July 11, 1967. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



33 



March twelvemonth, had laid well before Christmas, and had 

 never before ailed ; the change had been since the last moult. 

 A. Le Ciieminant, Foubm ^'alt■, Gucrrisinj. 



JUDGING GAME FOWLS EY SHAPE. 



TiiK rnorEii shapk of tht, game cock. 



Beak, stronf;, curved, long, and sharp, stout at the base (a 

 good boxing beak as technically termeil). 



Comb neatly and closely dubbed, red in the red-combed sorts ; 

 darkish red in dark-combed sorts. Cock chickens and young 

 stags should be exhibited undubbed to show the proper shape 

 of the comb, which should be single, not too large or clumsy, 

 rather thin, serrated, or lobed, erect and straight, _and rather 

 low in front. 



Face, same colour as comb. Gills, wattles, and deaf ears 

 same colour as comb, and neatly trimmed. 



Head, long and sharp. Eyes, bright and clear. Face and 

 throat hard, lean, and thin. 



Neck, long, arched, and strong, with a firm, hard, short, 

 strong, and rather broad-feathered hackle or mane, close, neat, 

 and very bard feathered ; the feather points to shoulders and 

 no longer. 



Back, short and very hard, broad at shoulders and narrow at 

 tail. 



Sides of the body well rounded. 



Breast, broad and very hard, and neither too round nor too 

 full, as a heavy breast is useless weight, nor yet too lean, but 

 still not sharp-breasted, a hard breast being most essential, as 

 the most vulnerable part of the body. 



Stern, or rump, narrow, short, and neat, feathers short and 

 hard. 



JVinfif, very strong and well rounded, and neither too short 

 nor too long ; short-winged birds being too heavy in body 

 generally, and often broad-rumped, and too-long-winged birds 

 frequently long in body and in feather. Wings carried closely 

 pressed to the sides, and neither too high nor too low, but pro- 

 tecting the fleshy part of the thigh. 



'Tail, neither too long nor too short, long-tailed birds being 

 generally long in body and in feather, and too short tailed often 

 too clumsy in body and broad in rump. The tail should be 

 carried " well up " for spirit, and should be open or fanned and 

 spreading, with a full crescent-like curve of the sickle feathers, 

 and well sickled, the sickle feathers carried just clearly above 

 the points of the straight feathers. Cock-fighters prefer rather 

 short, neat-tailed birds, with tails carried well up, and not too 

 large, but open. Long-spreading, well-sickled lails, carried well 

 up are the most showy tails. Squirrel tails very bad of course. 

 Some judges and fanciers prefer the rather drooping, close- 

 switch, or whip-tailed birds, saying these are finer-feathered, 

 neater, and higher-bred birds. I consider the drooj'ing. closed, 

 or folded and long-tailed birds to be narrower in body, less 

 strong, and less spirited than such as I have described. These 

 tails are not much sickled. There should never be much fluff 

 or down at the root of a cock's tail, as this shows softness, and 

 the base of the tail should be narrow. 



Tliiglis, short, hard, and very muscular, and placed well, wide 

 apart, and well up to the shoulders, under the broadest part of 

 the body to make the bird stand firmly on his legs, and to give 

 " a good forehand " and a more commanding appearance. 



Legs, neither too long nor too short ; strong, but never in 

 the least clumsy, rather slender than at all clumsy (as the 

 mnscnlar power lies in the thigh), placed well and widely 

 apart to make the bird stand firmly and carry plenty of spur. 

 Spurs placed low down, long, and not too stout or clumsy, 

 sharp, and not turning in too much, and rather curved up- 

 wards. Scales of legs close and smooth. 



Feet, spreading claws, long and straight. Talons long, strong, 

 and narrow. Back claw placed low and fiat to the ground, and 

 very long and strong, to make the bird stand firm and give him 

 a good spring. Never in the least Duck-footed. Broad, short, 

 flat nails are very bad, and show the Malay cross in the breed 

 having them. 



Plumage, all very hard, scant rather than thick of feathers, 

 short, close, and firm, the feathers and quills very strong every- 

 where. 



Body in band, short and very hard in flesh, and very mns- 

 cnlar in every part. Belly small and tiyht in the pinions. 

 Legs of cock rather longer than those of the hen in proportion. 

 Carriage, upright, active, quick, fierce, sharp, and fiery. 

 Curved-backed cocks, if with a straight curve and not humped 



or lop-sided, are " shorter in body and fiercer" than straight- 

 backed cocks are. 



Weight, for exhibition, from 4J lbs. to 51 lbs. ; for the pit, 

 4j lbs., as the most active weight. Game cocks should never 

 be heavy or clumsy in body, but should be light-fleshed, with 

 sufficient bone for strength, but not too heavy in bone or flesh 

 for activity, and should combine great strength with great 

 activity in proportion to their size. 



Game cocks should be one-third larger than their hens. 

 Game cocks are in their prime at two years old, and decline 

 after four years, as do the hens in general, though some old 

 birds are as good. — Newmarket. 



P.S. — I have to thank " YoRKsniRE " for his replies to my 

 three questions. 



HOUDANS— RIVAL INCUBATORS. 



About twelve months ago, owing to the opinion you ex- 

 pressed as to the merits of the Houdan fowl, I determined to 

 keep no other. I selected five pullets from the stock of a 

 noted breeder, and obtained a cockerel from a distant part of 

 the country, in order to run no risk of in-and-in breeding. 



JMy object being to rear chickens, of course I bad to keep a 

 few sitters, and I purchased ten Dorking pullets, thus having 

 fifteen females to one male bird. This, probably, you will 

 consider too many, but the result has proved otherwise. 



My Houdan pullets, which were not hatched until August, 

 commenced laying at the new year, and they continued to do 

 so up to the present time. Their eggs are considerably larger 

 than those I obtain from the Dorkings, and, on an average, 

 they miss laying one day in five. You will agree with me, 

 therefore, that I have every reason to be satisfied : indeed, I 

 am convinced that, for general purposes, — as egg-producers 

 and table birds — Houdans surpass any other breed. 



Several of my friends complain of their ill-success this year 

 with chickens. In February I placed nine eggs under one 

 of my broody Dorkings, and she hatched seven chickens. Of 

 the remaining two, one was broken, and in the other I found a 

 dead chicken. I kept the hen and chicks in a storeroom at 

 the top of my house, and fed them liberally with chopped egg, 

 bread, and grits. The room had a boarded floor, which, during 

 my absence from home one cold day in March, was thoroughly 

 scrubbed and cleaned by my maid. The next morning sis of 

 the chickens were unable to walk, their feet being quite pa- 

 ralysed, and during the day all died. The hen had, therefore, 

 only one chicken, which appeared as strong as ever, and is now 

 a fine bird. 



I next sat a hen on thirteen eggs : she produced twelve 

 chickens, which are all living. 1 never saw birds grow so 

 rapidly, and this is the opinion of every one who has seen them. 

 My next clutch was nine from twelve eggs ; the fourth, seven 

 from twelve, four being broken in the nest ; and my last brood 

 consisted of eleven chickens, three of which have died. One 

 was trodden to death by the hen, one died from natural causes, 

 and the third was worried by a neighbour's dog. 



I have, therefore, reared thirty-seven chickens from fifty- 

 seven eggs, which I consider very satisfactory. I have given 

 away and sold several sittings, and in all cases the success has 

 been equal to my own. 



In your Journal of May 27th, a letter appeared from " Brown 

 Red," on " Rival Incubators." 'With your correspondent I 

 agree that it is a great inconvenience to fanciers of a non-sitting 

 variety, to keep sitting hens, which are useless for the greater 

 part of the year, but although anxious to obtain an incubator, 

 I am at a loss to decide which to select. It would be a great 

 favour to poultry. breeders generally if the manufacturers of 

 different incubators would each place one of their manufacture 

 in the care of some breeder, in order that their merits may be 

 thoroughly tested. If no other could be found, I should have 

 no objection to undertake the responsibility, and to give you 

 the result. I enclose my name and address, not for publica- 

 tion, but as a guarantee of good faith. — Lindum. 



PETERBOROUGH POULTRY SHOW. 

 There 13 no question tlrnt with a snitablc revision of the prize 

 schedule this Show might be greatly increased, bnt the cUssifications 

 as Ihey now stnnd are scarcely colcolnted to be popular. The largest 

 amount of prizes is at present given at Pelerborongh to " Mixed 

 Breeds, any age or colour." This, of course, induces the entry of a 

 number of mongrel-bred birds of little real market value, and not by 

 anv means an interesting portion of the Show to visitors generally. It 



