152 POULTRY-CRAFT. 



worked as a cockerel, and neglected between seasons, that is, as he should be, 

 in his prime, will get better chicks than it was possible for him to get as a 

 cockerel. The mating of males and females of this age will, other things 

 equal, give better results than any other age or combination of ages. Well 

 grown young fowls make better breeders than two-year-olds not in prime 

 condition. A method favored by many breeders is to mate a cock bird to 

 pullets, and a cockerel to hens. Generally these matings give better results 

 than matings of cockerels and pullets not as good as matings of two-year-olds. 

 Fowls in their third season will often get as good chicks at the height of the 

 breeding season as they did the previous year. Old fowls, however, are not 

 reliable breeders early in the season. 



209. How Many Hens to a Male? The general rule is: for 

 Asiatics, 6 to 10; for Americans, 8 to 12 ; for Mediterraneans, 10 to 15. A 

 great deal depends on the male, and whether his attentions are well 

 distributed. Sometimes good results in fertility are obtained from a male 

 with twenty, twenty-five or thirty hens ; but the quality of the chicks from 

 such matings is rarely what it should be. Even in using the smaller numbers 

 suggested in the rule, it is better to keep low rather than high. Small 

 matings of one, two, or several hens with a male, are sometimes desired. 

 Some males worry the hens when confined with so small a number. In that 

 case the usual method is to introduce hens, as many as needed to keep the 

 male peaceable, of a breed which lays eggs easily distinguished from those of 

 the breeding hens. When more hens are kept together than one male can 

 take care of, various expedients are resorted to to prevent males interfering 

 with each other, or exhausting their power. When two males are used, the 

 commonest practice is to run them with the hens on alternate days, though 

 some make the periods several days or a week ; and some think they get 

 better results by using one male as long as he keeps in condition, then 

 substituting one held in reserve for that purpose. A favorite method with 

 larger flocks is to use three males, giving each two days work and a day's rest 

 alternately. It is, perhaps, needless to say that these methods are not used 

 by good breeders for good stock. For market poultry and laying stock, they 

 answer ; but unless the hens are all good of their kind, it is better to reduce 

 their number to as many as can be kept with one male. Sometimes a male 

 is given too many or too few hens, for the purpose of influencing the 

 transmission of the qualities of sire and dam, it being known that the parent 

 in best condition is most prepotent. This practice is a questionable one, for 

 it really amounts to deliberately putting one side or the other out of condition. 



210. Can Sex be Controlled? No one has yet succeeded in demon- 

 strating that it can not in fowls. The numerous recipes given do not prove 

 at all reliable. 



211. Contamination. It is sometimes asserted that a hen once served 



