34 



THE CALL OF THE HEN. 



the rear of the breast-bone, some will be three fingers, some will be four 

 fingers, some will be five fingers, some will be six fingers, and occasionally 

 one will be seven fingers between the two pelvic bones and the rear of 

 the breast-bone. The depth of the abdomen indicates the capacity or 

 the ability of the bird to consume and assimilate food, and it applies 

 to all breeds, except that, everything else being equal, the longer-bodied 

 hen, having more room for the digestive machinery, would have some 

 advantage over the shorter-bodied hen. 



FIG. 8 Showing how to test condition. The legs of the hen are drawn upward, 

 so that you can see the breast. The condition is tested by placing the thumb and 

 forefinger about % inch from the front of the breast-bone. Figs. 20, 21 and 22 show 

 the method in detail. 



Fig. 8. This indicates how to hold a hen when you examine her 

 for condition. This is one of the most difficult and serious problems 

 a poultryman has to deal with. To illustrate, I will cite one case out 

 of hundreds that have come under my observation. A gentleman 

 wrote me to call on him, as he was having trouble with his hens. When 

 I arrived at his place, he told me that when he fed his hens well he got 

 lots of eggs, but some of his hens died; then when he did not feed them 

 so well they did not lay so many eggs, but none of them died. He said 

 he had repeated this a number of times with the same results. He said 

 the ones that died were as fat as butter. I picked up one of the hens; 

 she was in prime condition for the market. I picked up another one; 

 she was very thin. I examined all his hens. I found he had, like a 

 great many poultrymen, three distinct types of hens: the egg type, the 

 dual-purpose type, and the meat type. As he had fancy birds in all 



