POULTEY 



51 



eral purpose fowls that have nice tender meat. 

 They both lay well and make good mothers. To this 

 class belong the differ- 

 ent kinds of Plymouth 

 Rocks (Figs. 31 and 

 32), Wyandottes and 

 Rhode Island Reds. 

 These breeds are all 

 developed in Americ:^. 



Habits. Chickens 

 swallow their food 

 whole. It is softened 

 in the crop and ground 

 up in the stomach, or 

 gizzard, the walls of 

 which are hard and 

 muscular. Fowls tip 

 their heads back to swallow when they take a beak 

 full of water, because they have* no muscle in their 

 tliroats. Chickens wallow or take a dust bath to 

 drive away insects or clean their skins; and in wet 

 weather they oil their feathers so they will shed 

 water well and so keep their skin dry. 



The Nests. A hen will Jiide her eggs, if possible, 

 so a cozy place should be arranged in a quiet, dark 

 place for her nest. She begins to lay in the spring, 

 one egg each day. If left to herself, she would 

 commence to sit as soon as she had twelve or fif- 

 teen eggs. By removing the eggs she is kept laying 

 a much longer time. The breeds that do not sit 



Viu. 31. Barred Hock. 



