170 



JOUENAL OP HOBTICUIiTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ Febrnarjr 28, ISDT. 



POXFLTRY, BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CHRONICLE. 



BREEDING DARK BRAHMA POOTRAS. 



EvEBY frequenter of our poultry Bhows must have noticed 

 the gradual and steady increase in the Brahma classes, show- 

 ing a correspondingly steady growth in the popularity of the 

 breed. In iact, no breed of fowls has made such rapid pro- 

 gress of late years, and with an utter absence of anything 

 Uke a " mania," this is a sure evidence that great and real 

 merit is at the bottom of it ; and such is certainly the case. 

 As layers Brahmas are in the very first class ; as table fowls 

 they are of fair quality, much better than Cochins, though cer- 

 tainly not equal to Dorkings ; and as sitters, whilst their be- 

 haviour is unexceptionable, it may safely be said of them that 

 the propensity to incubate occurs just often enough to be re- 

 liable and useful, without being troublesome. Such merits 

 are quite enough to justify their great and growing popularity, 

 the more so when combined with the very strongest constitu- 

 tion and capacity of bearing confinement of any fowls we know. 



The last-mentioned qualities recommend Brahmas most 

 strongly for family use, as the chickens may bo reared with 

 facility at any time of year. To illustrate what I mean, I will 

 just say that I hatched on July .31st last year six chickens, of 

 which one perished by accident within a few days. All readers 

 of " our Journal " well know what weather followed that date, 

 yet the chickens had not even the shelter of a shed, my yard 

 being full. They had literally no cover but the board coop in 

 which the mother was confined. In November the smallest of 

 the cockerels was attacked with cramp, and on the 29th of that 

 month was killed, weighing when dead, at barely four months 

 old, precisely 4J lbs., or much more than some chickens that 

 are reared professedly for the table. 



It is, I believe, these solid useful qualities that are bringing 

 the breed so rapidly into repute, and, doubtless, many who this 

 year are beginning to breed Brahmas, will only regard them as 

 so many stock fowls, and make up their yards accordingly ; but 

 many, I have been led to believe, will be glad of somewhat more 

 information than they can gather from any published poultry 

 book, and I purpose to lay before such a few dottings respect- 

 ing the Dark-pencilled variety, which may help, I hope, to a 

 somewhat higher " Standard of Excellence," and be some 

 guide towards success in competition. At the same time I lay 

 no claim to any monopoly of information on the subject, and 

 wherever I may be silent, I shall feel grateful if any one who 

 may have benefited by my knowledge will help me and others 

 with his. There is need for all we can obtain, for I am quite 

 sure that with the exception of the Game fowls, there is no 

 breed which it is so difScult to breed in perfection as the-Dark 

 Brahma. Almost every one has a different idea of a perfect 

 bird, and the selection of stock requires the nicest judgment 

 and discrimination. 



I would observe, first, that size is a very great point in this 

 breed, and ought to weigh more than it often does, for the 

 consequence of neglecting ii is that the standard is degene- 

 rating. I was glad, on this account, to see that the judging 

 was greatly determined by weight at Birmingham, though I am 

 no advocate for this ludicrous way of judging a fowl, and have not 

 a word to say for such awards as passed over some of Mr. 

 Boyle's best birds with hardly a notice. All I contend for is, 

 that size should be oiie main point to be considered in judging 

 a pen, and I would call no pen first-class in which the cock did 

 not weigh 1,3 lbs., and the hens 9 lbs. Good pullets ought to 

 weigh quite 1 lb. per month by the time they are fit to show. 

 I give these, of course, as unfatted weights ; if confined and 

 liberally fed Brahmas will make enormous birds, and are often 

 treated so, but are thereby ruined for breeding. The standard 



I have given used to be often exceeded, and I have now a hen 

 of unexceptionable form and colour, which weighs upwards of 



II lbs. as she runs in the yard. I believe were more attention 

 given to size, such a weight might be ordinarily attained. 



Correct form is of the utmost importance, as this breed is 

 one too much contaminated by crosses. The back, especially, 

 should be wide and very short, with a large and ample cushion 

 in the hen. In a good bird this cushion ought to rise nearly 

 from the very bottom of the neck, giving almost no length of 

 back at all, and forming a large protuberant mass of soft 

 feathers, almost hiding the tail. The "fluff" also should be 

 abundant and " stand out " well, so that the tips of the wings 

 should be well tucked in, and almost buried in the fluff and 



saddle feathers. Very great width and depth of body, without 

 much length, are the points to seek after. The legs cannot bi 

 too short or too heavily-feathered, provided they be not vulture- 

 hocked, and it is essential in a first-class bird that they b« 

 wide apart. It is disgusting to see so many knock-kneed cocks 

 as often appear in a class, and any bird whose legs do not 

 stand well and firmly apart should never be bred from. I may 

 also remark that " fluff " in the cock is too much neglected. I 

 do not like vulture hock, but it is possible to be too much 

 afraid of it. 



The neck ought to be short and very taper, a good Brahma 

 head being decidedly small. By far the greater number of th« 

 hens I see disgust me by their great, coarse, cruel-looking 

 heads, which are, I believe, derived from the Grey Dorking, 

 and have nothing to do with the true Brahma. The head of a 

 pure-bred Brahma pullet is very small in proportion, of ex- 

 quisite taper, and the expression, though sinightly, remarkably 

 gentle and pleasing. No test is surer than this one of the 

 jmritij of a strain, whatever its other merits may be. I may 

 also remark that in perfect birds of both sexes, the deaf-ears 

 should fall beloK the wattle ; but this is a point which doBB 

 not now seem much attended to. 



Faults in shape to be avoided are — long backs, narrow bodies, 

 long necks, or long legs ; and, lastly, let any birds which ap- 

 proach the Cochin type in the narrow and deficient breast be at 

 once discarded. A deep, full, and even protuberant breast is a 

 marked peculiarity of the Brahma breed, and any cock or hen 

 in which it does not appear is of a very interior order. 



The more fancy " points " I must leave till my next com- 

 munication, but would just observe here, that they must be 

 especially sought in the cock, whilst for size, good foi-m, and 

 shortness of leg, we must chiefly look to the hen. You may 

 have a late-hatched cock, and, consequently, a small one ; bnt 

 if he is good in form, colour, and other points, and of a sound 

 constitution, active and lively, he may breed chickens of the 

 very first class, when mated with good, large, well-formed hens. 

 Small hens, however, you must not breed from, unless you are 

 content to exhibit small chickens. On the other hand, if the 

 hen be large and well-proportioned, she is not to be discarded 

 for a slight fault of feathering or comb. If the cock be good 

 in these, a large proportion of the chickens will be all they 

 should be. 



As Brahmas are very largely kept and bred in confinement, 

 I will add one more caution : Do not let your breeding birds 

 become fat. This is the one great difficulty of amateurs with 

 limited space, all the larger breeds having a great tendency to 

 lay on too much flesh when kept in confinement. Such will 

 never breed fine large chickens — the system is overloaded. 

 Give your birds enough, but no more. Keep them so that they 

 shall always have a good appetite. A pen of breeding birds, to 

 afford the best results, should always look rather thin, but not, 

 of course, very much so ; and if any reader have tremendous hena 

 which lay small eggs, let him herein learn the reason, but by 

 no means fly to the other extreme and starve them in revenge. 

 Such is by no means the meaning of — Nesio. 

 (To be eontinaed.) 



BREEDING GAME FO^VLS. 



(Continued from jiage 153.) 



In breeding in-and-in, too close breeding is, of course, ob- 

 jectionable, such as breeding from father and daughter, from 

 mother and son, and from brother and sister ; of the three, the 

 last is the best, but all three are unnatural. A person breed- 

 ing only one strain or colour should have two breeding walks 

 or runs, and should change the cocks from one run to the 

 other, for doing so crosses the birds a little. A good cross of 

 the same colour every five years is a good plan, but one every 

 ten years is quite sufficient, and is, perhaps, the most correct 

 way of breeding with really good birds, which would spoil by 

 too frequent crossing. 



A valuable brood cock may be bred from imtil he is eight or 

 nine years old, by keeping him from any hens from midsum- 

 mer until Christmas, in a good walk either by himself or along 

 with all the cock chickens and young stags, which he will 

 prevent from fighting, separating them himself directly they 

 commence hostilities. His spurs must, of course, be blunted, 

 or he might kill the young birds while separating them in their 

 frequent battles. As soon as the " stags' heels," or spurs of 

 the young cocks begin to grow sharp, these should be taken 

 from the old cock's walk, dubbed, and put out to a walk, each 



