520 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



health of your chicks, and letting that regulate 

 your actions. You cannot, of course, go on for 

 ever without some new blood, but when you are 

 driven to get a little extra stamina into your 

 stock, see that you go to the right place ; that is, 

 to the same yard whence yours originally came, 

 or mainly derived from it. If this cannot be 

 done, then get hold of a bird or two with at 

 least a dash of the same blood as your own. 

 Then you will be able to keep size down, whilst 

 maintaining a fair amount of constitution. 



Select the cock as near to the ideal as pos- 

 sible. Do not be tempted to use a coarse, clumsy- 

 headed bird, or one scant of feather, as it is only 

 time and money thrown away. As your stock 

 birds are, so will the produce be. Mate him to a 

 few short backed, neat headed, clear lobed, coral 

 faced, jaunty hens. Get them as good a colour 

 as you can, not too big, free from any trace of 

 white in face, dark in eye, and full in tail. If 

 the two top feathers of the tail be broad, and 

 curved a little, all the better. From such a pen 

 you should get some cockerels worth looking at. 

 It is quite possible to breed really good birds of 

 both sexes from one pen, but if you have room, 

 time, and purse long enough, set up another pen 

 for pullets, as the male bird is better if he 

 possesses some red or bronze feathers in back 

 and saddle. It is a singular thing that nowhere 

 do we see a quantity of any colour without 

 what is called its complementary colour. That 

 to beetle green is red, and as we want as much 

 deep beetle green as possible in the pullets, the 

 more red there is in the plumage of the sire, 

 somehow the more green there will be in the 

 plumage of the daughters. In all other ways 

 the breeding-pen for pullets should resemble 

 that for cocks, provided always that the pullets 

 are the best procurable, exhibition birds, and 

 approaching the Standard as closely as they 

 possibly can. Then you need have no fear. 

 Only take care in the rearing. Remember that 

 soft food, as a rule, produces feather, whilst 

 grain is conducive to hard and scanty plumage. 



Now for Whites. They are hardly what they 

 once were, and improvement during the past 

 few years has been very slight indeed, and yet 

 they are extremely handsome birds. 

 White They are doubtless less popular 



Rosecombs. because of the ablutions necessary 

 before exhibition, for it is folly to 

 expect an unwashed bird of any white variety to 

 win. Again, beautiful as they are, they require 

 protection from sun and weather. The plumage 

 should be a pure white, free from all lemon or 

 straw tinge, and this is not easy to maintain 

 where there is not adequate shelter. Still it can 

 be done almost everywhere, with a little pains 



and forethought ; and as the breed makes a 

 most lovely exhibit at the shows, it is well worth 

 taking up and persevering with. 



Beyond the colour, it is identical with its 

 black brethren. It can either be bred pure, or 

 from Black cock and White hens. The produce 

 will come self-coloured throughout, black or 

 white ; no mottles, cuckoos, greys, etc., but 

 either Black Rosecombs or White. If a Black 

 cock be used, his legs must be a shade or two 

 paler or more slaty than for breeding Blacks. 

 The White chickens will in all probability show 

 a little duskiness in the legs and feet the first 

 season, but a little judicious selection the follow- 

 ing year would remedy this, and a good plan to 

 follow is to put the White pullets to a good, 

 long-feathered White cock, and the old White 

 hens to the best of the White cockerels. By 

 doing this you will greatly improve the lobe and 

 length of feather. 



In the Sebright or Laced Bantam we have 

 another most beautiful variety. If the ladies 

 cannot take to the Sebrights I shall lose all 

 faith in them (the ladies I mean, 

 Sebright "ot the Sebrights). The birds are 

 Bantams. prime favourites at shows, and in- 

 variably attract a lot of attention, 

 both from their style and carriage, and also 

 their beautiful lacing, which in good specimens 

 is almost perfect. This breed is no new 

 manufacture, dating from the days of Sir John 

 Sebright, who worked with it indefatigably, 

 and got together a host of enthusiastic friends 

 who took it up, and had special delight in 

 competing with one another in their frequent 

 exhibitions. It matters little how it was derived, 

 but it probably was of Polish descent, differing 

 from the larger laced fowl in absence of crest, 

 and of sickles in tail. 



There are two varieties, Silvers and Golds, 

 but at the present time Silvers are by far the 

 more popular, probably from the fact that the 

 contrast is greater in them, and in consequence 

 more catching to the eye, and also that they 

 are much easier to breed true to colour. In 

 both varieties it is not so much the lacing 

 that is difficult to get, as the quality of it. 

 We often see it a dusky, rusty colour, instead 

 of a good beetle black, and especially so in 

 the Golds. It requires much care in this case 

 to get a good rich ground colour, combined with 

 the necessary quality of glossy black, at the 

 same time maintaining an absolutely clear as 

 well as rich ground. Often the Golds run far 

 too pale in ground-colour, which again is a 

 serious fault. This can however to a certain 

 extent be remedied by colour feeding. 



