Newspaper Page Text
4
TOUIW _
For the Rural Southerner.
The Rouen Ducks.
The Rouen duck, so called from the town of
Rouen, in Normandy, is a descendant of the
wild Mallard, which it closely resembles in plu
mage ; but having for many years been bred for
size, there is a considerable difference between
the heavy, lumbering way they move their great
bodies about, and the light, graceful carriage of
their untamed cousins. They are the hand
somest, hardiest, and perhaps the best, in every
way, of all our domesticated water-fowl. They
can be bred to a great weight, some having been
exhibited at the great Birmingham poultry show,
in 1872, that weighed twenty-two pounds two
ounces to the pair ; They cannot, however, be
bred to such weights without seriously impair
ing their powers of reproduction. Mr. Hewitt,
of England, once, byway of experiment to see
what he could do, raised a trio that weighed
thirty-two and one-quarter pounds, but he did
not succeed in getting a single
duckling from them, even after
they had been reduced to ordi
nary size. Six to seven pounds
are very good weights, and the
best authorities in England,
who have been breeding these
ducks for years, consider seven
pound drakes and six-pound
ducks the highest weights for
successful breeding.
As said before, they are very
hardy, and, contrary to gener
ally received opinion, they are
very small eaters, not eating
near so much as chickens, and
if left to forage for themselves,
will make their own living, and
will cat but very little of the
daintiest food you can set be
fore them. They lay a great
number of large-sized eggs,
and a greater percentage of
their eggs are more fertile than
any other breed of fowls I ever
tried. Their co or is such that
they do not get soiled like the
Aylesbury, and consequently
they are al ways ornamental as
well as useful.
The following is a descrip
tion of the pure-bred Rouen,
which all exhibition birds are
required to answer, by the
"Standard of Excellence:”
The drake's bill long, and
of a greenish yellow color,
bright yellow or a leaden color
is a decided object ion); the longer the bill, and
the straighter the line from the skull to the tip,
the better. Head and neck brilliant green,
glossed with purple. The neck is nearly encir
cled with a band of pure white, quite distinct as
far as it goes, but must not quite meet at the
Wk. Immediately below the white, the breast
feathers commence. They are of a rich claret
brown, and the deeper and more uniform the
color, and the fartherdown they extend towards
the legs, the more valuable the bird. The body
h a beautiful delicate gray, each feather crossed
by innumerable, minute, wavy brown lines. The
under parti are a light gray, and the shoulder
covers shading off into a rich dark color ; the
back greenish black ; tail ashy brown, or tipped
with white ; the curled tail feathers are dark
green ; the wing is crossed by a beautiful white
edged bar, shining in the sunlight alternately
blue, green and purple; the legs are bright
orange. The color of the duck is light
shaded with dark brown, or dark brown, shaded
with very dark brown, almost black. The dark
chocolate colored ones are much the handsomest.
Color of bill orange, with a dark splotch. A
light streak on each side of the heal, in a line
THE m SWWKEK & WWM
with the eye, is necessary to perfection. The
only gay feathering on the duck is the blue bar
on the wing. Any sign of a white ring on the
duck’s neck is a disqualification.”
It is a great mistake to suppose that water
is necessary to the successful rearing of ducks.
It has always been my experience that they
were much better off if not allowed to entei* the
water until fully feathered, and not even then
if there are any turtles in the pond or branch,
as turtles seem to consider ducks very choice
articles of diet.
As soon as the ducklings are hatched, put
them in a coop so close that the rats cannot
reach them, and feed plentiful with scalded
corn meal. If it’s desirable to raise extra large
i birds, mix the meal with scalding hot milk,
' slightly sweetened. They will thus be great
delicacies for the table, but unfit for breeding
purposes. Young ducks eat most voraciously,
but when matured, will eat, if any thing less
than a hen. M.
The Brahma for Eggs.
We propose to give a few facts relative to the
laying qualities of the Brahma. In this we
I
Blibh i f C
A'A', V/ / ;A- / • Wat
wsKuwtSS I TO/
£»gsg| ~ \ A i" *•'--3ESSsag
ROUEN DUCKS.
shall be guided by statistics, giving the experi
ence of others, and also by our own observations,
extending through some years of experience in
breeding this grand bird. We quote from Lewis
Wright, who is perhaps the highest authority on
poultry matters in the world. He says, speak
ing of the Brahma : “ The fecundity of the hens
is very great. It is true that the production of
eggs is considerably interfered with by the pro
pensity to sit ; but in spite of this there are many
which will produce 150 eggs per annum, which
is a very high average. We have had hens
which wished to sit when they had laid about
20 eggs, while others will lay from 50 to 100,
and we have known cases where a hen has laid
through the whole year without a stoppage ”
He also gives an account of the laying of three
pullets fur the year 1872. The result was 629
eggs, whilst another case is given of two pullets
having produced the large number of 500 eggs
in one year, and still another of 60 eggs in
sixty-two days. 1 might bring other facts and
figures to prove that the Brahmas are excelled
by no other variety in producing eggs, but this
will suffice.
The only trouble with the Brahma is the pro-
pensity to sit; unless properly managed, this will
greatly interfere with the production of eggs;
however, this trouble may, in a great measure,
be obviated by proper care and judicious man
agement. As soon as you find the least disposi
tion to sit coming on, remove the hen at once
from the yard. A good plan is to have a sepa
rate run for “broody” hens, feed them soft or
boiled food mixed with a little lard ; give plenty
of fresh water, and feed five or six times per
day. In two or three days at most they may be
placed in the yard again, and in as many more
days they will commence laying again. This
plan may be followed two or three times, when
it is best to let them bring out a brood. The
maternal instinct, which is very great in them,
will by this means be satisfied, and no further
trouble need be apprehended for the season.
They will continue to lay until the moulting
season comes on, and we have had hens which
laid whilst moulting.
By providing them with comfortable quarters
you may have fresh eggs through the coldest
winter months, (ours have been laying through
all the cold weather of the last two months with
mercury 20° below zero), when the Houdans,
Black Spanish and other noted egg-producing
varieties are frozen up, thus failing to supply us
with eggs when they are scarce and high.
We shall in our next notice the economic value
of the Brahma. — Americus, m Poultry Argus.
For the Rural Southerner.
Light Brahmas.
Too much has not been said, if too much can
l>e said, in praise of this famous breed. They
are large, hardy, good Winter layers, good moth
ers, an'l perhaps the handsomest of all domestic
fowls. Their origin is such a disputed question,
that it is not worth the trouble to study it out.
They are the national breed of America, and al
though there are many breeds that surpass them
in some single point of excellence, the Light
Brahma stands first as a combination of all good
qualities.
Without the awkwardness of the Cochins,
they combine their size and weight, with the
symmetry and graceful carriage of the Games.
They do well in confinement, and yet make
splendid foragers when allowed to run at large.
They lay a great number of large, brownish,
salmon-culored eggs, and who that has a culti-
vated, well-bred palate would select a white egg
when rich saffron-colored ones are to be had ?
Light Brahmas make a splendid show on a lawn,
their color contrasting well with the green, while
some other breeds that look equally well in the
coop are thrown entirely in the shade by them
when turned out. When close to view, their
black hackles and tails set off well the pure
white of their bodies. One advantage they have
over other fowls is the pea-comb, which, being
small and close to the head, does not get disfig
ured by the frost. The pullets are tall and
stately, and have courage without insolence, and
just enough pride to make their carriage ma
jestic.
There is much pleasure in raising a gentle
breed like Brahmas, that can be handled and
moved about without noise or trouble. The
motherly old hens may be lifted off the nest and
set on the floor, where they will quietly remain,
giving an opportunity to examine the eggs, and
when through, she may be put back without any
fuss being made over it; or, at least, much less
than the small breeds, that alarm all the neigh
bors for halt a mile around if they are caught
or handled ; or if you approach their nest,
they fly over your hea»’, upset
the egg-basket, scare the setting
hens off their nests, and screech
till every chicken in the yard
takes up the cry, and your
whole flock is demoralized.—
Nine cases out of ten you lose
your temper, and if you don’t
actually wring off the neck of
a five-dollar chicken, you are
very apt to endanger your im
mortal soul by some profane
exclamation.
Another good point—you can
put a Brahma in a pen with
some chance of its staying
there, while the small breeds
can fly over a fence ten feet
high, and almost crav?l through
a rat-hole, you never knowing
when you have them safe, un
less, indeed, you put them in
an iron wash-pet and a mill
stone on top.
Taking all things into con
sideration, Light Brahmas are
he breed of all breeds—in fact,
the ne pins ultra of fowls.
M.
Fresh Meat from New
Bones. —Take half a barrel of
fresh bones, set them in your
pvultry yard, let the flies have
access to them for half a day,
then cover them over with six
inches of fresh loam ; in forty-
eight hours afterwards, the
fresh meat spoken of above will commence mak
ing its appearance, in the shape of myriads of
worms, forcing their way through the cracks of
the barrel, and will be eagerly sought after by
the poultry, to their own and your mutual ben
efit.—R. IK Shipman, in Poultry World.
Dogs or Poultry.
How frequently we see from one to three
worthless dogs about a poor man’s door, and it
takes more to feed them than twenty hens.
For the benefit of your readers I will give my
experience with poultry in small coops for three
months, March, April, and May. No. 1, one cock
and five Dominique Leghorn pullets laid two
hundred and fifty eggs; average fifty to each
hen. No. 2, one cock and two Black Hanburg
pullets laid one hundred ami thirty-five eggs;
average sixty-seven and one-half. N 0.3,.3, one cock
and four Golden 8. Hamburg pullets laid two
hundred and twenty-nine eggs; average fifty
seven and one-quarter. No. 4, one cock and five
SilverS. Hamburg hens, four years old, laid two
hundred and fifty-five eggs; average fifty-one.
My fowls, for the past five months, have been
kept in coops made of laths, thirteen feet long,
four feet wide, and t wo feet high. They commenced
to lay about February Ist. My fowls are in
good health, free from vermin, and the eggs
hatch well.— Charles Setter, in Poultry World.