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THE REARING AND MANAGEMENT OF

FOWLS.

"Quamvis nulla non mulier Gallinaceum genus sciat educere, sunt tamen nonnulla præcepta à diligentissimis antiquis Geoponicis præscripta, quæ illas non tantum, sed fortè eruditos etiam latent."-ALDROVANDI.

"Although every woman knows how to rear the gallinaceous tribe, yet some precepts have been prescribed by the most assiduous ancient Geoponics, which are unknown, not only to them, but perhaps even to the erudite."

THERE are two classes of Fowl-breeders: those who rear them for amusement, and for the convenience of having a few chickens at hand to kill, and a few Hens on the goodness of whose eggs they can depend; and those whose only object is to increase their stock as fast as possible, as a matter of business, and solely for gain and profit. It may safely be stated that the number of those who can strictly be included in this latter division is extremely limited. Even the poor cottager who has just a couple of Hens, and is dependent upon some richer neighbour for a supply of eggs that will produce chickens, keeps them more because she finds pleasure in seeing the good creatures busying about with their broods, than for any profitable advantage she is likely to get by them. If she be poor, with a large family, she no more presumes to indulge herself with keeping Fowls, than she would with a caged Lark, or Goldfinch, or Thrush. If she be lone and industrious, and so have a trifle to spare, or be the childless wife of a thrifty husband, she may gratify her pride with Cocks and Hens, to the envy of her neighbours. Even on large farms it is more as save-alls and collectors of scattered fragments, which would otherwise be wasted, that Fowls are serviceable. And if the farmer were to charge his wife with all the corn consumed in their rearing and fatting, we may venture to assert that a much

smaller supply of them would be sent to market. These observations are less applicable to Ducks, Geese, and Turkeys; but in no case is any account taken of the time their tending demands, that being considered as part of the household routine, or even in the light of a relaxation. It is not by those who usually rear chickens that large profits are made, although the gross sum returned at the end of the year may appear to be large. The greatest gainers are the travelling dealers who scour the country, and buy, for the lowest farthing they can get them, small lots of Fowls and eggs here and there, the superabundant produce of various housewives, either disposing of them immediately at advanced prices, or shutting up the birds at once to be fatted for market. The poulterers and feeders on a large scale in great towns doubtless drive a remunerating trade. It is the middle-men who are the principal gainers. And when we shall have succeeded in producing peaches and nectarines for the million, for dessert, we may calculate on giving Poultry for the million, for dinner.

Those who set about keeping Fowls as amateurs for the first time, to whom alone we address ourselves, are recommended to begin with a limited number, such as a Cock and four or five Hens, of some distinct and choice breed; or, if it be desired to test the value of different sorts of Hens, one or two of them may be admitted, care being taken to separate all the cross-bred progeny for the fatting coop and the dinner-table. It will add to the amusement derived, if, in the first instance, strong three-quarter grown chickens are procured, instead of adult birds, so that an opportunity is given of watching their progress to maturity.

As to fowl-houses and other accommodations, so much depends upon circumstances, that minute directions are almost impertinent. The three grand requisites are cleanliness, dryness, and warmth. Those who wish for anything on a large scale, will find plenty of plans and descriptions in books, so that if they choose they may lay

out as much money in a hen-house as would build a comfortable cottage ornèe. But most people have little choice in the matter; they must take or adapt such conveniences as they find around them. The Fowls themselves are not very fastidious; but we may be sure that the more we attend to the comforts of our domestic animals, the more they will reward our trouble.

In the first place then, the Fowls should have a good roof overhead. Many such outbuildings are merely tiled, my own till lately among the number. During summer this construction is the best, as all night long the house is ventilated with warm air passing through the interstices of the tiles that have been heated by the sun the whole day. Of course the roof is supposed to be in such good repair, and the tiles so well overlapped, that no drippings of water from above are admitted. But in winter such draughts are very injurious, particularly as the Fowls will roost as near to the roof as they can get, so that their head, the most sensitive part, is most exposed to the influence of cold. Last autumn (1847) I lost several favourite birds- -a valuable Turkey among the numbersolely from this cause, as I believe. The expense of ceiling with lath and plaster is trifling, the winter comfort of the Fowls must be much increased, and with it their health and profitableness. Leaving the door open for a while every day will sufficiently change the air in any weather.

Rough poles, two or three inches in diameter, with the bark left on, make the best roosting perches; to which a hen-ladder should afford a convenient means of ascent, to save the birds the strain of flying up, and perhaps frequent falls in consequence of failure. The nests or laying places may be either wooden fixtures contiguous to the wall, or the Hens may be accommodated with shallow hampers here and there, out of the way of dirt, and easily reached. The fixed nests should be thoroughly whitewashed inside and out, at least once a month during summer, to destroy fleas, &c. The hampers may be taken

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down, shaken out, and completely purified at intervals. If the floor of the house can be swept every day, and sprinkled with fresh sand, gravel, or ashes, so much the better. Dust and cobwebs on the walls, and up the corners, are neither a decoration nor an advantage. Cobbett says that no pigsty is what it ought to be, unless it is clean enough and dry enough for a man, upon a pinch, to pass a night in it with tolerable comfort; we say that no fowl-house is what it ought to be, unless it is in such a state as to afford a lady, without offending her sense of decent propriety, a respectable shelter on a showery day. To close all, a good door is requisite, with a small wicket gate at the bottom, to allow ingress and egress. It is better that Turkeys should not roost in the same house, as they are apt to be cross to sitting and laying Hens; if they do, the wicket must be of proportional size. My readers, I hope, will not be offended at a hint that a hole that will admit a Turkey, will also allow a Hen to pass; and that there is no need to make a smaller aperture by the side of the larger, unless they like the look of it. A first-rate lock can do no harm on the door, ne ad aves feles habeant aut coluber accessum, et æquè noxiæ prohibeantur pestes.”—“ That no cats or snakes have access to the birds, and that other equally noxious pests* be kept at a distance." Possibly even in classical times there were such creatures as fowl-stealers.

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With peace and plenty the newly arrived young Fowls will thrive apace. Soon after they are full-grown, the

comb both of the Cock and the Hens will be observed to become of a more brilliant red, the Cock will crow more lustily, and with more of a canto fermo than before, the Hens will grow animated, restless, full of busy importance, as if a new idea had lately broke in upon their minds. Bye and bye they will commence prating and cackling, and in a few days the delighted Pullet will lay her first egg. It is hard to say which receives the most

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Pestis, A rogue, a villain."-Ainsworth's Dictionary.

pleasure at contemplating the smooth, immaculate production, the Hen or her amateur owner. And when,

time after time, the first instalment is followed by similar deposits, she thinks herself, and is thought, a perfect paragon. Such are the pleasures of productiveness. Those whose inherited wealth comes to them quarterly or annually, without any thought or exertion on their part, have no conception how bright and beautiful the money looks of which they can say "I have fairly and honestly earned it; I have done something useful for it." So with the Hen; she is an industrious little save-all. She rescues from waste many a minute portion of nutritious matter, collects it in her crop, and converts it into wholesome food for Man. After a while her own turn comes to be served; the pleasures of motherhood must be accorded to her. Nature has been sufficiently tasked in one direction; she becomes feverish, loses flesh, her comb is livid, her eye dull. She sees in her heated fancy her young ones crowding around her, bristles her feathers to intimidate an imaginary enemy, and, as if they were already there, she utters the maternal "cluck"-" chiglocientes "—"clock-hens;" "Sic enim appellant rustici aves eas quæ volunt incubare."

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In no other bird, that I am aware, is the desire of incubation thus manifested. I am very much inclined to attribute it to the imagination of the Fowl anticipating the duties that are to follow. The cry is exactly the same, although other various tones are afterwards made use of; for example, the acute voice with which she calls her chicks to partake of some dainty, which is also used by the male bird to assemble his Hens on a similar occasion, -and the short staccato note which gives warning of danger from a hawk, or a strange dog. Indeed, the language of Fowls, though inarticulate, is sufficiently fixed and determined for us to know what some of it means, But the Hen that "clucks" is evidently thinking about her future young; and she is not alone in indulging such dreams of offspring. A caged Virginian Nightingale has

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