Profits in poultry : useful and ornamental breeds and their profitable management . SELECTION FOR EGGS. The best time of the year to pick out breeding stockIS when the hens are not laying very well, say in July or August. Any henwill lay in the springand the best ones can-not be selected. Assoon as the best oneshave been taken out,they are placed bythemselves and a rec-ord kept, in order tofind the average best laying typeis usually rather largeframed and long inleg, neck and back,FIG. 98. TYPICAL LAYER (Leghorn). legs well apart, breastwell developed, flesh firm, not inclined to fat
Profits in poultry : useful and ornamental breeds and their profitable management . SELECTION FOR EGGS. The best time of the year to pick out breeding stockIS when the hens are not laying very well, say in July or August. Any henwill lay in the springand the best ones can-not be selected. Assoon as the best oneshave been taken out,they are placed bythemselves and a rec-ord kept, in order tofind the average best laying typeis usually rather largeframed and long inleg, neck and back,FIG. 98. TYPICAL LAYER (Leghorn). legs well apart, breastwell developed, flesh firm, not inclined to fatness, eyesbright, never sunken, disposition active, appetite good,and great foragers. These (characteristics will help inselecting layers. Patent contrivances have been inventedfor registering the number of eggs laid by each hen, butthese have not come into general use. The best layers can generally be selected by carefulobservance of the general characteristics above layers have always strong vitality, and should bemated with strong males bred from a noted egg-laying. BEEEBING AKD CEOSS-BREEDING. 253 line. It is best, if possible, to baye the pick of a largeflock, and to choose the males, not for fancy points, butfor the degree in which they possess the typical qualitiesof the breed. Select from the best egg-laying strain,not necessarily from the flock which has taken the mostprizes m the poultry shows. Care of the breeding stock*s very important; good feeding will improve the quali-ties of any strain. The older breeds will impress theircharacteristics more strongly than those which havebeen more lately originated. The oldest breeds, likethe Black Spanish and Games, are likely to be weakenedby excessive inbreeding, in some strains, and should beselected with special attention to health and vigor. SYSTEMATIC CEOSS-BREEDIN-G. The continual advocacy of fancy poultry for commonfarm use is an error. The poultry papers, and mostagricultural papers, advise the breeding of
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidprofit, booksubjectpoultry
