POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1956, 20 August 1891, Page 8

POULTRY NOTES.

THE BREEDS OS" POULTRY* TABLE PROPERTIES.

In Britain there baa been a strong prejadioe in favour of wbite-legged fowls for table purposes, it being thought that blacklegged fowls were not nearly so fine in flesh ; consequently, with tbe exception of one breed of^old game fowls, the only variety fitting this prejudice was the Dorking. Happily the prejudice is dying out, for it has : .been abundantly proved that two or three French breeds are quite equal to the Dorking in table properties, and of these there is not, on,e, with white legs and feet. - Tbe colour of tho, pedal limbs is not influenced by, or docs not influence, that of the flesh and skin on the body. We now come to a most important, consideration—Darnel}, that of tb« relationship between. meat and bone or other non-fidib|p elements ; important, because do matter what the fliza of a fowl may be, or bowc-ir rapid his growth, if this is in the direotioi. f bone or offal no real purpose will have been *- rved> What in table poultry is required ia-flae;;, with only as much bone as will carry tho -floeii, and as little offal as possible. M. Lemoine shows the relative weipht of meat and of bone, &c, on a fowl of six months old in the following table :—

In this relationship it is important to learn how much food each variety of fowl will con-, "eume, because it maybe that it pays to feed! well in order to secure good results, though the table, given below shows that the heaviest eaters are not those that produoe the greatest amount of flesh. We remember reading-what was said by an observant, poul try-keeper > when ..Cochins were first ;,intrbducedYjEor be, re* marked aa. to this braerfi " Well M .sir, if you do get many eggs from them chaps' bodies you mun put a lot, of grub iothe^r, bellies." /Vbe following are M. Lemoine's reoprds i— Weight of Name of Variety £g«; - day. lb oz &r Baxbazleu ... ... ... 0 3 891 Cbohins, buff ... ... 1 1 298 Oourtes Pattes ... „. 0 6 391 , Orevecoeucu. ... ... 0 7 31 Dominiques ... ... 0 4 338 Dorkings, silver grey ... 0 6 391 ... - ... ... 0 7 0 Game, brown reel ... ... 0 4 275 Kamburgß, pencilled... ... 0 4 152 Hamburgs, spangled... ... 0 4 122 Houdan ... ... ... 0 3 391 La Bre»se, grey ... ... 0 5 254 ' La Brease, bjack ... ... 0 6 393 . Da^Fleohe ... ... ... 0 6 393 Langshans... ... ... 0 7 31 Leghorns ... ... ... 0 4 398 Polish, spangled ... ... 0 4 38 From these fig.ures it will be Been that tbe Cochins are by for the hoaviest eaters, and probably with them would be a»sooiated all the heaviest type of Asiatic fowls. Of the others, the table varieties come next, and th 9 laying breeds are tbe smallest eaters. — Edward Bkown, F.L.S., in the Farmers' Gazette.

Fowls of June 11 last says :— " The Chit-chat Competition has been won by Mr Frederick Ford {Twemlow, Seaward Bueb, Inveroirgill, Otago, New Zealand, and vre have to-day forwarded the writer a cheque for half a guinea."

Name of Variety. Ml I .Barbezieu Ooohini, bnff ... Oourtei Pattei ... Grevecceur ... Dominiques ••■ Dorking*, stiver grey Du-MftnB — -... Geime,. brown red... Hatnburgs, pencilled Hamburg*, •pangled Houdan ... La Breve, grey ... Laßreue, black ... laFleohe Langjihans ... Leghorn'! Poliib, tpangled ... lb oe gr 4 10 93 4 9 0 3 10 99 t 9 66 3 11 66 5 4 383 4" -6 64 3 15. 838 1 15 335 3 3 339 3 7 0 3 7 67 ! 3 7 3753 5 339 S 4 369. 3 15 533 : 3 13 348 (b oz gr 4 16 0 6 4 337 2 8 316 4 14.197 3 8 279 4. 13. 403 3 11- 11 2 7 301 3 7 334, 3 7 303 3 10 140 2 8 165 2 8 54© 2 9 269 [ R 1. ■78 •. I a 10 140 I 2 8 13