Rearing Game Chickens. 
297 
has the best and most successful yards, and is where most of our present File breeders have had 
their blood from. In Duckwings, for many years back Staffordshire and Nottinghamshire have 
had the best, though Cambridgeshire has come to the fore lately. Of late years, I am sorry to 
say, Duckwings have gone back, both in hens and cocks ; but I believe from this date they 
will improve, for I am aware of several of the old hands going to do their best with this breed. 
“ A few hints as to rearing will not be out of place to those who may be about starting. 
Firstly, we never put more than eleven eggs under a Game hen. When hatched be in no hurry to 
take them from the nest, for they will want nothing for twenty-four hours, and very little then ; and 
as you should feed the first two or three days with egg custard and a few dry crumbs of bread 
mixed with the custard, they will require no zvater ; so put none near for them to dabble in. In a 
day or two take the hen from where she has hatched to a dry shed facing the south, or a dry bank 
sheltered from north and east winds, and coop them on the ground. If too wet, put some dry ashes 
under the coop, soft and free from lumps, and by no means put them on boards, for by this we get 
crooked toes ; and rough cinders or gravel sometimes indent the small gristle of the breast, and if it 
gets the least askew while with the hen, it soon goes worse and worse. I have heard some breeders 
say they have had them come straight, but I have always had reason to doubt their word. You 
may let your coop remain for four or five days at first, by merely drawing the hen’s droppings out. 
When you do shift, do so at midday, and if damp or wet put more dry ashes or dry earth at night. 
You will find fussing about this dry lodging pay for the trouble, by seeing your chickens come out 
quite frisky in the morning, and it conduces greatly to health. I always coop my hens for six or 
seven weeks with Game, feeding principally on egg custard, coarse oatmeal, and bruised wheat until 
about five weeks old, when I begin to give well-soaked whole wheat a few times daily, weaning 
them off to the common food by degrees. It is very useful, if there is no old hedge or low trees 
close by where your coops are placed, to drive four stakes in the ground, standing about a foot high, 
and place a hurdle on them, then lay a few loose boughs on it. This serves as a playground in a 
cold morning, as they soon commence to fly up and down after one another; then again, before the 
earth gets warm for their feet, they will cluster on the top of it when the sun comes out, and preen 
themselves. It makes a nice break between the coops, and is a protection as well, for if there should 
be any large bird on the wing they are under in a moment, which I have had many proofs of here, 
where the Swan, Wild Goose, and Heron are often on the wing. I do not let them roost until 
about three months old if I can help it, so that I have plenty of soft clean stuff to let them sleep on. 
I think they keep warmer in a heap, and grow stronger, and it establishes a stronger constitution. 
I always use the sulphate of iron in the water, and we never have the gapes or roup, and this I 
have proved for over seventeen years. The egg custard is made as follows : — Beat three eggs up in 
half a pint of new milk, put in a saucepan, and stir over the fire until it becomes a thick curd ; then 
press the whey out by squeezing in a cloth. This custard I give every morning, and as they get 
older we mix with oatmeal and ground rice, which forms a very nutritious food, and we find them 
grow and thrive on it wonderfully. I attribute the great effect of custard thus fed, to the chickens 
getting the rich and strengthening diet the first thing every morning, and it is digested quicker than 
any other I know. If sulphate of iron is in the water, it is not requisite to change it so often as it 
would be if pure water. 
a j must now say a little on the preparation necessary to make Game fowls fit for the show- 
pen. First of all, when taken off their walks to pen for a day or two, before sending off to show, 
gently sponge the head and face with some lukewarm water and soap, then their legs and feet 
When thoroughly dry, get your attendant to hold the cock firmly but gently, the hands round the 
thighs, and his thumbs on the shoulder-coverts, the thumb not pressed in, but to feel and be ready 
