THE EGG AND ITS GERM 



6— WHITE WYANDOTTES IN A HARVEST FIELD 



Tie is well cared for and in gpod breeding condition. Too many 

 people overlook this matter or fail to consider its importance. 

 Do not pen him up with other males — it leads to bad habits 

 and is more injurious than continuous running with a flock of 

 hens. Do not keep him away from the hens too long; a few 

 days each month is sufficient, except while molting, when he 

 will be better if kept in a coop by himself, where he can have 

 a small outdoor run. 



THE GROWING COCKEREL 



Mr. A. J. Silverstein, who gave much attention to pedigree 

 breeding and the proper conditions for growing breeders, once 

 told the writer that he was convinced that while it is a good 

 thing to keep the growing pullets away from the cockerels, it 

 is not a good thing to bring up young males in the same man- 

 ner. He recommended that males intended for breeders be so 

 far as possible brought up in company with a few gopd, healthy 

 hens, claiming that they thus become accustomed to the com- 

 panionship of the opposite sex and better fitted for the work 

 for which they are intended; that they were more satisfactorily 

 attentive, less brutal, when so raised and also that they were 

 less liable to ''go to pieces" when placed in the breeding pen. 

 There is much truth in this assertion. The writer, from actual 

 experience extending over a. number of breeding seasons, is 

 convinced that the monastic method of bringing up a herd of 

 cockerels together in one flock without female society is certain 

 to result in the permanent injury to some of the most promis- 

 ing specimens as well as unfitting a number of others for use- 

 ful work in the breeding pen. It is much better to permit them 

 to run with the pullets and risk possible injury to the latter. 

 The best plan is to turn a number of the most promising cock- 

 erels out on a good farm range with a flock of hens and let the 

 best birds win. 



Do not attempt raising a large number of celibate cockerels 

 in one flock if you wish to avoid disappointment in the breed- 



ing pen. It is almost cer- 

 tain to induce disease of 

 the generative organs and 

 subsequently sterility. 



SELECTION OF FEMALE BREEDERS 



The female breeders, 

 should be selected with as- 

 great care as the male bird- 

 Health and sound bodily 

 v.igor should be the first 

 consideration; size and 

 shape the next, and then 

 other standard requisites. 

 Bear in mind that the size 

 and shape of the female 

 governs to a large extent 

 the size and shape of the 

 progeny. Choose well-grown 

 well-matured, sound 

 healthy specimens that have 

 never been seriously sick. 

 Prolific layers are more prone 

 to lay infertile eggs than or- 

 dinary layers, chiefly because 

 of the great number of eggs 

 they produce and subsequent 

 inattention on the part of 

 the male. This may be over- 

 come by giving the male a 

 smaller flock of mates or by 

 introducing a fresh male bird 

 as an alternate. 



An individual egg record 

 kept with the aid of trap nests 

 will aid the discovery of sterile hens so that they may be re- 

 moved from the flock. The leading authorities agree that there 

 is no egg type that indicates prolificacy. The trap nest and in- 

 dividual egg and hatching record are the only means of deter- 

 mining which hens pay. 



Unhealthy hens should have no place in the breeding pen. 

 Any symptons of disease including all those mentioned as dis- 

 qualifying male breeders apply with equal force to the selection 

 of the female breeding birds. In addition to these no female 

 should be used that habitually lays mis-shapen or deformed 

 eggs, or eggs containing blood clots. Hens broken down be- 

 hind, or those having abdominal tumors causing the abdomen 

 to drag on the ground should also be barred from the breeding 

 pen. 



MATING 



In mating the breeding pens, avoid, as far as possible, hav - 

 ing the same faults in both males and females, as thereby there 

 is more liability of the tendency or predisposition to have these 

 faults being transmitted to the progeny. As a rule the best 

 results in hatchable eggs will be obtained by mating well matur- 

 ed cockerels with yearling or two-year old hens; or yearling 

 or two-year-old cocks with well-grown, fully matured pullets. 

 Under these conditions there is no occasion to worry about 

 pullet eggs producing weak or imperfect chicks, always pro- 

 vided that the parent stock is soimd, vigorous and healthy. 

 As a rule medium sized birds for the variety make the most 

 satisfactory breeders. 



Do not (unless in exceptional cases where the specimen is 

 sufficiently valuable to take the risk of possible failure) use 

 breeders of either sex older than two-year-olds — that is, birds 

 older than about thirty months at the beginning of the breed- 

 ing season. 



Right here it will be well to differentiate the terms applied 

 to breeding birds, both male and female. A pullet is usually 



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