348 POULTRY MANAGEMENT. 



A good method of starting a pure-bred flock is to buy, in 

 the spring, from some reliable source, a couple of sittings of 

 eggs from a good laying strain of utility fowls. Be sure that 

 the strain is right, for there are good strains and bad strains. 

 Strains that will lay in winter; strains that will lay ten dozen 

 eggs a year; and strains that will not lay three dozen; strains 

 that will want to sit all the time, and strains that will scarcely 

 ever ask for that pleasure. Some strains possess early ma- 

 turing characters without coarseness, while there are others 

 that are coarse, ungainly looking fowls no matter what at- 

 tention you give them. All these strains, and many others, 

 may be found in the same breed, depending upon the methods 

 that have been employed in developing them. 



Having your two or three sittings hatched and reared in 

 the fall, separate the cockerels and pullets. You will likely 

 be able to dispose of the pure-bred cockerels to good advan- 

 tage to your neighbors, if they are from the right kind of 

 stock. If you cannot, put them in a crate and get them ready 

 for market . Do not keep them at any rate. Procure a cock- 

 erel from some breeder to mate with your best bird to get 

 your eggs for your next crop of chickens. 



When your pullets begin to lay it is a good plan to pro- 

 cure what are known as trap nests. By using these you will 

 be able to keep a record of each hen's laying. When time 

 for mating comes shut up eight or ten of the hens, that have 

 proven themselves good layers, and that are otherwise suit- 

 able, with a good cock, and in ten days eggs may be saved for 

 hatching. The good layers may be marked by puncturing 

 a hole in the web of the foot or by a band of some sort 

 around the leg. Never allow a cock to run with hens, except 

 when you want eggs to set, and then only with the breeding 

 hens. Set the eggs under brooding hens, as mentioned in a 

 preceding lecture, and continue making selections based on 

 type and performance. Use cocks that are from good laying 

 strains. Feed and train the hens so that they will increase 

 their egg laying propensity, and in this way an excellent egg 

 laying strain may be built up and perpetuated. Breed only 

 from mature hens. 



Grading Up. Many farmers have already some good laying 

 hens among their scrub flock. Cull out those that are poor 

 producers, procure a PURE-BRED cock as already described, 

 and mate him with the good layers. Set the eggs and make 

 careful selection in the fall. Fatten and kill ALL the cock- 



