A Start in the Fancy

A Start in the Fancy, Page 147

'Why those birds, he said,' 'represent ten years of breeding--ten years of my life, brother. Don't ask me for them. To sell them at any price would be no more ruinous than to give them away. They're not for sale. Say I let them go--I should have to begin all over again at the beginning. What should I say for myself when I got home'

Three Phases of the Poultry Industry, 1903

Three Phases of the Poultry Industry: A Typical "Bred to Lay" Business, Page 481

(A non-fiction profile of Dr. Charles Bricault of Andover, Massachusetts: a doctor of veterinary medicine and breeder of chickens for egg production)

What Dr. Bricault says about the part of his business that you must of necessity take his word for seems to me entitled to respect for its moderation....In the six years he has been breeding for eggs he has made a good beginning--that is all. He has come across some heavy layers. This is not the place to discuss the existence of the 200-egg hen. Doubters may be referred to the recent bulletin of the Maine Experiment Station, which reports thirty-five 200-egg hens in a total of 1000 tested, or three in a hundred. Perhaps it will not be too much to ask the cautious to believe that Dr. Bricault has had and still has his 200-egg hens; that he has bred from them; that he has made something if not the most of them. It is early yet to speak of positive results in breeding for eggs; suffice it to say that Dr. Bricault has achieved enough in that direction to encourage him to persevere.

Three Phases of the Poultry Industry, 1903

Three Phases of the Poultry Industry: A Typical Small Breeder, Page 482

(A non-fiction profile of a small-scale poultry farmer)

Mr. John A. Hall, of Atkinson New Hampshire, is a good type of the small breeder. He makes up in the care and real affection he lavishes on his stock for any lack of the business ability that distinguishes so many of our mere middlemen in the fancy. He is always head over heels in pets of one kind or another. In addition to White Wyandottes he indulges a taste for several varieties of ducks and geese, not to mention Runt pigeons and Angora cats on the side. All these creatures share the place of honor about the dooryard and everywhere under foot.

The Cockerel Buying Habit, 1904

The Cockerel Buying Habit, Page 54

'Well there they are, such as they are,' said the old gentleman with a sweep of the hand. 'It's as much as a year or two since you've seen them, I guess.'

'What's the matter with those? They're a nice looking lot,' I protested.

'If you don't see it, I'm not going to tell you.'

All hens in a flock look pretty much alike at first glance, and it is hard to pick out individual characteristics. But I had to say something.

'Perhaps you mean they vary somewhat in size. You have some very white birds.'

'I mean they're all sorts and kinds. I've got some very white birds, and I've got some not so white. I've got some big ones, and I've got some all fired runts. The fact is they come every which way. I haven't anything like a strain.'

As I looked I became convinced that there was something to what he said.

He sat down on his heels and pointed with his pipe stem. 'There that one facing this way--tail to tail with that other one--she's eating now.'

'Yes, I see her.'

'Well, she's what I call a pretty middling fair bird--good full breast, and nice spread of tail. There may be a couple of others something like her in the flock--not exactly like--not on your life--but something like. I know where they come from. I know them as much as anything by a certain defect they all have--a hollow comb--worse in the males than in the females, of course--or more noticeable. They keep showing up since I bought a cockerel of So and so a few years back.'