POULTRY STOCK IX KANSAS. 



23 



derfully variegated flock. If the farmer would carefully select 10 

 or 12 of his best females each year and mate them \vith a purebred 

 male which conformed to the general character of the females, ad- 

 hering always to the same breed, he ct.uld in the course of a few years 

 make a marked improvement in his flock. 



The introduction of Leghorn blood (and many farm flocks show 

 some trace of Leghorn blood) has had a marked tendency to decrease 

 the size of the average farm fowl in Kansas This p:>int was forci- 

 bly demonstrated to the authors by observing the weights of many 

 thousands of birds in the large packing houses, and also by weigh- 

 ing eggs from the flocks of all the farms visited. These observa- 

 tions showed that the average weight of hens on the farm ranged 

 from 24 to 4 pounds, and the average weight of eggs per dozen was 

 23 ounces. At a glance it is quite evident that the weight of the 

 mature fowls is very much lower than it should be, and observations 

 have shown that the average weight of a dozen eggs from purebred 

 stock does not fall below 24 ounces. The standard weights of the 

 popular general-purpose breeds are given below : 



Plymouth Rocks ((> varieties) : lien, 74 pounds; cock, 9} pounds. 



Wyandottes (8 varieties) : lien, C>i pounds: cock, 8.V pounds. 



Orpingtons (3 varieties) : Hen 8 pounds; cock, 10 pounds. 



Rhode Island Reds (2 varieties) : Hen, Gi pounds; cock, S\ pounds. 



While it is quite evident that the stock on the farms in this section 

 is undersized, and that the eggs are smaller than those of purebreds. 

 it is satisfactory to note that there is a tendency at the present time 

 to improve this inferior stock or discard it. entirely by purchasing 

 eggs or stock of some breeder who handles a pure breed of the gen- 

 eral-purpose type. One of the reasons for this change is that many 

 of the large packing houses are offering 2 to 3 cents more per pound 

 for market fowls of the heavier breeds than they are for the Medi- 

 terranean or lighter breeds. The following table shows the breeds 

 of poultry kept on the 1)2 farms where detailed studies were made, 

 and the relative proportion of purebred flocks and flocks of mixed 

 breeding: 



TABLE 4. Breeding of eJiiekeiiN kept on 9> K<inttx furnn. 



Purebred flocks. 



Klooks of mixed breeding. 



