SELECTING LIVE BIRDS 101 



mon. If it is possible to purchase day-old chicks from a reliable 

 breeder, this means can safely be employed to get an immediate 

 start in the spring. It avoids the danger of loss in hatching, yet 

 puts considerable responsibility upon the amateur during the 

 brooding season. 



In starting by any of these methods, stock of only reliable 

 breeders should be purchased, — breeders who are knowTi for the 

 quality of their birds. Where possible, the records of the parent 

 stock purchased should be studied in regard to production and 

 breeding. 



The poultry industry, in order to show continued improvement, 

 must be developed through the increased quality of the flock. 

 In order to bring this about, the individual bird must be made 

 more and more the unit of study, rather than the total produc- 

 tion of all the birds. In this way the poor producers and the 

 barren females may be entirely eliminated, thus bringing about a 

 higher average production for less birds kept. This can only be 

 done by breeding each j-ear from the best birds, and continued 

 selection from hatching to maturity, keeping only the best for 

 future breeders. 



Selecting Live Birds. — When selecting the birds which are to 

 be the parents of future stock the following points should be con- 

 sidered carefully: 



Health. — No bird should be purchased or used in the breeding 

 pen which has ever had any poultry disease. Some diseases, such 

 as white diarrhoea (Bacterium poloromn), are known to be in- 

 herited. Others, such as tuberculosis, enteritis, and roup, weaken 

 the individual constitutionally, and the offspring inherit lack of 

 vitality. This makes them especially susceptible to take on these 

 same diseases. Any affection which impairs the strength or vitality 

 of a bird makes it lose just so much and impairs it for use as a 

 breeder. It should be established beyond a doubt that all the 

 birds selected have always been free from all forms of disease to 

 which they are subject. 



Age. — In buying birds for breeding, yearlings are the most 

 desirable, as they have at least two years before them during which 

 their eggs can be profitably used for hatching purposes. Pullets 

 should not be used for this purpose, as their eggs run smaller in 

 size, and therefore hatch chicks which are smaller, and develop 

 into smaller individuals at maturity. Birds of exceptional quality 

 may be profitably kept for breeding purpose as long as they lay 



