. Commercial poultry raising;. Poultry. EGGS ARE LAID IN SERIES 341 usually in this class, and for which the poultryman should keep a sharp lookout; they are not fitted for the highly organized egg plant. Intervals Between Litters.—Generally speaking, hens that lay short litters take but a few days to the intervals between them, whereas those that lay from thirty to sixty eggs in almost daily succession will require a much longer period, which seems per- fectly natural. Egg production is a severe tax on the hen's body; it is a secretory and a reproductive process combined, and as such it de- m
. Commercial poultry raising;. Poultry. EGGS ARE LAID IN SERIES 341 usually in this class, and for which the poultryman should keep a sharp lookout; they are not fitted for the highly organized egg plant. Intervals Between Litters.—Generally speaking, hens that lay short litters take but a few days to the intervals between them, whereas those that lay from thirty to sixty eggs in almost daily succession will require a much longer period, which seems per- fectly natural. Egg production is a severe tax on the hen's body; it is a secretory and a reproductive process combined, and as such it de- mands time in which to recuperate. When a hen com- pletes laying a litter, especially during the spring months, she is usually attended by a maternal instinct—a desire to hatch the eggs, all of which is very natural, indeed, but not in accordance with the poultryman's views on the subject. Producing eggs for table purposes does not concern Mistress Biddy. She performs her labors in response to the highest ideal—that of reproducing her kind, and having completed the first step in the operation, the laying of the eggs, she cannot acquit herself of the responsibility until they are transformed into a fluffy flock of youngsters. It is a noble resolve, but, unfor- tunately for the hen, it has no place on the commercial egg farm. Hens of the general purpose and meat varieties, such as Ply- mouth Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, Wyandottes and Brahmas are more addicted to this form of domesticity than are the lighter breeds; though the desire is pretty well founded in all classes of poultry, even to the so-called non-sitting breeds—Leghorns,. {Courtesy Missouri Experiment Station) Fig. 222.—Outdoor coop for breaking up broody hens. Note the slatted Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Roberts,
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectpoultry, bookyear1920
