BROODING AND REARING YOUNG STOCK 



is from this protuberance that the hair starts to grow 

 about two weeks later which eventually forms the tuft 

 of hair on the breast known as the beard or tassel. 

 While the beard starts growing on the breast of the 

 males at about three and a half months, the females do 

 not begin to grow a beard until they are about one year 

 old. At this age the beard of the male should be from 

 3 to 5 inches long and grows longer with additional 

 age. Moreover, the beard of the torn is much coarser 

 than that of the hen and at any particular age is much 

 longer. The feathers on the neck of the male stop far 

 down while on the female there is usually a light growth 

 of feathers extending along the back of the neck to 

 the top of the head in a rather narrow strip. 



The fleshy protuberance which grows just above the 

 beak and which is sometimes termed the dewbill or snout 

 is larger and more elastic in the male than in the female. 

 In toms under one year of age there is only a short blunt 

 knob on the inside of the shank. As the bird grows older 

 this develops into a stout spur. In the case of the hen, 

 however, there is only a rudimentary spur or small button 

 found. In the torn the breast bone tends to be more or 

 less in a straight line, -while in the hen it is as a rule curved 

 to a greater extent, thus forming a rounder breast. Of 

 course in the case of the Bronze and Bourbon Red, the 

 breast and body feathers of the female are tipped with 

 white, while the feathers of the male show n6 white tip- 

 ping in these sections. 



97 



