WITH 4200 HENS 171 



gardless of the care given them, when they are being kept 

 at high efficiency of egg production. It is also our experi- 

 ence that the percentage lost increases with the age of the 

 hens — there will be greater losses among two-year-olds 

 than among the yearlings ; and greater among the year- 

 lings than among the pullets. In small flocks the per- 

 centage does not seem to be so great but this is because 

 it does not involve the greater number. If two hens are 

 lost out of twenty in the course of two laying seasons the 

 loss does not seem as great as when five hundred are lost 

 out of five thousand. 



Our experience indicates that from 10 to 15 per cent 

 is likely to be the mortality each year where the hens are 

 kept through two laying seasons. The experience in- 

 cludes going through two sieges of chicken pox and 

 canker in eight years — the mortality from this cause is 

 included. And as already suggested, the mortality is 

 likely to be heavier in the second year than in the first. 



Culling 



We cull constantly, but more especially during tiic 

 moulting season. The work is based entirely on the idea 

 of eliminating birds that are not in the pink of condition. 

 Rainy weather, foggy mornings, hot evenings — these are 

 good culling times. If a run of colds or other trouble 

 develops — and we all have them — a certain hour of the 

 day, morning or evening, is given over to culling. A bird 

 out of condition will remain on the roost late and will go 

 back to it early; a trip through the house late in the 

 morning and early in the evening enables one to pick up 

 out-of-condition birds quickly and easily. Moulting time 



