The Grangeville globe. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho) 1907-1922, 1920-01-15
COMMUNITY COOPERATION
TO IMPROVE POULTRY

lew eggs at any time docs ner lay
ing at the time when eggs are being
used for Matching purposes. The
heavy producing hen does much Of her
laying in the winter months and may
have a tendency to go broody in early
spring. The farmer sets the high pro
ducing hen ON the eggs Of the low
producing hens. Consequently there
can be no Improvement. Like pro-
duces like. Ii low producing hens are
permitted to reproduce the flock, the
progeny certainly will be no better
than che parent stock.
FI0cks May Be Improved by Good
Males.
1t Is true that breeding can be Inn
proved, and the quality of focks built
UP by the use of good makes; which
brings Us back to the common farm
practice of poultry breeding Farmers
are not particular enough about the
Bleeding or the blood line back of the
males they use for breeding purposes.
Only the very best hens Of a flock
should be used for breeding purposes
They should be placed In a breeding
pen, away from the general flock and
mated to male of the same blood
line.
Blood Line Counts.
Success in poultry breeding can be
obtained only when fowls are bred In
line, generation latter generation. In
embarrassing, blood lines, too often do
not nick. A good farm breeding prac-
tice is to select from the pullets the /
have gone into the mott ut the close
Of the first laying year, the breeders
for the next year. They should be
mated with cockerels Of the same
breeding. Let us call it systematic. In
breeding. A great many people advise
us that vitality cannot be maintained
when in-breeding is practiced. The
accuracy Of the statement all depends
upon the practice Of in-breeding. The
factors which lower the vitality OF
stock that are inbred, produce the
same effect In out-crossing. They are !:
Using pullets for breeders and mat.
ing stock that is low In vitality. Pull
let's should not be used for breeding
purposes for the reason that hens do
their heaviest laying in their pullet
year and thus their vitality is used
In producing many eggs rather than
reproducing their kind. The percent
age of fertility runs low. When fertil-
ity is low the percent of the fertile
eggs that hatch is correspondingly
low and the chicks that do hatch are
usually low in vitality. Pullet eggs
hatch smaller chicks than do hens
eggs. Pullets naturally lay smaller
eggs than hens. Chicks can be nc
larger than the shell which contains
them. Small eggs hatch small chicks
which in turn develop into small hent
Of the breed, which in turn, lay small
eggs.
No fowl should be- used for breed
ing purposes (either male or female)
that has ever shown any signs of ply.
steal weakness. at any time In its
life, 1t matters not how slight, nor
from what cause. 1t ia not a good
plan to mate brothers and sisters II
these factors are eliminated there can
be no danger from inbreeding.
Community Breeding Solves Problem.
Community breeding makes 1t pos.
sible for all of the people of a com.
munity to use the same blood line and
at the same time never mate fowls
together that are very closely related
This may be accomplished by the peo-
pie of community deciding upon a
breed that will be suitable for that
community. Should 1t be impossible
to unite the entire community upon
one breed, 1t still would be possible
to practice the community system of
breeding. Two breeds are enough for
any community and any community
may become famous by being known as
the place where the best In any one of
two breeds are being bred and pro-
duced. II all the people wro are in
terested in a particular breed will
get together, community cooperation
in breeding can soon be put into prac.
tice.