1182 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
September 13, 1024 
European Poultry Breeds Seen at Home 
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ROFITABLE FOWLS.—One of the first 
essentials to success in poultry-keeping to¬ 
day is a well-selected, economical and 
(profit-making breed of fowls. The produc¬ 
ing hen is the business unit of the poultry 
farm. Here in America we are accus- 
to seeing White Leghorns by countless thou- 
populating the egg farms, fine old Barred 
and Rhode Island Reds on many a general 
great worth and universal recognition. But in the 
course of a month’s visit to English poultry farms I 
had the opportunity to see at close range a few of 
the breeds and varieties that have become types of 
commercial importance, and it is to these that I 
farm where a dual-purpose poultry production is de¬ 
sired, and many another variety distributed along 
the way, making up a rather massive group of dif¬ 
ferent types and kinds. But, however many kinds 
we may have to choose from, there is always a note 
of interest hovering over still another type or over a 
new breed. On traveling along roadsides in the differ¬ 
ent poultry raising countries of Europe I saw chickens 
of peculiar economic value, and fowls which are fill¬ 
ing a very definite purpose and xfiace in the industry 
of those countries. In this article I would tell The 
It. N.-Y. readers of some of the kinds of poultry 
visited in Spain and, later, in England. 
THE MINORCA IN SPAIN.—Off the Mediter¬ 
ranean coast of Spain, not so far from Barcelona, 
lies the island of Minorca, the ancestral home, so 
tradition has it, of the large black breed of poultry 
•which bears its name. I found the Spanish poultry- 
men whom I met at the congress at Barcelona very 
decidedly interested in the Minorca. The pen of 
American Minorcas which were on exhibit cre¬ 
ated much favorable comment. They offered a 
basis for comparison. The usual Minorca fowl seen 
on the Spanish poultry farm is somewhat less stand¬ 
ardized than ours, though it is large, rather angular, 
and has white skin, as does ours. The Spanish poul- 
trymen often spoke of the large white egg they se¬ 
cured from their Minorcas, and seemed to feel that 
that was one of the fine characteristics of the breed. T 
saw more Minorca breeders than Leghorn breeders 
at Barcelona, strange as that may seem. The black 
variety decidedly predominates; in fact their idea of 
Minorcas is one of black fowls. This wonderful 
breed has many splendid characteristics. It was 
good to see them being raised in considerable num¬ 
bers over in their native land. I was impressed with 
the Spaniard’s desire to get a large egg, and a white 
one. Is it not a lesson for our poultry industry? 
TH E PRAT ANI) THE PAR ALSO FOWL.—In 
Cataluna, that province 
in Northern Spain where 
Barcelona is located, 
there has been for many 
years a rather stocky, 
heavy-type fowl known 
as the Prat fowl. There 
are several varieties, as 
to color, with the white 
apparently the general 
favorite. It produces a 
brown - shelled egg of 
good size, though not of 
(great number per fowl 
per year. It might be 
said to be the general 
farm fowl of that sec¬ 
tion, perhaps. It is not 
an especially quick raa- 
turer, but a general all¬ 
round chicken of con¬ 
siderable worth. Senor 
('astello has been inter¬ 
ested for years in the 
production o f capons 
and roasting fowls for 
the Barcelona trade. 
Some few years ago he 
mated White Prat fowls 
to White Orpington 
males from England, 
and from that original cross has perfected a 
large, wliite-plumaged, white-skinned fowl of great 
beauty, very fair uniformity, comparatively early 
maturity, and very well adapted to specialized meat 
production. 
THE BLUE-EGG HEN OF THE ANDES.—Of 
passing interest, because it is so different, was the 
queer little hen which Senor Gastello had brought 
to Spain from Chile, in South America, a hen which 
lays blue-shelled eggs. 
POULTRY BREEDS IN ENGLAND.—Of course 
it is to be said at the very start that when one goes 
to England he realizes that there he may see a very 
large collection of pure breeds and varieties of 
At Mr. Kenward’s, in Heathfield, Sussex, we saw one 
of the veterans in the crate fattening industry. He 
raises several hundred of his own young Sussex roasters 
each year, and every one of them under hens. The pic¬ 
ture above shows this interesting character of the Eng¬ 
lish poultry world with a back-fitting crate of his own 
manufacture, used for the carrying of fowls into his 
fattening sheds. 
would refer in this article. Easily of first impor¬ 
tance, certainly of most profound interest to us, was 
the Light Sussex fowl. It is always interesting to 
visit the birthplace of a race. One Saturday morn¬ 
ing the American party motored down from London 
At the Chivers & Sons immense farm in Histon, Cambridge, England, there were sev 
Sussex fowls. At that farm, ae on many English farms, the mother liert is employed. 
dozens scattered about in a field near the poultry buildings. 
to the beautiful and agriculturally prolific county 
of Sussex, making our first stop at Heathfield. We 
were in the heart of the homeland of the Sussex 
breed of chickens, a breed which has come to Amer¬ 
ica, but which can hardly claim so distinct a place in 
our commercial industry as it does at home. I found 
one large poultry fattening establishment using prae-’ 
tically nothing but young Light Sussex fowls in their 
crates and fattening batteries. A poultry crammer 
who told us that he had been cramming fowls for 
30 years said that he had never found a finer mar¬ 
ket type of carcass than that furnished by the Sus¬ 
sex breed, and that in fact it had been built up 
largely to fit the demands of the discriminating 
London trade for especially fine table poultry. He 
intimated that he personally preferred the Brown 
Sussex, a variety we do not know in America, but 
which we saw in Heathfield that day. The Brown 
is in type like the other members of the Sussex 
breed, but in plumage resembles a faded light brown 
Leghorn. It is attractive. The Red Sussex is also 
to be seen. The Light Sussex is raised by thousands 
to every small flock of the others, however. What 
is the Light Sussex, as raised in Southern England? 
It is in size close to our Plymouth Rocks, and not so 
unlike them in shape. The skin, beak and shanks 
are white, and the flesh is fine in quality. The breed 
matures rapidly for a fowl of its size, and does well 
under fattening restrictions. 
USING LIGHT SUSSEX IN CROSSES.—It is 
usually a rather dangerous thing even to mention 
crossing established pure breeds. I saw the Light 
Sussex hens being crossed in England with Brown 
Leghorn males in many different parts of the coun¬ 
try. The resulting chicks at hatching time can read¬ 
ily be divided into male and female lots. The males 
are pushed for “finished” broilers, while the pullets 
are kept for table egg production; 100 per cent pullet 
baby chick flocks are possible. True, the original cross 
must be made each year, but when there are breeders 
to do this who may sell baby chicks to egg producers, 
the idea is worth thinking about. Anyway, it is be¬ 
ing done, with success. The pullets from this cross 
are rather larger than Leghorns, brownish in color, 
and strong and vigorous. The cockerels make a su¬ 
perior broiler or fryer. 
ORPINGTONS.—On the very interesting and beau¬ 
tiful ride up to London from Dover we saw T the 
original home of the Orpingtons, the farm of Mr. 
Cook, who first produced the breed to which he later 
gave the name of the little town in which he lived. 
In numerous places in England we saw Orpington 
flocks, especially fine Black Orpingtons. By the way, 
Mrs. Forbes’ fine pen of Buff Orpingtons, bred in 
Kansas, created quite a stir among the English poul- 
trymen attending the show in Barcelona. 
AUSTRALORPS.—At several of the egg-laying 
trials I saw pens labeled “Australorps.” At the 
Bentley Trials I made inquiries and found that this 
breed is the fowl that has resulted from the intro¬ 
duction of Black Orpingtons into Australia, 
the breeding of them 
there for egg produc¬ 
tion. and the consequent 
change in type. The 
Australorps have made 
quite some good records 
in England. They are 
egg type Black Orping¬ 
tons, with rather closer 
plumage than on the 
original Black Orping¬ 
tons, somewhat longer 
bodies, and a less heavy 
appearance. If they had 
yellow skins they might 
have resembled some of 
our egg-producing Jer¬ 
sey Black Giants. 
[BARN E V ELTERS 
F R O M HOLLAND.— 
My attention was first 
attracted to Barnevel- 
ters while in Spain, for 
the Dutch delegation 
had several fine speci¬ 
mens of the breed on 
exhibit, and a particu¬ 
larly interesting exhibit 
of their eggs. I next saw 
them in several of the 
pens at egg-laying trials 
in England, and then in London on the Smithfield 
Market I saw the Barnevelter eggs coming in to 
help satisfy the egg trade of the great metropolis. 
The Barnevelter is a native of the Netherlands coun¬ 
try. It is a medium-sized fowl, in type rather like a 
large and somewhat coarse Leghorn, the hens aver¬ 
aging something like 6 lbs., I should presume. The 
plumage is black with a mottling of red, which is a 
new and distinctive color pattern to American breed¬ 
ers. The egg is medium in size, but very dark in 
color. I never saw such dark brown eggs as those 
on exhibition in Barcelona. We think some of our 
Asiatics lay dark eggs, but the Barnevelters go them 
(Continued on Page 1198) 
eral hundred very fine Light 
This coop was one of many 
