POULTRY FOR PROFIT 83 
fingers you can get between the lay bones and 
the keel bone. Even for a small breed you 
should easily get in the width of three fin¬ 
gers, and for a larger breed you should get in 
the width of four fingers. This measures the 
hen’s capacity for feed. 
This distance between the lay bones and 
the keel bone is called the abdomen. We can 
tell considerable about the hen by the texture 
of the abdomen skin. If the skin is tough, 
and meaty, we can say right away that she 
is not a good hen, but if the skin is tender, 
pliable, and soft, then we can feel assured 
that she must be kept in the flock. 
These are the principal features in selecting 
the laying hen. If one can get these prin¬ 
ciples in mind, and go out into his flock and 
separate the hens into two flocks, and keep 
these two flocks apart for a while, he would 
discover some interesting things. For in¬ 
stance, cull out the poor hens and put them in 
one pen. Possibly you will have the largest 
pen, when you have finished, composed of the 
poor layers. Keep the good hens in another 
pen separated from the poor ones. Keep feed¬ 
ing the same feeds as you had been doing 
