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chickens that have poor appetites sit there listlessly. Then at night 

 the ones that need the most food are still hungry and hunting and 

 come in so late that they stumble over one another when getting on 

 the perches. In speaking on this question last winter in Orono, Me., 

 one person arose and said that he had picked twenty-seven hens out 

 of his flock and he had not reduced his egg produce but one egg per 

 day, and it was early in the spring when they were laying well. He 

 used the method of selection spoken of above. 



The next selection we should make is with the eggs that are to 

 be used for hatching. Size may be, but is not always, an indication 

 of vigor or vitality. We know clearly that in the case of the human 

 race the size of body is not always an indication of vigor. In the 

 heaviest hardships of war some of the smaller soldiers were able to 

 stand more than the larger ones. A capon weighing a good many 

 pounds more than a cockerel of his own breed does not have the 

 vitality that the cockerel does. We want the courage as well as size 

 and other qualities in the males. Wherever we get physical strength 

 we are likely to have courage. One indicates the other. Where we 

 have weakness we have timidity and fear, and consequently we want 

 to select the good qualities which will indicate other desirable 

 qualities. 



The next point after selecting the breeding stock is to select the 

 eggs. The size of the egg, the texture and thickness and smoothness 

 of the shell, is an indication of vitality. Fowls of low vitality are 

 likely to produce eggs that show mottled transparent spots. Two 

 cases of Brown Leghorn eggs came under my observation which, 

 when tested, looked as though they had the "measles," they were 

 so mottled. They were almost all infertile, and nearly all chickens 

 from them were of low vitality. 



The next point in selection is at the testing time in the incubator 

 or under the hen. This may seem a far-fetched thing to do, but if 

 you will put it to the test you will find just what we have found at 

 Cornell, that you can tell by the size and vigor of germ when an egg 

 has been incubated only seven days whether or not it is a chicken of 

 strong vitality. 



The next selection is the day the chick is hatched. The w,eak 

 peevish chicks ought never be allowed to live. They may overcome 

 their weakness, but the chances are they will be a "delusion and a 

 snare" all through life, and later they are likely to get into the breed- 

 ing pens, and if there is anything in inheritance of weakness or that 

 "like begets like," the character of weakness of the individual may 

 be given to the offspring, so the elimination of chickens at that time 

 may save us a lot of trouble later. Then, again, when chickens are 

 put into brooders they should be culled out from time to time when- 

 ever weakness occurs. Mark it, spot it, eliminate it. Where you have 

 a lot of chickens a desirable thing to do is to carry all of the weak 

 chickens one, two or three weeks old over to a separate brooder and 

 give them special treatments of ground grain feed mixed soft with 

 sour milk, and get them up to weigh three-fourths pounds to one 

 and one-half pounds and sell them alive as broilers. Then there is 

 another reason for eliminating all weak chickens, which is that people 

 who visit the place will remember longer and say more about three 

 or four weak, worthless individuals that you have left there by a 

 mistaken kindness than they will for the hundreds of strong husky 



