The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1914-10-29
Does it Pay
To Trapnest?
BY G. l.. Wood, Poultry Editor.

ness the breeder would engage
in and whether he is in the business
for all the money he can make out
of it. 1t is absolutely necessary for
the man who would sell high egg
yielding stock-and depend on rec
ords to make his sales, to trap-nest
his flock. These breeders have open
ed a new avenue for poultry profits,
in selling male breeders from heavy
layers to poultry raisers who want
some of the 1914 egg-laying eff
cheney in their yards.
Leaving it for granted that there
will always be enough of these pro-
ducers to supply the demand for
male breeders when they are wanted,
does it pay the average breeder to
trap-nest, and does his poultry sue
cess depend upon it? A very able
contribution on this subject has been
made by L. E. Keyser, Smithboro,
n Y, which contains sound practical
facts taken from his personal expert
ences. We submit his views in part:
The aim of the producer of COM
mercial eggs is to produce the great
est number at the least cost. To
make egg production profitable the
hens must lay well for at least ESQ
of the 365 days in the year. We all
know there are many hens which do
not lay eggs enough to pay for the
feed they eat, while others are ex-
tremely profitable. If all the hens
were like the best hens in our flock
it would not take such great num-
ber of them to make poor man
rich, while the poor layers can make
a rich man poor. By careful selec-
ton and breeding the production OF
hens has gradually increased. They
lay more eggs now than they did
fifty years ago. At that time people
did not expect to get winter eggs,
nor did they expect hens to do much
during the summer and fall while
in the molt. The average farm flock
would lay only during the spring
months, and those who wanted win
ter eggs resorted to some method oi
preserving them.
Poor Layers.
Even now we have hens which d(
not lay except in the spring, ant
then only moderately. These are thu
kind of hens the commercial egg
farmer wants to get rid of, but from
a lack of knowledge of how to selec
them or in the belief that they will
do better later, they are retained
and in many cases their eggs arr
used for Matching, which is very like
ly to result in breeding more poo
layers. Of course, it does not impl.
that because a hen is poor laye
her daughters will be. That depend
on the manner in which she is mated
A prepotent male, carrying the lay
ing instinct, is just as likely to i'm
part this quality to the daughter o
a poor layer as to the daughter o
good layer. The chances are tina
LD6 COChtIclS llOlH ouSh u hNA '"
not carry or impart the laying trait
That is where we run the creates
chance in breeding from poor layel
Careful selection for type an
vigor all breeders, and knowledg
that the breeding male had heav
laying mother may help to eertal
extent, but there will still be man
poor layers. Many careful breeder
have installed trap nests and a
tempted to breed up a great layin
strain by their use. Most of thos
who have stuck to 1t long enoug
have succeeded, but owing to tt
great amount of labor involved man
have abandoned the use of trap nes
or use them only during the breedin
season. This latter plan is producti'
of good results where one is able
pick out the good layers whe
mating the pens.
To make egg production profitab
we must secure large number
eggs, and whether it pays best
keep large flock of moderate
good layers or a smaller flock
highly productive hens Is the que
tion to be decided. The large flo
REQUIRES more capital invested