152 POUL TRY-CRAFT. 
worked as a cockerel, and neglected between seasons, that is, as he should be, 
in his prime, will get better chicks than it was possible for him to get as a 
cockerel. The mating of males and females of this age will, other things 
equal, give better results than any other age or combination of ages. Well 
grown young fowls make better breeders than two-year-olds not in prime 
condition. A method favored by many breeders is to mate a cock bird to 
pullets, and a cockerel to hens. Generally these matings give better results 
than matings of cockerels and pullets not as good as matings of two-year-olds. 
Fowls in their third season will often get as good chicks at the height of the 
breeding season as they did the previous year. Old fowls, however, are not 
reliable breeders early in the season. 
209. How Many Hens to a Male? —The general rule is: — for 
Asiatics, 6 to 10; for Americans, 8 to 12; for Mediterraneans, ro to 15. A 
great deal depends on the male, and whether his attentions are well 
distributed. Sometimes good results in fertility are obtained from a male 
with twenty, twenty-five or thirty hens; but the quality of the chicks from 
such matings is rarely what it should be. Even in using the smaller numbers 
suggested in the rule, it is better to keep low rather than high. Small 
matings of one, two, or several hens with a male, are sometimes desired. 
Some males worry the hens when confined with so small a number. In that 
case the usual method is to introduce hens, as many as needed to keep the 
male peaceable, of a breed which lays eggs easily distinguished from those of 
the breeding hens. When more hens are kept together than one male can 
take care of, various expedients are resorted to to prevent males interfering 
with each other, or exhausting their power. When two males are used, the 
commonest practice is to run them with the hens on alternate days, though 
some make the periods several days or a week; and some think they get 
better results by using one male as long as he keeps in condition, ‘then 
substituting one held in reserve for that purpose. A favorite method with 
larger flocks is to use three males, giving each two days work and a day’s rest 
alternately. It is, perhaps, needless to say that these methods are not used 
by good breeders for good stock. For market poultry and laying stock, they 
answer ; but unless the hens are all good of their kind, it is better to reduce 
their number to as many as can be kept with one male. Sometimes a male 
is given too many or too few hens, for the purpose of influencing the 
transmission of the qualities of sire and dam, it being known that the parent 
in best condition is most prepotent. This practice is a questionable one, for 
it really amounts to deliberately putting one side or the other out of condition. 
210. Can Sex be Controlled ?—No one has yet succeeded in demon- 
strating that it can—not in fowls. The numerous recéfes given do not prove 
at all reliable. 
211. Contamination.— It is sometimes asserted that a hen once served 
