EGG PRODUCTION 



I4J 



maximum oi which a hen is capable." A hen which 

 lays 20 eggs during June would, therefore, have an 

 egg-production record of 66% per cent for June. 

 If she lays 31 eggs during December and January, 

 62 days, she would have a 50 per cent record for 

 those months. The above rule thus puts egg 

 records on a comparative basis. This is of great 

 advantage in calculating the value of the hen. 



SELECTING LAYERS 



Laying hens are nearly always singers. They 

 work and hunt for food all day, and are the first 

 off of the roost and the last to go to roost. They; 

 are nervous and very 

 active, keeping them- 

 selves up to the greatest 

 possible pitch. Below the 

 tail at the end of the 

 side pieces of the back 

 are two somewhat bony 

 protuberances called the 

 pelvic or "lay" bones, 

 above 

 which 



TRAP NEST DOOR 



They are just 

 the vent through 

 the eggs must pass. 

 When an egg is laid, 



they are forced apart to allow free passage. When 

 these bones are soft and pliable, and spread suf- 

 ficiently to allow three fingers to be placed be- 

 tween them, it is an indication that the hen is 

 laying. If they are hard and bony and close to- 

 gether experience has shown the hen is not laying 

 at the time the examination is made. 



The ideal laying hen should, therefore, conform; 



