468 
Tiif. Illustrated Book oe Poultry. 
The following year I bred from the best of these Black cockerels with the choicest red-faced 
pullets, the result being pretty much the same as from the original White cross ; but as I now had 
some idea of what the various coloured chickens would turn out, I destroyed at once all that 
hatched entirely black, so that I had no birds grow up with red saddles. The strain of Whites to 
which I refer was splendid in style, carriage, and feather, but rather strong in bone ; and the 
consequence was that the chickens took after them, many being very large, so that some of the 
cockerels might almost have been mistaken for small Black Hamburghs. I had, therefore, to 
reduce the size, which I effected by careful feeding on diet specially adapted for the purpose,* and 
by hatching them late in the season, allowing them to run with the hen the whole of the winter, or, 
in case of failure on her part, supplying artificial heat. So successful was this process that it never 
had to be repeated, and two of my smallest hens, which won me many first prizes and were never 
beaten, were hatched from a hen that weighed more than two pounds. 
“ During the following winter my best cockerel was beaten (as a single cock) at a good show 
by a rather short-feathered bird, which was small, and had moderate ear-lobes. This bird I was 
therefore tempted to purchase as a cross. As to the cockerels this was a great mistake, as I had 
not a single really black one from him out of over seventy chickens that I reared ; but many of the 
pullets were little gems. With some of these I had recourse again, and for the last time, to the 
White cross, using a nice blue-legged bird ; and by carefully selecting the best birds for about three 
seasons, I succeeded in establishing my present strain of Black Bantams, which I think cannot be 
surpassed, breeding as they do so true to points, that out of several hundred chickens I have not 
had a dozen birds faulty in feather or with single combs. I may however add that three years 
ago one of the most perfect White cocks ever produced, and which won its owner many laurels, 
was bred from a sitting of Black Bantam eggs of my strain. For several seasons, of course, I have 
been glad to avail myself of birds for stock from yards which have been established from my own ; 
by which means, without crossing, I have been able to keep up the stamina of my stock to such an 
extent that some birds two and three years old carry as much and as good feather as usually 
carried by early-bred cockerels. 
“This is one of the most beautiful of the fancy varieties of poultry; and though generally 
looked upon as a strictly ornamental breed, yet I claim for it a place second to none (the 
Hamburgh excepted) for egg-producing properties, and for the returns they will give for the outlay 
in food ; as most of them are almost incessant layers of comparatively good-sized eggs, except 
during the coldest winter months, when few varieties can be relied upon for that purpose. Some of 
the hens are very keen sitters, and these always prove the best of nurses, defending their young 
most pluckily against all enemies ; though many never become broody, and I have at present 
several hens nine or ten years old that have never evinced the least desire to rear a family. 
“ Adult birds are very hardy and the chickens pretty easily reared, although during the 
attainment of the first feathers they require much care, for if neglected at that time many of them 
droop and die. At an early age they are very pugnacious, the cockerels often commencing to 
fight most determinedly at the age of five or six weeks. The whole of a brood generally presents 
a most disreputable and pitiable appearance at the end of a day’s campaign — some dying and 
others being scalped or otherwise permanently injured — though when about twelve weeks old they 
will settle down and agree much better, chickens of different broods seldom attacking each other, 
even if kept together long after they are full grown. The pullets also are very precocious, and 
if bred in the spring months, and well fed, they will often commence laying at from fifteen to 
seventeen weeks old. 
* See remarks on rearing Bantams, p. 484. 
