MATING 61 



The shape of the fowls is a very important considera- 

 tion, liens which are wedge shaped — narrow in front and 

 wide behind— are usually the best egg producers. The 

 blocky, square or rectangular shape is the best for meat pro- 

 duction. Under no circumstances should fowls which show 

 weaknesses of any kind be used for breeding. All those 

 should be discarded which have any prominent defects, such 

 as crooked backs or breast bones, wry tails, single combs 

 in rose comb varieties, or rose combs in single comb varie- 

 ties, feathers on shanks, in smooth-shank varieties, or 

 smooth shanks in feathered-shank varieties. 



It is the tendency among fowls of the parti-colored 

 varieties, for the males to become lighter and the females 

 darker in color through breeding. In order to produce 

 males and females of the same color, it is necessary to have 

 two breeding pens. One of the pens should be used for 

 fowls lighter in color than wanted, and the other for darker 

 fowls. The first pen will produce females of the desired 

 color, and the second will produce males of the desired color. 

 This method, which is called douhle mating, is practised by 

 some fanciers to produce exhibition fowls. 



If males and females from the same pen are kept to- 

 gether for breeding, the results are likely to be bad. This 

 practice is called in-hreeding. In order to avoid it, some 

 breeders keep two pens or lines which were originally from 

 the same pen. The fowls are mated from these two lines. 



