CHAPTER XIII. 



BREEDING AND INCUBATION. 



The proper management of the breeding stock is a 

 very important part of the scheme, for there must annu- 

 ally be raised a large supply of pullets of the right qual- 

 ity. The profits of the establishment depend largely on 

 the excellence of the fowls, and as they can be multiplied 

 very last from a chosen few, no pains should be spared 

 to secure the very best as a source from which to stock 

 the whole farm. There is but one way to do this, and 

 that is to keep individual birds in experimental yards in 

 order to test their merits, recording the degree of excel- 

 lence and the pedigree of the best witli as much care as 

 would be given to breeding cows or horses. 



We will suppose it is designed to produce a strain of 

 Leghorns that shall excel in prolificness, laying at an 

 early age, and in other requisites. Procure a pullet 

 from A and a cockerel from B, and put them in yard 

 No. 1 ; purchase of C and D one bird from each, for 

 yard No. 2, and so on, always taking care that no speci- 

 mens are obtained from any locality where disease has 

 prevailed. If there is any doubt on this matter, quar- 

 antine your purchases on premises at a distance from 

 your main establishment for two or three weeks. The 

 smaller breeding yards are used as experimental yards, 

 and to allow each cock a proper number of mates, two 

 or more Plymouth Rock pullets, whose eggs can be dis- 

 tinguished by their color, are added. Give each Leghorn 

 a name or number, and enter in a book all details neces- 

 sary for testing progress in improving the breed, such as 



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