CHICKENS. 71 



How eager we are that they should all thrive ! 

 We examine their points anxiously, and can 

 almost, in their early infancy, pronoimce upon 

 the future prize-winners. From that moment 

 hey are marked birds, and receive special 

 attention; all the tidbits faU to their share, 

 and if there is a better coop, or a choicer spot of 

 ground than another, it is theirs. _ 



I often wish poor children were fed, and their 

 comforts as well attended to, as those of our 

 embryo Birmingham and Crystal Palace competi- 

 tors. 



May should find us surrounded with well- 

 grown chickens ; it is the halcyon time of 

 poultry. The weather is, or ought to be, warm, 

 but whether or no, the chickens are growing 

 apace, and for winter exhibition there is no doubt 

 March and April birds are preferable to their 

 earlier-hatched companions, which, however, you 

 must have, for August showing, and early market. 



Chickens suffer much from bad feathering, which 

 may be caused by the coldness of the season, or 

 delicacy of constitution. In either case, high 

 feeding is the cure. Bread soaked in ale should 



