LECTURE XC. 



BREEDS OF POULTRY. 



Poultry is divided into breeds which may be classified (1) 

 according to use, that is, from a utility standpoint or from a 

 fancier's standpoint, or (2) they may be classified according 

 to origin, e. g., the Rocks and Wyandottes are spoken of as 

 American breeds; the Leghorns, Andalusians, Minorcas, Black 

 Spanish, as Mediterranean breeds, and the Brahmas and Co- 

 chins as Asiatic breeds; these may be spoken of again as the 

 medium, light and heavy classes layers and non-layers, sit- 

 ters and non-sitters. For reference we give a short descrip- 

 tion of a few of the more important breeds. 



Light Breeds Leghorns. The Leghorns belong to the light 

 breeds; they are great egg producers, especially during the 

 summer months. Some strains will produce eggs in winter. 

 They cannot be relied upon to sit. The eggs are white and 

 rather small. They require warmer quarters in winter than 

 some of the other breeds because of their large combs, espe- 

 cially the males. They are very active fowls and are great 

 rustlers. They are too small to make good meat producers 

 except as broilers. 



There are several varieties of Leghorns, chief of which are 

 the Single-Combed White, Brown and Buff. The Black, Rose- 

 Comb White and Brown are also raised. The egg of the Sin- 

 gle-Comb White is a little larger than that of the other varie- 

 ties. Both males and females have large combs. Care must 

 be taken that they do not get these frozen in winter. 



Blue Andalusians. The Andalusians are midway in size 

 between the Leghorns and Minorcas. They too are non-sitters 

 and lay large white eggs. They do their best work in sum- 

 mer. They are blue in color, but cannot be depended upon to 

 breed true. They are hardy, vigorous and good mothers. 



Minorcas. Minorcas are the largest of the light breeds. 

 There are several varieties, chief of which is the Single-Comb 

 Black. The Single-Comb White and Rose-Comb Black are 

 bred to some extent. They are fairly hardy and vigorous and 

 lay a large white egg. The standard weight for hen is 6y 2 

 pounds; cock, 8 pounds. 



