Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1918-10-23
CHILLING THE FLOCK.

When to cull-The whole flock
should be given a careful and system
attic culling at some one time. The
hens should be handled individually
and gone over carefully with the OBJ
iect of dividing them into two lots, one
the better producers and the other the
poorer producers. From the better
producers it is also desirable to p1cB
out as many of the best as will DC
needed for breeders. Band or other
wise mark these hens SO that eggs
from them only will be saved for
Matching. Market those selected as
the better producers.
When a single systematic culling is
made, the best time to do this Is IN
August or September. At this time 1t
is easier to form fairly close esti
mate of the relative value of a hen as
an egg producer and to weed out the
non-producers. Hens which show indi-
cations of laying at this time are those
which on the average have been the
better producers for the year. 1t must
be remembered, too, that the better
producers during the first laying year
are those which will be better pro-
ducers in subsequent years. Hens
showing indications of having been
good producers throughout the year
should be retained for the next year
regardless of their age, but relatively
few hens will prove to be profitable
producers beyond their second laying
year II of the heavier breeds, such as
the Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island Red,
Wyandotte or Orpington, or beyond
their third laying year II of the light
er breeds such as the Leghorn. Ad-
ditional culling during July is also
desirable in order to eliminate hens
which have started to mott and have
stopped laying.
How to cull-In going over the en-
tire flock for the purpose OF culling
there are number of points or char
acteristics or several Of them In the
case Of any Individual agree as indi-
eating good production or poor pro-
luction, selection is comparatively ac-
curate. Where they do not agree,
Judgment must be used In deciding
which should be given the greatest
weight. The following are the main
points to consider:
Sickness and lack Of vigor-These
are usually indicated by listlessness,
inactivity, tendency to stay on or un-
der the roost during the day, poor ap-'
petite, dull eye, dark or blush color OF
comb, long toe nails. snaky or crow
head, and the tendency to 60 to roost
early in the evening and to be one OF
the last to leave the roost in the morn
ing.
Molt-This Is one of the most valu-
able and easily applied tests of pro-
duotion. Hens cease laying complete
ly or almost completely during the
the most. The better producers lay
late in the fall and. therefore mott
late. Late molters also mott rapidly
as rule, while early molters mott
slowly. Therefore save the hens
which have not molted by August or
are only just beginning to mott late IN
September or in October, and discard
those which have finished melting or
are we'll into the mott. The hens
which mott last, providing they are
otherwise desirable, are the best ones
to save for breeders. A hen which
has not molted at this time is charact-
erized by soiled or worn plumage or
broken plumage, which is especially
evident in the tail plumage, while
those molted or melting show clean.
fresh plumage or growing feathers.
Culling the early raolters just as soon
as they begin to mott is one of the cas-
lest ways to weed out the poor layers.
Shank color-In those breeds hav-
ing yellow legs, the color fades out
slowly as the laying season advances.
The rapidity and degree to which the
yellow color is lost depends to con-
siderable extent upon the heaviness
of laying. The yellow color goes out
from the scales on the front of the
shanks first and finally from the
rear. Hens on grass range do not lose
the shank color as quickly or COM