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thin, flat beak; short, thin down; pale, thin shanks, and that peevish, 

 squeaky voice of the weakling, as contrasted with the large, plump, 

 full parallelogram-shaped body that fills the hand, the active, sturdy 

 chicken that is hard to catch and hold. The weak chicken should be 

 destroyed. It is a constant source of annoyance and loss. 



Selections should be practiced whenever a chick shows weakness. 

 This is often apparent when they are between ten days and three 

 weeks of age. In many weak chickens, especially those of the light- 

 weight breeds, the wings droop and seem to grow faster than the 

 body. As a matter of fact, it is the reverse the growth of the body 

 fails to keep pace with the growth of the wings. 



The chick that lacks vigor frequently requires several weeks 

 longer to complete the first plumage. Such individuals may be kept 

 until they reach the broiler stage, when a careful selection should be 

 made. In many instanc.es the largest, plumpest chickens those that 

 reach broiler size first are sold, and the poorer specimens allowed to 

 mature. This, of course, is wrong, and is not practiced by the success- 

 ful poultryman, who always has his eye and mind on the birds which 

 he intends to place in the future breeding pen. 



When the stock is brought in from the range in the fall, a rigid 

 selection should be made. Not more than seventy-five per cent or 

 eighty per cent of the pullets are fit for the laying pen, and of these, 

 only about ten per cent or fifteen per cent are suitable, on the aver- 

 age, for the breeding pen. Only pullets and cockerels should be re- 

 tained that satisfy all requirements for robust constitutional vigor. 



To sum up, one might state that the crucial test of any poultry- 

 man's or poultry woman's ability is his or her ability to show at the 

 end of the season the highest possible percentage of strong, healthy, 

 vigorous birds in proportion to the number of eggs set. 



This implies that the greatest possible skill must have been used 

 in the selection of the breeding stock, in the care of the eggs while 

 hatching, and in the management of the young and growing stock." 



CONCLUSION BY THE AUTHOR. 



In the foregoing pages I have endeavored to give you facts, with- 

 out exaggeration or misleading statements, but honestly and fairly 

 stated as we have found them in our years of actual experience and 

 experimentation. I am greatly indebted to some of the best poultry 

 authorities in the United States and Canada, from whom I have 

 quoted, for their valuable contributions to the " Poultryman 's Guide." 

 It is my sincere wish that this book may, in some measure, at least, 

 prove to be a GUIDE which you can safely follow and thus save you 

 from loss and disappointment. 



T. E. QUISENBERRY. 



Mountain Grove, Mo. 



