Hugh Piper

“ Are you a philanthropist? be grateful that yours has been the privilege to afford a possible pleasure to the poor man, to whom so many are impossible. Such we often find fond of poultry—no mean judges of it, and frequently successful in exhibition. A poor man's pleasure in victory is, at least, as great as that of his richer brother. Let him, then, have the field whereon to fight for it. Encourage village poultry-shows, not only by your patronage, but also by your presence. ”

“ But hens frequently wish to sit when it is not convenient, or in autumn or winter, when it is not advisable, unless very late or early chickens are desired, and every attention can be given to them. To check this desire, the old-fashioned plan with farmers' wives, of plunging the broody hen into cold water, and keeping her there for some minutes, was not only a cruel practice, but often failed to effect its object, and must naturally always have caused ultimate disease in the poor bird. ”

“ Who would favour, or even sanction, a Dorking in which size and shape, and every property we value in them, was sacrificed to an endeavour to breed to a particular colour? and this is what we have been doing with the Cochin-China. Many breeders say, eat Cochins while very young; but we have found them much better for the table as fowls than as chickens. A fine Cochin, from five to seven months old, is like a turkey, and very juicy and fine in flavour. ”

“ By unnaturally forcing a fowl with stimulating food, and more particularly with hempseed and tallow greaves, to lay in two years or so the eggs that should have been the produce of several, the hen becomes prematurely old and diseased; and it is reasonable to suppose that the eggs are not so good as they would have been if nature had been left to run its own course. The eggs ought to be taken from the nest every afternoon when no more may be expected to be laid; for if left in the nest, the heat of the hens when laying next day will tend to corrupt them. ”

“ The chick of a barn-door fowl, again, would in vain try to break its shell if it were as thick and hard as that of an ostrich; indeed, though an ostrich ready to be hatched is perhaps thrice as large as the common chick, it is not easy to conceive how the force of its bill can be strong enough to break a shell thicker than a china cup, and the smoothness and gloss of which indicate that it is nearly as hard—sufficiently so to form, as may be often seen, a firm drinking-cup. ”

“ The birds have passed a whole night since they were last fed; and it is important, especially in cold weather, that a fresh supply should as soon as possible be got into the system, and not merely into the crop. But if grain be given, it has to be ground in the poor bird's gizzard before it can be digested, and on a cold winter's morning the delay is anything but beneficial. But, for the very same reason, at the evening meal grain forms the best food which can be supplied; it is digested slowly, and during the long cold nights affords support and warmth to the fowls. ”

“ Fowls have their likes and dislikes as well as human beings, some preferring one kind of grain to all others, which grain is again disliked by other fowls. They also grow tired of the same food, and will thrive all the better for having as much variety of diet as possible, some little change in the food being made every few days. Fowls should not be forced or pressed to take food to which they show a dislike. It is most important to give them chiefly that which they like best, as it is a rule, with but few exceptions, that what is eaten with most relish agrees best and is most easily digested ”

“ Baily considered them to be a distinct breed, and has since seen nothing to alter his opinion. Their nature and habits are quite dissimilar, for they wander from home and will get their own living where a Cochin would starve, have more spirit, deeper breasts, are hardier, lay larger eggs, are less prone to sit, and never produce a clean-legged chicken. Whatever their origin, by slow and sure degrees, without any mania, they have become more and more popular, standing upon their own merits, and are now one of the most favourite varieties. ”

“ If she has any superfluous affection to bestow, let it be on her chicken-kind and it will be returned cent. per cent. Are you a lover of nature? come with me and view, with delighted gaze, her chosen dyes. Are you a utilitarian? rejoice in such an increase of the people's food. ”

“ As soon as the hen leaves the nest, she should have as much grain as she can eat, and a good supply of pure, clean water. In winter, or settled wet weather, she should, if possible, be kept on her nest for a day, and, when removed, be cooped in a warm, dry shed or outhouse; but in summer, if the weather be fine, and the chickens well upon their legs, they may be at once cooped out in the sun, on dry gravel, or if possible on a nice grass-plot, with food and water within her reach. ”

“ When fowls are neither laying well nor moulting, they should not be fed very abundantly; for in such a state over-feeding, especially with rich food, may cause them to accumulate too much fat. A fat hen ceases to lay, or nearly, while an over-fed cock becomes lazy and useless, and may die of apoplexy.
But half-fed fowls never pay whether kept for the table or to produce eggs. A fowl cannot get fat or make an egg a day upon little or poor food. A hen producing eggs will eat nearly twice as much food as at another time. In cold weather give plenty of dry bread soaked in ale. ”

“ Every large establishment should have a warm, properly ventilated, and well-lighted house, comfortably littered down with clean straw, to be used as a hospital, and every fowl should be removed to it upon showing any symptoms of illness, even if the disease is not infectious, for sick fowls are often pecked at, ill treated, and disliked by their healthy companions. Bear in mind that prevention is better than cure, and that proper management and housing, good feeding, pure water and greens, cleanliness and exercise, will prevent all, or nearly all, these diseases. ”

“ The hens are prolific layers, beginning in May, and continuing during the whole summer. Their eggs are small, but of excellent flavour, of a pale yellowish red, finely dotted with a darker tint, and remarkable for the hardness of the shell. The hen usually lays on a dry bank, in secret places; and a hedgerow a quarter of a mile off is quite as likely to contain her nest as any situation nearer her home. She is very shy, and, if the eggs are taken from her nest, will desert it, and find another; a few should, therefore, always be left, and it should never be visited when she is in sight. ”

“ A close, warm roosting-place will cause the production of more eggs in winter, [8] when they are scarcest and most valuable, while air and exercise are necessary to rear superior fowls for the table; and if they can have the run of a farmyard or good fields in which to pick up grain or insects, their flesh will be far superior in flavour to that of fowls kept in confinement, or crammed in coops.
Almost any outbuilding, shed, or lean-to, may be easily and cheaply converted into a good fowl-house by the exercise of a little thought and ingenuity. ”

“ Where it is not convenient to fix a fence sufficiently high, or when a hen just out with her brood has to be kept in, a fowl may be prevented from flying over fences by stripping off the vanes or side shoots from the first-flight feathers of one wing, usually ten in number, which will effectually prevent the bird from flying, and will not be unsightly, as the primary quills are always tucked under the others when not used for flying. This method answers much better than clipping the quills of each wing, as the cut points are liable to inflict injuries and cause irritation in moulting. ”

“ When fowls are put up to fat they should not have any food given to them for some hours, and they will take it then more eagerly than if pressed upon them when first put into the coop. But little grain should be given to fowls during the time they are fattening in coops; indeed the chief secret of success consists in supplying them with the most fattening food without stint, in such a form that their digestive mills shall find no difficulty in grinding it. ”

“ If the ducklings stay too long in the water they will have diarrhœa, in which case coop them close for a few days, and mix bean-meal or oatmeal with their ordinary food.
A troop of ducks will do good service to a kitchen garden in the summer or autumn, when they can do no mischief by devouring delicate salads and young sprouting vegetables. They will search industriously for snails, slugs, woodlice, and millipedes, and gobble them up eagerly, getting positively fat on slugs and snails. Strawberries, of which they are very fond, must be protected from them. ”

“ A Cochin hen can always be easily induced to sit, and eggs of theirs or of Brahma Pootras for sitting, are not wanted in the coldest weather.
Old hens are more steady sitters than pullets, more fond of their brood, and not so apt as pullets to leave them too soon. Indeed, pullets were formerly never allowed to sit before the second year of their laying, but now many eminent authorities think it best to let them sit when they show a strong desire to do so, considering that the prejudice against them upon this point is unfounded, and that young hens sit as well as older fowls. ”

“ Some chicks have greater obstacles to overcome than others, since all shells are not of an equal thickness nor of an equal consistence; and the same inequality takes place in the lining membrane, and offers still greater difficulty to the emergent chick. The shells of the eggs of birds of various species are of a thickness proportionate to the strength of the chick that is obliged to break through them. The canary-bird would never be able to break the shell it is enclosed in if that were as thick as the egg of a barn-door fowl. ”

“ A sufficient number of troughs for both water and food should be placed around, that the stock may feed with as little interruption as possible from each other, and perches in the same proportion should be furnished for those birds which are inclined to perch, which few of them will desire after they have begun to fatten, but it helps to keep them easy and contented until that period. In this manner fowls may be fattened to the highest pitch, and yet preserved in a healthy state, their flesh being nearly equal in quality to the barn-door fowl. ”

“ Where there is a separate house and run for the sitting hen this can be conveniently done when that compartment is vacant. In order to preserve a breed perfectly pure, it will be necessary, where there is not a large stock of the race, to breed from birds sprung from the same parents, but the blood should be crossed every year by procuring one or more fowls of the same breed from a distance, or by the exchange of eggs with some neighbouring stock, of colour and qualities as nearly allied as possible with the original breed. ”

“ Considerable profit may be made by the sale of eggs for hatching and surplus stock, if the breeds kept are good, and the stock known to be pure and vigorous. The 'Henwife' says: "You may reduce your expenses by selling eggs for setting, at a remunerative price. No one should be ashamed to own what he is not ashamed to do; therefore, boldly announce your superfluous eggs for sale, at such a price as you think the public will pay for them." ”

“ All hens that are inclined to sit should be allowed to hatch and bring up one brood of chickens a year; for, if altogether restrained from sitting, a hen suffers much in moulting, and is restless and excited for the remainder of the season. It is unnatural, and therefore must be injurious. The period of incubation gives her rest from producing eggs. The hen that is always stimulated to produce eggs, and not allowed to vary that process by hatching and bringing up a young brood, must ultimately suffer from this constant drain upon her system, and the eggs are said to be unwholesome. ”

“ Thus the floor of the house is never soiled by the roosting birds, and the broad board at the same time protects them from upward draughts of air. Where the nests and perches are not so arranged, the idea may be followed by placing a loose board below each perch, upon which the dung will fall, and the board can be taken up every morning and the dung removed. With proper tools, a properly constructed fowl-house can be kept perfectly clean, and all the details of management well carried out without scarcely soiling your hands. ”

“ The process of fattening may commence when they are six months old, as they require a longer time to become fit for the market than fowls. The large birds which are seen at Christmas are usually males of the preceding year, and about twenty months old. All experienced breeders repudiate "cramming." To obtain fine birds the chickens must be fed abundantly from their birth until they are sent to market, and while they are being fattened they should be sent to the fields and stubble for a shorter time daily, and their food must be increased in quantity and improved in quality. ”

“ It is not healthy for the hen to feed while sitting on or close by the nest, for she requires a little exercise and rolling in the dust-heap, as well as that the eggs should be exposed for the air to carry off any of that stagnant vapour which M. Réaumur proved to be so destructive to the embryo chickens; and it has also been shown by physiologists that the cooling of the eggs caused by this absence of the hen is essential to allow a supply of air to penetrate through the pores of the shell, for the respiration of the chick. ”

“ The coop should be like that used for common fowls, but two feet broad, and higher, being about three feet high in front and one foot at the back; this greater slant of the roof being made in order to confine her movements, as otherwise she would move about too much, and trample upon her brood. When they have grown larger they must have a larger coop, made of open bars wide enough apart for them to go in and out, but too close to let in fowls to eat their delicate food, and the hen must be placed under it with them. ”

“ The object is not to hurry the chicken out of its shell, but to prevent its being suffocated by being close shut up within it. If the chick is tolerably strong, and the assistance needful, it will aid its deliverance with its own exertions." When the chicken at last makes its way out, do not interfere with it in any way, or attempt to feed it. Animal heat alone can restore it. Weakness has caused the delay, and this has probably arisen from insufficient warmth, perhaps from the hen having had too many eggs to cover thoroughly, or they may have been stale when set. ”

“ When it is absolutely necessary to check the desire of a hen to sit, the best plan is to let her sit on some nest-eggs for a week, then remove and coop her for a few days, away from the place where she made her nest, low diet, as boiled potatoes and boiled rice, and water being placed near; meanwhile taking away the eggs and destroying the nest, and, not finding it on her return, she will generally not seek for another, unless she is a Cochin, or the desire exceedingly strong. ”

“ They will wander to a distance in search of a secluded spot for laying, and pay their visits to the nest so cleverly that sometimes they keep it a secret and hatch a brood there, which, however, does not generally prove a strong or large one as in the case of ordinary fowls. When a hen has chosen a safe, quiet, and sheltered place for her nest, it is best to give her more eggs when she shows a desire to sit, and let her stay there. The hen generally lays from fifteen to twenty eggs, sometimes fewer and often many more. ”

“ Gently drive the hen back to her nest as quickly as possible, to prevent any damage from the eggs becoming chilled. If a hen should break an egg with her feet or otherwise, it should be removed as soon as it is seen, or she may eat it, and, liking the taste, break and eat the others. Some hens have a bad habit of breaking and eating the eggs on which they are sitting, to cure which some recommend to boil an egg hard, bore a few holes in it, so that the inside can be seen, and give it while hot to the culprit, who will peck at the holes and burn herself ”

“ They are still more fattening than worms, and therefore too many must not be given when laying, but they do not injure the flavour of the flesh. Some will eat slugs, but they are not generally fond of these, and many fowls will not touch them.
One great secret of profitable poultry-keeping is, that hens cannot thrive and lay without a considerable quantity of animal food, and therefore if they cannot obtain a sufficient quantity in the form of insects, it must be supplied in meat, which, minced small, should be given daily and also to all fowls in winter, as insects are then not to be had. ”

“ In commencing poultry-keeping buy only young and healthy birds. No one sign is infallible to the inexperienced. In general, however, the legs of a young hen look delicate and smooth, her comb and wattles are soft and fresh, and her general outline, even in good condition (unless when fattened for the table) , rather light and graceful; whilst an old one will have rather hard, horny-looking shanks; her comb and wattles look somewhat harder, drier, and more "scurfy," and her figure is well filled out. ”

“ Breed only from the strongest and healthiest fowls. In the breeding of poultry it is a rule, as in all other cases of organised life, that the best-shaped be used for the purpose of propagation. If a cock and hen have both the same defect, however trifling it may be, they should never be allowed to breed together, for the object is to improve the breed, not to deteriorate it, even in the slightest degree. ”

“ The strongest chickens are obtained from two-year old hens by a cockerel of about a year old; but such broods contain a disproportion of cocks, and, therefore, most poultry-keepers prefer to breed from well-grown pullets of not less than nine months with a cock of two years of age. The cock should not be related to the hens. It is, therefore, not advisable to purchase him from the same breeder of whom you procure the hens. Do not let him be the parent of chickens from pullets that are his own offspring. Breeding in-and-in causes degeneracy in fowls as in all other animals. ”

“ In 1849, "the first poultry show that was ever held in 'the good old town of Birmingham,' was beset with all the untried difficulties of such a scheme, when without the experiences of the present day, then altogether unavailable, a few spirited individuals carried to a successful issue an event that has now proved the foster-parent of the many others of similar character that abound in almost every principal town of the United Kingdom. ”

“ Great cruelty is often ignorantly inflicted by poulterers, higglers, and others, in "twisting the necks" of poultry. An easy mode of killing a fowl is to give the bird a very sharp blow with a small but heavy blunt stick, such as a child's bat or wooden sword, at the back of the neck, about the second or third joint from the head, which will, if properly done, sever the spine and cause death very speedily. ”

“ Wheat of the best description is dearer than barley, both by weight and measure, and possesses but about one-twelfth part more flesh-forming material, but it is fortunate that the small cheap wheat is the best for poultry, for Professor Johnston says, "the small or tail corn which the farmer separates before bringing his grain to market is richer in gluten (flesh-forming food) than the full-grown grain, and is therefore more nutritious." ”

“ With the exception of prizes for Dorkings, which are chiefly bred for market, our poultry-shows have always looked upon fowls as if they were merely ornamental birds, and have framed their standards of excellence accordingly, and not with any regard to the production of profitable poultry, which is much to be regretted. ”