Fowls
Fowls.—House.—Where eggs alone are required, a few pullets may be kept in a moderate-sized run, and, when they cease to be prolific, may be changed for fresh birds, whose stamina has not been injured by confinement over ground saturated with their own excretions; but for rearing chickens satisfactorily, a good run is absolutely necessary. No particular dwelling is essential; any unused cart-shed, coach or tool house, stable, or similar building may be modified to suit the requirements of the inmates. It is exceedingly desirable that the perches should be of one uniform height; otherwise the contest for the highest leads to quarrelling and fighting. Nor should the perches be high, as in that case the confined space in a house renders it necessary that the birds should fly down perpendicularly, to the great injury of the feet, and frequent fracture of the keel of the breast bone. The house must be kept clean, which is best accomplished by movable boards under the perches, from which the droppings can be removed daily. The house must be ventilated, and so constructed that the fowls can be out at daybreak. The nest places, if intended for hatching, should be on the ground; eggs, to hatch well, must be placed in natural conditions, i.e. on the comparatively cold ground, so that they are cooler below than above, and exposed to the moisture arising from the soil.
Breeds.—In selecting a breed, the first question is the principal requirement of the household. If eggs are the main object, it would be absurd to select Dorking or game. Nothing can exceed the prolificacy of fowls of the Mediterranean type, which includes Spanish, Andalusian, Leghorn, Minorca, Ancona, and other less known varieties. Of these, as regards hardihood and size, Minorcas are in the front rank, and can be strongly recommended as splendid egg producers—not show birds with combs 4 in. high, such as some breeders aim at producing, but the ordinary bird common in the south-western counties of England. Leghorn is good, but smaller in size of egg; Andalusian very good, but not so much in demand as Minorca. All these birds are non-incubators, and their production of eggs is consequently not interfered with by weeks of broodiness, which renders Cochins, Brahmas, and other birds of the Asiatic type so unprofitable where eggs alone are required; though nothing can surpass the pullets as winter layers, as they produce eggs quite irrespective of temperature. Hamburghs, particularly the black and the spangled breeds, are admirable egg-producers, but the eggs are small as compared with those of the Minorca. The recently introduced Plymouth Rocks are very good layers, but they are sitters, and therefore not as prolific as the Mediterranean type. The same may be said of Houdans and some others. If eggs alone are required, the choice lies between the Minorcas and the Hamburghs. The latter may possibly excel in numbers; but, if weight and size of eggs be taken into consideration, the Minorcas will certainly carry off the palm. The birds of the Mediterranean type may be described as somewhat leggy, of small or moderate size, with largely-developed single combs, which are erect in the cocks and flaccid in the hens. They are not remarkable for abundance of breast meat, plumpness of body when killed, or any great tendency to fatten. The plumpest are the brown Leghorns; but these have been produced by crossing the white Leghorns with black and red game, and what they have gained as table fowl they have lost in egg-producing properties.
If there be no free and extended range, such as a farmyard, or grass run in orchard or paddock, the attempt to rear fowls for the table should be altogether abandoned; the profitable raising of chickens on ground saturated with the excrement of old birds is not to be thought of. But given a good grass run, the question arises as to the variety of fowls to be kept. If large household fowls are desired, the pullets of which will lay well in the winter, the Asiatic breeds may be selected, such as the Cochins, Brahmas, and Plymouth Rock. As table fowl the last is certainly preferable of the three, as, in consequence of its being bred from a cross with the old American farmyard fowl, the Dominique, it has more flesh on the breast, and, being free from the useless incumbrance of feathers on the legs, it is a better forager and scratcher on its own account. But as table fowl these breeds are far surpassed by a variety which has long been most highly esteemed in the West of England, where it is known as Indian Game. For plumpness and quantity of meat on the breast, these birds are unequalled by any large breed. The fighting Indian Game, known as Aseels, equal them in plumpness, but not in size. In both these breeds there is an absence of offal and waste parts that is remarkable. The bones are small, there is no large comb or superfluous feather, and the size of the pectoral muscles, which constitute the flesh on the breast, is very great. As market fowls, the fact that their legs are not white may in some cases be an objection, as there is in the minds of some cooks a stupid prejudice against any but white shanks.
The Dorking is of great excellence, but has its drawbacks. Dorkings are harder to rear than many other varieties; the chickens are delicate; and the deformity of the extra toe is most objectionable, leading to extra deaths among the chickens, which are trampled in the mire by the splay-footed hens; and the plumpness on the breast is not equal to that of the Game or Indian Game. Where fowls are bred for home use, no better large birds can be raised than will result from a cross between the Dorking and a large game, either the ordinary English breed or the so-called Indian Game, which, out of Cornwall and Devon, is frequently termed the Pheasant Malay. (W. B. Tegetmeier.)
The French breeds good for table purposes are La Flèche, Crèvecœur, and Houdan. The two latter have topknots, which are a disadvantage. La Flèche is most prized, as it grows to an enormous size, and is a prolific layer. They are usually prepared for market by penning them separately, fattening them with freshly-ground barley and buckwheat meal, mixed to about the consistency of gruel with milk; they will then require no water. They are crammed for the last few days. Another mode is to force the food down their throats, giving them as much as they can take without overtaxing the digestive organs. The usual time is about 3 weeks, but in France it is carried on sometimes for 3-4 months.
Formation of Eggs.—The chief egg-producing organ is the ovary, which is situated under the backbone at the end of the ribs, and protected by the pelvis. A young chicken has an ovary on both sides of the vertebræ, but only the one on the left side developes. The ova consists of different-sized granules, which, as the bird grows, become larger in size. They are attached to the ovary by a slight pedicle; when ready to enter the oviduct the ova breaks from this membrane, and sometimes, when eggs are formed too rapidly, this becomes ruptured, and a drop of blood will go down with the yolk—eggs in which this occurs should not be kept for breeding purposes. The oviduct is a funnel-mouthed canal into which the yolk enters; at its upper end it is very thin, but thickens as it nears the intestinal canal—the oviduct of a laying fowl is about 2 ft. long, and is folded backwards and forwards in the body of the bird. The yolk or ovum passes down the oviduct in a spiral manner, and becomes covered with layers of albumen, which are secreted by the oviduct. At one place the ovum is covered with a thicker stratum, and here the albumen becomes twisted at either end of the yolk into two cords which fasten the egg to the shell in such a manner, that the yolk, with the germ uppermost, is always near the upper side of the shell, though not touching it; if the egg is kept too long, and in one position, the albumen glues the germ to the shell when its vitality is destroyed. The ovum, covered with several layers of albumen, and the 2 cords (chalazæ), then goes down the oviduct, and becomes covered with 2 skins or membranes, which separate at the larger end to let the air into the germ; finally the egg is covered with its shell, which is formed with great resisting powers, its arch is much like a tunnel arch, and between the particles, or bricks, air passes into the egg. This shell, which is very strong at first, with the heat of the hen’s body disintegrates, and the particles separate, so that, when the chicken is ready to hatch, it is so brittle that the slight pecks of the horny cap on the mandible of the chicken is enough to break it to pieces. If the bird is fed on over-stimulating food, eggs are often produced too quickly. When such is the case monstrosities—such as two yolks in one shell, or two eggs one inside another—are produced, and very often they are laid without a shell.
Laying.—Several circumstances bear on the question of the supply of winter eggs; the most important are—(a) the food of the fowls; (b) their breed; (c) their age; and (d) their locality and lodging.
(a) The Food of the Fowls.—It cannot be too strongly impressed upon all poultry keepers that fowls do not create eggs: they only form them out of the materials existing in their food. This food also serves other purposes—namely, to keep up the warmth of the body, and to support the vital actions. If only sufficient food is given to supply these demands, it is evident that there can be none left for the production of eggs. The obvious inference from this is that it is necessary to feed your fowls very well if eggs are wanted in winter; and as the supply of nitrogenous food in the form of worms and insects is diminished, a little cooked refuse meat may be advantageously added during the very hard weather. A proportion of Indian corn, either whole or in the form of scalded meal, is a good addition to the winter food. It contains a larger amount of warmth-giving fat or oil than any other grain, and, by so keeping up the temperature of the animal, sets free the other foods to be employed in the secretion of the substances that compose the eggs.
(b) The Breed of the Fowls.—Small birds offer a much greater amount of surface to the action of the cold in proportion to their bulk than such as are larger. These latter especially, when thickly clothed with fluffy feathers, as are the Cochins and Brahmas, are hardly amenable to frost; hence, all other circumstances being equal, they will be found the best layers in winter.
(c) The age of the hens is a matter of great importance. Early hatched pullets that have passed completely through the moult and acquired their adult feathers some weeks since, can be readily induced to lay by good feeding; whereas old hens that moult later and later each succeeding season only produce eggs at this season very sparsely, if at all.
(d) Much depends on the locality and lodging. To produce eggs in winter, the fowls must be in comfortable circumstances; they must have dry and well sheltered runs; they should not be confined to a small place, as they are apt to lose that high condition necessary to robust health, and then the production of eggs immediately ceases. Their roosting place should be well sheltered, and free from draughts of cold air or the access of moisture. Some suggest the use of a stove; but such an appliance is rather injurious than useful. The fowls are exposed to the cold during the day, and this alternating with the stuffy, close atmosphere produced by heating a fowl-house must be injurious. (W. B. Tegetmeier.)
Setting Eggs.—The favourite egg for setting appears to be as nearly oval as possible. The best breeders reject every pointed or irregular egg or a very large one. It is customary to pick out the eggs very carefully in breeding fine stock. Generally 80 per cent. are rejected as liable to produce inferior chickens. In the ordinary practice little attention is paid to the shape of the egg; 13 eggs are picked out “just as they come,” and put under the hen. Farmers generally have as an argument that the hen that “steals her nest” always brings out good chickens, even though the eggs are of all shapes and sizes. But few farmers can tell how really good these “stolen” chickens are. They appear to be vigorous when young, but running about as they do with other hens, any comparison as to egg production is mere guesswork. The ordinary farm poultry could be greatly improved by a more careful selection of eggs for setting. Eggs with soft shells, with a ring or crust on the shells, or with an uneven or rough surface, should be rejected. Very large eggs containing a double yolk are frequently set in hope of producing a very large chicken, two chickens, or a curious monstrosity. Such eggs very rarely hatch.
Testing Eggs.—All eggs should be tested on the tenth day of incubation. The best and easiest way is to cut a hole in a stiff piece of cardboard, a little smaller than the egg, hold the egg on its side close into the hole and put a strong light behind the cardboard, when the state of the eggs will be quite distinct. If the egg is fertile by the seventh day the body of the egg will be quite dark and a sharply cut air space will be quite distinct at the large end. If it is a sterile egg, the whole of the egg will have much the appearance of melted wax and the air space will not be very distinct. If the egg is sterile it is much better to take it away, as it is still fresh enough to be used for cooking, some people even using them for eating; they would at any rate be good for feeding young chickens, whilst if they were left in the nest they would decay, probably be broken, and dirty the whole nest. If the nests are dirtied by a broken egg, the straw should all be taken away, and fresh put in its place, and the eggs washed in warm water, care being taken to prevent the eggs being shaken more than possible. If an addled egg is left in the nest, the germ, having been killed either by inherent weakness or by chilling, would decay, and sulphuretted gas would be generated, which would burst the shell, if it were moved about, and taint the atmosphere, and in that way hurt the chances of the others hatching.
Sitting.—The best method, if practicable, is to let the hen choose her own nest, leaving the eggs that she lays in the nest, and when she has laid her clutch of eggs she will sit and probably bring out a chick from each egg. A hen in a state of nature would only sit at a seasonable time of year; she would scoop out a shallow hole under the shade of a bush so that the moisture rising from the ground should not all evaporate. If a hen cannot sit in the place she has laid her eggs in, the best method is to put her into a coop with the earth as a floor, scooping it out slightly, then putting in a thin layer of straw or leaves, and sitting the hen at night on a few dummy eggs for the first 24-36 hours. When she has fed and returned quietly to the nest by herself, she may be given the good eggs, and, unless disturbed by animals or vermin, which latter can be kept away by allowing the hen a heap of ashes about the nest to dust herself in, she will bring out her brood at the proper time. A very good nest for a sitting hen can be made from a flour barrel turned on its side with ½ barrow load of mould put in, or a half sieve basket nearly filled with earth. Care must be taken that the hen has not to jump from any height on to her eggs, or she is likely to break them. Reynolds’s terra coop is a good one, as the wire flooring having mould put into it allows the moisture to rise from the earth to the under side of the egg. The sitting hen should not be disturbed by other fowls coming to lay in the same nest.
Incubators.—Taking into consideration the number of conditions absolutely necessary, a home-made, roughly constructed incubator is not likely to be successful. A machine which automatically regulates the temperature of the eggs, irrespective of that of the external atmosphere, is essential. Regulators are attached to all incubators in use at the present time. Tomlinson’s works by the expansion of air; Christy’s by the flexing of a compound metallic bar; and Hearson’s by the volatilisation of fluid in a metallic capsule, which, by its sudden expansion at any desired temperature, cuts off the source of heat, and prevents the degree to which the machine is regulated being ever exceeded. In addition to the exact regulation of the temperature, an incubator, to be successful, must be so arranged that the eggs are heated from above, and that there must be a constant supply of fresh, moist air (not saturated with watery vapour). The advantages of incubators from a practical point of view as regards market and table poultry are due to their supplying hens with full clutches of chickens. In France, chickens are hatched in large numbers for sale to small proprietors, and reared by them under ordinary fowls, or in larger numbers under turkey hens. In our own country numbers of fancy poultry for the early shows are reared under artificial foster-mothers heated by paraffin lamps; but the results of endeavouring to rear chickens, except upon fresh runs where they can obtain natural food, are not sufficiently encouraging to render it likely that foster-mothers will supersede the employment of hens in rearing fowls for the purposes of utility.
Chickens.—Chickens require no food for 24 hours, as just before they are hatched the yolk is absorbed, and they live upon this till it is finished. When the chickens are all out and dry, the hen would naturally come off and take them to where she could find them suitable food, such as eggs of ants, gentles, and small germinating seeds. The best food that can be given young chickens for the first week is custard, made of equal proportions of egg and milk, beaten up together, and just set by the fire. They should always be allowed from the very first plenty of green food, lettuces running to seed, dandelions, or onion tops chopped very fine. Rice boiled in milk, and with a little freshly-ground meal, is very good. Dari, millet, and canary seed are all good; grits and coarse oatmeal should only be given quite freshly ground, as they soon become pungent and rancid, and put the digestive organs out of order. Gentles, or flesh maggots, can easily be got in the summer for the young chickens by hanging a piece of meat or a dead fowl on a branch of a tree, or suspending it in some way out of doors, cutting a few slashes in the skin, and leaving it for a few days, when it will become thoroughly fly-blown; then bury it a few inches under the earth in a place that the fowls can get at; in a very short while the ova of the fly will hatch, and the maggots come to the surface of the earth; the hens will soon find them, and bring their chickens to them, and they will eat the maggots greedily. Milk is very good for the young chickens, but great care must be taken to prevent its turning sour. The chickens should also have fine-crushed quartz or gravel, such as is swept down the roadsides by heavy rain, to help their digestion. It is much better to let the hen free with her chickens, but if she must be cooped, the best method is to put a coop with an open front to it, and the back against the wall of some building, and then tether the hen. A good tether is made with a strip of leather, one end being turned down about 1½ in., and a small slit being made through the 2 thicknesses of the leather, put the leg of the hen between these, and then pull the other end through the 2 holes, through the turned-down end first; in this way it cannot be tightened or hurt the leg of the fowl; then fasten a long piece of string to the end of the leather so that the hen can have a good run, as in a state of nature the hen would move to fresh ground day after day.
Fatting for Table.—However young a cockerel may be, if he has been running with hens, and if on killing he appears blue, there is considerable risk of its eating hard, though only 7 months old. A pullet which has only laid one or two of her first eggs is anything but first-class, and after laying out, and getting once broody, is no better than a hen 5 years old. A first-class table bird is a young, “straight,” thick-breasted cockerel which has had nothing to do with hens, or a pullet a month before laying her first eggs.
In France, fowls to be fattened do not exceed 6-7 mouths old; pullets, put up before they have laid, are in good condition and well fed, from their birth up to the day on which they are cooped. Cramming is regarded as the most economical and effectual mode of proceeding. The fowls to be fattened are placed in coops in which each has its own compartment. The coop is a long narrow wooden box, standing on short legs; the outer walls and partitions are close boarded, and the bottom is made with rounded spars 1½ in. in diameter, running lengthways of the coop; on these spars the fowls perch. The top consists of a sliding door, by which the chickens are taken out and replaced. The partitions are 8 in. apart, so that the fowls cannot turn round. The length of each box is regulated by the number of divisions required, the cocks and pullets, and the lean and fat lots, not being mixed up indiscriminately, because their rations differ, and the new-comers would disturb the old settlers by their noise. The floor below the boxes is covered with ashes or dry earth, which is removed every 2 days with a scraper. The food is chiefly buckwheat meal, bolted quite fine. This is kneaded up with sweet milk till it acquires the consistency of baker’s dough; it is then cut up into rations each about the size of 2 eggs, which are made up into rolls about the thickness of a woman’s finger, but varying with the sizes of the fowls; these are subdivided by a sloping cut into pellets about 2½ in. long. A board is used for mixing the flour with the milk, which in winter should be lukewarm. This is poured into a hole made in the heap of flour, and mixed up little by little with a wooden spoon as long as it is taken up; the dough is then needed by the hands till it no longer adheres to them. Oatmeal, or after that barley-meal, is the best substitute for buckwheat-meal. Indian corn-meal makes a short crumbly paste, and produces yellow oily fat.
In cramming, the attendant has the buckwheat pellets at hand with a bowl of clear water; she takes the first fowl from its cage gently and carefully, not by the wings or the legs, but with both hands under the breast; she then seats herself with the fowl upon her knees, putting its tail under her left arm, by which she supports it; the left hand then opens its mouth (a little practice makes it very easy), and the right hand takes up a pellet, dips it in the water, shakes it on its way to the open mouth, puts it straight down and carefully crams it with the forefinger well into the gullet; when it is so far settled down that the fowl cannot eject it, she presses it down with the thumb and forefinger into the crop, taking care not to fracture the pellet. Other pellets follow the first, till the feeding is finished in less time than one would imagine. It sometimes happens in cramming that the windpipe is pressed together with the gullet; this causes the fowl to cough, but it is not of any serious consequence, and with a little care is easily avoided. The fowl when fed is again held with both hands under its breast, and replaced in its cage without fluttering; and so on with each fowl. The chickens have 2 meals in 24 hours, 12 hours apart, provided with the utmost punctuality. If they have to wait, they become uneasy; if fed too soon, they suffer from indigestion, and in either case lose weight. On the first day of cramming only a few pellets are given; the allowance being gradually increased till it reaches 12-15 pellets. The crop may be filled, but before the next meal the last must have passed out of the crop, which is easily ascertained by gentle handling. If there be any food in it, digestion has not gone on properly; the fowl must then miss a meal, have a little water or milk given it, and a smaller allowance next time; if too much food be forced upon the animal at first, it will get out of health and have to be set at liberty.
The fattening process ought to be complete in 2-3 weeks, but for extra fat poultry 25-26 days are required; with good management you may go on for 30 days; after this the creature may become choked with accumulated fat, waste away and die.
The fowls are killed instantaneously by piercing the brain with a sharp knife thrust through the back of the roof of the mouth.
After plucking and trussing, the chicken is bandaged, until cold, to mould its form; and if the weather is warm it is plunged for a short time into very cold water. A fowl takes usually rather more than a peck of buckwheat to fatten it. The fat of fowls so managed is of a dull white colour, and their flesh is covered with a transparent, delicate skin. Plucking should be done instantly the fowl is dead, as the feathers then come off with the greatest ease, and the skin is not liable to be torn. (W. B. Tegetmeier.)
Packing Eggs.—Packing in newspaper is found to be the best for the inside protection, and a wooden box better than anything for holding the eggs. Baskets and hampers are of no use at all; they are sure to get pressed in travelling, and cardboard boxes would be crushed directly. A wooden box, not necessarily of thick wood, resists all pressure, and the eggs are not likely to suffer from anything short of an actual fall if properly packed. Newspaper is best, and the Times best of all for packing them, the paper itself being so much stiffer than other newspapers. Tear the paper into pieces about 8-10 in. square; slightly crumple it in the hand in wrapping a piece round each egg, so as to show a rough surface; on no account rub it or make it soft, as it is the stiffness which gives support, and prevents the eggs getting too close together; they must neither be very near each other, nor to the sides or bottom of the box. Put a good layer of the crumpled paper at the bottom, then the eggs one at a time, each in its own crumpled wrapper; they must be so arranged as to fit closely and firmly together, the paper giving enough pressure to keep them firm; there must be no spaces; every corner must be filled with the crumpled paper, of which there must also be a good covering before closing the box.