•94 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



Breeds also differ a great deal, and large combs 

 may cause sterility, and call for dubbing to 

 remedy this, as will be noted in its place. If 

 hens appear worn-out and partially stripped, 

 harm is being done, which will affect fertility as 

 well as health. The lighter breeds of fowls are 

 generally most fertile, and require most mates, 

 unless the cock's vigour is affected by ex- 

 aggerated comb. This matter is of importance 

 to a breeder newly beginning, as he may only 

 be able to afford, or to procure, one or two good 

 hens for his pen. In that case the number 

 should be made up by others, choosing birds, 

 as before advised, whose eggs or else whose 

 chickens can readily be distinguished. If this 

 precaution is not taken, his one or two hens 

 may be so overtasked as not to yield him half 

 the result they should, either in numbers or 

 vigour. Another expedient in this case is to 

 separate the male bird except for half an hour 

 morning and evening. 



The established breeder also has much to 

 arrange for in securing the all-important object 

 of strong as well as fertile eggs. He will have 

 learnt by experience how many 

 Fertility. females to allot at different seasons 



to his males of various ages ; but 

 he has also learnt the necessity for preserving 

 sexual vigour for the breeding season. Some 

 have carried this too far, and one writer has 

 even advocated separating the male of a breed- 

 ing pen at the end of April. We have seen the 

 evil of this upon several occasions ; thus to 

 frustrate the natural instincts at their very 

 height is a peril to health (even life in some 

 cases), and does more harm by the fret and 

 worry than it can possibly prevent. By the end 

 of June this danger has much lessened, and if 

 the male be then separated to lord it over a lot 

 of young cockerels, he will be quite sociable 

 and happy, recuperate during the intervening 

 months, and be far more vigorous when mated 

 again than if left with his harem. As a rule, he 

 should not be thus re-mated until about four 

 weeks before the first fertile eggs are desired 

 and expected, and a little before this some 

 animal food and iron tonic will be found 

 of benefit, especially to adult birds. It should 

 also be seen that he gets enough to eat, for 

 many a gallant bird, if only fed with his hens, 

 will not in their company eat eagerly enough to 

 get his share. The cock in a valuable pen 

 should always be felt frequently while roosting, 

 and if he is getting the least thin or light should 

 be carefully given extra food by himself, but, of 

 course, avoiding gross fatness. Birds are not 

 all alike in this respect, and only feeling their 

 condition can ensure that they are sufficiently 



supported. In no case should a bird be mated 

 until quite through his moult. With one thing 

 and another, the end of November, or "after 

 Birmingham," is a very usual time to mate up 

 pens destined to give fertile eggs for the New 

 Year. 



It does not seem quite sufficiently recognised 

 that the hens need conservation of their breed- 

 ing powers as well as the cocks, and should be 



equally considered in relation to 



Vigour the time when their eggs are desired 



of for hatching. When very early eggs 



Females. ^^g planned for, as in order to hatch 



on New Year's Day — the earliest 

 legal day for chicken-showing — it is a heavy 

 tax on both sexes, but many people appear to 

 forget that the female system is liable to ex- 

 haustion equally with the male. High and 

 careful feeding will effect wonderful results 

 in maintaining both production and vigour, as 

 shown by constant and heavy duck produce 

 during the early months. But there are, never- 

 theless, many proofs that by early spring — the 

 best time for prize stock — the produce from 

 birds which have already been breeding for 

 months is not equal to that from parents which 

 did not begin till nearer the natural season. 

 This is, in fact, the chief great reason — far more 

 than in-breeding — for the decline in vigour of 

 much prize stock : it is produced from parents 

 already worn out by previous production. It is 

 also one reason why the produce of grown hens, 

 which lay later, and nearer the time when the 

 real work of breeding is done, is often stronger 

 and better than that of pullets ; the pullets have 

 been laying and partially worn their strength 

 out, when the hens are only freshly beginning. 

 A breeder should therefore " nurse " his best 

 birds, so that they are not taxed till as near as 

 possible to the time when he really wants their 

 produce for his own yard. It is also for this 

 reason that moderately late pullets, hatched in 

 April or early May, produce the finest stock, if 

 kept back a little so as not to lay till the winter 

 is fairly advanced. Very early breeding may 

 be necessary for early chicken showing, and 

 other purposes of the high-class breeder ; but it 

 should be clearly recognised that it has neces- 

 sary evil results, and most of all in its effects 

 upon size and vigour. Hence the stress we 

 have laid upon not obtaining first breeding stock 

 from those who chiefly support the early chicken 

 shows. 



Sometimes special measures are necessary 

 to ensure fertility. Extraordinary fluff and 

 heavy vulture hocks very often interpose 

 mechanical obstacles to successful intercourse. 

 In that case cutting the hocks short and con- 



