342 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



are not now nearly so quarrelsome as their 

 ancestors. The writer has frequently seen 

 from 30 to 60 cockerels, weighing from 7 to 10 

 lbs. each, living together in harmony, and 

 scarcely ever a blow struck. 



" These birds combine utility with beauty in 

 a high degree, and have won their popularity 

 from inherent worth, as very little in the past 

 has been written about them. They are 

 particularly hardy, and never do better than 

 when allowed to roam in the fields, and sleep at 

 night in the trees or bushes ; but from their 

 hardy constitution they also bear confinement 

 well, and will lay well in winter if provided with 

 sheltered runs. They breed true ; and I have 

 known as many as ten winners reared from one 

 sitting of eggs. From some of the most care- 

 fully-bred strains, such a thing as a waster is 

 practically unknown. Yet for beauty of 

 plumage the Indian Game will compare with any 

 of the fancy varieties of poultry. Each feather 

 (especially of the females) possesses great beauty 

 in itself That of a pullet is a clear chestnut 

 ground colour, with an outer and inner green- 

 black metallic lacing of most exquisite lustre, 

 which reaches the zenith of grandeur when the 

 sunlight plays on the plumage. The general 

 colour of the male is green glossy black, and the 

 plumage is very close and hard, so that the bird 

 looks as if he were wearing a coat of mail. 



" For the table, Indian Game are unsurpassed, 

 having a broad and deep breast from which many 

 slices maybe cut, and always in killing condition 

 if moderately supplied with food. The some- 

 what yellow-tinted flesh (when ordinarily fed) 

 has told against them in the London market ; 

 but this prejudice I hope is dying out, and 

 whatever the flesh may lack in colour, is far more 

 than compensated for by a very marked delicacy 

 of flavour. At Plymouth, Exeter, and other 

 western markets where they are better known, 

 the Indian Game are eagerly bought, and 

 command higher prices than any other breed of 

 fowls ; and this without cramming or any extra 

 feeding whatever. They are also the best breed 

 known for crossing with almost any variety for 

 breeding table poultry, reproducing as they do 

 to a very large extent their own characteristics 

 on the cross-bred progeny, which is an evidence 

 of their ancient pedigree. 



" From my experience as a successful breeder 

 and exhibitor for twenty-five years, I maintain 

 that no class of poultry can be bred, reared, and 

 successfully shown with less expenditure of time 

 and attention than Indian Game. The first step, 

 which is of paramount importance, is to possess 

 healthy stock birds, of reliable blood. I allow 

 the hens to sit on their own eggs in March, 



April, and May, and sometimes later, and when 

 hatched I usually feed the chickens liberally 

 twice a day (but oftentimes they provide for 

 themselves), and the brood is healthy and grows 

 rapidly. The hen will often guard her offspring 

 until the cockerels outgrow their mother. If 

 bred before March, the chickens require more 

 attention, as there is then no insect life for them 

 to feed on, and the cold winds play havoc with 

 them, as for the first two months they are almost 

 featherless. They get in full plumage when 

 from five to six months old. 



" The only preparation required for showing 

 is to tame them by occasional handling ; and to 

 wash the legs (if dirty) and sponge the face 

 before sending off to show." 



As indicated in the above notes, both 

 cockerels and pullets of this breed can be bred 

 from one pen, when the birds are of an old and 

 reliable strain, and while the present standards 

 of colour are preserved. Already, 

 Breeding however, some breeders profess to 



Indian Game, get better results by mating up 

 two pens, using hens with dark 

 ground and heavy lacing to produce cockerels, 

 and lighter ground and somewhat narrower 

 lacing to breed their pullets. It will be a pity if 

 this system spreads, or goes any further ; and 

 still more so if another system, which one or two 

 breeders have pursued, of breeding pullets from 

 red-hackled cocks, should extend. Hackles of 

 this kind are a great fault in the male bird, and 

 if tolerated merely to breed females, double- 

 mating would be introduced in its worst form. 

 Fortunately (from this point of view), while we 

 know that some really fine pullets have been 

 bred that way when the hens have been good, 

 the bad ones have been in very large proportion, 

 even more than when the usual system has been 

 pursued. What can properly be done, and what 

 (judging from analogy) ought to be effective 

 in breeding well-marked pullets as well as 

 rich cockerels, would be to choose males for 

 breeding in which the chestnut or crimson in the 

 back or saddle of the cock was sharp and 

 well defined amongst the green-black, without 

 being more in proportion or amount. It would 

 be a great pity to go further, throwing away 

 in any degree the benefit of the present 

 acknowledged sex-colours, which have been 

 proved to be natural and to breed true ; and 

 the greatest evil of encouraging triple or 

 further lacing, as was once likely in America, 

 is that it would certainly bring in ultimately the 

 practice, if not the necessity, of using cocks 

 with other than green-black breasts, merely 

 for pullet-breeding. Independent of this reason, 

 such changes would destroy that grand and 



