There is every probability of a small capitalist, one who might begin
with almost nothing besides so much land and a sufficiency to tide
himself over the first few months, making a fair success by the
establishing of a poultry farm. In England we are favoured every year
with reports of the trials that have been made in this branch of
farming; and as a rule it seems that bad weather, the cold, and the cost
of keeping, run away with most of the profits. Indeed, the writer's
experience points to the fact that few as yet have made a satisfactory
living by keeping fowls in this rainy island, while up to the present
day our supplies are kept up by the chickens and eggs taken into market
from ordinary farms, or collected by hucksters from the cottages over
wide districts.
This applies as much to France as to England, for we are indebted to the
former country for millions of the eggs with which the metropolis is
supplied.
In Egypt, where there is plenty of room and abundant sunshine, fowls
might be much improved by the choice of suitable kinds, while some
management would be required as to the means of feeding, though one
suggestion may be made that, if adopted, ought to prove of great
assistance to the fowl and egg farmer.
There is one peculiarity in the growing of grain in Egypt, and this is
noticeable in the harvesting, the heat of the sun being so great that
the corn of various kinds ripens with such rapidity that if much of it
be not cut down and carried in the comparative coolness of the night
much of it is shed in the fields and is wasted. Here is a great
opportunity for the poultry farmer, or the farmer who merely keeps a few
fowls in connection with his general cultivation; for at such times, in
a country where double crops prolong the harvest, great numbers of
poultry in kinds would be self-feeding, and far superior in quality to
many that are brought into the Cairene and Alexandrian markets.
Still, at the present time the occupation has been much improved, for
not only are the native markets supplied, but exportation of eggs is on
the increase. Far off as Egypt may be, the metropolis is to some extent
supplied with its produce, but to nothing like the extent that should be
the case, for the London egg merchants will not buy "mummies," which is
the cant term for Egyptian eggs, save for about two months in the year,
when the European supplies are scarce.
This fact--one which is well worthy the attention of poultry farming
aspirants--is entirely the fault of the Egyptian grower, for the London
merchants' complaint is perfectly justifiable. It is this--that the
Egyptian eggs are exceedingly small, and so badly packed for transit by
those who seem thoroughly ignorant of the proverbial fact that "eggs are
eggs," that the breakage is enormous, while the entire loss falls on the
agents.
Similar complaints used to be made regarding the eggs imported into
Europe from Morocco and Algiers, but here those connected with the trade
have woke up to their shortcomings and introduced better fowls--the
layers of larger eggs--and have also given greater attention to the
packing of this exceedingly brittle merchandise. Hence the result has
been most satisfactory, and the trade has rapidly increased. Egypt
being, then, in much the same latitude as Morocco and Algiers, there is
no reason whatever why the former country should not improve its
production of poultry so as to vastly increase the demand by raising the
quality of its supplies.
Physiologists seem very much behindhand in accounting for the terrible
destruction which comes upon countries from time to time. Africa, the
ancient home of plagues, is only now recovering from that frightful
devastation which affected grazing animals, the wild as severely as the
domesticated. From south to north this great portion of the globe was
swept by the Teutonically-named Rinderpest. Cattle of all kinds, and
the droves of antelope-like creatures which roamed the wilds, perished
almost like vegetation before the hot, sweeping blast of a volcano or
forest fire. And, though little known outside, Northern Africa has had
a trouble that seems to have been special to domesticated birds, a fact
which shows that poultry farming in Egypt is not all _couleur de rose_,
and that he who would venture upon such a pursuit enjoys no immunity
from risks, but must take his chance with the vegetable and fruit
growers who, like those in other countries, have their difficulties to
face.
One visitation was productive recently of terrible devastation amongst
fowls. This was not the familiar "gapes" of the British poultry-yard,
but is described as a kind of cholera, so bad that villages have been
losing their entire stock, with the natural consequence that the market
prices of poultry and eggs have greatly increased--charges, in fact,
having doubled and even trebled. Experiments have been tried in the
investigation of the disease and the manner of treating it, but so far
the only successful way of dealing with the trouble seems to have been
by isolation.
But there appears to be every probability of the disease proving only of
a temporary nature, and that the production of poultry will be as easy,
simple, and remunerative as of old; for, as may easily be understood,
poultry farming is bound to be of vast importance in a hot country.
Every traveller recalls what a staple food a so-called chicken is in the
West Indies; while in the vast plains of India almost every native
cottage has its fowls to meet the demand of an enormous consumption. Of
the quality the less said the better. The aim of the possessor of a
poultry-yard in Western Europe is to produce a plump, square,
so-to-speak, solid fowl, broad and full of breast. The Indian bird
seems to have been gifted by Nature--in merciful consideration of its
being, like most gallinaceous birds, short and hollow of wing and a bad
flier, and also of its having to run for its life to escape immolation
and consumption--with an abundance of skinny leg, and it never seems to
have occurred to the ryot that he might improve the breed.
Even in civilised Egypt there is much to be done in this direction, and
an ample field is open to the poultry farmer to improve the quality of
the fowl, with success attending him if he will be content to go
watchfully to work and make his experiments upon a sound basis, without
being too ready to look with contempt upon the experience-taught native
ways.
One thing is worthy of remark for the benefit of the would-be poultry
farmer, and that is in connection with the marketing, for it is almost a
rule that no one in Egypt buys a dead fowl. In Western Europe, of
course, the common practice is to send the fatted chickens for sale
plucked and neatly trussed. In Egypt it is different, from the fear
lest it should have died from natural causes. The result of this style
of vendition is the repellent way in which poultry are hawked about the
streets of the town, raising feelings for the need of more
prevention-of-cruelty-to-animals establishments, though it would be hard
work to interfere with a custom which has a good deal of reason on its
side, for, waiving the possibilities of purchasing a bird that may have
been killed by accident, or possibly have died from disease, climatic
reasons must be taken into consideration. Egypt is at times intensely
hot, and, whatever may be the fancies of epicures in connection with
game, the gourmet has yet to be found with a preference for having his
chickens "high."
Still, as aforesaid, there is something repellent in the way in which
the doomed birds are treated. In England a Prevention officer soon
summons the huckster who overcrowds his poultry in a crate and does not
supply them with food or water; but in Egypt it is one of the common
objects of the streets to see a bunch of fowls tied together by the legs
and swinging from the vendor's hand, wearily curving up their necks so
as to get their heads in the normal position, while every now and then a
case may be found where the seller finds that he requires refreshment
and callously throws his load upon the ground, while in Eastern fashion
he takes his seat at a _cafe_ to sip his cup and smoke a cigarette.