310 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 1916. 



decide whether or not a bird is more likely to lay a dwarf egg 

 during the second or third year than during the pullet year. 

 The flocks were not seriously depleted, however, until the end 

 of the first laying year. It may be noted from the distribution 

 that pullets are increasingly likely to lay dwarf eggs up tcf 

 the time they are one year old and that the chances then de- 

 crease up to the end of the pullet year. The mean age fo? 

 dwarf egg production among pullets may be calculated from 

 the above distribution as far as and including the 450 to 509 

 day group. This mean is 361.96zh3.75 days. That is, approxi- 

 mately one year. It is apparent also that the second yea:' 

 maximum falls in the 690 to 749 day group. That is, when the 

 bird is approximately two years old. Dwarf eggs are also pro- 

 duced by birds approximately three years old. From, these 

 data we see that dwarf egg production, unlike multiple yolked 

 egg production, is not associated with immaturity of the bird, 

 but that it is most likely to occur during the height of the 

 breeding seasons in the successive years. These are of course 

 the seasons of highest normal egg production. In the case of 

 a very few of the young birds and in an appreciable percent- 

 age of the old birds this is the only season in which the birds 

 are in laying condition. 



B. Position in the litter. There is a wide spread popular 

 belief that a dwarf egg marks the end of* a laying period or 

 litter. This belief has found frequent expression in the litera- 

 ture from an early period to the present day. 



Since both dwarf eggs and broody hens are most common 

 during the breeding season, it is not unnatural that a relation-^ 

 ship between the two is assumed by poultrymen who do nor 

 trapnest their birds. The use of the trapnest, however, soon 

 dispells this illusion. Pearl, Surface and Curtis 15 say that "The 

 laying of one of these eggs is popularly supposed to mark the 

 end of a laying period. This belief is without foundation in 

 fact. They may be produced at any time." Warner and Kirk- 

 patrick (loc. cit.) have lately arrived at the same conclusion 

 after a study of the data collected during two laying contests 

 at Storrs. 



15 Pearl, R., Surface, F. M. and Curtis, M. R. 1911. Poultry Dis- 

 eases and Their Treatment, Orono, pp. 1-216. 



