The Lynden tribune. [volume] (Lynden, Wash.) 1908-current, 1921-08-11
SEASON IS NEAR
T0CULLPOULTRY
Weed Out Boarder Hens in
Your Poultry
Yards.
ONLY HEALTHY HENS PAY
Feed and Labor Are Too Expensive to
Give in Supporting Nonproductive
Hens and cockereis.

Laws against vagrancy have been
long on the statutes OF this country.
The man who won't work, who doesn't
return society something for the privi-
lege of enjoying the alleged delights
of modern civilization, has to go to
Jail, and work on the roads or i'm a
stone quarry for his food and bed.
Man may have gained his idea for this
law from the industrious honey bees.
They have little use for drones.
Loudest cackler May Be Non.Layer.
But hen may 60 cackling around
for months or years, and never lay an
egg, and the owner be none the wiser
unless he keeps up to modern ideas of
poultry management and culls his
flock occasionally. While culling
should be continuous throughout the
year in any well-conducted plant, the
best time to emphasize the operation,
perhaps, is during August and Sep
TENDER. That is to say, if you intend
to make just one culling in the year
then August or September should be
your date.
1t is easier then to make close
estimate of the relative value of a
hen as an egg producer and to weed
out the poor producers. Hens which
show indications of laying or are lay
ing and have not molted usually are
the ones that have been the better
layers during the entire season, and
the hen that lays best during her first
year usually will lay well during the
second and third years. She is the
men to keep. 1t is not advisable,
though, to keep hens of the heavier
breeds, such as plymouth Rocks,
Rhode Island Reds, and Brahmas. be-
yond their second year, or of the
smaller breeds, such as Leghorns and
Anconas, beyond their third year, as
they seldom prove profitable.
In addition to culling the entire flock
in August and September, you should
always watch for hens that are sick
or very thin in flesh, or that show
signs of weakness or low vitality
When discovered Gull them out al
once. 1t Will pay.
Keep Only Healthy Hens.
Culling properly means using sew
eraI tests, all fairly accurare-if 1hteif1:
gently and carefully applied. Briefly.
the hens to Gull are those that are
sick, weak, inactive lacking in vigor,
poor eaters, with shrunken, hard, dull.
or whitish colored combs; with thick,
stiff pelvic bones that are close to-
gether; small spread or distance be-
tween rear end of keel and pelvic
bones; full, firm, or hard abdomen;
and those that have molted or started
to mott in August or September. In
breeds having yellow legs and skin
the discarded hens should also show
yellow or medium-yellow legs, yellow
beaks, and yellow skin around the
vent.
The hens to be kept should be
healthy, vigorous, active. good eaters,
with plump, bright-red combs; large
moist vents; then. pliable pelvic bone
spread we'll apart; wide spread be
tween pelvic bones and rear end O.
keel: large, soft, pliable abdomen; and
neither molted nor melting in Angus
or September. In breeds with yelioW
legs and skin the hens you keep should
also show pale or white legs and pale
or white beaks and vents.
As soon as the culling is finished all
the hens you have discarded should
be marketed at once. 1t doesn't pay
10 keep one. Cock birds not wanted
: as breeders should be canned, eaten
or marketed Immediately. Cockerels
saved for breedings should be vigor-
Gus. strong, active, and alert, and
should be those that have grown most
rapidly and developed the best. No
bird lacking these qualities will be
good breeder. :,
Pullets that are weak. understood
and poorly developed also should be
eaten, canned. or marketed, as the!
will not be profitable producers; bu'
no thrifty. well-developed pullets
should ever be disposed of in this way
because it is these pullets when kept
for LAYERS and breeders that Will net
the greatest profits.
Late MoIterS ocst wi
The mott probably is the pest ana
most easily applied test of production
Hens cease laying completely or al
most entirely during this period The
better producers lay late in the iaii
and therefore mott late. Late moiters
also mott rapidly as rule, while earl!
molters mott slowly. Therefore the
advice to save hens which nave MOI
molted by August or are only just De
ginning late in September or IN DC
tober. and discard those that have mn
isbed melting or are well into the
mott. Hens that mott latest, provided
they are otherwise desirable are th'
best to save for breeders.
The nations are favorable to the dis