78 Choke of a Hen. 



cause the most turbulent cock to become as quiet as a man 

 Avho is fettered at the feet, hands, and neck." 



The hen should be of good constitution and temper, 

 and, if required to sit, large in the body and wide in the 

 Avings, so as to cover many eggs and shelter many chickens, 

 but" short in the legs, or "she could not sit well. M. 

 Parmentier advises the rejection of savage, quarrelsome, 

 or peevish hens, as such are seldom favourites with the 

 cocks, scarcely ever lay, and do not hatch well ; also all 

 above four or five years of age, those that are too fat to 

 lay, and those whose combs and claws are rough, which 

 are signs that they have ceased to lay. Hens should not 

 be kept over their third year unless very good or choice. 

 Hensare not uncommon with the plumage and spurs of 

 the cock, and which imitate, though badly, his full-toned 

 crow. In such fowls the power of producing eggs is inva- 

 riably lost from internal disease, as has been fully demon- 

 strated by Mr. Yarrell in the '' Philosophical Transactions " 

 for 1827, and in the ''Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society" for 1831. Such birds should be fattened and 

 killed as soon as observed. 



By careful study of the characteristics of the various 

 breeds, breeding from select specimens, and judicious 

 crossing, great size may be attained, maturity early deve- 

 loped, facility in putting on flesh encouraged, hardiness of 

 constitution Imd strength gained, and the inclination to sit 

 or the faculty of laying increased. 



Sir John Sebright, "speakuig of In-ceding cattle, says: 

 '' Animals may be said to be improved when any desired 

 quality has been increased by art beyond what that quality 

 was in the same breed in a state of nature. The swiftness 

 of the racehorse, the propensity to fatten in cattle, and to 

 produce fine wool in sheep, are improvements which have 

 been made in particular varieties in the species to which 

 these animals belong. What has been produced by art 

 must be continued by the same means, for the most 

 improved breeds will soon return to a state of nature, or 

 perhaps defects will arise which did not exist when the breed 

 was in its natural state, unless the greatest attention is paid 



