ALBERT R. MANN
LIBRARY

AT

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

 

JAMES E. RICE
MEMORIAL
POULTRY LIBRARY

 
DATE DUE

 

GAYLORD PRINTEDINU.S.A.

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SF 487.

"me University Library

A manual fort

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                               

mann,
THE

COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

A MANUAL FOR THE AMERICAN
rOULTRY YARD,

By C. E. THORNE,

AssocraTE EDITOR Farm AND FIRESIDE.

PUBLISHED BY
Mast, CROWELL & KIRKPATRIOK,
SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.
eS .:
Copyniaurep,
PREFACE.

The “ Poultry Book,” edited by W. B. Tegetmeier; and illustrated by Harrison
Weir, is everywhere recognized as the standard authority on matters pertaining
to poultry, and its descriptions, accompanied by Mr. Weir’s excellent illustra-
tions, have performed an invaluable service in fixing the types of the various
breeds of fowls. The high price of this work, however, places it beyond the
reach of the average American poulterer, while, moreover, it treats of the sub-
ject from an English point of view, and has little or nothing to say upon many
questions which are of paramount interest here.

Of other English and American poultry books little can be said. They are
often mere compilations from Mr. Tegetmeier’s work, only departing from his
text to admit gross inaccuracies, or to advertise the compiler’s egotism.

In the compilation of this book, Mr. Tegetmeier’s work has been used as the
basis, and in many places his text has been closely followed, as shown by the
marginal references. It will be found, however, that many important additions
have been made, as in that portion of the chapter on the diseases of poultry
which treats of fowl-cholera; in the description of the newer American breeds,
and in many points relating to the care and management of fowls.

Cc. E. T.

[i]
THE POULTRY BUSINESS.

 

The poultry yard is generally regarded as one of the most insignificant paris
of the farming business—frequently as more of a nuisance than anything else,
only to be tolerated to satisfy the whims of the “womeg folks.” So firmly
grounded is this opinion in the masculine mind that no effort is made to ascer-
tain the real value of the poultry industry, and we turnin vain to the volumes of
National and State statistics for information in regard to it. This being the case
we may be pardoned for doing a little guessing at its probable status, mingling
our guesses with such figures bearing upon the subject, either directly, or indi-
rectly, as may be attainable. For this purpose we shall use chiefly the statistics
of the State of Ohio, they being more complete than others which are accessible
at this date.

From these and the National statistics we find that there are, in round numbers,
about 200,000 farms in Ohio. Upon each of these farms it is safe to say that
there will be found an average of a dozen fowls, or 2,400,000 fowls for thé State.
If two millions of these are hens, and they yield but sixty eggs each during the
season, there should be an annual production of 120,000,000 eggs, or ten millions
of dozens, worth, at ten cents per dozen, a round million of dollars, If to this
quantity we add the value of the poultry consumed at home and sold in the
markets, we should have at the lowest calculation half a million dollars more,
making a sum equal in value to that of the total production of rye and barley
together, the produce of 77,000 acres of land; one third as great as the value of
the potato crop; more than half Sf that of the cheese; about one fourth that of
the wool; about the same as that of the clover seed; one fourth greater than the
eombined productions of sorghum, maple molasses and sugar, and honey;
and ten times as greatas the value of the sweet potato crop, for the year 1879.
If our estimate of t youltry product is extravagant in either direction it is in
that of lowness.-Certainly Such ‘an industry as this is worthy of attention.

It is true that the larger part of this poultry product is consumed at home; but
it is none the less valuable‘on that account, for both the flesh and egg of the
fowl are foods of the soe nus and valuable kinds, and if their consump-
tion were increased tenfold in our farmers’ families, and that of salt pork and
grease diminished in proportion, the annual saving in doctors’ bills and the
greater accomplishment of work consequent upon the improved health which
would thus be obtained, would amount to more, in all probability, than the
whole value of the poultry product now. .

With regard to the value of eggs as food the editor of the Boston Journal of

Kemistry says: -

“ Eggs, at average prices, are ant cheapest and most nutritious articles
6 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

of diet. Like milk, an egg isa complete food in itself, containing everything
necessary for the development of a perfect animal, as is manifest from the fact
that a chick is formed from it. It seems a mystery how muscles, bones, feath.
erg, and everything that a chicken requires for its perfect development are
made from the yelk and white of an egg; but such is the fact, and it shows how
complete a food an egg is. It is also easily digested, if not damaged in cooking: .
. Indeed, there is no more concentrated and nourishing food than eggs. ” The
albumen, oil, and saline matter, are, asin milk, in the right proportion for sus-
taining animal life. Two or three boiled eggs, with the addition of a slice or
two of teast, will make a breakfast sufficient for a man, and good enough for a
king. :

“According to Dr. Edward Smith, in his treatise on ‘Food,’ an egg weighing an
ounce and three quarters contains one hundred and twenty grains of carbon, and
seventeen and three quarter grains of nitrogen, or 15.25 per cent. of carbon
and two per cent of nitrogen. The value of one pound of eggs, as food for sus-
taining the active forces of the body, is to the value of one pound of lean meat
as 1584 to 900. Asa flesh-producer, one pound of eggs is about equal to one
pound of beef. :

“A hen may be calculated to consume one bushel of corn yearly, arid to lay
ten dozens or fifteen pounds of eggs. Thisis equivalent to saying that three and
one tenth pounds of corn will produce, when fed to a hen, five sixths of a pound
of eggs; but five sixths of a pound of pork requires about five pounds of corn
for its production. Taking into account the nutriment in each, and the com-
parative prices of the two on an average, the pork is about three times as costly
a food as the eggs, while it is certainly less healthful.” .

One of the reasons why the poultry business has received no more attention
is that it cannot be made a large business. The barn-yard fowl] is so constituted
that it does not thrive when massed in large numbers, but only reaches its high-
est perfection when allowed to follow the customs of its progenitors in the Indian
jungles, and wander at will in small flocks. This peculiarity has prevented the
profitable handling of poultry as a specialty, ‘except in the way of breeding im-
proved stock to be sold at fancy prices, since it has not yet been found possible
to collect a large number of fowls into one management and maintain them in
health, without a greater outlay than would be justified by the returns obtained.
Under the conditions of ordinary barn-yard poultry-keeping the fowls gather
most of their subsistence from materials which would otherwise be wasted;
while the time occupied in their care, being chiefly that of otherwise unproduc-
tive members of the household, is not felt; consequently, whatever they may
yield in the way of eggs and flesh is so much clear gain. When, however, the
natural and waste supplies of food are exhausted; thatis, the insects, weed-seeds
and grass obtained upon the range, and the waste food picked up in the barn-
yard, scratched out of the manure heap, or out of the waste thrown from the
household table, an element of outlay begins to enter into the calculation which
may become so great as to counterbalance all the profit obtained.

It is hoped that this book may be the means of suggesting such methods of
economizing in the care and feeding of poultry, that these expenses may be so
reduced as to render the enlarging of the flock on every farm, not only a justifi-
\

THE POULTRY BUSINESS. 7

able, but a protitable step; at the same time we would not encourage any one to
go into the business of raising fowls and eggs for market with the expectation
of becoming suddenly rich atit. It is a business involving but little manual
labor, and that of a light character, but it does require daily exercise in the open
air; hence it is admirably suited for women, and for those who are infirm in
health. To such it offers a small remuneration, and if combined with other
light employments, as bee keeping, some branches of small fruit culture, and silk
production, would afford a reliable means of support to many whose circum.
stances do not allow them to engage in more laborious employments.

We have in mind widows, who have been left with families of small children
dependent upon them, but without any means of support except the needle;
maiden ladies, whom life’s lottery has left without a household mate and pro-
tector; persons of infirm health, who have neither the strength nor facilities for
the severe bodily or mental exertion which is required in other branches of indus-
try; the families of laborers, whose scanty earnings are but barely sufficient to
feed and clothe the wife and little ones: All these, if so situated that they can
have the use of a small tract of land, may greatly lighten the burdens of life by
the Keeping of poultry, and if we do not present this business in the glowing
light that some enthusiasts do, it is that such as these may find in our book no
incentives to extravagant anticipation, only to be followed by disappointment;
but may beled to begin cautiously and work carefully until experience shall
have taught them with the least possible loss—for experience teaches only by
losses, or what is the same, by failures to attain possible gains—the most suitable
methods for their estates and conditions.

The foregoing remarks apply simply to the breeding of poultry for flesh and
eggs; the breeding of fancy poultry is a separate business, and one which re-
quires special adaptitude for success, as well as a knowledge which can only be
bought by experience It is not a business to be picked up in a day, any more
than the breeding of horses and cattle. The same principles underlie the whole
theory of breeding, and these principles are only to be mastered by years of
study and practice; therefore we would advise those of limited means who have
aspirations in this direction, to begin with one or two varieties of fowls; learn
their habits and needs, and increase their number only in proportion as this
knowledge is obtained. It isa knowledge which cannotbe obtained from books,
although books may be of such assistance that no poultry breeder can afford to
do without them; but the information which they give must be mingled with
personal experience, and thus digested and assimilated before it can be of much
practical value.

This business has grown to great dimensions within a few years, owing to the
facilities ‘afforded by the express companies for the interchange of fowls and
eggs, by which they may be senthundreds of miles with perfect safety, as far as
the fowls are concerned, and with butlittle risk to the eggs. This business started
with the introduction of the large Asiatic breeds, whose superior size and other
desirable qualities made them generally attractive, and now we have, in the es-
tablishments of our fanciers, representatives of almost every breed of fowl
Enown.
CHAPTER I.

ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE DOMESTIC FOWL.

With regard to the origin of the domestic fowl, Charles Darwin, in his Vari-
ation of Animals and Plants under Domestication, says, in speaking of the various
species of Gallus: “The G. Sonneratii does not range into the northern parts of
Tudia; according to Col. Sykes it presents at different heights on the Ghauts
two strongly-marked varieties, perhaps deserving to be called species.. It was at
onetime thought to be the primitive stock of all our domestic breeds, and this
shows that it closely approaches the common fowl in general structure; but its
hackles partially consist of highly peculiar, horny lamine, transversely banded
with three colors, and I have met with no authentic account of any such char-
acter having been observed in any domestic breed. This species also differs
greatly from the common fowl, in the comb being finely serrated, and in the
loins being destitute of true hackles. Its voice is utterly different. It crosses
readily in India with domestic hens, but the hybrids thus produced are almost
absolutely sterile when crossed among themselves or with either parent. * * From
these facts we may reject this species as being the parent of any domestic breed.

“Ceylon possesses a fowl peculiar to thisisland; namely, G. Stanleyii. Thisspecies
approaches zo closely (except in coloring of the comb) to the domestic fowl, that
Messrs. E. Layard and Kellaert would, have considered it, as they inform me,
as one of the parent stocks, had it not been for its singularly different voice.
This bird, like the last, crosses readily.with tame hens, but the produce is sterile,
and inherits the peculiar voice of G. Stanleyti, This species may then, in all
probability, be rejected, as one of the primitive stocks of the domestic fowl.

“ Java, and the islands eastward, as far as Flores, are inhabited by G. varius
(or furcatus), which differs in so many characters—green plumage, unserrated
comb, and single median wattle—that no one supposes it to have been the parent
of any one of our breeds; yet, as Il am informed by Mr. Crawfurd, hybrids are
commonly raised between the male G. varius-and the common hen, and are kept
for their great beauty, but are invariably sterile.

“The last species to be mentioned; namely, G. bankiva, has a much wider geo-
graphical range than the three previous species; it inhabits northern India as far
west as Sinde, and ascends the Himalaya to a height of four thousand feet; it in-
habits Burmah, the Malay peninsula, the Indo-Chinese countries, the Philippine
Islands, and the Malayan archipelago as far eastward-as Timor. This species
varies considerably in the wild state. Mr. Blyth informs me that the specimens,
both male and female, brought from near the Himalaya, are rather paler colored
than those from other parts of India; whilst those from the Malay peninsula and
Java, are brighter than the Indianbirds. Ihaveseen specimens from these coun-
. tries, and the difference of tint in the co was conspicuous. The Malayan
10 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

hens were a shade redder on the neck and breast than the Indian hens. The
Malayan males generally had a red ear-lappet, instead of a white one asin India;
but Mr. Blyth has seen one Indian specimen without the white ear-lappet. The
legs are leaden blue in the Indian, whereas they show some tendency to be yel-
lowish in the Malayan and Javan specimens. In the former Mr. Blyth finds the
tarsus remarkably variable in length. According to Temminck the Timor spec-
imens differ as a local race from that of Java. These several wild varities have
not as yet been ranked as distinct species; if they should, as is not unlikely,
be hereafter thus ranked, the circumstance would be quite immaterial as far as
the parentage and differences of our domestic breeds are concerned. The
wild @. bankiva agrees most closely with the black-breasted red Game breed, in
coloring ‘and in all other respects, except in being smaller, and in the tail being
carried more horizontally. But the manner. in which the tail is carried is highly
variable in many of our breeds, for the tail slopes much in the Malays, is erect:
in the Games and some other breeds, and is more than erect in the Dorkings,
Bantams, etc. There is one other difference; namely, that in @. bankiva, accord-
ing to Mr. Blyth, the neck-hackles when first moulted are replaced during two
or three months, not by other hackles, as with our domestic poultry, but by short,
blackish feathers. Mr. Brent, however, has remarkéd that these black feathers
remain in the wild bird after the development of the lower hackles, and appear
in the domestic bird at the same time with them; so that the only difference is
that the lower hackles are replaced more slowly in the wild bird than in the
tame bird; but as confinement is known sometimes to affect the masculine
plumage, this slight difference cannot be considered of any importance. It isa
significant fact that the voice of both the male and female G. bankiva, closely
resembles, as Mr. Blythand others have noted, the voice of both sexes of the
common domestic fowl, but the last note of the crow of the wild bird is rather
less prolonged. * * * * * * * *
“From the extremely close resemblance in color, general structure, and espe.
cially in voice, between Gallus bankiva and the Game fowl; from their fertility, as
far as this has been ascertained, when crossed; from the possibility of the wild
species being tamed, and from its varying in the wild state, we may confidently
look at it as the parent of the most typical of all the domestic breeds; namely, the
Game fowl. It is a significant fact that almost all the naturalists in India who
are familiar with G. bankiva, believe that it is the parent of most or all of our
domestic breeds. But even if it bé admitted that G. bankiva is the parent of the
Game breed, yet itmay be urged that other wild species have been the parents of
the other domestic breeds, and that these species still exist, though unknown,
in some countries, or have become extinct. The extinction, however, of several
species of fowls is an improbable hypothesis, seeing that the four known species
have not become extinct in the most anciently and thickly populated regions of
the East, There is, in fact, only one kind of domesticated bird; namely, the
Chinese goose, or Anser cygnoides, of which the wild parent form is said tobe
still unknown, or extinct. For the discovery of new, or the re-discovery.of old
species of Gallus, we must not look, as fanciers often look, to the whole world.
The larger gallinaceous birds, as Mr. Blyth has remarked, generally have a re-
stricted range; we see this well illustrated in India, where the genus Gallus
ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 11

inhabits the base of the Himalaya, and is succeeded higher up by Gallophasis,
and still higher by Phasianus. Australia, with its islands, is out of the question
as the home of unknown species of the genus. It is also as improbable that
Gallus should inhabit South America as that a humming-bird should be found in
the old world. From the character of the other gallinaceous birds’ of Africa it
is not probable that Gallus is an African genus. We need not look to the west-
ern part of Asia, for Messrs. Blyth and Crawfurd, who have attended to this
subject, doubt whether Gallus ever existed in a wild state even as far west as
Persia. Although the earliest Greek writers speak of the fowl asa Persian bird,
this probably merely indicates its line of importation. For the discovery of un-
known species we must look to India, to the Indo-Chinese countries, and to the
northern parts of the Malay archipelago. The southern portion of China is the
most likely country; but as Mr. Blyth informs me, skins have been exported
from China during a long period, and live birds are largely kept there in aviaries,
so that any native species of Gallus would probably have become known. Mr,
Birch, of the British Museum, has translated for me passages from a Chinese
encyclopedia, published a. D. 1609, but compiled from more ancient docu-
ments, in which it is said that fowls are creatures of the West, and were intro-
duced into the East (that is, China) in adynasty 1400 B.c. Whatever may be
thought of so ancient a date, we see that the Indo-Chinese and Indian regions
were formerly considered as the source of the domestic fowl. From these several
considerations we must look to the present metropolis of the genus, namely, to
the south-eastern parts of Asia, for the discovery of species which were formerly
domesticated, but are now unknown in the wild state; and the most experienced
ornithologists do not consider it ‘probable that such species will be discovered.

‘Purely bred Game, Malay, Cochin, Dorking, Bantam, and, asI hear from
Mr. Tegetmeier, Silk fowls may frequently or occasionally be met with, which
are almost identical in plumage with G. bankiva. This is a fact well deserving
attention, when we reflect that these breeds rank among the most distinct.
Fowls thus colored are called by amateurs ‘black-breasted reds.’ Hamburgs
properly, have a very different plumage; nevertheless, as Mr. Tegetmeier in-
forms me, ‘the greatest difficulty in breeding cocks of the golden-spangled
variety is their tendency to have black breasts and red backs.’ The males of
white Bantams and white Cochins, as they come to maturity, often assume a
yellowish or saffron tinge; and the longer neck-hackles of black Bantam cocks,
when two or three years old, not uncommonly become ruddy; these latter Ban-
tams occasionally ‘even moult brassy winged, or actually redshouldered.’ So that
in these several cases we see a plain tendency to areversion tothe hues of G.
bankiva, even during the lifetime of the individual bird.”

With regard to the history of the fowl Mr. Darwin says further:

“Rutimeyer found no remains of the fowl in the ancient Swiss lake-dwellings.
Itis not mentioned in the Old Testament; nor is it figured on the ancient Egyptian
monuments. It is not referred to by Homer nor Hesiod (about 900 B. ¢.); but
is mentioned by Theognis and Aristophanes between 400 and 5008. c. It is
figured on some of the Babylonian cylinders, of which Mr. Layard sent me an
impression, between the sixth and seventh centuries B. C., and on the Harpy
Tomb in Lycia about 600 B. C., so that we may feel pretty confident that the
12 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

fowl reached Europe somewhere near the sixth century B.C. It h«d traveled
still further westward by the time of the Christian era, for it was found in Brit-
ain by Julius Cesar. In India it must have been domesticated when the Insti-
tutes of Manu were written; that is, according to Sir. W. Jones, 1200 B. C., but,
according to the later authority of Mr. H. Wilson, only 800 8. C., for the do-
mestic fowl is forbidden, while the wild is permitted to be eaten. * * ¥*

“Suffcient materials do not exist for tracing the history of the different breeds.
About the commencement of the Christian era, Columella mentions a five-toed,
fighting breed, and some provincial breeds; but we know nothing more about
them. He also alludes to dwarf fowls; but these cannot have been the same
with our Bantams, which, as Mr. Crawfurd has shown, were imported from
Japan into Bantam in Java. A dwarf fowl, probably the true Bantam, is re-
ferred to in an old Japanese encyclopedia, as I am informed by Mr. Birch, In
the Chinese encyclopedia aboye referred to, seven breeds are mentioned, in-
eluding what we should now call jumpers or creepers, and likewise fowls with
black feathers, bones, and flesh. In the seventeenth century Aldrovandus de-
seribes seven or eight breeds of fowls, and this is the most ancient record from
which the age of our European breeds can be inferred.”

 
 

GALLUS BANKIVA- —THE JUNGLE FOWL,

[131
- CHAPTER II.

THE REARING OF CHICKENS,

THE EGG.

'

All animal life has its beginning in the egg. In the mammals this egg is hatched
within-the body of the mother, and the young animal attains to a greater or less
stage of development there before being thrown upon the cold charities of the
world. Among most other orders of animals, however, the egg, after being
charged with w supply of nutriment sufficient to carry its inhabitant to a stage
of growth from which it may proceed with but little external assistance, is re-
moved from the body, and the life within it awakened or destroyed by the cir-
cumstances with which it finds itself surrounded. :

The essential part of the egg is the vitellus, or yelk, which, in its simplest form, is
simply a globular mass of oily and albuminous matter, surrounded by a color-
less, transparent, homogenous membrane—the vitelline membrane. In the hen
these yelks may be found as a mass of yellow balls (ovules) of all sizes, those
most-nearly developed being nearly an inch in diameter.

These yolks,.or yelks, are arranged in consecutive layers, as may be seen by
cutting through a hard-boiled egg. In addition to the purely chemical elements
which constitute their oil and albumen, they contain the life-germ of the future
chick, which may be seen as a small, circular speck on top of the yelk upon
breaking the egg into a basin. This speck is constantly kept on top of the yelk
through the agency of gravity, it being lighter than the rest of the egg, while op-
posite it is found a comparatively densemass of albumen called the Chalaze,
which serves as a ballast to keep the germ uppermost on whichever side the egg
may be laid.* By this arrangement the germ is kept constantly near the breast
of the hen, in such a situation as to most promptly receive the warmth of the
hen, and to avoid the injury to the growing embryo which would resultfrom the
pressure of the heavy mass of the yelk.

These life-germs exist in all eggs, but the contact of the male element, or
sperm, is required to give them vitality. Without that contact the bird’s egg is
simply a lump of inanimate matter, doomed to destruction. With it, this same
lump of matter becomes endowed with that wonderful and incomprehensible
thing, the life-principle, which renders this inanimate egg capable of building
its particles together into the perfectly formed, living chick; which gives the
seed the ability to develop into the full grown plant or tree, which brings forth
bud and flower with every spring-time, and of which Professor Tyndall, the man
who has been so widely aspersed because the revelations which he has read from
the wonderful book of Nature do not coincide with the interpretations which
doctrinarians have ignorantly put upon the equally wonderful Word, has said, in
speaking of atoms:

 

*Tegetmeler,

[15]
16 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

“The way in which these atoms build themselves together is to me perfectly
astonishing. You have here a play of power as wonderful as vitality itself. And
depend upon it, trust me, the revelations of science are not in the least degree
calculated to lessen our feelings of astonishment. We are surrounded by won-
ders and mysteries everywhere. I have sometimes—not sometimes, but often—
in the spring-tide—watched the advance of the sprouting leaves, and of the grass
and of the flowers, and observed the genial joy of opening life in nature, and I
have asked myself this question: ‘Can it be that there is no being nor thing in
nature that knows more about these things than J do? -Do I in my ignorance .
represent the highest knowledge of these things existing in the universe?’ The
man who puts that question to himself—if he be not a shallow man, if he be a
man capable of being penetrated by. profound thought—will never answer by
professing tke creed of atheism, which has been so lightly attributed to me.”

As the yelks pass through the lower portions of the generative passages the
“white of egg,” which is pure albumen and water, is deposited around them
in layers, the outermost of which is surrounded by two fibrous membranes, the
“shell membranes.” These membranes adhere closely together throughout most
of their extent, but at the larger end of the egg they separate so as to form a small
vesicle, the “air bladder.” Outside of these membranes is formed the shell;
which is a consolidated layer of the carbonate of lime, the same substance that ex-
ists in other forms as marble, chalk, etc. This layer is deposited in such a manner
as to give the greatest possible strength for the material used, and at the same
time is so arranged as to leave numerous pores, or breathing places, through
which the water of the egg may evaporate, and the external air penetrate to sup-
port the respiration of the growing chick, or to set up the processes of decay by
which eggs are so soon addled when exposed to the action of the atmosphere.

When the egg is subjécted to a continuous heat of a little more than one hun-
dred degrees, the germ, if it has been fertilized, soon begins to increase in size,
and within twenty-four hours small blood-vessels may be seen forming a beautiful
zone around it, If the heat be maintained, with proper conditions of moisture,
these blood-vessels will continue to extend, until by the third day they will have.
commenced the formation of a temporary membrane, lining the shell membranes
and called the allantois, which gives rise to that opacity shown in fertile eggs
that have been sat upon. This membrane serves as the lungs of the growing
embryo, which absorbs the contents of the egg and converts them into blood,
which is aerated by exposure in the vessels of the allantois to the oxygen of the
ai: that. penetrates througb the pores of the shell. This work goes on more and
more actively until the nineteenth day of incubation, by which time the lungs -
of the embryo chick will have so far developed that they begin to perform their
proper function, and its beak will have ruptured the air vesicles at the large
end of the egg, which has considerably increased in size through the evaporation
of the water from the albumen of the egg. At this time a peculiar tapping-like
sound may be heard by placing the egg to the ear; this has been commonly
ascribed to the pecking ot the chick against the shell of the egg, but it has been
shown to be due to the respiratory action of the lungs of the young chick.*
About the end of the twenty-first day of incubation—a few hours sooner with

; "Tegetmeier,
THE EGG—INCUBAZION. WV

fresh eggs, a few hours later with stale ones—the chick will break the shell, and
will soon emerge.

The egg is thus seen to contain every element, except oxygen, necessary to
the formation of the living chick; the flesh, blood and bone; the horn of the
beak, claw and quill; the plume of the feather, the various internal organs, and
the digestive fluids.

With this review of the constitution of the egg, its nature and the best meth-
ods of managing it may be more easily understood. Thus the processes for pre-
serving eggs depend upon the porous construction of the shell, the point
necessary to be attained being the complete exclusion of the air; which may
be accomplished by coating the shells with oil, grease or wax, or by immersing
the eggs in a thin, creamy mixture of lime and water. Simply sealing the eggs
in air-tight jars will prevent their decay for a considerable time, and where it is
desired to preserve them for hatching purposes, this method should be employed
in preference to filling the pores with oil, etc., as it is necessary to the growth of
the embryo that these pores should be kept open.

The peculiar construction of the egg-shell gives it such strength that a man
may exert all his force upon it without breaking it, by placing it endwise be- ©
tween the palms of his hands and applying the force equally at all points; hence
eggs may be packed in barrels, boxes or baskets, and shipped long distances
without injury, provided they be surrounded_by some elastic material, as oats,
bran, cut hay, etc., thoroughly packed around all sides, so that they cannot come
in contact with each other. This fact, and the peculiar internal construction of
the egg, the yelk and albumen being surrounded by separate membranes, and

‘the germ so perfectly balanced, rendering the mixture of these parts impossible,

make the shipping of eggs for hatching purposes so feasible that they are annu-
ally sent in large quantities hundreds and thousands of miles, through the express
companies, being simply packed in light boxes, or preferably in baskets with
handles; a layer of bran, oats, sawdust, or, best of all, finely cut hay or straw,
being placed in the bottom of the basket; the eggs placed on end on this, and
surrounded with the paeking material in such a way that they will not touch,
and the whole held in place by a cloth cover sewed to the sides of the basket.

INCUBATION.

In the management of incubation, whether natural or artificial, we may learn
much from the habits of the hen that is allowed to follow her natural instincts;
thus, her nest is generally located upon the ground, under the shelter of a fence-
row or thicket, and secluded as much as possible from intrusion ; the earthy iloor
of the nest, wing non-conductive of heat, retains that imparted from the body
of the hen, while its moisture, together with that gathered by the hen during
her early morning excursions for food, prevent an undue evaporation of the
water of the egg. The eggs are never disturbed by turning or other handling,
and when the embryo matures into a chick it pecks its way out of its stony cell
without any other help than its own instinct and that of its hen-mother. The
success of this method of incubation is proverbial, and he who can secure as
large a percentage of chicks from his eggs under any method of management,
as does the hen that thus steals her nest, may be well satisfied.
18 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

In carrying into practice the suggestions thus received from nature, we should
endeavor first to secure eggs as freshly laid as possible, since those which have
been laid for some time will not hatch so promptly nor produce such thrifty
chicks as those more recently laid; the eggs should have been laid by young and
thrifty fowls, as there will be a large per cent. of infertile ones, while the chicks
produced will be of weak constitution, among eggs laid by old hens,’ and
especially among those fertilized by old or puny cocks; the nests for the sitting
hens should be located upon the ground if possible, or if this be impracticable,
a few shovelfuls of earth, or a piece of sod, should be putin the bottom of the
nest-box, arranged in the form of'a nest, and covered
with cut hay or straw, or with leaves. The nest-box
should not be so deep but that the hen can leave it
without disarranging her eggs—Fig. 1. represents a
good form—and should be so arranged that’ other hens
may be excluded; otherwise there will be continual_
quarreling, resulting in the breaking of eggs and the
laying of fresh ones which will not hatch in season,
and will thus be destroyed. y oes

In Fig. 2 we illustrate a hatching-coop ‘for’ use
where very early chickens are desired. The coop is
four feet long, three feet wide and four feet high, being made large enough to
give ample ventilation when closed. The nest is made-in one corner of the
coop, or two hens may be set in opposite corners at the same tinie, and when
the chicks are hatched they may be confined in the’coop when necessary. The
sash is 3x4 feet in sizé, and may be raised or removed entirely when desired,

 

 

Where several hens are sitting at the same time, it is well to have each nest
connected with a covered run-way, in which food and water may be placed for
the hen, and which will.prevent her returning to the wrong nest, or being dis-
turbed by the attempts of other hens to lay to her. Such an arrangement is
shown in Figs. 3 and 4, which represent the plan of a sitting-house contrived by
a correspondent of Farm and Fireside from Hillsdale, Pa., who writes under
the nom de plume of Keystone:
INCUBATION. 19

“This house is made for fifty hens, and is twelve feet long, from east to west, by
eight feet wide, from north to south. There are doorsat the east and west ends, and
sliding glass windows, six by eight feet in size, in the south side. Boards six
feet long by one foot wide are set on edge under the north side, in such a way as
to form boxes one foot square inside the house, and one foot by five feet outside.

 

Fie. 8.
The inside boxes are used for laying and hatching, and are connected by doors
with the outside boxes, which are used for feed-boxes, and are covered with
laths nailed so close together ‘that the young chick cannot get out. The inside
boxes have lids, which are shut down when the hen is set, and the door to the

outside box is then opened. Feed, water, gravel, etc., are placed in the outside

box, and the hen will thus be able to help herself without being interfered with '
by other hens.”

 

Fie. 4,

Lice sometimes become so troublesome as to drive sitting hens from their nests.
On this account a nest-box should never be used a second time without thorough
cleansing and whitewashing, or fumigating with tobacco smoke. Should the hen
become lousy, sulphur or pyrethrum may be dusted under her feathers, but no
20 THE COMPLETH POULTRY BOOK.

gre.se should be used, as it will get upon the eggs and prevent them from hatch
ing by closing the pores. The placing of tobacco stems among the litter with
which the nest is made has been found beneficial. Flowers of sulphur is also
used in the same manner.

The disinclination of the hen to sit anywhere but in the nest which she has
first chosen may be overcome, and the visits of intruders prevented, by the use
of a door of coarse wire netting, which will be found serviceable for many pur-
poses in the poultry-yard. -If the hen cannot be permitted to forage at will,

 

o fs

food and water should be placed within reach, and her eggs should be occasign-
ally sprinkled with water. The turning of the eggs to cause them to be evenly
heated is entirely unnecessary, but if any should by any accident be broken,
those remaining should be washed in tepid water, to prevent the clogging of
the pores of the shells. :

On the eighth or ninth day of incubation, the fertility of the eggs may be
tested by holding them between the eye and a bright light, or more certainly by
means of the “egg tester” shown in Fig. 5, which represents a tin cup three
inches high and two and a half in diameter, narrowed at the top so as to leave a
round opening of such size as to admit the end of an egg, and having an oval
mirror fastened at an angle of forty-five degrees with the axis of the instrument, as
INCUBATION—CARE OF THE CHICK 21

shown by the dotted line, opposite which, and one inch above the bottom of the
cup, is an opening one fourth of an inch in diameter and furnished with an eye
piece. Enough light will be transmitted through the egg, if it be infertile, to
form a distinct image of the yelk upon the mirror, while if the egg be fertile the
allantois will have extended over the inner surface to such an extent as to ren-
der the whole opaque. Experience will enable one to decide upon the fertility
of the eggs as early as the fifth or sixth days of incubation, at which time those
withdrawn as infertile may still be used for certain culinary operations, while
those which have been sat upon for eight or ten days may be used advantage-
ously in the food of the young chicks. ‘

Further than this, all handling of the eggs should be avoided, and when they
begin to hatch, especially, they should be let alone. A chick that has not
strength enough to work its way out of the shell will not be worth anything
after it gets out; while attempts to assist it are likely to do more harm than
good, by prematurely rupturing the blood-vessels of the allantois, which cor-
responds in this respect to the after-birth in animals, and this may cause ihe
chick to bleed to death. The chicks should be left in the nest until the hen
leads them off, unless there has been so great a difference in the age of the eges
as to cause a number of them to be many hours later than the rest im hatching,
in which case it may be necessary to remove them to prevent the hen from leay-
ing the nest. The better plan, however, is to confine her there, giving her food
and water (the young chicks will need nothing during the first day), and leave
the chickens with her, as they will not thrive so well anywhere else as with the
hen. ~ :

CARE OF THE CHICK.

The young chick, when first hatched, has iust filled itself with the egg velk,
and will need no other food until that is fully digested, or from twelve to twenty.
four hours. As the first food of the young human or quadruped is its mother’s
milk, so there is no other food so suited to the wants of the newly hatched
chick as that which has heretofore.sustained it, or eggs. To give this food in the
vest condifion beat.up an egg with two tablespoonfu]’s of milk and set it ina

 

re Fia. 6.

warm place until it coagulates, or “sets” into a custard, and feed it in this con-
dition. This ismuch better than boiling it hard. This food should be continued
for three or four days, adding gradually a larger and larger proportion of bread
crumbs soaked in sweet milk,—(sour food is injurious to young chickens, hence
only so much should be given as will be eaten clean at each feed),—and of oat
meal, or a mixture of bran, oat meal and Indian meal, scalded and fed cold.
22 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

If the chickens are confined in coops a very little finely chopped meat should
be given once a day,—a piece as large as a walnut will be sufficient for a dozen
chicks—and also some form of green food, as chopped grass, cabbage leaves, or
lettuce. Whether confined or not a little cracked corn or wheat screenings
should be added to their food after they are a few days old, and the quantity

7) al

 

Fic. 7.

gradually increased as they grow older. Soaked bread should only be given in
very small quantity, as it tends to produce Uiarrhea. Milk should be given but
sparingly at first, and then only in the shape of cottage cheese, but the quantity
may be increased as they grow older, and for fowls two months or more of_
age it may be given sweet or sour, and will be founda cheap and acceptable food.
If the hens are quiet, and other circumstances do not forbid, the chickens will
be more thrifty if allowed to range at will; butif the hens are inclined to take

\

  
          
  

   

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il

 
 
  
 

   

them so far from the house as to worry them out, or to expose them to bawks and
vermin, or if neighbors are so close as to render confinement necessary to pre-
vent trespass, it may be necessary to coop the hen. In this ease the coop should
be located upon grass land if possible; but it will be found an advantage to have
a plot of plowed land near by, by stirring which occasionally, and placing the
coops upon it in dry weather, the chickens will soon be taught to hunt for
worms. The coops should be moved dailv. as the aourine of the fand ana tha
CARE OF THE CHICK. 23

excrement of the chickens very soon renders the ground under them a propa-
gator of disease. Fresh water should be given daily, and if given in shallow iron
dishes or in dishes containing iron scraps, the rust which forms will be beneficial
to the chickens in preventing disease. No straw should be placed under the
coops, as the young chicks will be more liable to become entangled in it and

  

Fie. 9.—Coop with Floor.

 

trampled by the hen. It will be well, however, to place fresh sand or sifted ashes
under them frequently, especially if they cannot be moved every day.

In Figs. 6 to 12 we give several designs for coops. Fig. 8 represents a square
box without top or bottom, three sides being made of common barn-boards
twelve inches wide by two feet long, and the fourth-side slatted with plastering
lath. The cover is made of three pieces of barn-board, each twelve inches wide
by thirty inches long, nailed to two gables cut out of six-inch fencing. The

4

 

Fic. 10. Fie. 11.

whole is made of pine, and is very light and convenient. Fig. 9 représentsa
triangular coop made with a floor and door in order to exclude rats. The man-
ner of making and using the floor is shown in Figs. 10 and 11. The same floor
may be used in the coop first described, and a door may be made toslide in behind
theslats. A hen-coopshould neverhavea floorin it if itcan be avoided, however,
as it is necessary to the health of both hen and chickens that they should have
access to the ground. If a floor is used it must he frequently cleansed; if there
24 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

be no floor this cleansing is effected by moving the coop to a fresh spot each
morning, by which means the hen may be furnished daily with fresh grass,
which she needs. “5

* Figs 12 and 13 give designs for coops where itis desirable, on account of
hawks, cats, or for other reasons, to confine the chicks as well «as the hen.

 

‘

In Fig. 12 the runway is latticed with lath, wire or twine. In Fig, 18 with lath,
although either of the other materials may be used here also. Twine netting .
is made for these purposes, being tarred for outside work. It is cheap and very
convenient, especially when more than one breed of fowls is kept. By its use
portions of the lawn or garden may be temporarily set off to the use of the

      
       
   
  
   

 
     

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Fig. 13.

fowls, while the tarred netting may be advantageously used in the more perma-
nent divisions of the poultry-yard.

Whether the hens be cooped, or allowed to run at large, a feeding-pen should
be provided for the chicks when they are afew weeks old. For this purpose the
pen shown in Fig. 14 will be found very convenient. To make it, get out fourteen
strips one inch thick by two inches wide and six feet lone: non the edges of
DISEASES AND ENEMIES OF THE YOUNG CHICKEN. 25

these strips nail plastering laths cut to half lengths (two feet), so as to make
seven hurdles, each two feet wide by six feet long, nailing the laths one and one
half inchesapart. Set four of these hurdles together so as to make a square pen,
tying them or nailing them together at the corners, and cover this pen with the

 

Fic. sk — Rieaing Pen.

remaining three hurdtes, This will make a pen in which the chicks can be fed with-
out being robbed by the greedy hens or the larger chickens, and the little fel-
lows will soon learn to run to it when called. These hurdles will also be found
very convenient for making the covered runways shown in Figs. 12 and 13.

DISEASES AND ENEMIES OF THE YOUNG CHICKEN.

The young chick has little to fear from disease, if it be properly fed and housed.

Its worst enemy is the gapes, which is not a disease, but ‘a result of the irritation.
caused by a parasitic worm, Sclerostoma syngamus, which finds its way into the
windpipe and so impedes respiration until it finally causes death. The complete
history of this parasite has not yet been ascertained. It is of a reddish color;
the female is five eighths to three fourths of an inch in length, the male about one
eighth. In a gaping chicken these worms may be found to the number of three
to six or more pairs, and the body of the female will be found to contain ova of
various stages of development, up to the completely grown embryo. It would
seem that these worms must have another stage of existence, either in the body
of some other insect or animal, or in the soil, butthis point has not been investi-
gated. The probability is, however, that this stage is passed in the soil, and that
.they are capable of existing there in the pupx state until &wakened into life
again by being taken into the stomach or lungs of the bird. The _gapes seems
to be more troublesome on a moist soil, and in this it shows a similarity to the
disease called Paper-skin in sheep, which is caused by the presence of a thread-
like worm, Strongylus filaria, in the bronchial tubes of that animal, and which,
like the sclerostonra, passes from our knowledge after leaving the body of its
host.

The remedies for the gapes are several. The worms may be removed by mak-
ing a loop of horse-hair, introducing it into the windpipe of the chicken, giving
it two or three twists, and withdrawing it. A still more satisfactory method is to
take a feather, strip off the web to within halfan inch of the end, moisten, insert
26 THE COMPLETE POUITRY BOOK.

to the bottom of the windpipe, and withdraw as before. If the feather be dips
ped in kerosene, turpentine, or a weak solution of carbolic acid, such worms as
are not caught will be killed, and immediately sneezed up by the chicken. An-
other method is to fumigate with sulphur or carbolic acid, to accomplish, which,
place a hot brick in the bottom of a box, cover it with a board having an inch
augur-hole in the centre (the board is to prevent burning the chickens’ feet), and
through this augur-hole drop upon the hot brick a teaspoonful of flowers of
sulphur, or a few drops of carbolic acid; put in the chickens, and cover the box
for afew seconds. This must be done very carefully, er the chicks as well as
worms will be killed. Still another method, recommended by correspondents of
the Poultry World, is to'confine the chickens in'asmall box, with a coarse cotton
or linen cloth stretched over the top. Upon this cloth place ‘a quantity of finely
pulverized lime, and with a stick gently tap the cloth, so that the lime-dust will
sift through. This will cause the birds to sneeze, and the worms will be thrown
up ina slimy mass, without any danger of any being driven furtherdown. What-
ever remedy is adopted, it is essential that all the worms should be burnt, as well
as all chicks that may die of the disease, as even if the worms themselves are
killed, their eggs may not be, and will go on propagating the evil.

Next to gapes, lice are perhaps the most to be dreaded of the foes of the young
chick; and to keep these pests in check requires constant vigilance. Prevention
is emphatically the remedy here. The coops should be whitewashed, inside and
out, and all parts of the buildings, nest-boxes, etc., used by the fowls should be
thoroughly whitewashed, or washed with water in which tobacco stems have
been steeped, with petroleum, or dilute carbolie acid, and the oftener this is
done the better. If, in spite of precautions, the lice make their appearance,
then grease the hen on the back and under the wings with a mixture of lard and
kerosene, using only enough of the latter to make the grease run easily, and be-
ing careful to keep it out of the eyes; or, what is better, apply pyrethrum, or
Persian insect powder, for sale at all drug stores, and which, when fresh and
pure, is a certain remedy for these pests. Itis applied by blowing it up under
the feathers by means of a small bellows which should accompany each package.
Unless the lice are very bad it will not be necessary to grease chicks which the
hen is brooding, as they will get enough from her.

Rats sometimes give great trouble in the poultry-yard, carrying off. chickens of
two and three months of age in large numbers. When they go at this they gen-
erally have a hiding place under some pile of rubbish tc which they drag the
chickens to eat them. If this place can be found, and the partly eaten chickens
dusted with strychnine, it may abate the evil, but the surest riddance will be to
organize a rat hunt and clean out the whole premises,

Hawks are sometimes very troublesome, and very difficult to manage. Insuch
eases the following device, communicated to Farm and Fireside by a corre-
spondent from Talbot county, Georgia, would certainly be worth atrial: “Place
a live chicker. in a large rat-trap, bird-cage, or lattice-box, fasten a steel trap to
the top of the box or cage, and elevate them upon a pole or high stump where
the chicken can be distinctly seen by the hawk. If properly arranged, you may
expect to find his hawkship caught in the snare.”
 

PARTRIDGE COCHINS.

fen
CHAPTER III.

FALL AND WINTER MANAGEMENT.

We have followed the fowl from the egg to the half-grown chicken, or from
March tothe first of August. It now remains for us to trace the growth of the
young chicken through the remainder of the year, in doing which it will be
more convenient toinclude the general management of the whole poultry-yard,.
since from this date both young and old fowls may be allowed to run together,
except where their separation may be made necessary for breeding purposes.
Heretofore it has been assumed that the laying and breeding fowls, aside from
those actually engaged in the rearing of broods, have had but little care, but
have been expected to find their living on the range. If the range be large
enough, this will be found not only the most economical plan, but that most
conducive to the health of the fowls, as the exercise gained in hunting for food,
and the variety of insect and green food thus obtained, will cause a thriftier
growth than can be obtained by any artificial feeding.

Should the range be limited, however, and feeding on that account be rendered
necessary, regard should be had to the natural habits of the fowl, by giving in
the food a due proportion of meat and of green vegetables. For the meat supply
butchers’ offal is the best; soap-house scraps may be used in small quantity, if
fresh. For the grain food, wheat screenings or barley are the best for the chief
supply. Cornshould be given in moderate quantities only, on account of its ten-
dency to fatten. Sorghum seed is an excellent food for poultry; milk may be given
liberally, and skim-milk, sweet or sour, mixed with wheat bran, makes an excel-
lent food. Green vegetabes of all sorts, especially cabbages and onions, should
be given regularly. Should there be signs of too great looseness of the bowels,
diminish the allowance of green and softfood, and increase thatof grain. Pure
water should, of course, be always in reach, and it is well to keep it in iron
vessels, or to add occasionally a small lump of copperas (sulphate of iron), as a
tonic, and preventive of roup and cholera. A dust bath of dry earth, sifted
ashes, or both, should be always within reach, and the perches and inside of
the hen-house should be kept sweet by whitewashing, and by cleaning the
manure from the floors. Lime, insome form, should be constantly within reach,
and the best form is that of oyster-shells pounded fine; or of ground bone. The
latter may be mixed with the food to advantage, in the proportion of a table-
spoonful two or three times a week to each dozen fowls, Without some such
supply as this the egg-shells are liable to become soft. This mode of feeding
may be continued to the commencement of winter, modifying the amount of
food given to suit the conditions of range and season, as a protracted drouth may
so shorten the natural food supply that fowls which have been maintaining
themselves on the range may now require to be fed.

With the approach of winter we must prepare for furnishing a larger propor-
tion of the food supply of our fowls, a a large proportion of the winter food

s
30 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

of animals—from five eighths to the whole—is consumed in the maintenance of the
animal heat, it is evident that whatever arrangements we may make for pre-
venting the radiation of the heat of our fowls into the surrounding atmosphere,
so far as these arrangements are compatible with health, will effect a positive

eh i

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i

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Fie. 15.—Lean-to Poultry House.

‘saving in the quantity of food consumed, saying nothing of the comfort we our-
selves will take in the thought that the dumb animals dependent upon us are
not being mercilessly exposed to the cutting blasts of the wintry nights.

 

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FA

i.

7

Fig. 16. Fiew17,.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The essential points of afowl-house are; exclusion of all-currents of air, venti-
lation, light and cleanliness. It should be situated on the south side ‘of other .
buildings, if possible, and should have, at any rate, a southern exposure, with a
liberal supply of glass in its southern walls. Attached to it should be a yard
where the fowls may exercise in pleasant weather, and if this yard contain the
FALL AND WINTER MANAGEMENT. 31
A small, low shed,

manure heap from the horse-stable, so much the better.
built on the south side of a tight board fence, where the fowls may sun them-

selves and receive their food on pleasant days, will be thoroughly appreciated.

a

 

Fie. 18\—Family Poultry House, Ground Plan.
In Fig. 15,a small lean-to is’ shown, situated in the angle of a barn. The
ground plan is shown in Fig. 16, in which the roosting poles are shown at A, and
the nest-boxes at BB. The nest-boxes may be situated under aslanting board, as

       
    

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Fie. 19.—Family Poultry House.
shown in Fig. 17, with a roosting-pole fastened to brackets above it, provided so

much roosting space be needed.
32 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

The roosting-poles should not be more than a foot from the ground, if the heavy
Asiatic fowls are kept, as in flying down from higher roosts they are apt to injure
their feet, producing the deformity called “bumble foot.” All the poles should
be at the same height to prevent the struggle for the highest perch, which is apt
to ensue if they are at different heighis. For the larger fowls especially, the
poles should be at least three inches in diameter.

The nest-boxes may be made stationary, but a better plan is tomake them after
the plan shown in Fig. 1, so that they can be moved from place to place if desir.
able. In this case they should all be of the same size, to facilitate the changing of
one with another.

In Fig. 18 is given the ground plan, and in Fig. 19 the elevation, of a family
poultry house, intended to stand unconnected with other buildings, and to ac-

   

Fig. 20.—Self-Cleaning Poultry House.

commodate fifty fowls. For this number it should be about twelve by eighteen
feet in size. .A represents the laying room; B the roosting room; C the sitting
room, and Da bin for grain. The nest boxes are shown in the partition between
the laying and sitting rooms, and are intended to slide back and forth; but a
better plan might be to make them portable, and connect those of the sitting-
room with covered runs on the outside of the house, as shown in Fig. 4, remov-
the bin D to the opposite side of the room. '

In Figs. 20 and 21 a self cleaning poultry house is shown; the roosts being in
the gables, over the inclined floors, which are made of one by three inch slats,
set on edge, and about an inch apart, so that the droppings will fall through.

Whereseveral breeds of fowls are kept, the house represented in Figs. 18 and
19 may be extended to any length, and divided into sections of three rooms each,
constructed on the plan shown, and opening into runways both in frontand rear.
A continuous passage way may be provided by changing the partition betweer
the laying and roosting rooms.

The windows of the poultry-house should be hung on weights, or made toslide
FALL AND WINTER MANAGEMENT. 33

horizontally, and should have wire netting, on the inside, for the double purpose
of protecting the glass, and of confining the fowls, if desired, when the windows"
are open. ;

The form of the poultry-house is but a secondary matter, the essential points

 

  
  

  

|

Fie. 21,—Skeleton of Self-Cleaning Poultry House.

being those previously enumerated, and thesé may be combined as well in a
cave dug in the south side of a hill, as in the most expensive poultry-house, pro-
vided good judgment be exercised. In fact, such a house as that shown in Fig.
22 would present some decided advantages to those who particularly desire winter

   

@° Fic. 22.—Hillside Poultry House.

eggs, as the shelter and warmth provided by a building so situated would be of
great assistance in egg production. :

It is difficult to say which is the most important of the requisites for a poultry
house which we have enumerated; but probably ventilation should come first, as
if fee is neglected, roup and other diseases are absolutely sure to follow. Next
34 (HE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

to ventilation we should place warmth, to be secured by building in sheltered
positions, and so arranging the building as to cut off all draughts of air. If it
be necessary to build in an exposed situation the walls should be made double.
Light may not be neglected, as the fowls will neither thrive nor even stay in a
dark house, while cleanliness certainly may not be put at the end of the list, as
filth is a certain breeder of disease. ;

After the providing of shelter the next point in the winter care of our fowls is
to provide them with an abundant supply of suitable food. Fowls may be win-
tered, assome farmers do their other stock, insuch away that they will not only give
no return for the little food they may chance to get, but will lose the flesh they
have accumulated in the summer and fall, thus reaching the spring in such a con-
dition that they must spend months in re-accumulating their necessary working
capital of flesh end fat before they can begin the production of eggs. Such
management is even more wasteful than the other extreme of over-feeding, and
thus inducing laziness, which prevents the fowls taking the exercise in getting
their food which is necessary to health, The proper mean between these two is
the most readily attained where the fowls are keptin flocks of such size that they
can find most of their living among the wastes of the manure pile and barn-
yard, these being supplemented by the scraps from the household table, a regu-

 

‘lar allowance of green food in some form, such as the trimmings of cabbages,
small potatoes boiled and mixed with meal, and beets and turnips served in the
same way. Unless they get a considerable allowance of meat in the table-
scraps this should also be provided.

In general, where the fowls are fed regularly, it is as well to throw the food
on the ground and let them scratch for it, the exercise thus gained being bene-
ficial. When it is not desirable to feed in this manner, from inability to attend
to them regularly, or from other reasons, a feeding-box like that shown in Fig.
23 may be used, in which a quantity of food may be placed, and the fowls allowed
to help themselves at will. After once becoming satisfied, they will do this with-
out danger to themselves, and will consume no more food in this way than when
fed by hand all they will eat. ? ,

The box is so arrangéd that the grain falls from the main hopper JB, into the
trough C through the small aperture shown. As fast as it is removed from the
trough more falls through, while the slats prevent the chickens from wasting
or soiling the food.
CHAPTER IV.

LARGE SCALE POULTRY MANAGEMENT.

The handsome profits which have frequently been published as having been
realized from the management of a few fowls, have led to occasional attempts to
carry the business into a wider field; according to the common method of rea-
soning that if such a profit can be realized from so many fowls, a corresponding
one should be obtained upon a larger number. Such attempts, however, have
generally resulted in failure, even more generally, perhaps, than is commonly -
supposed, since the starting up of a new industry, when everything connected
with it is novel, and while only the gilded estimates of its anticipated profits
are to be seen, is likely to excite a very much wider attention than its quiet
abandonment, after the unforseen expenses and losses attending its manage-
ment have brought disappointment and failure.

Moreover, some of the most highly gilded descriptions of large poultry farms
and their management, have proved, on closer inspection, to have been manu-
factured out of the imagination of certain industrious hoaxers. Thus Lewis
Wright, in his Practical Poultry Keeper, devotes twenty pages, illustrated with
numerous engravings, to the description of a wholesale poultry establishment
in France, this description being a “translation from. an interesting work pub-
lished under the authority of the French Minister of Agriculture,” and telling
of a certain Baroness de Linas, a widow, who, “partly for amusement, and part-
ly in order to augment a rather scant income, turns her attention to poultry, and
has for some time succeeded in both objects.” This establishment, “situated at
Charny, a village near Paris,” was said to accommodate twelve hundred laying
hens, with their broods; and Mr. Wright’s description of it is said to have in-
duced persons to cross the Atlantic for the purpose of visiting it, only to find
that no such place as Charny was known in the neighborhood of Paris, and
that the great poultry establishment of Madame de Linas existed only in imag-
ination.

A similar hoax was the story of the mammoth poultry: eisblinlenent. of M.
de Sora, also near Paris, in which twenty-two superannuated and damaged horses
were daily slaughtered and cut up into mincemeat, for the benefit of a hundred
thousand hens, that, under this regimen, laid three hundred eggs each per an-
num. This story was widely copied, even journals of such information and re-
spectability as the Mark Lane Express being duped by it; but when the attempt
was made to find M. de Sora’s establishment it vanished into thin air.

Similar stories have had their origin on this side of the ocean, having not
only poultry, but other industries for their object; now it may be a poultry
farm in the east; to-morrow a frog farm in Wisconsin; next week a turtle farm
in Alabama, etc., ete,

[85]
36 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

Among the bona, fide attempts to carry on poultry management in this coun-
try on a large scale one of the most widely noticed has been that of Warren
Leland, proprietor of the Metropolitan Hotel, New York City. Mr. Leland,
having in his hotel a constant market at the best prices for all the surplus prod-
ucts of his poultry-yard, and also as constant @ source of cheap and suitable
food, maintained for a number of years aflock of hens reaching into the thou-
sands in number. These, however, were not keptin close confinement, but hada
free range of at least an acre for every hundred fowls, over a piece of rocky,
brush-covered land, not fit for cultivation.

In 1877 Mr. W.C. Baker, of Cresskill, N. J., started an establishment in which
it was proposed to hatch by artificial incubation and fatten by the French “cram-
ming” process from a quarter to half a million chickens annually. Seventy-five
thousand dollars were invested in buildings and apparatus, and the Poultry
World published, in May of that year, a glowing account of the establish-
ment and its prospects. By December, 1881, however, this establishment had
changed hands no less than three times, having soon been abandoned by its
originator. :

In the number of the Poultry World for January, 1880, an account is given
of another large establishment, managed after a similar plan to the above, be-
ing known as the “Crystal Spring” farm, and located at Medfield, Mass., in
which five thousand fowls were kept, the product being taken by the Parker
House, of Boston, at high prices.

In May, 1881, the same journal described an establishment belonging to A.
C. Hawkins, of Lancaster, Mass., in which several thousand fowls were kept,
being managed after the old-fashioned plan of natural incubation and feeding.
In this establishment more space is given to the fowls than in any of the others
described, the hens having the range of a pasture field of several acres, in ad-
dition to that afforded by the yards.

These, and other similar establishments that have been started within the
past two or three yearshave not yet had time to demonstrate the practicability of
wholesale poultry management. Disease is the great bane of such a business,
and it is liable to break out at any time, as it has done in others which we have
not named, causing the loss of thousands of dollars. Further than this, it has
been demonstrated that hens will not generally yield so many eggs in confine-
ment as when at liberty, while, as before said, their food will cost more.

With regard to the yield of eggs which may be expected from hens kept in
large flocks, Mr. T. B. Miner, of Linden, N. J., a retired editor, and an ex-
perienced poultryman, estimates that one hundred eggs per annum will be as
many as can be reasonably expected from each hen.* Mr. J. W. Brooks,
proprietor of ‘(Wayside Farm,” near Milton, Mass., realized 112 eggs each from
800 hens kept in 1879. Mr. A. C. Hawkins, before referred to, gives the
average product of his 2000 hens “about ten dozen eggs each.”

With regard to the cost of keeping the fowls Mr. Miner estimates, from actual
experiment, that each fowl will require from a bushel and a quarter to a bushel
and a half of grain per annum, with at least one hundred dollars worth of ani-

 

“Poultry World, Vol.3, p.187.  ¢ Loc. Cit., Vol.9, p.269.  {Loc. Cit., Vol. 10, p, 146.
LARGE SCALE POULTRY MANAGEMENT. 37

mal food in some shape per thousand fowls, which estimates are sustained
by the statements of other large poultry farmers. From our personal experience
we should say that the yield of eggs was put at the maximum, and the cost of
keeping at the minimum. Upon these data each of-our readers may estimate
for himself the probable profits of poultry farming, according to the relative
prices of feed, eggs and fowls in his locality.

H. H. Stoddard, editor of the Poultry World, has written a series of articles
on this subject for the American Agriculturist, which have been republished
by that journal under the title of An Egg Farm, the object of which is to sug-
gest a modification of the ordinary methods of farm or village management for
large scale poultry keeping. Mr. Stoddard reasons that the same methods
which enable the inhabitants of a village to keep flocks of fowls amounting in
the aggregate to many hundreds, might be successfully applied by a single
individual, and he gives plans and estimates for the management of such a
farm, in which the fowls shall be divided into flocks of not more than fifty,
each flock being furnished with a separate building, and these being located
ten or more rods apart.

The buildings are constructed in the cheapest possible manner; fences are
dispensed with; and the food and water are carried from house to house on a
low wagon, so that the capital invested and the cost of attendance are reduced
to the lowest possible point. In order to successfully dispense with fences, the
disposition shown by the fowls, on any farm where many are kept, to divide
themselves into smaller flocks or families, each having its particular range, is
cultivated by raising them at their separate homes, and by feeding them in sucha
manner that they shall not learn to expect food when they see their master, and
thus to follow him from place to place.

Upon this system Mr. Stoddard estimates that five men can take care of 6000
fowls. Mr. Hawkins, above referred to, found himself able to care for 175 to
200 hatching hens and their broods, and 1200 laying hens, without any help.
This was accomplished by having his buildings arranged with the utmost con-
venience. In ordinary management 600 to 1000 fowls would be found sufficient
care for one person.

With regard to the capital required for this business, the lowest estimate that
can be made for housing the fowls will be fifty cents each, which would repre-
sent a space for each fifty fowls of twelve by sixteen feet in size by four feet high
at the back and seven at the front, both sides and roof being made of common
barn-boards,.and the whole costing, with a window in front, nails, door-hinges,
etc., not less than $25.00. If fenced runs are necessary these would cest from
$10.00 for each fifty fowls, upward. Extra coops, feeding vessels, etc., would add
$2.50 for each fifty fowls, making the minimum cost for buildings, fences, ete.,
from 75 cents to $1,25 for each fowl, according to prices of material and labor.
CHAPTER V.

ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION.

The Chinese and Egyptians have, for thousands of years, had the secret of
hatching eggs without the intervention of the hen. Indeed, it would seem al-
most a matter of course that the inhabitants of tropical countries should early.
have learned this art, from watching the method by which the eggs of turtles,
alligators, etc., are incubated, being simply buried in the warm sand of the river’s
bank. As early as 1750 the French scientist, De Reaumur, perfected a process
of artificial incubation, which, though successful, was not practicable for ordi-

ary purposes. During the past twenty years, however, the attention of poul-
terers has been freshly drawn to this question, and now the number of appliances
for artificial incubation bids fair to equal the patent bee-hives.

The essentials of a successful incubator are three: an equable heat of about
105 degrees; sufficient moisture in the atmosphere to prevent an undue evapora-
tion from the egg; and ventilation. These conditions are obtained by the Egyp-
tians and Chinese through the use of large ovens, which are watched day and
night by skilled attendants. De Reaumur, in his investigations upon this sub-
ject, first used ovens, but unsuccessfully; his final success was obtained by the
use of fermenting horse manure, and that material is still employed in at least
one of the processes used to-day. It is not a pleasant material to handle, how-
.ever, and does not give that opportunity for frequent inspection of the eggs
which is desirable, hence numerous attempts have been made to revive the more
ancient processes, with such modifications as are demanded by our age of. steam
and lightning, and especially to providean automaton which shall raise the flame
of thelamp when the mercury in the egg-drawer begins to fall, and lower it
if the heat becomes too great. This is the problem which has vexed the soul of
many a Yankee during the past two decades. am

It has been found that the mercury may rise to 110 degrees without injury to
the eggs, provided it does not remain at that point more than a very few minutes,
or it may sink as low as 50 degrees, for a correspondingly short time; but should
it remain below 100, or above 106 for many hours, all the labor expended upon
the lot of eggs which the incubator may then contain will have been thrown
away, while, as will be seen, it requires a very delicate instrument to quickly
appreciate the difference between these degrees of heat. Electricity, that most
subtile of all the powers of nature whose aid man has learned to invoke, has
been naturally the first thought of many for this work, and numerous machines
have been constructed with electrical appliances attached, so arranged in con-
nection with instruments for the measuring of heat that a very slight change in
_the temperature of the drawer somtaining the eggs will cause machinery to be
  
 

“SNIHOOO GLIHM

139]
ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION. 41

set in motion which will alter the height of the flame to correspond with the
needs of the eggs.

The practical difficulty about these machines is the extreme delicacy of their
construction, rendering them liable to get out of order in inexperienced hands,
and thus to cause a great loss of eggs. Of course the manufacturers of each ma-
chine claim that their’s is absolutely perfect, and that these objections pertain
to all the others; but the testimony of disinterested parties who have given a large
number of the best machines a thorough trial, is that not one of them is always
reliable, and that ali are sure to give trouble to beginners in their management,
although one who has had experience in handling them may hatch a larger pro-
portion of eggs than is usually done by the average hen

In Figs. 24 to 27 we illustrate the essential principles of an artificial incubator,
except the apparatus for regulating the heat. Such an incubator may be used
successfully if placed in a room which can be maintained at a nearly uniform
temperature by means of an airtight stove. This description is taken from the
“ Youth’s Companion,” and the incubator is not patented. =

ii a

ol
Te i
ee ; {

   

Fic. 24,—Incubator Closed.

“ Have a pine case made somewhat like a common wash-stand (See Fig 24)
without the inside divisions.

About a foot from the floor of this case, place brackets like those in Fig. 25,
and on a level with these screw a strong cleat across the back of the case inside
These are to support the tank. The tank should be made of galvanized iron,
three inches deep and otherwise proportioned to fit exactly within the case and
rest upon the brackets and cleat. The tank should have a top or cover soldered
on when it is made. At the top of this tank in the centre should be a hole an
inch in diameter with a rim two inches high, and at the bottom, towards one end,
a faucet for drawing off the water When the tank is set in the case, fill up all
the chinks and cracks between the edges of the tank and the case with plaster of
Paris to keep all fumes of the lamp from the eggs. Fill the tank at least two
inches deep with boiling water. To find when the right depth is acquired, gauge
the water with a smali stick Over the top of the tank spread fine gravel a quar-
ter of an inch thick; over this lay a coarse cotton cloth Place the eggs on the
eloth, and set a kerosene safety-lamp under the centre of the tank The doorof
42 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

the lamp-closet must have four holes for ventilation, otherwise the lamp will not
burn. The lamp-closet is the space within the incubator under the tank. Turn
the eggs carefully every morning and evening, and after turning sprinkle them
with quite warm water. Two thermometers should be kept in the incubator,
one half-way between the centre and each end; the average heat should be one
hundred and five degrees. Ifthe eggs do not warm up well, lay a piece of coarse
carpet over them. If they are too warm, take out the lamp and open the cover

 

 

 

 

 

Fic. 25.—Inside of Incubator, Front Section—T, Tank; LC, Lamp Closet.

for a few minutes, but do not let the eggs get chilled. . If they should happen to
get down to ninety-eight or up to one hundred and eight degrees, you need not
think the eggs are spoiled. They will stand such a variation once in a while;
but, of course, a uniform temperature of one hundred and five degrees will
secure more chickens, and they will be stronger and more lively. In just such
an incubator as this one I have described, I hatched over two hundred chickens
two years ago.

For those who are ambitious to try top-heat, the same sort of a tank is re
quired, but a boiler must be attached at the side with an upper and lower pipe

 

Fic. 26.—Top-heat Incubator, on Table,

for circulation. Any plumber can attach the boiler, and the faucet must be at
the bottom of the boiler on one side. The drawers containing the eggs should
slide beneath this tank. A stand for the lamp should be screwed to Bee end of
the case in such a position as to bring the lamp under the boiler. (See picture.)
This incubator can be cooled by raising the lid, turning down the Jamp and ae
ing the drawers part way out. In both incubators while the eggs are uatehin
sprinkle them two or three times with quite warm water.” :
ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION. 43

With such an apparatus as this, the principles of incubation may be ther-
oughly learned, and probably the combination of such an apparatus with the use
of a room heated by a furnace or a good stove, or of a cellar of even tempera-
ture, will give quite as satisfactory results as may be obtained from the high
priced and complicated patent incubators.

Another form of incubator is said to be used in France, and that is, live
turkeys, The following account of this process is given by Mr. Geyelin, form-
erly manager of the National Poultry Establishment, at Bromley, Kent, England,
who was, at the time he discovered it, traveling in France in search of the
mythical establishment of M. de Sora, previously referred to. The account savors
to us very much of fish, but as it is seriously quoted by Tegetmeier, we give it for
what it is worth:

“ Amongst some places I visited may be mentioned the farm of Madame La
Marquise de Ja Briffe, Chateau de Neuville, Gambais, near Houdan, where we
observed twelve turkeys hatching at the same time; in another place, that of
M. Anche, of Gambais, a hatcher-by trade, we observed some sixty turkeys hatch-
ing at the same time; and we were informed that during winter and early spring
he had sometimes upwards of one hundred hatching at the same time, and that
each turkey continued hatching for at least three months. At the farm of M.
Louis Mary, at St. Julien de Fancon, near Lizienx, in Calvados, I saw a turkey

An my if
a

 

Fra. 27.--Form of Tank,

that was then sitting that had been so upwards of six months, and, considering
it rather cruel, the hatcher, to prove the contrary, took her off the nest and put
her in the meado¥, and also removed the eggs; the turkey however, to my sur-
prise, returned immediately to her nest, and called in a most plaintive voice for
her eggs. Then some eggs were placed in the corner of a box, which she instantly
drew under her with her beak, and seemed quite delighted. Moreover, I was
informed that it was of great economical advantage to employ turkeys to hatch,
as they eat very little and get very fat in their state of confinement, and there-
fore fit for the market any day. *

“The hatching-room is kept dark, and at ‘an even temperature in summer
and wiftter. ‘In this room a number of boxes, two feet long, one foot wide and
one foot six inches deep, are ranged along the walls. These boxes are covered
in with lattice or wire-work, and serve for turkeys to hatch any kind of eggs.
Similar boxes, but of smaller dimensions, are prepared for broody fowls. The
bed of the boxes is formed of heather, straw, hay or cocoa fibres; and the num-
ber of eggs for turkeys to hatch is two dozen, and one dozen for hens.

“ At any time of the year turkeys, whether broody or not, are taught to hatch
in the following manner: Some addled eggs are emptied, then filled with plaster
of Paris, then placed in a nest; after which a turkey is fetched from the yard
and placed on the eggs, and covered over with lattice. For the first forty-eight
44 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

her confinement, but soon becomes recon:

r i : t of :
De aaa ean d for those of plaster of Paris. The

i i hen fresh eggs are substitute ?
a tetas to alain without intermission, from three to six rn pres
even longer; the chickens being withdrawn as: soon as hatched, = resh ee
substituted. After the third day the eggs are examined and the clear Sra a
drawn, which are then sold inthe market for new laid; but as they may Ae e
or discolored from having been sat upon, they clean them with-water an ai ver-
sand to restore their original whiteness. The turkeys are taken off their nests
once a day to feed and to remove their excrements from the nests; but after a
while they cease self-feeding, when it is necessary to cram them, and give them
some water once a day. eye :

“Jn some parts of France, where poultry-breeding is carried on as a trade,
they seldom allow a hen to lead the chickens after being hatched, as the hen is
more valuable for laying eggs; but they entrust this office either to capons or ~
turkeys, who are said to be far better protectors to the chickens than hens. They
require, however, a certain amount of schooling preparatory to being entrusted
with their charge, which consists in this: when a turkey has been hatching for
some months, and shows a disposition to leave off,a glassfulof wine is given her
in the evening, and a number of chickens are substituted for the eggs; on wak-
ing in the morning she takes kindly, to them, and leads them about, strutting
amidst a troop of seventy to one hundred chickens with the dignity of a drum-
major. When, however, a troop leader is required that has not been hatching,
such as a capon or a turkey, then it is usual to pluck some of their feathers from
their breasts, and to give them a glass of wine, and whilst in a state of inebri-
ation to place some chickens under them; on getting sober the next morning

_ they feel that some sudden change has come over them, and as the denuded part
iskept warm by the chickens they take alsokindly tothem. In conclusion I feel
in justice bound to say that these artificial living protectors are most efficient to
shelter chickens in the day time, and in the evening they are placed with their
charge in a shallow box filled with hay, from which they do mot move until the
door of the room is opened next morning. I must not omit to mention.that the
chickens are not entrusted to the mother or a leader before they are a week old,
and then only in fine weather.” :

This use of capons or turkeys as foster-mothers if practicable, would obviate
one of the most serious difficulties of artificial incubation, which is the providing
of a substitute for the maternal instinct of the hen-mother in the rearing of the
young chicks, which has been found almost as serious a difficulty in their case as
is that of the unfeathered biped. Indeed some do not attempt to meet this dif-
ficulty, but manage to have a lot of hens sitting on porcelain eggs at the time
the wood-and-iron hen is at work, starting. them at such a time that they shall
have been on the nest a week or two before the chicks are hatched, and then
giving them the chicks at the rate of eighteen to twenty to each hen.

Several forms of artificial mothers, however, have been invented—and most of
them, of course, patented—of which the inventors claim that they far surpass
the natural mothers, in that they do not drag their chicks through the dew, nor
trample them to death, nor cover them with vermin; all of which, no doubt, are
positive advantages, but in practice these advantages have been offset bv
ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION. 4b

the lack of the instinctive care of the mother hen. The artificial mother
may frequently be used to advantage, however, in supplementing that care.

The essential points of the artificial mother are a sheep-skin tanned with the
wool on, or piece of buffalo robe or similar material, fixed with the wool side
down upon a frame which will hold it just high enough for the chicks to creep
under, and which may be raised to suit their growth; and a system of pipes, or a
water-tank similar to that used in the incubator, placed over the sheep-skin, and
warmed asin the incubator. The “mother” should also be placed in a room
warmed with a stove, for the more easy regulation of the heat. .

While the incubator and artificial mother are certainly not what is claimed for
them by some of the more sanguine of their advocates—especially those who
have a pecuniary interest in selling them—there can still be no doubt that they
may be made of great service in the poultry-yard, in the hands of persons who
have the time and natural-adaptitude necessary to give that close and judicious
attention to the details of their management which is absolutely necessary to
success. ’
CHAPTER VI.

FATTENING, CAPONIZING, AND MARKETING POULTRY.

By the time the chickens are four months old they will be large enough for
the table, and in the condition of fatness which most persons will prefer. If,
however, it be desired to market a portion of the surplus, they will sell to better
advantage to be made still fatter, which may be done by confining them in pens
such as those shown in Fig. 28, which represents a long coop, two feet high
and two feet ‘broad, and divided into compartments nine inches wide. These
divisions should be tight, so that the fowls may not see each other, and should
project afew inches beyond the frontof thecoop. The bottom of the coop should
be made of triangular slats running Jengthwise of the coop, with the angle up-
ward, so that the droppings may fall through, anda shallow pan filled with dry”

  
 
   

       
   
   
 

  

| i

i :
\

Pi

il
i
|

i

earth should be placed under each compartment to catch these droppings. A
ledge four inches wide should project beyond the bottom of .the coop, to hold
the vessels of food and water, and a small curtain (not shown in the cut) should
be tacked in front of each compartment, in such manner that the compartment
may be darkened for a couple of hours after the fowl has fed, as the darkness
and quiet will render digestion more perfect. The curtain should be lifted an
hour or two before the next feeding time, however, that the chicken may come
to his meal with an appetite.

A young fowl placed in one of these compartments and properly fed, may be
made to lay ona couple of pounds of fat in two or three weeks. The best food
for fattening is buckwheat meal, or corn meal and barley meal mixed, and if it .
be scalded and mixed with milk it will be all the better. Remember that water
constitutes a large proportion of fat, and that it must be given eitherin the food
or separately. Give no more soft food than will be eaten up clean each time,
but a little whole grain may be kept constantly within reach, and a regular sup.
ply of it will be necessary to the thrift of the fowl. The feeding should bedone

    
     

i

 

 

|
)

   
FATTENING POULTRY. 47

three or four times a day. As soon as the fowlsare fat they should be marketed,
as they will immediately begin to lose flesh if kept beyond the proper time.

In France this fattening process is carried through still another stage, by cram-
ming the fowls. Cramming consists in forcing pellets of dough down the throats
of the fowls, after they have been induced to eat as much as possible in the
natural way. The following account of this Sane and, in our estimation,
unprofitable procéss, is taken from Tegetmeier:

“The food used for fattening fowls in France is htedty buckwheat-meal bolted
quite fine. This is kneaded up with sweet milk till it acquires the consisten¢dy
of baker’s dough; it is then cut up into rations about the size of two eggs, which
are made up into rolls about the thickness of a woman’s finger, but varying wiih
the size of the fowls; these are subdivided by a sloping cut into “patons,” 0:
pellets, about two and a half inches long.

“ A board is used for mixing the flour with’the milk, which in winter should
be luke-warm. It is poured into a hole made in the heap of flour, and mixed up
little by little with a wooden spoon so long as it is taken up; the dough is then
kneaded withthe hands till it no longer adheres to them.

“Some say that oat-meal, or even barley-meal, isa good substitute for buck-
wheat-meal; but Mdlle. Millet Robinet (from whose work, ‘Oiseanx de Basse
Cour,’ this account is quoted by Tegetmeier) isnot of thatopinion. Indian corn
may do, but itmakes a short, crumbly paste, unless mixed with buckwheat, when
it answers well if cheap enough, but buckwheat is a hardy plant, which may be
grown anywhere at small cost.

“The food is thus administered: The attendant puts on an apron which will
stand being soiled or torn, and having the pellets at hand, with a bowl of clear
water, she takes the first fowl from its cage gently and carefully, not by the wings
nor by the legs, but with both hands; she then seats herself with the fowl upon
her knees, putting its rump under her left arm, by which she supports it; the’
left hand then opens its mouth (a little practice makes this very easy), and the
right hand takes up a pellet, dips it in the water (this is essential), shakes it on
its way to the opeu mouth, puts it straight down, ‘and carefully crams it with.
the fore-finger well into the gullet; when. it is so far settled down that the fowl
cannot eject it, she presses it down with thumb and fore-finger into the crop,
taking care not to fracture the pallet.

“ Other pellets follow the first till the feeding is finished in less time than one
would imagine. It sometime happens in feeding that the trachez is pressed to-
gether with the gullet; this causes the fowl to cough, but it is not of any serious
consequence, and with alittle care is easily avoided. The fowl when fed is again
held with both hands, and replaced in its cage paelOne fluttering, and so on with
each fowl.

“The chicken should have two meals in twenty-four hours, twelve hours apart,
provided with the utmost punctuality; if it hasto wait it becomes uneasy, if fed
too soon it has an indigestion, and in either case loses weight. On the first. day
of cramming only 4 few pellets are given at each meal; the allowance being
gradually increased till it reaches twelve or fifteen pellets. The crop may be
filled, but at each meal you must make sure that the last is. duly digested, which
is easily ascertained by gentle handling. If there be any food init, digestion has
48 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

not gone on properly; the fowl must miss a meal, and have rather a smaller al-
lowance next time. If too much food be forced upon the animal at first it will
get out of health, and have to be set at liberty.

“The fatting process ought to be complete in two or three weeks, but for extra

fat poultry twenty-five or twenty-six days are required ; with good management

you may go on for thirty days; after this the creature becomes choked with ae-
cumulated fat, wastes away and dies. A fowl usually takes more than a peck
of buckwheat to fatten it. The fat of fowls so managed is of a dull white color;
their flesh is as it were seen through a transparent, delicate skin.” ¢

In another French method of fattening, quoted by Tegetmeier from Le
Poularler, a treatise by M. Jacque, the‘food is given in a liquid state by means of
a funnel, the lower part of which is cut diagonally, and the edges of the tin
turned back to prevent injuring the mouth of the fowl. The food given is bar-
ley-meal mixed with milk and watev to the consistence of thin gruel.

In England still another process has been used,.the food actually being forced
down the poor fowl’s unwilling gullet by a machine resembling a sausage-stuffer,
having a long, syringe-shaped nozzlé, made of India rubber, a maw turning the
wheel of the machine, while a boy places the fowls at the spout with such ra-
pidity that three hundred birds could-be crammed in an hour. ‘

These operations may be profitable in England and France, and possibly to a
very limited extent in preparing fowls for the tables of the gourmands of some
of our largest cities, but before they can come into general use there must be a
wider margin between the selling price of the fatted fowl and the cost of the
food required to fatten it than there is at present. Asa preparation for the fat-
tening process the French consider caponizing, or castrating, a necessity. For
ourselves we do not believe this any more profitable than thé cramming process,
but for the benefit of those who may wish to experiment with it we give’ the fol-
lowing directions for performing the operation : -

The best birds for capons are the large breeds, Asiatics or Dorkings. They
should be two or three months old. Before the operation they should be de-
prived of food for from twenty-four to forty-eight hours, so as not to have their
bowels distended. The bird to be operated on must be fastened down'on his
left side to a board or bench through an auger-hole; the wings should be drawn
together over his back and well secured; the legs drawn backward, the upper
one drawn out furthest and secured. The feathers must be plucked from the
right, or upper side, near the hip joint, on a line with and between the joints of
the shoulder. The space uncovered should be about one and a half inches in
diameter on an ordinary sized bird. Draw theskin of the part backward, so that
when the operation is finished the skin slides back to the natural position and
covers the wound in the flesh, and does not, when neatly done, require sewing.
Make an incision with a fine, sharp penknife (a proper instrument is best) be-

tween the last rib and hip, commencing about an inch from the back-bone ;.

extend it obliquely downward, from an inch to an inch anda half, just cutting
deep enough to separate the flesh; take great care not to wound the intestines.

The wound must be kept open with an instrument with a spring, called a retract=
or, or with something answering the same purpose, stretching it wide enough to__

afford room for the work, Then carefully cut the membrane covering the in-
UAPONIZING POULTRY. 49

testines, which, if not sufficiently drawn up, may be pushed toward the breast-
bone lightly by a spoon-shaped instrument, or the handle of a teaspoon. The
organs to be removed are readily recognized—a small, reddish-yellow cylinder
attached to the spine on each side, covered with a fine membrane or skin,

-which must first be removed with forceps and a fine hook to draw it away.
With the left hand introduce the bowl of a spoon (an instrument is made for the
purpose) under the lower or left testicle, which is generally a little nearer to the
rump than the right one. Then take the instrument called a cannula, which is
a hollow tube with a horse-hair passed through it, forming at the end a loop
which can be tightened by pulling on the two ends of the hair at the ether end
of the tube. Pass this loop around the testicle with the aid of something to
place it in position—the cannula has a hook for this purpose—so as to bring the
loop to act upon the parts which connect the organ to the back. Then by draw-
ing the ends of the hair loop backward and forward, and atthe same time pushing
the lower end of the cannula toward the rump of the fowl, the cord or fastening
of the organ is severed. A similar process is then to be repeated with the up-
permost or right testicle, after which any remains of the organs, together with
the blood around the wound or at the bottom, must be removed with the spoon. .
The reason for operating on the lower or left organ first is to prevent the blood
from covering the lower one if left last. When the operation is performed—
which if skillfully done occupies but a few moments—the retractor is taken out
and the skin drawn over the wound, which if it was drawn on one side before
cutting (as mentioned above) will connect at a place not exactly opposite the
wound in the flesh, thereby covering the flesh wound. If skillfully done it re-
quires no sewing. The old French system was to operate on each side of the
the fowl, but the system here described is considered an improvement on the
antiquated Gallic method.

A corresponding operation may be performed upon pullets, making what the
French term “ poulardes.”’” We again quote from Tegetmeier:

“The pullet is placed in the lap of the operator, on its right side and with its
back turned to the operator, the left leg being drawn forward so as to expose
the left flank, in which a longitudinal incision is made close to the side bone;
this will bring to view the lower bowel, and alongside of it will be found the egg
passage or egg-pipe. If this is drawn to the orifice of the wound by a small
hooked wire, and cut across—or, what is perhaps better, a very short piece of it
removed—the developement of the ovary or egg-producing organ is cntirely pre-
vented, and the birds fatten rapidly, attaining also to a very large size. It is
most important to perform the operation before the pullets have begun to lay.
We would beg to impress most strongly the desirability of practicing these op-
erations in the first instance on dead birds of the same age, so that the oper-
ator may become acquainted with the situation and appearance of the parts
concerned. By this means a greater amount of success will be attained in the
first instance, and much unnecessary suffering saved to the animals.

“The operation of making capons and poulardes is, as we have shown, attended
with some risk. The advantages gained are slight in comparison with the danger
of losing the bird, and with the positive amount of unnecessary pain inflicted
upon the animal.”
50 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

DRESSING AND PACKING POULTRY FOR MARKET.

A correspondent of Farm and Fireside furnishes the following directions.
for preparing poultry for market:

“As much, if not more, depends upon

that of dressing it to have it fit for the mar

used in this branch of the business.
“The French mode of killing we think far the best, as it causes instant death

the manner of killing poultry as on
ket. Too much caution cannot be

 

Fie. 29.

without pain or disfigurement, and is simply done by opening the beak of the
‘fowl, and with a sharp-pointed and narrow-bladed knife, making an incision at-
the back of the roof of the mouth, which will divide the vertebre and cause
immediate death, after which the fowl should be hung up by the legs till bleed-
ing ceases, and picked while warm. The flesh presentsa better and more natural
appearance than it does after the old-fashioned way of scalding. Fowls should

 

 

 

 

 

Fic. 30.—Packing for Market.

always be allowed to remain in their coops without food at least twenty-four
hours previous to being killed, as the flesh will keep longer and present a better
appearance in the market. ‘

“All poultry should be thoroughly cooled before packing. Th provide
boxes, for they are preferable to barrels, and place a layer of rye straw that has been
thoroughly cleaned from dust on the bottom. Commence packing by bending
DRESSING AND PACKING POULTR Y FOR MARKET. 51

the head under the body (See Fig. 29); then lay the fowl in the left-hand cor-
ner, with the head against the end of the box, and the back up, and cohtinue in
the same manner until the row is filled. Then begin the second row in thesame
manner, letting the head of the bird pass up between the two adjoining birds,
which will make the whole solid and firm. (See Figure 30.) In packing the last
row reverse the order, placing the heads against the end of the box, and letting
the feet pass undef each other, and fill the spices with straw. Over this layer
place enough straw to prevent the next layer coming in contact with it, then add
other layers, packed in the same manner, until the box is filled. Care should
be taken to fill the box full, in order to prevent any disarrangement. To those
having extra fine poultry tq send to market, we would recommend wrapping
each fowl in paper, before packing; this will prevent dust and straw adhering to
it, and will add much to its appearance. The box should have the initials of
the consignor, the number and variety of contents, as well as the name of the
consignee, marked on it.” ;

a

 

pen
CHAPTER VIL.

THE DISEASES OF POULTRY.

In adition to the parasites affecting the young chickens, older fowls are subject
to a few diseases, of the principal of which we quote the following descriptions
from Tegetmeier, with the remedies proposed by him, premising, however, that
for most seriously marked cases of disease in common fowls, the axe and chop-
ping-block are the safest and most economical remedy, as the care and attention
necessary to restore a thoroughly diseased fowl to health will generally far out-
weigh its value, while the danger of propagating the disease among healthy
fowls is a consideration which should be constantly kept in mind.

Whenever there is any suspicion that a fowl has been affected with roup or
cholera, which are contagious, and the most troublesome of poultry diseases, the
fowl, unless very valuable, should be killed and burnt, as the disease is liable to
be propagated from its carcass when simply buried, throngh the burrowing of
earth worms, and their carrying of the disease germs to the’surface,

DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM.
APOPLEXY,

Symptoms.—The symptoms of apoplexy are plain and decisive—a fowl appar-
ently in the most robust health, falls down suddenly, and is found either dead or
without sensation and the power of motion. These symptoms are occasioned by
the rupture of a vessel in theskull, and the consequent effusion of blood, which
by its pressure on the brain, produces the evil.

Causes.—Apoplexy is almost invariably caused by a full habit of body; it is -
therefore frequent in over-fed birds, and is most common among laying hens—
which are sometimes found dead on the nest—the expulsive efforts required in
laying being the immediate cause of the attack. Unnatural and over-stimulat-
ing food, as greaves, hemp, and a large proportion of pea or bean meal, greatly
predisposes to the disease.

Treatment.—In this disease much may be done in the way of prevention—little
towards cure in an actual attack; the only hope consists in an instant and copi-
ous bleeding by opening a vein with a sharp-pointed pen-knife or a lancet. The
largest of the veins seen on the underside of the wing should be selected, and
opened in a longitudinal direction, not cut across; and so Jong as the thumb
is pressed on the vein, at any point between the opening and the body, the blood
will be found to flow freely. If the bird recovers it should be kept quiet, and
fed on light food for some time after oiea Perak.
  
 

‘Sv HVad LHOIT

(531

Lo
Se

A
SON
VERTIGO—PARAL YSIS—CROP-BOUND. 55

VERTIGO.

Symptoms.—Fow]s affected with this disease may be observed to run around in a
sircle, or to flutter about with but partial control over their muscular actions.

Causes—The affection is one evidently caused by an undue determination of
blood to the head, and is deperdent on a full-blooded state of the system,
usually the result of over-feeding.

Treatment.—Holding the head under a stream of cold water for a short time
tmmediately arrests the disease, and a strong dose of any aperient, such as three
grains of calomel and ten grains of jalap, or jalap alone, removes the tendency
to the complaint, The bird should be kept on a low diet for some time after the
attack,

PARALYSIS.

Symptoms.—An inability to move some of the limbs. In fowls, the legs usually
are affected, and are totally destitute of the power of motion. Care must be
taken not to confound this disease with leg-weakness, which will be described
under the head of Diseases of the Limbs, and which requires a totally different
mode of treatment.

Causes.—Paralysis usually depends on some affection of the spinal cord, and
is another result of over-stimulating diet.

Treatment.—Nothing can be done by way of cure; the cases may be regarded
as hopeless, or nearly so.

\ DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS.
CROP-BOUND. -

Symptoms.—The crop, or membranous dilation of the gullet, whose office it is
to receive the food as it is swallowed, and transmit it in small portions at a time
to the gizzard, is sometimes so overcharged that it is unable to expel its contents
into that organ. From the emptiness of the gizzard the bird feels hungry, and
by continuing to eat adds to the mischief, until at last, by the contraction of the
crop and the swelling of the grain, a hardened mass is formed, weighing in some
cases nearly a pound, and by the enormous protuberance it causes giving evt
dent indications of its presence. Sometimes the disease is occasioned by asingle
object being swallowed, whose size is too large to permit it to pass into the
stomach. In this case it serves as a nucleus for other matters, and a mass is
formed around it.

Treatment.—The treatment of this disorder is very simple. With asharp pen-
knife an incision must be made through the skin and then into the upper part of
the crop; the hardened mass loosened by some blunt-pointed instrument, and
removed. If it has remained many days and is very offensive, the crop may
then be washed out by pouring in some warm water. The incision, if small, may
be left, but if large, a stitch or two is advisable. The bird should be fed on soft
food for a day or two, and will rapidly recover. The administration of gin, as
is recommended by some ignorant writers, is certain to cause the death of a crop-
bound fowl.
56 ' THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

DIARRHGA.

Symptoms.—The symptoms of diarrhoea are so evident as to render description
unnecessary. ‘

Causes.—A too scanty supply of grain, which necessitates an excess of green
food, or an unwholesome dietary of any description, are the usual causes of this
complaint.

Treatment.—Give five grains of powdered chalk, the same quantity of rhubarb,
and three of Cayenne pepper; if this does not speedily check the relaxation
give a grain of opium and one of powdered ipecacuanha every four or six hours.
Care should be taken not to confound a simple diarrhea with cholera, which
will be described further on.

CATARRH. -

Symptoms.—The symptoms of a cold, or catarrh in fowls, are identical with
those so familiar in the human subject—namely, a watery or adhesive discharge
from the nostrils, and a slight swelling of the eyelids; in worse cases the face is
swollen at the sides, and the disease appears to pass into true roup.

Causes,—The cause is exposure to cold or dampriess ; such as a long continuance
of cold, wet weather, or sleeping in roosting places open to the north or east.

_ Treatment.—In simple cases, removal to a dry, warm situation, and a supply of
food rather more nutritious and stimulating than usual, soon effect acure. A
little mashed potato, well dusted with common pepper, has been found very ad-
vantageous. In severe cases the disease so closely resembles roup that it may be

treated in the same manner.

«BRONCHITIS.

Symptoms.—If the cold, to use a popular mode of expression, settles on the
lungs instead of affeeting the head, the symptoms are somewhat different ; there
is rattling in the throat, from the accumulation of mucus, which the fowl coughs
up and expectorates at intervals.

Treatment.—Removal to a drier habitation is sufficient in almost all cases to
effect a cure. In severe cases one grain of calomel and one eighth of agrain of
tartar emetic may be given at night.

ROUP.

Symptoms.—The symptoms of roup are at first identical with those of a severe
catarrh ; the discharge from the nostril, however, soon loses its transparent char-
acter, becoming more or less opaque, and of a very peculiar and offensive odor;
froth appears at the inner corner of the eye, the lids swell, and in severe cases
the eye-ball 1s entirely concealed, the nostrils are closed by the discharge drying
around them, and the eye-lids are agglutinated together; the diseased secretion
accumulates within to a great extent, consequently the sides of the face swell to
an extreme degree, and the bird, unable to see or to feed itself, suffers from great
depression, and sinks rapidly. ;

Roup is essentially a disease of the lining membrane of the nasal cavities.
This being inflamed, becomes swollen, and secretes the discharge befere men-
ROUP—PTIP. 57

tioned. These two circumstances combined tend to close up the small external
apertures of the nostrils; as fowls habitually breathe through the nose, the
mouth being kept closed, it follows that there ts, even in the early stages, some
difficulty of breathing, and a distension of the loose skin below the under jaw
may often be noticed. The frothy matter appearing at the corner of the eye
results from the same cause; the air, stopped in its passage through the nose,
passes up the tear-duct, leading from the eye to the nose, and produces the ap-
pearance of bubbles in the corner of the eye. In very severe cases the cavity
of the nose becomes filled with the diseased secretion, which cannot escape,
owing to the small size and closure of the nostril, and then the face swells
considerably. .

This disease is, undoubtedly, very contagious, and is frequently communicated
by fowls drinking out of the same vessel, the discharge from the nostrils of the
sick bird contaminating the water as it drinks.

Treatment.—Warm, dry lodging, and stimulating, nutritious food, are the first
essentials to recovery; in addition, the frequent removal of the dried discharge
from around the eyes and nose, by bathing in warm water, must not be omitted.
In the way of internal medicine, nearly equal numbers recover under various
modes of treatment. Iodine in tincture, mercurial ointment and nitrate of sil-
ver have been applied to the face without any advantage—many drugs have been
given internally with no better results. The directapplication of some remedial
agent to the diseased membrane promises the best results; but here we are met
by the difficulty of application, asthe nostrils of the fowl are so closed that it is al-
most impracticable to pass anything through them. A verysmall benttube can, .
however, be readily passed into the cavity of the nose through the slit in the roof of
the mouth, and in this way a dilute solution of sulphate of copper (blue vitriol, at
the rate of ten grains to the ounce of water,) has been used with very favorable
results. The injecting tube is readily passed into each nostril, if inserted into
the interior part of the slit seen in the roofof the mouth, and directed outwards
at right angles to the slit. In most cases, however, Tegetmeier advises the use of
the axe, as cure is difficult, and the risk of contaminating the yard is great. 3

PIP.

Symptoms.—The occurrence of a dry, horny scale upon the tongue is generally
regarded as characteristic of this disease, which, however, is by some confounded
with gapese The dry, scaly tongue is, however, only a symptom caused by some
other disease, which forces the fowl (that habitually breathes through the
nostrils) to respire through the mouth; in this case the constant current of air
dries‘the tongue, which becomes hard at the point, and assumes.a very horny
character. Thus, in any inflammatory affection of the windpipe, in gapes, catarrh,
or roup, when the nostrils are closed by the discharge, the pip, as it is termed,
makes its appearance. It should be regarded, however, as a symptom only, and
not as the disease itself.

Treatment.—The treatment varies with the cause ; if the scale of hardened mem-
brane is loose, it should be removed. The absurd plan of nipping off the end of
the tongue in chickens igs practiced in some parts of the country; it is needless
to say that it is alike useless and barbarous.
58 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOR.

GAPES.
See “Diseases and Enemies of the Young Chick,” page 25.
CONSUMPTION.

Symptoms.—Consumption, which is caused by the presence of scrofulous
tubercles in the lungs, may almost always be induced in chickens by confining
them in cold, dark, unhealthy places; tubercles have also been found in the
liver and other parts of the body. The symptoms of consumption are not
strongly marked in the early stages; in the more advanced state there is wast-
ing, cough, and expectoration of matter. ;

Treatment.—It is fortunate that consumption can always be prevented by
wholesome, abundant diet, and good housing, for in advanced stages it is quite
incurable; where it is suspected to be commencing, cod-liver oil may be given
mixed with meal; butas the disease is hereditary, a fowl so preserved would be
worse than useless as-a stock bird.

DISEASES OF THE EGG ORGANS.

‘The egg organs in the fowl consist of the ovary, situated on the fore part of
the left kidney, and the oviduct, or egg-passage, leading from it to the outlet.
The ovary in its inactive state consists of minute vesicles, the germs of future
eggs. In its active condition these enlarge in regular succession, until each has
attained the sige of the natural yelk, when it is seized by the funnel-shaped
extremity of the egg passage, and as it passes along has successively secreted
around it the white, the membranes lining the shell, and lastly, the shell it-
self; the white being necessarily formed at the upper pari, the membrane at the
middle section, and the shell at the lower part of the oviduct, or egg-passage.
The ovary is not often subject to disease, except in old hens past laying, in
which it sometimes degenerates ;-and it not unfrequently happens that the hen
so affected is healthy in all other respects, and is only known to be diseased’ by
her not laying and frequent crowing; sometimes, as in the case of barren hen-
pheasants, she assumes the plumage of the male bird. ;

INFLAMMATION AND PROTRUSION OF THE EGG-PASSAGE.—SOFT Eas. *

Symptoms.—The symptoms of this complaint vary with the part of the oviduct
affected. As the disorder oceurs in laying-hens, we are enabled to trace the
seat of the complaint by the state of the extruded egg. If the lower part is
unduly excited, the egg is expelled before the shell has been secreted, and a
soft-skinned egg results. If the inflammation extends to the middle portion, the
membrane is either misshapen or incomplete; and if the whole tube is inflamed,
the yelks are dropped without any covering whatever.

The laying of soft eggs arises from several causes; and if all cases are treated
alike, such an empirical method will certainly not be followed by success, The
shell of the egg consists almost whollv of carbonate of lime. the same material
SOFT EGGS. | 59

which, in different forms, produces chalk, marble, limestone, and the shells of
such animals as oysters, ete. The requisite quantity for the formation of the
shell must be obtained in or with the food, otherwise soft eggs result. When un-
shelled eggs arise from a deficiency of calcareous matter, the remedy is evident.
A quantity of old mortar rubbish, or oyster shells heated to redness and then
broken up, readily supply the material required.

Another cause of soft eggs is the excitement of the fowl from being driven
about, or being worried in any manner. Heavy fowls, such as Creveccurs or
Dorkinggs, etc., that are not so active as the smaller varieties of poultry, suffer
much from being driven, frequently laying soft eggs afterwards. The remedy
in this case is simple, being merely rest.

Inflammation of the oviduct, or egg-passage, is a. third cause, and in this case
the eggs produced are usually irregular in form, or very imperfect. When the
inflammation is very severe the yelks may be expelled, as they are received from
the ovary without any white or membrane; at other times the white may be ex-
pelled with the yelks, or the eggs may be imperfectly or irregularly inclosed in
membrane. The treatment of inflammation of the egg-passage is sufficiently sim-
ple. The object is to lower the inflammatory action; and this is best done by
the use of a remedy proposed some years since by Tegetmeier, namely, one grain of
calomel and one twelfth of a grain of tartar emetic, given in meal. After its
administration the hen generally ceases to lay for two or three days, and then
resumes in a healthy manner; but if necessary a second dose may be given.

Inflammation of the egg-passage is shown by general feverishness; the feath-
ers (especially those over the back,) are puffed out, and the hen mopes about,
and strains to discharge the contents of the passage. This inflammation may
be produced by over-stimulating or unwholesome food, such as greaves and-
spiced poultry foods; in these cases the disorder ceases without the use of med-
icine, on returning to natural food.

Protrusion of the lower end of the oviduct not unfrequentty” occurs in hens
that are laying. It is sometimes caused by a disparity of size between the egg
and the passage, and at other times seems connected with a general relaxation
of the system. When protrusion occurs, the plan recommended is immediately
to check the laying by the medicine above mentioned, and put the bird on a
diet which contains little egg-forming material, such as rice and potatoes; and
after a few days the parts usually regain their natural position. If, however,
another egg is formed, it usually happens that the efforts to expel it so much in-
crease the mischief that the bird dies. :

Inflammation of the oviduct is not unfrequently the precursor of apoplexy;
if a soft egg, as frequently happens, is broken in the passage, the collapsed
membrane, from its irregular form, is not readily expelled, and the violent
efforts to get rid of it lead to the rupture of a vessel in the brain; at other
times, the canal being closed, additional yelks accumulate above, causing a
tumor, which is eventually fatal, and which is rapidly enlarged by the continued
secretion of the oviduct. © Tumors of upwards of a pound in weight are sometimes
produced in this eee Should the membrane of a soft egg protrude, the
fowl should be cattght and the membrane drawn away with ‘the utmost gen-
tleness, or the oviduct itself will be drawn out.
60 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK,

DISEASES OF THE LIMBS,

LEG WEAKNESS.

Symptoms.—This disease usually occurs in young birds, and more frequently
in cockerels than pullets. The bird affected is, more or less, unable to support
itself, and sinks down on the hocks after standing for a short time, or in bad
cases is even unable to rise on the feet, In other respects the health is good,
the appetite being at first, before the health is injured by want of exercise, very
good and the comb red.

Causes.—The cause of this troublesome complaint, which frequently attacks
the finest and heaviest birds, is merely a rapid increase of weight, which is out
of proportion to the muscular development; it consequently is more often
present in cockerels than in pullets; it is rarer in old birds, and is most common
in the heaviest varieties, Cochins and Brahmas being more especially subject to
it. Constitutional weakness may, of course, produce it without any rapid
growth,

Treatment.—Local applications are perfectly useless; but the most rapid im-
provement follows the administration of from three to eight grains of citrate of
iron daily, and a due supply of nutritious food, care being taken to select such
substances as are flesh-producing, and not fattening—wheat, barley, and a due
supply of worms, or in default, a little chopped meat, being preferable to rice
or Indian corn.

RUEUMATISM AND CRAMP. =

Symptoms.—These diseases, though differing in their nature, arise so constant-
ly from the same cause and are so readily removed by the same treatment that
they may appropriately be placed together. A disinclination and inability to move
the limbs, evidently not arising from mere weakness, or a permanently cramped
condition of the toes, are sufficiently characteristic. ,

Causes.—Both disorders are caused by exposure to cold and.wet, and the ten-
dency to them may be much counteracted by preventing the fowls, during their
earliest chickenhood, from running: in wet grass early in the morning.

Treatment.—Good food, and a warm, dry habitation are generally effectual.
When chickens are hatched at such times as January or February it must not be
expected that any treatment can counteract perfectly the unnatural circum-
stances under which they are placed. If exposed, they suffer from cold, and if
confined in close rooms, the want of fresh air, and of natural geet and insect
food, produce unfortunate results.

Gout.

Symptoms.—B8welling of the feet, attended with a great degree of heat,
Treatment.—Give one grain of calomel at night, and three drops of wine of
colchicum three times a day, taking care as to warmth, ete.

BUMBLE-FOOT,.

Symptoms.—Dorkings are more especially subject to tnt disease. It com-
mences by a small, wart-like body on the ball of the foot, This enlarges, and at
BALDNESS AND WHIVTE-COMB—LICE. 61

last uleerates, producing so much mischief that the bird becomes Jame and
useless. .

Cause.—The cause seems to be some slight injury from pressure on sharp stones ;
this sets up a low inflammatory action on the thick skin of the foot, which is
followed by the formation of the swelling. The disease does not originate in
the tendons, nor even in the dense fascial covering, but in the cutis or true
skin.

Treatment.—From the low state of vitality in-the feet of birds, and the inabil-
ity 10 rest them when diseased, there is little hope of successful treatment in
advanced cases. In early cases we have removed the corn-like tumors, and
cauterized the part with nitrate of silver with success, but the adoption of low
perches, which prevent the bird coming with violence to the ground on its de-
scent, is the best remedy, inasmuch as prevention is in all cases better than
cure.

DISEASES OF THE SKIN.

BALDNESS AND WHITE-COMB.

Symptoms.—White-comb is a hard and scurfy condition of that organ, to which
the fowls kept in the confined stable-yards of large towns, and other unhealthy
localities, or fed on bad food, are liable; in advanced cases the feathers fall off
leaving the head perfectly bare.

Causes.—Unnatural food, the want of fresh vegetables, and overcrowding i in
dark habitations, are the causes of these complaints.

Treatment.—A return to natural diet is indispensable to success ; and if to this
important requisite be added the administration of five or six grains of jalap
every other night for a week, and the application of sulphur ointment to the
comb, immediate benefit will result. At the same time it must be borne in mind
that the plumage will often not reappear until next moulting time.

SCALY LEGS,

Symptoms.—A congregation of infinitesimal parasites, which gather impercep-
tibly at first in the crevices between the edges of the leg-scales, and which in-
crease rapidly in numbers—piling up on themselves, until they form into appar-
ent grayish-white warts or rough bunches. 7

Causes.—The cause of this disorder is evidently contagious, but its progress
may be much forwarded by want of cleanliness in the fowl-houses, and it can-
not be eradicated except in connection with a thorough cleansing of the houses
and roosts, as the insects will propagate in the filth. ‘

Treatment.—Take a small pail, fill partly. with water, and pour in some
kerosene, which will remain on top of the water. Then take your fowl and dip
its legs into the pail. After two or three minutes wash ‘thoroughly with soap-
suds, as this prevents any ill effects to the fowl from the kerosene.

LICE,

_This trouble has been considered under the head of “Diseases and Enemies of
the Young Chick,’
62 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

The foregoing description of poultry diseases is taken from Tegetmeier’s work,
There remains, however, one disease to which neither Tegetmeier nor Wright
have referred, yet which the American poultryman dreads more than all those
we have named, and this is :

CHICKEN CHOLERA.

i

A new light has recently been thrown upon the nature of this disease by ‘the
researches of D. E. Salmon, D. V. M., and of M. L. Pasteur.

The Symptoms of fowl disease are given by Dr. Salmon in his report on this
disease to the Department of Agriculture, on investigations made during the year
1880, as follows: :

“The first symptom of fowl cholera is, in the great majority of cases, a yellow
coloration of that part of the excrement which is excreted by the kidneys, and
which is normally of a pure white; it is this part of the excrement thatI have
called the urates. This yellow coloring matter appears while the excrement is
yet solid; while the bird presents a perfectly normal appearance; while the ap-
petite is good, and before there is any elevation of temperature. Indeed, it is
frequently seen the second or third day after inoculation, and then may disap-
pear for a week or more, to return one or two days before the other symptoms of
disease.

“Tn avery few cases the first symptom isa diarrhea, the excrement being
passed frequently and in large quantity, and consisting almost entirely of per-
fectly white urates.

“Tn all cases the diarrhoea soon becomes a prominent symptom, the excrement
is voided frequently, consists largely of urates suspended in a thin, transparent
mucus, and having a deep yellow coloration, which may, in the latter stages of
the disease, change to a greenish, or even deep green color.

“With the beginning of the diarrhea the temperature rises, reaching 109° to
110° Fah., or two to four degrees above the normal; the comb loses its bright
hue and becomes pale and bloodless; the appetite is lessened ; the wings droop;
the bird becomes inactive. Frequently a good appetite is retained to the last,
but often the bird is overcome by stupor and sleeps away the last day or two of
the disease; in such cases they are only aroused with difficulty, a touch or blow
being required.

“In the last stages of disease they have lost greatly in weight, are exceedingly
weak, fall over by a touch, and walk with the greatest difficulty. Death fre-
quently occurs without a struggle, but in the majority of cases there are convul.
sions and cries. . ;

“The duration of the disease varies greatly. Sometimes the bird dies within
twenty-four hours after the first coloration of the urates, and when but one er
two liquid dejections have occurred; in other cases life is prolonged for three,
four or five days, and occasionally for one, or even two weeks. The crop is gen-
erally distended with food, and loses the ability to force this onwards to be
digested. In all cases except those of the shortest duration the feathers about
the anus become soiled with the discharges, If the birds are aroused from their
 
‘CHICKEN CHOLERA. 65

sleep and made to walk, there is at first an abundant evacuation, followed at
short intervals by scanty discharges, which, with the frequent contractions of
the sphincter ani, are evidence of considerable irritation of the posterior part of
the intestinal canal.

“In most cases affected birds are very thirsty throughout the whole period of
the disease; frequently, however, the thirst is not exaggerated, and in excep-
tional cases they scarcely drink at all.

“ Post-mortem appearances.—The comb is pale and bloodless, but neither dark
nor dark blue, as seems to be the case in France. The superficial blood-vessels
generally contain but little.blood, and there are, in most cases, soiled feathers
about the anus to which the excrement may adhere in considerable quantity.*
On opening the body the first organ to attract attention is the liver, which in
nearly every case is enormously enlarged and softened, with the blood-vessels
very apparent; itis often of a very dark or dark green color, is frequently. at-
tached to the surrounding parts by false membranes, and is as often surrounded
by atransparent, colorless effusion. In exceptional cases its appearance is nearly
or quite normal. The gall-bladder is generally greatly distended with thick,
dark bile, which has frequently passed through its walls in sufficient: quantity
to stain all the organs in its vicinity.

“The crop is generally distended with food, though no special lesions have been
noticed here. The proventriculus, or true stomach, viewed externally, offen
presents anumber of circular discolorations, about one tenth of an inch in diame-
ter, which on section are found to be small clots of extravasated: blood. No
lesions have been found in the “gizzard. - The small intestines are usually con-
gested; often the mucous membrane is nearly black from engorgement of the
blood-vessels, and occasionally the internal surface is the seat of ulcerations
of various size and number. In one case a fibrinous plug had formed about
midway of the smallintestine, completely obstructing the ‘pasuage of the bowel
contents; this plug was three inches long and very firm.

“The rectum and cloaca generally present deep red lines upon their mucous
membrane, evidently the first stage of inflammation, which results in chronic cases
in thickening of the walls, especially of the rectum, the desquamation of the
mucous membrane, and the formation of large ulcerous surfaces. In some cases
this thickening and ulceration extends into the colon, and it is generally seen in
the chronic or sub-acute forms of the disease in the ceca, the walla of these
being thickened, denuded of their mucous pene and the sone illed with
a plug of coagulated lymph.

“The mesentery is generally congested, often thickened and rendered opaque
by inflammation; the ureters are distended with yellow urates; the kidneys
seem engorged, and on section accumulations of the tenacious, yellow urates are
frequently seen; the spleen is generally normal in size and appearance, thes
frequently enlarged and softened. The pericardium is sometimes
with effusion, in which cases there is noticeable hyperemia of surface of the
heart. The lungs are often, though not generally, engorged with dark blood;
they are seldom, if ever, hepatized. The. hie A are sometimes filled with

 

8 * This may also happen in common diarrhea,
66 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

a firm clot, and contain but little liquid; at other times the blood does not coagu-
late at all. It seems tobe those cases where the duration of the disease has
been longest in which the blood loses its property of coagulation.

“Tn the few cases examined by me in which the disease was contracted from
infected premises, etc., the lymphatic glands along the neck appear much more
congested than in cases which resulted from inoculation, indicating, as suggested
by Toussaint, that the virus had been taken with the food and absorbed from
the mouth or pharynx

“The brain, in the cases examined, has either been normal or not very percept-
ibly altered. The muscles at the seat of inoculation are generally reddened,
though sometimes perfectly normal; in a few cases, at the point.of inoculation
the tissue has been transformed into a whitish, rather firm substance, without
definite outline, but disappearing imperceptibly into the substance of the mus-
cle; exceptionally this has separated from the muscular tissue, and exists asa
clearly circumscribed sequestrum.”

We have given these symptoms at length, because fowl cholera is frequently
confused with other diseases, as simple diarrhea, roup, etc.,and successful treat:
ment depends, of course, upon a correct diagnosis of the case. ‘

Causes —The cause of fowl cholera is unquestionably, in the great majority of
cases, contagion. Whether this contagious principle be one of the forms of
bacteria, like that to which anthrax fever in cattle and sheep has been traced,

.and to which eminent authorities believe the swine-plague, or hog cholera, as
well as poultry cholera, to be due, is not yet conclusively settled.

Bacteria are microscopic organisms, probably vegetable in their nature, which
propagate in putrefying flesh after the manner of the yeast plant or the moulds,
and are the active agents of decay. Similar organisms have been found existing

in immense numbers in the blood of animala suffering from contagious disease,
and many pathologists believe them to be the cause and vehicle of contagion of
such diseases. *

However this may be, the experiments of Salmon, Pasteur and others, have
shown that fowl cholera is not communicated by simple contact, like measles
and small-pox in the human subject, since healthy fowls may be penned along-

side of those suffering with the disease without being affected. If, however, the
flesh of diseased fowls be fed to healthy ones, or if the latter be allowed to run
over grounds containing the excrement of diseased fowls, contagion is sure
to follow. The disease may also be propagated by inoculating the healthy fowl
with blood or tissue from a diseased one.

Treatment.—Dr. Salmon says: ‘Medical treatment of sick birds is not to be
recommended under any circumstances. The malady runs its course, as a rule,
in one, two, or three days, and it can only be checked with great difficulty. As
the appetite is very poor, medicine can only be administered regularly by taking
cech bird by itself and forcing it to swallow. But this requires too much time
to make advisable, if there were no other objection to the practice, Even in
those cases in which Ihave succeeded in prolonging the life for two or three
weeks, death has finally occurred from profound changes in the liver and intes-
Tinea The great reason, however, for not treating sick birds is that the excre-
ment is probably filled with the contagion, and it is much better to destroy them
CHICKEN CHOLERA, 67

at the start than to keep them to multiply the contagious germs and infect the
grotnds and remaining fowls.”

The only practicable treatment, therefore, is prevention; for the accomplishing
of which we quote the following rules deduced from Dr. Salmon’s report by a
correspondent of the Scientific American:

“Measures for prevention of fowl cholera should be based upon the following
facts:

“1, The virus ts not diffusible.—That is, the disease germs are seldom if ever
‘taken up by the air and carried any considerable distance to produce the malady.
The virus remains in the fixed form, and is generally if not always taken into
the body with the food; it is distributed over the grounds, feeding places, etc.,
in the excrement of affected birds, and the food, drink, and gravel are thus con-
taminated. Healthy birds may be kept in coops within a few feet of the sick
ones for months without contracting the disease; but if the former are now
placed in the same inclosure with the latter, they sicken in a few days.

“2, The virus must be carried upon the grounds frequented by fowls before they
contract the disease.—It is not probable that this disease originates in any consid-
able number of cases in any other way than by contagion. There isa possibility
that it may originate in occasional instances by filthy surroundings, if closely con-
fined, or by feeding on decomposing substances; but there are few facts to sup-
port such a conclusion.

“It is thus brought upon farms either (1) with sick or infected fowls newly
acquired, (2) with the blood or parts of the bodies of dead birds carried on the
feet of people or brought by dogs or other animals, (3) with infected manure or
feathers, or (4) possibly by wild birds, animals (rabbits), or even insects that
have contracted the disease or have eaten the blood or bodies of affected birds
recently dead. ‘I'he origin of the disease can generally be traced in country dis-
tricts where houses are a considerable distance apart, to recently acquired poul-
try. Itis only in districts more thickly peopled, and then in exceptional in-

. stances, that'the germs are carried by wild birds or animals or by insects.

“For grounds not already infected the following precautions should be-observed :

“1, Newly acquired birds to be tsolated.-When cholera is raging in 4 locality,
all birds introduced from other flocks should be placed in an inclosure by them-
selves for at least three weeks, until itis certain that they are free from the
disease. No fowl should be accepted from a place known to be infected, for at
least a year after the last known cases occur.

“2. ' Precautions in regard to eggs.—All the eggs from a distance to be used for
hatching must be thoroughly cleaned of .all particles of excrement adhering to
them, and the water with which they are washed, as well as cloths or brushes
used, must be raised to the boiling point before being thrown upon grounds to’
which poultry has access. The virus is always destroyed by a boiling tempera-
ture, or even by 140° F. if maintained:for fifteen minutes.

“3. Fouls not to wander upon adjoining infected premises.—A stone wall is in
towns frequently the boundary line of an infected place, and though’ fowls are
upon each side of it the contagion may not cross for years. In such casesitis a’
matter of the greatest importance to prevent the healthy fowls from trespassing
upon the infected grounds, —
68 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

“4, Fowls from neighboring infected premises to be rigidly excluded.—If od He
portant to keep healthy fowls from infected grounds, it is not a ee
exclude fowls living in infected quarters from entering on runs that are ' ae.
from the diséase. Even though insusceptible to cholera and consequently he - Ys

they are able to carry the virus on their feathers and feet, and may even dis
tribute it with their own excrement; for although the virus is unable to propa-
gate itself in the blood and tissues of insusceptible birds, there is reason to
believe that it may stili multiply in the contents of their digestive organs.

“5, Other infected substances to be excluded from the runs.—Manure from infected
places is often purchased and spread ‘upon land to which healthy poultry has
access, and thus becomes the means of spreading the disease. This should
either be entirely excluded from the farm or the fowls should not be allowed to
come near to where it is placed. It cannot be safely disinfected. Feathers and
dead birds are also at times carried a considerable distance by various agencies,
and should be guarded against when possible.

“If sickness appears among the flock we should ask:

“1, Is the disease cholera?—Fowls frequently die in.considerable numbers from
diseases that are not contagious, and hence it is a matter of primary importance
to decide as to. the nature of the affection when cholera is suspected. In my
own experience I have found that this might be done with comparative certainty
by inspection of the excrements. With fowls the excretions of the kidneys
are joined in the cloaca with the undigested parts of the food, and both solid and
liquid excrement are consequently voided together. They are not mixed to any
great extent, however; the part excreted by the kidneys is easily distinguished,
as during health it is of a pure white color, while the bowel discharges are of
various hues, The kidney excretion will hereafter be referred to as the urates,:
and it ia the only part which claims our attention.

“After a fowl takes the. contagion into its body, the first and only reliable
symptom isa coloration of the urates. At first these have onlya faint yellow
tint, which rapidly changes, however, into a deep yellow color; up to this time
the bird shows no other signs of the disease, its temperature is unchanged, and
its excrement of a normal consistency. In one or more days after this yellow
color appears, the urates are greatly increased in quantity, and constitute the
whole or a greater part of the discharges and an obstinate diarrhoea sets in; in
afew cases the urates now become greenish, and exceptionally they are of a
deep green color, ves .

“The only lesion seen in post-mortem examinations that is likely to
attract the attention of non-professional observers is the enlarged liver, which is
nearly constant; itmay be of various shades of color. Besides this the presence
of Li urates in the cloaca and ureters is a valuable sign and is generally
present. a :

“2, Sick birds must be destroyed.—The exérements of sick birds are the princi:
pal means of spreading the contagion, and the first step in stamping out the dis-
ease is consequently to destroy all which are voiding yellow urates: Care should
be had to make the distinction between the urates and the bowel dejections, for
the latter are frequently of a yellow color in health ; but a little observation will
preclude any mistake of this kind, The killing should not be by any method
CHICKEN CHOLERA 69

which allows the escape of blood, as this fluid is even more virulent than the excre-
ment; wringing the neck isa quick and easy method of destroying the life. Once
killed, the bodies are to be taken beyond the limits of the poultry-run and deeply
buried. *

“Tf it is decided to keep the sick birds till they die or recover, they should be
placed in an inclosure by themselves, as far as possible from the healthy ones,
where they may be cared for without entering, so that there will be no danger of
carrying particles of the excrement on the boots.

“3. Healthy birds must be placed on disinfected grownds.—If a piece of land is

at hand to which the sick birds have not had access, and which is consequently

free from the contagion, the healthy birds should be penned upon it; but if all
the land is infected, then a piece is to be selected and thoroughly disinfected
with the solution mentioned further on in this book. The fowls are to be re-
stricted to this disinfected ground for several months, or even a year or more if
practicable. The drinking-vessels and feeding-troughs are to be new, or if used
before they must be soaked for twelve hours with the same solution before being
placed in the new inclosure.

“4, Observations to be continued to note the first reappearance of the disease.—Some
of the fowls, though well at the time of removal to disinfected quarters, may be
infected with the disease, and after the,period of incubation, which varies from
three to twenty days, will sicken. It is necessary, therefore, to make a careful
inspection of the excrement each morning for at least three weeks after the sep-
aration of the sick fowls. If yellow urates are discovered the birds must be
watched until the sick one is detected. To facilitate the early discovery of such
sick fowls and prevent infection of the healthy ones, it is advisable, where prac-
ticable, to separate the birds into lots of two or three each at the start; and this
separation may always be practiced as a last rezort where the disease successfully
defies our efforts for a considerable time; but where this is impossible a little
patience will generably enable one to pick out the sick before any harm has re-
sulted. As soon as the sick bird is removed the excrement must be scraped up
and burned, and the run must be again sprinkled with the disinfectant; or the
well birds may be changed to fresh ground as before. This method of manage-
ment is to be continued as long as new cases of the disease occur.

*5. Disinfection.—F or this disease we have a very cheap and most effective dis-
infectant. It isa solution made by adding three pounds of sulphuric acid to forty
gallons of water (or one fourth pound of acid to three and one half gallons of water)
and mixing evenly by agitation or stirring. Thismay be applied tosmall surfaces
witha common watering-pot, or to larger grounds with a barrel mounted on wheels
and arranged like a street-sprinkler. In disinfecting poultry-houses the manure
must be first thoroughly scraped up and removed beyond the reach of the fowls;
a slight sprinkling is not sufficient, but the floors, roosts, and grounds must be
thoroughly saturated with the solution, so that no particle of dust, however small,

 

*Not buried, but burned. The futility.of burial for the eradication of such diseases as this
is shown by the fact that their germs have been found by Pasteur in pits where animals that
had died with splenic fever had been buried for twelve years, and as virulent asin animals
recently dead. The same scientist has shown that these germs are propagated from burial-pite
through the agency of earth worms.—[Ep.]
70 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.
escapes being wet. It is impossible to thoroughly disinfect if the manure isnot

removed from the roosting places.
“Sulphuri¢ acid is very cheap, costing at retail not more than twenty-five cents

a pound, and at wholesale but five or six cents. The barrel of disintesting, nie
lution can therefore be made for less than a dollar, and should -be thoroughly ©
applied. It must be remembered, too, that sulphuric acid is a eal Peg
to handle, as when undiluted it destroys clothing and cauterizes the fles:
wherever it touches. The safest way is, therefore, to take a five-gallon: keg
nearly-full of water to the druggist and have him place the strong acid in: this;
the contents of the keg may then be safely transported and added to the barrel
of water. ‘ r

“<6, Fumégation.—In those cases where the disease has been raging fora consid-
erable time the feathers become saturated with the contagion, and it is neces-
sary, before placing the fowls on the disinfected .run, to put them in a-close
building and thoroughly fumigate them with sulphur. For this purpose a pan
of burning coals is taken and flowers of sulphur thrown upon them as long as
the air can be breathed without danger of suffocation. When thedisease is rec-
ognized at the outset this is not necessary. ‘

“By a careful. observance of these rules the fowl cholera may be excluded -
indefinitely, and may be exterminated when it has made its appearance. .The
writer has had a very virulent form of the disease among experimental fowlsfor
nearly eight months, and though his home flock is but a short. distance from
thém, but a few of these have sickened, and the disease has been‘ checked with
the loss of a single bird in each instance. It is believed that the birds which
thus contracted the diséase were infected by flies, which would gorge them-
selves with virulent blood in the laboratory, where dissections were made,.and
then fall -vietims to the poultry which were running about outside... No. cases
have occurred in this manner since the cold weather has destroyed these in-
sects. ””

Prevention by vaccination.—The researches of M. Pasteur have shown that the

- virus of this disease may be so modified by-cultivation as to communicate the
disease in a much less virulent form, bearing the same relation to the genuine
chicken cholera that varioloid does to small-pox; and as one attack-of the dis-
ease gives immunity from it thereafter it is hoped that this discovery may lead
to practical results. Pasteur has already demonstrated its practical utilityin the
kindred disease among sheep, called charbon in France, or splenicsfever in-Enge.
land, and which is said to cause an annual loss in France of four millions of.
dollars. . Fifty sheep were placed at his disposal, of which twenty-five were vac-
cinated with cultivated virus of the charbon disease. A fortnight afterward -the
fifty sheep were inoculated with uncultivated or virulent virus. ‘The twenty-five
vaecinated sheep resisted the infection; the twenty-five unvaccinated died within. -
fifty hours. This experiment so awakened the farmers of the environs of Paris
that in the space of fifteen days Pasteur was called upon te vaccinate more than

_ twenty thousand sheep, and a large number of cattle and horses, ‘

The Process by which this modified virus was obtained is thus described by
Pasteur in an address delivered at the International Medical Congress in Lon-

don, August 8, 1881: ,
CHICKEN CHOLERA. 71

Let us take a fowl which is about to die of chicken cholera, and let us dip
the end of a glass rod in the blood of the fowl with the usual precautions, upon
which I need not here dwell. Let us then touch, with this charged point, some
chicken broth, very clear, but rendered sterile under a temperature of 115°
Centigrade, and under conditions in which neither the outer air nor the vessels
employed can introduce exterior germs—these germs which are in the air or on
the surface of all objects. In a short timeif the little culture-vase is placed in
a temperature of 25° to 35°, you will see the liquid become turbid, and full of
tiny microbes, shaped like the figure 8, but often so small that, under a high
magnifying power they appear like points.” Take from this vase a drop as small
as you please—no more than can be carried on the point of a glass rod as sharp
as a needle—and touch with that point a fresh quantity of sterilized chicken
broth placed in a second vase, and the same phenomenon is produced. ' You deal
in the same way with a third culture-vase, with a fourth, and so on to a hundred,
or even a thousand, and invariably, within a few hours, the culture liquid
becomes turbid and filled with the same minute organisms. At the end of two
or three days’ exposure to a temperature of about 30° Centrigrade, the thickness
of the liquid disappears, and a sediment is formed at-the bottom of the vase.
This signifies that the development of the minute organism has ceased; in other
words, all the little points which caused the turbid appearance of the liquid
have fallen to the bottom of the vase, and things will remain in this condition for
a longer or shorter time—for months even—-without either the liquid or the de-
posit undergoing any visible modification, inasmuch as we have taken care to ex-
clude the germs of the atmosphere. A little stopper of cotton sifts the air which
enters or issues from the vase through ehanges of temperature.

“Let us take one of our series of culture preparations—the hundredth or the
thousandth, for instance—and compare it, in respect to its virulence, with the

‘blood of a fowl which has died of cholera; in other words, let.us inoculate under
theskin ten fowls, for instance, each separately with a drop of infectious blood,
and ten others with a similar quantity of the liquid in which the deposit has first
been shaken up.. Strange to say, the latter ten fowls will die as quickly,:and
with the same. symptoms as the former ten; the blood of all will be found to
contain after death the same minute infectious organisms.

“Let us now repeat exactly our successive cultures, with this single difference,
that we pass from one culture to that which follows it—say from the one hun-
dredth to the one hundred and first, at intervals of a fortnight, or one, two or
.threé months. If, now, we compare the virulence of the successive cultures, a
great change will be observed. It will be readily seen, from an inoculation of a
series of ten fowls, that the virulence of one culture differs:-from that of the
blood, and from that of a preceding culture, when a sufficiently long interval
elapses between the impregnation of one culture with the microbe of the pre-

-weding. More than this, we may recognize by this mode of observation, that it
is possible to prepare cultures of varying degrees of virulente. One preparation
will kill eight fowls out of ten; another, five out of ten; another, one out of ten;
another, none at all, although the microbe may still be cultivated. In fact, what

is no less strange, if you take each of these cultures of attenuated virulence as
a point of departure in the preparation of successive cultures, and without ap-
72 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.
preciable interval in the impregnation, the whole series will rol deena ain —
nated virulence of that which served as the starting point. Similarly, when

i i it produces no effect.” ; ;
Ee aries aa sprotealk to show that this decrease of. cae = ee
disease-germ is due to continued exposure to the oxygen of the air, a : a _
may be continued to such a point as shall cause the vaccination of the fow: ys
it to produce more or less complete immunity from subsequent attacks, and yet
cause little or no inconvenience to the fowl itself. If the ‘virus be very much
weakened it may require several vaccinations to give complete immunity—three
or four being found necessary in some of Pasteur’s experiments, and the opera-
tion may require to be repeated at intervals of a year. This discovery is yet in
its infancy, but it is worthy of extended and careful investigation.

Prevention by breeding from insusceptible fowls.—Dr. Salmon states that he has
found a considerable number of fowls that were capable of resisting repeated
inoculations with very active virus, some showing only the mildest symptoms of

 

Fie. 27.

the disease, and others remaining entirely free from. any appreciable results,
either in general health or at the point of inoculation, and Chauveau has shown
that the Algerian sheep are, as a breed, insusceptible to the influence of charbon,
hence they urge the importance of breeding from such animals, with the hope
of producing strains that will possess this characteristic in a still greater degree.

If there is reason to fear that the flock has been or is likely to be exposed to
the contagium of fowl cholera we should advise the use of hyposulphite of soda
in their drinking water, at the rate of an ounce. to the pailful of water. If the
yellow coloration of the urates appear before a fowl shows other signs of
disease the use of the homeopathic preparation of strychnine called Nua Vomi-
ca, three may be of service, five or six pellets to be given to a large fowl once a
day, and a smaller number to a smaller fowl. This remedy has given good re-
sults with us, when used in time. Dr. 8. J. Parker writes to the Country Gen-
leman that he has found Hucalyptus globulus very serviceuble at this period of
the disease, by relieving the indigestion which is among the earliest symptoms.
Ten drops of the strong tincture are given with four grains of salt and half a
teaspoonful of ground cayenne nevver in a teaspoonful of water.
EGG AND FEATHER EATING. 73

EGG AND FEATHER EATING,

These are pernicious habits, rather than diseases. They are induced in the’
first place by deprivation of animal and grain food, or allowing eggs to freeze
ii the nest, or by too close confinement, and when once acquired are communi-
cated to other fowls in the yard.

The remedy is to give a due supply of meat, ‘green vegetables and bones in
the food, and if that does not cure to use the axe, which never fails, Should it
be desired to preserve an egg-eating hen during her period of laying, her eggs
ny be saved by the use of the nest-box shown in Fig. 27. Feather eating
is harder to circumvent The preventives are plenty of food and plenty of
range: but when the habit is once acquired it if very difficult to break it up.
The chopping block is the surest remedy, but for valuable fowls a wire bit
passed through the mouth like a horse’s bit and held in place by being passed
through the comb, the wire being just Jarge enough to prevent shutting the beak
firmly together, will render the bird unable to grasp the feathers, and it will
soon abandon the habit. A patented appliance for this purpose is called the
“Loomis Poultry Bit,”
CHAPTER VIII.
THE BREEDING OF FANCY POULTRY.

The breeding of fancy poultry is a business which requires for its successful
management a thorough knowledge of the laws which control animal reproduc-
tion; and even the non-professional poulterer will find such a knowledge
essential to the most economical management of his flock. The complete dis-
cussion of these laws cannot, of course, be entered upon in such a work as this,
but a few of the facts most fully established will be referred to.

Thus it has been conclusively proven that the jirst connection of the female .
with the male exercises so powerful an influence over the former that its effects
are never wholly eradicated, hence it is essential to the maintenance of perfect.
purity in the various breeds of our poultry-yard that they be never allowed to
intermingle. _ 3

In Prof. Miles excellent work on “Stock Breeding,” this subject is exhaustively
discussed. From it we make the following extracts:

‘Mr. W. H. Smith, of Lexington, Kentucky, makes the following statement:
On or about the first day of February, 1873, I loaned a prime Dark Brahma.
cock, that was a good, vigorous bird, to Mr. James Fought, of this city. He
put him with a lot of Light Brahma hens, with which a Houdan cock had been
running previously. The hens laid, set, hatched and raised their chtcks, laid
and hatched again, and the second litter of chicks still had the Houdan marks.
There was no Houdan blood in the Light Brahma hens, neither was there any
other cock with the hens from the time he got the Dark Brahma cock.”

“Mr. A. W. Frizzell, of Baltimore county, Maryland, makes the following state-
ment: ‘I once purchased a trio of pure-bred Dark Brahma fowls ‘from a breeder
of no small note, and a trustworthy man (I speak from experience, for I was
once employed by this gentleman, and do know him to be trustworthy), which
fowls had taken the premium at the Carroll county (Kentucky) fair in 1871. I
brought those fowls home, arid in the yard was also a Light Brahma, cock, which |
I did not dispose of for some time, and in the mean-time he was mating with
these dark hens; any effects of this I thought would soon run out. After a
while I disposed of the light cock, and kept none but the dark one, nor had
none nearer than amile. Nevertheless, three years afterward, I see light, or
half light, chicks coming from those two hens.’

“A Mr. Payne, in England, had two Spanish pullets running with both a Span-
ish and Cochin cock. After they began to lay the Cochin was removed, and
si weeks later the eggs were saved and set; but-the chickens were feather legged,
though in all other points resembling the Spanish.

“On another occasion the same gentleman allowed a Black-red Game hen,
which laid while with chickens, to run a few hours with a Brown-red cock, and
nine eggs produced chickens which aed the father, or Brown-red.
 

 

 

‘ 175)
THE BREEDING OF FANCY POULTRY. 77

“Another English gentleman, when residing in Canada, sold his Brahma cock
and one hen, allowing the hen left to run afterward with a Spangled Hamburgh
cock which had five hens of his own. Every egg laid for ten days produced a
pure Brahma chick; that on the eleventh day was a half-breed.

“In America a Mr. Woodward bought in March some Spanish pullets which had
been running all the winter with a native cock, and, though no eggs were set till
two months after purchase, all the chicks even then showed the native, points in a
high degree. ‘

“Another gentleman breeding Games, finding a neighbor’s feather-legged Ban-
tam cock come over his fence, penned his fowls in securely, and saved no eggs
for a month after; but several chicks still had feathered legs, though with no
other sign of the cross,

“Mr. E. W. Barnes, of Plympton, allowed a neighbor’s Brown Leghorn cock to
pass three days among his pen of eight one-year-old Light Brahma pullets, ‘for
experiment’s sake,’ he said. The Brown Leghorn cock was removed, and he has
never once had anything on his premises since but the Light Brahmas of both
sexes, ‘pure.’ From eggs set within a week after the Brown Leghorn cock was
sent home, a third of the chicks, when hatched, came brown, speckled-brown, or
patched with brown, that same summer. Out of the eight hens he saved four,
and mated them only with a Light Brahma cock, yet more than one quarter of
their chicks came spotted, speckled, and splashed with brown feathers for two
years after the Brown Leghorn cock was dead.

“Mr. Charles H. Edmonds, of Melrose, allowed a Sebright cock to run fora
few weeks with his Light Brahma fowls. In the fall his light Brahma chicks
were marked with distinct Golden Sebright feathers and for two years succeed-
ing the marking showed itself on scores of his chicks, from this very flock of
Light Brahmas, when the Sebright cock had been gone from his premises over
two seasons.” *

The above are only a few of the examples quoted by Prof. Miles, and inelud-
ing horses, cattle, sheep, swine and man, which prove ‘conclusively the fact—
whatever may be the explanation of it—that- the influence of the first copulation
of the female extends throughout the larger part, if not the whole, of her life.
It would seem that this fact might be made use of by skillful breeders in cases
where it was desired to infuse into a breed some special characteristics of another
breed, such as a greater hardiness of constitution, special markings of plumage
etc., in asmaller degree than would result froma complete cross. Ithaslong been
customary to “throw in” a cross for such purposes, and then breed it out again,
but it would seem that the same result might sometimes be secomplished more
quickly by the process indicated.

Atavism is another of the mysterious influences which come, sometimes to the
assistance, sometimes to the vexation, of the breeder. By atavism is meant the
tendency of characteristics of remote ancestors to re-appear in their grandchil-
dren, or even in descendants yet more remotely removed, although but slightly
manifested, if at all, in the nearer descendants. Or, in other words, the tenden-
cy to return to original types of structure and character. This is a form of

 

“*Stock Breeding, by Manly Miles, p. 269, Et. Seq.
78 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

heredity, but is distinguished from heredity proper, in that it appears only at in-
tervals of two or more generations.

Thus Mr. Darwin states that a gentleman crossed his fowls with Malays, and,
though he attempted to get rid of this strain, he gave it up in despair, the Malay
characters reappearing forty years after the cross was made. *

Mr.. Hewitt states that the Rumpless fowls in some instances produce young
with tail feathers, but that, when three such birds were selected to breed from,
there was but one chick with a tail out of over twenty bred from the trio.t

The tendency of Berkshire hogs to show occasional patches of sandy hair is
a-familiar illustration of this principle, one of the ancestors of the Berkshire
having been a black and white and sandy spotted hog.t

In the human family instances of atavism have been so fr equently notiéed
that Prof. Agassiz has remarked that “the offspring is not the cffspring of father
and mother only, but of the grandparents as well.”

The influence of heredity upon the character and constitution of the offspring
has long been partially acknowledged, but, partly owing to the confusion inci-
dent upon the workings of the before-named laws, the value of this influence
has not been fully appreciated. Upon this principle depends, in fact, all possi-
bility of improvement in our animals and plants, for no permanent advancement
can be made unless the improvement gained may be fixed and perpetuated. As
greater knowledge is obtained this influence becomes more and more apparent,

' however, and the means for availing ourselves of its effects better understood,
so that we may reasonably hope to accomplish far more in the future than we
have in the past in the way of. improvement of our domestic animals, if not of
ourselves.

In-breeding, or the mating of fowls that are near of kin, is sietngly condemned

~by most poulterers; the impression being very prevalent that while such
mating may result in improved appearance of the offspring, it is certainly fol-
lowed by impaired constitution. This question is not yet fully understood.
There can be no denying the fact that a vast improvement has been accomplished
in our cattle and sheep by very close breeding, but this improvement was
effected in the hands of very skillful breeders, and while the testimony of fowl
breeders is so united against the process as it is at present, it will be safer for
‘beginners to avoid the practice.

Cross-breeding is the opposite of in-breeding, and by it many of our varieties
of domestic animals have been originated, although in many cases a cross has
afterwards been followed up by close in-breeding in order to fix and perpetuate

_the characteristics obtained. The object of cross-breeding, is of course, the im-
provement (of the progeny, either in constitution, or in some useful quality ;
but whatever this object may be, it should be definitely fixed and carefully kept
in view, else the process will result only in harm instead of benefit. The im-

~provement made in our native cattle by the introduction of the Short Horn blood
isone of the most striking examples of the benefits to be derived from the intelli-
gent use of this process. But this improvement was not due simply to the fact
that the Short Horn bull was in himself a better animal than the cow upon

* Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication. Vol. +11, p. 49. ?Tegetmeier’s Poul-
try Book, p. 231. {Youatt,

 
THE BREEDING OF FANCY POULTRY. 79

which he was bred, but that his superiority was the result of many generations
of careful breeding, during which his superior qualities had been so firmly
fixed that no ordinary shock would destroy their tendency to perpetuate them-
selves. .

There is in Scotland a breed of black-faced mountain sheep, whose origin dates
beyond tradition, and which received no fresh blood for several centuries.
These sheep are very muscular and active, and remarkably hardy, as they would
need to be to endure the exposures and privations incident to life upon their
storm-beaten mountain home. “They instinctively herd together in storms, and
although completely buried in snow-drifts, will manage to push the snow from
their bodies, and form a cave over them, in which they will live upon what
scanty herbage may be within their reach, until help comes. Thus buried, these
sheep have lived for two or three weeks before they have been found and extri-

- cated.” * It was attempted to improve this black-faced breed by infusing into it
the blood of the Cheviot sheep, a breed inhabiting the hilly parts of the Scot-
tish lowlands, and claiming almost as great an antiquity of aren as the black-
faces.

“¢Ty this cross,’ says the intelligent Scotch shepherd, William Hogg, ‘the inde-
pendent habits of the mountain flocks were lost, and a mongrel progeny, of s
clumsy figure, occupied the lowest and warmest of the pastures.’ The cross-bred
animals, although retaining largely the characteristics of the original breed, were
not able to withstand the ‘hardships and cold of winter,’ and they required bet-
ter care and better pastures than the old race had been accustomed to.

“* Another truth which the process of changing a numerous stock has dis-
closed is, that in the produce of the first-crop, and for several successive issues,
the figure, wool, and other qualities of the Cheviot ram, are’ most conspicuous
in the smallest and feeblest of the progeny; while the properties of the moun-
tain breed are more fully exhibited in the strongest and most robust of the
lambs. This misled many of the store-masters. They didnot consider that there
was asmuch Cheviot blood in the coarsest (as they were pleased to call them)
as in the finest; though not so clearly exhibited in its external qualities. This
induced them to throw aside the best of the lambs and select those to breed from
which had apparently most of the Cheviot figure. This was an additional dis-
advantage; for, as it prevailed wherever the experiment was tried, the mountain
flocks, in general, were smaller and feebler than they were ever known to have
been; and were, consequently, more vulnerable to bad seasons, a course of which
happened to accompany the change.’

“The stability of the characteristics of the old mountain breed was shown in
the readiness with which the cross-bred animals were ‘bred back’ to the original
type, and the frequent appearance of the old characters by atavic descent after
an effort of twenty-five years to establish the peculiarities of the Cheviot.” ¢

A simlar difficulty was experienced when it was attempted to cross pure-bred
English rams upon the old established breeds of France; the intensified heredity
of which, or prepotency, as it is technically termed, and the lack of adaptation in
the English stock to the climate and system of management to which it was
subjected, resulting in the production of a cross which proved fatally defective

* Stewart’s Shepherd’s Manual, p. 122. +Miles’ Stock Breeding, p. 193.
80 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

in constitution; but when the prepotency of the French stock was broken by a
mixture of breeds, before the introduction of the English blood, the resulting
progeny produced a grade of sheep of very uniform qualities, and so closely
resembling the English stock as only to be recognized as a cross by an experi-
enced eye; yet, at the same time, adapted to the circumstances of their conti-
nental home,

In this way the Charmoise breed of France was produced, the hereditary ten-
dencies of the French ewes having been obscured by the mixture of four of the
native breeds, so that when the first cross was made with the English rams the
produce would consist of fifty per cent. English blood, but of only twelve anda
half per cent. each of the various French breeds. *

But this discussion brings us to the question, What is a pure breed? Upen this
point we cannot do better than to reproduce the following article from the pen
of Mr. Tegetmeier:

“ A considerable amount of uncertainty finds its. way into type respecting what
may be termed pure breeds of domestic animals. Such questions as the follow-
ing are constantly asked: ‘Are Brahmas a pure breed?’ ‘Are Black Hamburgs
a pure breed?’ ete., etc. These queries obviously owe their origin toa confusion
of the distinction that exists between different species of animals, and between
different varieties of the same species. Let us illustrate our meaning by an ex-
ample or two:

“ A hare is a pure-bred animal, because it ia totally distinct from all other an-
imals, or, as naturalists say; it constitutes a distinct species. It does not breed
with other animals, for the so-called leporines are only large rabbits; and if it
did, the offspring would be a hybrid or a mule, and almost certainly:sterile, or
incapable of breeding. In the same manner the common wild rabbit is a pure
breed. This animal possesses the capability of being domesticated, and under
the new circumstances in which it is placed, it varies in size, form, and color
from the original stock. By careful selection of these variations, and by breed-
ing from those individuals which show most strongly the points or qualities de-
sired, certain varieties, or, as they are termed, ‘breeds’ of rabbits, are produced
and perpetuated. Thus we have the lop-eared breed; the Angora breed; the
Chinchilla breed, etc., etc., characterized by alterations in the length of the ears,
in the color of the fur, in the size of the animals, and so on. It is obvious that,
by more care, more new varieties may be produced and perpetuated. Thus, by
mating silver-greys of different depths of color, white animals with black ex-
trémities are often produced, and these have been perpetuated by mating them
together. The breed so produced is absurdly called the Himalayan variety, and,
as it reproduces its like, is as pure and distinct a breed as any other that can be
named. But, in the strictest scientific sense of the word, no particular variety
of rabbit can be said to be a pure breed, as, like all the others, it is descended
from the wild original. In the same manner we may deny the applicability of
the term pure breed to the varieties of any domesticated animal; even if, as in
the case of the dog or sheep, we do not know the original from which they ‘de-
scended,

“ All that can be asserted of the so-called purest bred variety is thatit has

*Miles’ Stock Breeding, pp. 198-204,
THE BREEDING OF FANCY POULTRY. 81°

been reared for a number of years or generations without a cross with any other
variety. But it should be remembered that every variety has been reared
by careful artificial selection, either from the original stock or from other va-
rieties.

“Tn the strict sense of the word, then, there is no such thing as an absolutely
pure breed—the term is only comparatively true. We may term the Spanish
fowl a pure breed, because it has existed a long period, and obviously could not
be improved by crossing with any other known variety; in fact, its origin as
a variety is not known. But many of our domesticated birds have a much more
recent origin. Where were the Game Bantams fifty yearsago? The variety
did notexist. They have been made by two modes, breeding Games closely in-and-
in to reduce the size, and then crossing the small Game fowl so attained with
Bantams. Nevertheless, Game Bantams, as at present shown, have quite as good
a claim to the title of a pure breed as any’other variety. In fact, every variety
may be called a pure breed that reproduces its own likeness true to form and
color.

“The statement that Brahmas, Black Hamburgs, Dorkings, etc., are pure breeds
is meaningless, if it is intended to imply anything more than that they will re-
produce their like, which a mongrel cross between two distinct varieties cannot
be depended on doing. There is no doubt but that many of our varieties have
been improved by crossing with others. The cross of the bull-dog, thrown in and
bred out again is said to have given stamina to the grey-hound, and, although
generally denied, there is no doubt but that the Cochin has in many cases been
employed to ‘give size to the Dorking. In the same manner new permanent
varieties of pigeons are often produced, generally coming to us from Germany,
in which country the pigeon fanciers are much more experimental than in Eng-

land, where they adbere to the old breeds with a true John Bull, or bull-dog like
tenacity.”

 
_ CHAPTER IX. ,
THE ASIATIC BREEDS.

The Asiatie breeds of. fowls follow two distingt types, of, which ,the docile,
short-legged, loose-feathered Cochin represen{s.qne, and the erect, fierce, elose-
feathered Malay and Indian Game show, the other. Of these types the, Cochin,
has been most popular in England and America, and to it is due a large part of
the improvement which has taken place. in, the, poultry of these countries, dur ,
ing the past three decades. __ ., iting GHp Bw Bae ae

It would seem, from the statements of :travelers in China,. that our, various
Chinese breeds are simply the common barn-yard fowls of that country, where
they are allowed to breed indiscriminately, all colors running together, and that
the various names by which we know them here are simply those of the port
from which the importation was made, or. supposed to be made,,of, fowls in
which a certain characteristic happened to predominate; these characteristicy
being subsequently fixed by askillful selection.among western fancigys.,. This.
has certainly been the case with many of: these breeds, as it is; well known. that
when first imported they came in mixed lots, and.that,it.required years of care-.
ful breeding in this country to fix the characteristics of the Brahmas-and. of, the
various Cochins. als ae eles Ii

The general effect of the infusion of this eastern blood ,into the fowls. of
Europe and America has been to increase their. size, hardihood, ‘and docility; a
gain which has been accompanied with a slight loss in quality of flesh-and with
an increased disposition to sit; these, however, are small offsets against the
great improvements produced.

2Htys edge ey

COCHINS, OR SHANGH AIS.

_ The conclusion in 1843 of the war between England and China, by which the
northern ports, including Shanghe, were thrown open to European vessels, be-
gan a new era in the poultry business of the West, by the infusion of the blood
of the large Chinese breeds of fowls into those of Europe and America. *

Among the first fowls imported from China to England was a flock belonging
to the Queen, represented in the [iustrated London News of December 23, 1843, and
called Cochin-Chinas. These fowls, however, were very different from those
known to-day as Cochins, being tall, slender and clean legged, and having more
of the Game shape than of the Cochin.

With regard to the appropriateness of the name of Cochin for this breed of
fowls, Mr. Tegetmeier says: “As in the case of many other varieties of fowls,
Cochins are known popularly by a name to which they have no claim. Mr.
Robert Fortune, who has passed many years in various parts of China says e
‘The man who first gave these fowls the name of Cochin-Chinas has mnuely ds
answer for. I firmly believe that what ie called ‘Cochin-Chinas’ and ‘Shanghees?
“SONTMUOT

LE. ZF

IQ <a

  
 

[83]
COCHINS, OR SHANG HES. 85

are one and the same. One thing is certain—the breed you have in this
country as Cochin-Chinas are plentiful about Shanghe. They were discovered
there after the war, and were frequently brought to this country, and taken to
India by captains of trading vessels. Was not this the date of their introduc-
tion to England? And what grounds has any one for supposing the fowls ever
saw Cochin-China?? It may be thought that this variety might have been
earlier known, owing to our long-established commerce with Macao and Canton,
but Mr, Fortune says that it is a breed but little known in those warmer parts
of China, and that, ‘in fact, the southern Chinese were as much struck with the
size of the breed as we were.’ He adds, ‘The Shanghe breed seems to be more
common about Shanghe than anywhere else in the north,’ but I found it over
all the low country of that part of China. The southern breeds have long been
well known to ship-captains and English residents, but there is nothing very
marked in their character. :

“Having stated the date of introduction and the place from whence they were
derived, Mr. Fortune informs us as follows, respecting the characteristics and
treatment of the@irds as they occur at Shanghe itself: ‘The Shanghe breed
occurs both with feathered and unfeathered legs, but more frequently un-
feathered. The most admired kinds there are the game-colored ones. However,
I am safe in saying that the Chinese do not attach so much importance as we do
to purity of color; large size and large eggs are what they most admire and
prize.’

“Although it is certain that the Shanghe fowl is frequently met with in its
native district with unfeathered legs, even more frequently than with feathered
or booted legs, nevertheless, in our country, fashion has decided most impera-
tively in favor of the feather-legged birds, to which alone prizes are now
awarded at our poultry showss '

“In ‘accordance with the facts that these birds were imported from Shanghe,
and were comparatively unknown in Cochin-China, it has been thought by
some writers desirable to endeavor to corréct the popular but erroneous name
of Cochins, and to substitute that of the-port from whence they were originally
obtained; but the effort has not been crowned with success, and to the large
majority of poultry breeders they are known only as Cochins. In the United
States both names are employed; _ those birds that are feather-legged being
termed Shanghes, while the clean-legged specimens are known as Cochins.” ~

The Cochins are divided into several sub-varieties, according to color and
size, The general characteristics applicable to the whole breed, are given by
Mr. Wright as follows: _

“The cock ought not to weigh less than ten or eleven pounds, and a very fine
one will reach thirteen; the hens from eight to nine or ten pounds. The larger
the better, if form and general make be good.

“The breast in both sexes should be as broad and full as possible, the general
want of breast being the greatest defect in this breed. The neck can hardly be
too short in either sex, so that it does not look clumsy; and the hack must be
short from head to tail, and very broad. The legs should be short and set-
widely apart, and the general make as full, wide and deep as possible. —

“The shanks are profusely feathered down to the toes, and the thighs should
86 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

be plentifully furnished with the fine, downy feathers denominated ‘fluff’ The
quality of this fluff, and of the feathering generally, is often a pretty good indi-
cation of the-breed; if fine and downy the birds are probably well bred; but if
rank and coarse they will not be worth attention as fancy,birds. There is a
tendency in the cocks to scanty furnishing on the thighs; but the breeder
should choose a bird with as much fiuff'as he can get, not, however, allowing
vulture hocks, which often accompany the heaviest feathered birds, but which
are now disqualified at all first-classshows. The colpr of the shanks is yellow, u
tinge of red being rather a recommendation than otherwise; but green or white
legs are to be avoided.

“The head should be neat and rather small; the comb of moderate size,
straight, erect, and evenly serrated; a notched or twisted comb is ‘a great
blemish. The ear lobes must be pure red, no white being allowed. The eye
ought in color to approach that of the plumage, and should appear bright and
sprightly. as

“The tail of the hen is very small, and nearly covered by the feathers of the
saddle, which are very plentiful, and form a softly rising cusHffon on the posterior
part of the back; the tail of the cockis larger than that of the hen, but still
small, and must not be very erect, nor contain much quill; the wings in both
sexes are very small, neatly and closely folded in, and the general carriage is
noble and majestic.” cs : eo

With regard to the merits of this breed of fowls Mr. Tegetmeier says: “Th
strorigest point in the value of Cochins as profitable fowls is their high
excellence as winter layers. As to supplying chickens for sale in any first-class
markets they hold a very inferior position in the scale of merit. They have in
fact, many drawbacks to their value; instead of the small bone of the Dork-
ing, they possess coarse, spongy bones of large size, and of a much greater
weight. Itis evident that all the food which has been required to form the
extra quantity of bone, in-a profitable point of view has been uselessly
employed. :

“The yellowness of the skin and fat is a serious drawback to the saleable
value of Cochins, yellow-skinned fowls not being appreciated in the markets.
Again, they accumulate large quantities of fat internally, where it is useless;
but on the breast they scarcely fatten at all.’ From their terrestrial habits, the
pectoral muscles are very slightly developed; consequently there is less meat
on the breast than might be expected from the size; hence, when dressed, the
keel of the bone is prominent, and requires, like that of a turkey, to be broken
down. It is frequently remarked that the Cochins make up in size of leg what
is wanting on the breast. This is true; but it is no recommendation to a table
fowl to develop largely the inferior portions at the expense of the finer parts,
In the improved breeds of cattle the best joints are developed, and the inferior
lessened in size; there is small bone, and very little offal. The same peculiari-
ties should distinguish a table-fowl; it should be as nearly as possible all breast,
with short limbs and thin bones.

: “Tt should be recollected, that unless a fow! has naturally a full chest, it is
impossible to put flesh or muscle on it by fatting; for there is this distinction be-
tween the flesh of quadrupeds and that of birds, that in the former the flesh can
COCHINS, OR SHANG HES. 87

be increased in size by the intermixture of fat between the fibres, which gives
tise to the marbled appearance seen in prime beef. This, however, cannot be
done in the case of birds, their muscles being always destitute of fat, which is
deposited under the skin, or in the interior of the body only.

“The great value of Cochins as furnishing poultry for home consumption, is
not to be denied. They grow rapidly when chickens; they are so exceedingly
hardy that they can be reared at all seasons, and in winter with a lack of accom-
modation under which Dorkings would perish. Broody Cochin hens are always
to be obtained; and eggs for sitting are not wanting, even in the coldest weather.
Their flesh, though inferior in shortness to that of the Dorking, and of a more
game-like flavor, is juicy to a high degree. For family use they are hardly to be
surpassed, although as furnishing first-class fowls for the markets they are value-
less. It is frequently said by their partisans that the pullets are at least equal to
those of other fowls (a tacit acknowledgement that their cockerels are unequal) ;
but it must be borne in mind that there is a tendency in Cochins to produce an
extraordinary number of cocks in nearly every brood. Another recommenda-
tion they sometimes receive is that the feathers are nearly or quite as valuable
as those of the duck and goose. If old birds are killed, or chickens after they have

. perfectly completed their autumnal moult, and become full-plumaged birds, this
statement may have some weight; but at this period of their lives they are value-
less, or nearly so, as market fowls; and if killed at the age when they are in the
highest condition, it will be found that the feathers are mixed with stubs, con-
taining so much blood, that their value is very small; whereas, in a duckling
of from eight to ten weeks, the feathers of the breast are perfectly formed, and
consequently valuable.

“To sum up, it may be said that the Cochins are chiefly valuable as a family
fowl from their hardihood; from the ease with which they can be kept in a small
space, and the manner in which they bear confinement; from their great pro-
lificacy, in winter especially; from their docility, and the readiness with which
they sit in any place, and at any time of year; and from the quickness of their
growth, and large size; but as a first-class market and table fowl, it will be found
that any attempt to breed them for this purpose will terminate in a
ment. :

“ When Cochins were first introduced, many persons turned cocks of this breed
into their poultry-yards with a view to the improvement of the ordinary farm-
yard stock, Never wasthere a more fallaciousidea; fowls that are bred between
Cochins and the common barn-door breeds are about the least useful variety of
poultry that can be imagined; gaunt, weedy, stilty, big-boned, angular, yellow-
legged birds are the produce of such a cross; and it is only requisite to ask the
opinion of the poultry salesmen at Leadenhall, and of the higglers who collect
the fowls for them from the country, to know the estimation in which such birds
are held.”

The original “ Cochin Chinas” of England, or “Shanghes’”’ of America, prob-
ably more nearly resembled the Partridge Cochins of to-day than any other of
the sub-varieties into which the breed has been split up. Being so much larger
than any breed of fowls which had previously been known to- civilization, as
well as so different in habit and disposition, it ig not surprising that they were
88 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

much sought after’; and for a time the “hen fever” threatened to assume the,
dimensions of the tulipomania of the seventeenth century; & hundred guineas
according to Mr. Wright, being frequently paid for a single cock, and not being
atall an uncommon price for a pair of really fine birds. : ;

Among the earliest offshoots of this variety were the Buff and White Cochins,
and these were followed by several others, formed by selection and fresh impor-
tations from China, until now thereare quite a number of sub-varieties, of which
the principal are as follows:

Partridge Cochins (See illustration, page 27), in which “ the cocks should have
bright-red hackles and saddles, with a well-defined black stripe down the
middle of each feather; the back and wing bow of a dark, rich red, with
a wide, lustrous, greenish-black bar across the wings. The quills should
be rich bay on the outer ends, the secondaries ending in black tipa. The
tail should be glossy black; not unfrequently, however, some white appears
at the base of the feathers; this is always to be regarded as objectionable
when found in a show pen, although not a positive disqualification to
prize-taking. Fashion demands imperatively a black breast on a Partridge
Cochin cock, mottle-breasted birds being disqualified, according to the, Poul-
try club “standard of excellence,” in exhibition birds. The Partridge
Cochins originally imported had brown breasts, resembling those of brown-red
game cocks, and the hens much more closely resembled brown-red than
black-red hens, The judges, however, demanded black breasts in the cocks;
consequently, such birds were bred by crossing a partridge-feathered cock with
a pure black Cochin. Nevertheless a reversion to the more natural color occa
sionally takes place, and some of the best partridge cocks show the brown
feather not unfrequently.

“In the Partridge hens the neck hackle feathers should be bright gold, each
having a broad, black stripe down the centre. The remainder of the plumage
should be light brown, well and distinctly penciled with dark brown. It is an
important point that the penciling should be well marked on the upper part of
the breast. The shafts of the feathers should be creamy white, contrasting pleas-
ingly with the darker color of the webs of the feathers,” *

The Grouse Cochins are « sub-variety of the Partridge Cochins, in which the
hens have a darker ground color, with feather-shafts which offer no contrast to the
other parts of the feathers.

The Pea-combed Partridge Cochins are a sub-variety originated in 1871, by Mr.
Charles F, Edmonds, of Melrose, Massachusetts, and are distinguished by ,hav-
ing pea combs instead of the ordinary comb. The following account of their
origin is given by a correspondent of the Poultry World, in January 1874:

“At the establishment of Mr. Charles F, Edmonds, in Melrose, I saw a fine
flock of superior Partridge Cochins, which struck me as being among the very
best lots of this popular variety that I had ever seen. Upon a closer examina-
tion of Mr. Edmonds’ fowls I discovered that all of them, old and young, were
pea-combed.

“T had never seen elsewhere, any of this variety of Partridge Cochins, and I
expressed surprise at the fact, when Mr. Edmonds informed me that three years

: *Tegetmeier. ~~
a
Pees aapweypr

=

 

Comb.
Face.
Wattles.
Ear-Lobes,
Hackle.
Breast.
Back,
Saddle,

. Saddle-Feathers,
. Sickles,

Tail-Coverts.

NOMENCLATURE. -

{89}

Main Tail-Feathers.
Wing-Bow.

Wing-Coverts, Forming Wing-Bar.
Secondaries. .

Primaries, or Flight-Feathers.
Point of Breast-Bone.

Thighs.

Hocks.

Shanks, or Legs.

Spur.

Toes, or Claws.
COCHINS, OR SHANGHAS. 91

ago he obtained a cockerel and three pullets of jhe Partridge Cochins from
a Pennsylvania dealer, his four chickens being the first remove from a trio im-
ported from England in 1869. His original quartette were very fine specimens;
even in color; large sized, and well formed; but the cockerel and two of the
pullets showed pea-combs. He disposed of the third pullet, and in 1871 bred
the other three together. They »roved wonderful layers, and he raised a hand-
some brood that season. These he culled (some of the cocks being out of shape,
to his eye), and in 1872, from them, he raised two or three other broods, the ma-
jority of which were male birds.

“This year (1873), again selecting the best specimens, which continued to come
with perfect pea-combs, he bred those he now has on hand, and a nicer flock of
thirty to forty Partridge Cochins I never saw together.”

This variety has been recognized in the “American Standard of Excellence %
since 1876.

The Buff Cochins were probably the earliest distinct offshoot from the hetero-
genous stock of the first importations. They are of several shades of color,
varying “from rich, deep buff to pale lemon; all shades are admirable as exhi-
bition birds, but it is imperatively necessary that they should. match in the show-
pen. The variety termed Silver Buffs have a very pale, light silvery tint, almost
approaching to that of the breed known as Silver Cinnamons, but wanting the
well-defined color of the hackle and tail of that variety. |

“The Cinnamon Cochins, which are now always classed with the Buffs at the
poultry shows; are characterized by the rich, dark, reddish cinnamon color of
the hackle and saddle feathers of the cock, the colors extending over the back
and wings. The tail should be a rich, bronzy black, the side feathers edged with
cinnamon, and the breast, thighs and fluff the color of wetted or dark cinna-
mon. In the hens the same wet-cinnamon color prevails throughout the entire
plumage.

“The Silver Cinnamons, if well marked, constitute an exceedingly beautiful
variety. In the cocks the hackle and saddle and tail feathers are cinnamon,
varying from a light to a rich, bright tint, and slightly striped with white; the
thighs, breast, and fluff being a pale buff. In the hens the hackle is of a deep
cinnamon, and the rest of the plumage of a very pale buff, which in many spec-
imens is so light as to appear almost creamy white. The contrast of the light
body with the dark hackle is exceedingly pleasing.

* Black Coching were largely exhibited some few years since, but seem almost _
to have disappeared from our poultry shows. They should possess all the char-
acteristics of the other varieties as to form and size, and the plumage should be.
perfectly black throughout; but most of the birds formerly shown were coppery
red’or brassy on the hackle and wings; consequently, this variety did not find
any great favor with amateurs, especially since they frequently did not breed -
true to color.” * ‘

Of late years this breed has been taken up by American breeders, who have
largely succeeded in eliminating the objectionable brassy feathers.

White Cochins (See illustration, page 39) were an early, and for 2 time, very
popular offshoot of the original stock. They ‘must be perfectly pure in every
: * Tegetmeier.

+
92 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

feather; and green legs, which. are apt to occur in this color, will disqualify
any pen, however meritorious otherwise.” * This breed has suffered a wane of
popularity, owing largely, no doubt, to the fact that its appearance suffers very
much from mud or dust. When kept on aclean lawn the White Cochin presents
a beautiful appearance. Mr. Hewitt is quoted by Tegetmeier as ‘saying “ the
best layers of Cochin fowls I ever met with were white.”

“ Cuckoo Cochins are occasionally exhibited; they are of a grey color, each
feather with transverse markings resembling those on the breast of the bird from
which they derive their name. They are inferior in character to the other va-
rieties, and are not likely to come into general estimation.

“The singular variety known as Silky Cochins, or sometimes as Emu fowls, is
simply an accidental variation of plumage which occasionally occurs, and which
may be perpetuated by careful breeding. The cause of the coarse, fluffy appear-
ance of these remarkable fowls is to be discovered in the fact that the barbs of
the feathers, instead of being held together by a series of hooked barbules (so
as to constitute a plane surface, as occurs in all ordinary ;feathers), are perfectly
distinct; and this occasions the loose, fibrous, silky appearance from which the
fowl obtains its name. ;

“Silky Cochins are usually inferior in size to the ordinary varieties; they are
good layers and sitters, not differing in these respects from the other. specimens
of the breed from which they have evidently been derived.” +

“ Blue Cochins, Dominique Cochins, and. Spangled Cochins, are what may be
termed apocryphal breeds, in distinction to the canonical ones; that is,
those recognized by the Standard. They are cultivated by a few individuals with
a zeal and persisitence worthy of a good cause, though their efforts are looked
upon by fanciers generally with a distrust that ripens into hostility whenever
attempts are made to procure recognition of the new breeds in the above work,
In the case of the Pea-combed Partridge Cochins, lately admitted to ‘good and
regular standing’ in the’ Standard, there was much opposition among the

conservatives, though the progressionists triumphed.” f
'

BRAHMAS,

About no question belonging to poultry has there been so much dispute and
wrangling as about the origin of the Brahma fowls. One party, Mr. George P.
Burnham, of Melrose, Massachusetis, claims to have produced the Light Brahma
by crossing a Chinese or Shanghm fowl, called by him the Gray Chittagong, up-
on a Buff Cochin hen, thus making a cross between two Chinese breeds. This
cross Mr. Burnham called Gray Shanghe, and under that name sent a cage of
the birds to Queen Victoria, in the fall of 1852, as an advertisement. The fowls
thus sent to England were undoubtedly closely connected to the strain called to.
day “Light Brahmas,” as shown by Harrison Weir’s excellent illustration, given
in the “Illustrated London News” early in 1853,

Mr. Burnhaw’s claim of originating this breed was, however, hotly disputed by
other parties, and especially by Nelson H. Chamberlain, of Hartford, Connecti-
cut, who claims to have bred these fowls as early as 1848, from a pair imported
from China or India, and that it was from the progeny of this pair that the fowls

*Wright.  +Tegetmeier. {Poultry World, Vol 4, p 259.
BRAHMAS. 93

were selected which were sent to England as “ Gray Shanghes.” Mr. Chamber-
lain’s claim is supported by the following statement by Charles Knox, Esq.,
lately resident of Toledo, Ohio, but at that time of Hartford, Connecticut:

“Early in the fall of 1847, while I was clerk on the propeller ‘Sachem,’ of
the Hartford and New York line, Captain George Deming, master, on invitation
of a friend I went on board a full-rigged East-Indiaman, lying near Old Slip, East
River, to look at a remarkable collection of poultry which we had heard @bout,
I never knew or thought to ask what port'the vessel sailed from, nor her name,
for that class all bore the same namein common conversation— East-Indiamen,’
Among the poultry I saw two pairs, one gray, the other red, which attracted a
great deal of attention on account of their large size. After some trouble I
learned that they were to be exhibited at Franklin Market. The next trip, after
reporting te Mr. Chamberlain (who had some time previous requested me to
keep a lookout for something of this description, and wished to get some new
breed). at his request, on my return to New York, I went and bought the gray
pair, and took them to Hartford.” Mr. Knox states further that these gray fowls
very closely resembled the Light Brahmas of to-day.

It seems a little singular that if these birds were actually brought from India
there should never have been a second importation of the same stock, and that
those who have so hotly contended for the honor of originating or first introdue-
ing the breed have not been able to prove to us whether it is actually found on the
banks of the Burrampooter, (or Brahma-putra,) or in some more secluded spot.
Considering how long the ports of India, and many of those of China, have been
open to western commerce, if there were such a striking breed of fowls in ex-
istence in any of those lands, we should have had some record of it from
disinterested parties. Upon this point Mr. Tegetmeier says: ;

“There is not a particle of evidence to show that they (the Brahmas) came
from India. The banks of the Brahmapootra have long been in possession of the
British—at least the lower part of the course of the river—and no such fowls
were ever seen in the locality.

“In fact, Brahmas originated not in India but in America; and the two va-
rieties of the breed now known as light and dark Brahmas, had unquestionably
very distinct origins. The Light Brahmas undoubtedly originated in, or were
identical with, those gray birds that from the very first importation came over
from Shanghe with the buff and partridge birds now universally known as
Cochins.”

Mr. Knox’s word is unimpeachable, however, and we suspect that the breed
was simultaneously originated in two different strains, afterward amalgamated—
as is claimed by some parties to the controversy, and as is indicated by the fact
that Mr, Burnham’s “ Gray Shanghes” had single combs, instead of pea-combs.
Whatever may have been the origin of the Brahmas, however, there are few
fowls which to-day breed more true to their characteristic color and markings,
and can be depended upon more implicitly to perpetuate their qualities of habit
and disposition, Like most of the Chinese breeds, they are very quiet and do-
eile, They are easily confined, as they have but little ability to fly, anda fence
three feet high will turn them, As layers they are excellent, beginning, under
favorable circumstances, when five or six months old, and laying from thirty to
94 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK

forty eggs before beginning to sit. They make excellent mothers, except that
owing to their weight they are somewhat liable to break their eggs. The chicks
are among the hardiest of the Asiatic breeds, easily managed, rapid growers and
healthy. They are a little late in fledging, but notso much so as the Cochins,
When allowed to run they are good foragers, but they bear confinement remark-
ably well, and there is perhaps no breed of fowls better suited to the wants of
villag&ts who must keep their poultry confined on a small range. In fact, any
oecupier of a village or eity lot might keep a few of these fowls, as their docility
and inability to fly render ‘them so easily-managed that they-can readily be pre-
vented from trespassing upon their owner’s or his neighbor’s garden. -.As table’
fowls the Brahmas are excellent, their flesh being white, tender and juicy, and
they lay on flesh very rapidly when put up to fatten. - oe oH

The Brahmas are the largest’ known varieties of chickens: single cocks have

reached the weight of sixteen to’ seventeen pounds, although twelve to thirteen
pounds for cocks, and nine-to ten:pounds for hens are considered good weights.
Next to its size, the most marked. peculiarity of the Brahma. fowl is its comb,
which should be what is called a pea-comb, that is, one having the appearance of
three small combs joined together, the largest being.in the middle, and all finely
serrated. The comb as a whole is rather small, and perfectly upright.!:' The only
difference between the combs of the two.sexes is that of size. Singlecombsare
occasionally found, but are considered objectionable, and a single-combed
Brahma would. have no chance in the show-pen if in competition with a triple:
combed one that was reasonably good in other respects. The, comb being twisted,
or falling over'to one side, is considered a disqualification in the show-pen, :

The head should be moderate in size, as compared to the rest of the body:
The ear lobes are large and pendant; the’ wattles comparatively :small and well’
rounded. The form of the body corresponds with the size. The breast is full
and prominent; the back short and broad; the neck tapering neatly.:from the
head to the body, and of good length; the neck-hackle feathers. flowing welliover
the shoulders. The wings should be small, and the tips well covered by the sad-
dle feathers. The tail should be quite small, .but:carried erect;.and nearly coy-
ered by the tail coverts. Be BE) ccna ps

The fluff should be exceedingly abundant in both cock and hen, and covering
the thighs and hinder parts of the body in such a way as to give thema very
broad appearance when viewed from behind... u

The thighs are large and muscular, and well covered with soft feathers,-which
should cover the joint, but should not form. the wing-like- appendages called
vulture-hocks, which are considered an absolute disqualification in the show-pen.
to the Light Brahma, and decidedly objectionable in the dark variety. The
shanks should be rather short, stout, and abundantly feathered down to the
outside of the outer and middle toes,’ .

The above characteristics apply equally to the original or “« Light’? Brahma,
and to the more recently éstablished variety—the Dark or Pencilled- Brahma: In
color, however, these breeds differ materially, :

‘The Light Brakma should be clear white.in color on the body, breast and
thighs. The neck-hackle should be marked with a distinct. black stripe down
the middle of each feather, and should not-be light or cloudy. .The hackle of the
‘SaWVS CHU CHLSVaUd-MOVIA

 

[95]
BRAHMAS AND LANGSHANS. ww

eock, however, should be a little lighter than that of the hen, as there is a alight
tendency to breed too dark. The saddle feathers in the cock are white, or lightly
striped with black, those of the hen being white. _

The flight feathers of the wing are black, but when folded they are so hidden
ag to appear white.

The tail feathers are black in both cock and hey, and in the cock they open
out laterally, like a fan, and the coverts show beautiful green reflections in the .
light.

There are few prettier sights in the poultry-yard than a flock of Light Brahmas
feeding upon a green lawn, their snow-white plumage picked out with black, and
contrasted with the bright red of their ear lobes and wattles. (See illustration,
page 58.)

In the Dark Brahma, while the peculiarities of form, disposition, ete., closely
resemble those of the Light, the coloring of the feathers is entirely different.
The upper part of the body of the Dark Brahma cock, including the neck-hackle,
back and saddle, is silvery white, striped with black; the breast, thighs and under
part of the body are pure black, or but slightly mottled with white; the feathers
that cover the base of the quill feathers of the wing are of a metallic green-
black, and form a broad, well marked bar across the wings; the flight feathers of
the wings are white on the outer and black on the inner webs; the secondary
quills, which are visible when the wing is closed, have a broad, dark, green-black
spot at the end of each feather; the tail is black, the coverts on each side being
of a beautiful, lustrous green-black, the smaller feathers being edged with white.
The shanks should be of a yellow color, and they should be well clothed with
dark feathers slightly mottled with white.

In the hen the color of the head is gray, the neck-hackle silvery white, striped
with black. The remainder of the plumage should be dull white, but so mi-
nutely pencilled throughout with dark pencilling as to give the hena gray color.
This variety, like the Light Brahma, breeds remarkably true to color, but any
admixture between them will produce birds of uncertain plumage, having sandy
colored patches on the backs and wings, and splashes of white or black on the
breasts. Even when the pullets from such a cross breed tolerably true to color
the first year, they are nearly sure to moult much worse in color the second
year. (See illustration, page 63.)

LANGSHANS.

This breed of fowls was discovered in or near the year 1872, by a nephew of
Major Croad, of the British army, who was traveling in the interior of China
fer scientific purposes. The fowls were discovered in the Chinese district of
Langshan, hence their name.

They bear considerable resemblance to the Black Cochins; differing in having
dark colored, instead of yellow legs; in being of more erect habit, resembling
the Brahmas in this respect; in possessing a better quality of flesh, being white
and fine grained; and in being less disposed to sit.

The plumage of the Langshans is wholly of an iridescent black color; the
fowls are of large size, the cocks weighing ten pounds and the hens eight pounds
or over aa well grown. The hens are ‘said to be among the very best of layexs.
98 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

‘Aa will be seen from our illustration, the Langshans have larger tails than the

“Coehins, they are also distinguished by showing a pinkish tinge between the

are to their great popularity, and the ease with which the deception could

be practiced, the Langshans have been largely crossed upon the Black Coshins,

and the produce sold as pyre Langshans. This breed is not yet recognized in
___the American. Standard. (See illustration, page 75.)

MALAYS.

This breed of fowls has never become popular in America, nor to any great
extent in England, where they made their appearance a few years previous to
the introduction of the Cochins. ‘

In appearance and disposition the Malays bear more resemblance to, the Games
than to the Cochins; although in stature they far exceed the Games, the cocka
weighing from nine to eleven and a half pounds, and standing, when full grown,
from two feet nine inches to three feet high, and the hens weighing from seven
and a half to ten pounds.

The date of the first introduction of the Malays into England is not known;
but they were frequently brought home by the stewards of English vessels trad-
ing to and from India, and sold to dealers in the neighborhood of the docks in
the east of London. The colors of these imported birds were not uniform, but
by selection English breeders produced several distinctly marked varieties, The
breed is thus described by Tegetmeier : a ;

“Tn carriage and form Malays are strikingly distinguished from all other va-
rieties of domestic poultry. The cocks are exceeding long in the neck and legs;
their carriage is particularly upright, the back being almost always.at,an angle
oi forty-five degrees, except when they are eating; the wings are carried very
high, and firmly closed. Malays are very bulky across the shoulders, and from
the closeness of the plumage, the fore part of the wing stands away from the
body, as it does in the carrier pigeon. The body narrows very rapidly indeed
toward the tail, which is very small, and droops in the cock so as to form nearly
a straight line with the back, The thighs are long, strong, and well developed.
The longer and stronger the legs the better, if length be combined with an easy
gait in walking. The head is carried very high, and, from the short and very
scanty nature of the hackle feathers, the neck looks much longer than in any
other variety of fowl. The form and carriage of the hen are generally similar
to those of the cock; but from the hackles being still shorter the extreme prom-
inence of the wings is even more visible, Bs

“The plumage in Malays is short and close, but extremely brilliant and glossy.
Every feather is peculiarly narrow, and possesses far less down towards the root
than do the feathers of any other known variety; and, consequently, should the
bird be taken in hand, it always proves more weighty than is anticipated. . The
extraordinary lustre of the entire plumage in well-bred and high-conditioned birds
is remarkable,

“The head in the Malay is long and snaky, the brow projecting over the eye
ie as to give a peculiarly hard expression to the face. The eyes should be bright,

ery red, as according best with the vindictive expression of the face; but pearl
MALAYS AND BLACK JAVAS. 99

eyes are found in good specimens. The beak is very strong and hooked. The
comb is very small, low, and flat, and isattached closely to the head, without any
tendency to fall over to either side. It should be covered over with small, warty
prominences, and end abruptly over the eye, not projecting in a peak.

“Malays are remarkably characterized by the very slight development of wat-
tles anc ear-lobes; but the skin of the face and upper part of the throat is red,
and from the scanty nature of the plumage, this redness becomes a marked
feature of the breed. The countenance has been justly described as very
skinny.

“Tn color Malays vary considerably. The varieties exhibited generally par-
take of the celor of black and brown breasted red Game. In these the hackle
and saddle in the cock should be dark, glossy red; the breast. black, or
black slightly mottled with brown. The back and shoulder coverts are deep,
rich maroon; the bar across the wings wide and well marked with a bright me-
tallic or purplish green-black tint. ,

“The flight feathers, or quills, should be dark red, and the tail feathers small;
others black, and glossy to an extreme degree, being resplendent with purple and
green metallic reflections, as the light plays upon them in the movements of the
bird.

«The legs in both sexes should be characterized by strength and size; in color
they should be brilliant yellow, and without a vestige of feathers appearing on
the sides,

“The general plumage of the hens in this variety is reddish brown, verging
into that ¢f wetted cinnamon in the darker breeds.

“In the Pile Malays, now seldom seen, the hackles in the cock are red and
white, the breasts white or mottled, and the general plumage of the hens white,
mottled with chestgut red.

“The plumage of the White Malays is soon described. The face, comb, and
naked skin of the throat should be bright red, the feet and legs bright yellow,
and the feathers purely white.” : “

The Malays bear the réputation of being the most savage in disposition of all
varieties of fowls, even literally tearing ‘their opponents to pieces; they are
further especially subject to the disagreeable habit of feather eating. They are
very hardy in constitution, and on this account, as well as on account of their
superior size, they have been used in certain crosses where it was desired to in-
fuse greater size and vigor into a degenerating breed, and upon this fact, chiefly,
depends their interest to American fanciers, According to some authorities the
old “ Chittagong ” fowl of the-United States was a large variety of Malay, and
Malays are thought to be the parent stock of the breeds known as Black Java,
St. Jago, India, Bucks County, and Ostrich fowls.

BLACK JAVAS.

This breed is chiefly of interest from its supposed connection with the origin
of the Plymouth Rocks. In the Poultry World for September, 1879, appears
the following letter with regard to it:

“H, H. Sroppagp, Sir:—This fow] was exhibited in January, 1879, at the show
100 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK

of the American Poultry Association at Buffalo, and at their meeting a petition
to admit it to the Standard was referred to « committee, to investigate and re-
port. This is the entering wedge for the introduction to poultry breeders of a
very rare and beautiful fowl, which was once quite well known in New York
state. At the meeting of the New York State Agricultural Society, held in the
fall of 1845, the late Mr. Luther Tucker exhibited this fowl. Here is the
language of the committee’s report on it:

““¢Mr, Tucker introduced to our acquaintance a tall and loving* couple from.
J ava, under the application of Black Javas, and another couple that were. White
Javas, They may safely be called giants of the roost, and were propagated by.
the children of Anak, in the early days of the world, for the Polands and Ban-
tums of these degenerate times can no more be compared to them than Hyperion
toaSatyr.’ (Vol. V.,N. Y. 8. A. 8. Reports, page 94.)

“Dr, Bennett, in his treatise on poultry, speaking of the Black Javas, says:
‘These, like all other pure Java fowls, are of a black or auburn color, with very
black legs, single combs and wattles. They are good layers, and their eggs are
very large and well flavored. Their gait is slow and majestic, They are, iu
fact, among the most valuable fowls in the country, and are frequently de-
scribed in the books as “Spanish fowls,” than which nothing is more erroneous.
They are as distinct and original a breed as the pure-blooded great Malay, and
possess about the same qualities as to excellence. Their plumage is decidedly
rich.’ :

“ A strain of this fowl has been preserved pure to the present day, and your
correspondent finds them to answer fully the most specific description’ of years
ago, when they were largely bred in New York State. They prove good layers,
sitters and mothers, and in quick maturity and weight of carcass they are not
excelled by any breed. Their plumage is very black—that grgenish black which
is so beautiful in the sunlight; and, unlike the Asiatics, they are gracéful in
motion. 7

‘It will be observed that the report first quoted speaks of White Javas. It
is one of the peculiarities of the fowl that from these intensely black hens and
cocks a perfectly white chick may come. This fact has come under the per:
sonal observation of your correspondent,”

The Black Javas were fora time delegated by the managers of poultry ex-
hibitions to the Cochin class, a fact which caused some amalgamation between
them and the Black Cochins, to the partial loss-of their distinctive characters.

The Javas are not yet recognized by the American Standard of Excellence.
  

‘SHNVD ONTIA MONE

 
 

G08]
CHAPTER X.
THE ENGLISH BREEDS.

DORKINGS.

Columella, who wrote upon agricultural topics from 10 to 40 a. D., described
a fowl which bore many of the characteristics of the Dorking, as being the
common fowl of the Romans of that day. From this fact, and from the further
reason that the Dorking ranks among the oldest of the English breeds of fowls,
it is quite generally supposed that it was introduced by Cresar. é

The probability is that the breed has been greatly modified and improved in
more recent times, however, and that it may properly be considered a composite
breed, perfected during a long series of years, by breeders whose aim has been
to produce a first-class table fowl by breeding from any bird whose size or form
promised an improvement on the original stock.

As now known the Dorkings are divided into several sub-varieties, the princi-
pal of which are the Gray, or Colored; the Silver-Gray, and the White. Of
these the Gray Dorkings are the largest, the cocks weighing ten to twelve or
even fourteen pounds; the hens eight and.a half pounds or over. “The body
in both sexes should be large, deep and plump, and in the cock the breast should
be so prominent as to form a right angle with the lower line of the body, when
viewed from the side; the back and breast should be very broad; the legs
should be white and free from feathers, and spurred only on the inside—not, as
is sometimes the case, on the outside; the feet must be five-toed, and the extra
toe should be well separated from the others, and turned upward. The head
should be proportionate to the size of the bird; the watiles well developed.
The comb in the Dorkings varies considerably ; it may be either single or rose.
Single-combed cocks should have the comb erect and free from side sprigs; but
there is a great tendency in many good birds to have the combs lopping over to
one side. In the rose-combed birds the comb should be square in front, and
ending in a raised peak behind, without any depression in the centre. The
appearance of the Dorking cock is greatly improved by his possessing a large .
well formed tail, which should not droop, but be carried well over the back.
In the classes for Colored Dorkings at the poultry shows the exact marking as to
color is not regarded as a matter of moment, provided always the birds match
in the pen. But of late years the breed known as Silver-Grays have come into
high estimation, aa they conjoin many of the good qualities of the colored
breed with the beauty of plumage possessed by those birds that are regarded
more especially as ornamental poultry. In this latter variety the color of the
plumage is very important, as a single white feather in the breast or tail of the
cock is held as a disqualification in we fpowgen. It is necessary, therefore, to
104 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

give the characteristics of this breed as distinct from the ordinary colorew vr
irds. (See illustration, page 83.)

= ee Silver-Gray Dokings rarely equal the colored breeds. The forn,

of the body, however, should be identically the same ; and alike remark also

applies to the comb, wattles, feet, etc. ; :

“The distinguishing colors of the Silver-Gray Dorking cock are: perfectly
black breast, tail, and large tail coverts; the head, neck, hackle, back, saddle
and wing-bow.a clear, silvery white. Across the wings there Should be a well
marked black bar, contrasting in a very striking and beautiful manner with the
white outer web of the quill feathers and the silvery white hackle and saddle,

“Tn the hens of this beautiful variety the breast issalmon-red, passing into
gray toward the thighs. The neck is silvery white, striped with black; the
back wings should also be of a silvery or slaty gray, and as free as possible
from any tendency to redness. The tail should be dark gray, the inside being
very nearly black.” * .

With regard to the special excellences of this breed of fowls Mr. Hewitt says:
“There is not a doubt that Colored Dorkings are decidedly the most useful of
all fowls for general table purposes; as not only is the flesh of extremely good
quality, but it is produced in far greater abundance than in most varieties.
Another very important point in the consideration of the Dorkings is that the
greater proportion of flesh will be found on those particular parts most general-
ly esteemed; namely, the breast, wings and merry-thoughts; hence they carve
to especial advantage. They also grow rapidly, and are in good condition at
almost any age, if at all freely supplied with food. As layers, many other fowla
are better than Dorkings; nor do they thrive well without a good and extensive
grass-run. The chicks are delicate youngsters to rear, particularly if the sub-
soil is not remarkably dry and warm; this will at once account for their success
on chalky soil. In consequence of their great weight they frequently, “when.
aged, become quite lame and distorted in the feet and toes, from injuries pro-
ducing corns and even abscesses; these are most difficult to eure, if of long
standing ; but as a preventive, low perches are absolutely essential; they should
never exceed two or three feet from the ground. Dorkings degenerate most
rapidly in size and character from interbreeding; and for this reason fresh
blood should be frequently introduced, or the most speedy and vexatious
disappointment will certainly ensue.”

White Dorkings are usually smaller than the Colored, and should be of a clear,
white color. Theye is a tendency to cream, or straw color in the back and wings
of the cocks, which, while it does not amount to an absolute disqualification, is,;
still considered a serious fault, ~

It will be seen from the foregoing description that the Dorking is not adapted
to the wants of American poultrymen; it would seem, however, that some of
its good qualities might profitably be added to some of our hardier American
breeds, and it has been used to acertain extent for asimilar purpose in England,
the cross of the Dorking upon the Asiatic fowls possessing a greater degree of
hardiness, combined with the superior table qualities of the former.

*“Tegetmeier.
GAMES. 105

GAMES.

There are two distinct races of Game fowls, the English and the East-Indian;
both having originally been bred forthe purpose of cock-fighting, which was one
of the most popular amusements in England until it was prohibited by law i in
the seventeenth century.

In fowls bred for such a purpose we should expect to find compactness of form,
hardiness of constitution, and great courage, and these qualities are eminently
characteristic of the Games, and especially of the English Games, in which the
practice of cock-fighting has served to forward the working of the natural laws
by which the strongest and hardiest become the progenitors of the race, as the
victors of the ongkepit were naturally selected for the chiefs of the breeding-yard,
a “natural selection’? which was protected and encouraged by the skill in breed-
ing for which the English are justly celebrated, until this breed of fowls has
come to be regarded as the highest type of gallinaceous hardihood, courage, and
elegance of form.

Indeed, so great has been the care taken of the purity of the blood of certain

strains of these fowls that their pedigrees have been kept after the manner of
catile and horses, so that they may be traced for a century or more.
. There are many sub-varieties of the English Game, based upon size, or color
of plumage, but these all have a generally recognized and uniform type
of form and carriage, the characteristics of which are thus given by
Tegetmeier:

“The carriage and form of the Game cock are certainly more beautiful than
those-of any other domestic fowl. The neck is long, strong, and gracefully
curved; the hackle short and very close ; the breast broad; the back short, and
broad across the shoulders; the whole body very firm and hard, with a perfectly
straight breast and back, the latter tapering towards the tail; the wings are large
and powerful, and carried closely pressed into the sides; the thighs are strong,
muscular and short, tightly clothed with feathers, and well set forward on the
body, so as to be available for fighting; the shanks rather long, strong, but not
coarse, covered with fine scales, and of moderate length; the feet flat and thin,
the toes long and spreading, so as to give a good hold on the ground; the hind
toe must be set low down, so as to rest flatly on the ground, and not merely
touch with the point—a defect which is known as duck-footed, and is regarded
as a serious disqualification, as-it renders the bird unsteady when pushed back-
ward by his opponent.

“The plumage is compact, hard, and mail-like to a remarkable degree, and pos-
sesses a brilliant glossiness that cannot be surpassed. The tail in the cock is
rather long, the sickle feathers gracefully arched, and carried closely together,
the whole tail curved backwards, and not brought forwards over the back—a de-
fect which when present causes the bird to be termed squirrel-tailed.

“The head in this variety is extremely beautiful, being thin and long, like that
of a greyhound; the beak massive at its root, strong and well curved; the eye
large, very full, and brilliant in lustre; the ear-lobe and face of a bright searlet,
and the comb in undubbed birds single, erect, and thin. The spur, whieh is
exeeedingly dense and sharp, should be set low on the leg, its power asa weapon
‘106 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

being thereby greatly increased; it may be remarked that this offensive organ is
often present in the softer sex. ,

“Tn the hen, the form, making due allowance for the difference of sex and
alteration of plumage, resembles that of the cock. The head is neater, the face
lean and thin. The small, thin comb should below in front, evenly serrated, and
perfectly erect. The deaf-ear and wattles should be small. The neck, from the
absence of hackle feathers, looks longer and moreslender than that of her mate.
The tail feathers should be held closely together, and not spread out like a fan,
as is not unfrequently, stated. The ptumage should be so close that the form of
the wing should be distinctly visible, the outline not being hidden by the feath-
ers of the body.” ,

The Black-breasted Rede, perhaps, mostnearly resemble the original Game fowl.
In the cocks of this variety the breast and thighs are bluish black, with glossy
reflections; the tail greenish black; the hackle and saddle orange red; the
shoulder coverts dark red In the hens the general color is a rich partridge
brown, with a red fawn-colored breast, and reddish-golden hackle with dark
stripes. (See illustration, page 95.)

The Brown-breasted Reds.—The breast and thighs should be of a brown-red
color, but this variety is not so uniform in color. as the black-reds; the tail is a
greenish black; the hackle striped with black, and the wing often crossed with
a glossy green bar. The general color of the hen is very dark brown; grained
or pencilled with lighter brown; her neck-hackle a dark golden copper-red,
thickly striped with dark stripes; and her comb and face darker than the cocks’.
and his are darker than those of the black reds.

The Ginger-Reds differ but little from the Brown-reds except in the color of the
breast, which is a ginger-red color in the cock, growing darker upon the thighs,
and in the hen is yellowish brown around the throat, with a narrow margin of a
lighter shade, and dusky brown lower down, with a narrow margin of a golden
ginger shade.

The Yellow Duchwings have black breast, legs and tail in the cocks ; with straw
colored head, hackle and saddle; and bright copper or maroon colored back.
In the hen the head is gray; neck, white, striped with black; back, bluish or
slaty-gray; breast salmon-red, shading off to ashy-gray towards the thighs; tail,
dark gray.

The Silver Duckwings cocks have silvery white heads, hackle and backs; and
the hens silvery gray on the same parts, both being in other parts colored like
the Yellow Duckwings. (See illustration, page 101.)

The Red Pile cocks have red heads, necks and backs, with white breasts, legs
and tails; and the hens have chestnut-red necks and backs, breasts the same in
front, shading to white below, white wings and tails.

In the White Piles, the neck and saddle are mainly white in the cock, but
faintly pencilled ; the back light-red; the tail white. In the hen the neck, back, tail
and thighs are white; the breast chestnut color; theprimary, and secondary wing
feathers white. (See illustration, page 107.)

White Games are pure white in both sexes,
straw color.

Black Games are of a metallic black color in both sexes,

and-should have no admixture of
 

F074
GAMES. 109

Blue Games are blue to dark blue throughout, except the wing-coverts of the
cock, which are tinged with golden-red or yellow.

Gray Games have in the cocks black breasts, thighs, tails, and wings, except
the wing-bows. In the hens the tails are black; the rest of the plumage in both
sexes being silvery to dark gray. ‘4

Spangled Games are spangled throughout, with any well defined combina-
tion of colors, as black and white, blue and white, red and white, buff and
white, etc.

Each of these varieties of Game fowls is also represented among the Game
Bantams, which differ from the larger varieties only in size.

Henny Games, are Game fowls in which the sickle feathers of the cock’s tail
are wanting, thus giving him a hen-like appearance. They are of the various
colors described above. Originating first as sports from the ordinary varieties, '
their characteristics have become so fixed that they now breed true, but they
have not yet been admitted to the American Standard.

The Indian Games include several sub-varieties, as the Java, Sumatra, ete. The
Java Games are of various shades of plumage ; the Sumatra Games are invatiably
black. These breeds differ from the English breeds in being larger and some-
what less active. They are formed more after the type of the Malay fowl. They
have not yet been bred in this country to any great extent, as the Game fowl
everywhere is lacking in one of the qualifications necessary to popularity here,
and that is in disposition to lay. Originally bred exclusively for the pit, and
that at a time when the value of fowls as food producers was but little thought
of at best, it is not surprising that they are deficient in this respect. They pos-
sess other advantages, however, which should not be lost sight of, and for certain
situations they are probably better adapted than any other variety of fowl.

The games are extremely hardy in constitution, when allowed to range, al-
though they do not endure confinement well. In disposition they are the most
courageous of all fowls, and this renders them especially valuable for situations
where range is abundant, buf where, as is usually the case in such localities,
large vermin, hawks, etc., are troublesome. The following account of the cour-
age of Game hens in defending their young is quoted by Tegetmeier from Mr.
Hewitt: a

“Nota doubt presents itself to my own mind that, viewed exclusively for
their actual merits, unincumbered by the caprice of poultry fashion or individ-
ual prejudices, Game fowls are the most strikingly beautiful of any among the
very numerous varities of domesticpoultry. Amongany of the truly bred fowls
of this variety, the superiority of gait and general contour strikes the eye of
parties even the most indifferent and uninterested; and from this cause I have
almost universally noticed that the avenues appropriated to the Games at our
poultry shows are those most commonly thronged by visitors. In situations
where a free, unlimited range can be tolerated, there is not a doubt that. Game
fowls will take care of themselves and their progeny more successfully than any
other kind of poultry. Accidents of any kind where these advantages exist
rarely occur; as of all poultry none are more vigilant in avoiding dangers, nor,
again, so capable of repelling aggression; and many are the instances that recall
themselves to my memory of cases in which powerful adversaries have found
110 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

a retreat suddenly forced upon them; or, if persisting in their attacks have at
length been laid prostrate and powerless in the field, despite of the superior
strength that was relied on for ensuring a very different issue. I will simply re-
fer to a couple of such incidents, where prowess alone carried the day, and also
where the odds were vastly in favor of the assailant. /

“In a very rural part of Derbyshire, some ten or eleven years back, a Black-
breasted Red Game cock (only a small bird, in weight about four pounds two or
three ounces) was walked with three or four good hens, one of which had some
chickens running with her, about a fortnight old. These latter were enjoying
themselves in rather an exposed situation to the windward of some heather. A
hawk, that was on the wing outlooking for the first prey that might offer, espied
them, and, without the slightest warning, dashed violently at one of the chicks
that had strayed farthest from its protector. The hen, however, instantly espied
the coming danger, and flew, regardless altogether of self preservation, to the
rescue. This first effort of the dauntless mother certainly saved the chicken,
and drew the attention of the hawk more especially to herself. At this instant
the cock, that was some twenty yards off, attracted by the outcries of his mate,
went valiantly to the encounter, and on first meeting his unusual foe, was un-
fortunately clutched by the wing with one or both feet of the hawk, nor could
the quickly-repeated efforts of the cock disengage itself. Although laboring
under so material a disadvantage, he still fought on, and, as the result proved,
successfully. It was in truth an up-and-down fight, sometimes the cock, at others
the hawk, appearing to have the advantage; feathers flew around the combat-
ants, and our eyewitness ran rapidly to the spot, in the hope to prevent the
escape of the intruder. No services whatever on his part were required, as be-
fore he reached them, victory had favored or gallant hero. The hawk had
received a blow from the spur of the cock, which, it should be borne in mind,
was simply the natural one; it had entirely destroyed the right eye, and burst-
ing through the skull at the back of it, penetrated the brain, so that death en-
sued instantaneously as by a gunshot. It was only with difficulty the spur could
be disengaged, and the tenacious grasp of the hawk was maintained even in death.
The cock proved but triflingly injured by the melee. ;

“The second instance was not, as above, a casual occurrence, but was pre-
meditated by a couple of friends of mine, not only “as a test of the dauntless
valor of a Game hen, but to teach a useful and admonitory lesson to an intruder,
whose fondness for chickens had added a somewhat extravagant item to the
losses of a notorious poultry amateur, and that, too, among chickens of high
merit and considerable pecuniary value.

“Tt seems that a large cat had for many weeks been making daily incursions,
and had succeeded not only in taking a chicken at every visit, but had likewise
very seriously maltreated the old hens on three different occasions. They were
oo caba a so alarmed by the frequent repetitions of these in-
sequently the it aera nee a Fie sen cera ae es
dos Sivcuustancatnce’ o feats an audacity daily. It was under these depress
cin ht al oo amateur volunteered a ‘certain cure,’ if he
died aersica’ wicts y as to all the means adopted—a proviso most

. g cooped up the fowls,'both chickens and parent
GAMES. 111

birds, that usually had sole possession of the yard, he produced a most beauti-
ful Game hen and chickens, the latter not more than three or four days old, the
hen being armed with a pair of steel spurs, somewhat shorter than those used
in the cock-pit, but well suited for the purpose intended; and, being naturally
a spurred hen, they were easily and firmly attached. The lot being placed at
freedom in the yard, the hen, from all around being strange, was necessarily
restless, and the chickens equally noisy. Grimalkin, with stealthy pace, was
soon seen crouching along a wall about nine feet high; the hen unfortunately
at this moment had flown into the body of a covered cart, that prevented any
possibility of her seeing the threatened danger. A spring from the wall placed
puss in the possession of the nearest chicken, and all the spectators thought
certainly one youngster was irretrievably forfeited to the experiment; but the
idea was erroneous, with a shriek the hen flew headlong at the enemy of her
brood. Puss seemed but little concerned at her fury, as the impunity with
which she had faced other hens seemed rather to inspire her with confidence,
all but amounting to imperturbability.

“Perceiving the coming attack, the cat loosed the chicken from her mouth,
but instantaneously placed one foot upon it; and with hair erect looked de-
fiantly ; while a few deeply-drawn breathings at the window told how anxiously
the lookers-on speculated as to the result. The Cochins, poor, heavy, domesti-
cated dames, had always proved slow in their motions, and their efforts were
easily avoided. Not so now; a blow the eye could scarcely follow, and ascream
most dissimilar to the noise from anything feline, gave evidence that the con-.
test was not so very unequal as it appeared to be. ‘Iwo or three other blows, in
the most rapid succession possible, made retreat evidently the only, way that
remained to the cat of making the best of an unlucky speculation; still, with
an obduracy most remarkable, she once more seized the chicken with her
mouth and sprang with it upon the wall. Nevertheless, bravery carried the
day—the hen proved close to her heels, and another double rap brought both
antagonists headlong back to the ground. The cat then loosed the chicken,
bolted to another less exposed outlet, and the hen quickly commenced her
muster-roll, which embraced the whole of her progeny, and none were injured,
the hen herself escaping literally without a scratch; although her artificial helps
were besmeared with gore. Some half year afterwards, I heard on inquiry that
a longing, lingering look was still frequently indulged in by the aggressor, but
always from afar—the cure was a certain one.”

The rules of the show-pen require that Game-cocks shall be dubbed, a custom
arising from the purpose for which these fowls were formerly bred, and which
is still considered necessary by some breeders, where several cocks of this breed
are allowed the range of the poultry-yard. The object of dubbing is to remove
the comb, wattles and ear-lobes, and thus leave no point upon which an oppos-
ing cock may seize with his beak in fighting. The operation is performed by
clipping off the protuberances with a pair of sharp scissors; and it should be
done at the time the cocks have just attained their full growth.
112 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

AHAMBURGS.

The Hamburgs, notwithstanaing tne1r Dutch name, are chiefly, of English
origin ; but, like many other breeds of fowls, the several lines of their ancestry
are so entangled that it is impossible to give a clear history of their first ap-
pearance. ;

As now known the Hamburgs comprise six varieties; namely, the Gold and
Silver Pencilled, the Gold and Silver Spangled, the Black and the White. The
Spangled varieties are also each built upon two distinct sub-varieties, whose
peculiarities have not yet been entirely obliterated by their amalgamation.

The common characteristics of all the Hamburgs are small size, great
activity, great egg-producing capacity, rose combs and great beauty of
plumage.

Silver Pencilled Hamburgs.—The Silver Pencilled Hamburg cocks have silvery
head, beak, ear-lobes, neck-hackle, back, saddle-feathers, breast, body and
thighs; the wings apparently white, when closed, but showing narrow stripes of
black next the shafts or on the edges, when examined; the tail black and full,
the sickle feathers having a narrow edging of white, as also the feathers of the
tail-eoverts. The hen has a silvery white head, beak, ear-lobes, and neck-
hackle; the rest of her plumage being silvery-white, but each feather distinctly
and evenly pencilled across with greenish-black bars; on the body it is de-
sirable that these bars should form, as near as possible, parallel lines across-the
bird. The shanks of both cock and hen are blue or slaty blue. This breed. has
also been called the Creoles, from the mixturé of white and black in the plumage;
the Bolton Grays, from having been extensively cultivated around Bolton, in-
Lancashire; the Corals, from the resemblance of the numerous red points of their
combs to red coral; the Pencilled Dutch, the Dutch every-day or everlasting layers,
from their origin and productiveness, and the Chitteprat, ‘probably meaning
diminutive hens, * (See illustration, page 113.) ' B

In the Golden-Pencilled Hamburgs the white of the Silver-pencilled variety is
replaced by a reddish-bay color in the cock and golden-bay in the hen, except
on the beak, which is dark colored, and the ear-lobes, which are white.

The Pencilled Hamburgs appear to be of Dutch origin, having been imported
from Holland under the names of “Pencilled Dutch” and “Dutch Everlasting
Layers.” For a statement of their merits Mr. Tegetmeier quotes as follows
from Mr. Hewitt: aa =

“The Hamburgs are excellent layers, provided they have free liberty on an
unrestricted grass run; they are most impatient of confinement, particularly
the Pencilled varieties, and very susceptible of disease wherever over-popula-
tion and limited space are unfortunately combined. They shift for themselves
better than any, excepting the Game, and are not, therefore, exfensive as to
keeping; indeed, I believe (in comparison to the food consumed) none produce
80 large an amount of eggs, taking the whole year from end to end, whether we
estimate by weight in the aggregate, or by numbers; their chief production,
oe is during the milder months. The flesh of Hamburgs is superior, and

y are always, as chickens, in fit condition for the spit, if only tolerably well

* Tegetmeier,
‘SOUNAMVA GA TIIONAd-ugA TIS

 

 
 
 

134
HAMBURGS: 115

fed, without any additional preparation. Being a small-boned fowl they prove,
when carved, to be much more fleshy than might be imagined at first sight.

“They generally roost high, and in places difficult of access, if any possible
chance of doing so presents itself; combined with this, if disturbed during
night-time, they never cease screaming violently until destroyed outright;
hence I have known many instances where midnight prowlers after hen-roosts
have been at once detected, or luckily prevented absconding with their booty,
the reiterated cries of alarm from their victims calling forth the immediate aid
of the proprietor. In case, too, of attack from vermin, their agility preserves
them from injury; for on such occasions they will fly like pheasants, and
readily take to trees or the highest buildings.

“Thave, during my somewhat ee iien experience in poultry matters, met
with a few isolated instances in which Hamburgs have incubated their own
nests of eggs steadily, and afterwards manifested the most exemplary attention
to their chickens; but such cases are very few, and quite opposed to the general
rule.

“The Hamburgs are extremely ornamental varieties of poultry, and form
very striking additions when standing in groups near any homestead; this,
combined with their extraordinary production of eggs, the excellent quality of
the flesh, together with the very small amount of are they entail, causes them
to be almost universal favorites.

“There is one drawback to the value of both Gold and Silver-Pencilled
Hamburgs, and that, it must be acknowledged, is a serious one. If hatched in
the early sprinz of the year, say before May, they are difficult to rear, being
very delicate during chickenhood, and suffering severely in cold, wet weather;
and the old birds are perhaps more subject to roup, if kept in damp, cold, un-
healthy situations than any variety of fowls, except, perhaps, Black Polish.”

In the Silver Spangled Hamburgs the plumage of both cock and hen is clear
white, but each feather is tipped with a large, greenish-black moon or spangle,
the spangles increasing in size with the feathers, and so arranged as to present
arayed or starry appearance on the hackle and back, and to form two parallel
bars across the wings. The ear-lobes should be white, and the beaks and: shanks blue,

The Golden Spangled Hamburgs have the same reddish-bay and golden-bay
ground-color as the Golden Pencilled variety, the feathers of the neck-hackle
and saddle are striped.down the shaft with glossy, greenish-black; the taii is a
glossy black, while the other feathers end, as in the Silver Spangled variety, with
glossy-black spangles.

The Spangled Hamburgs are of English origin, and are made, up of four sepa-
rate breeds; namely, the Golden and Silver Mooneys, originated by the colliers,
hand-loom weavers and others in Lancashire, and named from the moon-shaped
spangles on their: feathers; and the Golden and Silver Pheasants, named from
their resemblance to the wild pheasant, and of Yorkshire origin. These breeds
have been amalgamated—the Golden Mooneys with the Golden Pheasants and
the Silver Mooneys with the Silver Pheasants—thus producing the two breeds of
“Spangled Hamburgs.” These breeds are somewhat larger and somewhat
hardier in eonstitution than the Silver-pencilled Hamburgs; and equally good
Jayers, and no more inelined to sit.
116 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

Black Hamburgs —This breed was originally exhibited in Lancashire under the
name of Black. Pheasant; but it has latterly been crossed with the Black Span-
ish, as shown by the increased size—cocks weighing six or seven pounds—by the
tendency toward a white face, drooping ear-lobes, and nearly smooth, mis-shapen
combs,

The general color of the plumage is a jet black, each feather terminating in a
velvety-green spangle, which gives a rich, glossy appearance to the plumage.

In disposition the Black Hamburgs are rather wild; as layers they are unsur
passed, and in constitution they are superior to either of the pencilled or span-
gled breeds 54 &

White Hamburgs —This breed is not mentioned by Tegetmeier, but is recog-
nized by the American Standard. It has been produced by selecting the lightest
marked of the Silver-pencilled variety, also, possibly, by breeding albinos of the
Black Hamburgs. It seems defective in hardiness, but this is probably largely
due to the close in-breeding required to fix the breed. The White Hamburgs
have the Hamburg shape, size, and rose-comb, with perfectly white plumage
throughout. :

 
 
CHAPTER XI.

THE FRENCH BREEDS.

From the character of the rural population of France, being largely peasant
propriétors, and noted for their small economies, we should expect the poultry
interest to receive a large amount of attention inthatcountry. That such isthe
case is shown by the facts that several very valuable breeds of fowlsare of French
origin; that the products ofthe poultry-yard are nowhere more generally used as
food than in France; and that France exported to England alone, prior to the
Franco-Prussian war, between four hundred and five hundred million eggs
annually.

HOUDANS.

Of the various French breeds of poultry the Houdans have been received with
the greatest favor in England and America. The name is derived from that of.
the chief market town of the arrondissement of Mantis, department of Seine-et-
Oise, near Paris. The annual sales of fat poultry at Houdan, according to Teg-
etmeier, have reached the sum of $370,000; while in the arrondissements :of.
Drenx and Nogent-le-Soi, of the same department, the sales reach $464,000 and
$325,000, or a total trade of $1,160,000 for a department a little over two thousand
square miles in area. Itis true the breed of fowls known: as Houdans are not
the only breed of this region, many cross-bred fowls being found there as else-
where; but we should expect the characteristic breed of a region. doing such a
large business in poultry to possess certain valuable qualities in a high de-
gree, and this is certainly the case with the Houdans.

In size and shape this breed closely resembles the Dorking, even to the pecu-
liarity of the fifth toe; butin addition to these Dorking characteristics it possesses
the crest and non-sitting qualities of the Polish fowls, hence it is supposed by
some that it has actually been derived from a cross between those breeds; The
plumage of the Houdan, including the crest, is white, spangled with black, the
spangles being frequently of considerable size, and varying in number, so . that

-the fowl may show all gradations of color from nearly white to nearly black.
The eomb is triple, very large in the cock, but sometimes scarcely perceptible in
the hen. Both cocks andhens are bearded. They are excellent table fowls; the
flesh being of fine quality, and, like that of the Dorking, being found well de-
veloped in the finer parts, while the bones are much finer than those of the Dork-
ing. They are good layers of large, Pe eggs, and are but little inclined to sit.
120 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK. |

The chickens are hardy, feather early, and mature rapidly. (See illustration,
page 117.) >

 

CREVECCURS.

This breed belongs to Normandy, where it has been bred especially asa table
fowl for the Paris market. In France this fowl was so much esteemed “that at
the first great Agricultural Exhibition in Paris, in 1855, there were two equal
sets of prizes offered for the poultry exhibited; the first for Crevecaurs, the sec-
ond for all other varieties taken together.” * They have not become so popular
in England and America, however, as they do not endure change of climate well,
being especially affected by cold, damp weather. :

In size the Crevecceurs are large, the cocks weighing eight to ten pounds; they
are very short legged, the hens so much so as to appear almost like Creepers; the
plumage is black, or black and white, sometimes golden or silver colored in the

7

cocks; they have large tufts, and small, upright, two-horned combs; they are :
very tame, not inclined to sit, and only moderate layers. There is no doubt of —
their value as table fowls, but their lack of constitution and shyness in layin

 

have prevented them becoming popular in this country.

 

 

LA FLECHE.

This breed appears to be a cross between the Crevecceur and the Spanish fowls,”
The plumage is black and close; the ear-lobes white—like the Spanish; the
combs two-horned, with the peculiarity of having two little studs or points just.
in front of the nostrils; the wattles are long and pendant, and the shanks black,
which interferes with their value as table fowls, Their size is about the same as ~
the Crevecceurs, and the flesh is of fine quality. Ss

The La Fleche resemble the Spanish in being good layers, but poor sitters; a
but they follow the Crevecwurs in lack of constitution, hence they are notlikely “
to become popular in this country, except, possibly in the Southern States. «1779

 

 

BREDAS, OR GUELDEBS.

 

This is another French breed, but is little known outside of its native distridt,’"
The following account of it is given by Tegetmeier: , ee
“Guelders are birds of medium size, with very full, prominent breasts, and
large, flowing tails. Their most striking characteristics are in the head, which
is ornamented with very large, pendant wattles, but is destitute of either feath: ~
ered crest or comb, unless the existence of one or two red points—which are -
often entirely absent—can be regarded as the latter organ in a very rudimentary
condition. Their color is generally either gray, cuckoo, or pure black, but we
have seen them spangled, like a Golden Polish.

“There is no doubt whatever that Guelders were originally a sport from the
feather-crested Polish family. The black variety looks exaetly like white-crested
blaek Polish, wanting the erest; there is the same form of body, fullness of chest,

largely developed, pendulous wattles, and nostrils flattened and deformed from
the absenee of the inter-maxillary bones,

.. * Pegetmeier.
 
 
 

‘HSINVAS MOVIL anova GLIBM

fai]
BREDAS, OR GUELDERS. 123

“In those spangled birds that we have seen the analogy to the gold-spangled
Polish was equally close, the birds being as fully bearded as the most ardent
Polish fancier could desire.

“The Cuckoo Guelders have large, pendulous wattles like the black, and some
of the American birds of this color have strongly feathered legs.

“@uelders are very good layers, and, as might be expected from their close
affinity to the Polish, are none-sitters. They may be correctly characterized aa
very useful fowls for family purposes, carrying a great amount of flesh on the
breast, but they are rather too small to furnish first-class fowls for the market.
They are not quite as large as the Houdans, but are equally hardy. They are
abundant layers, of very fine, large fertile eggs. It would be difficult to say
which do better, the Houdan or Guelder chickens. I like this breed so well that
T class them next to the Houdans.”

The Guelders are not described in the American Standard of Excellence.

Several other native breeds of fowls are described in French works on poul-
try, but they are not generally sufficiently distinct from those described nor
widely enough propagated to justify an extended description here. Among these
may be mentioned the La Bresse, a fowl of mongrel type, which is largely reared
in the pepulous district of La Bresse in the north-eastern part of France, where
it is fattened by the cramming process.

Another breed is that of Mans, which resembles the Crevecceurs, and is said
to be popular in the French markets.

It will be noticed that the French breeds are generally table fowls, for which
_purpose they are carefully bred, smallness of bone and offal, and high quality of
flesh, being far more sought after than uniformity of feather—a point in which
English and American breeders might well take lessons.

 
CHAPTER XII

THE MEDITERRANEAN BREEDS.

Along the whole northern coast of the Mediterranean, from Gibraltar to Syria,
fowls are kept in immense numbers, and of types which bear a strong family
resemblance, although no where is such care bestowed upon their breeding as in
England and the United States. : ;

Among these breeds the

WHITE-FACED BLACK SPANISH

was one of the first to become naturalized abroad, and it has had an era of great
popularity on both sides of the Atlantic, This breed was probably first obtained
by the Dutch, through the Spanish occupation of the Low Countries, and was
by them so carefully bred as to improve upon the original stock.

The most marked characteristic of this breed is the white face, the white color
extending with age until it surrounds the eyes. In aged fowls the face is liable
to be disfigured with folds and wrinkles, sometimes to such an extent as to ob-
struct the sight: this excessive growth is a disqualification in the show-pen.

The comb is single and.very large; stiff and erect in the cock, but drooping:
inthe hen This large comb is sometimes a detriment in cold climates, as it is
very liable to become frozen,

The plumage is black or green-black; there are sometimes one or more
white feathers, from the tendency of all black animals to produce albinos
occasionally, but the presence of any other color isa sure indication of impurity
of blood

The legs should be blue or leaden blue. Any other color is a disqualification
in the show-pen .

Except from the tendency of the combs to freeze the Black Spanish is a hardy
breed when grown. The chicks are not considered quite so hardy as in some
othe: breeds As layers these fowls are very valuable, the eggs being very large
and the hens beginning to lay young, and laying throughout the summer with
but little intermission. They are but little inclined to sit. As winter layers the
Black Spanish are not considered equal to breeds of Asiatic origin, and they
are not a first-class table fowl, being of only medium size; but for situations
where there is plenty of range, and eggs are sought rather than flesh, a cross of

this breed upon the common fowl has given excellent satisfaction. (See
illustration, page 121.)
[124]
LEGHORNS. 128

Andalusians.—These fowls have become established favorites both in England
and America. In size and weight they resemble the Black Spanish; in color.the
plumage varies from dark slate to dove color; the hens being a bluish grey.
The legs and feet are blue, and totally destitute of feathering; the combs, both
of cock and hen, resemble those of the Spanish; the wattles are well-developed.
The ear-lobes are white, but the face is red: the breed, in this respect, resembling
the Minorcas. ‘

The Andalusians are good layers and non-sitters; their chicks are hardy and
feather early ; in disposition they are inclined to be rather wild. :

Minorcas.—These are a variety of the Black Spanish, resembling that breed

‘in plumage, comb, ears, shape and laying character, but being without its white
face—the ears only of the Minorcas being white—and being somewhat larger
and shorter legged. They are said to be very popular in the west of England,
and would seem to be worthy of more attention than they have received in this
country, especially for crossing with other breeds. :

White Spanish.—This is a white variety of the Black Spanish, originally pro-
duced, no doubt, by the well-known tendency of black birds and animals to pro-
duce the white sports called albinos.

Neither thia breed nor the preceding is recognized in the American Standard?
showing that they are considered of little value in this country. :

LEGHORNS.

‘Like many, and in fact most of the other breeds of fowls, the name of the
Leghorns is not a sure index of their place of origin. Indeed, their special
characteristics are due to the care and skill of American, rather than of Italian
breeders, as is evidenced by the fact that it was from America that they were
first, and are still, chiefly disseminated as a separate breed. Their origin is
traced to importation by ships trading to the Mediterranean ports. Whether
they were first obtained at Leghorn, at Padua, or at some other Italian port,
eannot now be determined.

There are several sub-varieties of Leghorns, of which the ;

White Leghorns have been longest known. The White Leghorns closely re-
semble the old White Spanish, the principal difference being in the color of
the legs; those of the Spanish being gray or blue—those of the Leghorns yel-
low. The following description of this breed is from Tegetmeier, as it appeared
in the second edition of his “Poultry Book” (1873):

“To our-American cousins is due the credit of having introduced certain ad-
mirable breeds of poultry. Th Brahmas are undoubtedly second to none as
useful fowls, being unsurpassed for size, hardihood and fertility amongst the in-
eubating breeds. Another race, which is equally popular in the United States
as being at once most useful and ornamental, is that known as the White Leg-
horn. These fowls are hardly, if at all, known in this country; but, haying
tested their merits for two seasons, 1 can report most favorably of them, and
fully indorse all that has been said in their favor on the other side of the
Atlantic. ]

“ White Leghorns are birds‘of the Spanish type, but with white in the place of
126 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

black plumage. Their legs are bright yellow, and geen Suhes per ae
ing on the shanks.. The faces are red, the ear-lobes only ARG ue like
comb in the cock is thin, erect and evenly serrated. In the heni eile fa
that of a Spanish hen. The tail in the cock is exceedingly Se aa
side sickle-feathers, and in both sexes is carried particularly erect. a ; € birds
are active, good foragers, and have a sprightly and handsome Roe ! “

“T find them to be abundant layers of full-sized eggs; the hens rare yA OW.
ing any inclination to sit, but laying the whole year round, rn ae
time of the annual moult. The chickens esis hardy. Unlike those o: the

i hey feather quickly and mature rapidly. mS

5 ace these ea as ef exceedingly useful as well as ornamental addition
to our stock of poultry. Whatever competitive shows may have done for other
breeds, they have certainly materially lessened the value of Spanish.as useful
fowls. In the place of the large, prolific, hardy breed which was formerly known
under thatname, we have asmaller race, very leggy, and feathering with such slow-
ness that chickens are often seen in prize pens that have not produced their
tail-feathers. In fact, the useful qualities of the race have been neglected in
breeding for face and ear-lobe. ;

eu The- Leghorns possess many of the Spanish merits without their drawbacks,
and I have no doubt that they will become as great favorites in this country as
they are in America.” (See illustration, page 127.) . :

Rose-Combed White Leghorns.—Certain American breeders are attemping to
substitute the rose-comb for the ordinary comb of the Leghorn fowl, claiming
this style of comb to be preferable on account of superior beauty and non-liability
to freeze. These rose-combed fowls have not yet been acknowledged in the
Standard. :

The Brown Leghorns.—This is to-day the most popular of'the Mediterranean
breeds in America, and one of the most popular breeds of any kind, At the time
of writing the above description of the White Leghorns, Mr. Tegetmeier says
that the Brown Leghorns “have not been imported into England,” and he
quotes their description from the American Standard. ; eure

With regard to the origin of this breed of fowls Mr. H. H. Stoddard; editor of
-the Poultry World, makes the following statement: “About 1835 (the exact-date
is unknown) Mr. N. P. Ward, of New York- City, received direct from Italy a
few: Brown Leghorn fowls, which, in his hands, undoubtedly proved their claims
to superior merit; for, though he wrote nothing which has been preserved about
them, he gave eggs and fowls to his friends, one of whom was Mr. J. C. Thomp-
son, of Staten Island. Mr. Thompson was greatly interested in the breed, and
gave an account of their marvelous precocity and early fecundity, which was
similar to the characteristics of the fowls now bred. The pullets matured and
commenced to lay at the age of four months, and, though we have ‘no statistics
of the male side of the house, there is little doubt that the cockerels showed as
early development as the pullets.

“At a subsequent period Mr. Thompson, who seems to have been a most en
thusiastic fancier, sent by his son-in-law, who was a sea captain, for an additional
supply of the fowls, and received birds that had the same markings as those first .
imported and exhibited the same precocity. In a letter published after breede
  

‘SNHOHDAT TLIHM

  
LEG HORNS. 129

ing them several years, and when the fresh blood of various importations forbade
the idea of deterioration through too close in-breeding, this pioneer breeder ex-
presses the opinion that pullets frequently laid themselves to death.

ef For some time after this, however, there was little known of the fowls, and
when, in 1852, they made their entry into Mystic River, Conn., not one poultry
breeder in a hundred knew what they were, or what were their peculiar merits.
They speedily learned the latter, however. The following year a second lot of
birds arrived at Mystic aud were distributed among the friends of Captain Gates
and the first officer of the vessel, Mr. Morgan, who still lives in the lown of
Groton and corroborates the details of the importation. From this time the dis-
semination of the breed was very rapid, and its popularity advanced speedily
all through New England, where it was known as the Red Leghorn.

“ Beside the importations we have spoken of, there were, undoubtedly, others
| helped fill the demand for the breed, but no record of them was ever pub-

ed.

The Brown Leghorns are of medium size, very active, great ‘ayers, and non-
sitters; they have medium to large single combs, which in the hen droops to one
side. The ear-lobes are white or creamy white, and fit close to the head; the
wattles bright red, long and pendant. The necks are long and graceful: yel-
lowish brown, striped with black in color, the colors being brighter in the cock;
the backs are dark-red in the cock, dark-brown in the hen, pencilled with lighter
colors in both; the breastsare black in the cocks and salmon-brown, shading off

‘light under the body in the hens; the wings are large, shading from dark-red to
black in the cocks, and being dull-black, penciled with brown, in the hens. The
shanks are long and yellow; the feet small and yellow, with a delicate dark
stripe down each toe. (See illustration, page 131.)

Black Leghorns.—Of the origin of this breed the editor of the Poultry World says:
“The first importation of this breed from Italy, regularly bred from, of which we
have any authentic account, was made in 1871, by Mr. Reed Watson, although stray
specimens of black, or very dark fowls, were no doubt brought over at various
earlier times. Saunders’ Domestic Poultry, published in 1866, says: ‘There have
been several importations of the common fowls of Leghorn and vicinity made of

‘late.. These birds are of all colors except black.’ By which we infer that the
breed under consideration was atthat time unknown to the author cited. Wright
makes no mention of any Leghorns of this character. There are traditions,
however, of several dark or black hens having been found among the Brown
Leghorns brought to this country at various times since 1853. The first published
account of Black Leghorns appeared as an editorial in this magazine in October
1872. Since then they have become widely known. We quote: ‘Mr. Reed
Watson, of East Windsor Hill, Connecticut, has some Black Leghorn fowls, di-
rect from the vessel in which they were imported from Italy. Mr. Watson's
birds show the unmistakable Leghorn form, even to the details of comb and
wattle, and are as thoroughly non-sitters as any of our acclimated strains. They
are very vigorous and active. The original fowls, three in number, imported a
year ago, are now surrounded by a well-grown and numerous family. The old
hens have proved themselves remarkably prolific ‘ayers, and the puliets of ‘ast

April are following the example, A brood of a dozen chicks van be seen,
130 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK. \

hatched September 1st, from eggs laid by pullets of thisstock, hatched after the
middle of April last. That is, the pullets reproduced when less than four
months old.’”

Mr. Watson made fresh importations during subsequent years, and the breed
is now recognized by the American Standard. It differs from the Brown Leg-
horns in the jet-black plumage of both cock and hen, and in the dark color of
the shanks, they being yellowish-black, or nearly so, to meet the requirements of

the Standard. .
Dominique Leghorns.—These were admitted to the American Standard at the

same time as the Black Leghorns (1874) and are distinguished from other ya

rieties merely by their plumage.
Spangled Leghorns, Buff Leghorns, etc—These varieties are in the hands of
breeders, but have not yet bred so true to feather as to gain access to the

Standard. :

SOO
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‘SNUOHDAT NMOUT

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CHAPTER XIII.

THE POLISH BREEDS.

Our readers have ‘learned, by this time, that the name of a breed of fowls
is not to be regarded as a sure indication of the place of its origin, and this is
especially the case with the breeds called Polish.. In the sixteenth century a
Bolognese scholar, Ulysses Aldrovandi, better known as simply Aldrovandas,
wrote a voluminous work on natural history, in which he described and figured
a number of varieties of fowls, among which was acrested fowl, which he called
the Paduan, or Patavinian. From his description of this fowl it was evidently
the progenitor of the modern breeds called Polish. How this name became at-
tached to these fowls cannot now be determined; certainly not on account of
either their origin or subsequent naturalization, as they are said by Mr. Teget-
meier to be unknown in Poland. It is surmised by the latter authority that the
name may be derived from the peculiarity, of the head, or poll, and that pollish
or polled has become Polish. Taking this peculiarity as their chief characteristic
it would seem appropriate to include all the crested breeds—the Houdans, Creve-
ceurs, etc.—among the Polish, and this is done by some authorities.

Of the characteristics common to all Polish fowls the most peculiar, as above
stated, is the crest, which in the cocks is composed of long and pointed feathers,
closely resembling those of the hackle, and in the hens of feathers of the ordi-
nary character—rounded at the extremity. This crest in both sexes rises from a
globular protuberance, situated on the fore-part of the skull, and formed by an
enlargement of the skull itself; the size of the crest is proportionate to the rize
of this protuberance. Asthis enlargement commences before birth it is possible
to select birds which shall be well crested, as soon as they are hatched, by noting
the comparative sizes of their protuberances. The combof crested birds 1s gen-
erally very small, sometimes almost entirely extinct, but when present it is always
double, its two horns giving it the appearance of an inverted crescent. Owing
to a deficiency in the bones of the upper mandible, the nostrils of crested fowls
are generally somewhat flattened.

White Crested Black Polish—These are the oldest and best known of the
Polish fowls. On dry soils, and where not unduly exposed to rain or wind,
they are almost unexcelled as layers, being non-sitters; but 1 exposed, wet sit-
uations they are extremely liable to roup and other disease, and when once dis-
eased are extremely difficult to restore to health. In size they are medium, the
hens weighing four to five pourfds, the cocks five to six. Their distinguishing
characteristics are a large, white si eh comb; large, red wattles; white ear-
134 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

lobes; and deep black plumage, with iridescent tints on the ne ie ees
saddle-feathers. There should be no admixture of black feathers t es e
crest, though there will always be a few small ones in front of it, but the fewer
ier these are, the better.
oti ciee! shows a tendency toproduce white or white-tipped feathers through
the plumage. The appearance of small spots of white on the tips of afew of the
feathers is regarded only as a defect; but if these spots are an inch or more in
length they disqualify the bird from competition in the show-pen. (See illustra-
Pree ae towards white in the plumage has been encouraged in different
directions until three different varieties have been produced in addition to the
one just described; namely, the Silver Spangled, Golden Spangled, and White
Polish. Of these it would seem that the last named should: have been the- first
sport from the original stock, from the tendency of black fowls to produce
albinos. In the attempt to fix a breed having the characteristics of these
albinos it would seem natural that fowls would be produced in which the white
plumage would be spangled with black. This, however, is merely conjecture,
as we have no history of the origin of these sub-varieties.
" The Silver Spangled Polish, or simply Silver Polish, as they are now frequently
called, are distinguished from the White-Crested Black by having entirely white ©
plumage, except that each feather is tipped with black, either, in the form of
a spangle or lacing.

The Golden Spangled Polish, or Golden Polish, differ from the above in that
the white of the Silver Polish feathers is replaced with a golden-bay color in the
Golden Polish. ;

The White Polish differ from the White-Crested Black in having a clear white
plumage throughout. This plumage may become tinged with yellow in old birds.

Bearded Polish.—Each of the three varieties last named is duplicated by a
strain which.possesses a tuft of feathers similar to those of the crest, which forms
a “beard,” and which almost completely hides the small and imperfectly devel-
oped wattles.

These “ Bearded Polish” fowls have lately become very popular, some fanciers
insisting that they are superior in size and vigor to the non-bearded varieties.

The term laced would better characterize the plumage of the parti-colored
Polish breeds than spangled, hence the latter term has been dropped from their
nomenclature by the American Standard, although either spangled or laced plum-
age is admissible. In weights the laced or spangled breeds are slightly heavier
than the black.

Blue or gray fowls are occasionally produced from the White Polish; cuckoo
colored birds are an occasional variation of the spangled breeds; and Buff, or
Chamois Polish have been developed in France from the Golden Polish, but
none of these variations have yet been permanently fixed.
these changes of color Mr. Tegetmeier says:

“It is a singular circumstance, that when a variation of color takes place in
the plumage of birds, the change from black to white appears to be much more .
sasily effected than from ‘any other color to white. Thus, when Black-Red and
White Game fowls are crossed, Piles are produced, in which the black disappears,

With reference to
POLISH. | 135

but the red of the saddle and hackle remains. By crossing a Golden Spangled

and White Polish, these Spangled Buff or Chamois Polish are produced, in which

the black spangle of the golden bird is changed into the white spangle of the
- buff, the ground color remaining unchanged.”

Black-bearded Polish are occasionally seen, but have not yet become a ‘fixed
variety. There’ once existed a Black-crested. White Polish, but the variety has
become extinct.

In gonelusion it may be said thatthe Polish, like the Hamburg strains, are
especially valuable for their beauty, and for their egg-laying propensities; but
they are better adapted to the wants of the gentleman of leisure than to those of
‘the poulterer who wishes to make a profit from his fowls, owing to their, small
size, liability to disease, and the difficulty of breeding them true to color.
CHAPTER XIV.

THE AMERICAN BREEDS.

As has been previously stated, the introduction of the Shanghe fowl, during
the fifth decade of the present century, was the origin of a deep and wide-
spread interest in poultry breeding, which has resulted in the great improve-
ment of many imported breeds, as well as the production, by crossing these
breeds with each other and with the original mongrel stock of the country, of
several entirely new breeds. ;

Among these the Light Brahma might appropriately be classed, as there seems
to be no evidence that this breed exists in India or China in the shape
in which we know it, The Brown Leghorn is another breed which owes
its origin to the selection of American fanciers. As these breeds, however, re-
tain in a very marked form the characteristics of other Asiatic or Mediterranean
breeds, they are described in those classes, while only such as have been pro-
duced here by a more independent method of crossing are ranked as Ameriean
breeds.

Of those thus described the Erminettes and American Sebrights have not yet
been admitted t6 the American Standard, but the great interest being taken in
the latter, especially, must soon result in its admission. Other crosses are be-
ing made in different directions, and the list of partially established American
breeds might be indefinitely lengthened, but none have yet been prominently

before the public sufficiently long to give a reasonable assurance of becoming
permanent, ,

THE PLYMOUTH ROCKS.

In 1849 Dr. J. C. Bennett, of Plymouth, Mass., exhibited a cross-bred strain of
fowls which he called “Plymouth Rocks.” These fowls were the result of cross-
ing several Asiatic bréeds and the Dorking, and were of uncertain, motley
colors. For ashort time they maintained a degree of popularity, but they soon
deteriorated and eventually became extinct.

Several years after the practical extinction of Dr. Bennett’s Plymouth Rocks,
anew breed sprang up, apparently simultaneously, from several parts of New
England, and, as a matter of course, as soon as the breed had had time to
demonstrate its good qualities, and to prove that the most valuable cross of @
century had been made, numerous claimants arose for the honor of having orig-
inated it, and a second “Light Brahma” war was wiged with great deter-
mination, one party claiming that a Mr. Spaulding, of Putnam, Conn., produced
the genuine Plymouth Rocks in sad a cross between a hawk-oolorell™
SOM GLEE A

r

“HellOd WOV1E Cy.

   
 

[187]
THE PLYMOUTH ROCKS. 139

dunghill cock and an Asiatic hen; another party claiming to have used “ Dom-
inique” and “Black Java” fowls in making the cross, ete. Upon this point the
editor of the Poultry World wrote as follows in March, 1876:

“When the smoke is cleared away it will be found that this breed (the Ply-
mouth Rock) has had several ‘independent origins. As oil and potash may
de united and soap made anywhere, so hawk-colored barn-door fowls may be
amalgamated with some Asiatic variety in any State in the Union and Plymouth
Rocks formed. # ;

“Mr. A. H. Drake, of Stoughton, Mass., has a strain of Plymouth Rocks
which he has bred for about nineteen years (he does not give the exact dates),
which has not a drop of the Spaulding blood, nor the slightest admixture from
any other strain. The basis of this breed was native, hawk-colored fowls found
in Mr. Drake’s neighborhood. Mr. Drake added something else to this basis,
but does not tell what. Mr. Spaulding’s Plymouth Rocks were founded, in part,
on hawk-colored barn-door fowls. So were Mr. Upham’s. We have word froma
Pennsylvania correspondent that on farms in Bucks county, in that State, fowls
have been found almost from time immemorial, that were identical with Ply-
mouth Rocks, and were produced, incidentally, by the introduction of Asiatic
blood into the common hawk-colored stock of the country. It must be kept in
mind that upon many farms in all parts of the land, twenty, fifty or one hundred
years ago, hawk-colored fowls were common. The modern Dominque fowl is noth-
ing more nor less than the hawk-colored, dunghill bird, improved by cultivation.
For that matter so is the Leghorn a genuine Italian dunghill fowl, improved.
And the Brahma is simply an Asiatic dunghill fowl; and the same may be said of
all the pure-bred varieties.” :

In our own earlier poultry experience, in farm-yards where the old “ Shanghees ”
had been crossed upon the common dunghill fowls, fowls with the peculiar plumage
of the Plymouth Rocks were a frequent occurrence; but no effort was made to
perpetuate this peculiarity, although “the old Dominica hen” was sometimes
more highly esteemed than any other inhabitant of the poultry-yard.

In further confirmation of this theory of the origin of the Plymouth Rock may
be noted the fact that the crossing of a pure Plymouth Rock cock upon a pure
Light Brahma hen produces a fowl which can scarcely be distinguished from
the pure Plymouth Rock. ;

Whatever may have been the origin of the Plymouth Rocks, however, they
are certainly to-day the most popular breed of fowls in the United States, and
deservedly so, since they combine more qualities valuable to the general poultry-
man than any other single breed. Hardy, excellent layers, early in maturing,
of good size, docile, and of beautiful plumage, they are pre-eminently the
farmer’s fowl. _

As now bred the Plymouth Rocks are of two shades of the same bluish-gray
color, resembling that of the Dominiques; the cocks being a few shades lighter
than the hens. The cocks show a tendency to breed quite light, and the hens
quite dark, which destroys the uniformity of the poultry-yard, a point which it
is desirable to maintain when not inconsistent with more valuable features
The Stendard requires that birds shall match in the show-pen ; and, to comply
with this requirement it is customary to make two matings, one of uniform fowls
140 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK,

for the show-pen, and one in which the cock is lighter colored than the hens—q
very light cock with very dark hens, and a cock of medium shade with hens less
dark, for breeding purposes. This is a troublesome practice, and we have no
doubt that before many years fowls of extreme coloring will be discarded as
breeders, and thus a more uniform strain produced, in which there shall be
little or no difference in the shading of the two sexes. ;

The cocks frequently show a tendency to a brassy coloring on the back and
wings, which the Standard discourages, and which fanciers are endeavoring to
breed out. In both sexes there is a considerable tendency to blue legs, which
breeders are endeavoring to get rid of; bright yellow legs and beak being re-
quired in Standard fowls.: In general shape the Dorking type is advocated by:
our best breeders, while in size the Plymouth Rocks rank between medium and -
large, the standard weight for the cocks being ten and a half, and for the hens’
eight and a half pounds. 7 ; ‘

The chicks feather early, those of a few weeks old being completely covered,
They are also hardy and easily reared.

The great popularity of these fowls, and the consequent demand for them, :
has prevented that care in selection which is essential to the highest success,

and therefore many very inferior fowls have been used as breeders; with the ;
effect of very much retarding the development of the strain. Itis to be hoped
that as they become more abundant and less high-priced the attention of fan-
ciers will be more strongly drawn towards the developing of the very good qual-
“ities which the breed possesses. Otherwise we shall soon begin.to hear of its.
decadence, : i
One of the signs of danger in this direction is the fact that there are frequent.
complaints of infertility in Plymouth Rock eggs; « trouble which should be,
guarded against by avoidance of in-breeding, by allowing but few ‘hens to the’,
cock, and by breeding only from the thriftiest cocks, (See frontispiece.) ss

AMERICAN DOMINIQUES.

This breed has the peculiarly marked plumage of the Plymouth Rocks, and is
supposed to be one of the parent stocks of that breed. The Domingues, how-
ever, have more of the Dorking type of form, having rose combs and large and
spreading tails: their plumage, moreover, has more of a bluish tinge, so that
they are described by English journals as resembling the Cuckoo Dorkings.
The Dominiques, like the Plymouth Rocks, should have smooth, yellow legs,
and should not show any brassiness in the saddle feathers of the cock. They
ahs smaller than the Plymouth Rocks, cocks weighing from seven to
; nn ae hens from five to six. They are good layers and sitters, and
a. can be no doubt thai, this breed is simply an improvement of the old!
hawk-colored, or Dominique fowl of the barn-yard, the rose-comb probably haw;
ing been added by a cross with the Hamburgs, :
  
 

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[141]
AMERICAN SEBRIGHTS, OR SEBRIGHT COCHINS, 143
ERMINETTES.

This is a new American breed, originated by Mr. John H. Sutliffe, of Bristol,
Conn., from a cross between a small pair of fowls brought from the West Indies,
which resembled the Leghorns in size and shape, but whose plumage was white,
evenly splashed with solid black feathers. By judicious crossing with the larger
breeds Mr. Sutliffe has been able to produce a fowl having this peculiarly
splashed plumage, combined with large size, feathered, yellow legs, and small
combs.

The Erminettes were first shown at the exhibition of the Central Connecticut
Poultry Association, held at Bristol, in December, 1874.

AMERICAN SEBRIGEHTS, OR SEBRIGHT COCHINS.

The first mention we find of this hyeed occurs in fRe Poultry World for March,
1876, in an article on “ New Varivsies,” by D. W. Hooker, who writes:

“Where and how this variety or.ginated I am unable to state, after diligent
inquiry. Ithas marks of both the Brahma and Hamburg. Thehead is crowned
with a good, double comb; wattles and ear-lobes both red and of medium size;
hackle black, striped with white; back broad, with black, Brahma-like tail;
breast white, deep and broad, and back and breast feathers deeply laced; wings,
primary feathers mestly white, and lower-wing coverts tipped with black, making
a distinct bar; legs short and slightly feathered, coloring throughout clear black
and white, with a tendency to gray on the hackle and saddle; weight, about
eight pounds for the cock and six for the hen. Their valued points are that
they are good layers the year round; they are not troublesome to break up from
sitting ; they are fine for the table, dressing a rich yellow; and while being good
foragers, they are not disposed to fly. a

“Though possessing the characteristics of a pure breed, so marked as to be
distinguished the moment the eye rests upon them, they have not yet bred true
enough to feather to knock at the door of the Standard. There is yet much
variety in the lacing; in some the comb shows yet the ‘pea,’ and in others the
Hamburg point. Some also are clean-legged. But with careful breeding they
have a fair prospect of becoming one of the most valued of our domestic fowls.
I trust their breeders will not dnock until their points become so established that
the fraternity shall bid them a cordial come in.” : .

In November, 1877, Mr. M. L. Kidder writes in the same journal of this breed,
adding the name American Sebright:

“Tn size they are much like Plymouth Rocks; in form they are like no. other;
bodiés are very deep and wide, carrying a large amount of the very best quality
of flesh. In color, as the name seems to indicate, the breast of the cock and the
entire body of the hen much resemble the beautiful white and black of the Sil-
ver-laced Sebright Bantams, except that the lacing is broader. Hens’ necks are
striped like Brahmas’, and they have a glossy, green-black tail, a little larger
than a Brahma’s. The hen has a very low, flat rose-comb. Her weight at ma-
turity is six to eight pounds. The color of the cocks; except the breast, is much
like that of the Dark Brahma; but the form is more like the Dorking. Weight,
eight to eleven pounds. Both have, or should have, clean, bright yellow legs,
144 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

free from feathering. They are very quiet, social birds, excellent layers, sitters
and mothers, without that inveterate sitting propensity of all ‘Asiatics. The
chicks feather early. grow plump at-six weeks, and are prime for the table after
eight weeks old. They are very hardy and lipatiye and for general food quali-
ties and purposes I have never raised their equal.’

In September, 1879, Francis Soule writes in the same journal of this breed,
calling it the American Sebright, as follows:

“At the last exhibition of the Massachusetts Poultry Association, held in
Boston, I called the attention of-two of the committee to my fowls, and asked
what prospect there was of their being admitted into the Standard.’ They said
they were fine birds, and the breeders of this variety should agree upon the
standard. But as long as some want single combs and some rose-combs; some
feathered legs and some smooth legs, they cannot agree to admit them.” _

Mr. Soule further ‘proposes that breeders agree upon rose-combs and
smooth, yellow legs—-such fowls, in short, as are shown in_our illustration, on
p ge 145. --

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[140]
si

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CHAPTER XV.

BANTAMS,

+ The Bantam fowls are simply dwarfs of the ordinary breeds, their size having
been reduced by taking advantage of occasional “ sports,” and preserving thisad-
vantage by judicious selection and breeding.

Fowls of the diminutive size of the Bantams have been known since the
time of Pliny, but the most noted breeder of Bantams as a specialty, was Sir
John Sebright, who in 1800 originated the varieties now known as the Goldenand
Silver Sebrights, or Golden and Silver-laced Bantams.

These breeds, which are properly but modifications of one breed, differing only
in the ground-color of their plumage, were originated by crossing a common
Bantam with a Polish fowl, and breeding the cross thus obtained to a hen-feath-
ered Bantam cock which Sir John accidentally found. These crosses were followed
up by many years of the most careful breeding, until now the Sebrights are
among the most beautiful of fowls. ;

The plumage of the Sebrights is of a golden ground-color in the Golden variety,
or of a silvery-white color in the Silver, each feather being distinctly laced with
black. In the smaller feathers of the neck and thighs this lacing produces a
darker color, while in the larger feathers of the wings and tail the lighter ground-
color predominates.

The Sebright cocks are completely hen-feathered, being devoid of hackle, sad-
dle, and sickle feathers. In carriage they are very erect and proud, so much so
as to remind one of the strutting of a turkey-cock—the head and tail nearly
touching, and the wings nearly reaching the ground. In disposition they are very
pugnacious, always ready for a battle, and not hesitating to attack much larger
adversaries. i

The hens are restless and active, and are fair layers, but their eggs are apt to
to be infertile, especially when they run with perfectly hen-feathered cocks. A
very slight divergence toward cock-feathering, in the Sebright cock, either in the
extension of two of the tail feathers—though but for half an inch—or in a ten-
dency toward saddle feathers, has been found to be attended with increased
fertility in the eggs; but such a tendency is discoumensneed 4 in the exhibition-
pen.

The comb must be double, or rose shaped, erect, full of points, and ending in
a good peak behind; the wattles are small, florid or livid in color, those of the
hen, especially, being quite compact. White ear-lobes are sought after, but are
difficult to obtain, and hence a red ear-lobe is nota disqualification. The legs
and feet are slate-colored, and free sere ae Twenty ounces is given by
148 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

Mr. Hewitt as the extreme weight for the Sebright cock, and sixteen ounces for
the hen, but the American Standard allows twenty-six and twenty-four ounceg
respectively.

Black Bantams.—In this breed the plumage of the cock is of an iridescent
black hue throughout; that of the hens a jet black. The tail is full, with well
arched sickle feathers in the cock; and carried well forward towards the head,
The comb is of the rose variety; the ear-lobes white; the wattles and face red;
the legs short and black, or leaden-blue in color.

In the English Standard the Black Bantams are disqualified if the eocks weigh
above twenty ounces, or the hens above eighteen ounces each, but in the Ameri-
can Standard six ounces more are allowed to each sex.

White Bantams.—In this breed the plumage is of aclear white throughout, and
the legs and feet are white. White Bantams have been bred so small in England ©
as not to reach a pound and three quarters per pair; but the English and Amer-
ican Standards allow the same weights as for the black breed.

The chief fault of the White Bantams is a tendency in the cocks to assume a_
yellowish tinge in the feathers of theshouldersand saddle. The White Bantams
have rose combs and red ear-lobes.

Booted White Bantams.—Feather-legged Bantams were formerly quite common
in England, but of their several varieties only the white has been retained by
modern breeders. This breed has single combs, and is distinguished by the
heavy feathering of the legs, which are heavily vulture-hocked; the shanks may
be white or yellow, but white is preferred, and they must be feathered to the end
of the outside toes. ce

The long vulture-hocks prevent these fowls from scratching, hence they may
be kept in gardens where other fowls would do mischief. There should be no
yellowish tinge in their plumage. :

Pekin, or Cochin Bantams.—This singular breed of fowls, illustrated on page
151 is said to have first been brought to the notice of English fanciers at the
sacking of the Summer Palace at Pekin. “ During the occupation of the Palace
by the British, a pair of these Bantams used to come daily into the officer’s tent
to be fed; andas a quantity of spoil was being collected to be sent to England
these two were caught up and forwarded. This pair were the progenitors of all
those since rearedin England. Thevery closein-and-in breeding necessitated by |
the introduction of only a single pair has had its inevitable result in want of
fertility in the eggs, and great mortality of the chickens; consequently the great
drawback to these very singular little birds is the extreme difficulty of breed-
ing them; as the chicks die in the shell, at various stages of development.” *

No further description of these birds is needed than to say that they are simply
miniature Buff Cochins; the color and feathering being almost the same; the
difference being in the size, the standard weights for these being the same as for
other Bantams. ‘

It has been attempted to remedy the defect in constitution to which Mr. Teget-
meier refers by crossing this breed with the White Feather-legged Bantam and
then breeding out the cross with results which promise to be satisfactory.

*Tegetmeier. *
BANTAMNS., 149

Japanese Bantams.—These, as our illustration shows, are among the oddities
of the poultry-yard. They are of Japanese origin, as their name implies, and,
with a frizzled-feathered Bantam, are the only breeds which that country has as
yet furnished us. When first introduced they were of several colors, but the
Standard has settled upon white for the body color, with black tails.

The standard weights are the same as for other Bantams; the carriage is very
upright; the comb single and very large, and the-wattles large and pendant.
(See illustration, page 157.) .

Game Bantams.—All the varieties of the Game fowl are reproduced in minia-
ture in the form of‘Game Bantams,” for which no other description is neces-
sary than to say that the Standard for the larger varieties is applied throughout
to the Bantams, except in size, the standard weights for the latter being twenty-
two ounces and twenty ounces for the cock and hen respectively.

In addition to the varieties of Bantams above described there are several
others, which have at one time or other been cultivated, but which it would be
unprofitable to enumerate here, as they are chiefly obsolete, or else mongrel
strains not likely to be recognized as Standard fowls.

Bantam chicks in general are a little more sensitive to wet weather while quite
young, than those of larger breeds, but after a few weeks they are equally hardy
and easy to raise. The use of the Bantams is chiefly as pets, although they are
in general fair layers, and probably give a fair returm-for the food consumed. ,
CHAPTER XVI.

MISCELLANEOUS BREEDS,
SULTANS.

These are a diminutive white fowl, weighing from three to five pounds,
heavily crested, feather-legged, and yulture-hocked.- They. were first imported
in 1854 by a Miss Watts of Hampstead, England, from Constantinople, where
they were called Serai-Laook, or Fowls of the Sultan. They seem not to have
been abundant in Turkey, as Miss Watts failed to secure a second consignment,
The pure Sultans of to-day, are therefore descendants of the original trio im-
ported to Hampstead, and are hence not very abundant, while. they have
been closely in-bred. Their chief value is, like that of the Bantams, for orna-
ment and for children’s pets. ;

SILEIES.

The peculiarity of these fowls is that the webs of the feathers are separated,
so as to give the plumage the appearance of hair, rather than of feathers. The
quill feathers of the wings have the filaments so much divided as to be useless
for flight, and the tail, in the best specimens, is but little more developed than
that of the Cochins. The comb is usually depressed and warty, and, with the
wattles, of a deep purple color. The ear-lobes are generally bright blue, the legs
and feet blue, as also the skin and the periosteum, or bone covering, a fact
which makes these fowls quite undesirable for the table. The plumage of the
Silkies is clear white; they possess a crest, and a fifth toe, the shanks and outer
toes being feathered. The carriage of the birds is rather low and Cochin-like.

The loose plumage of the Silky fowls

gives them the appearance of greater
weight than they possess; ea

the hens weighing generally but two pounds, and the
cocks two and a half. On account of their small size they are frequently classed
with the Bantams, and they are chiefly valuable to lovers of the curious, or to
those who wish to domesticate the smaller wild fowl, as quails, pheasants ete.
For this purpose they are exceptionally valuable, being very docile, excellent
mothers, and able, on account of their loose plumage, to brood a large number
of chicks.

The Silkies have long been cultivated. We find an account of a
fowl, which was undoubtedly the Silky,
who wrote at Zurich during the sixtee
Aldrovandus, a century later.

; “wooly”
in the works of Conrad von Gesner,
nth century; and again in those of

f150)
 

' peEKIN BANTAMS.

  

ying
JAPANESE FUR FOWLS—FRIZZLIES—RUMPKINS. 153

JAPANESE FUR FOWLS,

These are a variety of the Silky fowl, but are distinguished from that breed
by having a white skin; red face, comb and wattles, the comb being of the
“rose” shape; and in being heavily crested and bearded. They were first im-
ported into the United States in 1872 by Geo. H. Carey, of New York, accord-
ing to a statement in the Poultry World for May, 1879.

This breed is not yet recognized in the American Standard.

FRIZZLIES,

_ This name appropriately describes a breed of fowls which was described by
Aldrovandus, and has been known ever since. Itis stated by Temminck that
this breed is widely domesticated in southern Asia, Java, Sumatra, and all the

‘Phillipine islands, and that its prevailing color is white, although there are
many black and brown specimens. As bred in the United States the Frizzlies
are of all colors, from white to black.

Their distinguishing peculiarity is the curious disposition of the feathers to
curve forward towards the head, giving the bird the appearance of having been
roughly “rubbed the wrong way.”

The English writers on poultry do not give the Frizzlies a good character for
constitution nor productiveness; but several American breeders speak of them
as being very hardy and excellent layers; enduring the cold of winter well, and
attaining an average weight of five or six pounds.

RUMPKINS.

The Rumpkins, or Rumpless Fowls, were also described by Aldrovandus, —
which shows them to be an old breed. The name is derived from the absence of -
the last vertebrae of the back, those which support the fleshy protuberance from
which the tail grows, consequently the fowls are tailless. Their origin has been
ascribed by Temminck to the forests of Ceylon, but this conclusion is pronounced
premature by E, L. Layard, who, writing from Ceylon in 1850 to the “ Gardeners
Chronicle,” says: “The Rumpless Fow! is not an inhabitant of this island. It
is a rather rare, tame introduction from Cochin, I am told. ‘It may appear like
boasting, but I can confidently say I am more acquainted with the Ceylon fauna
than any man living, and that if the bird had existed wild I must have seen it.
Wollikikili (the name given by Temminck to the supposed wild Rumpkin) “is
the name for the female of Gallus Stanleyi, meaning literally Wall, jungle, and
Kikii hen, The name of the Rumpkin is Choctkukullo, literally, Cochin
fowls. ” 7 :

Mr. Tegetmeier quotes the above with approval, and further says: ‘“ There
can be no doubt that the Rumpless fowl does not exist in a wild state in any
region of the Globe, It has evidently taken its rise in an accidental variation,
which has been perpetuated by the care of man; its continued existence is a
very good example of the perpetuation of a variety by the process of artificial
selection. ‘?

Mr. Hewitt is quoted by Tegetmeier as saying with regard to these fowls :—

at It is difficult to breed them to any particular color; as with the most rigid
154 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

care in the selection of the brood stock, the chickens sport into nearly every
variety of marking and ground-color. The only birds of this kind that I ever
knew to breed truly—so far as color was concerned—were purely white ones.

“ Extraordinary differences in point of size exist in these fowls; some spec
imens range as heavily as six and « half to seven pounds each; others do not.
exceed two and a half or three pounds, Some have small lark-crests; others—
and these constitute the majority--have none. As usually met with they appear
to possess no distinguishing formation of comb; rosy, cupped, and flat combs
being equally prevalent. There is, therefore, no positive standard that can be
laid down as the peculiarities of this variety save the one to which their name refers,

“T now proceed to mention a still more perplexing proof of their versatility
of character ; a friend of mine purchased a successful pen at a poultry show,
taking them away to a walk where no other fowls ever trespassed; and yet the
chickens were, in a considerable number of instances, furnished with fully-de-
veloped tail-feathers, being not rumpless. On inquiry of the previous owner,
he'stated: ‘Mine have always done so from the time I first kept them; but the
tailed birds will very probably produce rumpless chickens.’ Three such birds
were then purposely retained; and they produced the next year, more than
twenty youngsters, all of which, but one, were rumpless and, destitute of tail
feathers. The white ones I have before alluded to, occasionally produced
chickens that were not rumpless, but only rarely. I believe Rumpless fowls to
be hardy, as even in exposed situations, on the sides of Welsh mountains, they
continue in good health and prosper well, even in cases where the fowls at all,
times shift for themselves, and but slight attention is shown to the chickens.
I can willingly add my testimony, likewise, to the good quality of a Rumpless
fowl on the dinner-table, the flesh being abundant, white, firm, and of good
flavor; but, as a drawback to their utility, it may be stated that all Rumpless
fowls are sadly prone to lay unfertilized eggs.” :

With regard to the above defect Mr. Tegetmeier states that it is purely
mechanical, and may be remedied by cutting away or shortening the drooping
saddle-feathers of the hens during the breeding season.

CREEPERS.

These fowls, known in Scotland as Dumpies, or Scotch Bakies, and .in France
as Courtespattes, are distinguished by their extremely short legs, the shank
bones of well bred birds frequently not exceeding two inches in length, in birds
weighing from five to seven pounds.

Although a good fowl, being docile, good: at laying and sitting, and superior-
for the table, this breed is now but little cultivated. It would seem, however,
to be worthy of attention as a means of reducing the tendency in some other
breeds to become leggy.

BLAOK RUSSIANS.

This breed, though recognized by the Standard, is extremely rare. It seems
to have been first introduced into the United States by way of New Orleans, and

to have traveled thence up the Mississippi to Iowa. It has subsequently been
imported into Connecticut.
GRAY LIVONIANS. 155

The fowls are of medium size, greenish black in color, with rose or double
combs, and heavy beards, or muffs., They are round and compact in form, their
flesh of good quality, and they are reported to be extraordinary layers.

GRAY LIVONIANS.

Northern Europe, from Denmark through Finland to Livonia, in northern
Russia, possesses a fowl which is almost the exact counterpart of the American
Dominique, but which has been originated in one of those countries.

As this fowl is greatly esteemed in those high latitudes it would seem de-
. stable io import it into the northern United States. :

es

 
CHAPTER XVII.

TURKEYS.

Naturalists at present recognize but two species of wild turkeys—the Meleagris
gallopavo, and the M. ocellato. Of these the first embraces two varieties, the
typical UM. gallopavo, which is the wild turkey of the South-western United
States and Mexico, and the Uf. sylvestris of Canada and the Northern United
States. These varieties were formerly classed as different species, under the
names of VM. Mevicana and M Americana, but as they differ but little, except in
color of plumage, they have latterly been regarded as but one species.

HY. ocellato is the rare and beautiful Ocellated Turkey of Central America,

In former geological epochs, at least three other species of Meleagris have ex-
isted withtn the limits of the present United States; the remains of two species,
M. Altus or superbus, and M. celer, having been found in the Post Pliocene of
New Jersey, and of another, Hf. antiquus, in the Miocene beds of Colorado.*

Anatomically the turkey is closely related to the Guinea fowl: Hence, the
generic name, Meleagris, the ancient name of that fowl; while the specific
name, gallopavo, is compounded of the names of the barn-door fowl, Gallus, and
of the peacock, Pavo.

Ornithologists now generally believe that the wild turkey of Mexico was the di-
rect parent stock of the domesticated turkey, basing this belief upon the facts that
this variety shows more tendency toward the variation in the color of the plum-
age which characterizes the domestic fowl, as its wing coverts and tail feathers
contain some white. Another argument in favor of this theory is that the species
or variety existing in the vicinity of the comparatively civilized Mexicans would
probably have been brought into domestication long before that whose habitat
was among the roving Indians to the northward. That the turkey had been
domesticated by the Mexicans is shown by the fact that it was introduced into
Europe from Mexico or the West Indies by the Spaniards, early in the sixteenth
century

The following interesting historical notes were written by Prof. E. L. Sturte-
vant for the National Live Stock Journal:

“Mexico was discovered by Grigalva, in 1518. Cortez, in 1519, on the marek to
Cempoalla, saw the wild turkey, which is described as a species of peacock
(Diaz). Peter Martyr refers ‘to the turkey; whose “females sometimes lay
twenty or thirty eggs;” and Clavigero and Oviedo also notice this bird. At
Cibola, New Mexico, in 1540, Coronado found “ certain guinie cocks, but few,”
and kept by the natives for their feathers; but he found them “ excellent good,

*Prof. Theodore Gill. in Johnann’s Cwelanedin *
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TURKEYS. 159

and greater than those of Mexico.” Antonio de Espego, 1583, speaks of them as
“hens of the country.” Benzoni, 1572, says they are only found “ in the terri-
tories of Guatemala, of Cape Fonduri, and Mexico;’ that they have been brought
to Europe, and that this species of peacock is commonly called the Indian
fowl.

“This noble bird, says Prescott, was introduced into Europe from Mexico. The
Spaniards called it gallopavo, from its resemblance to the peacock. Baird says it
is reported to have been introduced into England in 1541, and in 1573 had be-
come the Christmas fare of the farmers. In 1526 it had already been transported
in a domestic state to the Antilles.

“There can, however, be no question of the fact that the turkey was habitually
reared by the Mexicans at the time of the conquest. Bancroft furnishes refer-
ences which carry its domestication beyond the Mexicans of Montezuma’s time,
for in the splendid zoological gardens of that emperor, 500 turkeys were daily
killed for fook for the birds of prey. One of the chief offerings of the Zapotecs
was the blocd of the, to them, sacred turkey. The Nahuas kept and bred tur-
keys, quails, geese, ducks, and many other birds. In ancient Yucatan, the
Maya Nahuas had domesticated turkeys, ducks, geese, and other fowl.

“The American turkey, I. gallopavo (L), is a native of North America, from
Mexico to the forests of Lower Canada, but has not been found wild west of the
Rocky Mountains. We have noticed that Coronado, in New Mexico, found,
tamed by the Indians, a turkey “greater” than those of Mexico. Watson, in
his annals, says precisely, that “the Swedes on the Delaware tamed the wild
turkey. The Indians also tamed the turkeys and kept them near their huts.”
Thus, although we are willing to believe with Baird, that the M. Mexicana fur-
nished the first one eaten in France, served at a banquet given at the wedding of

Charles IX., in 1570, we deem it equally reasonable to believe that some of our
present birds, at least, trace their origin to the WM. Gallopave.* Perhaps it is
to this latter strain we are to assign those varieties which attain great size and
weight, such as the one sent by Mrs. Lounesbury, of Connecticut, in 1866, to Pres-
ident Johnson, which, not quite two years old, weighed-above 47 lbs.; or the still
larger one killed by A. Johnson, of Pulaski, Ky., which, according to sworn
statement, weighed 55 lbs. A slate-colored bird, exhibited at the Paris Exhibi-
tion, weighed 43 Ibs. Now Josselyn refers to wild turkeys in Massachusetts
which, when pulled and dressed, weighed 30 Ibs.; Wood calls for an extreme
weight, 40 lbs.; and when William Penn settled Philadelphia, the wild turkeys
were said to be so large and fat as to sometimes weigh 46 Ibs. Mr. Audubon
records a weight of 32 Ibs.

“The American Standard of Excellence, for use in judging, disqualifies Bronze
turkeys where the adults do not weigh 25 Ibs. and 16 Ibs. for the cock and hen
respectively ; Narragansett -turkeys must weigh 25 Ibs, and 15 Ibs; White tur-
keys, 20 lbs. and 12 lbs.; Black turkeys, 20 Ibs. and 12 Ibs.; Buff turkeys, 20 lbs.
and 12 Ibs.; Slate turkeys, 20 Ibs and 12 lbs.

“The turkey was atone time almost feral on the banks of the Parana (Darwin).

*It will be noticed that Sturtevant gives the name gallopavo to the variety named sylvestris
by Gill. It would seem more proper to give the name gallopavo only to the variety to which
Linneus originally applied it, which was, doubtless, that of Mexico.—Ep.
160 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

‘Was observed feral by Clarke in Circassia, in 1800. At Trebizoned the turkeys
abound (Curzon). :

“We see that six varieties are recognized in America. Darwin mentions four
in England, and a Buff-yellow breed, formerly in Holland, with an ample white
topknot; and Mr. Wilmot describes a White turkey cock with a crest. F, :
Michaux, in 1802, suspected that the common turkey had not descended from‘
one species alone, and even believed that English and French turkeys differed,
from having different proportions of the two parent forms.” “

Prof. Spencer F, Baird, in his work on the birds of North America, supports.
the hypothesis that, in addition to the wild species above named, there origin-"
ally existed another species, which was the original of our domestic bird ; that
this species was indigenous to the West India Islands, where it was tamed, and
then transplanted to Mexico, and from thence to Europe in 1520; and that ulti-
mately the wild original was exterminated by the natives; whiclr hypothesis
would explain the fact of our finding no wild turkeys at the present day which
closely resemble the domestic breeds. , ‘

This view, however, is not generally entertained by other naturalists. .- Charles
Darwin, in referring to it, says: :

“But, besides‘the improbability of a bird having long ago become extinet in
these large and luxuriant islands, it appears that the turkey degenétates in
India, and this fact indicates that it was not aboriginally an inhabitant of the
lowlands of the tropics.” ;

The North American wild turkey is thus described by Mr. Elliot:

“When full-grown, the male will measure four feet in length and nearly five
feet in the stretch of its wings. The naked skin of the head and neck is blue,
with the wattles red, as are also the legs. -The feathers of the neck and body
generally are a coppery bronze, changing in some lights to a greenish or pur-
plish shade, and margined with an opaque line of velvet black.. The back and
rump are also black, and tipped with a light chestnut. Near the end of the tail
isa band of black, broadest on the outer feathers, and narrowing as it ap-
proaches the central ones. Between the bars on the feathers is a confused
sprinkling of black. Neither upon the tail or its coverts is there any white,
and thisis one of the means by which the wild bird can always be distinguished
from the. domesticated. From the centre of the breast hangs a long, coarse,
hairy tuft, sometimes not found in the other sex. The female differs from the
male principally in being smaller in size, less brilliant in coloring, and in the
absence of: the spur, and of the flesh process at the base of the bill.

The following interesting account of the habits of the wild turkey was written
by Captain Flack, a noted sportsman and traveler:

‘ The wild turkey cock is never seen fairly but in the forest, The war-horse
described by Job, and the sorriest hack on Hampstead Heath, when his Sunday
troubles are over, would scarcely present @ greater contrast than does the wild
bird to the tame ; nothing alive shows more points of health and purity of blood
than does this fine bird. His clean, game head is fully four feet from the
ground, and his bright, hazel eyes are full of intelligence and suspicion—so
different from the dull expression of the tame bird. His great breadth of
shoulder, deep chest, and clean, firm step must strike the most superficial ob-
  
          

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TURKEYS, 4 163

server. The general tints of the gobbler—for he is a far handsomer bird than
the hen, and generally twice the latter’s size—are purpleand a deep, rich brown,
with various shades of gold and violet colors gleaming upon his close-lying
plumage as the sunlight plays upon its surface. The head and neck, when bare
of feathers, are of a darker blue than in the tame variety, whilst the tuft, re-
sembling horsehair, which. hangs from the breast, often measures, in full-grown
males, nearly a foot.

“Tf the weather is mild and warm towards the end of February, the forests,
just before and at daybreak, are filled with the gobblings of the cocks and the
responsive cluckings of the hens; and this continues through March and April.
By the close of the latter month the clucking has almost entirely ceased, as the
hens are upon their nests, which they keep carefully concealed from the gob-
blers. ° These latter, at this time, worn out with their amorous duties and bat-
tles with their rivals, are nearly mute ; and now, having nothing to fight about,
and being weak and thin, wander about by themselves through the summer, too
worthless for powder and shot. So poor are they that they have given rise to an
Indian proverb, ‘As poor as a turkey in summer.’ :

“The hen generally makes her nest some two or three hundred yards from
the edge of the forest, in the prairie, and never very far from water, to whieh,
being a thirsty bird, she makes about three visits a day—in the morning, at noon
and in the evening. Prairie sloughs, which run out some distance from the
main timber into the prairies, and which have some little timber upon them, are
favorite nesting-places, as she can steal from the forest, under the shelter of the
straggling timber, undetected by the gobblers, gain her nest on the prairie, and
sit in peace ; as the gobblers at this time, poverty-stricken and ashamed of them-
selves, seek the thickest parts of the woods to hide in, and rarely venture into
the open. But, poor or fat, whenever the cock finds a nest he breaks it up, and
he never neglects to break the skulls of all the young chicks he comes across.

“The chicks, when hatched, are very small, and covered with a more hairy
covering than the down which young chickens have. If the season be a
dry one they thrive very fast, as insect food is abundant; but whenever it is a
wet season the young ones ‘fare but middling,’ as they are particularly tender,
and are easily killed by damp, chilly weather. Upon the dryness of the season,
therefore, the turkey-hunter builds his hopes of the plentifulness of his game.

“By October the young birds have become nearly grown, and able to take care
of themselves; the hens have recovered the flesh which they had lost by sitting,
whilst leading their young in pursuit of the myriads of grasshoppers which
swarm on a southern prairie during the summer; and the gobblers having picked
up their good condition by feeding upon wild grapes, blackberries, mulberries,
nuts, grubs, and the thousand-and-one treasures scattered through the forest;
and so, all feeling strong and fat, they gradually join their forces and form ‘gangs’
as the backwoodsmen call them, often consisting of a hundred individuals or
more in each gang. From this ‘gathering of the clans,’ October is named the
‘Turkey month’ by the Indians.

“ At this season the turkeys wander over a great extent of country in search

‘of ‘mast,’ remaining in one place only so long as the acorns, pecan-nuts, and
other food remain plentiful; and when these are exhausted they move on in
164 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

search of more, rarely rising unless they have a river to cross, or are flushed by
a hunter’s dog, or by wolves, foxes, wild cats, etc. When the river to be crossed,
is a very wide one, such as the Mississippi, they often spend a day or two upon
its banks, as though considering the difficulties of the attempt. During this
time the males strut backwards and forwards, their ‘fans ’ expanded, their wings
sweeping the ground, and their throats rolling out gobble after gobble in quick
succession, as though trying to inspire the hens and young birds with courage
for the undertaking. Finally, when the courage of all has been wound up to

the proper pitch, the whole flock flies up into the tops of the highest trees, where °

they sit a short time longer, stretching their necks out towards the bank they
desire to gain, as though estimating the distance to be crossed, as well as gather-
ing breath for the prolonged flight. Ait last, seemingly at a given signal, all take
wing; but in their progress across there is always a descent, and few excépt the
strongest ever land much beyond the bank, the younger and feebler often fall-
ing into the water—not always to perish, for they can swim a little—but many
srequently gain the bank exhausted and bedraggled, only to fall a prey to wolves
or wild cats, which, warned by the two or three days’ gobbling on the opposite
bank, are on the look-out for ‘wrecks’ Very often the backwoods squatter also
profits by the flight, for having heard the noise, he prepares to secure a few to
lard down in a barrel for future consumption at his wigwam. Judging, from
former flights, where the ‘gang’ will make his side of the stream, he lies con-
ecaled, and when the fight does take place he takes advantage of the birds’
necessities, and secures ‘a right smart chance of ’em.’

“From October to February the turkeys remain, in larger or smaller companies,
together; when, as before stated, the preparations for breeding commence.

“The wild turkey, as an object of pursuit, is the shyest and most wary of all
game; even where they are plentiful and rarely hunted, the person who pursues
them must have some knowledge of the bird and its habits to hope for success.
When they are scarce, and have been much hunted, they become inconceivably
wild and suspicious, and only the veteran hunter can kill them; young, half, or
three-quarters grown birds are more easily killed.” ;

The Mexican wild turkey, I Gallopavo, as described by Mr. Gould, is consid-
erably larger than the variety found farther north, “but it has shorter legs, a
considerably larger and more expanded tail, conspicuously toned with black and
brown, and terminated with white; the tail coverts are very profusely developed,
largely tipped with white, and bounded, posteriorly, with a narrow line of black,
their basal portions being rich metallic bronze. The same arrangement of color-
ing also prevails in the feathers of the lower part of the flanks, and on the under
tail coverts, where it is particularly fine. The centre of the back is black, with
green, purplish, and red reflections; the back of the neck, upper part of the
back, and shoulders, are in some light bronzy, in others the color of fire; the
greater wing coverts are uniform bronzy brown, forming a conspicuous band
across the wing; all the primaries are crossed by mottled bars of blackish brown
and white, freckled with brown; all the under surface is fiery copper, intensely
brilliantin certain lights, and becoming darker towards the flanks,”

ath Ocellated, or Honduras turkey, is thus described by Mr. Tegetmeier:

¢ Ocellated turkey isa native of Guatemala, the province of Peten and Yuew
 

‘GUINEA COCK. ‘
THE BRONZE TURKEY. 167

tan. The extraordinary brilliancy of its plumage renders it almost equal in
beauty of coloring to the Impeyan Pheasant, which scarcely surpasses it in the
metallic lustre of the feathers, In size it is nearly equal to the common turkey.
At the base of the upper mandible of the bill is a long, fleshy caruncle, capable
of contraction and dilation as the bird is excited or tranquil. The head and part
of the neck are naked, and of similar livid color, but without those caruncles
or fleshy tubercles on the lower part which are so characteristic of the common
species, On the breast, the tuft of coarse hair, that forms so characteristic a
feature in the common turkey is absent.

“The feathers of the upper part of the body are mostly of a brilliant bronzed
green, terminated by two bands; thg first black, and that next the tip of a
golden-bronze color. Lower down the back the colors become more vivid, and
are tinted with emerald green, rich blue, or red, according asthe light falls upon
them. On the tail the bars or bands become broader and even more brilliant,
making each feather appear as if eyed or ocellated; and, from the arrangement
of the tail coverts there appear four rows of these brilliant metallic eyes. The
upper wing coverts are a rich, bright chestnut, which contrasts strongly with the
white of the feathers of the lower part of the wing.

“The entire plumage may be described as far more brilliant, varied, and beau-
tiful than that of any other turkey. The general appearance of the bird differs
widely from that of the domestic species. Several hybrids between this and the
ordinary species exist, and these have proved perfectly fertile, breeding freely
in domestication.”

DOMESTIC BREEDS OF TURKEYS.

The original varieties of domestic turkeys were but two, the Norfolk, or black,
and the Cambridge, or variegated. These varieties have latterly, however, been
elaborated into a larger number, by the skill of modern breeders in fixing certain
characteristics of color, until we have one or two varieties of white turkeys, of
which the White Holland is a very large, fine bird; the contrast of colors be-
‘tween the red neck, the black tuft or béard, and the snow-white plumage being
very beautiful. The buff color often seen in the common turkey has also been
fixed in a separate breed. Rhode Island has produced a large breed called the
Narragansett, the prevailing colors being a mixture of black and white, and also
an equally large dove or slate colored breed; and within a few years a new,
larger, and very fine variety called the Bronze turkey has been originated by
crossing with the wild M. sylvestris.

At several times since the domedatication of the turkey, birds with crests sim-
ilar to those of the Polish fowl haye appeared, but no breeder has yet been able
to fix this peculiarity so that it will be uniformly reproduced.

THE BRONZE TURKEY.

We quote from the American Agriculturist the following remarks upon this

splendid breed:
“ All things considered, we place the Bronze turkey atthe head of all the breeds
of this domesticated bird. The white, buff, black, slate, and other varieties, all
168 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

come from the wild turkey of our woods and prairies, which still exists in con-
siderable numbers in the newer states and territories. Occasional specimens of
the wild bird, generally old gobblers, are captured, which equal the heaviest
weights of the farm-yard, but the average of the wild birds is much lighter than
the average of a well-bred farm flock. The Bronze breed is the smallest de-
parture from the wild bird in respect to color, and a decided improvement upon
it, both in color and size. Nothing can exceed the brilliant plumage of a Bronze
cock-turkey, in his second or third year, and the females are hardly less attrac-
tive. The dirty, snuff color, which marks the wild birds, is entirely bred out of
them. This lustre of the plumage, assimilating to that of burnished gold in the
sunlight, has made the Bronze variety a great favorite with all admirers of fine
poultry. About everything known to the’arts of the breeder has been done for
the Bronze turkey to bring the stock to its highest perfection. They are the Short.
horns of the poultry-yard. They have been bred especially for size for a long
time, and when we select stock from a flock of thoroughbred birds, we have cer-
tain qualities fixed in them, which are reproduced in their offspring. They are
uniformly beautiful in plumage, and heavier than birds raised from the com-
mon stock. The increased cost of breeding stock is paid for in the larger average
weight of the turkeys slaughtered for the markets at Thanksgiving and Christ-
mas. The standard weights for adult birds of the Bronze variety, fixed by the
American Poultry Association, are, for males, twenty-five pounds; for females,
sixteen pounds; but these weights, in well-bred Hocks are often reached in the
first year, and adult pairs of forty-five to fifty pounds are not uncommon, an
sixty to sixty-five pounds are sometimes, though rarely, reached. It pays to
breed invariably from the best stock.” (See illustration, page 161.)~

MANAGEMENT OF TURKEYS. '

The following full directions for the management of turkeys were written bya
correspondent of the Country Gentleman:

“Comparatively few farmers who raise turkeys, make suitable preparations for
the business. These birds are recently reclaimed from the forest by the frequent
infusion of new wild blood, and it is taken for granted that they are capable of
taking care of themselves, and the more freedom they have the better it is for
them. This is one of the half truths that does a great damage in the rearing of
the crop. They have no yard for ‘them, often no roosts, and they are left to seek
their own nests, and to brood in the woods, where they are exposed to foxes and
other predaceous beasts, and birds of prey. Itis not uncommon for the hen
turkey to steal her nest in the woods, and to hatch out her brood without the
‘knowledge of her owner. While it is true that these birds need a ramble
through the summer, when they can get the most of their living in green pastures,
it is also true that they need restraint during the laying and hatching season,
and for the first three weeks after the chicks leave the nest. None of our domes-
tie birds are more susceptible of training, or take more kindly to the prepara-
tions that the wise poultryman makes for their thrift and comfort. During the
laying and hatching season, they want a good deal of attention, and for a part of
the day, at least, should be kept in a yard or orchard by themselves, where nesta
 

PEAFOWL.

[169]
MANAGEMENT OF TURKEYS. 171

have been prepared for them, and where they can be regularly fed and in-
spected.

“The success of the year depends very much upon your knowing where every
vird is, where she spends the day and especially where she lays and where she is
brooding. If you have failed to make their nests in the yard or building pre-
pared for them, it is best to leave the bird to finish her litter in the nest she has
selected. A few days after she has begun to brood, remove her to a secure place
in the yard or shed where you want her to sit. Put acoop over the nest, with
moveable slats in front, so that she can be fastened on her nest and let out at
pleasure, and put a few addled or artificial eggs in the nest until the bird gets
wonted to her new quarters. Remove her from her old nest at night and fasten
her upon her new nest, and keep her caged for three or four days. She will not
suffer in that time for want of food or water. Remove the board from the front
of the coop, and watch for her first coming off, about the middle of a pleasant
day. You may have to drive her back and cage her for a few times, butshe will
soon accept her new quarters, and sit as quietly as the other hens near her. It
may require some painstaking and watching to effect the change of base, but it
can always be accomplished. ‘

“Tt sometimes happens, in the process of incubation, that eggs are broken by
the hen as she turns them over to equalize the heat. Her instinct leads her to
remove the broken egg and to keep her nest clean; but she cannot always keep
the raw egg from the shells of the remaining eggs. This matter should belooked
after every day when the hens come from their nests, for the albumen and yelk
will stop the pores of the live eggs and kill them. While the turkey is off,
wash off the fouled eggs with warm water, wipe them clean, and after putting
in some clean hay, put the eggs carefully back againinto the nest. This is a fre-
quent ctuse of failure in the hatching of the eggs, and should have careful at-
tention. If the turkeys have had plenty of broken oyster or clam shells during
the laying season, or have been fed with a little lime mixed in the dough, they
will generally make thick-shelled eggs and escape this trouble. It saves a
great deal of time in watching for this and other causes of damage while the
hens are brooding, to have the nests all in one yard, or near to one another.
Generally the sitting hens will come off about the same time of day, and it will
take but a few minutes at this time to examine every nest, and ascertain if any
eggs have been broken and everything is going on satisfactorily.

“The period of incubation lasts thirty days, and on the thirty-first you may
listen for the evidence of new life in the nest. The old bird is expecting tha
advent, and answers the first peep from the broken shell with a soft, tremu-
lous sound, expressing her anxious emotions. This touching and plaintive note,
80 expressive of maternal sympathy, is continued as the chicks one after an-
other break out of their shells, and thrust their heads into her soft feathers
for warmth and protection. If the incubation has gone on prosperously, they
will all break the shell within a few hours of each other. If the mother bird
has been used to your presence, there will be no difficulty in approaching the
nest at this time and examining the chicks, Generally nothing needs to be
done but to remove the sheils, and this the hen will often attend to herself.
The chief damage at this time is from the stepping of the bird upon the chicks ;
172 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

but if they come out strong, they are generally safer in the nest than else-
where. If any are removed from the nest to the house for safe keeping, they
should be restored to the mother again at night, They need no food for the
first day after hatching, and you only need to feed the hen while she remains
upon the nest,

“Tf the weather is favorable, they should be removed from the nest on the day
following the hatching, or when the last chick isa day old. If the turkey is
gentle, you can take the most of the brood from under the hen and put them
in a basket before she will move. If she is uneasy and likely to flutter, and in-
jure the young, catch her first by the legs, and catch the chicks after.
wards. To guard against lice, wash the old turkey on the underside of the
wings and on the body with a strong decoction of tobacco. This will do no.
harm if she is free from vermin, and will be sure to kill them, if she has them.
If the young turkeys get-lousy, put on ointment made of yellow snuff and
grease, on the under side of the wingsand naked parts of the body.. An ounce
of prevention is worth a pound of cure in this case. If they are drooping and
act sleepy you may know there is trouble. Yard them immediately. Examine
every bird, and apply. the snuff ointment. You cannot expect to raise a large
flock of turkeys without careful attention to little things. It is a-good plan to
mix a little sulphur with the dough occasionally, which is distasteful to the
parasites that infest them. =

“When first taken off, the chicks should be confined, while the mother has
her liberty. I have never found anything better for this period of their lives
than a pen made of boards a foot wide, twelve or fourteen feet in length, and set
up edgewise in the form of a triangle. A shoft board laid across the corners
will make a good shelter in case of rain The hen may be left at liberty. She
will not go far from her brood, and it will be several days before they will be
strong enough to get over the top of the boardfence. Seta shallow pan in the
yard, and see that it is supplied with fresh water every morning, and with a
dough made of coarse ground Indian meal, fine chopped boiled eggs and new
milk, or other suitable food. They do not want a great deal of food, but want
it often after they begin to eat. They may be kept confined in this yard for
two or three days, then taken out for a few days after the dew is off in pleasant.
weather, and returned again before night. If any of the chieks are wet, and
need more hovering than the old bird gives them, they may be wrapped in cot-
ton or wool and put in a basket under a stove or near the kitchen fire, or what
is better, put under a sitting dunghill fowl for a few hours.

“The natural instinet of the turkey leads her to wander about in search of food
for her young. This is a necessity for herself and for her brood, and the habit
of roaming should be encouraged as soon as the chicks are able to bear it. .For
the first month they should not be out of sight of the attendant for more than an
hour at a time, except at night, and then he should know where she broods her
flock and where to find her in the morning If the old birds are inclined to
wander too far, or into the mowing and grain fields, tie a shingle across the
wings of the old ones, with the string close to the body, so that they cannot fly
Then if your fences are in good order they can be kept in place about as readily
as sheep or pigs. This will not interfere with their_eovering their voung at
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[173]
MANAGEMENT OF TURKEYS. 175

might, or during showers. After two months they will get the larger part of
[their food for themselves, and should be encouraged to visit the more distant
{pastures and woodlands of the farm. After a light feed in the morning drive
\them afield, where grasshoppers and other insects are plenty.
: “It is quite essential to the best success in raising turkeys, that some one per-
‘gon in the family should have charge of the birds from the time that they begin
to lay until they are ready for slaughter in the fall or winter. A little boy or
girl, an aged person past hard work, or a trusty servant, having this for the chief
part of his duty, should be the watchman. Where a dozen hen turkeys are
kept, it will pay for this minute supervision. To be sure, a good many turkeys
are raised under very careless management, but a great many more that are
batched, and generally the larger part, are lost for want of timely attention.
Heavy dews, tall grass, stormy days, dogs, foxes, hawks, crows, and other creat-
ures, are enemies that need to be guarded against. The attendant should know
where every clutch is for three weeks after hatching, during every hour of the
day, and where the roost is. As they grow older, more liberty may be allowed,
but they should be taught to come home to the one roost prepared for them
early every evening. Turkeys have lively memories of their feeding places, and
if they are fed regularly about four o’clock in the afternoon, which is the last meal
the old birds or half-grown young should have, they will be seen or heard wend-
ing their way home from all parts of the farm, in good season for the evening
meal, giving time for counting, and for looking up the stragglers, if any are
missing. If the owner of the flock holds the attendant to strict accountability
for watching and counting every night, and occasionally counts himself, to
see that the reckoning isright, he will save agood many turkeys in the course of
& season. ‘

“By setting the turkeys in groups of two, three or four ata time, and near
each other, they will all come off at the same time, and learn to keep company
together, and to feed in the flocks through the summer. It is much better to
have several groups or herds feeding separately, than to have all the turkeys
on the farm feeding in one flock, or scattering promiscuously in all directions.
They will gather more food, thrive better and require much less time in looking
after them. :

“ Among the worst enemies of the young turkeys after they begin to ramble,
are the tall grass and prain crops. While the hen gets on well enough, the
young get tired, sit down, and the mother bird is soon out of hearing. The
chick struggles on for a time, but soon perishes for want of food and hovering.
Asarule, the flocks of careless managers suffer more from this cause than all
others combined. They drop off one by one, especially on cold, foggy days, and
the loss is so gradual that it is hardly noticed without daily counting. The flocks
must be kept out of the mowing fields, the oats, rye and barley. Unless this be
done, success with this crop will be very small. Turkeys do not succeed so well
upon the prairies, and upon rich bottom lands, mainly from this cause. They
succeed well in New England, and in the dairy regions where there are extensive
pastures, with hilly or well drained soils. ‘They have more turkeys to the
square acre in Rhode Island and Eastern Connecticut, because this region
abéunds in dry, gravelly loams,.pastures with short feed, and oak and chestnut
176 THE COMPLETE POULTRY .BOOK.

forests, which furnisha large amount of food. The owners of rather poor farms
with a large share of huckleberry pasture, can be thankful that they have a first-
rate chance to enlarge the poultry crop, and make money.

“ Food for Young Turkeys.—There is a good deal of nonsense published in
the books about the feeding of young turkeys, and the ‘flocks later in life. The
simple fact is that this bird is a voracious feeder, to which hardly anything in
the list of animal and vegetable diet comes amiss. The principal need of cau-
tion in the few days after hatching is in the direction of overfeeding. They
want very little, and want it often, and nothing should be left upon the feed-
ing-board or run to grow sour, or to become mixed with the excrement before
the next feeding. Some tell us to plunge the chicks into cold water, to make
them hardy. A worse thing could hardly be done. Others say, make them
‘swallow a whole peppercorn,’ which is about as indigestible as a bullet,
Others advise to give them a little ‘ale, beer or wine,’ taking counsel of their
own perverted appetites. The-turkey craves a mixed diet of grain and animal
food from the start, and this can be supplied in a great variety of forms. Most
farmers, especially on dairy farms, have the best food for them close at hand.
The best staple food is Indian corn, ground coarse, mixed with new milk. Add
to this a hard-boiled egg, chopped up fine, and you have a complete food for
young turkeys. A pint of meal to one egg, with milk enough to just moisten
it, is agood mixture for the first few days. Then chopped onion tops and grass,
or cabbage, may be added. The old ones will eat of this dough,, but cannot
get it all, The chick will be able to get crumbs enough to meet its wants,
Boiled liver is a good substitute for eggs. As they grow older, chopped raw
meat, or fish, may be given. Milk is always in order, and among the best foods
for the growing birds all through the season.

“One of the most successful turkey-raisers that I know of, robs the pigs to
give sour and skimmed milk to his turkeys through the summer. He has a
long trough, into which the milk is poured every morning, and. the turkeys
have all they can drink, There is generally enough left in the trough to entice
them back from their rambles at an early hour to the roost. He frequently
raises two hundred turkeys in a season, and never has a failure of the crop.
Indian corn is the best food forthe half-grown and adult birds, and they never
seem to get tired of it. All kinds of grain are keenly relished, and it is well to
give an occasional feed of oats, buckwheat, wheat or barley, for change of diet.
‘As the fattening season approaches, along in October, many farmers feed with
a mixture of boiled potatoes and Indian meal, or oats and corn ground to-
gether. This is given warm every morning, and where pigs are fed it is a very
convenient preparation. But there is probably nothing more economical than
corn, as the staple food through the year. Young turkeys should not be fed
after five o’clock in the afternoon. Instinct does not teach them to feed at night.
If they have a good range in summer, they will return from their rambles with
their crops full of insects, and all they want is a safe roost, and time to digest
what they have eaten. Any kind of cheap animal food, given occasionally,
will help their growth in seasons or places where insects are not abundant. One
of the cheapest of these is boiled beef scraps, or mutton seraps, from the buteh-
er’s. This comes in cakes, and costs about a cent a pound. Fruit and vegeta~
‘su0nd AAODSOR,

 

(7)
MARKING THE TURKEYS. 179

bles, couned or raw, are wholesome ‘diet and easily procured, and make a good
change of food. A valuable outfit in raising turkeys is a bed of cracked oys-
ter shells, or clam shells, where the birds can help themselves, which will be
often. If you put a barrel or. two in the road, the hoofs of horses and the wheels
of vehicles will do the crushing without cost.

“ Shelter for the Young Turkeys.—If you mean business in raising this crop, see
that the hen and her brood are safely housed every night for a month at least
‘after hatching, A vacant stable, or shed, or barn-floor, or hovel, furnishes suit-
able shelter, and with little trouble after the habit is established. The prime
object of this shelter is to guard the young against water and other enemies.
Showers often come up in the night and drench the mother bird, and if she at-
tempts to move, some of the young will be drowned. Then, in the open field,
they are exposed to skunks, foxes and weasels, and sometimes to thieves in hu-
man shape, who can bag your birds at midnight and remove them to unknown
parts. Then the young chicks that roost on the ground for the first month, are
more likely to have straight breast bones than those that take to the roost and
balance their bodies on a fence rail, or the small limb of a tree. The birds
get accustomed to go into the barn and other buildings, and it. is much less
trouble to yard them in the fall or winter, when you want to sell them for stock
or for slaughter. *

“Marking the Turkeys.—Turkeys are taxable property in Connecticut, and the
owner is liable for damages done by them iu this State, and this ought to be the
case in all the States. A man should be able to identify his turkeys as readily
as his sheep, for they are more likely to stray and to do damage to growing
cro).s. As a matter of convenience, it is well for near neighbors to breed
turkeys of different colors, so that each owner can distinguish his own at sight,
and keep them within bounds. It will save a good many steps in the course of
the year. Colors have been established by our popular breeders, so that there
is rarely a sport of strange feather in a flock of hundreds. The Bronze type is
only a short remove from the wild turkey, and the plumage is as uniform from
one generation to another as that of the original stock. So we have black,
white, buff, slate and other colors, which are propagated with great uniformity.
It is not difficult at all for neighbors to agree upon breeding different colors, so
that every man will know his own birds as far as he can distinguish colors. A
convenient time to do the marking is in the fall when you select birds for
breeding, which should be the heaviest and most perfect birds of the flock.
Some sew upon the right leg a strip of leather about an inch wide, leaving it

loose so that it will slip up and down readily, and leave room for growth. Some
use a strip of cloth of a given color, as their turkey mark. Some cut off one
of the toe nails when they are chicks, or when the birds are selected for breed-
ing. Enter your mark in your poultry-book, so that it may be available for
reference in case of dispute or litigation. It may save a good deal of trouble
and hard feeling among neighbors, You should be able to swear to your own,
property, and to keep your birds upon your own Jand. An ounce of prevention
is worth a pound of cure in neighborhood quarrels. ‘ .

_ “Many turkeys die off very suddenly by carelessly leaving salt in their way.
Sometimes the old brine is turned out from meat or fish barrels. Sometimes it
180 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

is left upon rocks, or in troughs, where cattle and sheep are salted in the
pastures. I notice that along the sea-board, where it is not the custom to salt
cattle, turkeys succeed much better than they do farther back. This may be
one reason of the large reputation of Rhode-Island turkeys. The whole State
is exposed to the sea air, and the pastures where the birds ramble are free from
salt licks, Put your refuse salt where the turkeys cannot find it.

“How to Fatten Turkeys.—Nothing pays better to be sent to market in prime
condition than the turkey crop. Many farmers do not understand this. Their
turkeys grow on a limited range. get little or no food at home through the sum.
mer, and if fed at all with regularity, it is only for two or three weeks before
killing. I see, these lean, bony carcasses in the local markets every winter, and
feel sorry for the owner’s loss. They have received a small price for their birds,
and a still poorer price for the food fed out. The average life of a turkey is
only seven months, and the true economy of feeding is to give the chicks all
they can digest from the shell to the slaughter. If they get all they can eat on
the range that is well. Usually this should be supplemented by regular rations
when they come from the roost in the morning, and two or three hours before
they go to roost at night. The food may be slack in the morning, so that they
will go to the range with godd appetites, and fuller at night. They should be
put upon’a regular course of fattening food as early as the middle of October,
when you purpose to kill the best birds at Thanksgiving. The younger and
lighter birds should be reserved for the Christmas and New-Year’s markets.
They continue growing quite rapidly until mid-winter, and you will be well
paid for the longer feeding. There is nothing better for fattening than old corn.
fed partly in the kernel and partly in cooked meal mashed up with boiled
potatoes. Feed three times a day, giving the warm meal in the morning. and
feeding in troughs with plenty of room, so that all the flock may have a fair
chance. Northern corn has more oil in it than southern, and is worth more for
turkey food. Use milk in fattening if you keep a dairy farm. Feed only so
much as they will eat up clean, Cultivate the acquaintance of your turkeys as
you feed them. No more charming sight greets your vision in the whole circle
of the year than a large flock of bronze turkeys coming at call from their roosts
on a frosty November morning. New corn is apt to make the bowels loose, and
this should be guarded against, There is usually green food enough in the
fields to meet their wants in the fall, and cabbage and turnips need not be added
until winter sets in. If the bowels get loose give them scalded milk, which will
generally correct the evil. Well-fattened and well-dressed turkeys will bring
two or three cents a pound more than the lean birds. It will not only be better

for the purse, but for your manhood, to send nothing but finished products te
the market,”
 

GAYUGA DUCKS.
CHAPTER XVIII.
GUINEA-FOWLS AND PEAFOWLS,

THE GUINEA-FOWL.

The Guinea-fowls are natives of Africa and Madagascar, where they are
found under nine or ten species, constituting the genus Nuwmida, which, with
the allied genera Agelastes and Phasidus, each represented by one species, make
up the family Numidia. ‘

The genus Numida is sub-divided into three groups, of which one has a bone
casque upon the head; a second has a crest or plume of feathers in the place of
the casque, and the third, comprising but one species, is destitute of either

- casque or crest, and is called the Vulturine Guinea-fowl, from the vulture-like
appearance of its head.

The domesticated Guinea-fowl owes its origin to the first group, and to either
the species Numida meleagris or N. ptiloryncha, or both. N. meleagris inhabits
the west coast of Africa, from the Gambia to the Gaboon, whence it has been
imported into the Cape Verde islands, and also into some of the West Indies,
where it is now found wild, and is sometimes extremely troublesome to farmers
from its propensity to scratch up and eat the seed corn, peas ete., and the yams
and cocoas.

Abyssinia, Kordossan and Sennar, are inhabited by 1. ptiloryncha, which is
distinguished from W. Meleagris by having a blue face and wattles, and a tuft of
stiff, white bristles at the base of the upper mandible. Darwin was inclined
to regard this species as the true origin of the domesticated fowl, * but in this
he is disputed by other naturalists. ; ;

It seems that the Guinea-fowl was in domestication during the time of
Columella, since Ke described two varieties of fowls corresponding to WV. melea-
gris and NV. ptiloryncha, but we have no-record of it after his time until since
the introduction of the turkey, or about the middle of the sixteenth century,
when it was described by Gesner.

The Vulturine Guinea-fowl has never been domesticated; but we learn that
efforts are now being made to introduce it into England with a view to adding it
to the attractions of the poultry-yard. sock

The ordinary Guinea-fowl retains much of its wild nature in domestication,
in common with its cousins, the turkey and the peafowl. It will seldom roost
in the fowl-house, preferring the lower branches of trees; the hen is very skill-
ful in hiding her nest; and the young birds after they are a few weeks old,
thrive best to be allowed ample range.

In the natural state it seems probable that the Guinea-fowl was monogamous;

* Animals and Plants mu Domesfication—I., p. 294.
184 THE JOMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

at any rate it is best to have a larger proportion of males than is necessary with
chickens, although instanves are on record where the eggs laid by eight or nine
hens running with but one cock proved generally fertile. The hens are great
layers of rather small, pointed, brown eggs; a flock of nine hens being reported
by a correspondent of the American Cultivator as having averaged one hundred
and twenty-two eggs each for one season. They frequently do not sit until late
in the season, and a whole flock will lay in the same nest if opportunity offers,
We have taken forty eggs from a single nest, which a pair of Guinea-hens had
hidden in a field of oats.

The period of incubation is twenty-six to twenty-eight days, the eggs are
most advantageously hatched under a small Game or Bantam hen, and the
young chicks should have, for the first few weeks, the same treatment recom-
mended for young turkeys, except that it is imperative that they be frequently
fed—they require food oftener than any other young fowls,

The Guinea-fowl is not a popular bird, on account of its harsh and incessant
noise, which begins early in the morning, and is continued until night without
intermission, To those who can endure its racket, however, it offers some
points of value, being a persistent insect-catcher, a good layer, giving flesh of a
gamey flavor much relished by some, and being so easily disturbed at night
that when it can be induced to roost near the fowl-house it serves as an excel-
lent hen-thief alarm.

The tendency of the domesticated Guinea-fowl to produce albinos has re-
sulted in the production of a white breed, with several intermediate shades.

The Guinea-cocks resemble the hens so closely. that it is difficult for an in-
experienced person to distinguish them; the cocks are a little larger, have
larger wattles, and utter a shriller cry—that of the hen resembling the words
“come back, come back!”—the cocks also frequently assume a pugnacious atti-
tude, which the hen never does.

The loose plumage of this bird makes it appear larger than it really is, its
usual weight being four to five pounds. The general appearance of the Guinea-
cock is well shown by the accompanying illustration. (See illustration, page 165.)

The Guinea-fowl has been known to produce sports having the peculiar tassel
on the breast of the turkey, thus lending support to the doctrine of the evolution
of the present forms of animals and plants from, at most a few, normal types.

THE PEAFOWL.

This most gorgeous of all birds is a native of Asia, being now found wild
throughout Southern Asia and the Malay archipelago. Naturally, on account of
its great beauty, it would be among the first birds brought into domestication,
and we find it mentioned in the history of the times of Solomon (I. Kings x. 22),
and also by the writers of Greece and Rome. Two species of Peafowl are now
recognized: the common Peafowl, Pavo cristatus, and the Javan Peafowl, P.
muticus.

The following description of the common Peafowl, given by Wright, is prob-
ably as good as can be: given, but no word-description, nor even an uncolored

engraving, such as the excellent one on page 169, can convey any adequate idea
of its gorgeousness:
THE PEAFOWL, 186

«The head, neck and breast of the male are a rich, dark purple, with beauti-
ful blue reflections, the head having an aigrette, or crest, composed of twenty-
four feathers, which are only webbed at the tip, where they show blue and green
reflections. The back is green, with a copper colored lacing to the feathers; the
wings whitish, striped or barred with black, gradually shading into deep blue.
The primaries and true tail feathers area dark, rich chestnut; but the tail cov-
erts, or train, are glossy-green, ocellated at the tips. The thighs are generally
grayish, and the belly and rump black. The eyes are dark hazel, pearled round
the edges, and legs brown, spurred as in the common fowl. The neck is very long,
slender and snaky, and the head small in proportion to the body. The Peahen
is much more subdued in color, being of a prevailing chestnut brown, variously
shaded on different parts of the body, and mottled or shaded in places, especially
about the wings and tail, with a dull or grayish white. She has acrest like the
male, but duller in color, and not so tall.”

The wild nature of the Peafowl has never been wholly eradicated, hence it
never thrives in close confinement, but must have considerable range, as over a
large lawn, park, or country place. It can scarcely be induced to roost ina
house, preferring trees, and tall ones at that. The hen lays but few eggs, and
these only in the most secluded places; she incubates them four weeks, and must
not be disturbed during that time; her broods are usually small, and thrive best
when left chiefly to their own management; she goes with her brood about six
months, and this seems necessary, as they do not thrive when reared by common
hens, which desert them at two or three months.

‘The young Peacock differs but little from the hen until about eighteen months
old, when he begins to assume his splendid train, which he does not fully gain
until his third year. This train is shed annually, and forms aconsiderableitem in
the profitableness of the birds, as it is worth several dollars for feather-brush
making. A lady who is thoroughly experienced in the management of Peafowls
says: =

“They require no care when they are young, as the hens hide their nests, and
do not bring the little ones near the house until they are aboutas large as quails.
The greatest objection to them is that they are troublesome about teasing young
chickens, but a good dog will make this all right, as they are very much afraid
of dogs.”

The Peafowl, like the Guinea fowl and the turkey gobbler, isa noisy bird; and
its shrill “ee-aw; ee-aw,” may be heard fora mile or more when the wind is
favorable, 7

The Burman or Javan Peafowl, Pavo muticus, is a native of the Burmese and
Malay countries, as far northward as Aracan and Sumatra, and is abundant all
over Java. Itis described by a writer in the London Field as being a finer and
larger species than the common Peafowl, the neck being more bulky than in the
common bird, and the plumage on it laminated, or seale-like. “In other re-
apects the form resembles that of the common species except in the crest, which
is long and narrow, standing vertically on the upper part of the occiput, and
compesed of narrow feathers, scantily webbed basally, and ending in oblong
blades. Each of the long, flowing, upper tail coverts ends in an ocellum, or eye,
colored similarly to those in the train of the ordinary Peafowl; but the longest
186 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK,

or last of these coverts have the terminal portion emarginate, or crescent-
shaped, as if the ocelli had been cut out. The lateral-or outermost of these
coverts are more thickly webbed, and curved inwards, so as to bend over the ad-
joining ones; they terminate in points, without ocelli.”

In color this bird differs from the common Peafowl chiefly in having a greater
predominance of greenish shades, hence it is called the “Green Peafowl.” Its
habits are very similar to those of the common bird, except that it is more of a
forest bird, is wilder, and more difficult to domesticate.

Some naturalists have claimed that another species of Peafowl existed in the
‘Black Winged Peafowl, which they have named Pavo nigripennis. “In this bird
the metallic green of the back, which forms the centre of the train, when ex-
tended, is more of a golden hue than in the common species, and the whole of
the secondaries, scapulars, and wing-coverts are black, with narrow edges of
green, which become bluish towards the carpal joint; in this particular it re-
sembles the Javan Peafowl, and is very distinct from the common species, in
which all these feathers are cream-colored, crossed with black markings. Again,
the thighs of the Black Winged Peafowl are black, as in the Javan species, -
whereas in the common breed they are always of a pale drab.

“The female of the Black Winged species is of a much lighter coloring than
the common Peahen, being almost entirely of a pale cream-color, mottled with
dark coloring above, and is readily recognizable at first sight. In this respect the
Black Winged is not intermediate between the two species, since the female of
the Javan is much more like the male.” *

The question whether this bird is a different species from the common Pea
fowl is open to serious doubt, as Darwin quotes numerous instances of birds of
this description appearing among English flocks, and this in cases where there
has been no known opportunity for crossing; moreover, no such breed isknown
to exist in the wild state, hence we are led to the- conclusion that the Black
Winged Peafowl is but a variation from the normal type, just as are the pied and
white Peafowls which are occasionally found.

 

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PEKIN DUCKS,
CHAPTER XIX,

DUCKS.

The varieties of the domestic duck are believed by naturalists to have all de-
scended from the common Wild Duck, or Mallard, Anas boschas, of the sub-family
Anatine, and family Anatide, which latter embraces also the Cygnine or Swans,
the Anserinee or Geese, the Fugerline or Sea-Ducks, the Erismaturina or Spring-
tailed Ducks, and the Mergine or Mergansers.

The Anating include a number of genera besides the Mallards, one of which
is represented by the Wood-Duck (Aix sponsa); another by the Mandarin-Duck,
which has been domesticatedin China; and another by the Musk-Duck (Catrina),
of South America, which has also been domesticated, and in that condition will
produce fertile hybrids with the common duck.

The Mallard, however, is by far the most important species, being the most
plentiful—probably out-numbering all the others—the most widely distributed,
and, consequently, the best known. It inhabits the whole of the northern hem-
isphere ; going, in the winter, as farsouth as Panama, Egypt and India, and in the
summer retreating to Greenland, Iceland and Siberia. It usually breeds in the
more northern regions, although its nests are occasionally found in the British
Islands. It sometimes makes its nests in close proximity to water, but they are
frequently found ata considerable distance inland, under the shelter of a thicket,
or even in a hole ina tree.

During incubation the duck plucks a portion of the down from her breast,
with which she surrounds her eggs, drawing it over them as a coverlet when she
makes her daily excursions for food and water. When the ducklings are hatched
she manages in some unknown way to get them to water. Some think she does
this by carrying them in her bill, after the manner of « cat moving her kittens,
out this has-not yet been satisfactorily “established. When in the water the
ducklings have few enemies to encounter, although they are sometimes captured
by pike and other voracious fishes.

The duck continues ler care of the young throughout the summer, a task in
which she is not assisted by the drake, as towards the end of May he goes into
an additional moult, during which he loses his gay plumage and his power of
flight, becoming of the same dull color as his mate. This condition lasts for
several weeks, his gay attire only being resumed when his quill-feathers have
grown out sufficiently to give him the ability to fly.

The markings of the Mallard drake are given as follows by Macgillivray, a

writer on British ornithology: s
“The eommon wild duck, or Mallard, if not the most elegantly formed, is cer-
189]
190 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

\

tainly one of the most beautifully-colored species of its family. The plumage is
dense and elastic, on the head and neck short and splendent; the feathers of the
forehead stiffish; of the cheeks and throat short, linear, slightly rounded; of
the rest of the neck shortish and very soft; on its lower anterior part large, firm
and glossy ; on the rest of the lower parts full and blended; on the upper parts
firmer. The wings are of moderate length and acute; the primaries are narrow
and tapering, the second quill longest, the first scarcely a quarter of an inch
shorter; the secondaries are a little incurvate, obliquely rounded, the inner
elongated, very broad, acuminate. ‘The tail is short, much rounded, of sixteen
broad, acuminate feathers, and four medial, incumbent, recurvate reduplicate.

“The bill is greenish-yellow, darker towards the end, with the unguis deep brown;
the lower mandible reddish-yellow, brown atthe end. The iris is brown, the feet
are reddish-orange, the membranes pale, reddish-brown, the claws deep reddish.
brown. The forehead is blackish-green, the head and upper neck vivid deep green,
changing to deep violet. On the middle of the neck isa ring of white, not
quite complete behind. The lower neck and a small part of the breast area
very deep chestnut, or purplish-brown. The anterior part of the back is yel-
lowish-brown, tinged with gray; the scapulars gray. very minutely barred with
brown; the hind part of the back brownish-black, the rump deep green, as are
the four recurved feathers of the tail, the rest being brownish-gray, broadly
edged with white. The wing coverts are brownish-gray, as are the primary
quills and coverts The secondary coverts, excepting the inner, are white in the
middle, with a terminal band of velvet black. About ten of the secondary
quills have their outer webs brilliant deep green, changing to purplish-blue, with
a black bar at the end, succeeded by white. The outer edges of the inner
secondaries are deep purplish-brown, the rest gray, minutely. undulated with
darker. The breast, sides, abdomen, and tibial feathers are grayish-white, very
minutely undulated with dark gray; the feathers under the tail are black, glossed
with blue; the axillars and lower wing coverts are white. Length. to end of tail,
24 inches; extent of wings, 35; wing, from flexure, 11; tail, 434; bill, along
the ridge, 2; greatest breadth, 1; tarsus, 1 5-6.

“The female is considerably smaller, and very differently colored The bill is
greenish-gray, darker towards the base ; the plumage of the upper parts dusky-
brown, the feathers edged with pale, reddish-brown; the throat whitish; the
lower parts yellowish-gray, faintly streaked and spotted with brown; the spec:
ulum asin the male; the middle tail feathers straight. Length to the end of
tail, 20 inches ; extent of wings, 32. .

“The females renew their plumage annually in autumn, as do the males; but
the latter undergo a singular change in summer, which is thus described by Mr.
Waterton:

“About the 24th of May the breast and back of the drake exhibit the first
appearance of a change of color. Ina few days after this the curled feathers
above the tail drop out, and gray feathers begin to appear among the lovely
green plumage which surrounds the eyes. Every succeeding day now brings
marks of rapid change.

“By, the 23d of June scarcely one green feather is to be seen on the head and
neck of the bird. By the 6th of July every feather of the former brilliant
  
 

“M8009 Asano 1A0L

[192]
%,
THE WOOD DUCK OR SUMMER DUOK. 198

plumage has disappeared, and the male has received u garb like that of the
female, though of a somewhat darker tint. In the early part of August this
new plumage begins to drop off gradually, and, by the 10th of October the drake
will appear again in all his rich magnificence of dress, than which scarcely any-
thing throughout the whole wide field of nature can be seen more lovely or bet-
ter arranged to charm the eye of man.

“*T enclosed two male birds in a coop from the middle of May to the middle
of October, and saw them every day during the whole of their captivity. Per.
haps the moulting in other individuals may vary a little with regard to time.
Thus we may say that once every year, for a very short period, the drake goes, as it
were, into an eclipse, so that, from the early part of the month of July to about
the first week in August, neither in the poultry-yards of civilized man, nor
through the vast expanse of nature’s wildest range, can there be found a drake
in that plumage which, at all other seasons of the year, is so remarkably splendid

_and diversified.’ ”

We have no trustworthy history of the earliest domestication of the duck, but
it doubtless ocourred in ancient times. There are now numerous domesticated
varieties, varying in plumage from white to black. One of the most curious re-
sults of domestication is that the drake, which in the wild state is strictly mon-
ogamous, becomes freely polygamous.

The wild Mallards are easily tamed, if taken when very young, but it requires
many generations to breed outall their wild habits ; this has been done in the case
of the common duck by adding to their weight through abundant supplies of
food, so that flight becomes more difficult. In confinement they will breed
freely with the tame ducks, the hybrids thus produced being monogamous.

This fertflity of the hybrids is one proof of the common origin of the Mallard
and the domestic duck ; another is found in the fact that purely bred wild ducks
have shown, when bred in domestication, a marked tendency toward variation.

_ Thus Mr. Teebay states that he has had a strain of white dueks to appear among

some wild ducks which he was breeding, and this strain had reproduced itself at
the time of his writing.*

THE WOOD DUCK OR SUMMER DUCK.

This duck, Aix sponsa of the naturalists, sometimes, though improperly, called
the Carolina duck, is found throughout the greater part of North America, be-
ing a permanent resident of the warmer regions, and a summer migrant to the
northward, It is the most beautiful of waterfowl, except its cousin, the Man-
darin duck, and on this account has been bred in domestication, although not
for a sufficient length of time to overcome its wild propensities.

In the natural state the Wood Duck makes its nest in the woods—hence its
name—in the hollow of a tree, overhanging the water if possible. Its eggs are
smaller than a hen’s and have surfaces like polished ivory.f-

The drake is about nineteen or twenty inches long, with a green head, glossed
with purple and surmounted with a pendant crest or plume of green, bronze and
velvet; the upper part of the throat is white; the breast chestnut; the sides

*Tegetmeier. {Gill. — 1
104 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

yellowish, banded with black; the lower parts nearly white; the wings and tail
have black, white, purple and blue in bands, spots and shadings. The plumage
of the ducks is not so showy, and from June to September the drake is more
plainly attired.

THE MANDARIN DUCK.

' This duck, Aix galericulata, isa native of China. In plumage it considerably
-resembles the American Wood duck; but it has, in addition to the flowing crest,
apectliar shaped wing, which rises over the back in the form of-a lady’s fan,
from which it also receives the name of the Fan-winged duck.

The Mandarin duck is domesticated in China, and attempts have been made
to introduce it into America, through the public parks of New York and the
Zoological Garden at Fairmount, Philadelphia. be

In disposition it is very timid, and in size about like the Teal. ©

THE ROUEN DUCK.

The name of this duck is supposed to be a corruption of the word roan, since
the origin of the breed has no connection with the city of Rowen, as its name
would indicate, while the word roan, or gray, would well describe its color. The
Rouen duck is simply the wild Mallard domesticated, and enlarged during the
process of domestication; the coloring of its plumage being almost identical
with that of the Mallard, so: nearly so, in fact, that “the markings of the wild
species are considered as the criteria of perfection by the judges and fanciers of
the present day,”* while the interbreeding of the Rouen and the Mallard has no
effect upon the markings- of the former, and its size returns after the third or
fourth cross.

Rouen ducks have, like Toulouse geese, an abdominal protuberance, which
sometimes becomes so developed in over-fat specimens as to drag upon the ground,
to the detriment of the feathers.

They are very hardy, dull and lethargic in their movements, caring little for
water except to drink. They reach a large size, weighing eighteen to nineteen
pounds to the pair, - As egg producers they are excellent, laying a large number
of large, thick-shelled eggs, which should average three ounces and a half in
weight. (See illustration, page 173.)

THE AYLESBURY DUCK.

‘This is a large breed, weighing seventeen to eighteen pounds to the pair; in
color both sexes are pure, white, with broad, pale flesh-colored bills, which should
not show any dark marks or stains. i
: Aylesburys, if well fed, are good layers; the eggs laid by the best strains be-
ing pure white. They are inclined to become over-fat, in-which condition both’
sexes are sterile. °

These ducks are largely reared and fattened for the London markets by ;the
farmers of the neighborhood of Aylesbury; being sent to market, when properly

*Tegetmeier.
THE CAYUGA BLACK DUCK. 195°

managed, at eight to ten weeks of age. By careful feeding they may be induced
to begin laying by Christmas, when their eggs are set under hens, and the 1 duke:
lings kept rapidly growing until ready for mith

MUSCOVY DUCKS. |

Muscovy ducks are of two varieties—the white and the colored; the former
being pure white, the latter blue-black, more or less broken with white feathers.
The name Muscovy is a corruption of the term musk, this term referring to the
musk-like odor of the skin, which odor is dissipated, however, in cooking.
These ducks exist in the wild state in South America, belonging to the genus
Ceirina, previously referred to, and are also domesticated there to a considerable
extent, “eat

The drake weighs ten to eleven pounds, and differs from the drakes of Mallard
origin in having a large head, and bare, scarlet-colored cheeks, the base of the
bill being carunculated with the same color; in the feathers at the back of the
head being re-curved, as if having been rubbed the wrong way; and in the Jong,
straight-feathered tail. -

The duck is much smaller than the drake, weighing but five to seven pounds.
-They have the same bare head of the drakes, but in other respects differ less
from ordinary ducks.

Muscovies are capable of sustaining themselves fora long time in flight, lience
they are difficult to confine; while the drakes are extremely quarrelsome, being”

as ugly in disposition as in appearance. The ducks are but moderate layers,
and their flesh is only palatable when young, so that they are not a desirable
breed to cultivate, under ordinary circumstances. (See illustration, page 177.)

THE CURL-CRESTED DALMATION DUCK.

This duck is descended from the Muscovy, through one parent at least, and is
distinguished by a crest of intensely black, curled feathers. It also has the
-naked cheeks, the difference in size between the sexes, and the long tail, desti-
tute of curled feathers of the Muscovy; while it is more quiet in disposition, and
fonder of foraging in the water, a better layer, and more easily fattened than
that breed. :
These ducks are reared in Jarge numbers in Dalmatia and the adjacent islands
ef the Adriatic, but have not yet been introduced into this country.

THE CAYUGA BLACK DUCK.

This fine breed is American, and is supposed to have originated in the neigh-
borhood of Cayuga Lake, New York, by a cross between the wild black, or
Buenos Ayres-duck, and the Mallard. This supposition may, or may not be cor-
rect, as the breed has been cultivated many years, and all definite trace of its
origin is lost.

The characteristic markings of the Cayuga duck are a black color throughout,
“except a narrow white collar around the neck, and white flécks in the breast,
which latter tend to increase with age, and are avoided by breeders as much as
196 THE COMPLETE POULTRY Book

possible. Both ducks and drakes have a greenish tinge about the head—this be
ing brighter in the drake, and both show « slight tendency toward a brownish
tinge in the plumage. oat ;

The Cayugas are very hardy, nearly as large as the Rouens (weighing sixteen
to seventeen pounds to the pair), good layers, and easily fattened. They are very
quiet in their habits, and a fence a foot high will turn them. They commence
laying by the end of March, and lay fifty to ninety eggs before desiring to sit.
They are good sitters, but careless mothers, hens being for these, as for most
other ducklings, the best mothers. (See illustration, page 181.)

THE PEKIN DUCK.

This, the largest of all known breeds of ducks, was ‘first imported from Pekin,
China, by Mr. James E. Palmer, of Stonington, Connecticut, andlanded in New
York on the 14th day of March, 1873.

In color the Pekins are clear white, with a faint yellowish tinge to the lower
feathers, which are very thick and downy. The wings are short, hence the birds
are-easily confined. They are very hardy, and care little for water except for
drinking. They are exceptionally large layers, the pair first importeddaying
over one hundred and twenty-five eggs each, during the first season, ‘WDt ith-
standing the exhaustion attendant upon their importation, which was fatal to
the larger-part of the lot originally shipped from Pekin, while during the next
season one of this same pair laid one hundred and eighty-seven eggs, and the
other nearly as many, and one of the early hatched ducklings began “laying in
August. ?

The recurved feather in the tail of the drake is, in addition to the difference
in voice—that of the duck being much coarser—the distinguishing mark of the
sexes, and also shows that the Pekin belongs to the Mallard family of ducks.

A second importation of these ducks has been made by Mr. Palmer, by which
it is hoped to stop the deterioration of this fine breed through in-breeding. Only
judicious crossing, combined with intelligent selection, will maintain its present
superiority. (See illustration, page 187.)

THE CRESTED WHITE DUCK.
This variety is remarkable for the large tuft of feathers on top of the head, re-

sembling the crest of Polish fowls. In some cases this crest attains a diameter
of three inches.

THE HOOKED-BILL DUCK.
This is an old breed, described as early as 1676, and frequently delineated by
the old Dutch masters. Its characteristic is a turning down of the bill.

THE PENGUIN DUCK.

This breed is characterized by greater length of the upper bones of the leg,
which canses it to assume a half-erect attitude, somewhat resembling that of the
Penguin.

These breeds are but variations of the ordinary duck, which have been per-
petuated by the care of man.
   

“H800D DNOX DNOH
MANAGEMENT OF DUCKS. 100
THE FARM-YARD DUCK.

This, among ducks, is what the ordinary dunghill, or barn-door fowl, is among
ehiekens, and is far inferior to the Rouen, Aylesbury, Cayuga or Pekin breeds

THE LABRADOR, BLACK EAST INDIAN OR BUENOS AYRES DUCK,

This duck is another instance of misapplication of geographical names, since
it is neither common in Labrador nor in the East Indies. The British Zoologi-
cal Society received its first specimens from Buenos Ayres, but this fact alone is
not sufficient evidence that they originated in that locality.

This breed, by the curled feather in the tail of the drake, shows its relationship
to the Maillard, and is regarded merely as a variation of that species, although
its color is quite different, being of a deep, lustrous black throughout, in both
sexes.

These ducks do not become so thoroughly domesticated but that they will take
long flights from the barn-yard in search of food or water, sometimes absenting
themselves for days together, but generally returning at the approach of night-
fall,

In size the Buenos Ayres duck is very small, and among fanciers it and the
Call-ducks correspond to the Bantams among chickens, and are bred especially
for smallness of size.

CALL-DUCKS.

This name is given to two varieties of smali domestic ducks, the white and the
gray ; both differing from the ordinary breeds in their small size. In color the
Gray Call should be an exact counterpart of the wild Mallard, and the White
Call should be pure white. Its bill, however, is not fiesh-colored like that of
the Aylesbury, but is a clear, unspotted yellow, any othercolor disqualifying the
birds from competition in the show-pen.

Call-ducks, as their name implies,-are remarkable for their loud and continu-
ous quacking, in a shrill, high note, which renders them valuable to the sports-
man as decoy ducks.

MANAGEMENT OF DUCKS.

With regard to the management of the duck-yard we cannot do better than to
quote the following directions, written by Fanny Field for the Prairie Farmer:

“Every farmer who bas a pond or stream of water on his premises should
Keep a few pairs of ducks, at least. As arule, where there is any, market within
a reasonable distance of the farm, ducks and ducklings may be profitably reared.
Young ducks, in good condition, always command a good price in city markets,
their feathers sell at a good price, and the eggs for cooking, and a roast duck
eccasionally, make tempting additions to the farmer’s table. A good many
farmers, who live too far from market to render it profitable to raise ducks for
sale, would find that it would pay to raise them for feathers, and for meat for
their ewn tables. Where one is blessed with a family of children the entize
200 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

charge of a flock of ducks might be given over to the ‘little folks, and they would
take an infinite amount of pleasure in caring for the ducklings, collecting the
eges, feeding the old ducks, and watching their antics in the water. And then
your little folks would be learning something all the time, and, take my word
for it, there is nothing so good for children as to give them something to care for
—to have them feel a sense of responsibility.

“ About the ‘best breed,’ the Pekin, Rouen and Aylesbury are the three lead-
ing varieties of ducks, and experienced breeders rank them in the order named,
Some attempts have been made by breeders of the Rouens and Aylesburys to
run down the Pekins, claiming that the Rouens would at maturity outweigh
the Pekins, and that the Aylesburys were superior as table birds. Ican say
nothing against the Rouens and Aylesburys. Both are fine, large ducks, pro-
lifie layers, and breed well; but I know that the Pekins, when pure bred, are
the best breed of ducks that we have in the United States. For early maturity,
laying quality, size, and as tablé fowls, they have no superior in this country.
When any one says that the average. Rouens will, at maturity, outweigh the
Pekins, he says what every breeder, who has fairly tried both breeds, knows to
be incorrect. W. H. Todd, of Vermillion, Ohio, once exhibited a pair of Rouens
that weighed nineteen and three quarter pounds, and at that time they were the,
largest pair of Rouens in the country, if not in the world, but I have sold
dozens of pairs of Pekins that weighed twenty and twenty-two pounds a pair.
T once had a pair that weighed twenty pounds at eight months of age.

* All ducks are naturally inclined to lay around any where, but by proper
management thishabit may be overcome and all the eggs saved. A pen or yard
should be made somewhere near the pond or stream, if not too far from-the
house, and the ducks driven or coaxed into the pen at night. Asducks always
lay at night, or very early in the morning, the eggs can be collected. early in the
morning, the ducks fed and turned out for the day. By feeding only at
night and morning, regularly, and always at the pen or yard, the ducks will
soon come regularly at sundown for their food, and can then be shut up for the
night. But don’t ever give your ducks a hearty supper and then shut them up
all night without water; if you do you may find some dead ducks the next
morning.

“ Have a trough of water in the pen, or at the feeding place. For a small
flock a rail pen may be constructed and covered with boards. Have one side
higher than the other, so that the board roof will shed rain. I have a good-
sized yard near the water, surrounded by a picket fence, and with a long, low
shed across the north side. Nests are placed along the back side of the shed,
and the floor is well-covered with dry gravel and earth, which keeps it free from
filth. This spring I intend to extend the fence, so as to inclose a portion of the
stream, and putin water-gates, so that there will be plenty of water in the yard
at all times. Of course the ducks are only confined in the yard at night, but I
find that in winter and during the cold rains of early spring and late fall, they
spend a good deal of the time under the shed.

Pebesiece a as ae) lay fon two or three months before they take a notion
Y, 1t 1s necessary, especially when one wishes to raise a large num-
ber of them, to set some of the first-laid eggs under hens, The same directions
MANAGEMENT OF DUCKS. 201

given for preparing nests and setting hens on their own eggs must be attended
to when setting them on ducks’ eggs. Do not crowd the nest; five ducks’ eggs
are enough for a small hen, and seven or eight for a Brahma or Cochin. Unless
the eggs are set on the ground, particular attention must be paid to the sprink-
ling with tepid water during the last two weeks of incubation. Sprinkle slightly
every day while the hen is off for food. Neglect this, and your chances for
ducklings will be greatly lessened.

“Ducks’ eggs usually hatch well, With fresh eggs that have not been chilled,
and have been carefully handled, you may count on ducklings at the rate of
ninety for every one hundred eggs set. I don’t think it pays to hatch ducklings
very early in the season, unless one wishes to raise some extra large birds for
exhibition. Ducklings grow rapidly, and if hatched in April and May will grow
to a good size for the winter market.

“The proper time for picking ducks may be ascertained by catching two or
three out of your flock and pulling out a few feathers here and there; if they
pull hard and the quills are filled with bloody fluid the feathers are not ‘ripe,’
and must be left a while longer; but if they come outeasily, and the quills are
clear, the feathers are called ripe, and the birds should be picked at once, or
they will lose the greater part of them. To pick a duck before the feathers are
fully ripe is to injure the bird very much. You will find a bunch of long, rather
coarse feathers under each wing; do not pluck them, they support the wings.
When picking take but few feathers at atime between the thumb and forefinger,
and give a short, quick jerk downward.

“With conparatively little practice you will get the ‘knack’ of picking easily
and rapidly. Before commencing, tie the duck’s legs together—not with a
cord that may cut into the flesh and lame the bird, but with a tolerably wide
strip of cloth—and if the dycks are inclined to pinch with their bills, draw an
old cotton stocking over their heads; but with the exceptions of now and then a
vicious old drake, our Pekins are as tame and peaceable as kittens, so we never
bother the ducks nor ourselves with ‘night caps.’ Handle laying ducks care-
fully, and sitting ducks and those you intend to set soon should not be picked.
When handling young ducks do not lift or carry them by the legs with the head
hanging downward ; their bodies are heavy, their bones tender and easily broken,
and their joints may be dislocated. In hot weather a great deal of the down may
be taken from the drakes, but the down should never be taken in cold weather.
Ducks ean usually be picked from four to six times a year.” :

For the Pekin and Cayuga ducks water to swim in is byno means a necessity ;
indeed some breeders claim that they do better without it. The young duck-
lings enjoy it very much, however, and they may easily be satisfied by sinkinga
shallow box in the ground near the barn-yard pump.

The food of the ducklings may be very much the same as for young chickens,
They are more easily raised than chickens, being hardier, and frée from that
scourge of chiekenhood—the gapes. When very young, however, they should
not be exposed to heavy rain-storms.

Ducks are voracious eaters, and to handle them profitably the surplus should
be marketed as soon as fit, keeping through the fall and winter only those nec-
essary for breeding stock.
CHAPTER XX.

GEESE AND SWANS.

Geese belong to the family Anatide of modern ornithologists, and sub-family
Anserine. The common domestic goose is supposed to have descended from the
wild Gray-Lag goose of northern Europe, Anser ferus or A cinereus of the natur-
alists. This species has at one time extended from the British islands to China,
and was formerly quite numerous in England, breeding in the fen-marshes o/
that country. Of late years, however, it does not breed to any extent south of
Scotland.

The Gray-Lag is regarded as the parent of four of our ordinary varieties of
geese; namely, the common gray and white goose, the white Embden, or Bremen *
goose, the gray Toulouse goose, and the peeuliar white Sebastopol goose.

The ordinary wild goose of America is the Canada goose, Anser Canadensis,
which has been domesticatea here to a very limited extent, but has not become
the parent of any thoroughly domesticated breed, like the turkey, or the com-
mon goose. _ / ;

A third species which has representatives in domestication is A. Cygnoides, or
Cygnopsis Cygnoides or the swan-like goose, represented by the knobbed Chinese
geese.

A fourth species is the Egyptian goose (Chenalopex), which has sometimes been
bred in this country, but presents few marks of value. ;

Besides these are numerous wild species, including the Bean-goose and the
Pink-footed goose of Britain, the Snow-geese of North America, and many others.

THE COMMON GOOSE.

This is one of the most anciently domesticated of fowls, as shown by the fact
that it was mentioned, as being in domestication, by Homer, and that geese were
kept in the Capitol at Rome, 388 B. C., as sacred to Juno; this sacredness imply-
ing great antiquity.*

Naturalists are not fully agreed as to the present form of the common goose,
but the preponderance of opinion is in favor of ascribing its origin to the wild
Gray-lag goese of northern Europe; its difference in color from that species be-
ing a much smaller variation than has occurred in the cases of most other
anciently domesticated animals.

In the wild Gray-lag, the male and female are of the same dusky hue, whilein
fhe tame species the gander is generally pure white, and the goose dusky on the

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GEESE. 205

wings, in this respect resembling the markings of the two sexes of the Rook
goose (Bernicla antarctica) of Terra del Fuego and the Falkland islands.”

The tendency toward a white plumage would also be encouraged by the custom
of plucking the feathers, as it has been noticed in birds of colored plumage that
the loss of a feather at other times than the moulting period, is liable to be fol-
lowed by the growth of a white feather in its place.

THE TOULOUSE GOOSE,

This is « large, gray goose, its color being brownish-gray on the back, and
lighter on the belly. The skin of the breast and belly shows a tendency to hang
in folds, as shown in the illustration on page 191, a tendency which detracts
from the value of the breed for market purposes, as it gives the impression of
greater age than the goose may actually possess.

The Toulouse goose has come to us by way of England, where it has been bred
for many years. Its name would indicate a French origin, were not the geo-
graphical names of fowls so misleading. It is easily fattened, sometimes reaching
a weight of sixty pounds to the pair, and its cross with the common goose is
thought to be even larger than the pure breed.

THE EMBDEN, OR BREMEN GOOSE.
*

This large, white goose is probably of Dutch origin, as its name indicates; Mr.
Hewitt (English) states that his best specimens were imported from Holland,
while the first ever brought to America were imported from Bremen by John
Giles, of Providence, R. I., and Colonel Samuel Jaques, of Medford, Mass., some
sixty years ago.

Mr. Hewitt gives this breed a decided preference over the Toulouse, on account
of their white feathers (both sexes being pure white), which are worth more in
market than colored ones, and on account of the absence in the young birds of
the pendant abdominal pouch of the Toulouse, and their earlier laying.

In weight the two breeds run very closely together, and either is undoubtedly
a great improvement over the common goose.

THE SEBASTOPOL GOOSE.

This goose is remarkable for its peculiar curled plumage, which is betéer rep-
resented in the cut (see page 203) than it can be by averbal description. In size
the Sebastopol goose is small, its chief merit being its oddity. In color itis pure
white.

It was first exhibited in England in 1860, by Mr. T. H. D. Bayly, who imported
it from Sebastopol. In this country it is sometimes called the Danubian goose,
and is said to be common along the Danube.

THE CANADA OR AMERICAN WILD GOOSE,.

This goose, as previously stated, belongs to a different species from the forego-
ing, a fact further emphasized by its failure to produce a fertile cross with the
eommon goose.

*Darwin, Variation of Animals and Plants, etc., Vol#I., p. 308.
206 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

The Canada goose is occasionally exhibited at poultry-shows, bul it does uot
breed readily in confinement, even when captured very young. In size itis much
smaller than the common goose, which, with the fact that it would take many
generations to breed out its wild disposition, gives little encouragement to the
attempt to domesticate it.

CHINESE GEESE.

Of the Chinese geese, representing the species Cygnoides, we have three vari-
eties, of which the largest and most popular is

THE HONG KONG GOOSE,

sometimes called the African goose, These geese have been known in America
for about thirty years, but have not yet become very common, owing partly, no
doubt, to the fact that they lay but few eggs as compared with the Bremen and
Toulouse.

Some of the earliest importations of these geese are recorded to have weighed
fifty-six pounds per pair (goose and gander), and forty to fifty pounds to the pair
is not an uncommon weight.

These geese are especially valuable for crossing upon ‘the common goose, such
crosses being of large size, quiet and productive, and no doubt we shall soon
have improved American varieties which will combine the good qualities of the
foreign and the common breeds, just as we have among chickens.

The Hong Kong goose is brown in color, in this respect resembling the Tou-
louse, but it is distinguished by the horny knob at the base of the upper mandi-
ble, which gives it the specific name of cygnoides. Our illustration on page 197

gives a better idea of its appearance than any verbal description. can.
if 1
BROWN AND WHITE CHINA GEESE.

These geese have the knobbed bill of the Hong Kong goose, but they are
smaller in size, being smaller even than the common goose. In shape, however,
they are very elegant, having an upright, swan-like carriage, and on this account
are muchesteemed. The Brown variety is of dark plumage, resembling that of
the Hong Kong, and with a dark stripe running down the back of the neck; the
White variety is of pure white plumage, but in size and shape the counterpart
ef the Brown.

THE EGYPTIAN GOOSE.

This variety is fecognized by the American, Standard, although it is bred to
but a limited extent. It belongs to the genus Chenalopex, and some naturalists
are inclined to classit with the duck, rather than with the goose family, on ac-
count of the males having the peculiar enlargement at the junction of the
bronchial tubes with the trachea, which is characteristic of the ducks.

This classification is supported by the fact ‘recorded by Darwin, of the inter-
breeding of these geese and the Penguin variety of the common duck in the En-
glish Zoological Gardens.
 

[207]
GEESE. 209

In size and form these geese are somewhat sinall and alender; their plumage
ig generally gray, shading into chestnut and yellow on the breast and undex
parts, and into white on the shoulders. The feathers are beautifully pencilled
with black lines, which unite to form a stripe, or bar, across the wings, of a‘rich
metallic lustre.

These geese have the reputation of being unproductive.

THE CEREOPSIS GOOSE.

This curious goose, the Cereopsis Nove-Hollandic, is so called from the cere or
wax-like coating which covers a large portion of the. beak. It is a native of
Australia, where it has, however, become almost extinct. It is some times also
called the Cape Barron goose, from being found among the Cape Barron islands,
in Bass’s straits. It is of large size; of a brownish-gray color; bears confinement
well, breeding without difficulty, feeding on grass, like the common goose, and
fattening readily; but it is very quarrelsome in disposition, which detracts from
its value as a domestic fowl. 7

This goose has been bred at the Zoological Gardens in England, but has not
generally been brought into domestication. The good qualities which it pos-
sessea would seem to justify the attempt to breed out its faulty disposition, by
crossing with more peaceable breeds.

THE MANAGEMENT OF GEESE.

If the goose is well fed and housed she will commence laying early in the
spring, and will lay in the neighborhood of a dozen eggs, when she will want
to sit. Her time of incubation is about twenty-nine days. The goslings are
hardy, and require about the same attention as ducklings, except that grass and
water are more necessary tothem. Grass is the principal food of geese during
the summer, and in pursnit of this food they are apt, when kept in large flocks,
to injure the pastures for other stock, both by fouling them with their droppings
and by close grazing. They do not bite off the grass like cattle and sheep, but
pull it off, frequently bringing along a portion of the root.

As they lay so few exgs, geese are kept only for their flesh and feathers. The
latter are plucked two or three times during the summer, and the annual yield
is from a pound to 4 pound and « quarter, worth from forty to sixty cents a
pound, while a good, fat, young goose should weigh ten to fourteen pounds,
dressed, in the fall, and be worth from one to two dollars.

Geese live to a considerable age—ten to twenty, or even forty years—and the
females are better layers and better mothers after they are two or three years
old. The ganders, however, become pugnacious and unproductive, hence they
should not be kept beyond two or three years. For breeding purposes there
should be one gander for every three or four geese.

The disposition of geese to wander about is one of the drawbacks to keeping
them, and no one should undertake it whose fences are not good enough to pre-
vent them from trespassing upon neighbors. By clipping their wings they are
very easily restrained.
210 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK
SWANS.

These, the must elegant of all water-fowls, are becoming, as they deserve,more
and more common in our publie parks, and we hope that the time is not far dis-
tant when their cultivation shall be considerably extended. About ten species
of swans are known to naturalists, of which but three have been domesticated,
namely, the White swan,which is of the two European species, Cygnus olor (Red-
billed swan), and C. immutabilis (Polish swan), and the Black swan of Australia,
Chenopis atrata. :

The following notes on the habits of the W hite swan were communicated to the
Poultry World by W. D. Davis, of Warner, N. H.:

“When we consider how many bodies of water there are which might be
graced by them it is to be regretted thatso little is known of these, the most ele-
gant and graceful fowls in the world. There are in this country two kinds, the
Black and the White; the latter being handsomer, more common and more
docile. Not so large a body of water is necessary for them as one would naitur-
ally suppose. We remember a pair in Maryland that occupied, in common
with ducks and geese, a pool of water twenty-five feet across, and not over three
feet deep. The swans remained nine tenihs of the time in the water, hardly
ever coming on shore. Their food was wheat-bread, grass and green corn-fodder;
the latter they were very fond of. To settle the question whether they would
eat grain when they could get green food, we moved them to another small
pond, and on the edge of it poured down, in a heap, equal quantities of corn and
oats, continuing to feed them as before. The grain was not touched until it
sprouted, when they picked off the green blades only.

“When left to themselves, they slept in the middle of the pond at night. One
morning in December, the night having been unexpectedly cold, we jound them
completely sorrounded by ice two inckes thick. We then removed them to a
room in the poultry-house, giving them water, bread, cabbage leaves, ete., which
was their food for the winter.

“Early in the spring they lay eggs considerably larger than goose eggs; fre-
quently only two, and rarely over eight in number. After sitting thirty-five
days the young swans, or cygnets, are hatched. They, being very hardy, are
easily raised, and are considered a great delicacy by the epicure. The old ones
care for the young with great vigilance, and, if the pond be of the proper size,
require little or no food. As they live most peaceably in pairs, it-is advisable to
have only that number, though more can be kept, as, for instance, at the Cen-
tral Park, New York. Being long-lived (having been known to live one hun-
dred years in England), less troublesome than other fowls, and also very quiet,
they should have a decided preference over their more brilliant and noisy rival,
the peafowl. We hope the day is not far distant when not only public parks
will be graced by these lovely birds, but also the private grounds of every lover
of the beautiful.”

The Black swan is smaller than the White variety, and is more shy in dispo-
sition, owing chiefly, no doubt, to having been in domestication a comparatively
short time. At present it is found, in this country, chiefly in the parks of our
larger cities. This bird is well shown in the illustration on page 207.
GHAPTER XXI.

PIGEONS.

A thorough discussion of the various breeds of pigeons would fill a volume,
as the described varieties of the domesticated pigeon number nearly three hun-
dred; moreover, pigeons are rather to be considered as pets than as profit.
able poultry, hence we shall only attempt here to give a short description of a
few of the more characteristic breeds, with general hints as to their manage-
ment.

The wild species of pigeons are also very numerous, several being peculiar to
North America, and numerous others being known in other continents. Those
which are of most interest here are the common Turtle Dove, or Carolina pigeon
(Columba Carolinensis), and the Migratory, or Passenger pigeon (C. migratoria).
These are too well known over the whole United States east of the Rocky
mountains, to need description here. The species, however, which is believed
to be the parent form of'the domestic dove, or pigeon, is the Rock pigeon
(C. livia), of Europe aud Asia. This pigeon does not nest in trees, but on the
ground or among rocks; it is easily domesticated, social in its habits, and breeds
readily with the domestic varieties. ‘These facts, taken in connection with the
fact that the domestic pigeon manifests great awkwardness in perching in
trees, and seems nearly or quite incapable of nesting there, certainly indicate a
close relationship between it and some one or more of the wild Rock pigeons, of
which there are several varieties. :

For convenience in classification, Mr. Darwin has arranged the different vari-
eties of the domestic pigeon into four groups; these he has divided into eleven
races; and these into sub-races, each containing one or more varieties.

The first group includes but a single race, that of the Pouters. These are dis-
tinguished by the abnormal size of the cesophagus, which is barely separated
from the crop, and is capable of being inflated to an astonishing size. The beak
is of moderate dimensions, This race is divided into four sub-races as follows:

1. The improved English Pouter——In good specimens of this breed the beak
will be nearly buried when the esophagus is fully expanded. The males
“pout” more than the females, and take great pride in their power. The bird
appears to stand almost upright. ;

2. The Dutch Pouter.—This is thought to be the parent form of the preceding.
The birds are smaller than English Pouters.

8. The Lille Pouter—A variety of the Dutch Pouter, in which the esophagus
assumes a spherical form, as if the bird had swallowed a large orange.

4. The eommon German Pouters.—In this breed the esophagus is much less
Gistended, and the bird stands less ae
212 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

The second group comprises the three races of Carriers, Runts and Bar's.
These, especially the Carriers and Runts, grade into each other by almost imper-
ceptible degrees, while the Carriers also pass, through foreign breeds, irfto the
Rock pigeon. This group is characterized by the beak being long, with the
skin over the nostrils often carunculated or wattled, and with that around the
eyes bare and also carunculated.

The Carriers (Race II.) have elongated, narrow, pointed beaks; eyes sur-
rounded by much naked, generally cayunculated, skin; neck and body elon-
gated. They include four sub-races, namely: .

1, The English Carrier.—This bird is of large size, with a greatly elongated
beak, neck and tongue. The carunculation around the eyes, over the nostrils,
and under the lower mandible is excessive. Birds of this race are too valuable
to be flown as carriers. s

2. Dragons, Persians, or Bagdad Carriers.—The English Dragon is smaller and
less carunculated than the English Carrier. 7

8. Bagadotten Tauben, of Neumeister.—A German breed, closely allied to the
Runts. Peculiar from having a long, curved beak. Body large; feathers of
wings and tail comparatively short.

Bussorah Carrier.—A Persian breed, which differs from the Bagdad Carrier in
bearing a greater resemblance to the Rock pigeon.

The names applied in different parts of Europe and in India to the several
kinds of carriers all point to Persia or the surrounding countries as being the
source of. this race.

The Runts (Race III.) have long, massive beaks, and bodies of great size.
The various sub-races shade into each other by such small differences that an
exact classification is impossible. The following five sub-races have been based
upon the most prominent differences:

1, Scanderoon of English writers.—Birds of this sub-race differ from the Bag-
adotten only in having the beak less curved downward, and in the naked akin
around the eyes and over the nostrils being but little carunculated.

2. Pigeon cygne and Pigeon bagadais (Scanderoon of French writers).—These
differ from the preceding in greater length of wing, shorter beak, and greater
carunculation.

3. Spanish and Roman Runts.—Heavy, massive birds, with shorter necks, legs
and beaks than the foregoing races; but slightly carunculated; scarcely to be
distinguished as separate sub-races.

4. Tronfo of Aldrovandus.—A variety described by Aldrovandus, but probably
now extinct.

Murasea (Adorned Pigeon), of Madras.—A handsome, checquered bird from
Madras, intermediate between the Rock pigeon and a very poor variety of Runt
or Carrier.

Barbs (Race IV.)—These have short, broad, deep beaks; naked skin around
the eyes, broad and carunculated; skin over the nostrils slightly swollen. This
race is shown. to be closely related to the Carriers, especially in the newly-
hatched of both races, which resemble each other much more closely than do

young pigeons of other and equally distinct breeds. The Barbs are really short-
beaked Carriers. *
FANTAILS—TURBITS—O WLS--TUMBLERS. 213

The third group is artificial, including a heterogenous collection of distinct
forms. It may be defined by the beak, in well-characterized specimens of the
tiifferent races, being shorter than in the Rock pigeon, and by the skin around
the eyes not being much developed. It includes the races of Fantails, Turbits
and Owls, Tumblers, Indian Frill-backs and Jacobins. :

The Fantails (Race V.) are represented by the sub-race of European Fantails,
in which the tail is expanded after the manner of that of the strutting male
turkey or peacock; the oil-gland is aborted; the body and beak rather short.
The number of the tail-feathers is used as a characteristic for the different vari-
eties; it varies from twelve up to thirty-two or thirty-four, the normal number
of the genus Columba being twelve. The neck is thin and broad backward; the
breast broad and protuberant; the feet small. The carriage of the Fantails is
very different from that of other pigeons. In good birds the head touches the
tail feathers, and the birds walk in « stiff manner, while the neck has a convul-
sive, trembling motion.

A second sub-race of Fantails is also found in Java. The tail is less devel-
oped than the preceding, and the oil-gland is not aborted. Fantails were
known in India previous to 1600, and it seems probable that the Java Fantail
represents the breed in its earlier and leas improved condition.

The Turbits and Owls (Race VI.) have divergent feathers along the front of
the neck and breast; the beak is very short, and rather thick vertically; the
esophagus somewhat enlarged. The Turbits and Owls differ from each other
slightly in the shape of the head; the former have a crest, and the beak is dif-
ferently curved. The feathers in the front of the neck diverge irregularly, like
a frill, and the birds have the habit of continually. and momentarily inflating
the upper part of the cesophagus, which causes a movement in this frill. The
Pouter inflates both the true crop and the wsophagus; the Turbit inflates, in a
much less degree, the cesophagus alone. x

The Tumblers (Race VII.) have the habit of tumbling backwards during flight.
The body is generally small; the beak short, sometimes excessively short and
conical. This race includes four sub-races, namely: The Persian, Lotan, Com-
mon, and Short-faced Tumblers, and these sub-races include many varieties which
breed true.

1, Persian Tumblers.—The birds of this sub-race are rather smaller than the
wild Rock pigeon, white and mottled, and slightly feathered on the feet.

2. Lotan, or Indian Ground Tumblers.—White, slightly feathered ofi the feet,
with the feathers on the head reversed. When gently shaken and then placed
on the ground immediately, they begin tumbling heels over head, and only stop
when taken up and soothed by blowing in their faces. This habit was recorded
before the year 1600.

3. Common English Tumblers. These birds are rather smaller than the Persian,
and have the same habits, but tumble better, sometimes spinning round and
round in the air like 2 wheel. Some varieties begin tumbling almost as soon as
they can fly ; at three months old they tumble well, but still fly strong; but by
the second year they tumble so excessively that they mostly give up flying.
The tumbling seems to be an involuntary movement, over which the birds have
no control, although they seem to try to prevent it. Sometimes, when trying to
214 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

fly forward, this tumbling impulse causes them to rise straight upward fora
yard or two.

_ 4, Short-faced Tumblers.—These have short, sharp and conical beaks, with the
skin over the nostrils but little carunculated. Their heads are nearly globular
and upright in front. They are the smallest of pigeons, weighing some-
times as little as six to seven ounces when two years old. The Short-faced
Tumblers have almost lost the power of tumbling. There are several sub-
varieties.

Indian Friil-backs (Race VIII.)—These are characterized by very short beaks,
and reversed feathers, resembling those of the frizzly fowls.

Jacobins (Race IX.)—In this race the feathers of the neck form a hood; the
wings and tail are long; the beak moderately short. The hood is their most
distinctive feature, and seems to be merely an exaggeration of the crest of re-
versed feathers on the back of the head. The wings and tail are elongated, so
that they are longer tlan those of the larger Rock pigeon. :

The fourth group is characterized by the resemblance of its members to the
Rock pigeon. *y ;

The Trumpeter (Race X.) is the only well-marked race of this group. Its
characteristics are a tuft of feathers at the base of the back, curling forward ;
feet much feathered; voice very peculiar; size exceeding that of the Rock
pigeon. The voice of the Trumpeters is wholly unlike that of any other
pigeon ; the coo is rapidly repeated, and is continued for several minutes, hence
theirname. Their feet are so heavily feathered that they almost appear like wings.

Race X. is made to include a number of sub-races which differ but little in
structure from the wild Rock pigeon.’ Among these are, :

1. Laughers—Small of size, and distinguished by the peculiar voice, which
seems to repeat the word “yahoo, yahoo!”

2° Common Frill-backs.—Beak rather longer than in the Rock pigeon, feathers
reversed. A considerably larger bird than the Rock pigeon, The points of the
feathers, especially on the wing-coverts, are turned upwards, or backwards.

3. Nuns.—These elegant birds are smaller than the Rock pigeon; in young
birds the scutelle on the tarsi and toes are generally of a leaden-black color;
and this is a remarkable character (though observed in a lesser degreé in some
other breeds), as the color of the legs in the adult state is subject to very little
variation in any breed. Nuns are symmetrically colored, with the head, pri-
mary wing-feathers, tail and tail-coverts of the same color, namely, black or red,
and the rest of the body white. This breed has retained the same character
since Aldrovandus wrote, in 1600.

4. Spots.—These are but little larger than the Rock pigeon, and with the feet
decidedly smaller. They are symmetrically colored, with a spot on the fore-
head, with the tail and tail-coverts of the same color, the rest of the body being
white. The breed was known in 1676.

5. Swallows.—These birds have a larger spread of wing and tail than the Rock
pigeon, but smaller bodies. Their heads and wings are of the same color as the .
Rock pigeon, the rest of the body being white.*

 

“Variation of Animals and Plants. etc.. Vol. T.. pige 127-168.
MANAGEMENT OF PIQEONS. 215

Besides these there are several other breeds of minor importance, in addition to
the varieties of the common Dove-cote pigeon.

Of the above named races the Fantails, Jacobins, Pouters, Tumblers, and Car-
riers or Homing pigeons are best known to American Fanciers.

MANAGEMENT OF PIGEONS,

The management of pigeons must be varied to suit the habits of the variety
kept; thus the common Dove-cote pigeon requires little or no care, further than
to provide lofts or nesting-boxes in which they may nest and roost. All domes-
tic pigeons prefer to roost on flut surfaces, as their feet are not adapted to
clinging to poles; they should also have narrow ledges in front of the open-
ings to the loft and nesting-boxes, upon which to alight in entering.

The nesting-boxes should be about three feet long and eighteen inches high
and wide, for each pair of birds, in order to give them room to make two nests,
as they are liable to quarrel and break their eggs if confined to a single nest.
Pine sawdust is one of the best nesting materials, being less congenial to lice.
If space is very limited these nest-boxes may be nailed to the side of a building,
but itis very much better to give the birds a small loft, in which to exercise in bad
weather, and to place the nest-boxes in this, either along its sides or on the floor.
Wherever the boxes are placed they should be so arranged that one side may be
opened in order to clean out and whitewash the inside occasionally.

The old birds feed the young, of which but one or two are produced at a time,
after an incubation of eighteen days. If many birds are kept, food, in the
shape of grain, peas, etc., should be placed within reach, but they will gather a
large part of their living from the fields and roadsides. The young birds re-
main in the nest until of nearly full size, becoming excessively fat; in this con-
dition they are called squads, and are considered great delicaciés. Two broods
are often produced during a season, and sometimes three, so that a single puir of
birds may increase to six or eight during a summer.

In the management of the fancy breeds, more care is necessary, as they are
more delicate, and less capable of flight. For these a larger loft should be pro-

_¥ided, and this should have a window with a wire cage attached, so that the
birds, when confined, may still have access to air and sunlight.

The Pouters are not always good parents, and it is sometimes necessary to
give part of their eggs to birds of other varieties, allowing each pair to raise
one young one in order to dispose of their surplus food, this being found neces-
sary to the health of the birds.

The Carrier pigeons are trained by taking them, in a covered basket, two or
three miles from home, and then liberating them. Such as fail to reach home
may be considered as worthless. The distances to which they are carried are

- suceessively increased, until they become able to return with certainty and
safety when liberated hundreds of miles from home.

These birds have been employed for the earrying of messages for ages; the
most eelebrated instance of their use in modern times being at the siege of
Paris, where, after being earried out of the eity in balloons, they returned, bear- ,
ing long messages, condensed into mieroscopical space by the process of micro-pho-
tography. Oni long flights they are expected to average about thirty miles an hour.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE DOMESTICATION OF WILD BIRDS. :

The various breeds of fowls which have been described in the foregoing pages
are undoubtedly ali descended from a few wild forms. In some cases we are al-
most able to trace the history of a breed back to its original domestication ; but.
more often we are led into the dim mists of pre-historic times, from which we see
man emerging, already surrounded by his flocks and herds, Of such non-migra-
tory races as the Chinese and Egyptians neither history nor tradition can point
to the time when they had no domestic animals. With the nomadic races which
settled the western countries, however, their earliest animals were, of course,
such as could accompany them in their frequent pilgrimages and assist them in
their quest for food, of which the most valuable and the earliest tamed would
naturally be the dog. Indeed, the remains of the dog are found associated with
the earliest known human remains. Fowls could only have been added to their
possessions after they had relinquished their nomadic habits, and become a, pas-
toral, if not an agricultural people. Hence we should expect to find the original
home of the domestic fowl among those people who have longest been tillers of
the soil, or in Egypt, China, and India, and in these countries we find that the
common fowl, the goose, duck, and peafowl, have been domesticated from time
immemorial. As civilization progressed westward this list was swelled by the
addition of the turkey and the guinea-fowl. The question now arises, are these
all the varieties of birds that may be profitably added-to our poultry-yards? In
the discussion of this question it is necessary to consider a few of the points in-
volved in the domestication of a wild animal.

In the first place, the animal so domesticated must possess some quality of use
or beauty which will give it an actual value to man, and, to render this value
permanent, it must possess the ability and disposition to perpetuate its kind un-
der the changed conditions to which it is subjected in domestication. This has
been found the fatal objection to the taming of many kinds of birds and quad-
rupeds—that they would not breed in confinement. In reference to this point
Mr. Darwin adduces numerous examples, chiefly drawn from the experience in
the management of wild animals and birds at the London Zoological Gardens,
the old Surrey Gardens, and the Jardin des Plantes at Paris. In the aviaries of
these institutions birds of prey have very seldom been known to couple, and
have still more infrequently produced fertile eggs; of the smaller graminivorous
birds the canary-bird is almost the only one? out of many species which have
been kept in confinement, that has bred with any regularity ; several species
have produced fertile hybrids with the eanary, but yet refuse to reproduce their
ownkind. The parrot, one among the longest lived of birds, and one which has-
long been tamed, yet “ breeds so ee ae the event has been thought worth
THE DOMESTICATION OF WILD BIRDS. 217

recording in the gravest publications,” Even in their native countries, where
they are reared in large numbers, and are kept so tame that they fly freely about
the houses, coming, like pigeons, to be fed, they never breed.

On the other hand, the great pigeon family generally breeds almost as freely
under confinement as when free, and many kinds of gallinaceous birds breed
quite freely in captivity. There are some exceptions here; the common partridge,
for instance, has rarely bred, even when kept in large aviaries; the grouse has
frequently bred when confined, and the pheasant also, though not so freely as
when free. 2

The ostrich offers a striking example of the difficulty of deciding beforehand
whether an animal will submit to domestication, as it retains its fertility, al-
though somewhat impaired, when removed from its native haunts on desert
plains and in tropical forests to confined enclosures in a temperate climate.

Most waders can be tamed, often with remarkable facility, and the cranes fre-
quently breed freely, yet several birds belonging to this order refuse to breed,
even in their native countries. :

The ducks and geese generally breed as freely as the pigeons and the Galline,
but there are some exceptions; thus Audubon kept some common wild or Canada
geese for more than eight years, yet they would not mate, while others have had
them to produce young during the second year. Of the gulls no instance is re-
corded of any variety except the herring-gull (Larus argentatus) ever breeding
in captivity.*~

From these examples it will be seen that 9 serious difficulty is likely to meet
us at the outset in the attempt to bring any new species of fowl under domesti-
cation. Sometimes this difficulty will be found insurmountable, but in most
cases even the most obstinately sterile species have at some time or other pro-
duced offspring in confinement, and, when one is so fortunate as to witness such
a departure from the general habit, the offspring so produced should be care-
fully preserved and bred with its species, with the hope of finding the habit
broken in that case.

In previous pages we have incidentally mentioned several partly domesticated
birds as being worthy of further culture, such as the Honduras Turkey and the
Cereopsis Goose. To these may beadded the Eider Duck, which is partly domes-
ticated in Ireland and Norway, where it frequents low rocky islets near the coast,
and has long been afforded encouragement and protection, a heavy fine being
imposed for killing it during the breeding season, while artificial nesting-places
are in many localities contrived for its further accommodation. ' These nesting-
places are regarded strictly as private property, and are protected as such by
law. The ducks nest in these places, laying about five eggs, and bedding them
in down which they pluck from their breasts. These eggs and the down are
then taken by the owner of the “ Eider-fold,” when the duck will lay again. To-
wards the end of the season the duck will be allowed to hatch a few eggs to keep
up the stock.

Eiders of different species inhabit all northern coasts. Those of the eastern
United States have been much diminished by persecution, butare still abundant

 

~ «Variation of Animals and Plants, etc., Vol. II., pp. 186-140.
218 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

from Newfoundland northward. Three species also inhahit the west coast of the
United States. _

Among gallinaceous birds which give the most promise of being profitably
domesticated are: 1. The Quans (Peliponine) of Mexico and the South American
continent. These generally have bare throats, and frequently have watiles. In
habit they are chiefly arboreal, and they readily become tame, but have not
often, if ever, been induced to breed in domestication. They aresaid, however,
to hybridize readily. with the common fowl, and in Texas these hybrids are as-
serted to be far superior to the ordinary game fowl for fighting purposes. Some
of the species reach the size of a small turkey, weighing seven or eigh{-pounds
when full grown; they live principally on leaves, grass, fruits, ete.

2. The Curassows, or Mexican Pheasants. These birds are worthy of cultivation
for their plumage alone, and for that purpose are kept in our largeraviaries. In
size they are almost equal to the turkey; they have short wings, long and broad
tail, and strong bill. With the exception of « single species found north of
Panama they are confined to the tropical forests of South America, east of the
Andes, and not extending south of Paraguay. They live in small flocks, and
are arboreal in their habits, only occasionally descending to the ground, while
always roosting and nesting in the branches of trees. They feed on fruits, seeds
and insects. They are said to be domesticated in several parts of South Ameri-
ca, and it.is said that they were taken to Holland from Dutch Guiana towards
the end of last century and completely acclimatized and domesticated there,
breeding in confinement like ordinary poultry, but the establishments ini which
they were kept were broken up during the troubles that followed the French
Revolution. Their fiesh is said to be exceedingly white and delicate. The
Mexican Curassow, found from Panama northwards, is about three feet in length,
of a glossy black color, with green and purple reflections over the whole body,
excepting the abdomen and tail-coverts, which are white. In common with the
other species of this genus its head bears a crest of feathers curled forward at
the tips, which can be raised or depressed at will. The female is of a reddish
color, although varying greatly in this respect, and was until lately described as
a separate species—the Red Curassow.

It would certainly seem worth while to make further attempts to domesticate
this bird. m -

3. The Common Pheasant is kept in a semi-domesticated state in Europe,.and
it would seem worth while to make further experiments with that, as well as
with the closely related Grouse and Prairie Hen. The latter, especially, should
receive more attention from American fanciers, since there can be no question
of its adaptitude to our climate, nor of its value for food. When the country
was first settled it ranged from ocean to ocean; but the progress of settlement
has driven it westward, until it has become extremely rare east of the Missis-
sippi.

With regard to the rearing of pheasants a writer in the English Live Stock
Journal says:

“Common pheasants are certainly difficult to rear, but with care a large pro-
portion of the young ones may be brought to maturity. The eggs should be set
under eommon hens, small sized ones being selected, and the nests should be
THE PHEASANT—THE PARTRIDGE—THE OSTRICH. 219

located either on the ground or in boxes filled with damp earth. Before the
young ones are due the nest must be enclosed with boards, or anything that
comes to hand, for young pheasants, unlike chickens, run away from the hen if
disturbed. They must be confined to the coop for about two days by means of
the ‘keep,’ by which time they will have learned the hen’s call, and then they
must be allowed their liberty, or it will beimpossible to rear them. If anything
alarms them they will run to the nearest bush or hedge, but will soon return if
left quite alone. They may be allowed their liberty till about the time they
commence moulting their tails; this is generally my guide as to when to place
them in confinement. They should be fed on a mixture of meal and boiled
meat, chopped fine, the more of the latter the better, aud if the weather is cold
or wet, mix a little pepper with the food. If they have access to grass they will
require nothing more but some pure water, keptin the shade; if no grass is near
they must be supplied with green food.”

In France pheasants are reared in large numbers for the Paris market, and
there ants’ eggs are a favorite food. In default of these, meat or flour maggots
are bred for the purpose. —

4, The Impeyan Pheasant, which is a native of the Indian jungles, on account
of its large size and beautiful plumage, should at least be added to the aviaries
of our publie parks. It is about as large as a hen-turkey; its plumage is chiefly
of iridescent hues of green, steel-blue, violet and bronze, and it has a crest simi-
lar to that of the peacock.

5. The Spruce Partridge is a species of grouse, which was formerly common
in New England, but is now seldom seen south of Canada. Its habits are very
similar to those of other species of grouse.

6. The Virginia Partridge is a similar species, which is found in more southern
localities, and has many of the habits of the common fowl, although it has been
found to be less inclined to breed in confinement than the grouse; while there
are various species of quail, which, though small in size, are worth cultivating
in certain sections. A great drawback to the cultivation of these wild birds is
the propensity of every fellow ‘who can handle a gun to shoot everything that
can fly, and but little headway can be made until this propensity isheld in check
by salutary laws.

Next to the gallinaceous birds the closely related Ostrich family would seem
te be most worthy of attention. This family is represented by several species,
chiefly natives of the southern hemisphere. It is of special interest to the nat-
aralist from possessing the largest representatives of the feathered kingdom;
the common ostrich sometimes attaining a height of eight feet and a weight of
three hundred pounds, while remains of extinct species have been found which
‘ndicate a very much larger growth in pre-historic times. Another point of in-
terest is that the family seems to be becoming extinct; two species, the Dodo,
ef Mauritius, and the Solitaire, of Roderiguez, have disappeared within com-.
paratively recent times, and evidences are found of the existence during the
present geological age of other birds probably belonging to the same family.

Whether domestication can overcome this tendency to extinctionis a question
not yet thoroughly settled. As previously stated, it is quite generally believed
that the parent form of the Chinese goose (Anser cygnoides) is now extinct, and
220 THE COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK.

the same {s believed with regard to some other forms. This may be the case, or
these forms may be the result of hybridization, At any rate the experiment is
worth making of trying to preserve some of these strange birds.

The Ostrich: This bird, the representative of the family under consideration, -
is a native of tropical Africa; in its wild state itis gregarious and polygamous,
the wives of one male laying in the same nest, and the male assisting in incuba-:
tion, which work, however, is largely left to the heat of the sun by day, the eggs
being incubated at night to preserve their warmth. This habit, however, is
modified in cooler regions, where incubation is maintained continuously. Lay-
ing continues during incubation, the surplus eggs being supposed by some to be
intended for the food of the young birds, but other authorities consider them
merely the result of the polygamous habit of the birds, just as the laying hens in
a farm-yard will lay in the nests of the sitters, if not prevented. é

The ordinary food of the ostrich consists of grass, leaved and seeds, but it does"
not altogether reject animal food. It is noted for its propensity to swallow ©
stones, bits of metal, pieces of leather, ete. These serve the same purpose as
the smaller stones swallowed by the fowls of the farm-yard.

The wings of the ostrich, and of all birds of its family, are too short for flight,
which gives them the name of Brevipennes; but this defect is reeompensed by
an extraordinary fleetness of foot, the ostrich being said to reach a speed of
sixty miles an hour, while half-that rate is well authenticated.

The ostriches, as well as the Cassowary and Emu, possess great strength of
leg, Which enables them not only to run with great speed, but to strike with
powerful effect. The ostrich strikes forward, and is recorded to have disem-
boweled a man with a blow from its claws; while even the tiger is wary of at-
tacking it. It only fights however, when at bay; its first impulse being flight’

The economic value of the ostrich lies chiefly in its feathers, the coarsest of
which are valuable for feather-dusters, and the finer are in great demand for or-
namental plumes. For these purposes the feathers are worth from one dollar to
two hundred and fifty dollars per pound. The flesh of young ostriches is palat-"”
able, but that of older birds is inferior. Old birds, when fattened, yield a large
quantity of oil, which is much esteemed for culinary purposes.

The domestication of the ostrich may be said to be an accomplished fart, as

_ more than thirty-two thousand ostriches were reported as being kept in the vi-
cinity of Cape Town in 1865. Ostrich-farms are also reported in Egypt, and they
have been introduced into southern California. Since the camel has been suc-
cessfully acclimated in New Mexico and Arizona it would seem probable that
the ostrich might do equally well, In domestication the adults are kept to
themsélves by means of wire fences—one six or seven feet high being sufficient.
In Cape Colony it has been found that a range of six hundred acres of grass was
required for eighty ostriches; grass, when deficient, has been successfully re- °
placed by maize. , :
= In feathers and young the annual return of an ostrich is said to be worth $150
to $250; the adult birds belonging to the Khedive of Egypt were valued at $1,000
to $1,500 each,
INDEX.

 

 

Caponizing....
Catarrh .

  
  

Ar Bladder...
Allantois.........

 

c -- 140
Sebrights ... - AZ rorseeee Af ‘
agin, 125

Chittagongs, Gray
Chittepratg .............
Cholera, Symptoms of ..
44 Post Mortem Appearances

  
    

  

Apoplexy.........
Artiboial ‘Mothers.
a siatic Brees.

 
  
  
 
 

 
 

Disinfection ...
Vaccination to Prevent.
y Some Fowls tnelecepHble to
regen) for.../

     

 

 
  
 

Dominique..
Grouse...

    
   

ite
Comb, Pea, of Brahma:
Connection, Effect of Firs

 
  
     
 
 
  

  
  

  

    
 
 

  

Consumption eee
b Haweening.
ee ding ...
Breed, Pure, Definition of. 80 Hatching. oe
Breeding Fancy Poultry. 74 | Coops, Designs for.
tesss 78 pote} in Drinking Water,.

     

 

und...
Crop ‘Distended i in Cholera.

    
 
 

 
     
  

Polish........,- :
Bredas, or Gueldres - 120 | Cross-Breeding ...........+
Bremen Goose. Crowing Hens, Cause of
Bronchitis......... 56 | CULASSOWS......ccceensecseaetanes
Bucks County Fowls.. 99 D :
Bumble-foot........ sae 60 TARRHCBA..sscssssssssscssscscseusssessses ese

56
Business, the Poultry 5 | Diseases and Enemies of the Young Chick. 25

  

 

Bussorah Carriers........ ‘Of the Brain and Nervous System 52
Of the Digestive Organs 56
Of the Egg Organs. (58
Of the Limbs. 60
Of the Skin. 61
222

Domestication of Wild Birds.
Dorkings, Gray or Colored.

  

Silver-Gray . 04
White.. « 104
Dragons... 212

  

Ducks, Aylesbury .
Buenos Ayres..
Black East Indian.

 

 
 

call esis : 199
U0}
Crested White 196

Fan-Winged
Farm-Yard......

Fertility of Hybrids,

Hooked-vill..

Labrador. . 199
Mallard ..... 189

   

Musk, or Muscovy.
Picking ..
Pekin

ild, H a
. Wild, Additional
> Wood...

Dubbing Game-
Dumpies............ccccceee
Dutch Every-day Layers
Dutch, Pencilled.

GG, Composition of the...
Farm, an.........cccccee
And Feather Eating... is
Organs, Construction and Diseases of...
Tester, es

Eggs, Food Required for Production of.

Methods of Preserving.
‘ Packin;

 

 

    

tian Goose
Een Goose.

el Seneeeneeres

 

   
   
 

ALL and Winter Management... 29
‘ancy Poultry, Breeding of.. .. we
Fantails.............. 213

 
 
   
 

Fattening Coop. 46
- Poultry ..... 46
By Cramming Process. 47
Eeather and Egg Eating.. 73
aa 25

   

 

  

French Breeds..........::scssersesseenee cee 119
ALLUS Sonneratii 9
1) 9
Varius, or Furcatus.... 9

 

 

Gallophasis
Game Bantams :
Game-Cocks, Dubbing..
Blac

      
   
 

 
  
 

   

Bravery of..
Duckwing..
‘Ginger Red

White............. ‘
Gapes, and Remedies for..
Geese, Management of..

       
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 

Guinea Cock..
Fowls......
Vulturine

Gull, Herring...

 

Hassures.
Black.........

 

White.
Hawks, How to oe
Heat, Food Required to Maintain.
Pere aincccsccaeseenssiainae's:
History of Domestic Fowls.
Hong ong Goose.....
Houdans........ vols ad sacersves depen)
House for Sitting Hens.

“Designs for.....

‘*  Requisites for.

N-BREEDING.......
nceubation, Natural
Artificial ..
Tneubator, Essentials of.
Electricity for...
Home-made......
Horse Manure for.
Live Turkeys for.
India Fowls..........0..

 
  
  
 

    
  
   
 
 
    
  
  
 

 

 
  
 
 

   

 

 
Jaconms...

apanese Bantams.
Fur-fowls ..

Java Games..

La BRESSE Fowls
La Fleche Fowls..
Langshans ...

Scale Poultry } Management...

tablishments.

Dominique....
oo
Ang)
White .

eae

ver, Eulsconent of in Cholera

(vonians, Gray

exican a Wild “Turkey.
es, Prof. Manly, on Influence of Male... 74

‘inorcas..

‘Miscellaneous Breeds...

 

 

  
  

INDEX. 228

PAGE.

  
 
  
 
  
  
 
      
 
 
 
 
 
 
     
 
 
 
     
 
 

159; 164

 

Mooneys............+-6 115
Mothers, Artifici: 44
Moult, Adaitional of Wild Ducks.

Murassa...

Muscovy Ducks 27.7

EST Boxes....
ests, Arrangem:
Nomenclature, Poultr
Numidia,
Dg...

RIGIN of the Domestic Fowl.

Ostrich Fowls

Burman or Javan.
Black-winged..
Green .........0565

B
Peat on Chicken Cholera.
Pavo en oe muticus..

  
  
  
 
 
 
  
  
    
 
 
 
     
     
   
   

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 

Pheasant Fowls, Gold and Silver.

Impeyan.......
Pigeons......s0008
Management of.
Plymouth Rocks..
Polish Steed
Black Bearded..
Black-crested White..
Buff, or Chamoii
Spangled..........
hite-crested Black..
Poultry Business, the...
In Ohio, Statistics ‘Of.
Poulardes, Making.
Pouters......00.
Prairie Hen .....
Pyrethrum for Lice...

Rars in Poultry-Yard.
Rheumatism ..

Roosting Poles, “Arrangement of..
Rouen Ducks

 
 

       
 
 
 
 
  

Roup.. 56
153

212

ys, ‘i 25
Russians, Black: ccssscssssveccussi csesscssiies . 164

 
    
 
    
   

ALMON, Dr. D. E., on NGhisen Cholera. 61
Scanderoon: . 212

  

Sheep:
Shell,
SiKi€S .......-.cereereeres a
Sitting hens, Care of. 17-21
Spanish, White-faced Blac

whi i 8 125
Spots ........ 214
SE. te ago Fowl: 99
Sulphur for Lice.. 19
Sultans...........

Swans.......
Swallows...

Tan, Slope of, in Different Breeds. ... 10
Tobacco Stems for Lice.........ccccesceeeeeeseeeee 20

+ 167

-- 168°

anvoaintn 60, 167
Domestic Breeds 0: . 167
Extinct Species of. 155
Fattening .......... 180

Food for Young.
Honduras ..........
224 INDEX.

 

    

 

 

  

e PAGE.

Turkeys, Marking... be WE 20 nirssiagresapneneanvesseambncedvaeaeoiaunice” OO
Management of.. 167 | Vittelline Membrane.. 15

N nsett 167 | Vitellus............ 16
sista Vulture-hocks... 94

HITE Comb 61

ea aie 25 White-of-egg, Deposition of. 16

Wild Birds, Domestication of. a. 216

RATES, Definition Of........:0..scceee 62, 68 | Wintering Fowl]s.. .........cccseccsssseereecceese 34
ACCINATION for Cholera............... we 70 Yorx, or Yelk, Nature Of....essssccseeree 16

 
PLP PPP PPB EGF OOS POPE HY FOP OEE So FT PFOTFO OHHS

4, THE seuyt
~o

COMPLETE

   

POULTRY BOOK.

By Cc. E. THORNE,

AssoclAaTE Eprroz Farm AnD F1REsIDE,

CoprgicuTep, 1881, BY Farm anp FiresrpE Co,

_| NUMBER (16, | “sons, tse. if ORT EE

PUBLISHED BY MAST, CROWELL & KIRKPATRICK, SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.

SSR ar
FARM AND FIRESIDE LIBRARY.
+
}
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OO De oo-the oto e Ao l d-dnstp ony ee hott pp hp n> mnt
tered at the iat the Post-Office at Springfield, Ohio, as second-class mail mattar.
DO YOU WANT TO PURCHASE
OR OBTAIN FREE AS

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And Hundreds of other Useful and Ornamental Articles.
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It you have not got one, send for one at once. It will be mailed-
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BOOKS

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Any Bock in this List will be sent by Mail, postpaid, on Receipt of Price,

No. 812, SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON,

Qr the adventures of a father, his wife and
four sons on & Desert Teland. This companion
volume to Robinson Crusoe is equal to it in in-
tense interest and po pli ty It is the story of a
Swiss family consisting of a father, his wife and
four sons who were deserted by the cowardly ac-
tion of a captain and his sailors, and left upon &
atorm-tossed vessel, of their mirnculous escape
from death, of their life and adventures upon a
desert island for many years, and of their deliv-
erance by a British vessel. Price 25 cents.

No. 813. HOUSEHOLD PICTURE BOOK.

A selection of stories and pictures for ever:
member of the family. No such handsome boo!
for the household has ever been offered. It is
crowded with just such short stories-that moth-

ers enjoy reading tochildren, and children de-
light to hear, and just such pictures that please
and amuse. The pictures are finely executed,

and cost between two and three ‘thousand dol-
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Ne. 814. CAST UP BY THE SEA.

By Sir Samuel W. Baker, An ixtensely inter-
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was cast up by the éea from a shipwrecked ves-
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wonderful story is too well known to need more
than an allusion toit. Its interest is'sustained
from first to last, and contains records of heroic.
deeds and manly actions. Price 25 cents.

No. 815. LIFE AND TIMES OF GARFIELD.

A truthful record of the life of our late Pres-
ident, consaining his life from boyhood to his
death This history contains fuany interesting
incideuts not heretofore published, and is by
far the most desirable history of this great man
published. Should be read by every American
citizen. Price 30 cents.

No. 817. IN DOOR AND OUT.

A_ complete book of amusements. This book
affords an almost inexhaustible fund of amuse-
ments for evening parties, social gatherings,
and all festive occasions, and healthful recre-
ations for out-door sports of every description,
with chapters on ball playing, swimming, etc.,
and is, we believe, the only book of amusements
witha chapter devoted to the healthy and in.

vigorating sport of Bicycle riding. Price 30 cta.
No, 822. THE LITTLE BROWN GIRL, THE
RED BOY, Etc.

An intensely interesting book, intended for
~boys and girla, but a great favorite with all. It
is & story founded on school-day life, written in
a lively, attractive manner by Esme Stuart.
Price 30 centa.

 

‘and strange, bright birds.

 

No. 816. THECOMPLETE POULTRY BOOK,

Tegetmeier’s Improved. For many years Teget~
meler's Poultry Book has been the ptandard,
but its price, which is mine dollars, has pluced
it beyond the reach of most people. We baye
improved this great book, and reproduce it in
this form so that the masses can now get it for
almost nothing. It suits at once the plain poul-
tever, who must make the business pay, and the”
chicken fancier whose taste is for gay plumage

It is a reproduction
of Tegetmeier’s unexcelled work. This edition
pas t aS same illustrations without colors. Price

cents.

No. 818. GOOD MANNERS,

A complete hand book of behaviot. This book
is designed to offer such suggestions as will be
valuable to those just entering society, to those
who desire to understand good breeding, the
customs of good society, and to avoid incorrect
and vulgar habits. To the young man or young
lady juat entering society, this book is inval-
uable. Price 30 cents.

No. 820. HANDY HORSE BOOK.

A complete manual for* horsemen, embracin

How to Breed, Buy, Train, Use, Feed, Drive, an

How to Ride a Horse. It also gives the symp-
toms, causes and cures of all known horse dis-
eases. It iginvaluable when horses are attacked
with diseases requiring prompt attention, and
in districts remote from veterinary surgeons,
because it enables any one to doctor their own
horse. It contains a large number of pictures
showing the position of the different organs of
the horge. No one who owns or uses a horse
should fail to have a copy of this book. Price
30 cents.
No. 823. ADVENTURES OF DICK ONSLOW

: AMONG THE INDIANS.

A book full of exciting incidents of adventures
among Indians in the far west. I is only
necessary to mention a few items in the table of
contents: Encounter with a bear, a prisoner
among red skins, the escape, a fierce attack
rescue of a stranger, @ ride for life, wolves an
bears, under the snow, night in a cavern, battle
with hawks, fight with a rattlesnake, treed by
a bear, ete., etc. Price 30 cents,

No. 824. EXCHANGING TO WIN, or THE
CONQUERING HERO.

A story of schovl-day life of unusual interest
to young people, and even those who have fin-
ished their school course, as it brings to mem-
ory the ups and downs of boys and girls, the
struggles and triumphs of the bright and the
gay as well as the stupid and morose, and is a
rue picture of everyday school life. Price 30c,

The usual price of these books is from $1.00 to $3.00 each, and have been considered luxuries,
when they ought to be considered necessities, and the masses will buy books if prices are placed
within reach. We offer the best books known, at a véry low price, to allow every person to,provide

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Address orders for above books to

MAST, CROWELL & KIRKPATRICK, Publishers, Springfield, Ohio,
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BOO Ko

 

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No. 801. LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF ROB-
INSON CRUSOE.

This well-known bovk may ve ranked as the

most popular standard juvenile book ever
printed. Our :d.tion is complete in one vol-
ume. Fully illustrated. Price 25 cents.

No. 802. THE PILGRIMS PROGRESS
Frou this worl: to that which 18 to come.
This remarkable book, as every one knows, was
written under the similitude of x dream, by John
Bunyan, the most pupalar religious writer in
the English language ; and perhaps more copics
have been sold than any ytver book p

Bible. Our cdition is complete anil idged,

with appropriate iilustrations, Price 25 cents.

No. 803. Ae NEW COOK

BEST COOK BOOK EVER PUBLISHED. Con-
taing about 1,000 Recipes. It is just the book
that every wife and housekeeper needs It tells
how to cook all kinds of brend, cakes aid
meats; it tells how to make aH kind 0. soup:
it ives rec pes for cooking fish, oysters, poultry
and game; it tolls how t select the best poultry
fish, meats,etc., it gives ths best methods o
preparing sauces ani salads and all kinds of
vegetables for the table; and tella the house-
keeper all she needs to know abo t bread, bis-
cuits, rolls, puddings, pies, custards, creams,
cookies, tea, coffee, chocolate, home-made can-
dies, antidote for poison, cooking for the sick,
and many other useful things. Price 50 cents.

No. 804. SAVED AT LAST FRUM AMONG
THE MORMONS.

Every man and woman in theland ehonld read
this story, which is found dof facts, and gives
an insight into the low estate of woman under
the Mormon rule, This bok also contains
‘Mrs. Cand'e’s Curtain Lectures,”’ by Dougla.
Jerrold. Price 25 cents.

No. 805. GULLIVER’S TRAVELS.

This book tells of the supposed travels and sur-
prising adventures of Lemuel Gulliver into sev-
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with araceof people no larger than your hand.
Also his wonderful exploits among giants. Com-
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No. 806. BREAD AND CHEESE AND KISSES.
By B. L. Farjeon, A very popular Christmas
story after the style of Dic.ens; abounds in ex-
cellent and novel features ; is chiefly remarkable
foritsadmirable picture of country life, giving
the history of a very happy and contented young
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trations. Price 25 cents.

  

The neual price of these books bound in cloth is $1.00 to $3.00 each.
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No. 807. THE ARABIAN NIGHTS’ ENTEF
TAINMENTS.

Illustrated with numerous wood engravings,
descriptive of those ima. y strange and bingulor
stories which the legend says the Sultanere:
of Persia related tu the Sultan night aftr
night, in order to prelong her life, and thas
finally won his affections and del ve,ed the
may virging, who bat for her would have been
sacrificed tu lis unjust resentment. Price 20 ets;

No. 808. /ESOP’S FAELES.

The Fables of ASsopus, an apt representative of
the preat social and intellectu. | movement of
the age wich le adorned. Born a slave, he
forced his wav by his mother-wit, nie the courts
of princes. He knew that to be tolerated in
courts he must speak to please, and he g ye
lessons both to prince and people by recitals of
fablos, which were very popular in Athens dur-
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tory; an he who had not Asop’s fables ut his
finger'’s ends was Jooked upon as an illiterate
dunce iy A henian gentlemen. Jn one voal-
ume. Very profusely illustrated. Price 25 cts,

No. 809. JOHN PLOUGHMAN’S PICTURES;

Or, More of hie Plain Ta!k for Plain People, by
Rey. Chas. H. Spurgeon. This book is excecd-
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plest form of words and very plain speech. !o
smite evil, and especially the monster e il of
drink, has been the author's earnert endeavor,
The humor and homely wisdom of this hoe \
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er of pictures. Price 25 cents, 5

No. 810. NOBLE AND HEFOIC DEEDS OF
MEN AND WOMEN.

A history and description of noble decds, pre-
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and good we regulate our own course, and steer,
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No. 811. SECRETS OF PROGRESSIVE AGRI-
CULTURE.

Being reports of a course of lectures on Agri-
ec: lture delivered by the Faculty of the Ohio
State University, Columbus, Ohio, consisting of
President Orton, Prof. N. 8. Townshend, Prof.
Albert H. Tuttle, Prof. Robinson and others,
and embraces about forty lectures. A desirable
book forfarmers. Price 30 cents,

_ We bind them in heavy paper,
The books comprise a wide range and striking

diversity of the most hiilliant and pleasing productions of the most noted and popular authors,

and include books of travelr, adventures, fiction and

humor, so thar all tastes will be suited. and

any one obtaining there books will possess a librasy of t' © moat popular books ever published. We
have not room to givean extended description of each book, but no one can but be delighted whe

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