Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1916-06-20

b.. V
Hens to Avoid In Selecting Breeders.
"a. W. Richardson, Instructor In Animal Indus
try. Poultry Division. University of Maine)
In selecting birds for breeding pur-
poses there are some hens and some
o0ckerels to avoid.
In ordinary breeding on an average
poultry farm, I would avoid old hens -
breeders. Pullets which are mature,
that 10, those that begin to lay in Octo-
ber or November, will produce chickens
cheaper than old hens will produce
them. They are more vigorous, will lay
moro eggs, from which to expect chick
ems and the eggs will hatch better. They
are not ~ liable to be broken down
in health, due to an inability to
Withstand tho heavy feeding to which
our hens of to-day are subjected. They
are not a. liable to be affected by disease
or diseases - are old hens, having more
vigor and vitality. While they lay .
smaller egg, 1t 10 said upon good author.
ity that the small chick will live ~ well
rs the larger one and for these reasons,
I would avoid the use Of old hens.
Iwould avoid the use OF those pullets
which do not begin to lay early, they
are not mature, and person ought not
to use them. Further, those pullets
which begin to lay early, lay when eggs
are high and have often paid their own
ers as high rs q 90 before they are used
as breeders, and thus Il can easily be
seen that these birds must pay profit.
Further, II they begin to lay early, there
is all the more time for them to lay .
large number of eggs before tho time
comes when they would naturally be
sold.
II one hstches bis chicks late and Is
obliged to use old hens a. breeders, then
I would avoid using any hen which had
ever had any trouble, or disease OF any
kind, because the poultry man must take
no chances whatever. I would avoid u.s.
ing the hen which -molts early because
these hens lay but few eggs In the course
of year. Those hens which molt late
and even though they lay very few eggs
that winter, make the best to breed
from.
Iwould avoid the use Of any strain Of
birds which have been bred for fancy
purposes long enough to lower the pro-
duction of eggs, also any strain OF birds
which I knew or suspected to be ordi-
nary or medium producers.
Any hen which Is not . busy hen, l
would avoid. Those hens which are the
layers are obliged to eat moro food to
maintain themselves and at the same
time lay and II moro food 10 required,
the hen to get 1t, must be busy. So l
would avoid that hen which 10 constant
~ summing herself, which 10 always
r0osting both late In the morning and
early at night, / would avoid that hen,
which, when on the roost at night has
an empty crop, because Of the relation
of food to egg production as mentioned
previously.
would avoid those hens which lay an
unusual egg, either In color or shape,
because the eggs one ought to produce
should be uniform In size and color, and
misshapen eggs and freak eggs are US
ually produced at loss.
While selecting the bens to use as
breeders, It is ~ we'll to select the cock
erel, and In selecting the cockerel. /
would avoid cockerel which was not
up to weight, because one ought not to
breed from small bird, even one year,
as the tendency would be to lessen the
weight of the flock.
would avoid any cockerel which was
constantly being driven by other cocker
els or cockerel which won't fight. Any
bird which will fight has good vigor and
vitality and strength and these are essep-
tial. I would avoid any bird which
crowed little or seldom because the very
act of Growing shows the masoulinity OF
the bird and to be good breeder he
should be strongly sexed.
Avoid any male bird which 10 not
good, upstanding, deep, wide chested,
broad backed, and proud bird, because
II he does not possess these characteris-
tics, be will never do to head any mating
pen and the same may be said OF the
oockerel % was said Of the females, In
regard to strain, disease and health.
In selecting male bird, I would avoid
the use of any cock bird. They are not
90 vigorous as the oockerels, and as
rule are not % healthy, being more eapt
to be broken down. The cocks will not
produce as many livable chicks from the
same hens as tho cookerels by quite q
few. Iwould avoid using those cooker
els which are stunted or ever have been,
of those cockerels which do not mature
and begin to crow early, and OF those
cook erels which In every sense are not
good, strong, vigorous birds.
In conclusion, ! would say that II ono
avoids tho above mentioned specimens
and chooses their opposites, many OF
his troubles-incubator, brooder, and
later his egg production troubles will be
lessened.