36 



THE CALL OF THE HEN. 



the different types, he did not want to dispose of any of his flock, so I 

 segregated them into three divisions: the egg type, the dual-purpose 

 type, and the meat type. After that he fed the egg type all the grain 

 they could clean up in the scratching-shed and kept a balance-ration 

 of dry ground feed before them all the time. The dual-purpose hens 

 were fed all the grain they could clean up in the scratching-shed, with 

 a small amount of dry ground feed each day. The meat type hens 

 were fed a smaller amount of grain in the scratching-shed, with a couple 

 of feeds each week of dry ground mash just enough to keep them in 

 condition. After this he had no more trouble with his hens not laying 

 in the proper season and dying from being too fat. He would occasionally 

 pick up hens in the different pens and note their condition and feed them 

 accordingly. He told me later that before he had taken the lessons he 

 had been working completely in the dark, but now he understood the 

 matter thoroughly and knew what to do. 



Fig. 9. After examining the hen as in Fig. 8, place the hand as 

 in Fig. 9, and hold right hand firmly enough to prevent her from slipping 

 down. 



Fig. 10. Then move the left hand down as in Fig. 10, and hold 

 left hand firm enough to keep her in place while removing right hand. 



TYPE. 



Fig. 11. Now brush feathers away from vent with back of hand 

 and part the feathers near pelvic bones with fingers. Then grasp end 

 of pelvic bone so that it comes flush with outside of fingers as in Figs. 



FIG. 11 Shows method of testing types. The thumb and forefinger are 

 placed one on each side of the pelvic bone so that you may estimate the thickness 

 of the same, including flesh, fat, gristle, etc. 



