The Kennewick courier. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1905-1914, 1911-10-13
HINTS ON BUYING COCKERELS

oA~NuOi, diC ADVERTISING lIttI SUI"
plus cockerels, and Others are an
ticipating the purchase of new
blood" in the form of young males
for next seasons breeding. There
fore, few hints to the novice may
be of service.
Too much importance cannot be
attached to the selection of males
for the breeding pen. The selec-
ton OF wrong male bird is calcu-
lated to infuse into ones stock such
faults as will take years of careful
breeding to eliminate. Improve
ment of the stock should ever be
the object aimed for by those de-
string to turn poultry keeping to
the most profitable account. Let
us suppose that, unknowingly, a
cockerel of an exhibition strain
were bought and mated to laying
stock; one can readily understand
what damaging effect the blood of
such fowl would have upon the
laying qualities of the progeny.
Exhibition fowls are generally in
bred generation after generation to
maintain certain characteristics in
the future generations, and this in
breeding has the effect of lowering
the vitality and consequently re-
ducing their reproducing cap
abilities. To produce good, strong,
healthy laying stock, inbreeding
must be avoided. Line breeding
may be resorted to by experienced
breeders of utility fowls, but in
breeding, such as the mating to-
gether of brothers and sisters, is
not to be recommended.
In purchasing cockerels for the
breeding of utility fowls, care should
be taken that they are emanate from
stock equaling or even surprising,
in merit, the hens it is intended to
mate to them. If one is in pos
session of females that have proved
fairly good egg producers, the cock
erel bought to mate them should be
the son of hen that has been an
extra good egg producer. Such a
male can be secured from a breeder
who specializes in pedigree-bred
laying stock, and although he may
cost double, or even treble, the
amount of a chance bird, that is, a
bird picked up at low price, ire
spective of his parentage or strain,
he will prove far the cheapest kind
in the end.
T 1t has often been said that the
male is half the breeding pen, and
to great extent this is true. He
has a good or bad influence upon
the laying traits of his progeny, &C.
cording to the good or bad egg pro-
ducing qualities of the stock from
which he emanates. Too many
novices imagine that because the
hens alone are responsible for the
production of eggs, they alone are
worthy of consideration when select
ing the breeders, and therefore,
males of an inferior strain are Sc
cured at low price and bred from.
A more ridiculous course could not
be followed. A few extra dollars
expended in the purchase of a we'll
bred male from a tip-top laying
strain will be recovered 10 times
over in the extra number of eggs
laid by the progeny. One need not
necessarily pay a fabulous price for
good cockerel. Many people an
nually invest money in sittings of
eggs from those who breed high-class
laying stock, and they generally
hatch out more cockerels than they
require for stock purposes. They
advertise the surplus as being OF
such and such a strain, and at
prices within the reach of most
poultry keepers. These are the
males to negotiate for, but the same
should be seen before purchase is ac-
tually made, to ascertain that they
are strong and healthy and of de-
sirable type. The good stock cock
erel is medium in length of leg, his