Research Papers

Research Papers

Today is:

                             Herbert Kendall’s Chickens

Herbert Kendall purchased the cotton mill property in the spring of 1922
        Set up his hatchery; also built a house and lived on the property
        Hatched eggs to sell baby chicks, sold poultry for frying and roasting

Conversation in Sept. 1997 with daughter, Helen Kendall Jenson, about her childhood and her father’s chicken business
        Recorded and transcribed
        Opened the file to get information for the article (now 24 years later)
        Found information I had overlooked and which made me curious

Besides Leghorns, Rhode Island Reds and Plymouth Rocks, Helen said her father raised some “fancy chickens”
        – she named some breeds she could remember

Looked for information about them [fact checked]

Ancona
    [an-cō’-na] – [a city and seaport in Italy]
    Originated in Italy, a popular breed

1851 – imported from Italy to England; refined and bred for their markings

1888 – imported from England to America

Description – petite, roosters 5½ to 6½ lbs; hens about 4½ lbs.
        Black with white speckles
        When it molts, it grows back more white feathers than before.
                When a hen is 3-5 years old, she’ll have more white on her feathers than a young pullet.

                                                                  anconas

Temperament – not sociable; flighty, skittish; not good at setting on eggs to hatch them

Egg production – good egg producers, large white egg

Cochin
[kō-chin’] – Originated in China

Exported to Britain and America in the mid 1800’s

Description – One of the largest breed of chickens; roosters weigh 11 lbs; hens 9 lbs

Cochins

        Plentiful feathering; covers not only the body but also its legs and feet making an already large bird
                appear even larger
        Comes in a wide variety of colors and patterns
        Comes in both standard and bantam sizes

A slow growing meat bird, and was considered one of the best breeds for making capons.
        [one of products Kendall sold]

Temperament – A broody breed [like to set on their eggs to hatch them] great mothers;
        often used as foster mothers for other breeds, even turkeys and ducks.

Egg production – lay large light brown eggs; very cold hardy and considered a good winter layer.
        Their tendency to want to brood multiple times a year cuts down their total egg production.

Black New Jersey Giants

Developed in New Jersey in the 1880s by crossing several of the large, dark Asiatic breeds

Description – They were an exceptionally heavy chicken making them good for meat production

                                                              New Jersry Giant

        Black plumage has a green sheen, the eyes are dark brown,

        All black except for yellow skin showing on the bottoms of the feet

Egg production – Good egg production; brown eggs
        Continues to lay eggs through cold weather.
        Also good for meat production

Conclusion

These were more than “fancy chickens”

While the daughter saw “fancy chickens,” her father was making some sound business decisions.

He selected some breeds that were good layers and some that were good for meat production

He needed both for a successful business

And Also ---

Tree Planting Project on Lincoln Highway West to Kearney Hatchery

March 30, 1932 – a plan to beautify the road west of the city

        The Cosmopolitans planned a Tree Planting Project

        It was to be a George Washington Memorial - in observance of the Bicentennial celebration of the first president

        Club members provided elm trees to be planted by Industrial school boys

        Boys would also water and care for the trees

        Because of the nearness of the canal to the highway on the north side, they were all planted along the south side.

        Some method of beautifying the North side of the road might be planned later by the club or some other organization. [no plans or action was ever reported]

April 9, 1932 - it was reported that over 100 trees had been planted on the south side of the highway

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Revised: 08/28/2021