FARM-YARD FOWLS. 



.not advise too much haste in forming a judg- 

 ment and condemning those that are not appar- 

 ently perfect, as many, and more especially pul- 

 lets, are from eighteen months to two years in 

 becoming really white, and it is undeniable that 

 the Spanish hen improves up to three years old. 



It has been noticed that this variety of fowl 

 frequently loses nearly all the feathers on the 

 body, besides the usual quantity on the neck, 

 wings, and tail; and if they moult late and the 

 weather is severe, they feel it much. Nothing 

 else can reasonably be expected to take place 

 with an " everlasting layer." It often happens 

 to the Guinea fowl ; and the reason of it is 

 plain. If the system of a bird is exhausted by 

 the unremitting production of eggs, it can not 

 contain within itself the wherewithal to supply 

 the growth of its feathers. The stream that will 

 (ill but one channel can not be made to keep 

 two at high-water mark ; and therefore Mr. 

 Leonard Baker, an English writer, justly ob- 

 serves : "With regard to our anxiety about their 

 constant laying, in my opinion nature ought not 

 to be forced, as it requires a, rest." But some 

 people think it can not bo right if their hens do 

 not lay every day. 



" It is doubtful," says Browne, " whether they 

 would readily become acclimated in the north- 

 ern part of the United States, for continued frost, 

 at any time, much injures their combs ; fre- 

 quenly causing mortification in the end, which 

 has terminated in death. A warm poultry-house, 

 high feeding, and care that the birds do not re- 

 main too long exposed to severe weather, are the 

 best means of preventing this disfigurement." 



Browne also says a " cross between the pheas- 

 ant Malay and the Spanish produces a particu- 

 larly handsome fowl, and probably very much 

 resembling the old Hispanic type." Valuable 

 stocks have originated by crossing with other 

 varieties. 



Some very perfect specimens of this breed 

 were exhibited by Mr. J. P. Childs, of Woon- 

 socket, Rhode Island, at the New York State 

 Poultry Society at Albany, in February, 1854, 

 for which he was awarded a premium. Mr. J. 

 Kellen, of Germantown, Pennsylvania, also ex- 

 hibited some choice specimens of the same breed, 

 and carried the first prize. 



Mr. John Giles, of Woodstock, Connecticut, 

 imported some of the Black Spanish Fowls, which 

 were sold at Barnum's Museum, at auction, in 

 December, 1854. They brought from $5 50 to 

 per pair, which was less than first cost. 



HAMBURG FOWLS. 



Whence this breed originated is not definitely 

 known ; some assign its origin to Hamburg or 

 vicinity; others to Holland. Those places at 

 the present time furnish the best specimens of 

 these fowls, and we may, therefore, properly in- 

 fer that if not originating, they have at least long 

 been bred there, and brought to a high state of 

 perfection. 



It deserves our notice that all tradition, all 

 our oldest naturalists, and even the names by 

 which our fowls were originally called, all as- 

 sign them to an Eastern origin. Even many 

 of our modern names, Bantam, Malay, Shang- 

 hai, Cochin, and Brahmapoutra, point to a sim- 

 ilar origin. Nor is the Hamburg fowl an ex- 

 ception, for its earliest describer,<Aldrovandus, 

 calls it " Turkish fowl." The white body, the 

 black markings, the greenish-black tail, and the 

 blue-tinged legs, are all characters which show 

 that the old naturalist had before him speci- 

 mens of the Silver Hamburg. 



"Why it should be called the Hamburg fowl 

 seems inexplicable," say the authors of the 

 " Poultry Book," " except upon the supposition 

 that the Levant merchants at Hamburg intro- 

 duced them from Turkey or elsewhere, and that 

 from Hamburg they were exported into En- 

 gland. By a similar transit did our Black Ham- 

 burg grapes derive their name; for they are 

 certainly natives of Spain, imported by the Ham- 

 burg merchants, and first known to us as Ham- 

 burg grapes, because purchased by us there." 



Wherever may have been its place of origin, 

 or however its present name may have been de- 

 rived, it would appear that the Hamburg fowl 

 was among the occupants of the poultry-yard 

 of our monasteries as early as the beginning of 

 the fourteenth century, since Chaucer has de- 

 scribed a cock in their possession which was 

 evidently of the Golden Hamburg breed. 



Varieties. There are two distinct varieties ; 

 these being again subdivided into two each, 



