Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 154, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 July 1918 — SELECT PULLETS FOR NEXT WINTER [ARTICLE]

SELECT PULLETS FOR NEXT WINTER

Culling Out Poor Layers and Backward Fowls Saves Feed, Room, Time and Labor. MORE EGGS WITH LESS COST Problem Is to Select Hens That May Reasonably Bs Expected to Produce Well -for Remainder of Year and After Molting. The coming of July means to the poultry raiser that it is time to count the layers for next winter and to begin to give them the preferential treatment that will make them ready for good work in the season of high prices. Selecting According to Age. Hens of the small breeds may be given a higher age limit than those of’ the medium and large breeds. Late pullets should be culled much more severely than early pullets. The ordinary laying flock is made up at this season of yearlings and older hens in about equal numbers. Most of the older hens are two-year-olds, though often there are a few hens three, four or more years old, which have been kept because they are favorites with the owner or he was in error about their age. Separate Good and Poor Layers. All hens over the age limit having been discarded, the problem Is to select from the remainder those that may reasonably be expected to produce well for the remainder of this year and through quite a long period after molting. The points to be considered in judging hens for this purpose are: (1) How well they have laid. (2) Whether they are laying. (3) Their general physical condition and its relation to future egg production. The owner of a small flock who knows the hens individually and watches them closely will usually know from daily observation that certain hens are good layers.' To identify the rest, some principles of selection based upon appearance or. structure must be used. There are several such principles, each of which independently is serviceable for the purpose, though not infallible. If judgments of a hen by these different principles agree as to her probable performance as a layer their common verdict may be taken as in all probability correct. When they disagree the case becomes doubtful and the relative values of the several conclusions on the different points must be weighed according to circumstances which might affect them.

Strictly, culling is the removing of the culls, or as they are sometimes called —the wasters. When these have been eliminated those which remain are presumably profitable producers. Where there has not been culling throughout the season to discard hens apparently not in good laying condition, carefully culling at this time will usually leave not more than half of the yearling hens to be reserved for another year. identifying the Poor Layers. A hen that at this season has smooth bright plumage, and shanks and beak of a deep yellow, or a rosy flesh color, or fresh-looking black or slate —as the case may be—thereby certifies that she has not been a profitable layer. Good condition at all these points shows that she has not laid enough to drain her system of the elements that give high color to the skin and a fine surface to the feathers. The comb of a healthy laying hen is much larger when she is laying than when she is not It is bright red in color, suffused with blood, yet soft and flexible. The poor layer that under favorable conditions, has nice plumage and skin usually has comb and wattles of a rather darker red, looking more as if the blood were somewhat congested in them. This Is not so characteristic or so marked that much lm-

portance should be attached to a judgment based on the appearance of the comb alone. The best way to deal with such bens is to feed them heavily to fit for market. Many of them will begin to lay when they regain flesh and lay well for a few weeks or months. * They should be kept as long as they lay, feeding well all the time; but sold or killed as soon as they stop laying again. They are not the kind to keep over. A hen that is very fat at this season is a poor layer without question. One that is very thin and poor now may have laid well through the winter and spring, but unless the poultry keeper is conscious that shortage of feed is to blame for her poor condition, it is safe to conclude that her best laying days are over. Judging Layers by Pelvic Bones. The width between the pelvic bones —-when considered in connection with other points of structure and condition —is a fairly reliable index of marked differences in the laying capacity of fowls. Good width in this region is generally associated with sufficient breadth and depth of body to give the “double wedge shape” which is often called “the laying type.” To be a good layer a hen must have body capacity for vigorous vital and digestive organs and also for a considerable number of eggs in process of formation. A little careful observation will enable one to judge marked differences in laying capacity, as these affect or are affected by structure of the body quite as well by the form of the bird as apparent to the eye as by actual measurement of the width of the pelvis. The latter, however, la of greater service in determining whether a hen is laying at the time of handling; for in the same hen the width lagreater when she is laying than when she is not This is. a natural difference, the body being more distended when carrying eggs and the bones of the pelvis separating more when a hen is in that condition to give easy passage when the eggs are extruded.