THK [ XKI:UAHII.I\Y "< REI'KdMNi; AYKKAOICs (i 1 



CHAPTER X. 



THE UNRELIABILITY OF THE COMMON METHOD 

 OF RECKONING AVERAGES ILLUSTRATED. 



Foods and feeding. Early maturity. Meat or eggs, which ? The Exceptional 

 hen. Treatment of sick hens. Practice vs. theory. 



IT IS customary to divide the lota I number of eggs received in a given 

 time from a flock of hens pro rafti among the total number of 

 lemales in the flock; the resulting average being taken as an approxi- 

 mate total number of each bird's work during that time. If the average 

 is IK eggs per hen in one month the hen that laid 28 is underestimated 

 and the hen that laid none, or but few, is given credit that belongs to 

 I he others. 



A well-known breeder once wrole me that when a flock averaged IT 

 egg's each per month he knew that there were not many poor layers in 

 it and he was safe in breeding from them. 



Here is an egg record of one of my pens for a month. This flock had 

 been culled once. All of these birds were discarded when the breeding 

 liens were made up. Xmnber of birds :>-!. Xumber of eggs laid 5+4. 

 Average per bird Hi. 15 of these birds laid only IT'.i eggs, an aver- 

 age of 12 each. The other HI laid the balance, or an average of lit plus 

 each, 7 of these laid 157 eggs, an average of 22 plus each. While there 

 were Mimr fair layers in this flock they were not used for breeders be- 

 cause I had some that I. believed to be better. It will be seen that 

 although (he average for the flock is not bad. nearly half of them were 

 very ordinary lavers when we take into consideration the fact, that they 

 were pullets, ten months old and were not broody during the month. 



There were !) two-year-olds in this flock, eight of which were among 

 the good layers. 



Elsewhere in this book is an account of one of my pens of old hens. 

 (2o birds) that averaged 124 plus last year. Yet two of them laid 177 

 eggs each, one IK2 and one 1.">I . l!l laid over 100 egg-. 4 laid less than 

 100, the lo we- 1 giving but 71 eggs. This was a -eleel flock relained 

 after repeated cullings for several years. 



With apparent reason it has been claimed that even if there are poor 

 layers in the breeding pen we set but few eggs from them, as they lay 

 but few. Opposed to this i- the clearly proven fact that some individ- 

 uals will do the best part of their year's laying in the spring, and often 

 they give us the very finest looking eggs; the ones mo-t likely to be 

 selected for hatching. While a poor yearly layer may not give us 25 or 

 :}n eags per month in the breeding -ea.-on. yet she may give us from in 

 to 15: enough to produce quite a number of chicks. A good layer is 



