El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-11-22
By Prof. James Dryden,
Professor Of Poultry Husbandrg,
Oregon Agricultural College.

Of the Oregon egg layers for a suit
able name for hen No. C543, Of the
Oregon Experiment Station. I have
known this wonderful hen for a
year past by this number: rather ]
have known her daily for twelve
months ending October Is, 1913. and
the new name must have the word
Oregon attached to 1t and be other
wise acceptable before I will con-
sent to throw aside the magical num-
Der.
This Biddy 1 have watched daily
ever since early in the year when
she gave evidence that she was one
IN ten thousand, and as the days
went BY and the daily egg was de-
posted in the trap nest, my respect
and admiration have grown for her
until at the end Of the year she has
proved herself not merely one in
ten thousand, but one in ten billion;
in other words the best layer OF eggs
the world has seen, so far as authen-
tic records are concerned.
This hen, No. C543, began laying
st Ave and a half months Of age and
laid In twelve months 2e1 eggs,
which is forty more than the num-
Der laid by the Maine Experiment
Station hen, which for eight years
or more was the most wonderful egg
layer the world knew; thirty-four
more than the Cornell hen; thirty
two more than the Oregon hen Of
two years ago; thirty-siX more than
the record hen at the North Ameri-
can egg-laying competition at the
Agricultural College Of Connecticut;
ten more than the Missouri hen,
Lady Show You, and nine more than
the record Of the Ontario Agricul-
turaI College hen, which for two
years has held the worlds record.
A few years ago the 200-egg hen
was a wonder. Some experts said
she was a monstrosity; she was a
nature fakir; she laid herself out,
then she laid herself down and died
without leaving posterity. They
wanted none Of her; they would pin
their faith tc the 15O-egg hen or even
the ten dozen egg hen Because all
the eggs Of a 200-egg hen didn't
hatch and because all the pullet pro-
geny Of some other 200-egger didn't
lay 200 eggs, many Of our poultry
breeders and experts were disap-
pointed, and condemned the whole
race Of 2OO-egg hens.
Il looks as though We must en-
large our vision of the possibilities
Of the American hen. Next year or
the next we viii have a S00-egg hen,
the impossible viii happen, and the
croaker viii croak and say that ''the
2O0-egger is good enough for me"
Hen C543 was Matched April 29,
1912. She began laying at the early
age Of five and a half months, and in
twelve months, or 365 days, there
after, she laid 291 eggs. From the
date she was Matched to the end Of
her laying year there were $50 days.
She, therefore, laid an average of
more than half an egg a day, count
ing from the date she was Matched,
and more than three-fourths an egg a
day during the laying year.
The eggs we're Of white color and
good marketable size, averaging
about two ounces. She, therefore,
laid some thirty-six pounds Of eggs,
nearly nine times her own weight.
At 30 cents a dozen her eggs were
worth $7.25.
She ate heartily, OF course, be
cause the eggs came from the
food. There is no way Of telling
exactly how much she did eat, be-
cause she was fed with a flock Of
fifty, and she had to take pot luck
with the rest Of them. The average
food cost for the flock Of fifty was
less than $50 per fowl, but it is
reasonable TO suppose that this hen
ate more than the poorest layers, Of
the flock. The number of eggs laid,
however, does not bear an exact re-
lation to the food eaten, because one
hen with better digestion makes bet
ter use Of her food than another. I
noted that she was frequent visitor
10 the beef scrap hopper and also TO
the protein for the egg contents and
for lime for the shell.
She took her daily rest after her
feed Of mash, and she would go back
to the mash a second or third time.
She was also a frequent visitor to
the water dish; take her OF the trap
nest after laying an egg and she goes
straight to the water, some Of which
is later put into the egg. She would
nibble at the green food which was
always accessible, then walk to the
scratching shed and scratch for a
stray kernel OF wheat or oats.
IN disposition she was not the
most friendly or amiable; she kept
her distance; she wouldn't be a pet;
she was usually on the outskirts Of
the flock when you entered the yard.
But because this hen was a little
offish and kept herself to the outer
circle, the poultry enthusiast should
not make the discovery that "Offsh-
ness" indicates the good layer, and
then proceed to kill of all those hens
Of the inner circle The next best
layer in the flock was the most
amiable Of the fifty and kept herself
usually inside the inner circle, OF
around your feet.