CONTENTS 



Chapter Page 



Preface 6 



I The Poultry Industry 11 



Size and extent. — Development. — Growth of incentives. 

 — Poultry keeping on the farm. — Shows and education. 

 — Intensive poultry sections. — Back-yard flocks. — The 

 poultry breeder. 



II Breeds and Varieties 22 



Origin and classification. — Selecting the breed. — Pur- 

 pose, Standard-bred fowls vs. mongrels. — General-pur- 

 pose Class: The Plymouth Rock, The Wyandotte, The 

 Rhode Island Red, The Orpington. — ^The Egg Class: 

 The Leghorn, The Ancona, The Minorca, The Blue Anda- 

 lusian, The Campine. — The Meat Class: The Langshan, 

 The Brahma, The Cochin, the Cornish. — The Game, 

 Bantam, and Miscellaneous Classes. 



ni Breeding 44 



Importance. — Principles of breeding: Heredity, Varia- 

 tion, Sports or Mutations, Reversion or Atavism, Cor- 

 relation, Regression, Progression, Prepotency, Fecundi- 

 ty, Inbreeding, Linebreeding, Outbreeding or outcross- 

 ing. Crossbreeding, Grading up. — Nomenclature of the 

 fowl. — Essentials of poultry breeding: Health and vigor. 

 Appearance and action. — Selection of the breeders : Size, 

 Color, Head, Comb, Eyes, Neck, Body, Breast, Back, 

 Wings, Tail, Legs and Toes, Skin. — Kind of fowls to re- 

 ject. — Purpose of breeding. — Kinds of matings: Single 

 mating, double mating, stud mating, flock or mass breed- 

 ing. — ^Time to mate.-— Size of mating. — Age of breed- 

 ing stock. — Free range. — Management. — Feeding. 



IV Natural and Artificial Incubation 67 



Preliminary considerations. — The egg. — Selection and 

 care of eggs for hatching: Fertility, Freshness, Soiled eggs, 

 Similar eggs, Sound shells, Normal eggs. — Method of 

 packing eggs for hatching. — Period of incubation. — Pro- 

 portion of males to females. — Time of year to hatch. — 

 When to hatch, When not to hatch.— Natural Incuba- 

 tion: How to set a hen. Indication of broodiness. Quar- 

 ters, Dusting; Management of the sitting hen. — Arti- 

 ficial incubation: Incubators, Types of incubators. Se- 

 lection of the incubator. Place to operate. Operation 

 of the incubator. The Thermostat, The Thermometer, 

 Operation, Correct temperature. Care of lamp. Turn- 

 ing the eggs. Cooling the eggs. Moisture and ventilation. 

 Testing the eggs. Care of incubator at hatching time, 

 Disinfecting and storing incubators. 



V Natural and Artificial Brooding 92 



Natural Brooding: Brooding chicks with hens. Care of 



