18 FIRST LESSONS IN POULTRY KEEPING. 



LESSON III. 



General Principles and Rules for Poultry Breeders. 



LET us first understand clearly that a poultry keeper is not necessarily a poultry breeder. 

 The terms poultry keeper, poultryman, poultry raiser, poultry grower, and poultry 

 breeder, are commonly used as synonymous, but with the exception of poultry raiser 

 and poultry grower, they are not wholly so. 

 Poultry keeper applies to anyone who keeps poultry, without regard to experience, skill, 



or success. 



Poultryman applies to a poultry keeper considered as in some degree an expert. 

 Poultry raiser and poultry grower apply to persons merely hatching and rearing poultry. 

 Poultry breeder applies to those who regulate the reproduction of poultry. 

 One person may combine all these functions, but the number who do actually combine them 

 is very much less than the whole number of poultry keepers. 



1 have been thus explicit in defining these terms because the first step toward right apprecia- 

 tion of what poultry breeding demands is correct understanding of what poultry breeding 

 means. The breeder of a fowl is the person responsible for the mating of its parents. The 

 matter of firs-t and greatest importance in the breeding of poultry is that the breeder should 

 know something of the natural laws affecting his work, should understand in a general way the 

 principles upon which breeding systems, methods and rules are based ; should know the char- 

 acteristics and tendencies of the breed, variety, stock and individuals with which he works, 

 and should apply his knowledge with judgment, faithfully and persistently. 



This list of qualifications for poultry breeding may have a formidable look, but let no beginner 

 be therefore discouraged. One need not be all this at the beginning. Indeed the list of qual- 

 ifications presents an ideal rather than the complement of knowledge and experience which 

 even the most skillful breeder brings to his work. Besides, these qualifications only come and 

 grow by experience and use. No man ever had or can have a respectable practical knowledge 

 of what a breeder must know without experience in breeding. Still a beginner need not feel 

 discouraged by a realization of how much he falls short of the knowledge and hkill of the expert 

 breeder. As the saying goes, "What man has done man can do," and a few years of study, 

 observation, and experiment in breeding poultry often make a man a very good breeder. 



Two General Facts of First Importance. 



The first broad fact to be considered in connection with the breeding of poultry is: 



That our varieties of poultry are all bred to artificial standards, to arbitrary, and 

 often unnatural, requirements; that specimens perfect according to any such standard 

 are virtually unknown; that in all varieties there are wide variations in individuals; 

 that only a small proportion of an average good flock are of special excellence; and 

 that a considerable number are not suited for breeding specimens of their own kind 

 true to type. 



