CHAPTER XIV.CULL THE FLOCK
When the poultry industry was being established upon a business foundation, many of the leading breeders devised the idea of measuring the egg capacity of their birds by actually counting the eggs laid by their best birds. Thispractice is still followed by many poultry breeders, but is a job that consumes considerable time, and it can be seen that only those who are constantly with the flock could be able to do this. But within the last few years, there has been developed a system whereby one can tell by the external appearance of the bird just about what her ability as an egg producer will be in one year. A Mr. Hogan was the first man to notice these characteristics and his method has been so far perfected that most poultry keepers are quite familiar with it, and thereby saved the bother of trap-nesting.
This culling process, as it is called, is best accomplished during the months of August and September. By picking up each female in the flock at this time, except of course the spring pullets, one can find out which birds are still laying, and which ones have already quit. It has been in the past too much the custom of farmers to go out into their poultry flock in the fall of the year, and pick out the birds that had not yet started to moult, and whose appearance was ragged and rather uncomely. These birds would be picked out by the farmer, or in many cases his wife, and sent to marketas meat birds, and they would keep the birds who had already moulted, and whose feathers were in splendid color at that time. However, in the light of recent facts brought out by this culling process, we now know that these rather ragged, unsightly birds were our best layers, and should have been kept because they had been working continuously, not taking the time off to quit laying and look pretty, as had their more lazy companions. There are still a great number of people that cling to the old method, but the light is dawning, and it will probably be but a short while before practically everyone interested in poultry will know of this culling method, and who can in a brief examination of a bird tell quite readily whether she should be kept or sold.
We will now discuss the various methods by which a bird can be judged as to her egg laying ability. No one sign can be relied upon, but the different signs taken together should form the final judgment. One can usually tell something about the bird by her general habits. The good layer is a busy hen. She is happy, singing, and not as afraid of the attendant as is the loafer. As this hen usuallyeats more than the non-layer, she is usually found busily scratching in the litter for the food material with which she makes her eggs. The good layer is always the first off the roost in the morning, and the last one to go to roost at night. Watch out for the timid, crafty hen that stays on the outskirts of the flock. She is lazy, inactive, and the quicker she is sent to the butcher, the better. Another very good aid in forming judgment as to the ability of the birds, is to go around the roosts at night, after the birds have all gone to roost. Feel of their crops. The good layer that has been working hard to get together food material for her eggs will have a full crop, while her lazy companions, that are not so interested in producing eggs, will have a fairly empty crop at this time. Little items such as I have mentioned here will tell considerable about the ability of the birds. It is a fact that there are any number of birds in America that lay only a few dozen eggs per year, but are kept the year round, because the owner has had no way of knowing the producers from the non-producers.
As has been already brought out, the heavylayers molt late. Often they continue laying up until October and November. If you have hens nearly naked of feathers in October or November, just rest assured that these are your most profitable birds, and that they did not quit laying to put on a pretty coat of feathers in the middle of the summer. You should mark these birds in some manner, so that you can use them as breeders for the coming winter, because, if they are mated with a cockerel, that is the son of a good layer, your strain will be greatly improved, because these birds will transmit their laying ability to their offspring.
A good laying hen will have a long, broad, and deep, rectangular body, with top and bottom lines parallel. This large sized body is essential to the hen, so that she will have sufficient room to digest enough food to make her eggs. A broad back is also necessary for proper room for the reproductive organs that make the egg. The head of the good layer is always of a healthy appearance. The good layer has a short stubby beak, or bill, and gracefully curved, as compared to the long shapeless bill of the loafer. The eyes areprominent, and stick out similar to a shoe button, rather than sunken in. The combs and wattles are red, and not pale, as in the non-layer.
The good layer will not have the bright colored yellow, after she has been laying for a short while, that the loafer will have. This is because she uses this yellow pigment in making the yolk of her eggs, so that as her laying period proceeds, she becomes more and more faded in her bill, eye lids, ear lobes, and shanks. Consequently, if some of your birds have a faded appearance, don’t condemn them, they are the hardest workers in your flock. Furthermore, the hen with worn toe-nails is one that should be kept, because this shows us quite clearly that she uses them considerably in scratching for her feed.
Now let us examine the anatomy of the hen a little more closely so that we can get some more evidence for or against the hen in question. One of the most common ways, nowadays, in picking out the laying hen is to examine what is known as the pelvic bones. These are found on either side of the vent, towards the rear of the body. They are generallycalled the lay bones by most poultry men. They both mean the same. Now these bones tell a vivid story. These bones are usually measured by the fingers, or as to how many fingers can be inserted between the two bones. A poor layer will have a thick, grizzly covering of meat over the lay, or pelvic bones, and just about the width of one finger can be inserted between them. This shows us quickly that she is not a layer. Then, lets compare this poor layer to the good layer. Here we find something different. There is just a slight covering over the pelvic bones. The meat is thin and spare. If we feel of the bones, we find them quite thin and pliable. We next try to insert as many fingers between the two bones as possible. We will find that we can insert at least two fingers, and probably three, if our fingers are not too wide. The heavier the hen is laying, the wider the distance between the bones.
Now, while we have the bird, let us look a little further into this bird’s conformation. The keel bone, or rear end of the breast bone, can be used as one unit, and the lay bones as the other unit of measure. See how manyfingers you can get between the lay bones and the keel bone. Even for a small breed you should easily get in the width of three fingers, and for a larger breed you should get in the width of four fingers. This measures the hen’s capacity for feed.
This distance between the lay bones and the keel bone is called the abdomen. We can tell considerable about the hen by the texture of the abdomen skin. If the skin is tough, and meaty, we can say right away that she is not a good hen, but if the skin is tender, pliable, and soft, then we can feel assured that she must be kept in the flock.
These are the principal features in selecting the laying hen. If one can get these principles in mind, and go out into his flock and separate the hens into two flocks, and keep these two flocks apart for a while, he would discover some interesting things. For instance, cull out the poor hens and put them in one pen. Possibly you will have the largest pen, when you have finished, composed of the poor layers. Keep the good hens in another pen separated from the poor ones. Keep feeding the same feeds as you had been doingbefore you separated the flock into two pens. Now, for a few weeks, compare the daily egg record of the two flocks. You will find that there is about as much difference as between night and day. Now, to bring the lesson home a little more forceful, just figure out what it costs you per day to keep these star boarders, and see if you think culling is a paying proposition. Most every agricultural college has a bulletin printed on culling giving essentially the same information as I have given, but they usually have quite a few illustrations that will make the procedure a little more clearer than I have done.