaewed go Ra eau 2». per cent
Moldy or bad flavors .... 06... 6. eeee ee ees (ly per cent

17 per cent

Besides the loss thus figured there is a less tangible
but very considerable one due “to the loss by curtailed
consumption. People do not like bad eggs and if such
are served they are inclined to order something else next
time. This cuts down the demand and reduces the price.
Any city egeg-dealer realizes how quickly the demand
adapts itself to the quality of the product. While this
loss cannot be estimated it is a verv real one. Some
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 317

idea of the difference between the amount realized for
eges as they are commonly handled and the valuation
placed on really high-grade goods may be obtained by a
comparison of the average price of eggs in New York as
they are commonly handled and strictly high-grade ones,
as shown in the subjoined table.

 

 

 

 

 

oa ‘loaeny ctatveses | Wholesale price
in New York. Strictly fresh eggs.

TAMU Vier eas ty ek Ber Saeed 25.Re A

February .... .... SA bts 40c
MTC irasend/eeaudaes 19.3¢. 220
ATUL sa: aminis. aiariaiaienal aed Mae wee 16.9¢ 30c
MAY Sac ihae cote yisicimietaehans aemanistcmes Chat 16.66 3le
DUNT opener. wisyars, sated Stestantnsle nant Nee 15.5¢ 32¢
PUY. sain ects 43 15.6¢ 35¢.
AUPUSts. ose sa! case were haw had aided 1li7.ie. 38e.
SEDtEMDEVmeienssae quar adiesiatlads aps 20.7¢. 40c.
October....... «+ ip OE AE Atte el 2 yAv% 42c,
November 26.0c. 45¢
Deemer siiys edisga. cet. serae gee ig an vA 2.7. ac.

 

 

 

These figures were obtained by the Bureau of Animal
Industry from a firm doing an extensive business in eggs
in New York City.

While on occasion deleterious bacteria may be found in
eggs as soon as they are laid, the chance of their presence
then is so remote that it amounts practically to nothing.
It is quite possible for bacteria to penetrate to the inside
of the shell of an egg if it is not properly cared for. In
its natural state the shell of an egg is lined with a tough
membrane made up of innumerable fibers crossing each
other in every direction. As long as the egg is kept dry
no bacteria can penetrate this membrane, but if the egg
318 POULTRY BREEDING

is allowed to lie in a wet nest or become wet bacteria may
-enter without resistance. For this reason eggs should be
kept dry from the time they are gathered until they are
consumed. ;
Of the loss of 17 per cent in the value of eggs from the
time they are produced until they are consumed but 2
per cent is caused by breakage and all the other causes
are preventable by using proper care in handling and for-
warding them to market. This loss the producer bears
and every one who produces eggs to sell should use his
best effort to avoid any of these causes mentioned. If each
one would do his part the whole body of producers would
feel the benefit in the increased prices which would be
obtained and the production of eggs would become much
more profitable than it ever before has been. It is the
careless producer who brimgs about this great loss for
which every one suffers the penalty.

UTILITY CLASSIFICATION.—Sometimes the sev-
eral breeds of poultry are classified according to their
advantages as utility fowls. The utility poultryman is
not usually greatly interested in fancy points, although
the time seems to be coming when utility and fancy will
be represented in many cases by the same fowls. Fancy
poultry breeders are taking great pains in breeding laying
strains and utility breeders are taking more interest in
fancy points. With a view to classifiying the breeds
according to their dominant characteristics we may sep-
arate them into four general classes: 1. Egg breeds: 2.
Meat Breeds; 3. General-Purpose breeds; +. Fancy
breeds, sometimes called Beauty breeds.

The distinctively egg breeds are rather small in size,
active, ranging far afield when given their liberty, early
fo mature and needing good houses in cold weather, more
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF~ POULTRY 319

than the larger breeds. Among these breeds are the Leg-
horns, Minorcas, Andalusians, Spanish and Hamburgs.

Meat breeds are large in body, not notably active, do-
mestic, easily confined and given to taking on weight
when liberally fed. Among these breeds would be classed
Brahmas, Cochins, Langshans and Orpingtons.

General-purpose breeds are those which are fairly good
layers, fairly active, good sitters and mothers and of
medium size. The really good general-purpose breeds
are the Plymouth Rocks, the Wyandottes and the Rhode
Island Reds.

Fancy breeds are those which are not highly esteemed
for either eggs or meat. Among these may be classed the
Polish fowls, the Bantams, Sultans and Silkies.

It should be understood that this classification is not
very exact. Some of the breeds might well be included
in two classifications or put into the general-purpose
class. Houdans, for instance, are good layers and good
table fowls. The Langshan is one of the big meat breeds
yet some notable records as layers have been made by
Langshans. Minorcas are as heavy as Plymouth Rocks,
yet they are most excellent layers. There are even cases
where the diminutive Bantam takes its place as a utility
fowl. However, the classification given is in a general
way about correct.

WATERGLASS, USING. — Waterglass in tins will
keep good for years, but when diluted with water is only
good for twelve months. Barrels, earthenware vessels,
galvanized iron buckets and cement tanks are suitable
for egg storing. Eggs have merely to be dropped in the
solution, and allowed to rest in any position. Egg
vessels may be stored anywhere in any temperature,
above freezing, in outhouse, cellar, back room, upstairs or
320 POULTRY BREEDING

any other spare place, but a moderately cool place is best.
Eggs a week old will preserve well, but do not come out
as fresh as those preserved the day they are laid. Eggs
may be taken out of the solution at any time in the year
and others put in at any time.

Eggs will keep sweet and fresh for a month or more
after being taken out of the solution. All water for
diluting the waterglass should be boiled, as this kills any
germs that may be in it and prevents thickening of the
liquid. The vessel need only be half filled as the eggs
will cause it to rise as they are put in, and the cover is
to keep dust out. Waterglass is harmless to both hands
and clothes and is non-poisonous. The waterglass acts
only on the shell of the egg, making it air and water tight.
Eggs preserved in waterglass which are to be sold should
be rinsed in warm water and wiped dry. They will then
be clean and fresh.

WHITE DIARRHOEA.—This disease has caused the
loss of chickens by the thousand in this country during
the last few years. It seems to be spreading to every
community where chickens are raised in large numbers,
and even to the farms. The disease is characterized by
whitish evacuations from the bowels, which frequently
adhere to the down around the vent in such a way as to
stop the passages from the bowels. The chicks afflicted
with this disease become lethargic, stand around with
their eyes closed, occasionally peeping in a mournful way.
refuse to eat and die. The Rhode Island station, the
Connecticut station and several of the other stations have
investigated this disease without further result than de-
termining that it is caused by bacteria. The latest in-
vestigations to be given to the public were those of Prof
F. C. Stoneburn of the Connecticut station and Prof.
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 321

L. F. Rettger of the Sheffield Scientific School. The com-
mon name of this disease, white diarrhoea, is given from
the whitish color of the evacuations from the bowels.
Other names are “sleepy sickness” and “bowel com-
plaint.” Stoneburn and Rettger call it “Bacillary White
Diarrhoea,” and the distinctive bacterium which causes
the disease they have named Bacterium pullorium.

Not all chicks contract the. disease, nor is it always
fatal, but chicks that are attacked and recover usually
remain stunted and grow slowly. It usually attacks
chicks when a few days old and those that reach the age
of two months without being attacked seem safe from it.
The investigations of Stoneburn and Rettger indicate that
infection may be derived from the hen that lays the eggs,
as many examinations disclosed Bacterium pullorium in
the ovaries of hens and in the yolks of eggs. The bac-
teria may also be derived from the litter in the nest, from
the soil and even from the hands of the attendant.

‘The only remedy suggested so far is thorough cleanli-
ness, disinfecting the eggs before they are put under the
hen or into the incubator and disinfecting the incubator
and brooder used.

WHITEWASH FOR POULTRY HOUSES.—Poul-
try houses should be frequently whitewashed in order
to kill disease germs and insects which may find lodg-
ment in the cracks in the walls. The following directions
for making the so-called “government” whitewash will
produce a wash which will adhere to walls and last for a
long time, inside or outside:

Half a bushel of unslaked lime slaked in warm water.
Cover during the process to keep in the steam. Strain
the liquid through a fine sieve or strainer. Add a peck
of salt, previously dissolved in warm water, 3 pounds of
322 POULTRY BREEDING

rice which has been ground and boiled to a thin paste, a
half a pound of Spanish whiting and a pound of glue
which has previously been disso!ved over a slow fire, and
add 5 gallons of hot water to the mixture. Stir well,
cover up to keep out dirt and let stand for five days. It
should be put on hot. One pint of the mixture will cover
a square yard if properly applied. Small brushes are
best. There is nothing that compares with this for out-
side or inside work, and it retains its brilliancy for years.
Coloring may be put into it to make it any shade, Span-
ish brown, yellow or clay color. For inside work in
poultry houses add two pints of carbolic acid which
makes it a fine disinfectant.

WORMS, INTESTINAL.—The only certain way of
telling whether fowls are infested with worms is finding
the worms in the droppings. Where the worms are
numerous they may cause death with symptoms so
closely resembling other diseases that correct diagnosis
is impossible. The following drugs will be found effica-
cious in destroying intestinal worms:

1. Isolate infested birds and destroy or disinfect their
droppings while being treated. 2. Put 1 to 2 drams of
copper sulphate in each gallon of drinking water for one
week; or 3. Powdered pomegranate root bark (for tape-
worms), followed by 2 or 3 teaspoonfuls of castor oil; or
4, Oil of turpentine, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls, followed in five
or six hours with castor oil. 5. Powdered santonin in 5
to 8-grain doses is especially good for round worms. 6.
Chopped up pumpkin seeds for tapeworms.

For worms in the air passages (vape worms among
other kinds) use any of the following:

1. Turpentine introduced into the windpipe by using a
stripped feather; or 2. Steaming with creolin and tur-
A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 323

pentine in hot water; or 3. Feeding garlic in feed. These
remedies are given in the order of their popularity.

YOLKS, COLOR INFLUENCED BY FEED.—Prof.
Atwood showed that when wheat, oats, or white corn
were fed alone or in combination, with beef scraps to
balance the rations that the yolks of eggs were very light,
entirely too light for the fancy trade, but when yellow
corn was fed the yolks were very rich in color. It is
thought that green feed, especially green grass or other
green stuff, clover or alfalfameal, tend to make the yolks
of eggs rich yellow in color. It would seem that any
feed which makes butter yellow when fed to a cow would
make the yolks of hens fed on the same kind of feed
yellow.

ZENOLEUM.—Zenoleum, creolin, naphthol are all
4isinfectants and germicides, the base of which is the
phenols, all having the phenol (carbolic acid) odor. They
are recommended as disinfectants and germicides and a
weak solution of them is used to disinfect incubators,
their use seeming to improve the hatch and to be of some
advantage in making the chicks healthier and more re-
sistant of white diarrhoea.