Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1914-10-14
POULTRY
CONSULTING DEPARTMENT
Conducted by VI. w. HICKS
FEATHERS AND FOWLS

ffAlhEltS AND fOWLS
OF late the beginner in poultry has
read and heard much about utility and
standard breed, or socalled fancy
poultry, regarding the producing pow
ers of the so-called utility fowls and
the producing qualities of the So
called fancy poultry. Opinions differ
on this subject, some claiming that
ii is impossible to have fancy fowls
and utility at the same time, while
others assert that the two can and are
today being produced. Naturally the
average beginner looks first to the
utility qualities of the fowls he
hopes to purchase, for in these days
of scarcity of fresh hen fruit and
strictly fresh-killed poultry, the aver
age person who hopes to raise poultry
wishes producers. At the same time.
most of those who raise poultry have
an eye for the beautiful, and when
this can be obtained, the beautiful
with the utility, the breeder Of such
fowls will find a ready market at
good prices. But are such being pro-
duced by the advanced breeders OF
this or any other country? From
some of the dyed-in-the-wool advo-
Gates of utility the claim has been made
that one can not serve two masters,
and that sacrifice must be made one
way or the other, either in the feather
or the reproducing growers Of the
fowls From some OF the leading
breeders who have worked along adj
vanced lines. the claim has been
made that the two can to great ex-
tent be combined by proper breeding
and selection, and in this they are in
the main correct.
Poultry breeding-poultry knowl-
edge-is yet in its infancy and within
the past few years much has been ac-
complished and much more will be
realized in the future. Some of our
experts but a few years ago scoffed at
the idea of the 200-egg hen, and yet
today fowls have made this record and
over, not only at some Of the laying
contests now held in this and other
countries, but on the plants and farms
in each and every state. True they are
not plentiful, but in the hands OF
some breeders who have worked along
egg producing lines many heavy pro-
ducers are oht2i., =; the ",aj ority
81 cases the breeders working along
the egg-producing lines conduct the
so-called commercial plants, their sole
aim being to produce fowls that will
/ furnish a good supply Of eggs for the
nearby market, and they have bred
/ only las a rule) with that idea in view.
/ ANY fowl, regardless of shape, feather,
comb marking, color OF eye, etc, was
bred if it had during the first year
made a creditable record in producing
eggs AS a rule, the fowls making
good records were of good depth OF
body. strong and sturdy. and by each
wear. breeding to such, the egg type
idea was formed. viz, that only those
fowls with long bodies, deep chests.
deep keels, etc, were producers and
for a time (until the trap-nest users
dispelled the idea) the egg-type fowl
was given much publicity.
Today it is known that the finest
marked fowl, up to the standard re-
uuirements, can lay as many eggs II
bred along those lines as the so-called
egg type. and il is here that class of
sbreeders is working. To produce
fowls that are good layers; second to
breed them within standard require
ments, that they will not only be pro-
ducers of a goodly number of eggs,
but will be uniform to a great extent
i'm feather and shape, and this is being
accomplished today by many of the
leading breeders in this country who
not only have an eye on the egg bas-
ket alone, but also one for the beauti-
full. That this combination is more
AZ oh In, will
for in this the breeders must strive
for not one breeding characteristic,
eggs alone, but several-plumage
shape and head markings. This
means closer culling for the utility
breeder discards only those which do
not produce a certain number Of eggs
hin the year.
The breeder of standard bred birds
must often discard fowls which have
laid a large number Of eggs because
of their defects in type and plumage.
That some fancers In the past have
neglected the utility qualities of their
fowls is true and IL is this class of
breeders that to great extent have
i made the claim possible that the So
called fancy fowl was not the producer
\ that the utility breeder claimed for
his own. But there are many strains
of fancy fowls that are producers Of
the first grade, and more and more
each year are the breeders of
standardized fowls working for
better egg production, with the result
that within a short time the claim that
fine-feathered fowls can not pro-
duce large numbers of eggs will be
dispelled.