4 
FARMERS* BULLETIN - 898. 
the heavier breeds. It is necessary to work and move quietly among 
them to avoid frightening them. They are more difficult to keep in 
confinement, and where their quarters are fenced, 6 or 7 foot fences 
are used. Clipping the flight feathers of one wing will keep them 
from flying over the fence. They mature more quickly than the 
heavier breeds, but if hatched early, they often begin to lay so 
early in the fall that they go into a molt like the old hens. This of 
course checks their egg production. It is the custom of some egg 
farmers to hatch early chicks for the purpose of obtaining eggs dur¬ 
ing the fall, expecting these early birds to go into a molt and de¬ 
pending upon later hatches to supply eggs during the late fall and 
winter. 
Chickens of the egg breeds, because of their greater activity, are 
fine foragers, and when they have free range they will cover a very 
