El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-08-10

I met z few days ago, = poultry en-
thusiast, an intelligent, educated pro-
fessional man who complained that he
had bought a setting Of eggs from 3
breeder but had been swindled, in that
the breeder had evidently shipped him
eggs from his cockereI mstings.
While he had raised 10 birds from the
single setting he did not have q single
pullet in the lot.
1t did look ike this breeder had
discovered the much sought secret OF
producing cockerels and pullets at will
and nv professional friend had con-
eeiYed the idea that his cockereI mat
ings produced cockerels and his pullet
uatings produced pulets, and that he
should have been furnished eggs from
both matings that he might have
Matched 3 few pullets to go with his
cockerels. This sounds like q joke
but II is the truth, and as there may
be others who do not understand the
Difference In Breeds
With many breeds Of poultry the
proper shape, feathers, headpoints or
other features OF male and female, can
hardly be produced from the same mat
ing. Notably among these breeds are
Barred Rocks and Brown Leghorns-
With Barred Rocks the tendency Of the
DrEEQ
and pullets too dark, and a poultry
man relying on single mating must
strike for q medium between dark
pullets and light cockerels, with the
result that he produces very few OF
either sex worthy of place in an ex-
hibition coop
The standard requirement is that
both male and female should be OF
the same shade of color, and in all
of our shows today exhibition pens
show males and females as much alike
in color and barring as twin sister and
brother could be expected to be-
Fifteen or 20 years ago, however,
this was not so, the same breeder rare
" exhibiting both males and females
Of standard color, and seldom did the
same breeder win on both males and
females He won on one or the other
just as he gave his attention more TO
the production of the one sex or the
other. Either his females were too
dark and smoky, with feathers almost
black from heavy barring, or his males
were too light in color
Two Families Necessary.
Leading breeders began experiment
ing and found it necessary 20 establish
two separate families or lines, OF
breeding-one of dark and heavily
barred birds for the production Of cock
erels Of proper color and barring, ana
another Of lighter colored birds for the /
production Of pullets of standard color /
and barring
This system is called double mating. |
and is practiced by the most success
full breeders of Barred Plymouth Rocks, /
though a few still cling to the practice |
OF mating standard colored males to 1
females Of standard color. believing |
that in time their strains can be bred 1
to produce the proper shade in both 4
male and female from the same mat 1
ing. Up TO the present, however, this /
has not been accomplished, and the !
breeder who practices the single mat
ing produces but a small percentage OF
exhibition birds Of either sex but has
Nature Peculiar.
There is q principle in nature which
IS hard TO overcome. In the wild state,
among the feathered tribe, the male is
invariably brighter hued than the fe-
male. The female is darker, duller and
uglier hued than the male, and this
rule Of nature is nowhere more appar-
ent than IN the breeding of Barred
Plymouth Rocks.
In cockerel matings the best exhibi-
ton MAILS are used or males too dark
for the show room. These are mated
to females very dark and fine in bar
ring These females would positively I
be disqualified in the show room and
classed as culls. Even dark beaks and
dark legs are not Objectionable in
them. as these features are not Oft
transmitted to the cockerels. So dark /
should these females be that smutty
under color is to be desired. In the
wing the flights OF secondaries should
show no real white, but only trace
0f lighter color where white appears
N the wing of an exhibition female. !
Another feature in the makeup of
females of a cockerel mating is the
Cochin" shape In the show room