The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1899-02-10
FARM POULTRY.

w uO IN a. ltSOSh'NSN
secretary OF the Owosso poultry show
gave talk on Farm Poultry.
The poultry is one of the important ad-
| Jun cts of every farm, and there Is not
farmer but what is more or less interested
| in the farm fowls Ii there were any
necessity of citing facts TO prove the i'm
| portance of the poultry, one would but need
j to mention the fact that there has been
shipped out of Owosso the past season
some thing over 400 tons of dressed fowl,
together with the fact that OwossO is going
| TO have a poultry show the last three days
| of this week OF an estimated equal number of
birds, and. what is more to the point these
fowls are going to be supplied largely from
t, farm yards of Shiawassee county farm
ers.
It will be impossible to cover anything
like T. e various divisions of this topic with
any degree of thoroughness, and at the
most, whatever say on this subject must
necessarily be very brief. Probably the
one of the NEST importance Is the domestic
fowl, or as 1t Is more commonly referred to,
the common hen. There are good breeds
among poultry just as there are good breeds
among cattle. sheep and hogs; all are prac-
tical, but under various conditions there are
some that will prove more practical
than Others. There lie not farmer In this
room who ever gives the poultry thought
but has his preference, and certain breed
which he considers little bit better than
any other. There are altogether too many
good practical breeds of poultry for nae to
attempt to prove that any single Que Is bet
ter than all others. l have my idea of
what an ideal fowl should be, just as the
majority of persons have. think IL l
were called upon 10 give description or
what should consider good, all round,
practical breed for the average farmer, who
wants a general purpose fowl, l think 1t
would be something like this: Head a
short, heavy bill; neck medium, short and
heavy: back-medium length, broad In the
rear and gradually taperlDg towards the
front; breast-heavy, deep and muscular;
tail-medium in length and free from ex-
tending spangles; sbanks-stOcky and pro-
portionate to the ize of fowl, In color, yell
low and entirely free from any down or
feathers; skin-a deep, golden yellow
throughout. Such a fowl when matured
should weigh from seven to ten pounds
each. There are some half dozen breeds
that will come close to the above descrip-
ton. Select one of them and you will have
no reason to regret your selection.
Probably the next in popularity will be
the turkey. This Is one of the breeds OF
poultry that many do not appreciate, and
perhaps some with good reason. When
one Is able to raise turkeys to an advantage
they will prove money making crop, but
I. where they cannot be handled satisfactorily
3 the better way will be to leave them alone
l entirely. A farmer cannot 20 into turkeys
as be would into common poultry. 1t will
he an exceptional farm where one tom and
} four hens will not be found to be all thai
r can be handled economically. On many
Q farms trio will be plenty. Turkeys are
t inclined to wander more where there are
4 too many. The farmer who intends tC
raise turkeys should not be adverse to start
{ ing with some worthy of the name
Bear in mind that 1t. costs no more, practi
cally, to grow young tom that will weigh
/, twenty. FIVE pounds by the first OF December
than Il will one weighing from ten to IF
4 teen. DO not allow any one to delude yot
by saying that you are liable to get you
, stock too large; you will have no trouble II
8 finding market for all the largest and best
DO not use tom that will weihh less thar
twenty five pounds at maturity; 1t will b
money la the owners pocket II he weigh
e thirty or thirty-two pounds or more. Thu
y Bronze turkey Is probably the most popula
e turkey of all breeds.
d The next in order will come the duck
i The mongrel is SO far out of date that 1t
|, no longer practical investment for pro
o gressve farmer. The pure bred Is 80 chea
Is that the dunghill is the more costly of tn
l. two. The pure bred Pekin Is the superio
}. of the cross breed In evtry point. The
.. will lay more eggs, are less inclined to be
f. come broody and are much heavier as
:. rule. Their white plumage is very much
d their advantage, and this Is probably ON
, reason why they have been selected fror
10 among the many other breeds as the on
n best suited for the purpose of the marke
ts duck raiser. What they lacked at first
!. the way of being entirely practical TO
- practical purposes, has been largely bre
/, into them by careful mating and selection
/, 1t will pay every farmer who is at all In
terested in duck raising to VOL into tn
Pekins If he is inclined to raise ducks at al
Perhaps It will not be advisable to buy ez
pensiye stock TO start with. but work int
", the bred gradually. At the right reason
:, the year one can buy very good stock of th
best breeders very reasonably; or IL on
W does not care to buy trio or HOOK
TX once. 1t will pay to secure a good drake
IN two and mate with the common stock.
W the drake is good vigorous one, iarp
n per cent of the frat years progeny will
t. white Select the best of these and mate