THE CALL OF THE HEN. 113 



should be about 1 /z or 9 /ie of an inch thick. If you can find 

 hens such as described here, you will have hens with the mother 

 instinct. They will not be too lazy to take proper care of 

 themselves and their chicks, nor will they want to lay so soon 

 as to neglect their chickens. The nearer you can get to pro- 

 curing the above type of hens the better success you will 

 have raising chicks with them. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



SELECTING THE STOCK FOR RAISING BROILERS. 



A great many of my friends have requested me to write ,a 

 chapter on how to raise broilers, but as there are so many ex- 

 cellent books on the market that describe the process of the 

 feeding, caring for, and raising of broilers a great deal better 

 than I could do it, I will confine myself to the selection of the 

 breeding stock only. The writer has raised Light Brahmas and 

 White Plymouth Rocks for years, and has experimented with 

 them to get the greatest amount of meat from the smallest 

 amount of feed; to get the greatest weight of meat at three 

 months old in the White Rocks and the greatest weight of 

 meat in the Light Brahmas at maturity. In the process I 

 have run up against two distinct propositions; one was a 

 success from a commercial point of view, and the other, while 

 not a financial success, was a success from an epicurean point 

 of view. I will describe the financial proposition first: 



We will select a pen of hens from our favorite breed, or 

 from Wyandottes, Orpingtons, Plymouth Rocks, or Rhode 

 Island Reds. The hens must have large prepotency; they 

 must be six or seven fingers abdomen and their pelvic bones 

 should be 5 / 8 of an inch thick, in good condition. Now you 

 have hens that should lay twelve dozen eggs their first laying 

 year, and they are a paying proposition. Do not breed 

 from them the first year, but wait until they are over one 

 year old; then mate them with a mature cockerel or young 

 cock with large prepotency, with abdomen four fingers deep 

 or more and pelvic bones from 1 inch to l x /4 inches thick. 

 You should feed the pen for eggs, and keep them as healthy 

 as possible. If they are fed right, you will get lots of eggs 

 and good, healthy chicks, capable of putting on flesh rapidly 

 p H s 



