FRENCH AND VARIOUS.
The French breeds are remarkable for great weight and excellent quality
of flesh, with a very small proportion of bones and offal; their
breeders having paid great attention to those important, substantial,
and commercial points instead of devoting almost exclusive attention to
colour and other fancy points as we have done. As a rule they are all
non-sitters, or sit but rarely.
[Illustration: Houdans. La Fleche, cock. Creve-Coeur, hen.
FRENCH.]
The CREVE-COEUR has been known the longest and most generally. This
breed is said to derive its name from a village so called in Normandy,
whence its origin can be distinctly traced; but others fancifully say,
from the resemblance of its peculiar comb to a broken heart. It is
scarce, and pure-bred birds are difficult to procure. The Creve-Coeur
is a fine large bird, black in plumage, or nearly so, with short, clean
black legs, square body, deep chest, and a large and extraordinary crest
or comb, which is thus described by M. Jacque: "Various, but always
forming two horns, sometimes parallel, straight, and fleshy; sometimes
joined at the base, slightly notched, pointed, and separating at their
extremities; sometimes adding to this latter description interior
ramifications like the horns of a young stag. The comb, shaped like
horns, gives the Creve-Coeur the appearance of a devil." It is
bearded, and has a top-knot or crest behind the comb. They are very
quiet, walk slowly, scratch but little, do not fly, are very tame,
ramble but little, and prefer seeking their food on the dunghill in the
poultry-yard to wandering afar off. They are the most contented of all
breeds in confinement, and will thrive in a limited space. They are
tame, tractable fowls, but inclined to roup and similar diseases in our
climate, and therefore prosper most on a dry, light soil, and can
scarcely have too much sun. They are excellent layers of very large
white eggs.
The chickens grow so fast, and are so inclined to fatten, that they may
be put up at from ten to twelve weeks of age, and well fattened in
fifteen days. The Creve-Coeur is a splendid table bird, both for the
quantity and quality of its flesh. The hen is heavy in proportion to the
cock, weighing eight and a half pounds against his nine and a half, and
the pullets always outweigh the cockerels.
LA FLECHE is thus described by M. Jacque: "A strong, firm body, well
placed on its legs, and long muscular feet, appearing less than it
really is, because the feathers are close; every muscular part well
developed; black plumage. The La Fleche is the tallest of all French
cocks; it has many points of resemblance with the Spanish, from which I
believe it to be descended by crossing with the Creve-Coeur. Others
believe that it is connected with the Breda, which it does, in fact,
resemble, in some particulars. It has white, loose, and transparent
skin; short, juicy, and delicate flesh, which puts on fat easily."
"The comb is transversal, double, forming two horns bending forward,
united at their base, divided at their summits, sometimes even and
pointed, sometimes having ramifications on the inner sides. A little
double 'combling' protrudes from the upper part of the nostrils, and
although hardly as large as a pea, this combling, which surmounts the
sort of rising formed by the protrusion of the nostrils, contributes to
the singular aspect of the head. This measured prominence of the comb
seems to add to the characteristic depression of the beak, and gives the
bird a likeness to a rhinoceros." The plumage is jet black, with a very
rich metallic lustre; large ear-lobe of pure white; bright red face,
unusually free from feathers; and bright lead-coloured legs, with hard,
firm scales. They are very handsome, showy, large, and lively birds,
more inclined to wander than the Creve-Coeur, and hardier when full
grown; but their chickens are even more delicate in wet weather, and
should not be hatched before May. They are easily reared, and grow
quickly. They are excellent layers of very large white eggs, but do not
lay well in winter, unless under very favourable circumstances, and
resemble the Spanish in the size and number of their eggs, and the time
and duration of laying. Their flesh is excellent, juicy, and resembles
that of the Game fowl, and the skin white and transparent, but the legs
are dark. This breed is larger and has more style than the Creve-Coeur,
and is better adapted to our climate; but the fowls lack constitution,
particularly the cocks, and are very liable to leg weakness and disease
of the knee-joint, and when they get out of condition seldom recover.
They are found in the north of France, but are not common even there.
The HOUDAN has the size, deep compact body, short legs, and fifth toe of
the Dorking. They are generally white, some having black spots as large
as a shilling, are bearded, and should have good top-knots of black and
white feathers, falling backwards like a lark's crest; and the
remarkable comb is thus described by M. Jacque: "Triple, transversal in
the direction of the beak, composed of two flattened spikes, of long and
rectangular form, opening from right to left, like two leaves of a book;
thick, fleshy, and variegated at the edges. A third spike grows between
these two, having somewhat the shape of an irregular strawberry, and the
size of a long nut. Another, quite detached from the others, about the
size of a pea, should show between the nostrils, above the beak."
Mr. F. H. Schroeder, of the National Poultry Company, considered that
this surpassed all the French breeds, combining the size, shape, and
quality of flesh of the Dorking with earlier maturity; prolific laying
of good-sized eggs, which are nearly always fertile, and on this point
the opposite of the Dorking; and early and rapid feathering in the
chickens, which are, notwithstanding, hardier than any breeds except the
Cochin and Brahma. They are very hardy, never sick, and will thrive in a
small space. They are smaller than the Creve-Coeur or La Fleche, but
well shaped and plump; and for combining size and quality of flesh with
quantity and size of eggs nothing can surpass them.
SCOTCH DUMPIES, GO LAIGHS, BAKIES, or CREEPERS, are almost extinct; but
they are profitable fowls, and ought to be more common, as they are very
hardy, productive layers of fine large eggs, and their flesh is white
and of excellent quality. They should have large, heavy bodies; short,
white, clean legs, not above an inch and a half or two inches in length.
The plumage is a mixture of black or brown, and white. They are good
layers of fine large eggs. They cannot be surpassed as sitters and
mothers, and are much valued by gamekeepers for hatching the eggs of
pheasants. The cocks should weigh six or seven and the hen five or six
pounds.
The SILKY fowl is so called from its plumage, which is snowy white,
being all discomposed and loose, and of a silky appearance, resembling
spun glass. The comb and wattles are purple; the bones and the
periosteum, or membrane covering the bones, black, and the skin blue or
purple; but the flesh, however, is white and tender, and superior to
that of most breeds. It is a good layer of small, round, and excellent
eggs. The cock generally weighs less than three, and the hen less than
two, pounds. It comes from Japan and China, and generally thrives in our
climate. The chickens are easily reared if not hatched before April nor
later than June. They are capital foster mothers for partridges, and
other small and tender game.
The RUMPKIN, or RUMPLESS fowl, a Persian breed, not only lacks the
tail-feathers but the tail itself. It is hardy, of moderate size, and
varies in colour, but is generally black or brown, and from the absence
of tail appears rounder than other fowls. The hens are good layers, but
the eggs are often unfertile. They are good sitters and mothers, and the
flesh is of fair quality.
The FRIESLAND, so named from confounding the term "frizzled" with
Friesland, is remarkable from having all the feathers, except those of
the wings and tail, frizzled, or curled up the wrong way. It is small,
very delicate, and a shower drenches it to the skin.
BARN-DOOR fowl are a mongrel race, compounded by chance, usually of the
Game, Dorking, and Polish breeds.