requirement of the household. If eggs are the main object, it
would be absurd to select Dorking or game. Nothing can exceed the
prolificacy of fowls of the Mediterranean type, which includes
Spanish, Andalusian, Leghorn, Minorca, Ancona, and other less known
varieties. Of these, as regards hardihood and size, Minorcas are
in the front rank, and can be strongly recommended as splendid
egg producers--not show birds with combs 4 in. high, such as some
breeders aim at producing, but the ordinary bird common in the
south-western counties of England. Leghorn is good, but smaller in
size of egg; Andalusian very good, but not so much in demand as
Minorca. All these birds are non-incubators, and their production
of eggs is consequently not interfered with by weeks of broodiness,
which renders Cochins, Brahmas, and other birds of the Asiatic type
so unprofitable where eggs alone are required; though nothing can
surpass the pullets as winter layers, as they produce eggs quite
irrespective of temperature. Hamburghs, particularly the black and
the spangled breeds, are admirable egg-producers, but the eggs are
small as compared with those of the Minorca. The recently introduced
Plymouth Rocks are very good layers, but they are sitters, and
therefore not as prolific as the Mediterranean type. The same may
be said of Houdans and some others. If eggs alone are required, the
choice lies between the Minorcas and the Hamburghs. The latter may
possibly excel in numbers; but, if weight and size of eggs be taken
into consideration, the Minorcas will certainly carry off the palm.
The birds of the Mediterranean type may be described as somewhat
leggy, of small or moderate size, with largely-developed single
combs, which are erect in the cocks and flaccid in the hens. They are
not remarkable for abundance of breast meat, plumpness of body when
killed, or any great tendency to fatten. The plumpest are the brown
Leghorns; but these have been produced by crossing the white Leghorns
with black and red game, and what they have gained as table fowl they
have lost in egg-producing properties.
If there be no free and extended range, such as a farmyard, or
grass run in orchard or paddock, the attempt to rear fowls for the
table should be altogether abandoned; the profitable raising of
chickens on ground saturated with the excrement of old birds is not
to be thought of. But given a good grass run, the question arises
as to the variety of fowls to be kept. If large household fowls
are desired, the pullets of which will lay well in the winter, the
Asiatic breeds may be selected, such as the Cochins, Brahmas, and
Plymouth Rock. As table fowl the last is certainly preferable of the
three, as, in consequence of its being bred from a cross with the
old American farmyard fowl, the Dominique, it has more flesh on the
breast, and, being free from the useless incumbrance of feathers on
the legs, it is a better forager and scratcher on its own account.
But as table fowl these breeds are far surpassed by a variety which
has long been most highly esteemed in the West of England, where it
is known as Indian Game. For plumpness and quantity of meat on the
breast, these birds are unequalled by any large breed. The fighting
Indian Game, known as Aseels, equal them in plumpness, but not in
size. In both these breeds there is an absence of offal and waste
parts that is remarkable. The bones are small, there is no large
comb or superfluous feather, and the size of the pectoral muscles,
which constitute the flesh on the breast, is very great. As market
fowls, the fact that their legs are not white may in some cases be an
objection, as there is in the minds of some cooks a stupid prejudice
against any but white shanks.
The Dorking is of great excellence, but has its drawbacks. Dorkings
are harder to rear than many other varieties; the chickens are
delicate; and the deformity of the extra toe is most objectionable,
leading to extra deaths among the chickens, which are trampled in
the mire by the splay-footed hens; and the plumpness on the breast
is not equal to that of the Game or Indian Game. Where fowls are
bred for home use, no better large birds can be raised than will
result from a cross between the Dorking and a large game, either the
ordinary English breed or the so-called Indian Game, which, out of
Cornwall and Devon, is frequently termed the Pheasant Malay. (W. B.
Tegetmeier.)
The French breeds good for table purposes are La Flèche, Crèvecœur,
and Houdan. The two latter have topknots, which are a disadvantage.
La Flèche is most prized, as it grows to an enormous size, and is a
prolific layer. They are usually prepared for market by penning them
separately, fattening them with freshly-ground barley and buckwheat
meal, mixed to about the consistency of gruel with milk; they will
then require no water. They are crammed for the last few days.
Another mode is to force the food down their throats, giving them as
much as they can take without overtaxing the digestive organs. The
usual time is about 3 weeks, but in France it is carried on sometimes
for 3-4 months.
_Formation of Eggs._--The chief egg-producing organ is the ovary,
which is situated under the backbone at the end of the ribs, and
protected by the pelvis. A young chicken has an ovary on both sides
of the vertebræ, but only the one on the left side developes.
The ova consists of different-sized granules, which, as the bird
grows, become larger in size. They are attached to the ovary by a
slight pedicle; when ready to enter the oviduct the ova breaks from
this membrane, and sometimes, when eggs are formed too rapidly,
this becomes ruptured, and a drop of blood will go down with the
yolk--eggs in which this occurs should not be kept for breeding
purposes. The oviduct is a funnel-mouthed canal into which the yolk
enters; at its upper end it is very thin, but thickens as it nears
the intestinal canal--the oviduct of a laying fowl is about 2 ft.
long, and is folded backwards and forwards in the body of the bird.
The yolk or ovum passes down the oviduct in a spiral manner, and
becomes covered with layers of albumen, which are secreted by the
oviduct. At one place the ovum is covered with a thicker stratum,
and here the albumen becomes twisted at either end of the yolk into
two cords which fasten the egg to the shell in such a manner, that
the yolk, with the germ uppermost, is always near the upper side
of the shell, though not touching it; if the egg is kept too long,
and in one position, the albumen glues the germ to the shell when
its vitality is destroyed. The ovum, covered with several layers of
albumen, and the 2 cords (chalazæ), then goes down the oviduct, and
becomes covered with 2 skins or membranes, which separate at the
larger end to let the air into the germ; finally the egg is covered
with its shell, which is formed with great resisting powers, its arch
is much like a tunnel arch, and between the particles, or bricks, air
passes into the egg. This shell, which is very strong at first, with
the heat of the hen’s body disintegrates, and the particles separate,
so that, when the chicken is ready to hatch, it is so brittle that
the slight pecks of the horny cap on the mandible of the chicken is
enough to break it to pieces. If the bird is fed on over-stimulating
food, eggs are often produced too quickly. When such is the case
monstrosities--such as two yolks in one shell, or two eggs one inside
another--are produced, and very often they are laid without a shell.
_Laying._--Several circumstances bear on the question of the supply
of winter eggs; the most important are--(_a_) the food of the fowls;
(_b_) their breed; (_c_) their age; and (_d_) their locality and
lodging.
(_a_) The Food of the Fowls.--It cannot be too strongly impressed
upon all poultry keepers that fowls do not create eggs: they only
form them out of the materials existing in their food. This food
also serves other purposes--namely, to keep up the warmth of the
body, and to support the vital actions. If only sufficient food is
given to supply these demands, it is evident that there can be none
left for the production of eggs. The obvious inference from this
is that it is necessary to feed your fowls very well if eggs are
wanted in winter; and as the supply of nitrogenous food in the form
of worms and insects is diminished, a little cooked refuse meat may
be advantageously added during the very hard weather. A proportion
of Indian corn, either whole or in the form of scalded meal, is a
good addition to the winter food. It contains a larger amount of
warmth-giving fat or oil than any other grain, and, by so keeping
up the temperature of the animal, sets free the other foods to be
employed in the secretion of the substances that compose the eggs.
(_b_) The Breed of the Fowls.--Small birds offer a much greater
amount of surface to the action of the cold in proportion to their
bulk than such as are larger. These latter especially, when thickly
clothed with fluffy feathers, as are the Cochins and Brahmas, are
hardly amenable to frost; hence, all other circumstances being equal,
they will be found the best layers in winter.
(_c_) The age of the hens is a matter of great importance. Early
hatched pullets that have passed completely through the moult and
acquired their adult feathers some weeks since, can be readily
induced to lay by good feeding; whereas old hens that moult later and
later each succeeding season only produce eggs at this season very
sparsely, if at all.
(_d_) Much depends on the locality and lodging. To produce eggs in
winter, the fowls must be in comfortable circumstances; they must
have dry and well sheltered runs; they should not be confined to a
small place, as they are apt to lose that high condition necessary to
robust health, and then the production of eggs immediately ceases.
Their roosting place should be well sheltered, and free from draughts
of cold air or the access of moisture. Some suggest the use of a
stove; but such an appliance is rather injurious than useful. The
fowls are exposed to the cold during the day, and this alternating
with the stuffy, close atmosphere produced by heating a fowl-house
must be injurious. (W. B. Tegetmeier.)
_Setting Eggs._--The favourite egg for setting appears to be as
nearly oval as possible. The best breeders reject every pointed or
irregular egg or a very large one. It is customary to pick out the
eggs very carefully in breeding fine stock. Generally 80 per cent.
are rejected as liable to produce inferior chickens. In the ordinary
practice little attention is paid to the shape of the egg; 13 eggs
are picked out “just as they come,” and put under the hen. Farmers
generally have as an argument that the hen that “steals her nest”
always brings out good chickens, even though the eggs are of all
shapes and sizes. But few farmers can tell how really good these
“stolen” chickens are. They appear to be vigorous when young, but
running about as they do with other hens, any comparison as to egg
production is mere guesswork. The ordinary farm poultry could be
greatly improved by a more careful selection of eggs for setting.
Eggs with soft shells, with a ring or crust on the shells, or with
an uneven or rough surface, should be rejected. Very large eggs
containing a double yolk are frequently set in hope of producing a
very large chicken, two chickens, or a curious monstrosity. Such eggs
very rarely hatch.
_Testing Eggs._--All eggs should be tested on the tenth day of
incubation. The best and easiest way is to cut a hole in a stiff
piece of cardboard, a little smaller than the egg, hold the egg
on its side close into the hole and put a strong light behind the
cardboard, when the state of the eggs will be quite distinct. If
the egg is fertile by the seventh day the body of the egg will be
quite dark and a sharply cut air space will be quite distinct at the
large end. If it is a sterile egg, the whole of the egg will have
much the appearance of melted wax and the air space will not be very
distinct. If the egg is sterile it is much better to take it away,
as it is still fresh enough to be used for cooking, some people even
using them for eating; they would at any rate be good for feeding
young chickens, whilst if they were left in the nest they would
decay, probably be broken, and dirty the whole nest. If the nests
are dirtied by a broken egg, the straw should all be taken away, and
fresh put in its place, and the eggs washed in warm water, care being
taken to prevent the eggs being shaken more than possible. If an
addled egg is left in the nest, the germ, having been killed either
by inherent weakness or by chilling, would decay, and sulphuretted
gas would be generated, which would burst the shell, if it were moved
about, and taint the atmosphere, and in that way hurt the chances of
the others hatching.
_Sitting._--The best method, if practicable, is to let the hen choose
her own nest, leaving the eggs that she lays in the nest, and when
she has laid her clutch of eggs she will sit and probably bring out a
chick from each egg. A hen in a state of nature would only sit at a
seasonable time of year; she would scoop out a shallow hole under the
shade of a bush so that the moisture rising from the ground should
not all evaporate. If a hen cannot sit in the place she has laid her
eggs in, the best method is to put her into a coop with the earth as
a floor, scooping it out slightly, then putting in a thin layer of
straw or leaves, and sitting the hen at night on a few dummy eggs
for the first 24-36 hours. When she has fed and returned quietly to
the nest by herself, she may be given the good eggs, and, unless
disturbed by animals or vermin, which latter can be kept away by
allowing the hen a heap of ashes about the nest to dust herself in,
she will bring out her brood at the proper time. A very good nest for
a sitting hen can be made from a flour barrel turned on its side with
½ barrow load of mould put in, or a half sieve basket nearly filled
with earth. Care must be taken that the hen has not to jump from any
height on to her eggs, or she is likely to break them. Reynolds’s
terra coop is a good one, as the wire flooring having mould put into
it allows the moisture to rise from the earth to the under side of
the egg. The sitting hen should not be disturbed by other fowls
coming to lay in the same nest.
_Incubators._--Taking into consideration the number of conditions
absolutely necessary, a home-made, roughly constructed incubator is
not likely to be successful. A machine which automatically regulates
the temperature of the eggs, irrespective of that of the external
atmosphere, is essential. Regulators are attached to all incubators
in use at the present time. Tomlinson’s works by the expansion
of air; Christy’s by the flexing of a compound metallic bar; and
Hearson’s by the volatilisation of fluid in a metallic capsule,
which, by its sudden expansion at any desired temperature, cuts off
the source of heat, and prevents the degree to which the machine is
regulated being ever exceeded. In addition to the exact regulation
of the temperature, an incubator, to be successful, must be so
arranged that the eggs are heated from above, and that there must
be a constant supply of fresh, moist air (not saturated with watery
vapour). The advantages of incubators from a practical point of view
as regards market and table poultry are due to their supplying hens
with full clutches of chickens. In France, chickens are hatched in
large numbers for sale to small proprietors, and reared by them under
ordinary fowls, or in larger numbers under turkey hens. In our own
country numbers of fancy poultry for the early shows are reared under
artificial foster-mothers heated by paraffin lamps; but the results
of endeavouring to rear chickens, except upon fresh runs where they
can obtain natural food, are not sufficiently encouraging to render
it likely that foster-mothers will supersede the employment of hens
in rearing fowls for the purposes of utility.
_Chickens._--Chickens require no food for 24 hours, as just before
they are hatched the yolk is absorbed, and they live upon this till
it is finished. When the chickens are all out and dry, the hen
would naturally come off and take them to where she could find them
suitable food, such as eggs of ants, gentles, and small germinating
seeds. The best food that can be given young chickens for the first
week is custard, made of equal proportions of egg and milk, beaten
up together, and just set by the fire. They should always be allowed
from the very first plenty of green food, lettuces running to seed,
dandelions, or onion tops chopped very fine. Rice boiled in milk, and
with a little freshly-ground meal, is very good. Dari, millet, and
canary seed are all good; grits and coarse oatmeal should only be
given quite freshly ground, as they soon become pungent and rancid,
and put the digestive organs out of order. Gentles, or flesh maggots,
can easily be got in the summer for the young chickens by hanging a
piece of meat or a dead fowl on a branch of a tree, or suspending
it in some way out of doors, cutting a few slashes in the skin, and
leaving it for a few days, when it will become thoroughly fly-blown;
then bury it a few inches under the earth in a place that the fowls
can get at; in a very short while the ova of the fly will hatch, and
the maggots come to the surface of the earth; the hens will soon
find them, and bring their chickens to them, and they will eat the
maggots greedily. Milk is very good for the young chickens, but great
care must be taken to prevent its turning sour. The chickens should
also have fine-crushed quartz or gravel, such as is swept down the
roadsides by heavy rain, to help their digestion. It is much better
to let the hen free with her chickens, but if she must be cooped, the
best method is to put a coop with an open front to it, and the back
against the wall of some building, and then tether the hen. A good
tether is made with a strip of leather, one end being turned down
about 1½ in., and a small slit being made through the 2 thicknesses
of the leather, put the leg of the hen between these, and then pull
the other end through the 2 holes, through the turned-down end first;
in this way it cannot be tightened or hurt the leg of the fowl; then
fasten a long piece of string to the end of the leather so that the
hen can have a good run, as in a state of nature the hen would move
to fresh ground day after day.
_Fatting for Table._--However young a cockerel may be, if he has
been running with hens, and if on killing he appears blue, there is
considerable risk of its eating hard, though only 7 months old. A
pullet which has only laid one or two of her first eggs is anything
but first-class, and after laying out, and getting once broody, is no
better than a hen 5 years old. A first-class table bird is a young,
“straight,” thick-breasted cockerel which has had nothing to do with
hens, or a pullet a month before laying her first eggs.
In France, fowls to be fattened do not exceed 6-7 mouths old;
pullets, put up before they have laid, are in good condition and
well fed, from their birth up to the day on which they are cooped.
Cramming is regarded as the most economical and effectual mode of
proceeding. The fowls to be fattened are placed in coops in which
each has its own compartment. The coop is a long narrow wooden
box, standing on short legs; the outer walls and partitions are
close boarded, and the bottom is made with rounded spars 1½ in. in
diameter, running lengthways of the coop; on these spars the fowls
perch. The top consists of a sliding door, by which the chickens are
taken out and replaced. The partitions are 8 in. apart, so that the
fowls cannot turn round. The length of each box is regulated by the
number of divisions required, the cocks and pullets, and the lean and
fat lots, not being mixed up indiscriminately, because their rations
differ, and the new-comers would disturb the old settlers by their
noise. The floor below the boxes is covered with ashes or dry earth,
which is removed every 2 days with a scraper. The food is chiefly
buckwheat meal, bolted quite fine. This is kneaded up with sweet
milk till it acquires the consistency of baker’s dough; it is then
cut up into rations each about the size of 2 eggs, which are made up
into rolls about the thickness of a woman’s finger, but varying with
the sizes of the fowls; these are subdivided by a sloping cut into
pellets about 2½ in. long. A board is used for mixing the flour with
the milk, which in winter should be lukewarm. This is poured into a
hole made in the heap of flour, and mixed up little by little with
a wooden spoon as long as it is taken up; the dough is then needed
by the hands till it no longer adheres to them. Oatmeal, or after
that barley-meal, is the best substitute for buckwheat-meal. Indian
corn-meal makes a short crumbly paste, and produces yellow oily fat.
In cramming, the attendant has the buckwheat pellets at hand with a
bowl of clear water; she takes the first fowl from its cage gently
and carefully, not by the wings or the legs, but with both hands
under the breast; she then seats herself with the fowl upon her
knees, putting its tail under her left arm, by which she supports
it; the left hand then opens its mouth (a little practice makes it
very easy), and the right hand takes up a pellet, dips it in the
water, shakes it on its way to the open mouth, puts it straight down
and carefully crams it with the forefinger well into the gullet;
when it is so far settled down that the fowl cannot eject it, she
presses it down with the thumb and forefinger into the crop, taking
care not to fracture the pellet. Other pellets follow the first,
till the feeding is finished in less time than one would imagine. It
sometimes happens in cramming that the windpipe is pressed together
with the gullet; this causes the fowl to cough, but it is not of any
serious consequence, and with a little care is easily avoided. The
fowl when fed is again held with both hands under its breast, and
replaced in its cage without fluttering; and so on with each fowl.
The chickens have 2 meals in 24 hours, 12 hours apart, provided with
the utmost punctuality. If they have to wait, they become uneasy;
if fed too soon, they suffer from indigestion, and in either case
lose weight. On the first day of cramming only a few pellets are
given; the allowance being gradually increased till it reaches 12-15
pellets. The crop may be filled, but before the next meal the last
must have passed out of the crop, which is easily ascertained by
gentle handling. If there be any food in it, digestion has not gone
on properly; the fowl must then miss a meal, have a little water or
milk given it, and a smaller allowance next time; if too much food be
forced upon the animal at first, it will get out of health and have
to be set at liberty.
The fattening process ought to be complete in 2-3 weeks, but for
extra fat poultry 25-26 days are required; with good management you
may go on for 30 days; after this the creature may become choked with
accumulated fat, waste away and die.
The fowls are killed instantaneously by piercing the brain with a
sharp knife thrust through the back of the roof of the mouth.
After plucking and trussing, the chicken is bandaged, until cold, to
mould its form; and if the weather is warm it is plunged for a short
time into very cold water. A fowl takes usually rather more than a
peck of buckwheat to fatten it. The fat of fowls so managed is of a
dull white colour, and their flesh is covered with a transparent,
delicate skin. Plucking should be done instantly the fowl is dead, as
the feathers then come off with the greatest ease, and the skin is
not liable to be torn. (W. B. Tegetmeier.)
_Packing Eggs._--Packing in newspaper is found to be the best for the
inside protection, and a wooden box better than anything for holding
the eggs. Baskets and hampers are of no use at all; they are sure
to get pressed in travelling, and cardboard boxes would be crushed
directly. A wooden box, not necessarily of thick wood, resists all
pressure, and the eggs are not likely to suffer from anything short
of an actual fall if properly packed. Newspaper is best, and the
_Times_ best of all for packing them, the paper itself being so much
stiffer than other newspapers. Tear the paper into pieces about 8-10
in. square; slightly crumple it in the hand in wrapping a piece round
each egg, so as to show a rough surface; on no account rub it or make
it soft, as it is the stiffness which gives support, and prevents the
eggs getting too close together; they must neither be very near each
other, nor to the sides or bottom of the box. Put a good layer of the
crumpled paper at the bottom, then the eggs one at a time, each in
its own crumpled wrapper; they must be so arranged as to fit closely
and firmly together, the paper giving enough pressure to keep them
firm; there must be no spaces; every corner must be filled with the
crumpled paper, of which there must also be a good covering before
closing the box.