THE CALL OF THE HEN. 91 



with the general principles of capacity, condition, and type. 

 He should by this time have familiarized himself with the 

 charts. Now, if he prepares the figures as I have directed, he 

 will experience no difficulty in determining in a moment just 

 where and what to do with each individual hen. We establish 

 a certain standard of production for the first laying season, 

 in order to know how long to keep her. You may take 80 eggs 

 for one season, 120 eggs for two seasons, and 150 eggs for three 

 seasons, or any other set that suits your local conditions. 

 Here we take about 120, 150, and 180 eggs as the standard; 

 that is, a hen must be able to lay about this number in her 

 first laying year in order to stay with us for two, three, or 

 four seasons. With this explanation, we shall proceed to cull, 

 putting into the shipping-coop all hens that fall below our 

 standard, and dropping in the yard where we stand any that 

 we desire to keep. 



Now, take a hen out of the catching-coop as in Fig. 3, and 

 hold her as near as possible as in Fig. 5. Place hand on ab- 

 domen. She may be one-finger abdomen, in good condition; 

 her pelvic bone may be Vie of an inch thick; her capacity is 

 three dozen eggs her first laying-year. She has laid all these 

 eggs and will 'lay no more until the next spring when the crows 

 lay, and eggs are cheap; so we decide to put this hen in the 

 shipping-crate, to be sent to market. 



We take another hen from the catching-coop, and go 

 through the same process. She may be a two-finger-abdomen 

 hen, in good condition; her pelvic bones Vie of an inch thick; 

 this indicates a hen that may lay eight dozen of eggs her first 

 laying-year. As a rule, when hens are so fed and cared for, 

 they will lay their maximum number of eggs their first laying 

 year; they will, as a rule, lay about 15 per cent less each year 

 after, provided they are given the same care and feed. In 

 this case the hen in hand might lay about 85 eggs; if you 

 think that will pay you, let the hen drop out of your hands 

 into the yard where you are standing; if you think it will 

 not pay to keep her, put her in the shipping-crate for the 

 market. 



The next hen may be two fingers abdomen, one finger out 

 of condition, as in Fig. 20, with pelvic bones y 4 of an inch 

 thick. If this hen's comb and wattles are red and the hen is 

 strong and active, being one finger out of condition indicates 



