MKAT <>i; k<:<;s ! which 'i <)'.) 



The tendency to make eggs o U almost any ration is so strong with 

 some females that it becomes u serious problem how to so feed its to 

 maintain them in good condition. With others i I is impossible to teed 

 well without causing them to put on .flesh instead of laving profitably. 



[t seems thai this principle has long been recognized by cuttle breeders. 

 It is claimed that I he dairy cow that is a heavv.milker cannot be so fed 

 as to take on a good quantity of flesh profitably, for she will convert 

 the food to milk. if she is fattened, each pound of added flesh costs 

 more than it will bring in the market. 



It is also said that the most expert feeders of beef cattle employ a ra- 

 tion rich in protein that, if led to dairy rows in sufficient quantity would 

 enable them to yield their capacity of milk. 



Expert poultry fatfeiiers claim that .they often find mature bens that 

 will persist in converting their food to eggs in spite of efforts to fatten 

 them. A crude attempt, of the writer's to fatten his first flock of mon- 

 grels came to naught from this cause. The hens were old enough to 

 market and were shut up in a pen. whole corn left before them and soft 

 food fed heavily. In two weeks, or thereabout, so many of them were 

 laying that but few were sold. 



It is often a difficult matter to put good flesh (free fat is objectionable) 

 on an adult fowl fast enough to be profitable unless there is a tendency 

 to make flesh rather than eggs. If it is done it will Usually cost more 

 than it will bring. Full feeding ol a suitable ration would tend to pro- 

 duce the best of flesh on those birds of a natural flesh forming tendency 

 and enable the others to produce eggs according to their capacity. 



When broodiness or molting has stopped (•<<:<>■ production there i> 

 usually an increased tendency to fatten, naturally due to the condition. 



All this does not imply that individual tendencies alone control meat 

 or t'<>;>>; production, but that the best results in quality and pro 111 would 

 be obtained by recognizing that these two qualities are in a great meas- 

 ure distinct and tliat exceptional gains are not likely to be made and 

 retained by attempting to unite them in one strain. 



Because our birds get heavy when deprived of exercise, or when fed 

 heavily when not laying, it does not prove that the increase in weight 

 lias not cost more than it will bring in the market. Neither will ex- 

 amination of the birds on the roost tell the story. A good layer may 

 be fat and a poor layer thin, or the reverse may be true, but the known 

 laying habit of the bird and observations of her condition will give a 

 good idea of her tendencies and value. 



That this principle is not more generally understood is no doubt due 

 to the practice of treating the flock as a unit for one thing, and because 

 of the great differences of opinion, ninl <>f intenwtit, as to what >liall 

 constitute a prolific layer or a profitable market fowl. 



Any attempt at a standard is likely to be so much too low for some 



