Jasper County Democrat, Volume 15, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 June 1912 — LEGHORNS ARE BEST LAYERS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

LEGHORNS ARE BEST LAYERS

None Other Found So Strong and Hardy and Consequently Easy for Poultrymen to Raise. -- D ■ ' •. Leghorns live and are profitable longer than other breeds. Large hens put on fat after the first year and do not lay so well afterward. Leghorns lay well until four or five years old and a Leghorn on free range will never get fat enough to hinder her laying. Like all other fowls they are at their best during the first and second years of their lives, but as long as a Leghorn hen looks bright and thrifty she will lay profitably, says a writer in an exchange. This in a great measure offsets the fact that their bodies are too small to sell well as dressed poultry, however the buyers here pay as much per pound for them as for any. They are accused of not laying as well during the winter as the larger hens. If the houses are cold enough to frost the combs of the singlecombed varieties they will not lay until their combs are healed. They hard-

ly ought to be expected to, and rbsecombed varieties do better on this account, but given comfortable quarters I have no trouble In getting them to lay In ’ winter. Last December was a very cold month here, the temperature being below zero nearly every morning during the month and some mornings more than 20 below. I had yearling hens laying, also pullets hatched In June that had been laying since September 1.. Other small breeds that I have tried fill all these points except one. t have found none other so strong add hardy and consequently easy to raise, and so take them all in all, the Leghorn suits me for an all-around farmer’s fowl better than anything tfcat I have ever tried.

Brown Leghom Hen.