124 



F A R JVl E R S' REGISTER 



[No. ^ 



natures and mercenary beings are apt to indulge. 



We cannot place the caust^ of the unlortunaie 

 geese in hetter hands than those of the humane 

 writer whom we have before quoted; lie liius 

 speaks of the wicked practice of phjckincr them: — 

 "The ooose is a considerable ohjecl of rural econo- 

 my, and kept in larire flocks, in the eastern and 

 fen counties of England. In some of those parts, 

 their geese are exposed to the cruel operation of 

 being annually stript of their feathers; and it has 

 been said, that fowls plucked alive have been sold 

 in the markets at Edinburgh. Indeed, the in- 

 terested leehngs of man knovv no scruple, and the 

 cruelties practised upon the poor sea-fowl, which 

 have their down and feathers torn from them, and 

 are then cast into the sea to perish, are enormous, 

 and yet it would seem irremediable. Not so the 

 disijusfinir barbarity, under the insane idea of 

 sport, formerly, perhaps even now, practised in 

 Scotland. These harmless fowls are hung up 

 alive by the legs, and savages, men and boys, 

 ride at them full speed, catching them as they can 

 by the neck; and there can be no doubt that the 

 horribly pleasing process of roasting a goose alive, 

 as detailed by Dr. Kitchener in his "Cook's Ora- 

 cle," a book invaluable equally to ihe gourmand 

 and the economist, was actually practised in for- 

 mer days; indeed, we have proofs innumerable, 

 and utterly disiiraceful to this enlightened nation, 

 of the absolute necessity of amending the enthu- 

 siastic and indefiitigable Martin's bill, and render- 

 ing it completely comprehensive. It would have 

 the cfl'ect of teachinrr men to think and li^el, and 

 to be convinced of the horrible and unnatural er- 

 ror of derivinsr pleasure from the racked and tor- 

 tured feelinirs of other animals endowed with Itjel- 

 infTs similar to their own. A writer in the Month- 

 ly Magazine,^ December 1S23, remarks humanely 

 on the cruelty of plucking living gee^e, proposing 

 a remedy which I should rejoice exceedinirly to 

 find practicable and effective. He remarks on the 

 the additional torture experienced by the poor 

 fowls, from the too frequent unskilfiilness and 

 want of dexterity of the operator — generally a 

 woman. The skin and flesh are sometimes so 

 torn as to occasion the death of the victim; and 

 even when the fowls are plucked in the most care- 

 ful manner, they lose their flesh and appetite, their 

 eyes become dull, and they languish in a most 

 pitiable state, durmg a longer or a shorter period. 

 Mortality also has been periodically very exten- 

 sive in the flocks of geese, from sudden and im- 

 prudent exposure of them to cold after being 

 stripped, and more especially during severe sea- 

 sons ami sudden atmospheric vicissitudes. The 

 remed}- proposed on the above authority, is as 

 fij|!ows:^tealhers are best of a year's growth, 

 and in the moulting season they spontan ously 

 fall ofl", and are supplied by a fresh plumage. 

 When, therefore, the geese are in tiill feather, let 

 the plumage be removed close to the skin by sharp 

 scissors, the produce would not be much reduced 

 in qua!:titv, while the quality would be greatly 

 improved, and an indemnification be experienced 

 in the uninjured health of the fowls, and the bene- 

 fit obtained to the succeeding crop; labor also 

 v>'ould be saved in dressing, since the quiliv por- 

 tion of the feathers, when forcibly detached from 

 Ihe skin, is generally in such a stale as, after ail; 

 to rpquire the employment of scissors." 



7%e Pintado, or Gvineo-fowl. — This bird is 



much esteemed for the fine flavor of its flesh, 

 which more nearly resembles that of the pheasant 

 than any other, und is in season when the latter 

 IS out of request. It is said to be reareil and do- 

 mesticated with greater dilficulty than the usual 

 inmates of the poultry-yard. This is not the case; 

 nor is it "delicate when first hatched," as writers 

 assert. It, however, is more wild in its nature 

 than other fowls, straying to a distance, and de- 

 positing its eggs under iiedges, among furze, or 

 even in the most exposed spots, where every 

 chance passenger may more readily obtain pos- 

 session of them than can their owner. 



We prefer to intrust a brood of pintadas to the 

 care of a common hen, rather than to that of its 

 own species. Their habits are not dissimilar, — as 

 is the case with the duck, — and her nature will 

 not be outraged in bringincr them up. A hen 

 will, with ease, cover seventeen or eighteen pin- 

 tada egiTs, as they are smaller than those of the 

 common fowl. 



We repeat, they are not difficult to rear; we 

 have never lost a chick, except by accident. In 

 consequence of their small size and minute beaks, 

 it is requisite that their first food (groats) should 

 be broken for them. They are exceedingly fond 

 of, and thrive rapidly on ants' eggs, — whole nesta 

 of which should be sought for, and brought to 

 them with a shovelful of the mould in which 

 they are found. This, ifthrown parily within the 

 coop, the mother will amuse herself with scralch- 

 inff, while she at the same time instructs her 

 chicks to seek fur their own sustenance. 



We have been surprised to find, that in books 

 professintT to give the natural history of this bird, 

 its disposition should be courageous; it is the 

 most remote from courageous; it is cowardly, 

 fierce, and tyrannical in the extreme. These 

 birds persecute all other inmates of the poultry- 

 yard, vvi'h relentless perseverance, but always in a 

 body. We were, on one occasion, witness to an 

 assault upon a solitary pullet, by eleven pintadas. 

 They surrounded their victim, pecking it with vio- 

 lence, and whenever one of the inner range of as- 

 sailants received a blow from the poor bird, it re- 

 tired to the outer circle. A very few minutes 

 would have sufficed to destroy the pullet, but for- 

 tunately, the dastardly creatures were driven 

 away. Their beaks are remarkably strong and. 

 sharp when they are lull grown. 



Their cruelty to all other poultry passes imagi- 

 nation. While among themselves, tfiey are pla- 

 cid and affectionate; hence they ought either to be 

 kept in a separate yard, or, if that arrangement be 

 inconvenient, the stock of poultry ought to be 

 confined to these birds, or they should be rejected. 



The treatment of pintadas differs so little from 

 that of other fowls, that, with the foregoing re- 

 marks, we close the subject. 



Turkeys. — The following observations and 

 method of rearing turkeys are not the results of 

 our own experience; but are fmm the pen of the 

 o-entleman above quoted. We have retrained 

 from keeping them, being deferred by fear of the 

 trouble and difficulty which writers have thrown 

 in the way; though, in consequence of the grati- 

 fying success which has attended us in our other 

 feathered stock, we have no doubt our attempts 

 would have been equally satisfactory, as we have 

 nUv^y^ of late years taken nature for our guide, 

 and endeavore(i to treat them rationally. For ex- 



