2o6 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



question, which has caused much controversy, as 

 to how far it is possible, and how far permissible 

 if possible, to alter the colour of fowls by the 



food given to them. It has long 

 Colour been known that food has consider- 



Feeding. able effect upon colour. Yellow or 



red maize will make most white fowls 

 perceptibly more yellow than white maize or 

 other grain, and much hcmpseed will darken 

 the ground colour of a moulting Brahma hen. It 

 has also been known for many years that the 

 constant use of iron, whether in natural chaly- 

 beate streams or given artificially, tends generally 

 to intensify colour, whether in legs, plumage, or 

 yolks of the eggs. The most definite efi"ect of 

 food upon colour generally known is in canaries, 

 in which (or rather in some of which, for the 

 effect varies greatly in individuals) the constant 

 administration of cayenne throughout the whole 

 period during which the feather is growing con- 

 verts a rich yellow into very deep orange-red. 

 This fact, coupled with the success of some 

 breeders in showing rich deep buff in the many 

 buff varieties of fowls which have become so 

 popular since 1890, has led many to the conclu- 

 sion that the best specimens owe their fine buff 

 colour, and other colours like the bay of Golden 

 Hamburghs, their richness, to special feeding 

 even more than to careful breeding, and " colour 

 feed " for poultry is occasionally advertised in 

 the poultry papers. 



The question has hitherto only practically 

 concerned buff varieties of poultry, in which 

 English taste about 1897 began to show a strong 

 inclination — perhaps spasmodic — for very rich 

 and deep colour, verging upon what was once 

 termed cinnamon, instead of the beautiful rich 

 orange-lemon once so carefully sought by all 

 buff Cochin breeders, and which we still think 

 the choicest colour for a buff fowl. But even 

 in that limited field it is difficult to say what 

 actual result can be accomplished in this way. 

 Mr. E. Cobb, a well-known writer and County 

 Council lecturer, has stated as of his own per- 

 sonal knowledge that " many " birds too light 

 for successful exhibition, but otherwise good, 

 have been converted into winners ; adding, how- 

 ever, that out of a number subjected to the 

 process only some will respond to it, as is also 

 the case with canaries. We have seen three 

 additional independent testimonies beside, from 

 exhibitors who state the same as their own 

 experience, after carrying out Mr. Cobb's advice. 

 On the other hand, we ourselves suggested 

 experimenting with cayenne feeding upon buff 

 Cochins thirty years ago, and we knew this to 

 have been done with no perceptible effect ; and 

 in a long controversy upon the subject during 



iSgS, several large breeders of buff varieties, 

 whose word there is no reason to doubt, stated 

 that they had experimented extensively, and 

 given it up as yielding no result. It is abso- 

 lutely certain that no better buffs have been 

 produced in general since "feeding" was prac- 

 tised than were bred before it was known ; but, 

 of course, this does not prove that their number 

 has not been increased by specimens which 

 would only have been inferior otherwise. Also 

 in the early e.xperiments above alluded to, 

 cayenne alone was used, whereas it is now 

 believed that iron and some amount of fat are 

 also advisable. Our own opinion is that in a 

 certain number of cases there may probably be 

 appreciable gain, but that it has been greatly 

 e.xaggerated ; and certainly no breeder who will 

 breed with sufficient care need be afraid of being 

 beaten by mere colour feeding. Attentive 

 scrutiny of buffs generally at exhibitions, since 

 publication of the colour feeding process, has 

 led us to surmise that the more usual effect 

 when marked (for in many birds none at all is 

 admittedly produced) may probably be to 

 deepen the colour in localised patches rather 

 than all over — in pullets usually at the sides of 

 the breast and of the cushion near the tail, 

 sometimes on the flat of the wing, the deepened 

 colour being of a peculiar " bricky " tint by no 

 means attractive. It appears probable, however, 

 that in individual cases colour may be so gained 

 without this patchy effect. 



The ethics of the question cannot be discussed 

 here beyond a few words. Earnest and ever* 

 violent efforts were once made in England to 

 induce the Poultry Club to pronounce colour 

 feeding fraudulent. As the means for this 

 kind of improvement, if any, have long been 

 published and open to all, while, on the other 

 hand, it is utterly impossible of proof by any 

 known test that colour feeding has been 

 employed, such a course would be obviously 

 impracticable, and could only handicap the 

 more virtuous breeders in favour of the dis- 

 honest ones, to the extent of whatever was 

 gained by the process. Till some method of 

 detection is known, nothing of the sort could 

 have other than calamitous effect. But there is 

 another insuperable difficulty as to drawing any 

 line. Iron undoubtedly has some effect, many 

 people think the principal effect. Yet we have, 

 ever since first writing on poultry matters, con- 

 stantly prescribed iron tonic, and that during 

 the entire period of moult ; and if iron tonic 

 or yellow maize are not prohibited, how is a 

 distinction to be made ? 



The difficulty becomes greater still when we 

 consider the general law governing colour in 



