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of the selection of hens for mating and breeding purposes requires care, 

 study and a considerable degree of patience. 



THE NUMBER OF HENS TO A COCK, ETC. 



We have no hesitancy in recommending to breeders the following ratio 

 of hens to a cock of the breed named : Houdans, twenty hens to two cocks ; 

 Creve-Cceurs, eight hens to one cock; Buff Cochins, twenty-four hens to 

 two cocks ; Gray Dorkings, ten hens to one cock ; White Leghorns, four- 

 teen hens to one cock ; Spanish, twelve hens to one cock ; Brahmas, twelve 

 hens to one cock ; Hamburgs, fourteen hens to one cock ; Polands, twelve 

 hens to one cock ; Game, ten hens to one cock. With this proportion of hens 

 to a cock the vitality of the eggs will prove good, and at least eleven out of 

 twelve eggs set will produce " chicks." 



For breeding purposes, we inclose in a yard ten or fifteen hens of each 

 variety we desire to propagate, and with them one cock ; if we have two or 

 more cocks whose qualities are equal, we think it preferable to change every 

 two days, leaving only one cock with the hens at a time. Two weeks are 

 necessary to procure full bloods, and we -prefer the eggs the third rather than 

 the second week. 



We are told by a breeder of some considerable experience with fowls 

 that to determine the exact proportion of cocks and hens to be allowed to 

 run together for breeding purposes is not an easy problem. He says : 

 " While with some varieties, as the Cochins, three or four, or even two, are 

 ample, (though we have seen cocks of that variety that would serve ten or 

 a dozen ;) in others, twelve to fifteen are not too many. It is impossible to 

 give any definite number for a rule. We have had pairs that did well, the 

 eggs hatched well, and the hen did not suffer from the over-attention of the 

 cock ; and again, we have been obliged to put in one, two, three, four and 

 even more additional hens of common stock, with a trio of pure-bred fowls, 

 to keep the blooded hens from being injured. Especially is this the case 

 with the Houdans and Creve-Cceurs ; the cocks of both these breeds seem to 

 be very vigorous, and require not less than four or six hens to run with them. 

 The Dark Brahmas also need not less than four hens with the cock when he 

 is young and vigorous. It was a favorite theory of ours, some years since, 

 that poultry should be bred in pairs or trios. Because in the wild state, they 

 ran in pairs, so also, should they do in the domesticated state. It is needless 

 to say that our theory would not work when carried into practice. Perhaps, 

 were a pair of fowls given a range of ten, twenty or more acres, and left to 

 forage for themselves, one or two hens would be all the cock could attend ; 

 but confined to an acre or less, and fed on stimulating food, the bird's nature 

 becomes, as it were, changed, and he feels himself qualified for greater deeds. 

 We have seen a hen's back and sides all cut open by the cock's spurs, and 

 the owner was complaining that the hen did not lay. If he had given her 

 three or four companions his cause of complaint would have ceased. The 

 only mode of deciding the question is by watching the fowls. We have 



