CHAPTER XIII. 
PRINCIPLES OF POULTRY BREEDING. 
Poultry Breeding.—By poultry breeding is meant the science 
which treats of the reproduction and improvement of the domestic 
fowl. It may be said to be both a science and an art. It is truly 
a science in so far as it deduces and systematically applies facts 
and principles as they are demonstrated. It is an art in so much 
as the knowledge and experience thus acquired and the principles 
deduced may be utilized for the continued improvement of the 
animals. 
A few and rather hazy suggestions pertaining to the improve- 
ment of fowls have been handed down from remote ages, but most 
of the earlier work on animal breeding was carried on with larger 
and more easily recorded domestic animals. In recent years many 
of the principles which govern successful breeding have become 
better understood, and the knowledge obtained has been more 
thoroughly disseminated than ever before, largely owing to the 
fact that experiment stations are making a special study of this 
science, and in many instances are using poultry as the study 
medium. As a rule, it may be stated that the laws of breeding 
which apply to all animals are equally applicable to poultry. 
Breeding a Complex Problem.—Breeding is not an art which 
can be learned’ entirely from books or from. the study of results 
obtained by a few crossings or matings; it is acquired by experi- 
ence and by the actual study of the progeny resulting from such 
matings, generation after generation, and in large numbers. 
To be successful, one must be familiar with the subject from 
both points of view, theoretical and practical. It is impossible 
to apply principles to a profitable use until they are thoroughly 
understood. These scientific principles have, in great measure, 
been derived directly from the methods of the more successful 
breeders, and hence are fundamental. 
Need of Improvement.—The improvement of the flocks of 
poultry which are found in greater or less numbers on practically 
all American farms has not received the attention which it merits, 
and which the results from such improvement would warrant. The 
breeding of poultry: in a practical way has been left almost entirely 
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