Part 4

During summer it is not requisite to remove the hen and chicken from these runs at night, but a little house made of a few boards nailed together, so as to resemble a dog-kennel, made water-tight, is necessary for shelter.

Some of the most successful breeders of Cochins have their grounds thus partitioned out and furnished with rude huts, boarded at the sides and covered on the top with some of the patent asphalte felt now so much used for roofing. This, if properly tarred, is perfectly waterproof, and being a bad conductor of heat, is warm in winter and cool in summer.

The common open circular wicker coop I regard as an exceedingly useful article in a poultry-yard, but not for the purpose to which it is generally applied, of keeping the hens in, but, on the contrary, for keeping them out. I have found it very convenient for feeding chicken under; the oatmeal, grits, and other expensive food used for the young birds is apt to be devoured by those of advanced growth, an evil which is readily prevented by placing it under a large coop which admits the younger chicken, and enables them to feed undisturbed by the others.

The remark is often made, that chicken reared in the country by cottagers are more vigorous and healthy than those bred in the most expensive poultry houses; this I believe to be entirely owing to the more natural circumstances under which they are brought up. Fresh air, fresh grass, and fresh ground for the hens to scratch in, far more than counterbalance the advantage of expensive diet and superior lodging, if these latter are unaccompanied with the more necessary circumstances just described.

The plans here recommended I found to be more than ordinarily successful during the most unfavourable chicken seasons, even on the cold clay soil in the neighbourhood of London, and I have there severely tested their perfect efficiency with regard to Cochins, Dorkings, Spanish, and Hamburghs.

In cases where fowls are bred in and in to preserve peculiar markings, or where, so to speak, a very artificial variety has been produced, great delicacy necessarily results; this, for example, is the case in the Sebright Bantam, and hardiness cannot be expected in such breeds; as well might the breeder of King Charles’ spaniels or Italian greyhounds expect similar success to that of the rearer of the Scotch terrier or sheep dog.

When chicken are hatched in the winter, or early spring months, either for competition in the chicken classes at the summer poultry shows, or for table use, some slight modification of these proceedings is requisite. I have tried enclosed rooms, both heated by stoves and fire-places and without, but have never found them answer, and am confident that even in winter chicken do better in an open shed than in any other situation; the shed, however, must face the south, and be warmly and closely sheltered from the north and east. The hens must be placed in coops, where all the sun can reach them; and there should be a little run of a few feet, enclosed by laths, wire-work or netting, for the hen and chicken to exercise in. The common triangular wooden coop is a very useful one for early chicken; but it should have a false bottom, to keep them off the cold ground, and this should be made to slide in and out, so as to be readily removed and cleaned. The coops, at night, should be warmly covered up with sacking or matting, and plenty of short hay or soft straw placed in the interior. The most successful breeder of early Cochins in the year 1853, reared all his birds in a shed thus arranged; but, instead of coops, he employed snugly built brick boxes, with abundance of short straw for the hen and chicken to sleep in; and in front of each box was a little alley or run, enclosed by laths, for an exercise ground,--the run not extending in front of the shed, so that it was not subject to be damped by the rain or dew.

Another precaution necessary to be taken with early chicken, even after they have attained some size, is to avoid letting them run in the grass whilst it is wet with dew, otherwise they are very apt to get chilled, and die with cramp. When hens are cooped care must be taken to supply them with gravel and a little mortar rubbish, or broken oyster shells,--the first being required for the digestion of the food, the second to furnish the materials of the bones of the growing chicken.

As I have elsewhere stated, the rearing of early chicken is always attended with risk and trouble, and extraordinary success must not be expected; it should only therefore be attempted under favourable circumstances; and unless chicken are bred for the summer poultry shows, or for early table use, for which purpose they fetch a high price in the market, it is not a desirable proceeding; for the best and finest birds, that alone should be kept for stock, are those hatched in April and May, as they attain their full size without having their growth once checked by cold.

Chicken, on the contrary, which are hatched at a late period of the year, have their growth checked by the colds of winter, and consequently never make large birds; hence the practice of hatching Bantams in autumn to prevent their attaining a large size, an object which is only accomplished by a sacrifice of constitutional strength and hardihood.

PROFITABLE VARIETIES.

In a work of this extent it is impossible to do more than allude to several of the least important varieties of the domestic fowl, and this is of less moment as the general directions given with regard to feeding, breeding, &c., apply, with very slight variations, to all the different breeds.

COCHINS OR SHANGHAES.--Cochins are perhaps the most popular fowl at the present time, and, in the opinion of many, deservedly take the first place on account of their good qualities as profitable stock, no less than from the estimation in which they are held as fancy fowls. So extensively have they been diffused over the entire length and breadth of the land, that a lengthened description of their peculiarities is scarcely requisite. Their large size, peculiar crow, small wings, rudimentary tail, and the extraordinary development of the fluffy feathers of the thighs and under parts of the body are familiar to all; these remarkable characteristics are carried to an extreme degree in the bird shown in the engraving, which is a representation of an imported hen, formerly the property of Mr. Andrews. In purchasing Cochins for stock, care should be taken to obtain birds of good quality, as breeding from second and third-rate fowls will be found exceedingly undesirable. As regards size, the cocks should weigh at least 10lbs., the hens 8lbs., when full grown; they should be short on the legs, which should be yellow and well feathered down to the tips of the outer toes, which should only be four in number on each foot. The tail feathers should, in both sexes, be very small, and almost hidden by the dense mass of saddle feathers covering the back, and the fluff should be well developed.

With regard to colour, at present the fashion is entirely in favour of the light buff birds, which, to command the highest prices, must even be destitute of dark markings on the neck hackle; or any slaty tinge in the downy under portions of the fluff, or of the body feathers. The rage for light buff birds I regard as an undue prejudice, and believe the darker breeds will be found quite as valuable for farming stock; in fact, the extreme prices which are commanded by the lightest birds are simply owing to the difficulty of breeding them perfectly free from dark colour; and am confident that it has had a very injurious effect upon the breed; for size and form have been sacrificed in the endeavour to rear birds of the desired colour, and in too many instances a set of small leggy almond shaped hens have taken the place of heavy square-built short-legged birds of a darker colour.

The white birds, though exceedingly ornamental, are scarcely equal in character to the coloured varieties, and the black have hitherto been only produced by crossing a buff with a white, and, as might be expected from such an origin, their progeny are very uncertain in their colour.

Putting aside the value of Cochins as fancy fowls, their chief importance as profitable poultry depends on the immense supply of winter eggs yielded by the pullets of the year. This, I am confident, will eventually be found their strongest recommendation; for table birds, their length of leg, small breast, and game-like flavour, are objectionable, and the colour of their skin renders them very unfit for being used as boiled fowls. The attempt to breed pure Cochins with a fuller breast I believe to be perfectly futile, their wings are so small in size that they never fly, and the muscles which move the wings and form the entire mass of flesh on the breast, are consequently of small size also; it would be as reasonable to expect the muscles of a blacksmith in the arms of a draper, as the plumpness of a Dorking on the breast of a Cochin. The hens are extremely good sitters, their large size enabling them to cover a great number of eggs, and their docility, and the readiness with which they sit in any situation in which they may be placed when broody, being also great recommendations. I have found that the eggs hatch remarkably well, and that the chicken are equally, if not more hardy than those of other fowl.

In speaking of their good qualities, their contentedness in a comparatively small space, their attachment to home, and the ease with which they are confined by a three feet fence, must not be omitted. Their chocolate coloured eggs, though small, are of good flavour, but they have not yet been sufficiently introduced into the markets to state how they are appreciated by the public at large. With regard to their laying twice in one day, such an event happens by far too rarely to be taken into consideration when speaking of their economical value, and when it does occur no egg is laid on the following day. The great drawback to Cochins, as farmers’ fowls, is the large quantity of food they require, which, notwithstanding all that has been said to the contrary by their exclusive admirers, is considerably greater than that consumed by other varieties, and their disposition leads them to remain at home instead of seeking for worms and other food in the fields; in fact, the old birds seem not to care for the large earth worms, which are so greedily devoured by all other fowls.

BRAHMA POOTRAS.--In the first edition of this book I inserted the description, from actual observation, of a pair of these birds that had been sent to this country from the United States, by Dr. Bennett, who claimed to be the original holder of the variety, and I left the question as to their being a distinct breed an open one; since that article was published a more extended experience and the opportunity of making anatomical examinations of very many specimens, have led me to form a decided opinion respecting their origin and true character.

All the Brahmas that have come under my notice, and I have made a point of seeing as many as possible, have been of either one or the other of the three following varieties, namely:--

1. Grey Cochins. 2. Cross-bred Cochin and Dorking. 3. Cross-bred Cochin and Malay, or Chittagong.

That the best of these birds are nothing more than grey Cochins, is proved by the fact that they have been frequently imported from Shanghae with the buff birds, ever since the latter have been introduced, and I know personally that the descendants of Grey Cochins, which were thus introduced into this country before the name of Brahma was ever heard of, have taken prizes as Brahma Pootras; the circumstance that those presented to the Royal Aviary were sent over from America as Grey Shanghaes would alone be sufficient to settle the question. As to the name which has been given to these birds, there is not one tittle of evidence to prove that they ever came from the region of the Brahma Pootra river, which, in the lower part of its course, is within one hundred and fifty miles of Calcutta, running through territory which has long been in the possession of the British; further from its mouth it flows through the country of Assam, to which some years since the East India Company sent two most observant naturalists to report on the natural history of the region, and had any such remarkable fowls existed it is scarcely credible that they could have escaped observation. A further and even more conclusive proof, if one were needed, may be found in their anatomical peculiarities; it is a fact, universally recognized by comparative anatomists, that the distinguishing characters of nearly allied animals are more strongly marked in the bones of the skull than in any other part of the body; if the skull of a Cochin be examined there will be found in the frontal bone, exactly under the base of the comb, a deep narrow groove running from before backwards, this remarkable structure is peculiar to these birds, being found in no other variety whatever, and is as strongly marked in the first named variety of so called Brahmas as in the Buff Cochins.

When it was found that grey birds were realising large sums, every mode of raising them was put in practice; single grey Cochins were mated with buff, and the progeny, when of the desired colour, were sold as Brahmas; in other cases Buff Cochins were paired with light Dorking hens, and many of the selected chicken found their way to the sale room. Under my own eye last season many of these birds were so manufactured; during the autumn, after the breeding for stock purposes was over, a Buff Cochin cock was allowed to run with some Dorking hens, the eggs of the lightest hen were hatched, and the Chicken were all greys, some were clear-legged, some white-legged, others five-toed; but several had well-feathered yellow legs with four toes, and these were undistinguishable from a large number of the birds sold as Brahmas. On examination I found the frontal groove strongly marked, although, as might be expected, in a rather less degree than in a pure bred Cochin.

The birds originating in the Malay or Chittagong cross have been chiefly imported from America, I cannot therefore give the particulars of their manufacture, but the long snaky neck, the upright gait, and the peculiar carriage of the head, render other evidence unnecessary, These birds also have the characteristic frontal groove.

After what has been stated, it will scarcely be expected that any lengthened description of these birds should be given. The best are simply Cochins, and as silver pencilled Shanghaes or Brahma Pootras, they were originally avowedly exhibited at the London shows. The Mongrels have every variety of form and almost of colour; from the most celebrated yards are shewn clear legs and feathered legs; yellow legs, and white legs; pea combs and single combs; white birds, grey birds, and even black birds, all pure Brahmas!! One person writes that they roam over acres, another authority states that they are more domesticated than Cochins; on the one hand, you hear of their laying eggs as large as those of turkeys, and on the other of their being of the average Cochin size; one day they are said to crow like their buff relations, and the next we hear that their voices are much more mellifluous.

My opinion of their merits and demerits may be stated in a few words; of the half breeds I will only say that they are worthless for stock purposes, as they do not breed true to any particular character; of the true grey Cochin I may state, as far as my experience goes, that they are generally leggy compared with the best bred buffs, and that in many of them there is a remarkable tendency (especially in the hens) to accumulate internal abdominal fat, or in other words to “go down behind” a state of things generally terminating in irregularity of the egg organs, which running on into inflammation is frequently fatal; at the same time, however, I have no doubt but that by careful breeding for a season or two they may be produced in every respect equal to the buff birds; Dr. W. C. Gwynne, who has reared them longer than any other amateur in this country, states his conviction that the genuine strain are a very good variety of grey Cochin, without the slightest cross: this verdict respecting them, coming as it does from one of the greatest admirers and most successful rearers of Brahmas, will, I have not the slightest doubt, be eventually universally acquiesced in; with regard to their hardihood as chicken, I may state that the most successful rearer of Cochins in the year 1853, to whose plans I have already alluded, and who spared no expense in getting first rate stock, informs me that he has reared Brahmas and Cochins in the same brood, and that he has not found the former by any means the hardier variety.

DORKINGS.--To those who rear chickens for the table there are no fowls so well adapted as the coloured Dorkings; though not remarkable as layers, as sitters and nurses they cannot be surpassed; whilst their large size, plump breasts, short legs, and delicate white flesh, render them the most desirable table birds.

Latterly much attention has been paid to this variety, and the result has been that great improvements in their size and good qualities have been effected. The engraving represents one of the old birds, of whom it has been truly said, “Their qualities surpass their charms.” In the improved kinds the head is smaller, the under part of the breast fuller, and the carriage of the bird more elegant, the body being more compact; the feathers are also firmer, and I have found along with this latter character that the birds are hardier and less subject to diseases of the egg organs. Dorkings vary very much in colour, and there is some difficulty in breeding them true to any marking. My own opinion is decidedly in favour of the dark birds, both as to appearance and hardiness, and I think there are no more noble fowls than a heavy, broad-chested, dark Dorking cock and a compact short-legged hen. Dorkings are bred with both single and double, or rose combs, but the former are generally preferred, on the score of appearance. In purchasing Dorkings for stock, broad compact bodies and short white legs, with five toes on each foot, should be regarded as indispensable; the weight of these birds varies very considerably; in the pens which have taken prizes at the recent poultry shows the cocks have usually weighed about ten, and the hens eight pounds, but these weights are beyond the average, and such birds are not generally to be obtained.

The white Dorkings, although exceedingly ornamental, are not of equal value in an economical point of view, being much smaller in size, and narrower and longer in the body; they are almost invariably bred with a rose or double comb, and are obviously a distinct variety from the coloured Dorking, the latter having evidently derived its size, aptitude to fatten, and other profitable characteristics from the large Surrey fowl, which differs only from what is now known as the colored Dorking, in the absence of the fifth toe.