The Essentials of Poultry Raising 3.^ 



67. Conditions of Vent The vent of a laying hen is soft, 

 flabby, large, moist, and white. In a non-laying hen the vent is 

 hard, dry, small, and yellow. 



68. Body Changes Due to Laying. As a hen comes into lay- 

 ing, the ovary, in which the yolk of the egg is formed, becomes 

 very much enlarged. The oviduct, where the albumin or white 

 of the tgg is formed and where the shell is manufactured, like- 

 wise grows much larger. The intestines increase 30 to 40 per 

 cent in length and bulk. All these increases in the bulk of the 

 abdominal organs make changes in the bony relations necessary. 

 The breast bone is drawn downward and its lateral processes 

 are pushed downward and outward. The pelvic arches are 

 widened. 



69. Measurements. The distance between the posterior end of 

 the breast bone and the laybones, or pubic bones, in a heavy 

 laying hen is four or more fingers in breadth. If the measure- 

 ment just referred to is four fingers in breadth, it indicates that 

 the hen will, in all probability, lay over two hundred eggs and 

 should be kept for a breeder. Allowance must be made for 

 hens large in body, as the above measurements are estimates on 

 White Leghorns. In a hen measuring four fingers in breadth 

 between the posterior end of the breast bone and the laybones 

 (pubic bones), the distance between the laybones, or pubic 

 bones, will probably be three fingers in breadth. The measure- 

 ment between the posterior end of the breast bone and the lay- 

 bones is called capacity. The distance between the laybones is 

 called pubic span. 



70. Hens to Discard. Discard as layers all birds that measure 

 less than three fingerbreadths in capacity and less than two 

 fingerbreadths in pubic span. 



71. Upward Tendency in Egg Production. Later, as more 

 birds of the flock measure four fingers in breadth in capacity and 

 three fingers in breadth in pubic span, discard all that do not 

 measure more than three fingerbreadths in capacity and two 

 fingerbreadths in pubic span. 



