Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-10-11
Only Laying Hens Yield a Profit

UHIy Laying Hens Yield PROFIT
There are hens on nearly every
farm in Georgia. Will they be an
asset or a liability this winter? In
other words, will they be producers,
or producers? Now is the time
to ascertain that fact and weed out
the Improbable ones from the flock.
Why waste your time and energy
handA4ng and feeding a lot of drones?
People may naturally very properly
inquire. can culling be done success
fully? If so, how? Is it difficult
thing to do? TO all these questions,
the answer is yes, and with compare
tive ease.
Experts have made so careful a
survey of hens that they have dis
covered the type of biddy that
should be kept as a layer. Prof.
Mccoy recommends the following
procedure for the accomplishment of
this object. Follow the simple direc-
tions he has outlined and get rid of
the drones. Your flock should be
worth 500 and upwards to you this
winter depending on its size and
the skill with which you first Gull
it and then feed and manage it,
Many flocks in Georgia could be
made to pay, if a definite system
OF culling were practiced There is
a practical method used by good
poultrymen which can be followed
by the average farmer with a great
deal of accuracy. 1t must be re-
membered that every flock contains
some very poor producers, no mat
ter how good the breeding may have
been. By discarding the poor pro-
ducers, a losing flock can often be
turned into a paying one.
Culling has been misjudged in
some instances in this state. Many
people hold the idea that only once
in a year should the flock be culled.
This is a serious mistake, for Gull
lin is really an all-year proposition,
and for best results 1t should be
practiced in this manner. However,
this circular will deal only with the
culling of the producing flock.
Culling the producing flock can
be done better and more accurately
during July, August, September and
October. This is possible because
most hens stop laying when unfavor-
able conditions come on during the
not summer, and, too, the poor pro-
Queer lays its few eggs during the
by summer. The most persistent
layers lay through the unfavorable
period and take their rest in the fall
or winter.
A definite system should be follow
ed in examining the birds for pro-
duction. A general culling' the first
of July, the first of August, the
first of September, and the first of
October will pay. However, if this
cannot be done and only one gen.
eral culling is to be given them, the
last of August and the first of Sep
TENDER will be found the best time.
tCulling for production can be di-
Vided into four main points: % color
or pigmentation; (2) time of melting;
10 capacity (body, size and shape):
(4 length of toe nails, clearness and
prominence of eye, shape, and gem
eral intelligence Of head, handling
qualities.
The color augmentation method
can be applied only to those birds
having yellow skin, yellow shanks,
and yellow beaks. This, generally
speaking, means the American class,
such as the Rocks, Reds, Wyan-
dottes, etc, and the Mediterranean
class, such as the Leghorns, An
conas, etc. The color or yellow pig
ment, which is the fat stored in the
body, disappears from certain places
in the body in a definite order as
follows: Vent, eye-ring, ear-lobes,
beak, edge of scales on knee joint
This is true, because the bird draws
on its body food for egg production,
and that portion of the body where
the blood supply is the greatest is
the place where the yellow Is ex-
tracted first.
When the bird is handled, examine
first the vent, if it is white, moist
and Habby, then the bird is in pro-
duct1on. 1t requires from one to
three eggs to completely bleach the
vent. Next, examine the eye-ring;
it takes from five to seven eggs to
bleach this section. All white ear
lobed birds will show a yellow tinge
in the lobes unless they have been
in production about twenty DAYS.
The pigment fades from the beak,
going from the basal portion gradu-
ally out of the point. If the upper
portion is colored so that pigment
cannot be seen, the lower portion of
the beak can be examined, and the
same conditions applied. Next, the
pigment fades from the edge of the
scales on the front portion of the
leg. Later, the whole scale appears
whitish. 1t requires about 100 to
125 days to bleach this section of the
body. The pigment gradually dis
appears from the back of the shanks
and lastly from the hook or knee
Joint. 1t must be remembered that
The lighter breeds, such as the
Leghorns, bleach much more rapidly
than the heavier breeds because the
heavier breeds store up more fat in
their bodies than do the smaller
ones. After a hen finishes her pc.
Rod Of production, the color returns
to the body in the same order that
it disappeared.
!. Formerly, it was thought that q
started Noting or dropping her
"a prs and then stopped laying
bupthe truth is that a hen stops
producing and then starts to melting
and supplementing the old feathers
with new ones. 1t is a rare case
when hens mott and lay at the same
t. l.