I06 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I913. 



usualh' has to be a very sick chicken before the amateur will 

 realize that there is anything the matter with it. On the con- 

 trary the expert, who is accustomed really to see his fowls as 

 individuals, will recognize as slight changes in well-being ammg 

 them as he will among his fellow men. 



The first great underlying principle then, which biology ''^as 

 to give to animal husbandry of any sort, and particularly to 

 poultry husbandry, is the principle of individuality. The living 

 organism, whether it be a hen or a dairy cow,, is not primarily a 

 fraction of a flock or a herd, but is before anything else an 

 individual, endowed with a whole mass of individual peculiari- 

 ties of structure, physiology and behavior. Furthermore the 

 ultimate foundation for practical success in the conduct of a 

 poultry business depends not only upon a recognition of diis 

 principle of individuality, but an ability to put it into actual 

 operation in the daily work. Xo one can ever be a successful 

 practical poultryman until he acquires, in some degree, the 

 ability to see his fowls as individuals, in the same sense that 

 he sees his fellow men as individuals. Other things being equal 

 the greater his powers of discrimanation in this particular, the 

 greater will be his practical success in the business. 



Constitutional A^tgor. 



Having acquired the ability to see tlie individual birds as 

 individuals, the next step is to learn to disting'.iish a good bird 

 from a poor one. Here it is ever to be kept in mind that the 

 primary and most essential characteristic of a good bird must 

 always be a sound constitution and plenty of vitality and vigor. 

 Without these qualities it is impossible to have first class stock. 

 Constitutional vigor and vitality may be put as the second 

 fundamental recfuisite in the successful practical breeding of 

 poultry. In all kinds of breeding operations whether for utility- 

 purposes, or for the fancier's show pen, or for the purpose of 

 experimentation in the field of heredity, the first selection of 

 birds for the breeding pen should be made on the basis of their 

 general constitutional vigor. No bird which shows signs of 

 weakness in this fundamental regard should ever be used as a 

 breeder under any circumstances. If such a bird is usetl the 

 breeder will eventually have to pay the penalty. 



