Poultry Part 5

The chickens intended to be exhibited should be distinguished from their companions by small stripes of different coloured silks loosely sewn round their legs, which distinguis.h.i.+ng colours should be entered in the poultry-book. A few good birds should always be kept in reserve to fill up the pen in case of accidents.

Weight is more important in the December and later winter shows than at those held between August and November, but at all shows feather and other points of compet.i.tors being equal weight must carry the day, Game and Bantams excepted. It is not safe to trust to the apparent weight of a bird, for the feathers deceive, and it is therefore advisable to weigh the birds occasionally. Each should be weighed in a basket, allowance being made for the weight of the basket, and they should if possible be weighed before a meal. But fowls that are over-fattened, as some judges very improperly desire, cannot be in good health anymore than "crammed"

fowls, and are useless for breeding, producing at best a few puny, delicate, or sickly chickens; thus making the exhibition a mere "show,"

barren of all useful results.

Pullets continue to grow until they begin to lay, which almost or quite stops their growth; and therefore if great size is desired for exhibition, they should be kept from the c.o.c.kerels and partly from stimulating food until a month before the show, when they will be required to be matched in pens. During this month they should have extra food and attention.

If fowls intended for exhibition are allowed to sit, the chickens are apt to cause injury to their plumage, and loss of condition, while if prevented from sitting, they are liable to suffer in moulting. Their chickens may be given to other hens, but the best and safest plan is to set a broody exhibition hen on duck's eggs, which will satisfy her natural desire for sitting, while the young ducklings will give her much less trouble, and leave her sooner than a brood of her own kind.

All the birds in a pen should match in comb, colour of their legs, and indeed in every particular. Mr. Baily mentions "a common fault in exhibitors who send two pens composed of three excellent and three inferior birds, so divided as to form perhaps one third cla.s.s and one highly commended pen: whereas a different selection would make one of unusual merit. If an amateur who wishes to exhibit has fifteen fowls to choose from, and to form a pen of a c.o.c.k and two hens, he should study and scan them closely while feeding at his feet in the morning. He should then have a place similar to an exhibition pen, wherein he can put the selected birds; they should be raised to the height at which he can best see them, and before he has looked long at them defects will become apparent one after the other till, in all probability, neither of the subjects of his first selection will go to the show. We also advise him rather to look for defects than to dwell on beauties--the latter are always prominent enough. The pen of which we speak should be a moveable one for convenience' sake, and it is well to leave the fowls in it for a time that they may become accustomed to each other, and also to an exhibition pen." Birds that are strangers should never be put into the same hamper, for not only the c.o.c.ks but even the hens will fight with and disfigure each other.

Some give linseed for a few days before the exhibition to impart l.u.s.tre to the plumage, by increasing the secretion of oil. A small quant.i.ty of the meal should be mixed with their usual soft food, as fowls generally refuse the whole grain. But buckwheat and hempseed, mixed in equal proportions, if given for the evening meal during the last ten or twelve days, is healthier for the bird, much liked, and will not only impart equal l.u.s.tre to the plumage, but also improve the appearance of the comb and wattles.

Spanish fowls should be kept in confinement for some days before the show, with just enough light to enable them to feed and perch, and the place should be littered with clean straw. This greatly improves their condition; why we know not, but it is an established fact. Game fowls should be kept in for a few days, and fed on meal, barley, and bread, with a few peas, which tend to make the plumage hard, but will make them too fat if given freely. Dark and golden birds should be allowed to run about till they have to be sent off. Remove all scurf or dead skin from the comb, dry dirt from the beak, and stains from the plumage, and wash their legs clean. White and light fowls that have a good gra.s.s run and plenty of clean straw in their houses and yards to scratch in, will seldom require was.h.i.+ng, but town birds, and country ones if not perfectly clean, should be washed the day before the show with tepid water and mild white soap rubbed on flannel, care being taken to wash the feathers downwards, so as not to break or ruffle them; afterwards wiped with a piece of flannel that has been thoroughly soaked in clean water, and gently dried with soft towels before the fire; or the bird may be entirely dipped into a pan of warm water, then rinsed thoroughly in cold water, wiped with a flannel, and placed in a basket with soft straw before a fire to dry. They should then be shut up in their houses with plenty of clean straw. They should have their feet washed if dirty, and be well fed with soft nouris.h.i.+ng food just before being put into the travelling-basket, for hard food is apt to cause fever and heat while travelling, and, having to be digested without gravel or exercise, causes indigestion, which ruffles the plumage, dulls its colour, darkens the comb, and altogether spoils the appearance of the bird. Sopped or steeped bread is excellent.

The hampers should always be round or oval in form, as fowls invariably creep into corners and destroy their plumage. They should be high enough for the c.o.c.ks to stand upright in, without touching the top with their combs. Some exhibitors prefer canvas tops to wicker lids, considering that the former preserve the fowls' combs from injury if they should strike against the top, while others prefer the latter as being more secure, and allowing one hamper to be placed upon another if necessary, and also preserving the fowls from injury if a heavy hamper or package should otherwise be placed over it. A good plan is to have a double canvas top, the s.p.a.ce between being filled with hay. A thick layer of hay or straw should be placed at the bottom of the basket. Wheaten straw is the best in summer and early autumn, and oat or barley straw later in the year and during winter. A good lining also is essential; coa.r.s.e calico st.i.tched round the inside of the basket is the best. Ducks and geese do not require their hampers to be lined, except in very cold weather; and the best lining for them is made by st.i.tching layers of pulled straw round the inside of the basket. Turkeys should have their hampers lined, for although they are very hardy, cold and wet damage their appearance more than other poultry. Take care that the geese cannot get at the label, for they will eat it, and also devour the hempen fastenings if within their reach.

Be very careful in entering your birds for exhibition; describe their ages, breed, &c., exactly and accurately, and see yourself to the packing and labelling of their hampers.

Mr. F. Wragg, the superintendent of the poultry-yard of R. W. Boyle, Esq., whose fowls have a sea voyage from Ireland besides the railway journey, and yet always appear in splendid condition and "bloom," ties on one side of the hamper, "near the top, a fresh-pulled cabbage, and on the other side a good piece of the bottom side of a loaf, of which they will eat away all the soft part. Before starting, I give each bird half a tablespoonful of port wine, which makes them sleep a good part of the journey. Of course, if I go with my birds, as I generally do, I see that they, as well as myself, have 'refreshment' on the road."[A] The cabbage will always be a treat, and the loaf and wine may be added for long journeys.

Birds are frequently over-fed at the show, particularly with barley, which cannot be properly digested for want of gravel and exercise; and therefore, if upon their return their crops are hard and combs look dark, give a tablespoonful of castor oil; but if they look well do not interfere with them. They should not have any grain, but be fed sparingly on stale bread soaked in warm ale, with two or three mouthfuls of tepid water, for liquid is most hurtful if given in quant.i.ty. They should not be put into the yard with the other fowls which may treat them, after their absence, as intruders, but be joined with them at night when the others have gone to roost. On the next day give them a moderate allowance of soft food with a moderate supply of water, or stale bread sopped in water, and a sod of gra.s.s or half a cabbage leaf each, but no other green food; and on the following day they may have their usual food.

When the fowls are brought back, take out the linings, wash them, and put them by to be ready for the next show; and after the exhibition season, on a fine dry day, wash the hampers, dry them thoroughly, and put them in a dry place. Never use them as quiet berths for sick birds, which are sure to infect them and cause the illness of the next occupants; or as nesting-places for sitting hens, which may leave insects in the crevices that will be difficult to eradicate.

In our descriptions of the various Breeds, we have given sufficient general information upon the Exhibition Points from the best authorities; but considerable differences of opinion have been expressed of late years, and eminent breeders dissent in some cases even from the generally recognised authority of the popular "Standard of Excellence."

We, therefore, advise intending exhibitors to ascertain the standards to be followed at the show and the predilections of the judges, and to breed accordingly, or, if they object to the views held, not to compete at that exhibition.

TECHNICAL TERMS.

_Coverts._--The _upper_ and _lower wing coverts_ are those ranges of feathers which cover the primary quills; and the _tail coverts_ are those feathers growing on each side of the tail, and are longer than the body feathers, but shorter than those of the tail.

_Dubbing._--Cutting off the comb and wattles of a c.o.c.k; an operation usually confined to Game c.o.c.ks.

_Ear-lobe._--The small feathers covering the organ of hearing, which is placed a little behind the eye.

_Flight._--The last five feathers of each wing.

_Fluff._--The silky feathers growing on the thighs and hinder parts of Cochin-China fowls.

_Hackles._--The _neck hackles_ are feathers growing from the neck, and covering the shoulders and part of the back; and the _saddle hackles_ those growing from the end of the back, and falling over the sides.

_Legs._--The _legs_ are properly the lower and scaly limbs, the upper part covered with feathers and frequently mis-called legs, being correctly styled the _thighs_.

_Primary Quills._--The long, strong quills, usually ten in number, forming the chief portion of each wing, and the means of flight.

_Vulture-hocked._--Feathers growing from the thigh, and projecting backwards below the knee.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Buff and White Cochin-China. Malay c.o.c.k. Light and Dark Brahmas.]

CHAPTER X.

COCHIN-CHINAS, OR SHANGHAES.

Like many other fowls these possess a name which is incorrectly applied, for they came from Shanghae, not Cochin-China, where they were comparatively unknown. Mr. Fortune, who, from his travels in China, is well qualified to give an opinion, states that they are a Chinese breed, kept in great numbers at Shanghae; the real Cochin-China breed being small and elegantly shaped. But all attempts to give them the name of the port from which they were brought have failed, and the majority of breeders persist in calling them Cochins. In the United States both names are used, the feather-legged being called Shanghaes, and the clean-legged Cochins.

The first Shanghae fowls brought to this country were sent from India to Her Majesty, which gave them great importance; and the eggs having been freely distributed by the kindness of the Queen and the Prince Consort, the breed was soon widely spread. They were first introduced into this country when the northern ports of China, including Shanghae, were thrown open to European vessels on the conclusion of the Chinese war in 1843; but some a.s.sign the date of their introduction from 1844 to 1847, and say that those called Cochins, exhibited by the Queen in 1843, were not the true breed, having been not only entirely without feathers on the shanks, but also altogether different in form and general characteristics. A pair which were sent by Her Majesty for exhibition at the Dublin Cattle Show in April, 1846, created such a sensation from their great size and immense weight, and the full, loud, deep-pitched crowing of the c.o.c.k, that almost every one seemed desirous to possess some of the breed, and enormous prices were given for the eggs and chickens. With his propensity for exaggeration, Paddy boasted that they laid five eggs in two days, each weighing three ounces, that the fowls equalled turkeys in size, and "Cochin eggs became in as great demand as though they had been laid by the fabled golden goose. Philosophers, poets, merchants, and sweeps had alike partook of the mania; and although the latter could hardly come up to the price of a real Cochin, there were plenty of vagabond dealers about, with counterfeit crossed birds of all kinds, which were advertised to be the genuine article. For to such a pitch did the excitement rise, that they who never kept a fowl in their lives, and would hardly know a Bantam from a Dorking, puzzled their shallow brains as to the proper place to keep them, and the proper diet to feed them on." Their justly-deserved popularity speedily grew into a mania, and the price which had been from fifteen to thirty s.h.i.+llings each, then considered a high price for a fowl, rose to ten pounds for a fine specimen, and ultimately a hundred guineas was repeatedly paid for a single c.o.c.k, and was not an uncommon price for a pair of really fine birds. "They were afterwards bred," says Miss Watts, "for qualities difficult of attainment, and, as the result proved, little worth trying for," and "fowls with _many_ excellent qualities were blamed for not being _perfect_," and they fell from their high place, and were as unjustly depreciated as they had been unduly exalted.

"Had these birds," wrote Mr. Baily many years since, "been shy breeders--if like song birds the produce of a pair were four, or at most five, birds in the year, prices might have been maintained; but as they are marvellous layers they increased. They bred in large numbers, and consequently became cheaper, and then the mania ended, because those who dealt most largely in them did so not from a love of the birds or the pursuit, but as a speculation. As they had over-praised them before, they now treated them with contempt. Anything like a moderate profit was despised, and the birds were left to their own merits. These were sufficient to ensure their popularity, and now after fluctuating in value more than anything except shares, after being over-praised and then abused, they have remained favourites with a large portion of the public, sell at a remunerating price, and form one of the largest cla.s.ses at all the great exhibitions." This has proved to be a perfectly correct view, and the breed is now firmly established in public estimation, and unusually fine birds will still sell for from five to twenty pounds each. The mania did great service to the breeding and improvement of poultry by awakening an interest in the subject throughout the kingdom which has lasted.

They are the best of all fowls for a limited s.p.a.ce, and not inclined to wander even when they have an extensive run. They cannot fly, and a fence three feet high will keep them in. But if kept in a confined s.p.a.ce they must have an unlimited supply of green food. They give us eggs when they are most expensive, and indeed, with regard to new-laid eggs, when they are almost impossible to be had at any price. They begin to lay soon after they are five months old, regardless of the season or weather, and lay throughout the year, except when requiring to sit, which they do twice or thrice a year, and some oftener. Pullets will sometimes lay at fourteen weeks, and want to sit before they are six months old. Cochins have been known to lay twice in a day, but not again on the following day, and the instances are exceptional. Their eggs are of a pale chocolate colour, of excellent flavour, and usually weigh 2-1/4 ounces each. They are excellent sitters and mothers. Pullets will frequently hatch, lay again, and sit with the chickens of the first brood around them. Cochins are most valuable as sitters early in the year, being broody when other fowls are beginning to lay; but unless cooped they are apt to leave their chickens too soon, especially for early broods, and lay again. They are very hardy, and their chickens easy to rear, doing well even in bleak places without any unusual care.

But they are backward in fledging, chickens bred from immature fowls being the most backward. Those which are c.o.c.kerels show their flight feathers earliest. They are very early matured.

A writer in the _Poultry Chronicle_ well says: "These fowls were sent to provide food for man; by many they are not thought good table fowls; but when others fail, if you keep them, you shall never want the luxury of a really new-laid egg on your breakfast table. The snow may fall, the frost may be thick on your windows when you first look out on a December morning, but your Cochins will provide you eggs. Your children shall learn gentleness and kindness from them, for they are kind and gentle, and you shall be at peace with your neighbours, for they will not wander nor become depredators. They have fallen in price because they were unnaturally exalted; but their sun is not eclipsed; they have good qualities, and valuable. They shall now be within the reach of all; and will make the delight of many by their domestic habits, which will allow them to be kept where others would be an annoyance." They will let you take them off their roost, handle and examine them, and put them back without struggling.

The fault of the Cochin-Chinas as table birds is, that they produce most meat on the inferior parts; thus, there is generally too little on the breast which is the prime part of a fowl, while the leg which is an inferior part, is unusually fleshy, but it must be admitted that the leg is more tender than in other breeds. A greater quant.i.ty of flesh may be raised within a given time, on a certain quant.i.ty of food, from these fowls than from any other breed. The cross with the Dorking is easily reared, and produces a very heavy and well-shaped fowl for the table, and a good layer.

"A great hue and cry," says Miss Watts, "has been raised against the Cochin-Chinas as fowls for the table, but we believe none have bestowed attention on breeding them with a view to this valuable consideration.

Square, compact, short-legged birds have been neglected for a certain colour of feather, and a broad chest was given up for the wedge-form at the very time that was p.r.o.nounced a fault in the fowl. It is said that yellow-legged fowls are yellow also in the skin, and that white skin and white legs accompany each other; but how pertinaciously the yellow leg of the Cochin is adhered to! Yet all who have bred them will attest that a little careful breeding would perpetuate white-legged Cochins.

Exhibitions are generally excellent; but to this fowl they certainly have only been injurious, by exaggerating useless and fancy qualities at the expense of those which are solid and useful. Who would favour, or even sanction, a Dorking in which size and shape, and every property we value in them, was sacrificed to an endeavour to breed to a particular colour? and this is what we have been doing with the Cochin-China. Many breeders say, eat Cochins while very young; but we have found them much better for the table as fowls than as chickens. A fine Cochin, from five to seven months old, is like a turkey, and very juicy and fine in flavour."

A peculiar characteristic of these birds, technically called "fluff," is a quant.i.ty of beautifully soft, long feathers, covering the thighs till they project considerably, and garnis.h.i.+ng all the hinder parts of the bird in the same manner, so that the broadest part of the bird is behind. Its quality is a good indication of the breed; if fine and downy the birds are probably well-bred, but if rank and coa.r.s.e they are inferior. The c.o.c.ks are frequently somewhat scanty in "fluff," but should be chosen with as much as possible; but vulture-hocks which often accompany the heaviest feathered birds should be avoided, as they now disqualify at the best shows. "The fluff," says a good authority, "in the hen especially, should so cover the tail feathers as to give the appearance of a very short back, the line taking an upward direction from within an inch or so of the point of junction with the hackle." The last joint of the wings folds up, so that the ends of the flight feathers are concealed by the middle feathers, and their extremities are again covered by the copious saddle, which peculiarity has caused them to be also called the ostrich-fowl.

A good Cochin c.o.c.k should be compact, large, and square built; broad across the loins and hind-quarters; with a deep keel; broad, short back; short neck; small, delicately-shaped, well-arched head; short, strong, curved beak; rather small, finely and evenly serrated, straight, single, erect comb, wholly free from reduplications and sprigs; brilliant red face, and pendant wattles; long hanging ear-lobe, of pure red, white being inadmissible; bright, bold eye, approaching the plumage in colour; rich, full, long hackle; small, closely-folded wings; short tail, scarcely any in some fine specimens, not very erect, with slightly twisted glossy feathers falling over it like those of the ostrich; stout legs set widely apart, yellow and heavily feathered to the toe; and erect carriage. The chief defect of the breed is narrowness of breast, which should therefore be sought for as full as possible.

The hen's body is much deeper in proportion than that of the c.o.c.k. She resembles him upon most points, but differs in some; her comb having many indentations; the fluff being softer, and of almost silky quality; the tail has upright instead of falling feathers, and comes to a blunt point; and her carriage is less upright.

Cochins lose their beauty earlier than any other breed, and moult with more difficulty each time. They are in their greatest beauty at from nine to eighteen months old. The c.o.c.ks' tails increase with age. In buying Cochins avoid clean legs, fifth toes, which show that it has been crossed with the Dorking, double combs that betray Malay blood, and long tails, particularly taking care that the c.o.c.k has not, and ascertaining that he never had, sickle feathers. The c.o.c.k ought not to weigh less than ten or eleven pounds, and a very fine bird will reach thirteen; the hens from eight to ten pounds.

The princ.i.p.al colours now bred are Buff, Cinnamon, Partridge, Grouse, Black, and White. The Buff and White are the most popular.

Buff birds may have black in the tails of both s.e.xes, but the less there is the better. Black-pencilling in the hackle is considered objectionable at good shows. The c.o.c.k's neck hackles, wing coverts, back, and saddle hackles, are usually of a rich gold colour, but his breast and the lower parts of his body should match with those of his hens. Buff birds generally produce chickens lighter than themselves.

Most birds become rather lighter at each moult. In making up an exhibition pen, observe that Grouse and Partridge hens should have a black-breasted c.o.c.k; and that Buff and Cinnamon birds should not be placed together, but all the birds in the pen should be either Buff or Cinnamon. The Cinnamon are of two shades, the Light Cinnamon and the Silver, which is a pale washy tint, that looks very delicate and pretty when perfectly clean. Silver Cinnamon hens should not be penned with a pale Yellow c.o.c.k, but with one as near to their own tint as can be found. Mr. Andrews's celebrated strain of Cochins sometimes produced both c.o.c.ks and hens which were Silver Cinnamon, with streaks of gold in the hackle.

In Partridge birds the c.o.c.k's neck and saddle hackles should be of a bright red, striped with black, his back and wings of dark red, the latter crossed with a well-defined bar of metallic greenish black, and the breast and under parts of his body should be black, and not mottled.

The hen's neck hackles should be of bright gold, striped with black, and all the other portions of her body of a light brown, pencilled with very dark brown. The Grouse are very dark Partridge, have a very rich appearance, and are particularly beautiful when laced. They are far from common, and well worth cultivating. The Partridge are more mossed in their markings, and not so rich in colour as the Grouse. Cuckoo Cochins are marked like the Cuckoo Dorkings, and difficult to breed free of yellow.

The White and Black were introduced later than the others. Mr. Baily says the White were princ.i.p.ally bred from a pair imported and given to the Dean of Worcester, and which afterwards became the property of Mrs.

Herbert, of Powick. White Cochins for exhibition must have yellow legs, and they are p.r.o.ne to green. The origin of the Black is disputed. It is said to be a sport from the White, or to have been produced by a cross between the Buff and the White. By careful breeding it has been fixed as a decided sub-variety, but it is difficult, if not almost impossible, to rear a c.o.c.k to complete maturity entirely free from coloured feathers.

They keep perfectly pure in colour till six months old, after which age they sometimes show a golden patch or red feathers upon the wing, or a few streaks of red upon the hackle, of so dark a shade as to be imperceptible except in a strong light, and are often found on close examination to have white under feathers, and others barred with white.

The legs in all the colours should be yellow. Flesh-coloured legs are admissible, but green, black, or white are defects. In the Partridge and Grouse a slight wash, as of indigo, appears to be thrown over them, which in the Black a.s.sumes a still darker shade; but in all three yellow should appear partially even here beneath the scales, as the pink tinge does in the Buff and White birds.

Cochin-Chinas being much inclined to acc.u.mulate internal fat, which frequently results in apoplexy, should not be fed on food of a very fattening character, such as Indian corn. They are liable to have inflamed feet if they are obliged to roost on very high, small, or sharp perches, or allowed to run over sharp-edged stones.