POULTRY RAISING CHICKENS 287 



EGG PRODUCTION. 



(Farmers Lose $45,000,000 Annually From Bad Methods of Producing and 



Handling Eggs.) 



The Five "G's" in Egg Production. Grains, greens, grubs, grit and 

 gumption these mean egg production. 



Produce Infertile Eggs. 



Fertile Eggs Spoil Easily. Fertile eggs cause a $15,000,000 loss every 

 year in the United States alone. They spoil quickly. A fertile egg contains 

 the germ from which a chick develops. This development starts whenever the 

 temperature is above 70 degrees. Fertile eggs cause "blood rings" and "black 

 rot" which spoils them for market. 



To Prevent Loss Dispose of Roosters. The rooster does not help the 

 hens to lay. He merely fertilizes the germ of the egg. It is not necessary 

 to keep a male bird in order to produce eggs. Hens lay just as many, if 

 not more eggs when there is no male in the flock. To have good eggs in hot 

 weather for food and market, kill the roosters as soon as the breeding season 

 is over. 



Breeding for Egg Production. The strain is more important than the 

 breed. A pullet from a strain not bred to lay will not be a good layer no 

 matter how well fed she is. One must develop a laying strain. Select your 

 stock from a strain bred to lay. Select your stock from breeders of known 

 excellence as layers. Also look to the male bird. A rooster that has come 

 from parents of medium production can not produce a high producing in- 

 dividual when crossed with even the best of hens. The early maturing stock 

 will contain the high producing bird. 



Improve Your Flock. Cull out the weaklings and the poor layers. 



Cull Out the Old Hens. It is seldom profitable to keep hens for laying 

 after they are two and. one-half years old. Not that they will stop yielding 

 profit but younger fowls will yield a greater profit. Many poultrymen who 

 make a specialty of winter egg production keep nothing but pullets. They 

 dispose of the one-year-old hens before it is time to put them into winter 

 quarters. 



Time Breeds Begin Laying. Yearling hens will not begin laying much 

 before January first and older hens not until later. November and December 

 eggs bring the high prices. Laying breeds should begin laying when about 

 five months old ; general purpose breeds when about six months and the meat 

 breeds at seven or eight months. 



How to Select a Laying Hen. A good laying hen has bright eyes, the 

 comb is bright red and larger than the average of her breed; neck is long; 

 the breast is broad and somewhat receding from top to bottom; the back 

 is long and wider at the hips than shoulders ; she has a deep abdomen ; 

 the lower line being lower than the lower line of the breast; legs are wide 



