CHAPTER XVI. 

 MANAGEMENT OF THE BREEDING STOCK. 



The primary object in managing a pen of birds for breeding 

 purposes is to secure fertile eggs in season, the aim being not to get 

 the greatest possible number of eggs, but to secure the most abund- 

 ant yield compatible with a large and uniform size of the eggs and 

 a high percentage of fertility. 



Breeding by Selection. — In order to secure this and at the 

 same time year by year consistently to build up a strain, one 

 point must be carefully borne in mind, for it means many dollars 

 a year to the farm poultryman, as well as to the commercial poultry 

 breeder. This point is, special matings each year for special breed- 

 ing purposes. These are best made just previous to the breeding 

 season, usually in January or February, by selecting the finest 

 females in the flock and mating them with choice males of known 

 pedigree. Such matings should be made early enough to allow at 

 least four weeks to elapse before the eggs are saved for hatching, so 

 that the effects of previous matings are gone, and a higher degree of 

 fertility will be assured. To secure the best results, the breeding 

 pens should be relatively small, ranging from ten to fifteen birds. 

 Where this is the rule, more care and attention can be given to indi- 

 vidual breeders, and the small number of males required will get 

 along better than if too many are in the same pen. Such matings are 

 advisable for many reasons, the following being the more important : 



1. By breeding from the best the progen\^, in accordance with 

 the laws of heredity, will not only resemble the parent in many 

 respects, but will be of higher type than if the entire flock had been 

 used for breeding. 



2. Mass breeding does not assure superiority; in other words, 

 when eggs are selected, year after year, from those of the entire 

 flock, all that can be expected is to maintain in a succeeding gen- 

 eration the same degree of perfection which was attained by the 

 parent. In breeding for egg production natural selection is of no 

 value. In fact, experience seems to show that it tends to cause 

 retrogression. When breeding from the mass many fowls will fall 

 below the standard in type and production, and these will work 

 havoc in the breeding pen. 



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