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. This practice 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 market as 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 usually eats 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 heavy layers 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 are prominent, 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 generally
called 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 many fingers 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 doing before 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.