Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 144, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 June 1916 — SMALLEST BIRDS PROVEN BEST IN EGG PRODUCTION [ARTICLE]

SMALLEST BIRDS PROVEN BEST IN EGG PRODUCTION

Revising of Standards to Satisfy Utility Breeder and Fancies an Increasing Need. A question that is receiving considerable thought and discussion among poultryman is that of standard weights of the various breeds and varieties. There Is a belief in some quarters that some of the weights are too high, ao far as laying ability is concerned. A poultryman of national prominence has stated that 90 per cent of the proven best layers as shown by trapnesting are the smallest birds. Records kept at state experiment stations as well as the large egg laying contests seem to bear out this statement. Every winner of first place at the contests held at Mountain Grove the last few years has been under weight for •her variety or breed. Most of the other birds that made exceptionally good records also were under standard weight, some of them being as much as two poUTds off. To further strengthen this contention, the birds which have made the poorest egg records at the contests have been up to standard weight, or considerably above it This condition has been found to hold true in the case Of all breeds and varieties. There is nothing really surprising about this, however, as every poultry raiser knows it is not the bird that is heavy and plump that will lay ths most eggs. There are two types in poultry,,just as there are two types in cows. The dairy type of cqw turns the maximum amount of feed consumed into milkThe beef type turns her feed largely into meat. The same conditions are true as regards chickens. One bird will manufacture eggs out of what she eats, while another putli on added weight. As a result, the heavy layer is not a good bird to look at, just as the dairy cow that makes a big milk and butter fat record Is not an attractive animal. Poultry raisers not familiar with these facts frequently make serious mistakes. They like the looks of the plump hens and so choose that kind in making up their laying flock. Thus they get the beef birds instead of the laying kinds and in the fall and winter they wonder why they are not getting more eggs. No fowl should be kept as a layer that is not healthy and vigorous, but the fact that she may seem somewhat small and perhaps a pound or two under weight, is not a good reason for discarding a bird as a layer. - All of which brings us back to the old problem of getting the utility breeder and the fancy breeder close together. It is unfortunate that the birds that lay the most eggs cannot also be the most attractive, but this would not be In accord with nature’s laws. Visitors attend poultry shows to see plump birds with fine feathers. The fact of whether they are good layers or not is never considered. Neither does the judge pay attention to their laying abilities in making the awards. A pen of birds at a poultry show, such as have won the contests at Mountain Grove in recent years, would bring some very uncomplimentary remarks from the visitors, if their performance as layers was not known. There is an increasingly felt need of revising standards so that both the utility breeder and the fancier will be satisfied, and that probably will mean two distinct standards.