COLOR AND STRUCTURE OF PLUMAGE 99 



those molting earlier, especially to the stage of advanced molt, when their bodies 

 were well protected. Hen No. 61 was a good example. It was fifty-six days from 

 the time she began to shed until she had grown a complete coat of feathers. 



In these observations it was found that from all pens the hens which began to 

 molt before September 15 averaged 108 days molting, while those which began after 

 that date molted in 81 days. The hens molting before September 15 began to lay 39 

 days after the completion of the individual molt; those molting after September 15 

 began to lay in 43 days after they were completely refeathered. Although the early 

 molting hens laid more winter eggs, they did not lay more eggs during the year. 

 Those beginning to molt before September 15 averaged 103 eggs and those molting 

 later average 126 eggs. 



Secondary molt of pullets. A common objection to early hatched 

 pullets is that they are apt to go into a "secondary" molt late in the 

 fall. This is especially true if they are forced for eggs early in the fall. 

 Some breeders hold back their early pullets during August and Sep- 

 tember, feeding them largely on oats and providing no rich mash, 

 and then put a mash containing a protein supplement before the birds 

 in time to bring them into heavy October and November lay. The 

 egg market usually is high the latter part of November, and it is a 

 disappointment to have early pullets go into a molt. Sometimes the 

 pullet molt is only slight and for a short time, and again it is of such 

 a nature as seriously to reduce egg production throughout the remain- 

 der of the winter. The commonly accepted advantage of a pullet that 

 molts is her better breeding value the coming spring. Breeders for 

 commercial egg production frequently endeavor to time their hatch- 

 ing so that the pullets will start to laying early in the winter, for 

 those beginning production before September 1 nearly always molt. 



Effect of late hatching on color. It often happens that late hatched 

 birds make the best colored ones the next season. The late bird does 

 not have time to mature its plumage before cold weather sets in, 

 which apparently arrests the normal course of its feather develop- 

 ment, so the bird goes through the winter with a part of its chick 

 plumage intact. The following summer it molts into what practically 

 amounts to a mature cockerel or pullet plumage. Such a male goes 

 into the show as a cock, but with the advantage of a cockerel's feather, 

 and such a hen has the soundness of color of a pullet, lacking only 

 the pullet's life and bloom to her feather. It is hard to beat such 

 birds, provided their development was not arrested by early winter 

 before they were mature, and provided they have sufficient size of 

 body. Some of the leading exhibitors make it a point to hatch a 

 number of late chicks. 



The later bird often has greater intensity of color. Whether the 

 early bird grows a larger feather in which the color is not so concen- 

 trated, we do not know. We have noticed that a Columbian hen, for 

 instance, may have an especially strong colored hackle at an early 

 show, but after the feather is completely grown and extended to the 

 full limits of its size, the color is not so intense. 



Nutrition has a large influence on these matters. If you want to 

 see the gray, washed-out, weak-colored specimens, look over into the 



