In 365 BC the white geese kept by the Romans saved their city from capture by the Gauls in a night attack, when the noise of the alarmed birds awoke the citizens. The keeping of geese and ducks by people as a source of food dates back much earlier, perhaps as far as the first human settlements, when an uneasy relationship between man and Mallard may have arisen. Today's pure breeds of domestic ducks and geese have been evolving ever since. In this book Fred Hams describes and illustrates most of the domestic breeds that can be seen in Britain today, including Aylesbury, Pekin, Rouen,...
In 365 BC the white geese kept by the Romans saved their city from capture by the Gauls in a night attack, when the noise of the alarmed birds awok...
Originating from jungle fowl, domesticated poultry was kept as far back as 2000 BC, and cockfighting was described by the historian Manu as early as 1000 BC. In more recent times many landowners in Britain bred splendid pure game fowl, but in commercial farming terms the pure breeds of poultry were of little interest compared to the hybrid bird. In the 1950s and 1960s many of the old breeds of poultry dwindled alomost to the point of extinction, but a resurgence of interest came just in time to save them. This book illustrates many of these, describing the historical background and the breeds...
Originating from jungle fowl, domesticated poultry was kept as far back as 2000 BC, and cockfighting was described by the historian Manu as early as 1...
