68 



■JOUENAL OF HOETICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



[ July 26, 1807. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS in the Suburbs of London for the Week ending July' 2;3rd. 



POULTRY, BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CHROUICLE- 



FAILURES IN GAME BANTAM BREEDING 

 THIS SEASON. 



Is answer to " Nottinc.hamship.e," I bib sorry to say that I 

 ana one of those unfortunate sufferers with my fowls ; I never 

 had such mortality amongst my fowls since I have been a 

 breeder. I have Ifad hatched this season about sixty chickens, 

 and now (July IGth), have twenty living. During the last six 

 days I have lost sixteen. The place in which I keep them is 

 a pen about 5 yards long and 3 wide, and I let them run out I 

 to catch the morning sun, and in the afternoon they are in the 

 pen. They are always on dry soil. No grass run. 



I had eleven chickens in one clutch, and when five days old 

 they began to fail just in the same way as " Nottingh.^mshire" 

 describes, being affected with purging, loss of appetite, drooping 

 the wings, and swelhng behind, and they became too weak to 

 follow the hen. "When I have seen them in this state I have 

 placed them in flannel at the side of the fire, but I have never 

 been able to bring one round. In the next pen to the eleven I 

 had another hen with eight chickens. When about ten days 

 old they failed similarly, and I have two left out of the eight. 

 The malady seems to me to be infectious. 



The diet of the chickens has been meal, bread and ale, and 

 egg chopped tine. To each of them when attacked I gave two 

 nights successively, a pill containing prepared chalk, cayenne, 

 and citrate of iron, but it had no effect. 



I have a olutch of Hamburghs all right, and doing well. I 

 have also a clutch of chickens on a grass run all doing well, 

 and at the same place my friend has lost nineteen Hamburgh 

 chicks with the same disease. If any of my brother poultry 

 breeders could state a remedy I should feel greatly obliged. 



light on this matter, for I think tlie coming year will find us 

 with a very Umited supply of Game chickens. 



Has this disease, do you think, been occasioned by the very 

 changeable weather ? I think not ; neither do I think it is the 

 weakened constitution of Game fowls, although I am willing 

 to admit that Game are the only fowls that seem to have 

 suffered, most if not all other breeds having prettj' good broods. 

 — W. C, Nantwiclt. 



I AM glad that your correspondents " Xoreshiee " and " Not- 

 Tison.vjisnip.E " have brought before the readers of " our 

 Journal " the mortality of Game chickens. I can quite indorse 

 all they have said. I know of no breeder of Game fowls who 

 has been successful this year. 



In my own case, I may say that the number of chicks reared 

 in comparison with the number of eggs sat upon is very small 

 — I should think not more than ten per cent., and this applies 

 as much to Game Bantams as to other Game fowls. 



I will state my own observations on this most vexatious 

 disease. The first symptom I observe is a very early shooting of 

 the wing feathers, and when about nine days old the crop 

 becomes soft and slightly enlarged, or, as an old breeder ex- 

 presses it, " their craw gets puggey," their wings drop, and a 

 few days end their existence. 



Now for the remedy. I have tried all the recipes I could 

 think of, but without the slightest success. When once the 

 chick has been attacked I have neither found nor heard of the 

 slightest good being effected. I believe that this disease is 

 worse on grass walks than on gravel or lime walks. I thought 

 once that it might arise from fowls being reared on the same 

 walks for years, but on moving them to fresh walks and pas- 

 tures the same failure takes place. 



Had this disease occurred in a few yards I should have thought 

 nothing of it, but I believe it to be general. I hear of no one 

 in England who has had good luck with Game chickens. Only 

 this morning I hear from a friend in Staffordshire that his 

 success has been very Utile, not having reared 25 per cent, of 

 the chickens hatched. 



I hope that some of our poultry-keepers will be able to throw 



THE PROPER WEIGHT FOR GAME FOWLS 

 AT EXHIBITIONS. 

 The average weight of Game cocks at exhibitions is now 

 about GJ lbs., and runs from 6 lbs. to 7ilbs. The old favourite 

 fighting weight was 4J lbs., especially at the Royal Cockpit, 

 Tufton Street, "Westminster, Loudon ; and 4^ lbs. is allowed 

 to be the most active weight of all, ani large enough for 

 strength. The weight best combining activity with strength 

 is, on the whole, 5} lbs., and this is my favourite weight for 

 brood cocks. I think that when weighing more than 5J lbs., 

 Game cocks begin to loso symmetry, and become too slow, 

 heavy, and often clumsy. 



Game cocks are, of course, never weighed at exhibitions, 

 and I think our poultry judges are mainly to be blamed for not 

 checking the undue and great advance in the weight of Game 

 fowls. Such large fine birds are undoubtedly noble Epecimens, 

 but are never so sharp, fierce, or active as those of the middle 

 size, and, though much more powerful in appearance, would 

 soon be killed by active sharp birds. We do not want Game 

 fowls to approach the size uf Dorkings, at least no true Game 

 fancier would wish them to do so, and with all their nnble ap- 

 pearance such large Game cocks are slow, heavy in fiesli and 

 bone, often clumsy, and even resembling Malays. I hold that 

 51 lbs., or 1 lb. more than the highest fighting weight, is about 

 the most correct exhibition weight, and that 3! lbs. for exhi- 

 bition hens is correct, as i lbs. -hens are all slow and breed slow 

 cocks. (Hens, of course, are heavier when full of e^-gs than 

 at other times.) A few years ago the S.j lbs. birds tO(.k all the 

 cups and prizes, but now we seem to have advanced another 

 pound in weight. If the Game judges do not combine to- 

 check and discountenance this approach to " Dorking clumsi- 

 ness," in a few years we shall not see a quick, sharp, fiery, 

 symmetrical, or really " Game " cock at any of our exhibitions. 

 I prefer the old "cockers'" way of breeding, and breed my 

 Game fowls strictly in accordance with the old usages, and not 

 for large, heavy, exhibition birds; brood cocks, 54 lbs. ; cocks 

 on " out-walks," ik lbs. each ; hens from 3 lbs. to 3J lbs., 

 no heavier. 



All the chief exhibitors seem to have the r birds too heavy 

 both in flesh and bone for really good birds. A heavy Game 

 cock is far inferior to a light active bird, and jui'ges shoul.d 

 remember that these large birds, heavy in fle.sh, and coarse '» 

 bone, should never take prizes, and the judges should give the 

 prizes to middle-sized birds, fine in bone, and also fine and 

 active in shape. I do not write as an exhibitor, as I never 

 have exhibited since 1857, and do not mean to exhibit again. 

 I had several large cocks weighing from 6 lbs. to 7 lbs., and 

 they were all heavy slow birds with one exception. These wero 

 Black-breasted Beds and one Brown Ked. I hear that in York- 

 shire and Staffordshire, in some places, they have Brown Keds 

 weighing as much as II lbs., and IBlack-breasted Keds aud Dnek- 

 wings of 8 lbs., bred for exhibition purposes, or for farmyards. 

 Judges surely know that Game cocks " like Dorkings '' are not 

 required even for exhibition. I think that while judging, the 

 weights of the larger breeds must run too much in their heads. 



