LIBRARY 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 SANTA BARBARA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 MRS. THOMAS A. DRISCOLL
 
 PRACTICAL 
 
 POULTRY KEEPING, 
 
 AS I UNDERSTAND IT. 
 
 [FIFTH EDITION.] 
 
 GK :M. T. joi-iisrsoisr, 
 
 \i 
 
 BINGHAMTON, N. Y. 
 
 COPYRIGHTED 1830, BY G. M. T. JOHNSON, IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS, AT 
 WASHINGTON. 
 
 SECOND EDITION ISSUED FEBRUARY i, 1881. 
 
 THIRD EDITION ISSUED JANUARY i, 1883. 
 
 FOURTH EDITION JANUARY i, 1884. 
 
 AMTON. N. T.
 
 TO THE READER. 
 
 THE successful farmer or fancier of to-day is the one who accepts 
 the fact that stock perfectly acceptable ten years ago, is not accept- 
 able to-day. The demand for something better comes every year. 
 Especially is this the case in regard to poultry. For this reason 
 many are now keeping good fowls carefully bred, and selling at 
 high prices. 
 
 The call for better stock, and for information as to what is good 
 stock, and the best mode of handling, comes from all sections. 
 
 The prices of books treating of poultry are too high for the 
 generality of people. A book is wanted which every one who 
 keeps a dozen fowls can afford to buy, and at the same time 
 which gives all the information desired concerning the different 
 varieties of fowls, and how best to handle them. 
 
 That book should contain all that is really valuable to the fancier 
 who keeps fowls for pleasure, and the farmer who keeps fowls for 
 profit. It should be plain, practical and simple. It should blow 
 no horn in the interest of any class of men, or breed of fowls, and 
 advertise no patent medicines, but be a plain and truthful talk be- 
 tween writer and reader. 
 
 In answer to this demand, as far as in me lies, I offer this little 
 book : all of which is respectfully submitted to the reader. 
 
 G. M. T. JOHNSON. 
 
 BINGHAMTON, N. Y., June i, 1886.
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 THE HEN the subject of this book remains very much the 
 same one year with another, as to her nature, and the best way of 
 handling her ; and our aim is to get as good a knowledge as pos- 
 sible of her and her needs, that we may use her to our profit. 
 
 We will never know all. Experience and observation are con- 
 tinually showing us new facts, and our way should be to take pos- 
 session of every new fact we can get, and call for more ; exchange 
 notes with each other, and prove them. 
 
 In the spring of 1867 I issued my POULTRY KEEPERS' HANDBOOK, 
 which was the nucleus of PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING, issued in 
 the spring of 1880 ; second edition issued February I, 1881 ; third 
 edition issued January i, 1883 ; fourth edition issued January I, 1884. 
 
 On the getting out of each new edition I have had occasion to 
 add more or less to the one preceding, as my observation and expe- 
 rience, in the intervening time, had taught me. Now, as I get out 
 my fifth edition, I shall cut out some of my fourth, and add new 
 matter which I deem of more importance to the keeper of poultry. 
 I have observed some things over so many times, that to me they 
 become laws, and I shall give them, even though I am in conflict 
 with some generally accepted theories. I am pleased with the fact 
 that many have written me, giving my former editions highest praise 
 as a most practical book. Some authors have copied long para- 
 graphs, and in places almost pages, but not telling their readers 
 that they had copied, which made a clear case of theft.
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 I do not theorize much. Many persons have been misled, and 
 lost money by following theories. Parties have come to me rather 
 complainingly because I do not fall in with teachings which they do 
 not claim have ever been demonstrated, but are the notions of some 
 poultryman. 
 
 I can only say, facts are trie same, and we must accept of them. 
 A fair trial will prove them, but the trial is always attended with 
 expense. I, like others, may be mistaken, but I give this book a 
 very modest title: "PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING, AS I UNDER- 
 STAND IT." 
 
 The keeping of poultry successfully is one of the most simple 
 accomplishments, and if there is one thing more than another that 
 will characterize this little book, it is its simplicity. One of the 
 greatest errors which writers have made, is the making it appear 
 that the keeping of poultry successfully was some high art, attain- 
 able only at great expense. The appearance of a well-kept yard of 
 fowls, as compared with a neglected yard, is as much the superior 
 as high art is above ignorance, and will lend strength to the theory, 
 but it is a mistake. It requires good judgment, simple and pure, 
 'first and last. ^See Part II., POULTRY FOR PLEASURE AND POUL- 
 TRY FOR PROFIT: "What is required for making the keeping of 
 Poultry both pleasant and profitable?") 
 
 The greater mistake has been to the other extreme, and the great- 
 est neglect has characterized the handling of fowls. I would be 
 understood to say that great expenses are not necessary, but great 
 care and personal attention are the main requisites to success. 
 
 I believe I am safe in saying, that in no other department of the 
 farm has there been such advancement, of late years, as in the 
 poultry yard ; for one reason, that in no other department has there 
 been such neglect and abuse ; and another is, that there has been 
 a general awakening among the people to the interest of the hen, 
 commonly called the hen fever, the result of which has been to 
 give her a higher place. It has been quite a common idea for a 
 long time, that poultry needed but little or no care, and the idea was 
 fully carried out in practice ; any one could breed poultry ; no need 
 of papers and books on the subject. The scrawny, awkward, ill- 
 -shaped, limping, non-producing fowl which used to disgrace our 
 farm-yards was the natural product of this notion. Where a person 
 has an unlimited range, and wants to raise only a few for eggs and 
 his own table, without regard to purity of blood or fine qualities, it 
 is easy enough to breed poultry, such as it is. All he has to do is 
 to let the hen manage her own affairs. But more attention is now
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. $ 
 
 paid to this long neglected branch. People are not satisfied so 
 easily. They want fine poultry, large, good layers, and handsome. 
 They are willing to give more attention to the fowls, believing they 
 receive big returns for all extra care and expense, besides the 
 pleasure derived. When fowls are raised in numbers higher than 
 twenty or thirty, or more varieties than one on a farm, more attention 
 and vigilance is required to keep the fowls in good growing condi- 
 tion, and to guard against disease, vermin and the like, to which 
 the fowl in confinement is so subject. As the first rule to success, 
 I would emphasize the old adage 
 
 "He who by the plow would thrive, 
 Himself must either hold or drive." 
 
 So, he who would succeed best in keeping poultry, must attend 
 to his own flocks ; keep an eye on every branch of the business ; see 
 that none of it is slighted ; must not pervert the nature of the fowl, 
 but must have ample accommodations, and such as are adapted to 
 their wants ; he himself must be willing to work ; must have a sys- 
 tem, and definite objects to be attained, and work to those ends. 
 
 The hen should be regarded, by all who undertake to profit by her, 
 as a machine To succeed with her is to understand her necessities, 
 and to do everything for her that will aid her along in her natural 
 course, and remove all obstructions. This implies a well-built fowL 
 symmetrical, of strong blood, and pleasant to look upon. It im- 
 plies that she should have ample, well ventilated and healthy quar- 
 ters ; that she should be fed with those things that will strengthen 
 her and keep her healthy ; that she should be protected from all 
 attacks of vermin, and disease in every form ; she should be made 
 cheerful and happy. This is the substance of the business of breed- 
 ing poultry for success. 
 
 Third rule : To handle the hen with as little loss of time and use- 
 less expense as possible. 
 
 These three heads are the substance of the following pages. He 
 who can not attend to his own business, and do it himself, or tries 
 to adapt the hen to something contrary to her nature ; who crowds 
 the machine to overwork, or neglects her wants, or is extravagant 
 in outlays, is the one who fails in the poultry business.
 
 PART I. 
 POULTRY HOUSES AND YARDS. 
 
 One of the most attractive features of a home, is a comely Poul- 
 try House. The fine barns and sheds, for horses and cattle, seem 
 out of place without a good accompanying fowl house. The broad 
 lawns look lonesome without a few fowls of some choice breed, 
 and there is a dullness which makes a man homesick if he can not 
 hear the grand crow of the cock, or the happy cackle of a hen ; and 
 it will help to drive off a fit of melancholy to see chicks in a race 
 for grasshoppers, or pulling at either end of a long worm. 
 
 The accommodations for fowls, such as houses and yards, can be 
 made and arranged in such a way as will give the owner a feeling of 
 pride every time he looks upon them, or shows a friend. They may 
 be warm, dry, clean, well ventilated, healthy and comfortable (and 
 all this they should be), and at little expense. They may also be so 
 built and arranged, with but little if any extra expense, as to be 
 pleasing to the eye, and in this way a source of pleasure to the owner. 
 I regard of a great deal of importance the selection of a site. Much
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 depends on this afterwards. A person can well afford to spend sev- 
 eral days arranging and trying different sites before he builds, and 
 even after he does once get started, and finds he has made a mistake, 
 it is better to tear down and build again, than to be hampered by 
 some inconvenience or obstacle ever afterward. Of course one has to 
 conform to grounds and other outbuildings many times. It is often 
 best to fix up rooms in buildings already on the place. In that case 
 fix them up as one's own judgment would suggest, but where a site 
 is to be selected or a house to be built, these two very essential 
 points must be kept in view : ist, To guard against anything that 
 would hurt or destroy ; and, 2d, To advance everything that would 
 tend to the prosperity of the flock. Select a site that will be con- 
 venient for handling, and near enough to the house to be able to 
 protect them and care for them, but not so near as to be annoying. 
 I should prefer a site where I could, whenever I wished, give the 
 fowls full range of the yard, by opening little doors in the houses or 
 yards. It sometimes comes very convenient to let them have full 
 range, as they do no hurt, at certain seasons, but rather do good, by 
 picking bugs, worms, seeds, etc., around the house, yard, barn and 
 granary. At the same time, it is best to locate and build so we can 
 protect our fowls from inclement weather or diseases, and fight all 
 intruders with the advantage on our side. Skunks and owls do not 
 mind the location of the hen-house much, but with rats it makes a 
 great difference. I do not know of any other enemy the fowls have 
 to contend with so annoying, or one so richly endowed with what is 
 vulgarly called cheek. They will often come out in one's very pres- 
 ence, and, in spite of all our efforts, will carry off chickens as large 
 as quails, and whole broods in two or three days, and perhaps eat 
 them in the grass or vines within six feet of us, or under the stoop 
 or walk on which we stand. They, of course, must have a hiding- 
 place near, perhaps under a barn or shed, or in a wall or pile of 
 boards : without that they are never troublesome ; and this furnishes 
 quite a safeguard, to give them no place in which to hide. It is not 
 best to locate a house near any such thing. It is almost impossible 
 to get rid of them till we tear away their hiding-places. One or two 
 good cats, which can discriminate between poultry and prey (that 
 is a very important point) with full range round the coops, are very 
 valuable. 
 
 Select a dry site. Dampness is disease and death to poultry. 
 I think many yards are subject to ravages of chicken cholera, roup, 
 and vermin, from a damp location, and there is no remedy other 
 than to change the site.
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 I prefer no floor other than earth, higher than the ground outside, 
 to keep out the water. A board floor furnishes hiding-places for 
 rats. It is well to cover the floor with sawdust, fine road dust, sand 
 or ashes, to the depth of two inches, if convenient. It is an easy 
 way to keep the house clean, and the ashes are well appreciated by 
 the hens for a dust bath. If this is not convenient, throw in any 
 top soil, and in either case rake off the droppings often, and change 
 the dust or ashes as often as convenient. 1 have found leaves of 
 shade trees, gathered in the fall and thrown in the houses, even to 
 the depth of two feet, a most beneficial practice. The hens lay in 
 them on cold days. They serve to keep the fowls clean, and add to 
 the appearance of the house. 
 
 VENTILATION. 
 
 This is a very important pan of the fowl house, and brings its 
 own reward. If provided with pure air, clean food and water, and 
 protected from rain, extreme heat and cold, and sudden changes, 
 fowls will generally be well. The air gets to be very foul unless 
 the house is provided with good ventilation. I have known flocks 
 of fowls to be taken with canker and roup by being confined in 
 close, tight houses ; and I have known them to recover simply by 
 giving them rooms with plenty of fresh and pure air. Air may be 
 very cold, and yet very impure. Many houses are so built as to let 
 in air enough through the cracks. This is wrong, as the wind blow- 
 ing on the fowls causes them to take cold ; but it is better than to 
 have the building too tight. The house should be very tight against 
 wind and rain, and the ventilation ample ; as high in the peak as 
 possible ; also an opening at the bottom so arranged as not to allow 
 a direct draft on the fowls at roost. Fresh air will come in the 
 opening near the ground, and foul air pass out at the peak. 
 
 The opening for the fowls to pass out and in by, will often furnish 
 sufficient ventilation near the ground ; and during very windy and 
 rainy weather, this opening should be closed. Where fowls are 
 troubled with roup and canker, we should look well to the ventila- 
 tion. One great objection to crowding fowls, is the fact that it is 
 hard to give them the amount of fresh air necessary, without expos- 
 ing them. If I were to be asked by what means I believed fowl 
 diseases come more than by any other, I would say by foul air. 
 One great consideration in favor of the Appletree fowl, is the fact 
 that they get good air, and do not breathe that which is dead, or the 
 fumes arising from heated and unclean ground.
 
 10 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 They should be so built as to be for the comfort and health of the 
 fowls. Round poles, one and a half or two inches in diameter, with 
 bark on, are best. Observe the fowl when she selects her own roost- 
 ing place. She will choose suqh limbs of trees as she can grasp with 
 her feet. It is well to have them so arranged that they can be easily 
 cleaned, either in their places or by taking them out, They should 
 not be over eighteen inches from the ground, especially for the large 
 fowls, that they may receive no injury in getting off. Many fowls, 
 particularly of the large varieties, sustain serious damages by flying 
 or jumping from high roosts. A fowl of eight or ten pounds' weight, 
 jumping four or five feet, strikes very hard on its feet. Ladders are 
 often provided for fowls to come down by, but they never use them 
 if in a hurry, as at such times a fowl never thinks. The injuries 
 received are often a hip or knee sprained, back twisted or foot cal- 
 loused. Crooked combs and tails are often caused by roosting 
 where they rub their combs and tails against sides of the house or 
 floors above. 
 
 NESTS. 
 
 Considering the necessity of cleaning, and for the sake of con- 
 venience, all nests should be made movable. I consider a plat- 
 form, about eighteen or twenty inches above the ground, and roosts 
 five or six inches above this platform, furnish, under them, one of 
 the best places for nests. The boxes for nests should be made 
 twelve or fifteen inches square, and about the same in height ; tight 
 on all sides except the back, with an opening in the upper part of 
 the back ; the nest made in the box. There should be sufficient 
 opening allowed between the nest-box and side of the building for 
 the convenient passing and turning of the hen in going to and from 
 her nest. 
 
 In this way the hens can be hid when they lay, and they like 
 seclusion. It serves as a preventive from hens eating eggs, as the 
 nests are quite dark. 
 
 When gathering the eggs, it is only necessary to turn the boxes 
 round. They are easily taken out and cleaned, and this should be 
 done once or twice a year. The nests should be so roomy as not 
 to damage the feathers, and no larger. 
 
 DOORS. 
 
 If convenient to put the door on the south or east side, it is pief- 
 erable in our northern climate, as the cold winds will drive through 
 every opening, no matter how small ; but if it is not convenient,
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 1 1 
 
 special pains should be taken to shut out the wind. Narrow 
 matched boards make the cheapest and most substantial door. 
 
 It is a great point gained when a house can have a southern ex- 
 posure, and windows on the south side to let in the light and heat. 
 Sunlight will do much to keep the house dry and fowls healthy. 
 They bask in it and enjoy it. By putting windows as much to the 
 sun as possible we have made quite a point to health in our flock. 
 These windows should be made so as to slide, and narrow strips 
 nailed over the openings, making it very cool and pleasant for sum- 
 mer use. 
 
 FEED BOXES. 
 
 One of the most convenient articles of furniture is a suitable 
 feed box. It should be so built as to allow the fowl to put in its 
 head, but not its feet. So strong is the propensity in the hen to 
 scratch, and so fearful that she will forget how to act when she is so 
 unspeakably happy as to get into a flower bed, that she will put her 
 feet in the middle of a dish of feed, and scratch. 
 
 A good and cheap plan is to arrange a box, opening at the top by 
 a lid, with slats at the side, running up and down. Put the feed in 
 the box : the fowls will then get all they want, and leave the rest. 
 Never throw soft feed on the ground or in the grass. It is a great 
 waste. 
 
 DRINKING VESSELS. 
 
 All things considered, I believe galvanized iron dishes are the 
 best. We can have them made of any size or shape. They are not 
 easily broken, and will not rust. They can be cleansed with hot 
 water, and with careful usage will last a dozen years. Earthen ves- 
 sels protected against breaking, are good, they are so easily cleaned . 
 
 The drinking vessels should be kept in a shady place, rinsed every 
 day, and scalded every week. Fowl diseases are transmitted Urough 
 the drinking vessels, to a great extent. 
 
 HOUSES SMALL AND LARGE. 
 
 How large it is best to build, will depend entirely on what we are 
 building for. If it is proposed to separate the flocks, and give each 
 a good run, it will be best to build small houses, and allow but few 
 fowls to the house. If it is necessary to put a larger number to- 
 gether, then the house must be larger. It is never safe to crowd 
 the fowls. If the grounds are such that it is desirable to put two 
 or three flocks of ten fowls each in the building, it will be necessary 
 to give them double or three times the size of the house on the
 
 12 
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 ground ; or when it is desired to put as man)- as one hundred fowls 
 in one building, it will necessarily be as much larger. It is not as 
 easy to keep fowls clean and healthy, when so many run together in 
 one building, as diseases and vermin spread so easily by contact. 
 
 When fowls are separated," one yard may suffer the ravages of 
 cholera, and the other not be affected. 
 
 PLANS FOR SMALL HOUSES. 
 
 In many respects, houses so small as to be movable are to be pre- 
 ferred. It is so much easier tending them, and protecting them 
 from rats and vermin. We can then generally give them greater 
 runs ; it is easier keeping them clean ; if desired, they can be moved 
 any distance, and the ground plowed and cultivated to crops, which 
 is the quickest way to eradicate poisons. 
 
 I give here ground plan and upright view of small poultry house: 
 
 It is very convenient for moving, as it. can be put on a sled or 
 stone-boat, or can be carried by four men easily. It is suitable for 
 a cock and four or five hens, or, if pressed to it, will accommodate 
 twice that number. If built of ten-inch boards, they will cut with 
 but little waste. Ground plan, 40 x 60 inches ; front, 40 inches on 
 ground ; one side 3 feet high, the other 6 feet ; door, 18 or 20 inches 
 by 3^ feet. Fora window, it will require but one pane of glass. 
 Ventilation near the peak. 
 
 Another, large enough for a cock and six or eight hens : 
 
 Ground plan, 50 x 70 inches ; front, 50 inches broad ; sides, 4 feet 
 high ; center, 7^ feet high ; door, 4 feet high.
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 Here is a warm and cheap little coop, well adapted for a cock 
 and five or six hens. It is 4 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 4 feet high. 
 Sash, 3x4 feet, which may be raised or removed entirely. The size 
 can easily be increased, if desired. 
 
 But the houses ran be made still larger, and yet be movable. 
 I have found the accompanying plan small enough where I wished 
 to have a breeding pen of eight or ten fowls I have tried several 
 patterns, and like the arrangement of this the best : 
 
 This little building is four feet by six on the ground. I first 
 build a frame of boards ten or twelve inches wide, of the size of 
 the ground plan, which I set perfectly level. I then put in dirt to 
 the depth of about six inches, so it will be dry in all seasons, and 
 on this frame I put the sills, made of 2 x 4 inch sticks. I next cut 
 two corner boards six feet long, and two four feet long ; nail a six- 
 foot board on each of the front corners, and plumb them ; nail four-
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 foot boards on the rear corners, and plumb them. I then nail a 
 strip around the top from corner to corner, to nail the boards to, 
 and the frame is made. Next, side up, leaving places for doors 
 and windows. -, 
 
 I have used matched and surfaced boards for sides and roof, 
 which made a very tight house ; and by painting sid-es and roof, I 
 have had very warm and serviceable little houses. These buildings 
 are easily moved. The inside arrangement is very simple and con- 
 venient. At the rear of the house I place pieces of boards, of the 
 right width, on the sills to raise the platform, which rests on them, 
 about twelve inches high, and on these I place boards so as to make 
 the platform about eighteen or twenty inches wide, and on these I 
 place strips of board about six inches wide, and on these I place 
 the roosts. Under this platform I arrange the boxes, open at the 
 back, for nests. The hen, when wishing to lay, will prefer to go 
 around in the dark to her nest, and 'fowls not having any business 
 there, will not go unless evil inclined. 
 
 It is quite a protection against egg-eating. The nests, roosts and 
 platform can be taken out at any time in a few minutes, when de- 
 sired to clean. When a little larger house is wanted, I would offer 
 the following as a good plan : 
 
 It is a little house which is well calculated for a city lot. If built 
 of matched boards or of surfaced boards, and battened and painted, 
 will make a pretty house. It can be made eight, ten or twelve 
 feet long, and five to eight feet broad, according to taste and wants. 
 It is sometimes desirable to cut up such small houses into quite 
 small quarters say for a cock and two or three hens, when the
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 15 
 
 eggs of a particular mating are wanted which can be easily done 
 by lath partitions, giving each a yard on the outside by itself. If 
 this house is made of rough hemlock, and the cracks not covered, 
 it will be cold, and no ornament. The extra expense will well pay 
 the man of taste. If rough boards are used, the water-lime paint 
 will improve appearances, at small cost. (See recipes.) There 
 must be pitch enough to the roof to turn the water readily. How to 
 cover these small houses, so as to turn the water and be warm, has 
 been quite a question with me. It has been difficult to get a house 
 warm enough to preserve the combs of my Spanish and Leghorns, 
 when the mercury was below zero. Matched and surfaced boards 
 are used successfully, if painted with two coats of coal tar, on a hot 
 day. I have succeeded best by first covering the building with dry, 
 rough hemlock boards, running up and down ; the roof at an angle 
 of forty-five degrees. Over this I put the tarred paper, and over 
 the cracks nail lath, and over all I put a coat of coal tar. This will 
 need a coat of tar once in two or three years. Over the sides of the 
 rough board house I put one or two thicknesses of newspaper, and 
 over this I put another thickness of half-inch boards. In this way 
 I have carried my high-combed fowls through the coldest winters, 
 without a fire, and not had the combs touched. The house has a 
 southern exposure, with double lights of glass. (An illustration 
 of this house is given on page 19 of POULTRY FOR PLEASURE AND 
 POULTRY FOR PROFIT.) Fowls will stand quite cold weather, if the 
 air is still, but a cold wind is hard on them. During very cold, 
 snowy and wet weather, I shut the little doors leading to the yards. 
 Fowls take great hurt out at such times. Ventilation in the ends, 
 near the peak. The drawing is faulty : it does not show it. 
 
 PLANS FOR LARGE HOUSES. 
 
 Where so much expense is involved as in the building of a large 
 house, it is best to move quite slowly. If a person is positive he 
 will always want the house for poultry and nothing else, it will be 
 well enough to build with nothing else in view. But there are many 
 who have, with full confidence, bought and built extensively, bred 
 for one or two years, and then given up all. In these cases, where 
 their houses were built not allowing for any change, many of the 
 buildings have been unsuitable for anything else : hence it is that I 
 suggest that buildings should be constructed in such a manner that 
 they will answer for other purposes than poultry keeping. I like 
 the plan of putting the house in such a position, and so built, that 
 it will answer for a barn or stable. A little building, .16 x 20 feet, 
 can be nicely arranged for eight flocks of fowls, and would be a
 
 i6 
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 convenient building in almost any place. This would allow for a 
 four-foot hall-way running the length of the building, with four 
 small apartments in each side quite small, but will allow for a 
 cock and eight or ten hens. A building 20x25 or 30 would be 
 better still. I am often asked the cost of buildings of different 
 sizes and shapes. This I am unable to give, as the price of lumber 
 in some localities would be double what it would be in others, and 
 help is often much higher. 
 
 When it is desired to build a permanent house, with accommoda- 
 tions for four or more flocks, I would give the following, as simple, 
 cheap, and easily managed : 
 
 The several apartments will accommodate eight or twelve hens 
 each. Ground plan, 12 x 24 feet ; partition running lengthwise four 
 feet from the higher side, cutting the building into two sections 
 4x24 feet, and 8x24 feet. Cut the larger up into smaller apart- 
 ments, 6x8 feet. One broad side (the lower preferred) should face 
 the south, with windows. If the broad side is to the front, the par- 
 tition between rooms Nos. r and 2 can extend across the entry way. 
 So can the partition between Nos. 3 and 4. If the end is to the 
 front, the door will be in the end, as in the diagram. There are 
 many different plans which are good. Let the proprietor use his 
 own pencil, and draw plans to suit his own tastes, demands and
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. I/ 
 
 means. It is understood where we keep fowls, as in the large house, 
 it will be necessary to give them more care to keep them healthy 
 than as though there was only one flock on the grounds. Of course 
 a separate yard is demanded for each apartment. The partitions 
 of houses and yards should be tight for two or three feet from the 
 ground, to prevent the cocks fighting between yards. A good paint, 
 especially for a rough house, is my water-lime paint. (See recipes.) 
 I am indebted to the Country Gentleman for the accompanying cut 
 of house, with part sash roof. This house should face the south, to 
 get full benefit of the glass. This makes a very light house, and 
 when the sun shines at all, it makes a warm house. If the sash 
 could not be lifted, on very warm days, it would make the building 
 much too \varm. 
 
 The dimensions are: Length in front, n feet; depth, 12 feet; 
 from bottom of sill to top of plate, 4 feet 3 inches ; from bottom of 
 sill to peak of roof, 9 feet 7 inches ; lone rafters, ro feet 4^ inches ; 
 short rafters, 5 feet 2 inches. The sash are so arranged that they 
 can be drawn down from the top to give ventilation. 
 
 Two perches run the length of the building, in the rear, and are 
 raised about 2j feet from the floor. Under the perches is a 
 scaffold, to catch the droppings. Beneath the scaffold are arranged 
 the nest-boxes, for which purpose loose boxes are used. A strip of 
 board 4 inches wide is tacked on to the sill at the ends of the house, 
 and here the feed is placed. The house is large enough to accom- 
 modate from thirty to fifty fowls. It was built at a cost of $42.00, 
 including window-sash and painting. The sides are of matched 
 boards ; the roof shingles. 
 
 It will be seen that the drawing is faulty. Either the height from 
 bottom of sill to top of plate is seven or eight feet, instead of four 
 feet three inches, or the door in the drawing is too small. 
 
 Geo. K. Hawley, of Glen's Falls, N. Y., a breeder of American 
 Dominiques, furnishes the accompanying cut of a house on his 
 grounds, with the following description :
 
 18 
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 A PRACTICAL POULTRY HOUSE. 
 
 "The above cut is the representation of a building 20 feet long, 
 8 feet wide on the bottom, 6 feet high in the rear, 6j^ ft:et in roof. 
 It is built of matched and dressed lumber (pine the best) for the 
 outside, battened with strips and well painted. The frame is 3 by 
 4 joist, lathed and filled in with sawdust on a!l sides and roof, then 
 plastered. Gravel bottom. Three windows, twelve lights 9 by 13, 
 both sash movable ; and a light frame inside, one-half the size of the 
 window, prevents the escape of the fowls when the sash are raised. 
 or dropped. The building may be divided into three comfortable 
 coops, with lattice partitions, and two lengths of roosts, under which 
 is a platform to catch the droppings, thereby insuring cleanliness. 
 The nests are 'secret,' built on the ground under the windows. 
 A window in the door regulates the temperature. 
 
 "This house has proved a success during a severe winter, the 
 thermometer indicating only three degrees below freezing, when it 
 was twenty-six below zero outside. 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 c 
 
 rr \ \o\ \\ 
 
 GRO'.'NI) PLAN. 
 
 A boosts. BDoor. C Entrance for Fowls. D Secret Nests" 
 I think the house can be made nearly as warm by double board- 
 ing and one or two thicknesses of paper between, besides furnish- 
 ing no place for rats. 
 
 HOUSE FOR LAYING AND SITTING HKNS. 
 
 Where several hens nre sitting at the same time, it is well to
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 have each nest connected with a covered runway, in which food 
 and water may be placed for the hen, and which will prevent her 
 returning to the wrong nest, or being disturbed by the attempts 
 
 FIGURE I. 
 
 of other hens to lay to her. Such an arrangement is shown in 
 figures i and 2, and which represent the plan of a sitting-house 
 contrived by a conespoudent of Farm and Fireside. 
 
 FIGURE 2. 
 
 "This house is made for fifty hens, and is twelve feet long from 
 east to west, by eight feet wide from north to south. There are 
 doors at the east and west ends, and sliding glass windows, six by 
 eight feet in size, on the south side. Boards, six feet long by one 
 foot wide, are set on edge under the north side in such a way as to 
 form boxes one foot square inside the house, and one foot by five 
 feet outside. The inside boxes are used for laying and hatching, 
 and are connected by doors with the outside boxes, which are used 
 for feed boxes, and are covered with lath nailed so close together
 
 2O PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 that the young chicks cannot get out. The inside boxes have lids, 
 which are shut down when the hen is set, and the doors to the outside 
 box is then opened. Feed, water, gravel, etc., are placed in this 
 outside box, and the hen will thus be able to help herself without 
 being interfered with by other hens." 
 
 I think an improvement on the plan would be to allow only eight 
 nests and eight runs, instead of twelve. 
 
 It is often that the lay of the yards is best adapted to a house 
 with the higher side toward the north. In that case the windows 
 will be best on the lower side. Here is a drawing of such a house : 
 
 It will do very well as a lean-to on the south side of a barn or 
 shed. In that case it ought to make a very warm house. In the 
 drawing is wire netting over the glass, to protect it. Over the sash 
 and over the doors are ventilators, which should be regulated ac- 
 cording to the weather. On the south side, just in front of the 
 windows, is the best place for a dust-bath for the hens. The house 
 has no floor, and the dry earth and ashes make a good place for the 
 hens to dust themselves. The nests are on the north side, under a 
 little platform, over which are the roosts. The yards are on either 
 side, as most convenient. 
 
 The first cut on next page is of a cheap house, well calculated for 
 very cold climates. If we can have the roosts low, and in the hack 
 part of the building, and the roof partly covered with straw, or even 
 dirt, it will make a good winter house. It should face the south, if 
 possible. Next, an easterly front is most desirable. 
 
 But a much warmer house is the little cottage in the hill.
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 21 
 
 These two cuts were made especially for this edition, and show 
 two houses suitable for our cold, northern climate. They can be 
 
 made of either stone, brick, boards or logs, and at very little ex- 
 pense. If of stones or logs, it will be necessary to make the door 
 and window frames, and set them, and fill in round them ; fill in 
 the chinks with mud or mortar. 
 
 The temperature of this style of house can be kept so that our 
 high-combed fowls will come through the severest winters with 
 combs untouched. As quarters for winter layers such a little house
 
 22 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 is number one. On warm and sunny days the fowls can be allowed 
 a run outside, to picft grass and fine gravel. Hens so accommodated 
 should lay well during the most of the winter, and at a great saving 
 of feed. 
 
 HOUSES VJARMED BY FIRE. 
 
 A Dutchman is charged with once saying, that he did not see the 
 use of a moon on light nights. On dark nights is when we want a 
 moon. As some say, let the hen rest in summer, but lay in winter, 
 when eggs are high ; and they try to turn winter into summer, by 
 providing a fire for their poultry houses. In this way they hope to 
 obtain eggs when most needed, but I do not hear of success in this 
 attempted transformation. If left to themselves, with warmly built 
 houses, they will be prepared for the cold weather, and come through 
 all right ; but provided with fire, they will become very tender, and 
 at a chance exposure to severe weather, will come down with colds, 
 resulting in roup, and will present a sickly appearance by March, 
 with no good prospects for summer business. 
 
 Instead of a house warmed by fire, I think, with a tight building, 
 and double lights of glass on south side, with sawdust, straw or 
 leaves on the floor, it is possible to get quite a number or eggs dur- 
 ing the winter months, and at the same time not render the fowls so 
 extremely tender as to endanger their lives ; and I would here say, 
 fowls can not be taken from comfortable quarters and put in a more 
 exposed house without danger. During the most severe weather, 
 when the mercury would drop below zero outside, I think a little 
 fire, to keep the tempeiature in the neighborhood of freezing, would 
 be well. 
 
 YARDS. 
 
 Suitable runs for fowls outside of the building are as essential as 
 the building itself. These should be dry, as roomy as possible, and 
 with some kind of a shade, either of trees, bushes, or a covered 
 run, if nothing more than boards laid up against the fence, under 
 which fowls can get out of the hot rays of the sun. It is a good 
 thing to have the ground under the shade well spaded up, with 
 ashes mixed in, as the fowls like to roll in it. It is also well to 
 spade up in the yards often, and so give the fowls fresh earth. 
 
 For Brahmas and Cochins, a picket fence four feet high is suffi- 
 cient. For Leghorns, Spanish, Hamburgh and Games, the fence 
 should be eight feet high, and then it may be necessary to clip the 
 flight feathers of one wing ; place the pickets not over one and a 
 half inches apart. It is often that we want to shut the chickens, 
 when quite small, in the yards. For ten fowls, a space equal to
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 10x20 feet will answer, where they can have a grass run besides. 
 No suggestions as to shape are needed ; we must conform to our 
 grounds. Water-lime paint improves appearances. (See recipes.) 
 Besides this yard, to which fowls have access at all times, a grass 
 run is quite a help, but it is not essential if we will supply them 
 otherwise. Where we can have a plat of grass, into which we can 
 open a yard, long enough each day for the fowls to pick, we are 
 very fortunate. One grass yard, if large enough, will answer for 
 several flocks, by letting out one at a time. 
 
 COVERED RUNS, 
 
 for chickens, young turkeys, ducks and geese, are very convenient 
 in many respects : to guard against cats and rats, and where larger 
 fowls would rob the little ones of their food, and in which to con- 
 fine young turkeys while the dews are on, or the grass is wet. 
 They are easily made of lath or wire netting, and attached to the 
 coop in which the hen is confined. A convenient size is eighteen 
 inches high, four feet wide, and eight feet long. It is easily 
 handled. It is a good plan to have such a place for feeding the 
 chickens when they run at large. 
 
 The slats should then be far enough apart to let them go in and 
 out when they choose, but not far enough apart to admit larger 
 chickens and fowls.
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 COOPS, 
 
 in which are confined the old hens, while the chicks run at large, 
 though demanding so little attention generally, are of some import- 
 ance to the chicks. Some ate made of boxes or barrels, with sticks 
 driven down in front ; but the general plan is to place two boards in 
 the shape of the letter A, and nail slats across them on both sides. 
 It is not very bad in mid-summer, but in early spring it is too open. 
 
 They should be boarded tight behind, and slats in front, running 
 up and down, j ust wide enough to keep the hens confined. (See cut.) 
 I think crooked backs are often caused by chicks squeezing through 
 the horizontal slats of their coop. The chicks should be kept warm 
 in the spring. 
 
 A CHEAP FEEDING-HOPPER. 
 
 " Here is a plan for a feeding-hopper, which can be made out of 
 old candle-boxes, for the want of a better thing. Take off the lid 
 and one side ; let the ends, bottom and one side remain ; cut a 
 small strip off one end of the lid, so that it will ^lip in between 
 the ends of the box, placing the lower edge one and a half inches 
 from the side, and an inch from the bottom ; the other edge of the 
 lid is to reach the top and outside corners of the ends, thus forming 
 
 a deep angular box, with aperture at the bottom. As shown in the 
 cut, the lid forms the slanting side B : C forms the trough where 
 the corn will descend down to it, when put into the angular box ; 
 then put hinges on the lid A ; the open part of the hopper has a 
 row (D) of slats two inches apart ; these slats should be brought 
 to the edge of the box, so that the fowls can just reach the bottom 
 of the angle ; the corn falls down as fast as the fowls pick it away." 
 Poultry Monthly.
 
 GROUP OF WYANDOTTE FOWLS. 
 
 PART II. 
 GENERAL CARE FOR HENS. 
 
 When fowls have full range of a farm, they will do well with 
 little extra care. Give them clean, warm shelters and plenty to eat, 
 and we will get eggs, and our stock will be healthy. It will do 
 to keep as many as fifty, if ample and suitable provisions are made 
 for the fowls to lay and roost without quarreling, and we do not 
 care to breed from any particular birds. But, as a general thing, a 
 cock and ten hens are enough for one locality. We can then, with 
 rare exceptions, depend upon the fertility of the eggs. Chickens 
 properly cared for, will be healthy and vigorous, grow faster, and 
 come nearer perfection. Many of the ills that the hen is heir to, 
 her diseases and deformities, come, to a greater extent than is gen- 
 erally supposed, directly or indirectly from being crowded ; and 
 this is probably the cause of more failures in the poultry business 
 than all others together. When confined in yards, this is still more 
 emphatically the case. It will be essential to provide the neces- 
 saries, comforts and luxuries of hen life. If for breeding, the 
 fowls should not be crowded to lay during the winter. They
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 2/ 
 
 should be fed with whole grain no meal or warm feed and little 
 meat, but more when saving the eggs for setting. The fowls will 
 then be more mature, and in vigorous, healthy condition. They 
 will impart this vigor and health to their chicks, and so we will 
 get our pay for previous loss of eggs. They must have warm, dry 
 and clean quarters. By warm, I mean free from sudden changes 
 of weather, and protected from the winds and draughts. I wish 
 to give the force of a full chapter to this one line 
 Protect the fowls from inclement -weather ! ! 
 
 During very cold, rainy or snowy weather, the fowls should be 
 shut in their houses, and not allowed out till the weather is better, 
 if they are shut up a full week. Keep strictly on guard against 
 VERMIN. 
 
 To the careless and negligent they are a great pest, and often so 
 to the careful man. The only safe way is to begin the fight before 
 they make their appearance. A great help, and almost a sure pre- 
 vention, is a good 
 
 DUST BATH. 
 
 In a broad, shallow box in the sun, if possible put coal ashes, 
 land piaster, road dust, or any dry earth, with some wood ashes 
 mixed in, if convenient, if unleached, not over one-sixth ; if 
 leached, not over one-fourth. A pound of powdered sulphur is a 
 great addition. If convenient, sift the coal ashes where the fowls 
 can pick out the coal, and roll in the ashes. Charcoal is excellent 
 for them. Throw down a bushel where they can go to it and eat 
 whenever they wish. In the winter, sand or gravel must be pro- 
 vided, where the hens do not have free run to an ash-heap. In 
 summer, spade up the ground often ; fresh earth is quite essential. 
 
 NESTS. 
 
 Sawdust, a sod or soil, with fine rowen spread over, are good. 
 My objection to .hay is, that it damages the manure by scattering 
 grass seed. Sprinkle sulphur in the nests when first made, and 
 every two weeks afterward, a teaspoonful to a nest. Tansy in the 
 nest the weed or the tincture of it is good to keep off vermin. 
 
 THE FEED 
 
 depends much upon the time of year ; whether confined or not ; 
 the variety of fowls ; and the object to be obtained. To be healthy, 
 they should have green food. If possible, give them a grass-run in 
 summer. If it cannot be given, extra care and attention must be 
 devoted to them to supply the loss In that case, and in winter, 
 give them some cabbage, turnips, beets, carrots or onions, chopped
 
 28 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 fine ; or a pumpkin cut in two, and let them pick it. Too much 
 onions will cause the eggs to taste of them, but for growing 
 chickens and breeding fowls they are excellent very appetizing. 
 If farmers would give their young turkeys more chopped onions, 
 and less raw meal, they wo,uld have more to sell on Christmas. 
 Indian corn makes the best staple food more in winter, and less 
 in summer in form of meal, with wheat middlings or bran, scalded, 
 in the morning, and in the kernel at night. Corn is very heating 
 and fattening. I would not give over half in the summer. Wheat, 
 oats or buckwheat make the best summer feed. Give to Brahmas 
 and Cochins less corn, in proportion, than to Hamburgs, Polands, 
 Leghorns or Spanish, as they tend more to fat. The morning meal 
 should consist of ground feed, scalded and wet up thick, with a 
 little salt, a teaspoonful to three quarts of feed. At noon give 
 light feeding of grain, and at night all they will run after. Do not 
 overfeed, but give enough. I believe I have never suffered from 
 feeding the smaller varieties of fowls all they will eat of whole grain. 
 The Brahmas and Cochins, if over two years old, are disposed to 
 put on fat, especially if confined in yards ; and can be overfed with 
 ground feed or corn. They die suddenly perhaps on the roost or 
 nest. In summer, fowls running at large should not be given so 
 much but that they will forage all day, if the weather is suitable. 
 For a change and only for a change give them cooked potatoes, 
 but they make very poor feed for winter, too cold. Give variety. 
 Fowls have a great appetite for meat, and should have it, in some 
 shape, especially when laying. For want of it they often get the 
 very bad habit of eating their eggs, or pulling feathers and eating 
 them. Give meat in small and regular quantities. Scatter well in 
 a clean place, so all can get some. Whenever it happens that hens 
 get fat and lazy, and, although well provided for laying, won't lay, 
 it sometimes does them good to warm them up a little with cayenne 
 pepper, or egg food. Give them, in their warm feed, one teaspoonful 
 of pepper to three quarts of feed. (See recipe for condition powders. 
 This recipe is selling, through the poultry papers, for fifty cents, 
 and is highly recommended.) Musty grain or musty feed of any 
 kind should be strongly guarded against. It is often the case that 
 a person will feed such light along, and not know it. He will lose 
 a fowl every few days, but will lay it to his ill luck ; whereas, if he 
 would smell of his hen feed once in a while, he would see he could 
 la} it to something else. I do not believe the value of 
 
 GROUND OYSTER SHELLS 
 
 is generally known. I consider them a very good egg food. The
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 29 
 
 shells are ground, now-a-days, expressly for hens. Keep a quantity 
 by them all of the time. They are very fond of them. I believe 
 they not only furnish the best of shell timber, but stir up the egg 
 organs, and tend to general health. Powdered or ground bone is 
 excellent. I have found it but little trouble to provide each yard 
 with two large stones and a bushel of shells, bones and broken 
 crockery, and about once a week go around and pound up what 
 they want. 
 
 WATER. 
 
 Fowls want to drink a little and often, and that which is clean. 
 If forced to it, they will drink almost anything. Many fowls are 
 most shamefully abused in this respect. Shut up in coops without 
 water, they run around in the blazing sun ; and when they get any- 
 thing to drink, they gorge themselves. Diseases are often brought 
 on in this way. A sudden change in the feed or general manage- 
 ment is very bad. Fowls will stand a change from good to ill, 
 better than a change from poor to good. It is death in many cases 
 to give fowls full run, or good feed, which have previously been 
 confined on bad, hard fare. 
 
 FEATHER EATING. 
 
 This is a very vexing habit or disease to get along with. A flock 
 of fowls with fine plumage will often, in a few days, be stripped of 
 small feathers. Some give one cause, and some another ; I have 
 seen more or less of it. I do not find fowls with a large grass-run 
 and meat diet, to pull feathers ; and those in the habit of it, give it 
 up when let out. I have observed that fowls when not laying will 
 not do it much, but when they commence to lay, it is reasonable 
 enough that they experience a demand for egg-forming material, 
 and must have it ; and again, they have nothing else to do. Give 
 them wide range, where they can scratch and eat grass ; or scatter 
 their grain among the sawdust and leaves of their pens, so they 
 will have to scratch for it. Keep them busy at something better. 
 
 " The feather-eater is after the salt contained in the blood at the 
 end of the quill. Birds fed with salt-seasoned food are never 
 feather-eaters." Useful Companion. 
 
 The following letter I think right to the point, as it contains very 
 practical suggestions on the subject of feather-eating : 
 
 GRAFTON, Mass., Jan. 2, 1884,, 
 G. M. T. Johnson, Binghamton, N. Y.: 
 
 DEAR SIR : I received the book you sent me all right, and find 
 it just what I was in need of. It is full of useful information for
 
 30 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 all persons who are keeping poultry for their own use, or raising it 
 for market. I find it treats in full on all points of raising, keeping 
 and marketing poultry. I consider the recipes are full worth the 
 price of the book. I hope you may have a large sale of this edition, 
 and then get up the fourth edition, and put in my recipe for curing 
 hens of eating feathers. It is this : Give them all the salt pork that 
 they will eat. It will not hurt them, but will stop their eating feathers. 
 The way to feed it to them, is to take a large piece and put it in a 
 rack, where they cannot get it into the dirt, and let them eat all they 
 will. All that there is bad about it \s finding the money to buy the 
 pork, at fourteen cents a pound ! I find it a sure cure for feather- 
 eating. I would not take twice the cost of my book if I could not 
 get another. 
 
 If this should be of any use to you, you may use it. 
 
 Yours, truly, ' M. P. S. 
 
 EGG EATING. 
 
 Properly this is a habit generally brought on by accident. The 
 hen lays a soft-shelled egg, or drops one in the yard, and it is acci- 
 dentally broken, and the hens eat it. In this way they get to break- 
 ing sound eggs and eating them. Fowls closely confined often will 
 do it, which with good range will stop. They too often learn the 
 trick by eating the shells thrown to them. The egg-shells should 
 be thoroughly crushed before given to the fowls. The only remedy 
 is to take away the hen, or she will teach the whole flock to do the 
 same. In general, the shortest and best way is to kill her. If she 
 is a valuable one for breeding, and we do not wish to kill her, 
 make her a nest of cloth sacking, or the like, drawn over a box. 
 Let the cloth sag, of course, in the middle. Cut a slit in the bot- 
 tom of the nest ; sew or tie a false egg in the nest for a nest-egg ; 
 under the box put straw, or something soft, for the egg to drop on, 
 and as soon as laid, it will roll down through the hole, and is safe ; 
 but as a general thing where fowls have full run, they will not be 
 troublesome in that way. 
 
 CARE FOR SITTING HENS AND EGGS. 
 Eggs designed for hatching should be collected as soon as laid, 
 especially in cold weather. They should be kept on soft material, 
 no one resting on another, and turned every day. Some say, large 
 end down ; and some say, small end down. The hen lays them on 
 the side, and I consider her good authority. They can be trans- 
 ported any distance and hatched, if packed carefully, and not too 
 long on the way, often across the ocean, or from Boston to San
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 31 
 
 Francisco. (See letter at end of this chapter.) Eggs will keep 
 from three to five weeks, and hatch. Much depends on the vitality 
 of the parent stock. Fresh eggs hatch quicker than old ones, and 
 make stronger chickens. Brahmasand Cochins make kind mothers, 
 but are generally considered too heavy. Games make good mothers. 
 They are light on their eggs, attentive to business, and take best of 
 care of their chicks. If \ve wish to move the hen, we must do it 
 carefully, at night. Let her sit a few days on common eggs, till she 
 gets well started, when it will do to give her high-priced ones. 
 Sprinkle the hen and eggs with sulphur two or three times during 
 incubation, but not for the last three days. Have feed, drink, gravel 
 and dust-bath handy. I often set hens in by-places in the outer- 
 yard, where they can have full range when off the nest. For the 
 first few days I keep a coop over them. After that I raise it so 
 they can go out and in, but I keep an eye on them. I tack a 
 piece of paper over each nest, telling the variety, and when the 
 brood comes off. During incubation the eggs should be wet often, 
 especially if the weather is dry, perhaps twice a week, excepting 
 when the nest is on the ground. Sprinkle them thoroughly on 
 the day before the brood comes off, and we will not have many 
 die in the shell. In many cases the inside shell gets too dry and 
 hard, and the little chicks can not get out. Notice the hen that 
 steals her nest. She will leave it and seek food in the morning, 
 when the grass is wet, and will go back with feathers dripping with 
 water. Should the nest get fouled in any way, take the hen off 
 carefully, and if necessary, wash her ; wash the eggs in blood-warm 
 water ; clean out the nest ; make a new one ; put back eggs and 
 hen, and the machine is in running order again. We do not try to 
 help the chickens out of the shell. It generally kills them. As a 
 general thing, it is best not to disturb the hen at all when hatching. 
 She can attend to her business better alone than as though she had 
 a clerk. If it is desired to raise many chickens, and the weather is 
 warm enough, we set two hens at the same time ; give all the chicks 
 to one hen, and give the other a new lot of eggs. See that she is 
 healthy, free from vermin, and the nest fresh and clean. Do not 
 give one hen so many chickens that she cannot cover them, if the 
 weather is cold. 
 
 HOW FAR CAN EGGS BE TRANSPORTED AND HATCH ? 
 
 I have often been asked this question, and have taken some 
 pains to know, as near as possible, what are the conditions of a 
 hatch after long transportation. During the past ten years I have 
 shipped eggs to almost every State in the Union, and different parts
 
 32 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 of Canada, and have received reports of hatch ; also by comparing 
 with other breeders, I have found to my satisfaction, at the present 
 time : ist, That early laid eggs, of February and March, are not as 
 sure as later, say April, May and June. 2d, I have found that 
 eggs from our larger fowls, tjie Cochins, Brahmas and Plymouth 
 Rocks are more uncertain than of the smaller varieties, Leghorns, 
 Games, and others. Especially are they uncertain if the cock be a 
 heavy, logy fellow ; and I think these facts, if they are facts, are due 
 to the inaction of the cock. I have observed that early in the spring, 
 before fowls run out much, cocks are quite stupid, but later, as soon 
 as the doors are open, and the fowls have a run out in the sunshine, 
 their lordships wake up to life. 
 
 There is but little trouble with our lighter varieties, if they are 
 ordinarily well mated ; and with our large fowls, if we would send 
 eggs to a distance, we should put only six or seven females with a 
 young cock, and then give them out-door run together. If not de- 
 siring a special mating. I would change the cock every few days. 
 If I am mistaken in my observations, I would be pleased to be set 
 right. The following extract from a letter to a poultry paper, on 
 the subject, will show that distance and eighteen days' time do not 
 make much difference, where eggs of the small varieties are all 
 right at home, and well packed : 
 
 "On the 26th of April, 1881, I received of Mr. JOHNSON, of Bing- 
 hamton, N. Y., three settings (thirty-nine) Brown Leghorn eggs. 
 The eggs were shipped at Binghamton, on the 8th of April. I re- 
 ceived them on the 26th day of the same month, after a voyage of 
 eighteen days, and a distance of about 4,000 miles including land 
 and water. On the iSth of May, 1881, my eggs hatched. One hen 
 brought out eleven chickens from thirteen eggs. Out of thirty-nine 
 eggs I raised twenty-three chickens, I believe as fine birds as ever 
 were hatched. Out of the twenty-three, I had ten pullets. On the 
 2Oth of October they began laying, and have continued ever since, 
 each one of them, at the rate of five eggs a week. This last remark 
 will, I think, suggest to you their constitution and health. I feel 
 quite certain that eggs obtained from No. i stock, thoroughly 
 packed, with non-conducting material, and otherwise properly at- 
 tended to, could safely be sent to New Zealand, either from San 
 Francisco or New York, by mail steamer. 
 
 Cowichan, B. C. WM. McKiNNON." 
 
 These eggs went by express to San Francisco, Cal., a distance of 
 3,000 miles ; thence by express to Victoria, Vancouver's Island 
 800 miles ; thence forty miles to Cowichan, British Columbia.
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 33 
 
 CARE FOR CHICKENS. 
 
 What is the cause of so great mortality among young chickens 
 and turkeys? It is the great complaint that so great percent of 
 them die before grown. The difference in the old hen's way and 
 our way of handling the young is very noticeable. If a careful 
 mother, she will remain on her nest till the grass is dry, if it is until 
 twelve o'clock ; especially is this the case with the turkey. Then 
 the troop will start off. She will find now a bug, now a piece of 
 grain or seed, next a worm ; so that in the brood there will be long 
 intervals between bits of food for each chick. The crop then con- 
 tains a great variety, and only a small amount. We will stir the 
 old hen up to let the chickens out for breakfast early, while it is yet 
 chilly, and the grass is wet. We then give them all they will eat of 
 raw corn meal and water, which must swell, and often gets sour 
 before it passes from the crop. All this is very wrong. The great 
 loss of young turkeys says so. As a rule, it is best to try to deal 
 with the chicks as the old hen or turkey does. Again : Our yards, 
 in many cases, are infected with the germs of gapes and cholera, 
 having been used a number of years for the rearing of chickens. 
 (See Chapter on Gapes and Cholera.) 
 
 As a general rule, 1 would say : Do not disturb the chickens for 
 the first twenty-four houis, if the hen will stay on the nest. They 
 will not take any hurt if they do not eat for the first forty-eight. 
 The most they need is brooding. At this period they get more 
 strength from it than from food. As a prevention of vermin, rub a 
 little fresh grease of any kind size of a pea on the top of the 
 chickens' heads or backs. Do not put sulphur on the hen or chicks. 
 It will get into their eyes and poison them. For the first week, 
 stale -bread soaked in milk or water, or hard-boiled eggs, chopped
 
 34 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 fine, is best. Feed onions, chopped fine, often, and let there be 
 handy some ground oyster shells or pieces of crockery pounded fine. 
 Indian meal, when uncooked, is bad for young chickens. It swells 
 and hardens in their crops. Indian pudding, seasoned with black 
 pepper, is good for first few w,eeks. Do not rout the little chickens 
 out in the morning before they wish to come, or let them out in the 
 wet, but feed little and "often, especially before they "retire." Do 
 not oblige the little chicks to stand out in the cold waiting for some- 
 thing to eat. As soon as they will eat it, I consider cracked corner 
 wheat better for chickens than meal. They do not waste as much, 
 it does not get sour, and we can have it near by them, so that we 
 are not obliged to feed so often. One common trouble is, that people 
 will feed little chickens in the morning, and not again till ten o'clock. 
 Then the little chick eats too much, starved one hour, and stuffed 
 the next. By this means the chickens become stunted or otherwise 
 diseased. Keep fresh water near, in dishes so shallow that they 
 will not drown Do not set the coop on the cold and damp ground. 
 If early in the season, put the coop in a barn or shed with a floor to it. 
 The little chicks need to be kept warm and dry. When they stand 
 on the cold ground all night, they are likely to be sick the next day, 
 and soon the whole brood will be dragging their wings on the ground 
 and peeping piteously, for a few days, when they will "shuffle off 
 this mortal coil !" Do not let them out-doors in the rain. It is a 
 mistake to put straw in the coop. The little chicks get their feet 
 entangled, and the hen treads on them. Fine coal ashes are good 
 in a coop. Later in the season, after the ground gets dry and warm, 
 put the coop on soft ground, if it is convenient, and sprinkle pow- 
 dered sulphur over the ground. Change the position often 
 
 It is not best to take the hen away from the chicks too early. As 
 long as they will brood, let them. Warmth, good brooding and 
 protection from the weather, are better for chicks than good food 
 and that is very essential. Many a promising lot is ruined by get- 
 ting chilled at night. As soon as the hen is taken away, the chicks 
 must be protected from the cold. It is a good plan to put the hen 
 and chickens in the house where you wish them to stay after they 
 are weaned. They will run out from there, and when the hen leaves 
 them they will huddle together, and so keep warm. Do not fur- 
 nish them roosts. Oblige them to sit on the floor till nearly grown. 
 Crooked breast-bones are often caused by roosting too young. 
 
 A great mistake, often made, is the trying to raise too many 
 chickens on the same range of ground. Many or few, they will 
 wander about so far away from the coop, and no farther.. The
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 35 
 
 ground over which they run will furnish, spontaneously, about so 
 much in the form of bugs and worms, which are so conducive to the 
 health of the chicks. If this is divided among a large flock, each 
 will get only a small portion ; the larger ones will tread on the 
 smaller, and the chicks will grow slowly, and be inferior. 
 
 It is sometimes well to let the hen have full range, and some- 
 times not well. She will pick up many little luxuries for her 
 chicks, but if she is a roamy, uneasy body, she will worry them 
 to death by dragging them around. As soon as possible, cull out 
 all inferior and defective ones, thus giving their room to others. 
 Select such fowls as are wanted for keeping over, but a person 
 must be well experienced to be able to judge before nearly grown. 
 Many an awkward, inferior-looking chick develops into a fine bird 
 of his kind : especially is this the case with Brahmas and Cochins. 
 Allow two or three extra in case of accident or death. As soon as 
 the young cockerels begin to worry the hens and pullets, it is best 
 to put them in a yard by themselves. For the larger varieties 
 Brahmas and Cochins it is best to set early, say in March, as it 
 takes so much longer for the chicks to mature. March and April 
 chicks do better than later ones. They are large enough, when the 
 ground opens, to make war on bugs and worms, which are then so 
 plenty, and so conducive to the growth of the chicks. They get 
 well feathered out by the time nights are cold in the fall. They are 
 salable in market in July, when prices are high. May and June 
 chickens do well, but August and September chickens are, gener- 
 ally speaking, too late. Perhaps this chapter will explain why it 
 is not profitable to raise fowls in large numbers on one place. 
 TO MAKE HENS LAY. 
 
 Many seem to think there should be something out of the ordi- 
 nary line of management, when we wish to mak-e hens lay, whereas 
 they need nothing that has not been given under other heads. 
 They should be perfectly healthy, and well provided with good, 
 rich food, and clean drink, say a warm breakfast and dinner of 
 meal and wheat middlings or buckwheat middlings. This should 
 be scalded. Egg food or cayenne pepper, a teaspoon even full to 
 a quart of feed, well stirred in, will help. A mixture of whole 
 grain, corn, oats, buckwheat, &c., should be given them at night. 
 With these the fowls should have fresh meat in moderate quantities, 
 and green food, if not grass, then cabbage, potatoes, etc., chopped; 
 and gravel, sand, oyster shells and broken crockery. If warmly 
 housed, clean and healthy young fowls ought to lay with this treat- 
 ment.
 
 36 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 TO KEEP HENS FROM LAYING. 
 
 This sounds like a very singular subject. It is, however, some- 
 times necessary to make a little extra work to keep fowls in check 
 during molting, and at a time unseasonable for breeding, wishing to 
 reserve their strength to a more opportune season. 
 
 Give no soft, warm feed ; whole grain entirely. Provide them no 
 good places for nests ; break them up if they make any. Hens will 
 not lay much under these circumstances. When the right time 
 comes, give them nests ; make things look tidy and inviting ; give 
 them some luxuries, and they will soon be down to business. 
 
 TO STOP HENS SITTING. 
 
 Confine them in an elevated coop, with slat bottom, where they 
 will be obliged to roost, and cannot brood. Feed very sparingly of 
 meal, strong with egg food or cayenne pepper. Light feeding till 
 she stops clucking ; or, if not particular as to what cock she runs 
 with, a good plan is to put a vigorous cockerel in a yard alone, 
 where there is no place for a hen to sit, and when we wish to break 
 up a sitting hen, put her in with him. This yard might be called 
 the Reformatory. 
 
 TO INDUCE HENS TO SIT. 
 
 It is a very uncommon state of things on the farm, when the hens 
 forget their time to sit. Some of the smaller breeds, however, seem 
 to have lost their calendar, and require special inducements to stop 
 laying and commence sitting. By furnishing good nests, where they 
 are undisturbed, and leaving their eggs in their nests, they will soon 
 take to them. They must not be disturbed much, or they will leave 
 them. I have in this way obtained sitters from Leghorns, and even 
 Hamburghs, which have the reputation of never wanting to sit. 
 
 TO MARK FOWLS. 
 
 It is often very desirable to mark young chickens and turkeys of 
 certain matings, and to be able to know one's own fowls in the fall. 
 For that, a mark on the foot is about the best. The most approved 
 plan is to punch a small hole in the web of the foot, between the 
 toes, as soon as taken from the nest. One lot can have the mark 
 between the first and second toe of right foot ; another lot, between 
 certain other toes. Keep the account in a book. Another way is, 
 to cut the nail off a certain toe. This is not very painful, and is an 
 unmovable mark.
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 37 
 
 MATING FOWLS FOR BREEDING. 
 
 The quality of our next year's stock depends largely on the judg- 
 ment of the persons who select the cocks and hens for their re- 
 spective yards. There should be a positive idea of what is wanted, 
 and with an understanding of what marks or characteristics a fowl 
 will be likely to transmit to its chicks, we can make our selections 
 
 If we are breeding for choice stock, and wish to get standard 
 fowls, we should select, as near as possible, standard birds to begin 
 with. It is hard breeding up. The tendency is down. A poor 
 comb, bad plumage, discolored legs, and other bad marks of a cock 
 or hen, will appear on the chicks. Perhaps a few will be well 
 marked, but in the chicks of the next year the defects will likely 
 appear. It is better to begin with a pair of birds whose parent stock 
 for generations back are right, than to use a yard which are "off," 
 and try to bring them up. 
 
 As to how many hens to let run with one cock, will depend on 
 the vitality of the cock ; and we must judge from actual observation 
 in each individual case. Some will do better with fifteen hens than 
 others will with five ; but, as a general thing, six or eight hens are 
 enough. The vitality of the chicks often depends on the vitality of 
 the cock. If from a yard where there is an active cock and six or 
 eight healthy hens, the chicks will be strong and vigorous ; but 
 from a yard of fifteen hens with one cock, many of the eggs will be 
 worthless, and those that do hatch will be puny and die off, one 
 after another, before they are grown. 
 
 One peculiarity of the Asiatic breeds is, that cocks, after the 
 first year, sometimes get heavy and logy probably by an excess of 
 fat and are not sure breeders longer than one year. Especially is 
 this the case with the Partridge Cochins and Langshans. There has 
 been a good deal of complaint of these varieties, in that one respect. 
 I do not consider a cock safe after the first season. He may be all 
 right, but the eggs must be given a trial before we can tell. 
 
 Some breeders claim that the cock, more than the hen, gives 
 color and markings to the chicks, and the hen gives more size, 
 form and useful qualities. The "in-and-in" system of breeding is 
 strongly condemned. That is, mating a cock or hen with its own 
 chicks ; or mating fowls of one flock, old and young, promiscuously 
 year after year. It will do for a few years, and is resorted to, at 
 certain times, to bring out certain qualities of a particular bird, but 
 as a general thing, it is denounced. The chicks are weaker, and 
 more deformed. For health, we can bring in new blood occasion- 
 ally, but it must be done carefully. We must see that the new
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 39 
 
 blood is all right, and from a high family, before introducing it. 
 The question is being discussed, pro and con, by good breeders on 
 each side, whether hens that have been with cocks of other breeds, 
 will ever breed true after. Some claim that her blood is tainted, 
 and that she will be liable to throw feathers and marks of the for- 
 eign stock at any time. Others, and the majority, say it will make 
 no difference after she has commenced a new litter of eggs. I have 
 never observed any hurt in hens mixing up in the fall. 
 
 We are often asked, " How can I get a greater percentage of 
 pullets in my hatchings?" It is noted among poultry breeders, 
 that a large percentage of early hatched chickens are males, and 
 late hatched chickens are females. It is a theory from our grand- 
 mothers down, that long eggs produce cockerels, and short eggs 
 produce pullets. It may be well to try it. Some say, Hold the egg 
 up to the light, and if the air-cell in the large end is in the point of 
 the shell, it will hatch a cockerel, but if on one side, a pullet ; but 
 it is allowed by breeders generally that there is no sure way to tell. 
 
 MATING FOWLS FOR EGGS. 
 
 It is well understood that certain breeds of fowls are better 
 adapted for eggs, and others for flesh. It is also well understood 
 that cross-breeding often brings out the good qualities of both, to a 
 greater or less extent ; makes a stronger and more thrifty fowl. 
 Generally speaking, the small breeds of fowls are better for eggs 
 than the larger ones. The Spanish and the Leghorns are excellent 
 layers ; so are the Hamburghs, but they are rather tender. A cross 
 between any of them will make good layers, and perhaps more 
 hardy than either parent. Hamburgh is good to cross with Dom- 
 inique, Leghorn or Spanish fowls. A Dominique cock with Leg- 
 horn or Spanish fowls is excellent. 
 
 (See Chapter on Crossing, in the latter part of this book.) 
 
 MATING FOWLS FOR FLESH. 
 
 I think a cross between either of the Brahma varieties and an}' 
 of the Cochins is good ; or a Plymouth Rock cock with either 
 Brahma or Cochin. The chicks are very thrifty, hardy, and grow 
 to be of good size. In mating for flesh, it is not best to use a black 
 or a blue legged fowl. As a general rule, I believe the yellow leg 
 indicates hardiness ; besides, the flesh of yellow-legged fowls ap- 
 pears best in market, and brings the best prices. 
 
 (These remarks do not apply to Turkeys. Any color departing 
 from the deep bronze indicates weakness.)
 
 40 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 A cross between the Leghorn and Light Brahma increases the 
 size of the former, and laying qualities of the latter. 
 
 TURKEYS. 
 
 About the tenderest bird.,when young is a turkey. A little dew 
 or a few drops of rain applied externally, or a little uncooked food 
 internally, will often kill it. When old, it will roost on the roof of 
 a barn or in an old apple tree, in January, and glory in it. It re- 
 quires a person of peculiar tact to raise turkeys : one who is willing 
 to cook for them, and soak their feed, and nurse them. I think it 
 is best to set the eggs under hens, as they are less inclined to wander. 
 I would not disturb the hen till she is ready to come off, or allow 
 any handling of the young turkeys. They require great care till 
 they have put off their downy covering. 
 
 After twenty-four or thirty-six hours, it is best to remove them to 
 a dry, warm place, and give them their first meal, which should 
 consist of bread crumbs soaked in milk. This, and hard-boiled 
 eggs chopped fine, should make up their chief food for the first two 
 weeks. Onions chopped fine will be good for them, and they 
 relish them. I have succeeded best by feeding bread made of 
 Indian meal and wheat middlings soaked in milk, until the turkey 
 is six or eight weeks old. It does not harden or swell in their 
 crops, and young turkeys are very fond of it. Uncooked meal is 
 almost poisonous to them. It hardens and sours in their crops. 
 Sour milk, especially the soft curd, is good for fowls of all ages. 
 Let them have a supply of finely-pounded crockery or oyster shells 
 always near them. Keep them from the damp. It is sure death ! 
 Put the coop on a dry, barren spot of ground or floor, in a board 
 pen about two feet high. Do not allow the little turkeys outside 
 of this, except in bright, clear weather, after the dew is off. When 
 the turkey is six or eight weeks old, it is comparatively safe, but 
 requires care till it "puts out the red." It is a very unwise plan 
 to allow turkeys or any other fowls to roost out-of-doors in winter. 
 To withstand the cold, they require more food for fuel. They are 
 reduced in flesh, and will be later in the spring about laying. Be- 
 sides, they sometimes make good dinners for parties with whom 
 you have made no contract to furnish a fat turkey, and who never 
 call to say, "Thank you !" 
 
 GEESE. 
 
 A rough shed with no floor, so that the geese can sit on the bare 
 ground, perhaps littered with chaff or the like, is a suitable place 
 ior geese, which should be kept in small flocks, allowing a gander
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 4H 
 
 to only three geese. Sometimes three are too many to insure fer- 
 tility of eggs. Breeding geese are better after three or four years 
 old. The gander should be older. Eggs from young geese do not 
 hatch well. If well fed during the winter, geese will lay early in. 
 March from a half-dozen to a dozen eggs, generally two or three 
 litters in a season. They commonly lay at night, or if not watched 
 will drop their eggs in the pasture or water, three or four eggs a 
 week. A goose sits thirty-one days. She should have a separate 
 apartment where she will not be disturbed, as she is a very cross 
 and unpleasant bird to handle if disturbed, and is liable to destroy 
 her tender young. 
 
 For the first two or three weeks after the goslings are hatched, 
 they should be kept away from the water and the hot rays of the sun. 
 Treat them as young turkeys, as they are very tender when young. 
 They relish fresh, green grass or cabbage leaves chopped fine. 
 They should not go in the water for swimming for the first ten days, 
 and after that only for a short time, and when the water is warm. 
 After the first month it will do to let them run in the pasture with 
 the old birds. Geese must have a good grass range. They will 
 not thrive in confinement. An old, worn-out pasture, with a stream 
 running through it, or a wet, soggy meadow, is a paradise for geese, 
 and they will want but little grain. They like water for swimming, 
 but will get along with but little, if not convenient. When they 
 are to be fattened for market, they should be comparatively con- 
 fined for about three weeks, and fed high on cooked corn mea^ 
 and vegetables once in three days. Meat scraps chopped fine, and 
 potatoes chopped fine, make a good change. Milk is excellent. 
 When at their best, kill them, as they soon fall away. In winter, 
 give the goose plenty of cabbage, chopped potatoes, apples or most 
 any vegetables. They will do much better than if confined to grain, 
 away from grass or any herbs. 
 
 DUCKS. 
 
 They will do well if treated the same as hens. It is not neces- 
 sary that they should have water for swimming, although it helps 
 them keep clean, and they enjoy it; but are easily reared in the 
 back yard the same as chickens, and require about the same treat- 
 ment when young. For breeding, a drake should not be allowed 
 more than three or four ducks. They like to retire at night under 
 an old shed or barn, but can be taught to come into a house with 
 hens, if desired. They lay very early in the morning, generally, 
 and wherever they stay at night. The)' are very careless about that.
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 43 
 
 If they are let out before laying, they will drop their eggs wherever 
 they happen to be on land or in the water. For that reason, it is 
 not best to let them out early. It will sometimes be necessary to 
 keep them in till eleven or twelve o'clock. They will not lay it up 
 against us, as they have a very forgiving disposition, and will come 
 into their apartments at night, if fed there. It is bad to have them 
 get irregular habits, and for the owner not to know where they 
 spend their nights. They are then a very easy prey to the evil one, 
 in the shape of the fox, skunk, weasle, owl or snake. We must 
 give them a place to hide when they lay. They are quite prolific, 
 with good care, and many consider them more profitable than hens. 
 They will stand more banging round than hens, and yet be very 
 cheerful over it. For this reason, I think, many people like them. 
 It is a better way to set the eggs under a hen. She will not lead 
 them to the water, and they should not go there till six weeks old. 
 They are apt to drown, are killed by snakes, or otherwise injured. 
 After six weeks it will not hurt them, part of the time. It will do 
 to pick them when their feathers are ripe, the same as geese ; but 
 we cannot expect many eggs during that time. It is not safe to let 
 grown ducks run with little chickens, unless they have a good sup- 
 ply of meat, or are muzzled. They don't think much of the rights 
 of others, and will eat chickens the same as they would frogs. 
 A duck has no conscience. 
 
 TO PICK GEESE AND DUCKS. 
 
 In a close room, to prevent the feathers from flying. Draw a 
 stocking over the head and neck, to prevent biting. Hold their 
 wings tightly, to prevent their striking, as they give severe blows. 
 Do not pick till the feathers are ripe. They will be clear and free 
 from blood. While growing, the quill is filled with bloody sub- 
 stances, and is unfit for use, as there will be so much dead matter 
 in the quill. Take all the small feathers. Do not pluck the large 
 feathers that support the wings. Let them have plenty to eat, to 
 keep up the supply, and do not pluck so late in the fall as to en- 
 danger the health and thrift of the fowls. Let them have a dry, 
 warm place, after each picking, to keep them from the wet and cold.
 
 PART III. 
 DISEASES. 
 
 Diseases are not natural, in the main, to the well-kept fowl. 
 They are some of the accompaniments of domestication. In the 
 first place, the fowl, by being confined or restrained at all, suffers 
 to just the extent that its freedom is good for it. Again, while at 
 liberty they are scattered over a large tract ; in confinement they are 
 brought together, and kept together, more or less. Here they suffer 
 again. A fowl in confinement is kept on the same grounds through- 
 out the year, and for years in succession, breathing the poisonous 
 gases arising from the foul grounds and surroundings, which after 
 a while become infected. These observations are in regard to all 
 yards, no matter how well kept : but these ills can be alleviated 
 much by attention to the necessities of the fowls, such as cleanli- 
 ness, in all its phases, including change of grounds. Here is the 
 advantage of small houses for summer use, which can be moved to 
 fresh grounds. 
 
 These removals, from the wild, free-and-easy nature of the bird 
 tell on its constitution, and it is more subject to disease, even in 
 the best-kept yards. But in the majority of cases, fowls do not 
 have these conveniences. Their constitutional rights are violated 
 in the grossest manner. Crowded together, their apartments are 
 cleaned once a year, at corn-planting ; kept from the fresh grass, 
 which in freedom it has every hour in the day ; kept from the fresh 
 water and fresh soil ; fed at intervals of from six to twelve hours, 
 when it is allowed to gorge itself with slops and swill one day, and 
 dry corn the next ; kept in the hot sun in summer, and in draughts 
 of air in winter, can we wonder that our domestic poultry are 
 weaker? But the advantages of the wild over the domestic fowl 
 are, in well-kept yards, more than over-balanced by the extra care 
 and attention given them. 
 
 But for the greed, the carelessness, the laziness and poor judg- 
 ment of men, this chapter on diseases would be short. It is by ill 
 treatment in the process of domestication that most of them come. 
 It is claimed that the wild turkey, goose, duck, quail, snipe, prairie 
 hen, woodcock or partridge has not been captured with these disor- 
 ders. It follows that the wrong is with the handling of the fowls ; 
 hence I class nearly all the ills the domestic fowl is subject to, as
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 45 
 
 OF ACCIDENT AND MISMANAGEMENT. 
 
 Success in raising poultry largely depends on a correct under- 
 standing of the diseases, and in some way avoiding them. A sick 
 hen is a very unpromising subject, and the hen doctor rarely gets 
 pay for his pills and physic. As a general thing, the best remedy is 
 to kill it. " But," says the reader, " what is the use of this chapter?" 
 Just this: A disease foreseen and warded off is better than as 
 though handled and cured. The adage, " An ounce of prevention 
 is better than a pound of cure," is especially applicable in the hen- 
 nery, for the reason that most of the ills are avoidable, with a little 
 attention. I give it as a general rule, that a fowl well cared for will 
 not be sick ; and when it is, it is better to look for the cause, and 
 the cure will suggest itself. There are little indispositions which 
 fowls sometimes exhibit, which are precursors of serious trouble 
 in the hen-yard, which, if taken in time, can be righted with little 
 trouble ; but if allowed to run till indisposition becomes a settled 
 disease, it is a poor case, and does not pay unless it is a valuable 
 one for breeding or exhibition to try to doctor it much; besides 
 the risk of spreading a bad disorder. 
 
 In many of the following cases, the remedy will suggest itself, 
 and I do not mention it : 
 
 First Hens called non-sitters, of which are the Spanish, Leg- 
 horn, Andilusian and Hamburgh, do not need any crowding to 
 make them lay. Sometimes they need to be held back, for health. 
 Many times they are forced with warm feed and pepper, though 
 molting, and fail under the process lay themselves to death. 
 
 Second Hens called sitters, or those predisposed to fat of 
 which are the Brahmas, Cochins and Langshans are overfed with 
 meal and corn, and not enough of wheat, oats, buckwheat, grass 
 and the like. They are taken with apoplexy or leg-weakness, or 
 can not drop the egg, and die on the nest ; or by confinement and 
 good feed, they put on an excess of fat, and lead a life of idleness. 
 As a general rule, the heavy fowls over two years old are unprofitable. 
 
 Third By harsh handling, falling or other accident, or not having 
 access to shell-forming material, an egg is broken before laid, and 
 death is the result. If the fowl is in good condition at such a time, 
 a teaspoonful of castor oil, by injection, will work the wreck away. 
 
 Fourth A few small hens are put with a heavy, vigorous cock, 
 and are killed. 
 
 Fifth Some are quarrelsome, and worry others to death. 
 
 Sixth They do not have a good, clean dust-bath, and green food,
 
 46 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 and are troubled with vermin, and lose their feathers here is the 
 cause of much disappointment in poultry keeping. 
 
 Seventh They do not have animal food and grass run, and they 
 eat their own eggs and feathers. 
 
 Eighth They go without water, perhaps, one day, and have plenty 
 the next ; or they have foul water to drink all of the time. 
 
 Ninth They eat filthy and poisonous matter, or do not have a 
 change of diet. 
 
 Tenth They do not have good shelter from the rain, wind and 
 blazing sun. 
 
 Eleventh Their apartments are badly ventilated, and they are 
 forced to breathe bad air. They are good subjects for cholera, 
 roup, rheumatism, gapes, and canker. 
 
 Twelfth Crooked backs and wry tails are caused by some hurt ; 
 many times, I think, by squeezing between the slats of a coop. For 
 that reason, the slats should run up and down. (See Chapter on 
 Coops.) Many times by having been picked or trod upon by larger 
 fowls ; or jumping from roosts ; or, strange as it may seem, by eat- 
 ing corn in the kernel when too young In many cases these defor- 
 mities are hereditary. In-and-in breeding will produce it often, as 
 well as knock-knees, crooked feet and toes, and other deformities. 
 
 Thirteenth Clump-foot is often caused by jumping down too 
 far from roost, and striking too solidly on the ball of the foot. 
 The swelling can be opened and the core taken out, but the foot 
 will always be tender, and will soon swell up again. 
 
 Fourteenth Roup, frozen feet and combs, and other ills, are 
 brought on by the fowls running out in the cold, windy and rainy 
 weather ; standing in the rain or snow, or roosting where the wind 
 blows on them, or in a damp, cold place. 
 
 Fifteenth Limbs broken by sticks, stones, dogs or otherwise, can 
 be cared for by shutting the fowl by itself, where it will be quiet. 
 Give plenty and variety to eat, and the fracture will heal itself. 
 
 Sixteenth High feed, and sudden change of feed in hot weather, 
 will often produce diarrhoea or cholera. 
 
 Seventeenth By purpose or accident, cocks get together and 
 bruise each other badly before separated. The result is often dis- 
 figurement for life, and sometimes death. 
 
 Eighteenth Fowls are often confined in exhibition coops at fairs, 
 in close rooms, for several days, and do not live long after they are 
 let out. The change, confinement, want of gravel and other things 
 which they were accustomed to have, and the change back, were 
 too much.
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 47 
 
 The foregoing relates to ills brought on by inattention. I am sat- 
 isfied, from further observation, that much of the seeming inatten- 
 tion is carried to such an extreme that a chapter would more prop- 
 erly be headed 
 
 Disease and Death brought on by Cupidity and Cussedness. 
 It is a fact, that so strong is the desire on the part of some to get 
 something from nothing, or bring profit from dead carcasses, that 
 they will knowingly let their stock eat the fowls and animals dying 
 of disease on their places when they know that, in less than 
 twenty-four hours, the substances which a fowl swallows will be 
 worked over into eggs or flesh. Who will say it is healthy flesh or 
 eggs? The accompanying letter is so to the point that I publish it, 
 and give it so hearty an " Hamen !" as would give me one of the 
 best seats at a Georgia camp-meeting : 
 
 WEBSTER, MONROE Co., N. Y., March 28, 1885. 
 Mr. G. M . T. Johnson, Binghamton, N. Y. : 
 
 DEAR SIR : Your " PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING" has come to 
 hand. I have not yet had time to give it a careful reading, but have 
 found good ideas, and much practical information that meets my 
 hearty approval. 
 
 On the last page you "invite all poultry-keepers " to write to you. 
 I do not claim that the above invitation is extended to me, for I am 
 not what might be called a " poultry-keeper," but a small farmer 
 who keeps poultry for profit, the profit mostly coming from the 
 sale of fresh eggs to consumers during the winter. A basement 
 under my barn, with cow-stables and hen-roost attached, make a 
 fine run for fowls in cold winter weather, and I find them the best 
 investment on the farm. 
 
 In speaking of diseased fowls, on page 39, you say: "There is 
 only one remedy that is any way satisfactory, viz., the hand-axe and 
 chopping-block." This has been my experience and practice ; but 
 to prevent "spreading the disease," the decapitated fowl, head in- 
 cluded, should be buried so deep that it would not be resurrected 
 should Gabriel sound his trumpet ! instead of being thrown down 
 in the barn-yard for the fowls and hogs to devour, as very many 
 farmers would do. Some farmers, whose cattle or horses have died 
 from disease or accident, have left the carcass in the yard as food 
 for their ho^s and fowls, and they the farmers and their families 
 have in turn eaten the fowls and swine. 
 
 Is it any wonder that we have so many hoggish bipeds among us? 
 Any wonder that scrofulous and cancerous diseases are on the in-
 
 48 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 crease? Any wonder that trichina and kindred diseases infest our 
 animal food ? All animals dying from disease fowls included 
 should be deeply buried, or decomposed with lime or acids, and 
 converted into fertilizers. 
 
 And this reminds me of a workhouse boy who had been appren- 
 ticed to a farmer, and who, after six or eight months, returned to 
 the workhouse, when the following dialogue took place between 
 the guardian and the boy : 
 
 "Did they beat you?" "No, sir." 
 
 " Then why did you run away?" 
 
 " Please sir, soon after I got there, a pig died ; they salted it, 
 and we had to eat it. Then a calf died, and they salted it, and we 
 had fur to eat that too. Then master's grandmother died, and I 
 seed 'em taking some salt to her room ! and I run'd away." 
 
 Now I cannot believe that any farmer is degraded enough to eat 
 flesh from diseased dead animals, but it is a fact that some eat the 
 flesh of animals and fowls that have fed on diseased dead animals. 
 It should be forcibly impressed on the minds of all farmers, that 
 leaving dead animals on the surface, to be devoured by other ani- 
 mals, is a filthy, dangerous, disease-producing, tinlawf id practice. 
 
 All of the above you thoroughly understand, and I merely call it 
 to your mind, so that if you think proper, you will mention it in 
 your fifth edition. 
 
 Yours, for Progress and Improvement, 
 
 LYMAN WALL. 
 
 In all of these cases the first thing to be used is a little common 
 sense. Look for the cause, and check it at once. The appearance 
 of the comb of a fowl is a good indication of its condition. When 
 large and red, the hen is in a thrifty state of health, and her organs 
 in a high state of activity. But when it is purple or pale, we must 
 look out for disease. Under this head, I might appear to be very 
 wise, as some others, and give remedies for every disease, but, like 
 them, I would be obliged when questioned closely, to say, the hen 
 died. I am frank to say, that after disease has fastened itself on a 
 fowl, considering the comparatively little value, the risk of spread- 
 ing the disease, and the trouble, expense and unpleasantness of 
 treating her, that there is one, and only one remedy that is any way 
 satisfactory, and that is so simple, so quick, and so effective, I can 
 give it a high recommend as the best known, and the one which I 
 commonly follow. Here it is 
 
 [See next page .]
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 49 
 
 But ninety cases of disease out of every hundred are brought on 
 by one of these three causes : ist, Exposure to winds, cold, rain or 
 hot sun ; 2d, Too sudden change of diet ; 3d, Filthy water, food, 
 apartments, and bad air. 
 
 If it is decided to doctor the fowl taken with any disease, let it 
 be at once removed to quarters by itself. Before dosing, we must 
 be fully settled in our own minds what the trouble is, and then at- 
 tend to it. It will not do to risk the rest of the flock. If we do 
 not find out what is the matter, and the disease does not seem far 
 advanced, we give the fowl comfortable quarters alone, with sun- 
 light and fresh earth, but nothing to eat or drink until the question 
 as to what ib the matter, is settled. Many times this alone will set 
 the fowl right after a few days. Perhaps all she needed was rest, 
 and to give her bowels rest. Should the disease prove to be cholera 
 or roup, the hand-axe is the only thing that should be called for. 
 I believe the majority of poultrymen will agree with me when I say, 
 there are more fowls lost by a delay in using the axe than were ever 
 saved by all the medicines known. The three diseases, 
 
 PARASITES ROUP, AND CHOLERA, 
 
 cover most of the ailments of the fowl, as known to this country. 
 Parasites we class among the diseases. It is the proper place for it. 
 Under this head come Gapes, Body Lice, and Mites. 
 
 GAPES 
 
 are caused by a little worm, of a light red color, in the fowl's wind- 
 pipe. Each worm is double, the male and female together, some- 
 what in the form of a letter Y, about seven-eighths of an inch long, 
 the male strongly attached to the female by means of a strong mem- 
 branous sucker. The heads, when magnified, appear to be all 
 mouth, by which they attach themselves to the lining of the wind- 
 pipe, with a sucker-like grip. These worms lay eggs in great num- 
 bers, which are found attached to their bodies. Just where the gape 
 worm came from, or how or when these eggs are hatched, no one 
 knows. Some say the worm is produced from the parasite of the
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 body, which finds its way to the wind-pipe, and takes the form of 
 the worm. But that does not seem probable. One thing writers 
 seem to be agreed on : That chickens raised on old grounds, where 
 chickens years before had the gapes, are subject to them, when on 
 new grounds, or grounds not previously infected with them, were 
 free from them. Dr. Dickie says : " I have known the gapes to be 
 very troublesome on one side of a public road, while on the other 
 side the broods were not afflicted, for several successive years, but 
 the disease finally made its way across the road, carried, probably 
 by the chicks themselves from one side to the other." It would 
 seem that the soil on which gapey chickens had lived was dangerous 
 ground. 
 
 Symptoms. At short intervals the chick throws up its head and 
 gasps for breath is choked. 
 
 Remedy. Like all other fowl diseases, it is much more difficult 
 than the prevention. A much approved plan is to take a feather ; 
 strip it to within half an inch of the tip ; double this tip over, so as 
 to draw the worms out, instead of pushing them down ; dip it in 
 kerosene, turpentine, or carbolic-acid water, and put it down the 
 wind-pipe, which, by opening the mouth, will be seen at the base of 
 the tongue. Turn it round and draw it out. It will probably bring 
 some worms with it. Do so two or three times. 
 
 The object of dipping the feather in the kerosene, turpentine or 
 carbolic-acid water is, to kill whatever worms may be left, and the 
 chick can throw them out. A horse-hair, made in the form of a 
 loop, is often used. Destroy by fire all worms extracted. All 
 chicks which die with this disease, should be burned or buried 
 deeply, away from the yards. Many are very careless about leaving 
 the bodies of chickens dying by disease, round the yards. Gapes 
 are rather a result of neglect, one time or another. 
 
 One of the most approved remedies is fumigation. Put some 
 carbolic acid in an iron dish, and hold it over a fire. When the 
 fumes from the heated acid arise, hold the chick's head in it. It 
 will nearly suffocate it, but that is what will cause it to expel the 
 worm. Sulphur, spirits of turpentine or creosote, are also used. 
 
 A person told me that he could cure a brood of chicks, all at the 
 same time, by placing them in a tight box, and blowing tobacco 
 smoke through a small hole. They must be watched to see that 
 they are not suffocated. 
 
 Sometimes the wind-pipe is opened from the outside, with a sharp 
 knife, and the worms removed, and the outer skin (only) sewed up 
 
 Another remedy is to confine the chicks in a tight box, and sift
 
 52 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 some air-slacked lime through a piece of coarse muslin. This, too, 
 will cause the bird to sneeze and expel the worm. 
 
 Douglass' Mixture in the water, when no other medicine is used, 
 is good as a preventive. (See recipes.) A little camphor in the 
 drinking water is good, only, enough to give it a pleasant camphor 
 taste. 
 
 As a general thing, however, it does not pay to try to dose chick- 
 ens. Give them good, healthy grounds and food, and fresh water, 
 and they will thrive. 
 
 SCURVY LEGS ' 
 
 are now known to be caused by a parasite working under the scales 
 of a fowl's legs. Wash well with strong soap suds, and when dry, 
 rub with an ointment made of lard, sulphur and kerosene, every 
 week till healed. Do not tear off the scales. They will come off. 
 Wash again in soap-suds, or turn on kerosene once a week, till re- 
 moved. Two applications will generally be sufficient. 
 
 VERMIN. 
 
 There are two kinds which feed on the body of the hen : The 
 ordinary hen louse, which sticks close to the body, and the hen mite, 
 sometimes called a spider. It is very small, and hardly noticeable, 
 unless looked for sharply. It is of a grey color, excepting when 
 full of blood, when it is red. It is properly the offspring of neglect 
 and filth, and seldom seen in a flock of fowls when at large, and not 
 crowded in their house. They are a hot-weather insect or bug, sel- 
 dom troublesome at any other time. They do not live on the body 
 of the fowl, but go on them, commonly at night while on the roost, 
 to get their food. They are properly the hen bed-bug. They live 
 in the cracks of the building, on the roost, floors and sides of the 
 building, and in the nests. They will gather in large blotches ; 
 when full, these blotches look red. They will often take possession 
 of adjoining stables, and get on horses and cows, which will rub 
 themselves until they bleed, under the torture of the little pests. 
 It is a very difficult task to get them off a horse or cow. I know 
 one case where it cost fifteen dollars to get them off a horse, after it 
 had disfigured itself badly by rubbing. It does not seem to dis- 
 commode them if the fowls are all taken from the building. If the 
 weather is warm they will wait, I think, for months, and be ready 
 any day for business. In the summer of 1883, I had a house which 
 was infested with these mites. The fowls were all taken out Aug. 
 4th, and no other fowls allowed to occupy the house. From week 
 to week I examined the building, which was shut up for the express 
 purpose of testing how long the mites would live. They were there
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 53 
 
 and came out of the cracks, but in diminished numbers, every time 
 I rapped on the boards, till winter. I rapped at their home again 
 on a warm day in April, after a long, cold winter, the mercury at 
 times having been 30 degrees below zero, and they came out to see 
 what was the matter, running round as lively as in the summer be- 
 fore ; but as I looked at them through a microscope, I thought they 
 looked thin ; I examined the building again on the 8th of May, and 
 on the 2Oth. I could wait no longer. I tore the house down, find- 
 ing the bugs yet present in full force. During all this time, from 
 Aug. 4th, 1883, to May 2oth, 1884, there had not been a fowl allowed 
 in the building or near it. I would hardly credit this story if I had 
 not myself kept the house under my own eye, with special reference 
 to testing how long, and under what conditions they would live. 
 
 These mites are so demoralizing to the fowl, and so persistent in 
 holding possession of a house, and also so disagreeable to fight, that 
 a person wants to burn house and all, for the satisfaction of burning 
 them. I am often asked for a remedy. It is hard to give ; and the 
 only one I know of, means work and personal exposure to the pests ; 
 and a person who has once been exposed, will ever after dread an 
 exposure. The mites will make themselves at home on the human 
 body, crawling up and down the back, and in the hair or whiskers 
 but just then the human body does not feel at home ! They will live 
 in the clothes, so that a person can not tell when he will feel them : 
 perhaps when leading the choir on Sunday morning, or perhaps 
 when away from home, having an evening chat with his best girl. 
 It is easy for him to persuade himself that he has a touch of the 
 jim-jams, or he may think it best to have a committee appointed to 
 examine him as to his sanity. To any of my readers who may not 
 at all times be precise in their language, I would say : It will do 
 no good to try to express your feelings. It is very hard to get rid 
 of them. The most sure way is to burn one's clothes, and then dip 
 himself in boiling water ! Nothing very pleasant in the remedy, 
 but then it is a great satisfaction to know that the mites are dead ! 
 The best remedy is a preventive which, in a word, is cleanliness. 
 
 If fowls have full range, they will commonly keep themselves 
 clean, but when confined in small yards, the extras must be provided. 
 They must have a good place to dust themselves in fresh dust : it 
 should be changed every week in hot weather. (See Chapter on 
 Poultry Houses.) I have observed that after their dust gets old, 
 they will shun it. 
 
 To whitewash a building, the roosts and the nests, is a great help 
 to keep out vermin. Put a little carbolic acid in the wash, enough
 
 54 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 to give it a " right smart of a smell." It is also a good thing to 
 wash the roosts and sprinkle the sides of the building with kero- 
 sene. This is a sure preventive very simple, and very quick. 
 Sulphur should be sprinkled very freely on all parts of the building, 
 in the nests and around the roosts. Rub an ointment made of lard, 
 sulphur and kerosene, under the wings and tail of each fowl. Some 
 poultrymen recommend to fumigate the hen-house. To do this, 
 remove the fowls and everything valuable that breathes. Look out 
 for horses, cows and the like. If in the same building or adjoining, 
 remove them. Put two or three pounds of brimstone or sulphur in 
 an iron pot, in such a way as not to endanger the building ; apply a 
 match ; shut it closely, and let it burn slowly ; keep the doors and 
 windows closed for four or five hours. Thoroughly ventilate before 
 letting the fowls in the building. 
 
 From my personal observation and experience, I think fumigating 
 is a good thing, but will not rid the house of mites. In a very per- 
 sistent case, where they had full possession, after fumigating and 
 failing, I used Persian Insect Powder (obtainable at almost any drug 
 store), with a little bellows made especially for blowing it. I blew 
 the powder in the cracks of the building, in the nests, on the roosts, 
 and sparingly among the feathers of the fowls. It was the final blow. 
 
 ROUP. 
 
 This word covers a multitude of ills. It is often called sore head, 
 sore throat, inflamed eyes, swelled head, catarrh, pustulated nostrils, 
 but all of these are rather different phases of the one disease Roup. 
 
 Symptoms. As a general thing, this disease is the result of a cold. 
 The fowl appears so affected : it sneezes and coughs ; its eyes run, 
 and it acts very much as though it felt the same as a person would 
 with a cold. The hen appears drowsy, goes off in a corner of the 
 yard by herself, mopish ; she sneezes and gasps for breath, and ap- 
 pears choked. After a few days, the head swells. Offensive watery 
 substances run from the eyes, and the comb has a dead look. The 
 fowl's throat is often so swollen that it can swallow but little, and 
 in its endeavors, it will stand at the drinking vessel going through 
 the motions, the result of which is simply rinsing out its poisonous 
 mouth in the water for other fowls to drink. Hence we see how im- 
 portant it is to remove the fowl when first taken. Its very breath is 
 poisonous. The disease, after well settled, is contagious, and will 
 soon spread through the flock. 
 
 The Remedy. I am very strongly of the opinion, that after the 
 disease has passed the stage of cold, and become roup, the only 
 practicable way is to kill it, and give it a decent burial. And what
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 55 
 
 remedies I offer, will apply to the first stages, or cold. What has 
 been said heretofore about warm houses, freedom from draughts, 
 and good ventilation, should be well looked to ; the sick one not 
 further exposed ; cayenne pepper put in its drinking water till it is 
 a sort of pepper tea ; bathe the face, nose and head with kerosene ; 
 also put half-teaspoonful in the mouth do this once a day ; mix 
 cayenne pepper, or in want of that, use black pepper, in warm feed, 
 in which is mixed hot lard or butter. This, in ordinary cases, will 
 prove effectual as a remedy in a few days' time. Do not use the 
 kerosene longer than is necessary. 
 
 A person writes me that he has had very good success by using 
 glycerine as an ointment for the head, and given in the mouth. 
 
 The following letter on the subject I believe of value : 
 
 PRINCESS ANNE, Md., ) 
 Jan. 20, 1885. f 
 
 G. M. T. JOHNSON Dear Sir: I think I have found a specific 
 for roupe, in Vaseline. My flock of thirty-six have nearly all had 
 it, and I have not lost a case in which I have tried Vaseline. I feed 
 them with meal, with a teaspoonful of cooking soda to the half- 
 gallon ; the same of pepper and pulverized sulphur. After they 
 have well eaten, give each one a piece of Vaseline the size of two 
 grains of corn, and grease thoroughly the comb, and all parts that 
 are sore, with the same. Give weak pepper tea to drink, and keep 
 all the sufferers shut up by themselves. Try this for yourself, and 
 I think you will like it. It has cured mine, and I think will yours. 
 My fowl caught it from an unburied victim of an adjoining flock, 
 which proves, as your book says, that it is highly contagious. 
 
 Miss ANNIE E. UPSHUR. 
 
 Princess Anne, Somerset Co., Md. 
 
 Even after the case becomes chronic, I would give the foregoing 
 remedies a good trial. 
 
 James L. Bowen, a breeder, gives this as his remedy : " Dissolve 
 a teaspoonful of chlorate of potash in a cup of water, and give a 
 teaspoonful of the mixture once or twice a day. If the nostrils are 
 bad, rinse them with a solution of sulphate of zinc, about the same 
 strength as above, using a small, rubber-headed, glass syringe. 1 ' 
 This he recommends, if the case is taken in time. 
 
 T. B. Dorsey, another breeder, gives the following as his recipe : 
 "Give one-half to a full teaspoonful of castor oil, and put in a dry, 
 warm place. Feed with soft food only, mixed with hot ale and red 
 pepper ; examine carefully for vermin, and clean. Wash under the 
 wings with whiskey. Give little water, and that with tincture of
 
 56 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 iron or cayenne pepper in it, once or twice daily. If no better in 
 two days, give a drop or two of turpentine in morning feed, or one- 
 half teaspoonful of balsam capalba. Syringe nostrils if foul, with 
 weak solution of carbolic-acid water or chlorinated soda. Do not 
 dose too much. Trust the hot ale." 
 
 Lewis Wright, generally regarded as a good authority, says : 
 " Keep them warm, and feed with meal only, mixed with hot ale 
 instead of water. Add Douglass' mixture to the water, and give 
 daily, in a pill of meal, half a grain of cayenne pepper, with half a 
 grain of allspice. Give also half a cabbage leaf every day, and 
 wash the head and eyes, morning and night, with weak vinegar or a 
 five-grain solution of sulphate of zinc." 
 
 A home remedy, which has been highly recommended to me by 
 those who have used it, is : Mix lard stiff with cayenne pepper, and 
 three times a day, till better, put down the fowl a piece as large 
 as an ordinary sewing-thimble, or even twice that ; keep in warm 
 room, and give warm, soft feed. 
 
 It will be observed that all of these amount to about the same 
 thing that is : Clean out the poisonous substances from the head, 
 and stimulate the fowl ; this, added to careful nursing, is expected 
 to cure, if it is not too far along. We must keep on the watch for 
 this disease ; keep the fowls in-doors in bad weather ; keep their 
 apartments dry and clean, and we shall keep our fowls. 
 
 CHOLERA. 
 
 Symptoms, The fowl has a sleepy, drooping appearance ; has a 
 slow, staggering gait; is very thirsty; its comb loses its natural 
 color ; there is diarrhoea, a greenish discharge. If left alone, the 
 fowl will live but a few hours. 
 
 Until within a few years this disease has not been troublesome in 
 this country. It is now much more prevalent in the South and West 
 than in the North and East. It has been considered by many that 
 it was a disease of filth, spontaneously produced ; by others, that 
 certain localities, especially low and damp, were more subject to its 
 ravages, and that cleanliness and dry grounds were the only pre- 
 ventives. I am persuaded that these conditions act very strongly 
 in the operation of this disease, for and against, but from the inves- 
 tigations and discoveries which have been made within the past five 
 years, I am more persuaded that chicken cholera is a contagious 
 disease ; that under certain conditions which are simply taking in 
 the system, by mouth or inoculation, one of the poisonous germs 
 the fowl will be taken with the disease, however well it may be 
 cared for. It has been discovered that the cause of cholera is a
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 57 
 
 microscopic organic gerrff; that this germ will multiply itself till 
 all of the blood and the flesh and excrements are filled with them. 
 It spreads mainly from the excrements. The least particle taken 
 into the system will produce disease. It is also given by inocula- 
 tion. If with a sharp-pointed knife we scrape off a little skin of a 
 fowl, and touch it with the minutest particle of blood or excrements 
 of a diseased fowl, that fowl will have the disease in regular order, 
 whether the fowl has been cleanly kept or not. 
 
 I will give some abridged extracts from Professor Pasteur's ad- 
 dress before the International Medical College, in London, August 
 8th, 1881, as to the virulence of this organic germ, producing 
 cholera. He says : Let us take a fowl which is about to die of 
 chicken cholera, and let us dip the end of a glass rod in the blood 
 of the fowl, with the usual precautions. Let us touch, with this 
 charged point, some chicken broth. In a short time the liquid will 
 become turbid, and full of tiny microbes Take from this vessel 
 as much as can be taken on the point of glass the size of a needle, 
 and touch a fresh quantity of chicken broth, and the same phe- 
 nomena will be produced. In the same way, the third, fourth, to 
 the hundredth, and even the thousandth, and in a few hours the 
 liquid becomes filled with the same minute organisms. Let us take 
 one of our series say the hundredth or thousandth and compare 
 it, with respect to virulence, with the blood of a fowl that has died 
 of chicken cholera. Inoculate under the skin ten fowls, each sep- 
 arately, with a drop of infectious blood, and ten others with a drop 
 of the liquid. Strange to say, the latter ten hens will die as quickly, 
 and with the same symptoms as the former ten. The blood of all 
 will be found to contain the same minute infectious organisms. 
 From this, the reader will get a good idea of what chicken cholera 
 is, and how it is communicated. It will be seen that fowls cannot 
 go on infected ground, and that a fowl which has the disease can- 
 not be cremated too soon for the good of the flock. It should not 
 be buried, but burned, with all its feathers and blood and excre- 
 ments ; and its house, roosting-place and grounds thoroughly disin- 
 fected. The best disinfectant is fire, but as that is not practicable, 
 the next best is a solution of sulphuric acid. It is discovered that 
 this kills the germs effectually. Sulphuric acid is cheap, but it must 
 be carefully handled until it is diluted. Make a solution in the pro- 
 portion of three pounds of sulphuric acid to forty gallons of water, 
 well mixed, and thoroughly wet the grounds and roosts and every- 
 thing connected with the disease. It can be applied pretty well with 
 a hand-sprinkling pot. It will not do to let a germ go unwet,
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 59 
 
 they will be as virulent five years hence as now. Here is an expla- 
 nation how it is that fowls have cholera on the same grounds year 
 after year ; whereas yards not far distant, that have not had it, do 
 not have it ; but a fowl that has once walked in an infected yard, I 
 would not allow in a healthy yard of fowls. A minute particle of 
 excrement could easily be carried on the foot. 
 
 If we can vaccinate for cholera in its worst form, we may ask, 
 Can we not for the milder form, as we do for the small-pox in a 
 mild form ? Professor Pasteur has produced virus for that, with 
 which he vaccinated fowls for cholera with success. 
 
 But from the nature of the case, this remedy is very impracticable 
 for the general poultry keeper. It does, however, give us a good 
 understanding of the virulent nature of the disease. We must have, 
 if possible, a remedy which can be obtained and used by any one. 
 
 In the summer of 1883, a correspondent of the " Home and 
 Farm " called for a remedy for the chicken cholera. In response, 
 the following remedies, suggested by those who had tried them, 
 were published in that paper. I gave their letters in full in fourth 
 edition, but here in an abridged form, to give room to others : 
 
 [REMEDY No. i.] My remedy is tobacco. Take a piece of plug 
 tobacco and pour hot water over it, making a strong tea ; then make 
 your dough up with it, and feed to your chickens three times a day. 
 It has never failed to cure for me, unless my chickens were too sick 
 to eat. MRS. H. O. WILLIAMS. 
 
 Thomson, McDuffie County, Ga. 
 
 [REMEDY No. 2.] In answer to your Sulphur Springs (Texas) 
 correspondent, I would say, Try pulverized nux vomica for chicken 
 cholera ; one teaspoonful to twenty hens, twice a week, given in their 
 food, is a never-failing preventive. To all that are visibly affected, 
 give a drench made of the same. This is a sure cure for chicken 
 cholera, and, as far as I have tried, is equally good for hog cholera. 
 
 Social Hill, Ark. V. T. 
 
 [REMEDY No. 3.] We have tried a cure for several years, and it 
 has never failed. I found the recipe in " Household and Farmers' 
 Cyclopedia." For chicken cholera Alum, two ounces ; resin, two 
 ounces ; copperas, two ounces ; sac sulphur, two ounces ; cayenne 
 pepper, two ounces. Pulverize, and then mix three tablespoonfuls 
 of the powder with one quart of corn meal, and dampen for use. 
 This quantity is sufficient for twelve chickens, and may be used 
 either as a preventive or as a cure ; for the first, it should be given 
 once or twice a week. 
 
 China Grove, N. C. W. H. CORN.
 
 60 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 [REMEDY No. 4.] Take one tablespoon of copperas, and pour a 
 pint of boiling water in it ; mix with corn meal, and feed to fowls. 
 
 Madison, Morgan County, Ga. A. H. MALLORY. 
 
 In my fourth edition of thi^ book, I asked those having recipes 
 which they knew to be good, to write me. In response, I have re- 
 ceived two or three. The following appears from good source : 
 FORT BRADY, Mich., June 3, 1886. 
 
 G. M. T. JOHNSON : My father, at Bristol, England, is a breeder 
 of fancy poultry, and maker of the Slades Improved Incubator, 
 patented March 22d, 1879. He has the acknowledged best yards 
 of White Leghorns and Silver-Gray Dorkings in the West of Eng- 
 land. I here send you a receipt for Cholera that we have used with 
 good effect in our yards in England. I do not see it in your book : 
 Glycerine, ^ oz. ; Carbolic acid, 10 drops ; Water, y z oz. 
 
 When the fowls are first affected, give five drops, and repeat every 
 twelve hours. Sometimes we have to give a second dose, but very 
 seldom a third. The second dose usually cures them. * 
 
 I remain yours, respectfully, ED. SLADE. 
 
 Sault De St. Marie, Mich. 
 
 CANKER. 
 
 The most of cases which I have seen were brought on by poor 
 ventilation of the fowl house. Filthy apartments, and food, and 
 drink will produce it. 
 
 Symptoms. The cankerous blotches will appear on the outside, 
 and in the mouth, and on the tongue. 
 
 Remedy. I have found the best remedy to be fresh air and clean 
 apartments. I have known cases where the fowls could hardly 
 breathe, which were cured with no other remedy. It is best some- 
 times to open the mouth and scrape off the canker with a chip not 
 till it bleeds and then apply, with a swab, a solution of equal parts 
 of chlorate of potash and alum. This will generally effect a cure 
 if the house is dry, clean and well ventilated. 
 
 DIARRHCEA. 
 
 It is often that this is confounded with cholera. It is brought on 
 by stale and filthy water, damaged food, exposure to the hot sun, 
 foul houses and yaids, and crowded apartments. 
 
 Symptoms. Drooping, emaciation, droppings white and yellow, 
 which stick to the feathers. 
 
 Remedy. Give five drops of camphor on a piece of bread, and 
 put half teaspoonful in a pint of drinking water, till better. 
 
 Douglass' Mixture in the water, as directed, will act as a remedy.
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 6l 
 
 It is best to confine the fowl to comfortable quarters, and feed very 
 light. 
 
 CROP BOUND. 
 
 The crop is sometimes hard, and sometimes soft. In either case 
 the passage out is clogged up. The trouble is often removed by 
 giving the fowl a tablespoonful of castor oil, and working the crop, 
 holding the head down. When that does not relieve the trouble, 
 cut into the upper part of it carefully ; remove the contents ; wash 
 it out with warm water, and put into the crop a tablespoonful of 
 lard ; carefully sew up the crop and skin separately, with white 
 thread, or silk if convenient, and feed lightly with soft feed for a 
 week or two. 
 
 SOFT SHELL. 
 
 In many cases it is a peculiarity of the fowl, and nothing can 
 remedy it. In other cases it is too high feed, or want of shell- 
 forming material. Give plenty of oyster shells, broken fine. 
 
 APOPLEXY. 
 
 Caused by over-feeding. Little can be done with the individual 
 fowl but to bury it, as the bird is often dead before we are aware 
 that it is sick. But the dead fowl will suggest a different treatment 
 of the living. 
 
 WORMS. 
 
 Symptoms. The fowl is emaciated ; worms appear in the drop- 
 pings, and sometimes prove very troublesome. 
 
 Remedy. A tablespoonfu! of soft soap to a quart of meal will 
 clear them out ; and a good dose of castor oil will often do the work. 
 
 FROST-BITES. 
 
 Bathe the parts frost-bitten in camphor or turpentine ; then rub 
 in sweet oil or carbolic salve. Oil will prevent frost-bites, to a cer- 
 tain extent, as it will turn the water. Frozen wattles often come 
 from the fowl getting them wet, while drinking, and the water freez- 
 ing on them. 
 
 KAD FEATHERS. 
 
 White feathers will sometimes appear in the plumage of well- 
 bred black or brown fowls, which are not admissible. I think in 
 many of these cases, the bad feathers are produced by some slight 
 hurt while growing. A fowl that has been an underling in the 
 flock, or has had hard fare, will show now and then a white feather 
 in the wing, while the ruling ones will not.
 
 DOMINIQUE LEGHORNS. 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 THE DIFFERENT BREEDS. 
 
 It will be impossible to give here as full a description and history 
 of each variety of fowls as could be desired, but what space we 
 have will be used to the best possible advantage. Strictly speak- 
 ing, there is no such thing as a pure bred fowl. There are those 
 that have been bred straight for many years, and now produce 
 chicks like parent, but they have relatives, and not very far distant, 
 that go by another name. Our majestic Brahmas and Cochins 
 Light, Dark, White, Black, Partridge, and Buff are all understood 
 to have come down from the old Cochin China, or Shanghai, first 
 imported from China, about 1847. For several years they were 
 bred all sorts and colors anything for size ; but soon certain fan- 
 ciers took pains to select to certain points of color, build, etc., till 
 now we have from them seven "breeds, "all from one parentage 
 a little over thirty years ago. Again : Foreign blood is introduced 
 with a deliberate purpose, ft is well understood that Black Spanish 
 blood has been brought into the Black Hamburgh, which gives it
 
 64 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 more size, and otherwise improves it. Of course when foreign 
 blood is so brought in, it takes several years to get the new family 
 "toned down." 
 
 A breeder near Philadelphia announced in the spring of 1880, 
 that he was bringing Black Spanish blood into his Brown Leghorn 
 stock, and that in a few years he would produce a superior strain of 
 Brown Leghorns. But he may fail entirely. It may be necessary 
 to reduce the Spanish blood to one-eighth or one-sixteenth, to get 
 rid of the dark legs and black feathers. At all events, it will take 
 several years before it is a safe strain. New breeds are often formed 
 directly from others. It sometimes happens that a chick will be 
 hatched, marked entirely different from parent stock. It is called 
 a "sport." By careful selection of chicks from this "sport," a 
 new breed may be formed. It is only six years that the Rose 
 Combed Brown Leghorn fowl has been bred, and the Rose Combed 
 White Leghorn fowl has been known by the public generally only 
 eight years ; and the Pea Combed Partridge Cochin only ten or 
 eleven years. The Wyandotte, supposed to be a cross between the 
 Dark Brahma and Silver Spangled Hamburgh, was admitted to the 
 standard in 1883 ; and this year, for the first, the White Wyandotte 
 has come before the public as a distinct breed. It is a "sport" 
 from the laced Wyandottes. (See full-page plate.) As a general 
 thing, it takes ten or twelve years to get a new variety so it will 
 breed straight enough to entitle it to the name of " breed." 
 
 By general consent, fowls are classed as Thoroughbreds, Crosses, 
 and Dung/tills. 
 
 The first is one bred straight for a number of years, to certain 
 qualities as to color or markings, size, shape, adaptedness to 
 market, laying, etc. 
 
 A Cross is the chick of a pure bred cock of one variety, with a 
 pure bred hen of another. Some of the crosses have particular 
 qualities which are very valuable. 
 
 A Dunghill is one bred from our common stock, or mixtures of 
 different breeds. The merits of any fo%vl depend on its adapted- 
 ness to certain demands of the people, who will pay money for it, 
 whether it be for fancy or for market ; and just here comes in the 
 question of value of poultry, or of anything else. One will esti- 
 mate its value by the market prices. Another by the American 
 Standard. Another by the pleasure he derives from it. Another 
 by the pleasure his wife and children derive. And who will say this 
 last man is not as nearly correct as the first? A thing is of value to 
 us, to just the extent that we can get good from it. A friend said
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 65 
 
 to me, that he would sell his whole flock of thoroughbred, Black 
 Spanish fowls cheap, as he was going to move away ; but he pointed 
 out a common, short-legged, red rooster, and said he would not 
 take a ten-dollar bill for that rooster. Why? It was one his wife 
 had raised from a chicken, and she thought so much of it. That 
 remark satisfied me that he was one of the best judges of value I 
 had met. To me, the rooster was worth about fifty cents, to roast. 
 It was not my place to say it was not worth ten dollars, for it was 
 to him. If there is a demand for fowls of a particular feather or 
 markings, shape or color, then these fowls are of value according 
 to the amount they will bring. That is what gives value to many 
 of our thoroughbreds. There are many mixtures that are just as 
 good for the table or eggs, as any thoroughbreds, but they are of no 
 value otherwise. There are many pure varieties just as good for 
 market and eggs as any mixture, but their great value is in their 
 purity of blood. 
 
 ASIATICS. 
 
 Probably there never has been more excitement over domestic 
 poultry than there was in England on the first introduction of the 
 Cochin China or Shanghai fowl. That was the first great interest 
 taken in domestic poultry for fancy. Many acted crazy over the 
 new variety, which was to make such a revolution in the poultry 
 yards in England and America. They were first introduced into 
 England about the year 1847 ; were brought direct from Shanghai, 
 China, sent by the British Embassador to the Queen of England. 
 The excitement was so high, that men paid as much for a trio as is 
 often paid for a farm in this country. One hundred dollars was 
 only an ordinary price for a cock of the first importation. One 
 brought one hundred and fifty dollars. Two hundred and fifty 
 dollars for a trio was cheap. For several years the prices were 
 very high. The stock was known only as Shanghai or Cochin 
 China. They were not assorted at all, but bred all colors white, 
 black, buff, partridge, gray, brown, and drab, one as good as 
 another. It was several years before fanciers separated them, and 
 bred to certain colors and markings, till now we have the Part- 
 ridge, Buff, Black, and White Cochins ; also the Brahmas. (The 
 Langshans are of a late importation.) Any one variety is a great 
 improvement on the originals. The interest awakened at that time 
 has never died out, but has left the domestic poultry in a better 
 position than ever before. It will be a long time before thorough- 
 bred poultry will not be sought after and highly prized. Ten and 
 fifteen dollars are very common prices now for a fowl of good blood.
 
 66 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 and for choice specimens as high as one hundred dollars is often 
 paid for individual fowls. These remarks as to prices are not con- 
 fined to Asiatics, but apply to all choice thoroughbreds. 
 
 The general characteristics of the Asiatics are : Broad across the 
 chest ; high from breast-bone-to back-bone ; short in proportion to 
 breadth. They are naturally very quiet, and are easily handled. 
 They are slow, awkward, and good natured. A fence three feet 
 high will keep them. They are hearty and hardy. We never have 
 any trouble \vith the chickens after they once get squarely on their 
 feet. They grow very fast, and are tender eating till grown, when 
 they weigh cocks, from ten to thirteen pounds ; hens, from seven 
 to ten pounds. 
 
 COCHINS. 
 
 The Buff Cochins resemble the first importation more than any 
 other. It may be a cause of wonderment that there should be so 
 many different varieties from one ; but it is not strange at all. 
 Fowls not bred strictly to feather, will throw all sorts. It would 
 be strange now to get anything like a black or white fowl from the 
 Buff Cochins, for the reason that they have been so long bred 
 strictly to the buff color. In that case they take back a number of 
 generations. The combs of all Cochins (except the Pea Combed 
 Partridge), is the single comb, quite small ; body large ; legs short 
 and stout, with feathers down to the tip of toes. The Buff Cochin 
 should be solid buff color, both cock and hen. The tail feathers 
 will be more or less black, the less the better. The 
 
 PARTRIDGE COCHIN 
 
 has a solid black- breast, with black wings and tail ; feathers on the 
 legs should be black. The neck and hackle should be bright red. 
 The hen should be marked much like the wild partridge, each 
 feather worked in rings. 
 
 The White Cochin is solid white. The Black Cochin is glossy 
 black. All of these varieties breed true to color; few culls. 
 
 BRAHMAS. 
 
 There are only two varieties, known as the Light and Dark 
 Brahmas. I think I may safely say the mantle of the Old Cochins, 
 with their favor, has fallen on the Light Brahmas 
 
 I think it is at present held in more general favor, and is in more 
 yards in the United States, in full or part blood, than any other 
 variety. It is truly a majestic bird, and if well marked and clean, 
 a handsome fowl, that is, when grown. From the time it is four
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 67 
 
 weeks old until full grown, it is anything but handsome. Unlike 
 the Cochins, they are nearly naked all summer, long, leggy, and 
 awkward. Their backs are bare, many times sun-burnt red. All 
 the Brahmas and Pea-Combed Partridge Cochins have the small 
 pea comb. 
 
 LIGHT BRAHMAS. 
 
 The Light Brahma cocks and hens are marked alike. The gen- 
 eral plumage is white, which, with age and exposure to the sum- 
 mer sun, sometimes has a straw-colored tinge ; neck finely penciled 
 black ; wings while and black (only the white shows) ; tail black, 
 or nearly so ; feathers on the legs, to tip of outside toes, white. 
 
 DARK BRAHMAS. 
 
 The cocks have solid black breast, wings and tail ; finely pen- 
 ciled hackle. The hen is marked much like the Partridge Cochin 
 hen, excepting the color is of a dark grey and white. The Brah- 
 mas, like the Cochins, are good sitters, too much so for general 
 purposes. They are tender and kind mothers. I think they are 
 too heavy for sitters on eggs of light-weight hens. They break 
 too many eggs. All of the Asiatics lay a buff-colored egg, some 
 much darker than others. 
 
 LANGSHANS. 
 
 First found in Langshan, China, about 1872, by a nephew of 
 Major Croad, of the British army. They somewhat resemble the 
 Black Cochins, and buyers must be careful or they will get more 
 Cochin blood than they pay for. They have longer tails than the 
 Cochins, and breeders of them say they are better layers and table 
 fowls. (See cut on title page.) 
 
 SPANISH. 
 
 Under the head of Spanish varieties, the American Poultry Asso- 
 ciation has classed the Black Spanish, Andilusian, White, Black, 
 Brown, and Dominique Leghorns. The Leghorns, it would seem, 
 should be classed as Italian fowls, as they came from that country. 
 Just why they are classed as Spanish, we can not say, unless it is 
 on account of their similarity. They all have high single combs, 
 standing straight on the cocks, but falling to one side on the hens. 
 They are all very trim, proud and quick. As to size, they come in 
 about the following order: Black Spanish, White, Brown, Dom- 
 inique, and Black Leghorns and Andilusians, aid now the Min- 
 orcas. (See illustration on another page.) They are all great lay- 
 ers, laying often more than two hundred eggs each in the year, if 
 well cared for. They are called non-sitters. They do not want to
 
 68 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 sit much, and are not very persistent, but if left alone with their 
 eggs in their nests, will sit, but are uncertain, easily frightened, 
 and if disturbed, apt to leave their nests entirely; poor mothers, 
 too nervous. They all lay a white egg. The 
 
 BLACK SPANISH 
 
 lays a large one. They lay the largest of any hen, unless it is the 
 Houdan ; larger than the Brahmas or Cochins, generally. Two 
 Black Spanish or Houdan eggs are larger than three Polish or 
 Hamburgh eggs. 
 
 The fowls are a jet, glossy black, with high combs and large 
 wattles. The side of the face is solid white ; hence they are often 
 called White-Faced Black Spanish. This white grows thick and 
 heavy after the first year ; quite often gathering over and under the 
 eyes so heavily as to almost blind them. In body they are larger 
 than any of the Leghorns. Their legs are of a dark lead color, 
 almost black, and their meat on the blue tinge ; not a good fowl 
 for the table or market. They are great layers, quite often laying 
 themselves to death. They are, of course, very hearty, and make 
 a great call for meat and bone. This is natural while laying. 
 
 And just here comes in a cause for a great drawback in the 
 Spanish, they must and will have meat. If they are confined 
 closely and do not have a good supply, they will pull feathers off 
 each other and themselves, and eat them. I have seen some closely 
 confined yards, where they were picked nearlv naked. The only 
 real remedy is to give the fowls good range and plenty of meat. 
 For the cold, northern sections, they are rather tender, and should 
 be well protected from the cold winds. If there is such a variety 
 as White Spanish, it is not generally known. 
 
 ANDILUSIANS. 
 
 They are a handsome fowl, of the slaty blue color, with a darker 
 hackle ; have white ear-lobes, and closely resemble the Leghorns. 
 They are of about the size of the Black Leghorns. Were brought 
 to this country from Andilusia, Spain, from which province they 
 take their name ; not a hardy fowl. 
 
 LEGHORNS. 
 
 They derive their name from the City of Leghorn, in Italy, from 
 which port they came. We first hear of them about the year 1852, 
 in England and America, but they did not create anything of the 
 excitement that the Cochins did on their advent, so that days and 
 dates are not so definite.
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 69 
 
 The White, Brown, and afterward the Dominique, and only within 
 a few years the Black Leghorns have been known ; the Rose Combed 
 White and the Rose Combed Brown Leghorns were admitted to the 
 Standard in 1883, probably all from what was known thirty years ago 
 as the Red Leghorn. They all have white or straw-colored ear-lobes. 
 With the exception of the Black Leghorns, they have yellow legs, 
 and are great layers, of white-shelled eggs. The 
 
 WHITE LEGHORNS 
 
 lay the largest egg. They stand confinement well if properly cared 
 for, but lay best with a good range. Like the Black Spanish, the 
 high comb and long wattles make them good subjects for frost. It 
 is hard to bring them through the winter with untouched comb and 
 wattles. They must net be allowed to run out in the cold winds. 
 They will stand quite cold weather if in a room where the air is 
 still. The basement to a barn furnishes a good place for Leghorns 
 and Spanish ; or a small, low house, well banked up, and covered 
 with dirt or straw. Some winter them in their cellars. The 
 
 BROWN LEGHORNS 
 
 are marked much like the Black-Breasted Red Games. The cocks 
 have solid black breasts, flight feathers and tail ; bright red hackle 
 and body. The hens are a penciled brown. The 
 
 ROSE COMBED WHITE LEGHORNS 
 
 resemble the Single Combed White Leghorns in every way except- 
 ing comb. That is like the Hamburghs' comb. The 
 
 ROSE COMBED BROWN LEGHORNS 
 
 are similar to the Single Combed Brown Leghorns, excepting in 
 comb. The 
 
 DOMINIQUE LEGHORNS 
 
 are similar to the others in everything excepting color of the body. 
 The 
 
 BLACK LEGHORNS 
 
 are smaller than the others. Their black is not so glossy as the 
 Spanish. It is not a desirable variety. Its color, size, and small 
 eggs are against it. 
 
 FRENCH FOWLS. 
 
 There are three general varieties the Houdans, LeFleche, and 
 Crevecceurs. The 
 
 HOUDAN 
 
 is by far the most popular. They are good-sized birds, the cocks 
 weighing from five to six pounds, and hens from four and a half to
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 71 
 
 five pounds. They have a heavy beard and top-knot, which falls 
 back, in front of which there is a V-shaped comb. Cocks and hens 
 are marked alike. The plumage is speckled black and white ; the 
 black predominating, and growing lighter colored with age. Their 
 legs are short and thick, lead color, with black spots. They have 
 five toes on each foot. It would appear that this breed is made up 
 of the Silver Polish and one of the Dorking varieties. I have seen 
 the Dorkings crossed with different breeds of fowls, and in all I 
 never yet saw a chick where the fifth toe was left off. The plumage 
 is much like the Silver Polish, but the shape of body is more of the 
 Dorking variety. Nothing is known of its origin. They are hardy 
 fowls, feather early, and are good to kill at any age ; a plump and 
 good fowl for market ; the skin is flesh color ; they are great layers, 
 of large, white eggs ; are non-sitters, great foragers, wandering a 
 long way from their roop for food. There is a great difference in 
 fowls in this respect. In a country of hawks, their crest is against 
 them. They combine the two qualities of good layers and good 
 table fowl as well as any variety that I know of, but they are hard 
 to breed to feather. A good proportion of the chicks will be faulty 
 for exhibition, in one way or another. As to the fifth toe, it is of 
 no use ; is in the way ; unsightly, and really is a deformity, which 
 the Standard says can not be dispensed with in a good Houdan. 
 
 LE FLECHE FOWLS. >
 
 72 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 LE FLECHE. 
 
 Almost a French edition of the Black Spanish, which fowl it re- 
 sembles very strongly, excepting in comb. It has two spike-shaped 
 prongs, like horns, standing straight up. These three breeds are 
 very popular in France. 
 
 CREVECCEUR. 
 
 This fowl is black, about the size of the Houdan, with small 
 beard and crest. It is of solid black ; good layer and table fowl. 
 It is no favorite in this country, and but little bred here. 
 
 WHITE-CRESTED WHITE POLANDS. 
 
 POLANDS. 
 
 The Polands, like the Hamburghs, arc properly classed as Fancy 
 Poultry. They are very handsome, but tender with ordinary treat- 
 ment. They cannot hold their own in a promiscuous flock. Bred 
 by themselves, and not too many in a flock, with extra care, they 
 are brought to perfection early, and are a reward to their keeper. 
 
 They are classed as White Crested Black, White Crested White, 
 Silver Spangled and Golden Spangled. They are about the size of 
 White Leghorns ; are fair layers of small, white eggs. They require 
 extra watching in times of rain or snow. Their crests get wet, 
 which keeps their heads cold, often resulting in roup. In a coun- 
 try of hawks they are an easy prey, as they can not see their enemy 
 till he has them in his claws. They often wander off, and are not 
 able to find their way back. It is sometimes necessary to clip the
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 73 
 
 feathers which hang over the eyes. The one who wants a few choice 
 and handsome fowls, and can give them a little extra care, will find 
 them one of the best for pleasure. The 
 
 WHITE CRESTED BLACK POLANDS 
 
 are solid black with a heavy white crest, dark lead colored feet ; in 
 the cock falling over on all sides like an umbrella, with white ear- 
 lobes, and a V-shaped comb, the smaller the better, even to no comb 
 at all. The cocks are very proud, and very gallant. It is hard to 
 get the heavy white crest, with every feather of the body black. 
 Some of the wing feathers are sometimes tipped with white, which 
 is a damage to them. The 
 
 WHITE CRESTED WHITE POLANDS 
 
 require about the same description, excepting that the whole 
 plumage is white, and the crest not quite so large. The 
 
 GOLDEN POLANDS 
 
 are red and black spangled fowls. The crest of this variety is 
 smaller than that of any other. The 
 
 SILVER POLANDS 
 
 are black and white spangled. There are two kinds the bearded, 
 and the non-bearded. (See Cut.) 
 
 The origin of the Polands is unknown. There are no more in 
 Poland than any other country. Some claim that they get their 
 name from the word " poll," signifying a crown. 
 
 GAMES. 
 
 What is said on this subject in my former editions has received 
 the friendly criticisms of some of our game fanciers, and as I am 
 not so thoroughly posted as though I had made this variety a spec- 
 ialty, I have solicited the assistance of Mr. H. P. Clark, a game 
 fancier of Wooster, O., who contributes the following : 
 
 "GAMES. 
 
 The games of America may be divided into two classes. First 
 the Original Games or Fighting Cocks. Second the Standard or 
 Exhibition Games. 
 
 Birds of the FIRST CLASS are of all colors, weighing from four 
 to eight and a half pounds. 
 
 There is great diversity in the different strains : Some have tas- 
 sels or crests, others muffs or beards like Houdans, and may have 
 single combs, rose combs, or no combs at all ; but the type usually
 
 74 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 seen may be described as of single comb, medium or low station 
 and heavily feathered, with full hackle and tail, and very stout and 
 muscular in build. 
 
 The SECOND CLASS cdmprises the following varieties : The 
 BLACK BREASTED RED COCK has black breast, tail, thighs, wing 
 butts and wing coverts, elsewhere a brilliant red. 
 
 The RED PYLE COCK is the same color as the Black-Red, sub- 
 stituting white where the latter is black. 
 
 The SILVER DUCKWING is like the Black-Red, except being white 
 where that fowl is red. 
 
 The YELLOW or GOLDEN DUCKWING has black breast, tail, thighs, 
 wing butts and wing coverts ; hackle and saddle are clear straw 
 color ; back and wing bows are bright copper or golden color. 
 
 The other three varieties of this class WHITE, BROWN-RED, and 
 BLACK are sufficiently well described by their respective names. 
 
 These varieties were formed by introducing Malay blood into the 
 old Pit stock, thus producing birds very different, both in station 
 and general make-up, from those of the first class, and also lacking 
 in gameness. They are very short in feathers, having single comb, 
 which in cocks is closely dubbed ; long head, neck and legs, and 
 are very upright and tall ; have small " whip tail," and their wings 
 are smaller, and folded closely against the body ; are very trim and 
 neat in appearance, and beautiful in color, of whatever shade. The 
 cocks average six and a half to eight pounds. 
 
 Aside from their stately bearing and fine symmetry in which 
 points games excel all others they are one of the most useful 
 breeds of domestic poultry. To the farmer, they have many traits 
 to recommend them. In the first place, they are about the hardiest, 
 and most free from disease ; then, they are good foragers, and so 
 of little expense to feed ; are excellent layers, and have the very 
 finest quality of flesh. They are the only fowl which can defend 
 their young from rats, cats, hawks, and other like enemies. 
 
 Games have a reputation of being very quarrelsome, but this is 
 much exaggerated, as well bred Pit Games are not more so than 
 are common chickens. They are not bred to be savage, as some 
 persons suppose ; for if this were so, they could not be well pitted, 
 since they would be dangerous to their handlers, rather than to 
 their opponents. They must be courageous, but not vicious nor 
 pugnacious. 
 
 Game cockerels, when about five months old, must be "dubbed." 
 This consists in removing the comb and wattles, with a sharp pair 
 of scissors.
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 75 
 
 MALAYS. 
 
 The cock is very tall, has a peculiar "nub" comb, and small 
 wattles; long head, neck and legs; rather small, drooping tail; 
 and general plumage of very close, hard feathers. The cock is the 
 same color as the Black Red Game ; hen is cinnamon brown. 
 
 THE BLACK SUMATRA. 
 Black lustrous plumage, small pea comb, and long drooping tail." 
 
 BLACK RED GAMB COCK STANDARD. BLACK-RED GAME COCK PIT FOWL. 
 
 I here give cuts showing the difference in appearance of the 
 Standard or Show Bird, and the Pit Fowl both of the Black 
 Breasted Red Game variety in full feather. It will be seen that 
 there is a marked contrast in the figure and make-up of the two 
 classes. The Pit fowl, before going into the pit, has to go through 
 a special training and trimming. There are many who have no 
 idea as to what is done to prepare a cock for the pit. Mr. Clarke 
 has, at my request, given a little description, which will be of in- 
 terest to my re'aders. He says : 
 
 " In preparing cocks for the pit, one seeks to obtain the greatest 
 amount of muscle, hardness, and endurance, together with the least 
 weight of flesh. This is accomplished by continued exercise and 
 special feeding for a space of about two weeks. 
 
 "When first put up for conditioning, saw off the cock's spurs, 
 leaving on each leg a stub of ^ inch, on which to fasten the steel 
 gaff. Then, just before the fight, the bird must be trimmed or "cut 
 out." To do this, trim off the long, glossy feathers of the hackle 
 and saddle ; cut short the soft, fluffy feathers on the under side of 
 the body, and around the vent, also the sickles of the tail ; trim the 
 wings, beginning at a point about two inches from the tip of the 
 longest feathers, and cutting straight toward the middle of the back; 
 then trim the main tail feathers, leaving them about five inches long. 
 
 "There are seven principal styles of steel spurs: Regulation, 
 Singleton, Cincinnati, Drop Socket, Half Drop, Thimble, and 
 Slasher. These are in length from i^ to scinches. The standard
 
 76 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 gaff is of Regulation style, the blade round, one and a quarter 
 inches long, and rising in an even curve from the lower rim of the 
 socket to a point a little higher than the upper rim. To put the 
 gaff on, first wrap chamois skin or old kid around the stub of the 
 natural spur, wrap on enough to make the gaff fit tightly ; then tie 
 on by wrapping stout cord or " wax ends" strongly over the leath- 
 ers around the cock's leg. If the gaffs be short in length, set the 
 points of the blades well in between the cock's legs ; if long, set 
 wider. 
 
 "In the pit, cocks are matched by weight give or take two 
 ounces ; a stag or a blinker cock is allowed four ounces when 
 pitted against a perfect cock, but are matched among themselves 
 the same as other birds." 
 
 GAME COCK. 
 
 The accompanying cut represents a Game Cock fitted for the pit, 
 trimmed and armed. Perhaps it is well to say, His pride is not in 
 his beauty. 
 
 HAMBURGHS. 
 
 Originally from Holland, as their name would indicate. Silver 
 Spangled, Silver Penciled, Gold Spangled, Gold Penciled, White 
 and Black. All of these varieties are small, light of body, and 
 require a high fence. For eggs, they are first, and will excel the 
 Leghorns under favorable conditions. I put them all with the Po- 
 lands as tender varieties, excepting when raised alone and with great 
 care. It is to be noticed that all varieties of fowls which feather 
 early, require extra care till about one-third grown. After that, they 
 are past their critical period. Their eggs are small and white. It is 
 a very rare thing for them to want to sit, laying from early spring
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 77 
 
 to late in the fall. They are very trim and graceful. All have the 
 white ear-lobe and rose comb, which stands on the head like a 
 crown. The 
 
 BLACK HAMBURGH 
 
 is the largest, which is about the size of the Brown Leghorn. It is 
 of glossy black. The 
 
 SILVER SPANGLED HAMBURGH 
 
 has white feathers, with the tip of each one black, and is one of the 
 handsomest fowls ever kept. The 
 
 GOLDEN SPANGLED HAMBURGH 
 
 is marked the same, with the exception that red is in the place of 
 white. The 
 
 SILVER PENCILED HAMBURGHS 
 
 have a grayish appearance, with black tails. They resemble the 
 hawk in color. They are often called Everlasting Layers. 
 
 The legs of the Black Hamburgh are bluish black ; of the White 
 Hamburgh, flesh color. All the rest are of a slaty blue. All of the 
 fowls are very ornamental for beauty are not excelled. 
 
 DORKINGS. 
 
 We have accounts of five-toed fowls as far back as Ancient Greece. 
 Aristotle mentions them, and they are supposed, by good authority, 
 to be closely related to our now-day Dorking varieties. They are an 
 English fowl, taking their name from the village Dorking, in Sussex, 
 England, and are supposed to have been brought to that country by 
 the Romans. They were first imported by Hon. L. F. Allen, of 
 Black Rock, N. Y., in 1840. There are three varieties : Silver 
 Gray, Colored, and White. They all have five toes, and are a good 
 family fowl for the table and as layers. They lay a large, white egg, 
 and make good mothers ; are very domestic ; naturally tame. The 
 
 SILVER GRAY DORKING 
 
 has a single comb. The cock has a solid black breast, black wings 
 and tail ; silvery head, hackle, back and saddle feathers. The hens 
 are of a grayish brown. The 
 
 COLORED DORKING 
 
 is marked much like the Silver Gray, but of darker plumage, and 
 larger. Either the single or rose comb is admissible in the Colored 
 Dorkings. The 
 
 WHITE DORKING 
 
 is solid white, and has a rose comb.
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 AMERICAN BREEDS. 
 
 AMERICAN DOMINIQUES. 
 
 The origin of this fowl is unknown. It is probably one which 
 has come up in this country from a series of selections, till it has 
 produced one of the best breeds for eggs and for market. It is of 
 medium size ; in color, of a bluish gray, mottled ; yellow legs. 
 
 PLYMOUTH ROCKS. 
 
 This breed of fowls is one of great popularity in this country. 
 There has been quite a war of words as to who was the originator, 
 but this much is pretty well settled : That it was originated in 
 Massachusetts, about thirty-three years ago, by a cross between 
 the American Dominique and the Black Java. They have the color 
 of the former, and the size of the latter, with single combs. It is 
 required that they have yellow legs and bills, although not half at 
 the present time have legs free from the bronze tinge. It will take 
 several years to get that right. They are large, good layers, hardy, 
 and by many believed to be the fowl for all purposes. Some strains 
 of Plymouth Rocks produce cocks of much lighter color than hens 
 (see cut of Light Colored Plymouth Rock Cock), and no black pul- 
 lets. Other strains produce cocks and hens of the same shade (see 
 cut of trio of Plymouth Rocks), but some black hens. The latter 
 is the best, as it is easier getting exhibition fowls, but for market 
 and eggs no better. After a few years, we hope there will be no 
 black pullets or light colored cockerels. 
 
 WYANDOTTES. 
 
 Formerly the American Seabrights. Its origin is unknown, but 
 is supposed to be a cross between Silver Spangled Hamburghs and 
 Dark Brahmas. It is marked much like the Hamburghs, and nearly 
 of the size of the Brahmas ; rose comb ; clean, yellow legs ; a good 
 fowl for eggs and table. This is a superior, hardy breed of fowls, 
 and, for the farmer, compares favorably with the Plymouth Rock. 
 Since admitted to the standard, in 1883, there has been a greater 
 call for Wyandottes than for any other fowl. 
 
 WHITE WYANDOTTES. 
 
 (See description under head of New Varieties.) 
 MISCELLANEOUS BREEDS. 
 
 RUMPLESS. 
 
 A fowl whose great and only peculiarity is, that it has no tail. 
 It throws all colors, and great variation in size and weight. It is
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 79 
 
 supposed to be a sport, bred to points. Those who breed them 
 recommend them highly. It quite often happens that chicks will 
 be hatched with small tails. These, if bred by themselves, will 
 generally produce chicks with no tails. 
 
 FRIZZLIES. 
 
 The name describes a breed of fowls whose feathers turn toward 
 the head. An odd though not handsome hen ; of all colors ; widely 
 domesticated in Southern Africa, Java, Sumatra, and the Philippian 
 Islands, but not much bred in America. 
 
 BLACK RUSSIANS. 
 
 A rare fowl in this country. It has no particular merit. 
 
 CREEPERS. 
 
 Bred more in England than in this country. A good fowl for the 
 table, and for eggs, and as a mother ; has very short legs, in many 
 cases not over two inches long. Not bred to any particular color. 
 
 BANTAMS. 
 
 Ths Bantams are dwarf varieties of the ordinary breeds of fowls. 
 There are Bantams of most of the Games ; also of the Buff Cochins, 
 White Crested White Polands, and others. They are marked like 
 the larger fowls of which they are bantams, and otherwise like them 
 excepting in size. The main point is to get them as small as pos- 
 sible when fully grown. It is not uncommon to see them of less 
 
 SILVER SEABRIGHT BANTAM.
 
 80 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 than a pound's weight. The eggs should not be set early, in order 
 that the cold weather of the fall may check their growth. 
 
 Besides these, there are, distinctively, the Golden Seabright, and 
 the Silver Seabright Bantams. They take their name from Sir John 
 Seabright, who originated the breed. The markings are, respec- 
 tively, orange color or white, with the outer edge and tips of the 
 feathers black. Rose comb, blue legs. They are very proud and 
 gamey, and have quite a strut. The head and tail of the cock, 
 when standing erect, nearly touch. All Bantams are bred mainly 
 for their beauty and oddity. 
 
 There are also three varieties of Japan Bantams : The White, 
 with black tails ; the Black ; and the Gray. 
 
 I give here a cut of Black Japanese Bantams, loaned me by 
 J. D. Nevins, of Philadelphia : 
 
 BLACK JAPANESE BANTAMS. 
 
 NEW VARIETIES. 
 
 Within the past three years, other varieties have appeared which 
 will demand recognition in the American Standard, at its next re- 
 vision. Most prominent among them are the 
 
 WHITE WYANDOTTES. 
 
 This variety is a "sport" from the Laced Wyandottes. It has 
 been observed that in not a few yards of rather light-colored Laced 
 Wyandottes, there would now and then appear a white chick. 
 I know of one yard, which, about the first of June, had produced 
 twelve of them. Some breeders have preserved all these, and se- 
 lected and bred from them with great care. In the spring of 1886, 
 illustrations of the fowl were given in some of the poultry papers. 
 There was at once a great demand for the fowls, and we may cal- 
 culate on quite a boom of this variety for the next five years. 
 
 I have had a plate made of a trio of this coming variety, espe- 
 cially for this book. It is a good representation. 
 (Set next page.)
 
 82 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 WHITE PLYMOUTH ROCKS. 
 
 These, too, first came into public notice in the spring of 1886. 
 They are a sport from the "regulation" Plymouth Rocks, and re- 
 semble them in everything excepting color, which is pure white, 
 and of more golden color of* legs. There will be quite a demand 
 for these fowls, also ; and the race will be between them and the 
 White Wyandottes. 
 
 MINORCAS. 
 
 There are two varieties of this branch of the Spanish family, the 
 Black and White. They were like all the other Spanish varieties 
 first imported into England from the coast of the Mediterranean. 
 They have been bred, in their purity, in England, for the past fifty 
 years, and the Blacks are to-day one of the best known and most 
 popular varieties in the kingdom. The White Minorcas are scarce. 
 
 The first importation of Black Minorcas of which I have any 
 knowledge, was made by Captain R. W. Sargent, of the steamship 
 Indiana, in January, 1886. The first White Minorcas were brought 
 by same steamer, in May, 1886, by Captain R. W. Sargent, J. D. 
 Nevius, of Philadelphia, Pa., and F. A. Mortiner. 
 
 Mr. J. D. Nevius kindly sends me the accompanying cut of the 
 Black Minorcas, to illustrate the variety in this book : 
 
 Hi 
 
 BLACK MINORCAS. 
 
 These are distinctively Spanish varieties, in appearance and char- 
 acteristics. The head very much resembles the Black Spanish, with 
 the exception of the white face of the latter. The face of the Min- 
 orcas is red, with white ear-lobes. They have the great laying char- 
 acteristics of the other Spanish varieties.
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 83 
 
 BRONZE TURKEY COCK, 
 
 TURKEYS. 
 
 This fowl, which is such an ornament to our farm-yards, and so 
 welcome to our tables, is a native of this country. It was first 
 found by Cortez, in the year 1519, on his march to Cempoalla, 
 Mexico, which he describes as a species of peacock Prof. Spencer 
 F. Baird, in his work on the birds of North America, says: It is 
 reported to have been introduced into England in 1541, and in 1573 
 had become the Christmas fare of the farmer ; that the first one 
 eaten in France was at a banquet served at the wedding of Charles 
 IX., in 1570. 
 
 The American turkey was found wild from Mexico to Lower 
 Canada, but not on the west side of the Rocky Mountains ; and 
 when Wm. Penn settled Pennsylvania, the wild turkeys were said 
 to be so large and fat as to weigh, in some cases, fortv-six pounds. 
 
 The wild turkey of the Northern States bears a close resemblance 
 to our domestic Bronze variety, although other colors are found 
 among them. It has a more lordly style of carriage ; is taller and 
 slimmer ; is keener and shyer, and altogether a grander bird than 
 our domestic varieties. They are more or less plentiful in the 
 Western States at the present time, and stray flocks from the farm- 
 yards often join them, which is one cause of the odd colors in the 
 wild flocks. They are easily domesticated, by getting the eggs from 
 the nests and hatching with farm fowls. The wild blood adds much
 
 84 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 to our tame flocks. It gives more of the wild air and hardiness to 
 our birds, besides giving the flesh a wild flavor. The wild birds 
 found in Mexico are larger, shorter legged, and show signs of for- 
 mer domestication. -, 
 
 By careful selections and good breeding, we believe we can pro- 
 duce larger specimens than are found in the wild state. A Mrs. 
 Lounsbury, of Connecticut, in 1866, sent one, not quite two years 
 old, to President Johnson, weighing forty-seven pounds. Mr. A. 
 Johnson, of Pulaski, Ky., under sworn statement, killed one weigh- 
 ing fifty-five pounds. A slate colored turkey, exhibited at the Paris 
 Exhibition, weighed forty-three pounds. 
 
 Of our domestic turkeys the American Standard recognizes six 
 varieties, which have been produced by careful selections and 
 breeding : The Bronze, Narragansett, Black, White, Slate, and Buff. 
 It disqualifies for the show-room Bronze turkeys which do not weigh 
 twenty-five pounds and sixteen pounds the cock and hen respec- 
 tively ; and Narragansett turkeys must weigh twenty-five and fifteen 
 pounds ; Black turkeys twenty and twelve pounds ; White, Buff, 
 and Slate turkeys, the same as Black. The 
 
 BRONZE TURKEY, 
 
 by introducing wild blood, within a few years past, is the largest, 
 and regarded as the most hardy, and in other ways superior to the 
 others. Anything, off from Bronze, seems to indicate weakness. 
 The gobbler is of solid bronze plumage, which, when fully grown, 
 reflects a beautiful lustre. It has white spots at regular distances 
 in the wing feathers, and the tail has a band of white on the outer 
 edge when spread. The hen is of the same color, excepting that 
 her breast is slightly mottled. The legs are dark, nearly black. The 
 
 NARRAGANSETT TURKEY 
 
 is a favorite in Rhode Island, where the variety was produced 
 They are of a mixture of black and steel gray. The body of the 
 feather is black, tipped with gray. The legs are a deep salmon or 
 brown color. The 
 
 BLACK TURKEY 
 
 is of solid black, with legs of a dark, lead or slate color. The 
 
 WHITE TURKEY 
 
 is of solid white, with the legs of a pinkish or flesh color. The 
 
 SLATE TURKEY 
 
 has a plumage of an ashy blue color ; legs light or dark blue. The 
 
 BUFF TURKEY 
 
 is of solid buff color, with legs of a bluish-white or flesh color.

 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 8$ 
 
 TOULOUSE GEESE. 
 
 GEESE. 
 
 Of the Goose we have a history further back than of any other 
 fowl. They are mentioned by Homer as domestic poultry, and were 
 kept at the capitol at Rome, 388 B. C., as sacred to Juno. There 
 are three varieties of prominence : The Toulouse, Embden or Bre- 
 men, and the China (Brown and White). The Egyptian and African 
 are not much kept in this country. The 
 
 TOULOUSE GOOSE 
 
 is a large gray variety, very heavy bodied ; when fat, almost drag- 
 ging on the ground. They are sometimes made to weigh thirty and 
 thirty-five pounds. Many prefer this to all others. 
 
 EMBDEN OR BREMEN GOOSE. 
 
 A large, white goose from Holland. The first ever brought to 
 this country were imported by John Giles, of Providence, R. I., 
 and Colonel Samuel Taques, of Medford, Mass., some sixty years 
 ago. This variety is preferred by many, although not so heavy as 
 the Toulouse. They will often weigh forty-five and fifty pounds to 
 the pair. The 
 
 CHINA GOOSE 
 
 has a large knob at base of bill. Very noisy ; not desirable. The 
 
 CANADA OR AMERICAN WILD GOOSE 
 
 is not of the same species as the others. They will cross with
 
 86 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 other varieties for one generation only. The eggs of a half-Canada 
 goose will never hatch. They are very ornamental, and often do- 
 mesticated, but do not lay till two years old. 
 
 DUCKS. 
 
 The principal varieties of ducks are : The Rouin, Pekin, Ayles- 
 bury, and Cayuga. The Muscovy, Call, Black East Indian, and 
 Crested White, are much their inferiors, and but little bred in this 
 country. The 
 
 ROUIN DUCK 
 
 closely resembles the Wild Mallard, excepting that it is larger, 
 which is supposed to have been brought about by domestication. 
 The drake is much handsomer than the duck. Its head and neck 
 are of a lustrous green, with a ring of white round the lower part 
 of the neck. The breast is a rich purplish brown. The under part 
 of body and sides, a beautiful soft gray color. The tail dark brown 
 or black ; wings brown and gray, with a greenish-purple bar across 
 them. It is a handsome fowl. The duck is of a roan color. Each 
 feather is penciled with gray and brown. They are very hardy ; do 
 not care much for water ; are easily reared in the home yards, same 
 as chickens, and are good layers of large eggs In size they are 
 about the same as Pekins, weighing from twelve to eighteen pounds. 
 
 THE PEKIN DUCK 
 
 has had a great run for the past thirteen years, and is still the gen- 
 eral favorite. It was first brought to this country from Pekin, 
 China, by Mr. James E. Palmer, of Stonington, Conn., and landed 
 in New York on the I4th day of March, 1873. They are pure white, 
 and very handsome ; hardy, and care but little for the water ; good 
 layers ; will weigh from twelve to eighteen pounds to the pair. 
 One of the first importation laid 125 eggs the first season after its 
 arrival, and 185 the next. Their eggs are as large as the Rouins', 
 and they make a good table fowl. Mr. Palmer has made a second 
 importation. The 
 
 AYLESBURY DUCK 
 
 derives its name from the town Aylesbury, England, where many- 
 are raised every year for the London market. John K. Fowler, a 
 prominent breeder of Aylesburys, says: " It is not uncommon at 
 all to see around one small cottage 2,000 ducklings, and it is com- 
 puted that upwards of 20,000 pounds per annum is returned to the 
 town and neighborhood in exchange." They are prolific layers, 
 sometimes laying 150 eggs in one season. They will weigh from 
 twelve to fifteen pounds to the pair.
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 87 
 
 CAYUGA DUCK. 
 
 An American variety, supposed to have originated near Cayuga 
 Lake, N. Y., by a cross of the Wild Black or Buenos Ayres duck 
 and the Wild Mallard, but nothing certain is known. Its plumage 
 is black, with a white collar around its neck. It is a profitable 
 duck ; good layer ; quiet in its habits, and nearly as large as the 
 Rouin. 
 
 MUSCOVY DUCK. 
 
 The name is given to this fowl on account of the musky odor of 
 the skin. There are two kinds : The White, and the Blue-Black 
 and White. Another peculiarity is, that the head is nearly bare of 
 feathers, and its red face gives it an ugly appearance. The drake 
 is much larger than the duck. He is quarrelsome, and ugly in dis- 
 position. They are good on the wing : consequently hard to confine. 
 They are poor layers, and not very good eating after the first year; 
 on the whole, not a desirable fowl. 
 
 BLACK EAST INDIA DUCK. 
 
 A small, handsome, black variety. The name does not indicate 
 its origin. The British Zoological Society received its first speci- 
 mens from Buenos Ayres. The flesh is prized very highly. They 
 take long flights, and will sometimes stay away from their coops 
 for days. 
 
 CALL DUCKS 
 
 are, like the preceding, a small variety. There are two kinds the 
 White, and the Gray. As their name indicates, they are very noisy. 
 
 CRESTED WHITE. 
 
 Is a duck of white color, with a heavy crest on the top of its head. 
 
 GUINEA FOWLS. 
 
 There are two varieties : The PEARL, and the WHITE. The for- 
 mer are the most common. They are natives of Africa. Some 
 poultrymen raise them to protect their poultry from hawks. It is 
 claimed they will not disturb a yard where the voice of the Guinea 
 owl is heard.
 
 PART V. 
 POULTRY ENEMIES. 
 
 The depredations of the chicken thief whether man, beast or 
 bird sometimes cause a great deal of unpleasantness in the family. 
 I have not words to express my contempt for the person who will 
 so completely put himself on the level of the skunk as to prowl 
 round his neighbor's outhouses at night, and carry off his fowls. 
 So we will pass him, and discuss his greatly superior fellow trades- 
 man, but a mean and sneaking, ill savored thief 
 
 THE SKUNK. 
 
 Dark and rainy nights are more promising for the appearance of 
 skunks than others. They are very bold, and would be social if 
 others were so disposed. They prowl around nights, eating every 
 sort of refuse meat, scraps, etc., to be found. These not handy, 
 they will eat the chickens in their coops, never carrying anything 
 away with them ; but always remembering where they obtained their 
 last meal, will be quite sure to come to the same place on the next 
 night, which makes it easy to trap them. A steel trap set in the 
 place of its last depredations, will quite likely hold the thief in the 
 morning and the catcher must explain to all of his neighbors what 
 is the cause of all this unpleasantness ! A box-trap is best, as the 
 skunk will not be offensive till hurt or frightened. This immersed 
 in water till the animal is dead, is a safe and easy way of killing it. 
 In a locality of skunks, the chicks should be shut up every night. 
 A board set up in front of a coop will generally keep them out. 
 
 THE RAT. 
 
 Rather the most annoying in villages, as they will hide under any 
 old barn, shed, floor or wall, from which they will make their raids, 
 day or night, and prey on the chickens till nearly as large as part- 
 ridges. A cat which can be trusted, is an excellent exterminator. 
 Poison, so set that other creatures can not get it, is about as good
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 89 
 
 as anything. Either the coop must be set at a distance from their 
 hiding-places, or war must be waged on the rats. 
 
 THE FOX. 
 
 Where chickens or turkeys wander a long way from home, or on 
 back farms, the fox is the most troublesome. A good dog and gun 
 are the best arguments to convince them that they are out of place. 
 
 THE WEASEL. 
 
 A dead fowl under the roost in the morning, is the only evidence 
 that a weasel has been there. It works by crawling on the roost, 
 and tapping a vein and sucking the blood. One of my correspond- 
 ents says he killed his weasel by sprinkling oil of anise and strych- 
 nine on a piece of fresh and bloody meat. I wrote him, asking him 
 what was the good of the oil of anise. He replied, that he did not 
 know, only it got the weasel. 
 
 THE HAWK. 
 
 There are two kinds the large hen-hawk, and the small pigeon- 
 hawk. If not disturbed, they will get to be very familiar, and never 
 forget where the chickens ramble. A good gun is recommended, 
 but it is hard to get within shooting distance of them. I have known 
 a steel trap with a dead chicken tied on for bait, to catch them. 
 
 THE OWL. 
 
 Not so troublesome as it is handsome. This bird always comes 
 around in the night, and commonly takes chickens which roost out 
 in trees. The owl always lights before it attacks a fowl. This sug- 
 gests the steel-trap. I was once shown a trap which a farmer said 
 was sure, and in which he caught them. Near where the owl ap- 
 peared last, he erected a pole, on the top of which he had fastened 
 a steel-trap, with a piece of chicken as bait. The chicken was 
 there in the morning, and the owl was there, too ! 
 THE COON. 
 
 Not our colored Southern brother, but the veritable coon of the 
 woods. A friend of mine in the eastern part of the State of New 
 York said to me, "When you get out your next edition, you must 
 not leave out the Coon from the list of poultry enemies. They are 
 the worst thieves we have. They will come in the hen-house, or 
 climb up the side of the barn, run along on the roost, and catch the 
 fowls." 
 
 We should think they could be easily trapped, if they are obliged 
 to enter the house by a certain way, but have never heard of any 
 certain remedy.
 
 , I*
 
 PART VI. 
 MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 
 
 RECIPES. 
 
 CARBOLIC ACID OINTMENT. 
 
 One fluid ounce, or one tablespoonful, of acid to one pound of 
 lard. 
 
 Very healing and cleansing. Used for driving vermin from 
 chickens and fowls. 
 
 CARBOLIC ACID WASH. 
 
 One fluid ounce of acid to one gallon of water. 
 Used as a disinfectant in washing roosts, etc., for cleansing 
 against disease and vermin. 
 
 DOUGLASS MIXTURE. 
 
 Sulphate of Iron ^ pound. 
 
 Sulphuric Acid I ounce. 
 
 Water 2 gallons. 
 
 This added to the drinking water of all fowls and chicks, in the 
 proportion of one teaspoonful to a pint of water. The water will 
 assume a rusty appearance, but that is immaterial. This serves as 
 a bracing tonic, and will, in a measure, guard against roup, gapes, 
 and diseases of the bowels. It is especially good during moulting 
 season. The mixture can be made and set away in bottles or glass 
 jars, to be used as wanted. 
 
 POULTRY CONDITION POWDERS. 
 
 Pulverized Ginger I pound. 
 
 Pulverized Licorice Root i pound. 
 
 Pulverized Blood Root I pound. 
 
 Pulverized Flax Seed i pound. 
 
 A tablespoonful of this every other day, when a stimulant is 
 needed. Should be given in the spring, and during moulting. 
 
 STIMULANT. 
 
 Ale is an excellent stimulant. It works like a- charm on 
 chickens, young turkeys and fowls, weak, languid and wanting 
 appetite. They readily eat bread soaked in it ; if not, then open 
 the mouth and pour down a quantity, according to size and age.
 
 9 2 
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 TONICS. 
 
 Lewis Wright, in his Illustrated Book of Poultry, recommends 
 the following tonics : 
 
 No. i. 
 
 Licorice 2 oz. 
 
 Ginger 2 oz. 
 
 Cayenne Pepper i oz. 
 
 Anise Seed. 1%. oz. 
 
 Pimento 2 oz. 
 
 Sulphate of Iron I oz. 
 
 Powder and Mix. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 Peruvian Bark 2 oz. 
 
 Citrate of Iron i oz. 
 
 Pimento 2 oz. 
 
 Cayenne Pepper I oz. 
 
 Gentian i oz. 
 
 Powder and Mix. 
 
 No 2. 
 
 Cassia Bark I ^ oz . 
 
 Ginger 5 oz. 
 
 Gentian ^ oz . 
 
 Anise Seed > oz. 
 
 Carbonate of Iron 2 oz. 
 
 Powder and Mix. 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 Cascarilla Bark 2 oz. 
 
 Anise Seed ^ oz. 
 
 Pimento I oz. 
 
 Malt Dust 2 oz. 
 
 Carbonate of Iron I oz. 
 
 Powder and Mix. 
 
 No. i Best for sudden colds. No. 2 For cold and wet weather, 
 and young turkeys. No. 3 A restorative after long journeys, ex- 
 hibitions, etc. No. 4 Where a continuous use of tonic is required 
 for general debility, and the like. Only enough of either should be 
 used to give the food a slight characteristic taste. 
 
 WATER-LIME PAINT. 
 
 Take lime-water the stronger the better. Add salt to make 
 quite a brine of it. Mix in water-lime to consistency of paint. 
 If you can use half skim-milk in place of half of the lime-water, 
 it will add body and durability to the paint Apply with white- 
 wash brush. 
 
 FALSE NEST-EGGS. 
 
 During all seasons of the year, and especially in winter, a false 
 nest-egg is better than a real one. It is easily whittled from a large 
 piece of chalk. Or, take an egg, break a small hole in both ends, 
 and blow the contents into a bowl ; then fill the shell with plaster- 
 of-paris, and turn in water. It will harden, and be very solid. 
 
 CARBOLIC NEST-EGG. 
 
 Mix plaster-of-paris in the form of an egg, and when dry, drop a 
 little carbolic acid on it. This can be done whenever the egg loses
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 93 
 
 its peculiar, acid odor. Such an egg as this will do much to keep 
 the nests and hens free from vermin. It will not freeze, or present 
 any inducement for the hens to eat eggs. 
 
 TO PICKLE EGGS. 
 
 During the summer, eggs bring a small price, perhaps ten or 
 fifteen cents per dozen. If they can be preserved till winter, when 
 they are worth thirty or forty cents, it is getting a big percentage on 
 the money invested. I think the best recipe is the following : 
 
 Lime 2 quarts. 
 
 Salt i quart. 
 
 Cream Tartar 3 ounces. 
 
 Boiling Water .8 gallons. 
 
 Stir well, and let cool. It is immaterial whether you remove 
 sediment or not, after about two weeks. Drop the eggs, as gath- 
 ered, in the pickle (only fresh ones), and keep covered from the 
 light. Eggs will keep in this way six or ten months. Another 
 good way, when they are to be kept only a few weeks, is to pack 
 them in salt, and keep covered. 
 
 HOW TO PACK EGGS, FOR HATCHING. 
 
 The great end is to so pack them that they will reach their desti- 
 nation safely, and hatch as well, if possible, as at home. Another 
 consideraiion is, to pack them as light as possible, as the express 
 charges depend much upon the weight. There are different ways 
 of packing, but I believe the best and simplest is, to wrap each egg 
 in paper, and pack on end or side, with bran in a basket. The bran 
 is very elastic, and if placed about an inch deep in the bottom, and 
 half an inch on the sides, and one-quarter inch between eggs in the 
 same layer, they will carry safely. 
 
 I have had no trouble sending to California, and they hatch well. 
 After well packed, a cloth cover is sewed on, or a thin board cover 
 is wired on. The address is written on a card or paper, and pasted 
 or sewed on the cover. There should be printed or written in large 
 letters, words to this effect : EGGS FOR HA TCHING! 
 
 TO FATTEN POULTRY. 
 
 ,Shut the fowl in a coop by itself. Keep fresh water by it. Give 
 cooked food three times a day as early in the morning and as late 
 at night as it will eat. Give all it will eat up clean. Leave none 
 to get sour. Hang a cloth or carpet over the coop for two or three
 
 94 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 hours after each meal. The fowls keep quiet in the dark, and 
 fatten faster. Buckwheat, Indian meal and wheat middlings are 
 good. Let all food be cooked. Give a little green food, to keep 
 bowels in order. In short, perfect quiet, warm quarters, and 
 plenty of good food. The following, from the Iowa Register, should 
 be carefully read by all preparing fowls for market : 
 
 " Generally farmers do not prepare their turkeys in a proper way 
 for market. Neither turkeys nor chickens are fit to eat taken right 
 from the barn-yard manure pile, nor from following after fattening 
 cattle. Fowls partake largely of the food they eat, in taste and smell. 
 This is well illustrated by the popularity of the canvas-back ducks 
 in the neighborhood of Baltimore and Washington. In that region 
 there is a large quantity of wild celery, which this variety of ducks 
 eats, and it gives their flesh that peculiar flavor which makes them 
 so popular with the lovers of canvas-back ducks. It is only in that 
 particular region, or in other places where the wild celery grows, 
 that these ducks are any better than other choice kinds. Turkeys, 
 chickens, geese and ducks, can have their flesh flavored with celery, 
 or any other highly flavored articles which they will eat. So can 
 they be flavored with the droppings of cattle and other domestic 
 animals. No poultry, for ten or fifteen days before being killed, 
 should be allowed to eat anything impure in taste or smell, if you 
 would have delicious eating. 
 
 " Some time before taking to market, all turkeys for Christmas 
 should be put in a clean enclosure, and fed on clean, rich food, and 
 pure water or sweet milk. Then they would be fit to eat, and per- 
 sons who could have full assurance that they were all right, could 
 afford to pay double prices for them." 
 
 DRESSING AND PACKING POULTRY FOR MARKET. 
 
 A correspondent of the Farm and Fireside furnishes the following 
 directions for preparing poultry for market : 
 
 "As much, if not more, depends upon the manner of killing 
 poultry, as on that of dressing it, to have it fit for market. Too 
 much caution cannot be used in this branch of the business. 
 
 " The French mode of killing we think far the best, as it causes 
 instant death, without pain or disfigurement, and is simply done by 
 opening the beak of the fowl, and with a sharp-pointed and narrow- 
 bladed knife, making an incision at the back of the roof of the 
 mouth, which will divide the vertebrae, and cause immediate death, 
 after which the fowl should be hung up by the legs till bleeding
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 95 
 
 ceases, and picked while warm. The flesh presents a better and 
 more natural appearance than it does after the old-fashioned way 
 of scalding. Fowls should always be allowed to remain in their 
 coops without food at least twenty-four hours previous to being 
 killed, as the flesh will keep longer, and present a better appear- 
 ance in the market. 
 
 All poultry should be thoroughly cooled before packing. Then 
 provide boxes for they are preferable to barrels and place a layer 
 of rye straw, that has been thoroughly cleansed from dust, on the 
 bottom. Commence packing by bending the head under the body 
 
 FIGURE I. 
 
 (see figure i) ; then lay the fowl in the left-hand corner, with the 
 head against the end of the box, and the back up ; and continue in 
 the same manner until the row is filled. Then begin the second 
 row in the same manner, letting the head of the bird pass up be- 
 tween the two adjoining birds, which will make the whole solid and 
 
 firm. (See figure 2.) In packing the last row, reverse the order, 
 placing the heads against the end of the box, and letting the feet 
 pass under each other, and fill the spaces with straw. Over this 
 layer place enough straw to prevent the next layer coming in con- 
 tact with it ; then add other layers, packed in the same manner, 
 until the box is filled. Care should be taken to fill the box full, in 
 order to prevent any disarrangement. To those having extra fine
 
 96 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 poultry to send to market, we would recommend wrapping each 
 fowl before packing. This will prevent dust and straw adhering to 
 it, and will add much to its appearance. The box should have the 
 initials of the consignor ; the number and variety of contents ; as 
 well as the name of the consignee, marked on it." 
 
 TO FIT FOWLS FOR EXHIBITION. 
 
 When competing for prizes, the fowls are put in light and tasty 
 coops, in pairs and trios, as the Society may direct. The coops are 
 generally open at the top and in front, with exception of slats ; and 
 a slide-slat or two in front, by which to put fowls in and out. This 
 is to let in the coop as much light as possible, that the fowls may 
 show off well. Of course, the first point is to get superior fowls. 
 The next is, to have them appear well. The cock and hen should 
 match in the pen that is, be of the same shade of coloring, of 
 proportionate size, and about the same age. They should be clean, 
 and their feathers smooth, none pulled out, especially such prom- 
 inent ones as tail or wing feathers. Many a first-class fowl has 
 given up his medal to his inferior, for the reason that he did not 
 show up well. They should be somewhat used to the coop, and 
 not wild, that when the judge takes them out and handles them, he 
 can get at their true merits, and that they may act natural . 
 
 Fowls designed for exhibition should be put in clean and com- 
 fortable apartments by themselves, where they will be quiet for a 
 week or two before the exhibition. If necessary, they should be 
 washed, and allowed good time to dry, in clean apartments. For 
 feed, whole grain is the best. Let them be in good order, and not 
 over-fat. Sunflower seeds are good to feed them, with other grain, 
 for two weeks before exhibition, but they have to learn to eat them. 
 If sunflower seeds are not convenient, give the hens oil meal or 
 cotton-seed meal, mixed with Indian meal and wheat middlings, in 
 the proportion of one-fourth oil meal to three-fourths other meal, 
 once a day. This tends to make them vigorous, active, and hold 
 up their heads ; feathers shine and lie smooth. The judge will 
 pass upon every part of the fowl head, comb, legs, wings, tail, 
 condition, symmetry, etc. A perfect fowl is allowed one hundred 
 points of excellence. A certain number of points will be allowed 
 to the comb, say five ; a certain number, say seven, to wings ; and 
 a certain number, say ten, to legs. (With different kinds of fowls 
 these numbers will be proportioned differently.) These whole num- 
 bers added together make one hundred. If the comb be defective, 
 perhaps ill-shaped, twisted or lopped, one. two or three points
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 will be taken off, according to the seriousness of the defect ; so 
 with all parts. The points of excellence left for each fowl are then 
 added up, and the one whose number is the highest, ranks best. 
 I have never yet heard of a fowl that possessed one hundred points. 
 Many good fowls fall below ninety. It is a superior fowl that will 
 score ninety-five points. 
 
 Fowls of some varieties, that will score ninety-eight and ninety- 
 nine points, are sold now-a-days for seventy-five and one hundred 
 dollars apiece. There is need of great care, that the changes of 
 condition of the fowl to the coop, and at liberty, do not work 
 against his health. Many a good fowl is lost just after exhibition. 
 
 CAPONS, AND HOW PRODUCED. 
 
 This subject is receiving more attention every year, and the 
 operation of caponizing young cockerels is practiced in some 
 localities to quite an extent ; but we are very slow and backward 
 yet. There is no reason why a hundred should not be able to per- 
 form this change, where there is one now. The demand is great. 
 Every large town furnishes market for Capons, at nearly double 
 the prices paid for other poultry ; and we believe that almost every 
 one who is at all handy with his fingers, and careful, can do the 
 work successfully. 
 
 In our fourth edition, we gave directions for the operation. One 
 party, after buying the book, and working from the directions, wrote 
 me, asking if I supposed he could find market for them, that he 
 could produce thousands. 
 
 The right age at which to perform the operation is at three or four 
 months. The young bird should not previously have been allowed 
 to pay any attention to the other sex, as this causes the organs to 
 grow, and so makes the operation more difficult. 
 
 Before trying on a live fowl, it is well to operate on a dead one, 
 and before the feathers are taken off. This can be repeated on any 
 number of chicks, till the operator gets confidence to take a live 
 one. Next select a fowl intended for killing, and if it dies in the 
 operation, it will be caused by bleeding to death, which will not 
 injure it for cooking. Two persons one to hold the fowl, and the 
 other to operate can do better than one alone. 
 
 Lay the fowl on side, with its wings drawn over its back. Re- 
 move the feathers from a spot about the size of a dollar, near the 
 hip joint and on a line between the shoulder and the thigh ; next 
 draw the skin back so that after the operation it will cover the 
 wound between the ribs and make an incision between the last
 
 98 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 two ribs, about an inch and a half long ; between these, place a 
 spring, previously prepared for the work, which will hold the parts 
 open enough to allow working between them. Here is a point 
 where slim and deft fingers are most needed. Some say that, with 
 the handle of a teaspoon and a pair of tweezers, an adept person 
 can successfully operate ; but I consider instruments made espe- 
 cially for the business quite convenient, to say the least. With the 
 handle of a spoon push the intestines to one side, till the testicle is 
 visible, enclosed in a thin skin ; with a sharp hook tear open this 
 skin ; next seize the testicle with a pair of concave forceps, or any 
 other instrument with which we can pull the member away from the 
 back-bone. Care should be taken not to rupture the blood vessels 
 near the organ, or injure the intestines. Operate on the other tes- 
 ticle in the same manner. Then let the parts back to their normal 
 position. It is not necessary to sew up the skin, as it is loose and 
 will grow together. 
 
 Previous to the operation the fowl should not be fed for thirty-six 
 hours, that the intestines may be empty. After the operation, feed 
 lightly for a few days, with soft, cooked food. Capons will grow 
 till a year and a half old, and will get nearly the size of turkeys. 
 Their flesh is very tender and sweet, and as much the superior of 
 the ordinary fowl as the flesh of a steer is superior to that of a bull. 
 
 Some are deterred from trying this on account of the expense of 
 the instruments. I would recommend that a person of small and 
 limber fingers practice first on dead fowls. Follow the directions 
 as here given till instruments are needed ; then use the fingers, and 
 contrive such instruments as one would think would do the work. 
 The object is to take out the testicles. That done, that is all there is 
 of it. I would observe, that no particle of either testicle must be left. 
 If there is, the fowl after a while will begin to crow, which will be 
 proof positive that the work was not thorough. This fowl is what 
 is called a Slip. 
 
 Slips command a better price than ordinary fowls, but they are 
 not Capons, and will not command the price of Capons. 
 
 CROSS-BREEDING. 
 
 When fowls are kept simply for eggs and market, it is often of 
 great advantage to cross them. This often adds size and vitality, 
 and increases egg production. Some, however, are not as good as 
 either parent stock, so that only by experimenting can we know 
 which will be of advantage to cross.
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 99 
 
 A fowl is often called for with the size of the Light Brahmas, and 
 laying qualities of the White Leghorns. A cross between these 
 breeds will produce a white fowl not quite so large as the Brahmas, 
 and more like the Leghorns for laying. 
 
 A Black Spanish cock with White Leghorn hens will produce an 
 excellent laying fowl. The cockerels from this cross will be marked 
 solid white, with flesh-colored legs. The pullets will be white, 
 with now and then a black feather ; the legs blue. 
 
 A cross between Plymouth Rock and White Leghorn produces a 
 sl.ity blue fowl. Cockerels have flesh-colored legs ; pullets have 
 blue legs. They somewhat resemble the Andilusian fowls. I do 
 not consider them equal to either the Plymouth Rocks or White 
 Leghorns. 
 
 A cross of Plymouth Rock and Partridge Cochin very much 
 resembles the Plymouth Rock. It has bright yellow legs ; some 
 chicks have clean legs, and some feathered legs ; a good sized fowl. 
 
 A Brown Leghorn and Silver Spangled Hamburgh shows color 
 of the Leghorn, but manner of marking of the Hamburgh. It 
 much resembles the Golden Spangled Hamburgh. An excellent 
 variety for eggs, and more hardy than the Hamburghs, pure. 
 
 These are crosses which have come under my own eye. It is 
 interesting to see how the blood of one fowl will manifest itself in 
 one way, and the blood of another in quite a different way. When 
 two markings or characteristics clash, the weaker must give way to 
 the stronger, unless they are about equally strong. The Dorking 
 varieties crossed with others, never forget to put on the fifth toe, 
 showing that it is a characteristic from many generations back. In 
 the cross between the Black Spanish and White Leghorn, I was 
 surprised to see how the black feathering had to give way to the 
 white, but the Spanish held on to the blue legs never a yellow leg. 
 In bringing new blood into any yard, the chicks want to be watched 
 carefully, to see in what way the particular cross manifests itself. 
 If to the detriment of the parent stock, it will not pay to let it go 
 any further. 
 
 QUALITY OF EGGS. 
 
 We often hear it stated that there is a great difference in the 
 quality of eggs of different breeds of fowls. There is certainly a 
 great difference in the quality of eggs, but more depends on the 
 treatment which fowls receive than on blood. We know well that 
 the food which goes to make the egg perhaps within twenty-four 
 hours must carry with it, to some extent, its own inherent qual-
 
 100 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 ities, good or bad. Not only does our own judgment tell us so, 
 but actual experience corroborates the fact. If we will feed a lay- 
 ing hen onions, we can taste them quite strongly in the egg ; the 
 same as milk from a cow that is fed on cabbages or turnips, will 
 taste of them. So it is plain that eggs that are from stale, unhealthy 
 or rotten food, will be very poor eggs, and although fresh, will be 
 unhealthy to eat, while eggs from clean grain and grass, and fresh 
 meat, with pure water, will be of much better quality. 
 
 There is another phase in which the assertion that there is a 
 difference in eggs is true, I think. We know that cows which are 
 noted for great flow of milk, are also noted for giving poor milk, 
 the Ayrshires, for instance ; while the Jerseys give small quantity, 
 they give much richer milk. Is it, then, unreasonable to believe that 
 eggs from fowls, say the Asiatics, which lay only twelve or twenty 
 eggs before they rest a week or ten days, are richer than eggs from 
 fowls such as the Leghorn and Hamburgh varieties, which will lay 
 forty and fifty before they stop ? To me it is not. But when a 
 person says that the Leghorns, or any one variety, lays a better egg 
 than any other variety of fowls, we can conclude he has them to 
 sell. However, I doubt not some are perfectly honest in such be- 
 lief, but I think they are mistaken. 
 
 INCUBATORS. 
 
 In my fourth edition I said on this subject, " I receive many in- 
 quiries like these : ' What do you think of them ?' and, ' What kind 
 is the best ?' I will answer both of these questions as well as I can. 
 There is hardly a subject that I dislike to discuss as I do this one 
 of Incubators, and for the reason that I fear-I may do them wrong. 
 But I can say a good word for the old speckled hen. I have known 
 her a long time, and I can give her a good recommend : 
 
 ist, She is cheap! 2d, She is trusty and reliable! 3d, She will 
 bring off a large percentage of chicks ! If as much can be said of In- 
 cubators, they can be pronounced a success. 
 
 The natural course is for the hen to hatch her own eggs, and care 
 for the little ones. It is a very nice thing to furnish a substitute. 
 If we try to do it, we must get something that is cheaper than the 
 time of the hen, or, in a business point of view, we fail. And sup- 
 posing the machine to hatch every egg : One whose capacity is one 
 hundred eggs, costs about thirty-five dollars ; and after chicks are 
 out, they have no mother, and require much attention of some one. 
 To hatch these eggs in the natural way would take the time of eight
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. IOI 
 
 hens, which would cost four dollars ; and they will mother them till 
 they need no mothers. The hens will then lay a dozen eggs, and 
 after that are worth six dollars in market." 
 
 Since writing the above, three years ago, I have had quite an 
 opportunity to observe more on this subject, and will, for the lack 
 of room, give the results, without many explanations : 
 
 ist. It is a very well settled fact that chickens are hatched by 
 Incubators in quite large numbers, and with the attention of a good 
 operator, quite a fair percentage of eggs will hatch ; but I wish to 
 be understood to say, that this is with a well-made, self-regulating 
 machine, and operated by a person who understands it. 
 
 2d. There are well-made machines (some more simple than oth- 
 ers), which will fall into the hands of poor operators, and not pro- 
 duce a good hatch. The result will be, the machine is condemned, 
 whereas it is not at fault. 
 
 3d. There is a class of machines which are made on right prin- 
 ciples ; but to supply the demand for a low-priced Incubator, the 
 manufacturers have used the cheapest and poorest materials, and 
 put them together in a very hasty manner. They frequently require 
 more or less fixing up, and are liable to fail in the midst of a hatch ; 
 and at the best, do not last long. 
 
 4th. There are many which are not made on scientific principles, 
 and can not be made to hatch well, even with the best of operators. 
 They are downright swindles ; and here I wish to say, that the sys- 
 tem of selling, without any kind of a warrant, to any one who may 
 order it, a machine which requires excellent judgment and careful 
 handling and very patient attention, is wrong. It opens the way for 
 all sorts of frauds in the name of Incubators to keep up a pre- 
 tentious rivalry with really worthy machines. I think none should 
 be sold where the purchaser can not afford to have an agent come 
 with it, set it up, run it in his presence, and teach him to do so ; 
 and the company should agree to do this, and warrant the machine, 
 to a certain extent. A person who cannot rock a cradle without 
 turning it over, will order an Incubator, and then handle it as he 
 would a fanning-mill, cook or freeze a lot of eggs, and condemn 
 the machine ! 
 
 Hence I would say and I know I am ahead of the times when 
 the Incubator can be sold, set up and run, on the same conditions 
 that sewing-machines are, they will do better and be used more. 
 There is hardly a community where people do not point to some 
 idle machine, and pronounce Incubators " no good." It will be 
 greatly to the interest of the manufacturers and the public, to in-
 
 IO2 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 augurate this system, and give the genuine, well-made, self-regu- 
 lating and good hatching Incubators a boom. The demand is strong 
 enough, but the supply and terms and prices are poor. 
 
 THE HOME-MADE INCUBATOR. 
 
 There are many who like; to try this "hatching by steam," but 
 can not afford, or their demands do not require, so expensive a ma- 
 chine, and therefore desire to make one of their own. This may do 
 very well for the person who wishes simply to try it, for the "fun 
 of it," but they are very rarely profitable, as they require so much 
 attention, watching the thermometer, etc. I do not approve of 
 them for business. It must be understood that the making of one 
 is a very particular job, and demands first-class workmanship. 
 
 In my fourth edition I gave directions for making, as I do below. 
 Some parties have written me that they could not make them work 
 well ; others, that they could. Probably all depended on the me- 
 chanical tact of the maker. I give here one letter which I received: 
 
 Rix MILLS, Ohio, May 29, 1885. 
 Mr. G. M. T. Johnson, Binghamton, N. Y.: 
 
 DEAR SIR : I was to let you know about my Incubator, made 
 according to the directions in your PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 I made it large enough for twice the number of eggs, which is 400, 
 and put in two No. i burner lamps. The machine was put in a 
 small granary, and when the sun came out hot, it run the mercury 
 up to no^, the first day after dinner ; and three times after that, it 
 run up to 108, at noon. I could regulate it splendidly at night, but 
 not in the daytime without considerable trouble, but had it from 
 98 to 105, most of the time after I got up to it. I did not get much 
 of a hatch at all ; but I could not expect it after keeping the heat so 
 irregular. But after all, I got twenty-five or thirty chicks, and they 
 were next the board, on the outside. So that would show that it 
 had been too warm. I found seventy or eighty chicks in the rest of 
 the eggs on the outer edge, and they were dead in the shell, but 
 looked large enough to commence to pick through. This I cannot 
 understand. I hope you will give me your views on this subject, 
 why, after being ready to hatch, they should then die in the shell. 
 * * * * * 
 
 Respectfully, R. E. MOOREHEAD. 
 
 I am of the opinion that the cause of the chicks dying in the shell 
 was, the want of moisture. I think this party did pretty well, con- 
 sidering the changeable temperature of the room in which his ma- 
 chine stood. The room should be of very even temperature. I am 
 told that the cellar is a good place in which to run an Incubator.
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 103 
 
 The following are the directions for making the Incubator, as 
 given in my fourth edition. The article is taken from the Youths' 
 Companion : 
 
 "Have a pine case made, somewhat like a common wash-stand 
 (see figure i), without the inside divisions. 
 
 INCUBATOR (CLOSED). 
 
 "About a foot from the floor of this case, place brackets like those 
 in figure 2, and on a level with these screw a strong cleat across the 
 back of the case inside. These are to support the tank. The tank 
 should be made of galvanized iron, three inches deep, and other- 
 wise proportioned to fit exactly within the case, and rest upon the 
 brackets and cleat. The tank should have a top or cover soldered 
 on when it is made. At the top of this tank, in the center, should 
 be a hole an inch in diameter, with a rim two inches high ; and at 
 the bottom, towards one end, a faucet for drawing off the water. 
 
 FIGURE 2. 
 
 INSIDE OF INCUBATOR FRONT SECTION. 
 
 (T Tank. L C Lamp-Closet.) 
 When the tank is set in the case, fill up all the chinks and cracks
 
 104 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 between the edges of the tank and the case with plaster-of-paris, 
 to keep all fumes of the lamp from the eggs. 
 
 " Fill the tank at least two inches deep with boiling water. To 
 find when the right depth is acquired, gauge the water with a small 
 stick. Over the top of the, % tank spread fine gravel, a quarter of an 
 inch thick ; over this lay a coarse cotton cloth. Place the eggs on 
 the cloth, and set a kerosene safety-lamp under the centre of the 
 tank. The door of the lamp-closet must have four holes for venti- 
 lation : otherwise the lamp will not burn. The lamp-closet is the 
 space within the incubator, under the tank. Turn the eggs carefully 
 every morning and evening, and after turning, sprinkle them with 
 quite warm water. Two thermometers should be kept in the Incu- 
 bator one half-way between the centre and each end. The average 
 heat should be one hundred and five degrees. If the eggs do not 
 warm up well, lay a piece of coarse carpet over them. If they are 
 too warm, take out the lamp, and open the cover for a few minutes, 
 but do not let the eggs get chilled. If they should happen to get 
 down to ninety-eight, or up to one hundred and eight, you need not 
 think the eggs are spoiled. They will stand such a variation once 
 in awhile; but, of course, a uniform temperature of one hundred 
 and five degrees will secure more chickens, and they will be stronger 
 and more lively. In just such an Incubator as this one I have de- 
 scribed, I hatched over two hundred chickens two years ago. 
 
 " For those who are ambitious to try top heat, the same sort of a 
 tank is required, but a boiler must be attached at the side, with an 
 upper and lower pipe for circulation. Any plumber can attach the 
 
 TOP-HEAT INCUBATOR ON TABLE. 
 
 boiler ; and the faucet must be at the bottom of the boiler, on one 
 side. The drawers containing the eggs should slide beneath this 
 tank. A stand for the lamp should be screwed to one end of the 
 case, in such a position as to bring the lamp under the boiler. 
 (See picture.) This incubator can be cooled by raising the lid, 
 turning down the lamp, and pulling the drawers part way out.
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. IO5" 
 
 "In both incubators, while the eggs are hatching, sprinkle them 
 two or three times with quite warm water." 
 
 FORM OF TANK. 
 
 J. M. BAIN, of New Concord, Ohio, says : Make your own incu- 
 bators ; and gives long directions as to how to do it, and adds : 
 "We will send all the above directions and information, nicely 
 bound, for two dollars, cost price. There is nothing to prevent 
 your making hundreds of dollars in, a few months at this business." 
 
 Without this book, of course, the information as to how to build 
 is good for nothing. Two dollars are sent him, and in return is 
 received a little pamphlet of 26 pages ! In this book he gives direc- 
 tions which require a person's attention every ten or fifteen minutes, 
 day and night, for three weeks ; and adds, that we must not be dis- 
 couraged if we have to try three or four times before we get any 
 chickens. He says : ' ' The first four times that I filled the incubator 
 with eggs, I raised only one chicken !" That is encouraging, in- 
 deed ! Why did he not give us that information before receiving 
 the two dollars ? There is a good deal more of nonsense in this 
 two-dollar book of twenty-six pages, but I cannot afford space to 
 notice it, further than to caution my readers against a first-class 
 fraud. 
 
 A WORD TO BEGINNERS. 
 
 I am often in receipt of letters of inquiry from those contem- 
 plating going into the business of fine poultry breeding. I will 
 answer some of their questions here, which may be acceptable to 
 others : 
 
 i. Begin with only one variety, You, of course, want to breed 
 for success, good stock, and pure, healthy and clean, and enjoy the 
 business. Each variety of fowls needs at least one warm and com- 
 modious building, not necessarily large ; one good yard ; two or 
 three separate apartments for extra cocks. It would not do to let 
 your business depend upon the life of one. One or two separate 
 apartments for sitting hens and young chicks. You will need sep- 
 arate apartments for the larger chickens, that they may not pick and 
 fread on the wee ones. It is often the case that in the fall cockerels 
 will need a separate yard by themselves, that they may not worry
 
 106 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 the hens and pullets. I make it a practice every fall, to put my 
 cockerels in a yard by themselves, with none of the other sex to 
 fight over, and they will be quiet till spring. It economizes the 
 yards. But it will not do to bring in a stranger. The others will 
 pitch on him, and soon be fighting among themselves. The happy 
 family is then broken up. If you have only one variety, you do 
 not have to stand so strict guard against mixing. You can, at will, 
 give the fowls the range of the yard. You can raise the whole 
 number that the grounds will accommodate, of one variety, and 
 cull down to the acceptable birds, and in the fall have some that 
 you can be proud of. With two or three varieties, it will require 
 a good deal of watching. If the Houdan cock should get in with 
 the Leghorns, but for a few minutes in the spring, your yard would 
 be ruined for the season, and your labor lost. You could no longer 
 warrant them. Again, the number of chicks will be divided be- 
 tween these varieties, and when you come to cull out the inferior 
 ones, you will find you have net one good yard of either variety. 
 The cocks will get to fighting, and injure each other, perhaps your 
 finest specimens ; and in the fall when you come to look over your 
 stock, and figure up the first cost of good fowls ; your expense in 
 building, and the feed ; your own time and unpleasant labor fighting 
 diseases, etc. ; and then when you look at your few good birds, you 
 will be ready to sell out. With one variety, you can at the end of 
 the year figure up the loss and gain ; and knowing something of 
 the duties, you can tell better what to do the next year, and your 
 experience will suggest many things that will help you, if you 
 should wish to add to the number of varieties. 
 
 2. Keep only good stock. It pays best. It will take a number 
 of years probably longer than you will live to get good stock from 
 poor. Like produces like. It is better to get good stock from 
 reliable breeders, at high prices, than poor stock at any price ; but 
 it is often the case you can get just as good at low prices. Bear in 
 mind that because prices are high, it is no guaranty that the stock 
 is good. Let the man of whom you buy be a reliable breeder. In 
 selecting, it is better to take fowls that are inferior, and culls from 
 first-class birds, than to take first-class birds from poor quality of 
 fowls. In all probability the chicks will take back to the original 
 stock, and be of the quality of the line from which they sprang. 
 One year I bought a Houdan cock (a fine bird), and hens equally as 
 good, from different parties ; but out of a lot of fifty chicks, could 
 not get five good ones. They evidently took back to the parent 
 stock. I also sold one of my neighbors some of my Leghorns,
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. IO/ 
 
 which I was going to kill. The next year he called me over to se- 
 lect his yard, and he had some as fine as I had. Blood would man- 
 ifest itself. 
 
 3. Don't be afraid to use the hatchet, and as early as the case 
 will admit of, and give your ground to the good stock. They will 
 be out of your way. They are worth more early than late, and will 
 lessen the chances of disease. With some fowls, however, it is 
 impossible to tell what are good, and what are poor chicks. The 
 Brahmas will be awkward and poorly feathered till nearly a year 
 old. With Leghorns and other small varieties, we can tell at four 
 months pretty closely. Kill any chicken with bad comb, crooked 
 back, wry tail, badly colored legs, foreign feathers, general weak- 
 ness, bad build, or any other defect which will damage it as a 
 breeding fowl. 
 
 4. If you have a good strain of fowls, and wish to bring in new 
 blood, do it very carefully. Know that the new blood is all right. 
 It is not best to kill off the old fowls the same season, but breed 
 some of them by themselves that year : in case the new cross is not 
 a satisfactory one, you are not out of your good fowls. It is well 
 to bring in new blood every second or third year. See that the 
 general characteristics of the breed are very marked, and the fowl 
 a strong and healthy bird. 
 
 5. If you have good stock, and have eggs or fowls to sell, lay 
 out as much as you can spare in printers' ink. It pays the best of 
 anything. In advertising, it will be necessary to select papers 
 which will reach the class of people who will be interested in 
 poultry. A monthly paper is better than a weekly of the same cir- 
 culation. The larger the circulation, for the same amount of money 
 per line, the better. This is a point that will need watching. Some 
 publishers will tell the truth as to their circulation, but others will 
 not. In getting out cards or circulars, have them look tasty. The 
 person who buys poultry at high prices is commonly a man of fine 
 tastes, and the manner in which a thing is presented to him makes 
 a great impression. We not only need to have good stock for sale, 
 but we wish to inform those who are likely to buy, and we need to 
 present it in a pleasing way. To put iu as few words as possible 
 the most essential rules for a beginner, I would give these : 
 
 Good Stock ! Work ! Square Dealing ! Printers' Ink ! Now ! 
 
 6. Is there room for more? Yes; but at the top. There are 
 more than enough of the cheap breeders. They live long enough 
 to send out some very poor stock, and place the whole business in 
 ill repute, but they die young. To this extent the business of fancy
 
 108 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 poultry-breeding has been overdone, and three of every four who 
 have commenced, after losing considerable time and money, have 
 dropped out. The trouble with the most of those who have come 
 under my observation has been, that they considered it too easy 
 and light ; or they tried too many varieties at once ; or did not have 
 stock of high enough order, and were not careful enough in mating 
 and breeding ; or they were afraid to advertise, thinking they might 
 lose all ; or they advertised injudiciously did not, for the money, 
 reach the right number, nor in the right way, If one will commence 
 cautiously and carefully and thoroughly, and not lose courage, there 
 is a good chance for him, and a hundred more ! They cannot hurt 
 the business. The dabsters are the ones who do that. Purchasers 
 after being once gulled, are afraid to try again. They are not afraid 
 of high prices, if they get stock of their money's value. 
 
 7. Don't expect to get No. one or two fowls for No. three or 
 four price. If you want exhibition birds, say so, and expect to get 
 them ; but there are many fowls that are from the same stock as 
 the exhibition birds, which will be better for breeders, and prices 
 not so high ; and stock of a still lower grade will demand prices 
 accordingly. Poultry breeders are often censured unjustly by par- 
 ties who expect to buy first quality fowls at farm prices. 
 
 LIGHT COLORED PLYMOUTH ROCK COCK.
 
 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. ICX) 
 
 FRAUDULENT PRACTICES AMONG POULTRYMEN. 
 
 It is a very lamentable fact, but a fact nevertheless, that a class of 
 men are dealing in poultry, incubators and supplies, who, with the 
 aid of poultry papers in which they advertise, and by which means 
 they carry on their nefarious business, should be making baskets 
 behind the bars of a State prison. 
 
 It is a great detriment to honest dealers that there are a few who, 
 having no regard for honor, are placing before the public the most 
 attractive advertisements, with false representations of their stock, 
 and after the money is safely pocketed, send out eggs of very in- 
 ferior stock, or eggs of stock not ordered, and of no merit, or fowls 
 good for nothing. 
 
 The crime is still more aggravating when we come to know that 
 these "schuysters" are either in secret compact with the publish- 
 ers of papers who present their advertisements, which they know to 
 be false, or are paid by way of receiving pay for large advertise- 
 ments for keeping still, and letting them do the fleecing. Probably 
 more of the latter. All amounts to the same. 
 
 I was, in the Summer of 1886, talking with one of the poultry 
 dealers of this city, who has done a very wide business with Wyan- 
 dottes as a specialty, and who is represented very generally by those 
 who have suffered as an arrant cheat, I told him a pany who had 
 bought White Wyandotte eggs of him, and had obtained black, 
 brown, striped and feather-legged chickens, was going to publish 
 him in the poultry papers. He laughed at the idea, and said he 
 could not do it ; he himself knew how that was, and I was quite 
 ready to believe him, as I knew of several who had written to 
 the publisher of the Poultry World, a paper in which Mr. Preston 
 had advertised extensively, but no notice was taken of it. I men- 
 tion this case as one which seems to illustrate the way in which a 
 poultry paper and an advertiser will go " snooks." 
 
 The Incubator frauds are another "tough" class, and honest 
 dealers suffer from them the same as honest poultry men do from 
 the practices of cheats in their line. H. S. Waldo, of Quincy, 111., 
 carried on his business of advertising in the poultry papers his ' 'cheap 
 and perfect " Incubator. The poultry papers continued publishing 
 his advertisement, and after knowing what it was, until the United 
 States Postal Department took the matter in hand, and forbid the 
 deliver)' of his mail to him. Then the poultry papers, after the man 
 was down, and they had gathered in the ducets, were ready to step 
 on him. " Such a fraud you know."
 
 I 10 PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPING. 
 
 J. M. Bain, New Concord, Ohio, has a very innocent appearing 
 way of working the public. The first act consists of an article mailed 
 at some distant place, perhaps in Michigan or North Carolina, pub- 
 lished in the Agricultural -Department of some prominent paper, 
 giving an account of what money was made by a party in that place 
 by hatching chickens in an incubator, and that a home-made one, 
 costing less than five dollars, in which could be hatched over two 
 hundred chickens at once. At the close of the article, which was 
 inserted free, but which if paid for as an advertisement would have 
 cost from fifty to two hundred dollars, he informs the readers that 
 the incubator was made from plans sent to any address by applying, 
 with stamp, to J. M. Bain, New Concord, Ohio. On sending the 
 stamp a large circular is received, giving full directions for working 
 the incubator. At the close Mr. Bain informs the reader that for 
 two dollars he will send a book giving full information as to how 
 to manage it. On sending the two dollars, is received a little pamph- 
 let of 26 pages, of about the size of a postal card, coarse print, on 
 coarse news paper. With my experience in printing, I should say 
 these two dollar books would cost not to exceed twenty-five cents 
 per hundred. The contents are the worse part of it, and amount to 
 simply this : " Sit by the machine night and day, turning up and 
 down the wick of the lamp as the thermometer indicates necessary, 
 for three weeks." He then informs the readers that they should 
 not be discouraged if they get no chicks. Mr. Bain has often been 
 published as a fraud, still he plays his tricks on an innocent paper 
 now and then. 
 
 A. M. Lang, Covedale, Ky., publishes a little 25 cent poultry 
 book. All that is truly valuable he has taken from other books, 
 almost word for word, in long paragraphs, and between these he 
 sandwiches in his offer to send receipts for making cholera, roupe, 
 paracite and gape remedy, all for two dollars. In all probability 
 much the same as some receipts printed in this book free. 
 
 These are only samples from a large flock of feathery frauds, 
 given to show my readers the character of the class. 
 
 But all poultry dealers must not be put down as of this sort. 
 There are many as conscientious men and women in this business 
 as is found among the foreign missionaries, and they will do their 
 customers justice if they can. 
 
 It is sometimes a question whether there is anything especially 
 demoralizing about the " hen business," or whether the already de- 
 praved of heart take to it as an excellent opportunity to give their 
 natural depravity good play. Certain it is they are there, and lively 
 workers too, but just how far honest dealers must suffer from them 
 remains more with the publishers of poultry papers to say than any 
 other class. I am persuaded that in this business the same as in 
 every other, one-half of the world must carry the other half on its 
 back.
 
 1. 
 
 PAGES. 
 
 POULTRY HOUSES AND YARDS 7 to 24 
 
 Selection of Site 8 
 
 Houses, large and small 1 1 
 
 Small houses 12 
 
 Large houses 15 
 
 For Laying and Sitting hens 18 to 19 
 
 House in side hill 21 
 
 Warmed by fire 22 
 
 Dampness 8 
 
 Doors 10 
 
 Drinking vessels 111034 
 
 Covered Runs , 23 
 
 Coops 24 
 
 Feed Boxes 11,23,24 
 
 Fences 22 
 
 Floors 9 
 
 -Grass Runs 23,41 
 
 Nests 10, 14, 27 
 
 Roosts 10, 14, 17 
 
 Roofs 15 
 
 Ventilation 9 
 
 Windows ... n 
 
 :P^.:R,T 2. 
 
 GENERAL CARE FOR FOWLS 25 to 44 
 
 Care for Laying Hens 25 
 
 " " Sitting Hens and Eggs 30,31,33 
 
 " " Chickens, Young Turkeys and Ducks j 3I 33> 34, 
 
 To make Hens lay 35 
 
 To keep Hens from Laying 36 
 
 To stop Hens Sitting ... 36 
 
 To induce Hens to Sit 36 
 
 To mark Fowls 36 
 
 Mating Fowls for Breeding 37 
 
 Mating Fowls for Eggs 39 
 
 " Flesh 39 
 
 Ducks 41 
 
 Geese 40 
 
 Turkeys 40 
 
 How many Hens with one Cock 37 
 
 Eggs that will produce Cockerels or Pullets how to tell 39
 
 112 INDEX. 
 
 In Breeding ........................................ 37 
 
 Good Crosses ... .................................. 39, 40 
 
 Protection from Rain ....................... . 34 
 
 Too many on one ground ......................... . . 34, 35 
 
 Cull out ................ % .......................... 35 
 
 Early or Late ....................................... 35 
 
 EGGS- 
 
 HOW far can Eggs carry and hatch ................... 31, 32 
 
 During Incubation ................................ 31 
 
 Infertility ......... * ................................ 32,37 
 
 Ducks ............................. ............ 41 
 
 Duck Eggs under a Hen ........................... 43 
 
 Ducks eating young Chickens ..................... \ . 43 
 
 Geese .......................................... 40 
 
 To Pick Ducks and Geese ........................... 43 
 
 FEED AND FEEDING ........................ 27 
 
 Feeding Chicks and Turkeys ........................ 33 
 
 Corn ............................................... 28 
 
 Cracked Corn ..................................... 33 
 
 Buckwheat ......... ........................... 28 
 
 Bread and Milk .................................... 33, 41 
 
 Grass ............................. ............... 41 
 
 Meat .............................................. 41 
 
 Musty Grain ...................................... 
 
 Meal .................. , .......................... 28, 34, 40 
 
 Sour Milk ....................................... 4 
 
 Water ............................................. 29 
 
 Wheat ............................................ 28 
 
 Wheat Middlings ................................ 40 
 
 Hard Boiled Eggs ................................. 33 
 
 3. 
 
 DISEASES AND REMEDIES .................... 44 to 61 
 
 Of Accident and Mismanagement .................... 45 
 
 Of Carelessness and Cussedness .................. 47 
 
 Three causes of Disease ............................. 49 
 
 Apoplexy ............... ......................... 61 
 
 Bad Feathers ..................................... 61 
 
 Canker ........................................ 60 
 
 Catarrh ........................................... 54 
 
 Cholera ............ ................................ 49, 56, 57 
 
 Remedy for ............................... 57- 59, 60 
 
 Crop Bound ....................................... 61 
 
 Diarrhoea ......................................... 60 
 
 Egg Eating ......................................... 28, 30 
 
 Feather Eating .................................... 28, 29, 68 
 
 Frost Bites ...................................... 61
 
 INDEX. 113 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Gapes .................. . .......................... 49 
 
 Inflamed Eyes ..................................... 54 
 
 Lice ............................................. 49.52 
 
 " Remedy ..................................... 53.54 
 
 Lice on Stock ...................................... 52 
 
 Mites ........................................... 49,52,53 
 
 Parasites ....... .................................. 49 
 
 Pustulated Nostrils ................................ 54 
 
 Roupe ........................................... 49.54 
 
 " Remedy ............. ........................ 54,55,56 
 
 Scurvy Legs ...................................... 52 
 
 Soft Shells ............................ .......... 61 
 
 Sore Heads .................... ................... 54 
 
 Sore Throat ........................................ 54 
 
 Swelled Head ..................................... 54 
 
 Vermin ................................... ....... 8, 27, 33, 52 
 
 Worms ............................................ 61 
 
 DIFFERENT BREEDS ................................. 63 to 87 
 
 What is a Pure Bred Fowl ......................... 63 
 
 Crosses ................... ....................... 67 
 
 Dunghills ......................................... 64 
 
 Thoroughbreds ..................................... 64 
 
 Asiatics ......................................... 65 
 
 Brahmas ........................................... 66 
 
 Light Brahmas ................................... 66, 67 
 
 Dark Brahmas ................................... 66,67 
 
 Cochins ........................................... 66 
 
 Buff Cochins ...................................... 66 
 
 Black Cochins ...................................... 66 
 
 White Cochins .................................... 66 
 
 Partridge Cochins ........... .................... 66 
 
 Pea Combed Partridge Cochins ......... . ............ 66, 67 
 
 Langshans ....................................... 67 
 
 Games ....................................... ----- 73 
 
 Standard Games .................................. 73 
 
 Pit Games ........................................ 73 
 
 Black Breasted Red Games ........... .............. 69, 74 
 
 Silver Duck-wing Games ............................ 74 
 
 Golden or Yellow Duck-wing ..................... 74 
 
 Red Pyle Games ................................... 74 
 
 White Games. .................................. 74 
 
 Brown Breasted Red Games ............... . ......... 74 
 
 Black Games ....................................... 74 
 
 Malays ....... .................................. . 75 
 
 Black Sumatras ..................................... 75 
 
 Dubbing Game Cocks ............................. 74 
 
 Pit, preparing Fowls for it .......................... 75 
 
 Steel Spurs ........................................ 75
 
 1 14 INDEX. 
 
 FRENCH FOWLS 
 
 Creve Cocur. . . . 
 
 Houdans 
 
 Houdan Eggs. . . 
 LeFleche. . . 
 
 DORKINGS. 
 
 Dorkings, when introduced, 
 
 Colored Dorkings 
 
 Silver Gray Dorkings , 
 
 White Dorkings 
 
 HAMBURGHS. . . 
 
 Black Hamburghs. 
 Golden Spangled. . 
 Golden Penciled.. 
 Silver Spangled. . . 
 Silver Penciled. . . 
 
 POLANDS. . . . 
 
 Golden Spangled . . . 
 
 Silver Spangled. . . . 
 
 White Crested Black. 
 
 " White. 
 
 SPANISH 
 
 Andilusian 
 
 Brown Leghorns 
 
 " " Rose Comb 
 
 Black " 
 
 Dominique Leghorns 
 
 White " 
 
 " Rose Comb. 
 
 Leghorns, first introduced 
 
 Black Spanish 
 
 Minorcas 
 
 AMERICAN BREEDS 
 
 American Dominique 
 
 Seabright, (Wyandotte.) 
 
 Plymouth Rocks 
 
 " " How produced 
 
 White Plymouth Rocks 
 
 Wyandottes 
 
 Wyandottes How produced 
 
 White Wyandottes 64,78,80
 
 INDEX. 115 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS BREEDS 78 
 
 Creepers 79 
 
 Black Russians 79 
 
 Frizzlies 79 
 
 Rumpless 78 
 
 BANTAMS 79 
 
 Buff Cochins 79 
 
 Games 79 
 
 Black Japanese 80 
 
 White " 80 
 
 Grey " 80 
 
 White Crested White 79 
 
 Golden Seabright 80 
 
 Silver " 80 
 
 Guinea Fowls 87 
 
 DUCKS 86 
 
 Aylesbury 86 
 
 Black East India 86,87 
 
 Call 86,87 
 
 Cayuga 86,87 
 
 Muscovy 86,87 
 
 Pekin 86 
 
 Pekin, when first introduced 86 
 
 Rouin 86 
 
 WildMallard 86 
 
 White Crested 86, 87 
 
 GEESE 85 
 
 Canada or American Wild Goose 85 
 
 China, White and Brown 85 
 
 Bremen 85 
 
 Embden 85 
 
 Tolouse 85 
 
 TURKEYS 83 
 
 When First Bred 83 
 
 Bronze 83,84 
 
 Black 84 
 
 Buff 84 
 
 Narragansett.... 84 
 
 Slate 84 
 
 White 84 
 
 Wild 83
 
 Il6 INDEX. 
 
 5. 
 
 POULTRY ENEMIES. . . 
 
 Coon.. 
 Fox... 
 Hawk.. 
 Owl... 
 Rat.... 
 Skunk. 
 Weasel 
 
 e. 
 
 A WORD TO BEGINNERS. . . 
 
 Capons and how produced 
 
 Carbolic Acid Ointment 
 
 " Acid Wash 
 
 Nest Egg 
 
 Douglas Mixture 
 
 False Nest Egg 
 
 Poultry Condition Powders 
 
 Stimulant 
 
 Slips 
 
 Tonics, Nos. i, 2, 3 and 4 
 
 Water Lime Paint 
 
 Sun Flower Seeds 
 
 To Dress and Pack Poultry for Market. 
 
 To Fatten Poultry 
 
 To Pack Eggs for Hatching 
 
 To Fit Fowls for Exhibition 
 
 To Pickle Eggs 
 
 Judging Fowls at Exhibition 
 
 CROSSBREEDING 
 
 Light Brahmas and White Leghorns 
 
 Black Spanish and White Leghorns 
 
 White Leghorns and Plymouth Rocks 
 
 Plymouth Rocks and Patridge Cochins , 
 
 Brown Leghorns and S. S. Hamburghs 
 
 Quality of Eggs 
 
 INCUBATORS 
 
 The Old Speckled Hen 100 
 
 Four reasons why not more popular 101 
 
 Home Made Incubators 103, 104, 105 
 
 Fraudulent Practices among Poultry Men 109.
 
 INDEX. II/ 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Bantams, Black Japanese 80 
 
 " Silver Sebright 79 
 
 Black Spanish 62 
 
 Brahams, Dark 38 
 
 Light 6 
 
 Cochins, Black 26 
 
 ' ' Partridge 90 
 
 White 26 
 
 Coops 23 24 
 
 Dorkings, Colored 38 
 
 Ducks, Pekin 42 
 
 " Rouin 42 
 
 Games . 50 75 76 
 
 Geese, Tolouse 85 
 
 Hamburghs, Silver Spangled 90 
 
 Houdans , 70 
 
 Incubators 103, 104, 105 
 
 Le Fleche 71 
 
 Leghorns, Brown 58 
 
 ' ' Dominique 63 
 
 White 58 
 
 Minorcas, Black 82 
 
 Packing Poultry 95 
 
 Plymouth Rocks 70, 108 
 
 Pofands, White Crested Black 3 
 
 " White 72 
 
 Poultry Houses 12 to 21 
 
 Turkeys, Bronze 83 
 
 Wyandottes, Laced 25 
 
 White 81 
 
 POULTRY SUPPLIES. 
 
 Poultry for Pleasure and Profit ' a little book 
 
 of 48 pages, containing much of interest to Poultry Keepers, which 
 could not be put in this book. Over Forty Thousand sold in one 
 year. Very low prices allowed on large numbers where used as 
 premiums. Retail price, 25 cents. 
 
 Caponizing I nstru mentS. In fine case, $3.00 per set. 
 
 Oyster Shells Crushed for Poultry. 
 
 Bone Meal, for Poultry. Prices given on application. 
 
 Poultry CutS For use in illustrating advertisements. A 
 fine assortment. A sheet showing what they are, with prices. 
 Price, 10 cents. Circular on application with two cent stamp. 
 
 G. M. T. JOHNSON, Binghamton, N. Y.
 
 Il8 ADVERTISEMENTS. 
 
 WINDSOR, N. Y.. 
 
 BREEDER OF 
 
 CHOICE POULTRY. 
 
 As will be seen by a letter in another place, I have 
 the original flocks as owned, selected and bred by 
 
 Or. IMI. T. 
 
 Consisting of the following varieties: 
 
 Light Brahmas, Plymouth Rocks, White Crested 
 
 Black Rolands, Wyandottes, 
 
 White Wyandottes, 
 
 And will be able to furnish Eggs and Fowls in season. 
 
 I believe persons who want fine poultry are more 
 willing to pay a fair price for something fine than a 
 low price for poor stock, and I can say with confidence 
 I have that which is good, and will be pleased to hear 
 from all contemplating purchasing, and will try to 
 satisfy. Where a personal letter is required please 
 inclose stamp for reply. 
 
 Address, 
 
 ZE3I. IB. ZHZ^IILL, 
 
 WINDSOR, N. Y.
 
 ADVERTISEMENTS. 1 19 
 
 BINGHAMTON, N. Y., July 15, 1886. 
 MR. H. B. HALL, WINDSOR, N. Y. : 
 
 DEAR SIR : As I have handed over to you my choicest fowls 
 of five varieties, I will give you a little statement of what they are, 
 which you are at liberty to use as you may think best. 
 
 The Light Brahmas were headed this year by Sampson, No. 
 6,158, and with him were a fine flock of females, among them Deli- 
 lah, 6,159, Debora, 6,160, and Tirana, 6,161. They are well illus- 
 trated on page 5, of "Practical Poultry Keeping." I have made 
 the selection of Light Brahmas with special reference to getting not 
 only birds well marked of the majestic carriage and station charac- 
 teristic of the Brahma, but to get fowls which are good layers and 
 not persistent setters. I believe I have succeeded, and think there 
 is none better in the country. 
 
 The Wyandottes, (see page 25 of " Practical Poultry Keep- 
 ing,") are originally from the finest flocks I could find, carefully 
 selected and bred. Among the young stock designed for bringing 
 in new blood, are the chicks from the $5.00 per 13 eggs, which I 
 obtained from the breeder who has taken the first premium at the 
 Madison Square Garden Poultry Show, for the past three years. 
 The flock of Plymouth Rocks which I hand over to you are from 
 the best flock on exhibition at the above named show. I paid six- 
 teen dollars for three settings of eggs. I was satisfied then as I am 
 now that I was getting the best. You need not hesitate to recom- 
 mend them, as their blood will bear it. 
 
 Among the White Wyandottes is the trio for which I paid 
 twenty-five dollars and soon afterwards refused fifty, and if I did 
 not now regard the consideration which I received from you as bet- 
 ter then that I would not have let you have them. They are the 
 finest specimens I know of. I would not push them to the front or 
 you will not be able to fill your orders. 
 
 I had a plate made of them which I use in my Practical Poul- 
 try Keeping. Page 81. 
 
 The White Crested Black Polands, see page 3 Practical Poul- 
 try Keeping, are from the flock which took first at the New York 
 State Fair in the fall of 1885, and all the premiums at the New York 
 Show last winter. Their beautiful solid white crest with the glossy 
 black plumage of the body renders them really one of the hand- 
 somest of domestic poultry. 
 
 Very Respectfully, I am Yours, 
 
 G. M. T JOHNSON. 
 
 N. B. Besides the above named stock from Mr. Johnson I 
 offer eggs from very fine ROSE COMB BROWN LEGHORNS. The 
 original stock from which I obtained mine have long been reguarded 
 as of the best in the State. 
 
 H. B. HALL, 
 
 Windsor, N. Y.
 
 I2O ADVERTISEMENTS. 
 
 INCUBATORS ! 
 
 If you are at all interested in Poultry, send stamp for Illustrated 
 Circular of Incubators and Brooders, and do not buy without read- 
 ing the testimonials and record of the 
 
 Standard Incubator. 
 
 Headquarters for Poultry Supplies, and Fixtures of every kind. 
 EF" BEE KEEPERS SUPPLIES. 
 
 L. N. CLARK & SON, 
 
 38 Dey Street, NEW YORK. 
 
 THE ANDREWS HATCHER! 
 
 A Perfect and Reliable Self Regulating Incubator. 
 
 It has many testimonials, and has taken its full share of Premiums 
 at our State Fairs and Poultry Shows. 
 
 Ef SEND FOR CIRCULAR. Address, 
 
 THE ANDREWS HATCHER CO., 
 
 Elmira, N. Y. 
 
 I make a specialty of Games, (both exhibition 
 and pit stock,) Game Bantams, Cockers' Sup- 
 plies, Gaffs, etc. ; also, Books on Game Fowls 
 a nd Poultry Cuts. For patrons desiring for- 
 eign stock I import Games and Aseels from the 
 leading English Breeders. Am special agem 
 for the Game Fowl Monthly, a large and beauti- 
 fully illustrated Magazine, devoted entirely tc 
 Games and Game Bantams. Price, $1.00 per year ; sample copy 
 10 cents. Send a two-cent stamp for my twelve page Illustrated 
 Catalogues, and mention Johnson's Poultry Book when writing. 
 
 H. P. CLARK, Wooster, Ohio.
 
 (oS 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 Santa Barbara 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW. 
 
 NOV4 1983 
 
 REID OCT 22 19831
 
 A 000 587 486 2