The Working Hen.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 20 June 1911, Page 4

The Working Hen.

HOW TO KNOW HER AM) MOW TO TIiKAT lIMK. There is just as much difference in hens as in horses. It is the individual capacity to put feed to a good use that makes a. hen or a horse valuable, and purebred horses and hens have been bred for this sort of a capacity to make them .good*, because that is what careful breeding is for. Otherwise wo might as well go back to mongrel cows, scrub horses and bariix'iu'd fowls without considering their .blood lines. If eggs are more profitable than poultry for market, then we should seek to -select our best layers ast.lu , mothers of our flocks. This is not such a hard task as one might think, oven if we judge by appearance alone. If we .select the clr«n bodied, bright-combed, healthy-eat-ing hen we will find her among tno best layers. The hen that is out as soon a.s the poultry house is opened in the .morning and lingers out of doors until all the others have gone to roost is almost sure to be the best laver in the flock. A good layer is indicated by ■> big crop, legs set well apart a.nd a body that is deep i" tho rear. .No delicate, dainty hen was ever a good layer: she lacks (he vitality that supports -groat powers of leproduetion. The good layer is always alert: and ii' anyone in the Hock sets over the garden fence she is likely to be the one. Tame hens are better layers than wild ours, and any lien can lie If cot tame and quiet if she i.s properly treated.