CULLING THE POULTRY FLOCK 485 



well defined course, always in the following order: first, the 

 vent; second, the eye rings; third, the beak; and last, the 

 shanks. The kind of feed used affects the length of the 

 fading period in the hen, because the yellow pigment is 

 derived from the grain and green feed that the hen eats. 

 The fowl that has had yellow corn and plenty of green feed 

 has a larger supply of yellow pigment stored in her body 

 than the one fed on white corn with no green feed. Further, 

 the greater the amount of yellow pigment stored up in the 

 body, the longer the time required for the fowl to undergo 

 the bleaching process. With these facts in mind it is possi- 

 ble to select the hen that has been the continuous, consistent 

 layer, as well as to determine those which have just begun 

 to lay or have been poor layers. 



COLOR MARKS 



The vent is the first part to lose the yellow color after 

 egg production starts. This change is due to the fact that 

 those parts of the body where the blood circulation is great- 

 est fade first. A white or pink vent of a yellow-skinned bird 

 indicates that she is laying. 



The eye rings, which are in the inner edge of the eye- 

 lids, bleach out a little more slowly than the vent and, there- 

 fore, bleached or white eye rings indicate a longer produc- 

 tion than a bleached vent. 



The ear lobes on the white-lobed varieties bleach next 

 and indicate a still longer period of production than a white 

 vent and white eye rings. 



The color of the beak is lost before that of the shanks 

 and thus a white beak indicates that the hen has been 

 producing eggs for a month or six weeks. The color leaves 

 the beak, beginning at its base, and gradually disappears, 

 leaving the front part of the upper beak last. The lower beak 

 bleaches faster than the upper. The lower beak should be 

 used for oberservation when the upper is covered with black 

 or horn, as with Plymouth Rocks and Rhode Island Reds. 



