648 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



cheaper than where males were allowed 

 with the hens. There is no object in 

 keeping cocks in the laying pens, un- 

 less, of course, the eggs are to be in- 

 cubated. Otherwise, cocks add to the 

 expense and the eggs do not keep as 

 well as when cocks are absent. 



Early molting of hens — When a spe- 

 cialty is to be made of producing win- 

 ter eggs, it is desirable to have the hens 

 molt early in the season. Normally, 

 hens shed their feathers once a year. 

 Usually this is at the end of the laying 

 period in the summer time or early fall. 

 It is a trying time and they require 

 especial feed and care. If the molting 

 period is delayed until cold weather, it 

 is such a drain on the vitality of the 

 fowls that few or no winter eggs are 

 produced. Some years ago a noted egg 



could pick up in their runs, which had 

 been sown to oats in the spring, and 

 amounted to practically nothing. Other 

 pens were fed as usual in comparison. 

 At the end of the 13 days all the hens 

 were fed liberally. The hens stopped 

 laying on the seventh day. Within 

 about 30 days after the test began, all 

 the hens had a new coat of feathers and 

 in about a week from that time half of 

 the hens were laying regularly. The 

 Leghorns were a trifle slower in molt- 

 ing than the Rhode Island Keds. 



The hens which had been fed regu- 

 larly during this time were just begin- 

 ning to molt. The conclusion is drawn 

 that "mature hens which are fed very 

 sparingly for about two weeks and then 

 receive a rich nitrogenous ration, molt 

 more rapidly and more uniformly, and 



Fig 412 — COLONY HOUSES AT THE WEST VIRGINIA EXPERIMENT STATION 



raisei in New York, Mr. Van Dreser, 

 announced a method of inducing hens 

 to molt early. His method consisted es- 

 sentially in feeding only about one- 

 fourth of their usual ration for a few 

 days. This tended to stop egg produc- 

 tion and reduce the weight of the fowls, 

 after which they were fed a ration suit- 

 able for the production of feathers and 

 the building up of the system. When 

 the feed is reduced, growth in the 

 feather follicles stops, resulting in a 

 loosening and rapid shedding of the 

 feathers. 



A study was made of this method of 

 inducing early molting by Stewart and 

 Atwood at the West Virginia station. 

 On August 5, a pen each of Rhode Is- 

 land Eeds and White Leghorns was given 

 no food for 13 days, except such as they 



enter the cold weather of winter in bet- 

 ter condition than similar fowls fed 

 continually during the molting period 

 on an egg producing ration." 



Molting usually occurs earlier with 

 pullets than with old hens. Gilbert in 

 Canada reports experiments in which 

 the rations of hens were reduced one- 

 half during the first two or three weeks 

 in July. The cocks were removed and 

 the hens allowed to run in the fields. 

 The immediate effect of this treatment 

 was practically to stop laying. The 

 hens rapidly shed their old feathers. At 

 the end of July full rations were re- 

 sumed. By this method of treatment 

 all of the hens were through molting by 

 the end of September and in some cases 

 much earlier and were ready for laying. 

 Extra care at the molting period should 



