AGE OF HENS FOR WINTER LAYING.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 146, 19 June 1908, Page 7

AGE OF HENS FOR WINTER LAYING.

A«very important fawor In the success- ; ful production of winter eggs is to have the hens which we expect to lay them of j the proper age. The point to remember j is that the hens must be neither too j young, nor yet" too old. An excellent egg yield can be expected, with confidence, from pullets which have almost matured, or are, at least, well grown and in good condition, and for continuous winter laying the puliets should be hatched in early spring. " j Later birds of a small and precocious breed will frequently start laying in the i autumn, but their efforts in' this direction are liable to be spasmodic, and for continuous laying we must, as a rule, ■ depend upon the early-hatched pullets, j One and two-year-old hens also make pro- I fitable winter layers, and under judicious management can always be depended i upon; but though some liens of three years old and upwards may lay well in winter, this is the exception rather than the rule, and I should not care to depend l upon the mfor eggs to fill a contract. I Experience has shown us that hens of j' three years and upwards moult late and ! slowly, and it is late in winter before , they recover sufficiently to begin laying. ! ,In the meantime, they have eaten up a | considerable share of the profits which j they- are likely to earn during the re- ; maining period of high prices, which is j likely to be short. Another serious fault with old hens is that they have a decided tendency to lay on fat, -and to lose their natural activity, j and the food which goes into eggs in i i younger birds is likely to turn into fat j jin the older birds, because of their in- ; ;activity. Hens in an over-fat condition; i can never make good layers nor reliable ! i breeders, and in winter especially they l spend many of the colder days in a state of semi-torpidity. j TWO RULES TO BE FOLLOWED. In the selection of laying stock the main points by which the farmer should | be guided are:— (1) To keep no hens as active winter ] layers after they have passed the limit | ;• of two and a half years; and I (2) lo take every means of ascertain- ' ing which are the nonproductive birds :of the flock, and to weed them out with \ 2j no sparing hand- In every flock there ! • | are some drones, and the profits will be ! 1: largely increased by getting rid of them 'j at the earliest possible moment. ; 3 There are sometimes good reasons, " ! from the breeder's point of view, for j ' | keeping hens up to a great age, as, for c j instance, when they have desirable points i 1j or qualities which one wishes to repro- ! 1 i duce, and in this case it is sensible to | 1 keep hens as long as they lay a few eggs, I anu those eggs produce chickens of value; I c but my point is, that in the flock intended ! Ito produce winter eggs for table use,-trie j 1 very old and inactive hen should find ! 1 no place.—"Farm, Field, and Fireside." j c . I