HEAVY CULLING OF HENS NEEDED TEES VTENTEE 

 By L, F. Stice, Extension Marketing Specialist 



Close culling of hens this winter is needed in order to "bring egg production 

 during the first half of 1914-5 in line with prospective needs. Why? The government has 

 enough eggs on hand now to meet 19^5 lend-lease requirements for dried eggs. These 

 stocks of eggs were bought by the government in its effort to support farm egg prices 

 in 19^. The government will again attempt to support egg prices, but with production 

 at a high level and with a reduced demfiuid, the task may become extremely difficult. 



War food goals for 19^5 call for a l6-percent decrease in egg production, but 

 with the present number of hens on fgLnns, production is expected to be only 8 to 12 per- 

 cent lower. To meet this problem farmers are asked to cull 50 million hens between 

 November 19ifl4. and January 1, 19^5. The goal for Illinois calls for the culling and mar- 

 keting by March 1, 19^5 > of roughly one out of every four hens now on farms. This 

 should be selective culling and not wholesale liquidation. 



In addition to the problem of too many eggs, there ajre other reasons for cull- 

 ing hens. Poultry meat is in strong demand for military and cIvIIIeui use. Also, it is 

 questionable whether some hens are paying their way if costs of farm grains are consid- 

 ered. The present egg- feed price relationship is much less favorable than in recent 

 years (see chart) and will not improve during the first half of 19J^5. 



EC3G-FEED PRICE RATIO, 19l^.O-19i4.i^ 

 Index Numbers (1955-^2 « lOC) 



Percent 



125 



100 



75 



vA/ 



• 



1953-1^2 . 100 



1955 I9kh 



19^0 



19^1 



19i^2 



