El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-10-05

will have disposed of all his surplus
males, but thinking that he might make
a good thing out of his pulets during
the winter he plans to keep the entire
lot along with the so old hens. There IS
where he makes a mistake and IS not
giving the attention to the selection OF
his flock which he should. Many OF
the old hens should be culled out ana
marketed, and many of the pulletS are
so late Matched that they will not pay
for their keeping through the winter,
and being late Matched will never at
tain the size to be desired. either IN
breeding or laying stock Some are al
ready stunted; some Il-shaped. ana as
q matter of fact out of the whole lot OF
125 pullets he has but IS which snould
be kept even on a utility farm, ana
certainly where eggs for hatchlnS OF
find no place. And especially in TINS
particular place, where feed is high.
no bird should be carried through the
winter unless you are reasonably sure
she will be a producer. OF coUse one
cannot always accurately select every
bird that will yield profit, but he can
throw out lot which he knows to
certainty will be Improbable
He can tell that a late Matched bird
will not be likely to begin laying IN
til towards the next spring, so II he
wants winter layers all those will have
to be thrown out, and if he wants
uniform flock Of birds better in shape,
size and egg production, he will keep
none of these undesirables.
Sell the Stunted Birds.
As to a stunted bird no breeder has
ever any use for her. Sell every one
of them as soon as they. show size
enough to look good to the butcher Tor
the expense of keeping them until they
begin to lay is so great that by the
time they commence their productive
ness they have become pretty high
priced birds, and even If they should
tainly no breeder would ever think OF
letting so slow maturing bird slip
into a breeding pen. Better dispose OF
them early in the engagement so that
you know they will not.
Gull the Weak Ones.
Then again, in making up your flockS,
dispose of all that show signs of any
weakness. Sometimes we see bird
which looks nice enough, but shows
signs of not being strong and Flgor-
Gus. A sort OF sluggish bird, one that
sits around and is not active. Nothing
but strong, active, vigorous birds should
be in the flock, so better get rid OF
all the sleepy heads. Vigor is the one
thing which the breeder mist place
stress on if he expects to build up his
flock. The strong birds are the only
ones that can be depended on TO pro-
duce strong chicks. To keep hens that
show a lack Of vigor Is to encourage
the running out of your flock.
Look out for disease. Keep 1t out OF
the flock by proper care and sanitation,
and whenever a fowl shows disease OF
any kind mark her for the butcher as
soon as she RECEIVERS. Never breed from
a bird that has ever had any serious
sickness. Vigor being the chief aim of
the poultryman; it is best to give the
birds which have been always well the
benefit of the doubt, and breed only
from these. In the human family GER
tain diseases have a weakness and
with poultry it is much more the case.
Better dispose of every bird which has
ever been sick and be on the safe side.
I do not like to have them even in the
utility flock, for I have observed that
where a bird has once been seriously
sick they are rendered more suscepu-
BILE to disease and are liable to be SICK
again and can easily be the means OF
communicating disease to the entire
flock.
with a view to improving the flock,
the trap nest should not be oyer
looked. It is much less of a job than
might be supposed. OF course it is
little best to trap nest the entire year,
but this is by no means necessary. AS
a rule the hen which WI lay the great
est number of eggs during the months
of January and February and March
can De depended on TO hold She record
for the year so for practical purposes It
is necessary to trap nest only during
thcse three months.
The Male Birds.
All that I have said thus far has ap-
piled to females. but I would not be
understood as undertaking the i'm
portance of the male. He IS said to be
half the flock. and for breeding pur-
poses he certainly is Many farmers