POULTRY. 



269 



iud a day or two previous to their being killed, 

 they should get oats exclusively. VVe have 

 tbuud, from experience, that wht n turkej-s are 

 purchased for the table, and cooped up, they 

 will never increase in bulk, iiowever plentifully 

 lliey may be supplied with food and fresh 

 water, but, on the contrarj-, are verj- liable to 

 lose Hesli. When feeding them for use, a 

 change of food will also be found beneficial, — 

 Boiled carrots and Swedish turnips, or potatoes 

 mixed with a little barley or oat-meal, will be 

 greedily taken by them. A cruel method is 

 practiced by some to render turkej's very fat, 

 which is termed cramming. This is done by 

 forming a paste of crumbs of bread, Hour, 

 minced suet, and sweet-milk, or even cream, 

 into small balls about the bulk of a marble, 

 which is passed over the throat after full ordi- 

 nary meals. 



The Guixea-Fowl. — This stranger is found 

 native in Africa, as its name indicates, and it 

 also exists in an indigenous state in South 

 America. The Guinea-fowl or Pintado is about 

 the size of the common heu, and the male dif- 

 fers very little in appearance from the female. 

 Three species exist in considerable numbers in 

 Europe, namely, the crested, the mitred, and- 

 Egyptian varieties. A very beautiful sort is 

 marked by a pure v/hite tint of body, but the 

 most familiar hues are dark-grey and black. — 

 The bird is less tame than other common poul- 

 try, and prefers to live in a half-wilcircoudition 

 in its native regions, perching and living on 

 trees, like undomesticated birds. It is a spirited 

 creature, and will battle even with the turkey. 

 The guinea-hens require great attention at the 

 time of laying, making their nests by prefer- 

 ence in corners of the woods. The common 

 hen is usually made to rear their broods. In 

 the market, guinea-fowls always bear a high 

 price, both on account of their flesh, which is 

 of a good quality, and because they fonn a very- 

 pretty variety of the poultry stock. Their food 

 is grain, of the various kinds given to ordinary 

 barn-door fowls, with which they assimilate 

 clo.sely in habits. 



The Goose. — The goose differs in many re- 

 spects from the fowls already noticed, being 

 aquatic in its habits. It is marked by a flat bill 

 and webbed feet, characters also possessed by 

 the duck and swan, which in conjunction \\-ith 

 the goose, may be held as forming a distuict 

 'family (Anatida) of the featliered aquatic 

 tribes. 



Our common tame goose is the wild species 

 domesticated, known to naturalists by the name 

 of the fen or stubble-goose. Where people 

 have a right of common, or live in the vicinity 

 of marshy heaths, the breeding and rearing of 

 geese will prove very profitable, for in such sit- 

 uations they are kept at a trifling expense ; they 

 are very hardy, and live to a great age. If pro- 

 perly kept, and fed regularly, although spar- 

 ingly, they will lay upwards of a hundred eggs 

 yearly. If these are .set under large hens each 

 having half a dozen, with the assistance of the 

 goose herself, they may be nearly all hatched. — 

 For the first three or four days they must be 

 kept warm and dry, and fed on barley meal or 

 oat meal mixed with milk, if it is easily pro- 

 cured ; if not, let these ingredients be mixed 

 vvith water. They will begin to grow in about 

 a week. For a week or two the goslings 

 should rot be turned out till late in the morning, 

 and should alw^ays be taken in early in the eve- 

 ning. In Ireland, the tenantry depend much 

 (.569) 



on the bleeding of these birds and turkeys to 

 pay their rent; and with those who are indus- 

 trious and favorably situated for rearing geese, 

 they even do more in many instances. In the 

 early part of the year they are allowed to feed 

 on gra.s.s, on heaths, meadows, and commons; 

 and as most of the peasantry have small bits of 

 corn land of their own, the geese are turned 

 out on the stubble to pluck what grass is is left; 

 and they also fatten upon it, and improve the 

 flavor of their flesh. 



Although water be the natural clement of 

 geese, yet it is a curious fact that they feed 

 much faster in situations remote from rivers and 

 streams. To fatten geese it is necessaiy to give 

 them a little corn daily, v^'ith the addition of 

 some raw Swedish turnips, carrots, mangel- 

 wurzel leaves, lucerne, tares, cabbage leaves, 

 and lettuces. They should not be allowed to 

 run at large when they are fattening, as they 

 do not acquire flesh nearly so fast -when allow- 

 ed to take much exercise. Therefore, those 

 who can only afibrd to bring up a goose or two, 

 should confine them in a crib or some such 

 place about the beginning of Jul}-, and feed 

 them upon the ingredients above recommend- 

 ed, 'A'ith a daily supply of clean water for drink. 

 If, on the contrary, from a dozen to twenty are 

 kept, a large pen of from fifteen to twenty feet 

 square must be made, and well covered with 

 straw in the bottom, and a covered hou.se in a 

 corner for protection against the sun and rain 

 when required, because exposure to either of 

 these is not good. It will be observed that, 

 about noon, if geese are at liberty, they will 

 seek some shady spot to avoid the influence of 

 the sun ; and when confined in small places, 

 they have not sufficient room to flap their wngs 

 and dry themselves after being wetted ; nor 

 have they room to move about so as to keep 

 themselves warm. There should be three 

 troughs in the pen, one for dry oats, another 

 for vegetables — which ought always to be cut 

 down — and a third for clean water, of which 

 they must always have a plentiful supply. It 

 must be remembered that the riper the cab- 

 bages and lettuces which they are supplied 

 with the better. In the neighborhood of large 

 towns, the most profitable way of disposing of 

 geese is in a dead state ; as nearly the same 

 sum can be obtained for them as it they were 

 alive, and then you have the feathers, which are 

 valuable, and may be sold to much advantage 

 by themselves when you have collected a stone 

 weitrht or more. 



Geese are kept in vast quantities in the fens 

 of Lincolnshire, several persons there having as 

 many as a thousand breeders. They are bred 

 for the sake of their quills and feathers, as well 

 as for their carcass; it is therefore customary to 

 strip them partially of the fine downy feathers, 

 and leave them to grow afresh, and also to take 

 quills from their wings — both practices barbar- 

 ous in the extreme, however thej- may be at- 

 tempted to be justified. Geese breed in gene- 

 ral only once a year, but if well kept, they some- 

 times hatch twice in a season. The best method 

 for promoting this is to feed them with corn, 

 barley, malt, fresh grains, and, as a stimula'it, 

 they should get a mixture of pollard and ale. — 

 During their sitting, each bird has a space allot- 

 ted to it, in rows of wicker pens placed one 

 above another, and the goo.se-herd who has the 

 care of tiiem drives the whole flock to water 

 thrice a-day, and, bringing them back to their 

 habitation, places every bii'd (witliout missing 



