THE CALL OF THE HEN. 145 



particularly when there are plenty in the flock that do not 

 come under any of these heads. 



In this alone the cost of this method, when once well 

 understood, can be saved several times in a single season with 

 a good-sized flock of birds. 



While the exceptionally good layers can be told readily 

 and at almost any time, laying or not, and an absolutely 

 worthless bird can be told the same way, there is a time, just 

 when the real good layer is resting and the common to poor 

 layer is doing x her best, when they come for a short time only 

 close together in pelvic appearance. 



While it is not safe to kill a bird that measures I 1 / 8 inches 

 or over, it is possible for a very fair layer to not be much wider 

 than that at the close of laying out her litter. Some good 

 layers, that in the flush of laying will measure ! 3 / 4 to 2 inches, 

 at the close of their laying period will sometimes close up to 

 about IVs inches. A very poor layer in the flush of her laying 

 time might be \ l / to IVs inches, so care must be taken at this 

 period not to confound the two conditions, which do not exist 

 at any other time. This is referred to in the Introduction. 

 To wholly prevent this when it is desired to save every at all 

 good layer it is well to make two or possibly three examina- 

 tions, a week or so apart. In this way there will be no danger 

 of confounding the one about to begin laying with the one 

 about to quit, arid the poor layer can be told from the good 

 one. 



When killing a whole flock at two or three years old, as 

 many do, no hen measuring IVs inches and under is worth 

 keeping ; particularly is this true if the birds have been well fed 

 and stimulated to about their full capacity. No hen of any 

 value for egg-production will have an egg in her at this time 

 and measure so small unless she is a slow, infrequent layer at 

 her best. Sometimes this kind of a hen with very small meas- 

 urements will be found laying an occasional egg late in the 

 season. 



SELECTING ROOSTERS. 



We have said how important it is to have males of the 



right formation to mate with the great layers for breeding 



purposes; we need not emphasize this; it is so evident that 



we cannot trap-nest a rooster, and equally so that years of 



p H 10 



