POULTRY FOR PROFIT 81 
prominent, and stick out similar to a shoe 
button, rather than sunken in. The combs 
and wattles are red, and not pale, as in the 
non-layer. 
The good layer will not have the bright col¬ 
ored yellow, after she has been laying for a 
short while, that the loafer will have. This 
is because she uses this yellow pigment in 
making the yolk of her eggs, so that as her 
laying period proceeds, she becomes more and 
more faded in her bill, eye lids, ear lobes, and 
shanks. Consequently, if some of your birds 
have a faded appearance, don’t condemn them, 
they are the hardest workers in your flock. 
Furthermore, the* hen with worn toe-nails is 
one that should be kept, because this shows 
us quite clearly that she uses them consider' 
ably in scratching for her feed. 
Now let us examine the anatomy of the hen 
a little more closely so that we can get some 
more evidence for or against the hen in ques¬ 
tion. N One of the most common ways, nowa¬ 
days, in picking out the laying hen is to ex¬ 
amine , what is known as the pelvic bones. 
These are found on either side of the vent, 
towards the rear of the body. They are gen- 
