Ike Boy's Hens. 81 



Lut when it means a loss of your own money, you soon get tired of it. The 

 boy began to see if he could pick out the layers. He found it was not 

 hard to do so. You can catch most of them on the nest. They go around 

 singing and scratching, and the egg-layers are usually the liveliest hens and 

 the best eaters. It is not safe to go by any single one of these signs. 

 Sometimes a hen goes on the nest with no intention of laying. The lazy 

 Brown Leghorn made more noise after laying one egg than the other 

 two did over three, and the Light Brahma and the lazy Wyandotte ate their 

 fill and then moped on the roost. You cannot tell layers by any one 

 test, but after a good study of the actions of the hen you can pick them 

 out. The boy had specimens of four different breeds in his little flock, 

 and he found that all these breeds contained workers as well as drones. 

 Before long he learned that half the hens did more than three-fourths of 

 the laying. It was good business to eat the eggs from the lazy hens and 

 keep those from the workers for setting. The boy had noticed how many 

 children there are who "look like father and act like mother." This is the 

 principle of breeding which hen men ought to learn by heart. The boy 

 will learn later that some of the old hens may be good breeders, though 

 their granddaughters may outlay them. 



BREEDING TO TYPE.— At first the boy though it wise to set eggs 

 from all the best layers, no matter what color and shape they might be. 

 Then he remembered that the poultryman wanted a dollar apiece for the 

 Leghorns, while the spotted hens of all shapes and colors sold at a price per 

 pound. Whenever people told him about a man who was doing well with 

 poultry he was sure to find on that man's farm hens of one color and 

 much the same shape. In years before, when we had all sorts of pullets, 

 no one cared to buy them, but when we had bred pure Leghorns and 

 Wyandottes a dozen people were after them. That showed him that if 

 you expect to get the best price for your hens you must have them uniform, 

 with the marks of some well-known breed. A spotted hen may be a fine 

 layer, but you cannot make a buyer think so as you could if the hen were 

 well marked, and had the true shape and appearance of one of the 

 breeds that people know about. For instance, suppose you have Brown 

 Leghorn hens and a White Wyandotte rooster, and you hatch the eggs 

 from your best layers. The pullets may "act like mother" and lay well, but 

 they will "look like father" and be spotted with all colors. No one would 

 pay as much for such birds as they would if a Brown Leghorn rooster had 

 been used. It is always an advantage to have birds that are salable as 

 well as good layers. The boy began to see that if he was ever to have 

 a flock of hens to be proud of he must make them as near alike as possi- 

 ble, and hatch the eggs from the best. He finally made up his mind that 

 he liked the Brown Leghorns best. When asked his reason he said : 



