20 THE CALL OF THE HEN. 
Following is a series of half-tones and explanations representing 
the method we have used in instructing hundreds of poultrymen and 
women in California and other States and the managers of poultry 
plants in a number of State institutions in the State of California. 
CHAPTER III. 
THE VARIOUS STEPS IN THE APPLICATION OF THE METHOD OF THE 
SELECTION FOR EGG-PRODUCTION. 
There are four characteristics that it is absolutely necessary for 
a hen to possess for the economical production of eggs or meat. The 
first is capacity, the second is condition, the third is type, and the fourth 
is constitutional vigor. The reader must bear the first three in mind 
in studying the next few chapters, as we will dispose of these before 
taking other matters into consideration. 
First. What is Capacity?—Capacity means the abdominal capacity 
to consume and assimilate the amount of food necessary to produce 
the number of eggs or amount of meat necessary to make the individual 
hen under consideration a paying proposition. We measure the ca- 
pacity of the hen by placing the hand across the abdomen between the 
end of the breast-bone, or keel, and the pelvic bones. The method will 
be shown in detail in Chapter IV. 
Second. Condition.—If the hen under consideration is an egg 
type, she must be kept in proper bodily condition by supplying her with 
the right quantity and quality of food that will furnish her with vitality 
material necessary to produce the number of eggs required of her. If 
the hen is in good condition, the flesh on the breast will be plump or 
practically flush with the breast-bone. Any variation in that condition 
will be shown by a shrinking away of the flesh of the breast, and will be 
followed by a corresponding shrinking of the abdomen. We show this 
by illustration and example later. 
Third. Type.—She must be of a type that everything she consumes 
is used in producing the desired effect, whether it is meat, whether it is 
eggs, or whether it is the maximum amount of eggs and meat that a 
dual-purpose hen can produce. According to our idea, the type of hen 
determines how she will dispose of the food she eats. The kind of type 
is shown by the relative thickness of the pelvic bones. The very thin 
bone indicates the egg type. As we pass into the dual-purpose and beef 
types we find the bones becoming thicker. We show these by illustrations 
and charts later. 
With the reader bearing the above three propositions in mind— 
namely, Capacity, Condition and Type—we will proceed to show how 
to judge the hen with the least amount of time and labor. 
Fig. 1 shows the interior of an open-front colony house, largely used 
around Petaluma. The roosts are connected to the house by hinges, so 
they can be hooked up out of the way while cleaning the house or ex- 
amining the hens, as in the present case. These houses are usually 
about 8 feet wide and 10 feet deep inside, with 4 feet posts and pitch 
roof. These houses are open front, with the exception of 18 inches on 
each side, as can be seen on one side, where hens are going out of the 
house into the catching-coop. When hens move too slow to suit, one 
