Domestic Animals Part 29

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 42.

Poultry House]

The Hen-house

May be constructed in various ways to suit the wishes of the owner, and when tastefully built it is an ornament to the premises, It should be perfectly dry throughout, properly lighted, and capable of being made tight and warm in winter, yet afford all the ventilation desirable at any season. In this, arrange the nests in boxes on the sides, in such a manner as to humor the instinct of the hen for concealment when she resorts to them. When desirable to set the hen, these nests may be so placed as to shut out the others, yet open into another yard or beyond the enclosure, so that they can take an occasional stroll and help themselves to food, &c. This prevents other hens laying in their nests, while setting; and it may be easily managed, by having their boxes placed on the wall of the building, with a moveable door made to open on either side at pleasure. Hens will lay equally well without a nest-egg, but when broken up, they ramble off and form new nests, if they are not confined. They will lay if kept from the c.o.c.k, but it is doubtful if they will thus yield as many eggs. Hens disposed to set at improper times, should be dismissed from the common yard, so as to be out of reach of the nests, and plentifully fed till weaned from this inclination.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 43.

Egg-Hatcher, or Eccalobeon.]

Fig. 43 represents an egg-hatcher or Eccalobeon, made of different sizes, with shelves so arranged as to hold from 200 to 800 eggs without touching each other. The outer box is a non-conductor, so as to retain the heat conveyed to every part by water tubes, connected by a reservoir below, the bottom of which is heated by the flame from a spirit-lamp.

The temperature is indicated by a thermometer on the door inside, which should be made equal to that of the hen, say about 106 Fahrenheit. Her natural temperature is somewhat elevated by the feverish condition of the bird at the period of incubation.

_Chickens_ require to be kept warm and dry, for a few days after hatching, and they may be fed with hard-boiled eggs, crumbs of bread or pudding, and milk or water, and allowed to scratch in the gravel in front of the hen, which should be confined in a coop for the first three or four weeks. After this, they may be turned loose, when they will thrive on any thing the older ones eat. Many use them for the table when they are but a few weeks old; but they are unfit for this purpose, till they have attained full maturity.

The white-legs are preferred by some, from the whiteness and apparent delicacy of the meat; but the yellow-legged are the richest and most highly-flavored. The color of the feathers does not seem to affect the quality of the flesh or their character for laying. If we consider the chemical principles of the absorption and retention of heat, we should a.s.sume the white coat to be best, as it is coolest in summer when exposed to the sun, and warmest in winter. Yet some of the white breeds are delicate, and do not bear rough usage or exposure.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 44.

The Dorking]

Varieties.

These differ materially in their sizes, shapes, and colors.

The _Dorking_ is esteemed one of the best, being large, well formed and hardy, good layers and nurses, and yielding an excellent carca.s.s. They are both white and speckled, and generally have five toes.

The _Poland_ is both white and black, with a large tuft, generally of white feathers, on the head. They are of good size, and excellent layers, but are seldom inclined to set, which makes them peculiarly desirable for such as wish eggs only.

The _Dominique_ is a speckled fowl, of barely medium size, compact, hardy, good layers, and valuable for the table. The _Bucks county fowls_, heretofore princ.i.p.ally reared near Philadelphia, possess but moderate pretensions to notice, except in their immense size, a brace of capons having been fattened to 19 lbs. when dressed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 45.

The Bantam.]

The _Bantam_ is but little larger than a pigeon, and is usually of a pure white, but is sometimes speckled. It is generally feathered to the toes, but may be bred with clean legs. It is very domestic, and a pleasant little bird around the premises, and is not unprofitable. The _Game c.o.c.k_ is of medium weight, and yields good flesh, but is a poor layer, and an undesirable tenant for the farm-yard. Besides these, there are many fanciful varieties, as the _Creeper_, with excessively short legs; the _Rumpless_, without a tail; the _Frizzled_, with irregular feathers turned towards the head; the _Silky_ or _Merino_ fowl, with brown or buff down, instead of feathers; the _Negro_, with its black crest, wattles, skin, legs, and feathers; the _Java_ and _Cochin China_, of great size; several varieties of the _Top-knot_, and others.

The Diseases of Hens.

These are not numerous or complicated, and may be mostly avoided by proper treatment and food, which are indicated with sufficient minuteness in the foregoing observations.

_Gapes_ or _Pip_ is generally owing to drinking unwholesome or dirty water. Remove the white blister on the tip of the tongue, and wash with sharp vinegar, diluted with warm water; or compel the bird to swallow a large lump of fresh b.u.t.ter, mixed with Scotch snuff. It has been cured by opening the mouth and forcing a pigeon feather, with a tuft of the feathers left on the end, (the others having been stripped off,) down the windpipe, and gently turning it as withdrawn, to be repeated the following day if necessary. This detaches large numbers of a slender red worm, collected in the larynx of the throat, which impedes respiration and swallowing. A little spirits of turpentine mixed with the food is a preventive; as are also clean, whitewashed premises, and good food.

After these attacks, feed for a few days with light food, soaked bran and cabbage, or lettuce chopped fine.

_Roup_, _Catarrh_, or _swelled head_, is shown by feverish symptoms, swollen eyelids, frequently terminating in blindness, rattling in the throat, and temporary strangulation. These are accompanied with a highly offensive watery discharge, from the mouth and nostrils, loss of appet.i.te, and much thirst. They should be placed near the fire; their head bathed in warm Castile soap-suds, or milk and water. Stimulating food, as flour or barley-meal, mustard and grated ginger, mixed and forced down the throat, Boswell says, has been effectual in their speedy restoration. This, like many other diseases, is contagious, and when it appears, the bird should be at once separated from the flock.

_Flux_ is cured by the yolk of an egg boiled hard; and boiled barley soaked in wine.

_Costiveness_ is removed by giving bran and water with a little honey; or give a small dose of castor oil.

_Vermin_ are destroyed by giving them clean sand and ashes to roll in, adding a little quicklime if necessary.

_Entire cleanliness_ is necessary for the avoidance of this and other diseases. A perfectly dry range is also essential, nor should there be too many together, as this is a fruitful source of disease.

THE TURKEY.

This bird was unknown to the civilized world till the discovery of this Continent. It was found here both in its wild and domesticated state; and still occupies the whole range of the western hemisphere, though the wild turkey disappears as the country becomes settled. The wild is larger than the domesticated bird, sometimes weighing over 30 lbs.

dressed. The color of the male is generally a greenish brown, approaching to black, and of a rich, changeable, metallic l.u.s.tre. The hen is marked somewhat like the c.o.c.k, but with duller hues.

Domestication through successive generations dims the brilliancy of their plumage, and lessens their size and hardiness. It also produces a variety of colors, though they are mostly of a black, buff, pure white, or speckled.

They give evidence of the comparative recency of their domestication, in the instinct which frequently impels the c.o.c.k to brood and take care of the young. Nothing is more common than for the male bird to supply the place of the hen, when any accident befalls her, and to bring up a family of young chicks with an equally instinctive regard for their helplessness and safety.

The flesh of this bird, both wild and tame, is exceedingly delicate and palatable; and though not possessing the high game flavor of some of the smaller wild-fowl, and especially of the aquatic, as the canva.s.s-back duck, &c., it exceeds them in its digestibility and healthfulness. The turkey is useful princ.i.p.ally for its flesh, as it seldom lays over a nest-full of eggs in one season, when they brood on these and bring up their young. If full-fed, and their first eggs are withdrawn from them, they frequently lay a second time.

Breeding.

Those intended for breeders should be compact, vigorous, and large, without being long-legged. They should be daily, yet lightly fed through the winter, on grain and roots, and some animal food is always acceptable and beneficial to them. They are small eaters, and without caution will soon get too fat. One vigorous male will suffice for a flock of 10 or 12 hens, and a single connection is sufficient for each.

They begin to lay on the approach of warm weather, laying once a day, or every other day, till they have completed their litter; which in the young or indifferently fed, may be 10 or 12, and in the older ones, sometimes reaches 20. The hen is sly in secreting her nest, but usually selects a dry, well-protected place. She is an inveterate setter, and carefully hatches most of her eggs.

The young may be allowed to remain for 24 hours without eating, then fed with hard-boiled eggs made fine, or crumbs of wheat bread. Boiled milk, curds, and b.u.t.termilk afford an excellent food. As they get stronger, oat or barley-meal is suitable, but Indian-meal, uncooked, is hurtful to them when quite young. They are very tender, and will bear neither cold nor wet, and it is of course necessary to confine the old one for the first few weeks. When able to s.h.i.+ft for themselves, they may wander over the fields at pleasure; and from their great fondness for insects, they will rid the meadows of innumerable gra.s.shoppers, bugs, and beetles, which often do incalculable damage to the farmer. Early chickens are sufficiently grown to fatten the latter part of autumn or the beginning of winter, which is easily done on any of the grains or boiled roots.

Both are better for being cooked. They require a higher roosting-place than hens, and are impatient of too close confinement, preferring the ridge of a barn, or a lofty tree, to the circ.u.mscribed limits of the ordinary poultry-house. When rightly managed and fed, turkeys are subject to few maladies; and even these, careful attention will soon remove.

THE PEAc.o.c.k AND GUINEA-HEN.

The _Peac.o.c.k_ is undoubtedly the most showy of the feathered race. It is a native of the southern part of Asia, and is still found wild in the islands of Java and Ceylon, and some parts of the interior of Africa.

They are an ornament to the farm premises, and are useful in destroying reptiles, insects, and garbage; but they are quarrelsome in the poultry-yard, and destructive in the garden. Their flesh is coa.r.s.e and dark, and they are worthless as layers. The brilliant silvery green and their ever-varying colors give place to an entire white, in one of the varieties.

The _Guinea-hen_ is a native of Africa and the southern part of Asia, where it abounds in its wild state. Most of them are beautifully and uniformly speckled; but occasionally they are white on the breast, like the Pintados of the West India Islands, and some are entirely white.

They are unceasingly garrulous; and their excessively pugnacious character renders them uncomfortable inmates with the other poultry.

Their flesh, though high-colored, is delicate and palatable, but, like the peac.o.c.k, they are indifferent layers. Both are natives of a warm climate, and the young are tender and rather difficult to rear. Neither of these birds is a general favorite, and we omit further notice of them.

THE GOOSE.

There are many varieties of the goose. Main enumerates twenty-two, most of which are wild; and the tame are again variously subdivided. The _common white_ and _gray_ are the most numerous and profitable. The _white Bremen_ is much larger, often weighing over 20 lbs. net. It is of a beautiful snowy plumage, is domestic and reared without difficulty, though not as prolific and hardy as the former. The _China Goose_ is smaller than the gray, and one of the most beautiful of the family, possessing much of the gracefulness and general appearance of the swan.

It is prolific and tolerably hardy, but has not thus far been a successful rival with the first. The _Guinea_ or _African goose_ is the largest of the species, and equals the size of the swan, often dressing over 25 lbs. It is a majestic and graceful bird, and very ornamental to water scenery. Several other varieties are domesticated in the United States.

Breeding.

Geese pair frequently at one year old, and rear their young; but with some kinds, especially of the wild, this is deferred till two and sometimes three. They require a warm, dry place for their nests, and when undisturbed, they will sit steadily; and if the eggs have not been previously chilled or addled, they will generally hatch them all, if kept on the nest. To insure this, it is sometimes necessary to withdraw the first hatched, to prevent the old ones wandering before all are out.

The young should be kept in a warm sheltered place till two or three weeks old, if the weather be cold or unsettled. The best food for the goslings, is barley or oat, or boiled Indian meal and bread. Milk is also good for them. They require green food, and are fond of lettuce, young clover, and fresh tender gra.s.s; and after a few weeks, if they have a free range on this, they will forage for themselves.