Carefulness of Handling 19 



have frequently been seen to perch on a basket 

 carried on the arm of an attendant who was enter- 

 ing the pen or yard, in order that they might secure 

 the first morsel of a coveted food. This degree of 

 familiarity is attained only by continued thought- 

 fulness and gentleness on the part of the attendant. 



The nervous fowls of the egg breeds, even though 

 they have become gentle and tame by careful hand- 

 ling, are more suspicious of strangers than are the 

 heavier and slower moving fowls of the general- 

 purpose and meat breeds. Consequently many 

 poultrymen will not admit strangers to the yards 

 and pens occupied by laying hens. 



Early maturity. The noted egg breeds are 

 classed among the earliest maturing fowls. In 

 fact, they almost form a class by themselves if 

 judged from a standpoint of development. Early 

 in life they assume the appearance of miniature 

 adults, both in general outline or conformation 

 and in the growth of plumage. 



The early feathering greatly enhances the prob- 

 ability of the young chick living to reach maturity. 

 Other things being equal, the more rapidly the 

 young chick "feathers out" the more hardy it 

 becomes. The time when a young fowl is growing 

 feathers rapidly is always a delicate period in its 

 existence. It is well known by those who keep song 

 birds in cages that the molting period is a trying 

 one for their pets. As these songsters in the molt- 



