WHAT CONSTITUTES A GOOD EGG YIELD 277 
of heavy feeding. It has been shown that during the fast the birds 
lose weight and their vitality and stamina decline, and after heavy 
feeding has been resumed it takes much longer to get back the 
weight that was lost; this is usually gotten back before the birds 
start laying. The best practice is to feed the birds on,a normal, 
well-balanced ration throughout July and August, and allow them 
to molt naturally; it will be found that some specimens are early 
molters and some late. The late molters are usually the heavy 
producers; therefore, in making the last selection in the fall, birds 
which are rather ragged at that time will usually prove more profit- 
able as layers in the following winter than those which molted 
and got their new plumage very early. Where limited feeding is 
the rule, the egg yield is immediately shut off, and the balance 
of the summer is wasted for that purpose. 
It is a fact, however, that the feeding of a certain ration con- 
taining a high percentage of fat or oil and much protein will have 
a tendency to form new feathers and to make them glossy and 
attractive. For this reason sunflower seeds are recommended. 
The following conclusions have been reached from experiments 
conducted at Cornell University:* (1) It does not pay to force 
the molt by fasting. (2) It is good policy to encourage the hens 
by careful feeding to lay during the late summer and fall. (8) 
When the hens want to lay, let them lay, and the molt will follow 
in due time according to the character of the individual. (4) In 
most individuals the molt is subservient to egg production. 
What Constitutes a Good Egg Yield.—The exact number of 
eggs which a hen will lay in a year varies greatly with the breed, 
and with different individuals in the same breed, and it cannot 
be said that one breed is always a better egg producer than another. 
The strain is a better indication of good production than the breed; 
in other words, it is the breeding back of the individual which 
counts. The individual egg yield from an average flock of birds 
will vary greatly, ranging from 100 to 150, a fair estimate being 
about 130. There are many exaggerated statements in regard to 
a 200-egg strain, but a family of birds averaging such a height of 
production is yet to be developed. There are undoubtedly heavy- 
laying strains, but a successful egg yield depends as well on feeding 
and management, and its maintenance or increase upon future 
breeding and selection. As was said before, the profitable egg 
yield is produced during the winter months; a commercially profit- 
* Bulletin No. 258, “Molting of Fowls,” by J. E. Rice and C. A. Rogers. 
