THE PROBLEMS IN MATING AND IN EGG PRODUCTION 109 



bleached beak means heavy production for at least the past 

 four to six weeks. 



The shanks are the slowest to bleach out and hence indicate 

 a much longer period of production than the other parts. 

 The yellow goes out from the scales on the front of the shanks 

 first and finally from the scales on the rear. The scales on the 

 heel of the shank are the last to bleach out and may generally 

 be used as an index as to the natural depth of yellow color 

 of the bird. A bleached-out shank usually indicates fairly 

 heavy production for at least fifteen to twenty weeks. 



The yellow color comes back into the vent, eyering, ear- 

 lobes, beak, and shanks in the same order that it went out, 

 only the color returns much moi'e quickly than it goes out. 

 A vacation or rest period can sometimes be determined by 

 the outer end of the beak being bleached and the base being 

 yellow. 



Body Changes Due to Laying. — ^A laying hen has a large, 

 moist vent showing a dilated condition and looseness as com- 

 pared with the hard, puckered vent of a non-laying hen. 



The whole abdomen is dilated as well as the vent so that 

 the pelvic arches are widespread and the keel is forced down, 

 away from the pelvic arches, so as to give large capacity. 

 The more eggs a bird is going to lay the following week the 

 greater will be the size of the abdomen. The actual size of 

 the abdomen is, of course, influenced by the size of eggs laid 

 and by the size of the bird. 



Heavy production is shown by the quality of the skin and 

 the thickness and stiffness of the pelvic arches. Fat goes out 

 from the skin and body with production, so that the heavy 

 producers have a soft velvety skin that is not underlaid by 

 layers of hard fat. The abdomen in particular is soft and 

 pliable. The sternal processes are very prominent and are 

 generally bent outward. The thicker and blunter the pelvic 

 arches and the greater the amount of hard fat in the abdomen 

 the less the production or the longer the tmie since production. 



One of the finer indications, but yet one of the most valu- 

 able in picking the high layer, is the fineness of the head and 

 the closeness and dryness of feathering. The head of a high 

 layer is fine. The wattles and ear-lobes fit close to the beak 



