POULTRT-CRAFT. i 3 ; 



such hens over and watch their later performance, will find that hens which 

 have once gone badly out of condition are usually uncertain layers afterwards. 

 The principal cause of all this trouble is, that, having worried over feeding 

 problems all winter, the poultry keeper thinks when spring comes and the 

 hens are laying well, that he has the feeding " down fine," when, in fact, the 

 hens are laying well in spite of poor management. In the spring every hen 

 that can lay will lay ; fat hens lay themselves into good condition ; sick hens 

 lay themselves to death. The fact that a hen is laying, is not by any means 

 a reliable indication that she is in perfect health and condition. A heavy egg 

 yield in the spring is not particularly desirable. If the hens have laid well 

 through the winter, they should be given a rest in anticipation of making 

 them do as well as possible through the summer, summer eggs being more 

 profitable than spring eggs. If the egg farmer rears his own laying stock, 

 (as nearly all do), it will pay him to set as many of his hens as go broody in 

 March and April, thus giving each a rest of about a month (if they only 

 hatch the chicks) when eggs are cheapest. With the non-sitting breeds this 

 course is out of the question. There will also be in nearly every large stock 

 of laying hens of the sitting varieties some heavy layers that will not go broody 

 until quite worn out with egg production. * 



Such hens can sometimes be induced to sit by shutting them on a dark nest 

 full of eggs. Hens that persist in laying heavily should be given the very 

 best of care, and every effort made to keep them in tip-top condition ; they 

 will rest later while moulting. Too often it happens at this season that the 

 poultryman's time and thought are so fully occupied with the care of the 

 young stock and plans for the coming year, that his laying hens are more or 

 less neglected. 



183. Summer Management of Laying Stock. With the first hot 

 days of summer hens that have gone out of condition, and hens not bred for 

 continuous laying, are apt to quit. Nearly all the hens will show a dispo- 

 sition to stop laying, but judicious care and feeding will keep those that are 

 in condition, and have the staying qualities, laying fairly well all through the 



*NoTE. Some say that, if fed properly, a hen is not exhausted by long continued 

 heavy laying. As well say that a man, if fed properly, cannot be overworked. Good 

 feeding is a factor of good laying, but good laying is a drain on the vigor of the best 

 nourished hens ; they show it in the quality of the eggs, they show it in their late hatched 

 chicks, and, nearly always, show it in their appearance. Food, though of the best, and 

 abundant, is not rest and cannot be a substitute for rest. Every animal, every part of 

 an animal, every animal function, requires periods of complete or partial rest. Is it not 

 absurd to suppose that the most delicate of all animal functions can be kept constantly 

 working at high pressure? Is it not more than absurd, in the face of the fact, patent 

 everywhere in nature, that an overworked reproductive system leads quickly to decay and 

 degeneration, to assume that perpetual motion is successfully demonstrated in the hen 

 bred for eggs and properly fed? Why, even machines of wood and iron need rest, and 

 wear out with less actual work if they do not get it. Every analogy confirms the experi- 

 ence of the mass of practical poultry men. 



