THE CALL OF THE HEN. 57 



and declaring they will never lay another egg, it hurts them 

 so much to do so On examining them, we find the pelvic 

 bones so crooked they come together like the horns on a 

 Jersey cow, and when the hens lay, instead of the vent drop- 

 ping down between the pelvic bones, allowing the egg to be 

 released in an easy manner in a few minutes after the hen 



FIG. 34 Most perfect pelvic bones, "C, C." Hens with pelvic 

 bones like this will lay about 20 per cent more than those having 

 bones like Fig. 33. 



goes on the nest, the egg is forced to be delivered between the 

 pelvic bones and tail bone, thus prolonging the agony of the 

 hen sometimes for hours, when, if she was built right, as in 

 Fig. 34, she would be relieved of the egg without pain in a 

 few minutes. And instead of wasting vitality in getting 

 relieved of the egg, she would be rustling around for material 

 to build another one, and thus add at least 20 per cent to 

 her egg-producing value. This matter of crooked pelvic 

 bones is more frequent in some breeds than in others, and is 



