130 The Illustrated Book of PouLTJiy. 



the winter with a native cock, and though no eggs were set till two months after purchase, all the 

 chicks even then showed the native points in a high degree. Another gentleman breeding Game, 

 finding a neighbour's feather-legged Bantam cock come over his fence, penned his fowls in 

 securely, and saved no eggs for a month after, but several chicks still had feathered legs, though 

 with no other sign of the cross. And the Editor of the New York Poultry Bulletin himself relates 

 how on one occasion a Light Brahma cock found his way for one day only to some " Danvers 

 White" hens. The " Danvers White," we ought to say, is a breed formed years ago by crossing 

 Bufif Cochins with White Dorkings, and has a white body, with bright yellow bare legs. Some of the 

 chickens had the cross very distinctly marked, some showed very little of it, and others none at 

 all, except very evident traces of feather on the legs. 



from these examples, the truth of which can be implicitly depended on, and many others to 

 the same effect which we omit for want oi" space, the difficulty of drawing any definite conclusion 

 can be easily seen. Nevertheless, however contradictory many of the results of the experiments 

 cited appear, certain general principles, after a little reflection, may very easily be gathered, and 

 such as shall be sufficient for the practical guidance of the poultry-keeper. 



It is well known, from almost universal experience, that one visit to a turkey-cock fertilises the 

 whole batch of eggs afterwards laid by the hen turkey; and in connection with this fact it is very 

 remarkable that after beginning to lay she, as a rule, carefully avoid^^ the male bird. The 

 common hen, on the contrary, never does this ; and the diiTerence at once suggests that there is 

 probably a no less wide difference in the general reproductive economy of the two cases, and that 

 the common hen would not remain constantly in the company of the cock during the period of 

 laying if such were needless to the fertility of her progeny. This great and typical difference 

 suggests further that there may be lesser but still great dift'erenccs between different breeds, and 

 even between individuals, in these respects ; and that there is, in fact, no invariable rnlc, but that 

 great variations may take place on either side of a general or mean average experience. Such a 

 theory, in fact, offers the only possible means of reconciling facts so apparently conflicting as those 

 we have cited ; and when we consider thoughtfully that the whole reproductive system has become 

 so modified in various breeds, that some have even entirely lost the naturally essential incubating 

 instinct, whilst in others it is developed to an extraordinary degree ; and that, further, the natural 

 production of eggs has been increased by domestication at least tenfold, the existence of other 

 differences will cease to excite any astonishment, and might, indeed, be rather expected than 

 otherwise. So much being granted, therefore, the general run of facts is pretty easily gathered. 

 It appears that in every case the influence of a cock (unless over-mated) extends for at least four 

 days after separation, and perhaps this may be taken as the ordinary rule ; but that in many 

 instances it extends to nine or ten days, and that in some, at least, it may last for fifteen or 

 sixteen. In our own yard we have found that the eggs of Brahma hens which have had chickens 

 and begun to lay are almost always fertile in from three to five days after reunion with the cock, 

 which agrees very well with the preceding. Differences, no doubt, depend greatly on the breed, 

 the vigour of the stock-bird, the number of hens with him, and the period as regards the beginning 

 or end of her "batch of eggs " at which either the union or the separation takes place. Thus, a hen 

 put alone with a vigorous cock and allowed to remain several hours, might be expected to lay 

 many more fertile eggs than could result from a casual union, which several recorded experiments 

 prove to produce usually one fertile e^gg only — a conclusion further confirmed by the notorious fact 

 that when a cock is over- mated the eggs always hatch in a very unsatisfactory manner. 



But, besides mere fertility, there are other considerations ; and, in the first place, it appears 

 hidisputable that eggs may be so far fertilised as to commence hatching, and yet not have 



