A REVOLUTION IN EGG PRODUCTION 91 



but the hens also laid as well all through the winter of 1914- 

 1915, as did the pullets raised in 1914. 



The author feels that a study of these records will prove, 

 more conclusively than anything he could say, that a longer 

 business day, not only does not tend to debility and deteriora- 

 tion, but also that, for a poultryman who is not afraid to feed 

 his flock a sufficiency of balanced rations, a longer day is the 

 one thing lacking and needed to preserve vigor, to prevent 

 debility under trying conditions whether due to moulting or 

 extremes of cold temperatures, and to enable his flock to pro- 

 duce eggs abundantly at all seasons. 



The theory has been advanced, and used, that the moult 

 can be forced, or brought on, by reducing the feed to a mini- 

 mum for a short period; and afterward the period of moulting 

 be shortened by increasing the quantity of feed and adding an 

 extra supph^ of oily feeds such as sunflower seeds or linseed 

 meal to help the fowls in growing their new coat of feathers. 



The same reasons are responsible for the moult brought 

 on, out of season, and against the poultryman's wishes ; when 

 early hatched pullets and hens moult at the beginning of 

 wintei". 



The sudden call for increased feed, on the arrival of cold 

 weather, catches the birds unprepared and unable to procure 

 what they need — hence the moult. 



With a longer business day, and plenty to eat, even the 

 old hens do not seem to suffer from, or mind, the moult even 

 in the dead of winter. We had abput four such hens which 

 had not moulted in the fall of 1914;'^*These hens went about 

 their business in zero weather losing feathers and making 

 new feathers as if nothing uiiusual was transpiring. 



Late hatched pullets will be in a position to mature, and 

 develop winter layers, with the aid of the benefits derived 

 from a longer business day. 



