THE 200=EQQ HEN. 



The Standard=Bred Hen That Will Lay Two Hundred Eggs 



in Twelve Months is a Reality — How She is 



Produced and Cared for. 



By Victor D. Caneday. 



The question whether the 200-egg hen is a possibility 

 seems to be having more than usual attention from the poul- 

 try press. There is evidently a growing faith among the 

 more careful breeders as to the realization of the hen that 

 can lay 200 eggs in a year. Naturally there are some who 

 are skeptical with regard to such heavy laying, but probably 

 most of the skepticism is due to a misunderstanding of the 

 different writers. 



Much which has been written, while not untrue, might 

 be quite misleading to the casual reader. We do not think 

 that anyone really believes the time will come when the 

 average hen (take them right through the country as they 

 run) will lay 200 eggs per year, although some might gather 

 that idea from some articles which have been written on 

 the subject. The 200-egg hen is a product of careful breed- 

 ing and proper care just as truly as is the exhibition fowl, 

 and there is not much more danger of the average hen be- 

 coming a 200-egg hen than that the average thoroughbred 

 fowl will become an exhibition specimen. 



A hen capable of laying over 200-eggs in a year today is a 

 phenomenal layer and has become such by careful, pains- 

 taking breeding, or else has been given unusually good care 

 to accomplish that result. The beginner who starts into 

 the poultry business expecting to get an average of 200 eggs 

 per year from his hens will find he has made an awful blunder 

 in his calculations, even though he purchased the best 

 laying stock in the country to start with. Most beginners 

 will be safer in estimating their first two years' egg product 

 at 100 eggs per hen per year. We have made it one of 



