DOMESTIC FOWLS. 317 



HOW TO CHOOSE STOCK. 



Always breed from young stock : pullets in their second year, and 

 a stag or cock two years old, are the best ages to commence with ; 

 for a hen is in her prime when three years of age, and begins to 

 decline after the fifth year. Never select a hen for sitting that 

 imitates the cock in her crowing, and has a large comb ; such a hen 

 is of no use as a breeder. Yellow-legged fowls are seldom robust; 

 those that have eyes which sparkle like diamonds, and combs red as 

 a ruby, and are bold, fierce, and active, are the fowls to breed from, 

 for these are sure signs of good health. Spring is the best time to 

 lay in your stock, and one cock to nine hens is the best. Old fowls 

 are stiff in the feathers stumpy, as it is called have large scales on 

 their legs, comb and gills full, and of a dull dead whitey-red colour. 

 Be sure, when purchasing stock, to look out for these marks, and 

 have nothing to do with such birds. 



HOW TO FEED FOWLS. 



Fowls will eat either vegetable or animal food, when allowed to run 

 about ; they feed greedily on worms and insects of almost any kind, 

 and would no doubt gobble up an alligator or a boa-constrictor, if 

 they could get them into their crops, and " grind their bones to make 

 their bread" in their gritty gizzards. Barley, oats, tares, peas, 

 millet, arid sunflower seeds, form their favourite food; they must 

 also be supplied occasionally with green meat grass, if nothing 

 better can be had. They must always have plenty of clean water to 

 run to whenever they please. They should be fed regularly twice a 

 day. A handful of boiled potatoes and carrots mashed small, will 

 at times, as the old countrywomen say, "do them a world of good." 



Fowls should be permitted to range in the open air during the 

 day as much as possible, and their habitations for the night be warm, 

 dry, clean, and well ventilated ; and there must be perches for the 

 birds to roost upon, and also boxes, having fine soft hay or short 

 straw inside, in which they may build their nests. A piece of chalk 

 may be put into each box as a nest egg, and it is necessary to take 

 the real eggs away as soon as they are laid. When some of the hens 

 by clucking evince a desire to sit, they should be kept in a box apart 

 from their companions, with from five to nine, or at most eleven, 

 eggs to hatch. Old nests should never be used, and the boxes in 

 which the birds are put up must be clean. Incubation continues for 

 twenty- one days, and during that period food and water must be 

 placed near the nests, that the hens may eat and drink without 

 having to go far for the purpose, so that the eggs may not chill. The 

 food proper for the little chicks consists of split grits, chopped curds, 

 and eggs boiled hard and cut into very small pieces ; as they increase 

 in size, they should gradually be brought on to eat the same food as 

 full-grown fowls, which is tail- wheat, barley, oats, &c. Water must 

 be furnished them in little shallow pans, so that the chicks may 

 drink without hopping into the water, and so wet their feet and 



