RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 



To have healthy poultry we should breed for health as carefully- as for 

 any desired standard point. Breeding for health should be the foremost 

 consideration since with the habit of health firmly fixed in the flock we 

 have a solid bed-rock foundation on which to build up a strain well fitted 

 to develop all other desirable quahties. Breeding for health should begin 

 not alone with the parent stock, but if possible with the grandparents. 



SELECTING THE BREEDING STOCK 



In selecting breeding stock be sure to accept only strong, vigorous, 

 healthy specimens, birds which are well developed, fully matured and 

 which have never had any serious illness. If possible know that they 

 come from perfectly healthy parents. No matter how good a specimen a 

 bird may be, if It is not mature, does not possess size, vigor and a sound 

 constitution, do not permit it to take a place in the breeding pen. It may 

 hurt the breeder's feelings and require an effort to throw out a promising 

 specimen for sueh defects, but it will pay in the end. 



There is every reason to believe that well grown chicks will inherit , 

 the habit of health from sound, healthy parents and that such will be practi- 

 cally immune from disease when properly cared for. Birds used for breeding 

 should be born healthy and inherit a sound constitution from their ancestors. 

 The bright eyes; red comb; smooth, bright, well-kept plumage; alertness, 

 activity and a keen appetite ibdicate the healthy fowl. Remember, too, 

 that though a fowl may appear to be healthy it should be examined care- 

 fully for any deformities that may suggest hereditary taint. The body 

 should be well formed and free from all such defects as wry wings or tail, 

 enlarged joints, deformed backs or other evidence of improper development 

 Examine the legs carefully. They should be clear, clean, bright, well formed 

 and typical of the variety. You can tell a fowl's condition by its legs quite 

 as readily as a physician will note a change in a patient by his pulse. If the 

 legs feel hot and dry to the touch, look pale and the veins are prominent, 

 particularly if accompanied by a dry mouth and hot breath, quarantine the 

 bird until you find out what is wrong. 



While the male bird is "half the flock," as we are often called upon to 

 remember, it should be borne in mind that the selection of the females in the 

 breeding pen is equally important. It is the female parent which, to a large 

 extent, controls the size and shape of the progeny. Both male and female 

 parents should be typical and perfect physical representatives of their 

 variety. 



DON'T BREED "CURED" FOWLS 



Fowls which have once had a severe sickness should have no place in 

 the breeding pen. Even though a specimen may appear to have fully re- 

 covered, there always remain the possibility and probability that some 

 constitutional taint remains which may transmit a predisposition to dis- 

 ease to the offspring. A great deal of time and money is wasted in an en- 

 deavor to cure diseased fowls. No fowl, unless it is an exceptionally valu- 

 able exhibition specimen, is worth the expense and trouble attendant on 



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