. The business hen (a new brood). Poultry. Parents of the Egg. shown here. The nest is a box with the door so adjusted that when the hen goes in to lay this door closes and shuts her in. She cannot get out until some one opens the door. Each hen has a band on her leg carrying a number, and by marking her number on the egg she has laid, it is possible to know what each hen in the pen is doing. Those who use these trap nests tell some remarkable stories about their results. They have picked out hens by the eye and found by testing that some of them laid twice as many eggs as others. It is claime
. The business hen (a new brood). Poultry. Parents of the Egg. shown here. The nest is a box with the door so adjusted that when the hen goes in to lay this door closes and shuts her in. She cannot get out until some one opens the door. Each hen has a band on her leg carrying a number, and by marking her number on the egg she has laid, it is possible to know what each hen in the pen is doing. Those who use these trap nests tell some remarkable stories about their results. They have picked out hens by the eye and found by testing that some of them laid twice as many eggs as others. It is claimed that by testing hens with the trap nests and using eggs from the best for hatching, through several gener- ations, an "egg-laying strain" of great value can be developed. The plan is not generally practiced, however. Most breeders think it requires too much time. The hens sometimes refuse to enter the nests and lay outside. It is also claimed that the egg-laying habit alone is not a safe guide, but that the shape and vigor of the birds must be considered. The "trap nest" at least gives a chance for selecting a male bird of good "; For the average poultry keeper the best advice is to pick out a type and study the habits of the hens. Then select by the eye hens enough to supply the eggs needed for hatching. We would especially study the actions of the pullets as they begin to lay. CARE OF BREEDERS.—These breeders should be given as large a run as possible, for exercise is necessary if we expect healthy chicks. Yearling hens are selected for breeders with a younger male. There are several good reasons why pullets are not used for breeding stock by experienced poultry- men. They begin laying earlier than the older hens, so that when eggs are most wanted for incubators the pullets have been laying steadily for a long time. Such eggs are not so likely to be fertile as those laid earlier in the laying period and the chicks from them will be w
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectpoultry, bookyear1904
