Domestic Animals

mischief: it is an agreeable and salutary relief from toil and study, and elicits the taste, the judgment, and the kindlier feelings of humanity, which are to be matured in the future accompl

try of England exceeds $40,000,000, and yet McCulloch says she imports 60,000,000 eggs annually from France, (McQueen states it at near 70,000,000;) and from other parts of the continent, 25,000,

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has the same predisposition for laying, that the cow has for secreting milk. Some breeds are better adapted for this object than others: bu

89 are yolk. Of the shell, 97 per cent. is carbonate of lime, 1 per cent. phosphate of lime and magnesia, and 2 per cent. albumen. The white consists of 12 per cent. of a

en full-fed and denied all access to lime, she will form an egg without the shell, and deliver it enclosed in the membrane or sack which always surrounds the white, when covered by the shell.

imal food. In warm weather, when they have a free range, they can generally supply their wants in the abundance of insects, earth-worms, and other animal matters within their reach. The large propo

od carcass, we have a combination of utility, luxury, and taste in this bird, which should commend them as general favorites. They can everywhere be kept with advantage, except in dense cities. A hen tha

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ially boiled potatoes, are nutritious and economical; green herbage as clover and most of the grass

bottom below. It is accessible on four sides by spring doors, which are thrown open by the weight of the fowl on the co

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all kinds, and especially the scraps or cracklings to be had at the inciters' shops, after soaking for a few hours in warm water, is one of the best and most economical kinds of food. Such with boiled meal is a very fattening food. Grain is at all times best for them when cooked, as they will lay more, fatten quicker, and eat much less when fed to them in this state; and it may be thus

subsistence from what would otherwise become offensive; and by their destruction of innumerable insects and worms, they render great assistance to the gardener. Of course their ever-busy propensity for scratching, is

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an opening through a tube leading into a vessel below. As the water is exhausted from this, i

tructed, to keep it clean and out of the reach of rats. Besides their food, hens ought to be at all times abundantly supplied with clean water, egg or pounded oyster shells, old mortar or slacked lime. If not allowed to run at

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Hen-

resorts to them. When desirable to set the hen, these nests may be so placed as to shut out the others, yet open into another yard or beyond the enclosure, so that they can take an occasional stroll and help themselves to food, &c. This prevents other hens laying in their nests, while setting; and it may be easily managed, by having their boxes placed on the wall of the building, with a moveable door made to open on

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er, or Ec

o retain the heat conveyed to every part by water tubes, connected by a reservoir below, the bottom of which is heated by the flame from a spirit-lamp. The temperature is indicated by a thermometer on

to scratch in the gravel in front of the hen, which should be confined in a coop for the first three or four weeks. After this, they may be turned loose, when they will thri

does not seem to affect the quality of the flesh or their character for laying. If we consider the chemical principles of the absorption and retention of heat, we should assume the

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ally in their sizes

and hardy, good layers and nurses, and yielding an excellent carca

ers, on the head. They are of good size, and excellent layers, but are seldom i

able. The Bucks county fowls, heretofore principally reared near Philadelphia, possess but moderate pretensi

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Ba

. The Game cock is of medium weight, and yields good flesh, but is a poor layer, and an undesirable tenant for the farm-yard. Besides these, there are many fanciful varieties, as the Creeper, with excessively short legs; the Rumpless, without a tail; the Frizzled, with

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avoided by proper treatment and food, which are indicated

e mouth and forcing a pigeon feather, with a tuft of the feathers left on the end, (the others having been stripped off,) down the windpipe, and gently turning it as withdrawn, to be repeated the following day if necessary. This detaches large numbers of a slender red worm, collected in the l

arge, from the mouth and nostrils, loss of appetite, and much thirst. They should be placed near the fire; their head bathed in warm Castile soap-suds, or milk and water. Stimulating food, as flour or barley-meal, mustard and gr

f an egg boiled hard; and b

ran and water with a little honey;

clean sand and ashes to roll in, add

r diseases. A perfectly dry range is also essential, nor should th

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comes settled. The wild is larger than the domesticated bird, sometimes weighing over 30 lbs. dressed. The color of the male is generally a greenish brown, approaching to black, and of a rich, changeable, metallic lustre. The hen is marked somewhat like t

od and take care of the young. Nothing is more common than for the male bird to supply the place of the hen, when any acciden

y of the aquatic, as the canvass-back duck, &c., it exceeds them in its digestibility and healthfulness. The turkey is useful principally for its flesh, as it seldom lays over a

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ithout caution will soon get too fat. One vigorous male will suffice for a flock of 10 or 12 hens, and a single connection is sufficient for each. They begin to lay on the approach of warm weather, laying once a day, or every other day, till they have completed their

confine the old one for the first few weeks. When able to shift for themselves, they may wander over the fields at pleasure; and from their great fondness for insects, they will rid the meadows of innumerable grasshoppers, bugs, and beetles, which often do incalculable damage to the farmer. Early chickens are sufficiently grown to fatten the latter part of autumn or the beginning of winter, which is

CK AND GU

interior of Africa. They are an ornament to the farm premises, and are useful in destroying reptiles, insects, and garbage; but they are quarrelsome in the poultry-yard, and destructive in

t India Islands, and some are entirely white. They are unceasingly garrulous; and their excessively pugnacious character renders them uncomfortable inmates with the other poultry. Their flesh, though high-colored, is delicate and pa

GO

is domestic and reared without difficulty, though not as prolific and hardy as the former. The China Goose is smaller than the gray, and one of the most beautiful of the family, possessing much of the gracefulness and general appearance of the swan. It is prolific and tolerably hardy, but has not th

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addled, they will generally hatch them all, if kept on the nest. To insure this, it is sometimes necessary to withdraw the first hatched, to prevent the old ones wandering before all are out. The young should be kept in a warm sheltered place till two or three weeks old, if the weather be cold or u

are extensive commons of unpastured lands, or where there are streams or ponds, lakes or marshes with shoal sedgy banks. In these, they will live and fatten throughout the year, if unobstructed by

food and clean water, they will seldom get diseased. When well fed, they yield nearly a pound of good

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ous, and devour all kinds of meat, putrid or fresh; and are especially fond of fish, and such insects, worms, and other creeping things, as they can find imbedded in the mud or elsewhere. They will often distend their crop with young frogs, almost to the ordinary size of their bodies. Their indiscriminate ap

f kept from setting. They are much larger than those of the hen, and equally rich and nourishing, but far less delicate. They are careless in their habits, and generally drop their eggs whe

be confined for a few days, and away from the water. At first they may be fed with bread, or pudding made from boiled oat, barley, or Indian meal; and they soon acquire strength and enterprise enough to sh

s number over 100. Besides the black duck above described, several others, as the lig

e swan, brant, pigeons, &c., as not profitable for g

riber'

the text are l

"Sessamoid" changed to "Se

effectual remedies for the remo

open quotes ("Setons a

to "When full-fed" (When full-fed