CHAPTER XIII 

 TRAP NESTS 



While the value of trap nests for breeding purposes is still a 

 subject for argument, there is no controverting the fact that they 

 constitute the only positive means of determining the exact laying 

 ability of a hen. Moreover, their use makes it possible to ascer- 

 tain which hens lay the best shaped eggs, which the largest sized, 

 which the strongest in point of fertility, which are the best winter 

 layers, which pullets begin early and lay the greatest number of 

 eggs in succession, the number of times they become broody, 

 and many other facts of vital interest to the poultryman. But 

 whether or not this information is considered of sufficient value 

 to warrant the additional time, trouble and expense of operating 

 a trap nest system is the debatable question that must be deter- 

 mined by every poultryman for himself. 



Some authorities swear by them as the only means of building 

 up a heavy-laying strain; others condemn their use as too ex- 

 pensive a method of selection for the average breeder. The New 

 York State Experiment Station estimated the cost of maintaining 

 a trap nest system to be fifty cents per hen per year, while the 

 Maine Agricultural Experiment Station states their system can 

 be operated on the basis of one active person to 500 nests for 2500 

 hens — ^which, at a wage of $40 per month, amounts to about 

 twenty cents per hen per year. Thus, there is a wide difference 

 of opinion on the subject. There seems to be truth in the argu- 

 ments for and against the trap nest as a commercial proposition ; 

 but for purposes of investigation, and where a breeder of show 

 stock wishes to record pedigrees accurately, they are unques- 

 tionably indispensable. 



My intention in this chapter is not to discuss the pros and cons 



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