362 The Illustrated Book of Poultry. 



being no less than eight years old. She clucked and sat steadily upon any eggs she could get 

 at, but I thouglit she was too old to take the charge of a family with all its cares and troubles, 

 and therefore checked her, though with considerable difficulty. The poor old lady died in the 

 winter of the same year (1870); and I only mention her as showing that the very best birds 

 will sit occasionally. 



"As a rule Hamburghs are a healthy breed, and for the farmer I think they are the fowl of 

 fowls. On a good homestead they will almost keep themselves, and if well attended to will pay 

 as well as any other part of his stock. The chickens, too, are easy to rear. Of course, they will not 

 rear themselves, but with moderate care no difficulty will be found in getting them to maturity. 

 They need good coops, which should be placed on a nice grass-run, as far as convenient from the 

 old birds, as I always find chickens do much better quite away from adults ; otherwise the old 

 fowls pick up the food the chickens should have, not only robbing them, but getting far too much 

 for their own welfare. They should be fed often, giving only a little at a time, just what they will 

 eat. In the first five or six weeks, I should advise feeding every two or three hours, after that 

 less often will do ; but the better the chicks are looked after the finer they will be, and there 

 is nothing lost by a little extra care. The best staple food I have found to be oatmeal and thirds 

 mixed, and made up into a stiff crumbly mass. As they get older I mix more of the thirds and 

 put less oatmeal, and by degrees give a little wheat, but soft food should be the chief of the diet. 

 The great thing is to feed often, beginning early and leaving off late. The coops I prefer are 

 simply made of wood, about two feet square, with sloping roof and sliding front, to admit of letting 

 out the chickens without the hen if you think proper, but with a movable bar to let out the hen 

 also. The coop should be without bottom, so that you can change on to fresh ground as the other 

 gets tainted, and if possible I change on to fresh ground daily. The chickens reach maturity early 

 if well cared for and not stopped in their growth. I have often had pullets laying at five months 

 old, especially of the Pencilled varieties ; the Spangled do not generally lay quite so early. 



SILVER -SPANGLED HAMBURGHS. —"The Silver-spangled Hamburgh, or Silver 

 Pheasant as it is commonly called in Yorkshire, is a breed that has for generations been known 

 in this country, and for its cultivation to the present state of perfection owes everything to the 

 counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire. In Lancashire this variety had been brought to a very high 

 standard of excellence years before ever poultry-shows were thought of, and as regards feather, 

 all our modern skill and careful breeding has been unable to improve upon the old breed ; indeed, 

 I don't think it would be possible to improve it, for some of the old Mooneys, as. they were called, 

 were absolute perfection in this point of feather ; the spangling, so large, round, and rich in colour, 

 was really something to be wondered at, and shows a skill and enthusiasm in breeding which, in 

 the absence of public shows in those days, has about it something of the marvellous. 



" This careful and extreme breeding for feather in the old Lancashire Mooney fowls it was, 

 in my opinion, which resulted in producing hen-feathered cocks — that is, cocks feathered similarly to 

 the hens, with spangling on back, sides, neck, &c., and with a square or hen-tail (Fig. 82). Be this 

 as it may, it was to this variety at the beginning of the poultry-showing era, some score of years 

 since, that all the prizes were given ; but after they had enjoyed a year or two's popularity, the 

 judges at Birmingham all at once announced that this hen-feathering of the cocks was not the 

 'correct thing,' and also stated that such birds were unprolific. In this latter charge there was some 

 truth, as many of these cocks will not breed, though some others are prolific enough ; but as a 

 result the hen-tailed cocks were thrown out, and their reign as show birds was over, though they 

 are still kept by a few ardent fanciers for breeding purposes solely. 



