Arizona republican., 1921-06-22
Farm Bureau Plans ExfensiUe
 Poultry CuIiing

OutUy (utttIt8
 Of interest to a great many readers Of the farm bureau column. Will oc the following excerpts from a circular on cuiling poultry written oy N L. Harris. now with the Kansas Agri- cultural college. formerly extension poultry husbandman with the Uni- versity of Arizona. and well known 10 Salt River valley poultrymen.
 Probably the most successful pee riod in which 10 cuIl fs from July i5 to September Is. The laying hen possesses a long deep body and has a slab sided appearance indicative of great capacity To lay well a hen must be In good health and full of vigor- It Is well to eliminate all un- dersized. poorly maturrd or deformed birds. also birds with extremely long toe naIls and overhanging eyeiids. as well as the long crow-hcaded birds with long slender legs
 The young bullet presents neat | firm appearance with bright smooth feathers As the period of egg pro- duction advances. the feathers be- | come dry and hritfcl due to the fats | of the system being used to form egg | yoiks. When the period Of cxk pro- ! duction ends the measurement and | appearance of the hens body returns to that of her non productive stage or nearly SO. A laying hen has . large moist vent. showing loosencss as compared with the hard. round. puckcred vent of a hen that Is not laying In the heavy layer. the whole abdomen Is distended. Tn the poor layer it Is contracted. Thus the pei vic bones are usually quite widely spread in the layer but nearly closed in the non-laycr and male bird Il ls also noticeable that the pelvic
 bones are comparatively thin in tho good layer and thick and rigid on ths
 non layer. due to the accumulation of fat
 The distance from the pelvic bone,
 to the rear of the breast bone denotes capacity. and is greater In layers thar
 in non- layers The whole abdomen fl
 the laying hen is dilated SO that thu pelvic arch Is widespread and th'
 breast bone is forced down away iron
 the pelvic arch Heavy production fl
 indicated by the quality of skin an'
 fat The fat goes out of the body s'
 that the heavy producers have sot
 vcivcty skin and soft piisoIe ab
 domens- The only time the p4vi
 bones of the non- producers are wide
 spread is when the abdominal fat hn ..l accumulated in such quantities . oI to appear 10 force them apart Il e breeds having yellow skins an n shanks. the color disappears whc < laying However. the color change e depend somewhat on the feed. A hc = fed freely on green feed or other ma
 terial that will color the fat dee
 yellow. win not bleach as quickly . i those confined where no such fect J are available. The vent ring. ca
 ring and. In the case Of LeEhorns. ci iobes. lose their color first The coll
 in these parts disappears very quick after egg production begins. so tn I bright color indicates that the hil Is not laying Color leaves the bca Lol commencing at the base and rradu1 l. iy fading until it finally leaves q J tip. bleached beak usually mea C. heavy egg production for the precc r- ing four or six weeks Shan r. bleach much more slowly and hen ai when they are entirely bieached th L. Indicate a much longer period of pr T. duction- The yellow leaves the fro ny of the shank first and later the bad N bieachcd shank indicfcz heavy pr ductlon for IS or % weeks Col ps returns more quickly than it leav' re A rest period from broodIness or so'
 other cause may be detected by [ co beak being bieached al the end a
 a yellow band near the base. ort iui narify when a hen stops laying g z. moirx- Poor producers will only ! II. three or four months in the spri ,n of the year and oSen decided indie rr tons to mott the first of July T .f hen that makes a good record V fo probably lay nine or ten months te until late In the fan when she mo ts in comparatively short time I \ poor layer has a neat. glossy appca orl ance while the high producer loo nr ragged with broken feathers T uf hen who has a good record one ys r-f Is apt to be good producer the f' ' lowing year. and the mott is one .n the best indications of high produ ss ton. It Is good rule for the am teur cutler. when in doubt. to keep [
 hen as there are many condisis ys which may affect the test decid as change of feed during the product 'er season may throw some late moit' ed into an early mott. especially in ros In that are allowed to rustic for a liri tl part of the time
 "An important point Is that no ( ter characteristic should be taken as fil
 evidence of a birds laying ability -ed all indications should be consider tip when separating the good from
 poor layer. It is not usually dlfifc ,on to determine tihc extremely poor ]. lie CTS or the remarkably good ones
 hens of medium production test pol ability of the cutler"
 sas The farm bureau is planning to [ ms nish expert help for practically oIs poultrymcn In the valley who de. ?-l 10 culi their fiocks during late u
 and July Prof R R. Thomp e>e of the University of Arizona who
 regarded as the foremost authority - the southwest on certain phases
 poultry production. will be avaiis
 much of this time. and srrangeme
 for poultry cuiiing can be m
 through the farm bureau office. TO
 4f6 Heard building.
 nsn,onsfrofions