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[Illustration: HOUDAN CHICKS WITH BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK MOTHER.
(Photograph by C. E. Petersen)]
OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS
ELEMENTARY LESSONS
IN AVICULTURE
BY
JOHN H. ROBINSON
GINN AND COMPANY
BOSTON . NEW YORK . CHICAGO . LONDON
COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY
JOHN H. ROBINSON
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
413.9
=The Athenaeum Press=
GINN AND COMPANY . PROPRIETORS . BOSTON . U.S.A.
PREFACE
Ten years ago aviculture had hardly been thought of as a school subject.
To-day it is taught in thousands of schools, and in some states
instruction in poultry culture is required by law. This rapid change in
sentiment and situation has resulted from a combination of causes. When
agricultural colleges established poultry departments, it was found that
a large part of those applying for admission to them had neither the
practical knowledge of poultry nor the general education that they
needed to do work of college grade. About this time also the interest in
nature study began to take a more practical turn, and attention was
directed to the superiority of domesticated to wild animals and plants
as material for school studies of the phenomena of physical life. Added
to these special causes was a general cause more potent than either:
great numbers of people had reached the stage of experience in various
lines of aviculture where they realized keenly that a little sound
instruction in the subject in youth would have been of great value to
them later in life, saving them from costly mistakes. To these people it
seemed both natural and necessary that the schools should teach poultry
and pigeon culture.
Developing as the result of such a combination of causes, the demand for
an elementary textbook on poultry came with equal force from country
schools, where poultry might be kept on the school grounds as well as by
every pupil at home, from city schools, in which all instruction must be
by book, and from all types of schools and conditions of life between.
Had there been only the extreme classes of schools to consider, the
natural way to supply the demand would be with a special book for each
distinct type of school. The idea of one book for all schools, from
which each might use what seemed to suit its requirements, was dismissed
as impractical while so large a proportion of teachers were but slightly
acquainted with the subject. It is believed that the plan of making an
elementary reading course for general use, and a secondary book of a
more technical character for use where practice courses are given, is
the best solution of the problem under existing conditions.
In this first book the object is to tell in plain language the things
that every one ought to know about poultry, pigeons, and cage birds; to
teach fundamental facts in such a way that they will be fixed in the
mind; to excite interest in the subject where none existed; and to
direct enthusiasm along right lines. While the demand has been almost
wholly for a poultry book, pigeons and cage birds are included, because
they are of more interest than some kinds of poultry and better adapted
than any other kind to the conditions of city life.
In regard to the time that should be given to this course, one period a
week for forty weeks is better than a period a day for forty days,
because the average person, young or old, retains a great deal more of
what is read or heard about a diversified subject if the ground is
covered by easy stages with comparatively long intervals between.
References for collateral readings and suggestions for original
investigations are omitted, because, in the author's opinion, what work
of this kind it is desirable for a high-school pupil to do should be
done by those taking practice work in the advanced course.
JOHN H. ROBINSON
READING, MASSACHUSETTS
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. BIRDS AND THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN 1
Definition of a bird; Place of birds in the animal kingdom;
Flight of birds; Voices of birds; Social relations of
birds--Place of birds in domestication--Uses of birds in
domestication--Place of wild birds in civilization--Classes
of domestic birds
II. CHARACTERS AND HABITS OF BIRDS RELATED TO USE 8
Feathers--Structure of feathers--Arrangement of the
feathers--Decorative feather forms--Color in
feathers--Growth and molting of feathers--Flight--Mechanism
of the wing--Scratching--Swimming--Foods and mode of
digestion--Peculiarities of birds' eggs--Development of the
egg--Rate and amount of egg
production--Incubation--Development of the embryo in a
bird's egg
III. SPECIES AND THEIR DIVISIONS IN DOMESTIC BIRDS 24
Definition of species--Origin of species--Natural
varieties--Varieties in domestication--Classification of
domestic varieties of birds--Systematic mixtures of breeds
and varieties--Pure-bred, thoroughbred, and standard-bred
IV. FOWLS 31
Description--Origin of the fowl--Appearance of the original
wild species--Distribution of fowls in ancient
times--Development of principal races of fowls--How fowls
were kept in old times--Modern conditions and
methods--Native fowls in America--Old European races of
fowls--Italian fowls--English races of fowls--German and
Dutch races--French races--Spanish races--Asiatic races of
fowls--Chinese races--Japanese races--The "hen-fever"
period--How the American breeds arose--The modern Barred
Plymouth Rock--Other varieties of the Plymouth Rock--The
Wyandottes--The Rhode Island Red--The American idea in
England; the Orpington--Present distribution of improved
races--Deformed and dwarf races--Silky fowls--Frizzled
fowls--Rumpless fowls--Bantams--Origin of Bantams--Varieties
of bantams
V. MANAGEMENT OF FOWLS 72
Small flocks on town lots: Numbers in flocks--Houses and
yards--Feeding--Growing chickens. Small flocks on ordinary
farms: Numbers in flocks--Single houses for farm
flocks--Feeding--Reproducing the flock--The hatching
season--Broody hens--Setting the hens--Care of sitting
hens--Attention at hatching time--Coops for broods--Feeding
young chickens--Management of growing chicks. Large stocks
on general farms: The colony system--Numbers of hens
kept--Feeding, care, and results--How the chickens are
grown--Adaptability of the colony system. Intensive poultry
farms: Reasons for concentration--Concentration not
profitable--Common type of intensive poultry farm. Broiler
growing: The "broiler craze"--Present condition of broiler
growing. Roaster growing: Description of a good
roaster--General and special supplies--Large roaster plants.
Intensive egg farming--Poultry fanciers' farms
VI. DUCKS 124
Description; Origin--The common duck--Improved
races--Ornamental ducks--Place of ducks in domestication
VII. MANAGEMENT OF DUCKS 137
Small flocks on town lots: Numbers--Houses and
yards--Feeding--Laying habits. Growing ducklings. Small
flocks on farms: General conditions--Feeding. Market duck
farms: History--Description--Duck fanciers' methods
VIII. GEESE 157
Description--Origin--Common geese--Improved
races--Ornamental varieties--The Canada Goose, or American
Wild Goose--Place of geese in domestication
IX. MANAGEMENT OF GEESE 168
Small farm flocks: Size of flock--Houses and
yards--Feeding--Laying season and habits--Hatching and
rearing goslings--Large flocks of geese on
farms--Goose-fattening farms--Growing thoroughbred geese for
exhibition--Growing a few geese on a town lot--Growing wild
geese in captivity
X. TURKEYS 179
Description--Origin--Common turkeys--Improved
varieties--Bronze Turkeys--Influence of the Bronze Turkey on
other varieties--Other varieties of the turkey--Place of the
turkey in domestication
XI. MANAGEMENT OF TURKEYS 190
Size of flocks--Shelters and yards--Feeding--Breeding season
and laying habits--Hatching and rearing
XII. GUINEAS 201
Description--Origin--Varieties--Place in
domestication--Management of domestic guineas
XIII. PEAFOWLS 206
Description--Origin--Place in domestication--Management
XIV. PHEASANTS 211
Description--Origin--History in America--Species and
varieties--Place in domestication--Management of pheasants
in confinement
XV. SWANS 222
Description--Origin and history in domestication--Place in
domestication--Management
XVI. OSTRICHES 230
Description--Origin and history in domestication--Place in
domestication--Management
XVII. PIGEONS 239
Description--Origin--Distribution in ancient times--Improved
varieties--The Carrier Pigeon--The Antwerp Homer--Tumbler
and Tippler Pigeons--The Fantail Pigeon--Pouter
Pigeons--Other important types--History in
domestication--Place in domestication
XVIII. MANAGEMENT OF PIGEONS 255
Size of flock--Quarters for pigeons--Ventilation and
cleanliness--Handling pigeons--Mating pigeons--Feeding--How
pigeons rear their young
XIX. CANARIES 269
Description--Origin--Improvement in domestication--Place in
domestication--Management of canaries: Cages--Position of
the Cage--Feeding--Care--Breeding
XX. DISTRIBUTION OF MARKET PRODUCTS 275
Producers, consumers, and middlemen--How the middleman
enters local trade--Additional middlemen--How the demand for
poultry products stimulates production--Losses in
distribution--Cold storage of poultry products--Methods of
selling at retail--Volume of products
XXI. EXHIBITIONS AND THE FANCY TRADE 291
Conditions in the fancy trade--Exhibitions--Rudiments of
judging--Disqualifications--Methods of judging--Exhibition
quality and value--Why good breeders have much low-priced
stock--Fancy and utility types in the same variety
XXII. OCCUPATIONS RELATED TO AVICULTURE 304
Judging fancy poultry and
pigeons--Journalism--Art--Invention--Education and
investigation--Manufacturing and commerce--Legislation and
litigation
INDEX 311
OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS
CHAPTER I
BIRDS AND THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN
=Definition of a bird.= A bird is a feathered animal. The covering of
feathers is the only character common to all birds and not possessed by
any other creature. The other characters--the bill, the wings,
egg-laying, etc.--by which we usually distinguish birds from animals of
other kinds are not exclusive bird characters. Turtles have beaks, and
there is one species of mammal (the ornithorhynchus) which has a bill
like that of a duck. Many insects and one species of mammal (the bat)
fly. Insects, fishes, and reptiles lay eggs, and there are several rare
species of mammals that lay eggs and incubate them. On the other hand,
some birds are deficient in one or more of the typical bird characters.
The ostrich cannot fly. The penguin can neither fly nor run, and cannot
even walk well. The cuckoo lays its eggs in the nests of other birds,
leaving to them the hatching and rearing of its young. These exceptional
cases are very interesting because they show that animals now quite
different in structure and habits had a common origin, but in no case is
there such a combination of characters that any doubt arises whether the
creature is a bird or a mammal. The characters which typically belong to
birds attain their highest development in them, and in most cases this
is due to peculiar adaptabilities of the feathers.
The Anglo-Saxons' name for a bird was _fugol_ (the flying animal). The
young feathered creature they called _bridd_ (the thing brooded). This
name was also sometimes given to young mammals, but it applied
especially to the young of feathered creatures which were more dependent
upon the parent for warmth than others. Our English words "fowl" and
"bird" come from these Anglo-Saxon terms. At first "fowl" was applied to
large birds and "bird" to small ones, but gradually the use of the name
"fowl" was limited to the common domestic fowl, and "bird" became the
generic name for all feathered creatures.
=Place of birds in the animal kingdom.= Zooelogists rank mammals higher
than birds because man is a mammal and his general superiority to other
creatures determines the rank of the class to which he belongs. Yet,
while placing birds below mammals in a simple classification of animals,
naturalists point out that birds are the most distinct class in the
animal kingdom. If we compare birds and the lower mammals, and compare
the relations of each class to man, we see at once that nothing else
could take the place of birds either in nature or in civilization. Among
birds are found the highest developments of animal locomotion and of the
natural voice, capacity for language far beyond that of other creatures
(except man), and family and community relations resembling those of the
human race. Hitherto in the history of the world mammals have been more
useful to man than birds, but birds have given him some of his best
ideas, and with the advance of civilization the lower mammals become
less necessary and birds more necessary to him.
=Flight of birds.= It has been said that "on the earth and on the sea
man has attained to powers of locomotion with which, in strength,
endurance, and velocity, no animal movement can compare. But the air is
an element on which he cannot travel, an ocean which he cannot navigate.
The birds of heaven are still his envy, and on the paths they tread he
cannot follow."
Since that was written practical flying machines have been invented, but
in these, as in boats and ships, man has merely devised a machine which
under his control can do laboriously and at great risk what the bird
does naturally and easily. To birds man is indebted for his first
lessons in navigating the water as well as for his ideas about airships.
=Voices of birds.= With few exceptions the different kinds of animals
have natural languages through which individuals of the same species can
to some extent hold communication with each other, and which are partly
intelligible to other creatures. In all mammals except man, and in most
birds, the range of expression is very limited and the sound of the
voice is disagreeable; but a great many species of birds have very
pleasing notes, many have very beautiful natural songs, and some readily
learn the songs of other species. Man learned melody from the song
birds. There are also many species of birds that can imitate a great
variety of sounds, and even learn to speak words and short sentences.
Birds that learn to talk often show intelligence in their use of words.
This is the more remarkable because the intelligence of birds is not of
a high order, but is distinctly inferior to that of the common
domesticated mammals.
=Social relations of birds.= In aerial birds (except the cuckoos) the
male and female pair, build a nest, and both take part in the incubation
of the eggs and the feeding of the young. Usually a pair once mated
remain mated for life and are very devoted to each other. In wild land
birds the pairing habit is not of advantage to a species, but still the
tendency to single matings is very strong. When land and water birds are
domesticated man tries to break them of this habit because the males
produce no eggs and he prefers to eat them while they are young and
their flesh is tender. But, as will appear in detail when the different
species of birds of this class are described, he does not always succeed
in doing this. Even the domestic fowl and duck, in which pairing has
been prevented for centuries, often show a strong tendency to pair; and
the females with broods of young usually separate from the flock until
the little ones no longer need their care. With this separate family
life there is still in most species of birds concerted action by
communities in migrations, in forming colonies, in attacks on other
creatures, and in defense from enemies. From the earliest times of which
we have knowledge the devotion of birds to their mates and to their
young has afforded the most common and most beautiful illustration of
family life in nature.
=Place of birds in domestication.= The place of birds among domestic
animals corresponds to that of garden vegetables, small fruits, and
flowers among cultivated plants. The great staple agricultural
crops--corn, wheat, oats, barley, hay, apples, oranges, horses, cattle,
sheep, hogs, etc.--are produced mostly by men who make farming and
stock-growing their business. But, while large quantities of garden
vegetables, small fruits, flowers, poultry, pigeons, etc. are grown by
people who specialize in them, the greater part of the supply in all
lands comes from small gardens and small flocks on ordinary farms and in
the back yards of town homes.
=Uses of birds in domestication.= With the exception of the cage birds
and the ostrich, all our domestic birds are valuable for their flesh;
but, as some kinds can be produced more easily and cheaply than others,
people growing birds for the table give most attention to those that can
be grown most profitably, and the others are grown principally by those
who prize them for rarity, beauty, or some peculiar quality.
The eggs of all birds are edible, but birds differ greatly in the number
of eggs that they lay and in the disposition to lay them in places
provided for the purpose. So, nearly all who keep birds for their eggs
keep fowls, which are the most prolific and most docile, and hens' eggs
are the staple eggs in the markets.
The feathers of birds are used for pillows and beds, for feather
dusters, and in various ways for ornament. Except in the case of the
ostrich, however, the value of the feathers of domesticated birds is so
small that no one grows birds primarily for their feathers. On the
other hand, those who keep birds for pleasure find their greatest
enjoyment in breeding them with colors and markings difficult to
produce. Choice specimens of fancy-bred birds bring prices many times
greater than the value of their flesh and eggs for food and of their
feathers for use or ornament. Fancy feathers have no more value than
others except on the living birds.
While those who keep birds for pleasure nowadays give most attention to
breeding fancy stock for exhibition, several kinds of pigeons are kept
to entertain by their flying performances; and--outside of the limited
class of those who breed them especially for exhibition--canaries are
valued according to ability to sing. The brutal sport of cockfighting
was a popular pastime with our ancestors until prohibited by law, and is
still prevalent in many lands. In early times birds of prey were
captured when very young and carefully trained to hunt for their
masters. Under the feudal system there were regulations prescribing the
kinds of birds which different classes of men might use in this way: the
eagle and vulture were for emperors only; the gyrfalcon for kings; the
lesser falcons for nobles; the harrier for esquires; the merlin for
ladies; the goshawk for yeomen; the kestrel for servants; the sparrow
hawk for priests.
Much of the value of various kinds of poultry comes from their ability
to destroy insects which damage vegetation, and to maintain themselves
on these and on foods not available for the larger domestic mammals. The
services of poultry in this respect being limited to those insects that
can be secured from the ground, and to areas on which the birds can live
safely and do no damage to crops, we are dependent upon wild aerial
birds to keep insect life in check on trees and high bushes and on land
not occupied by poultry.
=Place of wild birds in civilization.= As no insect-eating aerial birds
have been domesticated, the preservation of wild birds that destroy
insects is of as much importance to man as the production of domestic
birds. Indeed, the wild birds are much more valuable to us in the wild
state than they would be if domesticated.
In nature species prey upon each other--the lowest forms of life upon
inorganic and decayed matter, the higher forms upon the lower, the
larger creatures upon the smaller, the savage upon the defenseless.
Fertile lands not only produce luxuriant vegetation but teem with insect
life, which, if not kept in check, would soon destroy that vegetation.
In tropical and semitropical regions there are mammals, some of them
quite large, which feed upon insects. In temperate regions where insects
are not to be obtained during the winter, there would be no adequate
check upon their increase and the consequent destruction of vegetation
if it were not for the vast numbers of insect-eating migratory birds
which come to these regions for the summer. Necessary as these birds are
to vegetation on uncultivated lands, they are more necessary in
cultivated fields, orchards, and gardens where the crops are more
attractive to insects than the mixed vegetation on wild lands. As insect
destroyers the domestic birds that are kept on cultivated lands only
fill the place of the nonmigratory wild birds that have been driven away
or exterminated. So it is to the interest of every one to protect
insect-eating wild birds, for although these birds may do some damage to
crops, their service usually more than pays for it.
=Classes of domestic birds.= There are three classes of domestic
birds--poultry, pigeons, and cage birds. The poultry class comprises
land and water birds and contains nine kinds--fowls, ducks, geese,
turkeys, guineas, peafowls, pheasants, swans, and ostriches. The pigeon
class has but one kind, the pigeon, which is the only aerial bird
domesticated for economic purposes. The cage-bird class has as its most
important representative the canary. The other birds of this class have
never been popular in America.
The question of increasing the number of species of birds in
domestication interests many people. There is a general impression among
those not familiar with the commercial aspect of aviculture that many
more species might be domesticated. While it is true that many birds
capable of domestication have not been domesticated, there are few of
these that would serve any purpose not better served by some species
already domesticated. It will be shown as the different kinds and
varieties of domestic birds are discussed that the most useful kinds are
always the most popular, and that many others are kept principally as
ornaments. The number of ornamental creatures that can be kept in
domestication is limited, for as a rule animals, like people, must earn
their living.