Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1923-07-05
POUL TRYMEN PLAN
TO GULL FLOCkS
BY j. q. HALPIN.

/ Every flock of hens is an egg fac
tory. Like any other factory the flock
can be given the. best materials in the
world to work on and still fail to pro-
duce enough to pay for running the
plant Good feed in sufficient variety
is necessary for egg production, but
the ability to manufacture eggs from
| feed must be there first.
Too much Of the feed and the time
fourth of the hens are naturally poor
! layers is wasted. One Dane county
farmer culled his flock of TOO hens and
sold 200 hens to the butcher, without
decreasing the egg production of his
flock. He says that the culling saved
him So a day on feed alone and made
the work much easier as well.
The heavy layer can be told FROM
the poor layer Her ability to manu-
facture eggs is told by the shape of
her body, her actions, the time Of year
in which she molts, the loss of yellow
coloring matter in beak and shanks,
and the size and softness of abdomen.
No one breed or strain of hens shows
these characteristics all the way
through, but the poor layer of any
breed or strain betrays herself.
The hen shows her ability as an egg
producer the first laying year. Produc-
! ton the first season is usually Is to 20
per cent higher than in later seasons.
Only hens whose first years produc-
ton is unusually high are worth keep
ing. a second year. Old hens may pay
their way just by producing meat FOX
| the table, but why have flock work
ing half-time to produce meat when It
might as well work full time produc,
| ing both meat and, eggs?
Summer CuIing Best.
1t pays to Gull out the poor layes
any time, to save the feed and labor
they cost, but to make profit on them
| 1t is best to Gull in late summer or
early fall, before the rush of spring
chickens lowers the market price of
old hens.
Shut up all the hens and pullets
some evening Count them and decide
j
during the coming year without crowd
ing, for this is very likely to hurt egg
production and increase the danger of
disease. The next morning the flock
is ready to be culled. The best Gull
ing is done when the person doing the
culIing has closely studied his flock
for most of the season and has marked
especially good hens from time to
time.
Cut out the hens and pullets that
show they cannot become heavy pro-
ducers. Put them in separate coops
or poultry houses, and if they do not
lay send them to the butcher. Begin
by removing the cripples, including
those with frozen feet, crooked backs,
weak legs, badly twisted beaks or de-
formed toes. Such hens are weak and
never have chance to get enough
feed to be good layers. They spoil
the appearance Of flock and add to
the cost Of feeding.
Get rid of the hens with baggy alb
domens hanging down over the rear
end of short keel bones. Their alb
domens have broken down from over
feeding and become large and fat,
spelling their egg production. The
hens with baggy abdomens may con-
tinue to lay heavily for time, but
when they once stop they seldom start
again. The death rate, too, among
such hens is very high.
The wedge-shaped hen with the
heavy end of the wedge to the front
is lacking in room to digest much food.
Hens with small abdomens lack room
to digest the large amount of food
needed for heavy egg production.
Small weak, inactive hens with
long. slim heads and long beaks are
greatly lacking IN vigor and are very
likely to be victims of disease and
r. snread contagion in the flock.
breeders report that such hens often
lav heavily for a short time, but they
lock the strength and vigor necessary
to stand up under continued egg pro-
duction. Their chicks are likely to be
weak and hard to raise.
On the other hand, the large coarse
hen with the small, sunken eye is I'M
desirable. She is beef-type hen,
bio eater, and a poor layer except for
. short time in the spring. The short
legged. stubby hen is lacking in
canacity. The hen with long, loose
feathering showing lack of quality is
usually a poor layer. Hens of these
three types should be removed from
the flock.