ARTIFICIAL INCUBATING AND BROODING 



7— RHODE ISLAND RED BREEDERS 



spoken of as such until she has passed through one year of laying 

 (her pullet year) or until she is about eighteen months old, when 

 she becomes a yearling hen, which term applies until she has 

 passed her second year as a layer and becomes a two-year-old 

 hen. A cockerel remains such until he has passed his cockerel 

 year or until about eighteen months old — assuming that he be- 

 gan developing his adult plumage by the time he was six months 

 old. He is then considered as a yearling cock until the close of 

 the second breeding season after he reached maturity, when he 

 is rated as a two-year-old. These terms are used in this sense 

 only when applied to breeding birds. 



NUMBER OF FEMALES TO A MALE 



The number of females which may be mated with a cock or 

 cockerel depends largely on existing conditions. Commonly ten 

 females is considered a sufficient number for a cock and fifteen 

 for a cockerel. This rule has many exceptions. Some males are 

 not fit to care for more than five or six females, while others 

 can prove themselves capable of attending to fifty throughout 

 a breeding season. • A male that in confinement could only care 

 for ten to fifteen will often easily serve thirty hens satisfactorily 

 when given free range. 



The number of hens a male should have also depends largely 

 on how many are laying and how recently they began to la}'. 



This will be discussed further in another paragraph. 



FECUNDITY VS. STERILITY 



It is often stated that the prolific hen after laying a 

 considerable number of eggs is prone to become sterile or 

 that a large number of her eggs come infertile. Without 

 doubt this is a fact, yet the fault does not necessarily lie with 

 the hen. 



In fact, it may easily be proved that it is no fault of the 

 hen by giving her a new mate, when the eggs will usually 

 again rim high in fertility. 



The matter is readily explained by the fact (easily ob- 

 served but hitherto mentioned by but few writers; Mr. E. 

 Cook, author of ''Incubation," published in England, was 

 among the first to mention it) that the male when intro- 

 duced into a flock of hens is soon surrounded by the layers 

 and those about to lay and that he is particularly attentive 

 to those near laying or lately become productive, while those 

 hens which have been laying some time or which are unpro- 

 ductive are more or less neglected. 



Failure to serve these prolific mates sufficiently 



often, and the fact that the male has his favorites among 

 the hens, is in a large measure the cause of infertile eggs 

 from these members of the flock. Again with the prolific 

 layer there being a greater number of eggs laid, it is but 

 reasonable to expect that more eggs will escape impregna- 

 tion. Where the service is frequent, eggs which escape 

 fertilization in the first service may become fertilized by 

 the second or any succeeding service. 



This explains why it is possible for a hen to lay eggs 

 that produce chicks having the characteristics of more than 

 one sire, although one of the parent males has been intro- 

 duced to the flock but a short time. ' For example, if cock 1 

 has served the hen at the beginning of her lay and cock 2 

 be then introduced for service, his seed may impregnate eggs 

 which escaped the service of 1; so that while eggs in both 

 the first and last litter may produce chicks from cock 1, a 

 number of intermediate eggs may produce chicks having 

 cock 2 for a parent. 



A male bird given all the females he can attend to 

 during his first season, will often wear himself out and 

 become practically sterile and useless as a breeder the fol- 

 lowing year. 



Mating up the pens in the fall and permitting the birds to 

 run together throughout the year is also in many cases respon- 

 sible for the low fertility of the eggs from that pen. The cock 

 bird needs intervals of rest, but should not be kept from his mates 

 sufficiently long to become morose and indifferent. Extremes in 

 either respect produce unsatisfactory results. It is not reason- 

 able to expect a male that has been running with the flock 

 throughout a long season to possess strong fecundity unless he 

 has received especial care and attention in both food and rest, 

 as recommended in advice for care of male bird. 



THE SERVICE 



After the introduction of a male to a flock, it is possible to 

 obtain eggs in a few days that will hatch chicks of his get, 

 though if another male has preceded him it may be two weeks 

 (possibly longer) before all the eggs laid can be safely credited 

 as fertilized by the male last introduced. 



How long after service impregnation takes place is not pos- 

 itively known, though it is probable that it may be accomplished 

 in from sixteen to twenty-four hours, but that under some con- 

 ditions a much longer time may elapse. The sperm of the male 

 is capable of living a considerable time in the oviduct, remaining 

 active with full power to impregnate any ripe ovum with which 

 it comes in contact. It has been established by many experi- 

 ments that one service will suffice for the majority of eggs laid 

 from the second day to two weeks immediately thereafter. 



Some observers claim that one service is sufficient for one 



8— PLENTY OF SHADE IS ESSENTIAL FOR SUCCESS 



18 



