42 Farm Poultry 



fuller in breast and have shorter necks and legs. 

 While some of the intermediate, or general-purpose 

 fowls, as they are sometimes called, are reared 

 wholly for their flesh, they should not be classi- 

 fied with the distinctively meat breeds. The latter 

 fowls produce, under favorable conditions, a good 

 number of eggs, which, together with their size, 

 warrants placing them in the intermediate class, 

 which may be called general-purpose breeds, for 

 convenience of discussion. Whatever may be said 

 of those fowls noted for meat production will apply 

 only in part to the smaller general-purpose fowls, 

 so far as they enter into competition for meat pro- 

 duction. As a matter of fact, many of the so-called 

 general-purpose fowls are reared extensively for 

 meat production, but they are nevertheless of a 

 different type from the large, heavy, phlegmatic 

 breeds, whose greatest usefulness is in the produc- 

 tion of large, plump bodies, most highly prized for 

 table use. These meat breeds form a class by them- 

 selves even when the fowls are considered from 

 the standpoint of weight only. 



Disposition. Without exception, all the noted 

 meat breeds are slow and more or less sluggish 

 in movement and are not easily frightened. They 

 become very tame and gentle with careful treat- 

 ment and do not show a dislike to handling, as 

 do some of the smaller and more nervous breeds. 

 They are not well calculated to seek their own 



