Our Domestic Birds

nd Game Bantams. (Photograph from Dr.

s next in usefulness. Fowls supply nearly all the eggs and the greater part of the poultry meat that we use. Their feathers are of less value than those of ducks, geese, and turkeys. In the days when feather beds were common they were made usually of the body feathers of fowls. Now the feathers of fowls are used mostly for th

-combed Rhode I

ombed Rhode Isl

Lester Tompkins, Con

ly wanting. The carriage of the tail also varies, but except in a few breeds bred especially for low tails it is noticeably high as compared with that of other poultry. Fowls are readily distinguished from other birds by the voice. The male crows, the female cackles. These are their most common calls, but there are other notes-some common to both sexes, some peculiar to one-which are the same in all races of fowls. An abrupt, harsh croak warns the flock that one of their number has discerned a hawk or noticed something suspicious in the air. A slowly repeated cluck keeps the young brood advised of the

ter in color when the female is laying. The tail of the male is also much larger than that of the female and has long plumelike coverts. The feathers of his back and neck are long, narrow, and flowing, and in many varieties are much brighter in color than the corresponding feathers on the female. The male has a short, sharp spur on the inside of each leg, a little above the hind toe. Occasionally a female has spurs, but they are

nd female. (Photograph from Leontine L

syllable of the crow of the bird, was gradually substituted for hana because it is shorter. Hana means "the singer." A young fowl is called a chicken until the sex can be distinguished. After that poultry fanciers call the young male a cockerel and the young female a pullet.

mmonly held that the Gallus Bankiva, found in the jungles of India, was the ancestor of all the races of the domestic fowl, but this view was not accepted by some of the most careful investigators, and the mo

his type through this long period it is reasonably inferred that no marked change in the size and shape of the fowl had occurred in domestication in prehistoric times, and therefore that the original wild fowl very closely resembled fowls which may be seen wherever the influence of improved races has not changed the ordinary type.

uction of poultry into China from the West. At the time of the founding of Rome the fowl was well known throughout Northern Africa, and in the Mediterranean countries of Europe as far west as Italy and Sicily. It was also known in Japan at this time. Whether it was known in India is uncertain; if not, it was brought there soon

ight Brahm

massive Brahma, with feathered legs and feet, and the diminutive Game Bantam; the Leghorn, with its large comb, and the Polish, with only the rudiments of a comb and in its place a great ball of feathers; the Spanish, with monstrous development of the skin of the face, and the Silky, with dark skin and hairlike plumage. Except in a few limited districts these special types did not displace the ordinary type for many centuries. Until modern times they were hardly known outside of

Light B

d Pile Game

d Pile Game

o us wrong from a sanitary standpoint, but it is only within very recent times that people have given careful attention to sanitation, and in old times, when petty thieving was more common than it is now, there was a decided advantage in having such small domestic animals as poultry and pigs where they could not be disturbed without the owner's knowing it. The practice

h cockerel. (Photograph from R. A

ome countries long-established custom makes the poultry the personal property of the wife. A traveler in Nubia about seventy years ago states that

and hen. (Photograph from Leontine Li

, even on a large farm, was limited. As a rule the fowls were expected to get their living as they could, but in this they were not so much worse off than other live stock, or than their owners. But, while this was the ordinary state of the family flock of fowls, there were frequent exceptions. The house

ck. (Photograph from Urban

because eggs and poultry were becoming more important articles of food. Those who studied the situation found that there were two ways of making poultry more profitable. One way, which was open to all, was to give the birds better care; the other was to replace the ordinary fowls with fowls of an improved breed.

although, as we shall see, some of the largest and most profitable farms are engaged in producing ducks. In the suburbs of cities and in villages all over the land many people keep more fowls now than the average farmer did in old times. These city poultry

en. (Photograph from Urba

n a large scale locate on farms, but many of the smaller breeders live in towns, and the

ch that they cannot look after poultry as closely as is necessary to get the best results. Many women like to have the care of a small flock of fowls, because it takes them outdoors for a few minutes at intervals every day, and the eggs and poultry sold may bring in a considerable amount of pin money. Many boys, while attending the grammar and high schools

Photograph from W. F. Lie

ent of poultry culture in America, we must know what the fowls in this country were like when poultry keepers here began to see the a

(Photograph from W. H. Davenp

n all sent colonists to America, and from each of these countries came, no doubt, some of the ordinary fowls of that country. Perhaps improved varieties came from some of these lands in early colonial times, but the only breeds that retained thei

Photograph from Skerritt

le collected flocks of fowls of this color and bred them for uniformity in other characters. Well-bred fowls, however, were comparatively rare. Most of the stock all through the country was of the little mongrel type until about the middle of the last century. Then that type began to disappear from New England,

lver-Gray D

ilver-Gray

hanged to conform to the ideas of American fanciers. So, while the breed characters are still the same as in the original stocks, the pupil looking at birds of these breeds to-day must not suppose that it was just such birds that came to this country from seventy to a hundred years ago, or that, if he went to the countries where those races originated, he would find birds

ckerel. (Photograph from Grove Hill P

orn hen. (Photograph from H.

of Italy and has changed very little since it was introduced into that country thousands of years ago. It is found there in all colors, and mostly with a single comb. The Italian type is of particular interest, not only because of its in

er-Spangled H

er-Spangled H

Dr. J. S. Wolfe, Blo

ifferent races, the Pit Game and the Dorking. Game fowls were bred in all parts of the kingdom, but the Dorkings were a local breed developed by the people in the vicinity of the town of Dorking, where from very early times the growing of poultry for the London market was an

-Crested Black

-Crested Black

m Charles L. Seely

wls were bred systematically for that purpose. So, too, with the large crest of the Polish fowl: to carry it the structure of the head must be changed. Such changes require systematic breeding for a long period. Dutch and German artists of the sixteenth century painted many farmyard scenes showing fowls of both these types, frequently in flocks with common fowls and with some that appear to be a mixture.

ograph from the Houdan Yard

(Photograph from Tioga Poult

and the plumage is mottled irregularly, not distinctly marked as in the party-colored varieties of Polish. The

e are mostly of the Italian type, with black (or in some districts blue) the predominant color. The Black Spanish seems to have been known in Holland and England for two hundred years or

Photograph from Arthur Trethaw

ere it was bred to much greater size, with the comb often so large that it was a burden to the fowl. Bl

e fowls of Western Asia, Africa, and Europe until the eighteenth century. When commerce between Europe, India, and the East Indies began, the Europeans found in these countries fowls of a much more rugged type than those of Europe. Some of these fowls were much larger than any that the visitors had seen. The Aseel of India was a small but

Buff Coch

Buff Coch

Tienken and Case,

Dark Br

were of various colors, had feathers on the shanks and feet, and laid brown eggs. Some of these fowls were brought to America in sailing vessels very early in the last century and occasionally after that until the middle of the century, b

Dark Brah

pan were much like the ordinary fowls of Europe and America, and not, as would be expected, like the fowls of China. This indicated that there had been no exchange of fowls between China and Japan after the type in China became changed. It also affords strong evidence that the fowls of India and

h?nix cockerel. (Photograph fro

bition in the Public Garden in Boston, to which fanciers from eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and eastern Connecticut brought their choicest and rarest specimens. This was the first poultry show held in America. Nearly fifteen hundred birds were exhibited, and the exhibitors numbere

e who paid such prices for fowls were commonly regarded as monomaniacs. While the interest was not as great in other kinds of fowls as in the Shanghais, Cochin Chinas, and "Brahmaputras," as they were then called, all shared in the boom, and within a few years there was hardly a community in the northeastern part of the United States where there was not some one k

, and had made a small fortune while the boom lasted, had so little confidence in the permanence of the poultry fancy that he published a book called "The History of the Hen Fever," which presented t

hat time was that the nation was approaching a crisis in its history and a civil war. When the war was over, the interest in poultry revived at once, and has steadi

tograph from Bureau of Animal Industry,

farmer and poultry keeper. It was the increasing demand for eggs and poultry for market that had given the first impulse to the interest in special breeds. The first claim made for each of these was that it was a better layer than the ordinary fowl. In general, these claims were true, but farmers and others who were interested primarily in produ

eathers on the heads of the crested breeds and on the feet of the Asiatics were equally objectionable. All the European races except the Leghorns had white skin and flesh-colored or slate-colored feet, while in America there was a very decided popular preference for fowls with yellow

tograph from Bureau of Animal Industry,

ook these breeds up eagerly, farmers and other poultry keepers usually became interested in them only to the extent of using male birds of different breeds to cross with f

ersey Blue and the Bucks County Fowl, both of which continued down to our own time but never became popular. At the first exhibition in Boston a class had been provided for crossbred fowls, and in this was shown a new variety called the Plymouth Rock. From the descriptions of these birds now in exi

n (Photograph from C. E. Hodgki

gn breeds appeared to show. The three varieties that have just been mentioned, and many others arising from time to time, met all the expressed requirements of the practical poultry keeper quite as well as those which subseque

g the color of the sire, but larger and more robust. Another and more skillful fancier saw these chickens and persuaded the farmer to sell him a few of the best. A few years later, when, by careful breeding and selection, he had fixed the type and had specimens enough to supply eggs to other fanciers, he took some of his new breed to a show at Wor

uff Plymou

Dominique. The fame of the new breed spread rapidly. It was impossible to supply the demand from the original stock, and, as there is usually more than one way of producing a type by crossing, good imitations of

r-Penciled Ply

the color; some objected to the single comb, thinking that a rose comb or a pea comb had advantages; some preferred a shorter, blockier body; others wanted a larger, longer body. The off-colored birds which new races usually produce in consider

ntified, finally secured recognition as White Plymouth Rocks. Almost immediately Buff Plymouth Rocks appeared. For reasons which will appear later, the origin of these will be given in another connection. Then came in rapid succession the Silver-Penciled, the Partridge, or Golden-Penciled (which, as has been said, is probably quite a close duplicate of the type to which the name

te pullet. Photographed in po

er-Laced Wyan

nt in color from the modern type. It had on each feather a small white center surrounded by a heavy black lacing. This has been gradually changed until now the white center is large a

her by chance or in an effort to meet the demand for a general-purpose fowl. They appear to have come into the hands of those who first exploited them in some way that left no

ckerel. (Photograph from W.

where that had white. This variety was developed from an earlier variety of unknown origin, known

yandottes (from the same original source as the Buff Plymouth Rocks), and after them Partridge Wyandottes, Silver-Penciled Wyandottes, and Columbian, or Ermine, Wyandottes. From the three last-na

e cockerel. (Photograph from Jame

rtridge Wya

rt of Massachusetts. Most of the stock of this race was produced by a continuous process of grading and crossing which was systematic only in that it was the common practice to preserve none but the red males aft

andottes. At that time very few of the Rhode Island Reds were as dark in color as the average specimen now seen in the showroom, and buff specimens were numerous. Birds with rose combs, birds with single combs, birds with pea combs, and birds with intermediate types of comb could often be found in the same flock. So it was no

. (Photograph from R. G. Rich

on its own merits. So they began to exhibit and advertise Rhode Island Reds. At first they made little progress, but as the breed improved, many more people b

to other countries of Europe. In almost every country they had some influence upon the native stock, but as each of the old countries had one or more

kin and legs of the colors preferred in England. He called his new breed the Orpington, giving it the name of the town in which he lived. The first Orpingtons were black and were made by crossing the black progeny of Plymouth Rocks (which in America had been used to make the Black Java), Black Minorcas,

the fowl in ancient times, and the movements which in modern times brought long-

ny parts of this country one rarely sees a fowl that is not of this type, either of one of the breeds named or a grade of the same type. After the general-purpose type, the laying type, which includes the Italian, Spanish, German, and Dutch races, is the most popular, but in this type popularity

cock. (Photograph from Miss Henrietta

owls rapidly declined. They are now kept principally by fanciers and

affect the usefulness of fowls possessing them. With a little extra care they usually do as well as fowls of corresponding plain types. Poultry keepers who admire such decorations and keep only a few birds do not find the extra care that they require burdensome, and consequently all these races have become well established and at times popular. It is n

ling hair. Such fowls are called silkies. They are occasionally exhibited as curiosities but are not often bred to reproduce this c

. (Photograph from Bureau of Animal Indust

a drake. Such birds are called frizzles or frizzled fowls. True frizzles, like true silkies from races having normal plumage, are very

e lower vertebr? are missing. In that case the fowl has no tail and the feathers on the back, which in a normal fowl divide and hang down at each side, f

vote themselves to the breeding of bantams. The larger and hardier varieties of bantams are good for eggs and poultry for home use, but are not often kept primarily for these products. Most people who keep bantams keep only a few for pleasure, and the eggs and poultry they furnish are but a small part of what the family consumes. Bantam keepers who have a surplus of such products can

te Cochin Ba

is perhaps not really necessary to tell how dwarf races of fowls originated; but the belief that such races were unknown until brought to Europe from the city of Bantam, in the Island

antams mak

had long bred it pure. The idea of assigning the town of Bantam as the home of a true species of dwarf domestic fowl seems to have occurred to some one in England more than a hundred years ago, and to have been suggested because of the resemblance of the name of this Asiatic city to the English word "banty," the popular name for a dwarf fowl. It seems strange that such a fiction shou

se Bantams. (Photograph from Frede

hite Polis

ite Polish

individual is finely formed, active, and hardy. By mating such a specimen with the smallest specimen of the other sex that can be found (even though the latter is much larger), and by repeated selection of the smallest specimens, a dwarf race may be obtained. It could be made, though not so rapidly, by systematic selection of the smallest ordinary specimens and by keeping the growing chicks so short of food that the

ck Cochin Ba

k Cochin Bant

om Dr. J. N. MacR

e-Comb Black

e-Comb Black

ve Hill Poultry Yards,

n made here and exhibited, but the originators wer

er Sebright B

ver Sebright

k Brahma Ban

Brahma Bantam h

Brook View Farm, New

m the Common Game Bantam. Rose-Comb Black and Rose-Comb White Bantams are diminutive Hamburg fowls; Polish Bantams are diminutive Polish. The Sebright Bantams are of the same general type as the Rose-Combs, but in color they are laced like the large varieties of Polish, not spangled like the party-colored Hamburgs. They are further distinguished by being "hen-tailed," that is, the males having tails like hens. Sebright Bantams were made in England about a hundred years ago, by Sir John Sebright, for whom they were named. Alth