CHAPTER XXVI 

 SURPLUS COCKERELS 



Cockerels a Necessary Evil. — On poultry farms specializing 

 in egg production the aim is to rear pullets. Cockerels are looked 

 upon more or less as a nuisance. Yet, no matter how hard we 

 try to mate our pens so that the hatches will run to females, as a 

 general rule fifty per cent of the chickens are cockerels. 



It is one of those natural laws over which we have no control. 

 To the beginner this is sometimes discouraging, in view of the 

 fact there is not a great deal of profit to he made from the average 

 flock of surplus cockerels. In fact, some breeders complain that 

 their cockerels actually become a liability, and sell for less than 

 the cost of production. Where such is the case, there is some- 

 thing wrong with the management. 



Poor Returns. — It is true, very few breeders derive any ap- 

 preciable returns from their surplus cockerels, especially from 

 males of the egg-laying varieties, such as the Leghorns. This 

 is due in a large measure, however, to mismanagement. Either 

 the birds are not properly fattened and prepared for market pur- 

 poses, or they are not marketed at the right time. Many poul- 

 try raisers sell their cockerels at an early age, profit or no profit, 

 regardless of the prevailing prices, in order to get them out of the 

 way, retaining only the most promising specimens for future 

 breeding purposes. 



It is a mistake to force these birds on the market at a sacrifice, 

 since they can be turned into easy money if one has sufficient 

 space in which to segregate them, and then fatten and hold them 

 for greater weight and better prices. 



Separate at Early Age. — As soon as the cockerels are old enough 

 for their sex to be determined they should be separated from the 



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