976 
THE R LI K.A. 1_ NEW-YORKER 
July 31, 1915. 
“The Favorite Hen Contest” 
The Favorite Hen contest still goes on 
with Tilly, the White Wyandotte, still far 
ahead in total egg-laying. As will be seen 
from the table below. Tilly has laid 177 
eggs. She skipped the first five weeks so 
that her actual laying record is 177 eggs 
in 32 weeks or 224 days. The report is 
that she is still in splendid condition, and 
likely to keep on laying for a number of 
weeks longer. She stands up well among 
the thousand hens in the contest, and is 
likely to be among the first 10 of the en¬ 
tire lot at the end of the year. 
Following Tilly comes Louisine, the 
Buff Orpington. She started laying on 
the first day of the contest, and has laid 
Mrs. R. W. Stevens, Owner of Tilly. 
one or more eggs 35 of the 37 weeks. 
Last week she laid six eggs, which sent 
the total record is cut down somewhat, 
because one of the Leghorns has not laid 
an egg since the contest opened. In the 
month of June some of our hens showed 
up remarkably well. The Rhode Island 
Red from Mrs. Farnham of Maine laid 28 
eggs in the 30 days. One hen, a Salmon 
Faverolle, laid 30 eggs during June, and 
another of the same breed laid 20. One 
Leghorn also laid 29, while three other 
birds along with our Red Favorite laid 28. 
It looks now as if Tilly would lead the 
procession at the end of the year, but this 
is not settled yet by any means, for 
Louisine, Polly and Beauty are still with¬ 
in striking distance, and may win yet. as 
there are 15 weeks or 105 days still to 
go. It is quite evident that three or four 
of these birds will stand up close at the 
top of the entire list of entries, and it 
will be a most interesting thing to see 
whether the sisters of these birds which 
remained at home are equal to the college 
member of the family. Mrs. Stevens, the 
owner of Tilly, expects to enter a full pen 
of pullets in the next contest. She says 
that the mothers of these pullets have 
been laying quite as well as Tilly has 
done, and it will be interesting to see 
what these pullets will do when they are 
taken away from home and put into this 
public contest. It must be remembered 
that the flocks from which these Favorite 
Hens were taken, were practically all 
what you would call farm flocks, and 
Late-hatched Chicks. 
Does it pay to hatch S. C. W. Leg¬ 
horns in August and September? When 
will they start to lay? Does the cold 
stop their growth? J. T. 
Connecticut. 
I have had S. C. White Leghorn pul¬ 
lets that were hatched in September de¬ 
velop well and begin to lay the following 
Spring. If they can be well cared for 
in comfortable quarters, I do not know 
that cold weather checks their growth, 
any more than it does that of other 
young animals, but it seems reasonable 
to assume that chicks can be reared to 
better advantage and more cheaply in the 
season that permits free range of grass 
covered fields with their supply of bugs 
and worms. The Spring and Summer 
are the natural seasons for the growth of 
young animals; if they are artificially 
reared out of season, more care is re¬ 
quired and the expense cannot but help 
be greater. M. b. d. 
Selection of Breeders the Key to Success. 
The man who goes into the poultry 
business to raise eggs for market, and 
who intends to stay in the business and 
make it permanently his means of sup¬ 
port, must first of all, devote his best 
efforts and greatest and constant care to 
that part of his flock which he is to use 
as breeders. There is where he either 
succeeds or fails as a poultryman. I 
have had men ask me, “Why is it that 
my flock doesn’t lay nearly as well as 
they used to? I keep the houses clean 
and free from lice, I feed just the same, 
and the birds seem healthy, but they 
through her sous, rather than through 
her daughters, and the best way to in 
crease the laying ability of the flock is 
by using the best obtainable unrelated 
males. And when a man has succeeded 
in obtaining a flock of breeding hens 
whose daughters are good layers, he does 
not want to discard those liens because 
they are two or three years old. especi¬ 
ally not if they are Leghorns, as these 
are often profitable layers until five or 
six years old. 
Until within three years it was hardly 
possible to obtain male birds pedigreed 
for the performance of their dams; the 
only “valuable" (?) cock or cockerel 
that could be bought, was one that had 
won at some poultry show. Whether his 
dam was a good layer or a poor layer 
was a matter of perfect indifference. But 
the egg laying contests have sent that 
day far to the rear, and dealt to the show 
bird interest, the hardest blow it has ever 
received. Now, birds bred for perform¬ 
ance instead of for feathers, can be ob¬ 
tained in all parts of the country, and 
the result should be that the United 
States will become an exporter instead of 
an importer of eggs and poultry products. 
But the fancy poultry business will not 
die; there are many fanciers to whom 
beauty of form and perfection of feather, 
etc., will still appeal with more force 
than mere utility. My opinion is that 
each will succeed best when it does not 
attempt to include the functions of the 
other. GEO A. COSGROVE. 
Rape and Egg Color. 
Early this Spring I sowed chicken 
yard to Dwarf Essex rape and when 
about nine inches high turned in a flock 
of about 50 hens. They ate it greedily 
and the yolks in the eggs from that flock 
were so dark as to be unsaleable and 
caused a lot of trouble and loss. Th • 
color of the yolks was a brown olive and 
of course customers thought they were 
bad. Is this something new or is there 
any other green food that will spoil the 
color of yolks? b. b. 
R. N.-Y.—Here is a case for general 
observation. Has any one else noted this 
bad result from feeding green rape? 
Early Molt. 
....iiiiiiiiiimiimiiwmmmmiimiHiiiiiiiiiii! 
: ..........iMiiMiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiimimimuiiimiiiiitmiiiiimiimiii^ : 
Remarks by Mrs. A. Business Hen 
her ahead of Polly, the Rhode Island Red. 
This Polly had been sailing along toward 
the front, but last week she evidently be¬ 
came broody and stopped her laying. This 
is another bird with a remarkably good 
continuous record. She did not begin to 
lay until the third week, when she laid 
four eggs. Since that time she skipped 
only one week up to seven days ago. 
Following Polly, or rather two eggs 
ahead of Polly at the present time, comes 
Beauty, the White Leghorn, owned by 
Mrs. Phelps of Pennsylvania. Beauty 
laid four eggs during the first week of the 
contest, but has gone four weeks without 
Rhode Island Reds to July 18. 
Mrs. Carrie M. Bliss. Virginia, Pocahontas.. 109 
Mrs. E. S. Marlatt. New Jersey. Polly. 14(1 
Mrs. T. Sclnvenk, Connecticut, Rosie-Lou... 90 
Miss Ethel A. Pierce, New Hampshire, Lady 
Pierce . r>8 
Mrs. Samuel O. Travis. New York, Rose.... 133 
Mrs. W. R. Merrick, Massachusetts. Betty M. 137 
Miss Ed'na M. Porter. New York. Betty. 77 
Mrs. Andrew J. Wilson. Connecticut. Betty.. 139 
Mrs. E. P. Andrews, New York, Golden Lass 78 
Mrs. Cecil Farnham, Maine . 101 
Leghorns—Record to July 18. 
Mrs. N. I). Rand'. New York, Lucy. G9 
Mrs. Lewis J. Happich, New York. Lady 
Hopeful . 117 
Mrs. V. I). Miller, Ohio, Ann. 120 
Mrs. A. J. Skeilie. New York. Ity. 80 
Mrs. C. L. Todd, Virginia, Patsy. 84 
Mrs. Walter Fletcher, New York. Peggy.... 79 
Miss Tillie B. Cloud. Pennsylvania. Peggy.. 
Mrs. Josephine Holleubaoh, Pennsylvania, 
Viola . 108 
Mrs. W. E. Phelps, Pennsylvania, Beauty.. 148 
Mrs. I,. E. Hilborn, New York, Madam Toot- 
sey . 121 
Mixed Breeds—Records to July 18. 
Mrs. F. M. Earl, Connecticut. White Wyan¬ 
dotte, Gladness . 99 
Mrs. A. N. Conell, New York, White Wyan¬ 
dotte, Holly . 35 
Mrs. It. W. Stevens, New York, White Wy¬ 
andotte, Tilly . 177 
Mrs. W. S. Walters, Michigan, Barred Rock. 
Bridgman Girl . 110 
Mrs. (J. L. Rotkgeb, Virginia, Barred Rock. 
Roxie ..'. 87 
Misses Osier and' Wilcox, New York, Barred 
Bock, Marguerite . 42 
Mrs. Kobert H. Wood, New York. White 
Rock. Faith . 79 
Mrs. Joseph di I’ahrizio, New Jersey. Black 
Minorca, Betina . 124 
Mrs. Emma H. Wood, New York, Buff Or¬ 
pington, Louisine . 149 
Mrs. Edwin Walker. Massachusetts, Buff 
Orpington, Lady Ashby.,. 55 
laying. She is now laying well, and there 
is a fair chance for her to work up to the 
front, as she laid five last week. Follow¬ 
ing Beauty comes the Rhode Island Red, 
Betty, with 139, from Mrs. Wilson of 
Connecticut. Another Betty, this time 
with an M to her name, comes next with 
137: with another Rhode Island Red, 
Rose, following with 133. As we see, the 
Red Favorite Hens have proved on the 
whole better layers than the Leghorns and 
other breeds. Six of these Reds will rank 
as excellent birds. The Leghorns have 
not done as well as we expected, although 
11 My name is Hen—A. Business Hen— I take the stand once more 
|| To ask fair play for honest fowls, as I have done before. 
II The moulting season is at hand—“that tired feeling” when 
1! A short vacation crowns with ease each self-respecting hen, • • 
If The lazy time par excellence, and now, good friends, please hear, 
|| ’Tis just the time to pick the birds to head your flock next year. 
If Lo! there are birds in early Spring, who fill your ear with talk; 
II It’s “kut, kut, kut, ker dar cut!” and “ker walk! ker walk! ker walk!” 
If And so, for every egg they lay, they celebrate an hour, 
|| And thus deceive the poultrymen who fancy that the power 
|| To push eggs in the basket is located in the throat. 
What ails my hens? They stopped lay- 
|| ing and lose many feathers. Is it pos- 
|| sible that they are molting so early? 1 
|| feed grain (mixed) twice a day, give 
|l them skim-milk, and dry mash is before 
|| them from 10 to 2. They have a large 
|| range in an apple orchard and have 
|| abundance of green food. p. b. 
New York. 
It is quite possible that your fowls 
|| have begun to molt, though it is early. 
|| Hens frequently slack up suddenly dur- 
|| ing the laying period, however, only to 
|| begin again and your hens may not take 
II a long vacation so early in the season. 
II M. B. D. 
|| Oh, shun the idle songster hen—get not within her boat. 
If But watch the patient working hen that through her moult keeps shop, f| 
i| And squeezes out an egg or two because she cannot stop, 
ft If music is your object, breed from hens with thunder tones; || 
If But if you’re after eggs, take those with fewest lazy bones, 
If And keep them warm and dry, and feed food that you’d eat yourself. 
|| A. Business Hen, I’ll give my word, you’ll simply roll in pelf! 
= ..limit.........! n !!!!!l!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!;.f 
£.ilium.iminimim.....mimmmiii.immmmmiim...mimmmmmim miiiiimmimm? 
nothing more. The owners of these flocks 
have, as a rule, simply developed good 
birds for home use, using their best judg¬ 
ment in the selection of breeding stock 
and in their care of the birds. In a few 
cases the women thought that their pullet 
was of a remarkably good type, and they 
evidently expected to see them go to the 
front at once. So far as we can learn the 
leaders among these Favorite Hens are as 
a rule out of flocks from which least was 
expected, that is they are plain farm 
flocks owned by people of quite moderate 
means, and developed without the intro¬ 
duction of costly blood or the use of ex¬ 
pensive fixtures. We are very glad that 
this is so, as our object in organiz'ng this 
contest was to see just what some of these 
farm flocks will do if given a fair oppor¬ 
tunity. We have long felt that some of 
these farm (locks which have been devel¬ 
oped and fed by careful farm women, will 
show up remarkably well by the side of 
birds which have been bred scientifically, 
and with all the arts and aids which 
science and capital can give. We think 
that before this contest is over there will 
be proof that this is right. 
We give this week a picture of Mrs. 
R. W. Stevens, of New York State, the 
owner of Tilly. This White Wyandotte 
has certainly done remarkably well, and 
her performance is attracting attention 
all over the country. We have told our 
readers how Mrs. Stevens worked to de¬ 
velop her flock of poultry. She certainly 
has excellent birds, and showed fine judg¬ 
ment in selecting a specimen of her flock 
to represent her in this contest. 
don't lay much more than half as many 
eggs as they used to.” And this man is 
honestly puzzled to know what the 
trouble .is. lie wants, say about 250 pul¬ 
lets to renew his flock each year; so he 
hatches out 500 chicks, and stops hatch¬ 
ing. expecting about half, will be pul¬ 
lets. But hawks and cats and rats and 
weasels, etc., take toll out of the flock 
during the long Summer season, and in 
the Fall he finds he has only 175 or 180 
pullets, less than he really wants, so he 
cannot cull out the less desirable ones, 
hut keeps them all. and breeds -from the 
flock next season. He would like to breed 
from high pedigreed males, hut the cost 
seems more than he can afford, so he 
selects the best looking cockerels and 
saves them for breeders. Now this breed¬ 
ing of brothers and sisters is the very 
worst thing, both for egg production and 
for the vitality and stamina of the flock 
that could be done. Mr. Tom Barron 
found that it always reduced the laying 
ability of the progeny to mate brother 
and sister, and so from year to year the 
man's flock runs down, until he concludes 
that there is no money in hens, and he 
gives up the business. What he ought 
to have done has been told hundreds of 
times. Selection of the breeders is the 
most imports fit part of poultry keeping, 
and one of the times to make the selec¬ 
tion is when the chicks are about 10 
weeks old. Select then the largest and 
thriftiest, those best feathered out, and 
mark them. Later the less thrifty ones 
may apparently catch up, and it would 
be difficult to tell them unless they were 
marked. 
But selection must go on, and while 
the trap-nest is the best and surest 
means of selection, it is not the only 
means. The value of high-bred males, 
that is, males from high-producing an¬ 
cestors, is pretty well understood by 
dairymen, but not so thoroughly realized 
by the average poultryman. It has been 
definitely ascertained that the heavy lay¬ 
ing hen transmits her laying qualities 
Hens Going Light. 
1. What causes yearling hens to take 
sick all of a sudden, stand around in 
corner for one or two days, and after be¬ 
ing separated so as to avoid others tak¬ 
ing it. fall down on one side and not be 
able to get up? I have lost several thi- 
way. Before dying they have a sort of 
white diarrhoea, and go very light after 
being sick. I have put in drinking water 
permanganate of potash but without ef¬ 
fect. The feed consists of mixed grains, 
and plenty of grass at times, but have 
to keep penned, at present on account of 
gardens. 2. What causes eggs that I have 
put under several hens this year to bake 
or the inside skin becomes so tough that 
out of 15 eggs put under hens only two 
hatched; others all dead in shells after 
having good care. Well-made nest, grass 
sod under each nest, eggs sprinkled in 
lukewarm water after 15 days and given 
tlie best of care in every way after being 
received. 3. From what stations can 1 
get good bulletins on proper feeding for 
good results? w. M. 
Ossining, N. Y. 
1. Fowls that “go light” and (lie after 
hut a few days of evident sickness are 
usually the vieftms of some infection like 
tuberculosis or aspergillosis. They are 
noticeably sick for only a short time pre¬ 
ceding death and nothing can be done for 
them. Their carcasses should be deeply 
buried, or burned, to prevent infection of 
other members of the flock. 
2. The failure of these eggs to hatch 
was probably not due to any abnormal 
toughness of the shell membranes but to 
weakness of the embryo due either to in¬ 
herited lack of vigor or to improper 
hatching conditions. From your remarks 
with regard to sprinkling the eggs, etc., I 
judge that you may have been too solicit¬ 
ous of their welfare. With a good nest 
in a suitable place, hens need no human 
help to hatch their eggs and are best left 
alone. With a weekly dusting with a 
good lice powder, such as Persian insect 
powder, and food and drink where they 
can help themselves whenever they wish 
to leave the nest, hens may be trusted to 
hatch all hatchable eggs without the aid 
of a watering pot. 
3. The State Agricultural Experiment 
Station at Ithaca, N. Y., will send you, 
upon application, their bulletins upon 
any phase of poultry culture in which 
you are interested. They are free to re¬ 
sidents of the State. M. B. D. 
