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Culling. 



During this period of high cost of feed the question of elimi- 

 nating the non-producers is receiving more attention than ever 

 before. It is very hard, indeed, to give specific directions for 

 culling a flock of pullets in the fall of the year. For example, 

 if you purchase a flock of twelve pullets, how can the inferior 

 ones be culled? In buying them you hope to get all high- 

 producing birds, but usually in a flock of twelve to fifteen there 

 may be one or two that are unprofitable. We have given the 

 characteristics of a high-producing bird and also of one that is 

 laying. These should enable you to detect the layers, and 

 therefore distinguish those that are slow in maturing. If a 

 pullet does not increase in weight, show comb development or 

 other signs of laying, and this condition continues for a few 

 weeks, I certainly would use her for a Sunday dinner; but 

 if she is increasing in weight and growing she is merely late in 

 maturing, rather than a bird whose tendency to lay eggs is 

 below normal. Under the study of the individual I have men- 

 tioned the subject of broodiness; birds that have this tendency 

 developed to such an extent that production does not pay for 

 the feed consumed should surely be disposed of. Again, if birds 

 stop laying and begin molting in July or August, and the owner 

 does not intend to dispose of the flock until September or 

 October, such birds should be disposed of at once because they 

 will probably not begin laying during the remainder of the year. 

 Any birds that appear anaemic, or are "going light," as most 

 poultrymen express it, should be removed from the flock, and 

 if there is no improvement, killed and buried deeply, or burned. 

 By close observation and study the practical back yard poultry- 

 man or woman can cull the flock to such an extent as to 

 change a possible failure into a profitable venture. 



Breaking up the Broody Hen. 

 Those who have not kept data on broody hens do not know 

 the tremendous loss that may be sustained by not breaking 

 them up as soon as detected. When one realizes that in an 

 ordinary flock there may be 25 per cent broody at one time, 

 even when broken up as soon as noticed, it is easily understood 



