POULTRY BREEDING. 



265 



in a mating pen there is given to the mating so formed an 

 arbitrary number called the mating number. While these 

 mating numbers are perfectly arbitrary they are taken consecu- 

 tively for reasons of convenience referred to in the preceding 

 section. The mating number itself gives no statement of the 

 pedigree but it forms one element of an index wherewith the 

 pedigree can be very quickly and easily looked out. At the 

 time when the mating is made up and the mating number is 

 assigned, there is prepared a mating sheet so-called, which is 

 shown in Figure 11 somewhat reduced. The purpose of this 

 mating sheet is to show in one place the individuals which com- 

 prise a given mating and all the progeny which arise from that 

 mating-. The mating sheet might with equal propriety be called 

 a "family sheet" since it would include in human pedigree 

 records a given pair of parents and all their children. Similarly 

 the mating number might be called the "family number." It 

 corresponds to the family name in a human family for a single 

 generation. It differs from a family name in that it is not 

 transmitted either through male or female lines. Instead every 

 new mating: receives a new mating; number. 



,g 



PARENT/: 



C? No 







DATE MATING No 

 PEN No. 



: 



9 No 



3 



Chick 

 Band no 



Adult 

 Band no 



Sex 



HATCHED 



MATINGS 



REMARKS 



3 















i 















1 















i 















^ 















I 















'- 





























s 















& 















- 















| 















s 

























































Fig. 11. Facsimile of mating sheet, reduced one-half. 



With the general idea of the purpose of mating numbers in 

 mind the significance of the arrangement of the mating sheet as 



