Essentials of successful poultry keeping

Front matter

Essentials of

Successful Poultry Keeping

BY

Chapter 1. Varieties of Fowls

Throughout this book I have shown illustrations of some of the leading varieties of fowls reared in this country. This will help to designate the various breeds, but the pictures can only show the general outline and give only a suggestion of the color so I will try to give a word description which will help to make the selection of the various breeds easier.

The pure-bred fowl to pass the poultry judge and gain a prize must conform to certain shapes and carry plumage of specific color or colors. "The American Standard of Perfection" published by the American Poultry Association and for sale at any poultry journal office or book store gives specific details about these required shapes and colors. But it will not be out of place to give here some explanation of their classification and some historical facts about the breeds which the "Standard" does not attempt.

Our domestic poultry is divided into two classes: Land-fowl and Water-fowl. The land-fowl comprise Chickens, Turkeys and Guinea Fowl. The water-fowl are the Ducks and Geese.

Chickens may be divided into three great divisions: 1st, those which tend to grow large and produce meat, as the Asiatic; 2nd, those which have as their strongest characteristic the tendency to produce eggs, as the Leghorn; and, 3rd, those which do not grow so large as the Asiatics, and yet have a goodly amount of meat and at the same time approach the Leghorns in their egg-producing tendency, as the American variety.

It seems a strange coincidence that while these three classes can be distinguished by their size as, 1st, large; 2nd, small; and 3rd, medium; they can also be determined by the size and shape of their tails. The Asiatic has a small and spreading tail, the Leghorn has a long tail, and the American a medium tail.

A.— ASIATIC.

COCHINS. — Large, deep-bodied, massive birds, well-furnished with long, fluffy feathers which enable them to withstand climatic changes. They endure confinement well, seldom flying over a three-foot fence. Cochii.s are considered inferior to Brahmas, both regarding egg-production and meat-growing quajities. Their sedate movements and beautiful plumage have gained for them many admirers. The standard weights are — cock, 11 lbs.; cockerel, 9 lbs.; hen, 81/2 lbs.; pullet, 7 lbs.

BUFF COCHINS.— Color— a rich, deep, clear, buff or golden tan, uniform in both male and female. In breeding practice, however, we find few specimens which do not have either black or white in wing or tail feathers. Of course, this is undesirable, but as buff is a made color — it seems as soon as we breed out the black the white comes in — therefore birds intended to breed exhibition stock should be selected with great care.

PARTRIDGE COCHINS.— While of the same weight as the Buif, the Partridge are usually smaller in size and lower down in carriage. The males are similar in color to the Black Red Game or Brown Leghorn. The neck and back is a golden red, and the breast and under parts a glossy, greenish black. The neck feathers of the female are a golden yellow striped with black, and the rest of the body feathers are brown with two strips of black running through each feather parallel with its outer edge.

Buff Cochins

WHITE COCHINS have pure white plumage. BLACK COCHINS have pure greenish blaclv plumage.

BR AH MAS are our largest variety of poultry — they lay large brown eggs, are good sitters, and do well in confinement. The standard weights are — cock, i2 lbs.; cockerel, 10 lbs.; hen, 91/2 lbs.; pullet, 8 lbs.

LIGHT BRAHMAS are mostly white in color as seen in the cut, some of the f-eathers are laced with black, and in addition the flight feathers are black striped with white. It is a singular fact, and illustrates a defect in our poultry knowledge, that while every one looks upon the Brahma as a meat breed, one breeder at least has developed a Light-Brahma egg-laying strain that has eclipsed th-e Leghorn fowl, although the specimens I have seen of this breed were undersize and otherwise deficient in characteristic make-up.

DARK BRAHMA.— These are similar to the Partridge Cochin in color, except where the latter male is gold and red, the Dark Brahma is silver, and the female instead of having brown and black striped feathers has silver and black striped feathers. Otherwise they conform to the Brahma description in shape and characteristics.

LANGSHANS.— A large, hardy fowl; good winter layers of dark brown eggs, with a purplish tinge; sitters, and full feathered, although the feathers are not as long and fluffy as the Brahma or Cochin. Standard weights are — cock, 10 lbs.; cockerel, 8 lbs.; hen, 7 lbs.; pullet, 6 lbs.

BLACK LANGSHANS conform to the above characteristics, and both male and female, when in good condition, have a beautiful bottle-green plumag>e. Their white skin and dark shanks are against them in American markets.

Single Comb White Leghorns.

Rose Comb White Leghorns.

Single Comb

WHITE LANGSHANS are not kept in any great numbers in America, and for some reason are not popular. It would appear, however, " that they have been used in developing the white varieties of poultry, especially where size is a consideration.

B.— EUROPEAN.

I believe I was the first to name this one class of poultry. It is well known that practically all th-e varieties of poultry originated and developed in Europe have the egg-laying tendency as a predominating characteristic, and therefore why not make a general class of these? And, if there are any varieties that do not fit this class let us put them where they belong, even though it disturbs some of our oldtime-honored usages. I hold the European as a class which includes those varieties which have as a predominating characteristic the tendency to produce a large number of eggs. They are generally non-sitters, are small in size, and have large, well-developed combs and tails, and are active and good foragers.

Buff Leghorns.

LEGHORNS are a typical example of the European class. They lay a white-shelled egg, and seem to thrive under ordinary care. The Standard does not require any specific weight, but lately th-e tendency has been to increase the size. Whether the egg-yield will increase with the size is a doubtful question, but size does increase the value of the Leghorn as a table fowl.

BROWN LEGHORNS are both single and rose combed. In color the plumage of the male is similar to the Black Red Games and Partridge Cochin. The hackle and saddle feathers are yellow with a black stripe down the center of each feather. The lower half of the flight feathers are bay; the wing fronts black; the back and wing bows bright red; the wing coverts a greenish black forming a black bar across the wing; the breast and tail a brilliant greenish black. The female has hackle yellow with a black stripe down the center of each feather; back and wings are brown, pen-

Single Comb Brown Leghorns ciled with a darker brown; the breast rich salmon; tail dull black except two top feathers which are penciled with brown.

WHITE LEGHORNS are both single and rose combed and both male and female are pure white in plumage.

BLACK LEGHORNS.— Male and female both have pure greenish black plumage and come with single comb only.

BUFF LEGHORNS are buff throughout like the Buff Cochins and are single comb only.

SILVER DUCKWING AND RED PYLE LEGHORNS are now coming into favor. In plumage they are similar to the Game varieties of the same name and single combed only.

MINORCAS are a larger fowl than the Leghorns, although their general characteristics are similar. They lay a larger white egg, are non-sitters, and have standard weights as follows:

Cock, 9 lbs.; cockerel, 7% lbs.; hen, 714 lbs.; pullet, 61/2 lbs. These weights apply only to the single-comb blacks. The rose-comb blacks and single-comb white aro allowed one pound less for each specimen. Minorcas are only of two kinds, white and black, the white being a pure white throughout, and the black a greenish black.

SPANISH are known only in one color as the White-Faced BlackT so named because of the peculiar growth of white in the flesh forming the face. In other respects they are similar to the Single-Comb Black Minorcas. The Standard weights are — Cock, 8 lbs.; cockerel 6i^ lbs.; hen, 6% lbs.; pullet, 5% lbs. As chicks they seem to be delicate, but when a few months old they ar^^ hardy, generally speaking they require more careful attention than the Leghorns. They have long been a favorite fowl in Europe, especially in England.

Blue Andalusians.

Silver Spangled Hamburgs.

BLUE ANDALUSIANS are another variety conforming to our description of the European class, and in many respects resembling the Minorcas. In fact, some have declared they have been produced by the blending of color of the White and Black Minorca. They are a slaty blue throughout in plumage, and have standard weights as follows: Cock, 6 lbs.; cockerel, 5 lbs.; hen, 5 lbs.; pullet, 4 lbs.

ANCONAS are another European variety, with a propensity for egg-production. The American Standard requires a shape the same as the Leghorn, but English descriptions and breeders favor the Minorca type of bird. The plumage is a greenish ground color, each feather being tipped and splashed with white. This gives the bird a beautiful mottled effect which is very striking.

Barred Plymouth Rocks.

POLISH, formerly called Polands on account of their "polled" or crested character, have been found in South Russia, where they were famous for their egg-production. They have not met with much favor in America because few of us know how to handle them successfully. They have a small V-shaped comb, and right back of the comb a regular crysanthemum clump of feathers called a crest. During the breeding season these crest feathers should he clipped closely so the bird can see its enemies. It is also claimed the eggs are more fertile when the crest is clipped. In color there are several varieties: White Crested Black, Bearded Golden (the bearded have a clump of feather instead of wattles). Bearded Silver, Bearded White, Buff Laced, Non-Bearded Golden, Non-Bearded Silver, and Non- Bearded White.

White Plymouth Rocks.

THE DUTCH OR HAMBURG are kept chiefly for their egg-producing tendencies. They are not as hardy as the Leghorn, are non-sitters, and lay a white-shelled egg. In color they are found as Gold-en Spangled, Silver Spangled, Golden Penciled, Silver Penciled, White and Black. The spangles are formed by a V-shaped black spot on the end of each feather, and the penciling is formed by a finely penciled bar across each feather.

ENGLISH RED CAPS are classified by the American Standard in the English class, but they belong, I believe, with the other European varieties. They are similar to the Golden Spangled Hamburg, only larger and coarser and instead of having a Vshaped tip on the feathers the black tip is moon-shaped.

The French have three varieties of fowl which are recognized in the American Standard: The Houdan, the Crevecoeurs and the La Fleche. The Houdan belongs to our European class and is a good, practical fowl, although having a cr^st similar to the Polish prevents it from gaining favor among farmers, as a crested fowl can be caught easily by its enemies. They lay a white-shelled egg, are non-sitters, and their feathers are black and white mottled. Standard weights: Cock, 7 lbs.; cockerel, 6 lbs.; hen. 6 lbs.; pullets, 5 lbs.

The Crevecoeurs and La Fleche both show Polish origin, the latter have some appearance of Spanish in their make-up, so they properly belong to the European class. They are very rare in America and have lost favor in France, having been driven out by more profitable varieties.

White Wyandottes.

C— AMERICAN.

This variety is the crowning glory of American poultry men and are our great utility fowl. They have been called American because they were originated h'ere by crossing certain fowls which were quite numerous years ago and which have been developed into what are now known as Dominiques, with certain other varieties. The exact crosses have not been recorded, and if they were they would be useless because no one would care to start all over again.

These varieties in the American class are, par excellence, farmer's fowls. They are hardy, quick-growing, good layers, good sitters and mothers, have flesh of rich yellow color and good flavor, and are a fair, average size. The meat is not of as fine texture as the Cochin, nor as fine flavor as the Game. While they have not as much reputation as the Leghorns for egg production, yet in several contests in which Leghorns and other varieties were competing, American class birds have come off with first honors.

PLYMOUTH ROCKS were the first variety to gain favor. They lay a brown-shelled egg and Standard weights are: Cock, 9% lbs.; cockerel, 8 lbs.; hen, 71/2 lbs.; pullet, 6V2 lbs. The legs and toes are free from feathering and the flesh is a rich yellow. In color they are four kinds — Barred, White, Buff and Silver Penciled.

Buff Wyandottes.

II Silver Laced Wyandotte

Columbian Wyandottes.

WYANDOTTES are smaller than the Plymouth Rock and Standard weights are less: Cock, 8i/^ lbs.; cockerel, 7% lbs.; hen, 6V2 lbs.; pullet, 51/^ lbs. In color we have Silver Laced. Each feather has a center of white and an edging of black. The back of the male is silver. Golden Laced in which the center of feather is golden red with black edging and top color of male is golden. White, Buff and Black are solid color throughout in both male and female. The Partridge is similar to the Partridge Cochins and Silver Penciled similar to the Dark Brahma, and the Columbian similar to the Light Brahma.

THE JAVAS are a fairly hardy variety resembling the Plymouth Rocks in general characteristics, and have the same standard weights. They are very rare and are found now only in two colors, Blacks and Mottled. The former being a greenish black throughout, the latter mottled Black and White. Years ago there was a White Java, but they are no longer recognized by the Standard.

THE DOMINIQUES were at one time a very popular breed, but have be^en superseded by the Plymoutn

Rocks which resemble them in color and which are of larger size.

THE RHODE ISLAND REDS are one of the newer admissions to the Standard, although they have been bred in Rhode Island for a number of years. They have a rich, deep-red plumage with neck hackle tipped with black, and black in wing flights and tail. The flesh is finer grained than the Plymouth Rocks and of richer flavor, showing the Game characteristics. They lay a good sized brown-shelled egg, and are splendid sitters and mothers. Their hardiness, quickness of growth, the texture of their meat, their egg production and their brilliant rad plumage have brought this variety rapidly to the front and by many are claimed to be the best utility fowl we have. The Standard weights are — Cock, 81^ lbs.; cockerel, 71/2 lbs. hen, 61/2 lbs.; pullet, 5 lbs. There are two varieties, single comb and rose comb.

The Standard recognies another variety known as Buckeyes, which are very similar to the Rhode Island Reds.

The above classification has included all the Standard varieties of poultry except th-e Orpingtons, Dorkings, Games and Bantams.

Single Comb Rhode Island Reds

Rose Comb Rhode Island Reds.

Buff Orpingtons

THE ORPINGTONS, although originated in England, would come under our description of the American class. They are a cross-bred fowl, and their purity consists in their being bred for several years without an out-cross which fact is true also of all the American classes.

THE DORKING is the Englishman's table-fowl, and has been bred as such for many years. If they had been bred and encouraged in egg-production, instead of putting on flesh and fat, they would be easily classified with the European varieties, as they have the general appearance of the Leghorn. Perhaps we can do no better than to say that they are an European variety developed for table purposes.

There are three kinds of Dorkings, White Dorkings with white plumage, rose-combed and red ear-lobes. Their standard weights are — Cocks, IVz lbs.; cockerel, 6% lbs.; hen, 6 lbs.; pullet, 5 lbs.

Silver Grey Dorkings are somewhat similar in color to the Dark Brahma. The male has silver colored hankie, wing, bays and bows and saddle feathers; the breast, fluff and tail are greenish black. The female has a silver hackle striped with black, the general surface color of back, wings and fluff is gray or silver stippled with black, the breast is salmon colored and the tail is black ticked with grey. The standard weights are: Cock, 8 lbs.; Cockerel, 7 lbs.; hen, &V2 lbs.; and Pullet, 51/2 lbs.

Colored Dorkings. — The Colored Dorking male is similar in color to the Silver Gray male, but the feathers on breast and tail are splashed with buff or white. The female instead of being gray is a brownish black shade, striped with yellow, caused by the light shaft color of each feather. Colored Dorkings are the heaviest of all dorkings. Cock weighs 9 lbs.; cockerel, 8 lbs; hen, 7 lbs.; pullet, 6 lbs.

White Orpingtons.

Red Pyle Games

GAMES.

This leaves us with only the Games to account for, and it is not surprising that they are in a class by themselves, as they are the connecting link between the wild fowl of the jungle and all our domestics kinds of poultry. In fact, they are the only pure-bred fowls we have; all others have, within the memory of man, been crossed with some other variety of fowl for some specific purpose. Games are as delicate as young turkeys until about ten weeks old and then they are as hardy as any kind of fowl. Their meat also resembles turkey meat in flavor and texture.

The PIT GAMES are used for cock-fighting purposes which is unlawful in certain states. They are similar in plumage to the Exhibition and are also found in many other colors, which have been obtained by crossing.

THE MALAY is similar to the Black Red, only more coarse and stouter built.

THE INDIAN GAME is a hardy fowl raised especially for table purposes. They are not generally liked because they are such poor layers. They are found in two colors — the Cornish and the White. The former are black with red stripes in the feathers and the latter are pure white.

Japanese Bantams

Game Bantams.

Sebright Bantams,

But it is not essential to dwell here upon this interesting subject. It is suflBcient to say that the Game is a fancier's fowl and, while its great service has been to put color on many various breeds and texture and flavor in the meat, it has not gained favor because the "Standard" requires a fowl which is artificial and therefore unprofitable to produce for commercial purposes. They are found in five families: The Exhibition, the Pit, the Malay, the Cornish, Indian, and the Black Sumatra.

THE EXHIBITION GAME is a tall, stilty, crane-like appearing bird, having a walk like a turkey. The standard colors are Black Breasted Red, Brown Red, Golden Duckwing, Silver Duckwing, Red Pyle, White, Black, and Birchen. There is no standard weight required.

The BLACK SUMATRA games are similar to Cornish Indian only pure black in plumage.

As Bantams are, strictly speaking, a fancy fowl, I will not take space to say much about them here. They are the miniature of the large fowl and nearly every variety of large fowl have their representative among bantams. The bantam should weigh only one-fifth the weight of its large forerunner. They have the advantage over the large fowls in that they can be kept in smaller quarters and do not require so much food.

With so many varieties of fowls, fulfilling specific requirements it seems folly for poultry men to place any dependence upon mongred fowls. Poultry fanciers have spent years in developing a pure-bred fowl with certain characteristics and it is a law of breeding that, only when you are breeding closely related animals, are you likely to g>et progeny in which the characteristics of the parents are intensified. Therefore, by cross-breeding the work of years is liable to be lost and the tendency of cross-bred fowls seem to be revert to the original ancestors which were small specimens, producing only a couple of dozen eggs per annum.

Chapter II. Characteristics of Fowls

Successful poultry keeping depends primarily upon an accurate knowledge of fowls.

It is not enough to know that poultry require a house to protect them from, the weather, feed and water. There is much more to be learned about our domesticated fowls which will be found useful in forcing them to yield a profit.

All of our fowls belong to what the zoologist calls the Aves or bird family and poultry writers divide them into two groups: Land and Water Fowl.

Of the Land fowls tlae chicken or Gallus family is by far the most common and the following varieties have been named as belonging to this family: (1) Bankiva or Farrugineus; (2) Sonnerat; (3) Stanley; (4) Furcatus or Various; (5) Temminck; and (6) Aenfus. But, Dr. H. P. Clarke, who has made a close study of poultry and who has visited the native haunts of these wild varieties, tells me that there are some other wild kinds which should be added to this list. He names the Black Sumatra which are found in the Island of Sumatra in a wild state and which are quite similiar to the Black Sumatra Games as we know them in a domesticated state and which I have described in a preceeding chapter. He also adds the Laboeo or Labuyu found in the Island of Minanao in the Phillipines; and the Chichalque, found in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

All of these birds in their native haunts are described as being hardy, great foragers living on bugs, seeds and fruits, fig'hting for supremacy and roosting in trees.

In addition to these varieties of the gallus family there are the Meleagris family from which we get our turkeys and guinea fowls; the Phasianus or Pheasant family: the Pavo or Pea Fowl; and the Columba family from which we get our pigeons and the Rhea or Ostrich family.

The Water fowls really all belong to the Anatidae or Duck family.

which includes the sub-varieties Anserinae or Geese and the Cygninae or Swans.

The history of our domestic fowls is so shrouded with mystery that it is difficult to trace the exact steps in the domestication of any variety; and even those who have introduced some of the very recent breeds of fowls have purposely or unwittingly kept the exact matings or method of production a secret.

But there is abundant evidence that our domestic fowls belong to these wild kinds which I have enumerated. They have been bred together successfully and this is considered by zoologists as the true test for determining a species of animals.

While all birds of the genus gallus will breed with domesticated fowls there has been more difficulty in crossing some of the varieties than others and as the Bankiva cross the most easily it is assumed that they are the real progenitors of our extensive family of chickens.

Now let us examine a fowl a little m.ore closely.

A fowl is a two winged, two footed animal covered with feathers. The feet of the land fowl terminate in three long toes with claws and with only a little "web" between the toes; and one or two lateral toes. The water-fowl have only three forward toes and these are completely joined to each other by a "web" which makes of the foot a splendid paddle for propulsion in the water. Land and water fowl differ also in the character of their plumage. The land fowl's feathers are more fluffy near the quill than the water fowl, while the latter is furnished with auxiliary small feathers or "down" which is almost impervious to water.

Between land and water fowl there is another difference, namely: the beak or mouth. In the chicken this is pointed for picking, pulling and tearing the food. In the water fowl the beak is broad and long and is suitable for swallowing minnows and small water animals.

Internally the anatomy of both kinds of fowls are much the same. The food first passes into a crop where it remains until thoroughly moistened with the water the fowl drinks and the secretions. The feed then passes to a gizzard where it is ground and prepared for digestion and assimilation in the intestines, from which the fibrous and mineral matter is voided.

Fowls also have a respiratory or breathing system; a circulatory system, with a heart; a urinary system with a gall-bladder which secretes a urine of whitish color which is voided through the intestines; and a generative system in which the embryo eggs or "yolks" form in grape-shaped clusters which, in the process of development, are dropped, from time to time, into the egg-canal where they are covered with the "white," the inner fibrus shell and the outer mineral shell. This egg canal is about 21 inches long and these three coverings are secreted consecutively around the "yolk" during its movement along this canal.

Fowls also have a nervous system which starts from a brain in the skull but this is very small and their reasoning powers are the smallest of any animal. In fact, a chicken has been known to live with the top of its head "chopped off." Such a bird was once on exhibition in our town.

There is a greater difference than the average person would think in the requirements of even the various kinds of land fowl and it is only those who learn to distinguish these differences as well as to discriminate between the appearance of a fowl in health or disease who can really expect to have the greatest success and obtain the greatest profits.

As these things are important I will take a little space to mention some of the points of difference which, I hope, will be help to the student of poultry keeping to develop this faculty of close observation.

Let me illustrate this point by explaining some of the differences between chickens and pigeons.

In chickens the males are polygamous, that is, one male will mate with several females, while with pigeons the males are monygamous; or, in other words they mate in pairs and a pair once properly mated will usually remain true to each other during their lifetime or until one or the other might get sick, when the well bird might mate with another of the opposite sex which did not have a mate. Pig'eons and chickens also differ in their care of their young. A pair of pigeons will only lay two eggs, the male and female take turns in sitting on them to incubate them and when the young are hatched, nature has provided that the parent pigeons crop at hatching time will secrete a "milk" which they transfer to their young at "feeding" time. There is no such arrangement in the incubation of a chicken and the process of rearing is entirely different as I will explain in the chapter on caring for little chicks.

In poultry, as compared with fourfooted animals, there are some striking differences. Their bones are much thinner and smaller in proportion to the amount of flesh, which is made possible by the more rounding shape of the body. The lungs are placed directly under the back bone and in the wild birds the air which is breathed is not confined to the lungs, but passes throug*h and penetrates a number of membraneous cells and in some cases even extending to the pinions, bones of the thighs and other parts of the body. From this it will be seen that the amount of air taken into the breathing system of a bird varies considerably and seems to accommodate itself to the surrounding circumstances.

Under domestication, of course, this characteristic is greatly modified; but, it seems to me that many of our poultry authorities in the past have failed to consider this great lung capacity of a bird. In fact it is only recently that open air houses have been found to be a great improvement over the former closely built house, and, no doubt, this breathing capacity of a fowl is the specific reason for this improvement — it allows a greater development of this lung function.

Another great difference between birds and mammals is the formation of the eye. A i-ird or fowl's eye is furnished with two membranes — an external and an internal — in addition to the usual membranes found in the eyes of niamals. These extra membranes affords the fowl great focussing power so that a bird can see farther and see also more minute particles than any other animal. This accounts for two things which every poultry keeper has often observed but which may have been more or less of a mystery. First the peculiar action of a fowl when it sees a large bird flying at a great distance over head. There is no doubt that this is caused by the bird's eye being focussed upon the ground looking for minute particles sees the bird overhead many times larger than it really is and thus is filled with fear at the unusual sight. Secondly, this ^reat magnifying power enables the fowl to see the minute particles of food many of which are invisible to the naked eye.

While a bird's breathing power, sense of atmospheric conditions and eyesight are greater than man's its reasoning power is much less. In fact a chicken is perhaps the most senseless animal which we have. When allowed to roam naturally they will return to their home at night with considerable regularity, and precision; but try to chase them home or "flusterate" them in any way and you have a task on your hands — they do not seem to have sense enough to go through a hole in the fence. Thus they are greatly dependent upon the care of their keeper.