213 



"A good breeder will have a good appetite and will usually be 

 of a rather 'scrappy' disposition, disposed to resent any interference 

 with his mates by other fowls or by the attendant." 



"Choosing the Female. The female should be a well-grown, well- 

 developed, fully-matured pullet or sound and vigorous yearling or 

 two-year old. The health type will be active, alert, and inclined to 

 be talkative, 'singing' cheerfully, and disposed to scratch and forage. 

 She is usually the first off the roost in the morning and the last to 

 go to bed at night. Head, eye, condition of plumage and leg require- 

 ments are practically the same as those called for under 'Choosing 

 the Male Bird,' making due allowance for sex." 



"The body should be broad, deep, well filled out and medium large 

 for the variety. The breast should be broad, full and well meated; 

 the back should be broad and the tail well spread at the base. Wry- 

 tails, crooked back or keels, or pinched tails should disqualify for 

 the breeding pen. The abdomen should be well carried and rather 

 full, but should not 'bag down/ : 



HOW TO MAKE A POST-MORTEM EXAMINATION. 



We advise all who write to agricultural colleges and experiment 

 stations for advice about diseases with which your fowls are affected 

 to give all symptoms in detail. You should also tell how you are 

 housing and feeding if you expect an intelligent answer. In order 

 to give all information, it is sometimes necessary for you to make a 

 post-mortem examination and note the condition of the internal or- 

 gans. It is well for you to familiarize yourself with the organs of a 

 fowl in a healthy state so you can readily note the difference. 



The English Poultry Journal, "Poultry," gives the following in- 

 struction for making such examinations: "How to make a post- 

 mortem examination, so that these various organs can be seen and 

 examined, and so that a general opinion can be formed as to their 

 condition of health or otherwise. Let it be understood that a very 

 large number of poultry which die are victims of some entirely simple 

 complaint, such as enlargement of the liver, or tuberculosis in the 

 lungs. These complaints are easily recognizable, and there is no rea- 

 son at all why any farmer or amateur poultry keeper should not be 

 able to form a general opinion as to whether his poultry are dying 

 off from some such complaint as one or other of these. Take the 

 dead bird and lay it on a wooden table or on a piece of strong board, 

 breast uppermost. Spread out the wings and the legs, putting a 

 small nail through the joint of each wing and through the center of 

 each foot. It is not necessary for the bird to be entirely plucked; it 

 will be enough to pluck the breast, and when this has been done, 

 pinch up the skin at the point of the breast bone, and cut it straight 

 through from the vent to the crop. Having done this, draw back the 

 skin on both sides so as to leave the flesh fully exposed, and then 

 with a sharp knife cut through the flesh on both sides of the breast- 

 bone, and with a strong, blunt pointed pair of scissors, cut out the 

 center of the breastbone entirely, taking particular care in doing so 

 not to injure the heart, as a flow of blood from the heart will inter- 

 fere with subsequent operations. When this has been done the prin- 

 cipal organs will be seen clearly exposed." 



