16 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 
If you can get in touch with your State Col¬ 
lege of Agriculture, they can usually inform 
you of some reliable breeder who can furnish 
you with the kind of birds you want. In se- ( 
lecting the cockerels, or male birds, one very 
good way is to buy them from an unrelated 
flock, and buy some that are especially strong 
where the females are weak. For instance, if 
the females that you have purchased are a 
little light in color, it would be advisable to 
secure males that are a little darker in color 
than the standard calls for. It is never advis¬ 
able to mate more than ten females with one 
male, because if more are mated, the fertility 
of the eggs will suffer. Many successful breed¬ 
ers even use two male birds with a pen of ten 
females, alternating one male in the breeding 
pen every other day. Thus the fertility of the 
hatching egg is doubly assured. 
A cheaper method of securing the foundation 
stock is in buying the hatching eggs, but not 
quite as satisfactory as the first method. These 
eggs are usually sold by the sitting, amounting 
to fifteen eggs, or by‘the hundred. When buy¬ 
ing by the sitting, one buys from a regular 
breeder, and pays anywhere from $1.50 up to 
