Rose Comb Brown Leghorns 



story of the Formation of Different Strains of the Variety— Breeding for Exhibition- 

 Improvement in Color of Females — Value as Layers — Egg Records. 



I HAVE been breeding Rose Comb Brown Leghorns 

 since 1884; so I feel rather well acquainted with, 

 and think very highly of them as a breed, for they 

 have made many dollars for me. 



History of the Breed as I Know It 



The records 1 have credit Mr. T. C. McDaniels, of 

 South Hollis, Maine, as the first breeder of Rose Comb 

 Leghorns. He called them the "York" fowl first, then 

 the "Rose Comb Brown." What breeds he used I do not 

 know, but I think either he or some one later must have 

 used the Hamburg, for many showed the Hamburg type 

 back in the eighties. The eggs also resembled the Ham- 

 burgs'. 1 am almost certain some Red Cap blood was used 

 in one strain. The Red Cap comb has caused trouble, but 

 the Hamburg blood and the Red Cap infused into th,; 

 original Leghorn have seemed to intensify the laying 

 ability of the Rose Comb Browns. 



In 1884, when I began to breed them, Mr. James 

 Forsyth, of Owego, N. Y., was the leading breeder. He 

 bought out Mr. Crofutt. About that time Mr. H. E. 

 Benedict of Elmira, was breeding birds that looked like 

 this strain. They were very good in shape, light in color 

 (the color we call "pullet breeding" now), but the females 

 were not soft brown, rather a coarser, harsher brown. 

 About 1888 Mr. William H. Hughes of Long Island bred 

 a strain he brought out that produced large red males 



and also a strain that produced the most beautiful golden 

 brown females. Mr. Drevenstedt pointed out my "Queen 

 Esther" to a prominent Single Comb Brown breeder and 

 said she was a worthy pattern for the Single Comb 

 Browns in color. Just what Mr. Hughes used to produce 

 it I do not know. I bought all of this strain in 1891 and 

 these birds were the beginning of the beautifully colored 

 females now shown. 



As a Utility Breed 

 As bred today the Rose Comb Brown Leghorns stand 

 as one of the very best egg utility breeds in existence. 

 This assertion is made from a mass of testimony received 

 from men and women who have tried all the egg breeds 

 and are in a position to judge. Not all strains will meet 

 this standard, but the strains bred along the latest lines 

 will They must have size, size of eggs, and lots of eggs. 



Egg Records 



The Rose Comb Browns as I have bred them have 

 made some extra fine records. The first record I made 

 was in 1885. I put six Rose Comb pullets in a building 

 one year on January 5th, when the first one laid. The 

 building was ten by eighteen feet, with no yard. I did not 

 let them out for five months and twenty-five days, and 

 in that time I gathered about six hundred eggs. I was 

 voung at the business then and did not feed to make a 



Brown Leghorns Twenty Years Ago 



The type illustrated above was popular in the ethlv aO'; 

 r Single and Rose Comb Brown Leghorns. Reproduced fr 



