LIBRARY LADY MACDUFF— THE FIRST 300-EcG HEN This Oregon Agricultural College hen has demonstrated the high egg-pro- ducing possibilities of the domestic hen by laying 303 eggs in 12 months, 512 eggs in 24 months, and 679 eggs in 36 months. POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT By JAMES DRYDEN Professor of Poultry Husbandry at the Oregon Agricultural College ILLUSTRATED NEW YORK ORANGE JUDD COMPANY 1916 COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY OEANGE JUDD COMPANY All Eights Eeserved Main Lib Agric. Dt^t*. Printed in U. 5". ^. PREFACE THERE need be no apologies for new poultry books. The industry is important, the poultry constituency large, and one poultry book representing the finding of one author would hardly be presumed to meet all demands. In these days of progress in the science, if it may be so called, of poultry husbandry, it is imperative that new compilations be made and new books published at frequent ' intervals, that the poultry keeper may receive the benefit of early knowledge of new discoveries. The remarkable development of poultry culture during the past two decades is one of the outstanding features of American agriculture. Twenty years ago the possibilities of poultry-keeping as an industry were scarcely dreamed of. While it does not yet receive the consideration it deserves — far from it — nevertheless it has made immense gains both in popular recognition and in production. This has been brought about by a better realization of the pro- ductive value of the hen. The idea of "fuss and feathers," long associated with the keeping of fowls, has gradually given way to the idea of a poultry industry whose first and only business, as an industry, is the production of eggs and meat. With the development of the industry, there has been a growing demand for information dealing with practical problems of production. The poultry producer has his full share of problems. It must be confessed that the available literature has been insufficient and fragmentary. This lack, however, is being rapidly filled, and, as a result, in all parts of the country, there are now examples of sue- 342853 VI PREFACE cessf ul poultry farms ; not that the special poultry farm is by any means a true measure of the poultry industry, for the industry is, and probably always will be, largely a busi- ness for the general farmer, but that the success of special poultry-keeping is a measure of the advance that has been made in the solution of practical poultry problems. This book, therefore, has been prepared that it may add to the available poultry literature; not that it may sup- plant other books, nor that it should be the last word on the subject. The author is fully conscious of its imper- fections; but, to every student of poultry culture, and to every poultry farmer, he earnestly hopes that it may bring some helpful message. JAMES DRYDEN. Corvallis, Oregon. CONTENTS Chapter Page I. Historical Aspect 1 II. Evolution of Modern Fowl 11 III. Modern Development of Industry 19 IV. Classification of Breeds 24 V. Origin and Description of Breeds 30 VI. Principles of Poultry Breeding 61 VII. Problem of Higher Fecundity 92 VIII. Systems of Poultry Farming 138 IX. Housing of Poultry 160 X. Kind of House to Build 187 XI. Fundamentals of Feeding 210 XII. Common Poultry Foods 237 XIII. Methods of Feeding 249 XIV. Methods of Hatching Chickens 281 XV. Artificial Brooding 320 XVI. Marketing Eggs and Poultry 333 XVII. Diseases and Parasites of Fowls 375 vii ILLUSTRATIONS Page Lady Macduff. The first 300-egg hen Frontispiece Jungle fowl cock (Gallus bankivus) 3 Jungle fowl hen (Gallus bankivus) 4 White Leghorn cockerel 31 Black Minorca male 32 Barred Plymouth Rock cockerel 39 Barred Rock hen, showing fine barring 40 White Wyandotte hen 42 White Wyandotte cock 43 Rhode Island Reds 44 White Orpington hen 48 Light Sussex 49 Speckled Sussex 50 Domesticated 51 Faverolle hen 51 Three breeds of different types winning in Australian laying competitions 53 Good utility Barred Plymouth Rock cockerel 55 Light Brahmas 56 Buff Cochin hen 57 Le Mans — A special French meat breed 58 Points of the fowl 59 La Fleche 60 Variation the opportunity of the breeder 64 Result of crossing White Wyandotte and Black Minorca, showing barring 67 Breed improvers. Pedigreed cockerels, from stock with rec- ords of over 200 eggs in a year 69 Barred Plymouth Rock male. Son of a 218-egg hen . . . . 71 A good type of breeder from 200-egg stock 72 Barred Plymouth Rock male, Oregon Station 73 Result of breeding for a fancy point 74 Barred Rock and White Leghorn first cross, male . . . . . . 78 ix x ILLUSTRATIONS Page Barred Rock and White Leghorn, first cross, female . . . . 78 Barred Rock and White Leghorn first cross. Flock showing dominant white 79 White Wyandotte-Black Minorca male, first cross, with white plumage and rose comb 80 The recessive color barring 81 Oregon Station hen C543. An exceptional layer though inbred 89 Like begets like 92 Like does not always beget like 93 Oregon Station hen D18, 271 eggs in a year 93 Barred Rock hen A78, record 212 eggs 94 A good Plymouth Rock head with the stamp of vigor . . . . 95 Barred Plymouth Rock hen, 65, 218 eggs 96 Daughter of 65, laid 218 eggs. Granddaughter, laid 221 eggs 97 A mother of high producers, A122 laid 259 eggs in a year . . 98 A family of high producers, daughters of A122 99 A77, 214 eggs. A producer of good layers 100 Daughters of A77 101 Granddaughters of A77 102 A79, 219 eggs. A good layer and breeder of good layers. . . . 104 Granddaughters of A79 105 White Leghorn hen 034, 229 eggs in first year 107 Daughters of 034 107 Oregona — White Leghorn hen. Record of more than 1,100 eggs 108 Hen B42 laid 834 eggs in four years 113 Hen A60 laid 816 eggs in four years 113 Belle of Jersey, 649 eggs in three years 116 Queen Utana, 816 eggs in five years 116 Rose-Comb Brown Leghorn hen, 442 eggs in two years. . . . 116 Three Cornell long-distance layers 117 Lady Macduff, taken day after she laid her 303d egg . . . . 117 The 303d egg of Lady Macduff 117 Lady Macduff and 10 daughters 118 Pedigree of Lady Macduff 118 Lady Macduff in full plumage in her second year 119 Son of Lady Macduff 119 Daughter of Lady Macduff 119 Mother of Lady Maeduff 120 Lady Showyou 121 C543 at end of first 12 months' laying 122 ILLUSTRATIONS xi Page Oregon hen C543, 291 eggs 122 Highest record hen at the Missouri 1913-14 competition . . . . 122 The head indicating laying quality 123 Breeder of poor layers, 20 eggs in a year 124 White Leghorn hen, laid 1 egg in a year 124 A good layer from poor laying stock 125 Poor layers from good laying stock 125 Barred Plymouth Rock hen laid 74 eggs in a year 126 Another view of Oregona 126 White Leghorn hen, 242 eggs in first year 126 Hen E248, 302 eggs. Daughter of C516 127 White Leghorn hen C516, 267 eggs in a year 127 Two poor layers 128 Utah Station Wyandottes 128 New Zealand White Leghorns 129 White Wyandottes averaged 208.5 eggs in Storrs contest . . 129 White Leghorns averaged 208.8 eggs in Storrs Competition. . 130 Winning pen in the Panama Pacific International Egg-laying Competition 130 The long and the short way, in breeding for eggs 131 Record of a flock of 43 fowls at the Oregon Station for two years 131 Good fall and winter producers the best layers 132 The first layers the best layers 133 Inheritance of egg production 134, 135 Egg organs of the hen 136 Poultry keeping and dairying 139 An Oregon fruit and poultry farm 141 A California poultry and fruit farm 141 1,000 pullets in prune orchard 142 Eggs and peaches from the same ground 143 Free range colony system at Petaluma, California, 145 Petaluma farm of 120 acres and 6,000 hens .146 Cleaning out the houses on a Petaluma farm 147 Land unfit for cultivation is used 148 2,000 hens on 3 acres 148 Exclusive poultry farming on the intensive system 149 4,000 hens on 4 acres 150 The intensive plan 151 Backyard egg farming 152 xii ILLUSTRATIONS Page A poultry yard may be made an attractive feature of the back- yard 153 A backyard Louse in which 25 hens averaged 188 eggs, . . . . 154 Another backyard system 155 A plan for backyard poultry keeping 156 The first and not the worst poultry house 163 About the worst poultry house that was ever built 164 An unsatisfactory poultry house 165 A boy with a "safe" horse and "spring" wagon gathers the eggs 170 A rear view of the Missouri house, showing ventilation . . . . 171 The Missouri Poultry Station house 172 The Oregon Station's first open front colony house 177 The improved Oregon Station portable house 178 The Oregon Station pullet-testing yards 179 Special breeding yards, Oregon Station 180 A colony house at the Utah Station 181 A scratching shed is an advantage where the house room is limited 182 A cheap shed for fowls 183 Colony houses used on a Rhode Island poultry farm . . . .- 184 Piano boxes utilized for hen houses 185 Stationary 100-hen house. Oregon Station 188 Curtain-front house 189 The nests arranged under the dropping platform 197 A good broody coop 198 The Oregon Station trapnest 200 Taking Lady Macduff from the trapnest when she laid her 303d egg 201 Portable fence 204 Showing how fence may be constructed 205 A balanced ration 219 The relative amounts of ash, fat, protein and water in eggs. . 220 Balanced ration for one hen for a year 226 Digestive organs of the fowl 235 Chickens threshing their own grain 238 Oregon Station outdoor dry food hopper 255 A good roaster 275 Feeding battery for fattening 277 Feeding Station 279 ILLUSTRATIONS xiii Page Parts of a fresh egg 282 The beginning of the end of incubation 284 The young graduate 284 Nests used for sitting hens 291 The Oregon Station combination hatching and brooding coop 293 A new brood coop 294 Plan of hen brood coop 295 Hen brooding at Oregon Station . . 296 Brood coop made out of a shoe box 297 Brooding coops on a Rhode Island farm 298 Division of poultry labor at Petaluma 300 Chicks loaded onto the wagon 301 After traveling two miles the chicks were put into this brood- ing house 302 Oregon Station incubator house 303 Interior of Oregon Station incubator house 304 A 150-egg incubator 305 A 250-egg incubator . . . . 306 Hot water jug brooder . . . . . . . . 325 Continuous brooding system 326 Room or stove brooding; a night scene 327 A stove brooder with hover 328 A stove brooder showing hover and different parts 329 Room brooding, with oil or gas heater outside of room . . . . 330 Flock of 8,000 young pullets 330 Cornell gasoline brooder 331 Terra cotta brooder 332 A 12-dozen crate which may be used for shipping eggs . . . . 338 A roaster in a parcel post package 339 A parcel post package showing eggs wrapped . . 339 The rural mail carrier takes the eggs from the farm . . . . 340 Commercial egg candling 352 A kerosene lamp set inside of a box makes a good tester. . . . 353 Instead of a kerosene lamp, an electric light bulb may be used 354 A fresh egg — note small air space 355 A stale egg — note large air space 355 Cans of frozen eggs 361 Poultry demonstration car 367 Unloading a Nebraska carload of poultry at San Francisco. . 3G8 Dry picking, dry cooling, and dry-packed poultry 370 xiv ILLUSTRATIONS Page Dressed capon 373 An expert caponizer 373 A bad case of roup 381 Normal hen's ovary 387 Diseased ovary 387 Two white diarrhoea chicks 389 Taking blood sample for white diarrhoea test 391 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT CHAPTER I HISTORICAL ASPECT Present races of fowls were domesticated, or reclaimed from the wild state, away back about the time that man was learning the rudiments of civilization. When man himself became "tame," he set about taming the wild things of the forest and the plain, in order that they might better supply his needs for food, for raiment, and for labor. "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, ' ' was undoubtedly the im- pelling motive that led to the domestication of the wild fowl. Savages were content to depend upon the hunt for their daily food supply. Centuries after the ancient peoples of Asia had domesticated the fowl, the Indians on this contin- ent had failed to domesticate the turkey, which is now the most highly prized bird for food, and possibly the most highly valued of any kind of animal food. Civilized man desired a more certain food supply, how- ever, than that of the hunt. To exercise his God-given dominion over the earth, man had to bring to his assistance plants and animals that hitherto existed only in the wild state. With domestication, came improvement in produc- tive qualities. The eggs of the wild fowl had no other use than reproduction. She laid a few eggs and hatched them. There was no demand for them for human food, or for use in arts and manufactures. The wild ancestor of our domestic hen laid probably a dozen or twenty eggs a year. The difference between that and eight or ten dozen repre- sents the achievement of centuries of poultry culture. 2 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT The purpose of domestication was undoubtedly utility. There is no evidence to show that fowls were domesticated for any fancied or peculiar appearance. There were other birds that appealed more to the aesthetic. There were various species of the pheasant family, of gorgeous plumage and proud carriage — all have remained practically in their natural state. If the ancients were looking for something to please the eye or the fancy, some of these would have suited their purpose better than the fowl. Our present breeds of fowls, however much some of them may be em- bellished with colors and shapes that appeal to our fancy and command our admiration, are without "pride of an- cestry/' so far as the original jungle fowl conformed to our present-day standard of beauty. But it is not surprising that after thousands of years of poultry keeping we have now some breeds that have been developed along fancy lines entirely. There might have been another object besides utility in domesticating the fowl. Semi-barbarous peoples of the Orient were, and still are, much addicted to the sport of cock-fighting, and the fighting qualities of the jungle fowl may have appealed to them more than any possible use they could make of the fowl as a source of food supply. The fact that there has been great improvement in meat and egg production, however, is pretty strong evidence that usefulness was the impelling motive in the domestication of fowls and in their breeding through all the centuries since they were weaned away from their natural state. Origin. — It is generally agreed among naturalists that our present races of domestic fowls are descended from a wild jungle fowl of India. The Orient has given to the world the fowl as well as many of our domestic animals. There are four species of jungle fowls from which it is claimed by different authorities that domestic fowls were descended, HISTORICAL ASPECT namely, Gallus bankiva, G. Sonneratii, G. Stanleyii, G. Varius (or furcatus). While there has been much discus- sion and difference of opinion, it is generally conceded that the evidence points to the Gallus bankivus as the original progenitor. This species is a Bantam-sized fowl, patterned much after the Red Game of our day. The male Bankivus has the color and carriage of the Game. * ' Specimens of this fowl, ' ' says Mr. Dixon, ' * were brought from the island of Java and deposited in the museum of Paris. They inhabit the forests and borders of woods, and are exceed- ingly wild. On examin- ing the species, it will be found to exhibit many points of resemblance with our common barn- yard fowls of the smaller or middling size. The form and color are the same, the comb and wattles are smaller, and the hen so m u c-h r e - sembles the common hen that it is difficult to dis- tinguish it except by the less erect slant of the tail. The rise of the tail is much more apparent in the male, but it may be observed that in all wild species known, the tail does not rise so high above the level of the rump, nor is it so abundantly provided with covering feathers as in the common birds. Feathers which fall from the neck over the top of the back are, as in other fowls, long and with divided plumelets or braids, the feathers widening a little and being rounded. The colors of the plumage are exceedingly brilliant. The head, the neck, and all the long JUNGLE FOWL COCK (Gallus bankivus) Reproduced from Carnegie Institution. Publication No. 121, 1909, by Charles S. Davenport. POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT feathers of the back which hang over the rump are of a shining, flame-colored orange; the top of the back, the small and middle coverts of the wings are of a fine maroon purple ; the coverts of the wings are black, tinged with irri- descent green ; the quill feathers of the wings are russet red on the outer and black on the inner edges ; the breast, belly, thighs, and tail are black and tinged with irridescent green ; the comb, cheek, throat, and wattles are of a more or less vivid red; the legs and feet are grey and furnished Hk with strong spurs, the iris of the eye yellow. "The Bankiva hen is smaller than the cock; and her tail is also a little horizontal and vaulted ; she has a small comb, and the wattles are very short ; the space around the neck, as well as the throat, is naked; on this space are some small feathers, distinct from each other, through which the red skin can be seen; the breast and belly are light bay or fawn yellow, and on each feather is a small, clear ray along the side of the middle rib or stem ; the feathers of the base of the neck are long, with disunited braids, or plumelets, of a black color in the middle and fringed with ochre yellow; the back, the coverts, the wings, the rump and the tail are earthy grey marked with numerous black zigzags; the large feathers of the wing are ashy grey." The Bankivus inhabits northern India and is found in JUNGLE FOWL HEN (Callus bankivus) Reproduced from Carnegie Institution. Publication No. 121, 1909, by Charles B. Davenport. HISTORICAL ASPECT 5 the Himalayan mountains at an altitude of 4,000 feet ; high- er up other species of wild fowl are found. It also inhabits Burma, the Malay Peninsula and the Philippine Islands, and the Island of Java. The evidence in support of a common origin of all races of fowls comes largely from Darwin. While Darwin was inclined to a belief in a common origin and saw nothing im- possible in this theory, at the same time there are indications in his writings that he thought it barely possible that some varieties of fowls might have been descended from a dif- ferent species, now possibly extinct. On the other hand, some poultry fanciers took issue with Darwin and pro- claimed it impossible that all domestic fowls could have been descended from one parent source. Darwin based his conclusions largely on his own experi- ments, and while, as he himself confesses, the evidence may not be conclusive, it is the best evidence that we have, and we give here the substance of it. The evidence pointed to the Bankivus as the progenitor of all fowls, first, because it mated with the tame fowl and produced offspring, while the other species mentioned never or rarely crossed. Dar- win dwells with considerable detail on this fact as an argu- ment in favor of the Bankivus. Sometimes, however, dif- ferent species of animals will mate together and produce offspring, but the progeny called hybrids are barren or un- fertile. The mule is usually cited in illustration of this fact. He is the product of two distinct species of animals, the proof of which is the fact that he is barren. The horse and the ass therefore could not have had a common origin. Darwin, and later others, not only found that the Gallus bankivus freely mates with our domestic fowl, but that the offspring are fertile and breed successfully. These experi- ments strongly impressed Darwin with the belief that Gallus bankivus is the original progenitor of domestic fowls. 8 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT Experiments along another line pointed in the same direc- tion. Students of heredity know that crossing and inter- crossing breeds and varieties cause reversion, or a breeding back to remote ancestors. "Why the likeness of some ancient ancestor through the act of crossing different breeds should suddenly reappear in the offspring after having apparently disappeared from the face of the earth centuries ago is one of the enigmas of breeding. Following up the clue of re- version, Darwin found what he claimed to be strong evi- dence pointing to the Gallus bankiva as the original ancestor of our fowls. He says that Game, Malay, Cochin, Bantam and Silkies, when crossed, revert to the Bankiva. In cross- ing the Black Spanish and White Silkie, he found that the offspring were all black, except one cock which resembled Gallus bankiva so strongly that he said : ' * It was a marvelous sight to compare this bird with Gallus bankiva and then with its father." He declared further that the color of the golden and silver Pencilled Hamburgs pointed to their ancient progenitors. "This may be in part explained by direct reversion to the parent form, the Bankiva hen, for this bird has all its upper plumage finely mottled. ' ' Remarkable, is it not, that after two or three thousand years of breeding away from the wild fowl, it is possible in crossing to trace in the color of plumage and shape and carriage of the offspring the descent of the wild fowl to our present modern breeds. And yet to scien- tists such as Darwin, mute testimony of this nature may be more conclusive than the written word. Darwin's findings in regard to the common origin of the domestic fowl may be summarized as follows: 1. The domestic fowls mate freely with G. bankivck 2. They mate very rarely with any other species. 3. The Bankiva hybrids are fertile. 4. The hybrids of other species are not fertile. HISTORICAL ASPECT 7 He argued in favor of but one origin, namely G. bankiva. He explains in the following words how the changes in the fowl have come about, and how it is reasonable to believe that all the breeds have descended from one parent source : "... from the occasional appearance of abnormal characters, though at first only slight in degree; from the effects of the use and disuse of parts; possibly from the direct effects of changed climate and food ; from correlation of growth; from occasional reversions to old and long-lost characters ; from the crossing of breeds when more than one had once been formed; but, above all, from unconscious selection carried on during many generations. " While the views and conclusions of Darwin were generally those of all naturalists, there were others, including poul- try writers and fanciers, who took strong grounds against them. His conclusions were published in the year 1867. It is worthy of note that a gentleman from whom he got much of his poultry information, and whom he frequently quotes in his book, later (1885) took issue with his conclusions that all domestic fowls came from Gallus bankivus. This man was Mr. W. B. Tegetmeier, F.Z.S., a noted poultry author and authority in England, who was associated with Darwin in some of his experiments. Mr. Tegetmeier gives it as his opinion that the different species of wild Galli will inter- breed, and then he says: "But it is with regard to the Eastern Asiatic type of fowl (absurdly known as Cochins and Brahmas) that my doubts as to the descent from the G. ferrugineus (Bankivus) are strongest. "We have in the Cochin a fowl so different, from the ordinary domestic birds that when first introduced the most ridiculous legends were current respecting it. Put- ting these on one side, we have a bird with many structural peculiarities that could hardly have been induced by domes- tication. Thus, the long axis of the occipital foramen in 8 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT the Cochin is perpendicular, in our old breeds horizontal, a difference that could never have been bred for, and which it is difficult to see could be correlative with any other change. The same may be said respecting the deep sulcus or groove up the center of the frontal bone. "The extraordinary diminution in the size of the flight feathers and that of the pectoral muscles could hardly have been the result of human selection and careful breeding, as the value of the birds as articles of food is considerably lessened by the absence of flesh on the breast. Nor is the extreme abundance of fluffy, soft body feathers a character likely to be desired in a fowl. The vastly increased size may have been a matter of selection, although, as the inhabitants of Shanghai feed their poultry but scantily, and, according to Mr. Fortune, mainly on paddy of unhusked rice, it is not easy to see how the size of the breed was obtained if, as is generally surmised, it arose from the little jungle fowl. "Taking all these facts into consideration, I am induced to believe that the birds of the Cochin type did not descend from the same species as our game fowl. ' ' Mr. Edward Brown expresses his opinion as follows: "To sum up, therefore, it may be taken that with the domestic fowl, as with many other natural forms of life, we can go so far back, but no further. The probability is that, as in the case of dogs, all the varieties of fowls do not owe their origin to any one species, at any rate of those now extant, and that we must look to another progenitor than the G. fer- rugineus for several of the later introduced races, more es- pecially those from China. " Such, briefly stated, is the argument, pro and con, as to the common origin of the domestic fowl. It may be enough for us to know that we have the chicken that lays the eggs and feeds the world. In the jungles of farther India a wild fowl is scratching and cackling to-day as its ancestors did HISTORICAL ASPECT 9 three thousand years ago. It breeds pure without any stan- dard of excellence, and lays the same number of eggs as its ancestor did before the Christian era. It crows at the mid- night hour, but it shuns the society of man. It is pure-bred because it has the same characteristics as a thousand ances- tors have had. While it revels in the jungle and abhors the sight of man it has millions of relatives living useful lives, ministering to the wants of man, and on two continents pro- ducing yearly a billion dollars worth of poultry food-pro- ducts, just because away back three thousand years ago a few of its ancestors were caught and robbed of the freedom of the jungle. What a triumph domestication of the fowl has been ! What a mint of money it has coined since it gave up its freedom in the wild and became a part of civilization. Antiquity of Domestic Fowl. — Let us now consider brief- ly the antiquity of the fowl. It is not possible to give dates ; it is not even possible to give the century when the fowl was domesticated. It is known from New Testiment scripture that cocks and hens existed two thousand years ago. There is no reference to them in the Old Testament ; but we find the egg spoken of by Job in these words : " Is there any taste in the white of an egg ? " As to the kind of egg we are left in doubt. That fowls were under domestication two thousand years ago there is no doubt ; that they existed several hun- dred years before that, there is authentic proof ; how much longer must remain largely a matter of conjecture. In tracing the antiquity of the hen, the following facts have been mentioned: When Peter denied the Savior the cock crowed thrice. That establishes the origin of the fowl before the Christian era. Mention is made of cock-fighting in the Codes of Mann, a thousand years or more before Christ. A Chinese encyclopedia, 1400 years B.C., mentions the fowl. In the religion of Zoroaster the cock figures as a sacred bird. Figures on Babylonian cylinders show that 10 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT there must have been fowls in the seventh century B.C. Homer makes no mention of fowls, 900 B.C., but they are referred to in the writings of Theognis and Aristophanes about 500 B.C. The ancient Egyptian monuments are silent about the fowl, though flocks of tame geese are shown. CHAPTER II EVOLUTION OF MODERN FOWL By what process, then, has the small jungle fowl, pro- ducing little meat and few eggs, been converted into the Brahma and the Leghorn of great meat- and egg-producing qualities ? What brought about the change in the fowl that enables the poultryman of to-day to gather ten dozen eggs a year instead of one dozen or a dozen and a half, which was the order of the hen-day at the birth of chicken civilization ? By what miracle has the meat on the fowl's skeleton been multiplied six times ? Whence have come the various colors of feather, the top-knot, the feather legs, and tails 20 feet long? There has been abundant opportunity in some three thou- sand years for the type and characteristics of the jungle fowl to be largely lost in the evolution of newer and better races of fowls. If the modern horse is descended from an animal not much larger than a Jack rabbit, why not a Brah- ma from a Bantam-sized fowl ? We must disabuse our minds of the idea that poultry-keeping is a modern institution. It is idle to repeat that the fowl we see to-day on the farms and in the backyards are the product of the past fifty or even hundred years. It has taken hundreds or thousands of years to bring them to the stage of perfection that we now have them. Harrison Weir in ' * The Poultry Book' ' says on this point : ' ' Nearly all our modern methods are only the old ones re-substituted, even that of the incubator. In the olden time they kept fowls and bred chickens with a greater certainty and in better health than many of the now profes- 11 12 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT sed poultrymen of the day." Columela two thousand years ago described the fowl, and less than a hundred years ago the description of the farm fowl of England corresponded in nearly every respect to those described by Columela. Darwin says that "not only careful breeding but actual selection was practiced during ancient periods and by bare- ly civilized races of men. " It is pointed out that in early times there were different breeds of fowls. Six or seven are mentioned as being kept by the Romans at the commence- ment of the Christian era. As proof that the work of selec- tion has not all been confined to civilized people, it is shown that the semi-barbarous people of the Philippine Islands about fifty years ago had no less than nine varieties of the game fowl. In the fifteenth century several breeds were known in Europe, and in China about the same period seven kinds were named. Finally, Darwin says: "Will it then be pretended that those persons who in ancient times and in semi-civilized countries took pains to keep breeds distinct, and who therefore valued them, would not occasionally have destroyed inferior birds and occasionally have preserved their best birds ? That is all that is required. ' ' The work of modern times has not been so much to main- tain the original purity of races as it has been to make new breeds and varieties by fusing pure ancient races, to what purpose will be discussed in a later chapter. Present-day poultry breeders and livestock breeders breed for unifor- mity. Their skill is exercised in producing uniformity in the stock. A standard of excellence is set up, and the nearer their fowls or animals approach that standard the greater value they have in the market for breeding purposes. The poultry shows demand a certain standard, and this calls for uniformity. But uniformity does not permit of im- provement or progress. It is clear that if two thousand years ago a standard of excellence corresponding to the type EVOLUTION OF MODERN FOWL 13 of jungle fowl had been set up, there would have been no such improvement in the breeds as we have to-day. The im- provement did not come from breeding to a standard of uni- formity. The improvement came about rather by variation. There can be no improvement without variation. In other words, if like always followed like, improvement would be impossible. "Like begets like" is not literally true, a fact for which some of us humans may have regrets ; but on the whole the human race has improved in many particulars since the days of our barbarous ancestors, largely because of this great law of heredity, the tendency to vary. The excep- tional individual appears in the flock — an exceptional bird from average birds — and this is called variation. A large bird from small parents may breed a strain or variety of large fowls. A small bird from large parents may breed a variety of small birds. All plants and animals vary, and it is in taking advantage of this factor that our fowls in two or three thousand years have been bred up to a higher util- ity ; or rather, it is one of the most potent factors. Fowls may be induced to vary in different ways. Changes in climatic conditions ; changes in food and care, and crossing of different breeds, all have an influence toward greater variation. Pedigree or ancestry is a valuable asset, but some- times the law of variation breaks into the preserve and takes captive this asset and gives us something more valu- able. The old law of breeding was that pedigree was every- thing, and if a phenomenal individual should appear, he would quickly disappear, his offspring would be reduced to the general average. The new Mendelian view is that the phenomenal individual may breed pure ; that he may defy his pedigree and ancestry and breed a superior race. Selection. — Variation is effective through selection. Variation is responsible for the exceptional individual; selection is responsible for preserving it. Darwin says there 14 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT are two kinds of selection, one he calls " unconscious, " the other "methodical." To the former he credits, in large part, the evolution of the fowl. The fancier who in spirit of rivalry tries to excel his neighbor by breeding from his best bird, without any attempt to establish a new breed or to preserve some new characteristic, or improve the breed, is practicing unconscious selection. There has always been a standard of excellence, written or unwritten, and fanciers or poultry breeders have been unconsciously following it throughout the centuries. Methodical selection, on the other hand, has to do with the making of breeds and the fixing of new and desirable characteristics. This pre-supposes a knowledge on the part of the breeder of the principles of breeding. According to Darwin, unconscious selection has done more for the improvement of fowls because it has been at work longer than methodical selection. The breeder who follows methodical selection is constant- ly on the lookout for new and valuable characteristics. He is not satisfied with following a standard of excellence ; he sets up a new and higher standard ; he believes in progress. While the man who is content to beat his neighbor in the show room and discards everything in his breeding pen that does not conform to the standard set up for prize-winners, the man who follows methodical selection would often achieve his highest purpose by breeding for characteristics or type that would have no standing in the show room. He is look- ing for ' i sports " or " mutants ' ' along certain lines and when they appear he makes them the basis of his breeding opera- tions. "Whether the improvement or evolution of the fowl is due more to one or the other method of selection, it would have been clearly impossible to evolve the fowl as we now have it if, in the early centuries, an arbitrary standard had been set up and all breeding made to follow along that line. EVOLUTION OF MODERN FOWL 15 Causes of Variation. — A more abundant food supply undoubtedly accounts for many of the differences between the wi]d fowl and the modern tame fowl. The wild fowl varies little. It breeds true century after century, but under domestication it rapidly evolves new characteristics. Egg production depends upon a steady supply of good food. This would not be secured in the wild state. The effect of domestication has been at once to increase fecundity. The wild fowl laid a dozen or possibly two dozen eggs in a year ; the tame fowl now lays ten times as many. A change of climate and a change of soil induce variation and increase vigor, and these have been potent factors, doubtless, in in- creased egg production. An abundant food supply operates in the same direction. Higher production came immediately into play when the fowl was put under conditions more con- genial to egg production. It is known that the wild pheasant under confinement produces twice the number of eggs that she produces in the wild state. Mr. Simpson of the Oregon State Game Farm gets an average of about sixty eggs a year from his China pheasants, and he has known them to lay a hundred, while in nature they lay but two sittings of about 13 eggs each. Another pheasant raiser is reported in United States Far- mers Bulletin 390 as stating that seven of his hens laid 131 eggs and then stopped, but when he put them into a fresh pen they laid 174 more. A change therefore to congenial surroundings or environ- ment at once gives a decided increase in production. It would seem that a large part of the increased productive- ness is due not so much to selection but to improved en- vironment. If we are to accept the United States census figures of about 80 eggs a year as the average production of the hens of the United States, it is no more of an increase over the jungle fowl's production than might reasonably be expected from better environmental conditions. 16 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT Effect of Food and Climate on Size and Meat Quali- ties.— An abundant supply of food, changed soil, climate, and other conditions relating to environment, would not only increase production of eggs, but would tend to pro- duce variations in the size and meat qualities. Abnormal characteristics, sports or mutations, would frequently result. Ancient peoples (poultry-keepers in other centuries) had no interest in standards of uniformity, and they would preserve the peculiar or abnormal birds, and new types would be evolved. A sport might be produced weighing two or three times more than the common fowl, and it is easily understood that a fowl of that size would be carefully pre- served. The variations would extend to egg-laying. The poultry-keeper would find a fowl that was evidently a good layer ; she would be retained and her eggs would be hatched. This kind of selection, unconscious selection, works by cen- turies slowly but surely. The ancients were not influenced by prizes and high prices, but more by novelties, and it is easy to believe that the fowl of unusual or abnormal appearance was carefully preserved. So, too, it is reasonable to believe that a few out of many must have paid attention to productive qual- ities, and in some way — if not by trapnests, by some other method — picked out the best layers and bred from them. There is no record, so far as known, that fowls were kept to please the fancy and win prizes for fancy points, and if they were kept mainly or wholly for their economic qualities, selection must have been based on the idea of improving productive qualities. Whether we owe most to the Mutant — "the occasional appearance of abnormal characters " — or to the slow process of unconscious selection — the survival of the fittest — is a matter of speculation rather than fact. Use and Disuse of Parts. — The use and disuse of parts has been a factor in the evolution of the fowl. How so? EVOLUTION OF MODERN FOWL 17 The blacksmith's arm is a striking object lesson of the effect of vigorous use of a part of the body. The poultryman knows that exercise hardens the muscles of the chicken, and when a tender article of chicken meat is desired, the fowls are fattened in crates or small pens in order to keep them from exercising. Whether the qualities of tenderness in the meat could become a fixed and transmissible characteristic may be open to debate ; but acquired characteristics some- times become hereditary. The horse was originally a pacer ; trotting is an acquired characteristic. Fowls were original- ly all sitters, but certain breeds through disuse of sitting or hatching have acquired the characteristic of non-sitting, and they breed true to that characteristic. It is known that the wing of the tame duck has diminished in weight in proportion to size of body and legs since domes- tication, the tame duck being a descendant of the common wild duck. The tame duck is much larger in limb and body than its wild ancestor, and it has little or no use for its wings. By use, the leg bones have increased in size, but by disuse the wing bones have rather decreased. Under domestication, the disproportion between strength of wing and ability to fly, has become so great that a duck of the Pekin type would make a spectacle of itself if on the wide-open prairie by the use of its wings it sought to elude the pursuit of the coyote. The same thing is true to a greater or less extent in breeds of chickens. The weight of wing bones is much less than those of the wild ancestor, the jungle fowl, in proportion to weight of leg bones. This is specially true of the heavier breeds, since the Cochin and Brahma, for instance, very seldom use their wings. Crossing. — Probably the most fruitful source of varia- tion, and therefore evolution, is the crossing of different breeds or varieties. Before methodical selection was prac- ticed, little consideration would be given to keeping breeds 18 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT and varieties separate; and crossing was no doubt freely resorted to. Crossing adds to size and vigor, produces varia- tions and abnormalities, restores lost or latent characteris- tics and increases fertility. Our present types and races of chickens were undoubtedly evolved in part from cross- ing. Summary. — It is known, therefore, that all breed im- provement is founded on variation. It is further known that variation may be induced by certain other conditions or factors. A change from one climate to another is a fruit- ful source of variation. This is true of plants as well as animals. A change of climate often gives increased vigor and fertility. Changes in climate and changes in food have undoubtedly had a great deal to do with the evolution of the fowl. Transplanted to a cold climate, we find the jungle type of three pounds has evolved into the twelve-pound fowl, because the fleshy fat fowl was better fitted to withstand the cold. On the contrary, the southern climates are not favorable to the heavy fowl, with heavy feathering and abundant fat, and as a consequence there was gradually evolved the Leghorn and fowls of that type. Again, abundant food that was assured with domestica- tion, undoubtedly exercised a potent influence in determin- ing the size and characteristics of the fowl. Plenty of food tends to increase the size ; scanty nutrition results in small races. Good food increases fecundity. Crossing, however, is probably the most powerful means of variation. Crossing different breeds or varieties opens the door to further improvement, and to other breeds. CHAPTER III MODERN DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRY Poultry-keeping had its birth, as has been seen, when the wild fowl of the jungle chose to foresake the wild way and become the companion of men. The domestication of the fowl and the beginning of poultry-keeping has been of tre- mendous importance to mankind. Poultry and eggs are more highly prized than any other form of animal food. The domesticated fowls are now producing in the United States over $600,000,000 worth of eggs and poultry annual- ly, and the combined value of all poultry products of the different nations must reach a total of several billion dollars a year. Add to this the fact that the production and con- sumption of eggs and poultry are rapidly increasing, and a conception may be formed as to the magnitude of the fact of domestication. The development is not altogether a modern achievement. Men of modern times seem more concerned in exterminating wild game and animals than in preserving or domesticating them, and only the strong arm of the law has saved from utter annihilation many species of wild fowl. Great as have been the achievements in the poultry realm under domestication, only within comparatively recent times has keeping poultry come to be recognized as an in- dustry. Fifty years ago there was little or no poultry litera- ture. The first enduring poultry journal was published in 1872 by H. H. Stoddard. Now poultry books are numbered by the score, and of poultry journals there are now half a hundred in the United States devoted exclusively to this 19 20 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT industry, not to mention the mass of poultry literature pub- lished by the various farm journals as well as newspapers. The first reference to poultry in the publications of the Department of Agriculture, is in the Annual Report of the Patent Office for 1845. The first bulletin or entire publica- tion on this subject issued by the Department was Bulletin 41— "Standard Varieties of Chickens." Up to July, 1911, 41 publications devoted entirely to poultry, and containing 1,696 pages, were published by the Department. The Maine Station Report for 1887 was probably the first to report poultry work. The New York Geneva Station, Bulletin 29, 1891, was the first bulletin to report experiments with fowls. It was in 1880 that poultry-keeping assumed sufficient importance to be included in a census of farm products by the federal government. Now practically every agricultural college and experiment station either has an organized poul- try department or is giving instruction and conducting experiments with poultry in connection with other depart- ments. Notwithstanding all this recent work in poultry husban- dry, history is strangely silent about the improvement of the hen or the development of the poultry industry, in which she is the most significant factor. Moving picture films came too late to tell her history. The word ' ' fowl ' ' or "cock" or "hen" is mentioned in books here and there throughout the centuries. As civilization advanced and books became more plentiful, more extended references are found, showing that the fowl was gradually coming into her own, becoming a factor of importance to civilized man. Though there is no written history of the poultry industry until recent times, yet throughout the centuries the hen has been the companion of man, developing new characteristics, changing the color and pattern of her dress, adding to or subtracting from her weight, improving her economic quali- MODERN DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRY 21 ties — all without a printing press, an experiment station, or a poultry show. The real history of the fowl preceded the poultry show and the poultry book. The improvement of the fowl was not all a matter of modern times. A century ago there existed all the sizes, large and small, that we have to- day, and if we are to believe some writers, economic qual- ities were as highly developed then as now. About seven hundred years ago eggs were so plentiful in Europe that they sold at the rate of 50 for one-quarter cent. At that time Charlemagne kept fowls on his "model" farms, and he himself prescribed methods of management of the fowls. The thirty-years war destroyed the poultry industry, as it did other industries; and there are those who maintain that at that time the secret of selecting the productive hen was lost and has never been recovered. Be that as it may, the care that was evidently given the fowls, and the cheap- ness of the eggs, might indicate that the fowls were very productive. As an industry, the public is interested only in the econo- mic aspect of poultry-keeping. The great increase in pro- duction has already beei* noted. This increase is probably without a parallel in the history of food production. What factors have been responsible for this increase ? First, the increase must be ascribed largely to natural causes. With the increase in the percentage of the population that live in cities there has been a relatively greater consumption of eggs than of meat. There has been a greater call for a lighter diet than when the larger proportion of the population lived by toil or muscular labor. It can hardly be said that the increased price of meats has driven the people to eggs as a substitute, for the price of eggs twenty years ago was as low as 6 and 8 cents a dozen in different sections of the coun- try, and yet the consumption of eggs per capita was less than it is now. With greater riches and higher compensa- •22 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT tion, the customers have turned more to eggs than to some other staple foods. Second, a better knowledge of the high nutritive quality of the egg and of the fact that it cannot be adulterated — that it comes to the table in its original unbroken package, guaranteeing its purity — has also contributed to its in- creased use. Third, cold storage, which is discussed in a later chapter, has also been a powerful factor in the increased use of eggs. All this, by opening up larger markets for poultry pro- ducts, has contributed to increased production, for without profitable markets no artificial stimulus could maintain in- creased production. Education. — On the other hand, what may be called arti- ficial stimulus was necessary. The demand for eggs would not have been fully met had education or artificial means not been resorted to in order to stimulate production. Under this head may be mentioned the agricultural and poultry journals. These journals have constituted a medium for an exchange of views by producers. Experiences have been published and re-published, and they have shown that there is money in producing eggs. Successes have been chronicled, and this has been followed by explanations of methods. In this way a great educational campaign has been going on through the medium of the agricultural and poultry journals. The poultry page of the farm paper chronicling the poul- try experience of successful farmers throughout the country, read by thousands of farmers weekly, has been a great force in directing attention to this industry and encouraging it among the farmers. It is doubtful if any other page of the farm paper has a larger circle of readers than the poultry page. The journals devoted exclusively to poultry, though they do not reach as large a constituency as the farm papers, MODERN DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRY 23 have exercised great influence for better poultry. They have appealed more to the special poultry keeper than to the farmer, yet they have led iii the dissemination of information along special lines, and thousands of readers have been kept informed by the poultry papers as to the progress being made in the industry. "While making special appeals to the fancier or breeder of standard-bred poultry, these publica- tions have paid more or less attention to the productive side of the industry, and they show a growing tendency to em- phasize this. The general newspapers, both dailies and weeklies, are devoting an increasing amount of space to the campaign of poultry education. The poultry show has also been an important factor in this development. It has afforded an opportunity for a study of breeds and external characteristics, and created an interest in the industry ; this, too, in spite of the fact that the poultry show has been notoriously weighted down by standards of judging that in some respects handicap rather than encourage practical poultry breeding. Though coming into the field late, the experiment station and the agricultural college have been rendering valuable assistance through state and federal aid. The results of investigations during the past fifteen years have been of dis- tinct service to the industry ; so has the work of the college in the teaching of students, and in institute work or extension work. The demonstration trains, in which the railroads co- operated with the colleges, have been the most successful agency in getting the information directly to the people interested. Moving picture films, industrial poultry con- tests among the school children and laying contests, are other agencies that are helping in the work of poultry develop- ment. CHAPTER IV CLASSIFICATION OF BREEDS Breeds and varieties of fowls will be discussed here brief- ly from a utility standpoint. Before the days of the poul- try shows and poultry books there were different races and breeds of fowls. There were the Mediterranean or Italian fowls, which were small of size, light feather- ing, active and nervous ; and there were the Asiatics which were large, fleshy, heavily feathered and slow. These characteristics had been fixed before the business of breed making by the modern fancier had begun. The original Cochin weight has not been set any higher, and the minimum weight of the Italians has not been reduced. It would be difficult to conceive of any reason why there should be heavier breeds than the Cochin or Brahma, or lighter ones than the Leghorn, and yet if prizes were of- fered in poultry shows, or other rewards given for the larg- est fowls, it is without question that there would in time be evolved breeds of fowls of much greater weight. From the jungle fowl, as we have seen, were evolved through the centuries the Asiatics of large size, and the Mediterraneans of small size. From these two pure races a hundred different breeds and varieties have arisen within less than a century. "The American Standard of Perfec- tion" recognizes 121 breeds and varieties ranging in size from 12 pounds, to about three pounds, not counting the Bantams. Standard Classification. — "The Standard of Perfection" classifies fowls according to external points of size, shape and color. It divides them into classes, breeds, and vari- eties. The class refers to the place of origin, the breed mainly 24 CLASSIFICATION OF BREEDS 25 to size and shape, and the variety to color within the breed. A full description of each breed and variety is given in an illustrated book called the "Standard of Perf ection. ' ' This gives all the various exhibition points which go to make up the perfect specimen from the standpoint of the "Stan- dard." STANDARD CLASSIFICATION Class Breed Variety American Plymouth Rock ..Barred, white, buff, silver pencilled, partridge, and Columbian. Wyandotte Silver, golden, white, buff, black, partridge, silver pencilled, and Columbian. Java Black and mottled. Dominique Rose comb. Rhode Island Red . Single comb and rose comb. Buckeye Pea comb. Asiatic Brahma Light and dark. Cochin Buff, partridge, white, and black. Langshan Black and white. Mediterranean . .Leghorn Single-comb brown, rose- comb brown, single-comb white rose-comb white, single-comb buff, r o s e- comb buff, single-comb black, and silver. Minorca Single-comb black, rose- comb black, and single- comb white. Spanish White-faced black. Blue Andalusian . Ancona English Dorking White, silver grey, and col- ored. Redcap Rose comb. Orpington Single-comb buff, single- comb black, and single- comb white. 26 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT Class Breed Variety Polish Polish White-crested black, bearded golden, bearded silver, bearded white, buff laced, non-bearded golden, non- bearded silver, and non- bearded white. Hamburg Hamburg Golden spangled, silver spangled, golden pencilled, silver* pencilled, white, and black. French Houdan Mottled. Crevecoeur Black. La Fleche Black. Game and Black-breasted* red, brown- Game Bantam . Game red, golden duckwing, sil- ver duckwing, birchen, red pyle, white, and black. Game Bantam .... Black-breasted red, browri- red, golden duckwing, sil- ver duckwing, birchen, red pyle, white, and black. Oriental Cornish Dark, white, and white-laced reds. Sumatra Black. Malay Black-breasted red. Malay Bantam . . . Black-breasted red. Oriental Bantam Sebright Golden and silver. Rose comb White and black. Botted White. Brahma Light and dark. Cochin Buff, partridge, white, and black. Japanese Black-tailed, white and black. Polish Bearded white, buff-laced, and non-bearded. Miscellaneous . . . Silkie White. Sultan White. Frizzle Any color. CLASSIFICATION OF BREEDS 27 Economic Qualities of Breeds. — It is difficult to classify breeds and varieties of fowls by their utility or economic qualities. When it comes to practical qualities it should be understood that no hard and fast classification can be given, because so far as egg production is concerned there is no known type or shape of fowl that indicates laying qualities with any measure of certainty. It has been dem- onstrated that 'there is a wide range in productiveness of fowls. Individuals 'of the same breed vary from no eggs to as many as three hundred in a year. High egg-laying is not a fixed breed characteristic; there are good and poor layers in all breeds. It is a question of individuals rather than of breeds. And yet it may be conceded that high egg production is more often found in fowls- of small size and active nervous temperament than in larger, less active kinds. The ability to go in the horse is usually associated with high energy and spareness of flesh. The cow that does things in milk production is spare in flesh, small in bone, and nervous in disposition. The little Shetland pony, it is said, produces power cheaper than the Clydesdale or Percheron It seems to require less fuel or food in the small animal to produce a given result, whether the result be milk, eggs, speed or power, than in the large animal. As the size is increased the cost of maintenance is increased. The large fowl is not the most economical producer of eggs. Frequently the large fowl will lay more eggs than the small fowl. There is however, a relationship between size of fowl and egg-laying. But it cannot be said that high egg-laying is a fixed characteristic of any breed, or that there is any type that indicates with any certainty the laying qualities of the fowls when it comes to a question of selecting the good from the poor in any flock of any breed. The system of trapnesting has shown us how widely in- 28 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT dividuals of the same breed and same type vary. There are "star-boarders" in every flock, birds that live on the thrift of others, possessing all the apparent external char- acteristics of their breed, but lacking the ability to lay. Whatever wonders modern breeders may have accomplished in the making of new breeds they have not given us a clear definition of egg type. So much has been accomplished by the fancier in the way of color breeding during the past fifty years that one is led to wonder what might have been performed if breeders had as persistently and intel- ligently bred for an egg type as they have for color types. Practical Utility Classification. — All breeds and vari- eties of fowls may be grouped in four classes: 1, Egg Breeds. 2, Meat Breeds. 3, General Purpose Breeds. 4, Fancy Breeds. 1. Egg Breeds. — The most noteworthy characteristics of the egg breeds are : Small size, active and nervous tem- perament, early maturity, non-broodiness, good foraging habits, and sensitiveness to cold. The principal represen- tatives of the egg breeds are Leghorn, Minorca, Spanish, Andalusian and Hamburg. All except the Hamburg, be- long to the Mediterranean class. 2. Meat breeds. — Among the characteristics of the meat breeds may be mentioned large size, gentleness in dis- position, slowness in movement, poor foraging proclivities, as a rule poor laying qualities, late maturity and persistent broodiness. Brahmas, Cochins, and Langshans are the principal meat breeds. 3. General-purpose breeds. — These are of medium size, are good table fowls, fair layers, less active than the egg breeds, but more so than the meat breeds, and are good sitters and mothers. Plymouth Rocks, "Wyandottes, and Rhode Island Reds belong to this class. 4. Fancy breeds. — Bantams of various varieties ; Polish CLASSIFICATION OF BREEDS 29 and Silkies come under this head, and are raised chiefly for some peculiarity of form or feather without regard to use- ful qualities. This class will be eliminated from further discussion. This classification, however, is an arbitrary one. Some breeders may object to the place given some of the breeds. It may, for instance, be claimed that the Langshan is as much a general purpose breed as the Orpington, and it may be that the Orpington is a better meat breed than the Langshan. The Orpington has a slightly greater weight than the Langshan, and if weight alone were to be considered these two breeds might exchange places. In making the classification, account is taken of the fact that the Lang- shan is largely, if not wholly, of Asiatic origin, while in the making of the Orpington several egg breeds were used. Again, placing the Orpington in the general purpose class does not mean that its meat qualities are not equal or superior to some of those in the meat class. The Dorking also, might fairly be placed among the table breeds because its table qualities have probably been more highly de- veloped than its laying qualities, but on account of its medium size and its wide reputation as a general-purpose fowl it has been placed in the general-purpose class. The classification includes only those breeds and varieties that have been admitted to the "American Standard of Perfection." There are many European breeds that are not illustrated in or recognized by the "American Stan- dard.' Some of them are of considerable economic value. CHAPTER V ORIGIN AND DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS IMPORTANT EGG BREEDS The Leghorn. — The poultry industry owes a great deal to the Leghorn fowl. It is not a made breed, as breeds are made to-day ; it was ' ' ready-made. ' ' "Where the breed originated nobody knows. It is not the product of scien- tific breeding, but rather its type and characteristics have been developed through the centuries by the slow process of natural or unconscious selection. Nature early decreed that the high producer, whether the product be eggs or milk or speed, must be small in body, spare in flesh, and full of nervous energy. Nature did the work in the case of the Leghorn. "While the Leghorn is a ready-made breed, our modern breeders have by careful selection given it greater uniformity, especially in color of plumage, ear lobe, etc. The development of different varieties has been the work of modern fanciers. Later and more productive strains have been developed, but the Leghorn of to-day is largely the Leghorn in type and characteristics of a century or two ago. Of all breeds of fowls, few have the apparent lasting qualities of the Leghorn. While the Leghorn is a large class at all poultry shows, and has therefore been bred along fancy lines, it has also been bred for special egg-laying qualities. The White Leghorn has the distinc- tion of being found on special poultry farms more than any other breed. ORIGIN.- — The Leghorn is sometimes spoken of! as an American breed. It received its name in the United States, 30 ORIGIN AND DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS 31 but the fowl came from Italy and derived its name from the city of Leghorn, Italy. In Italy and other European countries it goes under the name of Italian fowl. As a fancier's fowl it may fairly be said to be an American pro- duction, its finer exhibition points being put on by Ameri- can breeders; but its general breed characteristics were developed in the Mediterranean country before the fancier himself was developed in America. In Italy not so much attention has been given to color, Alfredo Vi- tale, of Naples, in a letter to the writer, ex- presses the opinion that the blacks are the most productive strain. It is claimed that the Black- Red Game was crossed with the Brown Leg- horn to improve the color of plumage, also that the Buff Cochin blood was used to se- cure the proper buff color in the Buffs. There is little difference in laying in different varieties of Leghorns. A mixture of Cochin blood in the Buffs and Game blood in the Browns may have had an influence to- ward lower egg yield, but it would hardly seem probable that the effect of that infusion of blood from less pro- ductive breeds would still remain. It was ill-advised, how- ever, to jeopardize well-known laying qualities by crossing with meat breeds because of a color demand. The Minorca. — Among the egg breeds, next to the Leg- horn, the Minorca ranks in popularity. Like the Leghorn, its type was fixed long ago. It is larger in size than the * WHITE LEGHORN COCKEREL Exhibition type. 32 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT Leghorn and has light colored skin and dark shanks. Its strong point is that it lays a large white egg. No other breed of fowls lays an egg as large and attractive as the Minorca. In markets where the white egg is preferred Minorca eggs should command the highest price. The Leg- horn excells the Minorca in number of eggs, but it may be possible to secure a price for the Minorca eggs so much higher as to make the product of the latter equal that of the former in value. Minorca eggs frequently weigh as much as 28 ounces a dozen, and a good average would be 26 ounces. Large size of egg is characteristic of the Spanish breeds. Under proper condi- tions, the Minorca is an excellent breed to keep. In the southern or warmer sections of the country it thrives, but its excessively large comb and wattles make it hardly desirable for the cold sections. "With proper shelter, however, it will do well. The Minorca derives its name from the Island of Minorca off the east coast of Spain. There are two varieties, Black and "White. ''The Standard" subdivides the Blacks into single and rose comb varieties. The characteristics of white skin and dark shanks depreciate their value somewhat in American markets. The Ancona. — During the past few years the Anconas have been receiving considerable attention. They have BLACK MINORCA MALE ORIGIN AND DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS 33 mottled white and black plumage. This fowl is undoubt- edly of Italian origin, and outside of the distinguishing feature of color it is pretty much a Leghorn in type and characteristics. Compared with the Leghorn it is com- paratively rare; in this country, and its egg-producing qualities have not been so well demonstrated. The Hamburg. — "The American Standard of Perfec- tion" classes the Hamburg as a Dutch breed, while Edward Brown classes it among the British races of fowls. There are six varieties, namely, Golden and Silver Spangled, Golden and Silver Pencilled, White and Black. The Ham- burgs all have rose combs. They lay a rather small egg, though the Blacks, owing probably to an infusion of Spanish blood, lay a fair size egg. The Blue Andalusian. — This is another of the Spanish egg breeds. The fowls have a considerable popularity as egg layers, and lay an egg of fair size. A peculiarity of this breed is that though blue is the recognized color the mating of two blues together produces offspring that are either black or splashed white. In mating the blacks and whites together usually blue offspring results. The Black Spanish. — This was a very popular breed thirty years ago. The fowls were splendid layers of a large white egg, but are now very seldom found in any section of the country. The breed has fallen the victim of a too general tendency for fanciers to accentuate in their breeding special points or peculiarities. In this case the peculiarity was the long white face; breeders engaged in a rivalry to increase its length. This was encouraged by the " Standard " which says of the white face: "The greater the extent of surface the better. " The Black Spanish is of the same family as the Minorca. The Campine. — This is the most popular egg breed in Belgium. "We give a description of two Belgium breeds 34 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT for the reason that in that country, as might be expected from the character of the people, fancy characteristics have been given slight consideration in the breeding of fowls. The frugality and thrift of the Belgian peasants would lead one to expect that they would exercise great care in the selection of breeding fowls, and the chances are that these very characteristics make them more skillful in selecting the best for breeding. This breed is of great antiquity, and as the Belgians believe strongly in the egg basket the seeking after abnormalities or fancy points was not permitted to deter them from their pursuit of the egg-layer. It is a non- sitting breed, an excellent layer of white eggs of good size. In size it is about the same as the Leghorn ; it has dark slate blue legs and feet. There are two varieties, the Gold and Silver. The Braekel. — This is another breed that has been bred a long time in certain districts of Belgium. Its origin is probably the same as that of the Campine and any differ- ences now in size and characteristics are probably due to differences in environment. It is larger than the Campine, females weighing from 4 to 6 pounds, and males 5 to 7 pounds. It is very precocious. One writer says: "The chicken is no sooner out of the shell than its comb is de- veloped; at three weeks the cockerels commence to crow; at six weeks they begin to drive about the hens." The Braekel, it is stated, is as much developed at six weeks as some other breeds at about six months. The Houdan. — In France more attention has been given to developing meat qualities in fowls than laying qualities. In this line the French poultry keepers are particularly apt. Much may be learned from the poultry raisers of France in the production of a fine quality of table meat. Mr. Edward Brown in his classification of fowls places only one French breed — the Houdan — among the egg breeds. ORIGIN AND DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS 35 Even the Houdan may properly belong to the general pur- pose class on account of its weight and meat qualities. The weight of the adult female is 6 pounds. The crest is more ornamental than useful and this peculiarity' has undoubt- edly had a great deal to do with the lack of appreciation shown for it among utility poultry-keepers. It lays a white egg, the color of legs is pinky-white, mottled with black. GENERAL PURPOSE BREEDS American breed makers have run altogether to the gen- eral purpose type of fowl. In the American class we have the Plymouth Rock, the Wyandotte, Java, Dominique, Rhode Island Red, Buckeye, all of medium size and of general purpose characteristics. Out of those six breeds twenty varieties have been made, there being of the Wyan- dotte alone eight different varieties, the differences in varieties being wholly in color. It is true that American breeders have "made over" other breeds that have come from foreign countries until some of them would scarcely be recognized as of the same breed, but the work has been chiefly confined to fixing external points of color, not in altering type. The general-purpose fowl is a modern innovation. Be- fore the days of the modern breeder there were practically but two types of fowls — the large, slow, fleshy Asiatic, and the small egg-laying Italian. The modern breeder has con- cerned himself not so much in improving these two types as in making various combinations of them. Our American breeds are therefore the result of crossing the two pure races mentioned. The poultry industry has doubtless gained from the making of these varieties. A question naturally arises as to whether it would not have been better if the breeders had confined themselves to improving exist- 36 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT ing breeds or races and keeping them pure rather than mix- ing them and making new breeds. If it be true that crossing improves the vigor and fer- tility of the offspring and saves races from annihilation, it may readily be conceded that the amalgamation of the two races for the purpose of making new breeds has been al- together an advantage. If it be denied that the crossing of pure races can ever be beneficial we will have to confess that our American breeds and varieties are without excuse of origin. It is certain that the Italian or Leghorn has not been replaced by a better laying breed, nor has there been produced a breed superior to the Cochin and Brahma as meat breeds. In American breeds the excessive weight of the Cochin and Brahma has been avoided and the prefer- ence of the largest proportion of consumers for a medium size table fowl has influenced American breeders in the making of new breeds, to the undoubted advantage of the industry as a whole. When we speak of a general-purpose breed reference is made to meat and egg-laying qualities. In other words, a general-purpose fowl is a fair layer and a fair table fowl, and that idea has been kept in mind by the originators of the Plymouth Rock and other breeds of that type. They wisely eliminate feathers on legs, which are objectionable in a utility fowl. They also eliminated some of the natural wildness of the Leghorn. Breeders have been somewhat hampered by the demands of the show which required them to select for various other points, and for this reason our Plymouth Rock and other general-purpose breeds have not been bred up to that perfection of flesh that has been at- tained in some of the French and in some of the English breeds. Undoubtedly the craze for fine barring in the Barred Plymouth Rock has engaged the attention of many breeders to the exclusion of points demanded in a good ORIGIN AND DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS 37 table fowl. As a result there is more uniformity in the barring, for example, than in the proportion of edible meat to bone in the Plymouth Rock. As a rule the Plymouth Rock is too heavily boned for a fine table fowl. Another objection to the Plymouth Rock and other gen- eral-purpose breed may be urged; the "Standard" weight is larger than is demanded by the great body of consumers. The general-purpose fowl should fill a general purpose demand. ' ' The Standard ' ' weight for the Plymouth Rock is 9~y2 pounds for the cock and iy2 for the hen. If the judge must not cut for over-size they are placed practically in the Asiatic class so far as size is concerned. And as the size is increased the breed is getting that much away from the general purpose type. Increasing the size does not necessarily mean better meat qualities. A fowl that exceeds 7 or 8 pounds in weight borders too closely on the Asiatic or meat type for a general-purpose fowl. When it reaches 8 or 10 pounds it gets into a special class and there must be a special market for it. The de- mand is limited for the large meat type of fowl, and if the poultry raiser is to meet the requirements of the largest body of consumers he must breed a fowl of medium size. It would be an economic mistake to advocate a large fowl of Asiatic type for the general farmer, because if all were to adopt that type it would mean one of two things: The cutting of the consumption of poultry in two, or cutting the price in half. There is a greater demand for a fowl weighing 4 to 5 pounds dressed than for one of any other size. The problem then for the breeders of a general-pur- pose fowl is to adhere to a type that will meet the largest consuming demand, and then develop laying qualities on that basis. Again, breeders of the Plymouth Rock might render a real service if they should eliminate the tendency of the 38 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT Plymouth Rock to put on excessive abdominal fat. How- ever, this result will largely be secured in breeding for eggs. It will be found that this characteristic is usually absent in the heavy producer. In our American breeds many of the Asiatic character- istics are retained. In some respects American ideals differ from European. We get the brown egg from the Asiatics, but this is one of the accidents of choice, for American markets generally prefer the white egg shell. On the other hand we get the yellow leg and skin from the same source, the color preferred in the markets. In England and other European countries, the white skin, it is believed, indicates superior excellence of meat, but with this white flesh they get something they don't want — a white egg. Here are apparently antagonistic characteristics, a white egg and a yellow skin in general purpose breeds. Whether it is possible to overcome this barrier of nature remains to be demonstrated. Speaking of American breeds, Edward Brown pays a high compliment and at the same time extends a warning to American breeders in the following language: "'That these breeds have proved most valuable additions to our stock is unquestionable, and their wide distribution and universal recognition is a great tribute to American breed- ers, who have kept prominently forward the general economic qualities and not exaggerated special points to the extent met with in Great Britain. Whether that will be so in the future remains to be seen, for present signs are in the direction of an exaltation of fancy points, which would be regrettable." If we are to judge from the success of one English breeder in American laying competitions, the warning has been better heeded in England than in America. ORIGIN AND DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS 39 The Plymouth Rocks. — There are five varieties of Ply- mouth Rocks recognized by the "American Standard of Perfection"; namely, the Barred, "White, Buff, Partridge, and Columbian. The Barred Plymouth Rock is the great American farm fowl. Its popularity among farmers exceeds that of any other one breed. The White Eock, the Wyan- dotte and the Rhode Island Red may be of equal utility value, but the Barred Rock has been lo-^er established, is more widely known, and its qualities of meat and egg production, and possibly its color, have given it a place second to none. The Barred Plymouth Rock was about the first American production in the poul- try world, and on this account it no doubt se- cured a popularity that later productions did not. To the fancier fine barring in the Plymouth Rock rep- resents the highest achievement in breeding. When asso- ciated with this is good shape and carriage, the Barred Plymouth Rock is a most attractive fowl. As to the origin of the Plymouth Rock, several Asiatic and Mediterranean breeds are represented among its an- cestors. It is believed that the first or original cross was a mating of Dominique male and Black Java or Black BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK COCKEREL First prize at Los Angeles show. 40 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT Cochin hen. The Minorca, Cochin and Brahma are all believed to have been used in making the breed. Mr. D. A. Upham and Mr. Joseph Spaulding, both of Connecticut, claim the honor of originating the Barred Rock. The former exhibited the first specimens in 1869. Close breed- ing for fine barring has injured some strains of the breed, but its wide dissemination has averted ruin. A peculiarity of the Barred Rock color is that the male off- spring are lighter than the female. The ten- dency is for the cock- erels to be lighter than the parents, and the pullets darker. The ''Standard" says that show specimens must have the same shade of color, male and female, and this has led fan- ciers to follow in breed- ing what is called double mating. Double mating means the use of two sepa- rate matings, or two separate pens of fowls, one to produce males of proper exhibition color,, (the other females. The pen producing the cockerels is darker in color than the pen producing the pullets. The White Plymouth Rocks. — There is no difference in the shape and size of the different varieties of Plymouth Rocks. The difference is in color only. The White came as a sport, or what might be called a " mutant " from the BARRED ROCK HEN Showing fine barring. (Courtesy of Miller Purvis.) ORIGIN AND DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS 41 Barred variety about 1880. The White is fully the equal of the Barred in economic qualities. It has not been sub- jected to the same degree' of intense inbreeding as many strains of the Barred Rock have been for barring, and on that account there may be excuse for the claim that it has better maintained its original utility value. However, there are strains of the Barred variety that by good breeding have preserved their utility value to a high degree. The Buff Plymouth Rock.— This variety of Eock is an independent creation. It is not related to the Barred or White varieties, but breeders have so moulded it and shaped it that in size and type and general external characteristics it is a duplicate of the others. The Buff Leghorn, Buff Cochin and Light Brahma were used in producing the Buff Rock. Some strains, it is claimed, have originated from the Rhode Island Red. While it is a fowl of much merit, the Buff Rock is not a popular breed on the general farms, or on special poultry farms, and it has never been demon- strated that it has any useful qualities not possessed by the Barred or White variety. From an economic point of view there can be little excuse for the Buff variety. Columbian Plymouth Rock and Partridge Plymouth Rock. — These newer .varieties of the breed, vary only in plumage color. They have been established, as other varie- ties have been, by a system of cross and inbreeding and ad- mitted to the "Standard" as a new breed because they have a distinctive color, not because of any difference in real practical value. The Wyandottes. — The Wyandotte was the second pro- duction of American breeders. As a breed, the Wyandotte has a type of its own. In size and shape it meets the require- ments of a general-purpose fowl probably better than any other American breed. In size it is a little smaller than the 42 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT Eock, and of a more blocky build. Its blocky shape and comparatively early maturity make it a good broiler breed. The originators, therefore, had a valid excuse for giving it to the world as a new breed. An objection may be urged against the "Wyandotte that its type is not very firmly fixed. Wyandottes are frequently found of the type of Plymouth Rock or Rhode Island Red rather than of the blocky, com- pact build. While they are fully the equal of the Plymouth Rocks in egg produc- tion, their eggs average smaller in size. These are points that the breeders may rectify. If it should develop that high egg production is found in fowls of the long body or rangy type, then the Wyan- dotte would have little excuse for existence as a general-purpose util- ity fowl. However, it has not been proved that a long body is a sure in- WHITE WYANDOTTE HEN dication of good laying (Courtesy of A. G. Duston, Massachusetts.) qualities. As to origin, the Wyandotte came by accident rather than by design. If some authorities are right, a Sebright Ban- tam and a Cochin hen were mated together to produce an improved Cochin Bantam. Silver Spangled Hamburg blood was added ; then another cross and a half-bred Cochin hen was used. The breed was given the name of the American Sebrights, later the Wyandottes. The first Wyandottes were produced in the 70 's. ORIGIN AND DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS 43 Variety makers have found a fruitful field in the Wyan- dotte family. There are now eight different varieties of Wyandottes, as follows : Silver, which was the first, Golden, White, Black, Partridge, Silver Pencilled, Buff and Columbian. The Rhode Island Reds. — This is one of the most popular breeds in America. More than any other American breed it owes its distinc- tion to its practical qualities. For many years it had been bred as a farm fowl, estab- lishing a reputation for real merit, before it was taken up by' ' Standard ' ' breeders and admitted to the "Standard" as a breed. In weight it is the same as the "Wyandotte, but in type it shows more of the Plymouth Rock characteristics than the Wyandotte. It is less suggestive of the Cochin than the Wyandotte. That it is a fowl of great merit is attested by the fact that in the Little Comptor poultry dis- trict of Ehode Island, where the poultry industry has been developed to a larger extent than in any other district of the continent, with the possible exception of Petaluma, Cal., it is almost universally kept on the farms. The Rhode Island Red has been in existence possibly more than a century, but fan- ciers were slow in taking hold of it, and not until a few years ago was it admitted to the "Standard of Perfection." It is now a prominent class at all poultry shows of the WHITE WYANDOTTE COCK (Courtesy of W. D. Kelley, Oregon.) 44 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT country. This breed originated on the farms as a prac- tical fowl and with little or no thought of making a new breed ; that it has gained so great a popularity is proof that the poultry-keepers are alive to the importance of utility qualities. Considerable obscurity naturally attaches to its origin. It is believed, however, that its foundation was the com- mon farm fowl on which were crossed breeds of Asiatic RHODE ISLAND REDS (Courtesy, Howard H. Keim, Oregon.) as well as Mediterranean blood. There is only one variety of Keds, though there are both single and rose comb strains. McGrew says that this breed is: " The result of fifty years of careful outbreeding, and it would have been better for the stamina of many of our breeds if they had been bred on the same plan, instead of inbred." To Dr. N. B. Aldrich of Fall River, Mass., is generally given the credit of intro- ducing the Rhode Island red to the public as a new breed. ORIGIN AND DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS 45 The following interesting facts as to the making of this breed are given by Miller Purvis: "All over the country, men who had sailed the seas, brought home fowls from India, China and Europe. These fowls were crossed and mixed in indiscriminate confusion. Red Malay, Shanghai, Chitta- gong, Brahma and Leghorn were bred and crossed in every conceivable way. ' ' The idea of making a new breed finally came to Dr. Aldrich and Mr. Buffington. "They did not agree on the exact shade the bird should be, and each se- lected those which suited his fancy. Mr. Buffington called his Buff Plymouth Rocks and Dr. Aldrich invented the name of Rhode Island Reds for his, and each took hold of the public fancy and two new breeds were born from the same flock, both of them being of mongrel blood pure and simple. ' ' The Dorking. — The Dorking has frequently been spoken of as the grand old breed of Great Britain. It is an ancient breed, attaining popularity long before the introduction of the Cochin or Brahma into Europe or America. So ancient is it that some enthusiatic writer has said of it : ' ' It would be vain to attempt to trace the origin of a breed which was ac- curately described two thousand years ago by a Roman writ- er ; and as Roman stations abound in Cumberland it is quite possible ;that a poultry-fancying praetor fifteen hundred years ago might send or carry in the same year the first couple of Dorking fowls to the bank of the Thames/' Be that as it may, it is certain that Dorking is a breed of antiquity, as well as a breed of great merit for meat qual- ities. The Cochin craze of sixty years ago threatened its existence, but the English breeders stood to their guns and saved it from amalgamation with an inferior race. "While a large proportion of our general-purpose and meat breeds have an infusion of Asiatic blood to the extent of dominance, the Dorking successfully weathered the craze, and is to-day 46 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT as pure in blood apparently as though the Cochin had never been known. As evidence that it does not owe its size to the influence of Asiatic blood it is pointed out that there are records which show that the Dorking attained a weight of 14 pounds more than a hundred years ago, or fifty years before the introduction of the Cochin. Brown says that the Dork- ing ' ' by its fineness of flesh and delicacy of skin, the white- ness of the flesh and legs and the abundance of meat carried upon the body, must be regarded as one of the best table fowls that it is possible to obtain." In spite of the fact that it lays a white egg it maintains much popularity in Britain. It cannot be said to be a heavy layer, though we are inclined to place it among the general-purpose breeds. The Orpington. — The modern Orpington is now dividing honors in England with the Dorking as a general utility breed. From the English standpoint;, in one respect at least, the Orpington has an advantage over the Dorking; that is color of egg. The combination of white legs and skin with tinted or brown eggs is the peculiar achievement of the Orpington makers, just as the Plymouth Rock lay- ing a white egg would be an achievement for American breeders in meeting the market demands. This new com- bination is no doubt largely responsible for the popularity of the Orpington in Great Britain. The combination of white skin and brown egg, however, though commending it to the buying public of Great Britain, handicaps it as a competitor in America with general-purpose breeds. Brown places it among the general-purpose breeds, but from its weight and meat qualities it might well be placed among the meat breeds of this country. If our market preference for yellow legs and skin and white egg is to be maintained, it is difficult to see why our American general- purpose breeds should be replaced by the Orpington. If we wish to discard our American breeds it would be more ORIGIN AND DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS 47 consistent to take up the Dorking, which is fully the equal of the Orpington as a table fowl and in addition lays a white egg. The Buff Orpington. — The origin is somewhat clouded in obscurity. Brown and other English authorities argue that the Buff Orpington came from a farm fowl known locally as the Lincolnshire buffs, and that its real origin was the Dorking crossed on the common fowl, intercrossing with Buff Cochin. William Cook, however, is usually given credit in this country for originating the breed, and he claims that he crossed the Golden Spangled Hamburg and the Buff Cochin, and then the Dorking. Brown states that there is abundant evidence that the great majority of the present-day Buffs are directly bred from Lincolnshire buffs without the slightest relationship to Mr. Cook's strain. Mr. K. de Courcy Peele says: "The foundation had been laid many years previous to Mr. Cook's time in the shape of the Lincolnshire buffs, a variety, if it may be so called, which has for many years been the acknowledged farmer's fowl in and about Spaulding and the neighbor- ing towns." The Black Orpington. — There seems to be no question that William Cook was the originator of the Black Orping- ton. The interesting point in its origin, according to Mr. Cook himself, is that its ancestors were rejected specimens of Black Minorca, Black Langshan, and Plymouth Bock (black). The Minorca had such marks as red earlobes; the Langshan no feathers on legs, and the Plymouth Rock fowls were black. This is a mongrel origin, so far as pres- ent exhibition points are concerned. From such an origin we have one of our most beautiful breeds of fowls and one of considerable utility. The White Orpington. — The White Orpington is said to have been produced by a combination of White Leghorn, 48 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT Black Hamburg and White Dorking. Brown offers objec- tion to this origin on the ground that as two of these breeds have rose combs, the White Orpington of the pres- ent day would show the rose comb very frequently. Later knowledge of breeding, however, teaches that if proper selection be made of the crossed offspring, the characteristic rose comb need not ever show in subsequent gen- erations. Data on this point is given in Chap- ter III, page 79. Brown declares his belief that the White Orpington originated as a sport from the Blacks. The recent popularity of the White Orpington in this country is strik- ing evidence of the power of printers' ink. While the breed undoubtedly has great merit, there is no real reason why it should displace our American breeds which are not handicapped by white skin and legs. Unless a new breed can be shown to have superior egg-laying qualities it is a mistake to advocate it as a utility breed when it possesses other characteristics which depreciate its value as a market fowl. If. certain breeders wish to cater to the fancy trade, well and good ; if their effort is to pro- duce something which will delight the eye and sell for fancy prices on that account, that should be clearly under- stood. But utility values should not be set by the amount of printers ' ink used in advertising. Where the real WHITE ORPINGTON HEN A noted prize winner. ORIGIN AND DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS 49 standard is the market demand for meat and eggs, it is a self-evident business proposition that we should choose fowls possessing in greatest measure the characteristics demanded by the market. These suggestions apply to other breeds as well as to the White Orpington, but few breeds have been boomed as the latter has. It is a breed, however, of distinc- tive merit, but as a market fowl it fills the English rather than the American market demand. The Sussex.— Some authorities would place the Sus- sex ahead of the D o,r k i n g as the grand old breed of England. It seems to be an equally ancient breed. Its chief point is its meat quality. Wright speaks of LIGHT SUSSEX Owned by J. H. Barker, California. it as surpassing * ' every other has made the breed on earth " in this respect. It fattening industry of certain districts of England famous. It has something of the shape and type of the Dorking, but somewhat smaller ; it has four toes, and lays a tinted egg. It is broad in back, full-breasted, fine boned, and hardy. Barring the defect of white skin, it is a type of fowl that might well be used in this country for a market fowl. There are three varieties : White, Speckled, and Red. The Faverolle. — In studying general-purpose fowls ac- count should be taken of the French breed, Faverolle. In 50 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT SPECKLED SUSSEX HEN Owned by J. H. Barker, California size it belongs to the general-purpose class. In quality of meat it is excellent, and is a fair layer. It has a large, deep, and broad body, rather short in legs and small in bone. Other characteristics are white earlobes, white skin, heavy beard and muffs, slightly feathered on legs. The fowls are very tame, and stand confinement well. In meat qualities they probably surpass our American breeds, but they have the same handicap as the Orpingtons — white skin and brown eggs. IMPORTANT MEAT BREEDS There are few breeds, and none of them have originated in America, that are specially made for meat production. Breeding for meat in this country is prac- tieallv an nn SPECKLED SUSSEX COCK .icany an un- Qwned by j H Barker> California ORIGIN AND DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS 51 used term. Very little earnest concerted atten- tion has been given to breeding for excellence of table qualities. This will be a development of the future. Were there a standard of excellence that would disqualify a fowl, or throw it out of the market, that did not show at least 25 to 30% more meat than bone and offal at six months of age, there would soon be a change in the meat qualities of the fowls found in the markets. DOMESTICATED FAVEROLLE HEN (Courtesy, Editor "La VTie a La Champagne," Paris.) In a good table fowl there should be a large percentage of edible meat and a relatively small amount of bone and offal. Heavy bone and frame should not be developed at the expense of meat. Fowls vary greatly in this respect. Mons. E. Lemoine, of France, has published the re- sults of some investi- gations on this point, as follows: 52 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT WEIGHTS OF MEAT AND BONE ON FOWLS OF Weight of meat on fowl 6 mos. old Ibs. oz. grs. Barbezieux 4 10 92 Cochins, buff 4 9 0 Courtes Pattes 3 10 99 Crevecceurs 4 9 66 Dominiques 3 11 66 Dorkings, silver-gray . . 5 4 282 Du Mans 4 6 64 Game, brown-red 3 15 233 Hamburghs, pencilled . 1 15 335 Hamburghs, spangled . 2 3 236 Houdans 3 7 0 La Bresse, gray 3 7 67 La Bresse, black 3 7 375 La Fleche 3 5 339 Langshans 5 4 359 Leghorns 3 15 233 Polish, spangled 2 12 348 DIFFERENT BREEDS * Weight of bone, etc., on fowl 6 mos. old Ibs. oz. grs. 4 15 0 5 4 327 2 8 316 4 14 197 2 8 279 4 13 403 2 11 11 2 7 301 2 7 224 2 7 301 2 10 140 2 8 163 2 8 240 2 9 269 5 1 78 2 10 140 2 8 18 There were evidently inaccuracies in the work on which this table is based. The Leghorns are given a weight of over six pounds. They were not the Leghorns that we know to-day. It is evident, however, that breeds vary greatly in respect to the point under consideration. It would be instructive if the data could be extended to in- clude our several American breeds. The table on p. 54 gives further data on this subject from work at the Oregon station. The fowls used were the Barred Plymouth Rock and White Leghorn, and first crosses of those breeds: 1From ''Poultry-Keeping as an Industry for Farmers and Cot- tagers, ' ' by Brown. THREE BREEDS OF DIFFERENT TYPES Representing heavy, medium and light breeds, record in its year more a question heavy, medium and light breeds. Each made the highest egg ir in Australian Laying competitions. High egg production is of breeding than of breeds, of heredity than of type. 54 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT BREED OF FOWL Plymouth Roclt B.E.&W.L. Cross White Leghorn Number of fowl .... 74 90 269 276 85W £6'; Live weight (Ibs. oz.) 7-0 7-0 5-0 4-7.7 2-14.94 3-6.82 Picked and bled (Ibs. oz.) 6-8 7.14 6-8 7.14 4-11 6.41 4-1.6 8.41 2-10 10.43 3-1 9.66 Per cent loss in pick- ing and bleeding . . Weight after drawing (Ibs. oz.) 4-12.9 26 0-8.2 5-0.7 22.42 0-7.9 3-11.6 20.39 0-6.6 3-1 25.32 0-6.4 1-14.2 27.99 0-3.9 2- .8 31 0-3.9 Per cent loss in draw- ing . Weight of head, bones, shanks (Ibs. oz.) Total weight of meat (Ibs. oz.) . . 4-4.7 4-8.8 3-5 2-10.6 1-10.4 1-12.9 Per cent of edible meat to live fowl 61.33 64.9 66.2 59.4 56.1 52.7 It is seen from the above that there is a larger percentage of edible meat in the Plymouth Rock than Leghorn. In this test there was 15% more. The cross-bred showed prac- tically the same amount as the Plymouth Rock. This indi- cates an important difference in the meat value of different types of fowls. Meat breeds should possess a finer quality of flesh than general-purpose breeds ; but this may not always be evident in the breeds as we find them. Heavy egg production is not and probably never will be associated with excellence in meat quality. The active nervous disposition of the egg breeds is not favorable to the production of meat of high quality. Good meat quality, therefore, should be looked for among the slow, inactive, docile breeds. Again, ORIGIN AND DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS 55 good meat quality will not be found in fowls of large bone and heavy feathering. In addition the meat breeds should have large size. The only breeds of any prominence in America that will come under this classification are the Cochin, Brahma and Langshan. The Brahma. — There are two varieties of Brahma, the light and the dark. The light Brahma is the largest vari- GOOD UTILITY BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK BREEDING COCKERELS (Oregon Station.) ety of fowls of any breed. The Dark Brahma is a pound lighter according to ' ' Standard ' ' weights. The chief char- acteristics of the Brahma are : Large size, gentle dispo- sition, slow, easily confined by low fences and long in maturing. The fowls lay a brown egg, have yellow skin and shanks, and have heavily feathered legs. There are good layers among them, but to breed them specially for laying they would most likely degenerate in their meat qualities. To maintain them as a meat breed, egg-laying should be secondary. The breeder should choose his breeding stock from those of good meat type and be satis- 56 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT fied with a fair yield. The special point of the Brahma is in filling a demand for large roasting chickens. In some markets there is a strong and growing demand for large roasting chickens, and the Brahma fills the demand pretty well. The Brahma as a utility fowl should fill an impor- tant place in the poultry industry, but in breeding it the market demands must be the only standard of excellence. LIGHT BRAHMAS (Courtesy of E. Shearer, Oregon.) The origin of the Brahma has occasioned some contro- versy. It has been claimed that it was made in America, but this is disputed by the best authorities. There is no doubt of its Asiatic origin. Brown asserts that the original type of Brahma is met with in the Brahma-pootra district of India. The original Brahmas were light in color, the dark variety being the result of breeders' work in England and America. They were imported into the United States about 1846, and a few years later into England. The type has ORIGIN AND DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS 57 been changed considerably, more especially in England where the breeding of fancy feather points, especially leg feathering, has been carried to the extreme. The Cochin. — The meeting of the yellow Asiatic race with the white race took place in 1846 — speaking of races of poul- try. Nothing disturbed the poultry world like the invasion of the yellow Cochin. It was lauded to the skies, just as it was bit- terly execrated. Wright says: "It was averred that there was no prop- erty that a good fowl should have, but this possessed it; it was de- licious roasted or boiled, and the hens laid two or three eggs a day." Again, he says: "Loud and long were the pro- tests made by the best utility breeders, but these were written down by the glib pen of the ignorant but ready writer." He tells us fur- ther: "One of the greatest evils that befell the splendid, large, well-formed and profitable table fowls of the southern counties was the introduction of the Shanghai or Cochin." Again : ' ' Then came the Shanghai fowls and the craze for size, novelty and colored eggs ; and ill it fared with our old breeds." "The Cochin or Shanghai craze was the first blow that our ancient and almost perfect farm poultry received. ' ' Then he sarcastically says of the Cochin : ' * They were to furnish eggs for the breakfast, fowls for the table, and better morals than even Doctor Watts' hymns for the children, who BUFF COCHIN HEN Exhibition type of present day. (Courtesy of Dr. J. J. Hare, Ontario.) POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT were from them to learn kind and gentle manners and thence forward to live in peace. " In 1847 it was declared that ' ' all England was given over to a universal hen fever ' ' — the Asiatic had invaded England, and the Britisher had bowed the knee. It is asserted that $250 was freely paid for a cock bird, and $25 for a sitting of eggs. The Queen of England had received an importation in 1845. Poultry LE MANS (A special French meat breed. (Courtesy of Editor, "La Vie a La Campagne," Paris.) shows became fashionable and great crowds attended, but in process of time, as Brown says, "the bubble burst." Wright declared valiantly against the crime of ' ' mongreliz- ing" the ancient fowls of England with the Cochin. The invasion occurred. The Cochin disappeared, but not before the fowls of two continents had been ' ' mongrelized ' ' as Wright would have it. The Cochin has practically ceased to be a part of the poultry industry. It is unknown as a practical breed. It has passed from the stage. But it has left its stamp. The yellow leg and the yellow skin came ORIGIX AXD DESCRIPTION OK BREEDS 59 from the Asiatic, so did the brown egg. All our prominent American-made breeds and many prominent European breeds have a mixture of Cochin blood. They are all tainted. Like the bee that stings and pays the penalty with its own life, the Cochin has suffered annihilation. What the practical effect has been of the amalgamation of the two races, the yellow and the white, it would be diffi- POINTS OF THE FOWL cult to say; but there will be few who will now take the stand that the poultry industry was badly stung by the Asiatics. As the case now stands, the Cochin blood is found in a great many breeds that excell the present-day Cochin in practical qualities. The extinction of the Cochin as a practical breed was due not so much to any glaring demerits of the fowl, but rather to a system of breeding for fancy feathering which made it impossible to maintain in the breed whatever useful qualities it may have possessed. The com- paratively little emphasis placed on meat qualities by poul- 60 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT try-keepers in general was no doubt also a factor in its ex- tinction. There are four varieties of Cochins; namely, Buff, Par- tridge, White and Black. The chief characteristics of the Cochin are its large size — loose feathering giving it a more massive appearance, and gentle disposi- tion. In shape it is short, broad and blocky. The Langshan. — The Langshan also originated in China, but like the Cochin and Brahma it has been improved in ap- pearance by the fan- ciers. It has a greater popularity for laying than the Brahma and Cochin, but inferior LA FLECHE (Courtesy, Editor "La Vie a La Campagne," Paris.) as a meat fowl. A pen of Langshan fowls made a wonderful egg record at the Australian laying competitions, the particular pen being from stock imported direct from China, and represented a different type of fowl than the Langshan now found in this country. The La Fleche. — The La Fleche is one of the leading fowls of France. High prices are paid in France for large fowls of good quality, and this breed is largely used to sup- ply this demand. The males weigh up to ten pounds and the females to eight. The plumage color is black. In this breed the French poultry-keepers have evolved a fowl of great merit. Its flesh has exceptional delicacy. CHAPTER YI PRINCIPLES OF POULTRY BREEDING The breeding of poultry for definite types or characteris- tics is a modern art. Even at this day, in its general prac- tice, it is largely a hit or miss business. It cannot be said that it has been reduced to a science if by that is meant that the breeder can predict with accuracy the results of his work. It has been contended only within the present decade that, on the one hand, the hen does, and, on the other hand, does not transmit laying qualities. The preponderance of evidence seemed to favor the view that heredity counted for little or nothing in the science or art of poultry breeding as it related to improvement of egg-laying qualities. The stage had been reached, it was contended by some, where the breed- er must look for defeat if he expected heredity to come to his assistance in producing fowls of higher fecundity. Where was the luckless breeder to look ? Was he to rest on his oars and confess himself beaten? Before poultry-keeping may become a more profitable and certain business, the egg-laying efficiency of the hen must be increased. The average production of the flock is lower than it should be. How to increase production is probably the greatest of the problems that concern poultry breeders. If they are to secure the fullest measure of success, they must set themselves resolutely to the task of solving this problem. Recent poultry breeding history offers assurance that steady, persistent work will bring rich rewards. While the interest in poultry breeding has centered large- ly around the egg, it is only a question of time when the prob- 61 62 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT lem of developing meat qualities will command attention. There is an inviting field here for the breeder, one that has barely been touched upon in this country. Notwithstanding the great consumption of poultry, there is only one reason why this is not double what it now is : namely, the poultry that goes to market has not been bred for market ; or rather not much consideration has been given to market qualities in breeding. An inspection of the poultry that goes to the average city market amply demonstrates the fact that more attention has been given to breeding for weight than to amount of edible meat on the carcass. There is too large a proportion of bone to meat. What the breeder should aim at, is to increase the amount of edible meat on the carcass without increasing its weight. To accomplish such result would be a worthy achievement for American breeders. The growing demand for greater perfection in meat qualities in the fowl must be met, and one of the developments of the poultry industry that is bound to come in a few years will be a keen competition among poultry breeders to meet the ideals for a perfect table fowl. PRACTICAL PROBLEMS IN BREEDING Poultry breeding will never be a business of mathematical certainties. The final result of the breeding must rest large- ly on the skill of the breeder himself. In other words, poul- try breeding is more of an art than a science. The success- ful breeder, however, follows, consciously or unconsciously, certain laws or principles that have been established or proved by science. A brief explanation of some of these laws follows : Heredity. — The transmission of qualities or characteris- tics from parent to offspring is controlled by the law of heredity. Brahma chickens may be hatched from eggs of the same size as Leghorn chickens ; the chicks may be the PRINCIPLES OF POULTRY BREEDING 63 same size when hatched, but from, that time on the influence of heredity will be shown in the larger growth of the chick that has an ancestry showing large size. When a pure-bred Leghorn is mated to a pure-bred Leghorn it is almost a cer- tainty that the offspring will be fowls of small size. When the male offspring begins to crow, it does so be- cause of this same law ; its male ancestors for thousands of years have crowed. Sometimes the breeder, and often the nearby neighbor in the early hours of the morning would prefer that this law was more flexible and that it were pos- sible to breed chickens without a crow, but the breeder knows by experience that there are certain characteristics that have become fixed and that if he attempted to change them he would get nothing for his pains. So is egg-laying a fixed characteristic. It is a law of nature or heredity that the hen lays eggs. The law is that like begets like. The practical breeder is guided by this law first and foremost. But while the law of heredity is persistent and inflexible, while like begets like, there is the strange contradiction in nature that no two individuals are alike. The male chickens all crow; they are alike in that respect, but there are dif- ferences in the crow which are easily discernible. So the females are alike in regard to laying eggs ; they all lay eggs, but there are differences in the layers; some will lay five eggs a week, others one ; some 200 a year, others 20. Another law is seen here. Variation. — It is the law of variation. This law of varia- tion has already been referred to. Some fowls of the same ancestry or breed vary in number of points in the comb, in size of comb, in length of wattles, in color of eye, in length of limb, in color of plumage, in amount of meat, in size or weight of bone, in number of eggs laid, in size and color of egg, etc. This is variation. Variation is the opportunity for the breeder. The problem that confronts him at the out- 64 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT set is first to recognize the limitations due to heredity, and, second, to discover wherein certain points or characteristics may be improved by taking advantage of variation. How may desirable variations be fixed ? Is it an evolution- ary process ? In other words, is it a process of breeding that requires years to accomplish; or may it happen at once? VARIATION THE OPPORTUNITY OF THE BREEDER Hen (left) laid 239 eggs in a year. Hen (right) laid 7 eggs in a year. (Oregon Station.) If a 200-egg hen be bred from a strain of fowls that lay only 100 eggs a year, will her female offspring lay 200 eggs a year, or will they take after the more remote ancestors and lay only 100 eggs ; or will there be a tendency to lay more than 100 due to the influence of the immediate parent ? Will the immediate parent transmit her qualities to the offspring, or will the influence of all the ancestors be apparent ? Is it a variation that is called continuous because it has been grad- ually evolved, step by step, or is it discontinuous, appearing suddenly, having none of the characteristics of its imme- diate ancestors? The old theory of breeding was that all PRINCIPLES OF POULTRY BREEDING 65 variation was continuous, or, if a sport or mutation did ap- pear, it would suddenly disappear. In other words, all im- provement was the result of selection — selecting the best, generation after generation, until finally the desired type or characteristics became firmly fixed. This was the theory of Darwin; but it has been shown that all improvement is not a slow evolutionary process; that it is not all a matter of selection, but that a new type may suddenly appear and start a new variety or a new breed. The vast majority of ''sports" or mutants may not breed true; they may disappear as suddenly as they came, but the breeder with a knowledge of the history of new varieties of plants and animals will carefully test any variations that point to higher excellence. During the past half century at least one breed of fowls owes its existence to the appearance of the mutant. A white "sport" came from a dark breed and resulted in one of our popular breeds. The mutant may disgrace the yard of the fancier who is breeding for uniformity, but the breeder who wishes to perpetuate new and desirable characteristics or establish a new breed must be on the lookout for and care- fully preserve such characteristics when they appear. Two-hundred-egg hens may or may not breed true. Some of them may and some may not, but the progressive breeder will take his chances. So far as it is now known, it is a chance, and the sure way to determine whether one hen or one male will breed true is to test them in the breeding pen. Reversion. — Variation, however, is not always in the line of progress. Sometimes the offspring may vary away from the line of improvement. Sometimes characteristics that have a counterpart only in remote ancestors, appear suddenly. This is called reversion or breeding back. The scientific name is atavism. What causes reversion is one of the great mysteries. There is a latent tendency, largely unknown, 66 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT for breeding to evolve backward. It sometimes happens that the offspring shows characteristics that have not been known to appear for centuries in the history of the breed. Reversion works for desirable as well as undesirable traits. The causes which produce reversion are not always ap- parent, but factors such as a change in food or climate are known to cause reversion. Characteristics that have ap- parently been lost, but are not lost, only latent, may reap- pear when the system of breeding is changed. The reader is referred to page six for reference to Dar- win's experiments on reversion, wherein Darwin claimed that he secured a fowl that reverted to the pattern of the jungle fowl, showing characteristics that had been latent for possibly two thousand years. The experiment was repeated by Dr. Davenport of the Carnegie Institution with similar results. The point* has not yet been reached that the origin of any particular breed or variety may in this way be demonstrated with certainty, but it is possible by crossing a Plymouth Rock, for example, with some other breed, and then recross- ing the offspring to discover strong circumstantial evidence as to what breeds were used in producing the Plymouth Rock. At the Oregon Station a White Wyandotte and a Black Minorca were mated. The offspring were white. Mating the white offspring together chicks were secured that were strip- ed in the down on the back. Neither the Minorcas nor the Wyandotte chicks show stripes in the down. This was evi- dently a reversion to some remote ancestor, possibly to some of the breeds that were used in the" making up of the Wyan- dottes. It is known that the young of all wild fowls of the Gallinaceous species are hatched with stripes in the down of back, and it is possible that by the proper crossing this characteristic, though latent possibly for a thousand years, PRINCIPLES OF POULTRY BREEDING 67 would appear in the chick. These stripes still appear in the down of newly hatched chicks of the Brown leghorn breed and some others. A third cross from the same breeds produce fowls that were barred in the feathers, though barring was not a char- acteristic of any of the different breeds known to have been used in producing either. It might have been that later, if not in the making1 of the breeds, by accident, or design, a cross was made with a barred breed, and the characteristic of bar- ring, though latent so long as no crossing was resorted to, reappeared when crossing and inter- crossing took place. The fact that a hen may lay only a dozen eggs in a year may be accounted for by reversion to the wild ancestor. In cross- ing the Barred Ply- mouth Rock and the White Leghorn, some 90 per cent, of the progeny were white. In crossing the white crosses together, a few of the offspring were blue in color. Reversion is usually an evil, not always. Where improve- ment has been going steadily on, reversion must always be an evil. Sometimes, however, progress has gone backward in breeding, and in that case reversion may restore the lost RESULT OF CROSSING WHITE WYAN- DOTTE AND BLACK MINORCA Female of second generation. Note barring. 68 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAQEMENT character. The practical lesson to the breeder is that he should eliminate everything in the breeding and manage- ment that may cause reversion when he is making satisfac- tory progress. The Pure-Bred, or Purity in Breeding. — We are accus- tomed to considering pedigree as synonymous with purity of breeding. The Shorthorn that can trace an unbroken ancestry back to the Duchess family is a pure-bred. The Berkshire that has a clear line of descent from Longfellow — an animal of superior excellence that belonged to a breeder of Missouri about twenty years ago — is a pure-bred Berk- shire. If one of its ancestors had been crossed with a Poland China a number of years ago, even though no trace of Poland China could now be detected, and it would win in the show ring, it would not be pure bred. The pedigree was every- thing. But Mendelism has given a new meaning to pure bred. It has shown us that purity of breeding has a physio- logical basis. A bird or animal may be pure bred in respect to one character and inpure in respect to another. A bird, for example, may be pure in respect to the character "comb," but not pure in respect to some other character. If a cock and a hen of a single comb breed when mated breed offspring with single combs, they are pure bred so far as comb is concerned. If, however, some of the offspring are black and others white they are not pure bred in respect to color of plumage. They would be mongrels in color, but pure bred in comb. It is a question of unit characters, not individuals. Again, if a hen laying 150 eggs in a year, mated to a male from a 150-egg hen, produces offspring that lay less than 100 eggs, she would not be pure bred in respect to egg production. The parents are pure-bred when their own characteristics are reproduced in the offspring with reasonable certainty. A hen is a pure-bred egg producer if she transmits her egg- PRINCIPLES OF POULTRY BREEDING 69 laying qualities to her offspring, even though her offspring come in various colors, sizes and shapes. A noted exponent of Mendelism says that purity of type "has nothing to do with a prolonged course of selection, natural or artificial. ' ' Again he says : ' ' An organism may be pure-bred in respect of a given character though its parents were cross-bred in the same respect. Purity depends on the meeting of the two gametes bearing similar factors, and when two similarly constituted gametes do thus meet in BREED IMPROVERS Pedigreed cockerels, all from stock, with records of over 200 eggs in a year. They were sent to breeders in various sections of the United States and to several foreign countries to breed better layers. Bred at the Oregon Station. fertilization the product of their union is pure. The belief, so long prevalent, that purity of type depends essentially on continued selection is thus shown to have no physiological foundation. Similarly, it is evident that an individual may be pure in respect to one character and cross-bred or impure in respect of others." (Bateson) Again, "An animal may have one thirty-secondth of the blood of some progenitor, and yet be pure in one or more of its traits. ' ' A fowl may be mongrel in one respect and pure in another. 70 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT A Plymouth Rock may be "barred to the skin" and trans- mit that characteristic to the offspring. It is pure in that respect, but she may not be able to transmit to her offspring the yellow leg color ; if so, she is not pure in that respect. The Blue Andalusian is considered a pure breed, and yet from the standpoint of purity it is mongrel so far as color is concerned, for when both Andalusian parents are blue, the offspring are blue, black, or splashed white. Ex- perimenters have found that, on the average, half the off- spring will be blue, one-fourth black, and one fourth splash- ed white. Now when the blacks are mated together the off- spring are all black; and white with white gives all white. The blacks and whites breed pure, but the blues are not pure, in other words mongrels, so far as color is concerned. Again, if blacks and whites are bred together the offspring are all blue. No amount of selection, line breeding, or inbreeding, will overcome this peculiarity, or trait of the Andalusian; the Blue Andalusian will remain forever a mongrel race so far as color is concerned. What then is a Pure-bred Fowl? — It may be denned as one that possesses the characteristics of the breed to which it belongs and reproduces those characteristics in its offspring with reasonable certainty. Purity of breeding refers to the blood lines or pedigree of the fowl and to its ability to transmit the breed characteristics to the progeny. The makers of poultry standards have not been able to incor- porate in their standards anything signifying egg-laying points, because it has never been demonstrated that there is any particular shape or type of fowl that indicates its laying qualities, nor has it been possible or practicable up to date to include in the standard a requirement as to perfor- mance, or a record of eggs laid. On the other hand, the only requirement to admit a horse to the Trotting Register is speed. He must have speed and an ancestry of speed. PRINCIPLES OF POULTRY BREEDING Breeders of dairy cattle have a register of merit, and no animal is admitted to that register without a certified per- formance record. If some such plan could be worked out for poultry breed- ers, it would place utility poultry breeding upon a more certain and profitable basis. It is doubtful if this can be accomplished without state aid. The dairy records are authenticated and certi- fied by state agricul- tural college officials. It would be possible to maintain breeding sta- tions to which a poultry breeder might send a few fowls to be trap- nested for a year, or the state could keep on a farm of its own suffi- cient stock to furnish at nominal cost a limited amount of stock of good laying pedigree to cer- t a i n poultry - keepers and farmers in different counties of the state. This would form a nucleus for a strain of good producers in each community, from which could be sold stock and eggs for breeding purposes in that community, using the state farm from which to secure breeding males with which to maintain the egg-laying qualities of their flocks. A third method would be for a few reliable private breeders in each county to trapnest a flock and keep pedigree records, selling eggs and breeding fowls only from pedigreed stock. It is not clear, however, how satisfactory progress BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK MALE Son of a 218-egg hen. (Oregon Station.) 72 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT could be made without state aid or state supervision in some way that will relieve the poultry-keeper or farmer of the burden of keeping the necessary individual records and guarantee the reliability of the pedigree. To be of value this work must be continued year after year. To trapnest the flock for one year and pick out a few of the best layers for breeding, would amount to little. The pedigree to be of value must have several generations behind it, and this means not only that trapnesting must be done each year, but also that a record must be kept showing the in- dividual parentage of the chicks hatched. In any event, there is opportunity for private breeders to do a profit- able business, if they have the time to devote to it and the necessary knowledge for the keep- ing of pedigree records and for the proper mat- ing of breeding stock. In regard to show standards, it has not been made clear how A GOOD TYPE OF BREEDER From 200-egg stock. Note vigor and alert- ness. Has good show points also. (Oregon Station.) they can be changed so that the poultry judge in making awards may be able to place proper value on pro- ductive qualities as shown by the trapnest record or pedigree of performance. But if the poultry show is to keep pace with the development of productive poultry-keeping, something is due to be done that will change poultry standards and give a different meaning to pure-breds other than that they PRINCIPLES OF POULTRY BREEDING 73 breed pure or true to certain characteristics of color and shape, but are impure from the standpoint of egg produc- tion. Cross Breeding. — In considering poultry breeding from the farm standpoint, it should not be overlooked that a large proportion of poultry products come from fowls that are not pure-bred. A great many farmers practice crossing ; others practice grading — possibly a large majority; while not a few follow another system which may be called mongrelizing. This chapter has to do with the first, crossing. Probably most of the farmers of the country recognize the necessity o f introducing new blood into the flock and of avoiding inbreeding, but they have not • BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK MALE chosen, intentionally or otherwise, to preserve breed characteristics as they are described in the "Standard of Perfection." Com- paratively few of them pay attention to exhibition points. It is contended that the farmer makes a mistake in not keeping strictly standard-bred fowls, but he excuses him- self on the ground : First, that the initial cost of stocking up with standard-breds is greater than the business would warrant ; second, it has not been demonstrated to his satis- faction that standard-breds are better producers than cross- Oregon Station. Dam laid 214 eggs and sire's dam 218. A fine type of Plymouth Rock, but rather large as a breeder of high egg producers. 74 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT breds or grades ; third, that the great bulk of animal prod- ucts of all kinds come from grade stock. Those who are making money out of pure-bred, fancy-bred livestock are those who are in the business partly or wholly of producing and selling breeding stock. Fourth, there would not be enough standard-bred chickens in the country to stock up the farms. Advantages of crossing. — (1) The crossing of two dis- tinct breeds usually results in greater vigor. This is more apparent where pure- breds have suffered from close breeding or inbreeding. Many breeds of poultry have been in- jured from too close breeding. It is common history that several breeds, once prominent, are now practically ex- tinct as a result of too much inbreeding. A number of years ago the Black Spanish had a reputation on two continents as a splendid egg-producer, but as a result of insensate breed- ing for a fancy point it is practically unknown to-day. Its most striking characteristic is its long white face, and the fancier set about making it longer, sacrificing every other point, with the result noted. It may not follow that close breeding is necessarily fatal. It may not be impossible in the hands of expert breeders to intensify fancy points, or any other points, by long-continued inbreeding, without an- nihilating the breed. It means a great sacrifice in the mean- time ; its numbers are so diminished, its breeding powers so impaired, that practical poultry-keepers cast it aside. RESULT OF BREEDING FOR A FANCY POINT The photograph on the left shows the head of the original Spanish male. The one on the right is the modern bird. (From "Poul- try for Table and Market.") PRINCIPLES OF POULTRY BREEDING 75 Wright says, * ' There can be no doubt that too close inter- breeding has greatly injured the Spanish fowl, and that not only size, but also constitution and prolificacy have been sacrificed to the white face alone. ' ' Other examples could be given where close breeding for a fancy point has removed breeds from the arena of practical poultry-keeping. The Buff Cochin is another that now gets little consideration from practical poultry breeders, largely because it has been sacrificed by close breeding to the fad of profuse leg feathering. The Brahma has been similarly in- jured. The Plymouth Rock was in danger from the fad of giving the prize to the bird showing the best barring, other points being given slight consideration, but owing to its wide distribution on the farms of the country and to the fact that there were enough breeders to ignore the extreme de- mands for barring, it has not suffered as some other breeds have. The present popularity of the Rhode Island Red is largely due to its vigor, which came from its outgrowth origin, and it would have been better, as McGrew intimates, if many other breeds had been bred on the same plan. ' ' The effects of too close interbreeding on animals, judg- ing from plants, ' ' says Darwin, ' t would be deterioration in general vigor, including fertility, with no necessary loss of excellence of form." That is, there will be a loss in vigor, but this may not be evident in the form or appearance of the fowl. 1 'The evidence convinces me," he says again, "that it is a great law of nature that all organic beings profit from an occasional cross with individuals not closely related to them in blood." Again, "The crossing of varieties adds to the size, vigor, and fertility of the offspring. ' * Edward Brown, in "Poultry-Keeping for Farmers and Cottagers," says: "Recrossing very largely remedies this 76 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT [deterioration in profitable qualities], for it is found that first crosses between suitable breeds give us hardier and more prolific birds than were either of the parents. ' ' The evils of close breeding of animals are pointed out by Shaler, in * ' Domesticated Animals. ' ' He says : ' " Among the evils which are to be corrected we may also count that which arises from the unguided development of what are called fancy breeds. Thus among our horned cattle the Jersey has been bred to a point where, from the iniquitous inbreeding, which is against what may be called the moral- ity of nature, they are fearfully subjected to tuberculosis." "It is a generally received opinion," says Tegetmeier, "that cross-bred chickens are the hardiest and most easily reared." (2) The use of cross-breds enables many people to en- gage in poultry-keeping who would otherwise be debarred owing to the comparative scarcity of pure-breds and to the high prices that are demanded for them. If the object is to develop the industry as a means of food supply, it would be a mistake to advocate the slaughter of the cross-breds. If cross-breds were to be eliminated at once, it would mean an immediate and serious decrease in poultry products. (3) Crossing, where it increases vigor, improves the lay- ing. The productive hen has good vitality. Heavy egg production requires a high expenditure of energy, and to maintain this production the fowl must have stamina. While the loss of vigor may not be apparent in the form or out- ward appearance of the fowl, it will show in lower produc- tion. Vigor is not so essential in breeding for type or for show qualities, but it is very essential in breeding for eggs. In experiments conducted by the writer, a hen weighing three pounds produced 29 pounds of eggs in a year, about ten times her body weight. Another weighing less than five pounds produced 42 pounds of eggs in a year. To with- PRINCIPLES OF POULTRY BREEDING 77 stand this strain on her reproductive organs, her vitality must not have been impaired by any system of breeding. To demand production of that intensity from a strain of fowls that have been bred and inbred for generations for any special point is to demand the impossible. It is not here claimed that standard-bred fowls or show birds are necessarily poor layers. It is not impossible for the breeder to breed show birds and at the same time maintain the vital- ity necessary for the high production, but close breeding for either fancy points or utility points will not insure good layers, any more than the same kind of breeding with mongrels will produce good layers. (4) New breeds and varieties are produced by crossing. Most of our modern breeds are the result of cross breed- ing. Crossing induces variation, and it is in taking ad- vantage of these variations that new breeds and varieties arise. Some crosses or hybrids possessing desired charac- teristics breed true, and the type at once becomes fixed. On the other hand, the great majority will not breed true, and years of careful selection will be necessary to fix the type. The Plymouth Rock, Wyandotte, Rhode Island Red, and other breeds are all the result of crossing. The Orpington, of more recent origin, resulted from crossing many breeds, and William Cook, the originator, said that he got "so many more eggs than he did when the breeds were pure that it gave him a new idea." Jordan and Kellogg, in "Evolution and Animal Life," say, ' ' Often as much progress can be made in a single suc- cessful cross or hybridization as in a dozen or even a hun- dred generations of pure selection. ' ' The Primus berry was produced by Luther Burbank with a cross between the Siberian raspberry and the California Dewberry. Its fruit excells either parent in abundance and size, and ripens before the two parents begin to bloom. 78 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT BARRED ROCK AND WHITE LEG- HORN, FIRST CROSS Male. White is dominant color. The Loganberry, the product of a cross, is greatly superior to either parent in produc- tivity. Breeders are just be- ginning to learn a little as to what may be ac- complished by crossing, and it is not unreason- able to expect great im- provement in the eco- nomic qualities of fowls when breeders master the science and art of crossing. There is an inviting field for developing by crossing new strains or varieties of fowls where egg and meat production forms the chief object sought, but it should only be undertaken by those having skill, experience, and patience. The first cross will give offspring of one or two kinds: either they will resemble in one or more characteristics one of the parents exclus- ively, or they will show resemblance to both. Certain characteristics blend; others do not. BARRED ROCK AND WHITE LEG- HORN, FIRST CROSS Female. White dominant color. Where the offspring re- semble one parent, and PRINCIPLES OF POULTRY BREEDING 79 the males and females of that cross are bred together, some of the second generation will resemble the other parent, and when these are bred together they will breed true, the off- spring will all resemble their parents. This was shown at the Oregon Station in breeding Barred Plymouth Rock and White Leghorn fowls. The first generation were all white, or practically so, taking after one parent. When these crosses were bred together there was reversion to the Barred parent, some of them being barred, and in mating these barred crosses together they bred true and produced only barred offspring. Again, in crossing a White Wyandotte with a BARRED ROCK AND WHITE LEGHORN, FIRST CROSS Flock showing dominant color white. Single Comb White Leghorn, the offspring had practically all rose combs. Breeding the crosses together, tha off- spring reverted to the Leghorn, some of them showing single combs. Breeding this single-comb offspring together, they bred true to the character single comb. Rose comb is a dominant characteristic, single recessive, and recessives breed true, while the dominants do not. Thte is Mendelism. A knowledge of these facts will often prove useful to the poultry breeder. Disadvantages of Crossing. — In the foregoing the ad- vantages of crossing have been enumerated. If the dis- cussion were to stop here it might be inferred that the poul- 80 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT tryman must necessarily cross his fowls. But there are cer- tain disadvantages, some of which will now be considered. First, before there can be any crossing, there must be breeds to cross. Why, then, should breeds be made and then unmade ? It is not necessary that they should be unmade, if the breeds remain in their original purity. The only ex- cuse for crossing is that breeds have been partly unmade, or they have lost some of their origi- nal utility. They may have lost vigor, and size, and productiveness, and the excuse for crossing is to restore those lost characteristics. There is no need of crossing, however, i f sane methods have been followed in breeding. But in crossing, if vigor and fertility be restored, other characteristics will be 1 o sj , a n d it wjll be for the breeder to decide whether the gain is equal to the loss. For example, he is breeding White Leg- horns and they have lost in vigor and productiveness ; a cross with Brown Leghorns will restore these, but he has lost the perfection in white color, and it will take several years to eradicate this taint. If color is all important to him, or if other points that may have been lost by crossing are more important than the points gained, then he should hesitate to cross, and depend rather upon the introduction into his breeding yards of birds from other strains of the same breed WHITE WYANDOTTE— BLACK MIN- ORCA MALE, FIRST CROSS White plumage color and rose comb dominant characteristics. PRINCIPLES OF POULTRY BREEDING 81 and preferably from other sections of the country, to im- prove vigor. Tlie two alternatives are crossing and outcrossing. The theoretical objection to crossing is that it disturbs blood lines, and the influence of ancestry is lost. In other wqrds, while it may " improve the breed it spoils the blood. " While crossing often results in improved strains that excel their parents, causing a tendency upward, it is also true that THE RECESSIVE COLOR BARRING Barred Rock and White Leghorn Cross. D621 laid 275 eggs; D. 622 laid 272 eggs in a year. (Oregon Station.) crossing sometimes reverses the engine of evolution and throws backward. This usually happens when it is con- tinued beyond the first generation. Crossing cross-breds with cross-breds will start the engine going backward; in other words, reversion will happen, and the result is likely t6 be mongrels, or even a type resembling in some charac- teristics the wild ancestor. Indiscriminate crossing will lead to degeneracy just as surely as will indiscriminate in- breeding. The first cross will give vigor, as much, probably, 82 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT as a dozen crosses. While the benefits of crossing cannot be ignored, it must be remembered that the mongrel con- dition of many farm flocks is due to indiscriminate cross- ing. Grading. — Probably the kind of poultry breeding fol- lowed by the majority of farmers would be better charac- terized by grading them by crossing. Grading may be de- fined as the breeding up of common or mongrel stock by the use of pure-bred sires. The object is not to restore lost vigor or other lost characteristics, nor to establish new breeds, but to improve the flock by means of the sire only. ' ' The failure to make the most of grading, ' ' says Daven- port in * ' Principles of Breeding, " " is the largest single mis- take of American farmers." The great bulk of cattle that furnish the meat supply of the world are grade Shorthorns and Herefords. The same thing is true of farm poultry- keeping, the failure to make the most of grading by the use of pure-bred males is the farmer 's greatest single mistake. In four or five generations, by the use of pure-bred males, a variegated mongrel-looking lot of chickens may be bred up to a uniform type resembling closely the breed to which the male belongs. If the male is chosen, however, as he naturally will be, from a strain of heavy layers, the farmer will have the satisfaction and the pleasure not only of receiving greater profit as a result of his labor, but also of witnessing an object lesson in breeding of supreme interest through the gradual but sure realization of his ideals both in increased production and in the gradual unfolding of a distinct type and color. The important thing in grading is to begin with an ideal and stick to it. If the result sought is higher egg produc- tion, the breeder should use preferably one of the smaller breeds, but certainly a strain that can show records of high production. Under no condition should this purpose be PRINCIPLES OF POULTRY BREEDING 83 departed from. If uniformity of excellence in laying is desired, the object will be quickest secured by using each year a male that has a good pedigree in that respect. Changing the breed or type of male each year will result in getting nowhere. The failure to make the most of grading has been due to the occasional or frequent use of grade males. A grade may have apparently all the characteristics of the pure-bred ; he may look so attractive that the breeder is tempted to take a chance and use him for breeding, with the result that improvement is likely to go backward. The grade may himself have all the characteristics, but he has not the ancestry or blood lines behind him to insure the transmission of those qualities, and instead of grading up, the process is liable to become mongrelizing. It should also be clearly understood that the male should not only be pure- bred, but he should have that purity of breeding that ex- tends to egg-laying; in other words*, he should be from a strain that is known to consist of good layers. Prepotency. — The reason a grade male may not transmit his characteristics has been ascribed to a lajck of what is called prepotency. Prepotency, therefore, is the ability of the parent to fix his characteristics in the offspring. All parents have not this power in the same degree. This is the significant fact for the breeder. It is not enough to know that a certain male or female has a long pedigree, or that the blood lines have been carefully preserved for years. Prepotency does not always follow blood lines. Later knowl- edge has given a modified meaning to prepotency, and the fact has been proved that one individual may be prepotent and another of the same blood lines, possibly of the same parentage, is not. It is true that the individual having been bred pure to a certain type for a great many generations is more likely to transmit his characteristics than would a 84 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT grade; the chances are much in favor of the pure-bred, otherwise all the laws of heredity would be of no avail. But it is certain that fowls of the same breeding are not equally prepotent. The Mendelian law of dominance furnishes the explanation. Dominance. — There are certain characters that are domi- nant. For example, white plumage is a dominant color. This was shown in the cross mentioned between Barred Plymouth Rocks and White Leghorns, where the offspring were all white. They resembled only one parent in color. Color, however, is only one .character. The offspring of a cross may take after one parent in one point and the other parent in some other point. For example, in crossing a black Wyandotte with a White Leghorn, the offspring will resemble the Wyandotte in the kind of comb, but the Leg- horn in color of plumage, a white chicken with a rose comb. It is said, then, that the white color and the rose comb are dominant characteristics, and that single comb and black color are recessives, and no matter what breeds may be crossed, the dominant characters of white plumage and rose comb will show in the offspring, and the recessive charac- ters will not. It is not a question of ancestry or blood lines. While the offspring have all rose combs they are impure rose, and this is brought out in the next generation, when the cross-breds are bred together. In this generation re- version takes place, and on the average 25% of the offspring will have the recessive character of single combs ; 75% will have rose combs; but of these, 25% are pure rose, that is, they will forever breed pure to rose combs, but the 50% are impure. This 50% when recrossed will segregate in the same way, 25% single combs, 75% rose combs, but of the 75% only 25% will breed pure rose combs, and so on. It resolves itself into a question of testing the breeding powers rather than a question of selection. The 25% PRINCIPLES OF POULTRY BREEDING 85 recessives will breed pure single combs and no amount of selective breeding will make them purer. This is the dis- covery of Mendel. Twenty-five per cent of the dominants, rosecombs, will breed pure; that is, a third, but the only way to pick out the third or determine which will breed pure rose combs, is to test them by breeding. The way to test them is to mate them to single comb fowls, and if the progeny have rose combs, the rose comb parent is pure and will always breed pure rose combs. This requires, of course, individual mating. All this gives a new meaning to prepotency. Prepotency is not altogether dependent upon length of pedigree. Egg Color and Dominance. — It has been discovered, how- ever, that not all characters segregate in this way, and herein comes some confusion. Some characters segregate, others unite or blend. In place of resembling one parent, the offspring resembled both in part. Again referring to the experiment of Barred Plymouth Rocks and White Leg- horns, the color of eggs laid by the female offspring of the cross showed a blend. The color of the Leghorn egg is white, while the egg of the Plymouth Rock is brown. The eggs from the cross averaged medium, showing the influence of both parents. This character, color of egg, did not act like the character color of plumage. In the one case there was a blend, in the other, segregation. In one, the offspring took after both parents, in the other, after one parent, Pure-bred not Always Prepotent. — In carrying this ex- periment further, white cross-bred pullets from the mating of Barred Plymouth Rocks and White Leghorns, were mated to pure-bred Barred Plymouth Rock males, with the result that the offspring had white plumage. They took after the cross-bred parent, rather than the pure-bred parent. Other white pullets of the same cross were mated to pure-bred Brown Leghorn males, and out of over 150 chicks from this 86 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT mating less than a dozen took after the pure-bred male in color; the balance were all white. The practical point brought out in this experiment is that prepotency does not follow blood lines, and that in mating a cross-bred or mon- grel to a pure-bred it does not necessarily follow that the off- spring will take after the pure-bred in all characters. Pre- potency is not always measured by length of pedigree While Mendelism is yet in an " embryonic " stage, and while confusion prevails as to its teachings in certain re- spects, a clue has undoubtedly been found that will lead the way to important developments in the future. Outcrossing. — The term outcrossing is frequently used by breeders. It means the use of males from strains dif- ferent from those of the females, but belonging to the same breed or variety. It is breeding within breed lines, but not within family lines. If a careful system of outcrossing be practiced, resort to crossing will probably seldom be neces- sary to keep up the stamina of the breed. This is the main purpose of outcrossing. Another object in outcrossing is to improve the family or strain in some point or character which it may lack by introducing blood from another strain which is strong in the character the other lacks, Inbreeding. — The mating together or breeding together of closely related males and females, is inbreeding. Where the relationship is close, inbreeding is the term used, but where the relationship is more or less remote it is called by many authorities line breeding. The only difference, if there should in reality be any difference, between inbreed- ing and line breeding, is a difference in degree of relation- ship. It is doubtful whether it would not be just as well to call it all by the one name, "inbreeding." Breeding of brother and sister together is the closest kind of inbreeding. Mating parent to offspring is also close breeding, though this is frequently called line breed- PRINCIPLES OF POULTRY BREEDING 87 ing. The subject of inbreeding is a much debated one, and until there is a better and more perfect understanding of its effects the debate should continue. It is unquestionably a most important problem. There are those who steadily maintain the ground that inbreeding is necessary to breed improvement. It is prob- ably true that most of our breeds of poultry, as well as of live stock, were largely inbred in the making. It may be open to doubt whether this was not largely due to cir- cumstances or to the fact that in the making of new breeds there were not at hand two or more families unrelated by blood lines from which to draw upon, rather than to the merit of the system itself. It is undoubtedly true that close breeding or inbreeding has been a costly blunder, and it is playing with a danger- ous weapon when inbreeding is held up to poultry breeders as always desirable or necessary. It is a problem that can be solved only after long experiment, and it appears to the writer that the data is not at hand upon which to base final judgment. In the meantime a common-sense view should be taken by the breeder, which should prompt him to avoid close breeding and suggest that where it seems necessary to fix or maintain some desirable characteristics, the breeding together of distant relatives may possibly be practiced to advantage. The purpose of the breeding should be considered in discussing the effect of inbreeding. The evil effect of in- breeding may not 1*3 apparent in the form or beauty of the fowl, but may result in reduced vigor and lower breed- ing power. It may show in the egg yield, in the fertility of the eggs, and in the vigor or mortality of the chicks, but not necessarily in the type or prize-winning qualities. Again, it may be possible to breed a larger proportion of prize winners through inbreeding than by outcrossing, but 88 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT at the same time the 'egg-laying characteristics may be in- jured. The explanation is that the reproductive organs, i.e., the egg-laying organs, are more closely related to vigor than is the shape or type of fowl. It is denied by many that a loss in vigor necessarily results from inbreeding. By careful selection of breeding stock, it is claimed, no loss in vigor will follow. Let us see. What is the Purpose of Inbreeding. — It is to fix desired characteristics. If a superior fowl be found, one that possesses in a high' degree certain points of value to the breeder, it is claimed that by breeding her to her son her characteristics will be more quickly fixed in the offspring than would be the case by any other system of breeding. The points of superiority may be color of plumage, shape of comb, shape of body, or number of eggs laid, and various other points that the breeder wishes to fix. If the hen has proved to be a good layer, the theory of inbreeding is that by breeding her to her son, there will be more probability of getting good layers than if she be mated to a male that is not related to her. If the point bred for be color or type, it may be that inbreeding or line breeding will give a larger proportion of offspring strong in those points than would outcrossing, even though the males in either case be equally good in those points. But it is a different matter when the point to be bred for is one that has to do with their productive or reproductive qualities, because those points are so inti- mately related or correlated to vigor of the fowl that it is doubtful if the theory will hold. Inbreeding Experiments. — Recent experiments at the Oregon Station indicate that the evil effects of inbreeding overbalance the possible good. Fowls with no apparent lack of vigor, and no defects in external points of shape and PRINCIPLES OF POULTRY BREEDING 89 color, showed, first, in a lower fertility of eggs, in a lower percentage of fertile eggs hatched, and in a higher rate of mortality in the chickens, that there was a loss of vigor due to inbreeding mother to son. Second, the result showed OREGON STATION HEN C543, AND THE EGGS SHE LAID IN A YEAR— 291 An exceptional layer though inbred. decreased egg yield in the pullet offspring. From different matings the inbred pullet offspring showed a lower average egg yield than other matings not inbred. Again, it is claimed that inbreeding tends to uniformity 90 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT of type and that it "discourages variability." ("Prin- ciples of Breeding," Davenport, p. 610.) That may be true of type, but these experiments with fowls gave results in production exactly the opposite. There was less uni- formity in egg production from those inbred than from those not inbred. An inbred pullet, a daughter of hen 250 (record 402 eggs in two years) inbred to her son, laid 291 eggs in a year, one of the most remarkable layers ever produced at the Station. The same mating that produced this phenomenal layer (291 eggs) produced the second poorest layer in the flock, which laid 124. The average of all the inbred pullets of this mating was 181 eggs. The same thing was shown in the production of pullets of another mating, hen 034 (record 229) inbred mother to son — greater variability and lower production than the other matings. The results in this case showed a high record of 237 eggs, and a low record of 119, the lowest of all the flock, the average being 187 eggs. Those of the flock inbred averaged 182, against an average of 219 of all not inbred, or 20% more. In the latter case, the highest was 303 and the lowest 163. In the previous year, the daughters of 034, not inbred, averaged 210 eggs, and the daughters of 250, not inbred, averaged 221. In all these matings males from high producing hens were used. The egg yield from the inbred fowls while 20% lower than the others is above the yield of the average flock of fowls, indicating that a good yield may be secured by inbreeding, not because of it, but in spite of it. It will pay to inbreed some, rather than use breeding stock that are indifferent or poor layers. So far as fixing the character of egg production, inbreeding proved a failure. Not only was there lower production but there was greater variability in production. If as these experiments strongly indicate that heavy egg production demands a high vigor and that the reproductive PRINCIPLES OF POULTRY BREEDING 91 organs of the fowl are peculiarly sensitive to inbreeding, then the breeder whose object is higher egg production must not follow inbreeding, even though it may have accom- plished in the way of improving type in both live-stock and poultry all that its strongest supporters claim for it. CHAPTER VII PROBLEM OF HIGHER FECUNDITY Various factors relating to environment, such as feeding, housing, and management, affect the egg yield, and are discussed in other chapters. Unless these conditions are favorable the egg yield will be low. It has also been seen that systems of breeding and mating that affect vigor in- fluence the egg yield. It is another question whether high egg-laying is trans- LIKE BEGETS LIKE Two full sisters. Oregon Station. C119 (left) laid 241 eggs. C166 (right) laid 233 eggs. mitted from parent to offspring. This is probably the most important problem of all. It would seem that any doubt on this point could very easily be set at rest by actual dem- onstration, but experimenters have found the problem a difficult one. The actual experimental data at hand are not very extensive and possibly not conclusive enough to 92 PROBLEM OF HIGHER FECUNDITY 93 LIKE DOES NOT ALWAYS BEGET LIKE Two full sisters. C48 (left) laid 268 eggs. C60 (right) laid 3 eggs. satisfy scientific demand in regard to the mode of inheritance, if not of the fact of inheritance itself. The breeding work of the Maine Station, be- gun by Professor Go- well and continuing nine years in co- operation with the Bureau of Animal In- dustry during part of that period, produced negative results so far as raising the standard of egg production of the OREGON STATION HEN D18 271 eggs in a year. From same dam as C119 and C166, but different sire. Note short body. flock under investigation was concerned. After a thorough study had been made of the trapnest records the an- 94 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT nouncement was made in 1908 (Bulletin 157) that "there is no evidence of any increase in the average production of the flock." The average production and the number of fowls in the experiment are given herewith for the differ- ent years : Number of fowls Actual average YEAR AND PEN completing production the year per Tien 1899-1900 70 136.36 1900-1901 85 14344 1901-1902 48 15558 1902-1903 147 13542 1903-1904 254 117.90 1904-1905 50 bird pens 283 134.07 1905-1906 50 bird pens 178 140.14 1906-1907 50 bird pens 187 113.24 In a subsequent bulletin (Number 166, 1909) it was stat- ed: " The aim so far has been to set forth in as clear and unequivocal manner as possible the definite fact that in the S t a t i o n 's experience thus far the daughter of a 200-egg hen is on the average an excep- tionally poor winter layer instead of an ex- ceptionally good one." In this case the mothers' average winter produc- tion, November 1 to March 1, was 55.8 eggs, and the daughters' 15.29 eggs per fowl. The results further showed that the daughters of hens laying less than 200 BARRED ROCK HEN A78 Record 212 eggs. A good type of Plymouth Rock. PROBLEM OF HIGHER FECUNDITY 95 eggs gave a higher winter egg production than those from the 200-egg hens. Again, in Bulletin 192 (1911), the following statement is made : ' 1 There does not exist any critical evidence that the selection of the highest laying birds on the basis of the trap- nest record as breeders will insure or guarantee any definite permanent improvement in the average flock production." ' * It now seems quite gen- erally agreed," quoting from the same bulletin, "that about the only prof- itable function of the trap- nest in practical or com- mercial poultry-keeping is in connection with special needs or problems, as, for example, in the work of the fancier. ' ' The publication of these results was somewhat dis- couraging to breeders and provoked widespread dis- r>n««mn TViP pritipfll rpflflpr Son of A78— 21£ eggs. Sire's dam 259 CUSSlOn. J eggs. Oregon Station. will observe, however, that the failure to show an improvement in production by selec- tion is not put forward as proof that it is impossible, but only that there is no evidence in the records of that Station that it is. Again, in the case where the daughters of 200- egg hens were poorer layers than the daughters of layers not so good, it is not held that this result must always be expected, but only that " in the Station's experience" this was obtained. The statement in regard to the value of the trapnest is rather difficult to understand because all improvement must A GOOD PLYMOUTH ROCK HEAD, WITH THE STAMP OF VIGOR 96 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT rest upon individual performance. A knowledge of indi- vidual performance is only possible where the trapnest is used. It seems to the writer that the extreme difference in the yield of 55 eggs as the winter production of the dams and 15 eggs for the daughters, cannot be satisfactorily explained except upon the theory that environmental con- ditions were unfavor- able in the case of the daughters — that the conditions surrounding their breeding and man- agement were in some way unfavorable to high production. mThe methods followed in selecting the breeding H stock, in the nine years' experiment, was to use only hens that had records of 150 eggs or more, and after the first year male birds only were used whose dams laid 200 eggs or more. At the Oregon Station, later experiments produced dif- ferent results. The records of six years' breeding work with Barred Plymouth Rocks are summarized on the next page. The original flock of 95 pullets were purchased from six different breeders. The first and second years' results have little significance so far as the question of inheritance is concerned. There had not been time enough to make selec- BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK HEN 65— 218 EGGS Oregon Station's first 200-egg hen. Her daughter and granddaughter on p. 97. PROBLEM OF HIGHER FECUNDITY 97 PRODUCTION IN FIRST YEAR OF LAYING Per cent laying 200 eggs or more 1.05 0.00 25.58 22.22 23.12 1908-09 95 year 84.7 218 Lowest 6 1909-10 28 121.2 183 70 1910-11 43 164.6 259 6 1912-13 108 179.2 268 3 1913-14 160 176.5 271 7 tions of breeding stock on the basis of individual produc- tion. In the third year the pullets were from the original stock, except that a 'third of the poorest layers were dis- carded at the end of the first year. This flock of pullets, however, had not individual pedigrees. The fourth year records are not given as they were not fairly comparable with those of other years. In the fifth year the pullets, 108 in number were all from pedigreed high producers. A116 — DAUGHTER OF 65 Laid 218 eggs. D172, GRANDDAUGHTER OF 65 Laid 221 eggs. 98 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT The average production of the dams was 202 eggs in a year. Their sires were from dams, one with record of 218 eggs, the other 169. In the sixth year there were 160 pul- lets which averaged 176.5. Their dams averaged 187.9, sires' dams 219.8 and dams' dams 211.7. Hens that died are eliminated in the calculation for each year. No "new blood" was introduced during the six years, but inbreeding was avoided. The parent stock was selected A122— MOTHER Laid 259 eggs in a year. Some of her daughters and granddaughte shown on following pages. All of medium size and, with one exct are short in body. rs are exception, each year on the basis of trapnest records, no attention being paid to shape or type. The breeding fowls, however, represented fairly well the general characteristics of the breed. "Were further evidence needed as to the inheritance of fecundity it is brought out in the table on p. 102 compiled from the Oregon experiments, in which it will be seen that the progeny of selected high layers produced 207.3 eggs per hen, while the progeny of selected poor layers averaged 138.1 eggs. Male X of unknown ancestry, mated to poor PROBLEM OF HIGHER FECUNDITY \ B C146— 209 Eggs D84— 236 Eggs D90— 240 Eggs D177— 268 Eggs A FAMILY OF HIGH PRODUCERS— DAUGHTERS AND GRANDDAUGHTERS OF A122 100 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT D118— 233 Eggs D119 — 209 Eggs GRANDDAUGHTERS OF A122 A77— 214 Eggs A GOOD TYPE OF PLYMOUTH ROCK AND A PRODUCER OF GOOD LAYERS Three daughters on opposite page, and two granddaughters on page 102. PROBLEM OF 101 layers, produced daughters that averaged 117.1 eggs each. Mated to good layers the daughters averaged 179.7 eggs. The same result is shown in the case of the sire whose dam laid 218 eggs. Selection and Cross Breed- ing. - - Is the problem of higher fecundity a question of selection altogether, or is it a question of constitutional vigor alone? Does the work of the breeder begin and end with selection, or does it begin and end with vigor in the stock ? It is well known that many strains of pure breeds, due to close breeding or other causes, lack in vigor. It is also known that crossing two breeds or varieties will restore the vigor lost by close breeding, and A D39— 270 Eggs C58— 205 Eggs D74— 244 Eggs DAUGHTERS OF A77 102 POULTRY AND MANAGEMENT D52— 214 Eggs D106— 225 Eggs GRANDDAUGHTERS OF A77 (on page 100) EGG PRODUCTION OP PULLETS FROM BOTH GOOD AND POOR LAYING ANCESTORS Year »amslaM Number Sire'S.^am Dauffhters Number first year laid 1912-13 1912-13 1913-14 1911-12 Average 1911-12 1912-13 1912-13 1912-13 1913-14 1913-14 20 1 169 144.4 74 1 218 136.5 91.9 7 20 156.1 122 2 * 117.1 138.1 215.5 2 * 179.7 187.7 9 218 185.2 226 229 215.6 402$ 1 402^ 187 385:): 11 204 223.7 211.8 4 259 185.5 207.3 Average *Male is of unknown pedigree. ^Two years' record. 67 32 3 50 28 PROBLEM OF HIGHER FECUNDITY 103 this is accomplished in one cross. Experiments at the Oregon Station showed that crossing Barred Plymouth Rocks and White Leghorns gave a decided increase in yield, but a still more decided increase was obtained by following up the crossing with selection. Crossing alone was not suf- ficient, Only by high constitutional vigor, aided by selec- tion, can the highest production be secured. WHITE LEGHORNS FIRST YEAR, CROSSES IN SUBSEQUENT YEARS PRODUCTION FIRST YEAR OF LAYING Per cent laying Tear hens year Hig1iefit L°West ^0 eggs or 1908-09 50 106.9 183 2 0.00 1909-10 63 135.6 211 14 4.76 1910-11 39 149.5 257 28 15.38 1912-13 23 218.2 303 124 69.52 1913-14 50 223.7 278 92 70.60 In these experiments 50 pure-bred White Leghorns aver- aging 106.9 eggs were crossed promiscuously with Barred Plymouth Rocks that averaged 84.6 eggs. The cross-breds in the first generation averaged 135.6 eggs. Breeding them back to pure-bred Leghorns the pullets with three-fourths Leghorn blood, averaged 149.5. In the latter flock of cross- bred hens, those with records averaging 208 eggs were se- lected for breeding. Five of them were mated to males from a Leghorn hen with record of 229 in her first year and 407 in two years. Three were mated to a cross-bred male of three-fourths Leghorn blood whose dam laid 402 eggs in two years. The daughters from these matings averaged 218.2 eggs, one of them laying 303 eggs. In the next year (breeding females of the same grade were used — three-fourths Leghorn blood, average production 385 eggs per hen in two years, dams' dam 402 eggs in two years. These were mated to a pure-bred Barred Rock male whose dam laid 204 eggs in one year and sire's dam 218. The PROBLEM OF HIGHER FECUNDITY 105 resulting flock of 50 pullets — five-eighths Barred Rock and three-eighths Leghorn blood — averaged 223.7 eggs. These and other results secured by the writer at the Oregon Station indicate clearly not only that high egg-lay- ing is transmitted, but that vigor and selection are both D166— 217 Eggs D34— 234 Eggs Eggs D5— 233 Eggs GRANDDAUGHTERS OF A79 106 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT necessary if the highest results are to be secured in pro- duction. It should not be assumed from, this experiment that crossing of different breeds is always necessary to secure vigor. The same result may be secured by crossing different strains of the same breed, in other words by outcrossing. Mode of inheritance. — Granting that the fact of trans- mission of high egg-laying has been demonstrated, there remains the further question as to the mode of inheritance. Does it come about all at' once according to the Mendelian law of dominance and recessiveness, or is it an achievement that comes bit by bit after years of patient selective breed- ing? Is high egg production a sex-limited affair in its in- heritance? Is it inherited from the dam and dam alone, or does it come through the sire and sire alone ? So far as the Oregon investigations have gone, the results do not bear a Mendelian interpretation. They do not show that high egg production is either dominant or recessive to low production. When high producers were mated to sons of high producers the daughters were neither all high nor all low producers. Mating high producers together, the daughters did not equal the production of the parents on the average. When low producers were mated the daugh- ters did not take after either or both of the parents, but showed a higher egg production than the dams or sires' dams. In the one case there is a pulling down, in the other a pulling up to a general level. Apparently the daughters do not take the characteristics of the mother to the exclusion of the sire's mother, or the reverse. It appears as though high egg production is the accumu- lated result of the selection of high production breeding stock carried on for many generations. The breeder, how- ever, will make rapid progress in reaching the high standard in proportion as he is successful in identifying the excep- PROBLEM OF HIGHER FECUNDITY 107 tional individuals that possess in a high degree the power of transmit- ting desired characteris- tics to their offspring. Is High Fecundity Sex-Limited. — In other words, is high fecundity inherited through the sire alone, or from, the dam alone? This ques- tion has been the subject of investigation by Doc- tor Pearl of the Maine Station, and his con- clusions are given in these words (Maine Bul- letin 205 ) : ' ' High fecundity may be inherited by daughters from their sire, independent of the dam." . . . "High fecundity is not inherited by daughters from their dams. ' ' WHITE LEGHORN HEN O34 229 e years. Station. ; in first year, 786 eggs in five wo daughters below. Oregon B12 251 eggs in 1 year C551 607 eggs in 3 years DAUGHTERS OF O34 108 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT OREGONA— OREGON STATION WHITE LEGHORN HEN A27 987 eggs in five years. At beginning of sixth year had laid more than 1,000 eggs. The greatest Icng-distance trapnest record known: first year, 240 eggs; second year, 222 eggs; third year, 202 eggs; fourth year, 155 eggs; fifth year, 168 eggs. . . . "A low degree of fecundity may be inherited from either sire or dam." To state Doctor Pearl's conclusions in another way : High fecundity may be inherited from the sire, or may not. In other words, some sires will transmit this characteristic and some will not. Whether nine in ten, or one in a hundred have this power, we are not informed, and Doctor Pearl does not presume to know. Breeders therefore will not be misled into the belief that all males have the power of transmitting the egg-laying characteris- tics of their dams. Pearl, however, is definite when he says PROBLEM OF HIGHER FECUNDITY 109 that "high fecundity is not inherited by daughters from their dams." The Oregon experiments which have shown a remarkable increase in production, with strong evidence that it was due to selective breeding, do not appear to show that it came in a sex-limited way. They show, on, the average, that both sire and dam exert an influence, but that the in- fluence is not confined to the immediate parents. It is true that some males, as well as females, have a greater pre- potency or power of transmitting fecundity than others, but it cannot be said, so far as these experiments have gone, that it comes only from "one side of the house." Table on p. 102 may be studied in this connection. Progression and Regression. — The production of the progeny never reaches that of the parent stock when the egg production of the parents exceeds the average of their generation. There is, however, a progressive increase each year when the parents have been selected among the indi- viduals that have production records higher than the average of the flock. (See table p. Ill Oregon Station ex- periments.) This is the principle or law of progression. There is another principle or law operating in the other direction ; that is regression. There will be regression or a decrease in production unless the breeding stock be selected among the highest producers. When no selection of any kind is practiced, the tendency is downward. The average of all the ancestry is pulling backward. Selection is neces- sary if the breeder is to do no more than maintain the standard of production. He cannot "rest upon his laurels" without going backward. He must select and continue to select. Variability versus Uniformity. — High excellence is not correlated with uniformity of production, as the Oregon experiments show (page 111). Breed improvement does 110 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT not mean that all individuals of the flock are bred up to the same level of production. It is not a leveling process. The gulf between the high and the low individuals is not bridged by selective breeding. The experiments indicate that breed improvement, so far as egg production is con- cerned, means the raising of the standard of production of the individual. In other words, variability does not de- crease with improvement in production. There are fewer poor layers as a result of selection and more good ones, but the range between the high and the low remains practically the same. In the case of the Barred Plymouth Rocks the mean of production moved up from between 61 and 80 in the first year to between 161 and 180 in the sixth year. In the case of the Leghorns and crosses, practically the same law is shown. Breed improvement, therefore, depends upon raising the mean or average production at the same time as the maxi- mum production is raised. This is what happened in the Oregon experiments. The maximum individual production was raised each year while the average of the flock was also raised. As the average production of the flock is raised, the probabilities are that individual high records will in- crease in like manner. The true breeder, therefore, will ignore a fixed standard of production and breed for a pro- gressive increase, and no one can yet say what the maximum production of the hen is. (See page 111.) Hen's Potential Capacity. — That the conditions under which a hen lives affect her egg yield and determine, in a measure at least, her degree of fecundity, is a truth dis- cussed elsewhere. This is supported by investigations made by Pearl as to the number of oocytes (eggs) in the hen's ovary. It is apparently not from lack of eggs or oocytes in the hen that the egg yield is low, for the count PROBLEM OF HIGHER FECUNDITY BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK HENS GROUPED ACCORDING TO PRODUCTION, SHOWING PROGRESSIVE INCREASE J.V C*/M L/C / t// ev/#s laid 1908-09 1909-10 1910-11 1912-13 1913-14 1-20 1 . . 2 1 1 21-40 6 . . 41-60 19 1 61-80 27 5 1 2 81-100 17 3 . . 1 6 101-120 11 8 4 11 121-140 7 6 8 " 10 15 141-160 4 o 6 15 22 161-180 1 3 9 27 41 181-200 1 1 6 27 26 201-220 1 9 14 18 221-240 . . 1 7 11 241-260 . . . . . . 1 4 261-280 . . 1 3 281-303 •• •• •• Total hens 95 . 28 43 108 160 HENS GROUPED ACCORDING TO PRODUCTION SHOWING PROGRES- SIVE INCREASE (First year, White Leghorn hens; subsequent years, Crosses.) Number of eggs laid 1908-09 1909-10 1910-11 1912-13 1913-14 1-20 3 o 21-40 2 1 . . 41-60 1 . . 61-80 6 o . . 81-100 8 6 3 1 101-120 9 15 4 121-140 9 16 5 1 . . 141-160 5 9 6 1 1 161-180 5 8 12 1 4 181-200 1 5 3 5 6 201-220 2 2 7 16 221-240 2 6 241-260 . . 1 2 9 261-280 . . 2 7 281-303 . . . . . 2 . . Total hens 50 63 . 39 23 50 112 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT showed in some cases, even in poor laying hens, the presence of over 2,000 oocytes. So far as the number of eggs in the ovary is concerned, hens are all "born" with the inherited tendency to lay. The lowest number in any one hen, as reported in Maine Bulletin 205, was 914; the greatest number 3,605. By using a low-power dissecting lens to aid the eye, the enor- mous number of 13,476 oocytes were counted in one hen's ovary. It should be understood that the ovary of the hen, even before she lays any eggs, contains all the eggs, called oocytes, that she will ever lay. More than that, she has many times more eggs than she will ever lay. Why doesn 't she lay them? That is the problem. Is it a lack of in- herited ability to lay, or is it because of improper feeding and care ? Is it the business of the poultryman to so mate his fowls that the ability to lay the greatest possible number of eggs will, in some manner, be transmitted from parent to offspring? Or is it his business to so feed and house the hen, in other words put her under such favorable en- vironment, that she will empty her egg reservoir, so to speak, during her natural laying life The poultryman who is gifted, however, with the faculty of using common sense, will not neglect either the breeding, the feeding or the care and expect to get the largest possible egg yield. A knowledge of the fact that the hen has a po- tential possibility of several thousand eggs, strongly empha- sizes the importance of environmental factors, in other words, good feeding, proper housing and care. Actual Limit of Production. — Before the count of the oocytes had been made the idea was somewhat prevalent that 600 eggs was the limit of production of a hen. This theory seems to have originated with a French writer named Geyelin, who said: "It has been ascertained that the PROBLEM OF HIGHER FECUNDITY 113 ovarium of a fowl is composed of 600 ovula or eggs ; there- fore a hen during the whole of her life cannot possibly lay more eggs than 600, which in a natural course are distribu- ted over nine years in the following proportion.*' This has been abundantly disproved by trapnest records. At the Utah station, prior to 1905, a number of egg records B42— CROSS-BRED HEN, LEG- HORN BLOOD PREDOMI- NATING A60— CROSS-BRED HEN, H LEGHORN AND y PLYMOUTH ROCK Laid 834 eggs in four years at Oregon Station. A world's record for four years. First year, 228 816 eggs in four years and 958 eggs in eggs; second year, 250 eggs; third five years. year, 184 eggs; fourth year, 172 eggs. were secured exceeding the 600-egg limit in less than four years of laying. (Bulletin 92, by the writer.) Since then one hen has laid 816 eggs in five years. At the Oregon sta- tion the writer has secured many records exceeding 600 eggs.( In one case 664 eggs were laid in three years, and 819 in four years by the same hen. In her fifth year she reached a total of 987 eggs. At the beginning of her sixth year she passed the 1,000-egg mark. Another laid 958 in five 114 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT years. Remarkable are the records of hens, B42 which has laid 834- in four years, arid of B14, 827 in four years. If they continue in their present condition of health, all these hens should next year reach and pass the 1,000-egg mark. These are the highest authenticated four- and five- year records known. Long Distance Laying. — Some idea of the possible limit of production is given in the following table, which records the egg yield of 12 sisters at the Oregon Station for three years : Hen No. First year Second year Third year Totaled B4 217 214 172 603 B8 246 160 159 565 B13 206 226 206 638 B14 215 206 208 629 B170 226 220 177 623 B177 193 212 B213 198 ' 224 230 652 B222 188 199 231 618 C425 235 199 C543 291 150 H81L 161 194 138 493 H53N 168 196 173 537 Average 211.1 200 188.23 593.3 Dam's record: First year, 200 eggs; second year, 202. These hens laid an average of 211.1 eggs in their first year, 200 in their second year, and the remaining nine hens in their third year averaged 188.23. The total average pro- duction for the three years was 595.3 eggs each. The dam of these pullets laid as many eggs the -second year as the first, and it would appear that this characteristic in the dam was transmitted to the daughters in a noticeable degree. The high limit of production is further shown in the fol- lowing compilation from the Oregon experiments. PROBLEM OF HIGHER FECUNDITY OTHER LONG-DISTANCE EGG RECORDS 115 Hen First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Dam's No. year year year year year year Total record B12 251 152 .. 403 229 0551 214 203 190 607 229 H81N 142 224 179 . . . . 545 229 B2 223 203 188 . . 614 155 0457 250 175 . . 425 0459 261 191 • . . . . 452 0463 232 202 . . . . 434 B42 228 250 184 172 834 034 229 178 140 144 95 6 792 A27 240 222 202 155 168 987 . . A60 177 234 226 179 816 0504 243 178 . . . . 421 240 0515 241 182 423 240 0589 211 204 415 240 0516 267 174 441 215 ' 0519 272 182 . . 454 205 0552 217 185 . . 402 209 0483 265 145 410 177 0512 217 217 . . 434 177 0490 231 216 . . 447 257 0521 303 209 168 679 201 0547 250 225 214 . . 689 201 090 215 188 . . 403 191 Average 233.86 197.34 188 159.33 212.2 Laying Longevity. — The more important point brought out in these long distance records, however, is the evidence that the period of longevity, or the profitable laying period, may be considerably lengthened. The third year record of the 12 sisters — 188.2 eggs — is remarkably good laying for first year hens or pullets, and considerably higher than the average flock of pullets. The average or unimproved flock of hens does not pay for its keep after the second year when eggs are sold for market purposes. If by proper breeding this period could be lengthened to four years, it would mean that once in four years, instead of once in two years, the flock would need to be renewed, thus cutting out half PROBLEM OF HIGHER FECUNDITY 117 V W V THREE CORNELL LONG-DISTANCE LAYERS Cornell Supreme, 665 eggs; Lady Cornell, 648 eggs; Madam Cornell, 539 eggs in three years. of the great cost of incubating and rearing the chicks. The first result would be a reduction of the number of market chickens, as with half the number hatched there would be half the number of surplus cockerels and half the number of hens sold. But poultry producers would find a better market for meat chickens, the production of which would develop into a more specialized industry. LADY MACDUFF Oregon Station hen CS21. Photograph taken day after she laid her 303d egg. The world's greatest layer so far as authentic trap-nest records show. She laid 303 eggs in 12 months; 512 eggs in 24 months; 679 eggs in 36 months. THE 303d EGG OF LADY MACDUFF Weight of first year's eggs approximately 42 pounds. Her three years' production. 95 pounds. Weight of hen, 5 pounds. 118 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT LADY MACDUFF AND 10 DAUGHTERS The daughters averaged 250 eggs in year. Highest Annual Records. — The table on page 120 gives the highest official individual records. They may be consid- ered world's records, so far as official reports have been pub- lished.* They were all secured at the Oregon Station. *One exception should be made. Lady Showyou (p. 121) made her record of 281 eggs in her second year at Missouri. Pedigree ofC5dl and Flock Average 106.9 eqqs PEDIGREE OF LADY MACDUFF Qrajon Experiment 5taf/'oa 120 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT No. o First laying year (1912-13), Hen C521 303 Second laying year (1912-13), Hen B42 250 Third laying year (1913-14), Hen B222 231 Fourth laying year (1913-14), Hen B14 198 For two years (1912-14), Hen C521 512 For three years (1912-15) , Hen C547 689 For four years (1911-15), Hen B42 834 For five years (1910-15), Hen A27 987 Type in Layers. — There are certain characteristics that are present in the good layer and absent in the poor — not always, but on the average. Weight Correlated with Laying Capacity. — It has been found that within the breed or variety the heavier pro- ducers on the average are those of lighter weight. Some- times some of the heavy hens are heavy producers, but this is not true of the average. At the Oregon Station a pen of 47 Plymouth Rock hens averaged 160.9 eggs. Separating them according to weight into three groups the following result was secured : A66— MOTHER OF LADY MACDUFF 201 eggs first year. PROBLEM OF HIGHER FECUNDITY 121 Production Number Heavy 10 Medium 18 Light 19 Average weight 1 pounds 6 " 5 « First y ear t Two years 141.1 236.1 163.4 268.5 173.7 293.5 The eleven heaviest layers, — those hens laying over 200 eggs each — averaged in weight 5% pounds. It would be a serious mistake, however, to select year after year, the smallest individuals for breeding purposes without regard to other considerations. Vigor and health must always be uppermost. Con- tinued selection of the smallest would, in the Leghorn breed, for ex- ample, finally evolve a Bantam type so far as weight is concerned. On the other hand, it is a mistake to pick out the nice large hens and the nice heavy males and save them for breeding, better send them to the pot. Shape or Conformation. — Much, importance cannot be attached to various theories regarding shape as indicative of laying qualities. The good layer, however, is usually medium to long in body, and rather deep and broad. These are relative terms and subject to breed differences. Em- LADY SHOWYOU White Plymouth Rock hen, laid 281 e in the Missouri Contest in 1911-12. record was made in her second year, wide-awake, active temperament. ' pounds. iff Note Weight 6 r-H W .M bo en o* GEOUND PLAN END. SECTION STATIONARY 100-HEN HOUSE. (OREGON STATION.) KIND OF HOUSE TO BUILD 189 snows. When the snow covers the ground and the fowls have not the use of the range, being practically confined to the house, they will do just as well when the houses are brought together. Stationary House. — "Where little land is available, sta- tionary houses may be used. The portable house, shown on page 193 may serve as a stationary house for a small flock. For larger flocks either a long, continuous house may be used, or small, separate houses. The separate houses may be placed in a row 40 feet apart. By this arrangement A CURTAIN-FRONT HOUSE Built by A. F. Hunter, at Abington, Mass. The curtains are shown in the second pen. This is a modification of the scratching shed-house of which Mr. Hunter was the originator. the yards may all be on one side of the house, and one can walk or drive a team on the other side from one end to the other without opening of gates. Another advantage of this arrangement is this: by having every other yard vacant the trouble from males fighting through the fence is avoid- ed. Another advantage is that there is less danger of con- tagious diseases spreading from one flock to another than in the continuous house ; every flock is practically isolated from the other. 190 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT Keeping large flocks in a long, stationary house requires less time for the feeding and caring for the fowls than in portable houses scattered widely apart over the farm. It does not necessarily follow, however, that the advantages in this regard are all in favor of the long, stationary house. The profit in the business does not hinge altogether or mainly on the convenience of the attendant or on the amount of time necessary to do the actual work in feeding and caring for the fowls. The final result must hinge rather on the results or on the returns in egg yield from a given amount of labor. The portable house and free-range system is most con- ducive to health and vigor in the stock, and in the long run the financial results must be decided in favor of the system most favorable to vigor. A man may care for more fowls in a long, stationary house than under the free-range colony house system, but in a series of years will there be greater return in egg yield from his labor than from the labor of the man who keeps his fowls under the exten- sive free-range system? The greater risk from loss of vigor, from death, from contagious disease, from lower fertility of eggs, and greater mortality in the chicks makes it certain that in ten years, more or less, there will be a greater return from the labor on the colony free-range farm. It is possible that under certain conditions of soil and climate the long, stationary house system may be successful for a long term, such as in sections of maximum sunshine and on porous soils. The sunshine will ward off many bacterial diseases which would be more common where there is not very much sunshine. Again, in a very porous soil, soil contamination has not the same dangers as in heavy clay soils. The poultryman who uses stationary houses and follows the intensive system must utilize to the utmost tho KIND OF HOUSE TO BUILD 191 assistance of the sunshine in warding off diseases which in many sections of the country have followed in the wake of intensive poultry culture. Cultivation of Yards. — If the intensive system be used it is imperative that it include a system of cultivation or crop rotation. To allow the fowls to run in large numbers on the same ground, year after year, without any cultiva- tion and growth of crops will result in certain failure. The cultivation and cropping of the yards will keep them in good condition. The crops will use up the manure and lessen the danger from spreading of disease. The cultiva- tion also keeps the surface of the soil loose; unless culti- vated, some soils of a clayey nature will, from continuous use, become hard and packed. The expense of building the extra fence for the double yards will be offset by the value of the crops that may be grown on the vacant yards. Cul- tivation has a double purpose; first, it cleans the yards; second, it offers the fowls more exercise. Whether it will require cropping every year or every other year, or twice a year, will dep'end first on the nature of the soil; second on climatic conditions, and third on the number of fowls kept on the ground. The control of tuberculosis is render- ed comparatively easy by crop rotation and keeping the fowls off the ground for six months each year. Capacity of an Acre. — A light, porous soil has a greater capacity for fowls than a heavy soil or a damp soil. At the Oregon Station on clay soil it was found that the day drop- pings from 200 laying hens on an acre in four years made the soil too rich for the successful growth of cereal crops where cropping the ground was done every other year. The night droppings were put onto other land. If the soil con- tains too much manure for the crops it is safe to assume that it is not in the best condition for poultry. Sooner or later it is bound to show not only a failure of grain crops 192 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT but failure of poultry crops. For a permanent system under average conditions of soil and climate the following points are suggested for consideration. 1. Maximum number of fowls per acre : 100 laying hens. 2. Disposing of the night droppings on other land. 3. Dividing the ground into at least two divisions or yards, and growing a crop on each yard at least every other year. In sections where crops may be grown every year the maximum number of fowls may be increased. 4. Growing crops that will use up the maximum amount of manure. 5. Keeping the ground vacant at least six months in the year. 6. Thorough underdrainage, where necessary, to carry off surplus water. The above points are suggested as worthy of careful at- tention where more or less intensive poultry-keeping is to be followed and where the location is expected to be a per- manent one. It cannot be assumed that they will be appli- cable or practicable under all conditions of soil and climate. But under average conditions of soil and climate they af- ford a safe basis of estimating the capacity of an acre in a permanent system of poultry culture. It is not assumed that as many as 500 hens may not be profitably kept on an acre for a few years under favorable conditions. It has been done, but it is a different matter when it is planned to make a permanent business of it. Crops to Grow. — Different kinds of crops or vegetables may be grown on the vacant yards. Green food may be grown for the fowls, or vegetables may be grown for the family. The droppings of the fowls will keep the soil in a very productive condition. If it is not desired to use the yards for garden purposes, such crops as vetch, clover, kale, KIND OF HOUSE TO BUILD 193 rye, etc., may be grown. Where it grows well, clover may be sown early in the spring and the chickens turned on it in the fall. Vetch sown in the fall will furnish a great quantity of excellent green food in the spring and summer. Where it thrives, probably no other forage plant will fur- nish more green food per acre than the thousand-headed kale. If planted early in the spring, it will furnish a great quantity of green food in the fall and following winter. Eye sown in the fall will make considerable green food in the following spring and summer. NOTE. — In a personal letter to the writer Edward Brown says: "For those who keep their fowls within restricted areas, I believe we shall have to come to a four-course rotation, fowls being one part to three others, by which is meant, supposing we have four acres of land divided, the fowls shall occupy one acre only each year and no more, the three vacant lots being culti- vated. In some cases the three-course rotation has been tried, but that does not seem to get rid of the manure completely. However, it is a question of experiment and therefore your observations are very important. " Portable Colony House. — A good size for a colony house is 8 x 12 feet. A team of horses will pull a house of this size and it will accommodate from 30 to 50 fowls. Thirty to 36 fowls will be enough in northern states, where the fowls have not the liberty of outdoors all the time. This house is built on runners and may be moved several times a year. It will cost to build, about $15 for lumber, $5 for hardware and paint, and $10 for carpenter work, the cost varying in different localities as the prices of material vary. On page 177 is shown the kind of house used at the Oregon 194 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT Station up to the fall of 1913. If the proof of the pudding is in the eating, this Louse has been satisfactory. An aver- age of over 200 eggs per hen has been secured in this house with a flock of 40 hens, and it was in this house that hen C521 made a record of 303 eggs in a year. Improved Oregon Station House. — This house, how- ever, has been modified with the idea of furnishing a still more copious supply of fresh air. A study of conditions led to the opinion that the exchange of air at night in the roosting end of the house was not rapid enough for the number of fowls in the house. For thirty fowls the ven- tilation is ample, but for forty or fifty it was decided that the fowls were too close together to avoid re-breathing the exhaled impure air. It had been noted that several of the highest record hens at the Station had roosted close to the door on a step up to the trapnests. Hen C543, with a record of 291 eggs ; C508, with record of 268 ; A122, with record of 259, and a number of other high-record hens had formed this habit of roosting at the open door instead of back among the other fowls on the perches. This was roost- ing practically in the open air so far as fresh air was con- cerned, and it might lead to the inquiry as to whether fresh air is not, in itself, a good egg producer. The improved colony house is shown on page 178. In the cooler parts of the north or where the temperature gets down to zero and snow covers the ground two or three months of the year, and for 30 to 35 fowls, the house with the end open instead of the side is probably preferable, because where the temperature is lower there will be natur- ally a more rapid exchange of air. In warmer sections the house with the side open instead of the end is to be pre- ferred. In this house single walls are used made of rustic siding. Trapnests are placed under the dropping platform. Nests may be placed at the end wall of the house, in which KIND OF HOUSE TO BUILD 195 case the roosts and platform should be lowered 10 or 12 inches. A three-quarter inch hole is bored through the ends of the runners. Bolts are placed through these holes and a chain attached for moving the house. A team of horses pulls the house. No curtains are used. The opening and door are covered with 1-inch mesh wire. The dimensions and bill of lumber and hardware follow: BILL OF MATERIALS FOR PORTABLE COLONY HOUSE, 8 FT. X 12 FT. Lumber 2 3x6 14 feet long runners. 2 4x4 8 feet long sills. 5 2x4 8 feet long sills. 14 2x3 5 feet long studs. 4 2x3 7 feet long studs. 2 2x3 8 feet long studs. 3 2x3 12 feet long plates. 14 2x3 6 feet long rafters. 8 2x3 12 feet long nest frames, etc. 2 2x2 12 feet long roosts. 3 2x2 3 feet long roost supports. 175 board feet 8 inch ship lap for flooring and dropping boards. 125 board feet 6 inch roosting boards and slats for dropping boards. 260 board feet 8 inch channel rustic siding No. 2. 1,250 shingles. 4 1x4 corner boards, each 6 feet long. 4 1x3 corner boards, each 6 feet long. 5 1x3 door and door opening, each 12 feet long. 2 1x4 14 feet long cornice finish. 4 1x4 6 feet long cornice finish. 1 1x3 14 feet long ridge board. 1 1x4 14 feet long ridge board. 5 1x4 16 feet long miscellaneous use. 1 1x2 14 feet long stops for oil-can nests, 196 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT Hardware 6 Ibs. 8D case. 10 Ibs. 8D common. 3 Ibs. 16D common. 4 Ibs. shingle nails. 1 pair of strap hinges. 6 feet of heavy wire. 18 feet of 1 inch mesh wire for door and front. 8 10x10x15 oil-cans for nests. 2-3 of one end cut-out. 4 xlO anchor bolts. The Nests. — Nests for laying hens should be somewhat secluded, for fowls are less liable to acquire the egg-eating habit when the nests are in a darkened place. They should be from 10 x 12 to 12 x 14 inches in size and 8 to 10 inches high, the larger breeds requiring the larger size. A cheap and serviceable nest may be made out of a five-gallon oil can by cutting the end out, leaving about 3 inches at the bottom to keep the nest material in the nest. Such a nest can be easily cleaned either by scalding or spraying. The illustration shows top of can taken off; this makes the nest more roomy. Several of these nests may be set on a plat- form about 2 feet from the floor, turning the entrance of the nest toward the wall and leaving a space of 8 inches between the nest and the wall for the hens to walk along. The nest platform should be nailed to a cleat on the side of the house and braced from top of sill. Over the nests, to keep the chickens from standing on them and to help to darken them, is fitted a sloping top. This top should be built high enough, so that the attendant can see into the nests from the rear. Ten nests to fifty hens should gener- ally be provided. Another plan for nests frequently adopted is to place them under the droppings platform high enough to permit the hens to have full use of the floor. If this plan is follow- KIND OF HOUSE TO BUILD 197 K '"; - ed it will be necessary to raise the platform 3 feet from the floor. This is higher than desirable, especially for the heavier breeds, as they are liable to injure themselves in jumping to the floor from the roosts. However, there is little danger from this in a house without a floor or with a floor if it be covered deeply with litter as it should be. The coal oil can nests may be used under the platform, or a row of nests may be made with lumber. "Whatever is used, they should be made in a way that they may be easily removed for clean- ing and disinfecting. Another plan for nests more desirable than either in mild sec- tions where the fowls are out of doors all the year, is to put them outside the house either on the end or side of the house least exposed to rains or the hot sun. Still an- other plan is illustrated in a Utah colony house. In this case the nests are placed in the back wall of the house. The hens enter from the inside, while eggs are gathered from the out- side. Separate Laying House. — Where the colony system is used, as in Petaluma, Cal., a separate laying house has many advantages. It may be used in part for feed storage and feed hoppers. The space in the roosting house is all used for roosting or taken up with perches ; the nests must either be on the outside wall of the house or in a separate house for that purpose. On the large Petaluma ranches no scratching houses are used, dependence being placed on the NESTS UNDER THE DROPPING PLATFORM The front board is hinged at the bottom and is shown open for gathering the eggs. 198 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT free range furnishing the necessary exercise. With heavy breeds, however, scratching sheds should also be provided. Broody Coop. — Where an empty pen or yard is not available, a broody coop should be provided for the broody hens. This may be made from an ordinary box with a floor of slats. The slats make it cleaner and also prevent the hen sitting. Cold air circulating underneath will also help to overcome the brooding tendency. At the first symptoms of broodiness the hen should be removed to the broody coop, A GOOD BROODY COOP On farm of H. A. George* Petaluma. unless wanted for hatching. This coop may be hung on the wall inside the house if there is room enough, otherwise it may be hung outdoors on the shady side of the house or in some other convenient place. If there is a vacant yard available it is a good plan to use that for breaking up the broody hens. Where large numbers of fowls are kept and broodiness becomes a considerable problem, a separate house built for that purpose may be used, such as illus- trated above. The Trapnest. — The main or essential points in a good KIND OF HOUSE TO BUILD 199 trapnest are simplicity, cheapness, and accuracy in opera- tion. The Oregon Station trapnest has been in use 12 years (Utah Station Bulletin 92 and Oregon Station Cir- cular 4). As the hen enters this nest her weight closes the door, making it impossible for her to get out or another hen to enter. The opening in the nest is made just large enough for one hen at a time to enter. It is necessary to visit the nests several times during the day to release the hens, and there should be enough nests so that there will always be some vacant, otherwise eggs are liable to be laid on the floor. For a flock of fifty hens, 10 or 12 nests will be sufficient if they are visited often enough. The nests may be built singly or in groups. They may be set in the wall of the house, or inside the wall. They may also be made and set up outside, separate from the house. It is sometimes an advantage to release the hens from the top instead of through the door. This can be done where there is only one tier of nests. Occasionally a hen is slow in coming to the door to be let out, and by pull- ing the nest out or raising the cover, the operation of releas- ing the hens may be more quickly performed. With the small, active breeds there is not much trouble on this score. They come quickly to the door. The heavier breeds, like the Plymouth Rock, usually take their time in coming out, and sometimes have to be pulled out. Where they can be reached from the top this trouble is overcome. The dimensions given are for small fowls and medium- sized fowls up to about six pounds. It will be necessary to add an inch or two to the dimensions for the large breeds and increase the size or width of opening for the door. How to Make It. — The Oregon trapnest can be made by any one who can use a saw and drive a nail. It can be cut out of a 12-inch board, 10 feet long. The material con- sists of: one board 1 x 12 inches x 10 feet; six screw eyes, THE OREGON STATION TRAPNEST Trapnesting is revolutionizing poultry breeding. KIND OF HOUSE TO BUILD 201 No. 210 bright ; two pieces of iron rod 3-16 x 12 inches, and two pieces belt lacing 9x^/2 inches. Yards. — If the poultry houses are located near a neigh- bor's fields or yards, it will be necessary to yard the fowls. For other reasons, such, as the keeping of more than one variety or strain of fowls, separate fenced enclosures must be maintained. "Where these reasons do not exist, it is bet- ter to give the fowls free range, either in large or small flocks or in large or small houses. They will do better running together, as many as 500 in a flock, on free range than if separated into yards with fifty or 100 in each. The house may be divided into pens with partitions between each, and 50 or 100 fowls in each pen. When once ac- customed to their pen they will usual- ly go back to their own roosting places. Importance of Keeping the Yards Clean. — When chick- ens are confined throughout the year in yards, care must be taken to keep the yards clean, otherwise there will in time be serious losses from diseases and general loss in vitality. "When they are kept year after year on the same ground the yards sooner or later become contaminated with LADY MACDUFF Being taken from the trapnest when she laid her 303d egg. 202 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT disease-producing germs, and losses through sickness and decrease in vitality will render it unprofitable to keep fowls. Dr. Salmon says: "Accumulations of excrement harbor parasites, vitiate the atmosphere, and breed conta- gion/' It may be possible, but it is doubtful, to keep yards sufficiently clean by disinfection and other means to pre- vent troubles of this kind. At any rate, the expense of disinfection and cleaning would render it impracticable. Size of Yards. — The size of yards will be governed largely by, first, amount of land available ; second, nature of the soil ; third, the cost of fencing ; and fourth, number of separate breeds or breeding yards. As to the first, the larger the yard the more exercise the fowls will take. Large yards, therefore, mean greater vigor in the stock. "Where the soil is dry and porous with plenty of sunshine, probably double the number of fowls can be kept on the same area or yard as where the soil is heavy and wet. The larger the yard, the better for the fowls; but it is possible to make them so large that the cost of fencing will offset the advantages. In other words, the fencing becomes prohibitive when a certain limit of yard is exceeded. The main, if not the only excuse for small, separate yards, is for keeping distinct strains or breeds separate for breeding purposes. Where as many as 500 fowls are kept and there is no object in making up small breeding pens, one large yard may be fenced in and the fowls allowed to run together in the yard. So far as there is any reliable data or experiments, the results in egg yield will be prac- tically as good as where they are separated into small yards of 50 or 100 fowls. Again, the larger yard is more easily cultivated and cropped than small yards. Fencing is expensive, and if the yards are very large the cost may exceed that of the houses. It requires more fenc- KIND OF HOUSE TO BUILD 203 ing to fence a given area in a rectangular yard than in a square yard. The estimates of yard space vary from 20 to 100, or more, square feet per fowl. For 100 hens the size of yard under favorable soil conditions, should not be less than 20 square feet per fowl with a double yard, making 40 square feet as a minimum. Double Yards. — Where fowls are kept yarded the only practical method of keeping the yards clean or to lessen the danger of soil contamination, is to furnish at least two yards for each flock. If the long, continuous house be used and it is divided into small pens it will be better to have the yards on each side of the house, rather than two yards on one side, in order to get width enough in the yards for cultivation. The yards being shorter and wider, less fenc- ing will be required. Where the yards are too small for horse cultivation, spading will have to be resorted to. Portable Fence. — Portable fences may be used, such as illustrated on page 204. When the fowls are moved from one yard to another the fences are moved, so that half the amount of fence is needed, as for permanent fences. They take half the amount of wire, save the digging of post-holes and the cost of posts. In the case of continuous houses, with yards on each side, the fence is moved from one side of the house to the other, leaving the old ground open and free for cultivation. This saves in the cost of labor in cultivating. More labor, however, is required to build the portable fence, and the moving of them once or twice a year is likely to damage them somewhat, but if built of good heavy material they will last a number of years. Portable System for the Farm. — On the general farm where 50 or 100 hens are kept, the portable fence plan may be used to advantage where it is necessary to fence in the fowls, as, for example, during seeding time and while the grain is getting a start. Part of a grain field may be used 204 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT for a poultry house and flock. During part of the spring a quarter of an acre may be fenced off with a portable fence, and the flock put in a portable house, such as illustrated below. The flock would be turned loose on free range during the summer, and the following year the house and fence moved onto fresh ground. A fresh quarter acre should be given them each year for four years and in the fifth year PORTABLE FENCE Designed and used at Oregon Station. they would be put back on the original quarter to follow the same rotation. The manure from the 50 fowls would keep the acre of ground in good fertility for the growth of crops, and soil contamination, with consequent diseases in the flock, would be practically eliminated. If the ground is fairly dry and the flock be not kept shut in the yard more than three months, 100 fowls could be kept on the same acre, using two colony houses. In northern sections where snow covers the ground two months or more in the winter, additional scratching room should be provided in the form of a cheap shed illustrated on page 183. The farm flock of 50 or 100 fowls could be made the unit of larger and extensive plants. For every 100 fowls an KIND OF HOUSE TO BUILD 205 acre of ground with two colony houses and a portable fence would be required. A system of this kind followed in com- bination with grain growing may be conducted with practi- cally no cost for land. The chickens will do little if any damage to the grain crop, if the crop is pretty well grown before they are turned into it. They will eat some of the grain, but the grain will not be wasted and when the crop is harvested they will pick up the waste grain in the field. The SHOWING HOW FENCE MAY BE CONSTRUCTED house would then be moved out farther into the stubble field. Fencing. — Evolution and poultry breeding have not yet produced the hen without wings. In some of the heavy meat breeds the wings are of comparatively little use. A very low fence serves to confine them. The wings of the tame duck are practically valueless to protect them from the wild animals of the forest, which was the particular use or purpose of wings in their wild state. Long disuse has lessened their power of flight and put them practically out of commission. The turkey, more than any of the 206 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT domestic fowls, retains the power of flying. This is another instance of where the poultry breeder is helpless in chang- ing the nature of the hen. In another thousand years or two the wings of fowls, through disuse, may diminish in size and strength to such an extent that poultry fences will be cut down to a height that will serve only to keep the hen from walking over them. As it is, the wing is a part of the hen which, no matter how valuable it may originally have been to her, is now positively a detriment not only to the poultryman, who is making a considerable investment in fences, but to the neighbor engaged in gardening. The Height of Fences. — In practice, fences are usually made from 4 to 6 feet high, the lower fence for the heavier meat breeds and the higher for the light breeds. Even 6 feet is too low for some of the Leghorns or other small breeds, but fences are seldom made higher than this. By clipping the wings, or one wing of each fowl, the 6-foot fence will be high enough for the smallest or most active fowls. "Where it is not desirable to clip the wing, it will be neces- sary to make the fence about 8 feet high for the active breeds. Material. — Poultry fences are almost invariably made of poultry netting. It is made of galvanized wire and the size ranges about 18-gage to 20-gage, usually 19 or 20. For a durable, substantial fence, the 18-gage is recommended. The durability of the wire depends upon its being well galvanized. For adult fowls 2-inch mesh wire is used ; for small chicks 1-inch or %-inch mesh. The posts should be set 10 feet apart, not more than 12. A 2 x 4-inch post treated with a preservative is heavy enough, though a 4 x 4 will last longer. Shade and Fruit Trees. — Shade is very necessary for fowls in summer. This may be secured from fruit trees KIND OF HOUSE TO BUILD 207 or other trees. Two or three fruit trees — such trees as will do best in the particular soil and location — in each yard will furnish some revenue, as well as shade. Most varieties of fruit do well in poultry yards. Prunes, apples and cherries do exceptionally well. The droppings fertilize the trees and the poultry aid materially in keeping in check cer- tain of the fruit pests. Sour apples should be fed sparingly to fowls. Sour varieties of apples should not be planted. Where it is not desirable to plant trees, sunflower or corn may be planted early in season in part of the yard, fenced off temporarily. The sunflower is a rapid grower and furnishes excellent shade. SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS IX AND X 1. No one style of house is essential to a good egg yield. 2. Good egg yields have been secured in long houses, and in small, portable colony houses, but the highest records have been made in the latter. 3. On one point all experiments agree, that is, the neces- sity of an abundant supply of fresh air. 4. Even in the cold climates of Maine, Canada, and Minnesota the cold fresh-air houses have given better re- sults than warmly built houses. 5. Fowls require shelter more than house — shelter from winds, rains and snow, rather than from cold. 6. The open shed, or the open-front house, is the most serviceable house that has yet been invented. "Without it the poultry industry would have gone to the bad before now. 7. As to how much of the front should be open will de- pend largely upon weather conditions. The opening may be smaller in cold climates than in warm. Additional ven- tilation should be given during summer. 208 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT 8. Samples of air should be taken at night with the nose to determine whether the fowls are getting enough of the cheapest and best poultry food on earth — fresh air. A good nose, therefore, is part of the equipment of a poultry farm. 9. Records are not much in favor of movable curtains. It is doubtful whether they are necessary or desirable in any section. 10. Portable houses render the control or prevention of diseases much more easy. 11. After all, the house is not guilty of all the things that have been charged against it. Probably the yards should more often get the blame. A good house should not be hitched on to an unsanitary and poorly kept yard. PRESERVATION OF POULTRY MANURE Poultry manure has a high fertilizing value. It is es- pecially rich in nitrogen. Unlike farm animals, fowls pass the urinary excretions in the droppings. The urine is rich in nitrogen as well as in potash, and this accounts for the high fertilizing value of the droppings. The average fowl produces at night about thirty pounds of manure in a year. This varies somewhat as the method of feeding varies. Fowls fed a soft mash in the evening produce more manure at night than fowls that have whole grain as the last feed of the day. The night droppings, on the average, based on the value of commercial fertilizers, should be worth 15 to 20 cents per fowl ; or at the rate of $30 for 100 hens during the year, counting both night and day droppings. A large part of the value of the manure, however, will be lost unless some care is taken to preserve it. Much of the loss will be prevented if the droppings be mixed with dry KIND OF HOUSE TO BUILD 209 loam. If stored in a shed or in barrels there should be al- ternate layers of loam (not sand) and manure in the pro- portion of about 2 inches of the former to 1 inch of the latter. There are other methods of preserving the fertilizing constituents of the manure. One is to use gypsum. It is a pretty good plan to sprinkle the dropping board with gypsum and then mix more of it with the manure when stored. In experiments at the Maine Station it was found that t ' from the dung stored by itself or with sawdust, more than half of this had escaped during the summer. The lot stored with 40 pounds of plaster lost about one-third, while the lot stored with 82 pounds plaster and 15 pounds saw- dust suffered no loss/' The best preservation was secured with kainit and acid phosphate, both with and without saw- dust. For a flock of one hundred hens a good method of preserving the manure would be to use about thirty pounds of acid phosphate or kainit to about half a bushel of saw- dust. Good dry earth or muck will take the place of saw- dust. Lime and wood ashes should not be mixed with the manure as they accelerate the loss of nitrogen. CHAPTER XI FUNDAMENTALS OF FEEDING Feeding is one of the very important subjects in poultry husbandry. It is true that some hens will not lay many eggs, no matter how well they may be fed ; that is because they have not the inherited ability to lay ; in other words, they have not the proper breeding. This is discussed in the chapter on breeding. It will be seen there that food is efficient in producing eggs largely as the hen has been bred for laying, and that it is a waste to feed it to some hens. At the same time feeding must not be underrated. While it is true that some hens will not lay no matter how well they may be fed, it is equally true that some will not lay, no matter what their breeding may be, unless well fed. The problems in feeding cannot be settled by a set of rules and regulations. That is to say, any system of feed- ing cannot be followed blindly under all conditions. If fowls were all alike, if climatic conditions were always the same, if foods never varied in composition, if the feeding were done with a single purpose, it might be possible to re- duce the problem of feeding to one simple ration and one single way of feeding. If conditions were always the same it would be possible to say to the poultrymen in effect : Feed this ration and follow this system of feeding and you will be successful. The successful poultryman of course will follow a system, but no system will relieve him of the necessity of doing a little thinking for himself if he will get the best value from the foods he feeds. His success in securing a good egg yield and, therefore, a good profit will depend very largely 210 FUNDAMENTALS OF FEEDING 211 upon his knowledge of foods and the skill he exercises io feeding. That the fowls of to-day lay considerably more eggs than their wild progenitors did is due in part to better feeding and a more abundant supply of food. But the hens are not laying on the average half what they should. To secure the maximum egg yield the poultryman must give earnest attention to the feed bucket and to methods of feeding. High success in securing eggs can only come where the sub- ject of poultry feeds and feeding is given earnest study. A Knowledge of the Composition of Foods will enable the poultryman to gain a clearer conception of their values. The advance in poultry feeding in recent years has been due in part to a better knowledge of the composition of foods. While our knowledge of poultry foods and feeding may never reach a point where we can say that certain foods or rations will produce certain results, yet a great deal of valuable information is available as a result of ex- perimental feeding at the stations and of chemical analysis of poultry foods. In addition we have the experience of practical poultry-keepers, which constitutes a fund of val- uable information to draw upon. But poultry feeding has not yet been reduced to a so-called scientific basis. While this is true, the student of poultry feeding will be agreeably surprised to find much data of such a character as to well repay diligent study and research. The manufacture of eggs — for egg production is really a manufacturing pro- cess, the hen being the factory — requires a careful study of the raw materials as well as of the finished product, and the working of the factory itself. If the poultryman wishes to achieve the highest measure of success, it is imperative that he avail himself of the information that is available as a result of costly experience and experiment. 212 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT Limitations of Feeding. — Most poultry-keepers do not realize the importance of good feeding; others place the whole responsibility upon the food and feeding. Before telling what food will do, let us first tell what it will not do ; let us understand some of its limitations First. — Good food and good feeding will not make some hens lay ; they are not bred to lay. At the Oregon Station one hen laid 259 eggs in one year ; another, fed on the same food, laid six eggs. In another case one hen laid 268 and a flock mate on the same ration laid three. Many other similar instances might be given. This is referred to in detail under the chapter on breeding. Second. — Good feeding will avail little unless the fowls have good housing or care, or, in other words, favorable environment. "With good fowls and good housing, what will good feed- ing do in the production or manufacture of eggs? Food Affects the Quality of Eggs. — The hen is very particular about what she puts into the egg, so particular that probably no food could be fed that would render the eggs totally unfit for consumption. At the same time it has been demonstrated by experiment that food affects the quality of the egg, and that to produce eggs of the highest quality attention must be paid to the quality of the food. Flavor of Eggs. — Heavy feeding of onions, for example, will give a distinct flavor to the eggs and make them almost unpalatable. Hens eating large quantities of beef scrap will lay eggs of strong flavor. These facts the writer per- sonally demonstrated by experiment. No doubt other foods will also give a flavor to the eggs, desirable or undesirable. It is said that a diet of fish will give a fishy taste to the eggs. It is not necessary, however, to discard these foods on this account, for when fed in normal quantities they will not FUNDAMENTALS OF FEEDING 213 give a perceptible flavor to the eggs. Only when the hens have been starved on green food or animal food, and then given all they will eat of either for a few days, will any flavor from onions or animal food be noticed in the egg. But this shows that the hen puts into the egg what she finds in the food, even the flavor of the foods. It is therefore important that good wholesome food be fed at all times. Feeding Color Into the Egg. — It is possible for the skill- ful feeder to flavor the eggs; it sometimes happens from unskillful feeding, as indicated above. It is possible also to "paint" them. The variation in the shade of yellow in the yolk is due to a difference in the food. The coloring of the egg shell is beyond the feeder's art, but food affects the color of the yolk as we have demonstrated. A pen of fowls fed dried alfalfa leaves produced eggs of good yolk color. A similar pen fed sugar beets instead of alfalfa leaves laid eggs very pale in color. In an experiment at the Oregon Station kale " painted " the yolks a good color of yellow. Experiments at other stations have shown that the feeding of yellow corn will color the yolk. (West Virginia Bulletin 88. ) When eggs are pale in the yolk it is a sure indication that the hens are not getting green food enough. Clover, vetch, rape, grass, or other green food, and doubtless cer- tain grain foods, will color the yolk. A yolk too highly col- ored is not desirable, and it is possible for the hens to eat so much of certain foods as to color it too highly. Where the ration is right this should not occur. Food, therefore, af- fects the quality of the eggs. It has been further demonstrated that it is possible to color both the yolk and the white of the egg by the feeding of certain aniline dyes. Khodamine Red dye fed at the rate of 100 grams daily will, in a few days, color the white a pink color, while Soudan III dye will in about two weeks of feeding color the yolk a dark red. An egg laid two days 214 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT after feeding this dye to the hen will show the outer rim or layer of the yolk colored. An egg laid at the end of two weeks of feeding will show each layer of yolk distinctly colored. So far the experiments referred only to color and flavor. Both color and flavor in the egg are points that have a market value. Eggs either too pale or too highly colored in the yolk will be objected to by consumers who pay a fancy price and expect a fancy article. So, too, the flavor must be unobjectionable if fancy prices are to be received. These experiments might indicate that it is possible, by feeding certain foods, to change the chemical composition of eggs or feed into them certain things that will improve their nutritive value. So far, however, this is only a pos- sibility. Little investigation has been done and what has been done seems to show contradictory results. Investigations by Cross at Cornell showed that ' ' in feed- ing a ration high in fat or a ration high in protein there is no material change in the amount of fat and protein in the egg. ' ' There is need, however, of further investigation and it would seem that the matter is of practical importance enough to warrant it. Food Affects the Yield of Eggs. — Other conditions be- ing right, good feeding makes the hen productive, and the productive hen is the healthy hen. In a pen of four fowls at the Utah Station 804 eggs were laid in' one year. Another pen of four, sisters to the others, fed a different ration, laid 532 eggs. The difference in the ration made the difference in the egg yield. In another test one pen laid 574 eggs in a year, and a similar pen on a different ration laid 404. In a West Virginia experiment fowls fed a nitrogenous ration laid 7,555 eggs, while other fowls fed a carbonaceous ration laid 3,431 eggs. (West Virginia Bulletin 60.) FUNDAMENTALS OF FEEDING 215 Food Affects the Size of Eggs. — Food and feeding in- fluence the size of eggs. Do not always blame the hens or the breed for small eggs. An experiment has shown that the size of egg is influenced by factors under the control of the poultryman. The size of egg, of course is influenced by other factors. The'size varies to some extent as the vigor of the fowl does, and vigor is very largely dependent upon the food and method of feeding. This fact was brought out in an ex- periment by the writer at the Utah Station. Fifty Leghorn pullets were divided into four lots, as follows : Pen 2, 10 fowls. In a continuous house, closed front, slightly artificially heated. Pen 14, 10 fowls. In a continuous house, closed front. Pen 26, 10 fowls. In a continuous house, open front. Colony house, 18 fowls. On free range. The average weight of eggs for the six months beginning December 1, was as follows: Colony house 25.3 ounces per dozen Pen 2 23.4 " " « Pen 14 23.5 " « « Pen 26 22.5 " Eleven eggs from the colony house, it is seen, weighed as much as 12 from the other pen. The increased size of the eggs from the colony house flock was due to one or two factors, or to both, namely, to greater exercise and natural foods secured on the range. It was not a question of fresh air or type of house, because in the open-front house the eggs were no larger than those from the closed-front house. That there is a relation between the size of egg and vigor of the fowl is evident from the fact that the fowls in the colony house and on free range weighed heavier than those in the 216 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT other houses at the end of experiment, though their weights were equal at the start. The size of egg is undoubtedly in- fluenced by the physical condition or vigor of the fowl. The food affects the vigor of the fowl and therefore affects the size of egg. In more recent experiments at the New Jersey Station, rations deficient in protein produced un- dersized eggs. (New Jersey Bulletin 265.) Other recent experiments at "West Virginia indicate that scanty feeding produces undersized eggs (West Virginia Bulletin 145). Food Affects the Profits. — A proper study of foods and feeding must include prices as well as composition. A ration, although it may give good results in egg yield, may not be profitable because it is made up of too high-priced foods. There is no patent on egg-producing foods. It is not neces- sary to use any certain kind or brand of foods. It is not necessary to pay more for the chickens7 food than for the food for the family table. There are rations that are im- practicable because they are too high-priced. Different Elements of Food. — If we look upon the hen as a factory for the production of eggs and the eggs as the finished product, the food will be the raw material. If we had never seen a hen eating wheat we should hardly sus- pect that eggs were made out of wheat. Eggs and wheat do not look much alike, and yet when the chemist analyzes them he finds that they are pretty much alike in composi- tion. The farmer manufactures wheat from the soil, with the assistance of the heat from the sun and the rain from the clouds. The crop it produces he separates into straw, chaff and grain. The chemist takes the grain and separates that into water, protein, carbohydrates, fat and ash. The poultryman feeds wheat to the hen and the hen produces eggs. The chemist analyzes or separates these eggs as he did the wheat and he finds that they contain the same ele- ments as he found in the wheat, namely water, protein, car- FUNDAMENTALS OF FEEDING 217 bohydrates, fat and ash, with the difference that the car- bohydrates have been converted into fat. The main differ- ence between a bushel of wheat and a bushel of eggs is that the eggs are more palatable and more nutritious. They are also more valuable in the market. A study, therefore, of the composition of the finished product gives us a clue as to what the raw material should be. Composition of Eggs. — Without the shells a dozen eggs weighing l1/^ pounds, contained 13.57 ounces water, 2.32 ounces protein, 2.26 ounces fat and 0.22 ounces ash. A pound of eggs is worth from 10 to 30 cents, depending upon the season and markets ; a pound of wheat runs from 1 to 2 cents. When wheat is given to the hen it is converted by a delicate process of manufacture into a form of food so valuable that it is worth many times as much as it was in the grain sack. More than that, the hen is thrifty; for every pound of wheat she puts into eggs she puts a pound of water, as will be seen later ; and she gets a good price for the water. In selling eggs at 40 cents a dozen the poultry- man is getting 25 cents a pound for the water in them. It is more than the dishonest dairyman gets for the water he puts into his milk. An average egg weighs two ounces: 10.81% of it is shell, 32.47% of it is yolk, and 56.42% of it is white. The yolk is composed of about 50% water, 15.5% protein, 33.4% fat and about 1% mineral matter. The white is composed of about 85% water, 12.1% pro- tein, 0.23% fat and 0.34% mineral matter. Relation of Food Eaten to Eggs Laid. — There is a close relationship between the character of the raw material or food and the finished product. The skill of the poultry- man comes in in properly adjusting the ration to meet the requirements of heavy production. The hen does not ad- 218 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT just the composition of the egg to the food that may be fed. If the right elements are not present in the food she refuses to make eggs. The composition of the egg does not vary to any extent. The egg contains one-quarter ounce of protein. If the hen be fed on wheat and nothing else she may eat four ounces per day. Of that she will need about three ounces to supply bodily needs. This leaves one ounce to make eggs with. In an ounce of wheat there is about one-tenth of an ounce of protein. Now, supposing the protein is all digest- ed, which is not the case, she will not get enough protein to make half an egg a day. But an egg every two or three days would not be so bad at certain seasons. The egg, how- ever, contains other things. It contains also about one- quarter ounce of mineral matter, chiefly lime for shell. An ounce of wheat contains less than one-tenth as much min- eral matter as one egg of two ounces contains. The egg also contains fat. It contains less than one-quarter ounce of fat, but the wheat would contain three-quarters of an ounce of fat formers. "What would be the result if the hen were fed on wheat alone ? She would get enough protein to make an egg about every three days ; enough lime to make an egg every 12 days and enough carbohydrates and fat to make three eggs a day. "What will the hen do in such a quandary ? She could put more fat into the egg to make up for lack of protein. She could make a counterfeit article, but she will not. Un- less she has the right materials to make it with, she will not make the egg. "What would probably happen would be that she would lay an egg every three or four days, every two out of three soft shells, and the surplus fat and carbohydrates would be wasted or put on the hen in the shape of surplus fat. This is assuming that the hen would continue to con- sume four ounces of wheat a day and maintain health. In FUNDAMENTALS OF FEEDING 219 practice, however, the result would be different. She would not long continue to eat four ounces of wheat and nothing else. There would soon be a loss of appetite and health. It is poor economy to feed wheat alone. The same thing is true of corn and all the cereals. None of them are " bal- anced " for egg production. A Balanced Ration. — This raises the question of what is a balanced ration ? A balanced ration is one containing the right kind of nutrients in right proportions for the pur- pose for which it is fed. "We must know the composi- tion of foods before we can figure up a balanced ration. It may not be necessary in practice for the poultryman to figure up balanced rations for his flock. His experience or the experience of others, or the results of tests at experi- ment stations, are a pretty safe guide for the poultry- man ; but in order that he may intelligently plan improve- ments in rations, and adjust his feeding to the available food supply, he should under- stand something of the com- position of ordinary poultry foods. What Use Does a Hen Make of the Food She Eats? — In other words, what is the purpose of feeding ? The first use she makes of the food is to supply the needs of her A BALANCED RATION Wheat, oats, bran, and beef scrap in the above proportions make up a balanced ration for lay- ing hens. In addition, green food, grit, and oyster shell must be fed. 220 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT body. The maintenance of her body is her first concern. The body of the hen, like that of other animals, needs con- stant rebuilding. There is constant wearing or breaking down of tissues, and the food rebuilds the body or repairs its wastes. The work of the poultryman, therefore, does not end with the making of the hen, with the hatching and rearing of the pullet: he must maintain her, and the skill of the feeder shows itself in so compound- ing rations and so feeding them that the health and vitality of the hen may be maintained. That is the first considera- tion of good feeding — the maintenance needs of the hen, the maintenance of health and vigor. In feeding laying fowls, the second use to which food is put by the hen is to make eggs. After the body's needs have been supplied, if there is any food left, the hen will use it for the making of eggs. Eggs are made from surplus food. After she has eaten enough to supply bodily needs she turns attention to the egg basket. It is poor economy, there- fore, if the purpose is egg production, to feed just enough to maintain the hen. More must be fed or our ef- forts will be wasted. If the purpose is meat production and a fattening or fleshening ration is being fed, the purpose will be defeated if only enough is fed to maintain the fowl. The profit in feeding in both cases comes from the food consumed above that necessary for maintenance. On the. other hand, heavy feeding does not necessarily TohfVshlafate and water in eggs, FUNDAMENTALS OF FEEDING 221 mean a heavy yield of eggs. In an experiment by the writer two pens of fowls consumed an average of 75.6 pounds food, not counting the green food, and laid an average of 167 eggs per fowl. With the same amount of food two other pens averaged 117 eggs each. The nutritive ratio was practically the same in each case. While the heavy layer must consume plenty of food, the manner of feeding and the kind of food must be taken into account. In other words, the efficiency of feeding rests largely on the kinds of food fed and the skill with which the feeding is done. ?EED REQUIREMENTS OF CHICKENS PER DAY FOR EACH 100 POUNDS OF LIVE WEIGHT (AFTER WHEELER) Digestible nutrients (pounds') ' Total Protein Fat Carbo- Ash dry hydrates matter Growing chicks: First 2 weeks .... 2.00 0.40 7.20 0.50 10.1 2 to 4 weeks 2.20 0.50 6.20 0.70 9.6 4 to 6 weeks 2.00 0.40 5.60 0.60 8.6 6 to 8 weeks 1.60 0.40 4.90 0.50 7.4 8 to 10 weeks 1.20 0.30 4.40 0.50 6.4 10 to 12 weeks. . . 1.00 0.30 3.70 0.40 5.4 Adults (maintenance only) : Capon, 9 to 12 pounds 0.30 0.20 1.74 0.06 2.3 Hen, 5 to 7 pounds 0.40 0.20 2.00 0.10 2.7 Hen, 3 to 5 pounds 0.50 0.30 2.95 0.15 3.9 Egg production: Hen, 5 to 8 pounds 0.65 0.20 2.25 0.20 3.3 Hen, 3 to 5 pounds 1.00 0.35 3.75 0.30 5.4 Food Requirements. — The food requirements vary with the age and size of the fowls. The younger the chick the more food is required per pound weight of chick. The 222 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT larger the laying hen, less food is required per pound weight of hen. It has been shown in experiments by Wheel- er that 100 pounds of chicks under two weeks of age re- quired 10.1 pounds of food (digestible nutrients) per day; from four to six weeks the requirement was 8.6 pounds; at 10 to 12 weeks the requirement was 5.4, so that accord- ing to the weight of the chick, or for every 100 pounds of chicks regardless of number, nearly double the amount of food is required during the first two weeks of their age as is required from the 10th to the 12th week. It is also shown that the small chick requires double the amount of food that the laying hen needs, per pound weight. For a hen not laying, the difference is still greater. More food, of course, is eaten per chick as it grows older, but less is eaten per pound weight of chick. Natural and Artificial Feeding. — The business of poul- try keeping is more or less artificial, even the feeding of the fowls. Artificial methods, however, can be followed successfully just so far. The lessons of feeding will be more easily learned if account be taken of the manner in which fowls secure their food under natural conditions. Where they have their liberty to range over fields they pick up weed seeds and waste grain, nibble at the grass and grass roots, chase flies and grasshoppers, hunt for bugs and worms, and finish off with grit for dessert. Under such conditions the hen balances her own ration, maintains her health and vigor and produces eggs abundantly, if the sup- ply of these foods is large enough so that she can secure her meals regularly each day. The exercise secured in hunting for the food enables her to better digest and as- similate her food and maintain her in good health and vigor. But under natural conditions the daily food supply is un- certain, and here is indicated the advantage of artificial or systematic feeding, or the necessity of cooperation between FUNDAMENTALS OF FEEDING 223 the farmer and the fowl, if the highest production is to be secured. The Purpose of Feeding is not merely to maintain the fowl in health and vigor; she can take care of that herself if given her liberty; the purpose of feeding is to secure higher production, and that is possible only where the food supply is sufficient and regular for the needs of the hen. Account must be taken of the nature of the hen. She must be fed artificially, but artificial foods or nutrients must not be substituted for the foods obtained naturally. Neither may a life of ease be substituted for her natural life of ac- tivity. She is a creature of great nervous activity and the poultryman must take account of that also and in his feeding make sure that the activity or exercise is provided. Nature calls for food of certain kinds and for activity or exercise that will make the food efficient in production. We cannot improve on the kinds of foods, nor do away with activity. But the intense production called for in the modern im- proved egg-producing hen calls for systems of feeding that will furnish unfailingly a full supply of all the food nutrients demanded by the fowl. Composition of Foods. — This does not mean that the feeder must limit himself to weed seeds and bugs and grass- hoppers. Wheat and corn are made up of the same in- gredients as wild weed seeds, namely, protein, fat, carbohy- drates; so the modern meat scraps contain the same ele- ments as grasshoppers and worms. The difference is that we furnish the vegetable protein, carbohydrates and fat, in the form of wheat and corn instead of weed seeds, and the animal protein and fat in the form of meat scraps rather than in the form of bugs and insects. The Mineral Matter called ash, which is that part of the food that remains after burning, is found in varied amounts in all foods. The hen is a concentrator ; she takes the min- 224 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT eral in the food, concentrates it into egg shells and mixes a little in the contents. All grain foods contain insufficient lime with which to make egg shells and the laying hen must eat grit, oyster shells, or other things, to supply the de- ficiency. "Where high egg production is called for, the mineral matter is a most important part of the food. Its importance should be more fully emphasized. The Oregon Station hen that laid 42 pounds of eggs in 12 months used in the manufacture of shells practically 3y2 pounds of lime. In addition there was a small quan- tity of mineral matter in the egg contents. The grain foods she ate contained about two pounds of ash. More than half the mineral matter, therefore, was secured from other sources than the grain foods. Mineral nutrients are also demanded by the fowl for building up or repairing the bones or skeleton of the body. The flesh and internal organs also contain certain com- pounds of ash. The importance of ash in feeding has been brought out in feeding experiments with hogs. Corn alone, which is low in mineral matter, produced small gain in weight and developed an undersized, fine-boned, over-fat animal ' t characterized by proportionately small kidneys, lungs, heart, liver and muscles, and by a high percentage of fat." A German physiologist proved that animals will live longer with no food at all than with food containing no mineral matter. As to the effect of insufficient calcium (lime) Sherman quotes the following: "Voit kept a pigeon for a year on food poor in calcium without observing any effects attributable to the diet until the bird was killed and dissected, when it appeared that, although the bones con- cerned in locomotion were still sound, there was a marked wasting of lime salts from other bones, such as the skull and sternum, which in places were even perforated. The injurious effects of an insufficient intake of lime is, of FUNDAMENTALS OF FEEDING 225 course, more noticeable with growing than with full-grown animals. ' ' As the egg-producing capacity of fowls is improved there is increased demand for the mineral elements, and the suc- cessful poultryman will see that there is no deficiency in this respect in the ration. The mineral matter in the body of the fowl is largely phosphate of lime, while the egg shell is almost entirely carbonate of lime. Ground bone is the most available form in which to fur- nish the mineral matter for body growth. Eapidly growing young chickens require much mineral matter in the form of lime phosphates which are found in bone. It is different in the case of the laying hen. The shell of the egg is almost all carbonate of lime and this is found in its most available form in oyster shells. But little is known of the effects of the specific mineral elements, phosphorus, iron and sulphur, on production or growth. It will be a distinct advance in the practice of feeding when more definite knowledge has been gained of the part played in the economy of feeding by these dif- ferent mineral compounds of ash. Protein is the most valuable part of the food, because, though it is found in all poultry foods, it is not found in the cheaper foods in sufficient amount for the needs of the fowl, especially the laying fowl. Foods containing a high percentage of protein are usually the most expensive. Pro- tein makes the lean meat and the muscle and a large per- centage of the contents of the egg. The white of the egg, lean meat, gluten of the flour, and milk casein are practi- cally all protein. The value of the food must be determined largely by the amount of protein which it contains, and high prices should not be paid for food of any kind unless it has a guaranteed analysis of high protein content. Generally speaking, foods 226 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT are cheap or dear in proportion as they contain a high or low percentage of protein. Carbohydrates and Fats furnish the fat of the body and of the egg. From them are derived the heat necessary to keep up the temperature of the body. They are burned in the body to furnish the heat and also the energy. It requires energy to digest food; it requires energy to walk and to fly and to scratch, just as it requires steam to drive AMOUNT FOR. ONE HEN ron One. BALANCED RATION FOR ONE HEN FOR A YEAR Showing the amount and sources of the different chemical constituents. the steam engine ; and a considerable amount of food in the form of carbohydrates and fat is used to produce this en- ergy. Most poultry foods contain a larger percentage of carbohydrates and fat for egg production than is necessary, while there is usually a deficiency of protein. To what ex- tent fat in the food influences the egg yield is not definitely known. In experiments by the writer rations containing a liberal amount of fat gave a better yield than others of little fat. The experiments have shown that fowls eat FUNDAMENTALS OF FEEDING 227 PERCENTAGE COMPOSITION OF FOODS Carbohydrates GRAIN Watff Ash Protein Fiber N-Free Extract Fat Wheat 10.5 1.8 11.9 1.8 71.9 2.1 Corn 10.9 1.5 10.5 2.1 69.6 5.4 Kaffir Corn 9.3 1.5 9.9 1.4 74.9 3.0 Oats 11 3 11.8 9.5 59.7 5 Peas 10.5 2.6 20.2 14.4 51.1 1.2 Barley 10.9 2.4 12.4 2.7 69.8 1.8 Rye 11.6 1.9 10.6 1.7 72.5 1.7 Buckwheat 12.6 2 10 8.7 64.5 2.2 Cow peas 14.8 3.2 20.8 4.1 55.7 1.4 Sunflower 8.6 2.6 16.3 29.9 21.4 21.2 Millet 14 3.3 11.8 9.5 57.4 4 Sorghum 12.8 2.1 9.1 2.6 69.8 3.6 Flaxseed 9.2 4.3 22.6 7.1 23.2 33.7 Wheat bran 11.67 5.18 14.05 8.16 57.34 3.6 Wheat middlings 11.73 2.85 15.22 4.88 60.85 4.47 Wheat shorts 11.8 4.6 14.9 7.4 56.8 4.5 Linseed meal (N. P.) 9.9 5.6 35.9 8.8 36.8 3 Gluten meal 8.1 1 28.3 1.1 50.8 10.7 Cottonseed meal. 8.2 7.2 42.3 5.6 23.6 13.1 Soy bean meal . . 10.8 4.5 36.7 4.5 27.3 16.2 Brewers' dried grain 8 3.4 24.1 13 44.8 6.7 GREEN FOODS Alfalfa 71.8 2.7 4.8 7.4 12.3 1 Clover (Red) 70.8 2.1 4.4 8.1 13.5 1.1 Kale 88.2 1.82 2.57 1.47 5.32 .61 Cabbage C0.5 1.4 2.4 1.5 3.9 0.4 Vetch 69.18 2.71 3.76 9.64 14.22 .40 Mangel Wurzel.. 91.2 1 1.4 0.8 5.4 0.2 Turnip C0.5 0.8 1.1 1.2 6.2 0.2 Sugar beet 86.5 0.9 1.8 0.9 9.8 0.1 Dried beet pulp.. 6.4 3.3 10.8 19.8 58.4 1.3 Carrot 88.6 1 1.1 1.3 7.6 0.4 Potato 78.9 1 2.1 0.6 17.3 0.1 Artichoke 79.5 1 2.6 0.8 15.9 0.2 ANIMAL FOOD Skim milk 90.6 0.7 3.3 ... 5.3 0.1 Buttermilk 90.3 0.7 4 .. . 4.5 0.5 Whey 93.8 0.4 0.6 ... 5.1 0.1 Cottage cheese.. . 72 1.8 20.9 ... 4.3 1 Milk Albumen... 18 3 43 ? ? 1.5 Beef scrap 10.7 4.1 71.2 .. . 0.3 13.7 Cut bone 34.2 22.8 20.6 ... 1.9 20.5 Dried blood 8.5 4.7 84.4 ... ... 2.5 Dried fish 10.8. 29.2 48.4. ,,, »•» 11.6 228 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT more food during the cold weather than during the warm. This is because it requires more food to keep up the heat of the body, and for heat-producing purposes cheap fat foods serve the purpose as well as expensive protein foods. Nutritive Ratio. — The hardest problem, therefore, in poultry feeding is to compound suitable rations containing the necessary protein in its most available form and at reasonable cost for heavy production. The nutritive ratio is the ratio of digestible protein to digestible fat and heat- producing foods. For egg production a narrow nutritive ratio should be fed. A ratio of one of protein to four or five of carbohydrates and fat is a narrow ratio and will give good results in egg production. In figuring the ratio the fat is multiplied by 2^ as it is estimated that one pound of fat is equal to 2% pounds of carbohydrates. It should be understood, however, that the nutritive ratio in itself does not necessarily indicate the true value of the ration. Palatability and other factors have to be consider- ed. At the Utah Station two rations having the same nutri- tive ratio were fed to two different pens of fowls for a year. One of them gave a yield of 201 eggs per fowl; the other 133. There was a difference in the kind of the food, but not in the nutritive ratio. Two other pens having rations of simi- lar nutritive ratio gave yields of 101 and 143 eggs respec- tively. At the West Virginia Station laying hens fed a narrow ratio, or nitrogenous ration, produced 17,459 eggs, while the pens with a wide, or carbonaceous ration, laid 9,708 eggs. During the experiment the former fowls gained in live weight 1 pound 4 ounces each, while the latter gain- ed only about one-tenth of a pound each, Other experi- ments have shown the superiority of the narrow ratio, or the ration rich in protein or nitrogen. The proper nutritive ratio, however, does not guarantee a good egg yield. Regard must be had to the kind of foods FUNDAMENTALS OF FEEDING 229 fed, and the feeder must be guided by the results of feeding tests that indicate the feeding value of different foods. It has been shown, for example, that there is a difference in the protein. Fowls require a certain amount of protein in the ration, but to be effective in egg yield part of that protein must come from animal sources. It is protein just the same, but why there should be this difference in feeding value between animal and vegetable protein is not yet known. Experiments by Wheeler showed that an animal food ra- tion for laying hens was superior to others in which all the organic matter was derived from vegetable sources, and for growing ducklings very much superior. In the case of growing chicks where bone ash was fed in the place of ani- mal food the results were equally satisfactory. (Geneva Bulletin 171.) In New Jersey experiments (Bulletin 265) it was found that : ' ' The addition of animal protein in the form of meat scrap materially increases the efficiency of a ration relatively high in vegetable protein, both for egg produc- tion and for flesh growth, " and that: "Phosphoric acid from an organic source (animal bone) is much more ef- ficient than phosphoric acid from an inorganic scource. " ANALYSES OF FOWLS AND EGG* (The analyses of the fowls include the feathers, bones, blood, etc.) Water Ash Protein grates Fat Hen 55.8 3.8 21.6 .. 17 Pullet ' 55.4 3.4 21.2 .. 18 Capon 41.6 3.7 19.4 .. 33.9 Fresh egg. . 65.7 12.2 11.4 . . 8.9 *Prof. W. P. Wheeler, Geneva (N. Y.) Station. Computing the Ratio. — The nutritive ratio may be com- 230 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT puted as follows : Suppose the ration is 10 pounds wheat, 3 pounds oats, 2 pounds bran and 1 pound beef scrap. By referring to the table of composition of feeds, page 227, it will be found that wheat contains 11.9% protein; so that in 10 pounds wheat there are 1.19 pounds protein ; it contains 73.7% carbohydrates, and in 10 pounds there are 7.37 pounds carbohydrates. The percentage of fat is 2.1, or 0.21 pound fat in 10 pounds wheat. Figuring the other foods in the same way, we get the results shown in the following table : 10 Ibs. 3 Us. 3 Us. 1 Ib. beef wheat oats bran scrap Total . Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. Protein . . 119 0.35 0.29 0.66 2.49 Carbohydrates 737 2.08 1.31 10.76 Fat .. 0.21 0.15 0.07 0.14 0.57 To get the nutritive ratio, multiply the total fat by 2*4 (0.57X21/4=1.28) . Add this to the carbohydrates (10.76+ 1.28=12.04). Divide this by the total protein (12.04-^2.49) and we get the nutritive ratio of 1 :4.8. In other words, this ration contains one pound of protein to 4.8 pounds carbohydrates and fat. This is not given as a good ration, but simply to show how the nutritive ratio is computed. In point of fact, this method of computation is not correct because it is figured on the total nutrients, not on the amount actually digestible. Digestibility of Poultry Foods. — In the above compu- tation it is seen, for example, that there are 1.19 pounds of protein in 10 pounds wheat, but according to Henry's compilation of digestion coefficients for livestock, there is only 0.88 pound digestible protein in 10 pounds wheat. The amounts digested are shown in the following table, using the standard coefficients for livestock; FUNDAMENTALS OF FEEDING 231 10 Us. 3 Ibs. 2 Ibs. 1 Ib. beef wheat oats bran scrap Total Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. Protein 0.88 0.26 0.24 0.61 1.99 Carbohydrates 6.75 1.47 0.84 .. 9.06 Fat 0.15 . 0.13 0.05 0.14 0.47 Eatio — 1:5.0 Foundation of Scientific Feeding. — The composition of foods affords a means of estimating fairly well the value of the food. Foods are usually valuable in proportion as they contain a high or a low percentage of protein. For instance, a. pound of protein may be worth so much, whether it be found in corn or wheat bran. A hundred pounds of corn containing 10.5 pounds protein is not worth as much as 100 pounds beef scrap containing 60 pounds protein. That is the fundamental lesson that the chemical analysis of foods teaches. Chemistry gave to the world only some fifty years ago a feeding standard based upon the chemical composition of fot)ds. Previous to that time, as Henry says, "the farmer gave his ox hay and corn without the least conception of what there was in this provender that nourished animals. ' ' The discovery of the vital differences in the amount of nutrients in different foods was the foundation of scientific feeding. Percentage Digested. — But that is not all. It was found that not only did the foods vary in composition, or total nutrients, but a few years later a German scientist formu- lated a new standard based, not on total amount of nutrients —protein, carbohydrates and fat — but on the amount or percentage of these nutrients digested by the animal. For example, there are 3.8 pounds crude protein in corn stover, but only 1.4 pounds of that is digestible, or 36%, the rest of the protein is wasted. 232 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT 58 per cent of the protein of clover is digested 76 per cent of the protein of corn is digested 77 per cent of the protein of oats is digested 89 per cent of the protein of linseed meal is digested So do the carbohydrates and fat vary in digestibility in different foods. The percentages of these nutrients digested by animals have been determined for practically all animal foods, and tables of digestion coefficients for livestock have been made and published. Unfortunately, the same information is not available for poultry feeds. It has been assumed that the digestibility of feeds will not be the same with poultry as with livestock; that poultry may or may not digest the food better than livestock ; and that before the digestibility of poultry foods may be known digestion experiments must be made with poultry. Some work has already been done with fowls, but hardly enough to definitely establish feed- ing standards. So far the results indicate that the digesti- bility of certain foods does not vary much whether fed to fowls or to farm animals. In the above table the figures for lives cock were used in computing the nutritive ratio. Digestion Coefficients. — This is the term used in speak- ing of the percentage of foods that is digestible. The digestion experiments that have been made with poultry haVe been mainly those by Bartlett of the Maine Station (Bulletin 184), Brown of the Bureau of Animal Industry (Bulletin 156), and Fields and Ford of the Oklahoma Station (Bulletin 46). A table of the digestion coefficients, giving the average results of all these analyses, has been compiled by Bartlett and published in the Maine Station bulletin 184. This includes the results of work of several European investigators. FUNDAMENTALS OF FEEDING 233 AVERAGE DIGESTION COEFFICIENTS OBTAINED WITH POULTRY TO DATE II KJ Bran, wheat 3 46 70 71 70 46 37 Beef scrap Beef (lean meat) . . Barley 2 2 3 80.20 87.65 7717 92.60 90.20 7732 8509 95 86.30 67 86 Buckwheat . . . 2 69.38 5940 86.99 8922 Corn, whole 16 86.87 81.55 91.32 88.11 Corn, cracked Corn, meal Clover 2 2 3 83.30 83.10 27.70 72.20 74.60 70.60 88.10 86 14.30 87.60 87.60 35.50 India wheat 3 72.70 75 83.40 83.80 Millet 2 62 40 98 39 85.71 Oats 13 62.69 71.31 90.10 87.89 Peas 3 77.07 87 84.80 80.01 Wheat 10 82.26 75.05 87.04 53 Eye 2 79.20 66.90 86.70 22.60 Potato . 6 78.33 46.94 84.46 ' These results should be taken as more or less tentative until further work has been done and the final results based on the averages of a great many analyses. It is noted with interest that this compilation gives a higher coefficient for corn than for wheat. If this finding should prove to be final it would mean that the value of the protein in the corn was about 8% greater than that of wheat; the carbohydrates about 5% greater, and the fat or ether extract about 66% greater. These results are not presented as final, but rather as a record to date of progress in a very important line of research. On the whole, the work indicates that the digestibility of foods may not vary a great deal whether fed to poultry or to livestock. 234 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT Palatability. — It has been pertinently said that it is pos- sible to make a mixture of wet leather and a petroleum jelly that would give the same result as meat by the ordin- ary food analysis. Palatability comes in here. Leather and petroleum jelly would scarcely be as palatable as meat, nor would it be expected that the one would give as good an egg yield as the other. Again, while a high digestibility of food is important, yet digestibility is not a certain measure of the value of the food. Sherman in "Chemistry of Food and Nutrition/' says: "Foods similar in chemical composition and equally well digested, may or may not be of equal nutritive value, ' ' and again : ' l The coefficient of digestibility is but little in- fluenced by the palatability of the food." Summing Up. — We have here three factors — there may be others — that must be taken into account in arriving at the true value of a food ; namely, composition, digestibility and palatability. While any of these factors, standing alone, may not mean much to the feeder, no one of them must be disregarded. In proportion as his knowledge cov- ers all three factors he will be able to feed intelligently; but after all the knowledge that comes from practical feed- ing experiments is all important and necessary to a com- plete knowledge of the value of any particular ration. Digestive Organs. — The organs of the fowl concerned in digestion of food are shown on p. 235. This photo- graph shows the various organs beginning with the man- dibles or beak used for picking up food. The tongue moist- ens the food with saliva, after which the food passes through the esophagus, or gullet, on the way to the crop, where it remains about 12 hours. The food is here soften- ed and then passes into the stomach where it is mixed with gastric juices and passes on into the gizzard. The gizzard is the largest organ of the hen, and its office is to crush or DIGESTIVE ORGANS OF THE FOWL 1, 2. Upper and lower mandibles. 3. Esophagus. 4. Crop. 5. Esophagus. 6. Stomach. 7. Gizzard. 8. Duodenum. 9. Gall bladder. 10. Spleen. 11. Bile ducts. 12. Liver. 13. Small intestine. 14. Ceca. 15. Pancreas. 16. Rectum. 17. Cloaca. 18. Anus. (Oregon Agricultural College.) 236 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT grind the food. The tough muscular walls of the gizzard aided by the grit that the hen picks up takes the place of teeth which in domestic animals grind the food. The moistened ground grain passes from the gizzard into the large intestine, or duodenum, where it is acted upon by the pancreatic juices. The bile from the liver also enters the duodenum and aids in the digestion of the fats of the food. The digestive process is here completed and the di- gested portions of the food are absorbed into the blood and the waste or indigestible portions forced on to the cloaca. The ceca correspond to the appendix in man, and their function is not understood. The total length of the diges- tive canal from beak to vent is 4 to 5 feet. The digestive process of the fowl works with extreme rapidity. Investigations have shown that in about two days after eating, the food has entered into the making of the egg yolk. In two days after being eaten certain foods have given a color to the outer layers of egg yolk. To keep this complex system of digestion in proper work- ing order requires a variety of good food, abundant exer- cise, and fresh air in the house. What Foods Should be Fed. — The table of composition of foods contains the names of foods that are used for poul- try. This table does not, however, exhaust the list, as there are doubtless other foods that are used to a limited extent in different localities. The composition of any food not on this list may usually be obtained from the experiment stations. CHAPTER XII COMMON POULTRY FOODS Among the Grain Foods wheat is more largely used for poultry than any other cereal, taking the country over. It is a safer food than most other grain foods, and there is probably no other cereal that is better relished by the fowls. It has a near competitor in corn, and whether the one or the other should be fed is largely a question of their prices. If fed exclusively on one grain, fowls would probably give better results in egg yield on wheat than on corn. Judging from the composition, wheat has a slight advantage over corn for egg production, while corn is better for fattening. It is not a question, however, of one kind of grain ; no one should expect a profit from fowls when fed one kind of food, no matter what kind of food it may be. "When fed in combination with other foods it is an open question whether wheat or corn is the more economical to feed at the same price per pound for each. No serious mistake will be made by the poultryman if he makes the market price the basis for selecting wheat or corn. Corn is an excellent poultry food. A few years ago poultry writers generally advised poultrymen not to feed it to laying hens. Chemical analysis had shown it to contain more fat-forming elements than wheat, and on this account it became very unpopular, and higher priced wheat was fed in its place. Later, however, experiment stations, in actual feeding tests, showed it to be the equal of wheat when fed in proper combinations. The Massachusetts Station secured as good, if not better, results in egg yield from corn as from wheat. 237 238 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT But neither wheat nor corn is a perfect ration, and other foods must be fed to ''balance" it. It is a waste of food and labor to feed either wheat or corn alone. It is an interesting fact that those states which are the largest producers of corn are the heaviest producers of poultry and eggs. This does not, however, prove the A THRESHING SCENE The chickens will thresh their own grain and save the threshing bill. superiority of corn, but it disproves the old notion that corn is not a good poultry food. Oats. — Pound for pound, oats are not worth as much for chickens as wheat or corn. Fowls do not relish oats as well as those grains. The large amount of hull on the oats is an objection. The hulls are largely indigestible. Minus the hulls, oats would be an excellent food for laying or fattening fowls. Oats are not as fattening as corn or wheat, and many poultrymen feed considerable quantities of oats to prevent the hens becoming too fat. Special care should be used in selecting oats, as they vary a good deal in quality. Only heavy, plump oats should be fed. The chief value of COMMON POULTRY FOODS 239 oats is in furnishing a necessary variety to the ration. This, of course, is true of other foods. Hulled oats, if they could be obtained at a reasonable price would be superior to corn or wheat. 9 Barley is not extensively fed to poultry. Chickens will not eat it if they can get wheat or corn, or, at any rate, they will eat but little of it. Where the price is not more than that of other grains, a little may be fed to give variety. Many poultry feeders use rolled or chopped barley in the mash. Wheat Bran. — Bran is the outer covering of wheat and other grains, separated from the flour in the process of milling. "Wheat bran is richer in protein than whole wheat, and has considerable ash or mineral matter other than lime. Investigations have shown bran to be low in digestibility, but nevertheless it is one of the most popular of poultry foods. There is no cereal by-product more universally used by poultry feeders than bran. Practical experience long ago demonstrated its high value for poultry, especially for egg production. For fattening it has not the same value. Its high feeding value for egg production and for growing chickens is undoubtedly due to its high mineral content, as well as protein content. It contains also more fat than either wheat or barley. These facts, added to its relative cheap- ness, make it an economical feed. Middlings and Shorts. — These are other by-products of wheat that are extensively used. They have a high protein content compared with the whole wheat, and on this account and their relative cheapness make a liberal use of them in the mash desirable. Middlings and shorts are composed of the finer parts of the bran with some of the coarser parts of the flour separated in bolting. Peas. — Where peas can be grown successfully they should be used quite extensively as a poultry food. They are 240 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT richer in protein than any of our common cereals. They contain twice the quantity of protein that corn contains, and on that account are worth more pound for pound than corn or wheat. Rye. — Rye grain is not a satisfactory poultry food. Fowls do not relish it though they eat it in small quantities. It lacks palatability. When planted in the yards in the fall it furnishes an early green food in the spring. Before the grain is fully ripe in the straw the fowls eat it more readily, and they may be allowed to thresh the grain out of the straw in the yards. Rice. — Broken rice is used to a considerable extent in certain sections as food for small chickens. Rice polish is rich in the mineral element phosphorus. Linseed Meal. — The meal of flaxseed from which the oil has been largely extracted in the process of manufacture of linseed oil is largely used as a poultry food. Old process meal contains more oil than the new process meal, and on that account is more valuable. Linseed meal has also a high percentage of the mineral compounds phosphorus, iron, sulphur and magnesium. It is a rich food and can only be used in limited quantities. If it can be purchased at a reasonable price, or on the basis of its protein content, it may well be used profitably as a part of a laying ration. Buckwheat. — This is a good poultry food, but its use is limited on account of an uncertain supply and its high price in most sections. Sunflower Seed. — The sunflower plant may be profitably used for a double purpose. It is largely used for furnish- ing shade. The seeds contain a high percentage of oil. They ripen about moulting time when foods of a consider- able oil content are desirable. The seed may be fed in limited amount throughout the year, but during the moult- ing season in the growth of new feathers there is an extra COMMON POULTRY FOODS 241 demand for food of this character. It has been observed to give a glossy and attractive appearance to the plumage. Animal Foods. — The hen is a meat eater. Animal food of some kind is necessary for fowls to maintain their health and vigor, and to make them productive either in meat or eggs. A knowledge of this fact has done more to increase the poultryman's profits than any other one thing in poul- try feeding. The scarcity of eggs in winter is largely due to a lack of animal food. The fact that chickens when given the liberty of the fields in summer find animal food in the form of bugs, angleworms, grasshoppers, etc., escapes the notice of the farmer, and in winter he does not see the necessity of feeding it. In most parts of the country, dur- ing the winter, chickens are unable to obtain animal food in the fields, especially in sections where snow covers the ground. In sections with mild and open winters, they find many angleworms, especially during the rainy season. But in most sections, if not in all, fowls must be liberally fed with some kind of animal food to obtain best results. , There are a number of forms in which animal food may be fed. Fresh, lean meat is undoubtedly the best kind of animal food. It is the lean meat that furnishes the protein, but there is no objection to having the lean mixed with a little fat ; this may be an advantage at times. Fresh meat scraps or cut "bone from the butchers' stalls are an ex- cellent egg-maker. Some butchers keep a bone cutter and sell the meat and bones all ready ground or cut up. When one has a sufficient number of hens, say 25 or more, it will pay to buy a good bone cutter and cut the bones. The scraps contain a large proportion of bone, and the fowls eat these very greedily, as well as the meat. They furnish the mineral matter necessary for bone making and for egg- shell making. Skim milk will take the place of animal food if fed 242 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT liberally enough. The trouble with skim milk is that it is not concentrated enough; that is, it is largely water, 90 pounds in a hundred being water. In other words, in 100 pounds skim milk there are only 10 pounds food. Even with milk kept before them all the time to drink, laying hens will not get enough of it to supply the demand for animal food. If wet mashes are fed, by using skim milk to mix the mash they will get more of it in this way. By feeding it clabbered the fowls will get more food out of it. Probably the best way to feed milk is to make ' ' cottage cheese " out of it. This is a splendid food when properly made. In that form fowls will consume enough to supply the demand for animal food. It is made in this way : Set a can of skim milk in a place having a temperature of 75 to 80 degrees. In 18 to 24 hours the milk will coagulate (thicken). Then break up into pieces the size of large peas or smaller; set can in a pail of hot water, stirring the curd until a temperature of 90 to 95 degrees is reached; hold at this temperature for 15 or 20 minutes, without stirring. Then pour the con- tents of the can into a cotton sack and hang up where the whey can drain off. The milk should not be boiled. Salt it a little. It will keep a day or two. Buttermilk is largely used in fattening poultry, the large fattening establishments using it generally for mixing the ground grain. In the feeding of small chicks it has special value as a preventive of white diarrhrea. It is also profitably used in the laying ration. The mash may be mixed with it and the fowls also given all they will drink of it. At the Ontario Agricultural College, Professor Graham has used it successfully as a substitute for other forms of animal food, and also as substitute for water. Sour milk has much the same value as buttermilk. By withholding water more buttermilk is taken by the fowls. COMMON POULTRY FOODS 243 Unless they can be made to use large quantities of it, enough of the animal nutrients will not be secured to supply the need for animal food. In 100 pounds of skim milk or buttermilk there are only about 10 pounds of solids or food, and this should be considered in arriving at an estimate of its value. Whey also may be used as a source of animal food, but as may be seen in the table of composition of foods, it has a lower value than skim milk and buttermilk. Milk Albumin. — This is a by-product of the manufacture of milk sugar. It contains little moisture and a high per- centage of protein, but it is low in other nutrients. All forms of milk foods lack in mineral matter, also in fat. Where milk is used bones should be fed either dry or green to furnish the required mineral matter. Beef Scrap is the most convenient form in which to feed animal food. This is a by-product of the large packing houses, and contains meat and bones in varying propor- tions which have gone through a boiling and drying process. It contains, therefore, little moisture compared with fresh meat scraps." It varies considerably in composition, but should contain from 50% to 60% protein. Beef scrap varies also in quality. It should be light colored with a meaty flavor and somewhat oily to the touch. "When boiling water is poured over it, it should have a fresh, meaty flavor. If it gives off a putrid odor, do not feed it. Fish Scrap is coming into use as a substitute for beef scrap. Its practical value, however, compared with beef scrap has not been experimentally determined, but the practice of feeding it is growing, especially on the Pacific Coast. The oil being largely removed in its manufacture, there is no fishy taste transmitted to the eggs and chickens by its use. If fresh fish, however, is liberally eaten there will be a distinct flavor given to the egg. 244 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT Green Foods. — Green food of some kind is an essential part of the ration or diet. The health of the fowls and the demands of egg production require it. The lack of a suffi- cient supply of green food is one cause of the scarcity of eggs in winter. During the summer the farmers' flocks, which furnish the markets with the large proportion of eggs and poultry, usually find all the green food necessary, but in winter, since the farmer does not realize the im- portance of providing green food, the chickens do without it and we do without the eggs. Spring is the natural laying season ; but by seeing to it that the fowls get the same kind of food in winter that they do in spring or summer, it is .possible to overcome largely the egg famine in winter. Fowls should have all the green food they will eat at all times. Green food is cheap, or should be grown cheaply with good management. Green food may be fed in different forms. Clover or alfalfa or grass in the fields ; clover leaves or alfalfa leaves in the haymow or in the haystack, make excellent green food; vetch, peavine, rape, rye, kale, mangels, sugar beets, cabbages, lettuce or turnips will fill the bill. It will be noticed that these green foods have a larger percentage of mineral matter or ash, and of protein, than the grain foods. Alfalfa and kale are especially rich in protein and ash. Clover, alfalfa, grass, rape, kale and vetch, will give good color to the yolk of the egg; beets will not. Alfalfa and clover will give eggs of good quality and flavor. Kale, cabbages and rape will give a slightly undesirable flavor to the eggs if eaten heavily, but not enough to injure their selling value materially, if at all. If fed regularly, how- ever, so the fowls may eat it at will, there is no evidence that an undesirable flavor will be imparted to the egg. In western Oregon and the Pacific Coast generally thousand-headed kale is probably the most profitable crop COMMON POULTRY FOODS 245 to grow for winter forage. Here it grows to perfection, and an acre may be made to produce 40 tons of green forage. For winter green food, kale is transplanted in July from seed sown in May or June. For summer forage it is planted early in the season. It is possible in western Oregon to have green kale the year round. For a flock of one hundred hens, about two hundred plants will furnish green food enough for a year where the soil has plenty of fertility and moisture. The plants should average 20 pounds each. The chickens will eat about half the weight of the plant, the balance being stalk which they do not use. Cattle will eat most of the stalk. Planted in July, the kale may be fed from October to April. Planted early in the spring from seed sown in the fall, it will be ready for use in the summer. In the early part of the season the lower leaves may be stripped off and the rest of the plant will continue to grow. The plants are set about 3 feet apart each way. A very small piece of ground, therefore, will grow enough kale (or one hundred hens. A strip of good land 16 feet wide and 100 feet long should furnish enough green feed in the form of kale for one hundred hens. At that rate, an acre of kale will furnish green food for 2,000 hens throughout the year. Kale may also be utilized for shade for fowls. Where fowls are yarded, by having double yards, it is possible where kale grows the year around to make it furnish the green food and shade all the year. Kale will keep the yards in sanitary condition, turning the manure and filth into a revenue. Vetch and Oats. — This makes a good combination for early spring green feed in sections where vetch grows well. Vetch is a leguminous crop, like clover and alfalfa. Beets. — Sugar beets and mangel-wurzels are used by many poultrymen for green food. The tops may be fed 246 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT green and the beets stored for winter use. One peculiarity of beets is that they do not furnish the coloring matter for the egg yolk, as do clover, alfalfa, kale, and other greens. In case the yolk is too highly colored, beets may be sub- stituted for part of the other green feed that is responsible for the color. Beet Pulp. — Dried beet pulp is now used to a consider- able extent in stock feeding. It may be used as green food for poultry. In addition to its value as a succulent food, it contains a fairly high percentage of mineral matter. This makes it of more value than some other green foods. There is little authoritative data on the subject of beet pulp as a poultry feed, and at the present time it should be used experimentally. Sprouted Oats. — Sprouted oats may be resorted to where other forms of green feed are not available. This green food is very greatly relished by the fowls. Oats and Peas. — "Oats and peas sown together very thinly, with a liberal seeding of red clover and a very little rape, make a good combination. The oats and peas furnish a rapid growth of green food, a good deal of which will get tramped down and some will go to seed, but it will serve to protect the clover and rape, which will make good food for the late summer and fall pasturage. Three pecks of oats, two pecks of peas, one pint of rape seed and five quarts of red clover seed will be a good proportion for seeding. The oats and peas should first be harrowed in deeply, then the clover and rape seed should be mixed and sown, then lightly scratched in with a weeder." — PROF. JAMES E. RICE. Potatoes may sometimes be fed for variety, if boiled and mixed with mash, but they are not a good egg food; they are better fitted for fattening. Cabbages are very much relished. Apples of sour varieties should be sparingly fed to poultry. On the whole, COMMON POULTRY FOODS 247 clover and alfalfa are probably the most satisfactory green food we have. In coast regions, where it grows throughout the year, the thousand-headed kale by reason of its heavy yielding quality is probably the most profitable green food to grow. But it may be supplemented by other green food such as clover, alfalfa or lawn clippings. Grit. — ' l The hen coins silver out of sand. ' ' The chickens need grit as well as the poultryman, but of a different kind. There are two views about chicken grit, and I do not pre- tend to reconcile them. One view is that the -chief function of grit is to grind the food; the other is that grit itself is food. Whatever the function, we know that grit is a neces- sary part of the diet, and the health and productiveness of the fowls require a liberal consumption of grit. On most farms, where the fowls have the liberty of the fields, they will pick up all the grit necessary, but on soils having little or no sand or gravel, and where the fowls are confined in yards, it is absolutely necessary to furnish grit just as regularly as food. With a gravel bed located near the 'poultry * yards, the grit question is easily and cheaply solved. Give them plenty of sharp gravel and sand to work over. Where this is not available, grit may be cheaply purchased at the poultry supply houses. Keep it where the hens can get it at any time. Egg-shell Material. — Ordinary grit probably furnishes material for egg shells, but in addition it will be found ad- visable to feed special shell material. The grains do not con- tain lime enough to furnish sufficient shell material for heavy laying hens. Ordinary sea shells and especially oyster shells are largely used for this purpose. They are very readily dissolved in the gizzard. The egg-eating habit among hens is sometimes acquired because of a scarcity of lime or shell material in the ration. Charcoal is a bowel regulator, and most of the successful 248 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT poultrymen feed it regularly. It may be kept in a box or hopper where the fowls can eat it at will. Salt is an aid to digestion. It may be fed at the rate of about an ounce or two ounces per day to one hundred hens. Pepper is stimulating and should not be fed except in very small amounts. Hens in good health do not need it. It is sometimes useful in case of sickness in the flock. If the flock should be afflicted with colds a little red pepper may be mixed in the soft feed. CHAPTER XIII METHODS OF FEEDING While a knowledge of the composition of foods should be possessed in order to feed successfully, it is equally important that there should be a knowledge of how to feed. It is not sufficient that the poultryman should have all the best available poultry foods. He may have all the neces- sary foods, and fail in the purpose for which he feeds. The laying hens may have all the best available foods and yet refuse to lay eggs unless the food comes to them in a cer- tain way. Success in feeding for egg production will be measured largely by the methods followed in feeding. Exercise and Activity. — The secret, if there be any secret, in how to feed to get eggs is to feed in such a way that the natural activity of the . hen may be maintained. In the production of flesh or meat in domestic animals as well as in poultry, activity or exercise counts for little, nor is exercise so important for the cow that is producing milk, but activity is the life of the hen. She is given toe-nails to scratch with, legs to walk with, wings to fly with. If there is any one characteristic more than another that indicates the good layer, it is the active use of those organs in her every-day life. The vigor of the hen comes largely from her activity, and it is the vigorous hen that lays. The reason hens on free range often do better than others confined in yards, is largely because of the active life they live. Under the free-range system the poultryman need concern himself little on this point, but when fowls are confined in yards, 249 250 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT which is an artificial condition, great care must be taken to furnish the exercise or the incentive to exercise. A hen that ' t stands around ' ' all day, only exerting herself enough to eat out of a hopper, is an unproductive hen. The exercise is best furnished by providing a roomy scratching floor or shed covered with a deep litter of straw. This may be from 8 to 12 inches deep, and should be kept reasonably dry. The whole grain food should be scattered in this straw. There will be no waste in this, as the fowls will find about every kernel. The skill of the poultryman comes in feeding enough at a time, without having to feed too often, to keep the hens busy at work a large portion of the day. If too much is given at a feed the fowls will soon satisfy their appetites, while if too little is given they will soon clean it up and there will be nothing to scratch for. It is not necessary to keep them scratching all day. Leg- horns, for instance, will do nearly as well when fed in a hopper or box. If they have a yard and a floor they will exercise themselves whether compelled to dig for their food or not. Forced exercise, however, is necessary for the larger or less active breeds. In an experiment three pullets kept in a small pen on a board floor without any litter, laid 116 eggs in a year, an average of 38 2-3 eggs each. One of these was a Leghorn pullet which laid 52 eggs. Leghorns fed in straw averaged 169 per fowl, and others fed in boxes or hoppers averaged 161. Both were kept in pens without floors and had access to an outside yard. They exercised a good deal by scratch- ing in the earth. Two pens of Plymouth Rocks averaged 141 fed in straw, and two fed in boxes averaged 118 eggs each. In each case the ration was the same. It is seen that the method of feeding was responsible for a variation in yield of from 38 eggs per fowl to 169. The experiment showed that no exercise, or forced idleness, was ruinous METHODS OF FEEDING 251 both to production and to health of fowls. Second, it showed that Leghorns, or the active breeds, will do well even though they are not forced to scratch; but that the heavier breeds need some ' ' forced ' ' exercise. Feeding yarded fowls in the litter, therefore, is a de- cided advantage with some breeds, and it is an advantage with any breed. A Leghorn given the liberty of a yard and a floor to scratch on, even though all grain be fed in a hopper or box, will take exercise enough to produce fairly well. The chief disadvantage of feeding in the litter is that the grain is liable to become contaminated with the droppings of the fowls, which is a fruitful method of carry- ing disease from one fowl to another. This method, how- ever, is usually necessary with most fowls, and with care in renewing the straw often enough, little danger need be feared from this source. The droppings from the fowls at night should not be permitted to mingle with the litter. Ground or Unground Grain. — It pays to feed part of the grain ground. It is a saving of energy, and energy is furnished by the food ; therefore, it will save food to grind some of the grain for the fowls. Ground food is more quickly digested and assimilated than whole. The hen can manufacture the eggs faster with ground food than with whole grain. Experiments by "Wheeler showed that fowls having half their grain ground and moistened required 20% less food to produce a dozen eggs than fowls having all whole grain. Fowls, however, relish the whole grain, or a large percentage of it whole. Probably one-third of the grain ground would be a safe limit to feed. The danger in feeding one-half or more of it ground would be that the fowls would be liable to lose appetite and not eat enough to fill the demand for heavy egg yield. Best Time to Feed Wet Mash.— If fed heavily on wet mash in the morning, the fowls would gorge themselves and 252 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT would not be as active the rest of the day as if fed a light feed of grain in the litter in the morning. A good feed of mash about an hour before going to roost, followed by a feed of whole grain, will give satisfactory results. In cold weather especially the practice of feeding whole grain liberally the last feed of the day is a good one. "Whole grain will "stay with them" better throughout the long, cold night than mash, and keep up the heat of the body better. It will save feeding in the morning if at the last feed at night enough grain is thrown on the litter to more than satisfy the fowls, and leave some for them to begin scratching for in the morning. Where wet mash is fed the first thing in the morning, this should not be done. The writer prefers to feed the mash in the morning, just as soon as the fowls come from the roost, but to feed only as much as they will eat up readily so they will go to work scratch- ing in the straw for the whole grain. It is not so material at what time of the day the soft food is fed, as it is that the fowls be kept active and retain their appetites. Length of Day and Egg Yield. — There is no doubt some connection between the lower egg yield in winter and the shorter days. When the spring comes and the feeding day lengthens there is an increase in production. Some of this increase is probably due to the longer period of activity and the necessarily greater consumption of food. Some support is given to this theory by recent private experi- ments in the use of electric light in the poultry house. It is a point worthy of further investigation. Wet versus Dry Mash. — Dry feeding saves labor. Fowls relish the wet mash better. Wet mash economizes in the ration. By feeding the mash dry, it may be fed once a week in hoppers. When fed moist it must be fed once a day. Fowls will eat wet mash more greedily than dry, and for that reason more care is required in feeding it. If METHODS OF FEEDING 253 given too much, they will gorge themselves and stand around lazily most of the day; this should be guarded against. Where skim milk is available it is possible to cheapen the ration by feeding wet mash. Cheap by- products, such as bran and middlings, may be made to make up a large proportion of the ration by mixing them with milk. By making a mash with milk, more milk may be fed to the fowls. It will also cheapen the ration where skim milk is cheap by saving on higher-priced animal foods. Where heavy feeding of ground grain is desired, it should be fed wet. On the majority of the large poultry ranches of the Petaluma, Cal., and of the Little Compton, R. I., districts the wet mash method is used. When skillfully fed, the wet mash will give better re- sults in egg yield than dry. The high egg records of the Oregon Station were secured by wet mash feeding. Results of experiments by Rice are slightly in favor of dry mash. Gowell also secured results favorable to dry feeding. In mixing wet mash, enough water or milk should be used to make the mash crumbly. It should not be sloppy. Usually about as much ground grain, by weight, as milk or water will be about right. The results in feeding mash do not depend upon the moisture or lack of moisture in it, but upon the amount of ground grain consumed. It matters little whether the water is put into it by the feeder, or whether the hen herself drinks the water from the creek or the water fountain. Feeding Dry Mash. — The dry mash is fed in hoppers large enough for a week's supply or more, and the fowls allowed to eat it at will. The dry mash may have the same composition as the dry material in the wet, but about 10% of its weight should be beef scrap. The fowls will eat it more readily then. Without the beef scrap they will not eat enough of the ground grain. In addition a hopper of 254 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT beef scrap may be kept before them all the time. This will insure that they get enough of tlie animal food. Cut Bones may be fed every day, or three times a week, as much as the fowls will clean up in 15 minutes. Three to four ounces per hen per week is about right. More will be consumed during heavy laying than at other times. Cooking Food. — It does not pay usually to cook feeds. Most feeds give better results when fed raw. Starchy feeds, such as potatoes, are improved by cooking, but usually it is better not to cook feeds. In feeding raw meat foods, there is some danger of the fowls contracting disease. If liver or lights are fed, they should be boiled to kill any disease germs there may be in them. Digestion experiments at Geneva (New York Report, 1885), show that the digesti- bility of the protein in several of the common stock feeds was injured by cooking. Hopper Feeding. — There are two fundamental consider- ations in methods of feeding. The first is the method of weighing out at each feeding a certain definite amount of feed. The second allows the hen herself to make good from the hopper any lack of nutrients of any particular kind. The writer believes it imperative that the hen be allowed considerable latitude in satisfying her wants and in making good any shortage of at least the mineral and animal feed in the ration. It is not conceivable that in a flock of one hundred hens where the individual egg production varies, as we know it does, the same amount and kind of feed will satisfy all of them. The heavy producer requires more of the animal protein foods and more of the mineral, and the only practicable method is to furnish those nutrients ad libitum to the flock. No Hard and Fast Rules. — In what has gone before the attempt has been made to give to the reader in concise form information in regard to the general principles of feeding, METHODS OF FEEDING 255 OREGON STATION OUTDOOR DRY FOOD HOPPER This hopper has four divisions for different foods. The fowls do not pull the feed out of it onto the ground. (Designed by C. C. Lamb.) and the composi- tion and values of various foods. It is not presumed t o lay down any hard and fast rules which must be fol- lowed by the poul- try feeder. The Food Re- quirements vary and methods o f feeding- vary in different sec tions of the country and even on different farms in the same section. A large latitude must be allowed the individual farmer or poultry-keeper. The highest success will not be attained .where the poultryman is con- tent to follow set rules and blindly at- tempt to make his conditions and en- vironment conform to the feed rations rather than make the rations conform to his special condi- tions. II av i n g a knowledge of foods i • 1 „ -P OREGON STATIONARY OUTDOOR DRY and principles of FOOD HOPPER feeding, and the Showing inside construction. 256 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT food requirements of the fowl, he is master of the situation and will be able to formulate rations that will give him the most profitable returns. The Price of Foods will largely govern choice of a ration. Profitable poultry production is not a question of the best foods any more than it is a question of the cheapest foods. That is to say, the best foods from the standpoint of composition and palatability may produce more eggs or more meat but may produce less profit than other foods that are not so valuable, pound for pound, on account of their lower cost. The feed bill may be so high that the poultryman is robbed of his profits. No one kind of food is so essential that the poultryman must feed it no matter what its price may be. If this one fact were thoroughly understood and acted upon it would save probably millions of dollars to the poultry-keepers of the country. Rations. — With this understanding a few sample rations for egg production are here given. The weights of feed are in pounds, and are figured on the basis of one average hen for one year. It will be understood that these amounts will vary, first, as the size of hen varies ; second, as produc- tion varies, and third, as the climate or temperature varies. The amounts given approximate closely the amounts re- quired in egg production. The safe rule to follow is to in- crease or decrease these amounts daily as demanded by the fowls. There must be no stinting of food if a steady pro- duction of eggs is to be maintained. The choice of animal food is left to the feeder, 50 pounds skim milk or buttermilk, 10 pounds cut bones, and 5 pounds beef scrap being estimated as of about equal value. The same is true of green food, 15 pounds of green alfalfa or clover being equal in value to 20 pounds kale. This does not exhaust the list of animal food nor of green food. It may be, for example, that fish scrap is more available in METHODS OF FEEDING 257 some sections, and various kinds of green feed may be fed with satisfactory results. Such, foods are discussed in another place. SAMPLE RATIONS PER HEN PER YEAR (iN POUNDS) Number of Ration One Two Three Four Five Wheat 60 40 30 20 Corn 60 10 20 Oats . . 10 10 10 Bran . . . . 10 10 10 Middlings . . 5 5 5 Linseed Meal . . . . . . . . 5 5 Skim Milk, But- termilk (with dry bone) . . . 50 50 50 50 50 Cut Bone 10 10 10 10 10 Beef Scrap . . . 5 5 5 5 5 Vetch, Alfalfa, Clover 15 15 15 15 15 Kale 20 20 20 20 20 Oyster Shell . . . 3 3 3 3 3 Salt . 14 14 */i */i 34 COMPOSITION OF RATION 4 (NOT INCLUDING GREEN FOOD AND SHELL) Water 8.12 pounds Ash 2.14 « Protein 13.32 " Carbohydrates 48.33 " Fat 3.09 " Total 75.00 " Ratio of protein to carbohydrates and fat 1 : 4.14 It is estimated that 30 pounds milk is about all that a hen will ordinarily consume in a year. If no water is given, the fowls will use a great deal more milk or butter- milk, probably enough to supply the full demand for animal food. 258 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT Under farm conditions, however, where fowls have free range and find a good deal of animal food in the fields, 30 pounds should be sufficient. They should have access to it at all times. The amount they will consume will be governed in part by the amount of insects found in the fields. By making the milk into cottage cheese and feeding the fowls all they will eat of it, they will get all the animal food re- quired. Milk when closely skimmed has very little fat, while bones and beef scrap have a large amount of fat ; it can, therefore, be fed to advantage in rations that in other respects are richer in fat than would be necessary or ad- visable where cut bones are fed. Good fresh cut bones fed regularly will give better results than either milk or beef scrap, but the cost is sometimes prohibitory, and there is danger of the meat not being fresh. "Where milk is used as animal food it should be supplemented with dry or ground bone that will furnish the necessary mineral matter that is lacking in the milk. It is not very material what kind of green food is fed. The important thing is to give the fowls all they will eat. Alfalfa and clover have about equal feeding value. In winter, alfalfa and clover leaves make good green food. Kale has a higher percentage of water than green alfalfa or clover or vetch. The table gives five rations, numbered from 1 to 5. No. 1 is rated as the poorest and No. 5 the best. Corn is the only grain in ration 1. In No. 2 wheat is fed in place of corn, but in other respects they are the same. Number 2 is placed ahead of No. 1 because it has slightly more pro- tein. Both of them are deficient in the egg-making material, protein. Though not an ideal ration by any means, either 1 or 2 would be an improvement on many rations fed on the farms, but for heavy egg production neither has enough protein. No. 3 is better than Nos. 1 or 2 because it has a variety of grains and a little more protein. Nos. 4 and 5 METHODS OF FEEDING 259 should give a heavy egg yield if properly fed. They are equal in protein, but No. 5 has more fat than 4. Corn, which has more fat than wheat, should be fed more liberally during the cold weather than during the summer. Ration 5 therefore should be a better winter ration than 4. How to Feed the Rations. — To get the best results from rations 1 and 2 the fowls should have free range on the farm. These rations would be altogether impracticable for yarded fowls. A light feed of corn or wheat should be given in the morning, and all they will eat up at night. If the fields contain bugs and worms and other animal food they will get exercise hunting and scratching. There will be weed seeds and waste grains of different kinds at differ- ent seasons and these will give them incentive to exercise, and at the same time help to balance the ration. Under such conditions it would be possible to secure a fairly good egg yield from rations 1 and 2. But where other grains may be secured it would be a serious mistake to confine the feeding to such rations. These two rations may be very much improved by the simple method of keeping a hopper of dry bran accessible to the fowls at all times. They would be further improved by adding a little middlings or shorts and a small amount of linseed meal to the bran in the hopper. This would give us ration No. 3. Adding the bran, middlings and lin- seed would cut down the amount of wheat necessary. This makes a very good ration for the general farm. It is prac- tically a balanced ration, at any rate it gives the hen the opportunity to balance her ration ; besides it requires very little labor in the feeding. If cheaper than wheat, corn may be substituted for wheat. Ration No. 4 is an improvement on ration 3. Ten pounds of corn is substituted for 10 pounds of wheat. Even if corn costs a few cents more per bushel than wheat, it will 260 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT pay to feed this quantity. Ration 5 is an improvement on No. 4. If corn is as cheap or cheaper than wheat this ration should be fed. The Mash Feeding. — If it is desired to feed a dry mash, the bran, middlings and linseed should be put together in a hopper where the fowls can help themselves at will. The hopper should never be empty. It will improve the dry mash still further if beef scrap be added, using from 10 to 15 pounds in 100 pounds mash. This will induce the fowls to eat more of the dry mixture. Where milk constitutes the animal food, it will be better to use a soft mash, mixing it with milk ; also keeping milk where the fowls can drink it whenever they want it. If no milk is available and the mash is moistened with water, a hopper of beef scrap should be supplied. In place of beef scrap, cut bones may be fed. There is. no danger in the fowls eating too much beef scrap, assuming of course that its quality is good. The only danger is in permitting the hopper to get empty, for, after being without animal feed for a few days, they will eat too much of it when it is given to them again. Five pounds beef scrap is given as the amount necessary for an average laying hen for a year. This amount will vary with different hens. The fowls may not eat 2 or 3 pounds, or they may eat 6 or 7, but it is safe to permit each hen to eat just what she requires. Oregon Station Method. — Ration No. 4 is practically the one used at the Oregon Station. The mash is fed moist. Sour milk or buttermilk is used in mixing it, a little more milk than ground grain being used. On account of the high prices of corn some years, less of it has been used than is shown in table. Unless corn gets down to about the price of wheat, the corn that is fed is ground and put in the mash. The whole grains are then wheat and oats. METHODS OF FEEDING 261 The mash used during the year 1912-13 was as follows by weight: Bran 4 parts Middlings 1 part Ground Barley 1 part Ground Corn 1 part Linseed Meal Vr Other satisfactory refer- ence, there would be little probability of loss. Selling to City Retail Stores. — Retail stores offer a market that should not be overlooked. Shipping direct to retailers comes near being direct selling. The producer can ship in larger quantities than he can to private cus- tomers and obtain a better express rate. Retail stores that have a fancy trade will pay a premium for fancy eggs. They have the mar- keting machinery all ready running. They attend to de- liveries and collec- tions. The poultry- man who can guar- antee regular case shipments of high A PARCEL POST PACKAGE quality Stock Will Showing eggs wrapped. 340 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT often do as well by shipping to the retail stores as in any other way. Hotel and Restaurant Trade. — There is no reason why the producers should not be able to furnish the hotel and restaurant trade where they have the quantity and quality of eggs. "Why it is not now done more largely is due primarily to a lack of business management on the part of producers more than anything else. If the producer has the quality and quantity he should go to the best hotels and restaurants and endeavor to find a market. Parcel Post Shipments. — It has been fairly well demon- strated that market eggs may be shipped successfully by parcel post. By a recent ruling of the post office depart- ment packages weighing as much as 50 pounds may be sent by mail. The main objection to parcel post shipments has been that the cost of the container or parcel has been too great to admit of a profit being made. Dif- f e r e n t manufacturers, however, have been at work on the problem, and containers may now be ob- tained at prices that are within reach. It is not expected that a profit can be made by the producer unless he can get a little higher price for the eggs than is paid for second grade eggs in the city. The producer in working up a parcel post trade must cater to that class of consumers who wish eggs of su- perior quality and are willing to THE CARRIER pay more for them than for eggs The rural mail carrier takes of inferior quality. The consumer the eggs from the farm to the . , -. ,, . post-office. is able to secure in this way eggs MARKETING EGGS AND POULTRY 341 of first quality at the same price he pays for eggs of poorer quality. There will, however, always be another class of consumers who are unable or unwilling to pay the price that will enable the producer to ship them by parcel post. The post office department has made certain regulations in regard to shipments that the shipper must observe. The package must be made in such a way that the contents of the egg, if broken, will not run out of the package and in- jure other mail matter. To obviate this it is required that each egg be wrapped separately, except when in packages exceeding 20 pounds ; those are not required to be wrapped. All parcels must be labeled EGGS. Parcels weighing more than 20 pounds will be accepted, but the crates or boxes must have tight bottoms. Such packages must be marked "Eggs — this side up." They will be transported outside mail bags. Producers wishing addresses of manufacturers of shipping packages, may apply to their home state ex- periment stations. The larger the package or the more eggs shipped in one package, the lower the cost per dozen for parcel post. For instance, in the first and second zones the first pound costs 5 cents, while each additional pound up to fifty, costs but 1 cent. A twenty-pound parcel would cost 24 cents or 1.4 cents a pound. Five dozen eggs weighing, with container, ten pounds, will cost for postage in a distance from 50 to 150 miles, 14 cents, or 2.8 cents a dozen. The return postage would be 6 or 7 cents. The postage should be charged to the customer, likewise the cost of the container. When the container is returned the customer would be given credit for it. To make the business a success there must be mutual co- operation between the producer and consumer. It must be understood by the producer that the consumer will purchase his eggs only so long as he can furnish a superior article. 342 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT On the other hand, it will be understood by the consumer that he will secure from the producer better eggs than he can secure through indirect channels at the same price. It means a better profit to the producer and at the same time a saving to the consumer. The producer should be fully alive to the possibilities of this method of selling and should take particular care to grade his eggs as to size and color, separating the white and the brown eggs and discarding all under-sized and over- sized, ill-shapen and dirty or stained eggs. Above all, he must be sure that he ships nothing that is not perfectly fresh. He will not long retain his customers unless he gives heed to those points. Again, it will pay well to use neat and clean packages and also a wrapping-paper of proper size and quality. By treating the customers fairly and pleasing them he will be able to secure others because a pleased customer will recommend others to him. In regard to fixing the price, probably the most prac- ticable method is to have an agreement with the consumer that the price will be the highest wholesale quotations in the daily papers plus so many cents premium. This should be sufficient to pay the postage and package, and the cost of the extra care given the eggs. Comparison of Direct and Indirect Selling. — As be- tween the two methods of selling — direct and indirect — the former undoubtedly favors the maintenance of the higher standard of quality. In shipping to consumers the producer is directly responsible for his product. Any complaint will come to him direct. He is able to retain his customers only so long as he furnishes eggs of superior quality. He has a direct interest in the quality of his product. By the in- direct method the producer's identity is not known. "When his eggs are marketed with those of a hundred other farmers, there is no particular object in taking pains to MARKETING EGGS AND POULTRY 343 preserve the quality. Second, by the direct method the pro- ducer of good eggs is able to get a price for them which he is not able to secure when his eggs are marketed in common with those of various other producers. Third, by shipping direct to consumers he is able to add to his profits a part at least of the profit that went to various middlemen. There will always be needed, however, an outlet for surplus stock which is only furnished at present through the medium of the jobber and retailer. Buying by Quality. — This brings up the question of buy- ing by quality. The greatest objection to present methods of marketing eggs is the heretofore almost universal prac- tice of dealers paying for them by the dozen without refer- ence to their quality. There is one price for eggs at the local stores. A farmer who once a week gathers his eggs from stolen nests under the barn and in the fence corners and takes them to town, gets the i ( going price ' ' at the store. Another farmer who gathers the eggs regularly from clean nests once a day and twice a day in hot weather and takes them to town every two or three days, gets the same ' ' going price. ' ' He has no inducement to maintain the good quality of his eggs. The system does not encourage it; rather it encourages carelessness on the part of the producer. It offers a premium on dishonesty. The wonder is, on the one hand, that the producer is able to maintain his in- tegrity, and on the other that the consumer is able to get an egg of good quality. Before the eggs reach the consumer the broody hen sits on them a while, the sun incubates them a while, the rail- road rides on them a while, the city storekeeper broods over them a while, and the consumer raves over them quite a while. The storekeeper is not alone responsible for this method. The dealers and commission men follow the same method 344 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT in buying from, the storekeeper. They buy them by the case-count. It is called the case-count system. During the past few years an active campaign has begun in several states to do away with the case-count system and substitute a system of buying on the basis of quality. This means that the dealer in purchasing a case of eggs candles them, computes the loss due to shrinkage, blood-rings, etc., and pays accordingly. This is known as the "loss-off" method of buying, which is really paying according to quality. If this system comes fully into vogue it will result in saving millions of dollars a year to the producers, for the loss finally is charged up against the producer. It will also fasten the attention of the producer on the importance of breeding for size of egg, feeding for quality in the egg, and on methods of handling the egg that will best preserve its quality. Grades of Eggs. — Under the old system, an "egg was an egg," and at the present day, in the majority of primary markets, one egg is as good as another. Now before eggs reach the consumers in large cities they have to stand an examination, and the expert finds that there are various kinds of eggs, and a name or grade is given to each kind. The different grades of eggs recognized by expert candlers in the large markets are described in Bulletin 160, Bureau of Animal Industry, as follows : Fresh Egg. — An egg to be accepted as a first, or fresh egg, must be newly laid, clean, of normal size, showing a very small air cell, and must have a strong, smooth shell of even color and free from cracks. Checks. — This term applies to eggs which are cracked but not leaking. Leakers. — As indicated by the name, this term applies to eggs which have lost a part of their contents. Seconds. — The term "seconds" applies to eggs which MARKETING EGGS AND POULTRY 345 have deteriorated to a sufficient extent as to be rejected as firsts. The several classes of eggs which go to make up this grade may be defined as follows : (a) Heated Egg. — One in which the embryo has pro- ceeded to a point corresponding to about 18 to 24 hours of normal incubation. In the infertile egg this condition can be recognized by the increased color of the yolk ; when held before the candle it will appear heavy and slightly darker than in the fertile egg. (b) Shrunken Egg. — This class of seconds can be easily distinguished by the size of the air cell. It may occupy from one-fifth to one-third of the space inside the shell. (c) Small Egg. — Any egg that will detract from the appearance of normal eggs on account of its small size will come under this class, although it may be a new-laid egg. (d) Dirty Egg. — Fresh eggs which have been soiled with earth, droppings, or egg contents, or badly stained by com- ing in contact with wet straw, hay, etc., are classed as seconds. (e) Watery Egg. — Those in which the inner membrane of the air cell is ruptured, allowing the air to escape into the contents of the egg, and thereby giving a watery or frothy appearance. (f) Presence of Foreign Matter in Eggs. — Often eggs are laid which show small clots of blood about the size of a pea. These are sometimes termed " liver " or "meat" spots. (g) Badly Misshaped Eggs. — Eggs which are extremely long or very flat, or in which part of the shell's surface is raised in the form of a ring ; in other instances a number of hard, wart-like growths appear on the outside of the shell. Spots. — Eggs in which bacteria or mold growth has de- veloped locally and caused the formation of a lumpy ad- hesion on the inside of the shell. 346 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT Blood Rings. — Eggs in which the embryo has developed to a sufficient extent so that it is quickly recognized when held before the candle. Rots. — Eggs which are absolutely unfit for food. The different classes of rots may be defined as follows : (a) Black Rot. — This is the easiest class of rots to recog- nize and consequently the best known. When the egg is held before the candle, the contents have a blackish appear- ance, and in most cases the air cell is very prominent. The formation of hydrogen-sulphid gas in the egg causes the contents to blacken and gives rise to the characteristic rotten-egg smell, and sometimes causes the egg to explode. (b) White Rot. — These eggs have a characteristic sour smell. The contents become watery, the yolk and white mixed, and the whole egg offensive to both the sight and the smell. It is also known as the ' * mixed rot. ' ' (c) Spot Rot. — In this case the foreign growth has not contaminated the entire egg, but has remained near the point of entrance. Such eggs are readily picked out with the candle, and when broken show lumpy particles adhering to the inside of the shell. These lumps are of various colors and appearances. White and Brown Eggs. — The color of the shell in cer- tain markets affects the price of the egg. Most markets in the United States prefer the white egg. New York markets pay a premium for white eggs. Among the best grades, brown eggs sell for about 20% less than white eggs. There is no difference, however, in price of cheaper grades on ac- count of color. In San Francisco the brown egg is also discounted. In Boston the reverse is true, the brown egg being preferred. This does not mean that there is any difference in the quality of the brown and the white egg. The difference in price is, however, undoubtedly due in part to the mis- MARKETING EGGS AND POULTRY 347 taken notion that there is such a difference in quality. The color of the shell has nothing to do with the quality of the contents. Classification of Eggs. — The classification of eggs is con- trolled by city mercantile bodies interested in the buying and selling of farm produce. The classification varies in different cities. The average producer knows no classifica- tion; in other words, on the farm "eggs is eggs"; but by the time they reach the city markets there is a rigid culling and they are separated into many grades or classes. A study of these grades and classifications indicates that the losses occur largely through wrong methods of handling the eggs before they leave the farm, and the producer must be the loser in the end. The following, taken from the New York Times of May 1, 1914, shows the many different classes into which eggs are divided by dealers in that city and the range of values placed upon them: Fresh gathered extras, 23, 23% cents. Storage packed firsts, 22, 22% cents. Regular packed firsts, 21%, 22 cents. Seconds, 20%, 21 cents. Thirds and fourths, 19%, 20 cents. Number 1 dirties 19% cents. Number 2 dirties 16, 18 cents. Checks good to prime, dry 18, 19 cents. State, Penn. and nearby hennery, whites fine to fancy 24 cents. Gathered whites, fine to finest, 23% cents. State, Penn. and nearby whites, fair to good, 22, 23 cents. Western gathered whites, 22, 22% cents. State, Penn. and nearby hennery browns, 23, 23% cents. Gathered brown and mix colors, 21, 22 cents. Baltimore selected, 22, 23 cents. Western, 20, 22 cents. Tenn. and other good Southern, 19, 21 cents. Far Southern, 17, 18 cents. 348 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT The following quotations from the Chicago Herald of August 23, 1914, gives the grades recognized in that city and the relative values placed upon different grades. The range on that date was from 27 to 15 cents a dozen : Extras 26, 27 cents Firsts 22, 23 cents Ordinary firsts 19%, 20% cents CKecks 15, 16% cents Dirties 16, 17% cents Miscellaneous lots 16% to 22% cents Conditions that Injure the Quality of Eggs. — While the new-laid egg is "one of the most delicious morsels to the human palate and one to fill the heart of man with loving-kindness, ' ' it should be clearly understood that under certain conditions it rapidly loses its peculiar excellence. It is a perishable article. The rate of deterioration is in- fluenced by many things, such as : Insufficient Nests. — A new-laid egg may not be fresh; that is, it may have lost its freshness by the time it is gathered in the evening if there are insufficient nests for the hens. If hens are continually on the nests throughout the day the embryo may begin to develop in the fertile eggs. At any rate, they will have lost some of their freshness. When the nests are crowded all day it is a sign that there are too few nests. The Broody Hen. — At certain seasons of the year the broody hens are responsible for a considerable loss in the quality of the eggs. If permitted to remain with the flock of layers the broody hens will injure a great many eggs by sitting on them and starting incubation. Stolen Nests.— Rotten and stale eggs often come from the stolen nests. They are found by the children under the corn-crib, in the straw or hay-stack or fence corner. When these "finds" are mixed with the regular supply of fresh MARKETING EGGS AND POULTRY 349 eggs and the city consumer gets one on his breakfast table, it will be "no more eggs for him," and the consumption of eggs is curtailed. With proper nesting arrangements the hens will not be so likely to steal their nests. Dirty Nests. — Dirty nests affect the flavor and keeping qualities of the egg. Germs of decomposition may enter the egg ; dirt stains on the egg will spoil it for select trade. The nests should frequently be examined and the nesting material renewed. Clean, fine hay or straw in the nest will help to keep up the quality and grade of the eggs. Fertility of Eggs. — The starting of incubation or the development of the embryo starts most of the trouble be- tween producer and consumer. If there were no males in the flock and the eggs were not fertile there would be fewer complaints of bad eggs. It has been estimated that the loss in quality of eggs due to the presence of males in the flock amounts to millions of dollars a year in this country. Males are necessary to fertilize the eggs for hatching, but not for any other purpose. The infertile eggs have better keeping qualities in warm weather than the fertile. There is no difference in the egg yield whether the males run with the flock or not. They should be removed from the yards after the breeding season is past. If not desired for breeding in another season the males should be marketed. Keeping them till fall only means that a lower price will be received for them. If, however, eggs are kept in a cool place, or at a temperature low enough to prevent germ development, it will make no difference in their keeping qualities whether fertile or not. Gathering the Eggs. — In cold weather if the eggs are left in the nest over night they are liable to freeze, and in warm weather if they are not regularly and frequently gathered there is likely to be germ development. In cer- tain sections of the country where the temperature f re- 350 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT quently reaches a point where incubation will begin, the eggs must be frequently gathered. The rule for gathering the eggs should be, once a day, except in warm weather when it should be twice a day. Storing or Keeping the Eggs. — Cooling the eggs checks deterioration. After being gathered they should be kept in a moderately cool place until shipped. The best tem- perature is between 45 and 60 degrees. A cool, dry cellar is the best place. Objectionable odors may pass through the shell to the contents. The eggs should not, therefore, be stored near decaying vegetables, coal oil, or other things that may injure their flavor. Shipping the Eggs. — The eggs should be shipped to market as frequently as possible, at least once a week, and in warm weather twice a week. The fresh egg soon be- comes a stale egg. Clean Eggs. — To grade as first quality the eggs must be clean. The hen covers the egg contents with a clean shell to preserve its purity; the poultryman should be as careful to keep its exterior clean. Dirty nests and dirty yards cause the dirty eggs. Dirty yards mean dirty feet and dirty feet mean dirty eggs, and dirty eggs mean loss of profits. Washing the Eggs. — Washing the eggs may injure their keeping qualities and spoil their natural appearance. It is better, however, to wash the eggs than to market them dirty. Rubbing with a clean, moist cloth may be all that is necessary. A little washing powder or sapolio may be used where necessary. Taking the Eggs to Market. — Sometimes the quality of the eggs is injured on the way from farm to town. If the sun on a hot day in a long drive strikes on the eggs it will injure them seriously. The sun is an incubator, and it is not well to incubate eggs that are intended for the break- MARKETING EGGS AND POULTRY 351 fast table of some city customer who believes in pure food and good living. Undue jarring of the eggs should also be obviated. Exposing for Sale. — A great many retailers treat eggs as though their quality was improved by warmth. In cold weather the eggs have a place near the stove very frequently, and in summer they are put in the window where they can get the benefit of the sunshine. This treatment should be reversed. Displaying eggs in the window where the hot sun strikes on them is not a good advertisement for the eggs. Grading Eggs. — In large markets eggs are graded ac- cording to size, color, and quality. Consumers must have some assurance of the quality of the eggs, otherwise they will be afraid to eat them. The grading of eggs, therefore, by assuring purchasers of their quality, tends to increase consumption and the profits of the producer. 1. Size. — The poultryman should breed for size of egg as well as number. The importance of this has not been brought home to him very strongly, because his eggs have, in most cases, been paid for by the dozen and not by weight or size. In the future the size of eggs must be reckoned with. "Whether they will be sold by the pound or the grade, the larger eggs will command the higher prices. This is now the rule in many of the leading markets. Poultry- men should not be satisfied until their flocks produce eggs that average two ounces per egg, or l1/^ pounds per dozen. Hens laying smaller eggs should not be used as breeders. Uniformity in size has also a market value. The very large egg as well as the very small egg should not be used for the special trade. The more uniform the size the better the eggs look. Care and feeding of the fowls have an in- fluence on size of egg, as explained in Chapter XI. 2. Color. — Uniformity in color has also a market value 352 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT as shown by market quotations in several of the large centers. The preference of consumers for eggs of a certain color is based on a fad, but so long as the fad does not interfere with his business the poultryman will take cognizance of it and endeavor to furnish eggs of the color that will command the highest price, whether they be white or brown. In many markets no importance is placed on color, but if the poultryman has eggs of different colors it will pay him to separate them, filling one end of the crate with white and the other with browns if he has not enough to make a case of each, or if cartons are used they may be separated in this way. 3. Shape of Egg. — Abnormal eggs should be culled out. These include double-yolked eggs, ill-shapen eggs and soft- shelled eggs. "With proper at- tention to breeding and man- agement of the fowls the percent- age of culls should be small. 4. The Egg Contents.— Eggs that are either too highly colored or too pale in the yolk are objec- tionable. The color is controlled by the feed. (See Chapter XI.) 5. Candling.— The quality of the egg contents is determined by candling. By candling it is meant that tl^e egg is subjected to a light that reveals, for all practical pur- poses, its real market value. There are various methods of candling eggs. In early methods a tallow candle was used, hence the origin of the name candling. A candle was put inside of a COMMERCIAL EGG CANDLING (Courtesy, Bureau of Chemis- try, U. S. Department of Agri- culture.) MARKETING EGGS AND POULTRY 353 small box in which a hole, a trifle smaller than an egg had been cut, and by holding an egg at the opening the condition of the egg could be seen. The candling is done in a reasonably dark room. Instead of a candle an ordinary oil lamp may be used, placing the lamp in a box. A tin chimney, with a hole in the side, may be A GOOD EGG TESTER A kerosene lamp set inside of a shoe box or a cereal box, with a hole opposite lamp flame, makes a good tester. put on the lamp in place of the glass chimney. Special testers or chimneys of this kind may be purchased at poul- try supply houses. An electric light bulb may be used in- side of an ordinary shoe box, or other box. Expert candlers usually use a tester having two holes so that he can take two eggs up at one time, one in each hand. A length of stovepipe, with two holes in the side and an electric light 354 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT bulb inside, is frequently used. An expert candler can test 1,000 dozen eggs in a day. Consumers Should Candle Their Eggs. — If the con- sumer wishes to assure himself, before eating the eggs, that they are all right, he may very readily do so by using a small shoe box or breakfast cereal box with the electric light. It should not con- sume more than a minute to candle a dozen or two dozen eggs in this way. He may detect the bad egg or determine the quality of the egg without first breaking it on to his breakfast toast. He can also check up on the grocer or farmer as to the age of the egg, and assure himself that he has not purchased a stale egg un- der the name of new-laid. If the eggs are not up to the guarantee he can politely send them back to the grocer ; or if the case is an aggravated or flagrant one, turn the eggs over to the pure food officers for whatever action they may take in the matter. Usually, however, if the consumer deals with a reliable farmer he will very seldom have occasion to complain of the eggs not being as represented. Nor will there often be occasion for complaint against a reliable grocer who candles and guarantees his eggs. The Fresh Egg. — The test of a fresh egg is its trans- parency and the smallness of its air space. There is no air space in an egg just as it is deposited warm and moist in Instead of a kerosene lamp, an electric light bulb may be hung inside the box. MARKETING EGGS AND POULTRY 355 the nest. As the egg cools, the contents contract and the air cell or air space appears. The shell being porous, the air space grows larger by evaporation all the time the egg is kept, the evaporation being fast or slow according as the temperature is high or low. Commercially an egg is fresh though it shows a small air space. If properly kept, an egg may taste perfectly fresh and pass in the market as a A FRESH EGG Note small air space. A STALE EGG Note large air space, yolk settled to one side, showing dark. fresh egg when a week old, or more. In some state laws it is enacted that when an egg has been kept or stored thirty days it is no longer a fresh egg. Kept under improper con- ditions, however, an egg would not test as a fresh egg, when two or three days old. The egg itself furnishes the evidence as to its freshness. The fresh egg is good legal tender at the country store, but when so used it should be treated as counterfeit currency by the time it reaches the consumer. Marking Eggs. — The trade-mark of the egg producer is frequently stamped on the egg. This is easily and quickly done with a small rubber stamp one-half an inch in diameter 356 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT or less. The name of the producer or the name of his farm, with address, may be stamped on the egg; also the words "guaranteed fresh. " "Where eggs are shipped through an association of producers the usual method is to give each farmer a stamp on which is the name of the association, with a number for each farmer. In this way if a consumer finds fault with the eggs he purchases he will send his com- plaint to the association, giving the number on the egg. The association manager knows from this number where the eggs came from, and the farmer is notified. The stamp on the egg is the best advertisement the pro- ducer can have. If he can always furnish eggs of good quality it is worth his while to put his trade-mark on them. Every pound of butter or coffee, every 5-cent can of con- densed milk, or loaf of bread, in fact about everything that the housekeeper buys from the grocer bears the stamp of the manufacturer. This advertises his goods and at the same time protects him against fraudulent imitation. If the poultryman wishes to build up and hold a trade for good quality eggs he should advertise by putting his stamp on them. "Where shipments are made direct by express or parcel post to consumers this may not be necessary, but it might happen that the customer would mix his eggs with some others, and the blame, if any, if the eggs were bad, might come back to him. The eggs are frequently packed by the poultryman in cartons holding a dozen, and his name and address are printed on the carton. The carton is sealed, and the eggs are guaranteed if the seal is not broken. In such case the eggs are not stamped. Summary. — The loss in quality of eggs is due to : 1. Improper feeding of the hens. 2. Dirty nests and yards. MARKETING EGGS AND POULTRY 357 3. Cracked eggs. 4. Broody hens. 5. Stolen nests. 6. Irregularity in gathering. 7. Storing in a warm place. 8. Keeping too long before marketing. 9. Fertility, or keeping males with the flock. 10. Exposing near stoves or in the hot sunshine. There is a financial loss due to : 1. A loss in quality. 2. A system of buying by the dozen or case-count with- out reference to quality. 3. Indirect methods of buying which add to the cost. 4. Express rates which discriminate against shipments in small quantities. 5. Lack of co-operative effort between producers on the one hand, and between producers and dealers and con- sumers on the other. Conclusion. — Improvement in quality will come when the producer who has eggs of good quality to sell insists upon the purchaser paying him according to quality, and, on the other hand, when the purchaser establishes the in- flexible rule of grading eggs and paying according to grade. Improvement in financial returns will come with im- provement in quality; improvement in transportation; ex- tension of the refrigerator service; more direct marketing and with co-operation between producers and between pro- ducers and consumers. REFRIGERATION OR COLD STORAGE OF EGGS The invention of the method and the growth of the busi- ness of preserving eggs by refrigeration has been one of the notable industrial developments of the United States in recent years. Whatever may be the merits of the cold 358 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT storage product, the business must be recognized as one of great importance not only as it affects the cost of living or the food supply but as it affects the business and the profits of the poultry producer. Investigations have shown that there was put into cold storage during the year end- ing April 1, 1911, the enormous total of about 10,000,000 cases of eggs of an estimated value of over $64,000,000. Of this, practically 80% is handled in the three months of April, May and June, the percentage of the total being 42% for April, 25% for May and 12.5% for June. The cold storage of butter in the same period amounted to $40,000,000. It was reported that there were 500 cold storage plants in different sections of the United States storing eggs in that year. It cannot be definitely stated just how much the poultry producer is the gainer or loser by the invention and de- velopment of the modern system of cold storage. There are those who claim that the business is an injury to the poultry industry, but the public has come to accept it as necessary for the proper distribution of food stuffs. In the early days of cold storage of eggs, and even in later days to a small extent, there was abundant excuse, for the violent antagonism that the business frequently encountered. It is true that cold storage eggs have been frequently sold as fresh, and even to this day in certain states unscrupulous dealers practice this fraud upon both the poultryman and the consumer in the absence of a law that would send them to jail for the act. But there is little excuse now for antagonism to the business of cold storage, though unscrupulous dealers and vendors of eggs may occasionally take advantage of it to enrich themselves at the expense of the public. The business of refrigeration has been more perfected and the quality of the product improved. Again laws have been enacted making it a criminal offense to sell storage eggs as fresh eggs. MARKETING EGGS AND POULTRY 359 The substance of the state laws that are now in force are that keeping eggs or other products in cold storage for thirty days makes them storage products. Any such product offered for sale must be stamped as such either on the package or product itself. The time limit of storage is, in New York, ten months ; in some states nine months. Effect on Prices. — With storage eggs thus stamped and sold, the poultryman can have no valid reason for object- ing to the product. It is doubtful if the high price of selected fresh eggs will be appreciably affected by the sale of storage eggs. The people who buy storage or second grade eggs are not the ones who make the price for select eggs. It is pointed out that twenty years ago eggs sold during the surplus season in some states at 6 and 8 cents a dozen. Now they barely touch 15 cents at the lowest. There is no evidence, however, that this advance is wholly or in part due to cold storage, nor can it be proven that the much higher prices now received during the period of scarcity is due to cold storage. The fact is, however, that during the growth of refrigeration the price of eggs has been climbing upward. There may be reason for the claim that the higher pre- vailing prices during the surplus season are due to the taking from the market of a large proportion of the eggs and putting them into cold storage. It is reported in the evidence of a Senate Investigating Committee that the daily consumption of eggs in New York City during the spring of 1910 was 12,000 cases. The receipts were about three times as much. "What would happen to the market with receipts three times the consumption without a storage out- let? Clearly, the only thing that would save the eggs from being dumped into the harbor or thrown back on the farms as fertilizer would be such a reduction in prices that the people would consume the eggs. The storage business, 360 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT therefore, tends to raise prices during the season of heavy production, but the tendency is in the opposite direction in the season when there is a deficiency in the supply. The Refrigerator Egg. — The keeping of eggs at a steady low temperature is the most successful known method of preserving eggs. The best temperature for cold storage is 29 to 30 degrees. The principle of cold storage is that bacterial action, which causes decomposition or deteriora- tion of the egg, does not take place at this temperature. The colder the eggs are kept without freezing the better. Fresh eggs of good quality may be kept at a temperature of 28 degrees, while those that are not perfectly fresh require a temperature of 30 to 32 degrees for best results. A steady temperature with a free circulation of air is absolutely necessary in the storage room. The eggs are stored in clean, odorless crates holding 30 dozen. It is not possible to detect by candling any difference be- tween a storage egg and a fresh one. There is a slight evaporation of the contents of the stored egg, but a fresh egg that has been laid for several days may show the same amount of air space. In a case lot of eggs as it is taken from storage, evidence of storage may be found in a slight mold which will show in cracked eggs. The success of storage depends very largely upon the quality of the egg when it goes into storage. Storage does not absolutely prevent deterioration of the egg, it checks it. Under the best of conditions it is not as good as a fresh egg, but under proper conditions storage eggs are better than a great many fresh eggs that go to market during the warm months. An egg may technically be fresh and yet not be a good egg. Storage men have learned by dear experience that the early spring egg, the April egg in most sections, is the best for storage purposes. Eggs laid in March, April and May and stored then are MARKETING EGGS AND POULTRY 361 in better condition than eggs laid in July or August when taken out of storage in November or December. During the warm months deterioration has set in before the eggs reach the refrigerator, and such eggs lose more in quality in the short time they are in storage than early spring eggs. This may not be due to a difference in quality of eggs when laid, but to the higher temperature to which they are sub- CANS OF FROZEN EGGS These cans hold 30 pounds each of separated whites and yolks, or whole eggs. Delivered to baker o>r confectioner in frozen condition. (Courtesy, Bureau of Chemistry, U. S. Department of Agriculture.) jected before they reach the refrigerator. It is a question of handling the egg rather than a difference in the quality. Limitations of Cold Storage. — The business is prac- tically confined to large corporations with ample capital, located in large cities. Mechanical or artificial refrigera- tion is used, though ice plants are also used in a limited way. On account of the rapid deterioration that takes place after the eggs are removed from storage, it is an ad- 362 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT vantage to have the storage houses located near a large dis- tributing center so there may be no unnecessary delay in getting the eggs to the consumers. It is doubtful if the business could be as successfully handled with smaller plants located near the points of production rather than centers of distribution, but in certain producing sections where there is a considerable local market small co- operative plants might be established with profit. The Future. — "Will the business of storage increase? With continued improvement in refrigeration and in ex- tension of the service so that the egg will be better taken care of after it leaves the refrigerator and till it gets to the consumer, there will be a strong tendency to an in- crease in the business. Another factor, however, will be operating in the other direction. The producer by breed- ing better layers, fowls that will lay a larger percentage of eggs in the fall and winter, will be doing his best to put the cold storage plant out of business. But that is not im- minent, desirable as it might be from the standpoint of the consumer as well as the producer. Greater progress must be made than has ever been made in poultry breeding if any one now living is to see the day when winter egg pro- duction is to equal that of the spring and summer. The best we can hope is that the poultryman will produce better winter layers, and that the winter layers will, in part, re- lieve cold storage of the burden of maintaining a proper distribution of eggs throughout the year. Liquid Preservation of Eggs. — For home purposes eggs may be successfully preserved in a liquid preservative. Liquid preservation was formerly used commercially to a considerable extent, but the business has been largely superseded by the cold storage method. Where cold storage is out of the question a great many eggs are "put down" in some liquid preservative. MARKETING EGGS AND POULTRY 363 The Water-Glass Method. — A solution of water glass (sodium silicate) is the most generally used preservative for home purposes. Water-glass liquid or syrup may be obtained at most drug stores. The price is about 75 cents per gallon. It varies somewhat in quality. Thatcher, of the Washington Station, states that it should contain ap- proximately one part sodium oxide to every 2% parts silicon oxide, and be of a consistency of about 38 degrees Baume. It has been found that the best strength to use is about one part water-glass to 10 parts water. The water should be boiled and to every 10 quarts water add one quart water- glass, or in that proportion. The water must be allowed to cool before putting the eggs in. The receptacles used should be wooden buckets or kegs, or earthenware jars or crocks. Galvanized iron buckets or tubs may be used. Fruit jars may also be used. Metal vessels that will corrode in water should not be used. The liquid must cover the eggs, and then a little more, to allow for evaporation so that the eggs will always be covered. Approximately three dozen eggs will fill a gallon jar, or ten times that number in ten gallons. It will require about four pints of the liquid to the gallon of eggs. The eggs should be kept in as cool a place as possible. The coolest part of the cellar should be used. The fresher the eggs are when preserved the better, but they may be kept a few days in a cool place before preserving. No cracked or thin-shelled eggs should be used. Eggs preserved by this method will keep from the season of lowest prices to season of highest prices and be in condi- tion to be used. They will not have the taste of the fresh egg, however. The white is thinner than in the fresh egg, but they will be perfectly wholesome. The water-glass closes up the pores of the shell, and in boiling the shell will 364 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT crack. A puncture with a needle in the large end will pre- vent this. The poultryman should understand, however, that no matter by what method they may be put down, preserved eggs are not as good as fresh eggs, and they should not be sold as such. Laws affecting the sale of cold storage eggs as fresh should apply equally to preserved eggs. Selling Eggs for Hatching. — Improvement in breeds of poultry rests largely upon the work of breeders who sell eggs for hatching. The facility with which eggs may be shipped great distances and the comparatively small cost of shipping make it possible to secure good stock from suc- cessful breeders in any part of the country. The introduc- tion of new and better blood is accomplished more often by the purchase of a setting of eggs than in any other way. At slight expense for express or parcel post it is possible to secure the best blood from the next county or from across the continent. This is one of the factors that make for the rapid upbuilding of the poultry industry. It is, of course, true that distance too often lends enchantment and that the farmer or poultryman could often secure as good blood from his next-door neighbor than from a distant state. The facilities afforded by Uncle Sam and the express companies for securing new blood has been taken advantage of naturally by unscrupulous men who conduct a profitable long-distance business with the help of printers' ink and advertising. The very facilities for building up an in- dustry are made the means for tearing it down. However, the good over-balances the evil, and it is the few who suffer. There is no remedy for the evil except that the purchaser learn to use ordinary business judgment in making his pur- chases and inquire into the reliability of the breeder before he sends him money, sending money to no one that he knows MARKETING EGGS AND POULTRY 365 nothing about except what is stated in his advertisement. Advertising, however, is a great factor in the distribu- tion of improved strains or breeds of poultry. The busi- ness of the breeder is built up largely through advertising, and in proportion as he exercises judgment and skill in his advertising in proportion will he reap the financial reward of his success as a breeder. Selecting Hatching Eggs. — The importance of exercis- ing extreme care in the selection and handling of eggs for market has been emphasized. Greater importance, if possible, should be attached to the selection of eggs for hatching. The breeder who is doing an honest business will carefully cull the eggs before shipping. Only those of normal size and shape should be used. If the poultry "breeders would make it a universal rule to set or sell no eggs for hatching that did not weigh two ounces each it would soon result in a vast improvement in the eggs of the country. That is one thing the breeder can easily control, selection for size of egg. Eggs should be clean, and prefer- ably not washed. Washing injures their hatching quality, especially when shipped great distances. They should not be more than a week old before shipping, and kept in a clean, dry, cool place in the meantime. Further discussion of selecting eggs for hatching will be found under chapter on Incubation. Packing Eggs for Hatching. — The result in hatching eggs shipped long distances will depend very materially on the method used in packing them. The packing must pre- vent breaking and jarring the eggs as much as possible. The package should not be air-tight, otherwise the eggs will sweat if subjected to wide ranges of temperature. Dry, clean excelsior, or wood wool, chaff or fine hay make good packing material. The eggs should not be wrapped in paper. Probably the most satisfactory shipping package 366 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT is the split basket with handle. The basket with the lid is the most convenient. A muslin cover is sewed on to the basket that has no lid. The handles make the package con- venient for lifting and at the same time prevent placing other boxes on top. There are other satisfactory shipping boxes. They should have some spring or resiliency to pre- vent undue jarring of the eggs. Each egg should be wrapped in excelsior or some other good packing material. MARKETING POULTRY At the present time the largest proportion of farm poul- try is sold alive. The killing is done by the dealers in the city. It is done by them more cheaply and better, as a rule, than it can be done on the farm. The farmer and his help have not usually the skill to do the work properly. Another advantage of shipping the fowls alive is that the dealers in the cities, being in close touch with the demands of the market, can even up the supply to meet the demand. In the case of a surplus coming in one day, they can hold part of it over for several days and kill only sufficient to meet the immediate needs. If the poultry all came to market dressed there would frequently be a glut ; that would mean often putting considerable quantities into cold storage or losing it. On the other hand, there would frequently be a dearth of fresh-killed stock. This would compel handlers of poultry to provide large storage facilities, and the con- sumers would be using storage stock a large part of the *time instead of fresh stock. The evil of this system of live shipments is that in most cases chickens are paid for on the basis of weight without regard to quality, though one farmer may furnish chickens with 25% more edible meat for the money received than another farmer. While the great bulk of the poultry is shipped alive, special markets may be worked up by farmers MARKETING EGGS AND POULTRY 367 or poultrymen for dressed chicken of special quality by shipping direct to consumers. That is the best way and about the only way to get full value for fowls of good quality. Large quantities of live poultry are shipped both east and west from the Mississippi Valley states and to a limited extent from other sections. Many carloads of such poultry POULTRY HOUSE EXHIBIT Part of an Oregon poultry demonstration train. are shipped from the central west to Pacific Coast points and as far east as New York. Special live poultry trans- portation cars holding from 4,000 to 5,000 fowls are used. A man accompanies the car, doing the feeding and water- ing from an aisle in the center of the car. A rental is charged for the cars in addition to the freight. Another important development of market methods is the purchas- ing by the meat packers of large quantities of farm poultry 368 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT for fattening. A large proportion of this poultry, after being fattened, is killed and put into cold storage to hold for a rise in price. Killing and Picking Fowls. — Success in marketing dressed chickens to a select trade depends very largely on methods followed in killing and dressing. It should be remembered, always, that cleanliness and neatness have a market value when applied to dressing fowls and packing UNLOADING A NEBRASKA CARLOAD OF POULTRY AT SAN FRANCISCO them for market. In other words, the basis of a select trade must be superiority of goods. Killing. — Before being killed the fowls should be starved 24 hours in order to empty the crop. This will make the fowl more attractive. By starving, the intestines will be largely emptied of their contents. This improves the keep- ing qualities. It is important in killing that the fowl be thoroughly bled. A well bled carcass looks better and keeps better. The dressed fowl will not be select where the bleeding has not been done thoroughly. Sticking. — The best method of bleeding is that of stick- ing the fowl in the mouth. It takes some practice to be- come expert. The success in bleeding depends on the kind MARKETING EGGS AND POULTRY 369 of stick. Usually the bird is hung up on a level with the shoulders of the operator. The head of the chicken is laid in the left hand so as to have the comb down. The pressure should be on the boney part of the head, not on the neck, as pressure there will prevent proper bleeding. The bills are held apart by inserting the first finger in the corner of the mouth. The knife should be sharp pointed, about 2 inches long and a fourth of an inch wide. The blood vessel is first cut on the right side of the roof of the mouth at the neck where the bone of the skull ends. The brain stick is necessary where the fowls are to be dry picked. This is to "loosen up" the feathers. After cutting the artery the knife is quickly inserted in the brain through the groove in the roof of the mouth. This paralyzes the muscles and makes dry picking easy, but it must be done before the muscles contract. The picking commences im- mediately after the brain stick is made and even before the fowl dies. Picking. — The breast feathers are first picked, then the long tail feathers and wing feathers. The picking must be done quickly when the feathers come off easily. Care, of course, must be taken not to tear the skin. After the rough picking comes the pin feathering. This is done sitting, with the chicken on the knees. It is necessary to use a knife to catch all the small pin feathers. This method of killing and picking requires considerable practice to be able to do it at a profit. In commercial estab- lishments expert pickers kill and dress in this way as many as 100 fowls per day. Cooling. — When picked they should be immediately put into cold water for about an hour. This removes the animal heat and improves their keeping quality. It also gives them a plumper appearance. They should never be packed until the animal heat has been removed. 370 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT Shaping. — After picking and cooling the bird is fre- quently shaped on a shaping board to give it a more com- pact appearance. It is placed breast down on a board and a weight put on its back. This may be called a harmless " trick of the trade." Fowls that are naturally well fleshed and plump will not be improved by this treatment. I i DRY PICKING, DRY COOLING AND DRY-PACKED POULTRY Scalding. — For home use and immediate consumption scalding is the almost universal method. It is also used by dealers in many large centers. It is the easiest and quick- est method of removing the feathers. The objections to scalding are that it tends to disfigure the skin and change its natural color. Water for scalding should be kept just below boiling. The feathers rub off easily when properly scalded. The legs and feet should not be allowed to touch the water. MARKETING EGGS AND POULTRY 371 Drawn and Undrawn Poultry. — It is a much debated point as to whether fowls should be drawn when killed. In some markets the law requires poultry to be drawn be- fore exposing for sale. In most markets, however, the prac- tice is general to leave the drawing or dressing to the retail dealer at the option of the purchaser. The evidence seems to favor the view that undrawn poultry keeps better than drawn. The theory is that in the drawn chicken the inside of the intestinal walls are exposed to the invasion of bac- teria which will hasten the process of decay. On the other hand, it is claimed that the putrefactive bacteria of the in- testines will infect the flesh of the fowl and cause more rapid decomposition. Further investigations seem needed. Meantime there is no ground for wholesale condemnation of undrawn poultry. "With proper bleeding and chilling no danger may be feared from either drawn or undrawn fowls. One important point in favor of the undrawn is that the housekeeper could see evidence of unfitness for eating if she drew the fowl or removed the viscera herself. Most of the important diseases of fowls are often indicated by the appearance of the liver and intestines. In the case of tuberculosis the evidence, in a great majority of cases, is found in the condition of those organs. Parcel Post Shipments. — While the practicability of parcel post for dressed poultry has not been demonstrated in an extensive way, it affords a medium not heretofore available for direct shipments to consumers. For a special trade in fancy stock it offers an opportunity to the poultry- man who can produce the proper grade of stock to do a profitable business. Dressed chickens can be taken direct from the farm to the door of the consumer in the city within 150 miles at a cost of from 1 to 2 cents a pound, depending on the weight of chicken in package. The great waste of marketing should be saved to both the consumer and to the 372 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT producer by direct shipments. This should also encourage a much greater consumption of poultry. Loss in Killing and Dressing. — This loss is usually con- sidered the weight of feathers plucked and the blood drawn from the fowl. The head and feet are left on and the carcass undrawn. The following table shows results secured at the Oregon Station from 88 fowls : Liveweight 348 pounds Dressed weight 306.8 " Loss 41.2 " Per cent, loss 11.8 The dressing percentage varies with the condition, age and breed of fowl. A fair average would be 88%. Edible Meat on the Fowl. — The percentage of edible meat varies with the breed, the condition of the fowl and its age. Work at the Oregon Station indicated that a fowl in fair condition has about 60% edible meat. The waste was found to be about as follows for a fowl weighing seven pounds : Feathers and blood 8 ounces . Offal 27 " Head, bones, shanks 8.2 " Total loss 2 Ibs. 11.2 " Edible meat . .... 4 Ibs. 4.8 " Capons and Caponizing. — Capons are castrated males, or males with the sexual organs removed. The operation of removing the testicles is called caponizing. These organs are within the body cavity of the fowl attached to the back and lie close to the lungs and heart. The operation is a delicate one, and special instruments are made for the pur- pose. By following directions closely the amateur may soon become expert. Full instructions for operating are MARKETING EGGS AND POULTRY 373 furnished with the instru- ments, and these need not be repeated here. The operation consists in mak- ing an incision near the thigh and between the two last ribs and removing the testicles with the proper instrument. The object in caponizing is to produce a better qual- ity of flesh and to make the surplus cockerels more marketable. A capon will sell for practically twice as much per pound, and often more, than a mature HENRY DANA SMITH (MASS.) Who caponizes 4,000 cockerels a year and sells them as "soft roosters." Mr. Smith is very expert and averages about 50 an hour. (Photo by A. G. Lunn.) DRESSED CAPON rooster. Under pres- ent conditions, how- ever, it will pay to sell the males as broilers when the broiler mar- ket is good. This ap- plies where the chicks are hatched early. The capon market, except in isolated cases, is not yet highly developed. It will develop as con- sumers become edu- cated to the superior meat quality of the capon. As indicating the possibilities, it may 374 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT be stated that capons, canned in France, are for sale in the large cities of this country and at high prices. If cockerels are to be kept till the fall it will pay the farmer to caponize them and keep them till January or February, when the market is good for roasting chickens. Capons are quiet and docile, do not crow or fight, and sometimes make ex- cellent mothers for chicks. CHAPTER XVII DISEASES AND PARASITES OF FOWLS A knowledge of poultry diseases is of value to the poultry- keeper more in enabling him to locate unfavorable hygienic conditions than in the curing of diseases. In the discussion of poultry management in general the author has en- deavored to keep prominently to the fore the great im- portance of proper sanitary conditions as a means cl main- taining health or of avoiding diseases as much as possible. In other words, the poultryman must rely rather on pre- ventive measures than on curative treatment to maintain his flock on a healthy, profitable basis. It is an unprofitable business to be continually fighting diseases and treating sick fowls when a knowledge of simple hygienic rules will enable the poultry-keeper to prevent diseases and obviate treatment. As a rule, it does not pay to treat sick fowls. An individual fowl, on the average, is worth too little to pay to treat; besides fowls suffering from contagious dis- eases are a menace to the rest of the flock and the sooner they are gotten rid of the better. There are, however, certain diseases or ailments that are amenable to simple treatment, and if the poultryman possesses the requisite knowledge of the ailment and its treatment, he may often save himself considerable loss. Hygienic Conditions. — The importance of the subject warrants recapitulation here of what has already been em- phasized in different chapters of proper sanitary or hygienic conditions. Fresh Air. — Fresh air is not only an egg producer but a health preserver as well. Many of our pouftry diseases are 375: 376 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT the result of keeping the fowls in ill-ventilated houses. A lack of vigor is often the result of impure air. Diseases of the respiratory organs, such as catarrh, roup and colds, thrive only in ill-ventilated houses. It is useless to treat for such diseases fowls that are kept in houses that breed disease by bad ventilation. Fresh Ground. — Next to fresh air, fresh ground is the best preventive of disease. Many diseases having to do with digestive organs thrive where no attention is paid to keeping the ground on which the chickens run fresh and clean. Tuberculosis, cholera and other diseases are usually contracted by the fowls picking up from the ground feed that has come in contact with the germs of the disease. Various parasites, such as gapes and tape worm, are taken up by the fowl in this way. An unclean feeding-ground is a fruitful source of disease. Fresh air and fresh ground are the cheapest things at the command of the poultry-keeper and when he learns to make full use of them there will be comparatively little danger from poultry diseases. No flock of chickens, however, is entirely immune from diseases. In spite of the best sanitary conditions, diseases will sometimes get into the flock and remedial measures will be necessary. Cleanliness. — The nest boxes should not be a breeding place for germ diseases and insect pests. They should be frequently cleaned and disinfected. The droppings should not be allowed to accumulate, and on no account should the night droppings be allowed to fall and mix with the litter on the floor if the floor is used for a feeding- or scratching- ground. The litter should be kept reasonably clean and dry. Disinfection. — The culture treatment of yards is dis- cussed in another chapter. If cultivation and cropping DISEASES AND PARASITES OF FOWLS 377 can be regularly and thoroughly done there will be little need of other treatment of the soil to destroy infection. It may sometimes be necessary to disinfect the feeding- grounds. The most common method, probably, is the use of quick lime. Fresh lime should be air-slaked and broken into a floury powder and sprinkled over the ground until white. To prevent burning the chickens ' feet the earth may be raked over it a little. For the houses various disin- fectants are used. For bacterial diseases such as roup, tuberculosis, and cholera, formaldehyde may be used at the rate of 1 pint to 20 gallons of water. This should be ap- plied with a spray pump. The walls, ceiling, floor, roosts and nests should be thoroughly drenched with the spray. Boiling water may be used for articles such as drinking vessels, small feeding-troughs, etc., dipping them in the water. Commercial germicides such as Zenoleum and Kreso dip may also be used as disinfectants. In small houses that may be closed up tight, probably the most effective disinfection is to fumigate with formaldehyde gas. Use at the rate of 16 ounces of 40% formaldehyde to 6 ounces of permanganate of potash, per 1,000 cubic feet air space. Put the permanganate in a jar and pour the formaldehyde into it and then quickly leave the house and close the door. Leave the house closed for two or three hours. This is a convenient and effective method of disin- fecting incubators as well as houses. Disinfecting Drinking Water. — Germ diseases such as roup, canker and chicken-pox are frequently spread among the flock through the water in drinking vessels. Where there are any indications of such diseases it is well to use permanganate of potash in the drinking water, using about a fourth teaspoonful to a gallon of water. Permanganate ordinarily is cheap, and should be liberally used. It is known that disease germs are more virulent after 378 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT they have passed from one animal to another. The germs may be passed in the excrement or droppings of the diseased fowl even before the symptoms of the disease are manifest. They may be passed in countless numbers, and if the drop- pings come in contact with the food another fowl takes them up and the germs, in all likelihood in a more virulent form, enter the body of another and cause disease. Tuberculosis. — Tuberculosis is a germ disease and is probably the most destructive of all diseases of mature fowls. The disease progresses slowly and may be well ad- vanced before the symptoms are noticed. Avian tuberculosis was first reported in this country by Professor Pernot of the Oregon Agricultural College in 1900 (Bulletin 64), and to him the author is indebted largely for the facts herein presented in regard to this disease. The most pronounced symptoms of tuberculosis are lameness and loss of flesh. Tubercular fowls, however, often have the disease without lameness, but lameness is often associated with the disease. On the other hand, lameness does not always indicate tuberculosis, as it may be due to other causes. In advanced stages there is great loss of flesh or wasting. There is no loss of appetite. Seat of Disease. — As the organisms enter the body with food, the disease is more commonly found in the digestive tract and the liver than in any other part of the anatomy. Many cases of the disease in its advanced forms fail to show any lesions of the lungs. There are two common forms that are easily detected; one is a fibroid growth on the intestines varying in size from a pinhead to a lump as large as a walnut. In cutting through these tubercles, they will be found to contain a substance varying from a serous fluid to a rather dry, cheesy mass according to their size and age. It frequently happens that when a tubercle on the intestine becomes the size of a large pea, the mucous DISEASES AND PARASITES OF FOWLS 379 membrane and wall of the intestine on the inner side of the tubercle breaks down and discharges the contents of the tubercle into the foecal matter that is passing through the intestine, thus carrying out with the excreta a great num- ber of living tubercle bacilli. ' ' The liver is the other organ commonly affected. When the tubercle bacillus finds its way into the liver and begins to grow, a yellowish spot is soon formed, increasing in size as the disease progresses. The structure of the tissue at this point is changed to a hard granular mass containing within it the bacilli and the same substance as found in the intestinal tubercle. The growth of the tubercles necessarily increases the size of the liver until it sometimes becomes twice its normal size, and the tubercles are frequently so numerous as to give the liver the appearance of peanut taffy. " There are other spots of similar appearance sometimes found on the liver that must not be mistaken for tubercles. A crude way of distinguishing tubercular lesions is by the fibroid tissue of a tubercle being tougher and harder than the structure of the other spots mentioned, and by the center being filled with a substance as before described. Sometimes the disease is scattered all through the internal organs, and tubercles may be found even on the heart." — • Fernet. The only certain method of diagnosing the disease is a bacteriological examination. The germ is a small organism measuring on an average 3/25000 of an inch in length and can only be seen through a microscope. Poultrymen should avail themselves of the services of the bacteriologist of the experiment station if they are suspicious of this disease in their flocks. Many of the stations have facilities for doing this work without charge. It is not definitely known that bovine or human tuber- 380 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT culosis is transmitted to fowls. Pernot, though recognizing different types of tubercle bacilli, recognizes the possibility of transmission and urges caution. Other investigators have failed to produce the disease in the fowl with the bovine or human bacillus. Tuberculosis is not transmitted through the egg to the chick. Some investigators point to the possibility of trans- mission, but the possibilities are so remote as to be without significance to the poultryman. There is no known cure for the disease. Proper sanita- tion and prompt destruction of affected fowls must be relied upon to prevent the ravages of the disease. There is no reason for alarm if the poultryman makes full use of fresh air, fresh ground and sunshine in the management of his flock. If particular care be taken in this respect the disease will not get much headway. The .frequent renewal of the stock, killing off the old and replacing them with young, is a favorable factor in the control of the disease. The poultryman would do well before purchasing fowls to inspect the flock from which they come and secure them only from flocks that show no indications of disease. A Tuberculin Test. — Until the year 1914 there was no known method of testing live tuberculous fowls. Bovine tuberculin has been proved valueless for this purpose. In that year Dr. Van Es of the North Dakota Station discov- ered that avian tuberculin, when properly used, is an almost certain test of the disease. The tuberculin is injected into the comb or wattles. The injection must be made near the surface, but not so near that the fluid may burst through the epithelium. In the experiments noted the results were ascertained in from 24 to 72 hours. The reactions consist of a swelling and discoloration of the part injected, the size of the swelling varying considerably in different cases. The swellings or reactions, in Van Es's experiments, indicated DISEASES AND PARASITES OF FOWLS 381 a tuberculous condition in 88 cases out of 90. On the other hand, 8 to 9% of the fowls showing no reactions were found to be tuberculous. Should this test prove to be as successful in the hands of others as it has been in the experiments reported, it is a discovery that marks a most important advance. Roup. — Many poultrymen believe that roup and the kindred affection, catarrh, are the most troublesome diseases of poultry. Roup proper is believed to be a contagious germ disease. Catarrh, exhibit- , ing practically the same symptoms, is not conta- gious, being produced usu- ally by improper housing. The specific organism pro- ducing roup has not been discovered. Symptoms. — It usually begins with a watery dis- charge from the nostrils and eyes, which as the dis- ease progresses, becomes thicker and of the nature of pus. The nostrils become clogged, interfering with breathing, and there is usually a swelling around the eyes. The swelling often grows until the eye is closed entirely. The disease frequently spreads to the mouth and throat and assumes the character of diphtheria, when death soon results. Treatment. — The only hope of curing is in recognizing the disease in its first stages and applying remedies. Permanganate of potash of a 2% solution has been suc- cessfully used. The head of the bird should be dipped in the solution and held there as long as possible without A BAD CASE OF ROUP IN ITS ADVANCED STAGE (Courtesy, Prof. T. D. Beckwith, Bac- teriological Department, Oregon Experi- ment Station.) 382 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT strangling the bird. The success of the treatment depends upon getting the solution into the nostrils. This treatment should be continued two or three times daily until a cure is affected. Kerosene is also an effective remedy. The face should be washed with a feather dipped in the oil and a little oil injected up the nostrils. If the mouth or throat are affected they should also be swabbed out with a feather dipped in the oil. Peroxide of hydrogen is also used suc- cessfully for injecting into the nostrils and swabbing out the throat. If the swelling on the face has reached a stage that pus has formed, an incision should be made, the pus removed, and the sore washed out with the permanganate solution or with the peroxide of hydrogen. When the dis- ease has reached that stage, however, treatment will not often be successful and it will not pay unless the fowl has some special value. The sick fowls should be isolated and the premises disinfected. Care should be exercised in introducing new fowls, and it is a safe practice to put them in quarantine several days before putting them with the rest of the flock. Catarrh. — Possibly in the large majority of cases, what is thought to be roup is simply catarrh or colds. The symptoms are practically the same. The treatment of affected fowls recommended for roup may be followed for catarrh. When colds or catarrh appear it is a sure indica- tion that something is the matter with the housing. The fowls may be crowded too closely together on the roost ; there may be cracks in the walls through which the wind blows strongly on the chickens, or there may be insufficient ventilation. Diphtheria. — This is not an uncommon disease among fowls and it is very fatal. A false membrane grows in the mouth and extends down into the throat. Treatment is not often successful. Kaupp (Colorado, Bulletin 185) recom- DISEASES AND PARASITES OF FOWLS 383 mends the burning of the diphtheritic patches of the mouth with stick nitrate of silver (lunar caustic). A 2% solution of pure carbolic acid in water applied three times daily to affected birds is also recommended. When it can be done without causing bleeding, the diphtheritic mem- brane should be removed and the application of carbolic acid continued. The germ of fowl diphtheria resembles that of the human species. Attempts at the Oregon Station to reproduce the disease in chickens by human baccili failed, though further investigation seems necessary to settle this point. In the meantime, poultrymen should ex- ercise care in the handling of fowls affected with this disease. Chicken Pox. — This is a contagious disease and most prevalent in damp weather. Small crusts or wart-like spots appear, sometimes on the face, sometimes under the wings and on different parts of the body. A simple and effective remedy is to apply to the birds affected carbolated vaseline or sulphur ointment. Cholera. — This is the most fatal of all diseases, though not as general as roup and tuberculosis. It is compara- tively rare. The symptoms are diarrhoea, loss of appetite, excessive thirst, pale comb and wattles and extreme ex- haustion. Death occurs in from a few hours to two or three days. There is no cure. Vigorous measures of disin- fection must be taken. Canker. — Canker is indicated by white or yellowish spots in the mouth and throat and corners of the mouth. Per- oxide of hydrogen is effective. Powdered chlorate of potash blown through a glass tube or straw onto the spots is also recommended. Use permanganate of potash in the drinking water. Diarrhoea. — There are various causes for diarrhoea be- sides those already mentioned. It may be caused by im- 384 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT proper feeding, chilling, filthy drinking water, decayed meat, and irritating matter in the intestines. A tablespoon- ful of olive oil or 25 grains of epsom salts per fowl, dis- solved in water, is recommended. Boiled rice and boiled milk are also effective. Dry middlings are also beneficia] in certain cases. Decreasing the quantity of laxative foods such as bran and wet mashes may often be all that is necessary. Dropsy. — Abdominal dropsy is indicated by a heavy hanging abdomen. The abdomen feels soft and watery. It is due to a rupture of the blood vessel which permits the water to escape into the abdominal cavity. Treatment is not profitable, though temporary relief may be given by puncturing with a needle, or milk tube, which will permit the water to escape. Dropsy sometimes indicates a tuber- culous condition. Bronchitis. — Bronchitis is caused usually by draughts in the poultry house. It is found associated with catarrhal roup and is indicated by coughing and rattling in the throat. An effective treatment is two or three drops of spirits of camphor in a teaspoonful of glycerine, two days in succession. Two grains of black antimony in the food is also recommended. Swab the throat with permanganate of potash. Peritonitis. — This is an inflammation of the peritoneum or membrane that covers the abdominal cavity. Successful treatment is difficult. Three or four grains of tincture of' aconite in half a glass of water, giving a teaspoonful three or four times a day, is recommended. J^requent applica- tion of moist flannel cloths is beneficial. Rheumatism. — Poultry kept on damp ground or in damp houses with restricted exercise, are subject to rheumatism. The fowl in walking has a jerky gait. Lameness does not always signify rheumatism. The limbs should be bathed DISEASES AND PARASITES OF FOWLS 385 in warm water or the fowls made to stand in warm water, then rubbed dry and a mixture of turpentine and sweet oil or camphor oil applied. Apoplexy. — Apoplexy is due to the bursting of a blood vessel of the brain. Treatment is impossible, as the fowl usually dies very suddenly without indicating the disease. A fatty condition is usually the cause. Less starchy foods should be fed and more exercise given. Limber Neck. — Apparent paralysis of the neck muscles is the symptom of this disease. The neck is limp and stretched out in front of the bird with the beak usually touching the ground. It is due to impaction or stoppage of the stomach. A tablespoonful of olive oil or castor oil will usually effect a cure. Wry-Neck. — In this case the fowl has also apparently lost control of the neck. Instead of the neck being stretched out in a horizontal direction, the head is drawn back and down toward the body, the bird twisting it from one side to the other. This disease is usually associated with an over-fat condition, produced by a lack of exercise and feeding heavily on fat-producing foods. Epsom salts should be given, the ration changed and more exercise furnished. Crop Bound. — This is indicated by a full and extended crop which is rather hard to touch. Foods of a fibrous nature or indigestible articles such as long, tough grass, which have been greedily eaten, produce crop bound or crop impaction. Irregular feeding may cause the fowl to over-eat at one time and produce the trouble. The materials in the crop become so wrapped together and im- pacted that the passage to the stomach becomes obstructed and the fowl gets no nourishment. Hunger increases, the fowl eats more, and the ball of food in the crop becomes larger and larger. The grain foods swell, causing further distention. The fowl finally dies of starvation with an over 386 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT full crop. Simple treatment, however, will save the life of the fowl. It is sometimes sufficient to give about a tablespoonful of olive oil to soften the mass, then with the fingers manipulate the mass until it becomes soft and moist. It may require an hour to do it. If the mass does not break up try holding the bird by the legs, head down, and gently work the food out of the mouth. If this is unsuccessful, resort must be had to an operation. After removing the feathers, an in- cision li/2 inches long should be made in the outer skin of the crop, then a small opening into the crop. With a small spoon or pair of tweazers, or the fingers, the contents may be removed, after which the lining of the crop and the outer skin should be carefully sewed together, separately. The wound should then be rubbed with vaseline. Feed the fowl lightly for a few days with easily digested food. Chick Mortality. — Poultry raisers sustain great losses in the rearing of chicks. The losses have been so great in many cases as to drive the poultry raiser out of business. A large part of the loss is ascribed to what is called white diarrhoea. It should be clearly understood that there are different forms of diarrhoea in chicks. Diarrhoea may be caused in many ways. Possibly in a great majority of cases where the losses are heavy the diarrhoea in brooder chicks is due to chilling. Improper feeding will also cause diarrhoea. In such cases the loss is not due to an infectious disease over which the poultryman has no control. Again, large losses of chicks occur in the brooder from apparently no other cause than a lack of vitality. Wrong methods of incubation, which are discussed in the chapter on hatching chickens, are often the direct cause. Lack of vigor in the breeding stock is often the cause of low vitality in the chicks. A hen failing to sit properly and contentedly on the nest will hatch chicks that show lack DISEASES AND PARASITES OF FOWLS 387 NORMAL HEN'S OVARY (Courtesy, Storrs Experiment Station.) of vigor. Incubators that have not held the temperature steady or have not supplied the proper moisture condi- tions, will hatch chicks of low vitality. Such chicks are susceptible to bacterial and other dis- eases that would not affect strong, vigorous chicks. Small chicks are always very susceptible to environmental condi- tions, and where these conditions are found to be unfav- orable it is quickly evident in the death-rate of the chicks. White Diarrhoea (Bacterium pullorum). — From recent investigations, it is clear that bacteria are responsible for a large part of the chick mortality. A certain germ, bacterium pullo- rum, was isolated at the Storrs Station which proved to be the direct cause of what is popu- larly known as white diarrhoea. Diarrhoea is but a symptom of the disease, which should not be confounded with various other kinds of diarrhoea. The germ was found in the fresh DISEASED OVARY Showing white diarrhoea condition. (Cour- tesy, Storrs Experiment Station.) 388 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT egg and in the ovaries of the hen, as well as in the chick when hatched. A diseased ovary produced a dis- eased ovum or egg, and a diseased egg produced a diseased chick, and a diseased chick may infest many other chicks in the brooder. It was also proved that the infection may be carried from the adult hen to another through the medium of the feed. Chicks of low vitality succumb more readily to the infection than those of good vigor. Again, chicks hatched in winter and late fall are not so subject to the disease as those in late spring and summer. The influence of vitality is very clearly apparent. How far we can count upon vitality to ward off the disease or to maintain immunity, is not clearly established by the ex- periments. They emphasize the importance, however, of maintaining at all hazards the vitality of the stock. They also offer a possible explanation of the usually larger death- rate of chicks in large flocks than in small ones. One hen 's chicks may be affected, another's may not. If the chicks from two hens are brooded separately, the chances are the one lot will live and the other may die. If they are brooded together, they all may become affected and all may die. In white diarrhoea the deaths usually occur when the chicks are under four weeks of age. In describing the symptoms of the disease, Woods says: "The weakling is almost always big bellied, the abdomen protruding to the rear so that it punches out behind, and out of line with the vent, with the result that the chick looks as if the tail- piece and backbone had been pushed forward and in just above the vent." Upon dissecting the chick the following conditions will be found : "Crop. — Empty or partially filled with slimy fluid or with food. DISEASES AND PARASITES OF FOWLS 389 "Lungs. — Apparently normal. ( Tubercles not observed. ) "Liver. — Pale, with streaks and patches of red. The congested areas are usually large in size. Occasionally epidemics will be met with in which the liver is more or less congested throughout. In such cases the portion of the stomach lying in contact with the liver is inflamed. "Kidney and Spleen. — Apparently normal. "Intestines. — Pale, and for the greater part empty. A TWO WHITE DIARRHCEA CHICKS Showing characteristic dumpy appearance. small amount of dark grayish or brownish matter fre- quently present. Ceca. — With few exceptions but partly filled with a gray- ish soft material. Only occasionally cheesy or firm con- tents. "U nab sorb ed Yolk. — Usually present, varying in size from a pea to a full-sized yolk. The color may vary from yellow to brownish green or nearly black. In consistency there is also much variation. It may appear perfectly normal, distinctly gelatinous, or watery. Frequently it 390 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT looks like custard and again it is more or less dry and firm. Unless the chick has been dead for some time the yolk is not putrid, but merely stale. "The chick as a whole appears more or less anasmic and emaciated. The muscles of the wings, breast and legs may be almost completely wasted away." (Bulletin 74, Storrs Station.) The remedy suggested is the use of sour milk, though this is rather in the nature of a preventive than a cure. The chicks usually become affected before they are four days of age and very seldom after that. It has been found that by feeding sour milk just as soon as the chicks are ready to eat or drink, the ravages of the disease may be checked. "Whether the lactic acid germ of the sour milk kills the white diarrhoea germ or whether from the sour milk the chick derives the strength and vigor that enables it to throw off the disease, has not been very clearly shown. At any rate, the Storrs experiment offers strong endorsement of the practice of feeding sour milk or buttermilk to young chicks. That there are other disease germs which prey upon the young chick has been demonstrated at the Oregon Station. A different organism was found in chicks dead in the shell and in hatched chicks that died later with symptoms of white diarrhoea. "When healthy chicks were inoculated with the germ it proved fatal, though when healthy chicks were brooded in the same brooder as the others they were apparently unaffected. So far as the white diarrhoea investigations have gone it has been established beyond doubt that it is a bacterial disease. No remedy has been discovered. It has not been shown, however, that the poultry-keeper is helpless before its ravages. The encouraging feature of the situation is that high vitality in the chicks seems to carry a certain DISEASES AND PARASITES OF FOWLS 391 immunity or power of resistance to the disease, and until further light is thrown upon the subject, it is just as well to accept the theory that it is a disease, which if not the result of low vitality, need not be greatly feared where the health and vigor of the stock is unquestioned. The Agglutination Test. — While there is no known cure for bacillary white diarrhoea, recent investigations by Jones of Cornell University have indicated an accurate test for TAKING A BLOOD SAMPLE FOR WHITE DIARRHCEA TEST (Photo by C. S. Brewster.) infected fowls. It is called the agglutination test. By this test it is possible to determine whether or not adult fowls are infected. The importance of the test lies in the fact that it is possible for the poultryman to eliminate this dis- ease in chicks by breeding only from fowls that the test shows are free from it. Several of the experiment stations have facilities for making these tests for poultry breeders. 392 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT An explanation of the test is given by Dr. Gage of Massa- chusetts as follows:1 ' ' The two important biological factors necessary for mak- ing the microscopic agglutination test are (1) a test fluid containing a suspension of the organism causing the dis- ease, and (2) a sample' of blood serum from the individual to be tested, and the test is based on the fact that the blood sera of infected and non-infected birds when mixed with the test fluid react differently. The serum of the former, because of the presence of an agglutinin, a substance formed in the body of the bird because of infection with Bacterium pullorum, is capable of producing, when brought in contact with a suspension of the organism, a clumping together of the bacteria, a phenomenon which blood from non-infected birds does not show." PARASITES OF FOWLS The poultry-keeper must be able to cope with parasitic enemies or they will put him out of ^ business. If every living thing has its own particular pest, the fowl has its full share, probably more than its share. There are a dozen or two insect pests or parasites that have no other business in life, apparently, than that of making life a burden to the chicken. "We do not know how many. The number of varieties, however, is of no consequence com- pared with the number of individuals of any one variety that may be propagated or born into the world in a few days. From one single louse in the third generation, there may be produced in eight or nine weeks over 100,000 in- dividual lice, each one hatched from an egg. The different varieties work in different ways. One variety sucks the blood from the chicken and when, tens 1 Massachusetts Bulletin No. 163. DISEASES AND PARASITES OF FOWLS 393 of thousands of these bloodthirsty villains are plying their trade, the hen will soon be pumped dry of blood. Others do not suck the blood but irritate the fowl beyond endur- ance by moving about or running foot races, possibly with 10,000 other entrants, on the skin. Others burrow into the skin or flesh ; others suck the liquid contents from the cells of the skin and exude a poison under the skin. Still others do their damage by carrying infectious diseases from one fowl to another. The internal parasites affect the wind-pipe, the stomach and intestines and cause various derangements. Poultry parasites are divided, therefore, into two classes, external and internal. External parasites may be divided into two kinds, namely, mites and insects. Mites. — The chicken mite (Dermanyssus gallinea) causes more loss to the poultryman than any other species of mite and probably more than any other kind of insect or louse. These mites breed on the under side of the roost porches, especially where there is a rough surface and small cracks or crevices. They also breed in the cracks of the walls near the perches and in the nest boxes. Their presence will often be indicated by white dust-like patches on the walls. They are not found in any numbers on the fowl during the day but they crowd out of their hiding-places onto the fowls at night and suck the blood, then go back to their hiding. During the warm days of spring and sum- mer they multiply rapidly. Frequently sitting hens die en the nest, being literally bled to death by the pests. Sometimes they multiply so rapidly that they can be gathered by handfuls in nests or other places where they are undisturbed, especially under sitting hens. They live several weeks after being filled with blood. Under certain conditions they have been known 394 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT to live several months. In size the mite is about 1/40 of an inch in length. If placed side by side 100 mites will cover a space of one square inch. Control. — The mite, though possibly the most destructive of any poultry parasite, may be easily controlled. Various control methods are used. Treatment 1. — Kerosene, crude petroleum, and distillate are effective. These will kill any mites they come in con- tact with. The oil, however, may not destroy the eggs of the mite. If the house is badly infested the whole in- terior should be thoroughly sprayed. In a week or ten days the application should be repeated to kill those that may have hatched after first spraying, and if necessary a third spraying should be given. If this is thoroughly done the mites may afterward be controlled by spraying the perches with kerosene or distillate, or a brush may be used and the oil applied all around the roost. The nest boxes should also be treated. Treatment 2. — Instead of using coal oil or distillate in spraying the roosts, carbolineum or other tar preparations may be effectively used. Carbolineum is more effective than kerosene for the reason that it will destroy the mites' eggs as well as the mites when it comes in contact with them. Nests of sitting hens should be thoroughly painted before sitting; also the brooding coops. With any reappearance of mites the application should be repeated. The paint should be dry before the hens are allowed to use the nests or roosts. It will soil the feathers and may affect the flavor of the eggs. Brood coops should be thoroughly dried after painting or the chicks may be injured. Crude carbolic acid and kerosene or distillate, one part of the former to three of the latter, is very effective for mites, applied as a paint on the roosts and nests. Treatment 3. — To five gallons whitewash add one pint DISEASES AND PARASITES OF FOWLS 395 crude carbolic acid. Spray as above or use whitewash brush for applying it. Treatment 4. — Where lime sulphur spray is used for fruit trees it may also be used for spraying the poultry house. If thoroughly done this should control the mites. Lice. — Lice are not so injurious as the mites but they must not be allowed to breed unchecked. Unlike the mites they do not suck the blood but subsist upon the productions of the skin and the feathers. They live and breed on their host. There are three kinds of lice generally recognized. First, those that are found on the head and neck of the fowl and especially on young chicks. The scientific name is Goniodes eynsfordii. Second, the wandering lice (Menopon pallidum). These are found on different parts of the body. Third, those found between the barbs of the wing and tail feathers (Liperurus variabilis). The conditions which encourage the breeding of these lice are filth, dampness and darkness in the poultry house. The eggs are laid among the feathers and attached to them, especially to down feathers. They hatch out in from six to ten days, the time varying. Lice will live several months without the hen or host. Theobald reports keeping Menopon pallidum for nine months on fresh feathers, they apparently eating the quill epidermis. Dust Bath. — Domestication of the hen can be carried so far and no farther, and this fact must ever be remembered. It might seem a little more sanitary or civilized for the hen to keep her body clean by using a white enameled bath tub provided with hot and cold water taps, or to have a chicken barber shop where a weekly shampoo may be had, but the hen prefers to wallow in the dust of the road or in a crude box filled with dust, that is not by any means germ-proof. It would be as easy to make water run up hill as to change the nature of the hen when it comes to her method of keep- 396 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT ing the body clean. The dust shampoo rids the hen of the scurf of the skin ; besides it is nature 's protection against the pestiferous louse that has no object in life but to make living a burden to the hen. A dust bath at evening gives biddy a restful sleep ; a dust bath during the day gives her new hope and happiness and permits her to lay her daily egg in peace and to chase and devour other larger insects that prey upon the crops of the field. The hen louse must breathe to live, and it breathes through the pores of its skin. A knowledge of this simple fact was doubtless the clew for some ancient Edison to invent dust. There are some objections to dust, but there is always some bitter with the sweet, and to biddy dust tastes sweeter than plum jam to the average human young- ster. The hen must have her daily dust bath. If she can- not get it in the fields or the yards it must be furnished in a box artificially, but she must have it to cleanse her body in the old natural way. It fills up the pores of the louse and prevents breathing, thus killing it. The addition of sulphur, pyrethrum or lime to the dust makes it more effective on account of their irritating nature. If the poultry premises are kept in a sanitary condition, the fowls will keep themselves practically free from lice if they have access at all times to a good dust bath. By dust- ing the hen by hand with a good insect powder, the lice may be gotten rid of sooner, but this entails too much labor to be practicable on a large or commercial scale. Sulphur and slaked lime may be used as a dust powder. Another good powder may be made by mixing crude car- bolic acid 90 to 95% strength, with enough plaster of paris to make a dry powder. Head lice on small chicks, which make their appearance a day or two after the chick is hatched, may be killed by rubbing the head and throat of the chick with lard. A few DISEASES AND PARASITES OF FOWLS 397 drops of kerosene to a teaspooiiful of lard will make it more effective, but much kerosene may kill the chick. If the hen be carefully treated for lice while sitting, there will be less trouble from the head lice on the chicks. Scaley Leg. — Another species of mite (Sarcoptes mutans), produces scaley leg in fowls. The mite burrows underneath the scales of the leg and white grayish crusts are formed which gradually enlarge and raise the scales. In severe cases lameness results and even the loss of toes. The disease is contagious. Disinfective measures should be ap- plied in the poultry house. Individual treatment is rather tedious but a cure is easily affected. Where the case is bad or advanced it will usually be necessary to soak the scales thoroughly in warm water and remove them when it can be done without causing bleeding, then apply an ointment or vaseline. Kerosene is an effective remedy. Where the dis- ease is not too far advanced it will be sufficient to dip the legs in a can of oil and hold them there for half a minute. Dr. Theobald is authority for the statement that there are some 36 distinct species of worms that live as parasites in fowls. Some' of these are of little importance. A few of the more injurious ones will be mentioned here. The Gape Worm (Syngamus trachealis) . — This parasite is very destructive to young chicks in different sections of the country. It attaches itself to the inner lining of the windpipe or trachea. Contaminated soil is responsible for the spread of this disease. This further emphasizes the point that has already been made, that young chicks should always be reared on clean, fresh ground. Gape worms be- come so numerous in the windpipe when they once get started that the bird finally dies for lack of air. Some of the worms are coughed up, as well as some of the ova and embryos and these are taken up by other fowls and the disease rapidly spreads. The ground carries the infection 398 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT from one year to another. By cultivating the ground and disinfecting it with lime, the infection may be destroyed. Where the disease is known to exist it is the safe plan not to use the same ground for a year or two. The chief symptoms are a gaping with open beak and stretching of the neck forward. The worm may be removed by twisting a horse hair in the windpipe and withdrawing it, or a feather stripped to near the tip, dipped in oil or turpentine may be used in the same way. The value of the young chicks, however, will not usually warrant individual treatment. Reliance must be placed upon keeping the chickens away from contaminated ground. Intestinal Worms. — There are numerous worms that infest the digestive organs of the fowl. The round worms are found in the gullet or esophagus. Another species is found in the walls of the gizzard. The tape worms and various other species are found in the intestines. For in- dividual treatment, oil of turpentine is recommended, one teaspoonful per fowl, preferably given in the morning fol- lowed with olive oil or castor oil a few hours later. Heavy feeding of onions or garlic will aid in controlling these parasites. Another remedy is to use powdered pome- granate root bark, one teaspoonful to 50 birds given in the feed. There is not space in this book for an extended discussion of poultry diseases. Those readers wishing more detailed information of various diseases and their treatment, will find several books on this special subject. Among them may be mentioned: "Poultry Diseases and Their Treat- ment, " by E. J. Wortley ; "Diseases of Poultry," by Dr. D. E. Salmon; "Diseases of Poultry," by Pearl, Surface and Curtis; "Poultry Diseases," by Dr. B. F. Kaupp; and "Parasitic Diseases of Fowls," by Theobald. INDEX Page Albumin 281 Analysis of fowls and egg 229 Animal food 241 Ash . 223 B Balanced rations 219 Barley 239 Beef scrap 243 Beets 245 Beet pulp 246 Bran 239 Breed, Ancona 32 Andalusian 33 Black Spanish 33 Braekel 34 Brahma 55 Campine 33 Dorking 45 Faverolle 49 Hamburg 33 Houdan 34 Langshan 60 La Fleche 60 Le Mans 58 Leghorn 30 Minorca 31 Orpington 46 Plymouth Rock 39 Rhode Island Red 43 Sussex 49 Wyandotte 41 Breeding, principles of 61 problems in 62 purity in 68 Breeds, economic qualities of . . 27 edible meat on different. . . 52 egg 30 fancy 28 general purpose 35 meat 50 origin of 30 "Standard" classification of 24 utility classification of 28 Broilers 274 Brood coop 198 Page Brooders, colony 324 home-made 324 lamp 323 stove or room 327 types of 323 ventilation of 322 Brooding, artificial 320 chicks, training 322 period 320 temperature 320 Buckwheat 240 Buttermilk . . 241 Cabbages 246 Capons and caponizing 372 Carbohydrates 226 Catarrh 382 Charcoal 247 Chickenpox 383 Cholera 383 Cockerels 273 Cold storage 359 conditions of 360 effect on prices of 359 limitations of 361 Colony system 144 Corn 237 Crop bound 385 Culling 272 Cut bones 241 Cross breeding 16, 73 advantages of 74 disadvantages of 79 experiments in 78, 101 Diarrhoea 383 Digestibility of foods 230 Digestion coefficients 232 Digestive organs 230 Diphtheria 384 Diseases 375 Disinfection 377 Domestication of fowls 1 purpose of 1 Dominance 84 399 400 INDEX Page Drainage 168 Drawn and undrawn poultry. . . 371 Dressing, loss in weight in. ... 372 Dropsy 384 Dust bath 395 Edible meat on fowl 372 Egg-laying organs 133 Egg, structure of 281 Egg production, limit of 112 best in first year 127, 183 progression in 109 regression in 109 Eggs, candling 352 canned frozen 361 classification of 347 color of 351 composition of 217 conditions that injure 348 fertility and hatchability of 299 for hatching 297 fresh and stale 354 gathering the 349 grades of 344 grading 351 marking 355 preservation of 362 refrigeration of 357 selling, for hatching 364 size of 351 testing 299 washing 350 Fattening fowls 274 batteries 277 rations 278 Fats 226 Fecundity, inheritance of.. . 92, 134 influence of sire and dam. 107 Maine station's results. . . 93 Oregon station's experiments 96 sex limited 107 Feeding and exercise 249 cooked food 254 fundamentals of 210 ground and unground grain 251 growing stock 268 hopper . . .'.'.'.'.' 254 limitations of ..." 212 methods of 249 purpose of 223 rations 256 small chickens . , . 2(55 Page Fencing 205 portable 203 Fish scrap 243 Food analyses 227 animal 241 carbohydrates and fat. . . . 226 composition of 223 computing the ratio of. ... 229 digestibility of 230 digestion coefficients of . . . 232 grain 237 green or succulent 244 mineral nutrients of 223 palatability of 234 protein 214 relation of, to color of egg 212 flavor of egg 212 quality of eggs 212 size of eggs 215 yield of eggs 214 requirements of chickens. . 221 Fowls, antiquity of 9 evolution of 11 origin of 2 Free range 144 Fruit trees for shade 206 Fruit growing and poultry-keep- ing 140 Fresh air, value of 174, 375 Fresh ground, preventive of diseases ... . 376 Gallus bankiva 3 Gape worm 397 Green food 244 Grit 247 H Hen-hatching 291 Heredity 62 Hygienic conditions, import- ance of 375 Historical 1 House, curtain-front 176 floor of 184 foundation 186 open-front 186 portable 187, 193 space required 178 stationary house 189 Housing, essentials of 160 purpose of 1C7 INDEX 401 I Page Inbreeding 86 Incubation, artificial 301 carbon dioxide and mois- ture in 311 chemical compossition of chick influenced by meth- ods of 316 cooling the eggs 316 influence of moisture in.. 312 loss of weight in eggs 313 methods of 286 moisture in 308, 309 natural vs. artificial 287 oil on egg shells 319 period of 297 temperature of 314 turning the eggs 316 wet bulb temperature as a moisture guide 309 Incubator, choice of 305 operating the 307 size of 307 types of 305 Incubator house 302 ventilation of 303 analysis of air in 304 Jungle fowl cock 3 hen . 4 Killing 368 Lady Mat-duff 117, 119 Laying longevity 115 maturity 127 Lice 395 Limberneck 385 Linseed meal 240 Locations for houses and yards 167 M Manure, preservation of 208 Marketing eggs 333 rlnssifying eggs for 347 direct 337 express 338 how costs are added 336 indirect 335 poultry 366 Page Middlings 239 Milk 241 Milk albumin 243 Mites 393 N Nests 196 Nutritive ratio . . . 228 Oats 238 Oats and peas 246 Oregona 108 Oyster shell 247 Parasites 392 Parcel post shipments of eggs. 340 poultry 371 Peas 239 Petaluma poultry farming. . . . 140 Peritonitis 384 Picking 369 Portable fencing and houses. . 203 Potatoes 246 Poultry farming, systems of. . . 138 backyard 152 colony 144 dairying with 139 exclusive 152 fancy 156 fruit growing with 140 grain growing with 140 intensive 151 mixed husbandry 338 Petaluma 140 Rhode Island 140 specialized 138 industry 19 products 19 publications 19 Prepotency 83, 85 Preserving eggs in water glass 363 Rations 256 Reversion 65 Rheumatism 384 Rico 240 Roup 381 Rye 240 402 INDEX Page Pago Scalding poultry 370 Scaley leg 397 Selection 14 Shade 206 Shaping 370 Shell, furnishes lime for de- veloping chick 311, 316, 317 structure of 282 Soils 167 Sprouted oats 246 Sticking 368 Storms, objectionable 170 Sunflower seed 240 Sunshine 169 Variability 109 Variation 12, 03 factors influencing 13, 15 Ventilation in poultry house. . 174 Vetch and oats 245 w Water glass 303 Weight correlated with laying. 120 Wheat 237 White Diarrhoea 389 Worms, intestinal 398 Wry neck 385 Transportation cars for poultry 367 Trapnests 198, 199 Tuberculin test 380 Tuberculosis 378 Type in layers 120 U Use and disuse of parts 16 Yards 191, 201 crops for 192 cultivation of 191 double 203 hen capacity of 191 size of 202 Yolk 282 RETURN AGRICULTURE LIBRARY TO— •* 40Gicmnini Hall 642-4493 LOAN PERIOD 1 2 H PAYS 3 A 5 6 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS Quarter loans are not renewable by phone Renewed books are subject to immediate recall DUE 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