The Poultry of France. 91 



animals require special care and intelligence in tlieir manage- 

 ment; amateurs therefore require to have pointed out to them 

 their most common blunders. 



In the first place, their fowls are often ill lodged. Every 

 transplanted " cit " dreams of new-laid eggs ; but it is only after 

 providing for flowers, vegetables, and fruits that the Parisian 

 who buys land by the foot asks himself, " How shall I house the 

 hens?" After a search he discovers some corner where plants 

 will not live for want of air and sun, and there he sets up his 

 trellice, painted bright green in cruel mockery. " How many 

 of these dens," writes M. de Chavanne, " did I come across in a 

 three months' cjuest of a home ! How many victims did 1 

 behold, who, with one leg in the mud, and the other buried in 

 the breast-feathers, invoked the cook's knife to put an end to 

 their misery ! Poultry must have space, air, and sun, or the 

 balance-sheet will tell a sorry tale." 



The next source of mischief is an aspiration after fancy 

 poultry of various kinds, often selected for eccentricities in 

 plumage ; from such a jumble of races this alone can be foreseen, 

 that the produce will not be good layers and ready fatteners. 

 The feeding too is often mismanaged ; in a suburban establish- 

 ment the poultry gets overlooked ; and if the corn is given with 

 regularity, the water-trough is often empty, or, even in a well- 

 ordered establishment, a supply of "greens" is overlooked, or 

 the indispensable box filled with ashes or sand — the fowls' only 

 resource against parasites — is withheld, 



M. de Chavanne commenced by buying a cock and hen of the 

 Houdan breed, at the Jardin d' Acclimatisation, with other hens, 

 to be weeded out hereafter. His outfit, including these purchases, 

 the cost of enlarging his poultry-yard, and of the necessary 

 utensils, came to 85 francs (3/. Si'.). The rest of the expenditure 

 for food, straw for litter, &c., from Aug. 1862 to Dec. 31, 1864, 

 came to 318 francs, making a total of 403 francs (16^. 2^. 6(f.) 

 In 1863, 790 eggs were collected, and 33 chickens eaten ; in 

 1864, 1087 eggs were collected, and 22 chickens eaten up to the 

 1st of Jan. 1865. The stock then consisted of 'i^^ fowls. If the 

 pullets consumed are valued at 2^. 6^/. apiece, and the live stock 

 at 1^. SfZ., the eggs eaten at all seasons have averaged 4 centimes 

 a piece (less than 8r/. per score). The pullets averaged 2f lbs. 

 a piece — no great weight for Houdan fowls, for they will easily 

 reach 5 lbs. ; but they suited M. de Chavanne's taste when 

 less fat. 



The Houdan breed, which was selected after much delibera- 

 tion, has the following merits. They are early layers ; INIarch 

 chickens will sometimes lay in the following November ; although 

 they are slow to begin to sit, and sometimes intermit a year, 



