POULTRY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1261, 30 April 1896, Page 28

POULTRY.

u'f red cap. TO CORRESPONDENTS. “Wv \xiiottim.” —I have referred your queries to the loading authority in Wellington on this breed, and he furnishes mo with the following' informal ion “ During the last twenty years I liavo kept a large variety of fowls for 'pfojil, hut not until I accepted the advice of Mr Fred Rogen—one of the host authorities on poultry in New Zealand—and procured some Wyandotte..;, did l possess a really good allround fowl. To commence with I got two first-class strains, white and silverlaced, and by judicious mating I bred and reared a very line lot of birds, which for three years, until I had perforce to give up keeping poultry, netted me forty pounds a year, The Wyandotte is tho very best win let layer that I know of ; if bred early they lay early, generally at five months, and keep it up during the cold months when eggs are scarce and dear. The eggs are not as largo as those of the Leghorn, Spanish, or Andalusian, but they are of a rich colour and delicate flavour. The chickens are strong and hardy and easily reared. The ' Wyandotte is a hearty feeder but makes good use of his tucker, as he puts on flesh very quickly, and if well fed cockerels are quite lit for table at five months, and a good table bird lie is ; plenty of meat on the breast, tender, too, and savoury. I can assure you there’s no swearing over blunt knives when carving a young Wyandotte. It is, a fowl that does welL in confinement, but Letter if at large, as it is a very large grass enter. Wyaudottos are very tamo and make good mothers. They are such good all-round birds that 1 do not advocate crossing them with other varieties. I would recommend either silver-laced or white, or both; tho golden variety procurable hereabouts are not of the best quality. In making a selection, choose large, well-shaped birds, feed them well, keep their premises clean and do not breed in, and the Wyandotte will quickly repay your expense, care and attention.”