The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1867-12-13
FARMERS READING.
BREEDING FOWLS.

have PAID considerable attention 10
them in every respect. and what |
write is altogether my own Observa-
ton and experience [ have never
bred any but the Game fowl, and have
raised from four hundred to six hun
dred every year during the time. [
have raised several different breeds,
and think that all of them possess
more or less good qualities"
CHANGE OF COLOR IN FOWLS.
& have had many of them to change
from black, from red, and from
speckled to pure white, and to change
without cause | have IN my yard at
! the present time two pure white hens,
with beak, legs and toes also white,
that at one year old were red breasted
| brown, the next year speckled-red
and white-the next year white, end
continue white. They were by q
white legged, black breasted, red Earl
of Derby cock, that | obtained of
| Sanford Howard. Esq. then of Bos-
ton, and bred from hens of the same
| illustrious breed, and very much In
color like a cockrobiD. L also bred
from the same cock and hens black
red cock, that al one year old became
red and white, except the breast,
which was black and white. The next
Summer he became pure white; after
wards he was again 4 black breasted
red then again pure white. We have
set numbers of the eggs Of the two
white Derby hens, and the cocks were
always dark red, and the pullets silIi-
lar in color to a robin, which is near
the color of the pure Derby hen. The
white cock never bred a white chick.
I have set number of the eggs from
the hens that change color from black
to spotless white, and the chicks were
almost invariably black, or colored
after the cock, and never a white one.
Two years ago l obtained a black-red
cock, with every feather tipped with
white, and blue hen, from which [
| raised blue cock and blue hen, and
| from the two [ have raised pure
white cock, and, what surprises me,
he breeds numbers of pure white
chicks from hens Of the same family
as himself, and not one white one, or
one that is even light colored, from
fowls Of different breed"
| FOWLS EATING THEIR FEATHERS.
Il have never had my fowls to pluck
the feathers from other fowls but one
year, and some few last year. Six
years ago ] bred from black breasted
gray cock; bred from stock that were
said to have been imported from Eng
land by an ex-Vice- President Of the
United States; he was as bold, fine
looking a cock as ever came out of an
egg. Early in the Spring, and at the
time that | was breeding to him, the
feathers of his neck, and similar col
ored feathers of the rump, began to
look frayed or worn about midway
from the end and where they grow GU
of the chicken, in few days they
were br liking off, and then the hens
began % pluck them from him, and
he would stand as quietly as pet
! Dig Wen robbed, and let them
pluck them from him, as if
he was desiring them to pluck them.
[ raised about two hundred chickens
from him, and intended saving fifty
pullets to keep, as they were very
thrifty and beauties; but late in the
Fall, near Christmas, their feathers
began to fray, and appeared as if they
had been almost scOrched about mid
way of the feathers, and then broke
off, and then the other pullets and
/, Ms began to pluck them off and eat
them that had the diseased feathers,
plucking feathers from others, but
those that did it were not diseased,
and their feathers never became dis
eased, and we had at least one hun
dred pullets, that were by another
cock, and not one of them were af-
fected in having feathers diseased, nor
single old hen.
The way that [ bred from this
grey cock, so that | would know his
chickens, | put him and twelve hens
off at a house on the farm, half a
mile from my house, marked every
egg, and then, when the chickens
were Matched, as | put them from the
nest, cut a certain webb in the foot of
every chicken, and never have eggs
set except saved in that way. If |
wish to raise from several cocks the
same year, | walk them with. from six
to twelve hens, mark the eggs daily,
and mark the chicks as Matched, and
then record them as | do my short
horns, and | believe that [ have
learned lesson in nature by breed
ing chickens in the particular man.
ner that | have. that would take
me a century or two in breed
ing blooded cattle or horses. Be-
lieving the plucking of feathers from
these pullets was owing to the diseas-
ed feathers on them, and believing it
hereditary, | killed off all the pullets
but one. and her neck feathers have
been more or less diseased every year
since. and two years ago | saved a
cock from her. and bred little to
him last year; and near Christmas
every pullet BY him began to have
diseased feathers, and the others then
. nl,,nLnA than off and I never saw