1909.] 



Milk Chickens. 



285 



Suitable Breeds. — A very important point in the produc- 

 tion of milk chickens is that of the breed of fowl used for 

 this purpose, because to a large degree upon that depends 

 the rapidity of growth and the time when the birds come 

 into fleshy condition. For this reason the races which are 

 at a later period of life the finest in meat qualities are not 

 the best for milk chickens, in that they are slower in growth 

 than the light-bodied, non-sitting, egg-laying breeds. This 

 is especially the case with the heavy general purpose fowls. 

 It is, however, almost entirely a question of size of body 

 required in these birds. In France, as we have already 

 noted, the weights are from 8 to 12 oz., for which Houdans 

 and Faverolles are largely used. The lighter races are not 

 much seen in that country. At one time the small Campine 

 and Braekel were extensively used in Belgium as milk 

 chickens, reaching the killing point at five to six weeks, but 

 to a large extent they were the cockerels killed off as soon 

 as distinguishable. More recently the heavier Malines fowls 

 have been bred specially for that purpose, and as they are 

 somewhat slower in growth, and attain a larger size, the 

 Belgian poulets de lait are pretty much on all fours with the 

 French, or even larger. The German chickens appear to be of 

 a light-bodied type, that is, of the small races of fowls which 

 are general throughout Western Germany and the Nether- 

 lands, though I am informed that Orpingtons and Wyandottes 

 have been introduced into Hanover for this class of poultry 

 production. 



In America what are known as squab-broilers are largely 

 the product of large egg farms where White Leghorns, or 

 other breeds of a similar type, are kept. Generally speaking, 

 the birds which are best as egg layers are poor in flesh 

 qualities, excepting at one period, that is, when five to eight 

 weeks old, just when the combs of the cockerels have sprung. 

 As, however, Leghorns have yellow flesh and legs, they 

 would not be so acceptable upon European as they are on 

 American markets. On these huge egg farms, of which 

 that at Lakewood, New Jersey, may be cited as an example, 

 thousands of laying hens are kept, and as the birds are 

 retained for not more than two seasons, the number of chicks 

 hatched annually to maintain the stock is very large. At 



