108 POULTRY CULTURE 



the American Association of Instructors and Investigators in 

 Poultry Husbandry. 



In order to lay well a bird must have a sound body. As a 

 first consideration a bird must be vigorous and healthy if it is 

 to be able to lay well. Vigor and health are shown by a 

 bright, clear eye, a well-set body, a comparatively active dis- 

 position, and a good circulation. 



Further, the bird must be free from physical defects such 

 as crooked beak, excessively long toe nails, eyelids that over- 

 hang so that the bird cannot see well, scaly leg or anything 

 else that would keep the bird from seeing or getting an abun- 

 dance of food. 



Loss of Fat Due to Laying. — Color or pigmentation changes. 

 These should be observed by daylight. A laying fowl uses 

 up the surplus fat in the body; especially it removes the fat 

 from the skin. In yellow-skinned breeds this loss of fat can 

 readily be seen by the loss of the yellow color. The different 

 parts of the body tends to become white, according to the 

 amount of fat stored in the body and the amount of circula- 

 tion of blood through that part The changes occior in the 

 following order: 



The vent changes very quickly with egg production so that 

 a white or pink vent on a yellow-sldnned bird generally means 

 that the bird is laying, while a yellow-vent means a bird is not 

 laying. It should be recognized that all yellow color changes 

 are dependent on the feed, coarseness of skin, and size of bird. 

 A heavy bird fed on an abundance of green feed or other 

 material that will color the fat deep yellow will not bleach out 

 nearly as quickly as a smaller or paler, colored bird. 



The eyering, that is, the inner edges of the eyelids, bleach 

 out a trifle slower than the vent. The ear-lobes on Leghorns 

 and Anconas bleach out a little slower than the eyering, so 

 that a bleached ear-lobe means a little longer or greater produc- 

 tion than a bleached vent or eyehd. 



The color goes out of the beak, beginning at the base, and 

 gradually disappears until it finally leaves the front part of 

 the upper beak. The lower beak bleaches faster than the 

 upper but may be used where the upper is obscured by horn 

 or black. On the average-colored, yellow-skinned bird, a 



