FIRST LESSONS IN POULTRY KEEPING. 93 



select much more carefully from such a lot of hens than from a flock that has had no trouble 

 and has been steadily productive, and always in dealing with an individual of such history must 

 consider that its expectation of continued productiveness or of recovery from disease is below 

 the average. In deciding upon his general arrangements for the year, the poultry keeper who 

 has to deai with a flock like this can estimate that he will have only a small proportion of year- 

 ling hens to carry over. 



In selecting from a flock of yearlings that have been generally in good condition, free from 

 disease, and fair to good egg producers, take first those that are plainly in good health and con- 

 dition, bright looking and presumed to be laying or about to lay. Hens that answer that 

 description at this season of the year we may say quite positively that it will pay to keep over. 



Of course this does not mean that every such hen will be profitable. Every hen of a small 

 lot may be, but the rule is that as hens advance in age an increasing proportion of them develop 

 disorders or from various reasons become unprofitable. What we say of this selected lot of 

 yearling hens is that being at this season in fine condition these hens may be reserved and given 

 regular care with every reasonable assurance that they will give a good account of themselves, 

 and their further culling need not concern the poultry man for some time. 



Having taken out the best hens, take now the worst ones the hens that are noticeably 

 inferior in size and appearance. Perhaps I can make it plainer by telling how I go about it 

 myself. 



When putting pullets into winter quarters in the fall, as long as I have room for them, I do 

 not reject slightly undersized or those that lack typical shape, provided they seem vigorous and 

 healthy. My experience has been that while not equal to well grown and well built pullets for 

 continued egg production these inferior pullets are generally profitable as layers through their 

 first winter and spring laying period. After that I find them as a rule less satisfactory, and 

 except in case I reserve some for further tests, all such yearling hens go to the hen cart in the 

 first general clean up in June or early July. When I was handling poultry on a larger scale, 

 and peddling out my products, we were killing off old stock as customers wanted it every week 

 in the year, yet always as the young chicks came up and needed the room we found it necessary 

 to go over the whole stock carefully and dispose of many of the least promising yearlings. 



These poorest hens are destined to go to the hen cart as soon as in marketable condition, 

 whether they begin to lay or not. 



We have left now some hens about which we are uncertain. They do not seem to belong 

 positively with either of the other classes. Most of them are good hens in poor condition. 



That being the case, the points for us to consider are why they are in poor condition, and 

 whether their condition can be readily improved. 



The most common cause for healthy hens being in poor condition at this season is that egg 

 production for some time has been so heavy that they could hot keep it up and keep in good 

 flesh at the same time. The result is that they lay heavily as long as they can stand it, then 

 have to stop, and will either not lay or lay only occasionally until restored to good condition. 



My hens are at all times full fed and with sufficient variety, yet I always find a considerable 

 number of them that thus lay themselves out of condition. The lot of hens comprising this 

 class, if put by themselves, as I put them now, generally give, for awhile, a very small egg 

 yield, though if one has been very rigid in selection of his first class hens, he will have left 

 for this some that are laying, but not in good condition, and only more attractive than the 

 others which go into the intermediate class because the comb is bright. If these laying hens 

 go as they should into this intermediate lot we are likely to have from it at the start a low, but 

 steady egg yield. 



The hens are now divided into three lots, I. e. : 



Lot 7. Good hens in good condition. 



Lot 2. Good hens in poor condition, and hens about which the keeper feels 



uncertain. 

 Lot 3. Poor hens and those which for other reasons it is not desirable to 



keep. 



Under this last specification include scaly legged hens no matter how good in 

 other respects. 



