cocniN-cniNAS.] 



rOULTKV 



[COCIIIX-CUINAS. 



attain, at a very early age, render them de- 

 sirable for the table ; and thoy cost but little 

 for food in the short space of tiino required 

 for rearir:g them. Ac four months old, there 

 should be no dilliculty, under ordinary circum- 

 stances — allowing a good run and fair feeding 

 — in getting pullets to three-and-a-half poumls, 

 and the cockerels to live pounds, live weiglit ; 

 and, by being then cooped, they may, with ease, 

 be grown still larger. In flavour they are most 

 excellent, and their tenderness is unsurpass- 

 able. Another valuable produce of the Cochin- 

 China fowls, and consequently a source of prolit, 

 is their feathers, which are nearly equal to 

 goose down. 



All circumstances considered, in reference 

 to the Cochin fowl, it may safely be said that 

 it is the most profitable for the poor man and 

 the farmer; viewing it, not as an object of 

 fancy, but as productive stock. The early 

 period at which the pullets begin to lay, is 

 capable of being turned to valuable account by 

 the cottager ■while getting his stock together 

 by the restoration, during the scarcity of win- 

 ter, of the little capital expended during the 

 year. Thus the owner, who has raised or pur- 

 chased chickens in the spring, may obtain a 

 brood or two late in the summer, or earlv in 

 autumn, and have chickens ready for the table 

 abour Christmas, which might partly or wholly 

 replace his original outlay. 



If any of the fowls exhibit symptoms of dis- 

 ease, a jalap pill should be given, and they 

 may be crammed a little with stiff" barley- 

 meal. 



The whiteness, or scurfy appearance of the 

 cocks' comb is a kind of disease which does 

 not appear seriously to affect their health ; but 

 it greatly militates against their appearance, 

 and should be taken as a true sign that the 

 birds are not in a perfect condition. The dis- 

 ease is not confined to the comb only, but 

 spreads itself dowu the neck, both before and 

 behind, denuding it of its feathers, and leaving 

 only their stumps. For the cure of this, some 

 have considered high-feediLg to behest; but 

 the following recipe has been given by Mr. 

 Payne. He says — " A lady friend of mine, who 

 has just returned from India, after a residence 

 of eight years, happened to see my fowls, and 

 told me that the ' Kulm fowl' — which I be- 

 lieve ig the ' Malay,' and of which she kept a 



conHiderublo number in India — was aubject to 

 the Bumo iliHeaao, nn<l that the natives, upon 

 discovering it, u|)plied cucoa-nut oil and tur- 

 meric. IShe strongly advised mo to do the 

 same, which 1 did immediately, and with the 

 most complete eucceas ; for it 8to[)ped the 

 spreading of the disease at once, and very soon 

 restored tho comb to its original colour : but 

 for the return of feathers, I must wait till tho 

 moulting season." 



An experienced amateur thus speaks gene- 

 rally of the Cochin-China, or Shanghae fowl : — 

 " A great deal has been said and written about 

 the colours and tints of these fowls. I say tints, 

 because even tlio buffs are subdivided into 

 lemon-buffs and buff's proper ; and if it may bo 

 included in tint, as it is allowed to be equi- 

 potential in merit, to the cinnamon. Then we 

 have the various grades of shade, till we come 

 to the downright partridge colour. Some ama- 

 teur, or some scientific colouriat, should take 

 the lead, and lay down a new scale of degrees in 

 this matter ; it would be useful, and, I opine, 

 it would be acceptable. Supposing such a one 

 should say at once — There are three grand di- 

 visions of these coloured birds ; viz., the buffs, 

 the cinnamons, and the partridge-browns — not 

 forgetting the whites and the blacks of this 

 race. These three divisions of coloured birds 

 are again subdivided into the self, the pen- 

 cilled, and the spangled, or mottled, buffs, cin- 

 namons, or partridge-brown. I do not see wliy 

 a pencilled bird should not be as good as a buff- 

 coloured one : they are as line in the fluff' and 

 feather, and decidedly, as I could show by 

 reference to my own stock, much prettier 

 specimens. I have two pullets of one year, 

 and another of the year preceding, of exquisitely 

 fine buff, charmingly pencilled (almost as richly 

 laced as a gold or silver-laced Bantam), and of 

 fine shape and luxuriant proportions — of finer 

 development, as a whole, than any I possess. 

 But, however this may be determined, one thing 

 is very certain — no yard will ever remain, 

 throughout the year, as it may be constituted 

 in spring. Shape, size, gait, and weight, may bo 

 assumed as permanent characteristics ; not so 

 feather. In the birds of the air, and of the water, 

 and many others, as the ostrich, the emu, &c., 

 feather is as invariable as tho other characters. 

 But either it never was so from the creation, 

 or it has become otherwise from circumstances 



b31 



