Live StocJc. 



132 



[February, 1912 



in such cases, the affected birds should 

 be isolated and kept confined until they 

 have recovered. If large doses of Epsom 

 salts are administered followed by two 

 or three spoonfuls of turpentine, the 

 parasite will be effectually destroyed. 

 Also, droppings of birds known to be 

 infested with the parasites should either 

 be burnt up or, if used as a fertiliser, 

 should be treated with a disinfectant. 



In Belgium, Cockrels of light-bodied, 

 egg-producing breeds which, if per- 

 mitted to grow, have not got much 

 value for table purposes are killed when 

 eight weeks old and sold under the 

 name of milk chickens. For about 

 two weeks before they are killed, the 

 chickens are fed on soft food mixed with 

 milk which softens and whitens the 

 flesh. Naturally, therefore, they are 

 fleshy at the time of killing and weigh 

 from 8 to 10 oz. without any special pre- 

 paration. We commend this to our 

 fanciers. 



The ventilation of poultry-houses is a 

 matter of vital importance to poultry 

 keepers, since overcrowding is known to 

 impair the vitality of the birds, to 

 render them susceptible to numerous 

 diseases and to diminish the number of 

 eggs produced in winter. Investigations 

 made on the subject demonstrate that 

 it is desirable that each bird should be 

 allowed 40 cubic feet of air per hour and 

 that this 40 feet should be supplied at a 

 reasonably slow rate. It is recommended 

 that to ensure this condition, top ven- 

 tilation as well as ventilation from below 

 should be resorted to. 



A very entertaining and instructive 

 article, "Turkeys, In Health and 

 Disease," appeared in a recent number 

 of the Agricultural Gazette of New 

 South Wales, Australia, contributed 

 conjointly by Mr. G. Bradshow and Mr. 

 A. L. Wyndham. We can in no sense 

 do justice to the article by attempting 

 a bald review here ; but since it is pos- 

 sible that many of our readers may not 

 have any opportunities for perusing the 

 article, we shall note down below a few 

 of the more important particulars to 

 be found in it. 



The domestic turkey was unknown to 

 England before the discovery of America 

 when these giants of the poultry -yard 

 were found distributed throughout the 

 immense area from Canada to Mexico. 

 It is said that the first turkey to leave 

 his native country was sent to Spain 

 early in the 16th century ; from Spain 

 they were introduced into England 

 about A.D. 1524 and since then they have 

 been raised in England fairly exten- 

 sively. In 1587, turkeys sold very cheap 



and the following entry is preserved : 

 "One turkey cock and four turkey hens 

 and six young turkeys, 13s, 4rf." 



The origin of the name, apparently 

 Asiatic, is said to remain a mystery even 

 today. There have been suggestions in 

 the past that the turkey was brought 

 from Mexico to Spain by moors ; and as 

 the moors at that time were known in 

 England as Turks, the big bird from 

 America became known as the turkey or 

 turk. Martin Doyle, a poultry authority 

 of six years ago, says : " Why the name of 

 turkey was given to this bird is not clear. 

 It may have acquired it by having been 

 brought to England by merchants whose 

 principal commerce was with Turkey 

 ai^d other ports of the Levant and who 

 traded with the Indies." Other writers 

 have their own suggestions to offer and 

 the authors say : " But whether any of 

 the suppositions are correct matters 

 little ; we have the bird which, if given 

 adaptable conditions, is the most pro- 

 fitable of the whole poultry tribe." And 

 so on and on — but we have no space for 

 them here. 



The Farmer and Grazier has the 

 following on " How to judge the age of 

 a fowl" : In the case of a pullet, the 

 surface under the wings will always 

 be found interspersed with minute rose- 

 coloured veins which are totally absent 

 in birds that are more than twelve 

 months old. Again there will be found 

 with pullets a fair supply of long, silky 

 hairs which disappear directly the first 

 moult is concluded. In the adult hen, 

 the skin will be found to be perfectly 

 white and free from either veins or 

 hairs ;hence, it is easy at a single glance 

 to estimate correctly whether a bird is 

 under or over the age that acts as a line 

 of demarcation between juvenile and 

 adult stock. Additional evidence is 

 forthcoming in the formation of the 

 pelvic bones which in a pullet are much 

 closer than in the hen that has passed 

 the pullet stage. At two years, they 

 are much wider than at one year, so 

 that birds at this age can be readily 

 distinguished from those of, say, 15 and 

 18 months. The third point of differ- 

 ence is observable in the shanks and 

 claws. In the young bird the skin of 

 the claw is supple and the scales are thin 

 and brilliant. The skin gets coarser and 

 stonger and the scales harder as the 

 bird grows and the nails of the first toe 

 which does most of the work gets much 

 worn. There is also a difference in the 

 eyelids. These acquire wrinkles as the 

 bird gets older and there is also a slight- 

 ly shrivelled look on the face. This 

 with age becomes more and more pro- 

 nounced. Lastly there is the question 

 of wing feathers the most infallible 



