Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1890-12-12
Improve Your Poultry

Now Is a good time of the year to be-
gin the Improvement of the poultry yard
and such Improvement is within the means
of every farmer. To breed year after year
from the same stock Is sure to end In a
race of ene-vate1 birds which Hawthorne
has SO graphically pictured in his House
Of the Seven Gables. No sensible man
wants such stock or can afford to keep
them But. it may he said many farmers
have not the means at hand to buy thor
oughhred poultry at the high prices which
the farmers demand. and must be content
to make the best of what they have.
Precisely. but how will you make the best
of it? Surely not by letting your depreci-
ated stock get still worse by continued in
breeding. No; your best way is to thin
every male of your flock and thin out the
hens and pullets. retaining only the best
ones, and buy new cocks in sufficient num-
hers to allow one cock to each twelve or
fifteen hens.
If YOU can afford to buy good birds at
about 81 each of some reliable breeder you
will improve YOUR stock more surely and
rapidly than by buying inferior specimens
1T half price or less; ana If you can afford
to buy a rev thoroughbred pullets
at the same tim>. not related 10
| '
breed few thoroughbreds. and probably
sell enough eggs and birds at good prices
for breeding purposes to pay you for the
care and trouble.
The next year you will have a flock of
grades much improved 10y the cross, Gull
them again carefully, retaining only as
breeding pulletS the best specimens. and
use again thoroughbred males not related
tothe pullet, and by continuing this pro-
cess few years you will have Il flock as
good us any one could wish for either
eggs or market poultry, though it may
take several years 70 breed out the mongrel
blood with which you began. so as to be
able to sell fancy stock and win prizes at
the exhibitions.
The kind Of breed to lie selected will de-
pend much on circumstances. For eggs
only the leghOrn breeds are unqueStiOn-
ably the most prolific; the white leghorn
cock also makes an excellent cross With
the brahma hen or the plymouth rock when
broilers are wanted; the Ieghorn chicks or
the half bioOds hatch with more ease and
certainty than the full olooded asIatics,
and they come to the size desired for
market brOilerS quite as soon. The OBJ
jectiOns to the leghorn breed are: Rather
small size of eggs. light weight when
killed for market, and the difficulty of re-
straining them from flying over fences
The dark varieties also have dark colored
legs which are not the fashion i'll Boston
market which demands without any sem
sibIe reason, yellow legs.
The plymouth rock breed probably com
bines as many desirable points as any
other breed we have for general usefulness
It natures early, the eggs hatch we'll in
mcubators, and chicks come early to
market as broilers and roasterS, the puiets
also lay when little older than the leghOrns
and for roaSters and sizabIe full grown
bird they are excellent, they also have the
fashionable yellow legs. They are docile
and easily fenced without being disposed to
laziness like the asiatics.
The asiatic birds, which include the light
and dark alma, the CCchins, langshanS
and other similar breeds are less desirable
for practicable purposes than the above
named breels. They make the heavy
roasters and are good winter layers and
are easily restained by fencing but they are
slow in coming to maturity; their eggs do
not hatch 50 surely in the Incubator. and
they are apt to be lazy and die of apopleXy
when over fed.
The light brahma is perhaps the best
as it is certainly the widest known Of
these breeds and has many admirers; but
where simple profit is the object in breed
ing we believe it must yield to the other
breeds we have mentioned Plough