The Feathered World.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume VIII, Issue 386, 16 December 1897, Page 16

The Feathered World.

The large number of two hundred and eightyfive exhibits entered in the table-poultry classes at the late Dairy Show in England. Just as the numbers have largely increased, so there is marked improvement in the quality of the dead poultry. In live poultry the Wyandotte classes received the highest number of entries, a total of two hundred and thirty exhibits putting that breed at the top of the tree. Leghorns came second with a total of two hundred and seven entries. Minorcas, Langshans, and Andalusians were not so numerous as in former years. This decline in favour may not continue, but at present it would seem as if the ’Wyandotte and Leghorn were the favorites for egg production. In Game fowls the Old English classes numbered one hundred and fifty-three, while the Modern variety was represented by eighty-two birds. Dorkings, Orpingtons, and Plymouth Rocks were most prominent amongst the heavy-weight breeds, a decline in Cochins, Brahmas, and Malays being probably due to the fact that the young birds were not quite ready. Of course the Dairy is the first big chicken show, but the Crystal Palace Show generally attracts a large number of chickens, as it is held a month later than the Islington exhibition. A writer in a Home paper gives the following as the methods employed in breeding Game Bantams. No doubt that the first has been very freely followed, and we do not want to go out of

New Zealand to see the results : —First: By crossing a small game fowl with some existing variety of bantam. In this .way the small size was attained, but much of the graceful figure of the high-bred game lost. With this cross came large, upright tails, short, heavily-built bodies, trailing or drooping wings, and low stature. The qualities and marks of both parents were visible. Who does not remember when very many game bantams were of this character; indeed, who does not see them every year ? We have heard a breeder of thoroughbred fowls remark that he gave up breeding game bantams because, while he could produce satisfactory pullets, his cockerels were too short in the leg, and would have drooping wings in spite of all that he could do. Such birds are very easy to obtain, but not satisfactory to breed from. Second : By continued in-and-in breeding of the ordinary game fowl, selecting the smallest specimens from year to year, until the diminutive size has been reached. By this process, only size has been lost; the brilliant plumage, the graceful figure, the high stature, the closely-folded wing, and, indeed, all those characteristics which contribute to the make-up of the larger game fowl, have been retained. That this has been the case is not a matter of conjecture, but one of fact. Probably bantams produced by these two methods have been largely bred together, so that there might almost be said to be a third method of producing the existing strains of game bantams, that is, by a union of in-breeding and crossbreeding. When out at Kingsland recently I called on Mr and Mrs Herbert Tattersail to see what luck they had had with the Leghorns and Aylesbury and Rouen ducks. Hatching results haue been good this season, and a fifty-egg Hearson incubator has done admirable work with both chicken

and duck eggs. Mr Tattersall is giving more attention to Brown Leghorns than White this year. There are plenty of each variety running abovt, but Browns are more numerous. Some Indian Game chickens have been hatched, so there is a possibility of Mr Tattersall taking considerable interest in this popular breed. It is much too early yet to make any forecast of the future of these chickens, but I must confess that I expected to see a little more quality. The chickens are young, of course, and another couple of months will make a great change in them; still, considering the reputation of the Kingsland Leghorns, they were not quite the birds my fancy painted. Leg colour is good in the majority, and some of the young cockerels are showing nicely serrated combs.

The Ducks, as is well known, are Mrs Tattereall’s special favourites. Ihe young Aylesbury birds possess frames that promise well for size at maturity, and if all goes well with them there should be some good bii'ds amongst them. The Rouens, too, show plenty of bone. I believe there are really very few breeders of Show Turkeys in the Auckland district, or for that matter, in New Zealand. But there is no reason why the Turkey branch of the poultry business should be neglected, for it is a most paying one if properly managed. Many of the birds I have so far seen have been undersized creatures, not at all up to the mark required by the Home Christmas markets. I suppose the reason is that the Turkeys are too much in-bred. A frequent change of blood is very necessary for size in Turkeys, more so perhaps than with fowls or ducks. Breeders make a mistake, too, in disposing of their largest birds when they ought to keep them for breeding. The best Turkey to keep is undoubtedly the Bronze, for it is impossible to beat it for weight and hardiness. Adult cocks of this variety have been shown weighing over forty pounds. Turkeys do not cease growing until they are three nears of age, so the heavy weights may be understood. There was a gobbler in the last Auckland Shosv said to weigh close on forty pounds, but I doubt the correctness of the assertion. The best chickens are raised from adult birds, and again I warn breeders not to get rid of their one and two-year-old hens just because they weigh a few pounds

more than the young stock, but to keep the old birds and sell the young stuff. In Bronze Turkeys the gobbler’s head should be long and broad, with rich red carnunculations. The beak must be strong, curved, well set set in the head, aud horn in color. The eyes should be a dark hazel color, bright and clear; the face and watile a deep rich red, the wattle large and pendant. The neck should be long, and should curve towards the tail, the back should rise from the neck to the centre, and then slope in a graceful curve to the tail. The plumage on the back should be brilliant bronze in color, with a narrow black band across the end of each feather. The breast should be broad and full, darker bronze in color than the back. The body should be long and deep, nicely rounded, the plumage being black with delicate bronze shading. The wings must be very large and powerful, with black bows having a green bronze lustre. The tail should be rather long, black in color, each feather pencilled with narrow bands of light brown, and ending with a wide bar of black with greyish edging. The more distinct the colors are throughout the plumage the better the bird. The thighs should be long and stout, with long and stout, with long and strong shanks, which in young birds are black, and in adults they should be of a greyish pink color. In hen Turkeys the plumage is the same as the cock, except that the color is not so brilliant or so clearly defined, and that the edging to the feathers is a dull white throughout. The standard weight is thirty-four pounds for adult cocks, twenty-two for young gobblers, twenty-two for hens, and fourteen pounds for poults. The ‘principal disqualifications are white feathers, wry tails, crooked breasfs, deformities of any kind, less than twenty-two pounds weight in cocks and fourteen pounds in hens.

White Turkeys are very handsome birds to keep. They do not grow to such size as the Bronze, the standard weights for adult birds being, for cocks, twenty-six pounds, and for hens, sixteen pounds ; in young birds the cocks should weigh sixteen and the pullets ten pounds. They must be pure white in color, with the exception of the beard, which should be jet black. People have the idea that young Turkeys are difficult to rear, but it is an erroneous one. The only trouble is when the youngsters are “ shooting the red ; ” after they grow like wild-fire. Sometimes there is little difficulty in getting the newly-hatched birds to eat. They do not seem to understand the use of their beaks. If two or three young chickens are put with the brood they will soon teach the Turkeys how to eat. One important thing for Turkey breeders to remember is the fact that the birds are very fond of dandelion leaves. They really prefer that weed to any other green food, and they will always thrive when they can get plenty of it. The young bilds must be fed on soft food, or no large Turkeys will be raised. Grain-fed, the younsters never seem to grow properly, and the chickens bred from birds thus fed are invariably of weak constitution. So my advice is, feed on meal, provide plenty of sharp grit, dandelions, and fresh water, keep the birds out of the damp while they are “ shooting the red,” and above all, breed from large and healthy stock, and the results will prove to be satisfactory.