Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 305, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 December 1918 — REDUCING FEED BILL OF FLOCK [ARTICLE]

REDUCING FEED BILL OF FLOCK

■Results of Some Culling Demonstrations Held by Several County Agents SELL UNPROFITABLE FOWLS . ■ Poultry Keepers Are Urged to Dispose of All Nonlaying Hens—Farmers Save Money by Selling on Co-Operative Plan. The advantage of culling the poultry flock —eliminating the unprofitable layers—is shown by a number of reports being received by the United States department of agriculture from county agents who have conducted culling demonstrations. In many instances the culled birds were retained and fed for a few weeks in order to demonstrate to the farmers the advantage of proper culling. “Culling drives” by county agents were conducted by poultry raisers In many localities. In one community in Missouri the nonproducers in more than 300 farm flocks were taken out in one day and sent to market. In making a, report to the department of agriculture on the culling work in Missouri, H. E. Cosby, state extension poultry husbandman, says: Saving in Grain. “Miss Nellie McGhee, emergency home demonstration agent of Green county,' together with County Agent E. A. Cockefein, report that 16,607 birds were culled .put of 40,169 —about 40 per cent. These 16,607 were sold, making a.saving in grain in the form of $9,640.80.” The interest on the money received for the sale of the culls would bring the total saving to ■ alwut SIO,OOO. Mr. Cosby further says: “To show the efficiency and .accuracy of local leaders the following will suffice: From one flock of 75 chickwas laid in the. culled pen in four days. From another flock of 200 chickens, 60 wfere culled. The pen of culls produced only two eggs in three days. Flfty.-two birds were culled from a flock of 58 hens, leaving only, S ‘T Rood ones. In four days only one egg was laid in the pen of 52 culls.” One county agent reports on two flocks. There w’ere 142 hens ip the first flock, 105 of which were selected to make up the winter pen of layers, while 37 were put in the cull pen and fed the same ration as the others for two weeks. During this period the hens that were selected for whiter layers laid 620 eggs, or an average of about 6 eggs each, while 15 *ggs wereproduced in the other pen; less than one egg for every two hens. In the second flbck then) were 92 hens, 67 of which were retained and 25 put in the culled clasp. In one week the 67 good birds produced 137 eggs, while in the pen of 25 discarded hens only eight were produced.

. Co-Operative Marketing. A ‘*cull the flock” campaign was held In nine Mississippi counties this fall, and a» a result 10,792 birds weighing 25,900 pounds were marketed. These birds came from 1,349 flocks. If they had been retained throughout the winter, they would have been fed at a loss. Through the help of county agents these birds were sqld by a cooperative plan and brought $5,698. If they had been sold by the Indiyiddal owners they would have brought $4,144, the extension poultry hnsbandman estimates. The co-operative selling plan thus saved the farmers $1,554. Culling the FleckWith feed in price and In many cases difficult to get, it is of greatest importance to cull the poultry flock; Chilling serves two purposes: First, it Imnires that the feed will be consumed by the batter-producing hens, thereby lucreaalne the profit Second, it makes it .to save those best suited for brewers, bbth on ucovrtof their and on account of

their superior strength and vitality, (qualities so essential to layers if they are to stand up under the severe strain of heavy laying. Under war conditions It is imperative that the poor producers be weeded- out; the slacker hen {gust go. Reding out the poor hens gives those rest more room and a better chance. Where trap nesting is practiced, culling is a comparatively simple process. Culling should be continuous throughout the year. This continuous culling should consist of weeding out, when discovered, any hen which is sick, which is very thin or emaciated, or which shows evidences of nonproduction, weakness, or poor vitality. The whole flock should also be giveh a *careful and systematic culling at some one time. The hens should be handled individually and gone over carefully with the object pf.dlvidlng them into two lots, one the better producers and the other the poorer producers. From the better producers it is also desirable to pick out as many of the best as will be needed for breeders. Band or otherwise mark theSe hens so that eggs from them only will be saved for hatching. Market those selected as the/poor producers. Save for laying and breeding those selected as the better producers. When a single systematic culling is made, the best time to do this is in August or September. At this time it is easier to form a fairly close estimate of the relative value of a hen as an egg producer, and to weed out the Hens which show indications of laying at this time are those which on the average have been better producers for the yeaF.-It jmisl be remembered, too, that the bettei producers during the. first laying yeai < are those which will be the better producers in subsequent years. Hens showing indications of having been good producers throughout the year should be retained for the next year regardless of their age, but relatively few hens will prove to be profitable producers beyond their second laying year if of the , heavier breeds, such as the Plymouth .Rock, Rhode Island Red; Wyandotte, dr Orpington, or beyond their third laying yfear if of the lighter breeds such as the Leghorn. Additional culling during July is also de, sirable in order /to eliminate hens which have started to molt and -have stopped laying.

. In going over the entire flock for the purpose of culling ‘ there are a number of points or characteristics which should be giverT special attention in selecting the layers from the nonlayers. Where the different characteristics, or several of them in the case of any individual, agree as indicating good production or poor production, selection is comparatively accurate. Where they do not agree, judgment must be used in deciding which should be . given the greatest weight. The following are the main points to consider: Sickness and lack of vigor are usually indicated by listlessness, inactivity, tendency to stay on or under the roost during the day, poor appetite, dull eye, dark or bluish color of comb, long toe nails, snaky or crow head, and the tendency to go to roost early in the evening and to be one of the last to leave the roost in the morning. '

Produce the infertile egg. Infertile eggs are produced by hens that have no male birds with them. Removing the male bird has no influence on tin number of eggs laid by the hen*.