98 THE CALL OF THE HEN. 



the same dealer was paying but $1.50 for birds of the same age. Now, 

 what do you think of that? And Mr. Hogan says these cockerels were 

 not descendants of the beef type of hens, but were hatched from eggs 

 laid by hens selected as the egg type. They were not especially fed or 

 in any way prepared for market. They cost 22 cents each for feed,, 

 and thus the profit on the bunch was $21.76. 



"In speaking of this matter, Mr. Hogan made the point that if all 

 poultrymen would pay especial attention to producing fine broilers for 

 market that is, in preparing the broilers that they are obliged to produce 

 in order to have a corresponding number of pullets they would benefit 

 themselves greatly. Not only would they get a better price for the birds, 

 but they would greatly increase the demand, as many people who now 

 care nothing for the common dry-meated birds would become pleased 

 consumers of the improved broilers. The Poultry Journal man knows 

 by personal experience that the broilers turned out by Mr. Hogan are 

 simply delicious when properly cooked, and far ahead of the ordinary 

 article." 



CHAPTER XIII. 



SELECTING THE SETTING HEN. 



"How can I select the best hen for the purpose when I want to hatch 

 chickens with hens?" 



The writer is asked the above question very often. It is a serious 

 matter with the poultryman when he has a small number of choice eggs 

 he wishes to hatch and gives them to a hen that is apparently setting 

 well only to have her spoil most of them. He very naturally lays the 

 cause to mites or lice, or both. While it is true that the nests and sur- 

 roundings must be kept free from mites and the hens kept clean from 

 hen lice, the trouble is not all here by a good deal. Sometimes a great 

 deal of the fault lies in the hens. Some are born layers, some are born 

 mothers, and some are born too lazy to get off the nest at the call of 

 Nature. The hen born a typical egg type is of no use as a setter, neither 

 is the hen that is born a typical meat type ; she is too lazy to care for her 

 chicks, even if she is fortunate enough to hatch any and not kill them 

 all by standing on them. She is too stupid any way, and the typical 

 egg- type hen is too nervous and has no time to attend to them. She 

 thinks of nothing but manufacturing eggs. So we will have to look 

 for a hen between the above types, which we have in the dual-purpose 

 type, with the following characteristics: 



First, she must have prepotency large; that gives her the mother 

 instinct; next, she should be in normal condition, as indicated by her 

 breast-bone; that is self-evident, for a hen out of condition lacks more 

 or less of the animal magnetism, that is an aid to successful incubation. 

 I need not mention good health, as indicated by good red comb and 

 wattles, as everyone knows that. The hen should be four fingers ab- 

 domen, since anything heavier is more or less liable to break the eggs 

 and anything less than that would not be large enough to cover sufficient 

 eggs. If the hen is a three-finger abdomen hen, her pelvic bones should 

 be about 7 /ie or J^ of an inch thick; if she is a four-finger abdomen hen, 

 her pelvic bones should be about J^ or 9 /i of an mc h thick. If you 



