92 



THE CALL OF THE HEN. 



We consider the male bird of so much importance that we have 

 made seven charts for his classification as to egg and meat types. See 

 Charts A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. While Chart A may not be needed 

 and Chart B used very seldom, we thought it best to include them. 

 All old poultrymen and stock-raisers know that so many considerations 

 enter into the breeding and raising of live stock of all kinds that it is 

 impossible to lay down hard-and-fast rules that can be depended upon 

 beforehand to bring definite results in all parallel cases. This is written 

 as a caution to beginners, especially to those whose experience has been 

 at the desk or behind the counter. 



Fig. 46 shows a cock bird four fingers abdomen and Fig. 47 shows 

 the same bird Ys-inch pelvic bone, making him a 265-egg type bird. 



The reader will see by Figs. 46 and 47 that we use the same methods 

 to determine the egg- value of a male bird as we use for the hen, except 

 that we do not think it advisable to take the matter of condition into 

 consideration, or rather it is better not to lay down rules in the matter, 

 as it is very hard to keep the egg-type birds in good condition; but I 

 try to keep my cock birds in good flesh and not over one finger out of 

 condition at any time. There are times before the male birds are a 

 year old and while their bones are soft that their abdomens will contract 

 and expand, it depending on whether they are stinted in their feed, or 

 whether they are fed liberally. Egg-type cockerels selected for breeders 

 should have the best care and food (see chapter on Selecting Cockerels 

 for Breeding). In examining the male birds for prepotency, the reader 

 should select them with the greatest care. I cannot impress this on the 



Fie. 46 Showing four-finger depth of abdomen of 265-egg cock bird. 



