Of poultry

IX.  “Tell me now, if you please, Merula,” said Axius, “what I should know of raising and fattening poultry and wood pigeons, then we can proceed to the discussion of the remainder of our programme.”

“There are three kinds of fowls usually classed as poultry,” replied Merula, “dunghill fowl, jungle fowl and guinea fowl.  The dunghill fowl are those which are constantly kept in the country at farms.

“He who wishes to establish an [Greek:  ornithoboskeion] from which, by the exercise of intelligence and care, he can take large profits, as the people of Delos do with such great success,[180] should observe five principal rules:  1 deg. in regard to buying, what kind and how many he will keep:  2 deg. in regard to breeding:  3 deg. in regard to eggs, how they are set and hatched:  4 deg. in regard to chicks, how and by whom they are reared, and 5 deg., which is a supplement of all the foregoing, how they are fattened.

“The females of the dunghill fowl are called hens, the breeding males cocks, and the males which have been altered capons.  Cocks are caponized by burning the spurs[181] with a hot iron until the skin is broken, the wound being poulticed with potters’ clay.

“He who wishes to have a model [Greek:  ornithoboskeion] should equip it with all three kinds of fowls, though chiefly the dunghill variety.  In purchasing these last it is important to choose fertile hens, which are indicated by red feathers, black wings, unequal toes, large heads, combs upstanding and heavy, for such hens are more likely to lay.

“A lusty cock may be known by his muscular carriage, his red comb, a beak short, strong and sharp, eyes tawny or black, wattles a whitish red, neck spotted or tinged with gold, the second joint of his legs well covered with feathers, short legs long spurs, a heavy tail, and profuse feathers, also by his spirit and his frequent crowing, his readiness to fight, and that he is not only not afraid of such animals as do the hens harm, but even goes out to fight them.  You must be careful, however, not to buy for breeding any fowls of the breeds known as Tanagran, Medean and Chalcidean, for, while they are beautiful to look at and are fit for fighting with one another, they are practically sterile.

“If you wish to keep a flock of two hundred, choose an enclosed place and there construct two large poultry houses side by side and looking to the East, each about ten by five feet and a little less than five feet in height, and furnished with windows three by four feet in which are fitted shutters of wickerwork, which will serve to let in plenty of fresh air and light and yet keep out such vermin as prey upon chickens.

“Between the two houses should be a door by which the gallinarius who takes care of them, may have access.  Within the houses enough poles are arranged to serve as roosts for all the chickens:  opposite each roost a nest should be set in the wall.  In front of the house should be an enclosed yard to which the fowls may have access in the day time and where they can dust themselves,[182] and there should be constructed the keeper’s house, which should be equipped all about with nests, either set into the walls or firmly fastened to them, for the least disturbance injures eggs when they are setting.