128 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 



the production of fertile eggs. It pays to buy pluck 

 or green bone once or twice a week for breeders. 



Exercise 



If exercise is important for la> ers, it is doubly im- 

 portant for breeders, for they must lay not only 

 eggs, but fertile eggs. If the fowls cannot have 

 range, give them deep litter to scratch in and make 

 them scratch or go hungry. 



Vigorous breeders, properly cared for, mean fewer 

 chicks dead in the shell, fewer runts, less sickness 

 among young and old stock, more eggs, quicker 

 growth, earlier maturity, more profit all along the 

 line. If things go wrong look first to the condition 

 of your breeding stock. 



OLD HENS AS LAYERS 



Pullets for layers, old hens for breeders, is the rule 

 adopted by most poultrymen, but there are many 

 exceptions. Undoubtedly most hens lay more eggs in 

 their pullet year than they do the second, but when 

 the cost of raising pullets is considered, it is cheaper 

 to use a hen two years as a layer than to raise a pul- 

 let to take her place. Many hens are still worth 

 keeping in their third year. Of this the owner must 

 be the judge. Assuming that it costs $1.50 per year 

 to feed a laying hen and that she must bring in a 

 profit of $1.00, she will need to lay about 100 eggs or 

 eight dozen at thirty cents per dozen. Most of the 

 hens kept by farmers lay less than 100 eggs in their 

 pullet year, it is said. If this is true, the necessity of 

 closer culling and better breeding is apparent. 



On commercial poultry plants, where the stock 

 has been carefully bred for egg production, many 

 hens are found that will net a dollar profit or even 

 more in their third year. At Cornell records of the 



