224 THE HANDBOOK FOR PRACTICAL FARMERS 



breeders and further their ability to make good should be meas- 

 ured by the performance of their offspring. 

 The breeding hen should be selected from : 



1. Vigorous active birds (see illustration). 



2. From hens, that as pullets hatched in April or May, started 

 to lay before Christmas. Mark these with red spiral bands. 



3. From hens that lay late into the fall. Mark birds still 

 laying after September 15th with a blue spiral leg band (see 

 CuJliug). 



4. From good capacity birds (see illustration and Culling). 

 The breeding male should be selected from : 



1. Vigorous birds, preferably ' ' cocks of the w^alk. ' ' 



2. Early maturing birds. Birds that feather well and crow 

 early are more likely to be good ones. 



3. Good capacity birds (see illustration). 



Pure bred stock only should be kept. In a flock of 100 or more 

 birds, new blood will not need to be introduced more often than 

 once in three or four years. In fact, as long as the hatches are 

 good, the production high and the mortality low, new blood 

 should never be brought in. The swapping of males is one of the 

 worst of practices. When new blood is needed, obtain it from 

 the same source as the original stock was purchased. Do not mix 

 strains. One might as well try the crossing of Jerseys and Hol- 

 steins. If, on the other hand, the old stock is not up to par, it 

 would be well to purchase some eggs or chicks from a better 

 strain. But the man ' ' from Missouri ' ' w^ill test these new pullets 

 by hatching and treating them in the same way as some of his 

 old line and compare the results. If they prove their superiority 

 in the egg basket he will try mating them among themselves. If 

 they continue to be better than his old line he will continue the 

 new line but will under no circumstances mix them mth the old 

 line. 



Raising the average production of a flock a dozen eggs per hen 

 by any method means at least $25 additional profit per 100 hens 

 each year. On the average farm where poultry is a side line it 

 will be best to simply maintain the good qualities of a strain 

 that some breeder has built up, by careful selection of the breed- 

 ing flock as outlined above and by occasionally going back to the 

 same breeder for new blood Avhen it is found advisable. 



The "seed-plot" breeding plan, however, offers further oppor- 

 tunities to the farmer who has several hundred hens and who has 

 the time and inclination to better his flock. The first '^ seed- 

 plot" breeding pen should be made up of a dozen of the best 



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