Vol. LXXI. No. 4175. 
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 2, 1912. 
WEEKLY. $1.00 PER YEAR 
SELECTING THE PROFITABLE HEN. 
In Her Rugged Working Dress. 
CONSTITUTIONAL VIGOR.—For ages back 
there have been men who claimed to be able to tell 
the good layers from the poor. Some even went so 
far as to tell just how many eggs 
a hen had laid the past year. It 
has only been during the last five 
years that any scientific studies 
have been made to ascertain 
whether there were any co-rela¬ 
tive external and internal con¬ 
nections whereby the frequent and 
persistent layers could be selected 
from the liens which were poor 
layers. The New York State 
Poultry Department has done 
much excellent work along this 
line. The Maine Experiment Sta¬ 
tion has continued line breeding 
and the study of heredity in re¬ 
production. The New jersey Sta¬ 
tion is also working out certain 
theories in connection with this 
subject. The work of these au¬ 
thorities, as well as practical poul¬ 
try keepers elsewhere, has estab¬ 
lished the fact that natural stam¬ 
ina or constitutional vigor is the 
essential factor in any profitable 
flock of poultry. Eggs from hens 
which are thus endowed hatch 
well, and the chickens have a 
good hold upon life from the very 
start. In an extended experiment 
at Cornell it was found that 
chicks selected at an early age 
for vigor made a quicker growth 
and developed into larger and bet¬ 
ter fowls. The following year 
chicks hatched from this-lot and 
chicks hatched from the lot that 
showed lack of vigor gave very 
different results in development. 
I hen, too, we know from the re¬ 
sults of our egg-laying contests 
and other experience with hens 
that those individuals which lack 
this inherent vigor often.play out 
and go off their feed. Their in¬ 
ternal organs cannot stand the 
strain of converting large quanti¬ 
ties of food into eggs. So it can 
be safely said that this constitu¬ 
tional vigor is the first great point 
to aim for in a profitable flock. 
CHARACTERISTICS DE¬ 
NOTING VIGOR.—I find that 
many of the good points about 
a dairy cow are applicable to the 
heavy-laying hen. A general ap¬ 
pearance of being busy is the best 
thing to look for in a good hen. 
Such a hen will stay healthy 
where her more sluggish sisters will get too fat or 
out of condition. With this look for a large, promi¬ 
nent eye. It will take a little experience to judge this 
correctly, but by comparing several hens as they nat¬ 
urally appear together the good eyes can be detected. 
Wrinkles over or under the eye are a sure sign of 
decaying constitutions. Then of course a healthy, 
Bright red color is necessary all over the comb, wat¬ 
tles and face. A short, well-curved beak denotes 
strength, while the quite frequent crow-head is accom¬ 
panied by low vitality. A broad, deep breast shows 
plenty of room for the vital organs, and a wide, flat 
back insures room for well-developed reproductive 
organs. Straight, good-sized legs placed well apart 
GRANDFATHER AND THE FARM COLTS. Fig. 455. 
A BUSINESS HEN AT THE END OF THE SEASON. Fig. 456. 
are signs of vigor. We do not want a hen to be 
coarse and staggy, but therb should be an appearance 
of strength and vigor, coupled with a certain feminine 
gracefulness. 
FALL SELECTION.—No one will deny that there 
are many old hens kept over Winter that do not pay 
for their feed. This is all wrong. Yearling hens 
should be in their prime. In most flocks, however, 
there is a great difference in the different specimens. 
Some have been able to stand the test of heavy work 
and go through their moult and still maintain a good, 
healthy appearance. Others seem to go to pieces at 
this stage. This fact makes it a profitable undertak¬ 
ing to select only the strong hens to keep over another 
Winter, and dispose of the “dead 
heads.” Keeping in mind the 
points denoting vigor, .look for 
those signs which show still fur¬ 
ther good laying ability. It is 
very seldom that a naturally yel¬ 
low-skinned hen that has been a 
heavy layer will retain her yellow 
shanks or skin during the second 
year. In other words, the best 
layers among the old hens will 
be faded out. Their plumage will 
often look rough and dull. Their 
eyes lose their bay or reddish 
color, and fade out to a gray or 
green. These hens will rarely be 
the largest ones in the flock, but 
they-, will be a little rangy in 
shape, but well fleshed all over. 
The quick moulers are not among 
the best layers. Observations 
lately from several authorities 
agree that many of the best lay¬ 
ers moult slowly and often never 
stop laying during the process. 
DOES IT PAY?—Now the 
average poultryman will hesitate 
before using much care in weed¬ 
ing out his flock. The rule is to 
sell off a lot of hens that seem to 
be the oldest, or else the fat hens 
are picked out and sold because 
they are too fat. Now the fact is 
that old hens must be fat to lay 
'well in the Winter. Give them 
their grain in deep litter and keep 
them a little hungry, and they will 
make as good layers as pullets. If 
we stop and consider that even 
on the farm it is going to cost 
around a dollar a hen to feed her, 
and where they must be enclosed 
a dollar and a half or more, this 
proposition of getting rid of tire 
star boarders is really worth con¬ 
sidering. By judging hens ac¬ 
cording to these suggestions fa¬ 
miliarity will soon make an ex¬ 
pert out of a man, and the possi¬ 
bilities in gauging the productive¬ 
ness of the hens will grow and 
grow. A. L. CLARK. 
New Jersey. 
R. N.-Y.—Mr. Clark sends the 
picture at Fig. 456 to illustrate his 
theory. This White P. R. hen 
proved herself by a trap-nesting 
record one of the best in the col¬ 
lege flock. Without knowing her 
egg record she was selected by the physical test men¬ 
tioned above. Mr. Clark says: 
"She shows some interesting features, the ragged 
appearance, bright eye and sort of rakish body. Her 
legs are almost white now, and her eyes are also 
faded out to a light gray. She has been one of our 
most persistent layers.” 
At first sight, some readers may wonder why we 
