The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1923-05-30
X-RAY YOUR Hens

Get down to brases tacks If you
really want TO be successful with
poultry. Too many flocks are carry
ing 10 to Is per cent of hens that
never pay for their feed. The old
practice of guessing on the laying
qualities of a hen by the average pro-
duction of the flock is unfair, IS well
as being a serious miltake if you
hatch your own chicks. If a dozen
selected hens will lay a greater num-
Der of eggs, thereby showing a larger
profit than a flock of double the
size, composed of good, bad and in
different birds, is it not good business
to devote a little extra labor to weed
out the drones? Many hens a be
selected or culled by sight ana with
a little practice and study most of
the poor layers can be detected. The
trouble with many owners is that they
do not have an extra pen in which to
put questionable hens for closer OBJ
servation, and for that reason keep
on feeding them until they sicken and
die, or else he becomes discouraged
with the chicken business and quits.
An observation pen is one of the best
educators and eradicators. 1t en-
courages the owner to make a closer
| study of his flock. 1t creates a keen
er interest in individual specimens
and affords a means of quick access
to the undesirables when the buck
ster comes along.
After selection by sight has ac-
complished it's purpose there are still
many valuable and interesting things
that can be learned about your hens
by the use of a trap-nest-which Is
the sure-shot X-Ray for poultry,
Trap nests do not produce eggs. But
they draw the bead on the hens that
do and by the use Of leg bands and g
well kept record the keeper can sooT
determine which are his profitable
layers. 1t is by this method tina
high egg records are made and it il
better to lay a solid foundation b!
way of Matching from one or NOR
extra good layers than to hatch from
a flock of uncertain producers. Som
may argue that such a course is to
! slow, but under ordinary good condi
tions one hen can be grandmother t
500 pullets in two years, which ca
? hardly be called slow, especially whe
= foundation stock is the object. Bree
only from hens of high capacit,
mated to males whose dams were ais
u great layers. That is where the ira
nest pays. Many breeds will not III
- a male whose dam did not have a re
y ord of 200 eggs or better. Besid
y discovering the best layers the tr,
70 nest reveals many other facts tn
u will go to fill the observation pen
facts that you can get in no 9th
y way. Some hens habitually lay eg
too small for market requirements
others lay too large. Then you "
find hens that lay every day-oi
ers every other day, and still oths
IS that lay only every third day. tt
shells, rough irregular shapes, a
he porous, defective shells are
on brought to light by the trap.
m In the mater yards the hens Il
M lay strongly vitalized eggs that hai
nd the strong, fluffy chicks, as well
,en those that lay the infertile eggs, 8
INT those that don't hatch, are soon "
De- known by the use of the trap &
of band number. There should be
by trap nest for every three females
As a pen. Where this number is ?
md vided the task of looking after tn
ich is not so great Beginning at $3.50
the 9 a. m, a trip to the traps should
made every hour until 3 p. m. S<
ers claim that four trips in that pei
i'm are enough. Most of the eggs
uc- laid during that time. A few will
red laid before and after. AS q rule,
inns hen that lays at night, while on
les, roost, is out of condition.
lit If the trap nest is not accepta
IgE; then by all means employ numbs
old leg bands and a record card 80 tn