A Manual On Poultry 1883

77
AGRICULTl
A MANUAU
ON
L1BRARY UNIVERSri
'
CALIFORNIA
^POULTRY.
PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMISSIONER
OF AGRICULTURE OF GEORGIA.
G
J.
T.
HENDERSON,
COMMISSIONER.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA:
JAB
P.
HARRISON
<fe
Co.,
PRINTI
A MANUAL
ON
^POULTRY
PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMISSIONER
OF AGRICULTURE OF GEORGIA.
J. T.
HEXDEKSON,
COMMISSIONER.
G
*i
1883.
f AS P.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA: HARRISON & Co., PRINTERS.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
It
is
with pleasure that acknowledgement

Bro., Breeders of
is
here
made
to Messrs. J. T.
fish Springs,
and Queens, CrawFancy Walker county, Ga., for the following electrotypes illustrating the breeds and varieties of Poultry
Scott
<fe
Poultry, Italian Bees
AMERICAN DOMINIQUES, BLACK COCHIN, BLACK BREASTED RED GAME, BROWN LEGHORN, BRONZE GOBBLER, BUFF COCHIN,
DARK BRAHMA,
HOUDANS, JAPANESE BANTAMS, LA FLECHE, LIGHT BRAHMAS, PARTRIDGE COCHINS, PEKIN DUCKS,
PLYMOUTH ROCKS, RED PILE 'GAME, ROUEN DUCKS,

SILVER SPANGLED HAM BURGS, SILVER PENCILED HAMBURGS, TOULOUSE GEESE, WHITE COCHINS, WHITE LEGHORNS,
WHITE CRESTED BLACK POLISH, WHITE CRESTED WHITE POLISH, WHITE FACED BLACK SPANISH.
'
298190
INTRODUCTORY.
While the Act establishing this Department and defining the duties of the Commissioner does not especially mention Poultry as one of the subjects to which his attention should be directed, its importance as one of
the productive industries so closely connected with Agriculture, in the pinion of the Commissioner justifies the attention which he is about to
it in this little work. Indeed, so much depends upon the inteland care bestowed upon the small industries of the farm that he ligence would feel that he was not fully discharging his duties to the people of the
devote to
State, did
closely
he not supply the information at his command on a subject so connected with their health, comfort and profit.
The following pages will be devoted to practical information suited to the use and application of the wives of farmers such information, as it is hoped will aid the housewives of Georgia in not only substituting, to a large
extent, eggs
and poultry for pork -on their table?, but stimulate them to the production of a surplus of these wholesome articles of diet to be sold to the less fortunate dwellers in towns and cities.
The work
is
not intended for the fancier, nor for those
who pursue the

;
business on a large scale, but for the farmer's wife. There will be much the work which to the fancier will seem crude and unnecessary but in
order to instruct those without experience or knowledge of the business, it is necessary to present the appearance (to the well informed) of presuming
very far upon the ignorance of the reader. One of the secrets of the success of French agriculture is the attention bestowed upon the small industries of the farm, and one of the principal obstacles to successful agriculture in the Southern States is the neglect of
these industries.
The dairy, garden, poultry yard, apiary, and fish ponds, should not only contribute largely to the food supply of the family, but
should, by the sale of surplus products, materially supplement the principal sources of income of the farm.
The hope
which
it
the bestowal of
that the information conveyed in this little work may induce more and better attention upon the important industry of
treats,
and thus increase the health,
pleasure, profit
and comfort
&i the families of Georgia, induces its publication.
MANUAL ON POULTRY
given the subject a very thorough and systematic investigation, our domestic gallinaceous fowls have the wild Gallus Banall descended from one common source, viz
According
to
Darwin, who
has"
Jciva of south-eastern Asia.
The black breasted red gajne cock resembles very closely the wild Gallus Bankiva cock of India. Mr. Darwin experimented with various crosses of domestic breeds and observed that there was invariably a tendency to a reversion to
the original red color of the wild fowl. All breeders of improved stock, of whatever kind, are familiar with the fact that a constant tendency to reversion to the original type exists, and must be guarded against by careful, judicious selection,
and color have been seized upon as starting points from which to establish new breeds, by in-breeding and subsequent crossing with the original. After a few distinct varieties were established the multiplication of breeds became an easy matter. Breeds of cattle, horses, sheep and swine have been multiplied ia the same manner.
Sub-varieties are produced by selection of breeding stock of a particular type or color, and by breeding the offspring back to the
sire, until his
annually repeated. Peculiarities of form
type is so fixed in the offspring that it becomes capable of uniformly reproducing its kind when bred inter se. Breeds have thus been multiplied both by following up accidental peculiarities,
and by systematic mating of birds of different established breeds.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
GEORGIA.
CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS.

GAMES.
This seems to be the typical breed, most closely resembling the wild parent, Galhis Bankiva. The game is notoriously the most hardy breed of chickens in the whole catalogue and independently of their value as fighters in the cock-pit, with which this work has nothing to do,
;
they are well worthy of cultivation,
purely for their economic qualities. The hens are good layers, superior sitters and unsurpassed mothers.
as
mothers
is
serious objection, however, to them B;QAMi;. too much disposed to fight the young that they are
chicks of other broods.
This propensity brings with

:
it,
however, a
compensating quality, viz that of defending with great spirit their own brood against all intruders.
The flesh .The chicks are bright and hardy., but mature slowly. is considered of superior quality, though less in quangame in most other commonly cultitity than in birds of the same age
of the
vated breeds.
There are many

tial qualities,
varieties of the
game
differing but little in essen-
the distinctions being based mainly upon the color of As plumage is a matter of small importance, so far the plumage. as the objects of this work are concerned, further than to aid the
reader in recognizing pure bred birds, the varieties of the game will not be described, but only a description covering the distinctive characteristics of the game as a breed, since this will enable one to
recognize a
game wherever
seen and of whatever color.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF GAMES.
The head
that of
is
any other breed.
long, thin and tapering, with beak more curved than Color varies in the different varieties.
Comb
with a full comb is rarely seen. comb and wattles.
thin and straight, single and low in front. game cock are usually dubbed in both They
'
MANUAL ON POULTRY.
<
Ear
Lobes red and smooth.
Neck
Body
tail.
Hackles short. long, well-arched and tapering. towards the firm, broad across the shoulders, and tapering
Tail full and slightly drooping.
Legs
stout, rather long,
and
set well apart.
The
game
principal varieties of the breed are the Black, Black-
breasted Red, Blue, Brown-red, Yellow Duck-wing, Silver Duckwing, Grey, Ginger-red, WhitePile, Red-Pile, Derby, White, and
Spangled.
The opinions
this list
is
as to
which of
though
the most desirable va-
riety are quite conflicting,
the majority seem to give the preference to the Black-breasted

RED PILE GAME. the Derby. There are other varieties, but the list embraces those principally .grown in America. The Game Hen -in form resembles the cock, her neck seeming rather out of proportion to her body. The head is,neat and thin, and small, erect comb ear lobes and wattles small. with clean face In color the plumage approximates that of the cock, making due allowance for sex. The feathers should lie close to the body and the tail feathers be hehd closely together, and not collectively fan;
Red and
shaped.
The
cockerels intended for stock
birds
may be dubbed when
four months old, but must not be turned with each other while the combs are freshly cut. Birds true to the desired type should be selected for stock purposes in order to -perpetuate uniformity of
form and color. The chicks are somewhat delicate when first hatched, and hence, unless provision has been made for protecting them for &ome weeks from cold wind, rains and dew, they should not hatch before spring is well advanced. The hens with broods should not be cooped so
near each other that the chicks of one brood will invade the coop
GEORGIA.
of the other, lest the hens, which are quite savage towards other than their own chicks, destroy them.
THE
ASIATICS
COCHINS AND BRAHMAS.
The following
of the
istics
distinctive
description character-
of the Cochins will anall
swer for
of the varieties
so far as the substantial feat-
ures of the breed

cerned.
are
con-
The
principal
difference
between the varieties of the breed is found in the color of

the plumage or in non-essential features.
PAKTRIDGE COCHINS.
%
The following
extract
from Hewitt's description of the Buff, Cochin is found in The

Poultry Book, by
:
W.
B.
Tegetrneier " In size and weight the larger the better, if with-
out coarseness.
Sometimes
the cocks attain the weight I of thirteen and a half
pounds
to
but from eleven
twelve pounds are good The hens average bifds.
weigh froiji eight to ten if they continue pounds and are well fed, healthy
;
they generally increase in
weight
year.
BUFF COCHINS.
until
their
third
be fine, noble, and carriage and form of the cock should a straight line from very majestic ; the breast very broad, forming the crop to the thighs ; the back short and wide ; the tail only very
"The
MANUAL ON POULTRY.
slightly raised
;
compared with that of other fowls the wings exceedingly short, and held tightly to the sides the legs, thighs and saddle unusually large in proportion to the rest of the body the head small, and carried well up. " The carriage of the hen similar to that of the cock in general character, but the head is carried much lower, and the neatness
;
and fine expression of the face

bred specimens.
"
is
extremely pleasing
in really high-
in the cock is very soft, owl-like, and exceedingly a peculiar softness to the general appearance. downy, giving " Cochhib possess a great bulk of feathers, each one being wider
The plumage
across than in other fowls.
plumage
is
more marked even than

is
In the hen the peculiar softness of the in the cock, especially on the
thighs and saddle.
"The
neck-hackle of the cock
extremely
*
full,
spread-
ing over the base of the wing?. "The thighs of the cock are stronger than those of any other
variety
;
exceedingly heavy in the feathering
all
the feathers
sit
very loosely, and are peculiarly downy, forming, in part, what is commonly called the 'fluff.' The shafts of these feathers should be weak and flexible, contrasting with the firm, stiff feathers pro_
ducing the falcon-hock,' which is to be regarded the hen the fluffiness is far more conspicuous than The Cochins are good winter layers, good sitters and
'
as a defect.
In
in the cocks."
long wings and their heavy weight they can fly but little, and hence can be
disuse
fair
mothers.
of
From
their
easily
restrained
within
the
bounds without expensive fencing. Their roosts should not be more than two feet from the floor of the
desired
house, so that they may easily reach them, and to prevent
h eir feet and breast
KLACK COCHINS.
bones in flying down.
If they are required to perch
upon high
10
to
GEORGIA.
roosts they are liable
contract club-foot, a troulib iesembling

foot,
stone-bruise on the
human
which generally destroys the

lots, in
use-
fulness of
the birds.
They bear confinement
better than the
smaller breeds, and hence are better suited to small they must be confined to very contracted quarters.
which
The chicks of the Cochins are remarkably hardy, grow rapidly, and acquire sufficient size to be used by tbi? time they are feathered over. The principal objection to the Cochins as a table fowl is the
of
smallness of the development of the breast in proportion to that less desirable parts. They are conspicuous for their large thighs
and broad and meaty backs. The cross of the Cochin cock on the common dunghill hen produces a grade which is hardy and thrifty when young, matures rapidly, and as a table fowl gives general satisfaction. The Cochin hens, as well as
their half-breeds,
make
excel-
lent sitters
and mothers for the
yards in
which the
non-sit-
ting breeds, such as Leghorn, Spanish, etc., are principally
employed.
The
principal varieties
:
of
Cochins are
Buff, Partridge,
Pea-comb Partridge, White, Black and Cinnamon all of which correspond closely.in es;
sential
characteristics,
the
WHITE COCHIN.
chief difference resting in the color of the plumage.
THE BRAHMA FOWLS

Resemble the Cochins very closely in general characteristics. In. deed, it is claimed by some that the Brahmas were derived from the Cochins. Be this as it may, the two are very closely allied, with no
greater difference in essential characteristics than exist between subvarieties in some of the standard breeds.
size
light Brahma is one of the most popular breeds, having large and hardiness, both in the young and adult birds. The flesh is \vell distributed over the most valuabb and desirable In parts.
The
MANUAL ON POULTRY.
11
color they are mainly white, but with black in the main feathers of the tail and the flight feathers of the wing, and the hackle feathers
have a decided black
stripe
down
the centre of each.
LIGHT BRAHMA*.
The hens
are
good
layers, reliable
Like the Cochins, they do bounds, where they are restrained without but little.
well in
and careful mothers. conn'nemen: within limited

sitters,
difficulty, since
they
fly
The Dark Brahma is not quite so heavy as the light, the standard weight of cock and hen being
each one pound
less
than in the
Light Brahma.
color of
is
the
The prevailing Dark Brahma cock
black, with silvery white hackand saddle lee, wing crest
feathers.
closely in color
corresponds very with the male, allowance for the characmaking teristic differences between the
sexes.
The
hen
Brahmas
are usually bred
DARK BRAHMAS.
12
GEORGIA.
with what are called pea-combs, which have the appearance of three combs united, that in the centre a little taller than the other two.
Each comb
is
separately serrated.
MALAYS.
This breed
of
is
grown
to
some extent pure,
in
England, on account
its table qualities, and has been used to cross the Game. Owing to their ill-nature, the poor laying qualities of the hens, and the tenderness of the chicks, they have not been grown to any extent in
country.
LEGHORNS
BROWN AND WHITE.
BROWX
JjEGHORXS.
This breed is deservedly one of the most popular bred in the United States, on account of their superior laying qualities, neat and handsome appearance, and hardiness. They are "high-flyers," and to give best results should have ample active, good foragers, If they have their liberty they will range over five to ten range.
acres of land.
As summer
fed and
layers, the
Leghorns are unsurpassed, and when well
allowed
throughout
their liberty, they furnish more or less eggs the year. They are non-sitters, and hence a few com-
MANUAL ON POULTRY.
13
mon
hens or Brabmas should be kept for the purpose of hatching
and rearing the chicks.
The Brahmas
are reliable sitters and
good
mothers, besides, they are good winter layers, thus supplementing the supply of eggs at the season when the Leghorns lay least. Leg-
horn pullets, of the early spring-hatching, commence to lay early in the fall and continue, under good treatment, through the winter.
Again, the cross of the Leghorn upon the Brahma produces a hardy, thrifty, early-maturing bird, with superior table qualities. The Brahma hens may be required to hatch some of their own
eggs in the latter part of winter for a supply of early spring chickens.
The Leghorns should not be hatched very early in the spring, except enough to supply pullets for fall layers, so that a supply of early spring chickens may thus be grown before commencing to
hatch the Leghorns for stock fowls.
The Leghorns mature so

in the season than the
very choice broilers

at the
rapidly that they can be hatched out later The young Leghorns make larger breeds. equal in quality to those of any other breed
same age, though smaller than some of them. The pullets mature very rapidly, and often commence to lay at from four to five months if well fed or allowed their freedom on a good range.
If
kept for several generations in small enclosures the Leghorn
will decline in size, while, if furnished a large range on which they find an abundance of food, a decided increase in size will result in a
few generations. A dozen Leghorn hens
will furnish an
abundant supply of eggs
for an ordinary family for about /nine months in the year, and, if
well treated, will
furnish
some
three
during the months.
remaining
~
WHITE LEGHORN?.
As egg producers they have no superior. Mr. Felch mentions a statement made by Mr. Whitman in
1873.
He
says:
"With
fifty-
one Leghorns, which laid two hundred and seven eggs each,
14
GEORGIA.
which he sold for thirty-one cents per dozen, the cost of keeping the fowls being $1.13 each, he shows a profit of $4.04 per head."
While
may
be
skill in
perhaps an extreme case, it serves to show what accomplished by the exercise of extraordinary care and rearing and managing poultry.
this is
There are only three varieties of the Leghorn grown, viz: The Brown, the White and the Dominique. Each has its advocates, but the Brown seems to be the favorite with a large majority of
the breeders.
DESCRIPTION OF
BROWN LEGHORNS.
in color.
The cock should be

tail all
black-red
The
breast,
wings
arid
black, hackles a golden bay, back dark red, legs bright yelcomb bright red, large and upright, deeply serrated with from low, four to six points, face red and smooth, wattles large and pendent,
ear-lobes white or
red.
creamy white, but
in
no event red or tinged with
The carnage
of the cock should be bold,
manly and
full of gallan-
try towards the other sex.
The hens should be medium in size, the body varying from dark brown on the back to a lighter shade underneath the wings and
;
comb, paler red than that of the cock, thin, single, deeply serrated, free from side sprigs, and drooping gracefully to one side face and wattles smooth and red ear-lobes
tail
feathers a dull black
white
legs yellow.
The stems
of the feathers of the body are penciled in the center
with a lighter color than that of the feathers.
The above description will answer for the white variety in every respect except in color.
There are Biack Leghorns and Dominique Leghorns, but they have not been so generally grown as the brown and the white. They differ but little from the last two except in the color of their
plumage.
They
are
all
famous layers and are
non-sitters.
MANUAL ON POULTRY.
SPANISH BREEDS.
15
Of
\s
by most showy and useful. These birds are of medium size, the cocks weighing
the
these the white-faced Black Spanish far the most important, since it is
seven and the hens six pounds each. The cock should possess style in his carriage. should be a deep black The
plumage
with glassy reflections in the light. The comb above medium, single, deeply serrated with not more than six points.
The
out.
face and ear-lobes white through-
The
color.
The
legs are blue or of a dark leadlegs are long, but the bodies
WHITE-FACED BLACK SPANISH.
of both sexes are

of the face
is
plump and larger than they appear. The color considered important in this breed as the most disthough the adult birds
tinctive indication of purity of blood. The chicks are very tender when young,
The hens are good layers of large white eggs, are quite hardy. which are claimed by their advocates to be larger than those of any other breed. They rank, perhaps, next to the Leghorns in egg-production.
Of
the
the other varieties of Spanish
fowls, the
Minorca resembles
white-faced Black in
many
and
These are excellent

the plumage.
layers,
respects, but is decidedly larger. The the chicks are quite hardy.
little,
white differs from the Minorca very
except in the color of
are slaty blue in color of plumage, and resemMinorcas in many respects, but are more hardy. There is, Jiowever, no need of the Spanish breeds so long as we have the Leghorns, which have, to a large extent, superseded the Spanish, and probably will do so completely when they are fully
ble the
The Andalusians
appreciated.
DORKINGS.
is a valuable breed, which some claim originated in Engwhile others say they were cultivated by the Romans and and, described by Plato and Columella.
This
16
GEORGIA.
The Dorking
breed
the
is
is
the chicks are rather delicate
of large size and of superior table quality, though when young. peculiarity of the
that they have a fifth
toe in the
rear.
The
varieties are
This breed is very white, silver-gray, and gray or colored. in England, but has not been appreciated in America. popular
HAMBURGS.
This
is
a beautiful
breed,
exceedingly
showy
very Their great laying qualities procured for
in bearing and plumage. They are fine layers, but produce small eggs.
them the name of "Dutch

ers."
e very-day
lay-
They are now, however, surpassed by some other breeds. They have- rose combs and opaque white ear-lobes. Their plumage is very
distinctly marked.
In size they are rather

SILVER SPANGLED HAMBURGS.
below medium.
Golden Spangled, Golden Penciled, Silver Spangled, Silver Penciled, White and Black.
varieties are
ics
The
Their general characteristvary but little, the princidifference
pal
being
in
the
plumage. been popular in this country, except with a few, who fancy and their stylish carriage beautiful plumage. They have
They have never
good
SILVER PENCILED HAMBURGS.
qualities,
but are sur-
passed by other breeds.
THE POLISH BREEDS.

These are breeds of great beauty, with valuable
qualities of
a
more
useful character; but the characteristic feature of the breed, and that which is most conspicuous in its beauty, the crest, is a
source of disease.
The Poland fowls
all
have a protuberant growth of bone upon
MANUAL ON POULTRY.
their heads,
a peculiar
17
from which
a luxuriant crest of feathers grows, causing
and rather pleasing appearance, but really impairing the usefulness of the fowls, by rendering them more subject to disease and more liable to be taken by hawks. The Polish fowls are good layers and possess fair table qualities.
They
are in size
about
medium
in
beauty they are unsurpassed,
WHITE- CRESTED BLACK POLISH.
but
beauty which will attract the amateur fancier, rather than the practical breeder, who looks to profit as well as pleasure in the
it is
conduct of
his poultry yard.
stances,
are prolific layers under favorable circumand possess good table qualities, they require greater protection from inclement weather than any other breed. The heavy the Polands
crest of feathers
to cold
While
upon
their heads renders
them peculiarly subject
and damp, since these feathers become wet if they are exto showers and thus increase the tendency to cold and other posed
2
18
Three
GEORGIA.
affections of the head.
varieties of this breed
have
well
defined beard.
The varieties, as now known, which are classed under the general name of Polish, are White-crested Black, Golden, Silver, White,
birds
Bearded Golden, Bearded Silver, and Bearded White all beautiful and very superior layers, but too delicate to thrive under ordi;
nary treatment.
MANUAL ON POULTRY.
THE FRENCH BREEDS.
19
This class embraces the Breda or Gueldres fowl, the Houdans,

the La Bresse, the La Fleche and Crevecoeurs. The Houdans, the La Fleche and Crevecceurs are all breeds of decided merit. Some
who have bred the La Fleche in Georgia pronounce them superior as a combination fowl, for the production of both eggs and poultry for the table, even to the Plymouth Rocks.
when young, showy, prolific layers of* large eggs, grow rapidly, and make superior table fowls. They have crested heads and combs divided into two projections resembling horns.
They
are large, hardy except
The
ear lobes are white in the La- Fleche and red in the Crevecceur.
The plumage
a metalic lustre
;
of both black, with feet and legs black
or slate-colored.
Speaking of the La Fleche, Mr. I. K. Felch, author of the " Breeding and Management of Poultry or Th.orough-breds for Practical Use," says:
"A
we
good healthy hen of
this breed,
believe, will lay more eggs from March to October than any other
breed, not excepting the Leghorn."

fl
j
The
La Bresse is not
bred, EO far as
LA FLECHE.
known, in this country, nor have they ever been extensively bred anywhere they originated.
where except
locafly
20
GEORGIA.
The Houdcms
are large and hardy, and quite popular with those

his
who have
to the
tried them.
Mr. Wright, in
"
Houdans
"
:
We
Practical Poultry Keeper," remarks in regard have in this breed the size, form and quality
of the Dorking, with earlier maturity. The lieu is a most prolific layer of good-sized eggs, which will almost invariably be found jfo*a point the Dorkin is very deficient in, as all prize breeders to their cost. The chickens feather very rapidly and early r but are nevertheless exceedingly hardy, perhaps more so than any,,
tile
know
except Cochins or Brahmas, and are therefore easily reared with
MANUAL ON POULTRY.
little loss.
21
They are emphatically the fowl for the farmer, and will an ample profit on good feeding, both in eggs and flesh." yield This is high encomium from good authority.
as
The Breda has not yet been introduced into this country so far is known. This is a valuable breed, hardy and prolific, and of medium size. In color they are a slaty blue, having each feather penciled across
with bars of darker blue.
22
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE:
GEORGIA.
The comb is red in color, and in form what is known as a rosecomb, flat on top and covered above with spikelets, and terminatingin a longer spike at the rear ear-lobes and wattles red legs yellow, and in size a little above medium. As a combination fowl for the farm they have few superiors. There is no breed more popular as a combination fowl than the Plymouth Rocks. They are above medium in size, the cocks weighing ten pounds, and the hens eight, some even exceeding these The hens are good layers, of medium sized, reddish-yellow figures. which resemble, in size and color, those of the Cochin. They eggs,
; ;
and excellent mothers. The chicks are and produce a superior table fowl. hardy, grow rapidly, There is an unfortunate disposition on the part of some breeders
are reasonably
good
sitters
to increase the size of these birds, to their detriment as a
breed.
They
if
will
bred to
prove more profitable and give more general satisfaction the standard size of ten pounds for cocks, and eight for
has originated in America, and
is
hens.
The breed
skill
triumph of the
>r originators. Mr. I. K. Felch, in his "Amateurs' Manual, speaks of their origin as follows "This breed, in its different fami-
of
its
cross-bred in foundation blood, with top-crosses of the To notice some of the modes inique to secure the color. have produced these beautiful birds, we cite
lies, is
:
Domwhich
"1.
Black Spanish on White Cochin

Black Spanish on Gray Dorkings
top-crossed "with
Domi-
niques.
"2.
top-crossed with
Domi-
nique.
"3.
Dominique on Buff Cochin
the strong breeding-color

breeding.
"4.
hens, reaching the result, through quality of the Dominique, by years of
White Birmingham on Black Java
top-crossed with
Domi-
nique.
together, the progeny
White Birmingham on the Black Java, and the progeny bred coming white and black, and Dominique. These Dominique-colored birds, bred with the males produced by
"5.
mating No. 4, produced the best and surest breeders for color of plumage and legs, and were known by many as the Essex strain, being the same in foundation blood as seen in the so-called Mark Pit-
man
birds, of 1872-'3."
MANUAL ON POULTRY.
It will be seen that in four of the five instances, black birds
23
were
crossed upon white, or light-colored ones, with similar results, after top-crossing with the Dominique. The Plymouth Hock cock is a showy bird beak and legs yellow,
;
plumage bluish-gray, each feather having a penciling of darker color across it, comb, ear-lobes, faca and wattles, all red, comb small,
single and erect. cock or hen.
Ked
or white feathers are not admissible in either
The hen
This
is,
is
marked
like the cock,
except that the plumage
is
darker in color.
at present, the
most popular combination breed for eggs
and
table use. cross of the
Plymouth Rock cock on the common hen, proThe chicks are duces a marked improvement upon the latter. hardy and mature, early. It is far more profitable, however, to breed the Plymouth Rocks pure, since after stock to start with are procured, they cost no more than the grades or common fowls,
The
while the sale of eggs and stock birds
is
very profitable, at the prices
which now
prevail.
BARN-YARD FOWLS.
i
great bulk of the fowls cultivated in Georgia belong to no particular breed, though traces of improved breeds may be seen in
The
many
breds.
of them, as the effect of crosses of
some of the thorough-
Indeed, grades of superior quality are often found poultry sent to our markets.
among
the
Crosses of the cocks of the Asiatics, or those of other large breeds, upon the common dung-hill hens produce superior table fowls. The
chicks are hardy and mature rapicfly. The continued use of the thoroughbred cocks will build up a yard of finefowls,but if the grade cocks are used, rapid deterioration
takes place, the tendency being, in accordance with natural laws, to revert to the primitive inferior type. The present thoroughbred types of poultry are triumphs of the skill of breeders, just as are
the Short-horn cattle and the Berkshire pigs of the present day, and constant, careful selection is .necessary to sustain the breeds in their
purity, and to
original type.
counteract the natural tendency to revert to the
BANTAMS.
GEORGIA.
These diminutive birds afford entertainment to the fancier, esThey make very interesting pets, and are good pecially if young. sitters and mothers. While no one would select them solely layers,
be derived from them except by the on small lots they may be profitably grown and kept healthy where larger birds would not thrive. They are good egg producers and make very nice broilers.
on the ground of the
profit to
sale of birds to fanciers, yet
JAPANESE BANTAMS.
When
tridges.
food, the broilers are almost as nice and but
allowed a wide range on which they procure a variety of little larger than para
There
pretty
is
number
some
of varieties of this breed, are exceedingly handsome.
all
of which are very
The
varieties differ but little in
economic value, while they serve

:
the purpose for which they are intended, viz of different fanciers.
gratifying the taste
MANUAL ON POULTRY.
25
BEST BREEDS FOR GEORGIA.

This
is
a very important question to those
who propose devoting
attention to breeding poultry, either for market or for an abundant family supply of eggs and broilers for the private table, and one which has been quite definitely settled by the most pro-
much
gressive and best informed breeders. The preponderance of evidence reported
by correspondents is in favor of the Plymouth Rock as a combination fowl for the farm where only one breed is to be kept. The next in favor for general purposes is the Light Brahma.
The
verdict
is
almost unanimous in favor of the Leghorn for
egg production, the preference being generally given to the

variety.
brown
of the most experienced breeders in the State, (Mr. Edgar Ross, of Bibb county,) after experimenting with the following
varieties, viz.: Light Brahma, Dark Brahma, Buff, Partridge, White and Black Cochins, Plymouth Rocks, Houdan, Crevecoeur, LaFleche, Black Spanish, White and Brown Leghorn, Black, Silver-laced, Silverspangled and Golden-spangled Hamburgs, Black-breasted Red, Derby and Brown-red Game,and Game, Black and Sebright Bantams, " Which in answer to the following question variety has given the most satisfactory results as a combination fowl for eggs and table
:
One
use?" says
ducers
"Brown Loghorn, because they are excellent egg prosummer and winter, and the chicks mature rapidly, being
ready for the table at ten weeks old flash of excellent quality." In answer to the question, " Which has given the most satisfactory results as egg producers?" he says, " Leghorns. The White Leghorns are as good layers as the Brown, but I prefer the latter on
account of their color. They lay at five months' of age," As a table fowl he prefers the Light Brahma. " I In regard to crosses, he says have made every conceivable cross with twenty odd varieties of thorough breds, besides crossing
:
them on common
tory results
stock."
He
reports as giving the most satisfac-
Leghorn on Light Brahma.
In reply to the inquiry as to the respect in which the superiority of the cross consists, 'Mr. Ross says: "Brahrnas are excellent mothers and good egg producers. Leghorns surpass all other
26
but are non-sitters.
GEORGIA.
cross possesses both
varieties as layers,
The
loses the clumsiness of the qualities to perfection the activity of the Leghorn." inherits
Brahmas and
There
Koss.
is
no better authority on chickens
in
He
lets the small breeds roost in trees, and has had
Georgia than Mr. no dis-
ease since adopting this plan.
AMERICAN SEBRIGHT.
Mr. F. N. Wilder, of Munroe county, has bred the Light Brahma, Dark Brahma, Brown Leghorn and Plymouth Rocks, and prefers He says the decidedly the Light Brahma as a combination fowl. Brown Leghorns lay the largest number of eggs, but the Light Brahmas more in weight. He thinks the Light Brahma unsurpassed as a table fowl. He says the cross of the brown Leghorn on the Light Brahma makes a superior egg producer and table fowl, but
His opinion in regard to the comparative sitters. weight of eggs produced by the Brown Leghorns and Light Brahnot reliable as
mas does not correspond
witli the
experience of others.
The
half-
MANUAL ON POULTRY.
2T
bred Leghorns have generally in other hands proved reliable sitters and good mothers.
Mr. Wilder says:
good
layers, sitters
When
"The Light Brahmas- with me are very hardy, and, mothers, and the eggs large and very rich. well fed they mature early for the table. They are good
winter layers, and often attain to a very large size." He says, " I have had no disease. I feed regularly, and always have fresh water
accessible to
them
in
dean earthen
I
vessels,
putting in a few drops
of carbolic acid twice a week.
from vermin
little
provide them
is
keep their quarters clean with good dust baths, into

their yards."
and free which a

a load
sulphur
occasionally sprinkled.
Haul occasionally
of cinders
from the blacksmith's shop into
Messrs. J. T. Scott & Ero., Crawfish Springs, in Walker county, Xorth Georgia, derive satisfactory results from some breeds not appro vec( by breeders farther south. They have bred the Dark Brahma, Light Brahma, Partridge Cochin, Buff Cochin, White Cochin, Brown Leghorn, White Leghorn, Plymouth Rocks, Black
Hamburg?, Golden-spangled Hamburgs, Houdans, etc. The American Sebright is a new breed which promises
has not been sufficiently tested to justify here.
well, but
more than
a passing notice
28
GEORGIA.
GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF THE FLOCK.

The variety to be grown having been decided upon, the breeder should fully determine upon a definite system of management, and provide for housing, feeding, and otherwise caring for the birds in
such manner as will insure success and
profit.
The
variety to be
grown should depend upon the surroundings
As a of the breeder, as regards the extent of the range available. rule all of the smaller birds require a liberal range for general maximum production. The larger breeds, such as Cochins, Brahmas, etc., thrive better with reasonable liberty, but suffer less from close confinement than the smaller varieties, such as the Leghorns, Games, etc. If it is necessary to confine the fowls to a contracted
area the breeder must, as far as practicable, means the conditions of this natural range.
supply by
artificial
Birds that have the liberty of a farm, supply themselves with three classes of food, and gravel, by means of which their food is prepared for digestion. They find on the natural range seeds of
various kinds, a variety of green vegetable matter, and insects, the three together supplying for them bread, vegetables and meat. If
the birds are deprived of making their own selection of these classes of food in a natural manner, by reason of confinement within lim-
they must be supplied by artificial means or the fowls will suffer from the privation, and be unprofitable to their
ited inclosures,
owners. Generally there will be no practical limit to the range available for fowls on the farm, and hence it will be assumed that poultry have free access to grass or small grain throughout the year,
and
that,
except during the winter, they will be able to secure a
reasonable
supply of meat in the form

of
of
winter, scraps
meat from the
table will
Daring the supplement the short

insects.
supply of insects. If there is not an abundant supply of perennial grass to which the fowls have daily access, small grain of some kind should be
sown
to
supply pasturage for them during the
fall,
winter and early
spring.
MANUAL ON POULTRY.
HOUSES AND SHEDS.

Breeders of poultry in Georgia should not be induced to follow the practice of those in more northern climates in constructinghouses for the accommodation of their flocks. Here, where the
zero, and seldom falls below 20 degrees,, are neither necessary nor desirable. On the con. very close houses in our warm climate, are often fruitful causes trary, close houses,
mercury never reaches
of disease and
death
them.
Let any one
house in which a night and observe the foul air which the poor birds are compelled to breathe, and the correctness of the above statement will at once
be recognized.
among poultry that are required to occupy who is skeptical on this subject enter a close large number of poultry are roosting on a warm
Northern State?, have been repeatedly abandoned as unsuited to our climate.
Close barns, built after the pattern of those of the tried in Georgia, and as often
Close houses are no better
suited to poultry than to cattle in warm climates. They may be used during the winter months to advantage if well ventilated, but the fowls should be excluded from them from May 1st to October
1st,
and required
is
to roost either in trees or
open sheds.
Thorough
ventilation
ease.
absolutely necessary, even in winter, to prevent disThis should be provided for by a " lantern" rising above the
centre of the roost, and provided on the sides with slats arranged after the manner of Venetian blinds, or by having the south side of
the house, from within three or four feet of the floor to the top, closed in with one by three slats, leaving a space of one inch be-
tween them.
The roof should be
sufficiently tight to perfectly pro-
tect the interior of the
house from rain, and the north, west and
east sides so close as to exclude" cold winds.
Fowls
will suffer
more
during cold spells if confined in a house in which they are exposed to draughts of cold air than if roosting on trees where the whole
body
is
exposed alike to the cold.
This
is
illustrated
by the
inju-
rious effects of a draught of cold air upon the person of a being while sleeping. The roosts need not be more than
human
thirty
inches from the floor of the house, and eighteen inches from the At eighteen inches wall, especially if the large breeds are kept. from the floor place a shelf two feet wide, extending immediately
under the
roost.
Dry
earth,
coal ashes or cotton
seed should be
30
GEORGIA.
sprinkled over this shelf to catch the droppings, and to facilitate their collection, at intervals of two or three days.
The
nests
may
be placed against the wall of the house, under
this
shelf, and thus be entirely protected from the droppings, and sufThe droppings can be very ficiently secluded to suit the Jiens. easily swept from this shelf, into a vessel placed under it, without The dro-ppings should be removed two or three defiling the floor. times a week and stored under shelter away from the fowl house. The floor of the house, if of dirt, should be filled two or three inches deep with dry sand, or clay, which should be dug up and removed once a year and replaced with fresh soil. Whether of dirt, cement
or plank
there.
it
should be occasionally sprinkled with diluted sulphuric

all
acid to destroy
germs of 'disease which may have found a lodgment

acid should be carefully handled to prevent
The sulphuric
The house injury to the clothing or persons of those applying it. a year to purify it, and to should be thoroughly whitewashed twice Crude petroleum, or, if destroy insects injurious to the poultry.
this
cannot be had, kerosene
oil,
sprinkled over the roosts and sides
of the house, will be found beneficial in destroying the insects. Thorough fumigation with tobacco smoke while the fowls are
confined in the house will prove efficacious. In order to secure the full benefit of this, however, the house must be made close enough to retain the smoke.
Fowls are, however, far more healthy in our climate if required to roost in trees during the summer. Indeed, they will be more healthy if required to roost on trees throughout the year but will
;
not produce so many eggs in winter as they will cold months in comfortable houses.
Nests, on which hens are expected to the ground rather than upon plamk. If
will be well to place
sit,
if
kept during the
should be made upon

the latter
it
made upon
upon the bottom of the nests a fresh sod before setting the hens. Hollow out the sod in the- form in which the hen prepares it when left to her own instincts and make a nest of green cotton seed, preserving the same form. The green cotton seed are in some way offensive to mites and other insects injurious to fowls. Some years since an experiment was made with green
cotton
used.
seed in
nests
by the
side
While eggs
in the latter
of others in which grass was were infested with mites daily for
MANUAL ON POULTRY.
31
many days
in succession those in
the former were entirely
exempt
from them.
After nests have once been used by sitting hens they should be thoroughly renovated. The material of which the nests were made
should be entirely removed, and either burned or thrown into the
manure
pile.
In addition to the house, there should be a shed with southern exposure, under which the fowls may shelter themselves from cold
winds and
rain.
This shed should be provided with dust-baths of

ashes into which flower of sulphur
is
dry earth mixed with
occa-
sionally sprinkled. The droppings of both animals
and birds furnish a fruitful source of disease, hence the importance of extreme caution in removing promptly all droppings from the house and frequently using disinfectants about the houses.
This subject will be further treated under
its
appropriate head,
and extracts from
recent' scientific investigations given.
INCUBATION,
AND MANAGEMENT OF CHICKS.
If practicable, sitting hens should have a separate apartment where they will not be disturbed by others seeking nests; but this can seldom be arranged on the farm. The next best arrangement
provide woven wire gates, or doors, for the nests occupied by sitting hens, to prevent intrusion from others, and at the same time
is
to
afford
ample
ventilation.
With
this
arrangement
it
will be neces-
inconvenience sary to remove the hen once a day to take food. will arise from this if the hens are as as they should be. It gentle will not be necessary to the door of the nest closed regularly
No
keep
unless there are other hens disposed to intrude upon the sitters. It is well, however, to have a means of protecting them when ready
necessary.
that those laid after she
Eggs should be marked when placed under the hens, in order commences to git may be readily distin-
guished and promptly removed.
The number
of eggs to be put
under a hen
the hen.]
depend upon the season of the year and the size of winter, when the temperature is so low that the par[In
will
32
tial
GEORGIA.
exposure of an egg would prove destructive of the chick, fifteen eggs are enough for a large hen and thirteen for a small one.
Later in the season, when the thermometer ranges from 70 at C night to 80 or 90 at noon, nineteen or twenty -one may he set
under the hens of the larger breeds and

small breeds.
fifteen
under those of the
The eggs should be frequently examined, and if any have been broken those remaining should be carefully washed in milk-warm water, and, as promptly as possible, gently wiped and returned to
the hen.
If this
is
not done, the chicks will die in
all
of the eggs to
which any considerable quantity of the contents of the broken ones Whether this results from the stifling odor of the has adhered. or from suffocation by closing the pores of the shells, decaying eggs
is
not known, but the fact is known to every experienced poultry raiser, though the remedy is seldom applied.
If hens are set
upon
nests with plank bottoms
it
will
be found
advantageous to sprinkle the eggs with tepid water daily during the last week of the incubation. During very dry spells this will be found to be beneficial even when the nests have dirt bottoms,
unless the hen seeks her food, while
If nothing goes apparently
off,
in grass,
wet with dew.

it is
turb her as
little as
wrong with the hen, possible during her incubation.

is
best to dis-
When hatching
shells
commences
all
that
necessary
is
to
remove the
that have
hatched to prevent them from covering the pipped eggs and stifling the chicks. It will sometimes be necessary, if the hatching is continued longer than twenty-four hours, to feed the hen to prevent
her from leaving her nest before the hatching is completed. The best food for the young chicks, for the first few days, is hard boiled eggs, but very few will be willing to use eggs in this
way.
An
excellent food for

in
them
is
curds,
or plain corn bread
crumbled
buttermilk or clabber. Soft, sticky, raw dough should never be fed to young fowls, and is not proper food for adults.
Wheat
bran, or shorts, mixed with corn meal and not made too or baked into bread, will be found suitable food for growing wet, chicks and adults as a morning feed. If they have a liberal range,
two meals a day will be sufficient, giving dry dough, or bread, in the morning, and grain of some kind just before they go to roost. If fed on meal at night it is so rapidly digested that the crop becomes empty before morning, and the birds consequently suffer.
MANUAL ON POLUTRY.
33
The food should be varied during each week by using different combinations of meal, shorts, bran, etc., for the morning meal, and
the different grains for evening. It is a good plan to. sow plats of Egyptian wheat, Dourra corn, German millet, rural branching sorghum, or millo maize, sorghum
With such plats accessicane, field peas and chufas, for pasturage. ble to the poultry no more feeding will be necessary than just
enough to keep them gentle, and to collect them daily to be counted and examined. These crops will come into use in succession from July until mid-winter. The chufas will not be noticed by the poultry until all of the seed of the other plants have been consumed. After the tops of the chufas die down, a few bunches
should be upturned to attract the attention of the chickens. When they once learn where to find them they will continue to scratch
for
them
as
long as a nut can be found.
With
little
these crops and small grain accessible to the fowls, very feeding will be necessary, and the poultry will be more
healthy than
when they are abundantly fed at regular intervals without such range. Pure fresh water should be always accessible to the poultry in either iron, stone or earthenware vessels.
If disinfectants or tonics are
necessary they can be very easily
and conveniently administered through the water.

3
GEORGIA.
FOOD VALUES OF DIFFEEENT MATERIALS.

The following
table
is
copied from
"
Wright's Practical Poultry Keeper."
this table Mr. -Wright says: "To show the use of this table, \t may be observed that whilst "midpractical is one of the best summer dlings," from its flesh-forming material, in winter it may be advantageous to change it for a ingredients,
Commenting on
meal. It is, however, necessary to avoid giving portion of Indian a proportion of maize, either as meal or corn, as the effect too great will be a useless and prejudicial fattening from the large quantity
mixed with barley or bean-meal, .and is then a most economical and useful food. Potatoes, also, from the
of
oil it
contains
it is
best
of starch contained in them, are not good unlarge proportion mixed as a regular diet for poultry ; but mixed with bran or meal
be found most conducive to condition and laying. "In mixing soft food, there is one general rule always to be obeerved it must be mixed rather dry, so that it will break if thrown upon the ground. There should never be enough water to cause
will
;
the food to glisten in the light, or to make a sticky porridgy mass, which clings around the beaks of the fowls and gives them infinite annoyance, besides often causing diarrhoea. "If the weather be
MANUAL ON POULTRY.
dry, and the birds are fed in a hard, gravelly yard, the food as well, or better, thrown on the ground/'
is
35
just
however, such ground vessel protected by wire or

If,
not accessible, or if fed in a shed, a slats driven around it to prevent them

is it
from walking over the food or scratching
out will be better.
As before remarked, pure water is as important as good food. The water vessel should be so constructed that the fowls cannot
scratch dirt into
it. There are several forms of poultry fountains which answer well for this purpose. Tonics and disinfectants can be administered in the drinking "It is well in winter to On this subject Mr. Wright says water. add to the water a few drops of a solution of sulphate of iron (green
:
This will in vitrol), jnst enough to give a slight mineral taste. a great measure guard against roup, and act as a bracing tonic genThe rusty appearance the water will assume is quite immaerally.
.celebrated
best plan, perhaps, is to keep a large bottle of the "Douglas Mixture," respecting which we can speak with unqualified approval, as a most valuable addition to the drink in It consists of half a <jold weather of both fowls and chickens. pound of sulphate of iron and one ounce of sulphuric acid dissolved in two gallons of water and is to be added in the proportion of a tea-spoonful to each pint of water in the fountain. Whilst the fowls are moulting, the above mixture, or a little sulphate of it will assist them iron, should always be used greatly through the most critical period of the whole year. this,
terial.
;
The
"A
little
at least
hemp-seed^should also be given every day at this season, to all fowls of value and with these aids, and a little pep;
per on their food, with perhaps a little extra meat, or even a little ale during the few weeks the process lasts, there will rarely le any
lost.
With hardy kinds and good shelter such precautions are scarcely necessary, but they cost little, and have their effect also on the early recommencement of laying. " In addition to their regular food it will be needful that the fowls have a supply of lime, in some shape or other, to form the shells of
their eggs.
well burned in the
Old mortar pounded is excellent so are oyster-shells fire and pulverized of the latter they are very
;
;
fond, and
yard.
it is
an excellent plan to keep a saucer
full of it in their
If this matter has
been neglected, and
soft shell-less eggs
36
GEORGIA.
is
have resulted, the quickest way of getting matters right again add a little lime to the drinking water."
to
or trees as roosting places, the should be regularly collected at short intervals and kept droppings under shelter until needed. Since the solid and liquid parts of the manure from fowls are united, it is highly ammoniated, and while it
liberal
Whether the fowls occupy houses
furnishes an admirable application to the class of plants requiring a supply of nitrogen, it contains an excess of nitrogen for most
of our cultivated plants if used alone. It is therefore well to mix it with an equal weight of superphosphate and a small quantity of kainit
thus producing a complete manure of superior merit. If cotton seed are used for nests they form a valuable addition to the manure-
heap when discarded from the nests

supply.
to
make room
for a fresh
DISEASES.
There are only a few diseases of fowls which need notice here. Prevention is the best policy, and this may easily be accomplished'
by using the necessary precautions as regards the use of disinfectants and insecticides, with proper attention to cleanliness and
judicious feeding. If contagious diseases appear in the flock, the best policy the diseased birds as soon as the character of the disease
tained.
is
to kills
is
ascer-
The dead
distance
birds should be either burned or deeply buried at a* from the run of the balance of the flock, and vigorous
if
measures at once adopted to perfectly disinfect the premises, re-
moving,
practicable, the well birds from the yard which thediseased birds have used, until thoroughly disinfected by the use of
.
sulphuric acid.
one who values his poultry should allow diseases to appear among them. Its appearance is generally the result of criminal It often results from the neglect in the management of the flock. weakening effects of insect vermin where fowls are required to roost, lay and sit, in neglected houses.
It not unfrequently arises from the foul air produced by accumulations of their droppings upon a damp floor, intensified by con_ finement in too close and contracted quarters.
No
MANUAL ON -POULTRY.
Another
thirst.
37
in
fruitful source of disease
is
found
stagnant or pol-
luted water with which the poor birds are compelled to slake their
usually watered in flat, open troughs, the fowls are frequently required to drink a solution of their own droppings. With such
As
treatment health cannot be expected. Irregularity in feeding is another fruitful source of disease. Dur-
ing the winter months when insects are scarce and the birds consequently find but little meat on their run, they are freely fed with
bread or grain. When spring arrives and insects become abundant they get little except meat, as the feeding is too often discontinued under the impression that they procure abundant supplies
on the run and do not need feeding. They thus have a bread diet in winter and one principally of meat (insects) in summer, and the natural result of such management is indigestion, disease and death. Fowls, no matter how good their range, should be fed twice a day morning and evening the
quantity of food given depending upon the character of that accessible to them during the day.
and
In winter, meat of some kind should be mingled with their bread, in summer they should have bread to mix with their daily
(insects).
catch of meat
use of flour of sulphur in their nests, and dust baths, and an occasional dose in the food of small chicks and stock birds will
A free
prove
beneficial.
The houses should be whitewashed
inside
and
out with a mixture of lime, salt and carbolic acid, and the floor occasionally sprinkled with sulphuric acid to destroy all germs of disease
that
may have found
lodgement there.
DISTEMPER.
Mr.
-eays
:
I.
K. Felch
in his
all
"This disease
chickens are heir
"Breeding and Management of Poultry" to, and generally are taken
about the time they are twenty-two to twenty-six weeks old, and at the time they are shedding their second chicken feathers * *.
" If carefully watched,little or no medicine is rieeded,and so light is the disease that it hardly deserves a place in this catalogue. Yet if not jealously watched it becomes the most frightful in the intro-
duction of roup and consumption. "Symptoms. A littles? ruiet mien, a disposition to remain on
38
the roost
in the
GEORGIA.
fullness of the face

is
day-time, face and comb quite red, and a puff or under the eye. The second day, a white froth
discerned in the corner of the eye.

also noticeable.
decided loss of appetite
is
"Treatment. If noticed, and the disease taken in hand before the appearance of the froch in the eye, it will usually only be necessary to wash the head and beak clean, and blow down through
the nose into the throat either with the mouth, or by means of a rubber nipple, thus clearing the tear tube, and bathe the head and
one part acid to The birds should be kept in a quiet place and allowed nothing but water. " The third day they will regain their appetites and all is over. Many of them have this distemper so lightly as not to be noticed. In aggravated cases, when the eyes and face are much swollen, the
ten parts water.
wash the throat with a solution of carbolic acid
head and throat should be thoroughly steamed by the use of a large sponge and hot water. The tear tube should be cleared (as before explained), a desert spoonful of castor oil given, and the bathing of the face and throat with the solution of carbolic acid continued at short intervals. This distemper may be called a cold, or the
incipient stages of the roup. but simply say that in our opinion
measles.
if
We
it is
will not quarrel about names, no more roup than a cold is
There is no offensive smell to the breath as in roup, but r have not the slightest doubt neglected, it will excite roup. of this in fact know it to be the case, and the breeder has the choice of adopting the adage, 'a stitch in time saves nine,' and at-
We
tending to this mild, easily managed distemper, or to neglect it and have that scourge of a poultry house, 'the roup,' to contend with." In regard to ROUP
The same author

kill the affected
"When roup appears, our advice is to says one and turn our attention at once to the flock,
:
giving sulphur in the ratio of a table-spoonful to fifteen fowlb every other day for a week, feeding tincture of iron, eight drops to a hen every day in their soft food, which will pay to be boiled rice, until
'plete
comand free from direct draughts upon the fowls. For the benefit of those who wish to cure the disease, we give the following symptoms and our method of treatment
is
treatment
over.
With
this,
be sure that the ventilation
is
MANUAL ON POULTRY.
39
"Symptoms. Swelling of the head, watery discharge from the eyes and nostrils, which are very foetid and offensive to the smell, following which, these discharges become acrid and result in a congealed yellow coating to the mouth and tongue, called canker
"Treatment.
in
which we term a poisonous fungus growth in the blood. Wash and steam the head and throat with hot water
Clear the nasal passage to the throat by an injection of carbolic water, one part of carbolic acid to ten parts of water. Gargle the throat and tongue with a
a dash of carbolic acid is added.
which
solution of potash, but do not peel the canker off, if to do so causes Give a that would only aggravate the disease. any
bleeding^'or dessert-spoonnu of castor oil, and each morning give nearly a gill of milk in which three or four graibs of hyposulphite of soda has
been dissolved.
At
evening, after the washing and steaming, the
cleansing of the nasal passage, and the gargling, give a gill of milk with eight drops of tincture of iron.
"The milk can be easily administered by taking the bird by the under beak and drawing the neck upward till straight, when the milk poured from a tea-pot will run into the crop without the effort of swallowing.
"At
the end of about four or five days the effect of the hyposul.
phite of soda in the blood, and the solution of carbolic acid as a wash, may be seen in the sloughing off of the cankerous substance
from the tongue and mouth, when the fowl will commence to mend. The treatment at this stage should be nourishing food, with occasional doses of sulphur, and the fowls will regain their health and sprightliness. Six-sevenths of the cases of roup are curable, but its extreme contagion makes the cure a questionable policy, and it should never be undertaken unless the affected fowl be at once removed from the flock and fowl-house." Gapes is common among chicks from four to six weeks when supplied with foul water, especially if poorly old fed during wet spells. Mr. Wright says "The disease consists at
:
least so far as actual
symptoms extend
in a
number
of small
worms
which
breath.
sel
infest the
windpipe, and cause the poor chicken to gasp for If taken early, it will be sufficient to give every day a mor-
of
camphor the
the drinking water, or a

meal, taking care,
and to put camphor in turpentine may be given c.aily in of course, that the deficiencies in diet and shelsize of a grain of wheat,
little
40
ter be
DEPAETMENT OF AGRICULTURE
amended.
and turning
GEORGIA.
moved by introducing
pipe,
it
In fully developed cases the worms must be rea loop of horsehair into the trachea, or wind,
repeated several times

horsehair.''
round during withdrawal, the operation to be till all the worms appear to be extracted. almost up to the top, may be used instead of the feather, stripped
CHOLERA
has been the especial scourge of the poultry yards of the South, and until recently has baffled the skill of all investigators. Dr. D.
E. Salmon, of the Veterinary Division of the Unitec^tates Depart" ment of Agriculture, has for several years been pursuing a systematic, scientific investigation of this disease with very instructive
results.
He has succeeded in cultivating the virus containing the of the bacteria, which cause the disease, and by diluting it germs in different degrees has been able by inoculation to produce the disease at will in virulent or mild form according to the strength
of the virus used.
The theory on which he proceeds

tions he will so far
is,
weaken the virus
as to
that by successive cultivabe able to produce by
inoculation effects similar to those resulting
from vaccination of hu-
man
beings.
All medical treatment failed even in his skillful hands.

that the
He found
germs of the bacteria, voided in the excrement of diseased retained vitality and was capable of producing the disease in fowls, He fowls fed upon the flesh of dead birds that had been frozen.
found
also that the virus, after six successive cultivations in a flask
prepared for the purpose, had lost but little, if any, of its virulence. His experiments showed that burial of the fowls, that had died with cholera, for six months destroyed the germs of the bacteria.
He
when
expresses the opinion that putrefaction destroys the germs, but protected from this, as in the case of frozen flesh, vitality is
retained.
Under the head of
THE EFFICIENCY OF DILUTED SULPHURIC ACID AS A DISINFECTANT.

Dr. Salmon says
:
solution of commercial sulphuric acid of the strength of one part to two hundred of water, which I have heretofore recom-
"The
mended
been
as a
in continual use
cheap and most efficient disinfectant in this disease, has during these experiments. I have shown in
MANUAL ON POULTRY.
41
former report how dangerous it is to place susceptible fowls in coops that have been occupied with those sick with cholera when no disinfection is practiced. During these experiments it has been necessary to use the same coop over and over again, and frequently it was impossible to place them upon fresh ground, and in some at cases even the accumulations of excrement were not removed all times reliance was placed upon this disinfectant, and the watering troughs, coops and ground thoroughly saturated with it. In
my
more than a hundred have the ^most susfowls contracted the disease from such disinfected grounds or ceptible The value of this agent is, then, fully confirmed by a large coops. number of cases. It deserves even more credit for efficiency than
no
single instance out of
I
have before given

it.
it,
since considerable accumulations of virulent
manure have been rendered

ration with
As
perfectly harmless after a thorough satua disinfectant, therefore, it cannot be too highly
recommended, and
it
should be largely used by
all
who
suffer
from
the ravages of this plague.'' In order, therefore, tsprevent this so-far incurable disease, all breeders of poultry should use this simple, cheap and efficient disinfectant
at intervals of not
more than a month.

BUMBLE FOOT OR CLUB
FOOT.
This
roosts.
is
It resembles
generally caused by heavy fowls flying down from too high what is known as "stone bruise" in the human
this subject
foot.
On
Mr. Felch remarks

;
"The
flesh of the foot
being so tough, the puss cannot escape therefore, if not attended to it must congeal and an ungainly, troublesome foot be the result."
"When
discovered before the puss congeals, lance the swelling at the
pressure upon it in walking will press the puss out and there will be a much smaller callous than if allowed to settle down of its own accord. have treated cases by making
rear of the foot, and the
We
an incision in front and rear of the foot, and those on the shank by opening at top and bottom, and by the use of a syringe and a solucleanse
tion of carbolic acid, of one part of acid to ten parts of water, them thoroughly when they all heal up." This is seldom
attended to in time to prevent evil consequences.
THE RED SPIDER LOUSE

Mr. Felch says
"This pest
is
:
MITE.
the scourge of the poultry-house, and the source of
42
GEORGIA.
more trouble and annoyance than any. other hindrance to poultrykeeping. The quarters often become literally alive with them before the breeder
aware of their presence. They sap the lifeblood from the fowls and reduce to skeletons and debilitate a flock tois
euch an extent as to make the season unprofitable.
Working only
in the night, they escape notice and have things their own way. "Fowls that are sitting upon eggs are generally the greatest sufferers, for these lice instinctively seek out such hens as are about to
hatch their brood, and hood.
many
hen
sacrifices her life to
her mother-
"In this case the hen becomes sallow in the face, and comb actually bloodless, the lice having consumed the blood to such an extent
and many fowls, whose deaths have been attributed have been murdered by these pests. "The quarters should be constantly watched, and all the cracks and knots on or about the roost saturated with coal tar and kerosene The houses must be kept free from them, for oil or carbolic acid. the exhaustive influence of these marauders not only entails the loss of blood to the fowls, but by reducing their strength renders the flock more liable to the diseases we have described. "It is therefore the be&*t and surest step, toward warding off disIf from one to ease, to have an absolutely clean poultry-house. three pounds of sulphur be mixed with the loamy sand and gravel covering the floor, in which the fowls may dust themselves, and kerosene oil used as described, the fowls occasionally dusted while on
as to cause death,
to disease,
their roosts with a dredging box filled with sulphur and Persian insect powder, or carbolic powder, their quarters will soon be cleansed.
Cleanliness, coupled
with judicious feeding,
is
what makes fowls
So great a nervous irritant are these species of vermin, profitable. that in two flocks, equally well fed, the flock which occupies quarters infected with lice will not lay at all, while those free from this
annoyance
writers,
will lay nearly
every day.
an expensive
enemy
to the breeder.
We
This fact prove? them to^be do not go so far as some
and say that all disease is caused by lice, but will say that a fowl would not have suffered disease were it not for this many
barn or spider-louse.
Breeders, look for
them
at
all
times.
Do
ac-
not wait for them to
make themselves known and force their
quaintance upon you."
MANUAL ON POULTRY.
THE
PIP.
Writers generally ridicule the idea of classing pip as a disease.
Mr. Wright says "Pip is no disease and demands no treatment, only analogous to "a foul tongue" in human beings. Cure being the roup, or bad digestion, or whatever else may be the real evil r and the thickening of the tongue will disappear too."
:
Whether
effectual.
it
be classed as a disease or not,
it
has
its
is
well-defined
symptoms, and whatever be the cause the remedy
simple and
The tongue becomes coated over with
horny substance which
If not so stiffens that organ as to prevent its use in taking food. until starvation attended to promptly the fowl gradually declines
terminates
its
existence.
Remove
the coating from the tongue and the bird at once returns
to its food and recovery is rapid. Few practical poultry-raisers have not had experience with the removal of this horny substance from the tongues with perfectly satisfactory results, the bird returning promptly to its food and rapidly regaining health and strength after the removal of the "pip." Those who wish to follow Dr. Salmon through the details of his investigation of fowl cholera will find his reports in the U. S. Department of Agriculture Reports for 1880 and 1881-2.
As before remarked, the safest policy, in nearly every instance, is to kill the diseased birds rather than attempt treating them, devoting at the same time the utmost energy to the protection of the remainder of the flock by the use of disinfectants arid by a thortheir quarters. is given to cleanliness, feeding and the use of disinfectants, there need be no disease among' fowls, and there
If proper attention
ough renovation of
should le none.
OTHER POULTRY.
TURKEYS.
agreed on all sides that the turkey is a native of the West Continent, some maintaining that the wild and domesticated birds have a common origin from the wild variety now in our forests, the variations having been caused by the influences of domestication, while others contend that there were three original types of the wild turkeys, viz the Mexican, Honduras and the Bronze turkey still found in the United States Be this as it may, it is of little importance to the practical breeder. Naturalists have given to the three varieties the following
It is
:
names, viz: Meleagris Ocellata, to those from Central America; M. Americana, to the wild American species such as are found in our forests, and M. Mexicana, to the Mexican species. If it is true that all of the varieties of chickens have been produced from a single original, the Gallus Bankiva, as claimed by Mr. Darwin, it is not difficult to believe that all of our domestic breeds of turkeys have a common origin. The principal varieties which claim distinctive characteristics are the Bronze, the Cambridge, the White Holland and the Norfolk.
or
closely in plumage the M. Americana wild turkey of our forests, and seems to have been the result of a cross of the wild gobbler upon the domestic hen. They
The Bronze resembles very
common
are very handsome and hardy and attain to a greater size than the other varieties, the gobblers weighing as much as forty pounds.
They are more disposed to range than the other breeds, and hence cannot be kept except where abundant range is afforded on the premises of the owner. The other breeds are more domestic but less hardy and of smaller size. The variegated colors of many turkeys result from crosses of the different breeds. They have not been bred with the same care that chickens have except, perhaps, the Bronze variety, which has received much attention within the last few years.
MANUAL OX POULTRY.
45
It is rarely profitable to breed turkeys on a small scale or on small runs, but on farms of considerable size where small grain is grown, and where the turkeys have the run of the stubble after the and with grain has been harvested, they can be reared at small cost
but
little trouble.
BRONZE GOBBLER.
lay in early spring and lay from twelve they usually seek their nests in some quiet, secluded spot where they are least likely to be disturbed by the gobbler. Some allow them to select their
to eighteen eggs each. If allowed their liberty
The hens commence to
own nestc- for both laying and sitting others move them to houses when they show broody propensities, and confine them upon a sitting of eggs, removing them daily for the purpose of taking food,
,
46
while others
still
GEORGIA.
confine the hens daily until they have laid, thus
requiring them to lay in the house where they are to sit. The hens are very close sitters and, if not disturbed, usually hatch well under any of the three plans. The chicks are apparently stupid when first hatched, and inex-
perienced breeders become impatient of their delay in taking food. hen eggs should be put under each turkey hen six or seven The chickens after she commences to sit upon her own eggs. days
A few
if
will soon teach the
young turkeys, which are quite imitative,
to
such teaching is necessary. The young turkeys are very tender and delicate when first hatched, and require very careful housing and feeding for several weeks. If many hens are kept a number of them should be set at the same time, so that the young turkeys hatched by the whole number may be given to a few hens, and the remainder set at liberty to lay another sitting of eggs. If only a few hens are kept, and it is desired to secure the maximum number of eggs from them, they need not be allowed to sit at all, but the eggs hatched under chicken hens. A larger per cent of the young turkeys will generally be raised in
eat
this
way than by the turkeys themselves, and they will have, grown, less propensity for rambling. Again, under this system the turkey hens will lay twice as
eggs as
when
many
allowed to sit. Young turkeys-are so sensitive to cold -and dampness that the hen carrying them should be inclosed for some weeks in a well sheltered pen in which there is a plank floor. The young ones may be allowed the liberty of a small run in dry, pleasant weather, but must be scrupulously protected from rain and
when
not allowed to run in grass which is wet with dew or rain. The floor of the pen must be kept clean and drv, and pure, fresh water kept constantly within their reach. The vessel in which water is given them must be so shallow as to avoid all risk of drowning the young. For some weeks after hatching the young turkeys are very sub. ject to diarrhoea and hence the utmost care must be exercised in Hard boiled eggs, or curd, pressed every day, feeding them. will prove the safest food for the first two weeks, after which bread soaked in just enough milk to soften it, may be used to advantage. The tender tops of onions, garden fennel, purslane or dandelion chopped fine and mixed with the other food, will be found beneficial contributing materially to the health of the chicks.
MANUAL ON POULTRY.
47
On pleasant, bright days the hen may be allowed to take out the brood on the run, but must be carefully watched to prevent being caught in rain. The gobbler will sometimes maliciously destroy the young turkeys, and hence prudence demands his confinement when the hens
come off with their young. He will destroy many by merely trampling upon them but will often peck them until all of the principal bones in them are broken. If there are hens, still laying with whom he consorts, there is less risk of his injuring the young turkeys, but it will be prudent to prevent any risk of his giving vent
to his malicious propensities.
and her the young turkeys acquire sufficient strength and activity to keep out of the way, the gobbler may be allowed his liberty, even in company with the mother birds and their young, but even then he will be a disturbing element in the flock. The young turkeys do not become hardy until the red beinstinctively conceals her nest
The wild turkey hen
young from the gobbler.
When
gins to appear upon their heads. After they reach that stage they are quite hardy, and will take care of themselves if allowed a liberal range.
Turkeys are not profitable unless they glean a large share of their food from the fields where what they gather would otherwise be
They are ravenous eaters and very destructive kinds of vegetation.

wasted.
of
some
THE GUINEA FOWL.

The guinea fowl is noted for its great egg-producing qualities. The hens commence laying in Ma*y and continue through August. Generally a number of them will lay in the same nest indeed so great is this tendency that it is difficult to induce enough of them to have nests to themselves to secure sitters to keep up the stock. In
;
view of this difficulty therefore it is well to set the early laid eggs under chicken hens. The guineas seldom sits until too late in the season to rear a good brood, but if they can be induced to sit they generally hatch well and are remarkably successful in rearing their brood. Another advantage in having chicken hens raise the young guineas is that they grow up more gentle and manageable than when reared by the guinea hens. Guineas have a natural disposition to roam and are disposed to seek their nests in secluded spots at a dis-
48
'
GEORGIA.
tance from the farm-house. They will pair off if the number of males equals that of the females, but if the number of the latter is in excess of that of the former, one male will consort with more than one female. In this case, however, the tendency to use the same
nest will be increased.
Guineas are very cross to other fowls, and by their nervous, sudden mode of attack so surprise less active fowls that they gain the mastery over those much larger than themselves. We have no do.
mestic fowl equal in table qualities to half-grown guineas. In quality and flavor of the flesh they approach those of the pheasNo farm yard is complete without guineas. They furnish an ant. abundant supply of eggs during the warm summer months when the chicken hens, except the Leghorns, fail. In addition to the other good qualities of the guineas they sound a note of alarm at any unusual occurrence during the night.
THE PEAFOWL.
This
is
a highly ornamental bird and
is
generally grown with
special reference to this quality. They are, therefore, suited only to spacious grounds, and lawns, in which they are peculiarly appropriate.
They
their
ill
are out of place in a general poultry yard on account of nature, the mail taking special pleasure in annoying a hen
with a brood and killing the chicks. One indulging, therefore, in the luxury of the peafowl as an ornamental bird must weigh well its disposition to destroy the more useful part of the flock.
It requires three years in which to reach maturity. The hen lays the second year, seeking a secluded, retired spot for her nest. She lays from five to nine eggs about the size of those of the turkey hen. The time of incubation is from twenty-eight to thirty days. The
chicks are almost as tender as young turkeys but, on account of the shyness of the old birds must be left to the care of the parent, who
cares for
them
for six
months.
WATER FOWL.
Under this head only ducks and geese will be treated as the only birds of practical utility. Swans are merely ornamental and require more water for successful culture than is at the command of most
breeders.
While ducks and geese may be
successfully
grown under domesti-
'
MANUAL ON POULTRY.
49
cation, without access to more water than an ordinary drinkin trough will afford, still in their natural state they live upon th
water,
and under domestication

five principal varieties of
will seek water
if
in reach.
thoroughbred ducks are the Pekin, and Muscovy, each of which has its advoAylesbury, Rouen, Cayuga
cates
The
among
breeders.
PEKIN DUCKS.
feeder
Of these the Pekin is the largest and most showy, is a voracious and when well fattened makes a fine table fowl. The voraciousness of these birds is an objection to -them unless they are grown on the farm where there is much waste from the
grain fed to stock. The Pekin is the largest variety of ducks, plumage pure white, beak and legs bright yellow. The profit in breeding them depends upon the cost of the food furnished them. If it must be purchased there will be little if any profit in breeding them.
THE AYLESBURY
bird. Is a favorite variety with many breeders and is a very valuable They too are voracious feeders but consume so much that
chickens will not, that they can be largely supported on waste.
SO
GEORGIA.
Mr. Fowler, good authority oft such subjects, says of the Ayles-
bury
"My
mage
idea of a perfect Aylesbury drake and duck is, that in pluthey should be of the finest snow white all over. The head
should be full, and the bill well set on to the skull, so that the beak should seem to be almost in a line from the top of the head to the The bill should belong, and when viewed from the front appear tip. much like a woodcock's it should be, in prize birds, of a delicate flesh color, without spot or blemish, and with a slight fleshy excrescence where the feathers commence. If it occasionally has a very slight creamy tint it would not disqualify, but any approach to dark buff or yellow is fatal to the pen eye full, bright and quite black. The legs should be strong, with the claws well webbed, and in color of a rich dark yellow or orange. Body rather long, but broad across the shoulders, and the neck rather long and slender. The drake
;
;
should have one and sometimes has two sharp curls in his tail. The weight of each bird in a show-pen ought to be about nine pounds, but this is not very often attained." These ducks commence to lay 'in winter and if not allowed to sit themselves they will lay a large number of good sized eggs during the season. A large number of the ducklings may be put with a single hen in a close warm pen where they are fed libThey will erally upon meal mixed with boiled meat chopped fine. under this treatment and when two months old grow very rapidly be ready for market. They should be kept supplied with fresh, clear water in a shallow pan, but not allowed to go to branches or ponds until four to six weeks old, lest they be destroyed by turtles or be-
come
chilled
and
.die
from cramp. THE ROUEN DUCKS
are tre'ated as the Aylesbury but do not commence to lay so early in the season. They usually commence in February or March and, if
In color they sit, will lay a large number of eggs. should be exactly like the wild Mallard from which they seem to have originated. The Rouen is more hardy than the Aylesbury or the Pekin but not so large as either, though equal to them in table
not allowed to
.
qualities.
MANUAL ON POULTRY.
THE BLACK CAYUGA
51
Has black plumage, approaching brown, with a white collar. It is not quite so large as the Aylesbury or Rouen but of superior flavor,
ROUEN DUCKS.
and with greater aptitude to fatten than either of the above mentioned breeds. It originated on Cayuga lake, in New York. It is hardy and a good layer weight six to eight pounds,
52
THE MUSCOVY,
GEORGIA.
Or Musk Duck,
so called
from the decided odor of
musk emitted by
the drake, is a very common and hardy breed, which has not been bred to any uniform color, being either white or black, or a mingling of these in every conceivable manner. There is more than the ordinary difference betvveen the size of the drake and the duck.
Their table qualities are inferior to those of the breeds already menThe tioned, though when well fattened the^y are of fair quality. drake is exceedingly quarrelsome and hence is a disagreeable companion in the poultry yard. This seems to be quite a distinct breed as its <3ross upon others is generally unfertile. The duck lays a large egg but a much smaller number than either the Aylesbury, Rouen or the Black Cayuga.
THE COMMON DUCK.

to be a degenerate descendant of the Rouen as ,its*plumage resembles that of the latter very closely. They are prolific and hardy but small, and are rather disagreeable additions to the poultry yard on account of the perpetual "quack" "quack" of the female. They are good layers and when well fattened possess excellent table
seems
qualities.
All varieties of ducks are careless as to the deposit of their eggs, dropping them indiscriminately on their run or in the water, and hence it is well to keep them in the -house until nine o'clock each
morning during the laying season. .They invariably lay early in the morning and hence, by this means all of their eggs will generally be secured.
DUCKS AND CARP ?ONDS.

As carp culture is now becoming so common a few suggestions on the above subject will be appropriate here Whether the ducks seek the eggs of the carp while they remain attached to the grass on the margin of the pond, is not fully determined, but there is*
no question of the fact that in seeking their food in the shallow water, as they are fond of doing, the ducks incidentally destroy a great many eggs. They should therefore be carefully excluded from the ponds during the spawning season of the carp, which extends from the first of April to August. After that time the ducks may frequent the ponds to the advantage of both the fish and the clucks,
until the return of the
spawning season,
MANUAL ON POULTRY. The
53
tadpole of the bull-frog is very destructive of the eggs of the carp, and as they are at their most destructive stage during the early part of the spawning season, they should if possible be destroyed
are exceedingly fond -of them and are very successful in destroying them, while they do not disturb the young fish.
Ducks
small carp was drawn

for
In order to test this, a pond which contained a large number of down to a depth not exceeding two feet at the
deepest part and ducks given free access to it. They were watched two days, during which time they destroyed large numbers of the tadpoles but were never seen to catch a fish. Again, a large Muscovy drake was seen to swim repeatedly over
a small pond eight by twenty feet in area, containing perfectly clear water not exceeding one foot in depth. In this pond were fifty six small fish. The drake observed the fish as he passed over them but
made no effort to catch them.

vations thus far made,
fish
is
The conclusion, therefore, from obserthat ducks may with advantage to both
ponds from August
to
and ducks have March inclusive.
free access to the carp
GEESE,
While not generally prolific, can be more cheaply raised than anv other kind of our domestic fowls if they are supplied with abundant
green pastures. The goslings need feeding only a few weeks, when soaked bread or boiled potatoes mixed with meal may be given them while running on grass with the mother goose. After two weeks they may be fed on grain placed in a box containing a little water.
they have access to tender grass they will thrive well without other food, provided they have dry shelter in cool nights. Their growth is very rapid even on grass, without other food.
If however
The principal breeds

sometimes
ity of
are the Chinese or
Hong Kong,
as they are
called, from their supposed origin, though writers on the subject assert that there is no such domesticated breed in the vicin-
Hong Kong.
Mr. C. R. Belcher, of East Randolph, Mass., gives in Miner's Domestic Poultry, the following description of his China geese: "The bill is black, with a black or dark-colored protuberance surmount-
A feathered wattle hangs uning the base of the upper mandible der the throat a dark brown stripe proceeds from *the back of the head down the neck, until it reaches the upper part of the body
;
54
GEORGIA.
between the wings; the fronts of the neck and the breast are yellowish grey the abdomen is white the back, and all the upper parts of the body are of a dark, greyish color, and the legs dark, with
;
black
feet.
At two years
of age,
or
when mature, they weigh twenty

are
or
twenty-five pounds.
They
more
laying from early spring until late that they will hatch three broods in a year.
than any other variety, in the summer. It is claimed

prolific
TOULOUSE GEESE.
There is also a white variety of the Chinese geese which possess the general characteristics and qualities of the dark breed, the principal difference being found in the fact that these have pure white
plumage.
The other
principal varieties are the Bremen, African
or Guinea, Indian Mountain, Poland
and Common.
Any
of
which
may
be made profitable under proper management and surroundings, but no one should attempt to breed geese unless provided with pasturage for them in an enclosure separate from that occupied by other domestic poultry.
MANtJAL ON POULTRY.
55
ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION.
This subject has attracted a great deal of attention for the last The incubators and artificial mothers have been so far improved that both are now an assured success under intelligent manipulation. There are several patents, which have given very
ten years.
general satisfaction. The heat is applied by an ordinary lamp, by means of which a chamber in which the eggs are placed on drawers, is heated to 102
or 103
F.,
and
so constructed
with valves as
ture within
a- limit
of
two
or three degrees above or below 102
to regulate the temperaF.
air chambers, while others transmit the heat water tanks. All of the more modern machines apply the through heat from above the eggs, and supply the necessary conditions of moisture by an evaporating pan placed beneath the egg tray. They have even succeeded in arranging an apparatus by means of which the eggs are turned in imitation of the practice of the hen at such intervals as experience has shown to be necessary. Turning them four times in cwenty-four hours, or every six hours, has been found to give most satisfactory results. Those who have tried them have found no difficulty in hatching a larger per cent, of the eggs than by setting them in the natural way under hens. It is not necessary, as has been generally supposed, to place the full number of eggs in the machine at one time, but they may be added each week as the eggs are laid. No attempt will be made at a de-
Some use dry
scription in detail of either the incubators or the artificial mothers, the object of this notice being simply to invite attention to the means of artificial propagation and rearing of poultry, in order that those who desire to experiment with them may*pursue the inquiry further. Information in regard to che different styles of machines,
their comparative merits, etc., can be easily obtained by correspondence with the manufacturers. The machines hatch successfully the eggs of every species of domestic fowl. No one should embark in artificial hatching without ample prepa-
ration for rearing the young poultry. Warm quarters must be provided for those hatched in cool weather, and provision made for
In a supplying them regularly with meat and vegetable food. word, natural conditions must be imitated as nearly as possible. The principal advantage derived from the use of the incubators and artificial mothers is in securing a better supply of early broilers than can be obtained by the natural process.
THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE
STAMPED BELOW
AN INITIAL FINE OF
25
CENTS
WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN PENALTY THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE WILL INCREASE TO 5O CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE.
DE6
1934
CR
LD
21-100m-7,'38
YC 20383
298190
%.(
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY

A Manual On Poultry 1883

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77

ATLANTA, GEORGIA: HARRISON & Co., PRINTERS.

with pleasure that acknowledgement

Poultry, Italian Bees

PLYMOUTH ROCKS, RED PILE 'GAME, ROUEN DUCKS,

not intended for the fancier, nor for those

who pursue the

and thus increase the health,

&i the families of Georgia, induces its publication.

Jciva of south-eastern Asia.

annually repeated. Peculiarities of form

and by systematic mating of birds of different established breeds.

CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS.

they are well worthy of cultivation,

chicks of other broods.

This propensity brings with

There are many

differing but little in essen-

seen and of whatever color.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF GAMES.

any other breed.

with a full comb is rarely seen. comb and wattles.

Lobes red and smooth.

Tail full and slightly drooping.

stout, rather long,

set well apart.

principal varieties of the breed are the Black, Black-

the most desirable va-

riety are quite conflicting,

the majority seem to give the preference to the Black-breasted

cockerels intended for stock

may be dubbed when

COCHINS AND BRAHMAS.

of the Cochins will anall

so far as the substantial feat-

ures of the breed

between the varieties of the breed is found in the color of

from Hewitt's description of the Buff, Cochin is found in The

the cocks attain the weight I of thirteen and a half

but from eleven

twelve pounds are good The hens average bifds.

they generally increase in

and fine expression of the face

across than in other fowls.

more marked even than

thighs and saddle.

neck-hackle of the cock

exceedingly heavy in the feathering

house, so that they may easily reach them, and to prevent

h eir feet and breast

bones in flying down.

If they are required to perch

roosts they are liable

contract club-foot, a troulib iesembling

which generally destroys the

They bear confinement

better than the

and mothers for the

ting breeds, such as Leghorn, Spanish, etc., are principally