THE CALL OF THE HEN. 87 



of an inch thick at eighteen months old. They had increased 

 in thickness of bone from one-sixteenth to one-eighth. These 

 Were egg type male birds. The meat type will vary more or 

 less in the thickness of the pelvic bones depending on how 

 much flesh they put on or lose, between the different times of 

 examining them. 



It will be easy to distinguish the egg type cock bird from 

 the meat type bird. The former has thin pelvic bones whether 

 in flesh or not. While the latter has thick pelvic bones with a 

 more or less lump of gristle on the end of them whether he is 

 thin or in good flesh. I have found that in classifying the male 

 bird as we have the hen as to type and capacity for a certain 

 egg yield it requires less abdominal capacity in the male bird 

 than in the female. For instance, the male bird that is two 

 fingers abdomen and one-sixteenth of an inch pelvic bone is 

 the same type and capacity for breeding purposes as the three 

 finger abdomen hen one-sixteenth pelvic bone. The male of the 

 same class as regards capacity does not require as large abdo- 

 men as the female. This is so self evident that it would be a 

 waste of time to try to explain the reason for it. 



I have heard poultrymen say that the male bird is half of 

 the flock. I wonder if they stop to consider whether this is so 

 or not. My birds are wonderful layers, and I mate one male 

 bird to every twelve hens, and from a breeder's point of view I 

 consider my male birds a great deal more than half the flock. 

 If I mate 100 egg type cock birds with 200 egg hens the 

 progeny may lay about 150 eggs, thus reducing my egg yield 

 about 25 per cent in the progeny of each of the twelve hens. 

 For this reason I have given as much thought to the male bird 

 as I have to the hen, and in arranging the charts for the male 

 birds, have experienced a great deal of difficulty, as it takes 

 years of time and hundreds of matings to arrive at conclusions 

 that would be approximately correct. In any one case, as 

 everything else (type capacity and breed) being equal, care 

 and environment has a dominating influence on the product 

 whether eggs or meat, consequently if a number of investigat- 

 ors were working on this proposition using the same system 

 of selection they could not help but arrive at somewhat uiffer- 

 ent conclusions, as to figures but that would not affect the 

 value of the svstem. 



