BREEDING 



147 



to live and lay through the second summer. And those that 

 stand this test and meet the further requirements should be 

 kept in service so long as they enjoy good health and remain 

 active. » 



Beyond the desirability of developing a longer breeding 

 and producing life is the fact that pullets are actually much 

 less efficient breeders than are mature hens. In making a 

 study of the comparative efficiency of pullets and hens as 

 breeders,. Stewart and Atwood' made eight separate tests 

 of hens and pullets as breeders which are summarized in 

 Table XVI. The hens were two and three years old. 



RIGHT LEFT 



Fig. 72 

 RIGHT LEFT 



RIGHT 



LEFT 



Showing sixteen ways of toe-marking chicks. 



From Table XVI it will be readily seen that "the eggs 

 from the pullets were smaller than the eggs from hens, and 

 the chicks were smaller when they were hatched, grew more 



1 West Virginia Bulletin No. 124. 



