Pedigree Poultry Breeding. 71 



Descriptive Catalog of "Breeding Stock. 



Certain other information although not absolutely neces 

 sary is of considerable aid in looking up a pedigree. The first 

 sheet should contain the following information. 



1. The mating number of the mating from which the bird 

 to which the sheet pertains originated. 



2. All mating numbers of matings into which this bird as 

 an adult enters. 



3. The chick band number of the bird. 



4. A description of the bird. This will vary in extent 

 and in character with the purpose for which the bird is used 

 as a breeder. 



This sheet may be made a part of the egg record as these 

 sheets for ease in handling must be filed in this way. An egg 

 record so arranged is shown in Fig. 11 page 74 with a further 

 description of its use. 



Indices. 



Besides the two kinds of record sheets already described — 

 the mating sheet and descriptive catalog sheets — there is neces- 

 sary in the system of pedigree records here described only 

 one other type of record. It is necessary for the most con- 

 venient operation of the system (though not for its complete- 

 ness or accuracy) that there be prepared certain indices. The 

 underlying reason which makes these indices necessary is that 

 it is most simple and convenient to find any desired point in a 

 set of figures if those figures are arranged in consecutive order. 

 It is therefore desirable, or indeed necessary, that a person 

 approaching these pedigree records from any point — whether 

 chick, adult bird or mating — should find the numerical desig- 

 nations of the individuals in the class with which he starts ar- 

 ranged in consecutive order, with proper cross references to 

 the other classes. To attain this result it is necessary to have 

 the following indices. 



1, The "mother-mating" index. On this index which oc- 

 cupies a single foolscap sheet and is fastened to a board to fa- 

 cilitate handling in. the incubator cellar, the band numbers of 

 all the hens in the breeding pens (potential "mother" hens) 



