1114 
September 12, 
The Henyard. 
THE MOLTING HEN. \ 
I HAVE heard a good deal about throw¬ 
ing hens into a molt lately. Is it a 
wise thing to do, and how is it done? 
Does it have any tendency to weaken the 
hen, thereby lessening the number of 
eggs? M. c. 
Portchester, N. Y. 
The molting period is the most critical 
time in a hen’s life, as this time she re¬ 
places all her feathers and practically 
makes over her entire system. This is a 
great drain on her vitality. The molting 
period normally comes after a season of 
productiveness. Two factors 1 ave to be 
considered with the molting hen, inheri¬ 
tance and management. Under natural 
conditions, early or late molting is an 
inherited trait. While the inherited ten¬ 
dency of a hen is to molt at about the 
same time each year, the environment 
and management can change the time of 
molting, such as forcing an early molt. 
At present I do not know of any means 
of retarding the molt. Forcing an early 
molt is usually done as follows: Gradu¬ 
ally reduce the ration fed, so that at the 
end of 10 days the hen is getting only 
one-third of her regular ration. Keep her 
on this low ration for about a week or 10 
days. For the next week, gradually in¬ 
crease the ration so that by the end of 
the week the hen will De getting all she 
will eat. The object of starving is to 
stop egg production, and loosen the old 
feathers; then the heavy feeding of a 
rich ration gives the hen sufficient nour¬ 
ishment to start new feathers, etc. 
Let u.s now consider the normal or nat¬ 
ural molt before taking up the advantages 
and disadvantages of forcing an early 
molt. A hen that naturally starts to 
molt early shows by so doing that she has 
not the high constitutional vigor that is 
absolutely necessary to make a high year¬ 
ly egg product 1 on. Some hens will lay a 
few eggs in Summer during a partial 
molt, but it is very rare for a hen to lay 
during the general or complete molt. The 
earlier a hen starts to molt the longer it 
will take her to complete the molt, espe¬ 
cially if the Summer is very hot. 
Over-feeding of a rich forcing ration 
will very often cause a partial molt in 
hens; also if pullets are put on a too 
forcing ration, when they are first put 
into the laying house; it will, in many 
cases, cause a partial molt. 
As many people prefer a hen that nat¬ 
urally starts to molt early, let us take a 
pullet that begins to lay in October, 1912, 
and starts molting in June or July, 1913. 
She has been laying eight or nine 'months. 
It takes the average Leghorn hen from 
SO to 104 days to complete the natural 
molt, and then she does not start laying 
for some time after the molt is com¬ 
pleted. It will be late in the month of 
September or October before she can be 
expected to resume laying. All expe¬ 
rienced poultry men know that Leghorn 
liens (yearlings or two years old), do not 
lay enough eggs during November and De. 
oember to pay for rood consumed and 
labor. _ So you see the early molting hen 
is carried at a loss for nve or six months. 
An early molting hen should never be 
used as a breeder. 
A hen that molts late shows that she 
has the high constitutional vigor neces¬ 
sary to make a high yearly egg produc¬ 
tion. A very late molting hen is in most 
eases a high producer. For example 
again : A pullet that starts laying Octo¬ 
ber, 1912, and does not begin molting be¬ 
fore the middle of September or October, 
1913, has been laying 11 or 12 months. 
Hens starting to molt in September or 
October complete their molt in much less 
time. The cooler weather seems to short¬ 
en the molting period. The hen does not 
have to resist the Summer heat and grow 
new feathers at the same time. These 
late molting hens will in most cases com¬ 
plete their molt in December, some even 
earlier. In January there will be very 
little difference in egg production, either 
way, between the late and early molting 
liens. After January I have found the 
late molting hen always out-laid the early 
molting one. You see the late molting 
hens are carried a much shorter time at 
a loss, their period of productiveness is 
much longer, their yearly egg production 
is higher, and most important of all, the 
profit per hen is greater. For breeding 
use only late molting hens, and cockerels 
or cocks from late molting hens. 
Forcing an early molt has many advo¬ 
cates; they claim that by forcing a nat- 
mally late molting hen into a general 
molt early, she will complete her molt 
early in the Fall and lay at the time 
eggs bring the highest price—November 
and December. It is true that a late 
molting hen that is forced to molt early 
will lay a very few more eggs during 
these months, but the net profits from 
the large number of eggs laid during the 
Summer, by the late molting hen, will be 
much greater than the profits, if any, 
from the few high-priced eggs laid by the 
forced molting hen. If a late molting 
lien is starved, and forced to molt early 
one year, the next year (if she is not 
forced to molt early) she will molt at her 
natural time. 
Anything as dx-astic as foiling an early 
molt, and going against nature, must 
have some effect on the hen’s vitality, for 
hens that are foi-ced to molt lost more 
weight during the first part of the molt 
than hens that molt naturally. Also the 
forced molting hens lay fewer eggs dur- 
THE RURAE 
ing the year than the naturally late molt¬ 
ing. From my experience the natural 
late molting Leghorn hen pays the larg¬ 
est net profits, and it does not pay to 
force an early molt with Leghorns. 
EDWARD S. PARSONS. 
THE MISSOURI EGG-LAYING CONTEST. 
Mi*. T. E. Quisenberr.v, dix*ector of the 
egg-laying contest at Mountain Gi*ove, 
Mo., tells how Tom Barron undertook to 
select the poor layers in several of the 
contest pens: 
“We looked up the records of each case 
and found that the hens which he claimed 
wex*e of poor type and poor px*oducers 
were among the pooi*est layers accord¬ 
ing to the i*ecoi*ds. In one case we had a 
White Orpington hen that had not laid an 
egg, and she was in a pen with 11 other 
hens. The hens were driven before him, 
and at first glance he picked out this hen; 
the hen was in good health and to the 
ordinary observer looked as good as any 
of the flock. He pointed out the good and 
bad layers in other flocks and the trap- 
nest records verified his statements.” 
Mr. Quisenberr.v states that Mi*. Bar¬ 
ron did this “without handling a single 
hen." The type of hen which Mr. Bar- 
ron thinks indicates the best layei*s, is “a 
bird that stands high in front, the body 
sloping toward the rear. They usually 
have large combs and high tails, and a 
pi-ominent large bright eye.” Upon hand¬ 
ling the birds he finds that the best lay¬ 
ers have thin, sti'aight, pelvic bones, wide 
apart, and that there is quite a distance 
between the pelvic bones and the rear 
point of the breast bone or keel. This in¬ 
dicates capacity, and lots of room for the 
egg organs. He likes the wedge shape, 
rather narrow in front but wide at the 
rear, and wide between the legs. Mr. 
Barron makes a strong point of having all 
the males bred from high producing hens, 
also of breeding from unrelated birds. His 
breeding pens contain two coekei*els— 
own brothers—one of which is confined in 
outside coop, and birds changed about 
every five days. Mr. Barron thinks the 
eggs are more fertile and the chicks 
stronger as the result of this five-day rest 
which the cockerel has. 
As broodiness lowers the egg record 
Mr. Barron tried to eliminate this as 
much as possible, breeding preferably 
from those which never show broodiness. 
He thinks that the earliest laying pullets 
are likely to make the best layers. He 
thinks we could increase the egg produc¬ 
tion by feeding more wet mashes. A hen 
will eat more of a wet mash, and she lias 
to be a big eater if she is to lay many 
eggs. 
In the contest for the month of July a 
Missouri pen of White Leghorns wins the 
NEW-YORKER 
silver cup with a record of 239 eggs. (In 
the contest at Storrs the English pen laid 
250 eggs.) All 10 of the highest pons for 
this month are White Leghorns. The 10 
leading pons since the contest commenced 
are as follows: 
White Leghorns. England. 
S. C. Red, Missouri. 
White Wyandottes, Pennsylvania.. 
White Leghorns, Pennsylvania... 
White Wyandottes, England. 
Barred Rocks, Ohio. 
Barred Rocks, Illinois. 
White Rocks, Arkansas. 
Black Minoreas, Missouri. 
Black Minoreas, Missouri. 
Eggs 
1,772 
1,523 
1,439 
1,427 
1,350 
1,342 
1,341 
1,338 
1,317 
This shows the English White Leg¬ 
horns 249 eggs ahead of any other pen. 
The highest hexis in this part of the con¬ 
test are five of the English birds, with 
record of from 178 to 194 eggs; with 
three months yet to add to those figures. 
Mr. Quisenberry states that entries 
enough have been received for the next 
contest commencing November 1, prac¬ 
tically to fill all the pens. Only a few are 
left to be filled. geo. a. cosgrove. 
Pullets or Hens. 
I READ in your book “The Business 
Hen,” that one should not buy eggs 
for hatching without a guarantee from 
the seller that they wex*e from old hens 
and not from pullets. I would like to ask 
where is the dividing line between pullets 
and old hens? Are eggs fx*om pullets 
hatched May and June this year suitable 
for incubating next Spi’ing? j. c. c. 
Little Hocking, O. 
The eggs from pullets in their first lay¬ 
ing year would be considered “pullets’ 
eggs”; pullets becoming hens after one 
year of age. The age of hens more than 
a year old are usually larger than those 
from pullets, and produce larger chicks; 
old hens have also demonstrated their 
longevity, as pullets have not. Aside from 
these reasons I can see no reason why 
the eggs from well developed and mature 
pullets should not be used for hatching 
and it is my practice to use them. April, 
May, and perhaps early June pullets can 
safely be used in breeding pens next year 
providing that their care and feeding has 
been such as to bring them well toward 
maturity and the individuals are of good 
size and abundant vigor. The use of im- 
matui’e pullets in the bi’eeding pen could 
only result in deterioration in the flocks. 
I have some mid-May hatched pullets 
from which I expect to hatch every chick 
possible next Spring; these pullets are be¬ 
ing cared for in such a way, however, as 
to fit them for their maternal duties when 
these are required of them. m. b. d. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
Rural New-Yorker and you’ll get a quick 
reply and a “square deal.” See guarantee 
editorial page. ! i J : : 
Look at these New Prices! 
2 H-P. $34.95; 4H-P, $69.75; 6 H P. $99.35; 
8 H-P, $139.65; 11 II P, $219.90; 16 H-P, $298.80; 
22 H-P, $399.65; Portable Engines Proportionally Low. 
Direct From Factory to User 
WITTE engines. Stationary, Portable, Skid¬ 
ded and Sawrig styles, have set the quality 
standard for 27 years. Better today than ever. 
Castings of semi-steel, detachable cylinders. 
Vertical valves, four-ring pistons, automobile 
ignition, variable speed, and other merits, with¬ 
out which no engine can now be high-grade. 
LIBERAL 5-YEAR GUARANTY 
No need to pay double price for any good engine, or 
to take an out-of-date, poor, or doubtful one for any 
kind of a price. # Don't risk any untried, newfangled 
devices with highfalutin' names. Let me show you 
How To Judge Engines 
My New Book shows the “inside” of engine selling 
as well as of manufacturing. Tells you how to be safe 
J * a your engine selection, even if you don’t pick a 
WITTE. Send me just your address, for one of these 
fine books by return mail. 
Ed. H. Wilte, Witte Iron Works Co. 
1891 Oakland Ave., Kansas City, Mo. 
Get the Facts About 
No. 9 Empire 
Fence 
Hearth 
Steel 
Our book shows you why No. 9 
Empire and Empire, Jr., made of 
Open Hearth Steel, great big wires, 
galvanized as a wire fence should be galvanized, 
outlast any soft Bessemer steel fence made. 
Illustrates big wires—the strong Empire knot 
that holds good as long as the fence. The rust 
proof, rot proof, hog tight fence. Write for 
book and get money saving fence facts. 
BOND STEEL POST COMPANY 
j 23 Maumee Street Adrian, Michigan 
?! 
*< 
Pittsburgh Perfect''Fences are now made of 
GENUINE 
DOUBLE GALVANIZED WIRE 
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! 
T HE LATEST and greatest of all improvements we have ever made on the 
original “Pittsburgh Perfect” Fencing, is our new and exclusive method of 
DOUBLE GALVANIZING FENCE WIRE, which adds years of life to 
Pittsburgh Perfect** Fences over any fence you have been able to obtain before now. 
This is genuine double galvanizing —the secret of absorb the galvanizing metal, and the on’y wire that 
which haa been sought after for years by the 
Government Investigators, Metallurgists and Manu¬ 
facturers the country over. 
But mark this—our method of double galvanizing 
is possible only because of the high quality of the 
special-formula Open Hearth wire we use. It is of 
will take the proper heat treatment and can be acfu- 
ally galvanized. 
By numerous scientific tests of many kinds we have 
proved, beyond question or doubt, that our fencing is 
now twice as durable as any fencing you have been 
able to obtain heretofore. 
that perfectly uniform texture absolutely necessary to 
SOLD BY DEALERS EVERYWHERE 
UNDER THIS 
UNCONDITIONAL GUARANTEE 
Our Dealers are authorized to ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEE “PITTSBURGH PERFECT" 
FENCING to be in every respect exactly as we represent it. Back of this guarantee stands 
the Pittsburgh Steel Company, owning and operating the largest independent plants in the 
world manufacturing Fencing, Nails and Wire. 
YOU CAN’T LOSE when you buy “Pittsburgh Perfect” Fence on the strength of 
this guarantee. Our new catalogue, just off the press, is full of fence information; you 
need it, whether you want to buy fence now, or will later on. 
Address Nearest Office. Ask for Catalogue No. 38 
PITTSBURGH STEEL COMPANY 
NEW YORK 
CHICAGO 
PITTSBURGH, PA. 
DULUTH ST. LOUIS MEMPHIS 
Wc Manufacture, Irom the Ore in our Mines to the Finished Product, “Pittsburgh Perfect” 
Brandsof Pig Iron; Blooms; Billets; Wire Rods; Bri_ht. Annealed and Galvanized Wite; 
Barbed Wire; Hard Spring Coil Wire; Twisted Cable Wire, Telegraph and Telephone 
Wire; Straightened and Cut Wire; Bale Ties; Poultry Netting Staples; Fence Staples; 
Regular and Galvanized Steel Wire Nails; Smooth Foundry and Plaster Board Na'ls: Large 
Head Felt Roofing Nails; Coa'cd Na Is; Blued Nails; Steel Hoops; Steel Bands; Cotton 
Tics; “Pittsburgh Perfect” Electrically Welded Wire Fencing. 
Write for this NEW CATALOGUE todai 
DALLAS 
r_ 
