POULTRY RAISING 63 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



Breeding for layers. 



There is no question but what it pays to use a 

 good trap-nest and breed up your stock for layers. A 

 few of your best flocks could be used for this purpose. 

 Pullets would give you the best test for this, for after 

 a month or two you would know which ones were 

 laying the best, and at the end of the first year you 

 could take all with a big egg record and keep them 

 over, especially for your own breeders. In this way 

 you could soon build yourself up a wonderful strain of 

 layers that if cared for and fed on my system of free 

 range, you would soon have flocks averaging you 200 

 to 250 eggs a year. It is not possible in any other 

 way, in my opinion, and this is the only sure way of 

 breeding high class show birds. . Those that win the 

 blue in the hottest competition, and it would not take 

 so much extra time as you would think, for you could 

 release your hens on every round you make. By 

 breeding from the yearling hens that gave you the big 

 egg yield as pullets, you would not have to trap-nest 

 your hens the second year. In this way, you could 

 easily develop a wonderful strain of layers which 

 would more than repay you for time spent. In fact a 

 big plant could well afiford to hire an extra man for 

 this purpose alone — that is, on a three thousand lay- 

 ing plant, it would pay to hire a good man to do noth- 

 ing but take care of your eggs and trap your hens. 

 In this way, I am positive you could soon have noth- 

 ing but 200 egg hens. 



I know of no better trap-nest than the one ad- 

 vertised in this book. In fact every advertisement in 

 this book I solicited only from parties whom I per- 

 sonally know and have had dealings with, so you can 

 depend on full value for your money in every case and 

 I highly recommend every advertiser in this book. 



