UTILITY CLASSIFICATION 



87 



their usefulness as egg producers they bring considerable revenue 

 when sold for meat. The males of this class make the best market 

 broilers; and, as the surplus must be disposed of, they bring good 

 prices when marketed as broilers. Their strong constitution is one 

 factor in making them popular. 



Fowls of this class are good layers, and some breeds of the 

 group are good winter layers. In fact, some strains have been 

 so developed that they nearly equal, and in some instances excel, 

 the Leghorns. They have been developed for winter eggs because 

 eggs produced at that season bring higher prices than those 

 produced at any other time. 

 Another reason why this type 

 is so popular is that the hens 

 become broody and make 

 good natural incubators and 

 are good mothers. On the 

 average farm it is not prof- 

 itable, owing to the small 

 number of chicks hatched, 

 to use artificial incubators; 

 hence this quality is of great 

 importance. Fowls of the 

 general-purpose type may be 

 said to hold a medium place 

 in nearly all respects between 

 the egg and meat types, in 

 some degree combining the 

 good qualities of each (Figs. 

 54 and 55). 



Disposition. Birds of the 



general-purpose breeds are gentle, not easily frightened, and of a 

 quiet disposition. They are much more easily confined than the 

 egg breeds, since they are heavier and it is much harder for them 

 to fly over a given height of fence. A fence six feet high is usually 

 sufficient to turn birds of this group, except in cases w r here the habit 

 of flight is unusually well developed. They are of medium size, 

 have blocky, compact bodies and rather short legs. The blocky 

 appearance is more pronounced than in nearly all other breeds. 



Maturity. Chicks of this type mature quicker, passing through 

 the delicate stages more rapidly and stronger, than those of the 

 meat type. They grow more quickly but do not take on mature 



FIG. 54. Ideal general-purpose shape, as shown 

 in the Plymouth Rock breed. 



