Selection of Breeding 5tock. 
15 
Again, there are many persons who have started in the pure-bred PouUry Hne, and at llie end of a year 
or two thrown the pursuit up in disgust. Often the remarl< is passed that tliey would not feed a Cochin, 
Brahma, or a Game Fowl, plainly showing the ignorance of even the merest rudiments of practical experi- 
ence. In every such instance the whole trouble is in the disposition of the individual, not with the fowls : 
and if a man has been a loser in the enterprise of breeding exhibition, or even market stock, he can lay the 
blame entirely to his own want of energy, and neglect, as there are many men who keep the same varieties, 
and who have and are still making money out of the business. The first man, in most instances, starts 
wrong by purchasing eggs or birds from vendors, without having first posted himself u[) as to the relative 
position the stock purchased occupies in the market ; but, feeling confident that he will easily be in a posi- 
tion near the top in the variety he fancies at the end of the .second season, and that the whole of the surplus 
stock he can produce will be readily bought up by others, this assumption is rudely shatten d, and he often (juils 
the business in disgust. Often with a man of this description (juantity is the thing, ([uahty he never considers, 
and, to his mind, the cheaper the liirds or eggs are is the first consideration ; and, besides, when offering the 
produce for sale, he thinks that the produce of cheap birds are nearly, if not quite, as good as the higher- 
priced stock, and even if they are not, who among the purchasers of eggs from him can tell the difference ? 
Furthermore, when purchasing pure-bred fowls on starting, they are freiiuently placed in an old fowl- 
house that has been neglected for ) ears ; then, being a nine days' wonder, are cared for and fed for a time, but 
afterwards neglected. Hens are set, Init the lice drive them from the nests ; or, in instances where the hens 
are of a determined disposition, the lice will sap the last drop of life-blood from their bodies, leaving but 
bone, muscle, and feathers on the nest, and this often gives rise to the query — A\'hy on earth is it that pure- 
bred stock are so delicate, so difficult to rear, and die so mysteriously? If the word lice is mentioned to him 
the breeder is flaf)bergasted. He never saw a louse on one of his fowls ; and if the fact is stated that in all 
probability lice was the primary cause of his failures, he will deny it in the strongest terms. His brood stock, 
their systems run down from the attacks of insect pests, or out of order from a constant diet of imprBper food, 
fall victims to roup, and the few chickens that are hatched, and which survive the ravages of their natural 
enemies, contract roup or other ailments, from want of shelter and shade, and a diet of sour food thrown down 
in all the surrounding filth, thus becoming dwarfed in size, and of delicate constitution, eventually degenerat- 
ing into a flock of birds, the appearance of which would dishearten any one. 
With this stock for a foundation, our would-be Fancier advertises eggs from pyizc-winniug stock, and 
soon after receives condemnation from buyers on all sides, owing to the motley lot of chickens hatched from 
the eggs supplied. A man thus becomes by his own neglect branded as a knave. The fowls are considered 
to be a worthless breed, which condemnation could all have been prevented by a little thought and care 
the proper selection of the breeding stock, and their proper management. 
Finally, in selecting the brood stock, it must be borne in mind that Fowls are peculiarly susceptible to 
many and various diseases, and any tendency to disease is almost certain to be transmitted to their progeny — 
as weakness produces weakness, so vigor begets vigor. Hardiness, vitality, and vigor of constitution are of far 
greater importance than all the other desired qualities combined. Each new purchase should be carefully 
examined, ruhf)ed well over the body and feathers with the carbolic preparation, as advised in the 
treatment of the sitting hen, or well dusted with insect powder, so as to destroy lice or their nits, if present. 
This precaution taken, the bird should be placed in quarantine, and kept strictly isolated for a few days before 
being allowed to run with the occupants of the yard. A mild or chronic case of disease in the new purchase 
may introduce a serious trouble. A single infected fowl would most likely contaminate a whole flock if 
allowed to run in company. In feeding the breeding stock with animal food such as raw liver or entrails, 
great care should be taken that the latter are well cooked before being fed to them, as, if fed in a raw state, 
they are very liable to contain parasites and germs of disease likely to affect fowls. 
It is of the utmost importance that poultry breeders should isolate and disinfect all fowls the moment they 
exhibit symptoms of sickness ; if this is noticed, it is most unwise to let them remain with the rest of 
