Lloyd's modern poultry book guide and directory

Preface

When I was eleven years old my father gave ine a small flock of hens. Since then, except while in the army, and part of the time while away from home attending- school, I have been personally and financially interested in poultry. I have raised hens, ducks and turkeys; raised them in village and upon the farm, in small and in large flocks; raised them for the eggs they would produce, to sell as ^spring chickens, and to turn off in the fall.

When in 1888 I became Agricultural Editor of the Farm, Field and Fireside, the Poultry Department fell to my care, and all sorts of questions about poultry came, have been coming, and still come to me. In the following pages I try to answer these questions.

W. B. LLOYD.

Glen Ellyn, III., January, 1894.

Introduction

THE dictionary definition of poultry is, "Domestic fowls collective^ 7 ; those birds which are ordinarily kept in a state of domestication for their flesh, eggs or feathers, as the domestic hen, turkeys, guinea-fowl, geese and ducks."

There are so many things connected with poultry, besides the birds themselves, that a book on the subject may naturally treat of their care, their houses and other matters pertaining to them.

As this book is written to answer questions that come to my desk every day, the reader may consider each chapter or subject preceded by a question. The following are samples : "What are capons?" "Please describe the Redcaps." "Which is the best breed for layers?" "Please give description of a cheap hen-house." "What will cure bumble-foot?'' "Where can I get Leghorn eggs?'.' "Where is the Reliable Incubator made?" Is there any profit in raising chickens on a large scale?" "What is the standard weight of a Toulouse gander?" "How should poultry be dressed for the Boston market?"

In answering these questions I have given my own experience, the experience of others who have been particularly successful in special lines of poultry raising, or the judgment of those who have been long in the business. In the list of breeders and of dealers in incubators and other supplies, only those are named whom I believe to be reliable and worthy of patronage.

Contents

Nomenclature 12

I. Breeds of Poultry 13

II. Care and Feeding of Poultry 76