POULTRY FOR PROFIT 79 
eats^more than the non-layer, she is usually 
found busily scratching in the litter for the 
food material with which she makes her eggs. 
The good layer is always the first off the 
roost in the morning, and the last one to go 
to roost at night. Watch out for the timid, 
crafty hen that stays on the outskirts of the 
flock. She is lazy, inactive, and the quicker 
she is sent to the butcher, the better. An¬ 
other very good aid in forming judgment as 
to the ability of the birds, is to go around 
the roosts at night, after the birds have all 
gone to roost. Feel of their crops. The good 
• • 
layer that has been working hard to get to¬ 
gether food material for her eggs will have 
a full crop, while her lazy companions, that 
are not so interested in producing eggs, will 
have a fairly empty crop at this time. Little 
items such as I have mentioned here will tell 
considerable about the ability of the birds. It 
is a fact that there are any number of birds 
in America that lay only st few dozen eggs per 
year, but are kept the year round, because 
the owner has had no way of knowing the 
producers from the non-producers. 
As has been already brought out, the heavy 
