56 



California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



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Domestication of Wild Fowls. 



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rtA-EING an euthusiastic sportsman as 

 '^■^ well as fowl breeder, I have learned 

 from many years' experience in 

 the hills, marshes, and tules of this 

 country, the habits and merits of 

 many varieties of wild fowl, and am 

 looking forward to the time when I can 

 provide the place, and have the leisure 

 to demonstrate the feasibility of crossing 

 our domestic fowls with those beautiful 

 and edible birds of the valleys and 

 marshes. Jlr. Rodman mentions "the 

 peerless Koueu duck, produced from the 

 domestication of the wild Mallard," (or 

 as is generally supposed, the tame duck 

 bred to the wild RIallard, as has the do- 

 mestic turky with the wild bird, produc- 

 ing the large and beautiful Bronze tur- 

 key), instance also the mongrel goose, so 

 much prized and sought after by the 

 epicures. I think man}' fine birds could 

 be obtained by crossing several varieties 

 of the wild fowl with the domestic Mal- 

 lard, as I have seen and obtained several 

 beautiful specimens of hybrids during 

 my hunting excursions in San I'ablo and 

 Suisun bays in this State. One I partic- 

 ularly remember was a cross between the 

 wild Mallard and the Pin-tail (commonly 

 known here as the Sprig-tail). These 

 birds are similar in their habits, often 

 flock together, are non-divers, feeding on 

 the mud-banks, on slugs and snails, or 

 in the ponds for grasses and the like. 

 The flesh of the former is very juicy, and 

 of a rich orange color, while the latter is 

 eipudly rich and juicy and of a delicate 

 white, and tiuer grained, much like that 

 of a chicken in color. I think the cross 

 would produce a most desirable bird for 

 the table, and by domestication produce 

 as large a duck as the famous Kouen. 

 The only question in my mind regarding 

 their success is the chance or their pro- 

 geny being "mules." I could mention 

 others that in my oi^iuion could be bred 

 or domesticated with flattering results. 

 My old lamented friend Ward Eaton, 

 of San Francisco, imported several years 

 ago from Oregon and Washington Ter- 

 ritorj' a dozen or -more of the red grouse 

 of that section of country, which he 

 thoroughly domesticated in his yard; but 

 he died before he had fairly completed 

 the experiment of breeding them, and 

 they were finally turned out in the hills 

 of Marin county. What the result has 

 been I have never ascertained. They 

 may have met the fate of most of the 

 Ivistern quail which have been brought 

 out hare —they having been killed by 

 their stronger neighbors, the California 

 qual, which seems to have taken an an- 

 tipathy to them and "go for them" as 

 Bill Nye did for the "heathen Chinee." 

 — Clicis. A. Morse, of Odldand, in I'ovllry 

 Journal. 



Yehmin on Fowls. — The Fancier's (!a- 

 zdte speaks as follows: A very important 

 duty of the poultry breeder is to see that 

 his chicks are free from vermin. Sprin- 

 kle sulphur continually over the chick- 

 ens, roosts and houses, the latter two 

 occasionally washed with kerosene. If 

 you find the slightest symptiuiis of the 

 presence of vermin, get rid of them im- 

 J mediately. Sometimes careless breeders 

 will lose whole settings of eggs simply 

 by not occasionally sprinkling the hens 

 aud nests with suljihur, or other good in- 

 sect powder, and the poor hens, unable 

 to stand the dreadful i)ests, have forsaken 

 llieir nests. A careful breeder will never 

 allow the scourge of lice among his 

 poultry to trouble him, but will see that 

 he "has none of it. 



FINE POULTRY. 



Our attention as been called to the 

 yard of Judge Collins, of San Jose. The 

 judge has sjjared no expense to get the 

 very finest pure-bred fowls to be obtained 

 in England and America. He makes 

 specialties of the black-breasted Games, 

 brown Leghorns and dark Brahmas. For 

 one trio of Game fowls, he says he paid 

 $75. We have never seen fluer birds. 

 He has one tJame cock imported from 

 India, called the Wild Game — a novelty 

 — powerfully built, but not a very heavy 

 fowl. The brown Leghorns are beauti- 

 ful, and just such hens as farmers who 

 have plenty of room for fowls to run 

 about should have. The dark Brahmas 

 are also beautiful, large and extra fine. 

 Being heavy and of quiet habits, they 

 are better adapted to small yards than 

 lighter poultry. This is not saying that 

 heavy fowls are not also good where room 

 is plenty. The other fowls kept by the 

 judge are Game Bantams and Kouen 

 ducks. 



One word about Games. It has been 

 found that they are of other, and better, 

 use than to breed for fighting purposes. 

 You will rememger that, on general prin- 

 ciples, tlie healthiest fowls are iliehest. Now 

 while other breeds of hens are bred for 

 certain fine points, independent of 

 healthy considerations, the Games are 

 invariably selected for hardiness, strength 

 and endurance. Hence they are stand- 

 ards of excellence in this direction, aud 

 are found to be the very best blood with 

 which to cross all other breeds. The 

 chicks are the hardiest and easiest to 

 raise, and there is less liability to get sick 

 among the Games than any other breed. 

 The hens are trim-built, cleanly, good 

 layers, and as peaceable as any hens. 

 The cocks are not more likely to fight 

 than others, unless trained to it, or 

 thrown among strange fowls. The 

 very fact that tliey fight so desperately, 

 shows the abundance of vital energy 

 they possess. In California, where hens 

 so often get sick, we think this is the 

 best blood to mix with other sorts to in- 

 sure health. 



Domestic Fowls in Afeic^. — Dr. Liv- 

 ingstone wrote: " When I was coming 

 through Londa, my men carried a great 

 number of fowls, of a larger breed than 

 any they had at home, (Liuganti, almost 

 exactly in the center of Southern Africa). 

 If one crowed before midnight, it had 

 been guilty of calling death to visit the 

 tribe, and was killed. The men often 

 carried them sitting on their guus, aud, 

 if one began to crow in a forest, the 

 owner would give it a beating, by way of 

 teaching it not to be guilty of crowing at 

 nnseasonablo hours." In his writings 

 he very frequently refers to domestic 

 fowls as one of the principal articles of 

 diet, and every tribe in the great region 

 over which he traveled had them; and he 

 stated that it was customary for every 

 tribe that he approached to send men 

 with cooked fowls and other food to meet 

 him, thus showing a genuine hospitality 

 scarcely credible among savages. When 

 he was 350 miles inland from the western 

 coast, he writes: "My men were busy 

 collecting a better breed of fowls and 

 pigeons than those in their own country. 

 The anxiety these people have always 

 shown to improve the breed of their do- 

 mestic animals is, I think, a favorable 

 point in their character." At Kovuma, 

 on the eastern coast, he said: "The peo- 

 ple have no sheep or goats; only fowls, 

 jjigeons and Muscovy ducks are seen." 

 .\lthough ho mentions the Guinea fowls 

 occasionally- and every traveler agrees 

 that they abound in Africa — it is evident 

 that he more frequently bad reference to 



large breeds of which the cocks crawed; 

 for when 550 miles inland from the east- 

 ern coast he mentioned the Guinea fowls 

 particularly, viz.: "Guinea fowls and 

 francolins abound." 



When Chuma and Lusi, Livingstone's 

 faithful attendants, who brought his re- 

 remains to England, saw some immense 

 Cochins at a poultry show, they said 

 these fowls were not larger than those 

 they saw when with their master on the 

 islands of lake Tanganika. 



It is singular that no other domestic 

 fowls besides the Guinea fowls have been 

 brought from Africa to this country, con- 

 sidering that there are fine fowls there, 

 aud that so many have been brought 

 from Asia. Some enterprising fancier 

 should make inquiries of men engaged 

 in the African trade, and try to import 

 some of the large varieties of fowls men- 

 tioned so frequently by Livingstone. 

 Africa is a very large aud a very old 

 country, and probably the varieties of 

 domestic poultry are many, useful and 

 curious. How did they get there? may 

 be a question of the curious; but a more 

 profitable one might be. How can we get, 

 them tiere.^ Had Livingstone seen those 

 fowls with Mr. Felch's eyes, the account 

 would have been so wonderful and en- 

 thusiastic as to have induced some fan- 

 cier to procure some very soon, but Liv- 

 ingstone was absorbed in a greater 

 matter, and gave them only a passing 

 notice, which, small as it is, suggests 

 tne importation of some remarkable 

 fowls from Africa yet. The Asiatic fowls 

 difter much from the European or Amer- 

 ican, and, doubtless, the African difi'er 

 from either as widely, judging from the 

 only specimen from that country — the 

 Guinea fowl. — I'oullri/ Journal. 



WoEMS IN Fowls. — Some years ago I 

 had several fowls drooping about with 

 all the symptoms of cholera, except that 

 they lingered for a longer period. After 

 experimenting with almost every known 

 remedy, I at length determined to make 

 a}iost mortem examination, and, if possi- 

 ble, determine the cause. Accordingly I 

 proceeded carefully, that nothing should 

 escape my notice. Arriving at the in- 

 testines, i found that the entire lining 

 was apparently removed, and they con- 

 tained no less than fifty worms, about 

 two inches in length, and as thick as an 

 ordinary knitting needle, both ends of 

 which coming to a sharp point like a pin. 

 They were white in color and as tough as 

 sinews. I theugave the remaining fowls 

 close attention, and frequently saw that 

 as soon as they passed from one fowl, 

 another would hastily swallow it, and, 1 

 doubt not, would soon become afl'ected. 

 At length I hit on the following remedy: 

 After they had goue to roost, I made a 

 strong tea of common worm seed, and 

 gave each one about threctablespoonfuls. 

 Early next morning, before they had 

 left the perches, I removed the dropping 

 from beneath them, and found it literally 

 alive with worms. I again dosed them 

 on the following eveniug; this time they 

 did not expel so large a quantity. I then 

 began feeding them wheat shorts and 

 bran, adding a little stimulant, and care- 

 fully avoiding anything that had a ten- 

 dency to irritate the intestines. In the 

 course of a week thej were seemingly as 

 lively as ever. Since then I have found 

 on several occasions small, conical worms 

 in turkeys in great numbers, and am of 

 the opinion that thousands die from this 

 cause, while it is attributed to cholera. 

 'J'ho symptoms from which I detect it 

 are from their slow, stifl', crampish 

 movements, and disorderly, sorrowful 

 ii])pearauce. — Kx. 



Red 1'epper and Poultiiv. — I do not 

 know if other persons who raise poultry 



and pet birds are as much dependent as 

 I am on red pepper; but I have found so 

 much benefit from its use in my poultry 

 yards and bird cages, that it may not be 

 amiss to call the attention of others to 

 its good properties. I do not speak of 

 the article that is sold in drug stores — 

 aud sometimes not remarkably fresh — 

 but of the capsicum that grows in our 

 gardens. I have tried all the diflferent 

 varieties, and the most pungent and ef- 

 ficacious is the small kind mostly known 

 by the name of "bird's pepper." The 

 plant in itself is a beautiful object; grows 

 about two feet high, and in autumn its 

 bright little scarlet berries look like coral 

 beads peeping from under the dark -green 

 foliage. Indeed, one plant in a pot is a 

 very pretty ornament for a flower stand. 

 The seeds possess a stimulating and re- 

 viving property, and I find that two or 

 three given to' newly-hatched chickens, 

 especially if they aro weakly, have a 

 most happy effect. If a hen looks feeble 

 after moulting, six of these berries or 

 pods, given daily in some corn meal and 

 sweet milk, improves her wonderfully. 

 Last summer two of my canaries began 

 to droop. Every day I gave them each 

 one seed of the "bird's pepper," and in 

 less than a week they were quite well. 

 The same remedy is invaluable for mock- 

 ing birds.— .471 'Old Fanner, in Woon- 

 socket Patriot. 



ScuEVY Legs.— Having seen many 

 cases written out at great length on heal- 

 ing this eyesore, I have yet to hear de- 

 finitely what is the cause. Many are no 

 doubtVeady to say, lice, of course, to 

 which I would say, from microscopic rev- 

 elations, this is a'peculiar insect by itself, 

 and is brought into existence by the ad- 

 herence of filth to flesh. In short, it is 

 just exactly Uch. For a preventive see 

 that your fowls have clear runs aud coops ; 

 and for a sure and speedy cure, use an 

 ointment of lard and sulphur. One or 

 two ajiplications is sufficient. — E.t. 



Yung Hen is one of the two new Chi- 

 nese Ministers to this country. With a 

 diplomatic Shicken already in Washing- 

 ton the place seems likely to become a 

 first-class poultry yard. Russia might 

 contribute a Pulletowski to help the 

 thing along. 



It is the belief of a writer that many 

 of the diseases incident to poultry are 

 due to neglect in jiroviding them with 

 pure water. 



ALW.is thoroughly clean out the nest 

 after the hen is through setting. 



EvEKY year the use of iron in the man- 

 facture of implements is extending. The 

 best mowers are now made without a 

 particle of wood about them except the 

 tongue and whitfletrees. But iron might 

 be iTsifuUy employed to a greater extent 

 than it now is in the furniture of barn 

 buildings and implements in every-day 

 use. Feed-troughs of all kinds, racks 

 and mangers, gutters, drains, gate-posts, 

 "ates, fencing, wheel-barrows and many 

 other things now made of wood, would 

 be nuK'h more durable and ec'onomical 

 if made of iron. The cost would be 

 more at first, but a set of iron furniture 

 in the stables, barns, pens and yards 

 would not need replacing in a lifetime. 



MoDEKN Times. — "Yon see, prand- 

 mamina, we perforate an aperture in the 

 apex, aud a corresponding aperture in the 

 base, and by applying the egg to the lips 

 aud forcibly inhaling the breath, the egg 

 is entirely "discharged of its contents." 

 "Bless liiy soul," cried the old lady, 

 "what wonderful improvements they do 

 make! Now, in my younger days wo just 

 made a bole inbolh ends and sucked." 



