SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEnNU 



that have always been strong. Never breed from a bird that 

 has shown even one day's ilbiess. Select those birds with me- 

 dium or not over-large combs. I am of the opinion we ought 

 not to breed the exceedingly large, beefy combs we see so fre- 

 quently, but rather breed from the smalf, thin, smooth-conttbed 

 birds. 



We want the large, deep-chested, long-bodied, Minorcas for 

 business, and in order to get them our foundation stock must 

 be right. 



Mate birds that are as near the Standard requirements as 

 you can and you will get results. There is no necessity for 

 double matings. Have your matings of vigorous birds and your 

 eggs will be fertile. 



My experience has been that it is an exception for a Minorca 

 to die from disease if properly hatched. My chicks are not fed 

 for twenty-four hours after hatching. Then they are given 

 water and a feed of fine white grit, and every two hours after- 

 wards feed of bread crumbs soaked in milk squeezed dry in the 

 hand. After three days they are fed at three-hour intervals on 

 some prepared chick food. 



After four weeks they have cracked com and cracked wheat, 

 grit, beef scraps and fresh water always before them. With 

 this food and a green grass run my chicks are always healthy. 

 I give my chicks liberty early in the morning whether the grass 

 is dry or wet and have never seen any ill effects from the same. 

 Absolute cleanliness must always be our motto. 



When three months old they are allowed to select their own 

 roosting place, and this is usually in the apple trees, where they 

 remain until late in November, when they are removed to the 

 laying houses. All through the heavy cold fall storms they 

 roost in the trees and bright and early in the morning they are 

 busily at work. 



Get your Minorcas as near to nature as possible and keep 

 them there and you will never have a case of sicjcness in your 

 yards. My laying and breeding houses are protected by oiled 

 cloth (heavy cotton painted with boiled linseed oil) in front 

 and the doors are wide open each day, no matter what the 

 weather may be. By keeping Minorcas in perfect health and 

 keeping up a good blood supply by exercise, proper food and 

 fresh air, they will never freeze. 



IMPERIAL PEKIN DUCKS 



THE BUSINESS BIRDS OF THE TWENTIETH CEN- 

 TURY—EXCEPTIONAL EGG PRODUCTION AND UN- 

 USUAL PRECOCITY AMONG THEIR GOOD QUALITIES 



JAMES RANKIN, South Easton, Mass. 



The Pekin Duck is pre-eminent above all other varie- 

 ties as a profitable market bird. I will here enumerate a few 

 of their good qualities as compared to the other breeds. I have 

 been breeding ducks for more than fifty years including all the 

 Standard varieties with the exception of the Indian Run- 

 ner. As the result of that experience I have for the past 

 fifteen years confined myself entirely to the Pekin as being by 

 far the best as a profitable market bird. I have bred of this 

 variety some twenty thousand birds annually. The fecundity 

 is wonderful and its precocity equally so. The Pekin duck can 

 be depended, on, under proper treatment, to produce 125 eggs 

 each season and under good condition 140 and in many cases 

 where small numbers are kept, 160. 



Our own experience the past season has been 130 eggs each 

 from one thousand birds. It may seem almost incredible to 

 some but I have often known birds to tip the scales at 9 pounds 



each dressed, when but ten to eleven weeks old. The last birds 

 we shipped to market averaged 8 pounds each, dressed, though 

 they were but four months old. 



The great advantage of the Pekin over the other breeds is 

 that they not only commence laying a month or two sooner but 

 they will mature several weeks earlier than any other variety, 

 thus giving us the control of the early spring markets which is 

 by far the most profitable season of the year. I have always 

 emphasized the point that size as well as fecundity is necessary 

 to a profitable market bird. While it is no more trouble or risk 

 to grow a large than a small one the returns are ahnost double, 

 as the large bird will always command two or three cents per 

 pound more than a small one. In addition to these advantages 

 I have always found the Pekin more hardy than any of the other 

 breeds. 



As an experiment, I would fill a machine with eggs from 

 the different varieties, hatching them together and growing them 

 in the same yards, subjecting them to the same care and food. 

 I soon found that when any mortaUty occured it was seldom 

 with the Pekin but always with the others. Best of all, weeks 

 after the Pekins were dressed and in the market, the others 

 were still in the pens being fatted. 



Another point in favor of the Pekin is unusual precocity. 

 I have always contended that it cost much less to grow a pre- 

 cocious bird than the opposite, for instance, you can grow as 

 many pounds on a Pekin duck in teii weeks as you can on a 

 chicken in twenty-five weeks.- In the one case you have animal 

 Ufe to sustain nearly three times as long in a chicken as in a 

 duck, so that I have always considered that it cost me two cents 

 per pound more to grow a -'chicken than a duck. .Another good 

 feature in favor of the Pekin is this — robust constitution. From 

 the time the hardy Httle fellows are taken from the incubator 

 until they are ready for market the mortality is insignificant. 

 I have repeatedly crossed them with other breeds, Rouen, 

 Cayuga, Aylesbury, etc., with the hope of getting a better 

 market bird, resulting invariably in a greater mortality, im- 

 paired vigor, with no increase in size or good market qualities. 



Still another point in favor of the Pekin is the perfect con- 

 trol the grower has over the bird from the time it is hatched 

 to maturity; he can not only grow them by the thousands in a 

 small compass but can regulate that growth, control the mor- 

 tahty, increase the fecundity, grow flesh or feathers at will, 

 and put the bird in the market three weeks earlier than any 

 other variety. We think that the millions of these birds that 

 are grown almost to the exclusion of any other breed, except 

 for the fancy trade, is sufficient proof of its superiority over any 

 other breed as & piarket bird. 



GEESE 



Geese are extremely hardy and long-lived. They thrive 

 on low-lying lands which would not be suitable for fowls. Old 

 pasture is best suited to their requirements, as they crop the 

 grass very short and would Ukely destroy the roots of newly 

 sown grass. They must be afforded liberty and plenty of grass 

 range. They are very coarse feeders and will eat nearly any- 

 thing in the shape of green food. 



The gander likes to follow his own sweet will in choosing 

 his mate, and it is sometimes difficult to induce him to transfer 

 his affections; so that it is necessary to mate them some little 

 time before the breeding season opens. Geese have been known 

 to breed at a great age. It is better, however, to discard them 

 after eight or ten years. Young birds do not breed as satis- 

 factorily as old ones. 



Although it is desirable to hatch early, it is not always 

 advisable, as it depends upon the climate and location. Gos- 



84 



