THE MINORCA FOWL.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2570, 3 July 1882, Page 3

THE MINORCA FOWL.

Perhaps there is no fowl which would pav for cultivation as an egcr producer better then this; and by cultivation we mean, not tho mere purchase of a few birds and the rearing of chickens from them, bat their sensible selection. When a stock breeder of expert euce desirrs to improve his dairy cows, he naturally looks for crosses of tho best performing animals, Tho oaw that fills tho pail and the bull of a pall filling taee are requisitioned la preference to tho anim-1 which has merely a neat head, or broad loin, or well-sprung ribs. Milk is wanted, hence the sensible man breeds for the best milkers only. How different it. is with poultry. As a general rule, you hare only to hear from 9* friend that a certain breed lays well, and you at once take to the breed, purchasing anywhere, without any regard to tho propertiee of tho bird. This should not be j but iu order to form a good race of layers, picked birds only should be used in breeding, and their, chickens again should bo subjected to the same selection. So in breeding Minoroas a person has already a good bird to work upon, as it is hardy.lays a large egg, and under good circumstances many of them ; but as in everything else, there are Minoroas and Minoroas. The show bird of to day, called handsome and more perfect at f-r as exhibition points are concerned, is not so large and equate as the old-fashioned bird, bred in the West of England, which is really a splendid Uyor A farmer not wishing a sitting breed would do well to try this for it is in every particular suited to him if ho wants eggs instead of meat, although it is, even in this respect, very good, but not so suitable for marketing as others. Supposing, however, that meat is wanted, a few hens of another kind can be turned down, and their chickens saved for the table. The great French breed, or at least one of the great French' breeds, is the La Fleche, bat upon British soil it has the name of being delicate, and to our knowledge this is not without reason. In French yards, however, it is also very subject to disorders, so that as a matter of fact it is a delicate bird, although largo and of beautiful quality. Our opinion is thr.t, crossed with the Minorca, it would make a splendid table fowl, and bo wor h the while of any one to breed. If aLa Tleohe cock were put to Minorca hens, and from the produce a number of the finestbodied pullets of La Flee.be type were again put to a La Fleofie cook of a different blood, ancj of undoubted stamina, we believe a valuable lot of chickens would he the result, and they would be valuable, not alone for killing, bqt for sale alive. The two varieties might, however, bo interbred many ways without any particular reference to type, as long as constitution was oonaidered to be tho primary object, and good would be certain to result.

The Minorca fowl is a large squarely-built black fowl, not lustrous like tho Black Hamburg, but a clear rich black. It is shorter in leg than most birds, and broader in tho body, giving it a somewhat heavy but massive appearance. The legs ore dark, and the feathers long and close. The ear, or lobe ss it ii called, is long and white like kid. Thqsi who breed the Mino rcafor exhibition piy ggreat attention to this point, which has ranch to do with tho priaa-taking ability of the bird The comb again is an enormous affair —it is single, far too large, very tall in tho cook and deeply serrated or indented; but in the hen it hangs oyer tho side of the face, which it entirely covers. Tho faco is red, but hero again much depends upon the c»re with which the birds are bred, as unless they are selected with tho utmost oaro the face becomes partia.lly white. It is generally 1 found, however, that the birds least perfect I in the ear and comb are the finest and most vigorous birds, so that in keeping Miner ai for egg production the plan would be to disregard fancy points and look for stamina and size only. These birds never sit, but under good conditions they will lay most of the year, and do their share in the winter. The chickens are hardy'little fellows, and can be hatched earlier than some varieties for this reason ; they are also most precocious, and sometimes begin to lay at a very early age*. Early Itying is an advantage, as a chicken's life being short, tho most that cap be obtained from it should bo obtained. A pullet commencing to lay in July and August will often lay until the following summer, with but two pr three rests, and these not of very long duration, This being so, it follows that the plan of getting early layers is better than that of batching in April and getting pullets, which, perhaps, do not begin to lay till the following spring, for if winter overtakes a pullet before she has commenced, she very often defers the pro--1 duotion of egge until February. The Minorca is generally black, but there I js a which, however,' is seldom 1 It may hare been apart originally, but jt bus nit the oharaptoriatioe of the brqed,