78 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 
as meat birds, and they would keep the birds 
who had already moulted, and whose feathers 
were in splendid color at that time. However, 
in the light of recent facts brought out by this 
culling process, we now know that these rather 
ragged, unsightly birds were our best layers, 
and should have been kept because they had 
been working continuously,’ not taking the 
time off to quit laying and look pretty, as had 
their more lazy companions. There are still 
a great number of people that cling to the old 
method, but the light is dawning, and it will 
probably be but a short while before practically 
everyone interested in poultry will know of 
this culling method, and who can in a brief 
examination of a bird tell quite readily whether 
she should be kept or sold. 
We will now discuss the various methods by 
which a bird can be judged ns to her egg 
laying ability. No one sign can fee relied upon, 
but the different signs taken together should 
form the final judgment. One can usually 
tell something about the bird by her general 
habits. The good layer is a busy hen. She is 
happy, singing, and not as afraid of the at¬ 
tendant as is the loafer. As this hen usually 
