60 THE CALL OF THE HEN. 



indicating a 138-egg type hen. Six weeks later she was laying, and had 

 developed to six fingers abdomen, which was her normal condition. 



Another case was where a gentleman was in a class that took in- 

 structions. After the close of the meeting he brought a hen that was 

 three fingers out of condition. He said she was his best hen, and asked 

 me how many eggs she would lay. She was three fingers abdomen, 

 three fingers out of condition, and Vie-inch pelvic bone. Her head and 

 actions indicated perfect health. I told him she might lay 180 eggs 

 her first laying year, if her condition had been the same as it is at the 

 present time; but if she was my hen I thought I might be able to make 

 her lay 280 eggs. "You don't feed her half enough." He replied 

 "That is the only hen I have that lays a white egg. I got her when 

 a pullet, before she commenced to lay. She has been laying about 

 a year and has laid 176 eggs. I had a small lot of hens at the time that 

 were so fat they were dying, and I cut down their feed and have fed them 

 sparingly ever since, so they would not get too fat and die." I went to 

 his place, and found he had three types of hens: the typical meat type 

 (one with pelvic bones l l / inch thick), some with pelvic bones Y^- 

 inch thick, and this hen that laid the white eggs, whose pelvic bones 

 were '/ic of an inch thick. I told him to segregate his hens into three 

 lots, and feed them according to their type. Give the egg-type hens all 

 the grain they could clean up each day in the scratching-shed, with a 

 dry balanced mash before them all the time; the dual-purpose hens 

 should be fed all the grain they wished to scratch for, with an occasional 

 mash, and the beef- type hens should be fed what grain they could clean 

 up in the scratching-shed in about an hour. The litter should be good 

 and deep in all cases. I did not mention charcoal, grit, shells, and green 

 stuff, as that is not my business. Every man who takes a poultry paper 

 knows that part of the business, and every person who keeps poultry 

 should take a poultry paper in order to keep posted on current poultry 

 topics. 



The gentleman wrote me over a year later that he had succeeded 

 in bringing the hen up to normal condition, as in Fig. 19, but after 

 laying awhile she went back to five fingers abdomen and one finger out 

 of condition, and had laid 238 eggs her next laying year. 



We will now take another hen. She may be a four-finger abdomen, 

 as in Fig. 15, in good condition, as in Fig. 19, and her pelvic bones may 

 be 1 /ie of an inch thick, as in Fig. 24. She would read four fingers 

 abdomen; good condition; l /i 6 -inch pelvic bone. If we consult Chart 

 4, we will find she is a 220-egg type hen. 



The next hen may be also four fingers abdomen, as in Fig. 15, 

 in good condition, as in Fig. 19, with pelvic bones J^ inch, as in Fig. 28. 

 She would read four fingers abdomen; in good condition; J/-inch pelvic 

 bones. We will see by Chart 4 that this is a 115-egg type hen. 



Our next hen may be a four-finger-abdomen hen; condition good; 

 pelvic bones 1 inch thick. We would read her as a four-finger abdomen; 

 condition good; pelvic bones 1 inch. If we look on Chart 4 at 1-inch 

 pelvic bones, we will find this hen will lay approximately nothing. 



Our next hen may be a four-finger-abdomen hen, one finger out of 

 condition, l /*-mch pelvic bone. She would indicate a 205-egg type 

 hen under her present condition, but we would read her four fingers 

 abdomen, one finger out of condition; that would mean a five-finger- 



