THE CALL OF THE HEN. 109 



In this connection I wish to say that in selecting breeders I found that the 

 best way to eliminate the hens that would begin to bag down behind 

 was to follow directions as given beltfw. Of late years I have not had 

 this trouble to contend with. It is always the heavy layer that breaks 

 down, which indicates weak ovaries, and we do not want to breed from 

 such. 



In drawing our hand along her keel (breast-bone) we find a slight 

 bagging down in the rear. The abdomen seems to drop below the^rear 

 of the breast-bone slightly. We will say this is a pullet, perhaps six or 

 eight months old. She is well developed, and you can call her one of 

 your best hens. You are proud of her, a,nd have decided to set every 

 egg she lays. Do not use her as a breeder. This pullet should be put 

 in a yard with others of her formation after she is sixteen months old 

 and trap-nested. She may stop laying any time and never lay another 

 egg, or she jnay continue to lay another year or so; in any case, she has 

 been such a continuous layer that her frame has become set to that form, 

 and her pelvic bones, as it were, set and will contract very little; they 

 will indicate that she is laying, when in fact she may not have laid for 

 years. I have kept such hens until they were 6 years old, and some of 

 them have never laid an egg after they were about 16 months, still 

 others after they were 2 years old. This is where a trap-nest will save 

 you money. When you select your hens by Charts 44 and 45 at 16, 

 28, and 40 months of age, the ones that bag down the least bit should 

 be put in a yard by themselves and trap-nested to discover the ones 

 whose ovaries have broken down and will lay no more. This is not 

 difficult to discover, as the hen that is over the 205-egg type lays more 

 or less at all times during the first two years of her life, if not stimulated 

 to over-production her first year. "A little learning is a dangerous thing," 

 is an old saying applicable to this case. When a man says, "Don't 

 kill that laying hen," he should furnish you with an X-ray outfit that 

 will enable you to comply with his request. 



The writer has used the pelvic-bone proposition for over forty years 

 in selecting the laying hen, and has found the following to be a very good 

 method in selecting the hen that is not laying: 



The hen that scores 130 eggs her first laying year would measure 

 about 7 /8 of an inch between her pelvic bones after she stops laying for 

 the season. The hen that scores 150 eggs her first laying year would 

 measure about 1 inch between her pelvic bones after she stops laying 

 for the season. The hen that scores 200 eggs would measure about 

 1 J4 inches between the pelvic bones after she stops laying for the season. 

 The hen that scores 250 eggs would measure about 1J^ inches between 

 the pelvic bones after she stops laying for the season. The 250-egg hen 

 does stop more or less after her second and sometimes after her first 

 season, if not cared for right; but if feed and environment are right 

 she may continue to lay more or less until 3 years old, when her frame 

 may become set. When she is done laying her pelvic bones may remain 

 2 inches apart. As hens grow older their pelvic bones become thicker 

 during the winter months when they are not laying. The thickness 

 varies according to their type, the typical egg type changing little or 

 none, while the more pronounced the meat type becomes the more the 

 pelvic bones change, owing to the increase or decrease of flesh on the 

 abdomen (flank) of the fowl as it takes on or loses flesh, as indicated by 

 her -breast-bone. 



