AGRIC. 4IBRARY THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID I 1 1 1 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPER 3, Complete anb ^tanbarb (Suibe TO THE MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY WHETHER FOR DOMESTIC USE, THE MARKETS, OR EXHIBITION Bv L. WRIGHT SIXTIETH THOUSAND, AV-: T/.S /•/ >, \VITH COLOURED PLATES NEW YORK ORANGE JUDD COMPANY 751, 15ROADWAV 1894 By special arrangement, the sale of this book in the United States is placed in the hands of the ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, of New York. SF//7 AGRIC. LIBRARY PREFACE TO THE TWENTIETH EDITION. TN offering the First Edition of this Work to the public, the then unknown author of it stated as its object, the provision of such practical details, simply and practically set forth, as might be "put into the hands of a person totally ignorant of poultry-keeping, with the reasonable certainty that its instructions, if followed, would command success." He did not think, and does not now think, that such a Work then existed; and accordingly ventured to hope that such an attempt might be well received. The exhaustion of nineteen editions, in about twelve years, is sufficient proof that, upon the whole, THE PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPER has answered its intended purpose. No book on the same subject has probably ever had such a wide circulation : the people for whom it was written have both understood and welcomed it, in a way no one feels more than the writer of these lines. But the lapse of so long a period has at length brought about the necessity for extensive revision. Minor corrections, it is true, have been made from time to time, in points of detail. But the last ten years have seen great changes in the poultry world, which such corrections can no longer M363097 IV PREFACE. represent. New breeds have been introduced, and the standards of many older breeds have become seriously different from what they were; a vast amount of additional experience on many points has been accumulated ; and therefore the Twentieth has seemed to both the Author and the Publishers a good opportunity for the preparation and issue of what almost amounts to a New Edition. No change has been made for the mere sake of change ; and the first few pages, and many other pages, will be found elsewhere pretty much in the old familiar form. But whole chapters have been added, and other whole chapters practically re-written, on farm and table poultry, artificial incubation, and the descriptions of the various breeds of fowls. In all these, and in other points, the text has been brought up to the knowledge and progress of the present day, the old stereotype plates being entirely cancelled. Coloured plates representing the principal breeds, from the pencil of Mr. J. W. Ludlow, have also been substituted for the earlier illustrations. THE PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPER thus presents itself in its Twentieth Edition in what is practicably a new dress. The Author trusts it will be found " practical " as ever, while as Bound and trustworthy as many years of additional experience can make it; and so commits it again to a public, not a few of whom have become almost personal friends. August, 1885. CONTENTS. SECTION I. PAGE THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OP POULTRY, WITH A VIEW TO PROFIT : — Chapter I. — Houses, Runs, and Appliances necessary to keeping Poultry with. Success ... ... 1 Chapter II. — The System of Operations, and Selection of Stock 12 Chapter in. — The Feeding and General Management of Adult Fowls 18 Chapter IV. — Incubation 32 Chapter V. — The Rearing and Fattening of Chickens 41 Chapter VI. — Poultry on the Farm 60 Chapter VH. — Artificial Hatching 70 Chapter VIII. — Rearing Chickens Artificially 86 Chapter IX.— Diseases of Poultry 93 SECTION H. THE BREEDING AND EXHIBITION OP PRIZE POULTRY: — Chapter X. — Yards and Accommodation adapted for Breeding Prize Poultry 101 Chapter XI.— The Scientific Principles of Breeding ... ... 108 Chapter XII. — The Practical Selection and Care of Breeding Stock, and the Rearing of Chickens for Exhibition 118 Chapter XIII. — The Preparation of Fowls for Exhibition, and Various Matters connected -with Shows 130 VI CONTENTS. SECTION III. THE DIFFERENT BIIEEDS OF POULTRY : — • Chapter XIV. — Cochins, Langshans 141 Chapter XV. — Brahmas 147 Chapter XVL— Malays 153 Chapter XVII.— Game 155 Chapter XVIII.— Dorkings 161 Chapter XIX.— Spanish, Minorcas, &c, .. 166 Chapter XX.— Hamhurghs 174 Chapter XXI.— Polish, Sultans ... 180 Chapter XXII.— French Breeds 185 Chapter XXIII. — American Breeds ... ...196 Chapter XXIV.— The Various Class 200 Chapter XXV.— Bantams 206 SECTION IV. TURKEYS, ORNAMENTAL POULTRY, AND WATER-FOWL: — Chapter XXVI. — Turkeys. Guinea-fowl. Pea-fowl 213 Chapter XXV1L— Pheasants 225 Chapter XXVIII.— Water-fowl 230 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. COLOURED PLATES. HAMRURGHS Frontispiece COCHINS, BBAHMAS, AND MALAYS Facing page 143 GAMK AND DORKINGS ... ,, 161 SPANISH AND POLISH ... ... ... ... „ 169 FRENCH BREEDS „ 185 AMERICAN BREEDS ... .... „ 197 BANTAMS ,- 209 GEESE AND DUCKS 237 ENGRAVINGS. PACK FOWL-HOUSB WITH SHELF ... ... 6 PLAN AND ELEVATION OF POULTRY-HOUSE ... 9 FOOD VESSELS 24, 25 WATER VESSELS 25, 27 NEST-EOX 36 STKRILK AND FERTILE EGOS ... ... ... 39 COOP DNDKR SHED ... ... ... 43 A SHELTER COOP ... ... ... ... 44, 45 COOP WJ.TH COVERED RUN ... ... ... ... ... ... 47 POULTRY-HOUSE FOR THE FARM 67 BOYLE'S REGULATOR ... ... ... ... ... 71 BOTLE'S INCUBATOR ... ... ... ... ... 73 TOMLINSON'S INCUBATOR ... ... 78, 79, 80 CHRISTY'S THERMOSTATIC INCUBATOR 81 HEARSON'S INCUBATOR ... ... 84 MRS. CHESHIRE'S ARTIFICIAL MOTHER 88 II iDUO-MoTHER ... ... 89 Vlll ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE MR. LANE'S POULTRY-YARD 102 SIR HENRY THOMPSON'S POULTRY YARD 106 FEATHERS OE FANCY FOWLS 1?9 FRENCH LA FLECHE COCKEREL ... • 188 FRENCH LA FLECHE PULLET 189 BREDAS 191 WYANDOTTES 199 YOKOHAMAS 203 CAMBRIDGE TURKEYS ... ... ••• 216 THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY, WITH A VIEW TO TROFIT. CHAPTER L HOUSES, RUNS, AND APPLIANCES NECESSARY TO KEEPING POULTRY WITH SUCCESS. FOWLS should not be kept unless proper and regular attention can be given to them ; and we would strongly urge that this needful attention should be personal. Our own experience has taught us that domestics are rarely to be relied upon in many matters essential both to economy and the well-being of the stock ; and, if any objection be made on the score of dignity, we could not only point to high-born ladies who do not think it beneath them to attend to their own fowls, but can aver that even the most menial offices may be performed in any properly-constructed fowl-house without so much as soiling the fingers. If there be children in the family old enough to undertake such matters, they will be both pleased and benefited by attending to what will soon become their pets ; if not, the owner must either attend to them himself, or take such oversight as shall be effectual in securing not only proper care of his birds, but of his own meal and grain. If he be unable or unwilling to do at least as much as this, he had far better not engage in poultry-keeping at all. For the pages B 2 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. of this section are not intended simply to be read and ap- proved, but the directions given are such as are proper for the circumstances therein referred to, and are the price to be paid for health and eggs. For instance : when it is said that the roosting-house should be cleansed daily, it is meant that it should be done. When it is said that fowls in confinement should have daily fresh vegetable food, it is intended to convey that such food must be regularly given; and so on. Let the reader deal fairly by us and by his poultry; so will the latter deal fairly by him. The first essential requisite to success is a thoroughly good house for the birds to roost and lay in. This does not neces- sarily imply a large one or a costly : we once knew a young man who kept fowls most profitably, with only a house of his own construction not more than three feet square, and a run of the same width, under twelve feet long. It means simply that the fowl-house must combine two absolute essentials — be both perfectly weatherproof and well ventilated. With regard to the first point, it is not only necessary to keep out the rain but also the wind — a matter very seldom attended to as it ought to be, but which has great influence on the health and laying of the inmates. The cheapest material is wood, of which an inch thick will answer very well in any ordinary English climate ; but, if so built, the boards must either be tongued together, or all the cracks between them carefully caulked by driving in string with a blunt chisel. Care should also be taken that the door fits well, admitting no O air except under the bottom ; and, in short, every precaution be taken to prevent draught. The hole by which the fowls enter, even when its loose trap-door is closed, should admit enough air to supply the inmates ; and the object is to have but this one, source of supply, and to keep the fowls out of all direct draught from it. For the roof, tiles alone are not sufficient, and, if they POULTRY HOUSES. 3 are used, there should be either boarding or ceiling under them ; otherwise all the heat will escape through the numerous interstices, and in winter it will be impossible to keep the house warm ; the same almost exactly may be said of galvanised iron. Planks alone make a good roofing. They may either be laid horizontally, one plank overlapping the other, and the whole well tarred two or three times first of all, and every autumn afterwards ; or perpendicularly, fitting close edge to edge, and tarred, then covered with large sheets of brown paper, which should receive two coats of tar more. This last makes a very smooth, weatherproof, and durable roofing, which throws off the water well. Another good roof is board covered with patent felt, which should be tarred once a year. And still another very good roofing, effective yet light, is the well-known " Willesden paper." In the north of England a house built of wood is all the better for some sort of lining. Matting is often used, and answers perfectly for warmth, but unfortunately makes a capital harbour for vermin. If it is employed, it should only be slightly affixed to the walls, and at frequent intervals be removed and well beaten. Patent felt is the best material, the strong smell of tar repelling most insects from taking up their residence therein. Or the house may be built with a double wooden skin, inside and outside of the framework, with an air- space of two inches between. This is cheap, and easy to make, and gives a very warm house in a cold country. If a tight brick shed offers, it will, of course, be secured for the poultry habitation. But let all dilapidations be well repaired. Ventilation is scarcely ever provided for as it should be, and the want of it is a fruitful source of failure and disease. An ill-ventilated fowl-house must cause sickly inmates; and such will never repay the proprietor. This great desideratum must, however, as already observed, be secured without B2 4 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. exposing the fowls to any direct draught. The best plan is to have an opening at the highest point of the roof, surmounted by an opening of slats put together in the well-known fashion of Venetian blinds. A south or south-east aspect is desirable, where it can be had • and to have the house at the back either of a fireplace or a stable is a great' advantage in winter ; but we have proved by long experience that both can be successfully dispensed with if only the two essentials are combined, of good ventila- tion with perfect shelter. We do not approve of too large a house. For half-a-dozen fowls, a very good size is five feet square, and sloping from six to eight feet high. The nests may then be placed on the ground at the back, where any eggs can be readily seen ; and one perch will roost all the birds. This perch, unless the breed kept is small, had better not be more than eighteen inches from the ground, and should be about three inches in diameter. A rough pole with the bark on answers best : the claws cling to it nicely, and bark is not so hard as planed wood. By far the greater number of perches are much too high and small ) the one fault causing heavy fowls to lame themselves in flying down, and the other producing deformed breast-bones in the chickens. The air at the top of any room or house is, moreover, much more impure than that nearer the floor. Some prefer a movable perch fixed on trestles. In large houses they are useful, but in a smaller they are needless. If the perch be placed at the height indicated, and a little in advance of the front edge of the nests, placed at the back, no hen-ladder will be required; and the floor being left quite clear, will be cleaned with the greatest ease, while the fowls will feel no draught from the door. Besides the house for roosting and laying, a shed is neces- sary, to which the birds may resort in rainy weather. Should the house, indeed, be very large, and have a good window, SHEDDING FOR SHELTER. this is not absolutely needed ; otherwise it must be provided, and is better separate in any case. If this shed be fenced in with wire, so that the fowls may be strictly confined during wet weather, so much the better ; for, next to bad air, wet is by far the most fruitful source, not only of barrenness, but of illness and death, in the poultry-yard. If the space available be very limited — say five or six feet by twelve or sixteen — the whole should be roofed over ; when the house will occupy one end of the space, and the rest will form a covered " run." But in this case the shed should be so arranged that sun-light may reach the birds during some part of the day. They not only enjoy it, but without it, although adult fowls may be kept for a time in tolerable health, they droop sooner or later, and it is almost impossible to rear healthy chickens. Should the range be wider, a shed from six to twenty feet long and four to eight wide may be reared against the wall. Next the fowl-house will still, for obvious reasons, be the most convenient arrangement, and it is also best wired in, as before recommended. The whole roof should be in one, to look neat, and should project about a foot beyond the enclosed space, to throw the water well off. To save the roof drippings from splashing in, a gutter-shoot will of course be provided, and the front should be boarded up for a foot from the ground. The floor of this shed ought to be raised a few inches above the usual ground level outside : if by a stratum of clinkers or brickbats, all the better. All this being carried out properly, the covered " run " ought at all times to be perfectly dry. The best flooring for the fowl-house is concrete, made of strong, fresh-slaked hydraulic lime and pounded "clinkers," put down hot, well trodden once a day for a week, and finally smoothed. The process is troublesome, but the result is a floor which is not only very clean in itself, but easily kept so. Trodden earth will also answer very welL The floor of the shed may be the same, but on the whole, it is preferable there GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. to leave the natural loose earth, which the fowls delight to scratch in. Cleanliness must be attended to. In the house it is easily secured by laying a board underneath the perch, which can be scraped clean every morning in a moment, and the air the fowls breathe thus kept perfectly pure. Or the droppings may Fig. 1. o Broad shelf, eighteen inches high. b Perch, four inches above. c Nests, open at top and in front. be taken up daily with a small hoe and a housemaid's common dustpan, after which a handful of ashes or sand lightly sprinkled will make the house all it should be. There is another most excellent plan for preserving clean- liness in the roosting-house, shown in Fig. 1. A broad shelf (a) is fixed at the back of the house, and the perch placed four or five inches above it, a foot from the wall. The nests are conveniently placed on the ground underneath, and need no top, whilst they are perfectly protected from defilement and are also well shaded, to the great delight of the hen. The THE SPACE NECESSARY. i shelf is scraped clean every morning with the greatest ease and comfort, on account of its convenient height, and slightly sanded afterwards ; whilst the floor of the house is never polluted at all by the roosting birds. The broad shelf has yet another recommendation in the perfect protection it affords from upward draughts of air. The covered "run" should be raked over two or three times a week, and dug over whenever it looks sodden or gives any offensive smell. Even this is not sufficient. Three or four times a year, two or three inches deep — in fact, the whole polluted soil — must be removed, and replaced by fresh earth, gravel, or ashes, as the case may be. Under the shed must be constantly kept a heap of dry dust or sifted ashes, for the fowls to roll in and cleanse them- selves iii their own peculiar manner, which should be renewed as often as it becomes damp or foul from use. If chickens be a part of the intended plan, a separate com- partment should be provided for the sitting hens; but this will be farther treated of in a subsequent chapter. Many will wish to know what space is necessary. The "run" for the fowls should certainly be as large as can be afforded ; an extensive range is not only better for their health, but saves both trouble and food, as they will to some extent forage for themselves. Very few, however, can command this ; and poultry may be kept almost anywhere by bearing in mind the one important point, that the smaller the space in which they are confined, the greater and more constant atten- tion must be bestowed upon the cleanliness of tKeir domain. They decline rapidly in health and produce if kept on foul ground. If daily attention be given to this matter, a covered shed ten or twelve feet long by six feet wide may be made to suffice for half-a-dozen fowls without any open run at all. By employing a layer of dry earth as a deodoriser, which was turned over every day and renewed once a week, the National Poultry 8 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. Company kept for several years su-ch a family in each pen of their large establishment at Bromley. Thesa pens did not exceed the size mentioned, yet tho adult fowls at least were in the highest health and condition ; and the company managed, with birds thus confined, to take many prizes at first-class shows. Poultry-keeping is, therefore, within the reach of all. The great thing is purity, which must be secured, either by space, or, in default of that, by care. Hardy fowls will sometimes thrive in spite of draughts, exposure, and scanty food ; but the strongest birds speedily succumb to bad management in this particular, which is perhaps the most frequent cause of failure. It should also be remarked that poultry thus confined will require a different diet to those kept more at liberty; but this will be more fully explained in a succeeding chapter. If the run be on the limited scale described, dry earth is decidedly the best deodoriser. It is, however, seldom at the command of those who have little space to spare, and sifted ashes an inch deep, spread over the floor of the whole shed, will answer very well. The ashes should be raked eveiy other morning, and renewed at least every fortnight, or oftener if possible. Of course, the number of fowls must be limited : they should not exceed five or six, and, unless a second shed of the same size can be allowed, the rearing of chickens should not be attempted. To those who can give up a portion of their garden, the following plan of a poultry-yard can be confidently recom- mended. It represents what was our own yard for years, and from experience we can pronounce it not only convenient, simple, and cheap, but, with the addition of a lawn on which the chickens may be cooped, sufficient for rearing in very fair perfection almost any variety of either ordinary or '• fancy " fowls. The space required in all is only twenty-five ELEVATION SCALE Fig. 2. A A Roosting and laying houses. a a Nests. B B Fenced-in covered runs. b b Perches. C C Shed and run for sitting hens. c c Holes for fowls to enter. D D Grass runs. 10 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. by thirty-five feet, besides the lawn or grass-run. If more can be afforded, give it, by all means ; but we found this, with very moderate care, amply sufficient, and believe it will meet the requirements of a large class of readers. The plan, it will be seen, comprises two distinct houses, sheds, and runs, with a separate compartment for sitting hens. The nests are placed on the ground at the back of the houses, and the perches, as before recommended, a foot in advance of them, and eighteen inches high. The holes by which the fowls enter open into the sheds, which are wired in, so that in wet weather they can be altogether confined. In dry weather the shed is opened to give them liberty. The fencing should be boarded up a foot high, not only to prevent rain splashing in, but to keep in, when necessary, young chickens, which would otherwise run out between the meshes. The holes by which the fowls enter their houses should be furnished with trap-doors, that they may be kept out at pleasure whilst either part is being cleaned. Each house must also have a small window. Having a shed at the side, ventilating lanterns will not be necessary, as the end will be attained by boring a few holes in the wall between the house and shed, towards the highest part of the roof. The yards in front of the sheds should be gravel or trodden earth j but if they can be as much as thirty feet long they are better laid down in grass, which, if well rooted first, will bear small fowls upon it for several hours each day, but should be renewed in the spring by sowing when needed. The runs should be enclosed with wire netting, two inches mesh, which may be conveniently stretched on poles 1J inches square, driven two feet into the ground, and placed five feet apart. Between the runs, however, the divisions should be boarded up a couple of feet high, to prevent fighting or restlessness. The height of the fence depends on the breed chosen. Cochins or Brahmas are easily retained within bounds by netting a yard PLAN OF A SMALL YARD. 11 Irish ; for moderate-sized fowls six feet will do ; whilst to confine Game, Hatnburghs, or Bantams, a fence eight or nine feet will be found necessary. The netting should be simply stretched from post to post, without a rail at the top, as the inmates are then far less likely to attempt flying over. We do not like to see fowls with their outer wings cut. If their erratic propensities are troublesome, open one wing, and cut only the first or flight feathers, usually ten in number. This will effectually prevent the birds from flying, and as the primary quills are always tucked under the others when not in use, there is no external sign of the operation. The compartment for the sitting hen may be boarded in at the front or not ; for ourselves, we prefer it open. Her run may also be covered over or not, at pleasure, but it is better covered. Such a yard possesses many advantages, especially when used with the addition of a lawn for breeding fancy poultry. Two separate runs are almost necessary if the rearing of chickens forms part of the plan of proceeding ; and many persons consider it advisable to separate the cocks and hens, except during the breeding season, believing that stronger chickens are obtained thereby. The need of the separate compartment for the sitting hens is further insisted on here- after, but it has also other uses, being, when not so employed, convenient for the temporary reception of a pen of strange birds, for which there may be no other accommodation. Each run will accommodate from six to ten fowls, according to their size and habits. For those who purpose to engage more largely in prize poultry-breeding, more extensive designs will be given here- after ; but enough has now been said to enable the intending poultry-keeper to select from the different plans here indicated the one best adapted to his particular situation, or, mayhap, to contrive a better one of his own. "We have pointed out the 12 . GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. essentials; and these being provided for, operations can be commenced, and it becomes necessary to determine upon the plan of proceeding. This, then, will be treated in the next chapter. CHAPTER II. THE SYSTEM OF OPERATIONS, AND SELECTION OF STOCK. WHEN poultry are kept as a branch of domestic economics, it will be obvious that the system to be pursued should vary according to the extent of accommodation which can be afforded, and to the object sought. Both these considerations should be well weighed before operations are commenced ; and the plan then determined upon as best adapted to the circum- stances should, as long as those circumstances remain the same, be consistently carried out and adhered to. It very frequently happens that a regular supply of eggs is the sole object in view: and that neither the time, trouble, nor space required to rear chickens with success can well be spared. If, for instance, a covered shed fenced in with wire, as described in the last chapter, with a small house at the end for roosting and laying in, be the sole accommodation for the fowls, to attempt rearing them would be folly ; * and yet they may be kept so as to yield a good return upon their cost and main- tenance. The proper plan in such a case will be to purchase in the spring a number of hens proportioned to the size of the run, and none exceeding a year old. A. cock is useless, as hens lay very nearly as well without one ; and where eggs only are wanted, this is balanced by his food, and his room is saved. All these birds, if in good health and condition, will either be already laying, or will commence almost immediately; and if * It is not meant to be denied that chickens can be reared in such cir- cumstances, and that in good health and to a fair size. We have ourselves done so. But it does not pay, and we do not intend to do it SYSTEM FOR VERY SMALL SPACE. 13 well housed, as in the last chapter, and properly fed, will ensure a constant supply of eggs until the autumnal moulting season. Whenever a hen shows any desire to sit, the propen- sity must of course be checked, not by the barbarous expedient of half drowning the poor bird in cold water — a process generally as ineffectual as it is cruel — but by placing her under a coop on the hard ground, with water, but rather scanty food, keeping her in summer, however, sheltered from the sun. A few days of such confinement will take away all desire to sit from almost any hens but Cochins, which should not be kept under the circumstances we are considering ; and in about a fortnight the fowl, if not older than we have recommended, will begin to lay again. It is still better to keep only non- sitting breeds. To buy only young and healthy birds is very important. An experienced hand can tell an old fowl at a glance, but it is rather difficult to impart this knowledge to a beginner, for no one sign is infallible, at least to an uninitiated interpreter. In general, however, it may be said that the legs of the young hen look delicate and smooth, her comb and wattles soft and fresh, and her general outline, even in good condition (unless fattened for the table), rather light and graceful ; whilst an old one will have rather hard, horny looking shanks, her comb and wattles look somewhat harder, drier, and more " scurfy," and her figure is well filled out. But any of these indications may be deceptive, and the only advice we can give the reader is to use his own powers of observation, and try and catch the " old look." He will soon do so, and need no further description. Directly these hens stop laying in the autumn, and before they have lost condition by moulting, they should, unless they have proved very satisfactory, be either killed or sold off, and replaced by pullets hatched in March or April, which will have moulted early. These, again, still supposing proper food and good housing, will begin producing eggs by November at 14 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. furthest, and continue, more or less, till the February or March following. They may then either be disposed of and replaced as before, which we should ourselves prefer, as they are just in prime condition for the table; or, as they will not stop laying very long, the bost of them may be retained till the autumn, when all but very excellent layers must be got rid of ; such are generally worth keeping for another year. For if fowls be kept for eggs, it is essential to success that every autumn the stock be thus replenished with pullets hatched early in the spring.* By no other means can eggs at this season be relied upon, and the poultry-keeper must remember that it is the winter which determines whether he shall gain or lose by his stock ; in summer, if only kept moderately clean, hens will pay for themselves treated almost anyhow. The stock to be selected, if a pure strain be chosen, are, for confinement, Houdans, Leghorns, or one of the Spanish varieties j either, in favourable circumstances, will give a plenti- ful supply of eggs, and give no trouble on the score of sitting propensities. The Spanish breeds ]ay five or six very large eggs a week in spring and summer, but are not very hardy or free-laying breeds for winter, and must have a warm aspect and perfect shelter from wind, if the supply is to be kept up. Leghorns lay about the same, or perhaps better, but their eggs are small ; on the other hand, they are hardy. Houdans are hardy, and many lay capitally ; others do not. With eggs still the object, but more space, Hamburghs may be kept. They are fairly hardy on a good range, and produce then more eggs in a year, on an average, than any breed, but small ; in fact they lay nearly all the year, except when moulting. In confinement they do not, as a rule, answer so well, black or silver-spangled standing it best, and sometimes * That is, if the greatest amount of profit be the object sought. The question of " pets," and the pleasure to be derived from them, we are not considering. SELECTION OF FOWLS. 15 doing well. More than four or five Hamburghs should not be put in a shed, and they must be bept scrupulously clean ; with these conditions they may thrive, but few breeds suffer so much from filth or over-crowding. When chickens are to be reared, Brahmas may be strongly recommended. As layers, when not spoilt they stand high ; are very tame, and bear confinement well ; and the tendency to sit does not occur often enough to be troublesome, as in the case of Cochins. Plymouth Kocks are also good. But the best of this class of fowls is the Langshan, which has white skin and meat, is a capital layer, and very hardy. When there is a good wide range of any kind, a few Game hens may be found profitable, the black-breasted red variety being best. Some of the hens are as prolific as any breed, and eat very little in proportion ; but they cannot be kept in close confinement on account of their fighting propensities. For ourselves, we prefer pure breeds, or first crosses ; for after all is said on the superiority of mongrel fowls, how many " barn-door " fowls will lay as many eggs as a Minorca or a Hamburgh ] Still, the cost of a good stock will stand in the way with many, and has to be taken into consideration ; and to those who cannot afford " fancy " poultry, it may there- fore .be said, once for all, that on the whole, equal success may be attained with good ordinary or " barn-door" fowls. Care must be taken in the selection. They should be young, fair-sized, sprightly-looking birds, with plump, full breasts, rather short legs, and nice tight-looking plumage. They ought also to be chosen from a country yard, where their parents have been well fed. If such be obtained, they will repay the purchaser, and are handsomer and better every way than inferior birds of the " fancy " class. Of course this remark does not apply to mere faults of colour. Fowls are often to be met with at a moderate price, which from some irregularity of feather are quite disqualified as show birds, but which possess in perfection 16 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRf. all the other merits of the breed to which they belong. Let such be secured and prized by all means ; but let it be also remembered and believed that nothing pays so wretchedly as to begin " poultry -fancying " with inferior stock, and that really fine fowls which never had a grandfather are any day preferable to " degenerate decendants from a line of kings." It has been already remarked that the Cochin breeds are excellent layers in winter, but that their invincible propensity to sit, which occurs every two months, or even less, is a fatal objection to their being kept by those who do not desire the care of young broods. If, however, the system adopted depend npoii home-reared chickens to replenish the stock, one or two Cochin hens may be kept with advantage in cases where the other fowls are of non-sitting varieties. The frequency of their desire to incubate now becomes a recommendation, as the owner can depend upon " a broody hen " at almost any season which may suit his views ; and if always parted with at the age of two years, they will not fail to maintain their deserved character as good winter layers. Their own eggs, of course, should not be given them if the chickens be for market, unless running with a Dorking, Houdan, or Crevecoeur cock, either of which crosses produce a gigantic table-fowl of very fair edible qualities. For home use, however, Cochins are not to be despised when killed anywhere under nine months old ; they carry an immense quantity of solid meat ; and if this be more on the leg than could be desired, it must be also remembered that the said leg, though certainly not equal to breast or wing, is more tender than that of most other breeds. On the whole, if a good stock can be afforded, and a good number of chickens yearly are to be reared, we should, for domestic use, recommend Langshans, Plymouth Rocks, or Light Brahmas. If there be a double run, as described in Chapter I., the finest birds may be kept pure, and their eggs and progeny, when possible, sold at "fancy" prices ; whilst the hens SREEDS FOR PROFIT. 17 which show faults of colour may be kept in the other run with a large coloured Dorking or Houdan cock. From this cross table-fowls may be obtained which "look like young turkeys," and being hardy are easily reared. The flesh may not be equal to that of the Game fowl- -in delicious flavour " the prince of all breeds " — but it nearly equals the Dorking, with greater size and freedom from that delicate constitution which often renders the latter an unprofitable fowl. Dorkings, notwithstanding, are not to be despised, and will do well if they have a fair-sized run, well gravelled and free from wet, with a good dry shed to shelter in. If the supply of table poultry be a main point, no breed, except perhaps Houdans, will compare with this, the favourite fowl of the London market. When of good stock, they may be got up to an amazing size, and the quality of the meat is excellent. They are also most exemplary mothers, and in moderate weather produce a very fair quantity of eggs ; but are not very good winter layers, even when hatched early. In this respect they are excelled by the French Houdans, which lay very freely, and are also most hardy fowls, whilst in size and quality of flesh they rival the Dorking, whose blood, though perhaps generations back, we believe them to share, as evidenced by the general form and the peculiar fifth toe. Houdans are pre-eminently a breed for the farmer ; their extreme hardiness, quick growth, and excellent laying, making a fowl with nearly all the merits and but few of the faults of the fine old English breed. On the whole, therefore, of the pure breeds, where chickens for table are wanted, we should pronounce Houdans to be the farmer's, and Brahmas, Plymouth Rocks, or Langshans the family fowl, crossing the table chickens from the latter with Dorking or not, according as there were one or two runs to keep them in. If a few eggs daily be the object, our own choice would be foui or five black or silver-spangled Hamburghs, provided 18 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. there be a good run, and they be kept scrupulously clean and well sheltered from driving wind or rain. If the space be very limited we would select four or five red-faced Spanish, or, as they are now called, Minorcas, or the allied Andalusians; they lay at least as well as their celebrated white-faced cousins, while they are far hardier in winter, and stand con- finement well. In default of either of these, however, and if all be beyond the means of the speculator, we would under- take to show a satisfactory balance-sheet with any good, lively, ordinary fowls. Let us, however, repeat again — for nothing is so important — whatever be the breed selected, there must be every autumn a proportion, at least, regularly replaced by young birds hatched in the spring of the same year. This is the great secret of success, as far as system is concerned ; and if it be neglected, during winter an empty egg-basket will eat up all the summer's profits, and testify dismally to the improvidence of the owner. CHAPTER III. THE FEEDING AND GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF ADULT FOWLS. A JUDICIOUS system of feeding is very essential to the well- being of poultry, and has, of course, more direct influence upon the profit or loss than any of the circumstances — though equally important — which we have hitherto enumerated. We shall, therefore, endeavour to give the subject full and practical consideration. The object is to give the quantity and quality of food which will produce the greatest amount of flesh and eggs ; and if it be attained, the domestic fowl is unquestionably the most profitable of all live stock. But the problem is rather a nice one, for there is no "mistake on the right side " here. A. fat hen is not only subject to many diseases, but ceases to lay, or MISTAKES IN FEEDING. 19 nearly so, and becomes a mere drag on the concern ; while a pampered male bird is lazy and useless at best, and very probably, when the proprietor most requires his services, may be attacked by apoplexy and drop down dead. That fow>o cannot be remunerative if starved need scarcely be proved. Ex, nihilo ni/iil JU ; and the almost daily pro- duction of an article so rich in nitrogen as an egg — the very essence of animal nourishment — must demand an ample and regular supply of adequate food. We say no more upon this point, knowing that the common mistake of nearly all amateur poultry-keepers is upon the other side — that of over-feeding. The usual plan, where fowls are regularly fed at all, appears to be to give them at each meal as much barley or oats as they will eat • and this being done, the owner prides himself upon his liberality, and insists that his at least are properly fed. Yet both in quantity and quality is he mistaken. Grain will do for the regular meals of fowls which live on a farm, or have any other extensive range where they can provide other food for themselves, have abundant exercise, and their digestive organs are kept in vigorous action. But poultry kept in con- finement on such a diet rarely thrive. Their plumage, after a while, begins to fall off, their bowels become affected, and they lose greatly in condition ; and though in summer their eggs may possibly repay the food expended, it will be almost im- possible to obtain any in winter, when they are most valuable. Even those who profess to correct such errors are not always safe guides. We remember a work which stood high both in character and price, and was in many respects really valuable, in which, just after a caution against over- feeding, the editor gives five pounds of barley-meal, ten pounds of potatoes, seven pounds of oats, three pounds of rice boiled, and three pounds of scalded bran, as a week's allowance for five hens and a cock — "of the larger kinds," it is true. Now, at the lowest ordinary prices the cost of such a scale would c2 20 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. amount to at least <£4 4s. in the course of twelve months ; and taking eggs at the high average of a penny each all the year through, every one of the five hens must lay at least 200 eggs to repay the mere cost of their subsistence. When we say that 150 eggs per annum is as much as can be obtained from nine hens out of ten, it will be seen at once that poultry could not be made profitable did they consume so enormously ; and, in point of fact, we had the curiosity to try this dietary upon six fowls " of the larger kinds," and found it rather more than double what was amply sufficient. The fact is, all fixed scales are delusive. Not only would Cochins or Crevecreurs cat twice as much as many other sorts, but different fowls of the same breed often have very different measures of capacity, and even the same hen will eat nearly twice as much when in active laying as when her egg-organs are unproductive. The one simple rule with adult fowls is, to give them as much as they will eat eagerly, and 110 more ; directly they begin to feed with apparent indifference, pick over it, or cease to run when the food is thrown at a little distance, the supply should be stopped. In a state of nature they have to seek far and wide for the scanty morsels which form their subsistence ; and the Creator never intended that they, any more than human beings, should eat till they can literally eat no more. It follows that food should never be left 011 the ground. If such a slovenly practice be permitted, much of what is eaten will be wasted, and a great deal will never be eaten at all ; for fowls are dainty in their way, and unless at starvation point always refuse sour or sodden food. The number of meals per day best consistent with real economy will vary from two to three, according to the size of the run. If it be of moderate extent, so that they can in any degree forage for themselves, two are quite sufficient at least in summer, and should be given early in the morning and the PROPER SYSTEM OF FEEDIXO. 21 last thing before the birds go to roost. In any cas-3 these will be the principal meals ; but when the birds are kept in con- finement they will require, in addition, a scanty feed at midday. The first feeding should consist of soft food of some kind. The birds have passed a whole night since they wore last fed ; and it is important, especially in cold weather, that a fresh supply should as soon as possible be got into the system, and not merely into the crop. Now, if grain be given, it has to be ground in the gizzard before it is digested ; and on a cold winter's morning the delay is anything but beneficial. But, for the very same reason, at the evening meal grain forms the best food which can be supplied ; it is digested slowly, and during the long cold nights affords support and warmth to the fowls. A great deal depends upon this system of feeding, which, we are aware, is opposed to the practice of many, who give grain for the breakfast, and meal, if at all, at night. We believe such a system to be usually adopted from indolence ; it is easier to throw down dry grain in a winter's morning than to properly prepare a feed of meal, which is accordingly given at night instead. Fowls so treated, however, are much more subject to roup and other diseases caused by inclement weather than those fed upon the system we recommend — a system not only in accordance with theory and our own experience, but with that of the most successful breeders. Let the sceptical reader make one simple experiment. Give the fowls a feed of meal, say at five o'clock in the evening; at twelve visit the roosts and feel the crops of the birds. All will be empty ; the gizzard has nothing to act upon, and the food speedily disappears, leaving with an empty stomach, to cope with the long cold hours before dawn, the most hungry and incessant feeder of all God's creatures ; but if the last feed has been grain, the crop will still be found partially full, and the birds will awake in the morning hearty, strengthened, and refreshed. 22 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. With respect to the morning meal of pultaceous food, when only a few fowls are kept, to supply eggs for a moderate family, this may be provided almost for nothing by boiling daily the potato peelings till soft, and mashing them up with enough sharp?, slightly scalded, to make a tolerably stiff and dry paste. There will be sufficient of this if the fowls kept do not exceed one for each member of the household ; and as the peelings cost nothing, and the sharps very little, one-half the food is provided at a merely nominal expense, while no better could be given. A little salt should always be added, and in winter a slight seasoning of pepper will tend to keep the hens in good health and laying. This food may be mixed boiling hot over night, and covered with a cloth, or be put in the oven ; in either case it will remain warm till morning — the condition in which it should always be given in cold weather. If a tolerable stock of poultry be kept, such a source of supply will be obviously inadequate ; and in purchasing the food there is much variety to choose from. Small or " pig " potatoes may be occasionally bought at a low price and similarly treated, though experience proves that much of regular potato diet is not suitable, leading after a while to few eggs and derangement of the digestive system ; or barley-meal may be mixed with hot water ; or an equal mixture of barley-meal and " sharps," or of Indian meal and sharps : either of these make a capital food. Bran in place of the sharps sometimes seems to do very well, but has an awkward habit of every now and then causing inflammation of the bowels. In some places a cart-load of swede or other turnips, or mangel-wurtzel, may be purchased ; and when boiled and mashed with meal or "sharps," we believe forms the very best soft food a fowl can have, especially for Dorkings ; but they cannot everywhere be obtained at a cheap rate, and the buyer must study the local market. A change of food at times is necessary, and in making VARIOUS KIXDS OF FOOD. 23 it the poultry-keeper should be guided by the season. When the weather is warm, and the production of eggs abundant, the food should abound in nitrogenous or flesh-forming material, and not contain too much starch or oil, both of which, being carbonaceous, have warmth-giving and fattening properties ; but when the cold weather approaches, and the eggs even of good winter layers are fewer than in summer, less of nitro- genous and more of carbonaceous food will be needed. The following table has been often copied since its first publication by Mr. Tegetmeier, but its practical usefulness is so obvious that we make no apology for giving it here, with some modification to There is mereiy Flesh- forming Food. Warmt fi-giving Bone-making Food. Husk Water 100 Ibs. of Gluten, &c. FatorOil. Starch, &c. Mineral Substance. Fibre. Oats 15 6 47 2 20 10 Oatmeal 18 6 63 2 2 9 Middlings or ) fine Sharps ) WLeat Barley 18 12 12 6 3 1 53 70 56 5 2 4 4 1 14 14 12 13 Indian Corn ... Rice 11 7 8 A trace. 65 80 1 A trace. 5 10 13 Beans & Peas.. Milk 24 4} 2 3 48 5 2 1 10 It 80 1> make the proportion of warmth-giving to flesh-forming in- gredients more plain, and with the analyses corrected up to date. To show the practical use of this table, it may be observed that whilst "sharps" or "middlings," from its flesh-forming material, is one of the best summer ingredients, in winter it may be advantageous for some fowls to change it for a portion of Indian meal. It is, however, necessary to avoid giving much maize to large fowls, either as meal or corn, or the effect will be a useless and prejudicial fattening from the large quantity of oil it contains j it is best mixed with sharps or 24 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. bean-meal, and is then, for the lighter breeds, an economical and useful food. Potatoes, also, from the large proportion of starch contained in them, are not good in quantity as a regular diet for poultry ; but mixed with bran or sharps will be found useful occasionally, as above noted. The smaller and lighter breeds may have more of fattening foods than the larger ones ; but Asiatics particularly are so liable to internal fat, that it is safest never to give them maize at all in any form, and very little of potatoes. In mixing soft food there is one general rule always to be observed : it must be mixed rather dryt so that it will break if thrown upon the ground. There should never be enough water to cause the food to glisten in the light, or to make a sticky porridgy mass, which clings round the beaks of the fowls, and gives them infinite annoyance, besides often causing diarrhoea. If the weather be dry, and the birds are fed in a hard gravelled yard, the food is just as well, or better, thrown on the ground. If they are fed in the shed, however, it is best to use a dish of metal or earthenware, which should have straight Fig 3> sides, as in Fig. 3. Such a trough or dish must, however, be protected, or the fowls may walk upon it, and waste a large portion. This is best prevented by having a loose curved cover made of tin and wire, as shown in Fig. 4. which, when placed on the ground over the dish, will effectually prevent the fowls having anything to do with the food except to eat it, which they are quite at liberty to do through the perpendicular wires two and a half inches apart. On the whole, however, the best vessel for poultry-food is that shown in Fig. 5. The spreading bottom prevents the vessel from being overturned, and the straight sides and the top make it impossible to scratch food out. Such a vessel needs no cover, and also makes a good and simple water-pan. FOOD VESSELS. 25 Whore the fowls have a field to run in they will require no further feeding till their evening meal of grain. Taking it altogether, no grain is more useful or economical than barley, and in summer this may be occasionally changed with oats; in winter, for the reasons already given, Indian corn may be given to some breeds every second or third day with advan- tage. Buckwheat is, chemically, almost identical in compo- sition with barley, but it certainly has a stimulating effect on the production of eggs, and it is a pity it cannot be more frequently ol »t; t i ned at a cheap rate. We would never omit purchasing a sack of this grain when possible, and have a strong opinion that the enormous production of eggs and fowls in Fig. 4. France is to some extent connected with the almost universal use of buckwheat by French poultry-keepers.* Wheat was formerly too dear to be employed, unless damaged ; and if the damage be great it had better not be meddled with ; but of late years it has been one of the cheapest of all grains, and _ when sound or little injured is a most 1 11 valuable food, both for chickens and fowls. ] V "Sweepings" sometimefl contain poisonous (J ^ substances; are generally dearer, weight for Fig. 5. weight, than sound grain ; and should never be seen in a poultry-yard. The midday meal of penned-up fowls should be a very scanty one — a mere sprinkle of grain ; and even this is worse than useless unless the other meals are sparingly given, as directed. The regular and substantial diet is now provided for, but * It is a curious fact that buckwheat used to be largely grovrn in what are now the chief poultry-breeding counties of Surrey and Sussex. 26 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. will not alone keep the fowls in good health and laying. They are omnivorous in their natural state, and require some portion of animal food. On a wide range they will provide this for themselves, and in such an establishment as figures at page 9, the scraps of the dinner-table will be quite sufficient ; but if the number kept be large, with only limited accommodation, it will be necessary to buy every week a few pennyworth of bullocks' liver, which may be boiled, chopped fine, and mixed in their food, the broth being used instead of water in mixing ; these little tit-bits will be eagerly picked out and enjoyed. A very little is all that is necessary, and need not be given more than three times a week. When fowls are much over-fed with this kind of food the quills of the feathers become more or less charged with blood, which the birds in time perceive, and almost invariably pluck at each other's plumage till they leave the skin quite bare. It is also necessary to give a caution against the use of greaves. When fowls are habitually fed upon this article their feathers speedily become disarranged and fall off, and when killed the flavour, to any ordinary palate, is disagreeable. There is yet another most important article of diet, without which it is absolutely impossible to keep fowls in health. We refer to an ample and daily supply of green or fresh vegetable food. It is not perhaps too much to say, that the omission of this is the proximate cause of nearly half the deaths where fowls are kept in confinement ; whilst with it, our other directions having been observed, they may be kept in health for a long time in a pen only a few feet square. It was to provide this that, wherever they are large enough, we recom- mended the open yards, when possible, to be laid down in grass — the very best green food for poultry ; and a run of even an hour daily on such a grass plot, supposing the shed to be dry and clean, will keep them in vigorous health. But if a shed only be available, fresh vegetables must be thrown in WATER-FOUNTAINS 27 daily. Anything will do. A good plan is to mince up cabbage-leaves or other refuse vegetables, and mix pretty freely with the soft food; or the whole leaves maybe thrown down for the fowls to devour ; or a few turnips may be minced up daily, and scattered like grain, or simply cut in two and thrown into the run ; or, if it can be got, a large sod of fresh-cut turf thrown to the fowls will be better than all. But something they must have every day, or nearly so, otherwise their bowels sooner or later become disordered, their feathers look dirty, their combs lose that beautiful bright red colour which will always accompany really good health and condition, and testifies pleasantly to abundance of eggs. The water- vessel must be filled fresh every day at least, and so arranged that the birds cannot scratch dirt into it or make it foul The ordinary poultry- fountain is too well known to need description, but a better form, made in two parts, is shown in Fig. 6. The advan- tages of such a construction are that the interior can be examined, and the vessel well sluiced out to remove the green slime which always collects by degrees, and is very prejudicial to health. Some experienced breeders prefer shallow pans ; but if these be adopted they must be filled frequently. When the water has to be placed in a shed filled with loose earth, to which the fowls are confined, a piece of board or other protection should be so placed as to protect it from dirt being scratched into it. Grown-up fowls must never be left without water. During a frost, therefore, the fountain should be emptied every night, or there will be trouble next morning. Care must always be taken, also, that snow is not allowed to fall into the drinking vessel Fig. 6. 28 3ENEHAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. The reason has puzzled wiser heads than ours, but it is &fact that any real quantity of snow-water seems to reduce botli fowls and birds to mere skeletons. It is well in winter to add to the water a few drops of a solution of sulphate of iron (green vitrol), just enough to give a slight mineral taste. This will in a great measure guard against roup, and act as a bracing tonic generally. The rusty appearance the water will assume is quite immaterial, but may be avoided by adding a few drops of sulphuric acid. The best plan, perhaps, is to keep a large bottle of the celebrated " Douglas * mixture," respecting which we can speak with un- qualified approval, as a most valuable addition to the drink in cold weather of both fowls and chickens. It consists of half a pound of sulphate of iron and one ounce of sulphuric acid dissolved in two gallons of water ; and is to be added in the proportion of two table-spoonfuls to each pint of water in the fountain. Whilst the fowls are moulting, the above mixture, or a little sulphate of iron, should always be used; it will assist them greatly through this, the most critical period of the whole year. With this aid, and a little pepper on their food, with perhaps a little extra meat, there will rarely be any lost. With hardy kinds and good shelter such precautions are scarcely necessary ; but they cost little, and have their effect also on the early re-commencement of laying. In addition to their regular food it will be needful that the fowls have a supply of lime, in some shape or other, to form the shells of their eggs. Old mortar pounded is excellent ; so are oyster-shells well burnt in the fire and pulverised ; of the latter they are very fond, and it is an excellent plan to keep a " tree-saucer " full of it in their yard. If this matter has been neglected, and soft shell-less eggs have resulted, the * So called because published in the Field newspaper by Mr. John Douglas, then superintending the Wolseley Aviaries. NEED OF CLEANLINESS. 29 quickest way of getting matters right again is to add a little lime to the drinking water, or pound up some oyster-shells raw. One thing more, which must on no account be forgotten. This is, some proportion of sharp grit or gravel, or other hard substances. Such small stones constitute hen's teeth, and without them the gizzard cannot perform its office of grinding up the food. We have seen fowls ailing from apparently this simple neglect alone. We may conclude this chapter with a few further remarks respecting general management. With regard to the nests, they may be of any form, but are best upon the ground. A long box may be employed, divided by partitions into separate compartments ; or separate laying- boxes may be used, which is preferable, as more easily cleaned. Some like baskets, made flat on one side, and hung to a nail in the wall ; these should be of wire, and then cannot harbour vermin — the great plague of fowls. The straw should be broken and beaten till it is quite soft, and changed as often as there is any foul or musty smell If the nests are offensive, the hens will often drop their eggs, quite perfect, upon the ground rather than resort to them. Cleanliness in the house and run has already been insisted upon, and is only again alluded to on account of the value of the manure. This, collected daily, should be put in any con- venient receptacle where it can be kept dry, and either used in the garden, if there is one, or sold. It pays best to use it where possible. It should always be mixed with dry earth, soot, or fine dry ashes, before using, being very strong, and is especially valuable for all plants of the cabbage kind ; it is also excellent for growing strawberries, or indeed almost any- thing if sufficiently diluted. If there be no possibility of so using it, it is worth at least four shillings per cwt to sell, ami is greatly valued by such nurserymen and gardeners as know its value ; but there is sometimes difficulty in finding 30 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. those who do, and getting a fair price. There has been much dispute about this, and we have known the stored or half-dry manure sold as high as eight shillings per cwt., and as low as one shilling and sixpence ; but all such uncertainty should be set at rest by the analysis of the late Dr. Voelcker, which will be found at p. 61. At four shillings per cwt. we consider the night-manure equal to more than one-fourth of the profit from the fowls. Where a considerable number of fowls are killed annually, the feathers also become of value, and may be preserved. They are very easily dressed at home. Strip the plumage from the quills of the larger feathers, and mix with the small ones, putting the whole loosely in paper bags, which should be hung up in the kitchen, or some other warm place, for a few days to dry. Then let the bags be baked three or four times, for half an hour each time, in a cool oven, drying for two days between each baking, and the process will be completed. Less trouble than this will do, and is often made to suffice ; but the feathers are inferior in crispness to those so treated, and may occa- sionally become offensive. Eggs should be collected regularly, if possible twice every day ; and if any chickens are to be reared from the home stock, the owner or attendant should learn to recognise the egg of each particular hen. There is no difficulty in this, even with a considerable number — nearly every egg, to the accus- tomed eye, has a well-marked individual character ; and if there be any hens of value, it may save much disappointment in the character of the brood to know the parentage of those selected for hatching. Before concluding, it may be expected that something definite should be said respecting the actual profit of what may be called domestic poultry-keeping. It is extremely difficult to make any such statement, so much depends upon the price of food, upon the management, selection of stock, and value of GOOD MANAGEMENT. 31 eggs. But in general we have found the average cost of fowls, when properly fed, to be about Id. per week each for smaller sorts, and not exceeding 1 Jd. per week for the larger breeds ; when the cost is more we should suspect waste. A good ordinary hen ought to lay 120 eggs in a year, and if good laying breeds are selected, such as we have named in Chapter II., there ought to he an average of fully 150, not reckoning the cock. Of course, good management is supposed, and a regular renewal of young stock, as already insisted upon. For domestic purposes eggs ought to be valued at the price of new- laid, and from these data each can make his own calculation. Finally, let the whole undertaking — large or small — be conducted as a real matter of business. If more than three or four hens are kept, buy the food wholesale and in the best market ; let the grain be purchased a sack at a time — potatoes by the cart-load or hundred-weight, and so on. Let a fair and strict account be kept of the whole concern. The scraps of the house may be thrown in, and the cost of the original stock, and of their habitation, may be kept separate, and reckoned as capital invested ; but let everything afterwards for which cash is paid be rigorously set down, and on the other side, with equal strictness, let every egg or chicken eaten or sold be also valued and recorded. This is of great importance. The young beginner may perhaps manage his laying-stock well, but succeed badly with his chickens (though not, we hope, if he be a reader of this book), or vice versa ; and it is no small matter in poultry-keeping, as in any other mercantile concern, to be able to see from recorded facts where has been the profit or where the loss. The discovery will lead to reflection ; and the waste, neglect, or other defective management being amended, the hitherto faulty department may also contribute its quota to the general weal- 32 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. CHAPTER IV. INCUBATION. MUCH disappointment in the hatching and rearing of young broods would be prevented were more care taken that the eggs selected for setting were of good quality — not only likely to be fertile, but the produce of strong and hardy birds. This remark applies to common barn-door poultry quite as much as to the pure breeds. A friend once complained to us that out of a dozen eggs only four or five had hatched ; and on inquiry we found that the sitting had been procured from an inn-yard, where, to our own knowledge, only one cock was running with about twenty hens, from which, of course, no better result could be expected. When the eggs have to be procured from elsewhere, therefore, whatever be the class of fowls required, it should first of all be ascertained that there is at least one cock to every six or eight hens, and that he is a strong and lively bird ; and next, that the fowls be not only of the kind desired, but that they are well fed and taken care of. From scraggy, half-starved birds it is impossible to rear a large brood, as the greater number even of those hatched will die in infancy. It only remains to ensure that the eggs be fresh, and a successful hatching may be anticipated. "With regard to this latter point, eggs have been known to hatch when two months old, or even more j but we would never ourselves set, from choice, any egg which had been laid more than a fortnight ; and after a Tnonth, or less, it is useless trouble. Fresh eggs, if all be well, hatch out in good time, and the chicks are strong and lively j the stale ones always hatch last, being perhaps as much as two days later than new laid, and the chickens are often too weak to break the shell. We have also invariably noticed, when compelled to take a portion of stale eggs to make up a sitting, that even when such eggs have hatched, the subsequent deaths have principally FERTILITY AND SEX OF EGGS. 33 occurred in this portion of the brood ; but that if none of the eggs were more than four or five days old, they not only hatched nearly every one, and within an hour or two of each other, but the losses in an ordinary season were veiy few. There is, however, one partial exception to this statement, which is only generally true in reference to breeding at the natural seasons. Nature does not, however, intend fowls to breed in winter; and during that season and very early spring, the male birds especially are far less vigorous. This is partly shown in sterile eggs, which need no comment. But growth in the egg and final hatching out are as much tests of comparative strength as anything in the future lives of the chickens; and hence many eggs which begin to de- velop have not strength to finish, or if they do, may not have muscular strength for what is really the great exertion of final hatching. When the eggs are from the home stock, their quality should, of course, be above suspicion. It is scarcely necessary to say, that in order to ensure this, every egg before storing should have legibly written upon it in pencil the date on which it was laid. Eggs intended for setting are best kept in bran, the large end downward, and shoidd never be exposed to concussion. Another very good plan is to have a large board pierced with a number of round holes in regular rows to receive the eggs. Hundreds of years ago it was thought that the sex of eggs could be distinguished by the shape — the cocks being produced from those of elongated shape, and hens from the short or round. Others have pretended to discern the future sex from the position of the air-bubble at the large end. These and every other nostrum have, hundreds of times, been proved to be erroneous. There is not a breeder of prize poultry in England who would not gladly give twenty pounds for the coveted knowledge, and thenceforth breed no more cockerels D 34 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OP POULTRY. than he really wanted ; but the secret has never been dis- covered yet, and it is even impossible to tell before the egg has been sat upon for a short time, whether it has been fecundated. We have, in a previous chapter, already mentioned that the sitting hens ought to have a separate shed and run provided for them, in order that the other hens may not occupy their nests during absence, or they themselves go back to the wrong ones, as they will often do if allowed to sit in the fowl-house. An extensive run is neither necessary nor desirable, as it only entices the birds to wander, whereas in a limited space they will go back to their nests as soon as their wants are satisfied. A shed five feet square, with a run the same width for ten feet out in front, is quite sufficient for a hen. If the hen must be set on the ordinary nest in the fowl- house, or when several have to be set in the same house, it is best to take each one off at a regular time every morning, and after seeing to her wants and due return, to shut her in so that she cannot be annoyed. She should be lifted by taking hold under the wings, gently raising them first to see that no eggs are enclosed. This is the usual plan, and the only practicable one in very large establishments. But it takes time to see all the hens safely back and shut in again, and when we possessed a rather large yard for some years, we preferred to allot half a dozen separate pens for as many separate hens ; these were taken off as usual, but were left to find their own way back again. A single hatching run should, if possible, be in sight of the other fowls, as it will keep the sitter from becoming strange to her companions, and prevent an otherwise inevitable fight on her restoration, to the possible damage of the broocl. We used ourselves, as stated in the first chapter, a shed five feet wide and five deep, open in front to a small gravel or grass run. Under the shed must be, besides the nest, a good- SITTING HENS. 35 sized shallow box of sand, dry earth, or fine coal ashes, for the lien to cleanse herself in, which she specially needs at this time ; and food and water must be always ready for her. With these precautions the hen may, without very much risk. be left entirely to herself! There are, however, some birds which, if not removed, would starve upon their nests soonei than leave them ; and therefore, if the hen has not been off foi two or three days, we would under any circumstances find time to daily remove the poor thing for her own preserva- tion. To feed upon the nest is a cruel practice, which has crippled many a fowl for life, and cannot be too strongly con- demned. Of all mothers, we prefer small Dorkings, Cochins, or 13rahmas. Their abundant " fluff" and feathering is of ines- timable advantage to the young chicks, and their tame and gentle disposition makes them submit to any amount of handling or management with great docility. Cochins cer- tainly appear clumsy with their feet, but we have seldom found more chickens actually trodden upon by them than with any other breed. Many complain that they leave their chickens too soon, but we have not found it so ourselves, except with very early broods. With regard to Brahmas as mothers, they have a peculiarity we never observed in any other fowl, and have never seen noticed in any work on poultry — they actually appear to look behind -tJuem when moving, lest they should tread upon their little ones. Dorkings are exemplary mothers, and go with their chickens a long time, which recommends them strongly for very early broods. And lastly, a Game hen has qualities which often make her most valuable. She is not only exemplary in her care, and a super-excellent forager for her young brood, but will defend them to the last gasp, and render a good account of the most determined cat that ever existed. But whatever be the hen chosen, she should be well feathered, and tolerably tame. Some people have said that only D2 36 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. mature hens should be allowed to sit, and that pullets are not to be trusted; but our own experience and that of very many large breeders does not confirm this. We have con- stantly set pullets, and never had any more reason to complain of them than of older birds. The nests may be arranged under the shed any way so that no one can see into them, with the one proviso that they be actually upon ike ground. Chicks thus obtained always show more constitution than those hatched on a wooden bottom at a higher level. This holds good even at all times of the year. We are aware that eminent authorities who recommend ground- nests in summer prefer a warm, wooden box in winter, for the ^^~\^ sake of the hen ; but she will rarely suffer. l^ ^^\ The heat of her body while sitting is so great a^^^^^^^ that a cool situation seems grateful to her — at least, a hen set on the ground rarely forsakes her nest, which is otherwise no un- common case. We knew of a hen which, during the month of January, made her nest upon the top of a rock in one of the highest and most exposed situations in the Peak of Derbyshire, and brought a large brood of strong chickens into the yard. It is only necessary the birds should be protected from wind and rain, in order to avoid rheumatism ; and this is most effectually done by employing for the nest a tight wooden box, like Fig. 7, open at the bottom, and also in front, with the exception of a strip three inches high to contain the straw. Let one of these be so placed in the back corner of the shed, touching the side, the front being turned to the back wall, and about nine inches from it ; and the hen will be ill the strictest privacy, will be both perfectly sheltered and k ;pt cool, and will never mistake her own nest for the one which may be placed in the other corner. A damp situation is best for the sitting shed, and will Fig. 7. MAKING THE NEST. 37 ensure good hatching in hot weather, when perhaps all the neighbours are complaining that their chicks are dead in the shells. Attempting to keep the nest and eggs dry has ruined many a brood. It is not so in nature ; every morning the hen leaves her nest, and has to seek her precarious meal through the long wet grass, which drenches her as if she had been ducked in a pond. With this saturated breast she returns, and the eggs are duly moistened. But if the nest be dry, the hen be kept dry, and the weather happen to be hot and dry also, the moisture within the egg itself becomes dried to the consistency of glue, and the poor little chick, being unable to move round within the shell, cannot fracture it, and perishes. Such a mishap will not happen if the ground under the nest be damp and cool. All that is necessary in such a case is to scrape a slight hollow in the bare earth, place the nest-box, already described, over it, and put in a moderate quantity of straw, well broken ; or, still better, some fresh-cut damp grass may be put in first, and the straw over. Shape the straw also into a very slight hollow, and the nest is made ; but care must be taken to well fill up the corners of the box, or the eggs may be rolled into them and get addled. Some prefer to put in first a fresh turf, and this is a very good plan. Always make up a hatching-nest with perfectly fresh and clean materials. Should an egg be broken in the nest (and the nest should be examined every two or three days, when the hen is absent, to ascertain), the eggs must be removed, and clean straw sub- stituted, and every sound egg at all soiled by the broken one be washed with a sponge and warm water, gently but quickly drying after with a cloth. The hen, if very dirty, should also have her breast cleansed, and the whole be replaced immediately, that the eggs may not be chilled. A moderate hatch may still be expected, though the number of chicks is alway* more or less reduced by an accident of this kind. If, however, the 38 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. cleansing be neglectf-d fo? more than a couple of days after a breakage, or less at the latter period of incubation, probably not a single chick will be obtained ; whether from the pores of the shell being stopped by the viscid matter, or from the noxious smell of the putrefying egg, it is not very material to inquire. Every egg should also be marked quite round with ink or pencil, so that if any be subsequently laid in the nest they may be at once detected and removed. Hens will sometimes lay several eggs after beginning to sit. In ordinary winters the hen should be set as in summer, giving her, however, rather more straw. Only in severe frost should she be brought into the house ; and in that case, or whenever the weather be very dry, it will be necessary during the last half of the hatching period to sprinkle the eggs freely with tepid water once a day, removing the hen for the purpose, and replacing her at once. Of course this is always necessary to success, in dry weather at least, when the hen is set in a box at a distance from the ground, as is the case in large sitting-houses. But, where it can be had, we much prefer the natural moisture of a damp soil, which may often be supple- mented by pouring warm water on the ground freely, round the nest, several times a week. The application of water must therefore depend upon the weather and common sense. In damp springs none is needed ; in dry times, more or less according to circumstances. \Vhenthenumberof eggs set yearly is considerable, it is worth while to withdraw the unfertile ones at an early period. About the eighth day let the hen be removed by candle-lights and each egg be held between the eye and the light. If the egg be fertile, it will appear opaque, or dark all over, except, perhaps, a small portion towards the top ; but if it be unim- pregnated, it will be still translucent, the light passing through it almost as if new laid (Fig. 8). After some experience, and by using one of the various " egg-testers " sold for the TESTING THE EGGS. 39 purpose, which more completely stop the light, the eggs can be distinguished at an earlier period, and a practised hand can tell the unfertile eggs even at the fourth day. Should the number withdrawn be considerable, four batches set the same day may be given to three hens, or even two, and the remainder given fresh eggs ; and if not, the fertile eggs will get more heat, and the brood come out all the stronger. The sterile eggs are also worth saving, as they are quite good enough for cooking purposes, and quite as fresh even for boiling as nine- tenths of the Irish eggs constantly used for that purpose. Fig. S.— Sterile and Fertile Eggs. It is a common mistake to set too many eggs. In summer, a large hen may have thirteen, or a Cochin fifteen of her own but in early spring eleven are quite enough. We have not only to consider how many chickens the hen can hatch, but how many she can cover when they are partly grown. If a hen be set in January, sho should not have more than seven or eight eggs, or the poor little things, as soon as they begin to get largo, will have no shelter, and soon die off. It is far better to hatch only six and rear five, or may be all, to health and vigour, than to hatch ten and only probably rear three puny little croatnros, good for nothing but to make broth. For April and May broods, such a limitation is not needed; 40 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OP POULTRY. but even then eleven or twelve chickens are quite as many as a large, well-feathered hen can properly nourish, and the eggs should only be one or two in excess of that number. A good hen will not remain more than half an hour away from her nest, unless sbe has been deprived of a dust-bath, and so become infested with lice, which sometimes cause hens thus neglected to forsake their eggs altogether. When a hen at the proper time shows no disposition to return, she should be quietly driven and coaxed towards her nest ; if she be caught, and replaced by hand, she is often so frightened and excited as to break the eggs. A longer absence is not, however, necessarily fatal to the brood ; and it is no use, and only makes matters worse, to be over-fidgety. People who know the most always fuss the least. We would rather a hen went back in twenty minutes; but if she stayed half an hour we should let her, and trust that all would probably be right. We have had hens repeatedly absent more than an hour, which still hatched seven or eight chicks; and on one occasion a hen sitting in the fowl-house returned to the wrong nest, and was absent from her own more than five hours. We of course considered all chances cf hatching at an end ; but as the hen had been sitting a fortnight, concluded to let her finish her time, and she hatched five chickens. We have heard of a few hatching even after nine hours' absence, and therefore would never, on account of such an occurrence, abandon valuable eggs without a trial. The chickens break the shell at the end of the twenty-first day, on an average ; but if the eggs are new-laid it will often lessen the time by as much as five or six hours, while stale eggs are always more or less behind. Small breeds generally hatch a day or two earlier. If the eggs were fresh, and proper care has been taken to preserve moisture during incubation, no assistance is ever needed at the actual hatching. HATCHING. 41 When there are chicks alive which cannot break the shell, they may sometimes be saved by careful extrication, keeping the egg in warm water at 100° the while, all but the point of the beak. These cases usually arise from want of moisture, and it is some preventive to " test " the egg twenty -four hours before hatching by immersion in a pail of water at 106°. The " live " ones float and bob about after a few minutes in a curious manner ; but they must be watched patiently, for some- times they wait a while ; the dead ones should be rejected. The soaking seems to do the eggs good; but it is not advisable for absolute novices to fuss too much with these expedients, which are not really needed in the vast majority of cases. With good eggs, a good hen, and good management, all will go right, and there will be in due time a goodly number of strong and healthy chickens, to the mutual delight of the hen and of her owner. And with the treatment of the young brood we will begin another chapter. CHAPTER V. THE REARING AND FATTENING OF CHICKENS. FOR nearly twenty-four hours after hatching chickens require no food at all ; and though we do not think it best to leave them quite so long as this without it, we should let them remain for at least twelve hours undisturbed. We say undisturbed, because it is a very common practice to take those first hatched away from the hen, and put them in a basket by the fire till the whole brood is out. When the eggs have varied much in age this course must be adopted ; for some chickens will be perhaps a whole day or more behind the others, and the hen, if she felt the little things moving beneath her, would not stay long enough to hatch the rest. But we have explained in the last chapter that this should not be, and that 42 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. if the eggs are all fresh, the chicks will appear within a few hours of each other. In that case they are much better left with their mother; the heat of her body appears to strengthen and nourish them in a far better manner than any othei warmth, and they are happy and contented, instead of moving restlessly about, as they always do whilst away from her. Our own plan is to set the eggs in the evening, when the chicks will break the shell in the evening also, or perhaps the afternoon. Then at night let the state of the brood be once only examined, all egg-shells removed from the nest, and the hen, if she be tame enough to receive it, given food and water. Let her afterwards be so shut in that she cannot leave her nest, and all may be left safely till the morning, By that time the chicks will be strong and lively, quite ready for their first meal ; and unless some of the eggs are known to be very stale, any not hatched then are little likely to hatch at all. If this be so, the chicks may be removed and put in flannel by the fire, and another day patiently waited, to see if any more will appear. We should not do so, however, if a fair number had hatched well ; for they never thrive so well away from the hen, and it is scarcely worth while to injure the healthy portion of the brood for the sake of one or two which very probably may not live after all. The first meal should be given on the nest, and the best material for it is an equal mixture of hard-boiled yolk of egg and stale bread-crumbs,, the latter slightly moistened with milk. Let the hen be allowed to partake of this also — she needs it ; and then give her besides as much barley as she will eat, and oner her water, which she will drink greedily. To satisfy the hen at first saves much restlessness and trouble with her afterwards. There is a stupid practice adopted by many, of removing the little horny scale which appears on every chicken's beak, with the idea of enabling thorn to peck better, and then putting PUTTING OUT THE CHICKENS. 43 food or pepper-corns clown their throats, and dipping their bills in wat.-r to make them drink. It is a mistake to say that if this does no good it can do no harm : the little beaks are very soft and tender, and are often injured by such barbarous treatment. f/iem alone. If they do not eat or drink — and chickens seldom drink the first day — it only shows they do not wish to ; for to fill an empty stomach is the first and universal instinct of all living things. The brood having been fed, the next step will depend upon Fi?. 9.— Coop under Shed. circumstances. If, as we recommend, the chickens were hatched the night before, or be well upon their legs, and the weather be fine, they may be at once moved out, and the hen cooped where her little ones can get the sun. If it be winter, or settled wet weather, the hen must, if possible, be kept on 44 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. her nest this day also, and when removed be cooped in a dry shed or outhouse. The best arrangement, where there is convenience for it, is that shown in Fig. 9. A shed six feet square is reared against the wall, with a southern exposure, and the coop placed under it. The coop here shown is made on a plan described by M. Jacque, and consists of two compartments, separated by a partition of bars ; one compartment being closed in front, the Fig. 10.— Shelter-coop. other fronted with bars like the partition. Each set of bars lias a sliding one to serve as a door. It is best to have no bottom, but to put it on loose dry earth or ashes, an inch or two deep, renewed daily. Each half of the coop is about two feet six inches square, and may or may not be lighted from the top by a small pane of glass. The advantage of such a coop and shed is, that except in very severe weather, no further shelter is required even at night. During the day the hen is kept in the outer compartment, the chickens having liberty, and the food and water being placed outside ; whilst at night A GOOD SHELTER COOP. 45 she is put in the inner portion of the coop, and a piece of canvas or sacking hung over the bars of the outer half. If the top be netted over, a little food and the water vessel may be placed in the outer compartment at night, and the chicks will be able to run out and feed early in the morning, being pre- vented by the canvas from going out into the cold air. It will be only needful to remove the coop every two days for a fe\v minutes, to take away the tainted earth and replace it with fresh. But a simpler coop will do well under a shed; and when a shed is not at command, the very best coop for chickens we are acquainted with is one we 0 made and described years ago, the chief feature of which is a raised inside floor. The coop is shown in Fig. 10, and the floor in Fig. 11. The best size is two feet square, for which twelve-feet planks, nine inches wide, will cut all the lengths Fig. ll.-Floor of Coop. without wafite . besides this will be needed some inch-square stuff to serve as framing at each corner, and along top and bottom of the front. To these pieces the boards are nailed, and we have made three coops complete in an afternoon. Each side takes two boards two feet long, and a half board cut diagonally ; the back two boards. The top requires three boards, one-fifth of twelve feet, with slats cut from the same length over the joins ; and the fifth piece is used in front as shown. The front may be either wires inserted into the top and bottom rails, as shown, or be made of laths nailed on. The roof, when nailed on, projects an inch and a half all round the coop ; but besides this there is a loose shelter-board hinu'rrl to the front of the roof so as to be capable of detach- ment. This is easily done by driving two small staples into 46 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. the under side of the roof, into which lock small hooks driven into the edge of the board. In a coop thus sheltered chickens may be left out in any weather, as we have proved for years. Much depends upon a dry floor, however, and this can only be secured by an inside raised floor. Fig. 1 1 shows the construction. The boards a a are nailed on the pieces of quartering, bb, c c, so as not to reach the edyes, as shown. They are cut such a size also, that the coop fits down on the quartering outside the floor, loosely, all round, the quartering being also sloped off so as not to retain wet under even the edges of the coop. Such a floor will be quite dry in any weather. Or the floor may stand up inside the coop, on the ground. But it is better as drawn, because the long ends of the quartering in front, shown in both figures, are convenient for laying another board upon, on which the food and water can be placed. Or this feeding- board may be hinged to the bottom of the coop, and fastened up at night against the front, to keep all in until attended to in the morning. The ordinary basket coop is only fit to be used under a shed, or in perfectly fine weather, when it is convenient to place on a lawn. Some straw, weighted by a stone or other covering, should however be placed on the top, to give shelter from the mid-day sun. Chickens should always, if possible, be cooped near grass. No single circumstance is so conducive to health, size, and vigour, supposing them to be decently well cared for. as even a small grass run such as that provided in Fig. 2. Absolute cleanliness is also essential, even more than for grown fowls ; and the reason why difficulty is often experienced in rearing large numbers is, that the ground becomes so tainted with their excrements. The coop should, therefore, either be moved to a fresh place every day, or the dry earth under be carefully renewed. The detached wooden bottom just described should be covered every morning and evening half PROTECTED RUNS. 47 an inch deep with perfectly dry earth, or fine sifted ashes. The ashes are renewed every evening in five minutes, and form a nice warm bed for the chicks, clean and sweet, and much better than straw. Cats sometimes make sad inroads on the broods. If this nuisance be great, it is well to confine the coveted prey while young within a wire-covered run. And the best way of forming such a run is to stretch some inch-mesh wire-netting, two feet wide, upon a light wooden frame, so as to form wire Fig. 12. hurdles two feet wide and about six feet long. These are easily lashed together with string to form a run, and may be covered by similar hurdles (Fig. 12). In such a run all animal depredations may be defied, until the chicks are a fort- night old ; it also saves a world of trouble and anxiety, and prevents the brood wandering and getting over tired. But after that age the chicks suffer, unless the run can be made much more extensive than here shown. With regard to feeding, if the question be asked what is the best food for chickens, irrespective of price, the answer must decidedly be oatmeal. After the first meal of bread- crumbs and egg no food is equal to it, if coarsely ground, mixed with a little bread-crumb and finely-cut fresh grass, and only moistened so much as to remain crumbly. The price of oat- 48 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF- POULTRY. meal is, however, so high as to forbid its use in general, except for valuable broods ; but we should still advise it for the first week, in order to lay a good foundation. It may be moistened either with water or milk, but in the latter case only sufficient must be mixed for each feeding, as it will turn sour within an hour in the sun, and in that condition is very injurious to the chickens. Spratt's well-known food is also most excellent for rearing chickens upon. For the first three or four days the yolk of an egg boiled hard may be chopped up small, and daily given to each dozen chicks ; and when this is discontinued; a little cooked meat, minced fine, should be given once a day till about three to four weeks old. The cost of this will be inappreciable, as a piece the size of a good walnut is sufficient for a whole brood ; and the chickens will have more constitution and fledge better than if no animal food is supplied. Food must be given very often. For the first month every two hours is not too much, though less will do ; from one to two months old, every three hours; and after that three or four times a day will be sufficient. To feed very often, giving just enough fresh food to be entirely eaten each time, and with occasional changes, to keep the appetite and digestion vigorous and keen, is the one great secret of getting fine birds. If the meals are fewer, and food be left, it gets sour, the chicks do not like it, and will not take so much as they ought to have. After the first week the oatmeal can be changed for cheaper food. We can well recommend any of the following, and it is best to change from one to another, say about every fortnight. An equal mixture of " sharps " and barley-meal, or " sharps " and buckwheat-meal, or fine bran and Indian meal ; or of bran, oatmeal, and Indian meal. The last our own chickens liked much, and as the cheap bran balances the oatmeal, it is not a dear food, and the chicks will grow upon it rapidly. Bice is poor food, except for Bantams, which it Is FOOD FOR CHICKENS. 49 desired to keep small ; but boiled rather dry, a little dripping or suet stirred in, and the greasy pellets rolled in " sharps," makes an occasional change which is greedily relished. Boiled rice is also good, as used by the French, for fattening birds for the market, as it tends to white flesh. The above will form the staple food, but after a day or two some grain should be. given in addition. Groats chopped up with a knife are excellent ; so is crushed wheat or bruised oats or dari. Chickens seem to prefer grits to anything, but it is not equal to meal as a permanent diet. A little of either one or the other should, however, be given once or twice a day, and in particular should form the last meal at night, for the reasons given on page 21. Bread sopped in water is the worst possible food for chickens, causing weakness and general diarrhoea. With milk it is better, but not equal to meal. Green food is even more necessary to chickens than to adult fowls. Whilst very young it is best to cut grass into very small morsels for them with a pair of scissors, and mix liberally in the food ; afterwards they will crop it for them- selves if allowed. Should there be no grass plot available, cabbage or lettuce-leaves must be regularly given — minced small at first, but thrown down whole as soon as the beaks of the chickens are strong enough to enable them to help them- selves. In winter or very early spring the chickens must, in addition to the above feeding, have more stimulating diet. Some under-done meat should be continued regularly, and it is often advisable to give also, once a day at least, some stale bread soaked in ale. They should also be fed about eight or nine o'clock, by candle-light, and early in the morning. In no other way can Dorkings or Spanish be successfully reared at this inclement season, though the hardier breeds will often get along very well with the ordinary feeding. Ale and meat, 50 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OP POULTRY. with liberal feeding otherwise, will rear chickens at the coldest seasons ; and the extra cost is more than met by the extra prices then obtained in the market. But shelter they must have ; and those who have not at command a large outhouse or shed to shelter them while tender, should not attempt to raise winter or early spring chickens — if they do, the result will only be disappointment and loss. It may however be as well to state that there is no place so bad as a greenhouse, which will not answer the purpose at all. The experiment has often been tried, and early chickens so " protected " simply die off like flies. Some loose dry material under foot in the shed, and free run out, are what they require. This much will suffice for the solid food of the chickens ; but there is a further very important question as to what should be allowed them in the way of drink. The usual plan till lately has been to let them have water by them ad libitum, the fresher and cooler the better ; and we have shared this general practice with others. There have, however, always been exceptions to this rule amongst country rearers, especially some who have inherited traditions of Game-fowl rearing ; and during the last few years there have been on several occasions lengthy discussions in the poultry papers as to whether it is not better, for about the first four weeks, to with- hold water altogether, where the chickens are fed chiefly on soft food, excepb so far as fluid may be contained in the latter. A careful and exhaustive analysis of all that we have been able to meet with on both sides of this question, has led us to the conclusion that the preponderance of experience is most decidedly upon the side of withholding water. It is to be remarked that by far the greater part of what has been said on this side, consists of actual evidence as to extremely good results from this mode of treatment, and in many cases of very great improvement in results after its adop- tion. On the other side, a very large proportion of what WATER OR NO WATEK? 51 has been said against it consisted of mere declamation against the supposed "cruelty" of it. It need not be pointed out that this kind of argument amounts to very little, or to nothing at all. It is quite obvious, to begin with, that there can be no real "cruelty" in any course of treatment which rears more chickens, if the fact be so. And when appeal is made to " Nature," and we begin to think about it, it would seem that Nature herself is, if anything, rather on the side of the dry method. The young of all small birds, at least, are reared without water. The fowl itself is believed to be an Indian bird of the jungles ; and in such localities it is certain that even the old birds can only drink at long intervals, and that days must elapse, often, before young and tender broods can thus indulge. How much less can water be really required where a large portion of the food itself is mixed with fluid, which is the case in our artificial rearing 1 At all events, there is a large body of evidence, collected quite recently, to the effect that a large amount of the diarrhoea and other bowel complaints of young chickens is due to unlimited supplies of fluid in addition to soft food ; and that many have left this off" with the most marked advantage. Some have deprived the chickens of drink entirely for the first month; others have allowed one fair drink in the morning after breakfast (preventing any excess), and then taken it away, giving the hen drink separately. The chickens in most seasons get some drink from the dew upon the grass, and in these small quantities it is probably less injurious to them. They can be seen drinking in this manner ; and the fact suggests that some little should depend upon the season. Where they are hatched very late, and the weather is hot and dry, a rigid regimen should not be insisted upon, especially if fed chiefly upon grain, though even then we are convinced that " water by measure " will be the best plan. But in spring, where soft food is given largely, we are fully convinced that any drink in addition, 52 CENTRAL MANAGEMENT OP POULTRY. beyond one after breakfast, and possibly a few sips, and no more, at night, will be found far the best regimen. The only actual evidence we have seen of any evil from this course, has been when the writers have adopted it with chickens a few days or more old. This is natural : such changes should not be made with young things of any kind. Those once accustomed to drink ad libitum can only suffer by deprivation; and if any change is made, it should be very gradually, and not carried to the extreme. The very worst effects of all are produced by allowing young birds to drink to reple- tion after prolonged thirst. But it has heen noticed that chickens reared on the dry system are much less prone to this in after life. At the age of four months the chickens, if of the larger breeds, should be grown enough for the table ; and if they have been well fed, and come of good stock, they will be. For home use we say let them be eaten as they are — they will be quite fat enough ; and fattening is a rather delicate process, success in which it takes some experience to acquire. For market, however, a fatted fowl is more valuable ; and the birds should be penned up for a further fortnight or three weeks, which ought to add one to two pounds to their weight. For a limited number of chickens it will be sufficient to provide a small number of simply-constructed pens. Each compartment should measure about nine by eighteen inches, by about eighteen inches high ; and the bottom should not consist of board, but be formed of bars two inches wide placed two inches apart, the top corners being rounded off. The partitions, top and back, are board, as the birds should not see each other. These pens ought to be placed about two inches from the ground, in a darkish, but not cold or draughty place, and a shallow tray be introduced underneath, filled with fresh dry earth every day, to catch the droppings. This is the best and least troublesome method of keeping the birds clean and in good health. As fast as each occupant of a pen is withdrawn FATTENING CHICKENS. 53 for execution its pen should be whitewashed all over inside, and allowed to get perfectly dry before another is introduced. This will usually prevent much trouble from insect vermin ; but if a bird appears restless from that cause, some powdered sulphur, rubbed well into the roots of the feathers, will give immediate relief. In front of each compartment should be a ledge three inches wide, on which to place the food and water-tins. The latter must be replenished once, the former three times a day ; and after each meal the pens must be darkened for half the time until the next, by hanging a cloth over the front. This cloth is best tacked along at the top, when it can be con- veniently hung over or folded back as required. The two hours' darkness ensures quiet and thorough digestion ; but it is not desirable, as some do, to keep the birds thus the whole time till the next meal If the chickens are fasted for a few hours when first penned, they will start with, and keep up, a good appetite. The best food for fattening is buckwheat meal, when it can be obtained ; and it is to the use of this grain the French owe, in a great measure, the splendid fowls they send to market. If it cannot be procured, the best ordinary substitute is an equal mixture of Indian and barley-meal ; at the prices since 1882, however, wheat has been one of the cheapest and best of foods, and as whole meal is one of the best for putting on flesh. Each bird should have as much as it will eat straight off, but no food left to become sour. The meal may be mixed with skim-milk if available. A little minced green food should be given daily, to keep the bowels in proper order. In three weeks the process ought to be completed. It must be borne in mind th&tfat only is added by thus penning a chicken ; the lean or flesh must be made before, and unless the chicken has attained the proper standard in this respect, it is useless even to attempt to fatten it. Hence the importance 54 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. of high feeding from the very shell. The secret of rearing chickens profitably is, to get them ready for the table at the earliest possible period, and not to let them live a single day after. Every such day is a dead loss, for they cannot be kept fat ; once up to the mark, if not killed they get feverish and begin to waste away again. To make poultry profitable, even on a small scale, everything must go upon system ; and that system is, to kill the chickens the very day they are ready for it. What may be called even feeding from the shell is of the greatest importance, as the want of it is the cause of a most common defect. If an ordinary English fowl badly fed is examined, there will be found to be hardly any meat on the back ; indeed, many people have an idea there never is any meat there ! Now the effect of even several weeks' good feeding upon a thin chicken is to deposit either flesh or fat in places, but not to produce that even clothing with meat all over, which is the perfection of chicken-rearing. Moreover, fat so deposited is gross and disagreeable, whereas, even feeding rather deposits it infiltrated amongst the muscle, giving tenderness and juiciness to the whole, as is seen on a larger scale in well-marbled beef. So well understood is this in France, that it is usual, as Mr. T. Christy has again and again pointed out, to expose the poultry there with the backs uppermost, the exact contrary of English practice, though the representations of this gentleman have lately caused some imitation of French practice at the better West-End shops. If the back is well and evenly covered with flesh, the breast must carry as much meat as the build of the fowl admits of ; but the converse is by no means the case. Whether or not better knowledge shall lead to a general reform in the matter of shop display, this method of judging cannot be too widely known by purchasers ; and the raiser should never be satisfied till he can produce chickens with the back nicely covered to a smooth surface. This is to be done by an ample supply of QUALITY OP TABLE-FOWL8. 55 good food constantly changed, including wheat and boiled rice (the latter tends to make white flesh) ; and the French prefer to " finish off" with buckwheat and milk. If extra weight and fat is wanted, the birds may be crammed during the last ten days of the fattening period, but not before. The meal is to be rolled up the thickness of a finger, and then cut into pellets an inch and a half long. Each morsel must be dipped in water before it is put into the bird's throat, when there will be no difficulty in swallowing. The quantity given can only be learnt by experience. For home use, however, nothing can equal a chicken never fattened at all, but just taken out of the yard. If well fed there will be plenty of good meat, and the fat of a fowl is to most persons no particular delicacy. In any case, however, let the chicken be fasted twelve hours before it is killed. In raising poultry for the market, whatever crosses may be employed, great judgment in selecting the birds is required to produce a really good table fowl. Though not quite every- thing, a good and well-developed breast is the chief object to aim at; and it may be well to point out in what a good breast consists; for this does not always seem well understood, embracing as it does at least three distinct qualities. 1. A good breast must be deep, especially in front. On this depends the breadth of the slices cut from it. Internally, this quality depends upon depth of the keel of the breast-bone; externally, it is marked by the fowl appearing, when looked at sideways, as deep through the body at the shoulders as behind. This is true, although the contour may be widely different. For instance, in the ideal contour of a Dorking, the equal depth at shoulders is seen at once, in the general resemblance of the body to a parallelogram. No such square form can be seen in a Game fowl, whose breast shows a beautiful curve. But it will be seen that a well-shaped Game fowl's body is much like a fir-cone in figure, the thick end representing the 56 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. shoulders: hence the greatest depth is still through the shoulders and breast. The same is true of the pheasant, and of every good table fowl ; and an application of this simple rule will show the serious deficiency of many Langshans upheld as the " true type " by some injudicious writers. 2. The breast must be broad. On this depends the number of slices it will yield. Internally, this depends upon the width of the flat parts of the breast-bone. Externally, it is seen on looking at the front of the fowl. The true type of the Brahma, when it is not bred to Cochin models, most often fails here. The breast is deep, and often long ; but it is apt to be narrow. Hence the need of carefully choosing birds selected as a cross. 3. The breast must be long. On this depends the length of the slices cut from it. Here the Cochins are very apt to fail ; very few Langshans we have seen had this fault ; it has been lately more and more common in Cochin-bred Brahmas. Some turkeys are particularly bad or short in breast, a fact showing that careful selection has the matter in perfect control. Stock of the varieties chosen always can be found, except perhaps amongst Cochins, sufficiently free from the faults here pointed out ; and by thus using judgment, a good table model can be secured. The ideal model is seen in the breast of a well-reared pheasant ; and next to that, perhaps, in that of a fine Dorking or old-fashioned Game fowl. There are various modes of killing — all of them very effectual in practised hands. One is to give the birds a very sharp blow with a small but heavy stick behind the neck, about the second joint from the head, which will, if properly done, sever the spine and cause death very speedily. Another is to clasp the bird's head in the hand, and give the body a sharp swing round by it — a process which also kills by parting the vertebrae. M. Soyer recommends that the joints be pulled apart, which can be effected by seizing the head in the right hand placing the thumb just at the back of the skull, and DRESSING FOR MARKET. 57 giving a smart jerk of the hand, the other, of course, holding the neck of the fowl And lastly, there is the knife, which we consider, after all, the most merciful plan, as it causes no more pain than that occasioned by the momentary operation itself. We do not advocate cutting the throat ; but having first hung up the bird by the legs, thrust a long, narrow, and sharp-pointed knife, like a long penknife, which is made for the purpose, through the back part of the roof of the mouth up into the brain. Death will be almost instantaneous, which is? too seldom the case when dislocation is employed. The fowls, it is true, often kick and struggle a good deal for some time ; but as they will do this equally after actual decapitation, this must be due to muscular contraction rather than any form of actual life. The fowl having been properly bred, properly fed, and killed, the next question is that of dressing for market,; and here again English custom stands much in need of improve- ment, and is against the true interest both of producer and consumer, since it tends to make poor fowls look as nearly as possible like good ones. It is usual to smash down the keel of the breast-bone with a round roller or handle of the knife, making the breast look broad and plump, which is then exposed upwards to tempt the purchaser. It will be obvious, however, that this process cannot make meat ; and the splinters effectually prevent the carver from getting a nice even slice, even from a good fowl. So inveterate is this custom among poulterers, that even a good raiser may find it impolitic to run counter to it all at once — it is never wise to be too rash in any reform. But every purchaser of a fowl should, for his or her own sake, insist on an unbroken breast ; and if even the clubs and gentry of London were to refuse any poultry that has been mutilated, reform will gradually spread. It is here esj)ecially that the recent additions to poultry shows of classes for dead fowls may do great good ; for at all such 58 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. classes broken-down breasts are "disqualified," and thus the eyes of the public are educated to judge of the specimens in an unmutilated state. From this point of view, good classes of dead poultry are even more valuable than those of live birds. Breaking the breast-bone is, moreover, quite unnecessary, for art can do as much which is quite legitimate, in regard to this very point. Mr. Christy, who has devoted great attention to the subject, and several times gone to the expense of bringing over French fowls, and even French operators, has pointed out how these latter obtain the same object. The fowl being plucked, the hairs carefully singed off with lighted paper, and the gut washed (not drawn), the dresser places his knee against the back, and forcibly compresses the body held by the ribs and breast. Sufficient padding must be used to prevent bruising of the back, if the ordinary clothing is insufficient. This forces the back and upper ribs towards the breast, the ribs bending or giving way in the middle ; and it will be readily understood that the process, carrying with it the contents of the body, forces up the meat at the sides of the breast. The breast is thus also made to look natter than it was ; but it is done by really bringing more meat there, where the carver wants to get as many slices as he can, and is there- fore a gain to all parties. The body would spring back again if allowed, but it is not allowed. The hocks are at once tied together with a piece of string over the breast, the pinions drawn through them, and the bird then placed on a shaping- board, modelled to receive it. In reality this is like a long trough, in which many fowls are closely packed side by side. Wet cloths are then laid on the back, and the fowl is pressed again. More cloths are then applied, cold water is poured over all, and the fowl is kept so twenty-four hours or more, till it is set quite stiff in the shape desired. Another plan adopted is to place the bird on its back upon cloths, and press the breast firmly down with the flat of the right hand, which TRUSSING FOWLS. 59 causes the ribs to give way, and squeezes up the meat in virtually the same manner. In some localities the pressed birds are sewn up tightly in wet cloths after being pressed together as described, the design and effect in both cases being the same- Dead poultry are almost always exhibited "trussed, but not drawn," and should be prepared with absolute simplicity, but with the utmost neatness. Such tricks as gilding the comb and legs (which we have actually seen done) only entail defeat Success rather depends, if the judge knows his business, upon a breast and back really covered with meat, evenly laid on ; a nice, delicate, well-finished skin ; and not too great a size of bone compared with the size of the fowl. The " trussing " cannot be too simple ; as much as will keep the hocks back, and the wings in shape, is all that should be at- tempted ; and this is easily accomplished if the bird has been moulded into shape, and allowed to " set " cold in the French manner. Actual trussing for the spit is not the business of the raiser, since it involves piercing the skin and flesh, and such wounds promote decomposition. This process should, therefore, be deferred till the fowl is on the eve of consumption ; more- over, the precise method differs in different localities, and according to whether the bird is to be roasted or boiled. Fowls are easiest plucked at once, whilst still warm, and after carefully singeing the hairs off with a piece of lighted paper, should be scalded by dipping them for just one instant in boiling water. This process will make any decent fowl look plump and nice, and poor ones, of course, ought not to be killed for market purposes. With respect to old fowls, in the market they are an abomination ; but at home it is sometimes needful to use them. If so, let them be boiled. Unless very aged, they will then be tolerable eating. Another plan which has been tried with success is to wrap them in vine or other large leaves, and bury them for twelve or more hours in good earth before cooking. 60 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. CHAPTER VI. POULTRY ON THE FARM. THE contents of the previous pages will have made it abun- dantly clear, that in first return of gross profit over and above their food, poultry are far superior to any other, class of live stock. If there were no drawbacks to this, large poultry-farms could not fail to be highly profitable ; but there is one tre- mendous drawback, which prospectuses of such undertakings always omit to state. It is, that the profit has to be collected in a vast number of very small sums, from a great number of small animals, which yet cannot be dealt with in one large flock like sheep. Hence the liability to many small losses and wastes ; while the realisation of the products demands such detailed oversight, and so many separate acts, that the cost of accommodation and labour and marketing is relatively very large. These facts account not only for the general want of success in poultry-farming as such, but for the general neglect of poultry in England as part of the stock on the farm. Left pretty much to themselves, the returns have not been duly collected, nor even a profitable stock secured. In France, where most of the land is cut up into extremely small occupa- tions, the labour of looking after the small number of fowls it will carry with the other stock is never felt or counted. On the larger English farms, it must be provided for and paid for, if it is given at all ; this is grudged, or any due return dis- believed in, and so it is not given, but just a few fowls kept to supply the family with eggs, and no more thought about them. They are of quite uncertain age, some of them very old, and many very bad layers. What kind of stock would pay under such circumstances'? But it has been proved over and over again, that poultry upon a farm will pay uncommonly well if judiciously managed, ard their numbers calculated according to what the farm ih. VALUE OP MANURE. 61 First of all, let it be remembered that while poultry require an acre for every hundred head if for their own exclusive use, a dozen head per acre can be run upon land without in any way interfering with other stock. The manure dropped by this number fully returns all the grass eaten, while it is absorbed quickly enough to keep the land fresh, so that other grazing is not interfered with, as it would be by a greater number. Secondly, supposing other matters merely balance, the manure of the fowls dropped at night in the houses represents a profit of one shilling per head per annum for large cross- breeds, and sixpence to ninepence for smaller birds. We found that Brahmas dropped considerably over 56 Ibs. per annum under their perches. After keeping a few weeks in casks, this was reduced to about half ; and samples of both — fresh and moist from the night before, and thus kept — were analysed and valued by the late Dr. Yoelcker. The actual samples were from Dorkings, and were sent by Mr. 0. E. Cresswell. The following was the analysis : — Fresh Manure. Partially dried Manure. Moisture 61 63 41 OG * Organic Matter and Ammonia Salts 20.19 38.19 Tribasic Phosphate of Lime (Bone Phosphate) 2.97 5.13 Magnesia, Alkaline Salts, &c. 2.63 313 Insoluble Siliceous Matter (Sand) 1258 12 49 100.00 1.71 100.00 3.7^ Equal to Ammonia 2.09 4.59 Dr. Voelcker accordingly valued the moist manure at £2 per ton, and the stored sample at .£4 4s. per ton. Most of the sand was probably scraped up from the floor of the house. As regards its application, Dr. Voelcker recommended that for most farm crops, a mixture should be kept of two parts burnt 62 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. gypsum and one part mineral superphosphate ; and that one part of this should be mixed with three parts of fresh chicken manure. Kept under cover and turned over once or twice, and finally passed through a sieve, this treatment would absorb the surplus moisture, and reduce the whole to a fairly dry and friable condition, in which it should be used at the rate of 8 to 10 cwt. per acre. It may also be mixed with soot, or dry earth and burnt ashes, but should not be mixed with lime. Hence it will be seen, that a dozen of fowls per acre, with a very little gypsum and phosphate, will give a farmer the greater part of the manure he requires. And Dr. Voelcker specially reports upon the manure as "a much more concen- trated fertiliser than the best descriptions of ordinary farmyard manure, which seldom yields more than J per cent, of ammonia," whilst stored chicken manure by the analysis yields 4J per cent., and even the moist, fresh-dropped sample over 2 per cent. Let it be once understood what heavy money payments may be thus saved on artificial manures,* and the labour of proper superintendence will no longer be grudged to the poultry. Thirdly, attention must be given to improvement of the stock in laying properties. It will be seen in Chapter XI. that any property may be developed greatly in a few generations by careful breeding; and it will also be seen why the utmost * A practical farmer wrote to the Live Stock Journal as follows on this point : — " There is still the most important item to mention — so far as farmers are concerned — the manure. I have this year fully tested its value hoth for corn and root crops. I dressed a ten-acre field of oats in four two-and-a-half-acre lots, alternately with artificial top-dressing at £9 per ton, and poultry manure, in equal quantities, and if there was any difference it was in favour of the poultry manure. The result was ahout the same with swedes and turnips: 8 cwt. of poultry manure proving much better than 6 cwt. of artificial manure, costing per ton £7 10s. This year my artificial manure bill amounts to less than one-third of what it was in 1876, and my thirty acres of swedes and turnips are better than I have had them for years." SELECTING THE STOCK. 63 fecundity must not, and cannot, be expected from the stock bred by fanciers. These breed for the points of the show-pen, which have their own use in preserving the distinctive races ; but in seeking these chiefly, laying properties are apt to take a second place. Still the fecundity is there, and capable of development like any other property. Probably a hen which lays less than a hundred eggs per annum hardly pays ; but it has been proved, over and over again, that an average of one hundred and fifty per annum can be obtained by those who will breed for it, and the process is as simple as possible. The first thing, on most farms, will be a rigorous weeding out of all the old stock. Mr. Fowler has left it on record that in one case where this was done, and a " general slaughter " made, the change to young fowls alone made a difference of £20 per annum, without any special selection of birds. But selection is desirable. Laying breeds may be selected,* or, if there is a prejudice against "pure breeds," there is a very simple plan which every farmer will understand in a moment, and which has been repeatedly tried with good results. Watch the neighbouring market, and find out who brings in a good lot of eggs in winter. Buy his eggs, and set them ; and a fairly good laying stock will be ensured to start with. Next, cockerels of the laying breeds can be purchased to cross on these. Then the best layers only of these birds should be bred from for the laying stock, and a few cockerels also kept from these best layers to cross with the pullets so bred. It is as simple as A B C ; but in this way the average can be infallibly raised ; exactly in the same way as cows can readily » The most successful direct cross we ever heard of in actual fact was the produce of two Light Brahma hens with a Black Hamburgh cock. From six of these chickens and one of the Light Brahmas were produced, from Jan. 1st to Dec. 31st, 1879, a few more than 1,500 eggs ! This is considerably over 200 each, and is the highest number from half-a-dozen fowls we evor heard of. The Brahmas were themselves good layers. 64 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. be bred to give 60 per cent, more milk than most farmers are content with. Where eggs are the chief thing — and we believe they pay best — a different stamp of fowl must be kept from what would be a good stock for chickens. On the latter head nothing need be added to what has been before said ; broadly speaking, fowls will be selected which tend to lay on flesh when well fed. Fine laying breeds, on the other hand, always tend to a spare habit of body, and are weedy by comparison, even in the same breed : the best laying Houdans or Brahmas are more weedy -looking than the best table fowls. Good layers also generally tend to large combs. But the one rule is, breed from the best only, and the stock will improve. A cross of a good laying pure breed, for three years, on a fine dunghill breed, selected by the " winter egg test " just mentioned, will have become seven-eighths pure, while the dunghill foundation will ensure hardiness ; and by thus using crosses of Minorcas, Andalusians, Leghorns, or Black Ham- burghs, a splendid laying strain may be built up in a few years. Fourthly, the selective breeding here spoken of, and which lies at th»e very foundation of all profit, involves separation of the fowls into distinct flocks, and a somewhat close personal oversight. This, therefore, is also a crucial point. The fowls must be made a business if they are to be made to pay. After examining the state of affairs on various farms, we are convinced that on many it will be far the best to keep enough fowls to occupy a man's whole time in looking after them, with just a little general superintendence from the owner, his wife, or daughter. This will need about 1,000 head ; and we have already seen that this means about £40 to £50 per annum from the night- manure alone. Female labour is not adapted for this, since there will be heavy weights to carry, and long tramps over heavy ground, while the work must be done in al] weathers. The fowls want special attendance, StlrERttfTENDENCfc. 65 and can afford to pay for it, provided only the man be made to feel that his employer takes real interest in the results. He TII ust understand that the master both means and expects to make money out of his charges, and then he will probably do as near his best as he is constitutionally capable of ; for the right sort of man must be found for this business. We have a vivid recollection of some agricultural labourers we have met with, whose doings — or want of doing — would have given Job himself much exercise of spirit. Scolding is no use with them ; they haven't it in them to do any good where they have to think now and then. To give them a fair chance, the poultry ought to have one of the smartest men on the farm, and if he is " smart " in the Lancashire sense they will pay his wages. It will sometimes happen that this sort of work, with its variety and sense of responsibility, will just suit a man or intelligent big lad who does not shine in the steadier, dull routine, but rather shirks work in that on account of its monotony. Variety will sometimes make a man like that, and get value out of him when nothing else will. In the chicken-yard, if many chickens are reared, the help of a labourer's wife will be useful, and may be required ; here the labour is both lighter and nearer home. To arrange for a labourer engaged in other things, "just to give an eye to the fowls," never answers. We have seen it tried often, and it never has done so. On such a system, the fewer fowls are kept the less the owner will lose by them ; and there is no more to be said about it. Rather than attempt such a half-system as this, it will be far better to go on in more the old style, with a comparatively limited number, in the farm- yard. Even here, by killing all the old fowls at once, and thereafter killing them before they get old, with judicious selection, and more systematic looking after the eggs — all which may be carried out by a wife or daughter without difficulty — some profit may be got out of the fowls, instead of the certain 66 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OP POULTRY. loss which they are on many farms. But we are here more especially considering the cases in which it is determined to make them a part of the regular business of the establishment. The needful separation will generally be easily managed on a farm. Fowls have a strong sense of locality, and in the main will keep to their own field ; and as a rule the simplest plan will be to put the hedges and fences in fair repair, and then let each field have its own small flock. The house can go any- where convenient— probably in a corner, where the fencing is good. Some practical men prefer movable houses on wheels, the locality of which is moved occasionally; and one or two of these should always be used on arable farms, as they can be moved out to the stubbles after harvest. One farmer we knev/ made a hard concrete floor for each house, and kept it in one place ; this is least trouble as regards the manure. On many farms there are buildings here and there, opening out to different parts of the farm, which can be utilised. The great thing is, in the cheapest but some effectual way to break up the system of letting all mix indiscriminately in the farmyard. The fowls will, be it remembered, absolutely benefit the land. In some cases it may be well to keep them off shallow- sown seeds for a fortnight ; but as a rule, if the seed is properly drilled, and the fowls duly fed, they will not touch it, but con- fine their ravages to insects and larvae. They may crop a little green food ; but even this may be almost prevented by letting a strip of grass grow aro\md their house, and in any case the damage will be infinitesimal, unless the farm, or that part of it, is what we should call "over-stocked" with them. A dozen per acre are enough kept in this way ; and the largest field must have no more than fifty in one flock, unless in any case a flock of fifty is kept solely upon, say, half an acre or less, for breeding. Generally a few yards of netting used judiciously here and there, to eke out other fencing, will keep the flocks separate. HOl'SES FOR THE FARM. 67 The houses may be of any cheap and handy form ; but that shown in Fig. 13 was given us by a practical man as the cheapest he had tried of several The main feature is the triangular section. It is constructed either of match-board, or rough slabs with the joints covered by caulking-pieces ; and is put together with the very least labour possible, by simply nailing the boards to timbers lying on the ground and to a ridge- Fig. 13. -Cheap Poultry-houses for the Farm. pole at the top. The width is seven feet, and the height about eight feet. At a height of twenty inches from the ground a shelf, R, is fixed at each side, hinged to the walls ; and over these are the perches, c c. The nests, D D, are made under the shelf •with bricks, or anyhow, and are got at by raising the shelf. In this plan we get strength ; a good slope to throw the rain off; floor-space where wanted ; height in the middle for the atten- dant ; and the shelf gives freedom from draught. The ridge should be covered by a strip of felt, or an inverted metal gutter ; the last is easily arranged so as to give space all along the ridge for ventilation. A house twelve feet long roosts fifty birds, and the cost was given us as j£ 3 to £3 10s. F2 68 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. Separate shed accommodation, or dusting-places, are scarcely ever wanted in the fields, as the fowls get both under hedge- rows, or in other natural places. The fowls kept for laying only will only need feeding twice a day, and should therefore, for obvious reasons, be kept in the most distant locations; while the more substantial accommo- dation nearer home will be devoted to the breeding-pens and the rearing of chickens. The labour will be lessened by the fact that the laying birds, having free range, may be fed, and indeed are best fed, with grain only. Water may be provided at any convenient point in each lot, as the fowls will soon learn the place. Often a small stream can be so managed, or a drain so cut and utilised, as to save all trouble. Where poultry are kept upon a farm in this way, the attendant's day will be something like the following, taking, for example, the spring of the year : — Up early, he will first clean out the coops or artificial mothers and feed the young chickens ; also feed the breeding- pens, if confined near home, since in that case they require rather more careful regime. Then he will start on his first round, with sufficient grain in a couple of buckets slung on a yoke for carriage. At each house he will scatter his corn widely for each flock, and give a brief glance over ; and in some cases he may scrape up the night's manure at the same visit, leaving each house clean and trim as he goes. In other cases, however, such delay would bring the other flocks crowd- ing round him ; and it will generally be better to feed all first, taking the houses on the return journey ; at the same time collecting all eggs already laid, noticing what hens are on the nest, or if any appear sickly. There will have to be a covered barrel at each house to store the manure. By the time all this is gone over, if necessary dividing the houses, so as to clean each half every two days only, the chickens will want another feed, after which there will be the FARM MANAGEMENT. C'J cleaning of the houses and belongings of the breeding- pens. Indeed, any fair number of chickens will furnish ample occupa- tion all day for any spare time. A mid-dav collection of eggs is desirable where practicable, but will not always be so. Towards evening another round must be taken to feed the laying stock, at the same time gathering the rest of the day's eggs ; the chickens having their last feed afterwards, the very last thing, and being then made snug for the night. All through some watch must be kept, in order to have a good idea towards the end of the season as to which are the best layers, with a view to draft these, so far as wanted, into next year's breeding-pens. It will be seen that the only possible way of getting all this done is to do it systematically. Kept in this manner, poultry have never failed to " pay " upon a farm. The only rent chargeable to them, as they actually benefit the land, is interest upon houses, fence, and utensils; where corn is grown they get the tailings at the lowest possible cost ; and the manure finds its full value. Eggs will in the main pay best ; but a proportionate number of birds will of course be sent to market from the surplus cockerels, and the slaughter in the yearly renewal of the stock. The conditions laid down are not hard ones, nor difficult to under- stand. But more than the dozen fowls per acre should not be attempted, and cannot be, without leaving the ground of " poultry on the farm,:j for the far more doubtful speculation of "poultry-farming," the result of which may be a very different matter. The case of vermin and thieves we have not felt called upon to consider. In some places one or the other literally make the profitable keeping of poultry upon a farm impossible. We have known it to be so, and for such cases are unable tc suggest any remedy. 70 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. CHAPTER VII. ARTIFICIAL HATCHING. THE artificial hatching of chickens, as is well known, has been practised as quite an ordinary thing in Egypt for thousands of years, and with the most complete success; yet, strange to say, is only a very modern experiment in Europe. To give a history of all, or even of the principal attempts that have been made to hatch chickens by heat artificially applied, would far exceed our limits, and would be of no practical use. It will be enough to say that Reaumur was the first who really took the matter up in earnest. His method was to place the eggs in wooden casks, or other vessels, and then to surround the whole with fresh dung in a state of fermentation, which was renewed as often as necessary. For obvious reasons this system is never likely to be popular ; but it is mentioned by Mr. Geyelin as still employed with success in France, and it has also been followed in America. Since Reaumur's time, more or less elaborate machines have been constructed by Cantelo, Minasi, Valise, Carbonnier, and others in France ; and by Brindley, Schroder, and others in England. We refer here merely to the old school. All were costly machines, and all were more or less successful in hatch- ing with skilled management, but none were generally successful. We believe M. Valise to have been the first to employ a self-acting valve to regulate the temperature j and Mr. Schroder was, we believe, the first to provide free ventila- tion from the centre of the egg-drawer, and, above all, a cold- water tank under the eggs to provide a moist atmosphere, a point further experience has shown to be of capital importance, though actual tanks of water are no longer employed. After Mr. Schroder's machine many others were brought forward, and in the United States Mr. Graves and Mr. Halsted BOYLE'S INCUBATOR. 71 constructed elaborate incubators. The principal object with all inventors was to ensure an equable temperature, but few of the ingenious contrivances employed really secured this, and adequate attention was not, as is now known, paid to the proper amount of dampness, or to purity of the atmosphere. All the machines at times hatched remarkably well, but not one could be depended on to hatch well; and the first incubator H A Fig. 14.— Boyle's Regulator. which really did uniform good work in intelligent hands was that invented by Mr. Henry Boyle. This greater uni- formity was due to the delicacy of its (patent) heat regulator, shown in Fig. 14. A c is a* glass syphon-gauge, connected at B with the heating water, heated air, or other medium it is desired to regulate. The water, A, extends to nearly the bottom of the longer leg of the syphon, pressing near the bottom upon the mercury, c. This is connected by a short piece of vulcanised india-rubber tube, D, with the nearly horizontal small glass tube, E, which 72 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. expands at the further end into the larger cup or bowl, p. The mercury extends from the point where the expanding water acts upon it to the bowl or cup, F ; and it will be readily understood that as the water expands, and presses on the mercury in the large syphon-gauge, it forces a portion along the much smaller tube, E, and causes the fluid to rise in the cup, F. The tube, B, being some ten or twelve inches in length, the leverage and consequent power exerted by the weight of the mercury in this cup are very considerable, and fully adequate to any operation required for regulating, whatever may be the heating power. The cup F is connected by a wire with the lever, H K, moving on a fulcrum, i, and is carefully balanced by a weight, L. To avoid the too sudden movement which would otherwise occur with the least fluctuation of heat (for this regulator is so sensitive as to move with less than the tenth of a degree), it is also balanced by a spring, G. The superiority of this regulator over previous mercury regulators is, that they depend upon the expansion of mercury under heat, whereas this one works by the expansion of water, which is many times as great ; while by that expansion acting upon mercury, the greater weight of the latter fluid as a motive power is also secured. It is this, combined with the long leverage of the tube E, which makes the regulator so delicate. It may be connected with the source of heat by a wire, chain, or thread, M, in any desired manner. The incubator itself is arranged as follows : — The eggs are laid in oval holes in a plate, N (Fig. 15). A cold-water tank under- neath supplies some moisture ; and more is given by wetting portions of cotton- wool, which are placed in small holders, o, up the centre of the egg-plate. Air is admitted pretty freely under the egg-plate, which thus keeps the under-surface cooler than the top, escaping by openings above. The rows of eggs thus placed are ranged immediately under arches in the heating-tank p, connected by a pipe, Q, .with the boiler. The eggs, as soon THE HYDRO INCUBATOR. 73 as chipped, are hatched out in the receptacle or hatching-box, R, on top of the heating-cistern, which is supplied with damp sawdust and cotton-wool to keep up the necessary moisture. With people who understood it, this incubator hatched remarkably well ; but it was complicated and costly, and, moreover, the egg-plate sliding under the arches in the heating tank was often found to break eggs at an alarming rate. The bottom of the eggs being kept cool, the top temperature found most successful was about 106°. Fig. 15.— Egg-tray in Boyle's Incubator. In 1877 the practice of artificial hatching was revolutionised by what was termed a " Hydro-Incubator," exhibited by Mr. T. Christy, at a Dairy Show held at the Agricultural Hall, London. This machine was modelled upon one used for some little time previously with success in France, made by Messrs. Roullier and Arnoult, and it consisted in the main of a large hot-water tank over the egg-drawer, of peculiar construction, from which a few gallons of water were drawn off twice in every twenty-four hours, to be replaced by boiling water ; thus keeping up the temperature. The attendant was not, however, able to explain the construction of the tank, or the reason for the mode of working ; and the consequence was that not one single individual acquainted with the subject — we were 74 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY certainJy no exception — thought such a machine of the least use for practical purposes. That when so many had devoted money, pains, and complicated apparatus to keep up a regular supply of heat, a machine should succeed which depended altogether upon a re-supply of boiling water every twelve hours, appeared to all simply ridiculous. The following year, however, a competition of incubators took place at a poultry- show at Hem el Hempstead, at which this incubator far out- stripped all competitors ; and the success then obtained, so far from being accidental or temporary, was much surpassed on later occasions. " Hydro-Incubators " were sold literally by hundreds, and solved the long-sought problem by making artificial hatching a practical reality. It was some time before it was understood how it was that this success had attended so apparently rude a machine. The whole secret lay in two points mainly, wherein the new machine differed from it predecessors. In the first place, the hot-water tank was very large compared with all other apparatus previously made, holding for a 100-egg machine about twenty or twenty-four gallons. The enormous " specific heat " of water makes a large body of it like this very much more " steady " in temperature than tanks of less content. But much more than this, the construction of the tank was found to be peculiar; and this was in fact the great excellence of the invention of Messrs. Roullier and Arnoult. If we take a Florence flask of water containing a few particles of bran, and apply a lamp to the bottom, we shall see how the heated water rises and circulates, and the whole becomes very hot in a very short time. But if we apply a hot plate to the surface of the water in an open glass vessel, there is scarcely any movement, and it is a long time ere the heat reaches the lower portion of the fluid. This time may be increased still further by horizontal septa or partitions, which compel the hot water to take a roundabout course. Now, the tank in the hydro-incubator THE F.SSF.NT1AL POINTS. 75 was not only large, but furnished with such partitions ; and the boiling water was always supplied at ttie top. The consequence of these arrangements is, that the heat percolates very slowly downwards, and while the water drawn off (from three to six gallons) is generally about 146°, and replaced by water at 212°, the temperature of the bottom layer, which acts ujK)n the eggs, only varies in a small degree, and that in a regular manner within certain limits, which appears actually beneficial to the eggs. The heat was also given to the eggs from above, but this had been done in many previous machines. The all-important character of these points was at first by no means apparent even to the manufacturers. For some time attention was confined to minor improvements in the original " hot-water " form of machine. The first of these was the freer supply of ventilation. Gradually also was arrived at the proper area of damp earth underneath the eggs to provide the proper amount of moisture ; these machines using, in place of cold tanks, earth baked to kill all life, and moistened with water on each occasion when the eggs were attended to. Still later it was found, that during the first eight or ten days the eggs did well in a close atmosphere with little ventilation, whilst later on they absolutely needed fresh air ; that, as the embryos grew, the eggs themselves did far more in imparting heat to the machine ; and that to be putting in cold eggs amongst others far advanced was most injurious to the total results. Hence it was found preferable to provide two drawers, one smaller than the other, in which these different conditions could be preserved. Incubators worked by hot water are now made by several manufacturers, nearly all being modelled more or less closely on the French machines of Messrs. Roullier and Arnoult By packing the tank and drawers all round with a good thickness of sawdust or other material to retain the heat, somewhat smaller tanks than at first have been made practicable, but 76 GENERAL MANAGEMENT I>F POULTRY. still very large compared with those formerly employed, while the horizontal partitions are more or less essential. These incubators are made as small as for three dozen eggs, one of which size can be obtained for about thirty shillings ; but the experience of many persons has proved that the size for ninety or a hundred eggs is the most generally useful one, and on the whole gives most satisfactory results. Such a machine now contains about fifteen to twenty gallons of water, and the following is the mode of operation with it : — The machine should have a place free from strong, cold draughts, if possible. When fixed it must be filled up entirely with boiling water, which is left in for twelve hours, and must then be entirely drawn off by tipping the machine forward and opening a tap at the bottom of the tank (this tap in ordinary work is not used at all). The machine is then filled up with boiling water the second time. This process is absolutely essential to thoroughly ** charge " the whole machine and its packings with the necessary heat. Twelve hours after the second filling the thermometer should be put in, and as soon as it falls to 106° (which will not be till rather later) the eggs may be placed in the drawer on flannel. In very frosty weather the flannel may be doubled with advantage. Also at the same time wet the earth-trays, and draw off from two (in warm) to three (in cold weather) gallons of water by the working tap, replaced by boiling water. The supply of heat must now be attended to every twelve hours, and about the same hour. At each visit the water drawn off will probably be from 136° to 140°, and must always be tested by the thermometer, as this figure is the guide for the quantity of boiling water to put in. But the heat of the drawers, which is also examined, is another guide. As a rule, if the room be about 60°, from two and a half to three gallons may be required, which may rise to six gallons in cold weather in a cold room. The heat added in this way is very slowly and equably percolating downwards all MANAGEMENT OF INCUBATORS. 77 the time, so that the drawer varies very little when the quantities are chosen with judgment, while any little excess or defect on a single occasion has comparatively mild effects. If the machine is filled with eggs at once, the ventilators should be kept nearly closed for the first nine days, half opened on the tenth day, rather more the next day, and thenceforth the drawer freely ventilated. If two incubators or a divided drawer are used, the eggs are kept in the close situation at first, and then moved to the ventilated one. Particular attention must be paid to the supply of moisture beneath, and to the removal of any bad egg, and each time the machine is visited the eggs must be withdrawn, turned, and exposed to the cool air for from fifteen to twenty minutes. The eggs should be turned in opposite directions on succeeding days. As hatching proceeds, it will be found that less and less hot water is required, owing to the " vital " heat developing in the eggs themselves. This must be carefully attended to. On the other hand, fresh cold eggs would lower the temperature; and therefore fresh eggs added after a star.t should be first warmed for a minute or two in water heated to about 105°. In a very dry room a loose pan of damp earth under the incubator is an advantage, or shallow tins may be placed in the egg-drawer itself to supply more moisture. The heat should be kept from 103° to 106° as nearly as possible. The temperature of the drawer should be noted at a glance when the drawer is opened, as it will rapidly fall when exposed to the air. Eggs should always be tested for fertility at an early date, as bad eggs in a drawer are a great drawback to the whole batch ; and any fetid smell should at once lead to a rigorous examination, and the sprinkling on the earth-trays of a few drops of Condy's fluid. Every two or three days, when turning the eggs, the outside ones should be moved to the middle, or the front ones to the back, and vice versd. When hatching time arrives, the chicks should be removed about 78 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. every twelve hours, and not oftener ; and if many are to be taken out, the "vital heat" thus abstracted must be com- pensated by more hot water than would otherwise be used. All these points are simple enough, and easily remembered when their reason is once clearly seen ; but in their observance lies the main secret of success with hot-water incubators. Simple as this system was, however, the provision of gallons of boiling water every twelve hours was found such a Fig. 16. — Toralinson's Incubator. tax on most householders, that there was a demand on all hands for supplementary apparatus. The first and most natural step was to supply special boilers heated by paraffin oil, or Fletcher's well-known gas-furnaces ; and these are still considerably used. The further step was, however, soon taken of carrying circulating pipes from a small boiler into the tank of the machine, and this is now the favourite and usual method of working hydro-incubators. Instead of withdrawing from three to six gallons of water, to be replaced by boiling every twelve hours, at the same periods the lamp under the boiler is lit for a short time, so as to convey more heat into the tank, TOMLINSON'S INCUBATOR. 79 the water in which is never renewed, beyond filling up now and then the trifling loss from evaporation. Finally, however, manufacturers and the public have returned to the old system of employing the constant heat of a lamp. The first really successful machine on this principle was the " Patent Automatic Incubator," brought out in 1880 by Mr. Henry Tornlinson, the well-known Cochin breeder of Birmingham, IT-SI Fig. 17.— Tomlinson's Incubator. and like all efficient machines, employs an automatic regulator, the latter being in its proper place — the egg-draAver. But an all-important lesson had now been learnt, Mr. Tomlinson having experimented with a water machine of the " Reliance " make, and he therefore still employed a large body of water, which " holds the heat so well and steadily, that if the lamp should accidentally be put out for twelve or fourteen hours, the working of the machine would not be dangerously affected." Such was, in fact, the grand secret, which can only be ignored by a machine that possesses a perfect regulator. With large tanks, any passable regulators work well and easily, and the rest is a question of common sense and practical 80 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. management. The Tomlinson incubator is shown in section in Figs. 16 and 17. A is the case, enclosing packing shaded black, and projecting at one side over the lamp D ; c the water tank, also projecting over the lamp, and traversed by two or more hot-air flues ; E is a door for cleaning the flues without interfering with the machine ; F is the front of egg-drawer, with the thermometer-scale showing outside \ G is the egg- drawer, fitted with perforated zinc tray covered with flannel, underneath which are evaporating-pans for holding wet sand ; H H are openings in the bottoms of the machine, doubly covered with perforated zinc, for admitting air to the drawer ; \ / Fig. 18. — Tomlinson's Regulator. the air thence passes through small holes in the wooden bottom of the drawer, and thence over the moist sand, passing out through holes in the sides of the drawer into chambers h k, communicating with a vertical flue at the back, surmounted by the controlling regulator-valve L. The regulator itself is also lettered L in Fig. 16; but the valve is so set as to allow a certain minimum amount of ventilation at all times. The regulation of this machine depends upon the expansion of air, and is shown in Fig. 18. The glass tube shown in the figure is sealed at both ends, and has on the under side a cup- shaped opening, which is closed by a diaphragm or membrane of india-rubber tied tightly round its lip ; but before this is done the temperature is brought to about 90° Fahr., and a little water put w. the tube, which inns down to the cup and THERMOSTATIC INCUBATOR. 81 keepa the joint air-tight. When the air expands, the diaphragm swells out and presses down the button at the end of the lever shown, and so lifts the valve connected with the egg-drawer, and. allows hot air to escape. On the other hand, if the Fig 19.— Christy's Thermostatic Incubator. heat falls, the india-rubber bulges in, and the button rises and drags down the valve, which is never quite closed, but always allows a little air to escape. This regulator is liable to be affected by a high barometer, which checks the expansion; but with a sufficiently large tank it acts efficiently. 82 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. Messrs. Christy and Co. have since 1883 brought out their patent " therinostatic " incubator, which also works by the constant heat of a small lamp under a circulating boiler outside the machine. It is shown in section in Fig. 1 9. The hot water tank, with the horizontal partition, is shown at u, and is fed by pipes R and R', from the small conical boiler H over the lamp s. The tank-bottom is sloped so as to give a slight dome-shape to the top of the air or egg- chamber, and from this ascends the air-shaft B capped by the regulator-valve A. All the air enters from the bottom by the apertures L L, as in Mr. Tomlinson's machine, in doing which it has to pass through canvas, T, which dips all round into evaporating pans or troughs of water, and is kept constantly moist. Thence it passes through perforated zinc to the eggs- In this way the air is kept in free circulation, stagnation in the centre of the door being quite prevented, and it is un- necessary to change the places of the eggs, or do more than turn and cool them. The regulator Q is a thermostatic bar, similar in principle to the balance of a " compensated " watch. If two strips of different metal are riveted together, one of which expands with heat more than the other, the one which expands most must curl the other more or less, that it may find room for its expansion at the circumference of a larger or outer circle. With heat, therefore, the free end of the bar Q curls downwards somewhat, and thus pulls down the end, D, of a lever which raises the valve, A, and lets out warm air. c is an adjusting screw to set the valve, and F merely a wire-cage to protect the regulator from injury. N is the thermometer, o the lamp reservoir, and p a sliding shelf, which pushes up the lamp towards the boiler and chimney. In these machines the lamps should be trimmed every twelve hours, always turning the eggs first, before this is done, to keep them from the smell as much as possible. The open HKARSON'S INCUBATOR. 83 pipe P (which is advisable to prevent explosion in all lamp incubators, and is also necessary for the insertion of a ther- mometer into the tank) should be filled up with warm water every other day, and about the same number of times the evaporating pans will need refilling, for which luke-warm water should be used. Otherwise the general management will be much the same as before described. While, however, the great desideratum of uniform tem- perature may be secured with many forms of regulators by using a large water tank, it will be obvious that the same result might also be secured by a more perfect regulator. This has been attained by Mr. Hearson in his regulator, which depends for efficiency upon the fixed boiling point of a fluid. Just as water boils at 212°, so sulphuric ether boils and expands into vapour at 94°. Other liquids boil at higher tem_ peratures, and as a mixture generally boils at a heat inter- mediate between that of its two components, it is easy to prepare a slightly modified ether which shall boil (at ordinary barometrical pressures) at 98° or 99°, the lowest admissible incubator temperature. Mr. Hearson's regulator consists of a few drops of such volatile fluid enclosed between two flat brass plates, soldered together all round their edges into a closed flattish capsule. Then, directly the heat of 98° is exceeded, the two plates "bulge" under the ether vapour which is formed ; and hence we have a very powerful force, which acts instantly on a given temperature being attained. The incu- bator is shown in section in Fig. 20. A A is the tank of water, much smaller than in preceding machines, traversed by the flue, L w, from the lamp, T. The flue really returns through the tank, so that the outlet, w, is on the same side as T ; but this cannot be shown with clearness. B is the concave egg-tray of perforated zinc, supported in a drawer floored with open strips of wood, K. The concavity brings the outer eggs rather nearer the heat, and obviates the necessity for moving about the eggs o2 84 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. except in turning them. Air enters, as in the preceding machines, through the hole, D, in the bottom of the incubator, having to pass through canvas soaking in the water-troughs, c c, whence it passes, impregnated with moisture, to the drawer, escaping by the ventilating holes E E. The whole is surrounded as usual by packing. N is a thermometer. Fig. 20. — Hearson's Incubator. The regulation is easily understood. The lamp, T, has a vertical flue, v, above it, as well as the heating-flue, L • and if this be opened, of course nearly all the heat escapes by prefer- ence vertically, instead of passing through the tank. The flue v is closed by a flap-valve, F, at the end of a lever, G. Near the pivot end of the lever at P is attached a stiff lifting-wire, which passes through a tube, o, in the centre of the tank ; and the bottom of this wire rests on the capsule, which is simply laid on a small rigid table at s. As the capsule bulges, RESTING TRAVELLED EGGS. 85 therefore, it lifts p and F. If the machine were started thus, the heat would therefore rise to 98°, and at this point the valve P would open. But the sliding weight H allows more pressure to be put upon the capsule, which has the effect of raising the boiling-point (the boiling-point of water rises about l£° for every inch pressure of the barometer). In this way, therefore, the boiling-point may be set anywhere from 98 Q to 107°, and will afterwards, whatever the variations in outside temperature, keep the heat regular within about two degrees. The only exception would be in any unusually high situation, which, owing to the less barometrical pressure, would require an ether prepared accordingly; and in several instances this has been found to be the case, but a special capsule has at once removed the difficulty. From numerous sources we learn that the incubator thus designed and regulated has hatched with almost unvarying regularity and success. Such are the most successful incubators lately constructed, and only a few general remarks need be added. In artificial hatching, it is of great importance that the eggs Refresh. The earlier incubators rarely hatched any eggs laid more than three days before putting in the machine. The modern ones here described have often reported successful hatches of eggs laid a fortnight before, and which have also travelled by rail ; and no greater proof can be given of the Advance attained. But every pains should be taken to give the machine a fair chance in this respect; and one modern discovery should receive special attention, though of importance to all poultry-keepers. The risks of " tra veiled " eggs, and their uncertainty of result, are well known. But it has been recently established by careful experiments, often repeated, that if after a journey one-half the eggs be " set " at once under a hen, while the rest are kept still and free from jar for twenty-four hours, on an average tlwse kepi hatch much the best. It appears that even the undeveloped gevm, by virtue of the principle of life implanted in it, has 86 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. some strange power of resting , or recovering througn rest injuries of this kind. Eggs of water-fowl are on the average easier to hatch than those of fowls, but require a very free supply of moisture. The practical details of management have been sufficiently treated in describing the hydro-incubators. Of late there has been, owing to high breeding, a marked decline in the average fertility of eggs from "fancy" stock. Hence the eggs of cross-bred fowls hatch much more readily than others, as a rule, and an incubator may often be used with great success on a farm where poultry are bred for market, when less successful with the fancier. Recent reports have, however, gone to show that the most approved makes of incu- bators have fully equalled hens in average performance, in winter and early spring considerably surpassing them, when in intelligent hands. Artificial hatching is in fact no longer a matter of theory, or of interest to a few amateurs, but is now carried on by hundreds with constant and unvarying success. At the same time, there are still many persons who never seem able to succeed in it ; and this can only be set down to some personal inability to grasp the principles and details of the process. CHAPTER VIII. REARING CHICKENS ARTIFICIALLY. THE artificial rearing of chickens must be regarded as a question entirely distinct from the artificial hatching of them, and may often become advisable, or even necessary, when they have been hatched under a hen. The mother may die just when her care becomes most necessary ; or she may be a valuable hen, whose eggs are much wanted, and whom it is not advisable to subject to the wear and tear of a young brood. And lastly, some persons consider that it is absolutely better SIMPLE ARTIFICIAL MOTH K US. 87 to bring up chickens by hand, even when they have been naturally hatched ; believing that under the shelter provided* and not being forced to accompany the hen in her rambles, a greater portion are reared, that they grow faster, and make ultimately finer fowls. All this is quite independent of the immense numbers of chickens now hatched annually in incubators, for which artificial rearing is almost indispensable. For chickens hatched towards the end of April, or later, the very simplest form of artificial mother may be made to answer, since in such weather their own animal heat alone is sufficient. Many an odd brood has been reared through May by rigging up a mother out of a piece of sheep-skin mat, tacked round the edges only to a board about nine inches wide and fifteen inches long, so as to fall a little slack by its own weight when turned with the wool downwards. If this board is nailed on two end pieces cut so that it may slope from about four inches high 'in front to about two inches behind, the back bring filled in with another strip of wood two inches high, it will do very well, if set upon dry earth or ashes, renewed perfectly clean every night and morning. Occasionally, however, a chick will entangle and hang itself in the wool ; and a better way of making the covering is to sew a number of flannel strips about two and a half inches long and three- quarters of an inch wide by one end to a piece of canvas. They cannot get entangled with these, and, moreover, the flannel strips are more easily cleaned, which is done by turning the inside up and well shaking clean dry earth into it every day, afterwards shaking it free. But only late chickens can be reared in this simple way. For earlier ones some heat is required, and the first great stimulus to artificial rearing in this country was given by an apparatus brought out, about 1873, by Mrs. Frank Cheshire, a section of which is shown in Fig. 21. 88 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. This mother was heated by a zinc tank, shown at A. B, about one inch deep, and hermetically closed, with the excep- tion of 0113 aperture for filling and for safety. It was fixed on the top of the mother in rather a sloping position, like a roof, and along the lower edge ran a flue, shown at E, the flue being surrounded by water, and heated by a small lamp. The lamp consisted of a simple tube coming horizontally from a vessel of benzine, up which was passed a wick, which was lighted at the end. Under the slightly sloping tank was made to slide from the front a framework of wood, roofed Fig. 21.— Mrs. Cheshire's Artificial Mother. with strong canvas, on which are sewn numerous flannel strips, K, about three-quarters of an inch wide, as already described. The whole rested on a board covered with dry earth, which was removed every morning, and the flannel part of the apparatus reversed and deodorised, by dry earth being shaken into it and out again, at similar periods. With this apparatus was used a small temporary mother, consisting of the canvas top and flannel strips only, placed in one end of a tray or small box floored with dry earth or ashes, and covered by an india-rubber bag filled with warm water, and wrapped in flannel. In this the newly-hatched chickens were placed the first day, to familiarise them with the habit of running in and out from under the flannel ; and on first placing them in the larger mother, a small park of wirework was fixed in front to keep them from wandering too far until they had got to know their way about. Beyond that, very little trouble was necessary. DIFFICULTIES IN REARING. 89 We reared all our chickens with this apparatus the whole of one season, with no failure or difficulty ; and several breeders of our acquaintance were fully as successful. But during a second season, when pressure of work made it necessary to turn over all management to a servant, there Fig. 22.— Hydio-^Iother. was considerable mortality, and very few chickens really did well. This experience also we found to be extensively shared by others. We gradually traced most of these comparative failures chiefly to two causes, the first being sheer neglect to attend to the necessary daily deodorisation of the apparatus, and the second too high a temperature. When care was taken as regards these points the earlier success was repeated. It is, however, very difficult to prevent the Cheshire form of apparatus from becoming too hot for health, and the close sides confine the air to an extent only controllable by constant watchfulness. Of late, therefore, it has been practically superseded, either by apparatus worked on the " Hydro " plan, already described in its application to incubators, or by 90 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. somewhat similar forms with a deep tank heated by a small lamp. We give a figure of Mr. Christy's " Hydro " form of rearer, to be periodically filled with hot water ; and on the whole this is the most convenient plan for many people.* The greater volume of water, kept stagnant, enables a more moderate heat to be kept up with facility. Even with these forms of apparatus, however, much mor- tality was at first found, which was discussed for some time with little amendment. By the kind assistance of many frierds, however, we were able to make something like an exhaustive investigation into the matter, and the results were remarkable. In searching for the best returns, we gradually found we almost always came at the same time upon the lowest temperatures employed. "We found that a heat under the mother which seemed only nicely warm to the hand, and was in fact only that of a hen, was simply murder to the chickens ; and with this discovery most difficulties were cleared away, and artificial rearing became a general success. One cause of the great difference in result between the heat of a hen's breast and the same heat in an artificial mother, it appeared, consisted in the closed sides of most mothers as at first constructed. The heated and foul air escapes on all sides from under a hen, whereas in all the early machines it was confined by closed ends of board. It will, accordingly, be seen that the apparatus figured above, as in most others now constructed, is open upon tlvree sides for the passage of chickens and the admission of air. We also found that cramp and weakness in the feet — the usual precursors of loss under this method of rearing — were general where there had been too much confinement and coddling, often combined with too little earth on the floor. The chickens which had free run in any weather did better * The inconvenience of providing hot water for renewal is not felt to neaily the same extent as with an incubator, the temperature required being much lower, and much less quantity being therefore required. SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 91 than those kept under cover, and very often liberty would restore even many of those which had developed the unlucky symptoms. After these explanations, the secret of successful rearing under machines may readily be summed up in a few sen- tences. In the first place, the heat must be carefully kept down to a point miwh less tJian any one would believe, who has not either learnt by expeiience, or is not content to accept it on our authority. When the mother is packed with chickens, the heat rapidly accumulates. A temperature of 75° Falir. under tile bottom of the tank will be found quite sufficient in any weather but the severest frost, and in warm weather the mild temperature of 70° is sufficient, the water still acting bene- ficially by keeping that degree up during the night. At least half an inch of clean earth must be placed on the floor every night ; and every day dry earth must be well shaken into the flannel strips, and left exposed to the air for an hour or two. It is, in fact, much the best plan, and good economy, to use one mother for the night and another for the day. A touch of paraffin here and there will be very useful in keeping away vermin. For the first day under the nursery or hand mother, for which a hot- water bag is very convenient, a little more heat may be allowed; but it should not exceed 80°, and the chickens should after that be transferred to the larger ap- paratus. If that has glass covers to a small yard, as shown in Fig. 22, these must be removed in all dry weather, and always kept freely raised for ventilation. After the first day or two, the chickens must not be confined, but allowed to run out freely — in fact, an open front to the park then answers better than a small door. It will also be found that a series of small mothers answer much better than very large ones, as a number of chickens foul the air underneath to an injurious extent. The expense of these need not l>e great, since, after a very few weeks, no artificial heat whatever is required, and the mere covering apparatus will be sufficient. 92 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. The feeding will not differ from that already given. Hard- boiled eggs chopped up, and very coarse oatmeal moistened with milk or water, is best to commence with, as the chickens will begin to peck much more readily at such tiny morsels than at anything in the shape of sop. Groats chopped up small are also very useful in teaching them to feed. This is, in fact, the only difficulty, and is best got over by tapping on the floor with the end of the finger, at the same time clucking like a hen. But very few chickens give any trouble in this way, and the art of feeding is one which, once learnt, is fortunately never forgotten. Let not animal or green food be neglected, or the chickens will never be superior specimens ; and let grain be added by degrees, but still letting the chief diet, till at least three months old, consist of soft food. This, however, has been fully treated of already, and we will only add a caution that the young birds be never neglected. Remember that chicks with a hen, if at liberty, can almost always pro- cure some food — enough to maintain life at least — if their regular meal be forgotten, whilst those reared in this manner are entirely dependent upon their owner's care, and one for- gotten meal, even if not fatal at the time, frequently lays the foundation of mortal disease, by leaving the poor little things with no strength to endure any inclemency of the weather. Finally, it ought to be mentioned that it never answers to rear chickens partially upon this system. If they are allowed to get used to the hen's call, they fret and pine for days, and some of them never recover. Or if there are hens with their broods in the same run, they will run to them and get pecked, and fret in the same way. But if either hatched in an in- cubator, or taken from the nest before the hen has called them to food, they thrive at least as well as with the natural parent, and grow up tame and familiar to a degree almost beyond belief, knowing, as they do, no other friend but the hand which feeds them. DISEASES. 93 CHAPTER IX. DISEASES OF POULTRY. IF healthy fowls are kept clean, and well sheltered from wind and wet ; are not overfed, and have a due proportion of both soft and green food, with a never-failing supply of clean water and gravel, they will remain free from disease, unless infected by strangers. When a fowl becomes ill, the best cure in nearly every case is to kill it before it is too bad to be eaten. Only in the case of valuable birds, which people are naturally unwilling to sacrifice, do we recommend much attempt at a cure, and even then only when the disease is so defined and evident that the treatment is sure. As this work is intended to be strictly practical, it is only for such well-defined com- plaints we shall prescribe. Besides actual diseases, there are certain natural ailments, as they may be called, to which all fowls may be subject, and which demand treatment. Apoplexy occurs from over-feeding, and can seldom be treated in time to be of service. If the fowl, however, although insensible, do not appear actually dead, the wing may be lifted, and a large vein which will be seen underneath freely opened, after which hold the bird's head under a cold water tap for a few minutes. It is just possible that it may recover ; if so, feed sparingly on soft food only for a few days. In over- fed hens this disease usually occurs during the exertion of laying ; if, therefore, a laying hen be found dead upon the nest, let the owner at once examine the remainder, and should they appear in too high condition, reduce their allowance of food accordingly. Bad Fledging. — Chickens often droop and suffer much whilst their feathers are growing, especially in cold, wet weather; and the breeds which feather most rapidly suffer 94 GENERAL MANAGEMKNT OF POULTRY". most. This is probably one reason why Cochins and Brahmas, which fledge late and slowly, are so hardy. As soon as a brood appears drooping whilst the feathers grow, if it has not been done before, begin at once giving them a little meat every day, and some bread sopped in ale. A few drops of Parrish's chemical food added to the water with which their food is mixed is very beneficial. Keep them out of the wet, above all things, and they will generally come round. This crisis seldom lasts more than a week or ten days ; the chicks either die off or recover their health and vigour. Lad Moulting. — Old fowls sometimes suffer much at this season, especially if the precautions recommended in Chapter III. have been overlooked. These precautions contain the only effectual treatment. Give stimulating food, warm, every morning, and well peppered, with meat and ale every day, and keep under cover in wet weather. Add also iron, in the form of " Douglas Mixture/' to the drinking water, The birds, if not sunk too low, will then usually pull through. Fowls should not, however, be kept until old, except in the case of pets or valuable stock birds. Canker. — It is uncertain whether or not this malignant disease, marked by ulcers about the head, is a modification of the specific roup virus or not. Very often it is combined with roup, the birds being attacked with ulcers about the eyes, nostrils, comb, or face, or in the inside of the mouth or throat, besides the usual roup symptoms. On the other hand, in some cases the latter are not present, while the diseased formation may nearly fill up the throat and strangle the bird. This com plaint broke out with such virulence in 1876 as to be called " the new disease," and has never since been absent from England. So deadly is it, that many advise wholesale slaughter and disinfection ; but many cases have, beyond doubt, yielded to treatment. The fowls attacked should at once be placed apart in a CANKER OR DIPHTHERIA. 95 hospital, free from draught, and a slight aperient given of from one-third to half a tea-spoonful of Epsom salts. Meantime obtain at once from the nearest chemist a bottle of ordinary chlorate of potass and perchloride of iron mixture — every chemist makes it up, and any will do — and also a bottle of the following dressing : — Carbolic Acid - . - • 1 drachm. Sulphurous Acid - 3 „ Tinct. Perchloride of Iron - \ oz. Glycerine - - i oz. With a camel-hair or sable pencil touch all the parts which show sores, morning and evening, with this latter dressing; and six hours after the salts, begin to give one-quarter ordinary adult doses* of the chlorate and iron mixture, feeding mean- time on the best soft food, unpeppered, but mixed with warm brandy-and-water : an occasional egg-and-brandy between two fowls is also of much service. Great care must be taken in anointing the throat ; and occasionally a bird may be so irritated by a drop " going the wrong way " as to choke and die. These cases cannot be helped, some such dressing being absolutely necessaiy ; but for bantams and chickens the lotion may be diluted with one-third water. If the mouth and throat appear healing, while there are sores outside which make no progress, these may be treated with lunar caustic as an alter- native. When the worst symptoms are alleviated, after treatment must be guided by circumstances, according as there may be diarrhoea or the reverse ; or roup may remain and have to be prescribed for. It is also probable that any improve- ments in diphtheric practice, as prescribed by any competent medical authority, might be attended with success in this disease. A treatment occasionally successful has been the * These and other quantities refer to fowls of good size and vigour. Smaller fowls and bantams may have from two-thirds down to one-third of the quantity. 96 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTKV. immediate application to every spot attacked of lunar caustic ; but on the whole cures have been rare with this. More success has been reported from the application of an American coal-tar preparation called Cresolene,* ten drops to a pint, applied as a lotion, especially to the inside of the mouth and throat; but as this is difficult to procure, experience is not sufficient to pronounce positively. Another preparation intro- duced by Mr. Christy of Fenchurch Street, the tincture of Papaine, so far as it has been tried, appears to exert a most marvellous effect upon the diseased secretion. Any outbreak in a yard may too probably give ample opportunity for the trial of each and all of these remedies. Consumption is denoted by cough combined with gradual wasting and ill-health, though sometimes the appetite is good. Liver Disease presents somewhat similar symptoms, but there is seldom any cough, and the failure of the appetite is the first and most marked symptom, with moping and Hstlessness. Both are practically incurable ; but when cases occur the owner should consider whether his stock is tainted, or if his yard does not present such unsanitary conditions — particularly damp ground — as need prompt treatment. Crojy-bound. — Fowls sometimes so distend their crops that nothing can pass out to the gizzard, and death ensues unless relieved. Careless feeding after hunger is the usual cause. In most cases persistent and gentle kneading about of the crop with the fingers, and occasionally pouring a tea-spoonful of water down the throat, and after leaving the bird a couple of hours, repeating the process, will be effectual. If not, there is 110 remedy but to make a perpendicular cut rather more than an inch long in the upper part of the crop, remove all the contents with a tea-spoon, wash it out thoroughly, and then join each skin separately with three or four horsehair single stitches or ties, making the outer set come between the inner * Not to be confounded with an English preparation termed Kresyline- D1ARRHCEA. GAPES. 97 ones, not over them. Feed in small quantities on sopped bread for a few days, giving no water for twenty-four hours. There is no danger about the operation, and apparently not much pain. Diarrhoea may in mild cases be checked l»y a diet of rather dry barley-meal, or a few meals of well-boiled rice sprinkled with chalk ; it is well, however, to give also six drops of campho- rated spirit thrice daily on a pill of soft food, giving no green food beyond finely-cut grass. If this fails, give a bolus made of five grains chalk, five grains rhubarb, three grains cayenne pepper, and half a grain of opium, one in the morning, and another in the evening ; or three to twelve drops (according to size) of chlorodyne every four hours will almost always stop it. Diphtheria, or Diphtheric Roup. — See Canker. Gapes is a fatal disease of chickens, due to the presence in the windpipe of a number of small worms, which finally kill by either wasting or actual suffocation. A solitary case may sometimes be cured by camphor in the water and a small pellet twice a day, removing the actual worms by introducing a feather stripped nearly to the top, or a loop of horsehair, into the trachea, and turning it round during withdrawal, which usually brings one or more worms with it j or fumigation over the fumes of carbolic acid poured on a hot brick, till the chicken is nearly dead, will also kill the worms. A general attack, how- ever, demands other treatment, and fortunately it has been discovered that in some mysterious way the disease is con- nected with a large insect often found on the heads of newly- hatched chickens. These are destroyed by anointing the heads of the chickens while only a day or two old with the following ointment : — Mercurial ointment 1 oz., lard 1 oz., powdered sulphur \ oz., crude petroleum \ oz. The ointment is to be warmed to semi-fluidity, and in that state gently rubbed in. If the chicks even of a yard previously infested are thus treated, it has been proved over and over again that there will 98 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. be no gapes amongst them. Infusing garlic in the water, and adding it (chopped up) to the food, are also beneficial; and M. Megnin's cure for pheasants consists in dosing each bird with 7£ grains of yellow gentian and 7 J grains of assafo3tida. Leg Weakness. — Highly-fed chickens which grow fast, bred from prize stock, are most subject to this, which simply arises from outgrowing their strength, and must be met accordingly by mineral tonics. Parrish's chemical food, which combines phosphates and iron, will be the best medicine. The above affection must not be confounded with cramp from cold and wet, which also makes the birds unable to walk, or even stand. In this case the treatment is warmth, feeding meanwhile on meal mixed with ale, and always given warm ; rubbing the limbs daily with a liniment composed of two parts linseed oil to one of turpentine. Sometimes bathing the feet and flexing them in hottish water is of service, and in chickens quarter-grain doses of opium have sometimes done much good. Under this regimen the bird will soon recover, unless the attack has been long unperceived and neglected. Nervous Debility is not uncommon in fowls much exhibited. Many are barbarously over-shown ; but far short of this there may be much suffering, which is manifested without any actual disease, much as in human beings. Perfect quiet at home, with a daily raw egg, and half a tea-spoonful twice daily after meals of Parrish's food and pancreatic emulsion, have marvellous effect if the fowls are not too far gone. Pip is no disease, and demands no treatment, being only analogous to a "foul tongue" in human beings. Cure the roup, or bad digestion, or whatever else be the real evil, and the thickening of the tongue will disappear too. Roup is caused by wet or very cold winds, if it ever does arise spontaneously ; many think it purely contagious. It is certainly quite distinct from mere catarrh, though the symptoms resemble these to a certain extent. The leading ROUP. 99 features are a high state of fever, with an o/ensive smelling discharge from nostrils or eyes, or both, or sometimes hanging about in froth, but more often tending, after a few days, to become thick Any fowl attacked should be at once secluded, and everything it has used be disinfected with car- bolic acid for the sake of the rest. The fowl must be kept in a moderately warm and dry place, and given at first half a tea-spoonful of Epsom salts, washing the head and organs affected with Labarraque's solution of chlorinated soda, diluted with twice its bulk of water, twice or thrice a day all through the attack. The food should be slightly seasoned with cayenne. A few hours after the oil, give a copaiba capsule, and continue these every 'twelve hours till the discharge yields, giving a second dose of salts on the third day. After recovery the fowl should be quarantined for a few days, and be given a last wash with the chlorinated soda before being returned to its com- panions. If copaiba capsules cannot be readily procured, nearly all the advertised "roup pills" are more or less beneficial, or the following is a good prescription : — Cayenne pepper, 20 grains ; copper sulphate, 10 grains ; copaiba, 1 fluid drachm. To be made into twenty pills, one to be given morning and evening. Scaly Legs. — This unsightly incrustation of the shanks is chiefly confined to feather-legged breeds, and is due to a small insect It can be cured by scrubbing every morning with strong carbolic soap, and anointing at night with sulphur ointment, or Foster's ointment sold for the purpose. Soft Eggs are generally caused by over-feeding the hens, and the remedy is then self-evident. It may, however, occur from arant of lime, which must of course be supplied, the best form being calcined and pounded oyster-shells. Sometimes it is occasioned by fright, from being driven about, but in that case will right itself in a day or two, with quiet and rest. If perfect eggs are habitually dropped on the ground, the proprietor • 1 100 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. should see whether the nests do not need purifying. This leads us to Insect Vermin, which can only be troublesome from gross neglect, either of the fowls, or of their habitations. In the one case, the remedy is a dust-bath, mixed with powered coke or a little sulphur ; in the other, an energetic lime-washing of the houses and sheds, with the free use of carbolic acid spray or disinfecting carbolic powder, will get rid of the annoyance. It will be seen that by far the greater proportion of poultry diseases arise either from cold and wet, or neglect in preserving cleanliness — often both combined. It should be noted also, that the first general symptom of nearly all such diseases is diarrhoea, which we have observed usually manifests itself even in roup, before any discharge from the nostrils is perceptible. At this stage much evil may be warded off. Whenever a fowl hangs its wings, and looks drooping, let it be seen at once whether it appears purged, and if so, give immediately, in a table-spoonful of warm water, a tea-spoonful of strong brandy saturated with camphor. Repeat this next morning, and in many cases the disease, whatever it is, will be checked ; care being of course taken to give the invalid warmth and good shelter. For actual diseases, it is well in all large establishments to have a weather-tight and well-ventilated house kept as a hospital, in which healthy fowls should never be placed. Roup, in particular, is so contagious, that even a recovered bird should be kept by itself fcr a few days before being restored to its companions. We could easily fill a long chapter with further prescrip- tions, but we believe that the above are all that can be usefully given in a work of this kind. THE BREEDING AND EXHIBITION OF PRIZE POULTRY. CHAPTER X. YARDS AND ACCOMMODATION ADAPTED FOR BREEDING PRIZE POULTRY. WHETHER the breeding of poultry with a view to exhibition can be made profitable or otherwise, is a much vexed question amongst amateurs. For ourselves, we believe that the answer must depend partly upon the means of the fancier ; still more upon the experience and knowledge he brings to bear upon the subject ; and not a little upon the breed to which his fancy inclines him. We are acquainted with breeders who never could make the produce of their yards quite meet the current expenses; and we also know at least half-a-dozen, of high standing at all the principal shows, whose yards yield them a clear profit varying from .£20 to c£200 per annum. It is, there- fore, most certainly possible to make even the "fancy" for poultry remunerative. But first of all it is necessary to con- sider the question of accommodation. The plan of a poultry-yard given at page 9, with the addition of a lawn or separate grass-run, on which young chickens may be cooped separately, is very well adapted for rearing some breeds upon a small scale. The two runs may be used to separate the sexes during autumn if preferred, or to keep the chickens apart from the old fowls _, whilst the run for the sitting hens will, after its proper design has been fulfilled, be very convenient for the reception of one or two single cocks, or any other casual purpose. To ensure success, the most exquisite cleanliness must be observed, and at the beginning of every year the grass in the runs should be carefully renewed, if necessary, by liberal sowing, of course keeping the fowls off it till thoroughly rooted again. At this season the confinement CROSS SECTION. l] 1 ji B C ji B C GRASS 1 1 H pi i A B C i ! B C 1 i i j B C GRASS. 10 I-LAN. 20 SCALE OF FEET Fig. 23.— Mr. line's Yard, MR. LANE'S YARD. 103 thus involved will not be injurious, provided green food l>e supplied in the sheds, in lieu of the grass to which the birds have been accustomed. With such precautions, forty or fifty chickens may be reared annually, and from such a number there should be little difficulty, if the parents were selected with judgment, in finding several pens fit for exhibition. But more extensive accommodation will be necessary if high and extensive repute in any particular breed be desired, with the capability — which alone makes such reputation re- munerative— of being able to supply a demand for eggs and stock. In that case provision has to be made for keeping not only separate strains, in order that the proprietor may be able to cross and breed from the produce of his own yards, but there will be a much larger number of cockerels than can be needed, and as they are much too valuable for the table, they also have to be accommodated apart from the other fowls, until dis- posed of. We give two plans, each excellently adapted to secure these objects, though of very different arrangement ; and which may easily be modified to meet any possible case. The firrt (Fig. 23) represents the poultry-yard of the late Mr. H. Lane, of Bristol, so well known during his life as a breeder and exhibitor of Spanish. It will be found peculiarly adapted for the rearing of either Spanish or any other delicate breed ; protection from inclement weather, as well as con- venience of access and superintendence, having been specially studied. In this design A is a covered passage which runs along the back of all, and by a door which opens into each, allows of ready access to any house in any weather. One end of this passage may open into some part of the dwelling-house if desired. The passage should have a skylight at top, and must also be freely ventilated at the roofs to secure this object by having it open at either end would cause draught, and destroy the peculiar excellence of the arrangement The 104 BREEDING AND EXHIBITION OF PRIZE POULTRY. houses, B. for roosting and laying in are 7J feet by 4 feet, and the side facing the passage is only built or boarded up about 2 feet, the remainder being simply netted; hence the birds have a free supply of the purest air at night, whilst quite protected from the external atmosphere ; and can be all inspected at roost without the least disturbance — a convenience of no small value. The nests should be reached from the passage by a trap-door, and there is then no necessity ever to enter the roosting-house at all except to clean it. A small trap-door as usual, which should be always closed at night, communicates between the house and the covered run or yards, 0, which are 7J feet by 9 feet. They are boarded or built up for 2 feet 6 inches, the remainder netted, except the partition between them and the houses, which is, of course, quite close. Both houses and runs must be covered with some deodoriser, and Mr. Lane preferred the powdery refuse from lime works, which costs about Id. per bushel, and which he put down about 2 inches deep. It always kept perfectly dry, and is a great preventive of vermin ; whilst if the drop- pings are taken up every morning, it will require renewal very rarely. In front of all is a grass-run, which should extend as far as possible, and on which the fowls are let out in turn in fine weather. An additional storey, E, may or may not be constructed over the roosting-house, and in case of emergency, by sprinkling the eggs, may be made to accommodate sitting hens, but is not to be preferred for that purpose, for reasons given in Chapter IV. Every poultry-keeper, however, knows the great utility of such pens on various occasions which continually arise, and they will be found excellent accommodation for sick or injured fowls, or for training birds previous to exhibition. In Mr. Lane's establishment hot- water pipes (a a) were laid along the back of the passage floor, by which the temperature is at all seasons kept nearly uniform. This may or may not SIR HENRY THOMPSON'S YARD. 105 be adopted ; and it will also be obvious that the whole arrange- ment is capable of enlargement to any desired extent. Fig. 24 represents the far more extensive establishment of Sir Henry Thompson, the most recently-erected poultry-yard upon anything like a similar scale to be found in the United Kingdom * This yard occupied about two and a half acres of ground, situated at the south of the garden and greenhouse, on sand and gra\el soil. Entering from the north, between the man's cottage and the stables, we come first to the chicken nursery and yard, with a row of exhibition pens for selection and training of show specimens. Proceeding past this, on one side are a number of separate small houses and runs for single cockerels, while on the left, under large elms, are several shaded grass-runs, in which detached houses are placed as required. Past the cockerel houses are pretty large grass- runs or paddocks, which communicate in almost any way required with the divisions of the main house to the north of them. This main poultry-house adjoins the attendant's cottage, and communicates with it by a long corridor running along the back of all It is divided into houses 12 J feet wide, with runs in front 60 feet long. The one next the house, and which gets a little warmth from the incubator room, has the shod glass-fronted, and is used as an early chicken-nursery, and the next one is divided into three for single cocks. Each two runs have the command in turn of one of the large paddocks of grass nearly a quarter of an acre each ; and there are other runs with detached houses outside the place, used as required. The whole of this yard (erected from the owner's own designs and drawings) is exceedingly well arranged and adapted to ita purpose. It will not fail to be noted that the corridor, at tho back of the breeding-yard, resembles so far Mr. Lane's * Sir Henry Thompson retired from the fancy just as these pages were preparing for press. Cockerel pens.4|x3feet. Exhibition pens aft from floor Nursery with glazed ° Fig-. 24.— Sir H. Thompson's Yard. THE FREE RANGE PLAN. i07 plan, and the obvious advantages of this arrangement have recommended it in many yards of widely different size. In the house and yards planned by us for our own use at Crouch End, London, we built the houses in a double range, 75 feet long, with one common corridor up the middle to serve for both, and found this an exceedingly convenient arrangement. In all cases where the corridor plan is adopted, it is best to only fence up the passage half way, netting the rest, so that from the corridor all can be seen at roost. Prize poultry may also be reared most successfully, and with very little trouble or expense in accommodation, in a park or on a farm. All old frequenters of shows must have observed the remarkable constitution formerly exhibited by Lady Holmesdale's poultry ; and we paid, by invitation, a visit to Linton Park, specially to learn the management which produced such excellent results, and to enjoy a chat with Mr. J. Martin, the well-known superintendent, during its existence, of the Linton poultry-yard. We found the system most simple, and to all who have equal space at command, the least expensive that can possibly be. Stone houses with gravelled yards there certainly were, but these were unoccupied by a single one of the Dorkings for which the Viscountess had obtained so wide a reputation, and Mr. Martin kept practically the whole of the stock at perfect liberty in the park. Portable wooden houses were employed, mounted on small wheels, and without a bottom, which were placed in sufficiently distant localities to avoid any danger of the birds mixing, and moved a little every two or three days. Open windows were provided, so that the fowls always breathed the pure air of heaven with much more freedom than most breeders would allow to such delicate varieties as Spanish and Dorking; yet Mr. Martin found both breeds become hardy under such treatment, and that many of the Spanish fowls preferred to roost on the trees, even through the winter. The 108 BREEDING AND EXHIBITION OF PRIZE POULTRY. hens were set in single detached coops, roofed on top, and closed at back and sides, placed in any secluded spots amongst the trees. Under this management the chickens were reared with the greatest ease, the gloss on the plumage was exquisite, its closeness approaching that of the Game fowl, whilst the birds, never too fat for the highest health, were always sur- prisingly heavy in the scales. A similar plan may be pursued on a farm ; a number of wooden portable houses being provided, and placed in separate fields, in which families may be kept. Such a system will be an actual benefit to the soil, as already pointed out in a previous chapter; and the only drawback is the facility it affords to the felonious abstraction of valuable esres and OO stock. Still, even with this objection, we must pronounce such a natural method of rearing far the best where it can be adopted, which is, however, in few instances ; for farmers are only seldom poultry-fanciers, and usually look upon even ordinary fowls as an unprofitable drain upon their purses. The intending prize-winner must, of course, adapt the plan of his yard to his own circumstances and situation. We have given ample materials to furnish a design of any possible character. The one necessity in this class of poultry-keeping is some facility for what may be called separation or selection, combined, of course, with a healthy run for the chickens whilst young, and the essentials mentioned in the first chapter. If these can be secured, any plan, with care and attention, and good breeding stock, will ensure a fair measure of success. CHAPTER XI. ON THE SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING. To obtain any marked success in poultry exhibition, it is very necessary that the scientific theoiy of breeding for any specific object should be thoroughly understood — at least, if anything like eminence be expected ; and still more so if the fancier WHAT A PURE BREKI) IS. 109 desires by his own exertions to render any special service by the addition of new varieties or the improvement of the old. Fair success in a single breed is not difficult to obtain ; but he is a poor poultry-breeder who is content to let his favourite variety remain exactly as he found it, without at least some attempt to improve it either in beauty or in economic value ; and any such attempt, to be successful, must be directed by an intelligent mind, which sees definitely before it the result to be attained. The elements of success are so few and simple, and a thorough knowledge of them so quickly acquired and so easily applied, that we shall devote a few pages to this part of the sub- ject before entering upon the morepractical portion of this section. The greatest misapprehension appears to exist amongst all but the most educated poultry-fanciers respecting the origin of different breeds. People seem to imagine that they have come down to us, or at least a number of them, in unbroken descent from far-back ages ; and this belief has given rise to innumerable discussions concerning the purity or otherwise of different varieties, which might have been spared had the disputants comprehended the real nature of the case. We cannot do better here than give some able remarks which appeared some time since in the Field, and which deserve to be well studied, for they contain the first principles of the whole science of breeding : — " Such questions as the following are constantly asked: — ' Are the Brahmas a pure breed ? are Black Hamburghs a pure breed]' on the table ; but if the natural repugnance to this can be overcome, the meat itself is white and very good eating, indeed superior to that of many other breeds. The comb should be rose, but is seldom very good in shape. There is also a crest on the top of the head standing rather up. The legs are feathered with silky feathers, and have five toes ; they are black, or rather blue in colour. The leg-feathering is peculiarly apt to drop off in the show-pen, or after washing ; and as it is one of the points in judging, this makes winning with Silkies very much a matter of speculation. The chief value of the Silky fowl is as a mother to Bantam, or other small and delicate chickens, such as pheasants or 202 DIFFERENT BREEDS OF POULTRY. partridges. For such purposes they are unequalled, the loose long plumage affording the most perfect shelter possible ; and another useful point is that a full nest of eggs will usually tempt the bird to sit within a few days at any time. They are, of course, peculiarly susceptible to cold or wet, and have little value than that stated, except from their singular and not unornamental appearance. There is an occasional silky sport from the ordinary Cochin fowl. The plumage resembles that of the preceding variety ; but in every other point the fowl is a true-bred Cochin. The loose feathering being no real protection from wet, this breed, like the other, is delicate in our climate. FRIZZLED FOWLS present a most remarkable appearance, every feather in good specimens being curved, or turned back from the body, so as to show a portion of the under side, like the curved feathers in the tail of a common drake. The colour of the plumage is generally white, and the comb double ; but black and various colours are also seen. Frizzled fowls are, as might be supposed, often delicate, and most uncertain layers, though we have met with strains which were stated to be hardy, and very good in the latter respect. They are very common in the Mauritius, where they are reckoned amongst the most useful poultry. As a rule, how- ever, their peculiar plumage cannot and does not suit a damp climate. We may add that, though " frizzled," the plumage should not be ragged, but every feather sound and neat. The hand- somest of all are black. RUMPLESS FOWLS are of various colours, the only essential characteristic being the absolute want of a tail, or of any approach to one. It is, indeed, exceedingly difficult to breed any particular colour, as few persons have interest in the breed sufficient to persevere long enough for securing uniformity. The handsomest are white : black also looks well ; but speckled are JAPANESE LOXG-TAILED FOWLS. 205 most common. The size also varies much, ranging from three to seven pounds each. ORPINGTONS. — This name has been given to a breed es- tablished within the last few years by Mr. W. Cook, of Orpington, by crossing Minorcas, black Plymouth Rocks, and Langshans, the Langshan predominating. It most resembles the latter breed, but with rather short and smooth legs, and is a fair table fowl and excellent layer, but (naturally) tends to vary a great deal During the agitation for stilty Langshans, there was need for some such fowl ; but since opinion has settled that a Langshan should have only moderate shanks, the distinctiveness of the Orpington, save for its bare legs (which could soon be bred in Langshans), is less apparent. YOKOHAMAS, PHOENIX FOWLS. — There have very lately been introduced from Japan, through German importers, several very peculiar breeds, mostly known in England under the above names. The general character of the bodies and heads, and the colours, resembles that of Game fowls; Piles and Black- reds being the usual colours. The peculiar point is the im- mense length of the cock's hackles and streamers. Those called " Phosnix " have been longer in feather than others shown as Yokohamas ; but we believe the whole class to be one race at the bottom, and it is to be hoped that some one name may be adopted. In Germany, for want of stock, many have had to be crossed with common Game fowls ; and even so, tails three and four feet long have been produced ; but sickles nearly seven feet long have been dropped by some of the im- portations, and at Tokio, in Japan, there are said to be feathers nearly 27 feet in length. The illustration is engraved from a painting made in Germany. This breed is of course of purely ornamental value, and much care is required to keep the plumage in good order. Length of feather, if in decent order, will naturally be the chief point in judging. 206 DIFFERENT BREEDS OF POULTRY It is much to be regretted that English fanciers have done nothing during modern times to manufacture new breeds by crossing. We have seen that both the French and Americans have done so with success ; and there can be little doubt that many years ago the Coloured Dorking was made even in Eng- land, by crossing the White Dorking on the speckled farmyard fowl of Surrey. But nothing has been done since ; and it still remains to produce a breed which shall combine the size of the gigantic races, the fine flesh of the French races, the early maturity of the Houdan and Dorking, and the prolificacy of the Mediterranean or Hamburgh tribes. It is true some of these qualities may be incompatible ; but we think they are to be combined in a greater degree than in any single breed at present known. CHAPTER XXV. BANTAMS. THERE is not the slightest reason for supposing that any of the diminutive fowls known as Bantams are descended from an original wild stock. They are in many cases the exact counterparts of ordinary domestic breeds, carefully dwarfed and perfected by the art of man ; and even where this is not so, the process by which they were produced is occasionally on record. They are, in fact, more than any other class, " artificial fowls," and their attractiveness consists rather in their beauty than in any economic value. SEBRIGHTS. — Cock not to exceed twenty, and hen sixteen ounces. For exhibition still less is preferable, but not for breeding. Carriage of the cock, the most conceited it is pos- sible to conceive of; head thrown back till it touches the nearly upright tail ; wings drooping halfway down the legs ; motions restless and lively, always strutting about as if seeking for antagonists. The bird is, in fact, "game to the back- 8EBRIGHT OR LACED BANTAMS. 207 bone," and will attack the largest fowl with the utmost im- pudence. Plumage close and compact, and every feather laced with black all round the edge. The shoulder and tail coverts are the parts most likely to be faulty in this ; but in first-class birds every single feather must be properly edged right up to the head. This part usually appears darker from the smaller size of the feathers ; but the nearer the head is to the rest of the body in colour the better. The only exceptions allowable in the lacing are on the primary quills or flight- feathers of the wings, which should have a clear ground, and be only tipped with black. The tail feathers ought to be laced, and in the hen must be so ; but in the cock this is rather rare. In his case a clear ground colour throughout, nicely tipped with black, may be allowed to pass instead. The cock must be perfectly hen-feathered throughout, his tail not only square and straight, without sickles, but the neck and saddle-hackles resembling those of the hen. The late Mr. Hewitt, however, a most eminent authority on this breed, remarked to us that while this is imperative for ex- hibition, he always found such cocks nearly or quite sterile, probably in consequence of the long inter-breeding necessary to maintain such a point in perfection. He recommends, therefore, that a cock for breeding should show a slight approach to sickle-feathering, when the eggs will become productive. The comb should be a perfect rose, with a neat spike behind, pointing rather upwards, and free from any depression, and rather livid in colour. Face round the eye rather dark. Eye itself a sparkling dark red. The ear is supposed to be white, but Mr. Hewitt remarks that he never found it so without a great falling off in the lacing of the plumage, and a bluish tinge is as near an approach to it as can be safely obtained. Bill slate-coloured ; legs blue and clean. 208 DIFFERENT BIIKEDS OF1 POULTRY. There are two varieties. In the gold-laced the ground colour is a rich golden yellow. In the silver-laced, a pure white. In both cases the ground must .be perfectly clear and unsullied, varied only by the clear black line round each feather, which constitutes the lacing. (See plate of " Feathers,'' No. 2.) These remarks apply to the original strain, and those on colour of comb, face, and ears, still apply to the Golds. For many years, however, breeders used to cross their Silver with Golden, and the result was that the silver ground became yellower and yellower, until the so-called " Silvers " hardly ever won in competition with good Golds. Just as matters came to this pass, :an entirely new strain of Silvers of dazzling whiteness and dense black lacing burst upon the scene from Scotland, and carried all before them. How they were bred has never yet been divulged ; but their combs were bright red, the ears fairly white, and though the hen-tail was good, the carriage of the cocks is far less strutting than that of the old strain. The superiority of this new Silver strain has now, unfortunately, in its turn all but extinguished the Golden Sebright. BLACK. — This is one of the most popular Bantam classes. The plumage is a uniform black, with no trace of rust, or any other colour, and in the cock, with a bright lustre like that of the Spanish fowl. Tail of the cock full and well arched ; legs short, dark blue or black in colour, and perfectly clean. Comb a bright red rose. Ear-lobes white; face red; in brief, the bird should resemble a miniature Black Hamburgh, Cock not to exceed twenty, hen eighteen ounces. Black feather-legged Bantams have now and then been shown, but never established a footing. Fashion changes, however ; and novelties being now much sought after, we are inclined to believe that a good feather-legged black breed would speedily became a favourite. We have seen them with the foot-feather as long as their bodies. VARIOUS BANTAJ18. 209 WHITE. — Except that the legs are white and delicate, all other points are similar to the Black Bantam, changing the colour of the plumage from black to a spotless white. It should, however, be remembered that while the white ear-lobe is required by most judges, as in the black variety, there are some who prefer a red, and this latter we must express our own decided opinion is much the smartest looking, and harmonises better with the white plumage. The most usual fault is a yellowish colour in the cock's saddle. A sirgle comb is, of course, fatal. A very pretty feather-legged White Bantam is not un- frequently seen, and, though long neglected, appears to be coining into fashion again. They are usually rather too large, and attention will have to be paid to this particular if the breed is to become popular. NANKIN. — This is one of the old breeds of Bantams, and at one time nearly disappeared, but attempts have been recently made to re-introduce it. The ground colour is a pale orange yellow, usually with a little pencilling on the hackle. The best tail, to our fancy, is a pure black, with the coverts slightly bronzed. The comb is rose ; and the dark legs should be perfectly clean. CUCKOO. — These Bantams should be miniature Scotch Greys. A strain also exists which, like these in other respects, has a rose comb. PEKIN OR COCHIN BANTAMS. — This most remarkable of all Bantam breeds has only been introduced since 1860, the original progenitors having been stolen from the Summer Palace at Pekin during the Chinese war. They were first shown in 1863. They exactly resemble Buff Cochins in colour and form, possessing the feathered leg, abundant fluff, and all the other characteristics of the parent breed in full perfection, and presenting a most singular appearance. Unfortunately we fear the breed is now almost extinct. The importations o 210 DIFFERENT CREEDS OF FOULTK\. were very few, and several even of these died, tlie "breed being delicate : and the owner of what was the chief stock for many years seemed to care more for having something which no one else had, than for saving the breed, which might have been done by spreading it amongst a few other hands. A.t best it was rather sterile. Good results were got by breeding Pekin cocks to some other breeds and breeding back ; and it is much to be desired that this most characteristic, of all the Bantam races should be preserved, if it is even yet possible to do so. We were glad to hear that one new importation was made in 1884. JAPANESE. — Several strains of Bantams have been imported from Japan. All agree in being exceedingly short-legged, and most have very upright tails. Some are cuckoo colour and feather-legged; but what is usually known as the Japanese Bantam has short, clear legs, a white body, and a very upright or squirrel tail, the sickles, or rather scimitar feathers, being dense bronze black with a sharp white edging. The combs are single and upright. We have seen Andalusian Bantams, and a fair approach to a Dark Brahma Bantam ; and the field is open for any dwarf breed at any time. GAME BANTAMS. — In Game Bantams the plumage is precisely similar to the corresponding varieties of the Game fowl, from which they were undoubtedly obtained by long interbreeding, and continually selecting the smallest specimens, occasionally, perhaps, crossing with a Bantam to expedite the process. The carriage and form must also be similar, and the drooping wing, so common in other Bantams, would infallibly disqualify a pen of Game. In courage and u bottom " Game Bantams are not behind their larger relatives. In constitution they are the hardiest of all Bantam breeds. Black -reds, Duck wings, P-rown-reds, and Piles are all REARING BANTAMS. 211 shown. At one time the Black-reds were far the best, but the others r»re now fully equal to them ; and in all the colours, the long legs and stylish carriage are now attained as fully as in the larger Game, there being no shortening in any respect Bantam chickens require a little more animal food than other fowls, and, for a week or two, rather extra care to keep them dry. After that they are reared as easily as other birds, and should indeed be rather scantily fed to keep down the size. Rice is often largely employed in their diet for the same purpose, and so is late hatching ; but this tends to shorten the tails and other furnishing of the cocks. Most of the liens are good mothers, and are often employed to rear small game; and are not bad layers if the eggs were only larger. We believe them, however, to produce quite as much for their food as ordinary breeds. But their chief use is in the garden, where they eat many slugs and insects, with very little damage. On this account they may be usefully and profitably kept where a separate poultry-yard is found impracticable. We should prefer the Game variety, as being hardiest ; and, being good foragers, five or six of these may be kept in a garden for almost nothing, requiring only a house two feet square to roost and lay in. Bantam eggs are the very thing to tempt the appetite of an invalid, and are just nicely cooked by pouring boiling water over them upon the breakfast table. o2 TURKEYS, ORNAMENTAL POULTRY, AND WATER-FOWL. CHAPTER XXVI. TURKEYS. GUIXEA-FOWL. PEA-FOWL. TURKEYS. — The most opposite opinions have been expressed by different breeders as to whether or not the rearing of turkeys in England is profitable. The general judgment seems to be that they can barely be made to repay the cost of their food. In the Eastern Counties, however, they are largely reared with very satisfactory results, and we believe that where the balance-sheet is unsatisfactory, the cause will generally be found in heavy losses from want of care. The mortality in turkey chicks is very often tremendous, and quite sufficient to eat up any possible amount of profit ; but there are persons who for years have reared almost every chick ; and, under these circumstances, they will yield a very fair return, We have taken much pains to gather, from the best authorities, the essentials of such successful management ; and wherever our directions shall be found to differ from others, the reader may rely with confidence that the treatment given is such as has been thoroughly tested and proved to give the best results. The main point to remember is, that for about the first six weeks ot two months the turkey chicks are excessively delicate as regards wet or cold. The very slightest shower, even in warm weather, will often carry off half of a large brood. When about two months old, however, the red naked protu- berances about the neck and throat begin to appear, and as soon as these are fairly developed, or the birds "shoot the red," as it is called, the chicks become poults, and are soon hardier than most other fowls, braving any weather with impunity. 214 TURKEYS, ORNAMENTAL POULTRY, AND WATER-FOWL. It is obvious that turkey breeding is only suitable for a dryish soil. It is also well worth while, and absolutely necessary to pecuniary success, to provide very ample shed-shelter for the young broods during the critical period, ordinary poultry accommodation being insufficient. Damp ground is so fatal that every care must be taken to provide a dry and clean bottom, dug out and raised with dry material if necessary; otherwise the building may be a mere shed of four bare walls, well roofed, and well lighted. With shelter of this kind there need hardly be a chick lost, except from accident. It has been said that the number of hens to one turkey-cock may be unlimited ; and one visit to the cock is certainly sufficient to render fertile all the eggs laid by a turkey-hen. The best breeders, however, find that as the number of hens allowed to one bird approaches a dozen, the chicks show falling off in con- stitution ; and the number ought therefore to be limited to less than this — quite enough brood stock for even a large establish- ment. The turkey-cock may be used for breeding at two years old, and the hen at twelve months, but are not in their prime till a year older. They will be first-class breeding stock, as a rule, for at least two years later, and many cocks in particular will breed splendid chickens for considerably longer ; and it is here that a very common mistake is made, even by the Norfolk breeders, who are apt to sell their larger and older birds, and breed from young stock, in order to save the keep of heavy birds through the winter and get a better price. Now repeated experiments have been made on this point, of which we will only quote one, recorded in America, where turkeys are reared far more systematically than in England. In 1871 a raiser bred from an unusually large and strong gob- bler, bred the preceding season, but weighing 25 Ibs., and very fine yearling hens. All were from a very large strain, and gave a fine flock, several pairs weighing 35 Ibs. at seven months old. The birds were kept over, and next year the cock weighed over BREEDING TURKEYS. 217 30 Ibs., and the hens 18 Ibs. : there were that season more pairs weighing 40 Ibs. than there had been 35 Ibs. the year before ; and they were hardier and reared with less trouble. Th is rule is universal. The only thing to be said against it is, that a very heavy gobbler is sometimes too much for the hens. This, however, can be avoided, and is avoided in America, by shutting up the gobblers a while before breeding, and feeding rather sparingly, but on good food, so as to reduce their weight. The gobbler should be as large in frame as possible ; but the best chicks, with such a father, come from hens 14 Ibs. to 17 Ibs. each. Special care should be selected to weed out birds which have a short keel or breast-bone, which is a great fault, and will reduce the price immensely, affecting the carver most seriously. The turkey-hen generally lays about eighteen eggs — some- times only ten or a dozen, and when each egg has been taken away when laid, it may be more. We once heard of ninety eggs being laid by a turkey-hen, but can scarcely credit such a statement A very good plan is to give a turkey's first seven eggs to a common hen — quite as many as she can cover — when there will be generally just about enough laid subsequently to be hatched by the turkey herself. The best time to hatch the chicks out is in the months of May and June, or even July ; and all eggs set should be marked, as the turkey often lays several after commencing incubation. In a state of nature, the turkey-cock is constantly seeking to destroy both the eggs and chickens, which the female as sedulously endeavours to conceal from him. There is generally more or less of the same disposition when domesticated, and, when it appeara, it must be carefully provided against ; but the behaviour of very many cocks is quite unexceptionable ; and as such a quiet disposition saves a great deal of trouble, it is always worth while to ascertain the character of the cock of the year in this respect. If he be friendly to the chicks 218 TURKKYS, ORNAMENTAL POULTRY. AND WATERFOWL. and sitting hens, he may be left at large, if otherwise, he must be kept away. The turkey-hen is very prudish, but gives scarcely any trouble while sitting. She sits so constantly that it is needful to remove her daily from her nest to feed, or she would absolutely starve. Nevertheless, when absent she is apt to be forgetful, and, therefore, if allowed to range at liberty, care should be taken that she returns in time — twenty minutes. A better plan, however, is to let her have her liberty only in a confined run of grass. Besides her daily feed, a water vessel and some soft food should be always within her reach. No one must visit the hatching-house but the regular attendant, or the hens will get startled, and probably break many eggs, which easily happens from the great weight of the birds. Many have alleged that the turkey sits thirty- one days. This is an error. The chicks break the shell from the twenty- sixth to the twenty-ninth day, scarcely ever later. The day but one before the hatching is expected, the hen should be plentifully fed, the nest cleaned of any dung or feathers during her absence, and an ample supply of food and water placed where she can reach it, as she must not again be disturbed till the chicks are out. In dry weather, if the nest be in a dry place, the eggs will have been daily sprinkled as described in Chapter IV. With these precautions, there will rarely fail to be a good hatch. The egg-shells may be cleared away after hatching has pro- ceeded some hours, but the chicks should never be taken away from tlw hen, and never deforced to eat. The latter practice is very general, as turkey chicks are very stupid, and do not seem to know how to peck. But a much better plan is to put two ordinary hen's eggs under the turkey, five or six days after she began to sit, which will then hatch about the same time as her own, and the little chickens will teach the young turkeys, quite soon enough, what they should da Watec REARING TURKEYS. 219 or milk may be given, however, by dipping the tip of the finger or a camel-hair pencil in the fluid, and applying it to the end of their beaks. And now for the chicks. These are often fed on oatmeal, •fee., like the young of other poultry; and it does not answer, as they have a strong tendency to diarrhoea. To meet this, experienced rearers feed for the first few days on little but hard-boiled egg, mixed with some kind of salad, and sometimes after the first day with milk-curd, which must, however, be squeezed very dry. The very best green food right through for young turkeys is dandelion leaves, chopped fine at first ; and where they are regularly reared, it is well worth while to see there is a good supply, which is but too easy. When they have a choice, they always prefer this salad to all others, and its known tonic and biliary properties explain the reason. At all events, nothing more helps turkey chicks to thrive. If these cannot be had, chopped nettles or onions are the next best. After a week or so, barley-meal and bread-crumbs may be gradually added, till, at the end of three weeks, the egg is as gradually left off altogether. By degrees, also, some hard grain and boiled potato may be given, but avoiding too soft or new grain carefully. " Little and often " applies even more to feeding them than to other chickens. There will be little trouble from the tendency to diarrhoea under this regimen ; but far more trouble and care are needed against wet or damp. It must be constantly remembered that anything like a wetting is practically fatal. For the first two or three days they should be kept entirely under cover ; after that the chicks may be let run on the grass, but not till the dew is quite gone, and always keeping the hen cooped under shelter, to ensure constant return to a dry bottom. In cold, windy weather, the coop must be well screened from that, and, if bitterly cold, the chicks kept in. When about three weeks c4d, the hen may have some liberty in fine, dry weather, but 220 TURKEYS, ORNAMENTAL POULTRY, AND WATER-FOWL. never till the grass is dry, and always driving in before every shower, and keeping in whilst the herbage remains wet. This must be continued till nine or ten weeks old, when they will begin to " put out the red," as it is called, or to develop the singular red excrescences on the neck so characteristic of the turkey breed. This process will last some little time, and when completed the birds will be pretty fully fledged. They are now hardy, but must not be too suddenly exposed to rain or cold winds. Take some reasonable care of them for a while longer, and very soon they will have become the hardiest birds known in the poultry-yard, braving with impunity the fiercest storms, and even preferring, if permitted, to roost on high trees through the depth of winter. Tn fact, turkeys will rarely roost in a fowl-house ; and a very high open shed should there- fore be provided — the higher the better — the perches being placed as high as possible. They might be left to their natural inclination with perfect safety so far as their general health is concerned ; but in very severe weather their feet, if roosting on exposed trees, are apt to become frost-bitten. To attain great size, animal food and good feeding generally must be supplied from the first. By this means astonishing weights have been attained ; we knew of a cock which weighed very nearly forty pounds, and a full-grown bird much less than thirty would stand little chance at a good show. We do not say that such weights are profitable — we believe the contrary — but we do contend that good feeding, leading to fair good size, is the only way to extract profit from poultry of any kind. It is especially the case with turkeys, because the large ones, if of good shape, are worth much more per pound by weight than the smaller ones. The ordinary English turkey is of two kinds — the Norfolk (black all over) and the Cambridge. The latter is of all colours — the best, to our fancy, being a dark copper bronze ; but fawn colour and pure white are often seen, as are also variegated GUINEA FOWL. 221 birds, which occasionally present a very magnificent appear- ance. The white variety is most delicate and difficult to rear of all, but the dark Cambridge takes most prizes, and usually attains the greatest size. In early editions of this work we expressed the hope that English stock might be improved by crossing with the much larger American bronze turkey, con- taining chiefly wild blood. This had not then been done ; but long ere this repeated importations have been made of this noble strain, and the advantages have been even greater than we had expected. The average size of the Birmingham prize birds has not only been greatly increased, but the hardiness has been even more benefited ; and there are now probably no prize English strains which are not at least half American blood. The magnificent plumage of the American breed is another point in its favour. The heaviest recorded American weight is 45 Ibs. The magnificent Honduras, or ocellated turkey, has unfor- tunately never been successfully domesticated. It breeds freely in confinement, but appears to require a tropical climate. GUINEA-FOWL. — This bird, called also the Gallina and Pintado, mates in pairs, and an equal number of males and females must therefore be provided to prevent disappointment. There appear to be ten or twelve wild varieties, but only one has been domesticated in this country. To commence breeding Guinea-fowls, it is needful to pro- cure some eggs and set them under a common hen ; for if old birds be purchased they will wander off for miles as soon as they are set at liberty, and never return ; indeed, no fowl gives so much trouble from its wandering habits. If hatched in the poultry-yard, however, and regularly fed, they will remain ; but must always have one meal regularly at night, or they will scarcely ever roost at home. Nothing, however, will persuade them to sleep iinlhe fowl-house, and they usually roost in the lower branches of a tree. 222 TURKEYS, ORNAMENTAL POULTRY, AND WATER-FOWL. The lieu lays pretty freely from May or June to about August. She is a very shy bird, and if eggs are taken from her nest with her knowledge will forsake it altogether, and seek another, which she conceals with the most sedulous care. A few should therefore always be left, and the nest never be visited when she is in sight. It is best to give the earliest eggs to a common hen, as the G-uinea-fowl herself frequently sits too late to rear a brood. If " broody " in due season, however, she rarely fails to hatch nearly all. Incubation is from twenty- six to twenty-nine or thirty days. The chicks require food almost immediately — within, at most, ten hours after hatching — and should be fed and cared for in the same manner as young turkeys, though they may be allowed rather more liberty. It should be observed, however, that they require more constant feeding than any other chickens, a few hours' abstinence being fatal to them ; and they need also rather more animal food to rear them success- fully and keep them in good condition, especially in the winter. The chicks are very strong on their legs, and in fine weather may be allowed to wander with the hen when very young. The male birds of this breed are quarrelsome, and very apt to beat other fowls. The flesh of the Guinea-fowl is of exquisite flavour, much like that of the pheasant. The body nearly equals in size an ordinary Dorking, and is very plump and well-proportioned. Like all other finely-flavoured birds, they should never be over- fed or crammed, as is sometimes done. Who would think of cramming a pheasant to make it more ( ' fit for the table 1 " PEA-FOWL. — The distinguishing characteristics of this well- known bird are the crest or aigrette on the top of the head, and the peculiar structure of the tail covert feathers. The true tail of the peacock is short and hidden, and what we call the " tail " is, strictly speaking, an excessive development of the tail-coverts, or side feathers, which occasionally have been PE\ FOWL. 223 known to extend more than a yard and a half fiom their insertions. The colour of the ordinary peacock is too well known to need description. White and pied varieties are also bred, but are, in our judgment, far less ornamental. This species, called by naturalists Pavo cristattts, has a crest consisting of about two dozen feathers, only webbed at the very tips. There is another variety known as the Javan Pea-fowl, or Pavo muticus. This bird is larger than the common Pea-fowl, the male sometimes measuring more than seven feet from the bill to the end of the " tail" The naked space round the eye is also of a livid blue colour, and the feathers of the neck are laminated, or resembling scales. The most characteristic difference, however, is in the crest, which is much higher, and the feathers of which are webbed, though rather scantily, from the base, instead of being bare till near the tips. The bird also differs in only possessing his long and splendid ocellated train during the breeding season, at other times appearing with feathers not so long, and destitute of the well-known "eyes," but of a rich green with gold reflections, beautifully and regularly " barred," or " pencilled," on a very large scale, with whity-brown. This splendid bird is not very common. A third variety has recently been described, called the " black-winged " Pea-fowl, in which the shoulders and most of the wing in the male bird are black. The hen is much lighter than the common breed, being generally of a cream colour, with a dark back It appears a distinct race ; but it must be admitted that all three varieties of Pea-fowl freely intermix with a fertile result, and so closely resemble each other in nearly all their characteristics, that a common origin is certain. Pea-fowl are of a very wild disposition, and generally roost either on trees or on the very top ridge of a roof, to which they fly with ease. The hen lays in the greatest seclusion, and must always be allowed to select her own nest, usually deep in a 224 TUEKEYS, ORNAMENTAL POULTRY, AND WATER-FOWL. shrubbery. She lays generally from five to nine eggs, but sometimes considerably more. The time of incubation is about twenty-eight to thirty days. One cock should not have more than three or four hens. It is no use setting Pea-fowl eggs under common hens, which forsake their chickens in about two months, long before the young Pea-chicks can endure the night air. The Pea-hen goes with her brood at least six months, and the chicks need this. They are fed and cared for as turkeys, so far as keeping them from rain is concerned ; but must be let out on the grass always in dry weather, or they will not thrive. The food is also similar in general ; but some worms or other insect food should be provided in addition, in default of which some raw meat cut fine is the best substitute. Pea-fowl are tolerably familiar, and if regularly well fed will get very tame, and tap at the window when neglected. They are, however, ill-natured, and frequently beat and even kill other fowls, sometimes even attacking children. From this cause they are ill adapted to keep in a general poultry- yard, apart from their natural impatience of restraint. Young chickens in particular the cocks will often kill, and we believe even eat afterwards. Their proper place is on the lawn or in the park, where the splendid hues of the cocks show to great advantage, and their peculiar shrill ssredin is not too near to be disagreeable. They cannot be considered, of course, under the head of profitable poultry, being always kept for ornament. The flesh of a year-old bird is, however, excellent, and carves to a great advantage on the table. Of the adult birds we have nothing to say, never having known any person who had attempted to eat one. They do not reach maturity until three years okl. rilKASANTS. 225 CHAPTER XXVII. PHEASANTS. THESE birds scarcely come under the head of Poultry ; but as they are often kept on account of their great beauty by amateurs as well as extensively reared for the gun, some notice of them will not be out of place. Confined near a house, in an aviary open to view, pheasants will seldom lay, and scarcely ever sit. In such circumstances evergreen or other shrubs should be so arranged as to afford them some seclusion, which may induce them to breed ; but it is best to hatch the eggs under a common hen. Some hen pheasants, however, will lay and sit very well. Such are usually those which have been hatched and reared in confinement ; and the fact proves to our mind that with care and perseverance these birds might in time be as thoroughly domesticated as the other inmates of our poultry-yards. It is confirmatory of this, that whilst the wild hen only lays a dozen or fifteen eggs, in confinement, the eggs being taken daily, a home-reared bird will often lay forty or fifty, as in the case of the common fowl Pheasants require, more than any other stock, the most scrupulous cleanliness, with very abundant green food, and rather more animal substance than other poultry, otherwise the general treatment is very similar. The cock, who must be at least two years old, should be mated with three or four hens not under twelve months. One wing should always be cut or stripped, to prevent the birds flying up and injuring themselves, as they will otherwise do. This is the more necessary, as an aviary for pheasants should never be covered, the adult birds doing much better in an open run well gravelled and kept clean. When reared as an amusement 011 such a limited scale, the chicks, which hatch on the twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth day, should be put out and treated generally much like chickens, or p 226 TURKEYS, ORNAMENTAL POULTRY, AND WATER FOWL. rather turkey-chicks, giving them a board coop made tight and sound, and only letting them run on grass when quite dry and warm ; and always giving them perfect shelter from wet and cold winds : but at the same time plenty of fresh air. They must, however, have more animal food than other chickens ; and for the first few days it is best to feed entirely on hard-boiled egg chopped fine, ants' eggs, and curd pressed through a cloth till quite dry, with now and then a little stale bread-crumb soaked In milk. For green food, leeks or onions minced small are best. A.fter a week their staple food may be oatmeal dough mixed very dry, and made into little pills, or Spratt's Food, varied with chopped egg and bruised hemp-seed, and occasionally crushed wheat, animal food being also given. Ants' eggs, as is well known, are the very best animal diet for young pheasants, and almost necessary to any great success in rearing, though- much may be done without by care and attention. The chicks must be fed for some time nearly every hour ; and their water, which should always be drawn from a spring, must be renewed several times a day. This is the only way of avoiding the dreaded "gapes," which is tenfold more fatal to young pheasants than to any other fowls ; but which may be kept off by keeping the water always clear, and never letting them out, while young, on wet grass. Adult birds, however, are very hardy ; and do not, if the soil be tolerably light and dry, require shelter from any ordinary weather, beyond what a few shrubs, or even dry brambles, thrown in their pen, will afford them. Feeding-boxes, so commonly used, we consider bad. Keep the ground clean, and scatter the food broadcast. There is no better than buckwheat and barley for old birds, with green food regularly, and a little animal food now and then, like other fowls. For rearing on a large scale, Mr. Baily, who has had great experience, recommends laying pens twelve feet square, to be erected on light dry grass land, if possible on the side of a hill REARING PHEASANTa. 227 facing west or south. These pens should be made of tem- porary hurdles or fencing, six or seven feet high, constructed of laths nailed an inch apart, and touching the ground every- where at bottom, so as to keep out vermin. The advantages of such a plan are, first, cheapness, and secondly, convenience ; as the hurdles can be taken down when the breeding season is over, and packed away in a very small compass. It is also advisable to erect them every year on fresh ground, which such a rough construction eminently facilitates. Every such pen is adapted for a cock and three or four hens, whose wings must be cut to prevent their flying over. For a nest a slight hollow should be scooped in the ground in the centre, and filled with sand, at each end of which, and six feet apart, a short stake thirty inches high should be driven, on the tops of which is nailed a horizontal pole. Against this pole rough twig fagots are inclined from each side, forming a rough kind of shelter, which the pheasant prefers to any regular receptacle. The eggs should be collected every evening ; and if this be regularly done, every hen in the breeding-pen will usually lay at least twenty-five ; the laying faculty, as we have already remarked, being increased by domestication. They are best set under Game hens, but the hen pheasant may also be allowed a share, which she will hatch well, but is not quite so manageable with her chicks as the common hen. The early treatment will be as already described, but when a few days — say a week — old, the board coops are placed in regular rows out on a grass-field, which should be given up to the purpose. A space round every coop should be mown close, but the rest left standing to afford the poults shelter from the heat, which they are unable to bear, suffering from it almost more than from cold. The chicks should be shut in at night, but let out strictly at daybreak every morning, as they are early risers. P2 228 TURKEYS, ORNAMENTAL POULTRY, AND WATER FOWL. Feeding will be as before mentioned, taking, of course, equal pains to keep the water rigidly clear. Many large breeders hang up pieces of meat to putrefy, in order to procure the peculiar white worms, called " gentles," which are collected in a tin or zinc pan placed underneath ; but such should be sparingly used, as the young poults often refuse plain food after. Ants' eggs are much better. When the breeding season is over, the old birds, and the young also when well grown, are most conveniently kept fifty or sixty together, in pens fifty feet square ; being suffered to remain there until wanted, or till the breeding pens are made up for next year. On this system, with good management, eighty per cent. of the eggs laid may be brought to the gun, and the natural produce thus more than doubled. Of the different varieties, the Common Pheasant is most delicate, and is rather wild. The plumage is too well known to need any description, especially as the breed is not so well adapted for the mere amateur as the beautiful Chinese or ring-necked breeds, which are daily becoming more common, and are hardier and easier to rear. The Golden Pheasant cock is also a magnificent bird. The head bears a crest of beautiful amber-coloured feathers. The back of the head and neck is of a beautiful orange red, passing low down the breast into a deep scarlet, which is the colour of all the under parts. The neck feathers are arranged like plate armour, and are often erected by the bird. The back is a deep gold colour, the tail covert feathers being laced with crimson ; tail-feathers brown mottled with black. The hen is of a more sober tint, being of a general brown colour with dark markings. This variety is very wild and easily startled, but is, nevertheless, more easily reared than the Common Pheasant, and would p-^bably become more domesticated with per- VARIETIES OP PHEASANT. 229 severance in breeding under a hen. The hen pheasant herself is so shy that she scarcely ever hatches, unless in an unusually sheltered place, with shrubs and bushes arranged to re- semble nature as much as possible. The Silver Pheasant is most easily tamed of all the varieties, and is also the hardiest ; whilst, in our opinion, it equals any in beauty. The cock bird of this breed has a blue crest, and all the upper part of the body is a silvery white, most exquisitely pencilled with fine black lines arranged with the most mathematical precision. Breast and under parts usually quite black, but sometimes a little mottled. The hen is brown, but remarkably neat and pretty. This bird, if home-reared, may have its liberty in the poultry-yard, feeding with the other fowls ; and has often been known to lay forty or fifty eggs. There appears, therefore, every reason to believe that with perseverance it might bo rendered quite a domestic, and even profitable variety. HYBRIDS between the Common Pheasant and other birds are not unfrequent. They have been known to breed with the Black Cock, Turkey, Guinea-fowl, and common domestic hen ; the latter cross being not at all uncommon, as every gamekeeper knows. Such hybrids are, however, invariably sterile amongst themselves, and Mr. W. B. Tegetrneier has declared them to be totally unproductive when mated even with the parent ; but there is undoubted evidence* of at least two birds having been reared as the produce of such a cross, mated again with the cock pheasant. The subject is only interesting from the singular fact, that although a cock pheasant is a much smaller bird than the domestic fowl, the cross produced is almost invariably very much larger in size than the mother, probably in consequence of the strong " wild blood " introduced ; and hence some may think the experiment worth repeating. It is certainly true that by long * See " Proceedings of the Zoological Society," 1836. 230 TURKEYS, ORNAMENTAL POULTRY, AND WATtelt-FOWL. perseverance great difficulties of this kind have been overcome, and hybrids, formerly considered barren, have been found at least partially fertile ; but in this case interbreeding has been so often tried that we cannot consider the field very promising. One great obstacle is the extreme and apparently untamable wildness of the hybrid from which it is wished to breed ; and the only chance of success would appear to be rearing such singly, in company with his or her intended mate. We have only one further remark to make. Pheasants should never be caught with the hand, as their bones are fractured with the greatest ease. An implement should be kept for the purpose, resembling a large butterfly net, but with the bag of open netting instead of gauze. Jn this way they may be caught when needed with the utmost facility ; but they should never be meddled with more than absolutely necessary. CHAPTER XXVIIL WATER-FOWL. THE above heading should be borne in mind before such stock is added to the poultry-yard. They are strictly water birds ; and although ducks may be often seen in courts and alleys, where the nearest approach to a pond which they have ever known is some filthy mud-puddle, to keep animals whose habitat is so well marked in such unnatural circumstances must revolt every truly humane mind, and cannot in the long run repay any one who attempts it. DUCKS. — In the case of these birds alone may some little exception be made to the above remark, as they will do well in a garden or any other tolerably wide range where they can procure plenty of slugs and worms, with a pond or cistern only a few feet across. Kept in this manner, they will not only be found profitable, but very serviceable; keeping the AYLE8BURY DUCKS. 231 place almost free of those slugs which are the gardener's great plague, aiid doing but little damage, except to straw- berries, for which they have a peculiar partiality, and which must be carefully protected from their ravages. Other fruit is too high to be in much danger. In such circumstances there can be no doubt whatever that ducks are profitable poultry ; and where numerous fowls are kept, a few should also be added, as they will keep themselves, very nearly, on what the hens refuse ; but where every atom of the food they consume has to be paid for in cash, our own opinion is that ducks do not pay to rear, except for town markets, their appetites are so everlasting and voracious. This point, however, we must leave to the experience of the reader, and proceed to consider the two principal varieties — known as the Aylesbury and Rouen. The following descriptions and accompanying remarks are from the pen of Mr. John K. Fowler, of Aylesbury, one of the largest poultry-breeders, and certainly the most successful exhibitor of ducks, in England : — " My idea of a perfect Aylesbury drake and duck is, that in plumage they should be of the purest snow-white all over. The head should be full, and the bill well set on to the skull, so that the beak should seem to be almost in a line from the top of the head to the tip. The bill should be long, and when viewed in front appear much like a woodcock's : it should be in prize birds of a delicate flesh colour, without spot or blemish, and with a slight fleshy excrescence where the feathers commence. If it occasionally has a very slight creamy tint, it would not disqualify, but any approach to dark buff or yellow is fatal to the pen. Eye full, bright, and quite black. " The legs should be strong, with the claws well webbed, and in colour of a rich dark yellow or orange. Body rather long, but broad across the shoulders, and the neck rather long and slender. The drake should have one, and sometimes has two, sharp curls in his tail 232 TURKEYS, ORNAMENTAL POULTRY, AND WATEU-FOWL. " The weight of each bird in a show-pen ought to be about nine pounds, but this is not very often attained. " Immense numbers of ducks are bred around Aylesbury. It is not at all unusual to see around one small cottage 2,000 ducklings, and it has been computed that upwards of £20,000 per annum is returned to the town and neighbourhood in exchange, whilst the railway not uncommonly carries a ton weight of the birds up to the London market in a single night. " The Aylesbury Duck often begins to lay before Christ- mas. Sitting hens are then procured ; and immediately after hatching the ducklings are taken away from the hen and put, fifty or a hundred together, in a close warm place, with one hen tied by the leg to teach them to peck, and also to huckle them. They should be given stimulating food ; that is, meal well mixed with boiled meat and greaves ; they are thus made fat in six or seven weeks, and, if sent to market in March or April, realise from 12s. to 18s. per couple. " With regard to my own breeding-stock, the selection gives me no trouble. All the large breeders know that I will give a guinea at any time for a very fine and well-developed bird, and I thus keep my strain large, and am constantly infusing new blood.1 " Many persons cannot imagine how the specimens of the breed reared here acquire such faultless flesh-coloured bills. The cause is local, as might be supposed. The beautiful prize tint is obtained by giving the ducks in their troughs of water a peculiar kind of white gravel found only in the neighbour- hood of Aylesbury, in appearance resembling pumice-stone. In this gravel they constantly shovel their bills, and this keeps them white. Also, birds intended for exhibition are seldom allowed out in the sun, as it tans the bills sadly. " In selecting breeding-stock, drakes should be chosen with very long bills, like a woodcock's, and ducks with broad backs and large solid bodies." BOUEN DUCKS. 233 For the gravel mentioned by Mr. Fowler, it is difficult to find a perfect substitute. Any other kind of clean white gravel may, however, be tried, and it may be well worth while for intending prize-takers to transport a quantity to their yards. It is also very beneficial to the paleness of their bills to let the ducks out on the wet grass in the very early morning, before the sun is up. Besides the tanning influence of the sun, it is well known that ferruginous soil has a peculiar specific effect on the bill, often turning it yellow in a single week. A bill thus stained can never be paled again ; and Aylesbury Ducks should, therefore, never be let out on land containing iron ore. " Rouen Ducks," Mr. Fowler states, " are reared much the same as Aylesbury, but are not nearly so forward, rarely laying till February or March. They are very handsome, and will weigh eight or nine pounds each ; and, as a rule, do much better in most parts of England than the Aylesburys. Their flesh is excellent, and at Michaelmas is, I think, superior to the other. " The best general description of the Rouens in plumage is to be precisely like the wild mallard, but larger. The drake should have a commanding appearance, with a rich green and purple head, and a fine long bill, formed and set on the head as I have described for the Aylesburys. The bill should look clean, of a yellow ground, with a very pale wash of green over it, and the ' bean ' at the end of it jet black. His neck should have a sharp, clearly-marked white ring round it, not quite meeting at the back. Breast a deep rich claret-brown to well below the water-line, then passing into the under body-colour, which is a beautiful French grey, shading into white near the tail. The back ought to be a rich greenish-black quite up to the tail feathers, the curls in which are a rich dark green. Wings a greyish-brown, with distinct purple and white ribbon- uiark well developed. The flight-feathers must be grey and 234 TUHKEYS, ORNAMENTAL POULTRY, AND WATER-FOWL. brown — any approach to white in them is a fatal disqualifica- tion, not to be compensated by any other beauty or merit. Legs a rich orange. Nothing can exceed the beauty of a drake possessing the above colours in perfection. "The bill of the duck should not be so long as in the drake, and orange-brown as a ground colour, shading off at the edges to yellow, and on the top a distinct splash or mark of a dark colour approaching black, two-thirds down from the top ; it should there be rounded off, and on no account reach the sides. I may also remark that any approach to slate-colour in the bills of either sex would be a fatal blemish. The head of the duck is dark brown, with two distinct light brown lines running along each side of the face, and shading away to the upper part of the neck. Breast a pale brown, delicately pencilled with dark brown ; the back is exquisitely pencilled with black upon a moderately dark brown ground. The shoulder of the wing is also beautifully pencilled with black and grey ; flight-feathers dark grey, any approach to white being instant disqualification ; and ribbon-mark as in the drake. Belly, up to the tail, light brown, with every feather delicately pencilled to the tip. Legs orange, often, however, with a brown tinge. The duck sometimes shows an approach to a white ring round the neck, as in the drake ; such, a good judge would instantly disqualify." To the foregoing we need add nothing. We will only remark that when intended for fattening, ducks should have only a trough of water instead of their usual pond, and should then be fed on barley meal. Celery will add a delicious flavour. In ordinary rearing the ducklings should be left with the hen, or mother-duck, and kept from the water entirely for a week or ten days ; then only allowed to swim for half an hour at a time, till the feathers begin to grow, else they will be liable to die of cramp. They will soon be totally indepen- dent of their mother, and may then be left entirely to them- PEKIN DUCKS. 235 selves ; only taking precautions against rats, to which duck- lings fall victims far oftener than any other poultry. The Pekin Duck is a recent introduction, and one of the most valuable. It was imported direct from Pekin into both England and the United States independently, in the year 1873, but most English importations have been from the American stock. The characteristics are most marked and distinct in many points. The plumage is white, with a most peculiar canary-yellow under-colour all through it; but the duck differs chiefly from others in a remarkable curved or boat- shaped contour of the body, both breast and stern being so curved as irresistibly to suggest the notion of a birch-bark canoe. The legs and bill are deep yellow or reddish-orange, the legs set far back, which makes the bird walk rather upright. Some birds have been shown destitute of the yellow tinge through the feather, but there have generally been other signs in such of a cross with the Aylesbury. This breed is the best layer (on an average) of all the ducks, and very seldom desires to sit at all, though some instances are recorded. It is very hardy, and grows fast ; and it gives the breeder a white duck without that trouble about the bill which so adds to the difficulty of breeding Aylesbury ducks. The size is good, though the weight is seldom what might be supposed. "We once knew a duck weigh 11 Ibs., but, as a rule, very large specimens do not exceed 15 Ibs. per pair ; the flesh is, however, delicate and peculiarly free from grossness. On the whole this must be pronounced one of our most valuable breeds, and is rapidly making way. Its appearance on the water is very ornamental The Cayuga is a large black duck, originating in North America. The original wild stock is no doubt descended from the mallard, and was of a brownish black, with an irregular white collar round the drake's neck. Breeding to get out these faults of colour at first reduced the size ; but this was recovered, and 236 TURKEYS, ORNAMENTAL POULTRY, AND WATER-FOWL. the breed now is a good size, and black all over, with as much green lustre as possible — in fact, as nearly as possible a large edition of the Black East India Duck. The shape, however, is not nearly so short as that of the East India Duck, but more resembles that of the Aylesbury. This duck has been bred to weigh 1 9 Ibs. per pair. It is hardy and matures early ; is quiet in habit, and a very good layer. The flesh has a gamey flavour which most people like, and surpasses most wild ducks in this respect. It is very apt to moult out white feathers after the first year or two. This fault should be avoided, and the legs chosen as dark as possible. The Muscovy, or Music Duck, appears to be totally a distinct species; the cross between it and other ducks being, at least usually, unfertile. The drake is very large, often weighing ten pounds, and looking far more on account of the loose feathering : but the female is less than the Aylesbury, not exceeding about six pounds. The plumage of this variety varies greatly, from all white to a deep blue-black, but usually contains both. The face is naked, and the base of the bill is greatly carunculated. The drake is very quarrelsome, and we well remember the injuries inflicted by an old villain of this breed belonging to a relative, upon a fine Dorking cock in the same yard. When excited, the bird alternately depresses and raises its head, uttering most harsh and guttural sounds, and with the red skin round the face, presenting an appearance which has been justly described as " infernal." The flesh of the Musk Duck is very good eating ; but it is far inferior as a layer to either the "Rouen or the Aylesbury, and cannot be considered a very useful variety. Call Ducks are principally kept as ornamental fowl. The voice of the drake is peculiar, resembling a low whistle. They vary in colour, one variety precisely resembling the Aylesbury in plumage, but with a yellow bill, and the other the Roueu; MANAGEMKNT OP DUCKS. 237 but in both cases bearing the same relation to them as Game Bantams do to the Game fowl. The flesh is good ; but there is too little to repay breeding them for the table, and their only proper place is on the lake. The East Indian, or Euetws Ay res Black Duck, is a most beautiful bird. The plumage is black, with a rich green lustre, and any white, grey, or brown feathers are fatal. They should be bred for exhibition as small as possible, never exceeding five and four pounds. As they usually pair, equal numbers should be kept of both sexes. The flesh of this duck is more delicious than that of any other variety, in our estimation. Many most beautiful varieties of small foreign ducks are often shown, the most common being the Mandarin and Carolina; but it is needless to give detailed descriptions here. The G/ommon Duck needs no description. We believe it to be the Rouen more or less degenerated, or, rather, perhaps, not bred up to the perfection of that breed. The same may be said of the French Duclair Ducks. It should be remembered in keeping ducks that the mild birds are monogamous, and not more than two or three be given to one drake, if eggs are wanted for sitting. The duck usually sits well, and always covers her eggs with loose straw when leaving them, a supply of which should therefore be left by her. The usual number laid is fifty or sixty ; but ducks have laid as many as two hundred and fifty in a year ; and we believe with care this faculty might be greatly developed, and their value much increased as producers of eggs. At present they are mostly kept for table. Ducks should have a separate house, with a brick or stone floor, as it requires to be frequently washed down. Clean straw should be given them at least every alternate night. Other attention they need none, beyond the precaution of keeping them in until they have laid every morning. This is 238 TURKEYS, ORNAMENTAL POULTRY, AND WATER-FOWL. necessary, as the Duck is very careless about laying, and if left at liberty will often drop her eggs in the water whilst swimming. GEESE. — *' Of the two principal breeds of geese," Mr. Fowler writes, " I very much prefer the Grey or Toulouse to the White or Embden, being larger and handsomer. I have had a Toulouse gander which weighed thirty- four pounds, a weight never, I am sure, attained by the White breed. They are also better shaped, as a rule, and every way the more profitable variety. The forehead should be flat, and the bill a clear orange red. The plumage is a rich brown, passing into white on the under parts and tail coverts. " The Embden Goose is pure white in every feather, and the eye should show a peculiar blue colour in the iris in all well-bred birds." We should recommend for market to cross the Toulouse Goose with the White, by which greater weight is gained than in either variety pure-bred ; but much will depend upon circumstances. White or cross-bred geese require a pond, but the Toulouse, with a good grass-run, will do well with only a trough of water, and will require no extra feeding, except for fattening or exhibition. The only foreign varieties requiring mention are the Chinese and the Canada geese, both of which appear to be really mid- way between the geese proper and the swans, which they resemble in length of neck. The Chinese Goose is of a general brown colour, passing into light grey or white on the breast, with a dark brown stripe down the back of the neck. They have much of the beauty of the swan, which they also resemble. in having a dark protuberance round the base of the upper mandible. The voice is very harsh and peculiar. This breed is not a good grazer, and is best reared in the farmyard. The Canada Goose also is not a good grazer, and does best GEESE. 239 near marshy ponds, in which circumstances they will thrive and be found profitable. With regard to the general management of geese little need be said. More than four or five should not be allowed to one gander, and such a family will require a house about eight feet square ; but to secure fine stock three geese are better to one male. Each nest must be about two feet six inches square, and, as the goose will always lay where she has deposited her first egg, there must be a nest for each bird. If they each lay in a separate nest the eggs may be left ; otherwise, they should be removed daily. Geese should be set in March or early April, as it is very difficult to rear the young in hot weather. The time is thirty to thirty-four days. The goose sits very steadily, but should be induced to come off daily and take a bath. Besides this, she should have in reach a good supply of food and water, or hunger will compel her, one by one, to eat all her eggs. The gander is sometimes kept away ; but this is not needful, as he not only has no enmity to the eggs or goslings, but takes very great interest in the hatching, often sitting by his mate for hours. The goslings should be allowed to hatch out entirely by themselves. When put out, they should have a fresh turf daily for a few days, and be fed on boiled oatmeal and rice, with water from a pond, in a very shallow dish, as they should not be allowed to swim for a fortnight, for which time the goose is better kept under a very large crate. After two weeks they will be able to shift for themselves, only requiring to be protected from very heavy rain till fledged, and to have one or two feeds of grain daily, in addition to what they pick up. For fattening they should be penned up half-a-dozea together in a dark shed and fed on barley-meal, being let out several hours for a last bath before being killed, in order to clean their feathers. 240 TURKEYS, ORNAMENTAL POULTRY, AND WATER-FOWL " For exhibition," Mr. Fowler says, " all geese should be shut up in the dark, and fed liberally upon whole barley or oat? thrown into water. It is essential to great weight to keep them very quiet, letting them out in the water, however, for half an hour every day." SWANS. — There are six or seven varieties of swans known to naturalists, but only three are at present, or likely to be, domesticated in this country — viz., the English White or Mute Swan ; the Australian or Black Swan, and the Chili or Peruvian Swan. The plumage of the two first needs no description ; but that of the Chilian Swan differs from either in being white on the body, with a black head and neck, making rather a pleasing contrast of colour. In size the White Swan is largest of all All three varieties are long-lived, and individual birds are reported to have reached the age of one hundred years. The female swan lays in February, every other day until seven to nine eggs are laid. More than five cygnets, however, are seldom hatched. The nest is made somewhere amongst the flags and weeds at the water's edge, and it is dangerous to approach either the male or female during incubation, as they are very irascible, and a blow from their strong pinions will even break a man's arm. The cygnets are best fed by throwing meal upon the water. The old birds, if they have a large water range, will only need feeding in severe winter, when they should have grain. They also like grass to be thrown to them, and bread, which they will frequently eat from the hand. The young birds must be left to shift much for themselves, the parents being too jealous and powerful to submit to restraint. But for this they might perhaps be more widely kept, as young cygnets an11, excellent for the table, and very easily reared. INDEX. Accidents to Eggs, 37 Advantages of Scientific Breeding, 114 Age to Breed from, 119 Ale and Meat for Chickens, 49 American Breeds, 196 American Bronze Turkeys, 221 Analytic of Food, 23 Ai COIAS, 172 Aiulalusian Bantams, 210 Andalusian Fowls, 172 Animal Food Essential, 26 Apoplexy, Treatment for, 93 Artificial Hatching, 70 , Secrets of Success, 91 Artificial Mothers, 87 , Hydro, 89 , Mrs. Cheshire's, 88 Artificially-reared Chickens, Food of, 92 Australian Swan, 240 Aylesbury Ducks, 231, 232 Bad Fledging, 93 Bad Moulting, 94 Bantam Chickens, 211 Bantams, Varieties of, 206—210 Barley as Food, 25, 48 Barndoor Fowls, 15 Black Bantams, 208 Cochins, 144 crested White Polish, 181 — - Ducks, 237 Hamburghs, 178 Leghorns, 198 Spanish, 167 . Delicacy of Chickem Black Spanish, Points of, 168 , Preserving Faces of, 170 Swans, 240 Black-red Game Fowls, 156 Black-rot in Spanish Fowls, 173 Boiling Old Fowls, 59 Boyle's Regulator, 71 Brahmas, as Family Fowls, 15 , as Layers, 152 , as Mothers, 35, 149, 150 , Dark, Description of, 149 , Effect of Breeding for Mark- ing in, 152 , Light, Description of, 149 , Origin of, 147 , Peculiarities of, 148 , Points of, 148 -, Varieties of, 148 Bran as Food, 22 Bredas or Gueldres, 191 , Description 193 Breeder, Power of the, 116 Breeding Turkeys, 213-220 , Principles of, 108, 12!) , Prize Poultry, 101—124 Breeds for Profit, 17 , New, 111 , Pure, 109 Brindley's Incubator, 70 Broken Eggs in a Nest, 37 Bronze Turkeys, 221 , Weight of, 221 Broody Hens, 16 Brown Leghorns, 198 red Game Fowls, 157 Buckwheat and Barley, 25, 48, 53 Buff Cochins, 143 or Chamois Polish, W3 Buenos Ayres Black Ducks, 237 Buying Fowls, 13 109 -, Disease of Face of, 170 Call Ducks. 2 242 INDEX. Cambridge Turkeys, 215, 220 Canada Geese, 238 Canker, Treatment for, 94, Cure in Management, 1, 64, 65 Carolina Ducks, 238 Cats and Chickens, 47 Cayuga Ducks, 238 Cheap Houses for the Farm, 67 Cheshire's, Mrs., Artificial Mother, 88 Chickens, Ale and Meat for, 49 , Breaking the Shell, 4:) , Couped under Shed, 43 , Cramming, 55 , Cramp in, 90 , First Meal of, 42 , Food for, 47, 48 , , in Cold Weather, 49 , Growing, Food of, 50 , Rearing of, 41 , Scale on Beak of, 42 , Shelter for, 50 , Withholding Water from, 50, 51 Chili Swan, The, 240 Chinese Geese, 238 Chinese or Ring-necked Pheasant, 238 Christy's Hydro-Incubator, 73 Thermostatic Incubator, 81 Cleanliness, and how Secured, 6 Cochin (or Pekin) Bantams, 209 Cochins, as Breeding Fowls, 16, 141 , as Mothers, 35 , Defects of, 145 , Diseases to which are Liable, 146 , Merits of, 145 , Points of, 143 , Varieties of, 143, 144 , Weights of, 142 Collection of Eggs, The, 40 Colour of Game Fowls, 156—157 Coloured Dorking, Effects of Crossing on, 115, 162 Common Duck, 238 Fowls, 15 Pheasant, 228 Condition, How to Preserve Fowls in, 122 Consumption, Treatment of, 96 Construction of Fowl-house, 2— 5 Conveyance of Exhibition Hampers, 136 Coop* under Shed, 13 Coops, Floor of, 45 , Ordinary Basket, 46 , Shelter, 44 C<5urtes Pattes, Description of, 195 Covered Vans, 7, 47 Cramp in Chickens, 90 Creepers or Dumpies, 200 Crevecceurs, Description of, 186 , Merit of, 187 Crop-bound Fowls, Treatment of, 96 Crosses and Pure Breeds, 15 for Laying Strains, G4 Crossing and Selection, 113 — 115 Crossing, Effect on Coloured Dorkings, 115 , Examples of, 113—115 on Game Fowls, 115 on Laced or Sebright Bantams, on Surrey Fowls, 115 115 Cuckoo Bantams, 209 Cochins, 144 Dorkings, 165 Leghorns, 198 Cutting Fowls' Wings, 11 Cygnets, Management of, 240 Dark Brahmas, Description of, 149 , for Colouring and Marking, 150 , Merits of, 152 Dead Poultry Classes in France, 118 Deodorisers, The Best, 8, 46, 47 Definition of Pure Breeds, 109 Diarrhoea, Treatment of, Difficulties in Rearing, 89 Diphtheria, How to Treat, 95, 97 Diseases of Poultry, 93 , General Symptoms, 100 , How to Prevent, 100 Dishes for Food, 24 Domestic Poultry Keeping. Profit of, 30,31 Dominiques, Description of, 196 Dorkings as a Table-fowl, 166 — as Breeding-fowls, 17 as Mothers, 35 — , Description of, 161, 162 — for Crossing, 14 — , Merits of, 165 , Varieties of, 161—165 — , Weights of, 162 Double Ranges, 107 INDEX. 243 Double Runs, 9, 10 Douglas Mixture, and when to Use it, 28 Draughts in Fowl-house, 4, 23 Dressing Fowls for Market, 57 " Dubbing " Game Fowls, 159 Ducks, Description of, 230—233 as Layers, 237 , Feeding of, 234 , Houses for, 237—238 , Merits of, 237, 238 , Hearing of, 232—236 , The Gardener's Friend, 231 , Varieties of, 232—238 Duckwings, Description of, 157 Duclair Ducks, 237 Dumpies or Creepers, 200 Dusting-places, 7, 68 E East Indian Black Ducks, 237 Elt'ects of Selection, Beneficial, 113 Egg-laying FowLs, 14—17 Egg- testers, 38, 39 Egg-tray in Boyle's Incubator, 73 Eggs, Collection of. 30 for Artificial Hatching, 85 for Table, 12 from Prize Birds, 124 , Number of, for Hatching, 39 , Mesting Travelled Eggs, 85 , Turning in Artificial Hatching, 82 Eggs for Setting, Fresh, 32 , Fertility and Sex of, 33 ), 42, 124 How to Keep, 33 How to Pack, 125 How to Select, 38, Number of, 39 Testing Fertility, Embden Geese, 238 English and French Judges, Opinions of, 117 English White Swan, The, 240 Errors in Feeding, 19, 20 Evils of Fancy Selection, 117 Exhibition Chickens, Rearing of, 118 — , Food of, 125 — , Matching a Pen of, 131 132 Q2 Preparation of, Exhibition Chickens, Preserving Con- dition of, 123 , Treatment on Return of, 137 Exhibition Hampers, 135, 136 , Carriage of, 135 Exhibition, Rearing Chickens for, Treatment of, 120—128 , When Ready for, 118 Fancy Poultry, 15 , Feathers of, 139 Farm, Benefit of Rearing Fowls on a, 61 Attendant's Duties, 68 , Breeds for a, 63, 64 Dusting-places, G8 Fowls for a, 63—64 Houses for the, 67 Selection of Stock for a, 63, 64 Separation of Fowls on a, 66 Supervision of Fowls on a, 66 Family Fowls, 17 Fat, Extra Weight and, 55 Hens, 18 Fattening Chickens, 52 , Best Food for, 53 , Duration of Process of, 53 Foods, 24 Pens, 52, 53 , Profitable, 54 , Value of Even Feeding in, 54 Feathers, How to Dress, 30 , Value of, 30 Feeding, Careful, 21, 22 , Errors in, 19 Growing Chickens, 47, 48 -, Proper System of, 21 Fertile Eggs, Fertility and Sex of Eggs, Testing the, 33, 86 Fledging, Treatment for Bad, 93 Fleche, La, Description of, 187 , Merits of, 188 Floor of Coops, 45 Flooring of Fowl-house, 5 Food, Best, for Evening Meal, 21 Animal, Essential, 26 Buckwheat as, 25 , for Morning Meal, 21, 22 Change of, Beneficial, 22, 23 How to Give, 24 244 INDEX. Food for Growing Chickens, 47 — 49 for a Large Number, 22 — for Chickens Artificially Reared, 92 for Prize Chickens, 125 for Small Number, 22 , Mixing Soft, 24 in Winter, 49 Tail Wheat as, 25 Various Kinds of, 22, 23 Vegetable, Necessary, 26 Vessels for, 25 — When to Give, 20 Foods, Analysis of Various Poultry, 23 Fowl-house, Construction of, 2 — 5 Avoid Draughts in, 2 Flooring of, 5 Materials for, 2—7 Size of the, 8 Sheds and their Value, 4,5 , Ventilation of, 3 Fowls in Confined Space, 12, 14 , How to Dispose of Old, 13, 14 , How to Tell Young, 13 , Improving Farmer's, 62 , Keeping in Condition, 123 Require Care and Attention, 1 , Washing, 133 Free Range, 107 French and English Judges, Opinions of, 117 French Breeds, General Description of, 185—194 , Merits of, 186 , Varieties of, 187—195 French Duclair Ducks, 237 Fresh blood, Introduction of, 120 Frizzled Fowls, 202 Foreign Ducks, 237 G Game Bantams, 210 Chickens and Eggs, 211 Hens, 15 as Mothers, 35, 1GO Game Fowls, Breeding of, 155 , Description of, 155—160 , Effects of Crossing on, 160 , Flesh of, 17, 160 — for Table, 160, 161 — , Merits of, 160 Game Fowls, Modern Exhibition, 155 , Original Varieties, 159 , Varieties of, 155—159 Gardener's Friend, The, 231 Gapes, Treatment of, 97 Geese, Description of, 238—240 for Exhibition, 240 , General Management of, 239 , Varieties of, 238—240 Gold Pheasant, The, 228 Gold and Silver Laced Bantams, 208 Golden "Mooney " Hamburghs, 176 Golden-pencilled Hamburgh, 174 Golden Pheasant Fowl, 178 Golden Pheasant, The, 228 Golden-spangled Hamburgh, 176 Golden-spangled Polish, 183 Goslings, 239 Grass Runs, 7 for Chickens, 46, 134 Green Food, 26 Grey or Coloured Dorkings, 162 Grit or Gravel for Fowls, Use of, 29 Ground Nests, 36 Gueldres or Breda Fowls, 191 Guinea Fowl, 221 , Merits of, 222 Hamburghs, Description of, 174 , as Layers, 14, 179 — , Varieties of, 170—179 Hatching, Artificial, 170 Artificial, of Pure Breeds, 123 Assistance at, 41 Hearson's Incubator, 87, Hempseed, 135 "Hen Fever, "The, 141 Hens Desiring to Sit, 13, 38 Leaving Nest, 40 Henny Game Fowl, The, 159 Holmesdale, Lady, her Dorkings, 107 Houdans as Layers, 14 , Description of, 190 , Weight of, 140 House for Fowls, 2—4 for the Farm, 67 How to Keep Eggs for Setting, 33 How to Pack Eggs for Setting, 12n Hybrid Pheasants, 229 Hydro- Incubator, The, 73 , Essential Points of, 74,75 INDEX. 245 Incubation, 32 Incubator, Boyle's, 71 , Christy's Hydro-, 73 , Hearson's, 87 , Management of, 77 , Tomlinson's, 78, 79 Indian Corn and Meal, 22, 48, 132 Game Fowl, 159 Influence of the Sexes, 121 Insect Vermin, Cure for, 100 Japanese Bantams, 210 Long-tailed Fowls, 205 Javan Tea-fowl, 223 Judging of Poultry, 136 Jungle Fowls, 111 K Killing Fowls for Table, 56 La Bresse, Description of, 194 , Merits of, 194 La Fleche described, 187 , Merits of, 189 Laced Bantams, 115, 207 Lamps for Incubators, 82 Lancashire Mooneys, 176 Lane's, Mr., Poultry Yard, 103 Langshans as Breeding Fowls, 15, 16 , Defects of, 146 , Merits of, 146 , Points of, 144 Laying Breeds for Farmers, 63 Le .Mans, Description of, 193 Leg Weakness, Treatment for, 98 Leghorns as Layers, 14, 172 , Merits of, 197, 198 laght Brahmas, Description of, 148, 149 -, as Mothers, 35, 149, 150 149 , Difficult in Breeding, -, Merits of, 152 , Points of, 148 , Weight of, 148 lame for Fowls, 28 Lining and Covering Houses, 3 Linseed, Use of, 135 Linton Park, Fowls at, 105, 137 Liver Disease, How tn Treat, 96 M Maize as Food, 23, 48 Making New Varieties, 115 Malays, 153, 154 as Feather-eaters, 154 , Chief Merit, 154 , Description of, 153 , Great Drawback, 154 , Weight of, 153 Management of Incubators, 77 Mandarin Duck, The, 237 Manure, Value of, 29, 61 Marking Eggs, 38 Matching a Pen of Fowls for Exhibi tion, 131 Meals per Day,' 20 Midday Meal, The, 25 Middlings as Food, 23 Minorcas as Layers, 15, 18, 171 , Description of, 171 Mistakes in Feeding, 19 Moisture for Sitting Hens, 41 " Mooney " Hamburghs, 176 Moulting, Bad, 94 Muscovy, or Musk Duck, The, 237 Mute Swan, The, 240 N Nankin Bantams, 209 Nervous Debility, How to Treat, 98 Nest, Making the, 37 Nests, Various Kinds of, 29 , Ground, 36 New Breeds of Fowls, 111 , Process of Development, Norfolk Turkeys, 220 Old Fowls for Home Use, 59 Origin of the Domestic Fowl, 111 112 Ornamental Poultry, 213—224 Orpingtons, 205 Over-feeding, Evils of, 16, 19, 26, 93 Partridge Cochin, The, 144 Pea-fowl, The, 222—224 . Javan, 223- 246 INDEX. Pekin Bantams, 209 Perches, 4 Peruvian Swan, The, 240 Pheasants, 225—229 • , Merits of, 227 , Varieties of, 228 Phoenix Fowls, 204 Piles (Game), 158 Pip, 98 Plucking Fowls, 58, 59 Plymouth Kocks as Breeding Fowls, 15 , Merits of, 196, 197 Polish or Polands, Description of, 180 , Diseases to which liable, 185 , Merits of, 184 , Varieties of, 181—184 Portable Wooden Houses, 107 Potatoes as Food, 22, 24 Poultry on the Farm, 60 Poultry-houses, 2, 67 Poultry-yard, .Plan of, 9, 11 , Mr. H. Lane's, 102 , Sir H.iThompson's, 105 , Space necessary, 8 Preparations for Showing, 132 — 135 Preserving Condition in Fowls, 122 Preventing Birds from Flying, 11 Principles of Breeding Exhibition Fowls, 118—123 Prize Poultry, 100, 137 Process of Development, 112 Profits of Poultry-keeping, 30 Proper System of Feeding, 21 Protected Euns, 47 Ptarmigans, 184 Purchasing Exhibition Birds, 119 Pure Breeds Denned, 109 Putting out the Chickens, 43 Qualities of Dorkings, 165 Quality of Table Fowls, 55 Rearing Chickens, 41 Artificially, SG Turkeys, 219 Redcaps, Description of, 179 , Merits of, 129 Regulators for Incubators, 71, 80 Resting Travelled Eggs, 85 Rice as Food, 48 Hooting for Fowl-houses, 3 Rouen Ducks, 233 Rose-combed Leghorns, 198 Roup, Treatment for, 99 Rumpless Fowls, 202 Runs for Fowls, 7 , Grass, 7 , Wire-covered, 47 S Salt in Food, 22 Scaly Legs, 99 Schroder's Incubator, 70 Scotch Greys, Description, 200 Sebright Bantams, 206 Secret of Fattening Chickens Pro- fitably, 54, 55 Secret of Washing Fowls, 134 Secrets of Artificial Hatching, 91 Selection in Breeding, 14, 15, 113 Selecting Eggs for Setting, 38, 39 Separating Fowls on Farms, 67 the Sexes, 129 Setting, Eggs for, 32 Sex of Eggs, 33 Sexes, Separation of the, 101, 129 Shanghaes or Cochins, 141 Sharps as Food, 22, 48 Sheds for Shelter, 4, 68 Shelter Coops, 44 Silkies, Description of, 201 Silver Pheasant Fowl, 178, 229 Grey Dorkings, 114, 103 Laced Bantams, 208 Pencilled Hamburgh, 174 Spangled Hamburgh, 177 Polish, 182 Singeing, Dead Poultry, 58 Sitting Hens, 34, 35 Snow in Water, 27 Soft Eggs, 99 Soft Food for Fowls, 21, 24 Spanish Fowls, 14, 18 , Black Rot in, 173 , Merits of, 173 , Varieties of, 166—172 Spratt's Food, 48, 127, 137 Sterile Eggs, 39 Storing Eggs, 33 Sultans, Description of, 183 , Weight of, 184 Swan, The, 240 "Sweepings," Dangers of, 25 INDEX. 247 Table-Fowls, Quality of, 55 , Good Model, 56 Tail-wheat as Food, 25 Testing Eggs, 38 Thermostatic Incubator, 81 Thompson's, Sir H., Poultry Yard, IOC Tomlinson's Incubator, 78, 79 Toulouse Geese, 238 Travelled Eggs, 85 Trough for Food, 24 Trussing Fowls, 59 Turkeys, 213—221 , Bronze, 221 — , Cambridge, 215, 220 , Feeding, 219 , Merits of, 217 , Norfolk, 220 — , Weight of, 216 Value of Feathers, 30 - — Manure, 29, 61 Various Class, The 200, Ventilation, Benefits of, 3 Vegetable Food necessary for Fowls. 26,49 Vermin, How to get rid of, 3, 91, 100 Vessels for Food, 2j W Washing Fowls, 133 Water-fountains, 27 Water-fowl, Varieties of, 230 Water or no Water for Chickens, 50 Weeding the Yard, 129 Wheat as Food, 25 Wheaten Game Fowl, The, 157 White Bantams, 209 Cochins, 143 Comb, 146 Crested Black Polish, 181 - Crested White Polish, 182 Dorkings, 16-1 Geese"; 238 Leghorns, 198 Swan, The, 240 Willesden Paper, Use of, 3 Wire-covered Kun, 47 Wyandottes, Description of, 198, Yard, Mr. Lane's, 102 , Sir H. Thompson's, 105 Yards in Front of Sheds, 10 for Prize Fowls, 101 Yokohama, The, 203, 204 ' IXTED BY CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED, LA BE: LE SAUVAOE, LOXDOX, E.G. 20.394 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED 40 Gianninl'-Sbtoli - lei. to. 642-4493 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. -ftPft-t LD 21-40m-2,'69 (J6057slO)476 — A-32 General Library University of California Berkeley