HATCHING AND BROODING RECORDS 



101 



that are sought. Such matings are proved by records established 

 for several generations. 



In the breeding of other kinds of pedigreed livestock, such as 

 horses, cows and dogs, permanent records are maintained by the 

 officers of a society or association of breeders. In other words, 

 the stock is registered; and an examination of the records of a 

 certain society will disclose the ancestry of any animal of note. 

 Because the poultryman 

 must keep his own pedi- 

 gree, it becomes none the 

 less important. 



The trap nest and the 

 numbered leg band are 

 the only positive means 

 of determining the exact 

 laying ability of a hen,' 

 which hens lay the best 

 shaped eggs, which the 

 largest sized, which the 

 strongest in point of fer- 

 tility, which are the best 

 winter layers, which pul- 

 lets begin early and lay 

 the greatest number of 

 eggs in succession, the 

 number of times they be- 

 come broody, and many 

 other facts of vital im- 

 portance to the poultryman. But whether or not this informa- 

 tion is considered of sufficient value to warrant the additional time, 

 trouble and expense of operating the trap nest system is the de- 

 batable question that must be determined by every poultryman 

 for himself. 



The use of the trap nest is described in another chapter. 



Fertility. — ^A fair idea of the fertility and hatchability of the 

 eggs, and the stamina and growth of the chicks may be ascer- 



(Courtesy Kansas Experiment Station) 

 Fig. 67. — Making incision for wing band. 



