. Annual catalogue of the National Columbian Wyandotte Club. Wyandotte chicken; Chickens. 50 NATIOXAI, COLUMBIAN WVANDOTTF, CLUB CATALOlilE. COLUMBIAN WYANDOTTES AND HOW I MATE At the request of our Secretary I am going to t^ive my ideas on mating Columbians and also their value as utility birds. In my opinion they can not be beaten as layers. The Leghorns are supposed to be the best layers in exist- ence but I have had them and the Columbians side by side and the latter held their own. I have heard so much about the Leg- horns beginning to lay so early in life, but mine did not begin v
. Annual catalogue of the National Columbian Wyandotte Club. Wyandotte chicken; Chickens. 50 NATIOXAI, COLUMBIAN WVANDOTTF, CLUB CATALOlilE. COLUMBIAN WYANDOTTES AND HOW I MATE At the request of our Secretary I am going to t^ive my ideas on mating Columbians and also their value as utility birds. In my opinion they can not be beaten as layers. The Leghorns are supposed to be the best layers in exist- ence but I have had them and the Columbians side by side and the latter held their own. I have heard so much about the Leg- horns beginning to lay so early in life, but mine did not begin very much be- fore the Columbians and at eight months of age the Columbians were la}'- ing twenty-five per cent better. In past \-ears. be- fore I bred Columbians exclusively, I tried about a dozen of the popular varieties and gave each a fair trial. vSome I liked rjuite well and others not at all but after trying Co- lumbian Wyandottes I decided that for an all around fowl they could not be beaten. There is another point I wish to touch upon and that is breeding for fancy points and ruining their utility value. I think we have all read many times that one can not obtain high la^-ing powers and the abilitj' to win prizes in the same bird. I have proved to my own satisfaction that this is all wrong. Before we can put the Columbians on top where they belong we must combine high laying powers with a high degree of perfection in markings in the whole flock and then prove to the people that they possess this laying quality. I will try to give an idea of the way I mate my breeders. First I select as many of the best males as I intend to have pens. Then I cull out the females having poor type, light eyes, comb too large or without a spike and any having very weak markings in any section. It does not pay to breed from cheap stock for in doing so one is going backwards instead of forward. Next, I start through the pens looking for some of the best females that I think will "nick&quo
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