HISTORY OP ANCONAS 
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Ancona ( characteristics 
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The word “characteristic” has a. 
broad meaning, and this chapter uses 
the term in its fullest sense, of deno¬ 
ting distinctive qualities or distinguish¬ 
ing traits. 
The predom'nant feature of the 
breed is EGGS. Eggs in great num¬ 
bers, winter Eggs, very large Eggs, 
White Eggs, Eggs produced at less cost 
per dozen than any other breed of 
fowls ever did, and Eggs from pullets 
four to ten weeks younger than from 
pullets of any other breed. 
I maintain that the poultry business 
is carried on mainly for egg production, 
and that the profit in poultry is in eggs. 
Anyone wishing to produce meat for 
profit can do it to much better ad¬ 
vantage with four-legged animals, and 
should raise rabbits and hogs instead 
of poultry. 
Five Anconas will thrive on the 
amount of food necessary to maintain 
three of the heavier American, Asiatic 
or English birds, and Anconas are also 
easier keepers than any other of the 
smaller Mediterranean fowls. To this 
characteristic, and the fact that An¬ 
conas produce more eggs per year, and 
a larger per cent of eggs during the 
winter months when the price of eggs 
is high, is due the fact that Anconas 
excel all other breeds for profit. 
Another characteristic of Anconas is 
their large eggs, weighing 24 to 32 
ounces per dozen. This makes them 
preferred in market, and more particu 
larly will this be true when eggs are 
sold by weight, as they should be, and 
as Ancona breeders have urged for 
years. 
Anconas are non-setters, and while 
an occasional hen will become broody 
during the late breeding season, she is 
easily broken up and resumes laying. 
It is unwise to depend on Anconas to 
hatch eggs, and if a breeder wishes to 
use hens for hatching it is best to se¬ 
cure Plymouth Rocks, Rhode Island 
Reds, etc., for that purpose. 
Anconas are remarkable for their 
hardiness, and this applies to them 
from baby chicks to maturity: The 
baby chicks are very lively and vigor¬ 
ous, and are less liable to disease and 
ailments that affect more delicate 
chicks. Therefore errors in feeding 
and brooding are less disastrous when 
amateurs have Anconas. Mature birds 
are exceptionally well adapted to the 
rigors of the winters in northern Uni¬ 
ted States and Canada, where this pro¬ 
nounced characteristic has helped to 
make them so popular. 
On free range Anconas are very self 
reliant, and forage far beyond the 
areas to which fowls usually confine 
themselves. In the confinement of vil¬ 
lage and city back lots Anconas are 
tame and contented, and do not chafe 
in small quarters. 
Early maturity is such a prominent 
characteristic of Anconas, that it is 
always remarked upon by breeders. 
Hatched and brooded alongside of any 
other breeds, Anconas will develop 
very much the fastest. Their wing and 
tail feathers grow faster, their combs 
are larger at any stage of growth, they 
are fit for light broilers ahead of others, 
the roosters will crow first, and pullets 
will begin to lay at 16 to 20 weeks of 
age, while other breeds rarely begin 
to lay younger than 6 or 7 months. 
Anconas are an extremely attractive 
fowl, and their trim appearance, proud 
carriage, alertness, handsome plumage 
of black-and-white, and uniformity of 
color make such a pleasing sight that 
they never fail to attract attention. 
They always are greatly admired in 
the show room, on the lawn, in the pen, 
cr on range. 
