VOL. XXXII. No. 11 
WHOLE No. 1337. 
'RICK SUE CENTS, 
•54.05 PER YEAR. 
[Entered according to A ct of Congre s s, In the year 1876, by the Rural Pn bllahing Company, In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
is of entirely Cuckoo plumage. Of the crest 
the front half is cuckooed, and the back half 
white. 
For the cuckooed cocks to be perfect they 
should be as well marked as the hens. The 
“Chamois’ 7 is of one color, brownish-yellow 
or speckled. The spot is clearer than the 
foundation of the plumage. Those “Chamois” 
have the peculiarity thnt the hens are very 
good sitters. 
WHICH ABE THE BEST LAYERS;! 
At a recent meeting of an agricultural as¬ 
sociation in New Hampshire, the advantage 
of the poultry and egg department of the 
farm was presented in a strong light by the 
Secretary. The revenue from this branch of 
farming was said to exceed that derived 
from the potato product of the State. A 
bushel of corn was said to produce niue 
pounds of live poultry. The amount of the 
product of a bushel of corn fad to hens for 
eggs was nine dozen. The manure from the 
perch was equivalent to guano, pound for 
pound, and would pay well for attendance 
of hens. The Secretary said this industry 
would furnish profitable employment, for 
men too infirm for field labor, and for wo¬ 
man’s active hauda and busy mind. For the 
egg department, the non sitters recommend¬ 
ed were :—Leghorns, Houdana and Black 
Spanish. Good layers were marked by sin¬ 
gle combs. Good layers were found in other 
breeds, but their product was small. The 
different varieties of liens, by experiment, 
were found to lay the following number of 
eggs yearly Dunghills, 240 ; Brahmas, 240 ; 
THE POULTRY-KEEPER-NO. 28 
PAOUAS, OR POLANDS—(CONTINUED). 
The feathers of the back (fig. 136) and those 
of the breast are spangled at the end and 
barred beyond the middle under the over¬ 
lapping feathers. Those of the shoulders 
(fig. 137) are white in the middle, surrounded 
by a deep black border. This border de¬ 
creases in the covert feathers of the tail (fig. 
138), and become slightly bordered in the 
large feathers of the wing and tail (fig. 139). 
The feathers of the sides and abdomen turn 
to down, and are of a mingled grayish color. 
A collar of small, short, turned-up feathers 
surrounds the cheeks and the under part of 
the beak. 
The eye is very large, and the pupil of a 
brick red. The leg is blue in all the varieties. 
The varieties are all alike in form. 
The cock of the Golden and Silver varieties 
essentially differs from the hen in plumage. 
The crest, the hackle, the lance-shapcd 
feathers, and the shoulders are of a variable 
shining white, on which can hardly be seen 
some small black spots. The black eharac- 
TURKEYS, 
Many good ladies take all (he care pos¬ 
sible of their young broods, and then have 
the mortification of having them dwindle 
away and die. 
I have seen for fifty years that there is 
nothing so ridiculous as to treat poultry of 
any kind in an unnatural way ; the only se¬ 
cret, or, I should say, knowledge, requisite is 
to so modify the treatment of the young in 
their state of domestication as to have the 
same influence as the food and shelter the 
forest provides ; for instance, under trees the 
herbage is not so thick in the bottom as in 
the open spaces, and the foliage prevents the 
dew from being heavy, consequently at dawn 
the brood can move about and procure a 
morning’s meal without going among the 
wet grass, and when a storm is coming on 
the old hen instinctively moves into some 
sheltered spot. 
In general the raisers of turkeys confine 
them too much, and thus prevent them from 
obtaining the flies and other insects which 
abound in grass and on the sides of fences 
and by small rivulets, &c. Most decidedly 
the old turkey should be allowed to roam 
with her young, and as for feeding pepper 
or any other than food, it is absurd. 
As domesticated turkeys do not meet with 
all the variety of insects, &c., which abound 
in woods, they have to be fed with some 
things which are found to be good for them, 
and curds are the best and eheupest food, 
boiled eggs being also good, but are too ex¬ 
pensive. 
One of my sons has a fancy for poultry, 
and has this year raised some by only feed¬ 
ing them with curd three times per day ; he 
VERMIN ON FOWLS, 
There are at least threo different kinds of 
lice which infest poultry and their quarters. 
(We do not now include the acams, that 
produces what is known as “poultry it.eh” 
and “ scabby or scurvy legs,” &c.) There is 
the largo louse found for the most part in 
the heads of young chicks. This is quite de¬ 
structive to the broods, and by some is sup¬ 
posed Jp the parent of the gape worm. 
Whether'tills supposition is true or not this 
louse will certainly destroy young chicks un¬ 
less it is removed and the broods protected 
from its attacks. Then there is the common 
body louse, found mostly under the wings 
and the more inaccessible parts of the skin. 
These are, perhaps the least noxious of any 
of the different kinds ; but they evidently 
annoy the fowls, and should not be allowed 
to remain on them. 
The third class of lice is the small red 
“ mite,” found only In the house or roosting 
places and nests. These are, perhaps, the 
most annoying and troublesome to the fowls 
of all, and are more numerous than either of 
the other kinds. They may be found in 
nearly all roosts and houses that have been 
used by fowls one or more years where espe¬ 
cial care has not been exercised to exter¬ 
minate them. They stay in crevices on the 
Fig. 138.—Tail Feather. 
the fluff, and in some degree to the longer 
feathers, until they begin to get white to 
the large sickles, when they are quite white 
and only black at the ends. 
The Golden variety is marked with black 
on a bright, brownish-yellow ground. The 
Silver is entirely white. The Black is en- 
irely black. One of the prettiest varieties 
Fig. 187.—Shoulder Feather, 
goes with a team, and thus only sees them 
before he goes out in the morning, at noon, 
and after he gets in of an evening, the hens 
taking them about in his absence. They 
hatched out the first week in May, and now 
the old gobbler has been around with them 
for the last month, while the hens are hatch- 
ng out to-day (July 11) a second lot. 
Fig. 136.—Back Feather, 
roosts or walls and nest-boxes during the day 
and creep upon the fowls and feed at night. 
They are seldom found on the fowls during 
the day, except on sitting hens. Theae are 
the ones that are so annoying to the brood¬ 
ing hens, forcing them to abandon their nests. 
They are sometimes found in great numbers 
n neglected quarters. 
Fig. 139.—Large Wing and Tail Feather. 
Black Spanish, 120 to 160 ; Leghorns, 200; 
Hamburgs, 240 ; Houdana, 250. The Secre¬ 
tary would feed moist food in the morning 
and dry at night. The liability to disease 
should be prevented, as it might be, in a 
great degree, by care and attention. 
The above contains some valuable hints for 
those who keep poultry for profit. 
