CHAPTER XIX 

 FARM POULTRY 



The hen on the farm may be characterized as the " penny- 

 saver." Each individual hen accomplishes little, but the 

 aggregate saving of a flock of hens is a matter of considerable 

 importance. No other animal is more economical in the 

 consumption and assimilation of food, or can utilize waste 

 products to better advantage. 



The Farm Flock Should Be of Pure Breeds. — As the 

 pure-bred animal, which has been especially selected and 

 raised for some definite end, will excel a mongrel or native 

 animal in the special kind of performance for which it is 

 bred, so a pure-bred Leghorn, Plymouth Rock, or Rhode 

 Island Red hen will lay more eggs than a mongrel or scrub 

 hen, because she has been specially bred for this purpose. 



But the desirability of raising pure-bred poultry does 

 not end with the gain in number of eggs. Pure-bred market 

 fowls are uniform in appearance, have the same color of 

 skin and legs, the same shape of breast and weigh about 

 the same number of pounds each ; consequently the car- 

 casses of pure-bred fowls sell for more on the market. 



Pure-bred fowls utilize their feed to better advantage ; for 

 the more highly bred an animal is the less food it requires 

 to produce a given product. It has often been stated that 

 pure-bred hens do not require any more to keep them than 

 common or scrub stock. Besides, they have the power 



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