WITH 4200 HENS 139 



and made a little profit by it, but as a rule the profit to 

 be made thereby is too small to warrant the time and 

 effort expended. We take no interest in anatomical tests. 



We arrange with a market man to take the whole lot. 

 Grading the hens by weight usually results in a better 

 price; this can best be done at the time they are crated. 

 But we try to make a bargain on the basis of splitting the 

 price between the high and middle quotations. The low 

 price, which applies to culls of very light weight, is not 

 used in this kind of bargaining where the "pen run" is sold 

 and none are selected to be saved out. If the best are 

 being saved out to be carried over the price is likely to be 

 shaded. In selling the "pen run" of two-year-old birds in 

 the months of September and October we find they will 

 average about 3^2 pounds. If they are sold earlier, or if 

 they are carried until late in November, they are likely to 

 weigh a fraction more. Older hens will generally aver- 

 age more in weight. 



We prefer having the birds crated and made ready for 

 transporting to market at from 3 to 4 o'clock in the morn- 

 ing. At this time the majority of them can be taken oft 

 the roosts and put into the crates inside the house. This 

 is a great saving in time and labor. We have handled 

 lots of a thousand in this manner and had the loaded 

 trucks drive away before 7 o'clock. 



Egg Yield per Hen 



Our best egg production in 1918 was from a yard of 500 

 pullets, with an average of 152.4 eggs per pullet. The 

 lowest pullet yield was 145.1 per pullet from a yard that 

 originally contained 900 birds hatched March 30th. The 



