General Practice in Breeding. 



There seems to be prevalent among many farmers the erroneous idea 

 that much crossing of breeds is a helpful practice in the production of 

 a heavy laying strain of fowl. This contention is borne out by the fact 

 that only 15.5 per cent, of the farmers visited keep their flocks pure. 

 (See Table 3.) Certain first crosses may get useful birds if intelligently 

 mated, but for a flock, the chief purpose of which is to produce eggs, 

 the pure-bred bird is unquestionably the more profitable. If the farmer 

 after making one cross always returned to the use of the original breeds, 

 the results would be less serious, but the mistake which is almost universal, 

 so far as those having mongrel flocks are concerned, is to continue using 

 the cross-bred birds for breeding purposes without even the slightest 

 effort at a proper selection. The inevitable result is the reversion to a 

 degenerate and much less useful class of mongrel fowl. 



Regular inbreeding without regard to defects or good qualities in the 

 fowl mated is another serious mistake which many farmers make. This 

 indiscriminate breeding invariably results in a lack of size in the offspring, 

 a lack of uniformity in the product, and a general debility of the flock. 

 Such a practice should be strongly condemned. 



Still another practice which has a strong influence toward reducing 

 the size of fowl, and indirectly the eggs they produce, is that of breeding 

 from late hatched birds that have not attained their full maturity. In 

 other cases, eggs for hatching have been kept too long before setting, and 

 in places not conducive to the preservation of their freshness. Still 

 other flocks, not properly fed, and compelled to live in unsanitary houses, 

 produce eggs that when hatched, the offspring showed marked evidences 

 of debility and weakness. 



Under ordinary circumstances the farmer should choose one of the 

 heavier general purpose breeds, keep the breed absolutely pure, and prac- 

 tice careful selection in choosing those birds from which to breed, instead 

 of taking settings from the general flock as is the common practice. 



Serious Mistakes in Incubation. 



As a rule, farmers do not appreciate the importance of the early hatch- 

 ing of chickens. Winter egg production is quite impossible unless pullets 

 have been matured early and considerably before the cold winter weather 

 sets in. To accomplish this early maturity, the chickens — having refer- 

 ence particularly to the heavier breeds — should be hatched before the 

 end of May. It is evident from the following table that a large majority 

 of farmers make the serious mistake of hatching too late in the season. 



