Rocky Ford enterprise., 1903-12-04
POULTRY
Es9Xy:=e!5sg
cui,lna the Flock.

cuiiins the Flock.
Every man that wants To breed up
fine dock Of poultry must do some
severe euiliins. This Is generally not
done, AMI the result is slow advance
In the matter OF Improvement OF
quality. The inferior birds remaining
with the others as breeders tend 10
continue In the fiock their undesira'
BILE qualities and extend the time In
which a certain amount OF Improve
ment should be shown. In the ofdi'
nary flock as found on tho farm II
is fairly easy to distinguish the blsis
that should bc cuiied out. though not
SO easy As II would be II tho fowls
were subject to restriction and their
laying abilities determined by trap
nests. but on a multitude OF farms
conditions arc such that Il would not
nay tn sivs tho doek thu caro- inds.
Gated by the use OF trap nests. In
cailins out tho nock select nrst those
that seem to lack stamina. fsticn
them and dispose Of them. The next
ones TO go should be those Of slow
maturing quality. They indicate that
their digestive organs nrc not power
full enough TO send them forward nj q
high rate OF speed toward tho goal
Of early cssiayins or meat produe.
ton. Thcs. arc the most important
points. unless one is breeding for
show or for the creation OF birds
bcarin. tho exact feather and form
Of tho breed, In which case all on.
feather and malformcd birds will
need to BIO disposed Of. But tho Or
dInary farmer Is looking for meat and
crss from his poultry and wishes to
Increase the production Of these.
The Ess.
Tho Maine station has been making
. careful analysis OF tho eggs OF do
nestle fowls. turkeys. geese. ducks.
guinea fowls and common hens. Duck
ekks seem to have the thinnest shells.
being about 1915 per cent OF tho whole
weight os tho aRgs. Tho avsraGs OF
,hIrty.four samples OF hens eggs gave
H.. per cent for the shell. Turkey
eggs ran slightly above hens eggs
In this respect, having an average OF
ia per cent Of the whole weight.
| The shells OF tho goose eggs aver
aged 12.8 per cent OF all. Guinea
fowl eggs should be unusually stronS
as their shells form l+.A per cent OF
their weight. The whites OF tho eggs
in proportion to their total weight ran.
goose. SAG: duck, 53.6: guinea, ss.6;
| turkey. SOS. The proportion OF ,olk
| to the whole egg ran. guinea fowl. 81:
duck, 50: goose, 3i.6. and turkey. 3o.1.
About 20 per cent Of the edible por.
ton Of eggs is pure water. Tho Iro.
tein content IL about II per cent. i.nd
the fat about the same. This mn tes
eggs . very valuable food. Most OF
the protein Is In the whites OF tho
eggs. and most OF the fat In the
yolks. Taking the cgg rs whole.
Including the shell. the fat content
ranges from about o per cent in tur-
keys. hens and guinea fowls eggs.
to over 12 In the eggs OF ducks and
geese. The protein content runs from
II to 13 per cent in eggs OF all va
rieties Of fowls named. There Is
really little difference in the nutritive
value Of the different kinds OF eggs.
Eas.Produeino Strains.
Among poultry fanciers much has
been done to develop particular
strains OF fowls inside the established
breeds. For the most part these
strains have had reference more to
form than to egg production. So Tar
as is publicly known, there are few
strains that have been well.developed
along the egg-laying lines, though
most handlers OF poultry will insist
that they are breeding with this part.
ly in view. 1t would take generations
Of breeding to make a really valuable
strain, but the result would pay well
in the production Of eggs. We believe
the average fowl of any breed Is
poor egg producer. but In every breed
are possibilities OF immense improve
ment. We see 1t frequently stated
that Plymouth Rock will lay $50
eggs a year. Yet the man that takes
flock and counts their eggs as pro-
duced during the year generally finds
that he has received less than 125
eggs per bird. In some cases we have
known the average number to fall
below 100. On the other hand, indi.
vidual Plymouth Rocks have been
known to lay 23s eggs in year, more
than 100 above the average. Witt
this breed, as well as with several
other breeds, 1t would certainly be
possible to develop strain that
would lay on the average annual!
200 eggs per bird. AS these extra
eggs would be practically all profit,
one can see the advantage Of handling
such q strain of birds.
Value Of Roots for Swine.
We believe the value Of feeding
roots to hogs in winter Is over-esti-