72 Maine Agricultural Experiment Station. 1919. 



are arranged in columns in consecutive order. In parallel col- 

 umns there is set down over against each hen's number the 

 number of the mating to which she is a party. This index is 

 used when the pedigreed chickens are leg banded after hatch- 

 ing. Each egg from the breeding pens is marked when gathered 

 with the number of the hen which laid it. When the eggs 

 from any given hen are set in the incubator the tag on the end 

 of the pedigree basket (cf., p. 83) is marked with the hen's 

 (i. e., the mother's) number. After hatching when a basket 

 containing chickens is taken from the incubator for the band- 

 ing this mother's number is looked out on the index at a glance, 

 and the corresponding mating number tells at once where to 

 open the book containing the mating sheets in order to enter 

 the band numbers of the chickens. With the aid of this index 

 sheet one person can enter chick records approximately as 

 fast as two persons can band the chickens. 



2. The "chick-adult-mating" index. In this index all 

 chick band numbers are arranged in columns in consecutive 

 order, on sheets of note book size 5" by 8". In parallel col- 

 umns there is space provided in which to set over against each 

 chick band number (a) the adult band number of the same in- 

 dividual and (b) the mating number of the mating from which 

 that individual originated. The need for this index is as fol- 

 lows : Suppose one picks up a chick on the range with a par- 

 ticular band number and desires to know its pedigree. The 

 question which immediately presents itself is : "What was the 

 mating number of the mating from which this chick arose?" It 

 obviously would be a great task to hunt through all the mating 

 sheets until one came upon this chick band number. But if 

 there is arranged an index in which the chick band numbers 

 are arranged in consecutive order, and having in parallel col- 

 umns the mating number of the mating from which each chick 

 arose it will clearly be possible to turn very quickly to the mat- 

 ing sheet corresponding to any individual chick number. Hav- 

 ing the proper mating sheet in hand it is the simplest of mat- 

 ters, as has been shown above, to trace the entire pedigree. The 

 mating numbers in this index are most conveniently entered at 

 the time of hatching. The adult numbers are entered when the 

 bands are changed. It will be seen that, with these indices 

 and the mating sheets described above, from whatever stand- 



