CHAPTER XXIII 
CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY 
Tue hen is probably even more susceptible to climatic changes, 
to fright, to unfavorable changes in diet and the like, than is the 
dairy cow. If the hen is functioning properly, laying an egg every 
day or every other day continuously, and if something should go 
wrong in her environmental conditions, such as excessive heat or 
cold, or if she should become frightened or suffer from any cause 
whatsoever, or if her food supply should be insufficient to meet 
her needs, she does not simply stop laying and wait for such con- 
ditions to disappear, but under such unfavorable conditions the 
ova may be reabsorbed into the body. Thus the hen that would 
have gone on laying, while eggs command a good price, not only 
stops laying, but draws back into her body and uses for mainte- 
nance the stored-up nutrients in the ova, which otherwise might 
have become valuable eggs. We must realize that if we are to 
secure high performance in hens, it must be as a result of the 
application of the same skill in feeding and breeding, as in the case 
of the wonderful performance of great dairy cows or trotting 
horses.+ 
541. Improvement of fowls. —In selecting eggs for hatching 
use only those from healthy stock. Weak parents produce weak 
eggs. Weak eggs develop into weak chicks. There must be 
health, vigor, and vitality at the start. There is great difference 
in the natural vitality of the different flocks of fowls of the same 
breed and variety, due to difference in the individuals. Thus a 
few of the thriftiest and best-laying hens should be placed by 
themselves in order that their eggs alone may be used for hatching. 
1 Bulletin 37. New York State Department of Agriculture. 
Zz 337 
