53o 



Winter Egg Production. 



of hens, as they are now managed, lay most eggs when the 

 prices are lowest. It is necessary, therefore, to keep fowls that 

 are good winter layers, and as a general rule it will be found 

 that for this purpose birds belonging to one of the general 

 purpose or sittings breeds, or their crosses, will give the best 

 results. The number of eggs laid during the summer is com- 

 paratively unimportant, provided a large number are produced 

 during the winter. It should not be forgotten that excessive 

 egg production in summer entails a greatly reduced supply in 

 winter. 



The cost of feeding a hen for one year should not exceed 

 5s., or an average of little more than id. per week, even when 

 all food has to be purchased. On many farms this figure could 

 be reduced. All laying hens, when well managed, should 

 produce at least 150 eggs in a year. If the market require- 

 ments are considered, and the eggs sold to the best advantage, 

 a yearly profit of 5s. per hen should be obtained. Many, if not 

 the majority of hens, do not lay 1 50 eggs in a year, and are 

 kept at a loss. These are maintained and bred from, simply 

 because the average poultry-keeper fails to distinguish between 

 profitable and unprofitable birds. 



Select a good laying breed or first cross suitable to the soil 

 and situation. General purpose breeds are usually good winter 

 layers. Their natural instinct induces them to become broody 

 in the spring and summer, and the rest then obtained materially 

 aids the production of eggs at a later season. Consequently it 

 is unwise to entirely prevent broodiness in hens that are required 

 to lay in winter. 



Breed, however, is not everything ; strain is, perhaps, more 

 important. There are good and bad laying strains of every 

 breed, and it would not be difficult to find birds belonging to 

 breeds held least in repute as layers, which produce far more 

 eggs than other fowls belonging to the most popular laying 

 varieties. It is essential then to select birds from only the best 

 laying strains. 



Hatch pullets which will commence laying in November. 

 For heavy breeds, which mature slowly, February and March 

 are the best months for hatching. The light breeds, which are 

 more active and come more quickly to maturity, may be hatched 



