8 POULTRY CULTURE 



and of relatively low fecundity, rearing usually only from two to 

 four or five young at a time and breeding only once or twice in a 

 season. Even pigeons in domestication, while breeding perhaps 

 once in two months the year round, produce annually but ten or 

 twelve young to the pair. Thus it is necessary to retain, for breeding 

 purposes, as many males as females, and even then the rate of 

 increase is slow as compared with that of land birds. In general, 

 birds of this class will perish if deprived of the care of their own 

 parents, while, because the amount of attention they require is out 

 of all proportion to their individual value, man cannot afford to 

 attend to their wants. 



Among terrestrial birds, pairing seems to have been the original 

 mating habit. The disposition to pair often crops out even in 

 fowls, which are conspicuously polygamous and indiscriminate in 

 this relation. Young geese usually mate in pairs, and these and 

 the males of geese and some others of the rarer kinds of poultry 

 generally mate with only a small number of females. But when 

 one parent, naturally the female, can hatch and care for a large 

 number of young, the male, relieved of direct responsibility for the 

 care of his offspring, increases the number of his mates and seeks 

 to destroy the rivals for their affections. However beautiful mo- 

 nogamy among the lower creatures may appear when considered 

 ethically, economically it is a fault which severely restricts the pos- 

 sibilities of reproduction and reduces the profits of production. 

 The general serviceableness and popularity of the various kinds of 

 poultry are very nearly in proportion to the amount of deviation 

 from the habit of pairing which it has been possible to secure. 



Not being dependent on the care of adults of their own kind, the 

 young of land birds may be reared by other land birds or by the 

 use of artificial methods. So it is possible to relieve the females 

 also of the care of the young to any extent desirable, and to take 

 full advantage of their fecundity. 



Values of poultry. Poultry contribute to the welfare of men in 

 more ways than any other class of creatures. They supply him 

 with flesh and eggs for food, and feathers for comfort or ornament, 

 utilize many wastes of the house and farm, are of service in agri- 

 culture, and minister to man's pleasure. Their likeness simplifies 

 the work of caring for different kinds under one management, 



