CHAPTER VIII.
STOCK, BREEDING, AND CROSSING.
Keep only good, healthy, vigorous, well-bred fowls, whether you keep them to produce eggs or chickens, or both. The ill-bred mongrel fowls which are so commonly kept, are the most voracious, and consume larger quantities of food, without turning it to any account; while well-bred fowls eat less, and quickly convert that into fat, flesh, and eggs. "Large, well-bred fowls," says Mr. Edwards, "do not consume more food than ravenous, mongrel breeds. It is the same with fowls as with other stock. I have at this moment two store pigs, one highly bred, the other a rough, ill-bred animal. They have, since they left their mothers, been fed together and upon the same food. The former, I am confident (from observation), ate considerably less than the latter, which was particularly ravenous. The former pig, however, is in excellent condition, kind, and in a measure fat; whereas the latter looks hard, starved, and thin, and I am sure she will require one-third more food to make bacon of."
For the amateur who is content with eggs and chickens, and does not long for prize cups, excellent birds possessing nearly all the best characteristics of their breeds, but rendered imperfect by a few blemishes, may be purchased at a small cost, and will be as good layers or chicken-producers, and answer his purpose as well as the most expensive that can be bought.
The choice of breed must depend upon the object for which the fowls are kept, whether chiefly for eggs or to produce chickens, or for both; the climate, soil, and situation; the space that can be allotted to them; and the amount of attention that can be devoted to their care. If fowls are to be bred for exhibition, you must be guided by your own taste, pocket, and resources, as well as by the suitability of the situation for the particular breed desired. The advantages, disadvantages, and peculiarities of the various breeds will be described under their respective heads.
In commencing poultry-keeping buy only young and healthy birds. No one sign is infallible to the inexperienced. In general, however, the legs of a young hen look delicate and smooth, her comb and wattles are soft and fresh, and her general outline, even in good condition (unless when fattened for the table), rather light and graceful; whilst an old one will have rather hard, horny-looking shanks; her comb and wattles look somewhat harder, drier, and more "scurfy," and her figure is well filled out. But any of these signs may be deceptive, and the beginner should use his own powers of observation, and try and catch the "old look," which he will soon learn to know.
All authorities agree that a cock is in his prime at two years of age, though some birds show every sign of full vigour when only four months old. It is agreed by nearly all the greatest authorities that the ages of the cocks and hens should be different; however, good birds may be bred from parents of the same age, but they should not be less than a year old. The strongest chickens are obtained from two-year old hens by a cockerel of about a year old; but such broods contain a disproportion of cocks, and, therefore, most poultry-keepers prefer to breed from well-grown pullets of not less than nine months with a cock of two years of age. The cock should not be related to the hens. It is, therefore, not advisable to purchase him from the same breeder of whom you procure the hens. Do not let him be the parent of chickens from pullets that are his own offspring. Breeding in-and-in causes degeneracy in fowls as in all other animals. Some birds retain all their fire and energy until five or even six years of age, but they are beyond their prime after the third, or at the latest their fourth year; and should be replaced by younger birds of the same breed, but from a different stock.
Poultry-breeders differ with respect to the proper number of hens that should be allowed to one cock. Columella, who wrote upon poultry about two thousand years ago, advised twelve hens to one cock, but stated that "our ancestors did use to give but five hens." Stephanus gave the same number as Columella. Bradley, and the authors of the "Complete Farmer," and the article upon the subject in "Rees's Cyclopædia," give seven or eight; and those who breed game-cocks are particular in limiting the number of hens to four or five for one cock, in order to obtain strong chickens. If fine, strong chickens be desired for fattening or breeding, there should not be more than five or six hens to one cock; but if the supply of eggs is the chief consideration, ten or twelve may be allowed; indeed, if eggs are the sole object, he can be dispensed with altogether, and his food saved, as hens lay, if there be any difference, rather better without one.
The russet red is the most hardy colour, white the most delicate, and black the most prolific. General directions for the choice of fowls, as to size, shape, and colour, cannot be applicable to all breeds, which must necessarily vary upon these points. But in all breeds the cock should, as M. Parmentier says, "carry his head high, have a quick, animated look, a strong, shrill voice (except in the Cochins, which have a fuller tone), a fine red comb, shining as if varnished, large wattles of the same colour, strong wings, muscular thighs, thick legs furnished with strong spurs, the claws rather bent and sharply pointed. He ought also to be free in his motions, to crow frequently, and to scratch the ground often in search of worms, not so much for himself, as to treat his hens. He ought, withal, to be brisk, spirited, ardent, and ready in caressing the hens, quick in defending them, attentive in soliciting them to eat, in keeping them together, and in assembling them at night."