POULTRY MANAGEMENT 311 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



POULTRY MANAGEMENT. 



THE term Poultry commonly includes chickens, ducks, 

 geese, and turkeys; but may also refer to guineas, pigeons, 

 pheasants and peafowls. The keeping of poultry by farmers 

 is usually only incidental to other lines of farming. But in 

 some sections, particularly near large cities, poultry raising 

 is extensively carried on as a special line of farming. 



The value of poultry and eggs produced annually on 

 American farms is about two-thirds of a billion dollars. In 

 their values they exceed all other live stock except horses 

 and cattle. Poultry products equal the value of the combined 

 mine products of gold, silver, iron, and coal. When consider- 

 ing the value of poultry on the farm the farmer should remem- 

 ber the great food value of the eggs and meat, the large num- 

 ber of injurious insects destroyed, and the ease with which 

 they may be fed, often living almost entirely on products 

 that would otherwise be wasted. 



The production of improved breeds of poultry has 

 received much attention by poultrymen. This is particularly 

 true of chickens. There are many divisions of this specialty, 

 such as the production of eggs in winter, raising early broilers, 

 the raising of fancy birds for shows, the raising of ducks, 

 geese or turkeys. 



Varieties of Chickens. There are more than one hundred 

 varieties of chickens. These may be grouped according to 

 their purposes into four classes: (1) Egg breeds, (2) meat 

 breeds, (3) general-purpose breeds, and (4) ornamental breeds. 



Egg Breeds. These are of light weight. They mature 



