CHAPTER XIII. 

 PRINCIPLES OF POULTRY BREEDING. 



Poultry Breeding. By poultry breeding is meant the science 

 which treats of the reproduction and improvement of the domestic 

 fowl. It may be said to be both a science and an art. It is truly 

 a science in so far as it deduces and systematically applies facts 

 and principles as they are demonstrated. It is an art in so much 

 as the knowledge and experience thus acquired and the principles 

 deduced may be utilized for the continued improvement of the 

 animals. 



A few and rather hazy suggestions pertaining to the improve- 

 ment of fowls have been handed down from remote ages, but most 

 of the earlier work on animal breeding was carried on with larger 

 and more easily recorded domestic animals. In recent years many 

 of the principles which govern successful breeding have become 

 better understood, and the knowledge obtained has been more 

 thoroughly disseminated than ever before, largely owing to the 

 fact that experiment stations are making a special study of this 

 science, and in many instances are using poultry as the studv 

 medium. As a rule, it may be stated that the laws of breeding 

 which apply to all animals are equally applicable to poultry. 



Breeding a Complex Problem. Breeding is not an art which 

 can be learned entirely from books or from the study of results 

 obtained by a few crossings or matings; it is acquired by experi- 

 ence and by the actual study of the progeny resulting from such 

 matings, generation after generation, and in large numbers. 



To be successful, one must be familiar with the subject from 

 both points of view, theoretical and practical. It is impossible 

 to apply principles to a profitable use until they are thoroughly 

 understood. These scientific principles have, in great measure, 

 been derived directly from the methods of the more successful 

 breeders, and hence are fundamental. 



Need of Improvement. The improvement of the flocks of 

 poultry which are found in greater or less numbers on practically 

 all American farms has not received the attention which it merits, 

 and which the results from such improvement would warrant. The 

 breeding of poultry in a practical way has been left almost entirely 



221 



