FARM- YARD FOWLS. 



129 



TIIK r.UCIIS COUNTY FOWL. 



THE BUCKS COUNTY FOWL. 



This breed was first brought into notice in 

 Bucks County, Pennsylvania hence its name. 

 Et has little to recommend it except great size. 

 The hens lay a few large and well-flavored 

 eggs of a dark cinnamon color; but are great 

 eaters, poor layers, and miserable sitters, sel- 

 < lorn laying more than twelve or fifteen eggs be^ 

 fore they become broody. They are only prof- 

 iiable to breed for making capons, which are 

 sometimes sold in the market, weighing from 

 eighteen to twenty pounds the pair, and sold at 

 trom $5 to $6. We bred them for two or three 

 years, and then discarded them as unprofitable. 



In corroboration of our opinion, we give the 

 testimony of others. Thomas P. Hunt, in the 

 tfeiv England Farmer, says " the large Bucks 

 County hens, weighing as much as the Malays, 

 are not good layers, and they are very apt to 

 have double yolks." 



Thomas P. Thurlow, of Pennsylvania, who 

 has paid considerable attention to poultry, in a 

 letter to the author says, " As far as I am ac- 

 quainted with the Bucks County breed, they 

 would not do for layers, as they very seldom lay 

 more than ten or twelve eggs at a litter. They 

 are profitable to breed from, provided you can 



make capons of them. They are often sold in. 

 the Philadelphia market at from $4 to $5 per 

 pair, but they eat a great deal more than the 

 common fowls." 



This breed of fowls have received some celeb- 

 rity in the vicinity of Philadelphia as a valua- 

 ble variety of fowl, principally on account of its 

 great size. " I have seen many specimens of 

 the Bucks County fowl," says L. F. Allen, "paid 

 some attention to its habits, and learned from 

 those who have tried there, their principal mer- 

 its. It is a large bird, weighing at maturity eight, 

 and even ten pounds ; rather thinly feathered, 

 of various colors, from gray to black, and fre- 

 quently speckled black and white. They are 

 coarse in their legs, tall and bony, and have evi- 

 dently a cross in their composition. They are 

 but moderate layers ; their eggs large and good. 

 They are bad sitters, frequently breaking their 

 eggs, on account of their great weight and size, 

 by crushing them ; are not hardy, and, on the 

 whole, will not compare with the common farm- 

 yard fowl for ordinary uses. They do not breed 

 equally in size and appearance, showing them 

 evidently to be a cross from other breeds ; but 

 from what they are derived, other than the Ma- 

 lay [the Cochin and Shanghai were then un- 

 known in this country], it is difficult to say. 



