[198] Hos item M. Varro[1] laudat, quod pulchri sint, et ad praeliandum inter se idonei, sed ad partus damnat, ceu aliis steriliores. Rationem Columella[2] reijcit in corporis gravitatem, additque, inertes esse ad incubandum, multoque magis ad excludendum, et raro foetus suos educare, nimirum eorum Gallinas. Et Plinius[3] eosdem ad bella tantum, et praelia assidua nasci tradit, iisque etiam patriam nobilitasse Rhodum, ac Tanagram: secundum esse honorem habitum Medicis, ac Chalcidicis. Quibus itaque cordi est ea genera, inquit Columella[4], propter corporum speciem possidere: cum exceperunt ova generosarum, vulgaribus Gallinis subijciunt, {et} <ut> ab his exclusi pulli {nutriuntur} <nutriantur>. Et mox omnium horum nothos pullos optimos esse ait, quoniam paternam speciem gerant, et salacitatem, foecunditatemque vernaculam retineant.

Also Marcus Varro praises them because they are handsome and clever in fighting each other, but he blames them from an offspring’s point of view, since they are more sterile than others. Columella says that the reason of this is their body heaviness and adds that they are unsuited for incubation and much more for hatching eggs, and that they rarely rear their chicks, obviously those are their hens. And Pliny says that they are born only for fights and frequent combats, and that thanks to them they ennobled also their homeland, Rhodes and Tanagra: the second place has been obtained by those of Media and Chalcis. Columella says: Therefore, those who do matter to own such breeds because of the beauty of their bodies, when they collected the eggs of high-breed hens, they put them under common hens, so that the chicks are raised by the latter ones. And soon after he says that the hybrids of all these breeds are excellent offspring, since they carry the paternal appearance, and they retain the lustiness and the fecundity of our local breed.

Sed ut ad vernaculum genus revertamur, et ut omisso illo Graecorum studio, qui ferocissimum quemque alitem certaminibus, et pugnae praeparabant, industrium patremfamilias doceamus, qui ex eo vectigal suum adaugeat: itaque ex eiusdem Columellae[5] et Varronis potissimum praescripto illi omnino authores sumus, ut nisi salacissimos Gallinaceos alat, atque in his quoque, uti {etiam}[6] in faeminis, {quibus} idem color, idemque unguium numerus {est}, et status altior. Cristas habeant sublimes, sanguineas, nec {oblongas} <obliquas>: oculos ravos sive nigros: rostrum breve, et aduncum, non autem acutum, ut Varro[7] praecipit: paleas ex rutilo albicantes, quae velut incanae barbae dependent: aures maximas, candidissimasque: collum varium, et aureolum: iubas varias, vel ex auro flavas, per colla, cervicemque in humeros diffusas; pectus latum, musculosum, ac lacertosum: alas procerissimas; caudam duplici ordine singulis utrinque prominentibus pinnis inflexam: crura robusta, breviuscula, sed solidis spiculis egregie armata: ungues longos. Qui eiusmodi Gallum na<c>tus fuerit, haud dubio genus suum cohortale insigniter promovebit, eoque magis, si Gallinas etiam ad foeturam foecundissimas sibi comparet. Tales autem fere sunt fuscis, aut rubicundis, flavis, aureisque, aut etiam nigris plumis.

But we return to our local breed, laying aside that zeal of the Greeks who trained for fighting and combat all more aggressive birds, in order to teach the industrious father of family so that he may increase his income by the former breed: therefore according to the precepts of both Columella and Varro I quite vouch for that he should not raise cocks but very lustful and they must have the same color and the same number of toes as the females have, and a rather great height. They must have high and full-blooded combs and not inclined: grey-tawny or blackish eyes: a short and hooked beak, but not sharp as Varro advises: wattles of whitish red which hang like grey beards: very large and very white earlobes: a varicolored and rather golden neck: hackle must be varicolored or golden-yellow, spread from neck and nape until shoulders; a broad and brawny and robust chest: very long wings; a curved tail with a double row of single feathers stretching out on each side: robust legs, rather short, but perfectly armed with solid spikes: long toes. He who will come across such a rooster, without any doubt will markedly improve his courtyard flock, and much more if he also gets very prolific hens. Well, usually such hens are those which have dusky, or reddish, blond and golden feathers, or even black.

Sint[8], si fieri potest, omnes eiusmodi, sin minus, ab his proxime colores eligantur. Improbantur albae, et damnatur, quod plerunque molles sint, ac minus vivaces, tum ne foecundae quidem tales facile reperiuntur. Sunt praeterea quia candore suo conspicuae avium rapacium, Aquilarum, Accipitrum, Milvorumque praedis magis, quam aliae expositae. Sint igitur matrices coloris probati, robusto corpore, ac pectore, magnis capitibus, rectis rutilisque cristis, et interdum geminis, auribus albis, et sub hac specie quam amplissimae, unguibus imparibus[9]. Generosissimae, inquit Columella[10], habentur, quae quinos habent digitos, sed ita, ne cruribus emineant transversa calcaria; quod Plinius etiam testatur, cuius verba paulo ante citavimus, ubi nostro aevo eiusmodi Gallinas haud dari diximus: cur vero tales Gallinae, quibus nempe calcaria transversa eminent, vitentur, Columella rationem hanc adiungit, quod id virile signum sit, illae vero ad concubitum contumaces, dedignentur admittere marem, raroque etiam foecundae sint, denique cum incubant, calcis aculeis ova perfri<n>gant.

If possible, they must be all alike, otherwise among them the more approaching colors must be chosen. The white hens are not praised and are refused because often they are weak and less long-living, and not even it is easy to find some of them prolific. Furthermore, being that they are visible because of their shining whiteness, more than other hens are exposed to be prey of raptors, eagles, hawks, and kites. Therefore let the mother-hens be of a right color, of strong body and chest, with large heads, straight and shining red combs, and sometimes double, with white earlobes and in this respect as largest as possible, with odd number of toes. Columella says: They are considered very fertile those who have five toes, do not however have transverse spurs sticking out from their legs, a thing which is testified also by Pliny, whose words I quoted shortly before, when I said that in our age such hens don’t exist: why such hens with transverse spurs just sticking out should be avoided, Columella brings this reason: it is a sign of maleness, truly reluctant to mating they disdain to accept the male, and they are also rarely fecund, finally, when they incubate, they break the eggs with leg’s spurs.

Aristoteles, Pliniusque Hadrianas in primis celebrant, quod multa admodum pariant: qua de re supra[11] satis superque disputatum est. Idem Aristoteles[12] vulgares Gallinas generosis foecundiores esse scribit: corpora nempe {illis} <his> humidiora, {his} <illis> sicciora haberi, in quibus animus generosus potius consistit[13]. Pumiliones Gallinas etsi vetustas[14] cum propter alias causas improbat Columella, Plinius eas laudat, sed de hac re etiam ante diximus. Si vero cibi futuri causa eligendae sint: sunt qui illas suavioris carnis esse existimant, quae cibo non abunde eis apposito, sed quem ipsae pedibus fodientes eruant, non absque labore, pastae fuerint. Alii ad saginam aptas potissimum autumant, quae in cervice pingui cute sunt.

Aristotle and Pliny especially praise Hadrianae hens because they lay very many eggs: on this subject I have discoursed more than enough in an earlier passage. Aristotle himself writes that common hens are more prolific than high-breed hens: for the body of these hens is more rich in fluid, that of previous is more dry, and in this kind - of body - preferably lies the trait of quality. While Columella for other reasons doesn’t appreciate dwarf hens even though aged, Pliny praises them, but I have already spoken of this matter before. As for which ones must be preferred in order to turn into food: there are some who think to be of more delicious meat those nourished not with an abundantly provided food but with that they dig up scratching out with their feet and not without labor. Others claim that are chiefly fit to be fattened those which have a fat skin on their necks.

Ut autem in caeteris animalibus rusticis, ita in hoc avium genere, optimae servandae, et deteriores vendendae, aut mensae destinandae sunt: quod per autumni tempus quotannis, cum fructus earum cessat, commode fiet. Nostrae etiam mulierculae eo tempore numerum minuunt. Antiqui tunc etiam omnes, quae trimatum excedunt, vendi iubent. Addo ego nunquam habendas, quae aut parum foecund<a>e, aut non bonae nutrices sunt: atque in primis quae ova vel sua, vel aliena ex<s>orbent, neque minus, quae, ut Gallus, cantare, atque calcare incipiunt. Galli vero quandiu foeminas implent, retineri possunt{,}<.> Rarior enim in hisce avibus mariti praestantia est: probantur tamen iuniores: nam et hoc experientia didici, cum trimatum excedunt, implere quidem Gallinas, sed ad Venerem impotentiores evadere. Sed istaec de externa Gallinacei generis delineatione dicta sufficiant: iam videndum videtur, an ne internas aliquas partes peculiares prae caeteris volucribus obtineat.

Furthermore, as among the other country animals, so among this kind of birds the best ones are to be kept, and the worse sold or sent to the table: a thing which properly will happen yearly during the autumn season, when their profit ceases. Also our women reduce their number in that season. It is just then that also ancients suggest to sell all those hens more than three years old. I add that never should be kept those who are either not very fertile or are not good nurses: and fist of all those who wolf down either their own eggs or those of other hens, and still those who begin to crow and to mount like a cock. Undoubtedly the cocks may be kept as long as they fertilize the females. In fact in these birds the male’s sexual fitness is rather faint: nevertheless the younger ones are positively judged: besides, with experience I learnt also what follows, that when they pass the age of three years they still fertilize hens, but become somewhat impotent as far as sex is concerned. But let these things be sufficient concerning the external traits of the gallinaceous genus: now it seems opportune to investigate if it possesses some internal parts peculiar in comparison to the other birds.