462 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 10 
Live Stock Matters 
THE ROBBER HEN. 
SHE EATS AND DOES NOT LAY 
How Is She Detected? 
In every flock of poultry, there seem to be In¬ 
dividual hens that are nearly if not quite sterile. 
They lay comparatively few eggs, and do not pay 
their way. We believe that such birds are often 
found in breeding pens, so that the few eggs they 
lay are used for hatching. Will you tell us what 
system you have for detecting these robber birds? 
How do you pick them out and get rid of them ? 
What proportion of hens in your flocks do you 
consider sterile or nearly so ? 
Never Saw a Sterile Hen. 
I am well aware that some hens are 
better layers than others, and I am also 
aware that, should the eggs be set and 
hatched from a poor layer, the pullets 
from her would be poor layers. Should 
we breed from a hen that is often broody, 
her pullets would haye the same disposi¬ 
tion. On the other hand, from a Light 
Brahma hen that will lay through the 
season without an inclination to sit, we 
can raise pullets that are like her in this 
respect. Follow this up a few seasons, 
and we would have Light Brahma hens 
that will lay three seasons without sit¬ 
ting. I don’t remember ever having a 
sterile hen. I did raise a Light Brahma 
pullet once that took on flesh so fast 
that she did not lay that season, but she 
attained a very large-size. I always sup 
posed that she filled up with fat and left 
no room for the egg organs. 1 don’t be¬ 
lieve that a hen that is healthy and fed 
properly will ever be sterile. 
Massachusetts, philander williams. 
One Way to Detect Them. 
I have never been able to solve this 
question of robber hens satisfactorily. 
I do not think that I have any but, at 
least pay their way ; but there is not 
the least doubt that some do a great 
deal better than others, and I think the 
best way is to select those that I know 
to be profitable, which can be done by 
taking notice of them, when caring for 
them or at any spare time. The pens 
could be arranged so that one could tell 
just which hens lay each day by having 
the nests arranged so that, after a hen 
laid, she would have to go out the other 
side of the nest into another pen. This 
plan would work all right, providing 
some of them did not just go on the nest 
and out the other side for a pastime, 
and neglect to leave the egg. 
New Jersey. J. e. stevenson. 
It Is “ Failure to Respond.” 
When I have found such hens as you 
describe, I have always assigned and 
generally found other causes to bring 
about this condition. Close inbreeding 
of a small flock might cause it to de¬ 
generate in this direction. It is not so 
much a question of sterility as it is one 
of a failure of the bird to respond to 
the high pressure to which we endeavor 
to force it. We are, in a measure, re¬ 
versing its nature, and must expect to 
find some that will not respond. We 
demand that a hen should produce, in 
two years, what nature intended her to 
be six or eight years in producing. When 
one fails, I would not call it sterility or 
partial sterility. h. e. moss. 
Missouri. 
How to Tell a Good Hen. 
I have never been bothered very much 
with sterile hens, especially since I have 
been breeding the B. P. Rocks almost 
exclusively, and selecting the finest 
developed specimens, both in shape and 
color. I rarely find a hen that does not 
lay well; in fact, I do not think that I 
have had such a hen in my breeding 
yards for several years, and I have made 
no special effort to weed them out, ex¬ 
cept in the selection of finely developed 
exhibition specimens. I am inclined to 
the belief that such a course of selection 
of the prime specimens of a flock, would 
rarely include a barren hen ; but if it 
did, one can soon detect such by the 
failure of the comb to redden and swell, 
as is invariably the case with constant 
layers, especially in spring. I am of the 
opinion, too, that you will find many such 
hens in the cross-bred flock, while in a 
carefully selected flock of purebreds you 
will rarely find them. In the crossing 
of breeds, we get many good specimens, 
and then get a number that seem to be 
a miss ; they do not resemble either the 
sire or dam, and as a result, are almost 
a failure all around ; among such, you 
will find the barren hens, at least such 
has been my observation. If I were se¬ 
lecting a flock wholly as layers, I should 
select the long-bodied hens with good, 
full combs. The comb is generally a 
good index to the laying qualities of a 
hen, and if I were making laying hens 
my sole object, I should go very much 
on the size and strength of the comb. 
I would use a pure breed of some kind, 
and have a uniformity in my flock. 
F. J. MARSHALL. 
Secretary and Treasurer American Ply¬ 
mouth Rock Club, Georgia. 
Well-fed Hens Never Sterile. 
I do not think the proportion of sterile 
hens large enough to pay me to take 
any special pains to detect them. I have 
never seen a hen which I knew to be 
sterile. I marked two hens in the fall 
of 1895, which did not stop to moult at 
the usual time, but continued to lay 
right through the usual moulting sea¬ 
son. In February of 1896, they stopped 
laying and began to moult. One of them 
shed off quickly, became nearly naked, 
and froze to death one cold night. The 
other shed more gradually and came 
through all right. I kept my eye on 
her, and she repeated the operation dur¬ 
ing the next moulting season, laying 
continuously until the latter part of 
March, 1897. Thinking it possible to 
perpetuate the trait, I mated her at 
that time with one of the best cocks on 
the farm, in order to get a few sittings 
of her eggs. About April 1, she stopped 
laying and gradually put on a new coat 
of feathers. She laid no eggs through 
April and most of May, when every hen 
is supposed to be laying. A casual ob¬ 
server at this time would have said that 
she was a sterile hen. I now have one 
sitting of her eggs hatching, laid since 
May 22, and she is still at it and looks 
like a pullet, although four years old, 
at least. I am convinced that the usual 
cause of apparent sterility is in the feed 
box. The hen does not get enough of 
the elements necessary to make an egg, 
in proper balance, and is forced, on that 
account, to quit business. 
New York. o. w. mates. 
Summing Up Long Experience. 
I believe that this question of survival 
of the fittest (not fighters) is of the high¬ 
est importance, and too generally over¬ 
looked, in various ways. First, in the 
yards of the keeper of fowls who, 
through carelessness or, by the pressure 
of other affairs, we often see such flocks, 
which look as though their carcasses 
would be unfit for food, and not even 
their eggs seem appetizing. These are 
generally mongrels, and often composed 
largely of old and decrepit specimens. It 
would be extremely difficult to deter¬ 
mine, except by isolating each specimen 
for a time, which are worth preserving 
for layers. Again, in the yards of those 
who observe every careful detail of cor¬ 
rect management, the prevalence of 
these comparatively sterile specimens 
depends much upon the style of fowl 
bred. If of the broiler type, it is not so 
easy to determine by outward signs. 
Among the egg-type Mediterranean 
breeds, the signs of prolificacy, or the 
reverse, are to the practiced eye quite 
apparent, and among these the occur¬ 
ence of a poor layer is quite rare. It 
has been my lot to have had B. P. Rocks 
which were notable layers as pullets, 
which trait rapidly declined the second 
season, and again, specimens which 
never proved satisfactory layers. Among 
these, I could not detect any consider¬ 
able difference. They all looked better 
to eat, than to lay actively. 
Among the egg-type varieties, it is not 
my practice to cull my flocks with the 
aim to remove the inferior. With these 
breeds, the expressed difference is more 
a matter of vigor and longevity than 
actual performance. These inferior ones 
lay well, but drop out sooner. My flocks 
now contain a good proportion of hens 
from four to six years old. It is seldom 
that I dress off females, being confined 
to a certain small proportion which run 
to carcass rather than egg development. 
Such are removed after the cockerels 
are dressed and sold, and furnish the 
best of eating. A little later, say in 
February and March, a few pullets will 
always be found which show no signs of 
ever becoming layers, which are also 
killed and many of these which are be¬ 
low rather than above average size, are 
suitable for the table, the remainder 
going to the cats, as a reward for having 
spared the chicks. From this time on 
(unless occasionally one which goes 
heavy by midsummer, an indication of 
waning laying capacity) my flocks re¬ 
main intact except as Nature asserts a 
limit to their days. So long as correct 
egg type is observed in breeding, there 
is no such thing as a superannuated hen. 
I would rather have a flock of Leghorns 
at any age, so long as their vigor is 
manifest, than the gross-bodied breeds 
after their first egg season is past. It is 
my impression that enough feed is con¬ 
sumed and enough hens kept on this 
(.Continued on next page.) 
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