100 LL55ON5 IN POULTRY KEEPING SECOND 5LRIE5. 



Jished. One cannot be certain of tbe number of fowls or eggs that will supply him as many 

 chicks for tbe season as he wants*, but he can take the number that should do HO if result* 

 are about average. Generally speaking, a breeding pen that is, a male and four females 

 is enough to begin with. In more cases a trio will be better. Then if the fowls do not breed 

 satisfactorily the outlay has not been heavy. There is, of course, a loss of time, but that can- 

 not be avoided. Indeed, it is no uncommon thing for breeders of considerable experience to 

 lose practically a whole season through the failure of their stock to breed satisfactorily. 



Returning Unsatisfactory Stock. 



The novice generally is not capable of judging the quality and value of the stock sent him 

 accurately, nor is it possible to give him instructions that will enable him to arrive at an 

 exact e>tim:tte; but there are some points that may be given that will help him to know some 

 faults for which he should reject stock, and some reasons why he should sometimes hesitate 

 to reject it on his own unfavorable impression of it. --*', 



Unless bought in the fall, birds that are decidedly immature and undeveloped should not be 

 accepted. Breeders sometimes, in their eagerness to fill orders, send chickens whose quality 

 is as yet uncertain, telling the buyer that they will grow into fine birds by the breeding 

 season. If the buyer was advised before ordering that this class of stock would be sent him, 

 he has no cause to complain, but such birds too often fail to develop into what the breeder 

 said tliey would, because they are not, when received, what they should be at their age. 



Sick, injured, or dead birds the buyer should refuse to accept from the express companies. 

 This leaves the settlement of responsibility for damage where it belongs between the shipper 

 and the transportation company. 



The mere fact that on inspection a pen of fowls fails to realize the anticipations one had 

 been indulging of what he was to get, ought not to lead him to reject them as unsatisfactory. 

 If the birds are apparently in good condition, t;ike them out of the coop, put them in a pen 

 by themselves, and observe them for a little while at intervals for a few hours, or, at most, 

 a day. Give them and the seller a chance. A reasonable time is allowed and should be 

 taken for inspection. Often birds just from a journey look quite different after a short rest. 

 But don't keep the birds more than a day. If you are then still not satisfied with them, 

 return them promptly. For whatever troubles may develop while the stock is in your hands, 

 you are properly responsible. A buyer cannot, in fairness, keep stock for one or two or 

 more weeks, and then ask the seller to make losses good. 



Do not let a small fault, as you see it, decide you to return birds bought at ordinary prices. 

 There are few specimens produced free from faults, and they are not for sale except at very 

 high prices. 



If one fowl in a lot seems to you decidedly superior to the rest, don't use that fowl as tbe 

 standard of the value you should get at the price, and be dissatisfied with the others. It may 

 be that in that one specimen the breeder has given you special value. It is not at all an 

 uncommon thing for breeders anxious to extend their reputation to give customers some 

 rather better birds than the prices warrant. 



Don't allow any ideas you may have of distinctive marks indicating the absolute purity of 

 stock of the variety you are buying, to lead you to reject or find fault with it. Many novices 

 have a notion that pure bred fowls have certain distinctive features which invariably appear 

 in well-bi'ed stock. This is not the case, and in rejecting a fowl for lack of such mark, one 

 msiy reject a fowl that is especially valuable for other or general excellence. 



Don't be too much influenced in your opinion of the stock you buy by the comments or 

 judgment of others who see them. Consider all such on the basis of. the speaker's actual 

 knowledge of and experience with the kind of stock in question. On the whole, it is safe to 

 give the seller and the stock the benefit of any small doubts you may have on points other 

 thin sickness, damage, or immaturity. Persons selling stock cannot afford to send out stock 

 (hit will not suit, and in most cases where this is done the party doing it is at fault because 

 of his lack of experience in selling, rather than because of any deliberate purpose to deceive 

 or defraud. 



