Parents of the Egg. 



shown here. The nest is a box with the door so adjusted that when the 

 hen goes in to lay this door closes and shuts her in. She cannot get out 

 until some one opens the door. Each hen has a band on her leg carrying 

 a number, and by marking her number on the egg she has laid, it is possible 

 to know what each hen in the pen is doing. Those who use these trap 

 nests tell some remarkable stories about their results. They have picked 

 out hens by the eye and found by testing that some of them laid twice 

 as many eggs as others. It is claimed that by testing hens with the trap 

 nests and using eggs from the best for hatching, through several gener- 

 ations, an "egg-laying strain" of great value can be developed. The plan 

 is not generally practiced, however. Most breeders think it requires too 

 much time. The hens sometimes refuse 

 to enter the nests and lay outside. It 

 is also claimed that the egg-laying 

 habit alone is not a safe guide, but that 

 the shape and vigor of the birds must 

 be considered. The "trap nest" at least 

 gives a chance for selecting a male bird 

 of good "pedigree." For the average 

 poultry keeper the best advice is to 

 pick out a type and study the habits of 

 the hens. Then select by the eye hens 

 enough to supply the eggs needed for 

 hatching. We would especially study 

 the actions of the pullets as they begin 

 to lay. 



CARE OF BREEDERS.— These 

 breeders should be given as large a run 

 as possible, for exercise is necessary if 

 we expect healthy chicks. Yearling 

 hens are selected for breeders with a 

 younger male. There are several good 



reasons why pullets are not used for breeding stock by experienced poultry- 

 men. They begin laying earlier than the older hens, so that when eggs 

 are most wanted for incubators the pullets have been laying steadily for 

 a long time. Such eggs are not so likely to be fertile as those laid 

 earlier in the laying period and the chicks from them will be weaker. We 

 want eggs from the hen in her full vigor, not after she has been exhausted 

 by long laying. The pullets too are young and not fully matured, and thus 

 not so likely to produce the best chicks. The older hens lay fewer eggs, 

 which are likely to be stronger. If pullets are used an older male should 

 be put with them, while a vigorous young bird is better for the- older hens. 

 The number of hens to the male will vary with the breed and the size of the 



Fig. 5. TRAP NEST SHUT. 



