|Spec. ICE 187 .S25 ^ MEMORIAL POULTRY LIBRARY. CORNELL ' UNIVERSITY "fHE GJjf Of \m^m/mmsmm^mmsm>m>MNmm>m>mNmsmsi The original of tliis bool< is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924003138785 |(./> HIV J 1 "?], r DOMESTIC POULTRY: BEINQ % practical Creatis^ ON TOE Preferable Breeds of FArm-Tard Poultry, THEIR HISTORY AND LEADING CHARACTERISTICS WITH COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS FOR BREEDING AND FATTEN ING, AND PREPARING FOR EXHIBITION AT POULTRY SHOWS, Etc., Etc.; OCRIVED FROM THE AUTHOR'S EXPERIENCE AND OBSERVATION BY SIMOIfT M. SAUEDERS. NE"W .A.I>fr> KNXiJ^IlGKD EDITION. * • > NEW-YORK : ORANGE JUDD & CO., 245 BB,OADWAY. 1868. //C'f E 7098 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the vear 18fi6, by ORANGE JUDD, iu lae Cleric's Office of tlie District Court for tlie Southern Uisirici of New York. TO JDr. E JB K T«f W I GH T , OF B08TOS, CMTespon&ing Secretary of the 3fas8achuaett8 Horticultural Boctety, Etc., Etc THIS LITTLE WORK IS MOST BESPECTFULLT, AUD BY PERMIBSIOH, BED I G A TED, Wr EECOGNITION OF HIS SERVICES TO AMEBICAN PO VL TR r FANC I XSa. Never over feed. Never allow any food to lie about. Never feed from trough, pan, basin, or any vessel. .Fked only while t/ie birds will run after the feed, and not at all if they seem careless about it. Give adult fowls their liberty at daybreak. Never purchase eggs for hatching purposes until a hen is ready to sit. For seven or eight days before hatching, sprinkle the eggs with cold water while the hen is off. This will prevent the frequent complaint that the chicken was dead in the shell INTRODUCTORY. The object of the present treatise is, to present a simple description of the various useful breeds of domestic poul- try, exhibiting plainly and practically the best methods of their management, and the determhiing the purity of the variety selected for rearing by the young poultry fancier. Most of the poultry books of the day are voluminous, valu- able chiefly to those acquainted with the subject. Their minute accounts of breeds of poultry seldom seen on this continent, tend to swell the pages of the book without the dissemination of practically useful knowledge. In this treatise, I have endeavored to avoid, as much as possible, such a superfluity. Yet I do not place myself betbre the public as a rival to the numerous writers on the subject. I pretend not to rival them — the field (like the world) is wide enough for all. A few portions of the work must necessarily treat of the same subjects as theirs, although a- good deal that is new, I trust, will be found. I have given, with my own experience, that of well known poultry fanciers and " hen-wives," among which will be found that of C. N. Bement, Miss E. Watts, Mrs. Ferguson Blair, John Baily, M. Jacque, and Mariot DiJieux. My aim is to fur- nish a brief but authentic and reliable work on poultry, without embarrassing the reader with useless theories and projects not feasible, and with the hope that niy labors may not be found useless, I place my unpretending work before my readers. S. M. Saunders. Port Richmond, Staten Island, N. 7. AUTHORS CITED. Ailen, Hon. L. F., on Dorkings 41 Bailey, John, on Brahmas * 35 Bailey, John, on Dorkings ,. 45 Brent, B. P., on Dorkings r. 42 Columella, on 5-toed Hens 43 Dfdieiix, Mariot, on Dorltings 46 Dixon, E. S., on Dorkings 47 Douglas, John, on Roup and Gapes S3 Fuller, Bar. R. W., on Brahmas , : 37 Geyeiln, G. K., (In Appendix) 107 Giles, John, on Aylesbury Ducks gg Jaqiie, Charles 71 Millett-Robinet, Madame, on Bralinias ^ 36 Snnith, G. B., on Brahmas , 34 Thompson, J. C, on Brahmiis gg Wliite, H.G., on Brahmas 40 Wight, Dr. Eben, on Brahmas 38 Wight, Dr. Eben, on Dorkings , ,, 40 CONTENTS. Dedication... ^ •• ■•■ S Golden Rulea 4 tntroduction A Authors Citt^d List of Uluetrations 8 Origin nf our DomesUc Fowls 9 Poultry Houses 10 Feeding of Poultry 15 Breeding and Management of Chickena 19 Fattening of Poultry 22 Diseases of Fowls 39 Brahma Pootra Fowls 34 Dorking Fowls 41 Spanish Fowls - 49 Game Fowls 54 Malay Fowls 60^ Cochin China Fowls fi2 Hamburgh Fowls 66 Poland Fowls 68 Bantams 70 Leghorn Fowls 73 French Breeds of Fowls— CrewccoBur, Houdatiy La Fteehe 75 The Domestic Turkey 81 The Guinea Fowl 86 The Domestic Goose — China, Bremen^ Toulou*e 89 Feeding and Management of Ducks 93 White Aylesbury Ducks 95 The Musk or Muscowy Duck 97 The Rouen Duck 100 Poultry for Ezhibition lOa Appendix— Mr. Geyelin's Visit to the Poultry Yards of France 107—116 Terms and Technicalities 117 Index 119 (7) LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS. Brahma P lotra Fowls (Frontispiece) Boxes for iVests 13 Fowl House, 6X6 feet, Elevation and Plan U Hen Coops 20 Coop for Fattening Fowls 22 White Dorking Cock, Single.Combed 42 Foot of Dorking CocU 43 Foot of Dorking Pullet 43 Grey Dorking Cock and Hen, Rose Combed 44 Black Spanish Cock 60 Black Spanish Cock, Head of 51 Black Spanish Hen 62 Black-breasted Red Game Cock S5 Malay Cock , 60 Cochin China Cock and Hen 63 Poland Fowls— Silver Spangled and Black 69 Group' of Bantam Fowls 72 Group of French Fowls 76 Head of Houdan Cock ,. 77 Crevecoenr Cock 78 Combs of Crcvecceiir Cock 79 Comb of Lu Fleche 80 Bronze Turkey Gobbler 82 Bronze Hen Turkey 84 Toulouse Geepe gg Bremen or Embden Geese gj Pair of Ro len Ducks 10| [Unstratior. of Terms li «) DOMESTIC POULTRY; HOW TO REAR AND FATTEN ORIGIN OF OUR DOMESTIC FOWLS. The common fowl is generally supposed to be of Indian origin, and nothing can be learned respecting their ances- try until within a comparatively recent epoch. Nobody really knows the earliest date of their domesticity. Some suppose it must have been coeval with the keeping of sheep by Abel, which view has a reasonable amount of probability, as the oldest son of Japhet was called Gomer, signif)dng a cock. Aristotle, 350 years before Christ, speaks of them familiarly as "household words." Among the Greeks and Romans the fowl early figured in the public shows. It was dedicated to Apollo, to Mercury, to JEsculapius, and to Mars, and its courage and watch- fulness were well appreciated. The Rhodian fowls and those of Delos, Medea and Persia were celebrated for their superiority in fighting, and for the (xcellency and delicacy of their flesh. Cock-fighting was a diversion in consonance with the tastes of the Romans, and they were as much devoted to it as are the Malays of the present day, who frequently stake their all upon the issue of a single battle. When the Romans, under Julius Csesar, invaded Britain, they found the fowl and goose domes. ticated, but these, as also the hare, were forbidden as food 1* 10 DOMESTIC POULTET. They are, in fact,^ne of man's oldest, and most important acquisitions ; passing from generation to generation for thousands of years, and branching out into so many varie- ties that every breeder will find a peculiarity in some of them to please his fancy. It is only on the most valued varieties I mean to dwell, giving brief and explanatory statements of their origin, their peculiarities of plumage, points and form, and of the tests for purity of blood. POULTRY HOUSES. It is only of late years that poultry-houses have been much thought of. In large farmyards, where there are cart-houses, calf-pens, pig-styes, cattle-sheds, shelter under the eaves of barns, and numerous other roosting places, not omitting the trees in the immediate vicinity, I do not think they are required, for fowls will generally do better by choosing for tliemselves ; and it is, beyond a doubt, more healthy for them to be spread about in this manner than to be confined to one place. But a love of order on the one hand, and a dread of thieves, foxes, or skunks on the other, will usually make it desirable to have a pro- per poultry-house. The exterior is a matter of taste ; but internally, the comfort and well-doing of the poultry must be the only consideration, and the higher the house is, the less likeli- hood there is of disease or taint. Another advantage of having it lofty is, that the currents of air through the build- ing, being far above the fowls, purify the air without interfering with their comfort. They do not like a draught, and if, while they are perching, an opening is made admit- ting one, they will be seen to rouse up to alter their posi- tion, and at last to seek some other place to avoid it. POULTRY HOUSES. 11 The best guide in all these things is nature, and an ob- server will always find that poultry Bhoose a sheltered spot. They also carefully avoid being exposed to cold winds. The poultry-house should not open to the North or East. The perches should not be more than twenty-fojir inches from the ground. None are better than fir or sassafras poles, about fourteen inches in circumference, sawn in half in the center. They should be supported on ledges, fast- ened to each side of the house. This affords every facility for removing them for purposes of cleaning, at the same time that it is very simple. All perches should be on the same level, none higher than the other. My reason for being thus particular in fny description of the perch is, that to mistakes in its construction and posi- tion many disorders in the feet of fowls may be attributed. For instance, it has been complained that large fowls be- came lame, and what we term bumble-footed, more especi- ally when carefully kept in poultry-houses. Now, the rea- son for it is obvious — their perches are too high. In the morning the cock flies from the perch eight to twelve feet high ; the whole weight of his body, added to the impulse of his downward flight, brings him in contact with the ground. Often, from the violence of his fall, small stones are forced through the skin of the balls of the feet. They fester, and if that does not occur, they become so tender that the bird dare no longer perch: he roosts on the ground, and, for want of the necessary exercise, his legs swell at the knees, and he becomes a sleepy, useless fowl. This will be avoided by having low perches. Some well- informed authorities deem high perches of no consequence, provided the fowls have a plank with cross-pieces reaching them from the ground. But I believe these are only used to ascend ; the descent is generally done by flight. It is very necessary the house should be well ventilated ; it may be done either by an iron grating or an omission 12 DOMESTIC POULTRY. of bricks in the building, but the ventilators should ba considerably above the perches, and in severe weather may be entii'ely closed. It is an improvement to have a ceiling to the house ; a very slight and common one will do, and it is not absolutely necessary. The house should be often cleaned out, and the walls whitewashed. The floor should be of earth, well rammed down and covered with loose gravel two inches deep. This is easily kept clean by draw- ing a broom lightly over it every morning, and if it is raked, it is kept even and fresh. There should be an open- ing towards the West or South for the fowls to go in and out ; and this should never be closed, as fowls are fond of rambling early in the morning, and picking up such food as is to be found at break of day. It should not be allowed that any poultry roost in the house but fowl — no ducks, turkeys, geese, or any other sort. Neither may there be too many fowls, lest the house be- come tainted and the birds sickly. The poultry-house should have three compartments ; one, the largest, for roosting, another for laying, and another for sitting ; though, if it is desired to curtail the accommodations, two compartments might suffice — that is, one for roosting and laying, and the other for hatching — taking care, however, that the nests forjaying are not in too close proximity to the roosting- poles. In both the laying and Fig. 1.— BOXES. sitting rooms, boxes (as in fig. 1) should be placed against the side of the house, on the floor ; all that is required is to fasten up boards against the wall, Bach being twenty inches high, the same length, and eighteen inches apart. I'his aifords the hen all the privacy she requires. About eighteen inches from the wall a wooden head should be put, just high enough to prevent the eggs from rolling out. POULTRY HOUSES. 13 It may not be out of place to mention, that, as no hen ahould be allowed to lay where tlie others are sitting — and difficulty maybe experienced with some, from theii- almost unconquerable repugnance to sit anywliere but where tliey have been laying. It may be stopped in this way : move the hen and her eggs at night into the sitting-house, and cover her until morning, by hanging sacks, or old carpets, or matting over the boards forming her sitting-place, and she will remain quiet and satisfied. The door of the sitting-house should always be shut when hens are on their eggs, and it should, therefore, have a window, to open in the summer, but to shut quite close in the winter. When the window is, however, open, a wire frame or piece of lattice-work, should supply its place, to prevent laying hens from intruding. There is one addition to a poultry-yard so advantageous to chickens that those who have once tried it will never be without it. I mean a covered run for them, to be used in wet weather. Any sort of roof will do, and it should be in a sheltered spot, running the length of the yard, and projecting six to twelve feet from the wall or close fence against which it is placed. It should be exposed to the sun, and sheltered from cold winds. The floor should be raised above the level of the yard, and covered with sand and wood ashes, some inches deep. The hens with chickens may be put here under their coops, in wet or stormy weather, and it affords at all times a favorite resort for poultry to bask and take their dust-bath, which is essential to their well-doing. The flooring should be higher at the back than the front. There is nothing better for the bottom of a nest than a sod of grass. On this should be placed straw. A nest so made is healthier for the hen and chickens, as it admits of sufficient ventilation, and is always free from vermin. It is essential both doors and windows of roosting. 14 DOMESTIC POTJLTKT. places should be open during the day for the purpose of ventilation. The floor should slant every way towards the door, to faciUtate the cleanLag, and to avoid anything like ■wet. It should be well cleaned every day, and it should be raised above the lev- el of the surrounding ground ; it should have no artificial floor, such as boards, bricks, tiles,or stones of any kind, but should be of good hard eg-rth and loose Fis. 3. -FOWL HOUSE, 6x6. gravel— not disposed a, Door; b. Ventilators; c, Brackets; d, Entrance. +q Kg iQuddv from itS occupants going in and out in wet weather. It should open on ground perfectly free for the poultry to ran in ; and if a high dry spot on light soil can be chosen, so much the better. The roof should be quite air and water tight. It is not necessary to build expensive houses. I keep a cock and five hens in a wooden house. (See fig. 2.) It is seven feet high in the centre, six feet square in- side, and is planned as in fig. 3. Such a house will cost, being made of pine wood, about fifteen dollars, and will last many years. It is portable, by passing poles through the brackets, (c, c. Fig. 2) on each side. It has no floor. A coating 6x0 Fii{. 3. — PLAN. , Door; b. Laying Boxes; c, Perch, of tar or paint will prevent the boards from splitting. FEEDING OF POULTRY. 15 FEEDING OF POULTRY. It is difficult to assign any portion of food as a sufficient ,aanlity for a given number of fowls, because so much de- pends on the nature of their run, and the quantity and quality of food to be found. For instance : in a farmyard where the barn-door is always open, and operations scat- tering grain and hay seed continually going on, adult birds require little or no feeding ; but if the supply be stopped, then they must be fed by hand. A good healthy growing fowl will consume, weekly, two-thirds of a gallon of corn or wheat ; and if the bird come fi"om a yard where it has been but poorly fed, it will, for a time, eat more than this ; but after it has got up in flesh and condition, it gradually eats less, and two-thirds, or even half the quantity, will keep it in good condition. Agsdn : the weather must be considered ; in mild, damp weather they prowl about and pick up many things — as insects, worms, young herbage. These all assist ; but in frosty — and, above all, in snowy weather — they require generous feeding. Do not spare good food for chickens; they require plenty while they are growing, and they wiU make a good return in health and vigor, when arriving at maturity. Those who are obhged to keep fowls in confinement, should have large sods of grass cut, and let the earth be heavy enough to enable them to tear off the grass, without beinj obliged to drag the sod about with them. Where there is a family, and consequent consumption, there are many auxiliaries, such as bread crumbs, groats that have been used for gruel, etc. But it must be borne in mind, that these are in the jjlace of other food, and not in addition to 10 DOMESTIC POIILTKY. It. When they can be had, other food should be dituin ished. I am not an advocate for cooked vegetables, ex- cept potatoes. Boiled cabbage is worse than nothing. In fact, it must be borne in mind, corn, either whole or crajked, is the staple food, and the others are helps. Do not give fowls meat ; but always have the bones thrown out to them after dinner ; they enjoy picking them, and perform the operation perfectly. Do not feed on raw meat. It makes fowls quarrelsome, and gives them a pro- pensity to pick each other — especially in moulting time, if the accustomed meat be withheld. Hundreds have pur- chased birds — above all. Cochin Chinas — on account of their great weight, which, being the result of meat-feeding, has proved a real disease, incapacitating them for breed- ing. When proper food is provided, all is not accom- plished ; it must be properly given. No plan is so extrav- agant, or so injurious, as to throw down heaps once or twice a day. They should have it scattered as far and wide as possible, that the birds may be long and healthily employed in finding it, and may not accomplish in a few minutes that which should occupy them for hours. For this reason, every sort of feeder or hopper is bad. It is the nature of fowls to take a grain at a time, and to pick grass and dirt with it, which assist digestion ; but if, con- trary to this, they are enabled to eat corn by mouthfuls, their crops are soon overfilled, and they seek relief in ex- cessive draughts of water. Nothing is more injurious than this ; and the inactivity that attends the discomfort caused by it, lays the foundation of many disorders. While speak- ing of food, it may be observed, that when, from traveling or other cause, a fowl has fasted a long time, say thirty or forty- eight hours, it should not have any hard food, neither should it have water at disoretioii. For the first three hours it should only have a small portion — say a tea- cupful of sopped bread, very wet ; so much so, as to serve FILEDING OF POULTKT. 17 for food and drink. Tf the bird appear to suft'er much from tlie journey, instead of bread and water, give bread and ale. But the food given them by hand is not all that is essen- tial. There is the natural food, sought out and divided by the hen to her progeny — such as insects of all kinds, peculiar herbage, etc. And it is here well to remark, that where fowls ai-e bred for exhibition oi- other special pur- poses — as cocks for fighting — a hen should not be allowed to rear more than six chickens, as she can not find this food for a greater number ; and if they are intended to be supe- rior to all others, they must have greater, or at least equal advantages with those they will have to compete against. In most poultry-yards more than half the food is wasted. The same quantity is thro'wn down day after day, without reference to the time of year, alteration of numbere, or va- riation of appetite ; and that which is not eaten, is trodden about, or taken by small birds. Many a poultry-yard is coated with corn and meal. As it is essential fowls should have fresh-mixed food, a carefid poultry-feeder will always rather mix twice, than have any left ; and it is often bene- ficial for the birds to have a scanty me.il. They can find numerous things wherewith to eke out, and things that are beneficial to them ; but if they are kept constantly ftiU, they will not seek them. The advantage of scattering the food is, that all then get their share ; while if it is thrown only on a small spaee, the master-birds get the greater part, while the others wait around. Many have been discouraged, and some deterred from keeping fowls, by the expense of feeding. Tf they will themselves attend to the consumption for a week, and fol- low the method I have pointed out, they may arrive at a fiiir average ; and they will be surprigfed to find how much greater the cost has been than was necessary. It is most essential not to invent or to supply imaginary wants m fowls. They do not require coaxing to eat ; and wherf^ver 18 DOMESTIC POULTB'X. food can be seen lying on the ground in the yard, there is waste and mismanagement. The economy is not in the food alone. They are large gainers in health, and th' pleasure of keeping is much increased. The tendency oi over-feeding is to make them squat about under sheds and cart-houses ; and instead of spreading over a meadow or stubble in little active parties, searching hedges and banks, and basking on their sides in the dust, with opened feathers and one wing raised to get all the glorious sun's heat they can — -they stand about, a listless, pampered group. To lay much better, to breed better chickens, and to last longer, are the results of diminished, not increased expense in feeding; and all that is required is a little personal supei- intendence at first, till the new system is understood and appreciated. In most yards the birds are overfed, and there is waste in nearly all. It is common with those who undertake to write upon poultry to be asked: What is the food to make fowls lay ? High feeding of any sort will do it, but par- ticularly with hemp seed, scrap-cake, liver, or any meat chopped fine. The scrap-cake, after chopping, should be put in a bucket, and covered with boiling water. The mouth of the bucket should be covered with a double sack, or other cloth, so completely, as to exclude air, and confine the steam till the greaves are thoroughly softened. When they are nearly cold they may be given. These will make them lay, but it is only for a time ; premature de- crepitude comes on, and disease in many forms appears. The most common is dropsy, and of an incurable charac- ter. The fowl that would have laid for years, in the com mon course of nature, being forced to produce in two that which should have"" been the work of several, loses all beauty and usefulness ; and yet it is often considered mat- ter of wonder that the most prolific hen in the yard should suddenly become barren. BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT OF CHICKENS. 19 BREEDING- AND MANAGEMENT OP CHICKENS. Ilowever reluctant those concerned with poultry may be to acknowledge the fact, it is not the less true that most old women who live in cottages know better how to rear chickens than any other persons ; they are more suc- cessful, and it may be traced to the fact that they keep out few fowls, that these fowls are allowed to run freely in the house, to roll in the ashes, to approach the fire, and to pick up any crumbs or eatable morsels they find on the ground, and are nursed with the greatest care and indul- gence. The first consideration is the breeding-stock, and I would advise, in an ordinary farm-yard, to begin with twelve hens and two cocks ; the latter should agree well together. Too much pains cannot be taken in selecting the breed- ing-fowls ; the presence of all the characteristics of the various breeds, as described in the following chapters, should be insisted on in the purchasing of stock. Having the stock, the next point will be breeding. I am a great advocate for choosing young birds for this pur- pose, and with that view would advise that perfect early pullets be selected every year for stock the following sea- son, and put with two-year-old cocks : for instance, pullets hatched in May attain their growth and become perfect in shape, size and health before the chills of winter. They should be put with cocks of two years old, when they will lay on the first appearance of mild weather, and their pro- duce has the same advantage as these have had before them. I do not advocate having young stock-fowl so much on account of their laying early, as I do for the superioiit.y 20 DOMESTIC POULTRY. of their breeding. Neither is it desirable to breed from fowls of all the same age. If it can be done, it is better to put a two-year-old cock with pullets, and vice vefsa. It is well to introduce fresh cocks of pure breed into the yard every second year ; this prevents degeneracy, and for the same reason no cook should be kept more than three seasons, nor hen more than four, if it is intended to keep them in the highest possible perfection and eflSciency. Of hatching I will say but very little, as the hen will do that naturally, and consequently well. An ordinary sized hen will cover thirteen eggs. All nests should be on the ground. Eggs for hatching should not be purchased till a hen is ready to sit. For seven or eight days before hatch- ing, the eggs should be sprinkled with cold water while the hen is off. This will prevent the frequent complaint that the chicken was dead in the shell. I give, herewith, (Fig. 4,) a sketch of the best coop I have yet found for hen and chickens. Its dimensions should be twenty-four inches high in front, eighteen wide in front, and twenty-four in depth. It should be close every- where but in the front. That should be made of bars, and the three centre ^'S- *•— den coop. ones should lift up by means of cross pieces. It must not have a bottom. The hen should be kept in the coop, or rath- er under it, at least six weeks, and in the winter the longei- she is under the better. The coops should be often mov- ed, as it prevents the ground from becoming tainted. It is too often presumed that little care is required as to the feeding of poultry from tne time they leave the coop until the time they are put up for fattening. They ai e BRBBDING AND MASAGEMKKT OF CHICKKNS. 21 allowed the run of the yard, without considermg what a precarious subsistence this affords. There may be abun- dance of food at some periods, and little or none at others. They should be fed regularly, and care should be taken thut each of them (for they are all brought up either for the table or stock) shall have a fair share. For chickens, I would recommend for the first week after hatching, a hard-boiled egg to be given, chopped fine at least twice a day, wheat steeped in milk, and coarse Indian meal, bread-crumbs, canary and millet seed, etc., etc. A chiange of food is not only advantageous, but necessary, and I would advise that twice per week the food be changed, substituting cracked corn for wheat. They must also have constant opportunities of picking among grass and other herbs. They should only be fed so long as they will run after their food ; as soon as they are careless about it, they have enough. Fowls in confinement will pine to death with heaps of corn around them, unless they have these opportunities. As the chickens get older they will require feeding less oft«n, but they must never be allowed to fall off in condi- tion, and after from ten or twelve weeks in the summer, or from fourteen to eighteen in the winter, they wiU be reidy to fetten, if required. Next, as to water. It is too much the idea that any description will do, and that provided there be some within their reach, though it have been standing a week, nothing more is required. Tliis is a mistake. Water for fowls and chickens should be very clean ; the vessel con- taining it should be well rinsed out every morning ; it is a good plan to put a little gravel at the bottom, and it should be changed twice a day. I am aware, many will be disposed to think this unnecessary ; but I will ask any one who has the opportunity to try whether, where there ia a stream of water running through a yard, they can 23 DOMESTIC POULTRY. cause the poultry to forsake it by placing water nearer to their haunts ; it wiU always be found they prefer going to the stream, to drinking out of the pan or tub. There is little doubt many of the diseases of poultry arise from the filthy water they are often obliged to drink from ponds full of decayed vegetable matter, and tainted by the fall of leaves in autumn from overhanging trees FATTENING OF POULTRY. There are two methods of fattening; one is by feeding in troughs, another by cramming. When merely a good useful fowl is required, the first process will suffice; but, when it is wish- ed to make a fowl of extra- ordinary fat- ness, such a coop or pen as 1 shall endeavor to describe will be required. It is represented in the accompany- mg sketch. —coop foe fattening fowls. ^ A coop for twelve fowls should be twenty-four inches high, three feet long, and twenty-two inches deep; it should stand about two feet from the ground, the front FAriEXING OF POILTEY. 23 made of bars about three inches apart, the bottom also made of bars about an inch and a half apart, to insure cleanliness, and made to run the length of the coop, so that the fowl constautly stands, ■when feeding or resting, in the positition of perching. The sides, back and top, indeed the whole of the coop should be made of bars, as in the sketch. Tlie bars of which it is made shonld be an inch and a half wide. Some people make them round, and I am not sure they are not preferable to flat ones. Fatten- ing fowls do not require much room. Exercise is not &Torable to the process, and it is, therefore, important that the room given to each bird should be only so much as will enable it to stand up or sit in tolerable comfort. For this reason there are two slides to the coop. These not only make the task of catching the fowls much easier, but they are Tery useful when the coop is wanted for a smaller number of birds. If only four are required, and they have the same space allowed to them as to twelve, they will make little progress. It is therefore necessary to have a board or division made, which, by passing be- tween the bars fi-om front to back, wiU make a coop of the aze required. There should be a trough made in front of the coop, and I much prefer it wedge-shaped to the square ones generally in use. It is much easier to clean. The coop only requires in addition a flat board running along in front, having a groove cut in it to receive the bottom of the trough, and an upright piece at the edge to support it. The trough must be easily movable, which is necessary, as it must be scalded once every day to keep it sweet. This trough must be filled three times a day with food, the quantity being regulated by the number of fowls fet- teniu"- ; the food should be coarse meal, mixed slack, but not quite liquid, the consistence being such that if some of it were placed on the flat board in front of the coop, although it would spread, it would not run aS. It may be 24 DOMESTIC POULTRY. mixed with water, but milk is much better ; in fact, it should always be borne in mind the food cannot be too good or too clean. It is also essentially necessary that sound discretion be used in the quantity of food given, No more should be given than is eaten up clean at a time, and at every meal it should be fresh-mixed food. When the time arrives for the mid-day feed, if there remains any uneaten in the trough from the morning, it is proof either that too much was given before, or that the fowls are sick. If the first, let them fast till evening ; if the second, alter the character of the food, by mixing it either slacker or stifter ; but in both cases the food which has been left must be taken away, or it will turn sour, and the fowls wiU take a distaste for it, which will prevent their fattening. There should be pans continually before them containing fresh, clean water ; and when the troughs are removed for scald- ing, and while they are drying, there should be gravel spread on the ledge before them; they wiU pick out the small stones to assist digestion, which greatly promotes their health. Another excellent thing is to cut a lot of grass and place it occasionally before them. No better proof wiU be re- quired of this being good for them, than the avidity with which it will be eaten. All these things assist health, and for a fowl to be good on the table, it must be healthy when alive. By this process, a fowl put up in good flesh and condition will be fat enough for ordinaiy purposes in about ten or fourteen days. It will be observed, I inculcate the greatest cleanliness throughout. Cleanliness is one essential ; another, that the fowls be fed early in the morning, as soon as the sun rises, for they wDl be then waiting for their food. If the first meal of a fowl is deferred till seven or eight o'clock on a summer's day, the bird has been hungry, restless, and dis- satisfied four hours, and in that time the progress mide in rATTESTSfQ OF PODXTKY. 25 fettemng the previous day has been fretted away. Tlus remark applies both to picking and the succeeding method of fattening. The next process is crammincf. The coop must be pre- cisely similar to that used for pickers, with troughs. The number of these coops must depend on the supply of fowls l^at is required, as they should not always be in nse, lest they become tainted. They are so inexpensive and easily made, it is not worth while to incur any risk of this sort ; and after one has been in use for a month, it is always well that it should be washed, exposed to the air for as long time as it can be spared, and if lime-whited (white-washed), so much the better. The fowls for cramming are put in this coop, and if wanted Tcry &t in a short time, the best of those fed by the former process may be selected, and in a week they win be Yery good ; but if not in a hurry, then good fleshy young fowls should be put np, and fed as follows : but (in this and the former method) care mnst be taken to pat np fowls that hare been accnstomed to be together. If strange fowls are put in the same coop they will fight, and if so, they win not &tten ; nor is that aD, from the continiial ex- citement they will become hard. It will sometimes happen that even a paDet is quarrelsome ; if so. she must be taken from the coop and kept separate, or die will interfere with the well-doing of the lot. K fowls are to thrive, they mnst be warm. The heat and steam of the birds shonld be per- ceptible to the hand when it is put in. For this purpose they must be close to each other, and the coop should be covered up with old sacks, carpet, matting, or anything of that sort. The food is the same as before, viz., coarse meal mixed with milk, the only difference bdng, it is mixed stiffer. and it must now retain the form ^ven to it ; if it is wished to make the fowls very fat, a littie mutton-suet may be 2 86 DOMESTIC POTJLTET. boiled in the milk with which the meal is slaked. A " cram" should be about the size of a woman's finger, and an inch and a half long. Six or eight are given morning and even- ing ; that is enough to fill the fowl's crop. The crams should be rolled up as dry as possible, and in order to make the swallowing easy, previous to being given they should be dipped in milk. Women perform this operation better than men : the fowl is placed in the lap, the head is held up, and the beak kept open with the thumb and finger, the cram is introduced into the gullet, the beak is then closed, and the cram is gently assisted down till it reaches the crop ; care must be taken not to pinch the throat, as ulceration would follow, and the fowl would be spoiled. If at mid-day the fowls appear restless and dis- satisfied, a very little food may be given to them in the same way as to those fed by troughs. They must also be weU supplied with water and gravel. It will sometimes happen that when the time arrives for the evening meal, that of the morning has not digested. Therefore, before the second feed is given, the crop should be lightly felt to see if it be empty ; if it is not, there is evidence of something wrong. The fowl must be taken out immediately, and the beak being held open as if for cramming, some wann water or gruel should be poured down the throat, and the beak closed. The bird will swal- low it, and it will soften the food ; but if more food were forced into the crop on that already hardening there, the fowl would become " crop-bound " ; that is, the food would become solid and indigestible, and the fowl would be to- tally spoiled for the table, if it did not die. By the fore- going process, a fowl may be made perfectly fat and good in fourteen to sixteen days. There is n-» necessity to feed longer, unless large size be desired, when feeding may be continued three weeks. I prefer the former period, be- cause the fowl then is fat enough and iii perfect health ; rATTENlNG OF POULTET, 27 but frequently after-vrards, although it will get fatter and apparently larger, it will lose both weight and flesh. The latter becomes red and dry ; the internal fat impedes the exercise of the functions of digestion ; and the fowl be- comes diseased. This is what poulterers call " clung," and arises fi-om disease of the liver, caused by excessive feed There is no possible method by which a fowl may be kept fatting and in perfect health after it has reached the acme of &tne8s. It must then be killed, or it will become worth- less. When put up either for trough-feeding or cramming, the birds must be in some sort of buUding, and completely sheltered from cold and draughts. When the weather is chilly, they should be covered with sacks or matting, as warmth is very essential in causing them to thrive. Atten- tion to these explicit details wiR remedy one of the com- plaints urged against country poultry, viz., that it is too lean. Another objection nrged is, that the flesh is hard. For this complaint there are two causes ; first, the poultry is too old ; next, it is eaten too fresh. Fowls should be put up to fatten at from twelve to fourteen weeks old in the summer, and from sixteen to twenty in the winter. The difference is caused by the fact that in warm weather they arrive at maturity much sooner than in cold ; and when a fowl has arrived at maturity it is too old for the table. It is a mistake to keep a fowl until it is too old for the sake of having it large. It is true it looks handsome on the table, but it is useless there. Perhaps part of the breast may be eaten, but the legs are far too hard to famish any delicate food. Still, size is much to be desired, and it can be attained by following the rule laid down for feed- ing chickens well from the first, and the increase in size and weight during the fortnight's systematic fattening is almost incredible to those who have never observed it. But to be tender, the fowl must be young. There is no process by which an old one can be made good for the 28 DOMBSTIC POULTRT. table, and surely, though it may be a little smaller, it is better to have a good juicy fowl, which all will eat with relish, than a larger one, which, from its hardness, cannot be enjoyed. Another complaint often made is that, although a good fowl is to be had sometimes, there is no certainty. This arises from the fact that the fowls are improperly selected; that if six fowls are wanted, they wUl perhaps be taken from six different broods. This is very wrong ; the oldest brood should be cleared off before the next is taken. It ^ may be said there is only a difference of three weeks or a month between them ; but in summer and autumn a month turns the puUet into a hen, and so unfits her for the table. The next cause for their being hard is,. they are eaten too fresh. I use the term fresh in a qualified sense. A really young fowl does not require keeping to become tender, because it is naturally so ; but, if eaten the day it is kiUed, it must be stringy, as every member of the body is still rigid. Forty-eight hours will be quite long enough to keep such a fowl. But in spite of all care, there will sometimes be fowls beyond the age I have specified, as the proper time for killing ; and then, by keeping them some days, they wiU become more tender. An other very important point. If a fowl be caught up out of a farm-yard, or taken out of coop, fuR of food, and kiUed directly, as is too much the custom, the food in the body and crop ferments, and at last corrupts the flesh ; but if the bird be fasted — that is, kept entirely without food or water from twelve to fifteen hours before it is kil- led — it will be found quite empty, and, in moderate weather, will keep from four to six days, during which period it becomes tender. In the winter it may kept much longer. DISEASES OF FOWLS. 29 DISEASES OF FOWLS. An>ong the disease of fowls, nothing is so iktal to the bird, or so vexatious to the fancier, as the Roup. Very close observation and experience have taught me the first pre- monitory symptom is a peculiar breathing. The fowl ap- pears in perfect health for the time, but it will be seen t hat the skin hanging fi-om the lower beak, and to which the wattle is attached, is inflated and emptied at every breath — such a bird should always be removed. The disease may be caused, first, by cold damp weather and easterly winds, when fowls of weakly habit and bad constitution will often sicken, but healthy, strong birds will not. Again, if by any accidental cause they are long with- out food and water, and then have an unlimited quantity of drink and whole com given to them, they gorge them- selves, and ill health is the consequence ; but confinement is the chief cause, and above aU being shut up in tainted coops. Nothing is so difficult as to keep fowls healthy in confinement in large cities ; two days will often suffice to change the bright, bold cock into the spiritless, drooping, roupy fowl, caiTying contagion wherever he goes. But all roup does not come from cities ; often in the spi-ing of the year the cocks fight, and it is necessary to take one away ; search is made for something to put him in, and a rabbit-hutch or open basket is found, wherein he is confined, and often irregularly supplied with food, tiE pity for his altered condition causes Mm to be let out ; but he has become roupy, and the whole yard suffers. I dweU at length on this, because of all disorders it is the worst, and because, although a cure may seem to be effected, yet at moulting, or any time when out of condition, the fowl 30 DOMESTIC POULTRY. will bii more or less affected with it again. One thing i« here deserving of notice. The result of the attention paid to poultry of late years has been to improve the health and constitution of the birds. Roup is not nearly so common as it was, nor is it so difficult of cure. It went on unnoticed formerly, till it had become chronic, and it would not be difficult to name yards that have now a good r^utation, but which, a few years since, never had a healthy fowl. It is now treated at the outset, if seen, but the improved man- agement in most places renders it of rare occurence. The cold which precedes it may often be cured by feeding twice a day with stale crusts of bread soaked in strong ale, there must be provided, warm dry housing, cleanliness, nutritive and somewhat stimulating food and medicine. In my own case I generally give as medicine some tincture of iron in the water pans and some stimulants. The suspected fowl should be removed directly, and if there be plenty without it, and if it be not of any breed that makes its preservation a matter of moment, it should be killed. There is very little doubt of a cure if taken in the first stage. But, if the eyelids be swollen, the nostrils closed, the breathing difficult, and the discharge foetid and continual, it wiU be a long time before the bird is well. In this stage it may be termed the consumption of fowls, and with them, as in human beings, most cases are beyond cure. However I may differ from some eminent and talented amateurs, I do not hesitate to say it is contagious in a high degree. Where fowls are wasting without any apparent disorder, a tea- spoonful of cod-liver oil per day will often be found a most efficacious remedy. I will next mention a disease common to chickens at an early age — I mean the gapes. These are caused by numerous small worms in the throat. The best way I know of getting rid of them, is to take a hen's tail-feather, strip it to within an inch of the end, put it down the DISEASES OF FOIVLS. 31 chK-ken's windpipe, t\STst it sharply roiind several times, aiid draw it quickly out : the worms will be found entaJigled in the feathers. When this is not effeetu:d in removing them, if the tip of the feather be dipped in turpentine, it will kill them, but it must be put down the windpipe, not the gullet, I have alwavs thought these are gut from im- pure water, and I have been inibrmed by a gentleman who inquires closely into those things, that having placed some of the worms taken from the throat of a chicken, and si >me from the bottian of a water-butt, where rain-water liad stood a long time, under a microscope, he t'ound them iden- tical. I have never met with gapes where fowls had i running stream to drink at. Camphor is jjerhap.s the best cure for gapes, and if some is constantly kept in the water they drink, they take it readily. Tliis h.as been mo^t successful. There is also another description of gapes, arising probably fi-om internal fever; I have tbund me,il mixed with milk and salts a good remedy. They are some- times caused by a hard substance at the tip of the tongue ; in this case, remove it sharply with the thamb-naU, and let it bleed freely. A gentleman mentioned this to me who had met with it in an old French writing on poultry. Sometimes a fi>wl will droop suddenly, after being in perfect health ; if caught directly, it will be found it has eaten S'jmething that has hardened in the crop ; pour plenty of warm water down the throat, and loosen the food till it is soft, then give a tabl^poonftil of castor-oil, or about as much jalap as will lie on a ten cent piece, mixed in butter ; make a piU of it and slide it into the crop ; the fowl wiU be well in the morning. Cayenne pepper or chalk, or both mixed with meal, are convenient and good remedies for scouring. When fowls are restless, dissatisfied, and continually scratching, it is often caused by lice ; these can be got lid of by supplying their bouses or haunts with plenty of 33 DOMESTIC POULTRY. ashes, especially wood ashes, in which they may dust theifiselves, and the dust-bath is rendered more effectual by adding some sulphur to the dust. It must be borne in mind, all birds must have the bath ; some use water, some dust ; but both from the same instinctive knowledge of its necessity. Where a shallow stream of water runs across a gravel road, it will be found full of smaU birds washing ; where a bank is dry, and well exposed to the sun, birds of aU kinds will be found burying themselves in the dust. Sometimes fowls appear cramped, they have difficulty in standing upright, and rest on their knees ; in large young birds, especially cocks, this is merely the effect of weak- ness from fast growth, and the difficulty their long weak legs have in carrying their bodies. But if it lasts after they are getting age, then it must be seen to. If their roosting-place has a wooden, stone, or brick floor, this is probably the cause ; if this is not so, stimulating food, such as I have described for other diseases, must be given. Fowls, like human beings, are subject to atmospherical influence; and if healthy fowls seem suddenly attacked with illness that cannot be explained, a copious meal of bread steeped in ale will often prove a speedy and effectual remedy. For adults, nothing will restore strength sooner than eggs boiled hard, and chopped fine. If these remedies are not successful, then the constitution is at fault, and good healthy cocks must be sought to replace those whose progeny is faulty. " Prevention is better than cure." The cause of many diseases is to be found in enfeebled and bad constitutions ; and these are the consequences of in-and-in breeding. The introduction of fresh blood is absolutely necessary every second year, and even every year is better. Many fanciers who breed for feather fear to do so lest false colors should appear, but they should recollect that one of the first symptoms of degeneracy is a foul feather ; for ip. DISEASES OF FOWLS. 33 Btanoe, the Sebright bantam loses lacing, and becomes patched, the Spanish fowls throw white feathers, and pigeons practise numberless freaks. An experiment was once tried which will illustrate this. A pair of black pigeons was put in a large loft, and allowed to breed with- out any introduction of fi-esh blood. They were well and carefully fed. At the end of two years an account of them was taken. They had greatly multiplied, but only one third of the number were black, and the others had become spotted with white, then patched, and then quite white ; while the latter had not only lost the characteristics of the breed from which they descended, but were weak and de- formed in every possible way. The introduction of fresh blood prevents all tlus ; and the breeder for prizes, or who- ever wishes to have the best of the sort he keeps, should never let a fowl escape him if it possesses the qualities he seeks. Such are not always to be had when wanted, and the best strains we have, of every sort, have been got up by this plan. There is one thing worthy of remark : none of our fowls imported from warmer climates are subject to roup, as Spanish, Cochins, Brahmas, and Malays. But those from a damp country, like Holland, seem to have seeds of it always in them. The following tonic is highly recommended by Mr. John Douglas of the Wolseley Aviaries, England, to prevent roup and gapes in chickens and old fowls: — "One pound of sulphate of iron, one ounce of sulphuric acid dissolved in a jug with hot water, then let it stand twenty-four hours, and add one gallon of spring water ; when fit for use, one teaspoonful to a pint of water given every other day to chickens and once a week to old fowls, will make roup and gapes entirely a stranger to your yards.' — This may be time if perfect cleanliness is maintained and the fowls are in other respects well treated. 34 DOMESTIC POULTBT. UES^I^J\.BLE BIiEEr>S. BRAHMA-POOTRA FOWLS. (BEB FEOJfTISPIBOE.) The origin of the Brahma fowls has been a subject of much contradiction, but has been assigned to the banks of the Brahma-putra, a, river that discharges its waters into the Bay of Bengal, Their first appearance was in the city of New York, in the year 1850, when three pairs were in the possession of a sailor, who sold them to a mechanic in that city, who again sold them or their progeny. By some writers it has been contended that they are nothing but gray Shanghais ; this can only be attributed to a desii-e on the part of the Shanghai and Cochin breeders to put a stop to the rapid advance to favor made by the Brahmas. But it is useless, for they have everything to recommend them, and their lovers and admirers must be content with the good quali- ties which by universal consent are awarded to them, and though they appeared at a time when people were suffer- ing from the effect of the decline of the Cochin mania, they held their own, and have succeeded in formuig numerous and attractive classes. The Brahma is a large, heavy bird, symmetrical, prolific, and hardy ; living where Shanghais would starve, growing in frost and snow when hatched in winter months. In speaking of various breeds of fowl, Mr. G. B. Smith says: "As regards Brahmas and giay Shanghai fowl, I think there is a great difference between the two. I have raised them for several years, and great- ly prefer the Brahmas. They lay a thu-d larger egg than BKAIIMA-POOTEA FOWLS. 85 tbe Shanghai, and are the best fowl for any one desirina eggs in the winter. Their eggs sometimes weigh from three to four and a quarter ounces each, whereas those of the Shanghai seldom reach over two or two and a half ounces. The Brahmas, I think, will lay a greater weight of eggs in a year than any other fowls I am acquainted with. I have bred fowls for over twenty years, and there are none I like better than these." That the Brahmas are a distinct breed I have not the least doubt, but whether they come from China or India I will not stop to discuss. It is enough that they come from the East — ^from Asia. The deficiency of taU is the characteristic of all these fowls. Cochins, Brahmas, Malays. Even the Jungle fowl (the hyaena for wildness of all Gallinacese, and one that can well be called untamable,) although the most favored of his cotmtry in the way of tail, carries it drooping. That the eggs are alike in color cannot weigh, because aU our Asiatic birds lay cream or chocolate colored eggs. If feathered legs are to prove their identity with Cochins, then from that I would deduce proof of their distinctness. Out of large numbers I has^e bred, I have never had a clean-legged chicken, Mr. John Baily, purveyor to the Queen of England, says : " I have imported and bred these fowls for two years ; I have watched them narrowly, and find they differ in many points from the Cochin, with which they are sought to be identified. They wander from home, and they will get their own living ; they never throw a clean-legged chicken ; they have deep breasts ; they lay larger eggs, and they are hardier. I have hatched them in snow, and have reared them out of doors without any other shelter than a piece of mat or carpet thrown over the coop at night. " From any birds that I have kept, I have nevur had an nntrue chicken, all being more or less gray. They are 36 DOMESTIC POULTET. hatched almost black or yellow, and the dark get lighter and the light darker. I have never had a clean-legged chicken from them." This breed is much esteemed in England, as also in France, where it was introduced in the year 1853. Mad- ame Millett Robinet, authoress of Basse-Cour, writes in the following flattering terms of the Brahmas : " The cock is full of pluck and pride ; he is still more developed than the Cochin China ; his feathers are also richer and more brilliant. The Brahma Pootra cock, which obtained the first prize at the Universal Exhibition in Paris, in 1856, weighed lOJ pounds, and was sold for 2,500 francs (1500). Brahmas are good layers, good mothers, flesh very abun- dant, and q£ a_good q uality ." Mariot Didieux, in writing of Brahma Pootras, says: " This race came from India about the year 1850, but, as with all beautiful races, speculation has taken hold of them. A couple of the pure race we know was sold at the enor- mous price of seventeen hundred francs, (equivalent- to $340)." The Brahma Pootra is divided into two varieties, the dark and light ; pea, and single combed ; the selection of color must be entirely a matter of taste. The cocks of the dark variety have a black breast speckled with white; thighs black ; hackle * and saddle f light ; tail black and spreading at the end ; yellow legs, very Avell feathered ; deep breast, very fiill hackle. The hens of this variety have bodies pencilled all over ; silver hackle — that is, pencilled like the silver pheasant — deep body : yellow legs, well feathered ; pea or single combed. The cocks and hens of the light variety are much alike in plumage, bat * Hackle — ^The feathers growing from the neck and covering the ehonlderB and part of the baelj. + Sabdlb Feathers — Those feathers growing from the end of the «ack and falling over the side. BBAHMA-POOTliA FOWLS. 37 the oock frequently less marked than the hen ; entirely white plumage, save the tail, and flight* feathers, which should be black, and the hackle, which should be black striped. These should also have well-feathered yellow lEgs, and either pea or single combed ; the under feathers of these birds should be dark. The Brahmas are the only fowls that are pea-combed The pea-comb has the appearance of three combs pressed closely together, that in the centre being higher than the others. Another thing worthy of remark is, that in many of the single combs, close observation will show on either side the plain impression of another, the evident remains of that which had been a pea-comb, and by in-breeding had disappeared. The Brahma Pootras eat much less than the Cochins, and are amongst the best winter-layers we have ; they rank among the very prolific producers of eggs throughout the year ; they seem to be as hardy as it is possible for fowls to be, are good sitters and mothers, and__good for the table. The Rev. R. W. Fuller, of Massachusetts, says in alet- ter to W. N. Andrews, Esq., of New Hampshire : "I have a pair of Brahma Pootra fowls, and I consider them de- cidedly the most splendid and beautiful fowls ever imported. Their color is white, inclining on the back to a rich cream color, the hackles on the neck slightly streaked with black. The legs are yellow, heavily feathered with white, and shorter than the Chittagong or Shanghai, giving the fowls a more beautiful proportion. They are very gentle and peaceable in their disposition, and have a stately and grace- "iil gait. Take them altogether, they are just the fowls for an amateur to fall in love with, and such as an owner with one spark of vanity would desire to keep in the front yard, that all passers-by might behold and admire them." • FuoHT Feathebs — The laat five feathers of the wing. 38 DOMESTIC POIILTKY, An English writer says': " So much has been said about the Brahma fowl, and such a variety of opinions given am to whether they are a distinct breed or not, that I will venture to say a little respecting them. That they aie a distinct breed there is not the least doubt, for long before they were imported into this country, a brother of mine, who has been much in India, informed me of them, and pointed out most particularly the'acdvantages they posses- sed over the Cochins. I have now several of these birds in my possession, both the dark and the light variety. Some months since my brother visited me, and on being shown the birds, at once pronounced them to be the same as those he had seen in India." Dr. Eben Wight, of Boston, in a letter speaking of tie Brahma Pootra fowls, remarks : " A man in Connecticut says he has a pair, the same stock as Hatches, which he has weighed : cock thirteen pounds ; hen nine pounds six ounces ; but he refuses to sell them. That is a fine breed of fowJs and must beat all others." Mr. J. C. Thomson, of Staten Island, in writing on Brahmas, says : " As the Brahmas had the reputation of being very hardy and good winter-layers, I determined to try them. In fact, the person in Massachusetts who fur- nished me with the trio, said he had a hen, in February, hatching a brood in a cold wood-house, when the thermo- meter was six below zero. So, to try it fairly, I put the old trio in an ash-house, on the shady side of the dwelling, so open that daylight could be seen through all the joints of the boards on the north side, with the upper part of the west side open lattice work. It was the coldest building I had, as no sun shone on it through the mnter. A small yard on the west side of the house gave them an oppor- tunity to occasionally bask in the sun, on the lee side of a board fence. Ample food and drink, with a little cabbage, was daily given — grain always within their reach. Ono BRAHMA-POOTEA FOWLS. 39 laid right on through the coldest weather, the eggs fro quently fi-eezing in the nest. The other was evidently a very old bird, from the fact that she moulted in midwinter. " The ten pullets had better quarters, and grew finely ; in March they began to lay, and laid steadily all through the summer. My stock consisted of the three old birds, one spring pullet, and ten September-hatched pullets. Finding they were giving me an unusual number of eggs, especially in June, when I frequently got eight, nine, ten, and eleven, and sometimes twelve eggs a day, I was in- duced to keep an account for July and August, when I find they have averaged six eggs per day — equal to 2,000 eggs per year. This month I have allowed six of them to sit, the last brood hatching to-day. The experience of last autumn satisfies me that they can be grown with success in the autumn and winter months, as I am able to give them the entire range of the garden ; they coming in as early layers in the spring, to take the place of early-sitting hens. The weight of the cocks runs from ten to twelve pounds, and pullets from seven to nine pounds. My year- old (this Sepi/cmber) pullets weigh seven and a half pounds, and will, no doubt, during the coming winter run up to eight or nine pounds. " They are not large eaters, considering their size ; after repeated trials, when closed in a small yard, without grass, I find the fourteen head would only eat three pints of grain per day, or a fraction over a bushel each per year, and with a good range a bushel of grain per head would be an ample supply. " Their very quiet habits are greatly in their favor, A four-foot wire, picket, or lath fence, they seldom get over. If they should, then shorten the feathers on one wing, and there is no more trouble. " As mothers, they are excellent sitters and nurses — rather heavy when hatching. Chicks should be removed 40 DOMESTIC POULTRT. almost as fast as they are hatched, and kept warm till all are out. When with their chicks, they move about as carefully and gracefully as a turkey-hen. Being large and full-fledged, they will, in warm weather, care well for two dozen chicks — in the cooler seasons a dozen will be ample. " They are more disposed to sit than many other kinds. By shutting them up a few days, giving plenty of food and water, they soon give up and go to laying again. "As a market-bird, their fine size and plumpness make very d esirable tabl&ljk4s— their fljgli, i n my, e stimation, being qujet egual to.thg v^yy, bpstj "in fact, when we take into consideration their winter-laying qualities, with all their other good qualities, they are just the birds for the million. Being fiilly feathered, even to their toes, protects them against the vicissitudes of our ever-changing climate. " As a lawn-bird, none excel them in beauty. A flock, viewed from a short distance, gracefully moving about, or quietly sitting in groups, are frequently mistaken for a flock of lambs. " For crossing, or bringing up the ordinary stock of the country to full fifty or seventy-five per cent, in value, my advice to poultry-growers is, to procure good male birds, remove all others." Mr. H. G. White, in the Albany Gcnmi/ry Gentleman, of August 4, 1864, says : " After several years' experience I find this variety well adapted to the general purposes for which fowls are kept. " They possess size, beauty and hardiness in a great de- gree, and are very prolific. Their eggs, which are large, mrpass all others in richness ; and, like most fowls with iight plumage and yellow legs, t heir flesh is of good quality. I have obtained from fifty-five fowls, in the month ot'' March, ninety-two and a half dozen of eggs. They excel all others as winter-layers. I have raised the present season a hun- dred and twentv-five chickens with quite ordinary care," DOREJNQ FOWLS. 41 To form a just opinion of these fowl, it is necessary to study their habits and to breed them. Enough is seen in their shape to justify us in holding them distinct from the Cochin, but still more do we find it in their habits and produce. As a useful and hardy fowl it is unsurpassed. They are excellent layers of good-sized eggs, good foragers, when they can have their liberty, and good sitters and mothers. The chickens fledge more kindly than the Co- chins, grow fast and are exceedingly hardy ; old and young take good care of themselves, and by fasting, -when absti- nence is beneficial, often recover from ailments which would carry off any of a less hardy soi-t — ^Ln fact, I know no other chickens which are so hardy as they, and reared with so little trouble and loss, and I have no hesitation in pro- nouncing them the most useful fowls for the American farm-yard. THE DORKING FOWLS. This breed of fowl was described by Pliny, by Colum- ella, and by Aldrovandus ; and has long been known to naturalists as the GcMus pentadactylv:S, or five-toed fowl. The breed is of great antiquity ; possibly the " couple of short-legged hens " which Justice Shallow, of Gloucester- shire, ordered for the entertainment of Sir John Falstaff, may have at least been closely related to it. Some sup- pose it to have been introduced by the Romans, as they esteemed a breed of fowls characterized by five toes ; and a five-toed variety existed in ancient Greece, for such ia noticed by Aristotle. The name Dorking originated fi'om a town of that name in Sussex, England ; but why, cannot be readily answered, for when Camden wrote his Brittania, in 1610, Dorking 42 DOMESTIC POULTEY. was so inconsiderable as not even to be mentioned by him, and in his map of Surrey it is marked a mere village. The fame of Dorking poultry was established in England about 125 years ago ; and from that time the greatest care and attention have been paid to their breeding. The first Dorkings brought into the United States were introduced in about the year 1840, by Hon. L. F. Allen of Black Rock, New York. WHITE DOKKINa COCK. Of the Dorkings there are three varieties ; the white, gray, and speckled. The white has been supposed to be the Dorking of old fanciers. B. P. Brent says : " The old Dorking, the pure Dorking, the only Dorking, is the ■white Dorking ;" and that the speckled or gray Dorking is a recent and improved cross, by which the size was much increased, between the ori^nal white breed and the DOllKJNG FOWLS. 43 FOOT OF DOBKIHG COOK. Malay, or some other large fowls ; but I cannot assent to sucli a proposition. Columella's favorite sort of hen could not differ much from the speckled Dorkings as they at present ex ist. He says : " Let them be of a reddish or dark plumage, and with black wings. Let the breeding hens, therefore, be of a choice color, a robust body, square buUt, full - breasted, with large heads, with up- right and bright red combs ; those are believed to be the best breed which have five toes." Columella had the white sort, but he rejected them, for he advises : " Let the white ones be avoided, for they are generally both tender and less viva- cious, and also are not found to be proli- fic ; " and such seems to be the prevail- ing opinion of many poultry-fanciers in the nineteenth century. The gray and speckled Dorkings above referred to have of late been prodigious favor- ites at all the poultry shows in England and Scotland; and are bred to great size and beauty ; in fact, they are larger and heavier birds than the white. When exhibited, rose and single-comb- ed fowls compete together, but it is im- perative that all their combs in one pen shall be alike. In plumage, also, the birds in a pen should match, although almost any variety as to color is tolerat- FOOT OF PULLET. im D0KKLN6 FOWLS. 45 cd. The gray Doi'king is a large, plump, compact, square-made fowl, with short legs and ample furnishing. The fifth toe must be well developed, and quite distinct pointing upwards and not a mere branch of the fourth. — The accompanying illustrations will more lucidly explain the development of the fifth toe. The following is firom the pen of Mr. John Bailey, considered the best judge ot these fowls in the world: "One of the most popular colors for hens in the present day is that known as Lord EBll's. The body of these birds is of a light slate color, the quill of each feather being white ; the hackle is that known as silver, being black and white striped ; the breast is slightly tinged with salmon color. The next class is a lai-ger one — the grays. These may be of any color, provided they are not brown ; ash cobweb with dark hackle ; semi-white with dark spots ; light gray, pen- ciled with darker shades of the same color. With all these the most desirable match for a cock is one with light hackle and saddle, dark breast and tail ; I advisedly say dark in preference to black, because I think servile ad- herence to any given color too often necessitated the sacri- fice of more valuable qualities. I look on a fine Dorking cock with no less admiratioil if his breast be speckled- and his tail composed of a mixture of black and white feath- ers ; and such a bird is a fit and proper mate for any gray hens — but the gray must not be confounded with the speckle; these have a brown ground with white spots. One of the best judges I know of a Dorking fowl, proper- ly describes them as brown hens covered with flakes of snow. These speckled hens are of two distinct colors, the first is known as Sir John Cathcart's color ; the pullets are of a rich chocolate, splashed or spotted with white ; the cocks are either black-breasted reds without mixture, or spotted like the hens on the breast and partially on the body ; it is no objection if the tail is partially colored— 46 DORKING FOWLS. another spejkle is of a grayish-brown spotted with white • these bens should have a cock with dark hackle and sad- dle, and the wings and back should show some red or chestnut feathers. These last are not essential, but a light cock will not match speckled Jiens. Next we have brown hens ; these should have a black-breasted red cock, but a speckled one will pass muster." In the silver gray, the cock should have black breast and tail, and white hackle on neck and saddle. The hen should have a white hackle streaked with black, light gray body, with light shafts to the feathers and a robin breast. In size, the Dorking ranks next to the large Asiatic tribe. It is short-legged and large bodied, and readily accumulates flesh, which is of a very good quality. Mow- Dray, when he wrote, ranked them in size in the third de- gree of the largest of fowls. The weight of the Dorking at maturity varies from five to eight pounds, and full grown Capons have been known to weigh from ten to twelve. The Dorking hen is rarely a layer of more than twenty eggs, when she becomes broody. The eggs are usually of a clear white, but sometimes of an ashy-gray color, rather larger in size, weighing from 21 to 3 ounces each ; round- ed at both ends and of a rich flavor. They are excellent sitters and good mothers. Mariot Didieux, in his "Prac- tical Guide for the Rearing of Poultry " writes : " The Dorking is so highly prized by the Enghsh people because they know their flesh is good for the table. — In fact, by the color of its skin, their form, and the fineness of their bones, they show a gre&t aptitude to fatten, the fat they acquire spreads itself well, and covers all parts of the body — fattened, they resemble an oval shaped ball of grease, very wliite, almost like Mother of Pearl from the fineness of the skin." Dr. Eben Wight, of Boston, says : " So far as my ex DORKIXG FOWLS. 47 perienoe has gone, the Dorkings are decidedly the best breed for laying ; the eggs come abundantly, and are of the largest size, except when they have been bred in-and- in too much." In fact, this breed of fowl can not be bred in-and-in like other breeds, and such is the greatest drawback to breed- ing them in this country, unless a fresh-imported cock be introduced almost yearly amongst the hens. Many breed- ers of Dorkings, fearing almost total ruin in their chicken department, introduced a game cook ; but though he may replenish the yard with a robust stock of chickens, I aw averse to any method, adopting which destroys the purity of a breed of fowls so excellent as these, and therefore can only advise this breed of poultry to be selected by those who either have the means or facilities of obtaining an imported cock at least every second year. For this rea- son Mr. Dixon says, after speaking of their good qualities : " With all these merits they are not found to be a profita- ble stock, if kept thorough-bred and unmixed. Their pow- ers seem to fail at an early age. They are also apt to pine away and die just at the point of reaching maturity, par- ticularly the fairest specimens — that is, the most thorough- bred, are destroyed by this malady." The following is an extract from the Derby and Chester- field Heporter : " The common sense of the public has brought back the Dorking fowl to its wonted pre-eminence. At the sale after the Metropolitan Show, and also at the Birmingham Exhibition of 1854, the Dorking fowl met with a readier sale at larger prices than any other kind. The public voice has recognized it as the bird for the Eng- lish farm-yard ; it is altogether the pet of John Bull, as possessing great and good qualities without ostentation and clamor. The history of our county-town records no less than three poultry sales by public auction ; and, at each of those, the Dorking fowl obtained the highest bidding— 48 DOMESTIC POULTET. good hens selling for as much as thirty shillings (seven dollars and fifty cents) each ; and further, the most success- ful breeders of Dorking fowls, are, at this moment, selling their eggs readily at three guineas (fifteen dollars) per dozen." It must be borne in mmd that at the time of the writing of the above, the Brahma Pootra was but little known, and though the Dorking has many fine points (especially the delicacy and flavor of its flesh and handsome appearance when presented to the gourmand), there is one fatal objection to its being reared with success by the American fermer, and which I have described above. Mr. Trotter, who received a prize from the Royal Agri- cultural Society of England, for the best " Essay on Poul- try," devoted only eighteen lines to the Dorking fowl and said, " this breed degenerates when removed from its na- tive place." And as I can not believe he meant a removal from its native town to other parts of England, I must con- clude he meant a removal by exportation, because he might as well attempt to declare that an Aldemey cow would degenerate by a removal from the island of that name in the English Channel to the wealds of Sussex, Sur- rey, or Kent. I have already stated I believe the gray or speckled Dorking to be better than the white ; and as the first con- sideration is the breeding-stock, I would advise, in an or- dinary farm-yard, to begin with twelve hens and two cocks, — ^the latter should agree well together. Too much pains can not be taken in selecting the breed- ing-fowls. They should not only be of the best breed, bnt the best of the breed. I should choose them with small neads, taper necks, broad shoulders, square bodies, white legs, and well-defined, five claws. It may be well here for me to state why the speckled or gray are to be preferred to the white Dorking. They are larger, hardier, and fat- SPANISH FOWIA 49 ten more readily ; and although it may appear anomalous, it is not less true, that white-feathered poultry has a ten- dency to yellowness in the flesh and fat. THE SPANISH FOWL. It is easy to describe this beautiful and noble race of fowls, as no variety of color is admissible. These birds must be black throughout, richly shaded with a metallic green lustre. A purely white iace is imperatively neces- sary to constitute a perfect specimen. Care must be taken not to mistake the ear-lobe for the face, as in the very worst samples of the bird the former wUl be found quite white. In a first-class bird this color must be unmixed with red spots, and extend from the insertion of the comb to the gUl, and from the ear-lobe to the beak. The ear- lobe must be large, pendant, thick, and quite free from any color. This part of the face is more developed in the cock than the hen ; in fact, he has it much larger than any other fowl It is composed of a double skin forming a sort of bag. The cock should have a large upright comb reaching the nostril. His wattle should be very large and long, his breast round and protuberant, his tail ample, his carriage noble and very upright. The combs of the hens should fall over, and, when in good condition, be large enough to hide one side of the face. Their breasts are prominent, but not so much as in the cocks ; their faces very long, thin, and skinny. The points both sexes have in common, are taper blue legs, and deviating from the required line of perfection in most other fowls, they should be long. 3 50 DOMESTIC POULTRY. In shape, the hody should slant downwards from the neck to the tail, and narrow from the shoulders till at the ned it approaches a point. In walking they carry themselves very upright. The following precise description of this beautiful and popular variety of fowl will be appreciated by amateurs : — BLACK SPANISH COOK, Cocass. — Bill — Strong, slightly curved, and dark-color- ed. Eye — Large dark and flashing, surrounded with a naked white shin, extending from the base of the comb around the ears and cheeks, meeting like a cravat under the throat and terminating in the ear-lobes, which are ex- SPANISH rowxs. 51 ceedingly long and pendulous. If this white face is very large and well developed, it proves high breeding ; the texture of the skin cannot be too fine and smooth, and if it is blushed or spotted with red, it is considered faulty. Comb — Single and large, beginning over the nostril, and extending backwards, should stand very erect, be regular- ly serrated, fine in the grain and of a rich vermilion color. Wattles — Very large, vermilion colored, hanging a good way down the neck, which is longer in this than in any other breeds. The body should be as deep as possible, the legs being naturally long, and depth in body from the back to the breast bone gives a better proportion to the shape, which would otherwise look scraggy. The legs are clean and of a dark-blue color. Phimage — A biilliant jet black, hackles and saddle feathers long. Tail — Full, rising perpendicularly from the back, and the numerous sickle feathers falling very grace- fully. Carriage — Bold and majestic ; this is of great im- head op black spaiosh cock. portance in rendering these fowls handsome and attractive. Hens. — White face not so large as that of the cock. Comb — ^Large and hanging over, it lessens very much during the moulting or norv-laying season, and is much affected by cold. Plumage perfectly black and glossy. They are invaluable layers, because, although they are only moderate feeders, their eggs are larger than those of any other fowl. I have seen them four and a half ounces each. They are valuable for culinary purposes, three of them being equal to five of many other breeds. They do not sit. The best time to rear them is between April and 52 DOMESTIC POULTBY. June ; and although not perhaps to be considered "r«ry deli- cate chickens, so far as growth is concerned, yet it is cer- tain they do not bear a check so well as many other breeds, and it is, therefore, well to watch them, that stimulants may be given in time. They are very naked, when hatch- ed, and are often a long time before they feather. They may be seen running about with black feathers in their wings, and scarcely any other on their bodies. BLACK SPANISH HEN. At this period they require to be covered warmly every night. The great mortality among chickens of this breed is between two and four weeks old. Poultry-fanciers in England strongly recommend the use of bread and ale at least twice every day, and also cooked fresh meat chopped fine. These fowls are rather more difficult to rear than any other, but they repay for the labor. In winter they SPANISH FOWLS. 53 should be protected from severe exposure and freezing, which is very apt to destroy their combs and wattles, and of course their chief beauty. I have never known any of this breed to suffer from roup, but they are subject to a peculiar kind of swelled face, which comes first by the appearance of a small knob under the skin; it in- creases till it has run over one side of the face, and I know of no cure for it. The sex of a Spanish fowl is easily dis tinguished, as the cocks show their combs plainly at a month old. At this age we always look for growth in Spanish chickens, and all faulty cocks at about seven or eight weeks old should be killed. One of the greatest faults they can have, and the only one that is plainly developed at an early age, is a drooping comb. The greatest merit a Spanish fowl can have is a perfect- ly white face ; but if a cock had the best and most fault- less ever seen, it would neither excuse nor palliate a droop- ing comb. The chickens, and the best of .them, commonly, indeed almost always, have white in the flight feathers of the wings; and if they appear when hatched with white breasts it need cause no apprehension, as it is a common thing, and they will become black. Lovers of these fowls have called them, says Bailey, "the Aristocracy of poultry." Fine specimens realize high prices in England. I have known one hundred dol- lars to be ineffectually offered for a cock and two hens. Our best Spanish fowl were formerly got from Holland, but the great demand for them, both here and in England, has nearly exhausted the market there. In the habits of the Spanish fowl there is nothing pecu- liar to require notice. They are not, it is true, so quiet and disinclined to roaming as the Cochin, but if well fed at home, they will not be found to stray far from their walk. To those who desire to eat eggs, but are obliged 54 DOMESTIC POtTLTBT. to class chickens amongst unattainable luxuries, I would advise to adopt Spanish, as they are " everlasting layers," but " non-sitters." THS G-AME FOWIi. Among the Greeks and Homaus, the pugnacious pro- pensities and indomitable courage of animals, whether quadrupeds or birds, never failed to attract attention. The Romans, indeed, whose passion for the combats of the amphitheatre was notorious, collected not only the fe- rocious tenants of the Libyan desert for the gratification of their blood-thirsty disposition, but bred up dogs for the arena, and even sent authorized officers into Britain for the purpose of securing those terrible mastiffs for which the island was so celebrated, and it cannot be sup- posed that the combativeness of the game-cock would be overlooked. Cock-fighting was as much in vogue in Greece and Italy in ancient days, as it was during the last century in Great Britain, and is at present in India, China, Malacca, and the adjacent islands of Sumatra and Java, etc. The Greeks produced several renowned breeds of game-fowls, and Media and Persia produced others of first-rate excellence. On Csasar's arrival in England he found the fowl domesticated ; but these, as well as the hare, were forbidden as food, as it was not deemed law- ftil to eat them, and were only bred for the sake of fancy and pleasure. But it is probable we owe the game-fowl to the Romans, for when Britain was a Roman colony, it is not to be supposed that the Romans resident on that island would give up the sports to which they were so passionately addicted ; and as they sent British fightin"-. dogs to Rome, so from Rome might they import their GAME FOWL. 55 BLACK BREASTED BED GAME COCK. 56 DOMESTIC POUI.TKT. fighting-cocks of Greek or Persian lineage. Many of us have a sort of liking for a game-cock, although we may abhor cock-fighting, and hundreds who dread their com- bats still cling to the breed. There are two sets of ama^ teurs : one looks only to beauty of plumage ; the other, careless of feather, scans closely those points that will tell in a fight. If fowls were not wanted for the table, and Lf perfect symmetry, beautiful color, hardihood, and daring were all that was required of them, the amateur might possess duckwings, (pied), or black-breasted reds, or any other of the numerous varieties of this breed, and rest content. He would, indeed, be obliged to limit the number of his pets, because the males will not agree ; and unless the young cocks are looked upon with pride as those that are to figure in a main, there is always sad- ness in seeing sprightly ones growing lip, because it is certain they must be got rid of in some way, or they will fight among themselves till but two or three remain. Nor is this propensity confined to cocks ; high-bred hens are quite as pugnacious, and fatal contests between them are things of couMnon occurrence. The game-cock is of bold carriage ; his comb is single, bright red, and upright ; his &ce and wattle of a beauti ful red color ; the expression of countenance fearless, but without the cruelty of the Malay ; the eye very full and bright ; the beak strong, curved, well fixed in the head, and very stout at the roots. The breast should be foil, perfectly straight; the body round in hand, broad be- tween the shoulders, and tapering to the tail, having the shape of a flat-iron, or approaching heart-shaped ), the thighs hard, short, and round ; the leg stout ; the foot flat and strong, and the spur not high on the leg. The wings are so placed on the body as to be available for sudden and rapid springs. The feathers should be hard, very strong in quills, and like the Malay it should seem as GAME FOWL. 57 thoueh all their feathers were glued together till they feel like one. A game-cock should be what fanciers call " clever." Every proportion should be in perfect harmony ; and the bird, placed on his breast in the palm of the hand, should exactly balance. This is another breed of fowl where any deviation from perfection is fatal. It has been well said, " a perfect one is not too good, and therefore an imperfect one is not good enough." Abundant plumage, long soft hackles and sad- dles, too much tail or a tail carried squiiTel-fashion over the back, the least deviation from straightness of the breast-bone, long thighs, in-knees, weak beaks, or coarse heads, are all faults, and should be avoided. These birds ave generally " dubbed " before they are shown at fairs or exhibitions. This should be ne.itly performed ; every su- perfluous piece of skin and flesh being removed, so that the head should stand out of the hackle as though it were shaven. The plumage should also be so scanty that the shape of the bird, especially the tapering of the back and the roundness of the body, may be seen. Every feather should feel as if made of whalebone, and, if raised with the finger, should fall into its original place. It should be almost impossible to ruffle the plumage of a game- cock. The tail should be rather small than otherwise, and be carried somewhat drooping. The plumage of these birds is trimmed before they fight. This is called " cut- ting out," and the less there is to remove in the way of feather the better for the bird. They are in every respect fighting birds, and every one who sees a set-to between two of them must look on with pleasure, if it occurs as they pass through a yard. The hens should be like the cocks, allowing for difference of sex ; the necks and heads fine, legs taper, plumage hard, and combs small, upright and serrated. Hens should not be chosen with large or loooe 8* 58 DOMESTIC POtTLTBY. combs, and they should handle as hard as the cocks. A word or two may not be out of place as to the table- properties of this beautiful breed. It is true they are in no way fit for the fattening-coop ; they cannot bear the extra food without excitement, and that is not favorable to obesity. Nevertheless, they have their merits. If they are allowed to nm semi-wilcl in the woods, to frequent sunny banks and dry ditches, they will grow full of meat, though with little fat. They must be eaten young, and a game-pullet four or five months old, caught up wild in this way and killed two days before she is eaten, is, perha[)S, the most delicious chicken there is in point of flavor. The classes into which the game fowls are divided are : black-breasted red, brown-red, duckwings, and other grays and blues, white and pieds, and black, and brassy- winged, and shawl-necks, or what are sometimes caUed Irish grays, which are of the largest class. Among all the varieties of the game-fowls, the prece- dence must be given to that variety known as "Lord Derby's breed," which have been kept and bred with great care for upwards of one hundred years, at Knowls- ley, and stiU maintain their high reputation. The follow- ing is a description of the cock of that breed : he is of a good round shape, well put together ; has a fine long head ; long and strong neck ; wings large and well quilled ; back short ; belly round and black ; tail black and sickled, be- ing well tufted at the root ; legs rather long, with white feet and nails ; plumage, deep, rich red and maroon ; and breast and thighs blacL The Derby red hens possess lit- tle of their consort's brilliancy of feather ; their body is bi'own, each feather-shaft being light; the breast and hackle being also light. l"he Duckwings are among the most beautiful of all game-fowls. The cocks vary in the color of their hackle, saddle and breast feathers; the hackle-feathers of some GAME FOWL. 59 strains being nearly white, in others yellow ; while with some again, the breasts are black, with some streaky, and with some gray. To breed fancy, streak-breasted brown red cockerels, mate a streaky-breasted hen to a black-red cock; nine times out of ten the cockerels will resemble the hen in color. To breed pullets to match, the cock must be streaky-breasted, and the hen black-breasted red ; these will be brown-breasted reds. To obtain Duokwings, breed from a light gray-backed and winged hen, with silver hackle and salmon breast, and a black-brensted red cock ; the hen should not have the slightest shade of red on the wing; this is fatal. — To obtain similar pullets, the cock must be Duckwing and the hen black-red. Pieds are bred from a white cock and black-red hen. The color of the eggs of the game-hen varies from a dull white to a fawn. They are good layers, as many as twenty-four eggs being constantly laid by them, before they manifest a desire to sit. As sitters, game-hens have no superiors. Quiet on their eggs, regular in the hours of coming off and returning to their charge, and confident, from their fearless disposition, of repressing the incursions of any intruder, they rarely fail to bring off good broods. Hatching accomplished, their merits appear in a still more conspicuous light. Ever on their guard, not even the shadow of a bird overhead, or the approach of man or beast, but finds them ready to do battle for their offspring ; and instances have been known where rats and other vermin have thus fallen be- fore them. 60 DOMESTIC POULTET. MALAY COCK. THE MAZiAY FOWL. This is another of the Asiatic breed, supposed to come from the islands of Sumatra or Java, and, though former- ly much fancied and sought after, has of late years been suflEered to decline. It has fallen before the spirit of utili- ty ; it was not useful, and it has lost ground. It is a long MALAY FOWL. 61 rather than a large bird, standing remarkably upright, falling in an almost uninterrupted slope from the head to the insertion of the tail, which is small and drooping, having very beautiful but short sickle-feathers. It has a hard, cruel expression of face, a bold eye, pearled around the edge of the lids, a hard, small comb, scarcely so long as the head, having much the appearance of a double comb trimmed very small and then flattened ; a red, skinny lace, very strong curved beak, and the space for an inch below it on the throat destitute of feathers. It has long yellow legs, quite clean ; it is remarkable for very hard plumage, and the hinder-parts of the cock look like those of a game-cock trimmed for fighting. The hen is of course smaller than the cock. She has the same expression of face, the same curious comb ; and in both sexes the plum- age should be so hard that when handled it should feci as though one feather covered the body. From this cause the wings of the hen are more prominent than in other fowls, projecting something like those of a carrier-pigeon, though in a less degree. It is a beauty in the birds if the projection or knobs of flesh at the crop, on the end wing joint, and at the top of the breast are naked and red. They are good layers and sitters ; their eggs have a dark shell, and are said to be superior in flavor to any other. The chickens feather slowly, on which account nc brood should be hatched after July ; otherwise the cold and va- riable weather of autumn comes upon them before they are half grown, and the increase of their bodies has so far outstripped that of their feathers, that they are half naked about the neck and shoulders, which renders them ex- tremely susceptible, of wet and cold. The chickens are not difficult to rear ; but are gawky, long-legged creatures until they have attained their full growth, and then fill out. The original colors were, cocks of a bright, rich rod. 62 DOMESTIC POULTP.T. with black breast ; and hiens of a bright chocolate or cin- namon color, generally one entire shade, but in some in- stances the hackles were darker than the rest of the plum- age. Some beautiful white specimens have lately been in- troduced, and a few years ago there was a handsome breed of them colored like pied games. The Malays have one great virtue ; they will live any- where ; they will inhabit a back yard of small dimen- sions ; they will scratch in the dust-pit and roost in a coal- hole, and yet lay weU and show in good condition when requisite. The Malays are inveterate fighters, and this is the quali- ty for which they are chiefly piized in their native country, where cock-fighting is carried to the extent of excessive gambling. Men and boys may be frequently met, each carrying his favorite bird under his arm, ready to set to work the moment the opportunity shall offer. The general character of these birds is vindictive, cruel, and tyrannicaL THE OOOHIN-OHINA FOWL. The record of the Cochin-China Fowls will always form an important chapter in the history of poultry. They were introduced in the year 1845, and were first possessed by Queen Victoria, and soon after became known and pop- ular. They were scarce, and this made people anxious to possess them. Men became frantic after Cochin-China fowls, and this went on at an increasing ratio until the prices paid became ridiculous ; a hundred good Cochins would purchase a small farm, and a cock and two hens, from &vorite strains, were thought cheap if bought for less than two hundred and fifty dollars. They have, however COCHIN CHINA FOWL. 63 after fluctuating m value moi-e than anything except rail- road shares, fallen in price, for prices were unnaturally enhanced. They are now within the reach of all, and favorites with the public. COCHIN CHINA COCK AND HEN. The Cochin-China Cock is a bold, upright bird, with erect, indented single comb rising from the beak over the nostril, projecting over the neck, and then slanting away underneath to allow the root to be fixed on the top of the 64 DOMESTIC POULTKY. Lead. The beak is strong and curved, the oy- bold, the face red, the wattle- pendant, and the ear-lobe very long, hanging much lower than in other fowls. He is a bird of noble carriage, and differs from most other fowls in the following points : He has little tail ; indeed, in very fine specimens, it may be said they have none ; they have the hackle large and long ; it falls from the neck to the back, and from its tennination there is a small, gradual rise, to where the tail should be, bat where its apology, some glossy, slightly twisted feathers, fall over like those of an ostrich. The next peculiarities of these birds are what are technicaUy called " the fluff" and " the crow." The former is composed of beautifully soft, long feathers, cov- ering the thighs tiU they project considerably, and gar- nishing all the hinder paits of the bird in the same man- ner; so much so that to view the widest part of the Cochin-China cock, you must look at him behind. His crow is to the crow of other cocks what the railway whistle is to to that of the errand-boy in the streets ; it is loud, hoarse, and amazingly prolonged. They seem to delight in it, and wiU continue it till they ai'e on tiptoe, and are compelled to exchange their usual erect position for one in which the neck is curved, and the head brought down to the level of the knees. The pullet has most points in common with the cock ; her head is beautiful ; the comb small, very upright, with many indentations ; the fece, if I may use the term, intelligent. Her body is much deeper in proportion than that of the cock ; her fluff is softer, having almost a silky texture ; her carriage is less erect. She has none of the felling feathers at the taU, but the little she has is upright, and should come to a blunt point, nothing like the regular rounded tails of other hens. In both, the legs should be yellow, and well feathered to the toes ; flesh colored legs are admissible, but green, black, or white are defects. In buying them COCHIN CHINA FOWX. 65 Rvoid long tails, clean legs, fifth toes, and double combs above all, take care the cock has not, nor ever has had, sickle feathers. The colors are buff, lemon, cinnamon, grouse, partridge, white and black ; they are very good layers, laying at a certain age, without any regard to weather or time of year, beginning soon after they are five months old. The snow may fall, the frost may be thick on your windows when you first look out on a December morning, but your Cochins will provide you eggs. They do not loose their qualities as they get older, but they lose their beauty sooner than any other, and every year seems to increase the difficulty of moulting. The age of beauty in a Cochin-China fowl is from nine to eighteen months. After this the hens become coarse ; their feath- ers grow with difficulty; their fluff is a long time coming, and the beautiful, intelligent head is exchanged for an old, care-worn expression of face. The tails of the cocks increase as they get older. Mr. Stretch, the eminent Cochin fancier, in writing to Mrs. Ferguson Blair, authoress of "The Hen "Wife," says: — " This breed has a great disposition to accumulate ab- dominal fat, and consequently their food should not be of too rich a quality. Those who feed Indian meal or com, (which contains about 8 per cent, of oily matter) have frequent cases of apoplexy among their poultry. Boiled potatoes should form a great portion of their daily food. There is another reason why Cochins should not be kept in too high condition ; the eggs of such seldom produce chickens, and in a short time barrenness ensues." Too much cannot be said in favor of their gentleness and contented disposition ; a fence four feet high suffices to keep them from wandering, and they allow themselves to be taken from their perch and replaced, to be handled, exhibited, or made any use of, without tlw> least opposi- 66 DOMESTIC POULTBY. Won. They are also most valuable in a yard as layers during the winter months, and sitters early in the year. They are broody when others are beginning to lay. HAMBURG FOWLS. It is not definitely known where this breed of fowl originated ; some assign its origin to Hamburg or vicinity, others to Holland. The pencilled Hamburg fowl is a beautiful bird. There are two sorts, the golden and the silver; they di&r in one respect only, the fundamental color of one is white and the other a brown yellow ; one description will serve for both. They have bright double combs, which should be firmly fixed on the head,inclining to neither side, nor even being loose, ending in a point which should turn upwards ; clear hackles, either white or yellow ; taper blue legs, and ample tails ; bodies and tails accurately pencilled with black eveiywhere except the neck. The more correct the marking, the more valu- able the bird. Their carriage is gay and proud; their shape is symmetrical, and their appearance is altogether indicative of cheerfulness, and carries an air of enjoyment which always prepossesses one in their favor. The plumage of the cocks differs somewhat from the hens. They are very little speckled, if at all, except while chickens, when the wings and hinder parts are marked ; but this seldom lasts after the first month. In the silver variety the cock is almost white, having some- times a chestnut patch on the wing, and towards the tail some black spots, but these disappear as he gets older The tail should be black and the sickle-feathers tinged HAMBURG FOWL. 67 with a reddish white ; while, in the golden cock, they should be shaded with a rich bronze or copper. The cock of the golden variety is red all over, and must have well defined white deaf-ears. No fowls require more watching than these, if it be de- sired to breed them for exhibition. Degeneracy shows itself in the cooks either by the black tail, or one in which white or silver predominates, or by the absence of the white deaf-ear — all these must be fatal to success. In the hens it is apparent in spotted hackles, and in patchy plumage. The delicate and distinct pencilling is lost, and a cloudy, uneven mixture takes its place. This is fa- tal to them as first-class birds. The great virtue and merit of these fowls are, they are prodigious layers ; and this is not brought about by any undue feeding ; it is their nature. They are said never to sit, and as a rule it is true of them ; but one in a thousand deviates from it. And then only when they have a run through grounds covered with wood, thereby clearly de- monstating the fact that artificial life has impaired their sitting powers — originally they must have hatched their eggs like other fowls. They are exoellent guards in the country ; for, when disturbed in their roosting-place, they are the noisiest of the noisy, and nothing but death or liberty will induce them to hold their peace. In these, as in other birds, erroneous ideas and names have crept in ; some being correct descriptions of the same fowl under another name, but others being imaginative, so far as real Hamburg fowls are concerned. The Bolton grays and bays, and Chitteprats are identi- cal with the Hamburg ; they were also called Turkish and Creoles, which were the same as a general rule, it may be observed. No true-bred Hamburg fowl has top-knot, single comb, white legs, any approach to feather on the legs, white tail, or spotted hackle. 68 DOMESTIC POmXEY. POLAND POW LS. The original Poland fowls were black, with white top- knots, and gold and silver spangled. There was formerly a breed of white, with black top-knot, but that is lost. There are now, white, black and spangled. The crest of the Poland cock should be composed of straight feathers, something like those of a hackle or saddle ; they should grow from the center of the crown, and fall over outside, forming a circular crest. That of the hen should be made up of feathers growing out, and turning in at the extrem- ity, tiU they form a large top-knot, which should in shape resemble a cauliflower. It should be as nearly round as possible, and firm. The largest top-knots are often made up of loose feathers, that give it an uneven appearance. Now, however large these may be, they cannot compare or compete with symmetrical and firm, though smaller ones ; the carriage is upright, and the breast more protu- berant than in any other fowl save the Sebright Bantam ; the body is very round and full, slightly tapering to the tail, which is carried erect, and which is ample, spreading towards the extremity in the hen, and having well-defined sickle-feathers ; in the cock, the legs should be lead-color- ed or black, and rather short than otherwise. In the black variety there should be no white feathers, save in the top-knot ; in that it is desirable there should be no black ones, but I have never yet seen any without them. It is a very common practice to cut them off close to the skin, so that it appears perfect, but at the first moult they re-appear. In the golden and silver varieties, the spangling of the feathers should be black, and as correct and regular as pos- sible ; the ground-color should be rich golden tint in the one, and frosted silver in the other. In both cocks and hens the wings should be laced ; each feather should havo 70 DOMESTIC POTJLTKT. a black marking ranning the length of it, and when the wing is closed, it should show three or four stripes, termi- nated on each feather by a distinct hackle. There exists a difference of opinion as to the marking of the breasts of the cock; some like it dark, others spangled; English fanciers prefer the latter. Spangled varieties should have top-knots the same color as the fowls; every feather should be laced like those of the Sebright Bantam, al- though it is very difficalt to obtain them quite so distinct, many showing white feathers, which increase as the birds grow older. In the cocks of the black breed, with white top-knots, gills are allowed, but no combs. For golden and silver spangled, neither combs nor gills, nor even the least spikes, can be tolerated- These birds are very subject to deformity, and crooked backs are common among them. The amateur who wishes to purchase will do well, when he holds the birds in his left hand, to lay the palm of his right flat on its back. In passing it gently down he will often detect one hip higher than the other, or he will find a curve in the backbone from the hips to the tail. As these are transmitted to their offspring, and it is often difficult to get good crosses, such birds should always be rejected. BANTAMS. Bantams have long been favorites; their small size, their beauty, and their impudence gaining them admirers. Many years since, only those that were feathered to the toes were admired. The late John Sebright, by much at- tention and a thorough knowledge of the subject, succeed- ed in psoducing birds of surpassing beauty and symmetry. Those that bear this name are the most appreciated by BANTAil FOWL. 71 fanciers. They are of two colors, gold and silver; they must have double combs, with pointed end and rising up- wards, and well-seated on the head, firmly fixed, not in- clining to one side, nor yet raised on a fleshy pedestal ; laced feathers, each being edged with black ; blue legs, without even the sign of a feather on them ; upright tail, tipped with black at the point, which must be round and equal in width to the widest part of the feather; there should not be even a tendency to a curve in it. The side tail-feathers rising from the back to the tail should also be flat, round-topped and accurately laced. There must not be any hackle or saddle. These are the principal points of the male. The hen requires the same comb, the same accurate lacing, the prominent breast, drooping wing ; her head should be very small, beak sharp. The carriage of these birds should resemble that of a good Fantail pigeon ; the head and tail should be carried up in ■the strut of the bird, till they nearly meet, and the wing should drop down the side, instead of being carried up. In both sexes the wing-feathers should be tipped with black, and even the long feathers laced. Like all other first-class birds, these are difficult to get ; and lest ama- teurs should be discouraged, I may almost venture to say, a faultless bird is hardly to be found. From the best-bred parents, single-combed chickens will constantly appear, but these will again produce perfectly double-combed progeny. Such are, however, only to be trusted, when the possessor of them is sure that, although defective themselves, their parents were faultless in this particular. It is never advisable to breed from a faulty bird, if a per- fect one can be obtained. Small size is a desideratum ic these fowls. They are, therefore, seldom bred early, as growth is not' desired. July is early enough to hatch them. Perfect cocks should not weigh more than seven- teen ounces, nor hens more than fourteen. ma^riMm II m>uji f ifpift 02) LBGHOEN BRBED. 75 Other Bantams, to pretend to excellence, should be di- minutive as the Sebright, and should have the same arro- gant gait ; but they differ, inasmuch as the males should be large cocks in miniature, with hackle, saddle, and fully developed tail. The rule of comb is not so imperative. In black and white birds it should be double ; but it is not so necessary, nor does the substitution of a single one cause disqualification. In the black breeds, white deaf-ears are necessary to excellence ; and in these and the white the sickle-feathers should be long and well carried. Feather- ed-legged Bantams may be of any color. The old-fashion- ed birds were very small, falcon-hocked, and feathered with long quill-feathers to the extremity of the toe. Many of them were bearded — they are now very scarce. The Bantams are good layfers, sitters and mothers, and easily reared. THE IiEGHORN FOWLS. Within a few years past fowls, known as Leghorns, have attained some considerable notoriety — so far as I am aware, they are entirely unknown among the poultry ian ciers of Great Britain, and. for my own part I have been led to avoid breeding them, from the impression, be it well or ill-founded, that the characteristics were not suf- ficiently established to enable one to breed them true to feather and points, and to entitle them to consideration a.s a distinct breed. However, since the publication of the first edition of this little book, I am convinced that fowls, which have gained so fast in public favor, must have something to recommend them, and may at least be com- mended as worthy the attention of breeders. Their uniform characteristics, as I at present view them, are these ; — 4 74 DOMESTIC POtTLTET. Medium size, persistent as layers, being poor sitters or non-sitters, having fair fattening qualities, and very good flesh. They are besides hardy, suffering from severe weather much less than the Spanish. "With this breed they are evidently closely allied, having all single combs, large white ear-lobes, and in many cases partly white faces, and in the best specimens something of the style of that justly favorite breed. There have been several importations of the common fowls of Leghorn and its vicinity, made of late. Thesft birds are of all colors, except black ; the light colors pre- vailing, and they have none of the marks of a pure breed, although they possess to a greater or less degree the pre- viling characteristics just given. These are called Leg- horns, and are to be distinguished from the white Leg- horns, which, in the hands of some fancies, have some claim to being well bred. THB WmTK LEGHOBD^S. These are hardy, medium-sized fowls of a quiet dispo- sition, persistent layers, of a pure white color (though in most flocks occasional colored feathers make trouble,) with prevailingly yellow legs (flesh-colored and slate colored legs occurring now and then.) They lay a smaller egg than the Spanish, but are said to mature earlier and to be superior for the table. The white color at least makes pin-feathers less noticeable in young fowls when prepared for market. The cocks have large single combs, which should be perfectly erect, fiill wattles and large white ear- lobes, the white extending sometimes upon their face. The hens haye delicate combs, usually large, and general- ly lopping like those of Spanish hens. Their wattles are also large, and their ear-lobes white. There is certainly here a foundation for the productiop. FRENCH BREEDS 01" FOWLS. 75 of a fine breed, and if those who breed them in numbeu will carefully adopt a system of points to breed for per- fection in, — such points as their characteristics obviously suggest — ^they will surely maintain their present populari- ty, and establish a beautiful and useful breed. No bird that shows any thing but " the white feather " should be used for breeding stock ; nor should one, whose legs are of any but a yellow color, or whose chickens do not com#true. No cock with a small drooping or crookr ed comb, or with colored ear-lobes, or with craven car- riage or lacking in beauty, symmetry, size, style, consti- tution or vigor, should be kept in the yard. No hen should be kept which does not exhibit all useful charac- teristics, together with the drooping comb and white ear-lobes, quiet demeanor, and the laying and non-sitting qualities of the breed. FRENCH BREEDS OP FOWLS. Within the last two or three years some valuable 'im portations of new breeds of poultry have been made int( England and lately into the United States, from France. They have become sufficiently known and appreciated to demand our attention ; and, in giving a notice of them (which I do now more fully than in my first edition, by reason of the great interest already exhibited concerning them.) I admit my obligation to the excellent work pub- lished by Mr. Ch. Jacque, in Paris, entitled " Le Pou- lailler," which enables me to give many details that would otherwise be wanting, and which are fully corroborated by Mr. Geo. K. Geyeline, in his " Poultry Breeding in a Com- mercial Point of View." [See Appendix.] 08) FKENCU BKEEDS OF FOWLS. 77 THE HOTJDAN. This bird baa short tliick legs, and a round, well-pro- portioned body, large liead, small top-knot, falling back- ward. It is bearded, and has five toes on each foot. It is a good-sized fowl, weighing, when fiiUy grown — cock, 6 lbs. ; hen, from 4| to 5 lbs. The plumage should be speckled, white, black, and straw color. The comb is the most remarkable part of this bird ; and I can not do bet- ter than quote my before-named authority : " Comb, triple, trans- versely in the direction of the beak, composed of two flattened spikes, of long and rectangular form, opening from right to left like two leaves of a book, thick, fleshy, and irregular at the edges. A third spike grows be- tween these two, having some- what the shape of an irregular strawberry, and the size of a long nut. Another, quite de- tached from the others and about the size of a pea, should show between the nostrils and above the beak." This gives the bird a grotesque appearance, and there is an air of impudent drollery and humor about him that is pecu- liar to the breed. The legs are dark leaden grey. In this breed the hens approach more nearly the weight of the cock than is usual. The hen is bearded and top-knotted, the latter appendage almost concealing the eyes. These are very popular, both as layers and as table-fowls. HEAD OP HOUDAN COCK. THK CEEVKCCEUK. This is better known than any of the French fowl ; it is one of the best layers, not only on account of number, 78 DOMESTIC POULTRY. but also of the size of the eggs, being equal in this respect to the Spanish. It is a short-legged breed, square-bodied, deep-chested, well shaped for the table. Like most of these breeds, it is bearded and top-knot- ted, but the latter appendage is not like that of the Poland. It is more like a crest, and allows room in front for the CBBVBOCEUR COCK. comb. This is singularly shaped, and I shall again quote Mr. Jacque: "Comb various, but always forming two horns ; sometimes parallel, straight and fleshy, sometimes joined at the base, slightly notched, pointed, and separat- ing at their extremities ; sometimes adding to this latter description interior ramifications like the horns of a young deer." The same author says : " The comb, shaped like FRENCH BREEDS OF FOWLS. 79 horns, gives the CrevecoBur the appearance of a devil." The legs should be black, or very dark slate blue. The plumage should be entirely black, with bright blue and metallic lustre, except the feathers of the belly, which are dark-brown. The top- knot, as in Polands, will become partly white, after moulting two or three times. Mrs. Ferguson Blair says, she has bred these birds largely and continues to do so, which is a sure proof of the consideration of which she thinks this variety worthy. Many have their hackles, saddles, and wing-coverts straw color. These are not less pure, and they will breed black chickens ; but they are less esteemed by very par- ticular amateurs. The hens should weigh from 5 lbs. to 6 lbs. each ; the cock, 7 lbs. to 7^ lbs. Just as the Houdan has a roguish air and deportment, so the CreveccEur is staid, solemn, and grave. COMBS OP OBETECCECrB COOKS. LA FLECHB. This is singular bird, and no description will serve bet- ter than that of Mr. Jacque ; " A strong, firm body, well seated on its legs, and long muscular feet. Appearing less than it really is, because the feathers are close ; every muscular part well developed ; black plumage. The La Fleche is the tallest of all French cocks; it has many points of resemblance with the Spanish, from which I be- lieve to be descended, by crossing with the Crevecceur. It has white, loose, and transparent skin; short, juicy, and delicate flesh, which puts on fat easily. As layers they 80 DOMESTIC POITLTRT. are superior, like the Crevecoeur, to any breed except the Spanish ; but yet, for table use, they are not as good as the Dorking. The La Fleche has the body of the Spanish placed on legs that are forward, being immediately under the breast rather than the body of the bird. It has a bold, cheerful, lively face ; but the general impression is curious from the extraordinary comb, which I will describe from M. Jacque : " Transversly double, forming two horns bending forward, united at their base, divided at their summits ; sometimes even and pointed, sometimes having ramifications on the inner sides. A little combling protrudes from the upper part of the nostrils ; and, although hardly as large as a pea, this combling, which surmounts the sort of rising formed by the protrusion of the nostrils, contributes to the singular aspect of the head. This measured prominence of the comb seems to add to the characteristic depression of the beat, and gives the bird a likeness to a rhinoceros." It should have a large deat-ear, per- ooMB OF LA fectly white, not so large as the Spanish, FLEOHE. ijut larger than that of any other fowl, slate-blue legs, darker or lighter according to age, turning to a spotted grey as they get old. The hen differs from the cock by having a smaller comb ; she must have a white ear-lobe. These are a peculiar but a stylish breed ; they are very good layers, and the chickens are easy to rear. DOMESTIC TUEKHY. bl THE DOMESTIC TURKEY, BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT. The domestic turkey can scarcely be said to be divided, like the common fowl, into distinct breeds ; although there is indeed considerable variation in color, and also in size. The finest and strongest turkeys are said to be those of a bronzed black, resembling as closely as possible the original stock; they are reared the most easily, are large, and fat- ten rapidly. Some turkeys are of a coppery tint, others of a delicate fawn color, others parti-colored gray and white, and some few of a pure snowy white. All these are con- sidered inferior to the black ; their color indicates some- thing like degeneracy of constitution, and they are seldom very large-sized. To describe the domestic turkey is superfluous; the voice of the male, the changing colors of the skin of the head and neck ; his proud strut, with expanded tail, and -lowered wings jarring on the ground ; his irrascibility, readily ex- cited by red or scarlet colors, are characteristics with which all are conversant. Turkey-cocks are pugnacious and vin- dictive, and often ill-treat the hens ; they have been known to attack children ; and combats between them and the game-cock have taken place, in which the latter was more oppressed by the weight of his antagonist than by gladia- torial sldll ; in fact, the bulky hero has usually been worsted, as he cannot use his spurs with the address exhibited by the game-cock, which, moreover, fights with method. The adult turkey is extremely hardy, and bears the cold of our winter with impunity ; during the severest weather, flocks will roost at night upon the branches of taU trees, preferring such accomodation to an indoor dormitory. l tion, nor has the male lost that antipathy to the eggs which S4 DOMESTIC POULTE-f. 18 his characteristic in a state of nature. She shotdd now be closely watched, and some management is required to induce her to lay in the nest assigned to her. The nest should be prepared of straw and dried leaves ; it should be secluded ; and to excite her to adopt it, an egg, or a piece of chalk cut into the fomj of an egg, should be placed in BBONZE HE!N-TUKKET. it. When her uneasiness to lay is evident, and symptoms prove that she is ready, she should be confined in the shed, barn, or place in which her nest (which should be a wicker basket) is prepared, and let out as soon as the egg is laid. The turkey-hen is a steady sitter ; nothing will induce her to leave her nest ; indeed, she often requires to be removed DOMESTIC TUKKBT. 85 to her food, so overpowering is her instinotiTe affection. The hen should on no account be rashly disturbed, no one except the person to whom she is accustomed, and from whom she receives her food, should be allowed to go near her, and the eggs should not be meddled with. On about the twenty-sixth day, the chicks leave the eggs, and these, like young fowls, do not require food for several hours. It is useless to cram them as some do, fearing lest they should starve. "When the chicks feel an inclination for food, nature -directs them how to pick it up. There is no oc- casion for alarm if for many hours they content themselves with the warmth of their parent and enjoy her care only. Yet some food must be provided for them, and this should be of course suited to their nature and appetite ; here, too, let the simplicity. of nature be a guide. The first diet -offered to turkey-chicks should consist of eggs boiled hard and finely mixed, or curd with bread- crumbs and the green part of onions, parsley, etc., chopped very small and mixed together so as to form a loose, crumby paste ; oatmeal with a little water may also be given. They will require water ; but this should be put into a very shallow vessel, so as to insure against the danger of the chicks getting wet. Both the turkey-hen and her chickens should be housed for a few days ; they may then, if the weather be fine, be allowed a few hours' liberty during the day, but should a shower threaten, they must be put immediately under shelter. This system must be persevered in for three or four weeks. By this time they will have acquired considerable strength, and will know how to take care of themselves. As they get older, meal and grain may be given more freely. They now begin to search for insects and to dust their growing plu- mage in the sand. At the age of about two months, or perhaps a little more, the males and females begin to develop their distinctive characteristics. 86 DOMESTIC POULTET. In the young males, the carunculated sjdn of the neck and throat, and the contractile horn-like comb on the fore head, assume a marked character. This is a critical period. The system requires a full supply of nutriment and good housing at night is essential. Some recommend that a few grains of Cayenne pepper, or a little bruised hempseed, be mixed -with their food. The distinctive sexual marks once fairly established, the young birds lose the name of "chicks," or "chickens," and are termed "turkey- poults." The time of danger is over, and they become independent, and every day stronger and more hardy. They now fare as the rest of the flock, on good and suf ficient food. With respect to the diseases of the turkey, with them as with all other poultry, prevention is better than cure. The most important rules are, let the chicks never get wet, and encourage them to eat heartily by giving a good variety of food; yet to beware of injuring the appetite by too much pampering. Taking •» pride in them is the great secret of success in the rearing of domestic poultiy. THE GUINEA FOWL. The common Guinea fowl is a native of Africa, where it appears to be extensively distributed. It frequents the open glades and borders of forests, the banks of rivers, and other localities where grain, seeds, berries, insects, etc., offer an abundant supply of food. It is gregarious in its habits, asso- ciating in considerable flocks, which wander about during the day find collect together on the approach of evening. They roost in clusters on the branches of trees or large bushes, ever and anon uttering their harsh, grating cry, till they settle fairly for the night. The Guinea fowl does not 6UIXBA FOWL. 87 ^' (st much to its wings as a means of escape from danger ; unfeed it is not without some difficulty that these birds can be forced to take to flight, and then they wing their way only a short distance, when they alight and trust to their swiftness of foot. They run with very great celerity, are shy and wary, and seek refuge amongst the dense under- wood, threading the mazes of their covert with wonderful address. The female incubates in some concealed spot on the ground. Like aU the gallinaceous birds, the Guinea fowl is esteemed for its flesh and its eggs, which, though smaller than those of the common fowl, are very excellent and nu- merous. The hen commences to lay in the month of May and continues during the entire summer. The Guinea fowl is of a wild, shy, rambling disposition ; and, domesticated as it is, pertinaciously retains its original habits, and is impatient of restraint. It loves to wander along hedge- rows, over meadows, through corn-fields or clover, and amidst copses and shrubberies ; hence these birds require careful watching, for the hens will lay in secret places, and will sometimes absent themselves entirely from the farm- yard until they return with a young brood around them. So ingeniously will they conceal themselves and their nest, so cautiously leave it and return to it, as to elude the searching glance of boys well used to bird-nesting ; but it may always be found from the watchful presence of the cock while the hen is laying. There is one disadvantage in this — the bird will sit at a late period, and bring forth her brood when the season is too cold for the tender chick- ens. The best plan is, to contrive that the hen shall lay in a quiet, secluded place, and to give about twenty of the earliest eggs to a common hen ready to receive them, who will perform the duties of incubation with steadiness. In this way a brood in June can be easily obtained. The young must receive the same treatment as those of the turkey, and equal care ; they require a mixture of boUed 88 DOMESTIC POULTET. vegetables, with curds, fariuaceous food, as grits, meal, etc.; tlicy should be induced to eat as often and as much as they ■will. In a short time they begin to search for insects and their larvae ; and with a little addition to such a fare as this, and with what vegetable matter they pick up, they will keep themselves in good game condition without cramming or overfeeding. For a week or two before being killed for tlie table they should have a liberal allowance of grain and meal. Guinea fowls mate in pairs; overlooking this cir- cumstance frequently occasions disappointment in the broods. The period of incubation is twenty-six days. Though they are not unprofitable birds, as they are capable of procuring almost entirely their own living, they are re- jected by many on account both of their wandering habits, which give trouble, and their disagreeable voice. The males when pugnaceous, though spurless, are capable of in- flicting considerable injury on other poultry with their stout, hard beaks. Like their wild progenitors, domestic Guinea fowls pre- fer roosting in the open air to entering a fowl-house ; they generally choose the lower branches of some tree, or those of large thick bushes, and there congi'egate together- in close array ; before going to roost they utter frequent calls to each other, and when one mounts, the others follow in rotation. They retire early, before the common fowl. The Guinea fowl is not so large a bird as it appears, its loose, iuU plumage making it seem larger than it is ; it does not, when plucked, weigh more than a common fowl. The male and female very much resemble each other ; the male, however, has the casque higher, and the wattles are of a blueish red — the wattles in the female are smaller, and red. UOMKBTIO UUUUK. TOULOUSE GEBSB. THE DOMESTIC GOOSE. The domestication of the goose, like that of the domes- tic fowl, is hidden in the remotest ages of antiquity. Among the Greeks and Romans, it seems to have been the only really domesticated WHITE AYLE8BUEY DUCKS, 95 ted from the same places. Rats and skunks ofteu thin out a iiock of ducklings most uncompromisingly. Ducks are generally found good sitters and mothers, and it is a pity to rob them of a task which is more advan- tageously performed by them than by hens. Let the ducks hatch their own ducklings, only taking care to keep her and them from water. WHITE AYLESBURY DUCKS. Of all ducks, the best are the Aylesbury — plumage of unspotted white, a pale flesh-colored bill, a dark, promi- nent eye, with orange legs and a stately carriage, are the characteristics of this race, whose name is derived from the town of Aylesbury, England, in which neighborhood they are kept in large numbers for the supply of the Lon- don markets. The weight of the adult Aylesbury duck should at least average, if properly fed, from ten to twelve pounds the pair (duck and drake). Listances have, how- ever, occurred where the drakes have come up to eight pounds and upwards, and would in all probability, if fat- tened, reach ten pounds each. They are prolific layers. From two of these ducks, three hundred eggs have been obtained in the course of twelve months ; in addition to which one of them sat twice, the other only once, the three nests giving thirty yotmg ones. The eggs vary in color, some being white, while others are of a pale-blue tint, the average weight being three ounces. As a further recom- mendation for them in an economical point of view, their consumption of food is less than that of the common duck; and another advantage may be found in their comparative silence from the continuous " quack, quack, quack," of the latter bird. They also ^ain greater weight in less tim«; 96 DOMBSTIC POULTBT. and from their superior appearance when plucked, are a fer more marketable article. The Aylesbury duck is so distinct from any other as to be easily distinguished by any person desirous of obtaining them. They are better sitters than the Rouen duck, and also, from their lighter form, better nurses than the latter. Some writers on poultry have given a preference to the Rouen duck over the Aylesbury, but I should say their opinions must be biased by the richness of the Rouen's plumage. This, however, is a point of minor considera- tion in a bird whose merits must be weighed by its value as an economi-jal inhabitant of the poultry-yard ; but where both these recommendations can be combined, there are few persons who would not by experience prefer the Aylesbury. Mr. John Giles, of Woodstock, Connecticut, who has probably had as much, if not more experience in the breed- ing and management of fowls of all descriptions than any other fowl-fancier in the country, says of the Aylesbury duck : " The breed I brought with me from England are white, with white bUls ; their flesh is of a beautiful white ; their weight eight to ten pounds per pair when fully grown. They are considered a rarity in London, commanding one- third more price than any other ducks brought to market." Mowbray says : " The white Aylesbury ducks are, a beautiful and ornamental stock. They are said to be early layers and breeders. Vast quantities are fattened for the London markets, where they are in great demand. Many families derive a comfortable living from breeding and rearing ducks, the greater part of which — the early ones, at all events — are actually reared by hand. The interior of the cottages of those who follow this occupation pre- sents a very curious appearance to the stranger, being fur- nished with boxes for the protection of the tender charge ML'SK OB MUSCOVY UUCK. 97 of the good-wife, whose whole time and attention are taken up with this branch of domestic economy." The American Agricndturist says, in the number for August, 1864 : " The only variety which really rivals the Rouen as a useful and economical bird is the Aylesbury. These are a pure white English variety, are beautiful birds, and highly esteemed in the markets of Great Britain, as also in the United States where they are known. They are good layers and nurses, not noisy, good feeders, and by some decidedly preferred to the Rouen." Ths Fidd, (London,) of Dec. 26tb, 1864, says : '' Ayles- burys are superior in weight and early maturity to Rouens, and are consequently generally preferred by those who breed for the supply of the London markets." THE MUSK OR MUSCOVY DUCK. The Musk Duck, so termed from the strong scent of musk which its skin exhales, is undoubtedly the type of a genus very distinct from that of the common duck. In this species the feathers are large, lax, and powdeiy ; the clieeks are naked, and the base of the bill is carunculated. This duck greatly exceeds the ordinaiy kind in size, and the male is far larger than the female. The general color is glossy blue-black, varied more or less with white ; but they are also known pure white and blue. A scarlet fleshy space surrounds the eye, continued from scarlet car- uncles at the base of the beak. The tail is destitute of the curled feathers so conspicuous in the tail of the com- mon drake. According to Buffon, these birds were introduced into France from Guiana about the year 1540. The species was known to Day, who termed it the wood-duck of Bra- 5 98 DOMESTIC POULTBY. ril. Marcgrave, who describes the Musk Duck as black with white shoulders, terms it "a woodland duck, as large as a goose.'' He observes it is common in Brazil, Guiana, and Paraguay. In Paraguay it is seen either in pairs or in flocks of twenty or thirty, which roost together on higU trees ; the female lays in September from ten to ft, urteeu eggs, in the hollow of a tree, on a bed of feathers from the breast of the male. Mr. Eyeton, in his valuable work on the duck tribe, states that these birds " are supposed to be the original natives of South America " — an impression which evidently implies that he had not been able to veri- fy the original locality of the species. The Musk Duck is fond of warmth, passing the night, at the north, not in the open air, but in the fowl-house, with the cock and hens ; and selecting by day the most sunny comer to bask and dose in. It wiU never go near the war ter if it can help it, but wiU prefer the farm-yard, the pre- cincts of the kitchen, or even the piggery itself, to the clearest stream that ever flowed. In fact, it hates water, except some dirty puddle to drink and dabble in. It does sometimes seem to enjoy a bath ; but so does a pigeon or canary-bird. Its very short leg does not appear to be mechanically adapted for the purpose of swimming. It waddles on the surface of a pond as much as it does on dry land, and is evidently out of its place in either situation. Its proper mode of locomotion is through the air ; its conge- nial haunts being among the branches of trees. The female of the Musk duck has considerable power of flight, and is easy and self-possessed in the use of its wings. It is fond of perching on the tops of barns, walls, etc. Its feet appear, by their form, to be more adapted to such pur- poses than most of other ducks. If allowed to spend the night in the hen-house, the female will generally go to roost by the side of the hens, but the drake is too heavy to moimt thither with ease. His claws are sharp and long MUSK OB MUSCOVY DUCK. 99 and he approaches the tribe of " scratohers " in an unsci" entific sense, being almost as dangerous to handle incau- tiously as an ill-tempered cat, and will occasionally adopt a still more offensive and scarcely-describable means of an- noyance. He manifests little affection for his partner, and nont towards her offspring. The possession of three or four males suits him and them better than to be confined to the company of a single one. He bullies other fowls, some- times by pulling their feathers, but more frequently by following them close, and repeatedly thrusting his face in their way, with an off&sive and satyr-like expression of countenance. The Musk Duck, though a voracious feeder, is easily fattened. As layers, they are inferior to the Aylesbury or Rouen. Their eggs are rounder than those of the com- mon duck, and frequently incline to a greenish tint. The newly-hatched young resemble those of the com- mon tame duck ; they are covered with down, the shades of which indicate the color of the future feathers ; and they do not for some time show any appearance of the tu- berculated face. They are delicate, and require some care while young, but are quite hardy when full grown. Their food should be anything that is nirtritious, supplied in abun- dance and variety. The Musk duck is excellent eating, if killed just before it is fully fledged ; but it is longer in be- coming fit for the table than the common duck. The flesh is at first high-flavored and tender; but an old bird would be rark, and the toughest of tough meats. No very high opinion is entertained as regards the ap- pearance, habits or economy of this duck in the poultry- yard. The bloated look of the head, the inordinate length of the body, its awkward legs and twaddle walk, mar the effects of colors that are often brilliant and striking. 100 DOMESTIC POULTBT. THE ROTTEN DUCK. The Rouen Duck derives its name from the city of Rou< en on the river Seine, in Fiance, and is esteemed highly by epicures. It is a prolific bird, and lays large eggs. Its size is the criterion of its value. In color the Rouen duck closely assimilates to the wild duck ; the drake's especially is magnificent ; its head and neck being a rich lustrous green, with a white ring at the base of the neck ; breast a reddish brown ; the remainder of the body and wings par- taking very much of the colors of the wild mallard. The duck is a brown bii'd, the feathers being all marked with black ; she has, at a very early age, a great development of her " stomach pouch," which frequently hangs so low as to impede the action of the bird. From this and other causes the Rouen is a less active variety than the Ayles- bury, and for the same cause does not make a good sitter, being too heavy for the young birds when hatching, and for this cause her eggs should be placed under a hen. This is the more necessary, as the duck lays so long, that it often makes the brood a very late one, if the eggs are not set till she i< broody. Cases are reported of ducks of this breed, which laid an egg a day for 85 and 92 succea sive days, and though this is unusual, yet they often lay a similar length of time before they become ready to sit. The Rouen is tke most lethargic, and, consequently, the most speedily fed of any. Their whole appearance is rather ungainly ; but the most inconsiderate observer can hardly fail of being struck with the size of good specimens of this breed. They are as hardy as any other kind, and rarely evince any disposition to wander from their home, and an especial recommendation is, that they are not noisy. ip 102 DOMESTIC POTTLTBT. POULTRY FOR EXHIBITION. There is neither so much profit, nor so much honor, in gaining prizes with bought birds as with those that have been bred at home. As a rule, those who are in a position to give the largest sums are not those who pay the most attention to their birds ; and it is almost impossible one person should possess aU the advantages requisite to suc- cess. The produce of the best birds in the world, if only moderately attended to, will not be better than those of merely good ones favored by every advantage. If it is wished to exhibit at early shows or fairs, say in June, July, and August, the chickens should be hatched early in Feb- ruary, one thing alone operates disadvantageously, namely, that the nights are longer. About the middle of January two or three hens should be set in a warm, sheltered spot, and each should have seven eggs from selected birds, above all such as have no capital defects or lack of any virtue. Grant that five chick- ens are hatched under each, which is enough — and as many as she can rear, — it will take at least fifteen chickens hatch- ed to produce six fit to show in June. It is easy to give any quantity of food, and to supply any amount of heat, but it must always be impossible to give sufficient nourishment in eight hours to last for and carry chickens over the twenty-four. It will therefore be neces- sary to feed them twice after dark, and this should be done even with those that are intended for the market, and never hope for any distinction beyond that of being spring chick- ens aiid mton with asparagus. Say that the last daylight- mc;»i ij a iutir o'clock, and then at eight give them anoth- er by candle light. The coop should be in doors, covered carefully, so as to POULTBT FOR EXHIBITION. lOJ exclude any cold air. Place a dark board, on which the food, curd, egg, or bread and milk will be easily seen, in front, and then raising a corner of the covering immedi- ately before the board, throw down the light of a candle on it, and call the chickens. Repeat the meal at 11 o'clock, and again at 7 in the morning ; and the night is reduced to eight hours' fasting, which the chickens can bear with- out injury. As they grow, if either of them shows any great defect, fatten it for the table or market, and reserve all that you can of those that promise to make a good re- turn. Of course, this is only needed for those that are hatched early ; the late ones do not require it, they have nature on their side, and she is a good nurse. Those very early chickens are not wanted for late shows or fairs ; the produce of April or May will always beat them. Where many fowls are bred from a good Stock, and kept in a farm- yard affording all necessary food, we would be content to leave altogether, even though we iotended to exhibit. Weight is never the principal point in fowls. It is more important in December and the later winter-shows, than it is between August and November. At this later period that which is looked for in a prize-taker is a large frame. The food has been expended in height, length, and breadth, and while this is the case there will be no weight and fat. That which stops the growth and induces fattening lessens the probability of success. All fowls should be together for some days before they go to a show or fair. Being on the same walk is not enough ; they should be daily confined in a small space. If this precaution is not taken, success is frequently marred by the pen having one hen or another torn to pieces, or eaten, at least so far as the scalp and back part of the neck are concerned. This is more frequently the work of the hens than of the cock ; and when they are put togethtr, if one begins to beat another, and is allowed to do so without 104 DOMESTIC POULTET. resistance, it is useless to think of their agreeing, and mad- ness to think of showing them together. As a hen or pul- let is frequently spoiled for exhibition in a few minutes, it may be worth while to describe the first appearance of an mtended aggression. The pugnacious hen will begin by raising herself on tip toe till she can look down on her antagonist, then, dropping her wings and raising her hackle, she will strike the first blow. If this be submitted to, there is no hope for the beaten. She should be removed ; they will never agree, and she will be eaten. It may be asked why these things do not occur in yards. The reason is simple. Because the space allows room for the victim to escape ; but it is one of the inexplicable things of poultry, that when in presence of a pugnacious mate, a hen or puUet tries no resistance, she endeavors to find an outlet for flight ; failing that, she chooses a corner into which she thrusts her head, and thus " accepting the situation " ghe stands still while she is eaten. But without fighting they sometimes disagree, and then they show to disadvantage, because the weakest bird is always out of sight. If an amateur who wishes to exhibit, has fifteen fowls to choose from, and to form a pen of a cock and two hens, ho should study and scan them while feeding at his feet in the morning. He should then have a place similar to an ex- hibition pen, wherein he can place the selected birds ; they should be raised to the height at which he can best see them, and before he has looked long at them defects wiU become apparent one after the other, till, in all probabil- ity, neither of the subjects of his first choice will go to the show. We also advise him rather to look for defects than to dwell on beauties ; the latter are always promi- nent enough. Then pen of which we speak should be a moveable one, for convenience sake, and it is well to leave the fowls in it for a time tty accustom them to each other. POULTBY FOB EXHIBITION. 105 In all cases (save those in which white pluiiu'.fj;ii is dei sirable) we advise that fowls, such as Dorkiug, Cochins, Brahma Pootras, and all golden birds, should r>in at libei- ty till they are wanted to send away, Spanish are im- proved by confinement in a dark place for some days be- fore exhibition, giving just enough of light to enable them to pick their food and to perch. They should also be lit- tered with straw, as cleanliness has much to do with the success of these birds. Game-fowls should be kept up for a few days, and fed on bread, meal, barley, and peas. These latter make the plumage hard, but they must be used sparingly, as they have a tendency to fatten. White feathered birds, such as Silvei'-pencilled Hamburgs, the top-knots of Silver Polauds, the tails of Silver-spangled, all require washing. Thts is not difficult. Put a handful of soda in a bowl of warm water. Immerse the fowl entirely, rinse thoroughly with cold water, wipe with a flannel and place in a basket, with soft straw, before a fire to dry. All fowls should have their legs washed before they are sent to a show ; scurf or dead skin should be removed from the comb, dry dirt from the beak, and stains from the plumage. Baskets in which they are packed should always be round, high enough for the cocks to stand upright, and covered with canvas. If a single covering of canvas is not deemed, enough it may be double, and the space between filled with hay. No injury can then, by any possibihty, be done to the birds. But if the basket be square, feathers must be broken, and if the top be unyielding wicker-work, whether it be a top- knot or comb that comes in contact with it, it must suffer by being flattened. Fowls should be thoroughly fed before they leave for a show, but the food should be soft. Sopped or steeped bread is excellent. Hard food is to be avoided, because the digestion is to take place without help from exercise, 106 DOMESTIC POULTET. gravel, or anything else. This is more important than may appear at first, ichen it is considered, they will proba- bly undergo the ordeal of judgment within a few hours of their departure from home, and that indigestion is accom- panied by sickly and ruffled plumage, dullness of color, dark comb and yellow face. In cold weather it is neces- sary they should have plently of straw in their baskets for warmth sake ; and when fowls go frequently to fairs or shows the straw should be renewed every time. Fowls are not chilly, but they dislike draughts, and even in the railroad cars there are chinks and crevices through which there is an active current. They are also left in open and exposed spots at stations, and then the warm straw plays a useful part. Ill fowls, as in other things, " let well alone " is a good and useful motto. When they return from a fair, looking in perfect health, do nothing ; but if combs be dark, or crops be hard, a tablespoonful of castor oil is a valuable medicine and proper treatment. Where it is convenient, it is useful to have a spare run, where birds can be put down on their return from fairs, and subjected, if neces- sary, to an especial treatment. I do not say this is neces- sary, especially in the present day. They seldom require any other treatment than purga- tives to remove the accumulations of three or four days of unnatural appetite, undue feed from mistaken kindness, and perhaps rubbish from the bottoms of the cages. These are things so generally known, it would seem ridiculous to mention them ; yet I would not be justified in leaving them out. I speak of one of them when I remind exhibitors that birds in a pen must match as to comb and color of legs. APPENDIX. REPORT OF A VISIT TO THE POULTR? YARDS OF FRANCE. [Note. — Mr. Geo. K. Geyelin, a civil engineer connected with the National P jnlti'y Company, of Bromley in Kent, England, took occasion before erecting the extensive buildings proposed to be put up, and per- haps already erected, by the company, to visit France with a view to look into the systems pursued In raising fowls on a very large scale. He embodied his observations in a concise report to the stockholders, which is given with few omissions.] THE OBJECT OF THE TRIP. The primary object of the voyage was to ascertain everything con- nected with Poultry Breeding in France which might assist in promot- ing the success of our undertaking ; also to inquire into the truth of numerous assertions in the public papers, that there existed in the vicinity of Paris most extensive Gallinocultnral establishments, which by their particular system of artificial incubation, rearing, and feeding Poultry on horseflesh, realized in one instance, viz., in that of M. de Soras, upwards of £40,000 per annum. I need scarcely say that, after the most searching investigation within a radius of forty miles of Paris, my opinion has been fully confirmed that such establishments do not nor can possibly exist. * * * [Hearing, however, that one existed at Mouy, he telegraphed and wrote, and finally he says] : To make the inquiry triply sure, I started myself for Mouy ; arrived at Keil Junction, I was informed that such an establishment really did exist at Mouy, and within half a mile of tlie railway station, which news delighted me, to know that my journey was not like a wild goose chase ; therefore, on arriving at Mouy, I pro- ceeded at once to the Poultry establishment, but not of M. de Soras, whose name is not even known to any person in that neighborhood, biit 108 DOSCESHC PODITET. of M. Manonry, ileveur Sl Angy prfis Mouy, to whom I briefly related the object of my call ; I was received with every courtesy and informed that he knew of no such name as M. de Soras, nor of any establishment of the kind, but that he devoted his time to rearing some 5000 head of Poultry per annum ; he neither fed them on horseflesh or supplied the markets of Paris, that he sold none but pure breeds, and those to gentlemen and fency Poultry dealers ; nevertheless, that his system of hatching, rearing, and feeding was so diflferent to that adopted by others that it might possibly have given rise to those exaggerated reports ; after which he conducted me over his establishment, and explained most minutely the system he has adopted, which, however, I need not explain in this part, as I shall have to refer to it under the several head- ings. I will now conclude by adding that I have visited all those places in France so justly iamed for their Poultry, and from which those celebrated breeds of Hondan, La Flfeche, and Creve Coeur are obtained, where also I met with the utmost courtesy in my inquiries, though I had been informed that the farmers never explained or showed their system of Poultry rearing to any one, which possibly may be true as regards their countrymen. Op Abtificial Inoubation I have observed four diflferent systems, which, although said to answer well, are yet far from being applicable to hatching in a commercial point of view. It matters indeed very little what system is adopted provided the heat is maintained at an even temperature : to obtain this, various regulators have been invented, but none of which can as yet dispense with personal care. They all say that their regulators are perfect if the temperature of the room can be kept at the same degree of heat during incubation, that then they can regulate the heat of the incubator to any given degree ; but as such conditions of a uniform temperature are impossible to maintain, con- sidering the variations in the temperature of the atmosphere, I consider artificial hatching too expensive for ordinary purposes, and only to be adopted at certain times of the year, and then only in establishments where the heat can be maintained at a uniform temperature, day and night, by personal care. At the Jardin des Plantes, in Paris, the manager of the poultry de- partment, M. Vallee, employs an apparatus of his own invention, which he has patented, and for which he has obtained prizes at two exhibitions. The principle consists of water heated by means of a lamp as a medium for hatching : the temperature is regulated by admitting more or less cold air by means of a valve opened or closed by a mercury float. At the Jardin d' Acclimatization two systems of artificial incubation are in use, and although both are on the hot-water principle, yet they diflfer materially, — the one is heated by means of a lamp and the temperature regulated by a valve admitting more or less cold air, and which is affected try a piston acted upon by the expansion or condensation of air APPE2fDIX, 109 nndcr different temporatureB ; the other consists merely of a zinc box covered with non-conducting materials. This apparatus requires neither lamp, regulator, or thermometer, the hot water is renewed every twelve hours, and it is said to answer admirably. The eggs are placed in a drawer underneath the water tank, but I cannot help thinking that with an atmospheric temperature at or below freezing-point, it would be very difficult to prevent the rapid cooling of the water. The next and last system of artificial hatching I shall notice is that shown to me by M. Manoury at Mouy. It consists of an ordinary wine cask lined on the inside with plaster of Paris. In this cask several traya with eggs are suspended, and the top of the cask Is provided with a certain number of vent-holes for admitting air, which is regulated by means of vent-pegs : the cask is surrounded to the top with a thickness of about four feet of horse manure. Though I am assured that this principle answers well, I entertain serious doubts about it for the same reasons as before stated. Natukai. HATCHIN8 differs entirely from what I ever saw before, and In some parts of France forms a special trade carried on by persons cal- led Cmiveurs or Hatchers. These hatch for farmers at all times of the year at bo much per egg, or purchase the eggs in the market and sell the chickens as soon as hatched from threepence to sixpence each, accord- ing to the season of the year. This system may aptly be called a living hatching machine, and, in my opinion, it is the very best and cheapest way of hatching, as will be seen by the following description : — The Hatchino Room is kept dark, and at an even temperature in summer and winter. 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 provided for broody fowls. The bed of the boxes is formed of heather, straw, hay, or cocoa-fibres ; and the number 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 hours she will endeavor to get out of her confinement, but soon becomes reconciled to it, and then fresh eggs are substituted for the plaster of Paris ones ; they will then continue to hatch, without intermission, from three t^ six months, and even longer ; the chickens being withdrawn as soon as hatched, and fresh eggs sub- stituted.* After the third day the eggs are examined, and the clear * The use of turkeys ns persistent Bitters, or as Mr. Geyelin phrases It *' living liatcliing macliines," has been tried with entire success by two amaleure [abqUHUitHnces of tlie author) in the vicinity of Cincinnati. 110 DOMKSTIC POULTRY. rtjgs withdrawn,— which are then sold in the market for new laid ; but, as they may Ije soiled or discolored from haring been sat npon, thej clean them with water and silver-sand to restore their original whitenesa. The turkeys are taken off their nest once a day to feed and to remove their excrements from the nest; bat, after a while, they cease self- feeding, when it is necessary to cram them, and give them some water once a day. Amongst some places I visited, in company with two of your share- holders, may be mentioned the ferm of Madame La Marquise de la Briffe, Chateau de NenvlUe, Gambais, near Hondan, where wc observed twelve turkeys hatching at the same time ; here, also, we witnessed the rearing and Mtcning, which will be alluded to hereafter. In another place, that of Mr. Auche of Gambais, a hatcher by trade, we observed sixty turkeys hatching at the same time ; and we were informed that daring winter and early spring he had sometimes upwards of one 3nndred liatching at the same time, and that each turkey continned aa£cbing for at least three months. At the &rm of Mr. Lonis Mary at St. Julien de Faugon, near Lizieux in Calvados, I saw a turkey that was then sitting and had been so upwards of six months, and, as I considered . it rather cruel, the hatcher, to prove the contrary, took her off the nest and put her in the meadow, and also removed the eggs ; the tnrkey, however, to my surprise, returned immediately to her nest and called in a most plaintive voice for her eggs ; then some eggs were placed in a comer of the box, which she instantly drew under her with her beak, and seemed qnite delighted. Moreover, I was Informed that it was of great economical advantage to employ turkeys to hatch, as they eat very little and get verj- fat in their state of confinement, and therefore fit for the market any day. THE BEARING OF CHICKENS. It seems strange that although In all countries the great difficulty of Poultry Breeding is the successful rearing, that no adequate means have ever been devised to counteract the influence of climates. In France, as here, a cold or wet spring is equivalent to a great loss in Poultry, and it seems to be admitted everywhere that cold and wet do not agree with Poultry ; therefore, were it not for some novelties I observed in the rearing, to which I shall allude presently, I might well have said that their system I* no better than our own ; in feet, they show an utter dis- regard of all sanitary conrtderations, and without wishing to parti- cnUrize any establishment, whether public or private, I may state that in even the best conducted, room is left for great improvement in this respect In some parts of France, where Poultry Breeding is carried on KB a trade, they seldom allow a hen to lead the chickens after being batched, a» the hen is more valuable for laying iggs, but they entmst ATPENDIX 111 tliis office eithor to capons or turkeys, which are sali 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 glassful of wine is given her in the evening, and a number of chickens are substituted for tha eggs ; on waking In the morning she kindly takes 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 the breasts and to give them a glass of wine, and whilst in a state of Inebriition to place some chickens under them; on getting sober the next morning they feel that some sudden change has come over them, and as tha denuded part is kept warm by the chickens they take also kindly to them. In conclnslon, I feci 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 not move till the door of the room is opened next moraing. 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. FEEDING AND FATTENING. The System op Feeding Poultry in France is far more jndiclous than our own ; and I may safely assert that I have not noticed a single instance of Poultry beinsr fed on whole gr.aln, as it is the case with us. On inquiring the reason why they fed by meal made into a stiflf paste, I was informed that whole erain would be too expensive, produce less eggs, too much &t, and cause more disease when the fowls are fed ad Ubitnm, so as to completely fill their crop, which renders the digestion difficult. The food is mostly composed of about one half bran and one half buckwheat, barley, or oat-meal made into a stiff paste, with which the fowls are fed twice a day, namely, at sunrise and sunset; this diet is given indiscriminately to old and young. In some farms, where the Poultry have not the run of meadows, they are provided with a certalp amount of animal and vegetable food, which system is so consonanc with my own notion, that I will now describe that followed at an establishment already noticed. All the waste of butchers' shops are obt.iined at the expense of collecting them ; these are boiled, the fat (Iclmmed off, which when coagulated is with the waste finely minced and mixed with the meal ; after which the waste of the kitchen garden, such as cabbage stalks, are boiled in the liquid and mixed with bran, lour poultry food, etc., which is then given to the pigs, who thrive ad- 112 DOSIESTIC POULTET. mirably on it. Buckwheat is conBidered preferable to all other grains ae a etlmnlant to laying eggs, and in wiuter a certain amount is given whole. The chickens for the first week after being hatched, and in winter for a mnch longer time, are fed by hand on barley meal mixed with mUk, stale bread soaked in water, and green food finely chopped. Fattening of Poultbt. — Whilst the rearing is carried on by farmers, the fattening forms qnite a special trade, and chiefly in the hands of cot- tagers, who purchase the chickens either from formers or in the market ; moreover it is the exclusive trade of a few villages in each Poultry breeding district, such as Goussainville, de Saint Lubin, de La Haye, etc., near Hoadan. Villaine and Boce near LaFlSche au Mans, also some hamlets near St. Pierre Dive, Lizieux, Calvados. In these localities the system of fattening differs however ; the one consists of liquid cram- ming with barley meal and milk, given by means of a funnel introduced into the throat of the fowl three times a day ; this process is exceedingly expeditious, as one person can easily cram at the rate of 60 fowls per hour, and the fattening lasts from fourteen days to three weeks, accord- ing to the disposition of the chicken to take fat ; the selection of the fattening stock requires some judgment, as some chickens are constitu- tionally too weak and others have not the frame to receive &t. This system of liquid cramming is principally adopted in the neighborhood of Houdan, and to give an idea of the importance of this trade I will now give a short extract from the pamphlet I was kindly presented with from a most intelligent agriculturalist, Monsieur De la Fosse, Froprie- taire a Orval, GonssainviUe prSs Houdan : — " It is to be desired that our excellent and pure breed of Houdan should be propagated in every other country as much as it is iu our own, where the Poultry trade has taken such a development that it forms one of the principal sources of riches. A few exact statistics of this trade in our intmediate neighborhood will give a correct idea of its importance. At the Markets of Houdan, Dreux, and Nogent le Roi there are sold •innnally upwards of 6,000,000 head of fat Poultry, namely : — Per Week, Per inonth. Per year, Houdan 40,000 160,000 1,920,000 Dreux.. 50,000 200,000 ... 2,400,000 NogentleRoi 35,000 140,000 1,680.000 Total 6,000,000 " Tiiis does not Include the sale of chickens and Poultry which forms a separate trade.'* M. De la Fosse also deprecates the use of fat for fattening purposes, as it deteriorates the fineness and flavor of the flesh. In the districts of Le Mans and Normandy the fattening is performed by dry cramming, viz., the meal of barley and buckwheat are made into a stiff paste with milk and water, then formed into pUls two inches long and half an inch In diameter ; these arc dipped into water and forced into the throat of APPENDIX. 113 lUe fowl nntU the crop is filled, twice a day; it in, however, of Im- portance not to cram a fowl until she has digested the previous meal, ae otherwise it might produce inflammation and death. A most ill-founded notion prevails with all fiitteners^tliat Poultry will fatten much quicker without light or ventilation, and without ever removing their excrements, which malies these places most ofrensive and unhealthy ; no other reason could be assigned to me than that they were quite sure that the smell of the excrements stimulated the fatten- ing ; in this there is about as much reason as in the notion our farmers used to entertain that pigs could only thrive in fllth. In one place however, which I visited in company with Monsieur Noel, proprietor of the "Lion d'Or" at La FlSche, a mest intelligent man, and himself a large farmer, the cottager had provision made for the excrements to fall through the floor of the pen, and on pointing out the innovation he prided himself on his invention, as, said ho, I can now remove the ma- nure, and the feathers of the fowls get less dirty, and the birds have also more air. This surely is a step in the right direction. KILLING AND DRESSING. This also is a speciality, carried on by men called Tueun et Appreteurs; they are astonishingly expert in their business, and, unless witnessed as we have done, would appear incredible, that one man can kill and pluck at the rate of one fowl per minute, or sixty per hour : the price paid for this work is about one farthing per head for lean and one halfpenny for fat Poultry. The system of killing dififers, however, in this, that whilst in Paris they make a* gash in the throat, in the country they stick the Poultry in the back of the roof of the beak, but both cause immediate death ; the latter, however, is the cleanest and moat desirable. They deprecate our system of twisting the neck as crael, discoloring the flesh, and causing early putrefaction of the coagulated blood. When a man plucks he has three baskets near him, into which Jae drops the feathers according to size ; and the reason of plucking the fowls instan- taneously after death is the great saving in time, and the prevention of tearing the skin, which cannot well be avoided when the fowl once gets cold. The lean fowls are immediately emptied of their intestines, but not so with the fat stock, which contain a large quantity of valuable fat, which is used for basting, and to give flavor to lean Poultry. With chickens they take care to leave the down on, as an index of their age, and in all fowls they leave about half-a-dozen feathers in the rump, which gives a veiy pretty appearance. As soon as the fowl is plucked, and before cold, it is laid on its back on a bench, and wrapped round with a wet linen cloth to mould its sliape, and to give the skin a finer appearance ; however, they use no flour, as with us, to give an old hen the appearance of a chicken. 114 DOltBSTIC POITLTET. The fat Poultry is drawn and dressed by cooks ; they make an incision under the leg to withdraw the intestines, by which means the fowl is not disfigured. UTILIZING THE WASTE PRODUCTS. FtniUry Manwre. — ^In France, as well as in onr own country, most eminent chemists have proved by analysis that Poultry manure is a most valuable fertiliser, and yet for want of a, proper system in housing Poultry it has as yet not been rendered available to rural economy. In France, as in England, the Poultry manure is left to accumulate in the Poultry homes, to the loss of ikrmers and to the detriment of the health of fowls. T/ie FeatTiers are carefully collected and sorted, and when well dried sold to dealers. The Intestines are boiled, the fat skimmed off, which is sold separate ; the intestines are then minced as food for Poultry, and the liquid is used for feeding pigs. Tin Combs and Kidneys are sold to pastry cooks — the first for deco- rating and the latter for flavoring pies. The Head, Neck, and Feet are sold to hotels, restaurants, etc., for flavor- ing sauces, or boiled down to make chicken jelly. THE SYSTEM OF SELLING Poultry in France is far preferable to our own, although, in my opinion, it would be still better were Poultry sold by weight. However, a farmer or merchant who consigns Poultry to Paris is sure to obtain a true return of whatever they fetched, as he does not rely, as with us, on the honesty of a dealer. At the whcjlesale Poultry market, La ValUe, in Paris, where all Poultry, dead or alive, is forwarded from all parts of France, there are a number of licensed agents to whom the Poultry is consigned, and who sell it by auction to the highest bidder ; this market is a curious scene, and worth seeing, from four till nine in the morning, where thousands of crates of all descriptions of Poultry are disposed o^ and cleared out, before twelve o'clock in the day. Every village has its weekly markets, where &rmers and their wives bring their produce for sale, in preference to selling it at the farmyard. The police regulations in these markets are strictly enforced. The various products are classified before the market begins. Each person la bound to keep his assigned place, and not allowed even to uncover his goods, and much less to sell, before the bell rings, under a fine of five francs. At the ringing of the bell, the bustle to uncover, the rust of buyers, and the chattering, is worth while to witness. The dealeri APPENDIX. 115 and merchants take up their stand outside the marlicct, whore they send