PROPORTION OF MALES TO FEMALES 285 
during their growing period and at maturity; and if the practice be 
continued, there is rapid deterioration. There is a case in point 
where broiler raisers made a practice of crossing White Wyandottes 
and Light Brahmas, as they considered that a better broiler was 
secured, but they found they had to make an original cross from 
standard-bred birds every year in order to secure any degree of 
uniformity in the resultant chicks. In consequence, they were 
obliged to hatch each year from pullets, and it was invariably 
necessary to get new stock, as there was a noticeable loss of vitality 
and decrease in size of the progeny. The trouble was corrected in 
a large measure by using pure-bred White Wyandottes for the 
broiler end of the business, and hatching from yearling hens. 
The progeny resulting from pullet eggs are small and at matu- 
rity do not attain the maximum size. This is due to their early 
handicap in the small size of the egg and of the chick when hatched. 
When continued, this tendency leads gradually to a decrease in 
the size of that particular strain. 
The factors enumerated have in the course of succeeding gen- 
erations of pullet breeding led to a noticeable deterioration, which 
is often expressed as “a running out of the stock.” This trouble 
can easily be corrected by breeding from mature birds only. 
Proportion of Males to Females.—The number of females, and 
the relation between females and males in special mating, depend 
upon certain conditions, such as the breed, the size of the flock, 
and the season. 
Where light, active egg breeds are mated, it is unnecessary to 
maintain as great a proporticn of males to females as when the 
heavier, slower breeds are kept. For example, one Leghorn male 
to ten females is ample to insure a high fertility, whereas with 
the heavier breeds, which are slow and of less nervous tempera- 
ment, one male to seven or eight females is as high a ratio as is 
conducive to the best results. 
Season also influences this question. When the breeder desires 
eggs for hatching at other than the natural breeding season of 
spring, he must run a greater proportion of males in a flock of 
given size, this ratio, however, depending upon the number of 
eggs being produced. 
The size of the flock, to quite an extent, also affects the fer- 
tility. The smaller the flock, the larger the number of males neces- 
sary to a given number of females, and the larger the flock the 
smaller the proportion of males. The best practice is to mate 
