I conceived the idea of procuring some of the best stock possible of
Rouens, Aylesburys, Cayugas, and crossing them on the Pekins, with the
object of increasing the size and precocity. I experimented first with
Cayugas, and crossed both ways, using both Pekin and Cayuga drakes, and,
in order to test the experiment fairly, the mongrel eggs were hatched in
the same machine, the young birds grown in the same yards, subjected to
the same care and feed, with the Pekins. The Cayuga cross was very
satisfactory, with two exceptions. They were fine, plump birds, took on
fat readily, and matured as early as the Pekins, while the mortality was
not more than one per cent. on either, but we found that the skin was
dark, the dark pins, when there were any, showing very plainly beneath.
These birds were sent to market in the same boxes with the Pekins. Our
dealers to whom we shipped allowed us the same price for them as for the
Pekins, as there were but few of them, but had they all been of that
color would have been obliged to cut them two cents per pound on the
price. This was enough for me, especially as I found that the feathers
commanded but little more than half the price of the pure white feathers
of the Pekins.
The experiment, though conducted in the same manner, with the Rouens,
was somewhat different in result. There was a great loss from those
mongrels. They evidently inherited the same weak constitutions of the
Rouens. They had not the vitality of the Pekins, while they required at
least three weeks longer to mature. This latter alone was sufficient to
condemn them for all market purposes, especially when subjected to the
same discount on dark pins and feathers as the Cayugas. This was
sufficient to discard both breeds for my use as market birds.
Aylesburys.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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