SELECTING HENS FOR EGG PRODUCTION 143 



Poultrymen of New York, New Jersey, and parts of 

 Connecticut and Pennsylvania are partial to White Leg- 

 horns. The experts at the head of the poultry depart- 

 ments of these states have devised a plan for judging 

 the past record of laying hens; in other words, they have 

 devised a set of rules which may best be applied to 

 laying hens during the fall to make certain which of 

 them have produced the most eggs during the past year. 

 The work done along this line in these several states 

 was presented to a large gathering of poultry experts, 

 poultry judges, and college professors at Cornell Uni- 

 versity early in July of 1918. All who had done work 

 along this line presented the results obtained by them, 

 and after considerable consultation a set of rules was 

 adopted for judging fowls for good production. These 

 rules are as follows: 



A METHOD OF JUDGING FOWLS FOR EGG 

 PRODUCTION 



(Formulated at the Judging School held at Cornell 

 University, Ithaca, N. Y., July 1-6, 1918, and approved 

 by the American Association of Instructors and Investi- 

 gators in Poultry Husbandry.) 



In order to lay well a fowl must have a sound body. 

 As a first consideration it must be vigorous and healthy 

 if it is to be able to lay well. Vigor and health are 

 shown by a bright, clear eye, a well-set body, a com- 

 paratively active disposition, and a good circulation. 

 Further, the fowl must be free from physical defects 

 such as crooked beak, long toe nails, eyelids that over- 

 hang so that it cannot see well, scaly leg, or anything 

 that would keep it from seeing or getting an abundance 

 of food. 



In the illustration on the following page the parts of a 

 fowl that receive particular attention in judging fowls 

 for egg production are numbered, and the names of the 

 numbered parts are given. 



Loss of Fat Due to Laying. A laying fowl uses up the 

 surplus fat in the body, especially that just under the 

 skin. In yellow-skinned breeds this loss of fat can 



