PROGRESSIVE POULTRY RAISING 



5. Laying Condition Abdomen hard. Vent dry and 

 puckered. Body depth less than three fingers. Pin 

 bones less than two fingers apart. 



Where careful culling is practiced, 

 The Breeding the most satisfactory type of mating 

 Pen from the standpoint of egg production, 



is a highly vigorous cockerel from a 

 family of high producers mated with yearling hens which 

 molted late and gave evidence of good vigor and pro- 

 duction. This applies whether one is keeping pure-breds 

 or is simply grading up his flock. 



The number of females to be mated with one male 

 varies with the class of stock. For the Asiatics it should 

 be eight to ten. For the American and English classes 

 it should be ten to fifteen and for the Mediterraneans may 

 be fifteen to twenty. The hens to be mated should be 

 kept away from other males for at least three weeks prior 

 to the saving of the first eggs for hatching, and should 

 have associated with the males it is desired to breed from, 

 for at least ten days, while two weeks is better. 



Successful hatching of eggs in incu- 

 Care of Eggs bators depends fully as much on the 

 for Hatching vigor and vitality of the parent stock 

 and the care of the eggs before being 

 put into the incubator as upon the incubator itself. Suc- 

 cessful hatches can be expected only when the birds in the 

 pens from which the eggs come are enjoying an abundant 

 health. Poor hatches are probably caused more fre- 

 quently by poor breeding stock than by poor incubators. 

 Eggs that are being saved for hatching should be of 

 good size and normal in shape and color. The egg starts 

 to develop at a temperature between 68 and 6q F. and 

 should be kept where the temperature is below 65 F. 

 until it is set. A good dry cellar usually furnishes the 

 ideal place. The eggs should be turned over every day 

 or two if they are kept any length of time before hatching. 

 The sooner the eggs are incubated after being laid, the 



Past Sixteen 



