SUMMER MANAGEMENT 275 



Reduce the Ration Gradually, According to Range Conditions. 

 Discard all special concentrated commercial feed if it is possible 

 for birds to get the equivalent from home-grown sources. No 

 sudden changes should be made from one method of feeding to 

 another. When it is impossible to provide summer layers with an 

 abundance of range and green feed, they must be fed right through 

 the summer practically the same rations which they received 

 during the winter. Where egg production is the primary aim 

 special care should be used to increase the proportion of mash to 

 grain fed during the summer and fall months. Increasing the 

 protein feed helps to hold up production and materially cheapens 

 the ration. Heavy laying flocks can with safety be fed as high as 

 four parts of mash to one part of grain during this period. Birds 

 to be used for breeding should be allowed to rest during the winter. 



In the management of the summer flock an important requisite 

 is that the houses be cool with an abundance of fresh air. This 

 can be secured by leaving the curtains up and windows open, and 

 by admitting cool air from the back of the house Any of the open- 

 front convertible houses can in this way be made into desirable 

 laying houses for summer. This is especially important in low 

 shed-roofed houses covered with paper, as they are apt to be very 

 hot in the summer. By inducing a circulation of cool air during 

 the night, the birds will keep in much better condition, and 

 respond with a larger yield. 



Selection of Layers for Second Year. The age when birds are 

 most profitable as layers depends almost entirely upon their man- 

 agement during the pullet year, and upon the health and vigor 

 of the birds at the end of their first laying season. There are two 

 general methods on commercial plants regarding the holding of 

 birds for laying. 



The first one is to keep only pullets for commercial egg pro- 

 duction. They are brought to maturity and forced for continuous 

 maximum egg production, and at the end of one year's laying are 

 disposed of for meat. A start is made again each year with an 

 entirely new lot of layers. This method necessitates the hatching 

 of an exceedingly large number of chicks every year, and great 

 risk is run in the danger and liability of late hatches and poor 

 broods. 



The other method, which is quite extensively followed, is to 

 keep a definite number of birds during the pullet year, say, for 

 example, one thousand. At the end of the first year select five 



