Norwich bulletin., 1916-11-02
USE OF THE TRAP NEST.
An Absolute Necessity for Accurate Breeding Work-Takes an Hour Day.

A great majority of the farmers and
 commercial poultrymen do not use
 trap nests in their poultry houses be-
 cause they feel that the time re-
 qulred to operate them is so great that
 they cannot, afford to use them. This
 is undoubtedly true in the case of the
 farmer during the spring and summer
 months when he is planting his crops and caring for them. It is also true for the poultry keeper who matches during the spring. It would not be
 practical for either of these people to
 take an hour CT more each day to
 handle the trap nests no matter how
 much information they might gain as
 to the individual performance of their
 hens.
 In order to do accurate breeding it
 is absolutely necessary to have a com
 plete yearly record of every hen that
 comes into the breeding pen. It is
 also necessary to know absolutely the
 number of eggs produced by the moth
 CT and grandmother of the male birds
 which are used in the breeding pens
 Obviously this kind of breeding work can only be carried on by a few spe-
 cialists who can charge enough for
 their breeding stock, eggs and day
 old chicks to pay for their time and
 book work. It requires a considera ble
 amount of ability to carry out a series
 of trap nest records on a long time
 schedule which will work out satis-
 factorlly by, increasing the laying
 power of the fowls, at the same time
 maintaining their constitutional vigor
 There is d place for the trap nest on
 every poultry plant and on every
 farm where hens are kept for a pro- fit. They may be used during the season of the year when there is a less
 amount of necessary work to do. and
 with specially good results Guring the months of October, November, De- cember and January. The farmer has one or two hours each day which he could devote to his poultry during these months, which would bring him poultry keeper should plan his years work so that he can arrange to trap nest his entire flock of bullets during these four months.
 Getting the actual performance of every individual during its first four months of laying and noting the time the following fall that these individ- uals mott, g1ves a fairly accurate
 record of their laying power and en- ablcs any poultry keeper to pick out from a flock of 800 the 100 or the 200 which are most desirable to keep
 the second year to breed from.
 Unless the bullets are trap nested when they first begin to lay there is no means of the poultryman knowing which birds will lay a few weeks and tueH SLOp IOr several months, ana which birds will lay spasmodically through the winter time. A poultry
 man has to operate trap nests but a few weeks to learn some interesting facts about his birds. There are all l ways certain percentage that start to lay in the fall and continue through ! the winter, and there are always near ly as many in some focks which be- gin to lay as soon, but at the end of a given period have produced only one-haf or one-fourth as many eggs. This is the strongest argument for l the trap nest, and 1t would seem a good business investment for all per- | sons who are desirous of increasing
 the production of their fiocks to put trap nests in their houses and use | them during the season when they can best afford the time.
 There are several kinds of trap nests which can be built cheaply and by anyone who is handy with tools. Among the best known and most prac- tical are those recommended by the Connecticut, Massacnusetts and New York state agricultural colleges and by the United States department of agriculture. A bulletin can be ob- tained from any of these sources which will describe them most minute ly and if desired the nests may be ob-
 tained by contract.