POULTRY-CRAFT. 139 
lays, it pays to keep her. The first choice of hens to be kept over should be 
from those which began laying earliest, and were kept in laying condition 
with the least trouble, and for the longest time. If there are not as many of 
these as are needed, some of the hens that under special treatment laid through 
the summer should be reserved. * 
185. Old Hens as Layers.—In connection with the question of how 
many and which old hens to keep over for laying, comes up the moot question, 
whether hens or pullets are better for egg production. Some authorities 
advise selling off all old hens, claiming that pullets are better layers, and 
therefore more profitable. Others say they get as good results in number of 
eggs from hens as from pullets, and the eggs of the hens are more uniformly 
of good size. There is much reason to think that these diverse results are 
not due entirely or primarily to age, but are according to treatment and 
selection for long lived layers. In truth, there is not much reason for think- 
ing anything else. The fact that many poultry keepers do regularly get as 
good egg yields from hens in the second, third, and sometimes fourth years, 
as in the first, and as good as from good laying pullets kept beside them, is 
proof positive that old hens are not necessarily poorer layers than pullets, and 
that their capacity for producing eggs need not be impaired by the work of 
their first season. It is a general truth that old hens have a greater tendency 
to fatten. (A poultryman who understands his business can easily regulate 
that). In most cases where those who get good results from pullets do not 
get good results from hens, the trouble seem to be in such things as: breeding 
largely from immature stock, starting pullets to laying too early, allowing 
them to lay themselves out of condition, and not feeding heavily enough 
while moulting. Many poultry keepers are very careless about the old hens 
while moulting, though careful enough at other times; and some are too care- 
ful to feed nothing over and above what is needed to grow feathers. A better 
way than to make a low age limit when selecting laying stock, is, to make it 
a rule to keep through the moult all hens that began laying early, and after 
laying for eight or nine months are still in good condition, and to keep in 
addition to these, as many of the next best (according to the same standard of 
value) hens as are needed to keep the plant stocked to its full c«pacity with 
productive hens. A hen which lays an egg a week while moulting pays for 
her food, and most people find it easier to care for, say, a hundred moulting 
hens than to rear a hundred good pullets. A good layer that continues in good 
condition, is worth taking chances on until she is three or four years old. 
Time enough to dispose of her when she is known to be unprofitable. 
* NoTte.— Many amateur poultry keepers whose hens stop laying in early summer, sell 
them off for whatever they will bring. This is poor policy. Four times out of five the 
hens are in poor condition, and the price obtained is the lowest going. Were the hens 
put in market condition before being offered for sale, those sold would bring a much 
better price; while those which resumed laying would give a profit in eggs while being 
kept in condition to market when they ceased laying. 
