, 1884-05-25
FANCY POULTRY.
An Enthusiast Has Something to
Say Regarding Them.
The Beautiful Points of the Vari-
Gus Breeds.
Cheyenne Men With Warm Sides
For Fine Chickens.

The passion for fine poultry has struck
Cheyenne with great force. A number of
citizens have some cly-blOodcd fowls
that would grace any poultry exhibition
in the country. These persons breed the
birds more for pleasure than profit, of
course, and it is indeed a nice pastimc-
Il means of taking ones thoughts ont of
the channels of ones business, and thus
making the labor OF personal attention a
matter of genuine recreation. One may
not have title to Il thousand hills (nor
even a fence around them nor TO the
herds that roam thereon, but one who has
a fine brood of chickens can contemplate
his feathery prizes with a similarly com
placent air to Il cattle king.
And why not? Chickens are very in
teresting if one chooses to observe them.
Who can gaze upon the massive proper
tions of a Brahma cockerel and observe
the fine, full outlines, the prettily streaked
plumage, the intelligent head. the kindly
beaming eye, full of humility withal, and
then fail to see Il bird of large heart.
broad gauge, and generous and safe2 1t
is Il counterpart to many men we know.
And then the beautifully mottled Ply
mouth Rock Look at him! erect of
figure, stately and majestic, he trods his
native heath with an air of conscious SUI
periority. He comes of the great, good
natured Cochins and the sprightly Dom
Unique. How beautifully and evenly his
marks appear. His plumage borrows
many colOrs, but they are so evenly bal
anced that one would think he had been
modelled after a mathematical design.
Observe his lofty bearing, but he has not
the s~elfishness of the lofty. He is kind
and tender to a fault. The choicest vi
ands he reserves for his fat, good-natured
wives, and he stands by proudly watching
his wards as they deyour all the food and
leave him supperless, perhaps. How I'M
like men How much superior to men
As a change Of scene, contem-
plate the Houdan cockcrel. He
is truly Of Gallo blood for he halls
from France. One cannot help thinking
of Murat the tinseled, |gew-eawed Gen
eral of Napoleon army, who was rs
good Il warrior as he was a fop, when gaz-
ing upon this cockcrel; or of the soldier in
Patience, whom Gilbert styled the very
model of a modern Major-Ge General. " II
one has any appreciation of the ridiculous,
let him see the Houdan on his dress pa
rade. His lofty top-knot answers for a
shake; his feathery beard resembles the
hairy strap to be worn under the chin;
his red gills and tri-colOred plumage, carry
the idea of soldierly %colors, m~artially ar
ranged. See him on the run-with his
wings dropped properly, his peculiarly
erect and strained position, his spurs
turned suddenly upwards, and animation
beaming from every glance, every feather,
every movement. and you have a fOppish
Major General on n charge ut the head OF
his army.
Contrast the Houdan, then, with the
Leghorn-the docilc, industrious, bcauti-
| full and profitable Lcghorn. There are
four kinds of this breed, and they possess
! the same general characteristics; there l.
the white, single comb; white, rose comb.
brown, single comb: brown, rose comb.
but they are all Leghorns. To our mind,
the brown is the p%retticr. The birds are
all of the same graceful outline-indeed
| they describe llogarth's line of beauty in
a dozen ways. But the plumage of the
brown is more striking. The white is
simply white, with IA red comb; there is d
monotony of color in his make up. But
the brown Leghorn cockerel has all the
colors of the rainbow. His plumage is a,
glossy and ever as the finest black breast
ed game, while his large comb and heavy
gills forcibly remind one of n bearded
patriarch. His earlobes are of a pure
white, which furnish a strange contrast
to his plumage. The hen is less gaudy,
of course, as is the case with fowls. But
she is beautiful, still. Kindness is ap.
parent, although she never becomes .
mother; that is. if we take the decision OF
the iar-lamed country debating society
that it is the hen that matches the egg.
that is the mother of the brood.
1t is n peculiarly of the Leg,
horn hen and Iloudan. too,
that they are non-sctters. The Lroodina
instinct has been bred out of them. She
looks the very dcsidcratum of n mother.
But other hens must do the Matching
the Leghorn Is too busily engaged il
laying the eggs.
There is much diversity of opinion a
to which is the better breed Of tho
Lcghorn, but the weight seems TO be il
favor Of the browns; and, as between the
rose combs and single combs, it is a qucs
ton Of climate. The Southern climate j.
the best for the single comb, the Northern
climate the best for rose comb, because
their combs are less likely to freeze il
winter. Experienced iancicrs, however
seem to agree that the brown Lcghorn il
the queen Of egg producers.
Thus we might 20 on and dilatc upor
the various breeds of fowl, but we vii
reserve the others for the future. Eacl
breed has its good points. If one want.
to buy chickens let him get the kind h,
longs for, and, by proper attention, he
will be satisfied.
Among the many who have fine fowls
in Cheyenne, may be mentioned, Hon
Harry Oclrichs, who has Houduns. but
! and lln4l= li..1...r ~. - .- -