RIanagemcnt of Pullets. 223 



number only for the most vigorous breeds. The birds will 

 require to be housed comfortably and fed well, and in 

 winter time the eggs should be gathered as soon after 

 they are laid as is convenient, for they are apt to get frosted 

 in the nest during severe weather ; this, as we all know, is 

 a thing to be avoided if possible. 



There will, doubtless, be some who object to this plan of 

 using pullets for breeding purposes. Chickens, they say, 

 bred from immature birds never do very well, and this 

 objection is perfectly correct so far as ordinary fowls are 

 concerned, as doing this gradually weakens and redrces 

 the size of any race of fowls. For birds that it is intended 

 to rear to maturity, we do not like breeding from pullets 

 of the first year, and, therefore, would always breed the 

 laying fowls from birds of the second year, and also those 

 to lay the eggs from which the early chicks are expected. 

 This simply means that if last spring we bred some 

 laying pullets, and also some specially suitable for table 

 fowls, from two-year- old hens, we would use the former to 

 produce eggs for sale, and the latter to produce eggs from 

 which we would hatch the chickens for early killing. As 

 the latter are not intended to be reared, the breeding from 

 immature birds can do little or no harm, and this is the 

 only way by which very early chickens can be obtained. 

 It is not natural for fowls to breed until March or April, 

 when pullets are about twelve months old, so that, if 

 we break through the rules of nature, we must be prepared 

 to spend care and trouble in order to obtain what we 

 require, but if we do this, we may reasonably hope that the 

 result will far more than repay us. 



