S» LL5SON5 IN POULTRY KEEPING — SECOND SERIES. 



LESSON VI n. 



Kinds, Breeds, and Varieties of Fowls. 



BY "FOWLS", in this lesson we menn biriis of Uie species "fiiaHMS rf'iHiesJjCMS," which 

 for want of any other spfcitii; English term, are often called " chicl?ens," thoush 

 " chicken" applies properly only to their young. Perhaps in time, common ufa^e. \\ ill 

 limit the use of the word " fowl " as we limit it here. There seems to be a temli-rK y 

 that way. Most poultrymen so usr the woril, but the explanation of this use of the term is 

 sometimes necessary for readers not familiar with that iisaf;e. 



We may classify fowls as: — Common or mongrel, cross bred, grade, jiure bred, or thorough- 

 bred, and " Standard " bred. , 



Mongrel fowls are fowls of no special breeding, generally a mixture containing the blood of 

 many varieties of pure bred fowls, though in some sections there are still to be found flucki 

 in which the blood of the old common stock is still strong. A flock of mongrels generally 

 presents numerous very distinct types of fowls. 



Gross bred fowls are the result of a union of two pure breeds. The term is usually limited 

 to the produce of a first cross. 



(Jj-arfe fowls are produced by a systematic series of crosses, beginning with a thoroughbred 

 male and females of mongrel stock, and mating each year a male of the same pure breed with 

 females from the mating of the previous year. By this process, in the course of a few year.-, 

 the stock becomes practically thoroughbred. Sometimes pure hrnil females are used in the 

 first instance. 



The terms j))()-e bred »r\i\ tliorotighbrecl are synonymous, and the [eim Standard bred i» 

 also generally synonymous with the others. 



As a matter of fact there are few, it any, ftocks of fowls that are absolutely pure in blood ; 

 that is, entirely free from any mixture or trace of the blood of fowls not of their kind; but 

 most of our pure or thoroughbred races are snfBciently well bred to make the jiroduction of 

 specimens plainly showing ol>solete ancestral characters extremely r:irc. A tStandard bred 

 fowl is a fowl bred to conform to the re(|uiii'ments of the "American Standard of Perfection." 

 as promulgated by the Amei-ican Poultry Association. 



To be admitted to the "Standard," a breed or variety must be able to reproduce its type 

 in a large proportion of its jirot'eny. 'I'here are also other qualifications to be coiisidereil, as 

 whether the breed pie-rnts new and (lislinct features; but as the judgment of the association is 

 sometimes erratic, it happens occasionally that some fowls that are entitled to recognition are 

 excluded, and also that unuortliy varieties and breeds are admitted. Hence we fiml some 

 pure breeds not " standard bred," because they are not "in the Standard;" and some breeds 

 in the Standard that breeil very indifl'erently. AVe also find breeds in the Standard in vihieh 

 poultrymen are little interested, while we may frequently find very great interest taken in 

 breeds outside of the Standard. 



