THE CALL OF THE HEN. 49 



If the reader has male birds whose Pelvic Bones are far 

 enough apart that he can grasp the ends with thumb and finger 

 when measuring the thickness, he should be satisfied until he 

 can do better. 



I have found more straight Pelvic Bones in some strains of 

 Orpingtons than in any other breed. So long as the Pelvic 

 Bones are comparatively straight after leaving the frame, and 

 do not curve abrubtly toward the ends, the birds may be used as 

 a breeder with the assurance that some of the offspring will 

 show a wonderful improvement in this respect. Figs. 32, 33, 34 

 are extreme cases. 



CHAPTER VII. 

 THE FIRST LAYING YEAR. 



What is meant by the first laying year? All old poul- 

 trymen know what the above means and I have no doubt 

 some of my readers may be impatient with me for explaining 

 little things that are so familiar to them. But they will re- 

 member that poultry parlance is not all contained in the dic- 

 tionary, and a grofat deal of the contents of this book may be 

 Greek to the beginners in the poultry business who will read 

 this work. For this reason I cannot be too plain in my lan- 

 guage, or too careful of details in explaining matters. The 

 first laying year has nothing whatever to do with the age of a 

 hen or a pullet. I have had hens that had passed 'their first 

 laying year when they were 16 months old. On the other 

 hand I have seen hens that were over four years old that h&d 

 not commenced on their first laying year. The hen that had 

 passed her first laying year when she was 16 months old had. 

 commenced to lay when she w)as four months old, while the 

 hens that were over four years old had never laid an egg. So 

 the reader will see the first laying year commences wi"-i the 

 first egg a puliet lays, and en^i> cue year from that date, when 

 her second laying year commences. Some pullets will com- 

 mence to lay at four months old, While others of exact:/ the 

 same type, fed and cared iov in the same manner will not l.iy 

 before they ere eight months old, owing to different environ- 

 ments. Everything else oc ng equal, poultry will develop 

 faster on a warm dry sandy soil than they will ton :i black 



