426 



Ti±K GARDE.N AND FIELD. 



February, 1914 



Athletics in the Poultry 

 Yard. 



Australian poultry-raisers, despite 

 their enterprise and ingenuity, are be- 

 hind tlie Europeans in one feature of 

 the art of breeding. It has never oc- 

 curred to anyone over here to introduce 

 athletics as an agency for producing the 

 best results. This feature of education 

 is locally supposed to be confined to 

 man. Nowadays every University and 

 school has its gymnasium course as a 

 means of building up the physique of 

 the rising generation. But who ever 

 heard of a boxing gander, a sprinting 

 rooster, a tumbling turkey, or a duck 

 versed in the movements of the Ameri- 

 can cake-walk? Of course, we have 

 long known about cock-fighting, and 

 how, in years gone by, certain breeds 

 of birds were specially trained for this 

 purpose. The custom, however, whe- 

 ther sport or gain, has long been inter- 

 dicted as barbarous, and modern senti- 

 ment will have none of it. This is not 

 what is meant when the term "athle- 

 tics" is used in connection with breed- 

 ing. A scientific principle is involved, 

 the very one so entertainingly unfolded 

 by Darwin in his discourses on the sur- 

 vival of the fittest among animals. In 

 a chapter devoted to pheasants in cer- 

 tain parts of Asia, he tells how, at a 

 certain season of the year, those birds 

 assemble from miles around at a cer- 

 tain place, and there the males fight 

 desperately until exhausted or killed. 

 The survivors or conquerors then 

 marched off with the choice of their 

 "ladies," and in this way the new gen- 

 eration always springs from the strong- 

 est, the bravest, and the most fit. Deer, 

 wild cattle, buffalo, and horses in their 

 native state, as well as seals, also fight 

 each other in sight of the females, the 

 victors picking out their choice, while 

 the weaker or unfit are left in the 

 lurch. 



It may be of interest to dairymen to 

 learn that the Zulus of South Africa 

 have a method of judging cows peculiar 

 to themselves. They invariably select 

 the best bellower, arguing, doubtless, 

 that the possession of good lung power 

 indicates a strong and healthy cow. 

 Perhaps this test alone would hardly 

 satisfy our experts engaged in judging 

 at any show, but it is not to be des- 

 pised as one, at least, of the necessary 

 qualifications, since it is desirable that 

 all cows should have a good pair of 

 lungs. 



The Belgians, who are, in some re- 

 spects, an ingenious people, in select- 



ing cockerels for the breeding-pen, set 

 great store on early crowing, reasoning 

 that this indicates vigor, energy, and 

 other strong qualities, which they are 

 apt to transmit to their offspring. For 

 their layers they select hens descended 

 on the male side from birds that have 

 won crowing matches, in which the 

 prize goes to the cock which cr. ''.vs 

 oftenest in half an hour. This is an 

 appreciation of the value of robust 

 health in poultry. Thus we see that 

 the Belgians follow out a system of 

 athletics or physical training, instead of 

 the mere principle of selection and ex- 

 clusion familiar to most Australian 

 breeders. These Belgians are not only 

 very practical poultry-raisers, but they 

 are equally scientific, and it is actually 

 claimed that they have a breed of 

 fowls, the feet of which have been 

 shortened in order to lessen their power 

 of doing damage by scratching in the 

 gardens. This would seem to be the 

 limit in scientific breeding, but we are 

 told that they have so cultivated a 

 variety which h5".'-J been denuded of 

 tail-feathers and wings, that they may 

 have a better chance of escaping from 

 the foxes ! This is a direction in which, 

 in the light of recent happenings, it 

 would not be impolitic on the part of 

 Australian breeders to turn their atten- 

 tion ! 



The last two statements, though bor- 

 dering on the improbable, are really no 

 more marvellous than some of the feats 

 performed by pigeon fanciers, 'ihe fan- 

 tail pigeon was bred up from a freak 

 with one odd feather in its tail, which 

 was added to by selection and persis- 

 tent breeding to similar freaks, until 

 instead of one, they had many ode 

 feathers, producing an entirely new 

 variety. The pouter came from a 

 pigeon which, as the result of disease 

 or accident, had an abnormally long 

 crop. By getting two of this kind and 

 mating them, the keeping up the process 

 for years, the pigeon with a huge pro- 

 tuberance in front called the pouter 

 was evolved. 



Two ganders, when excited to com- 

 bat by the presence of a female bird, 

 charge one another, intertwine necks 

 and press against each other's breasts 

 with every pound of strength they pos- 

 sess. The combatant that is first ex- 

 hausted loses the fight, while the victor 

 marches off with his lady-love, with 

 every air of triumph and rapturous 

 cachinnation. There are sure to be 

 good goslings from this pair, possess- 

 ing vigour to fight off enemies, and 

 survive till the exigencies of the sea- 

 son of Michaelmas demand uncondi- 



tional surrender to the cooking oven. 

 Whether all this knowledge will even- 

 tually result in the establishment of 

 regular gymnastics as an appurtenance 

 of every well-ordered poultry farm re- 

 mains to be seen. It is, however, to be 

 hoped that the athletic contests will be 

 friendly trials of skill, and not be al- 

 lowed to degenerate into the old-fash- 

 ioned fighting for money, for that will 

 at once bring them beneath the regula- 

 tions of the latest Gaming Act. There 

 can, of course, be no infringement of 

 any clause in the latter instrument by 

 the promotion of crowing matches be- 

 tween roosters, or scratching contests 

 between hens, or even friendly wrest- 

 ling bouts among the ganders. 



The aim should be to ascertain and 

 develop sturdy qualities of- strength and 

 endurance in the males, for the purpose 

 of finding out those which are the most 

 apt to transmit vigour and other good 

 quahties to their offspring. It is well 

 known that game chickens, as well as 

 game birds of all kinds possess flesh 

 as well as eggs of superior flavour, and 

 that they are superior as foragers and 

 self-sustainers. Who can doubt that 

 these valuable qualities are due to the 

 athletic training inherited from a long 

 line of fighting ancestors? 



♦ • 



The Rearing of Chicks. 



Clean quarters, shade, pure fresh 

 water, and judicious feeding are the 

 chief essentials of chick raising. Of 

 course, by this time, the chicks are 

 in most cases all hatched and past 

 the critical period, or first two weeks 

 of their lives. The question now 

 arises, what must be done with them 

 in order to produce hardy and well- 

 matured breeders for next season's 

 pens. 



In the first place see that they 

 have clean and airy quarters. There 

 are a great many different styles of 

 brood-coops now in use that are prov- 

 ing satisfactory, but the object should 

 be to have them so constructed as to 

 be always dry, well ventilated, and of 

 ample size for the number of chicks 

 housed in them. By whitewashing 

 the interior of these coops and clean- 

 ing them every other day or so the 

 house problem is solved in the easiest 

 manner, for one seldom, H ever, sees 

 lice or vermin where strict cleanliness 

 prevails. 



The subject of shade is an import- 

 ant one, and must not be overlooked/' 



