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POULTRY
2 CT: PATTERSON
AMERICAN POULTRY ASSN.
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New Work
State College of Agriculture
At Cornell Guibersitp
Bthaca, N.. D.
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Cornell University Library
SF 487.pP3
Twenty lessons on poultry keeping; an e!
Cornell University
Library
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the Cornell University Library.
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A FLOCK OF PEKIN DUCKS. FOWLS ON THE RANGE. POULTRY
STUDENTS HOLDING AN EXHIBITION ON THE STREET.
TWENTY LESSONS
ON
POULTRY KEEPING
AN ELEMENTARY TREATISE
PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF
THE AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION
BY
C. T. PATTERSON
PATHOLOGIST AND PROFESSOR IN CHARGE OF THE EXPERIMENTAL AND EXTENSION
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI STATE POULTRY EXPERIMENTAL STATION
AND EDITED BY
FRANK E. HERING
WITH FULL-PAGE FRONTISPIECE
AND 55 ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT
PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
=
COPYRIGHT, IQI6, BY
AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION
PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS
PHILADELPHIA, U.S. A.
FOREWORD
Tue poultry business, once regarded as of small conse-
quence, has come to be recognized as one of our important
food-supplying industries. Both the flesh and eggs of poul-
try have become standard articles of diet. Eggs have been
found to be a good substitute for meat; people of all nations
eat more of them than of any other kind of food. Conse-
quently, there is a large and steady demand for poultry
products.
Indeed, no other farm products, save, perhaps, those
of the dairy, give as great a return as poultry for the time
and money invested. Even when no especial emphasis is
laid upon the raising of fowls, they prove profitable to their
owners. On the average farm, the outlay for food for poul-
try is very small. They can be fed, in part, with the waste
from the table. They can supplement this food with scraps
and scattered grain, and with insects picked up about the
farm and barnyard. It is a matter of economy for a
farmer to keep at least as many chickens as can find a living
for themselves; for they do more than supply eggs and
meat for family use. As a rule, the eggs and fowls sold
iii
iv FOREWORD
go a long way toward buying groceries, or toward paying
some of the other regular expenses of the farm home.
The people of to-day are demanding vocational courses
in the public schools. In response to their demand, a study
of practical agriculture has been made a part of the school
work inmany States. A very important subdivision of this
study is poultry raising. As a type study the subject of
poultry raising will be found to appeal to both boys and
girls, large and small, rich and poor, in town and in coun-
try. Moreover, it deserves a place in the school curriculum
because of the increasing importance of the poultry indus-
tries. The raising of fowls should prove a profitable voca-
tion for any enterprising young man or woman, as well
as a pleasant, remunerative “ side line” for the farmer or
the suburbanite.
The American Poultry Association is anxious that the
boys and girls of America be given some correct and definite
knowledge concerning poultry raising before they start on
their life’s work. Because so many children leave school
about the time they complete their elementary course, this
book has been prepared especially for the use of the seventh
and eighth grades. It is intended to be studied in connec-
tion with the subject of practical agriculture.
We hope this lttle volume will meet the demands of
FOREWORD v
both teacher and pupils—that the teacher will find it of as-
sistance in leading the children, and that the children them-
selves will find it an aid toward making the study of
poultry both pleasant and profitable. To this end, we dedi-
cate the book to the teachers and pupils of America.
Respectfully yours,
Tue Amertcan Pouttry AssocraTion,
E. B. Tuomeson,. President,
S. T. Campsett, Secretary,
C. T. Parrerson, Author,
Franx E. Herrne, Editor.
November, 1915.
CONTENTS
LESSON PAGE
I. Orntcin anp History or Fow.s................-.00005 1
II. Nomencrature Diacram or Fow................2..-- 5
III. CuaracTeristics OF FOWLS..............0 000 ee eee eee 6
IV. BREEDS AND VARIETIES..........0.. 0.000000 cece eee eens 13
V. Breeps aNp Varieties (Continued)................... 15
VI. Breeps anp Varieties (Continued)................--- 26
VI. Turkeys, Ducks anD GEESE}. i595 c44 60 ova seneeaeuas 28
VLE JUDGING exe ev aiiiosc ca sues is esa dea sen een matt oem ees 33
PX OH OUSIN Gide seit GRAS thud 5 nie spe Be rereaeea aes ered Fes 38
Nese HQ ULPMIBN Dialed te = 2a dys ccasaiinte Sat eaa ene aa seees Se on dfs RANE 43
2G VARDING: ‘AND? BENGING§ “5 )s:.hdiohe « cetoseidud seen asd panscversaniieeays 48
JOT, “PEE DS AND: PREDING +4 2.255 acd yt ebaton tle che a a cue 52
XIII. Feepine THe Bapy CHICKS.............00 0 cee ce eens 57
DOV IMEASIIN Goes cts Santen fees oerie Bee eave oes eoRa ne Bialstepe EAS 60
DEV 5 UN CUBIATIO Nacsec cvs areas wictas tees KOSS 10.6 66.3 1:6.2
OTR WHOM cone eek 6.4 73 1:11.5
Rolled? Wats: ,. ckonw sere 9.5 65.5 1:7.2
Cottonseed meal ... 41.1 40.4 1:1.0
Gluten meal ....... 255 74.8 1:29
Linseed oil meal ... 24.4 61.6 15
(old process )
Linseed oil meal ... 26.1 $3.1 1:2.0
(new process)
FEEDS AND FEEDING 55
Although proteins and carbohydrates are the main
elements needed for the nourishment of fowls, there are
other essential elements. Most of these are present in the
foods that contain the proteins and carbohydrates, but there
are some few elements that must be supplied. Among these
are common salt (sodium chloride), which should be given
to fowls, as to other animals. Care should be taken in
regulating the amount, however, as too much salt proves
injurious.
Other minerals, such as lime, the fowls get from gravel,
sand, ground oystershell, ete. These hard, sharp particles
serve two purposes: they grind the food in the gizzard of
the fowl, as well as furnish minerals. It is always well to
remember in this connection that poultry do not grind their
food in their mouths, as most animals do, but in their giz-
zards. Accordingly, part of the food should be ground
before being fed to the fowl, as an aid to digestion.
The following ration is good for laying hens. If the
fowls are allowed free range, however, the food they pick up
outside should be considered in feeding them.
DRY MASH
Gorn méal. «2. 25.458 100: Ibs: Shorts: sac ssarwguseees 40 Ibs.
Ground oats .......-+- 100 lbs. Beef scraps ..........4. 20 lbs.
Wheat bran ......... TOO Ibs; “Wine: sailtingcs was ae tress 2 Ibs.
The grain fed with this ration should be composed of
56 TWENTY LESSONS ON POULTRY KEEPING
equal parts of cracked corn and wheat, and should be scat-
tered in the litter morning and evening.
Chareoal and grit should be before the fowls all the
time.
In order to fatten fowls, they should be confined in a
coop and fed a wide ration, which contains a large per-
centage of carbohydrates. Corn meal and shorts, moistened
with buttermilk, make a good food for fattening.
Plenty of fresh, clean water should be before the fowls
at all times.
REVIEW
. Tell how fowls get over fences.
. Describe a good poultry fence.
Give size and shape of a farm poultry yard.
What advantage is there in fencing the poultry yard?
. What disadvantage?
ee
QUESTIONS
. How do fowls grind their food?
. Give the two values of grit.
What are the two classes of foods needed?
What is protein and what does it do?
What are carbohydrates and what do they do?
. What is a “balanced ration” and how do you figure a ration
aOnkwwre
where several feeds are combined?
. What is a narrow ration? A wide ration?
8. Give a good ration for laying hens.
9. Give a good ration for fattening fowls.
10. Name the digestive organs of a fowl and tell the work done by
each,
HOME WORK
Mix a balanced ration for laying hens and bring a sample of the
mixture to school.
LESSON XIII
Frrepine tue Basy CricKks
Axout the time a baby chick is ready to leave its shell, it
draws the yolk of the egg into its body. Nature has given
this yolk to the chick as a sort of lunch basket which contains
food enough to last for several days. This is a wise provi-
sion on the part of Dame Nature, for the little chick is very
Fic. 46.—Digestive organs of a baby chick; 1, crop, in which food is softened;
2, stomach, in which digestive juices are mixed with the .ood; 3, gizzard,in which
the grinding i is done by means of small picces of stone, called grit; 4, intestines; 5,
yolk, which serves as food for the baby chick for the first. few days after it comes
out of the shell; 6, Cceca or blind pouches. Much of the digested foods enter these,
the nourishing parts being absorbed.
weak for some time after leaving the egg and does not know
just what to eat nor where to findit. The yolk furnishes it
with food until it grows strong enough to shift for itself.
(Fig. 46).
The baby chick should not be fed until it has used at
least a part of this yolk. It is not well, however, to wait too
long before feeding it. If the chick grows too hungry, it is
: 57
58 TWENTY LESSONS ON POULTRY KEEPING
likely to gorge itself. From twenty-four to forty-eight
hours after hatching is a good age at which to begin feeding.
Only a small quantity of food should be given to begin with,
but the amount should be gradually increased as the yolk
is used,
Some claim that sour milk or buttermilk, if given to the
chick before any food is given, will have a medicinal value
in controlling diseases of the intestines. It will at least do
no harm to give the chicks a few drops of the milk, which
is a valuable food. All through the chick’s life buttermilk
and sour milk are very beneficial and, to some degree, take
the place of meats.
The first day’s feed for the chick may be of hard boiled
ege, ground up fine, shell, yolk and white thoroughly mixed.
If the shell is not included in the mixture, some fine sand
should be sprinkled over the food. Grit or sand should not,
however, be given to chicks in quantities during the first
few days; for the chicks are likely to eat too much of it.
The feed for the second and third days should be a mix-
ture of boiled eggs, bread crumbs, and oatmeal. The egg
and bread crumbs should be gradually omitted, and wheat
bran added to take their place. When the chick is about a
week old, it may be given a good grade of chick feed for
grain, and a mixture of corn meal, oatmea!, and wheat bran
formash. At the age of two months, chicks may be fed the
ration for laying hens.
FEEDING THE BABY CHICKS 59
REVIEW
. Name the digestive organs of a fowl.
Explain a ‘‘ balanced ration.”
. Explain a “wide ration;” a “narrow ration.”
. Give a ration for laying hens.
. Give a ration for fattening poultry.
oP DO De
QUESTIONS
1. What is the yolk of an egg for?
2. How long will the yolk last the baby chick?
3. Where does the yolk enter the intestine?
4. When should the first feed be given to the baby chick?
5. What should its first feed be?
6. When and how should grit be given?
7. What is the danger in waiting too long to feed the chick?
8. What should the chick’s feed be the second week?
9. At what age should it be given the ration for laying hens?
10. Is sour milk a good food?
HOME WORK
Kill a hen at home and examine the digestive organs; name each
organ as you locate it.
LESSON XIV
Martine
ExprertMents have proved that it is best to keep the
various breeds and varieties pure. It is a risky business
to attempt cross-mating. Those who practise it usually
fail, and find it necessary to begin all over again. Those
who wish to experiment, should try cross breeding with only
afew chickens. The main flock, to produce the best results,
should be kept pure.
In order to improve the farm flock, it is a good practice
to select. the best fowls and place them in a pen by them-
selves, and to hatch from this pen only. If eggs for hateh-
ing are taken from the entire flock, the results are uncertain,
and failure is likely. Only those fowls should be selected
which have constitutional vigor. It is not necessarily the
largest chickens that are the best. Other characteristics
than size should be considered. The fowls should have
clear voices, and prominent, clear eyes. They should stand
firm, with their feet flat on the ground and their toes well
spread. The toes should have short nails, and the knees
should be set well apart. If the chickens are in good con-
dition, they should be quick and active, and should get out
early in the morning and stay out late at night.
60
MATING 61
The shape of the fowls is a very important considera-
tion. Hens which are wedge shaped—narrow in front and
wide behind—are usually the best egg producers. The
blocky, square or rectangular shape is the best for meat pro-
duction. Under no circumstances should fowls which show
weaknesses of any kind be used for breeding. All those
should be discarded which have any prominent defects, such
as crooked backs or breast bones, wry tails, single combs
in rose comb varieties, or rose combs in single comb varie-
ties, feathers on ‘shanks, in smooth-shank varieties, or
smooth shanks in feathered-shank varieties.
It is the tendency among fowls of the parti-colored
varieties, for the males to become lighter and the females
darker in color through breeding. In order to produce
males and females of the same color, it is necessary to have
two breeding pens. One of the pens should be used for
fowls lighter in color than wanted, and the other for darker
fowls. ‘The first pen will produce females of the desired
color, and the second will produce males of the desired color.
This method, which is called double mating, is practised by
some fanciers to produce exhibition fowls.
If males and females from the same pen are kept to-
gether for breeding, the results are likely to be bad. This
practice is called in-breeding. In order to avoid it, some
breeders keep two pens or lines which were originally from
the same pen. The fowls are mated from these two lines.
62
TWENTY LESSONS ON POULTRY KEEPING
The results of this method, which is called line breeding,
are likely to be good; for, while the fowls are of the same
blood, they are distantly related.
oR WN
wonntanPtp willow
ww
—)
REVIEW
. What is the yolk of an egg for?
. When should the baby chick be fed?
What should its first feed be?
How should grit be given?
. Explain the changes in the feed ration for the first two months.
QUESTIONS
. How can the flock be improved?
. What is the most important point in selecting breeders?
. Does the movement of a fowl tell anything of its vigor?
. Name some points of a good fowl.
. Name some points of an inferior fowl.
. What is the egg-producing shape?
. What is the meat-producing shape?
. Should breeds and varieties be crossed?
. What is the breeding tendency of fowls whose color is black-
and-white?
. What is “ double mating?”
HOME WORK
Select and mark some good breeders and some poor breeders and
write out your reasons for the selection.
LESSON XV
INCUBATION
Ir is natural for a hen to lay twelve or fifteen eggs and
then to become broody. By selection and careful breeding,
Fic. 47.—Hatching box.
hens have been brought to lay many more eggs than this
number ; but most hens, sooner or later, want to sit. If it is
desired to hatch chicks, a hen should be removed to a hatch-
ing box as soon as she becomes broddy (Fig. 47). This box
should be arranged with a runway in front of the nest
so that the hen will be able to get some exercise, and to reach
the food and water placed there for her, without bothering
63
64 TWENTY LESSONS ON POULTRY KEEPING
the other hens, or being bothered by them, during the period
of incubation.
By incubation we mean the developing of the chick inside
of theegg. An egg is composed of four parts; 1st, the living
germ, which develops into the chick; 2d, the yolk, which is
food for the chick after it leaves the shell; 3d, the white,
or albumen, which is food for the embryo while in the shell;
‘Ott
and 4th, the shell, which is for protection. The white is
Psa has the chipper on its beak, yet
composed principally of protein and, water; and the yolk
contains a large amount of fat.
vil) The pnicrascopig, gernids located {im aémall, white spot
(the germinal disk,) om the top,aédheyalky-Dhis spot always
CHAP ite the,top 58R4, if, the, oe MOL LAY, ed ithe : yolk will
ris 9 thrqugh the 2 PPE sorthat i it in yecelve t the heat from
nse )O'L( SOLO
the hen, above. a left in this posifiior ion to9 lo: long, ‘the embryo
att oqf to Tooth mt veyriurr*s
will stick to the shell. 'To avoid this catastr ophey the hen
HOsot ye se1ot9z9 orto Joe oF oldy od Tltw adit ott 5
turns the eee two or three times a day.
enrrortiod Frodtry «tol rot oredd SoBIq totKW bits boo,
od
INCUBATION 65
Air passes through the pores of the shell for use by the
embryo as it develops. If the pores are stopped by a coat of
oil or dirt, the embryo smothers. If the eggs are permitted
to dry out too much, there will not be enough albumen left
to make the chick large and strong enough to break the shell
and get out, and it will die in the shell.
After about twenty-one days of incubation, the chick is
ready to leave its shell (Fig. 48). Although it is not very
strong, it is able to make its way through the hard shell with-
out very much difficulty, for Nature has provided it with a
hard, sharp point which is fastened to the end of its beak.
With the aid of this little instrument, the chick breaks out
of its shell. It first makes a little hole in about the middle
of the largest part of the egg. Then it turns itself around
inside of the egg, breaking the shell as it goes. This makes
a broken ring around the egg, so that just a little pressure is
needed to force the two halves of the shell apart, and let
the little chick out into a big world where all things are
strange and new.
The process of incubation goes on just the same
whether the eggs are hatched by a hen or by an incubator.
An incubator, as you know, is a machine whereby chickens
are hatched by artificial heat. As the demand for poultry
and poultry products became greater and greater, some
such machine became necessary; for men wanted to rear
greater numbers of chickens than it was possible to hatch
5
66 TWENTY LESSONS ON POULTRY KEEPING
with hens. There are now many types of incubators, hold-
ing from fifty eggs to several thousand eggs each. They are
heated by means of oil, coal, gas, or electricity. Hot air, or
sometimes hot water, is distributed through pipes which
pass through the upper part of the incubator, over the eggs.
The temperature is held at 103 degrees for the first week ;
Fic. 49.—A brood of chicks hatched in an incubator.
but is increased to 104 degrees the second week, and remains
stationary during the rest of the period of incubation. All
incubators are self regulating; that is, they have some
mechanical device for keeping the heat stationary. They
require nothing on the part of the breeder save the keeping
up of the fire and the turning of the eggs. This must be
on
oD
INCUBATION 67
done once or twice a day from the third to the eighteenth
day of incubation. The eggs must also be cooled and aired
each day for about thirty minutes at the time they are
turned. The construction of the incubator is so simple that
it is almost impossible to have bad results with them if
instructions are followed (Fig. 49).
REVIEW
. Tell how to improve the flock.
. Describe a fowl of high vitality.
. Describe a fowl of low vitality.
. Describe a good egg type.
. Describe a good meat type.
oF 2 WD eS
QUESTIONS
. What is incubation?
. What is the natural method of incubation?
Name the parts of an egg.
. Give the composition of the yolk and albumen.
. Where is the germ located?
. How long does it take a chick to develop?
. Tell something of incubators.
. Why should eggs be turned?
. What temperature should be maintained?
. How does a chick get out of the shell?
SeMDNankhwNH
ro
HOME WORK
Select a good meat type and a good egg type from among the fowls
at home.
LESSON XVI
Broopine
Tv is natural for the hen to brood her young chicks—that
is, to care for them until they are old enough to care for
themselves. The good mother does not leave her nest as soon
as a few of her chicks are hatched. Often her chicks are
two days old before the hen gets off her nest. Even after
that she looks after them carefully. She protects them
from danger, and shelters them under her wings from cold
and rain. She keeps them from going astray and finds food,
such as seeds and insects, for them. She valiantly fights off
any intruders.
After the chicks are hatched, it is a good plan to place
the hen in a brooding coop (Fig. 50). This coop should
consist simply of a hover, with a runway in front of it. The
runway should be fenced with slats close enough together to
keep the hen from getting out, yet not close enough to pre-
vent the little chicks from going through. Such a coop can
be placed in the yard or garden, or in any out-of-the-way
place. As the chickens grow older, they will learn to range
farther and farther, and yet will have the coop to run to in
case of danger, and to go to at night.
When chicks must be cared for without the hen, artificial
brooders must be used. There are many kinds of brooders.
68
BROODING 69
Some are made to be placed inside a building, while some
are built so that they can be used outside. There are heated
brooders which are heated by means of oil, coal, gas, or elec-
tricity, in much the same manner as an incubator, and fire-
less brooders which are dependent upon the body heat of
Fic. 50.—Brooding coop.
the chicks. There are brooder stoves made which will heat
an entire room.
Of course, natural brooding has some advantages over
artificial brooding. A hen will take care of the chicks while
the owner is away—will fight enemies such as hawks and
70 TWENTY LESSONS ON POULTRY KEEPING
will protect the chicks from sudden showers. There is no
danger of fire with a natural brooder, and the chicks are not
often smothered by crowding, as they sometimes are in an
artificial brooder. But on the other hand, an artificial
brooder can take care of many more chicks than a hen; and
the dangers it exposes them to are not much more serious
than those they are likely to experience when mothered by
ahen. Little chicks are often exposed by the hen to ver-
min. Occasionally they are killed by their mothers, who
fight them, step on them, or dragele them through wet
grass.
REVIEW
1. Define natural and artificial incubation.
2. Tell all you can about the different parts of an egg.
3. Give the effects of the drying of an egg.
4. Describe fully a hatching box.
5. Describe an incubator.
QUESTIONS
. What does the hen do for the baby chick?
- What does the chick do for food just after hatching?
. What should a chick be fed first?
. What changes should be made in the food?
Describe a good brood coop for hen and chickens.
Ae ee
6. Give some advantages of a brood coop.
7. What is a brooder?
8. Name the different kinds of brooders.
9. Give some advantages of both natural and artificial brooding.
JQ. Give some disadvantages of each. :
HOME WORK
Make a good brood coop for a hen and chickens.
LESSON XVII
ENEMIES
Ir is natural for some animals to live by eating plants.
Others live by eating both plants and animals; while still
others live upon animals alone. The last two classes in-
clude the enemies of poultry, such as rats, cats, skunks,
hawks, crows, lice, mites, and so forth.
Rats are thought to do more harm to the poultry indus-
try than any other enemy excepting lice. They usually
eatch little chickens at night, and kill them by biting them
through the heads. Then they suck the blood, and drag the
dead chickens away and hide them in some out-of-the-way
place. Skunks kill chicks in very much the same way as
rats, though they usually leave some of the dead chickens
‘where they have killed them, dragging off only one or two
to their dens, for food for their young. House cats, also,
often catch and kill small chickens during the daytime;
but they are very sly about it, so they are usually thought to
be innocent. The surest way to combat these enemies is to
build the coops and houses so that they cannot get in.
In timbered regions, hawks are a great menace to chicks.
The only way to protect the chicks against them is to kill the
71
72 TWENTY LESSONS ON POULTRY KEEPING
hawks. Sometimes they can be shot; or often they can be
trapped with a steel trap placed on a high pole near the
place where the chicks range.
Crows often prove as dangerous as hawks. If they once
start catching little chicks, they will work diligently,
sometimes carrying off almost an entire flock in a single
day. It is much easier to trap or shoot a crow, however,
than a hawk; for the crow seems to forget danger when
interested in its prey, while the hawk is always on the alert.
Owls work at night. The screech owl, which makes
the wild, weird sound at night, does very little damage to
poultry, as it feeds chiefly on mice; but the great horned
owligapowerfulenemy. It knocks large fowls off the roost
at night, and makes short work of them, while they are
stunned by their fall.