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Chicken Keeping the Old Way -
The Poultry Book Two, Set 6

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These pictures were taken from a downloaded copy of The Poultry Book by W. B. Tegetmeier, F. Z. S.; with colour illustrations by Harrison Weir Published in 1867, it is subtitled "Comprising the breeding and management of profitable and ornamental poultry; their qualities and characteristics."

The painting of the peacock is exceptional and the setting is perfect for him as well; sitting on the stone balustrade of a terrace in the grounds of a grand country house. Those were the days, as long as you were rich, of course.

The guinea fowl don't look quite right to my eye, but I'm certainly no artist. Shame there wasn't a colour illustration of the turkeys though.

Turkeys

Complimenting the colour plate (see The Poultry Book One, Set 5) this wood engraving shows both the cock and hen. The male is by far the more dramatic and glamorous, of course.

Peacock

OK, they're noisy and destructive birds but you can't have everything. I think of them as the super models of the bird world.

"In general Peafowls are positive gourmands; they rarely refuse anything at all eatable, and are consequently very destructive in gardens"

The peacock is the national bird of India.

The Guinea Fowl

"Those who wish to commence keeping these birds will do well to procure sittings of egg from one, or still better, two different stocks, so as to lessen the chance of close interbreeding, and to hatch them under common hens; by doing so they will establish a flock with far less trouble than by buying mature birds, whose restless, roving disposition renders it difficult to attach to a new locality."