Book VII. 



GALLINACEOUS FOWLS. 



1035 



6676. The furniture or fixtures of the poultry houses are very few ; the roost is sometimes a mere floor 

 or loft, to which the birds fly up or ascend by a ladder ; at other times it is nothing more than the coup- 

 ling timbers of the roof, or a series of cross battens ; but the most approved mode is a series of rough 

 polygonal or angular battens or rods rising in gradation from the floor to the roof, as already explain^!, 

 c2682. and 2684.). The battens placed at such a distance horizontally, as that the birds when roosting 

 may not incommode each other by their droppings. For this purpose they should be a foot apart for 

 hens, and eighteen inches apart for turkies. The slope of the roost may be about 45. and the lower 

 part should lift up by hinges in order to admit a person beneath to remove the dung. No flying is 

 requisite in the case of such a roost as the birds ascend and descend by steps. 



6577. Nests are sometimes fixtures, in which case they are nitches built against the wall, not unlike 

 wine bins ; where there is more than one tier on the ground floor, each superincumbent range must 

 have a projecting balcony in front of about a foot in width, with stairs of ascent at convenient distances. 



6678. A small boiler for preparing food may sometimes be requisite, though on a small scale this may 

 be done in the kitchen Watering troughs are generally fixed in the yards. In confined situations 

 there should be a large cistern of sand, in which the fowls may nestle and roll about in order to free 

 themselves from vermin ; tliere should also be a spot composed of gravel, sand, and soft earth, for nearly 

 the same purpose, but more especially for exercising the young chicken.*. A roof for shelter and protec- 

 tion from the sun may very appropriately be placed over this last compartment, or apart of it. 



6679. The utensils are the portable nest, {fig. 712 a), coops {b, c), portable shelter (d) ; feeding 



712 



dishes, corn bin for retaining a store of food, egg basket, and feather bags. We avoid enumerating 

 the utensils used in cramming, considering that unwholesome and disgustuig practice as unfit for the 

 present age. 



Sect. II. Of Gallinaceous Fowls, their Kinds, Breeding, Rearing, and Management. 



6680. Under the order Gallinece, are included the common hen, turkey, Guinea, 

 and peacock ; and we shall here treat of each of these genera in succession. 



6681. The dunghill cock and hen, (Phasianus gallus,) is a native of the warm countries 

 of the east, and still found in a wild state on the banks of the Phasis (now Rioni) in 

 Georgia; but is novfr domesticated almost every where. It is both granivorous and 

 carnivorous. The term chicken is applied to the female young of gallinaceous animals, 

 till they are four months old ; afterwards they are called pullets, till they begin to lay, 

 when they become hens. The male is a chicken till he is three months old, then he is 

 a cock bird till the age of twelve months, when he becomes a cock ; unless indeed he 

 has been artificially deprived of the faculty of procreation, when he becomes a capon, 

 and when the ovarium is taken from a pullet or hen, she is called a hen capon. 



6682. The varieties of a bird so long under culture may naturally be expected to 



be numerous ; those ^ 



most esteemed in ^^Sl^to^ ^^ 713 



Britain at the pre- 

 sent time, are the 

 following. 



6683. The common 

 dunghill cock and 

 hen, middle size, of 

 every color, and 

 hardy. 



6684. The game- 

 cock and hen, [,fig' 

 713.) rather small 

 in size, delicate in 

 limb, color generally 

 red or brown ; flesh 



white, and superior to that of any other variety for richness and delicacy of flavor ; 



eggs small, fine shaped, and extremely 

 delicate; the chickens are difl^cult to 

 rear from their pugnacity of disposi- 

 tion. The game cock has long been 

 a bird both of cruel and curious sport 

 in this as well as other countries, {J^. 

 714.); but the taste for this amuse- 

 ment, like that for others suited to 

 times of comparative leisure and ig- 

 norance, is now happily on the decline 

 in Britam. 



