22 BiGGIvK POULTRY BOOK. 



to twelve months old, and to mate pullets with an active 

 cock not over two years old. The exact age when a 

 bird reaches maturity cannot be given, as the different 

 Ineeds vary greatly in this respect. 



In order to obtain eggs with germs of strong 

 vitality, the diet of the Ijreeders must receive attention. 

 Eggs are produced from what Me may call surplus 

 food, that which is not required for the sustenance of 

 the hen herself. As we have already seen, the egg. 

 contains substances that make fat, lean meat or muscle 

 and bones. To reproduce these in eggs the hen must 

 eat and digest substances out of which these are made. 

 Starchy foods contain the necessary oil or fatty matter. 

 These are represented Ijy the grains, especially corn, 

 wheat, buckwheat and barley, and vegetables, espe- 

 cially potatoes and sugar beets. The mineral element 

 that is found in eggs is found also in nearly all foods. 

 Of the grains, oats have the largest percentage, then 

 follow barley, sweet corn, buckwheat and rye, wheat 

 and corn in the order named. Wheat, bran, clover 

 hav, linseed and cottonseed meal and buttermilk are 

 all rich in this element. Of the twenty-six per cent, 

 of solids in an egg, fourteen consist of albumen, from 

 which may be seen the absolute necessity of supplying 

 the la3'ing hen with food containing a large proportion 

 of all:)uminous matter. The alchemy of nature work- 

 ing in the body of the hen cannot elaborate albumen 

 out of starch or fat, nor out of carbonate and phosphate 

 of lime. Food abounding in these will not enable the 

 hen to produce eggs, if it be deficient in what are 

 called albuminoids or nitrogenous elemesnts. While 

 the grains contain these they are not contained in 



