64 



THE LEGHORNS 



Yes; good layers should have long bodies. — Harmon 

 Bradshaw. 



If we oread our Leghorns with a good arched back, 

 wide, full breast, and wide undersaddle, there will be no 

 (luestion as to their laying qualities, and they will be with 

 the blue ribbon winners when placed in the show room — 

 at least I have found that to be a fact.— H. E. Humphrey. 



The most important characteristics for layers in Leg- 

 horns are: body, rather deep (especially in back), also 

 broad; legs well apart; comb not too small; and the bird 

 active and vigorous. — George A. Barrows. 



I don't believe in an "egg type," as my long exper- 

 ience with trap-nest records has given me too many types 

 with high records. — Robert D. Parmenter. 



No.— C. W. Sixt. 



I do not consider that there is a fixed type for layers. 

 The vigorous, active bird — the one that is properly grown 

 —is always the best layer, regardless of shape. Yet a 

 flock of high-scoring hens will lay much better, all con- 

 litions being equal, than a flock not bred for standard 

 qualities; not because their shape matters, biit because 

 they have been grown properly. Every fancier kno\ys 

 how quickly overcrowding or neglect in any form will 

 render worthless a very promising bunch of youngsters. 

 Consequently every successful breeder of exhibition birds 

 watches the growth of his stock very carefully and is 

 ready to go to any expense to insure the best develop- 

 ment of every chicken on the place. The health and vigor 

 of the breeding stock are never depleted by injudicious 

 forcing to secure a record egg yield; the pullets are 

 never urged to lay before they are thoroughly matured. 

 Because of the good prices he gets for his stock and eggs, 

 the breeder of exhibition birds can afford to give his 

 stock better attention than the purely utility breeder. He 

 can look forward, and by building up and maintaining the 

 strength and vitality of his flock, can secure a better egg 

 yield year after year. The utility breeder too often forces his 

 hens to lay more than they should, only to find, as the 

 Maine Experiment Station did, that his flock deteriorates 

 rapidly and his egg yield grows steadily less in spite of 

 trap nests and increased forcing. Then he talks about the 

 evils of inbreeding and must go to the breeder who has 

 been conserving the energies of his flock for new blood to 

 bring his stock back to a profitable basis. — George B. 

 Ferris. 



I do not think there is a fixed type, but I have found 

 that a hen with a long back, neat bones, a medium-sized 

 comb and body, is best. — L. S. Dayhoff. 



I do not believe there is a fixed type for layers. Ex- 

 perience las taught me that the ideal layer should be a 



First S. C White Leghorn cock Illinois State 

 January, 1910. This bird won second as cockerel at the 

 State show in 1909, and first as cock at Galesburg, 111., 1910. 

 He is owned by Robert D. Parmenter. Knoxville, 111.. 

 breeder of S. C. White Leghorns exclusively. 



WHITE LEGHORN COCKEREL 



cockerel at Springfield, 111., and Galesburg, 111., 1910. A 

 rarely good picture of a most symmetrical and stylish White 

 Leghorn male. The fashionable low carriage of the tail 

 and long sloping back are admirably portrayed. This bird 

 was bred and exhibited by Robert D. Parmenter, Knoxville, 

 Illinois. 



worker, and of course to work she must be kept in the 

 best of condition at all times. By a "worker" I mean 

 that she must be continually stratching, and on the look- 

 out for feeding time. A lazy hen — one that sits around a 

 good deal and only wakes up to life when she hears the 

 feed pail rattle — never will make a good layer. — E. J. 

 Huber. 



3. What has been your average yield for a flock? 

 184 eggs has been my best average egg yield from a 



flock of 200 hens.— N. V. Fogg. 



I have never been able to count a flock of Whites for 

 a full year. Browns, 242.— W. W. Kulp. 



We run Leghorns in flocks of 350 birds. Egg yield 

 for flock will run from 180 to 200 eggs.— Robert Herman. 



I had a flock of seven laying hens last year that laid 

 1,394 eggs, but I could not tell which hen laid the most 

 eggs. That was the best laying I ever had. — Huff Poultry 

 Yards. 



Fifty per cent. — J. C. Punderford. 



The average yield for our large flocks has never ex- 

 ceeded 150 eggs per hen, while individual hens have ex- 

 ceeded that. — Hutchins Brothers. 



Have not been able to keep record for a year on ac- 

 count of selling so many of the females. — Harmon Brad- 

 shaw. 



As my flock has averaged over 60 per cent, for the 

 whole year, and as I breed for utility as well as for exhi- 

 liition purposes, I have hens that have laid 175 eggs in 12 

 months. — H. E. Humphrey. 



1 am breeding fancy and unable to keep complete 

 yearly record. My best record for 16 hens, for four 

 months, is 105 eggs each. The hens that were not sold 

 (lut of this pen, laid extra well during the whole year. — 

 George A. Barrows. 



180 eggs per hen a year. — Robert D. Parmenter. 



146 eggs from 12 hens in 10 months' test, and some 

 <<i them were in shows during the 10 months. Never made 

 hut the one test. — Harlo J. Fisk. 



Ten hens laid 1,850 eggs in one year. — C. W. Sixt. 



The average egg yield of my entire flock is from ISO 

 t 1 160 eggs per year. — George B. Ferris. 



Fifteen dozen in twelve months. — L. S. Dayhoff. 



Our average yield for a flock has averaged 170, and 

 we have no doubt that many individual hens will average 

 200 and better.— E. J. Huber. 



4. What has been the best record made by any indi- 

 \i(htal specimen? 



