THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 



157 



lireedingtlie following spring. Tlic late molting, pale shanked 

 slal)-sifled hens of capacity and refinement are those which 

 should be the motliers of the next year's pullets. 



Fi, 



A common (lip iK't is vciy convenient I'or caLching single birds. [( 'oiirtesy 

 of Kansas Agricultural Exijcriment Station.) 



Comfort and Egg Production. — There is a very direct 

 connection between the functioning of the reprijductive 

 apparatus and the comfort of the hen. This is to be expected, 

 for it is the law of the field and of the breeding pen that 

 organisms reproduce themselves most often when the con- 

 ditions are most fa\'orable for the race. Egg protluction is 

 reproduction. The happy hen is the laying lien. Fright; 

 improper food; damp, cold, or excessively hot weather; 

 the irritation of vermin; too close confinement; or an\' otlier 



