Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-08-20

comes from one of the Mediterranean
breeds, that during her first year she
showed absolutely no disposition to be
come broodY. The highest egg yield can
never be obtained hy usinr n broudy hen
i'm the mating pens. When a hen is
roody, she simply loses that much time
n which she should be either producing
eCs, or taking brief resting spell to
.alair her reduced vitality caused by the
heavy egg production. 1t is sometimes
argued that broodiness is a resting spell
for a hen But when 1t is considered that
the hen shows a marked increase in tenn
pcrature while she Is brooding and that
she loses in weight all the time it is
hardly necessary to state that she is in a
state Of worry and unrest, rather than in
a state of ease and comfort.
OTHER CHARACTERISTIC OF lay
ERS.
Another important individual charac-
tcristic that each hen should have is that
in her first year she was herself a pro-
ducer of many eggs of good size and the
required color for the breed. As white
eggs are generally regarded with more
favor than brown eggs this means that
she should produce eggs Of an average
of over two ounces in weight, pure white
in color, nd free from tints or creami-
ness. Tho surest way Of telling the egg
yield of hen, of course. is by means Of
the trap nest Yet, there are a number OF
methods of selecting the layers As these
form a separate subject, they Will be dis
cussed in a separate article later.
Of l, ir1 l
in the beginning. should on both sides be
from heavy layers Not only should the
bird that is to be used in the non he Of
high vitality, and never sick day. hut
the same should be true of its ancestor.
as far back as their history is known. In
other words, only birds that have been
we'll throughout their entire lives. and
bred from parents that were in turn
healthy their entire lives. should ever he
used in the breeding pen
The hen that is used in tho breeding
pen should have developed naturally. and
produced hor first egg only when fully
matured The male that Is used in the
breeding pen should have been very ac-
tive in its early development, and crowed
carly, thus showing high sexual powers
and vitality.
EFFECT OF EARLY MATCHING.
Early Matching has an important bear
ing on the production Of eggs To pro-
duce large number of eggs in n given
year, it is necessary that the hen make a
good fall and winter egg record. This
means that she should he Matched early
enough so as to he fully developed and be
laying either IN November or early De-
cember. On the other hand it is lust as
important that she be not Matched so
early as to 90 through n fall or early win
ter moult Should she go through this
moult she Will not recover in time TO
produce many eggs until the snring Is on.
and the winter egg season over. Eggs
bring a higher price in November No
cember and January than during anv
other corresponding period Of the wear
FOR this reason the early laying pullet
that produces eggs in these months shows
her owner a profit.
In the spring the first egg the hon laws
shows most vitality This is an important
reason for early Matching, If a big yield
Is the object.
The carly spring months are the nearest
approach to the ideal for growing young
chlcks March April and May are usu-
ally of such mild average temperatures
that young chicks grow and thrive more
rapidly than at any other time of tho
year, Earlier Matched chicks do not show
tho same vitality, owing TO the extreme
cold, while those Matched later have their
energy LARGELY Slapped by the extreme
heat. In this way early Matching has an
important hearing on securing n heavy
egg yield because the early matches in the
months of March, April and May mature
better and have more vitality. 1t en-
ables the breeder, also. to select and Gull
more carefully, If his flock does not
show the quality he wants energy and
vitality are lacking and he has time to
Gull down and eliminate the poor ones be-
fore the laying season begins, thus in
creasing the average egg yield of his
flock