2 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT 



The purpose of domestication was undoubtedly utility. 

 There is no evidence to show that fowls were domesticated 

 for any fancied or peculiar appearance. There were other 

 birds that appealed more to the aesthetic. There were 

 various species of the pheasant family, of gorgeous plumage 

 and proud carriage all have remained practically in their 

 natural state. If the ancients were looking for something 

 to please the eye or the fancy, some of these would have 

 suited their purpose better than the fowl. Our present 

 breeds of fowls, however much some of them may be em- 

 bellished with colors and shapes that appeal to our fancy 

 and command our admiration, are without "pride of an- 

 cestry/' so far as the original jungle fowl conformed to our 

 present-day standard of beauty. But it is not surprising 

 that after thousands of years of poultry keeping we have 

 now some breeds that have been developed along fancy lines 

 entirely. 



There might have been another object besides utility in 

 domesticating the fowl. Semi-barbarous peoples of the 

 Orient were, and still are, much addicted to the sport of 

 cock-fighting, and the fighting qualities of the jungle fowl 

 may have appealed to them more than any possible use they 

 could make of the fowl as a source of food supply. 



The fact that there has been great improvement in meat 

 and egg production, however, is pretty strong evidence that 

 usefulness was the impelling motive in the domestication of 

 fowls and in their breeding through all the centuries since 

 they were weaned away from their natural state. 



Origin. It is generally agreed among naturalists that 

 our present races of domestic fowls are descended from a 

 wild jungle fowl of India. The Orient has given to the world 

 the fowl as well as many of our domestic animals. There 

 are four species of jungle fowls from which it is claimed by 

 different authorities that domestic fowls were descended, 



