xt75tb0xqz7x https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt75tb0xqz7x/data/mets.xml   Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station. 1928 journals kaes_circulars_001_3_167 English Lexington : The Service, 1913-1958. Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station Circular (Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station) n. 167 text Circular (Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station) n. 167 1928 2014 true xt75tb0xqz7x section xt75tb0xqz7x University 0I Kentucky·~ College of Agnculture
EXTENSION DIVISION
THOMAS P. COOPER, Dean and Director
CIRCULAR NO. 167 (Revised) APRIL, 1928
}`IlI~lirIl·¤I in ·~·iiii··ri··ii with ill-- ;iui·i·-iilliirzil (·Xlr·II5l*•I] wor}: <·:1rri+-d
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will i},.· I`, S. I···|·.~rlr:.· nl ··l` .\:11·¤1l¤ur‘··, uml ¤`·»liu1··~s¤»1` ,\I;iy s, ]i;14_
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When and How to Cul] ~
By J. HOLMES MARTIN and L. W. TAYLOR
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;,·¤ i§·:·:< IN 1 \`l·Y\lI xc I·1·:<;s IN 1 Yliexlz
)l··E.'l`:·§l· IX N·»\‘l-;l\11:l·:1{ Al¤»l.'l‘l·il> IN .»\L`LilfS'l`
How They Looked August 15th
I.l\Yl·IIl LO.\F1£R
Ir. I'Z2: I~·:;· > lp. f·l;·· ·li· l;iy lwiliws) 1_ l‘in lmuvs vlnso t¤¤guIl101‘ (ODE
ll   -—_!·~" Iiiiui 1·`s wiilill ··i· lpssl.
.   \·¤‘   : xiii ;·la;il·I.`_ ;_ \`q·11L yi-Il··w:imIpi1¤·l<0n—d.
-_ I.» 4-, ixxll, I·ll!IlI rrd climb Z2. I‘;ili~. >l1x‘i\’olul comb and
**_'l "· " · \- \\‘.llili—s.
]=- _I'- ·· y· ll·»··v i·» wIii1i· I¤¤·;1l< rind I Ivwp yl-lluw lmuk and shzmks.
>i.l}liI~,
VIIHIIIS- Illc \\`l‘L‘lIlIl§ mir of IllI`m‘I`l0I` iiiiliviiluzils. should be done
lllllllvlll ilw yygug llmylqiylg pggg glmulil hp spliwiull &:lI`01`llII)’ illlll ilu
glllilll. lnissl1;ipo11_ 4»1`1`»(·0lm· um] dirty eggs culled. Al IIJIIVIIIIIS ii111€
ill} \\‘¤*zil<. <·1·ippli~iI_ slimnpil in- I1;iI·luv;11·Il cliivlis slwlllil IW lI¤‘*I¥`¤‘Y9*I·
“Il¤*11 the 0m·lwr¤~l;< uru sulil gig I>mIli~rs ur I`l‘)'¤‘l‘S TIWY Shllllld be
CUHOII l‘I<>S@I5‘ um] only ilu- milstumliug imlivimlunils in §`I`¢I\\'Ih» boil'?
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2 1t`t‘ttlttt·/.·y Iu'.i·/rttsfotz (‘t`rt tt/ur No. I/if
4 and statuitia kcpt as prospt~t·tivt· hrt·t·dt·rs. ,\t this lllll\‘ tho pt1ll·-K
chicks should be carotttlly culled atid all utidt·rsizt·d_ slow i`\‘1lllll·l`lllJ i
pullets low in vitality should hc sold as hroilt·rs. .\ll thru th•· grow- [
ing period the young stock should be t·art~t`ully watt·lu·d and any t·o¤·l<- 1
erels or pullets which tail to tlcvelop as rapidly as tho r··tu;tiutl»-r oi _
the flock should be sold or catuu as frycrs.  
V Careful culling ot` pullets hct`ort· housing in wint¤·r tpt:trt»·i·s shoultl i
be practised. All pullets showing tlistpialitications tor tht· l>rt·t·tl anti {
variety as given in the Stantlartl ot` l’t»rt`t—t·tion shoultl iuuu··tli;tt»»lg.·
be discartletl. '1`hen the pullets shoultl lw t·at·t·t`ttlly· t·ull·~tl on th.,
basis Of vigor. All lllllllllllll`L‘, weak or tliscatsctl stock should ite Q
culled. Yigor is essential it thc hens are to protlttce niauy   rap I
able of hatching vigorous chicks. E
High Vitality Low Vitality 1
. 1. Broad, deep heatl. 1. Long, slint hoaul tt·t·ot·.·ltt·;ttl·. ‘
2. Bright, prominent eye. 2. llull. sunkou cya. ’
3. Long, deep, rectangular hotly. Il. Short. shallow, round liotlyj ‘
4. Strong, parallel legs. »t. l{not·lt-lttu·etl. I
5. Stylish carriage.   I)roopy appt~:ti·a1tt·c. *
G. Active disposition. ti. Lazy, sluggish disposition. I
l
Late inaturing pullots st~ldont tualto got tl lztyvrs. t';tr~·t`ul i··t.~t~i·»l< l
in trapnesting at the l{<·ntut·ky l·Zxpt·t·itn··nt station show th;u l.t·;·
horn pullets which coininent-t· laying at 3 or ti niouths ot` ;t;t· and K
Plyniottth Rocks tgeneral—purpost~ hr··¤·tls• which start nt ti autl T t
mouths usually lay the largest iuunlwr ot` cggs duzing tho yt·;tr. l’ul- I
lcts which lay extrciucly curly tuntlor 5 iuonthst soltlont ttttuiu stu" 1,
Iicient size and cottsctpiciitly protlttcp stnttll eggs. l’ullt»ts whirh ilu I
not come into laying untlcr N nionths st·ldotu uutturo prior to tuiti-
winter and then deter laying till spring. H
After culling the chicks and pullcts. thoso kept as lttycrs shoultl P
' produce enough cggs during thc wintor and spring to insttrc 11 fltltlll {
Droilt. HOWe\‘et‘, appt‘oxiniatoly ono-third tho {lock will not lil}' 8
sufficiently well to warrant. kccpiiig it st·t·ontl yoar. ('otisetpwiitly, I
the flock should be culled with care during tltt· sunuut—t· to nvoitl t`t·t·tl· s
I lug UIQ DOOI`€I` hens ttftcr thcy liavo treztstttl l;iying_ ,\t·t·ur;tlc <'lllllll?: I
is only possible itt a well-fed tlock, kept t`rt·c front li<·t· and tnitcs thru-
t out the summer months. It inipropcrly t`t·tl or not lcd at all tho cn-
tifc flock will cease licavy laying dtiring July and August, tuttlilllé il U
~ very difficult to distinguish thc good frotu thc poor layers, I
  .... t. —

 When and How l0 Call 3
hi \\‘ht·n a bird stops laying in the summer she usually starts molt-
1; mg, The later a hen lays in the summer or the longer the period
W- over which she lays, the greater will be her production, so that the
lt- high producer is the late layer and hence the late moulter, provided
ll? she receives milk or tankage thru the summer, to balanee the ration.
The early moltcr is not the early winter layer. The high layer
hl ll$llllii}` retains her primary wing feathers until September or Oe-
nd tohel`.
ill The depth ot yellow color should be observed by daylight. When
M"' a hen starts laying the supply of yellow coloring matter obtained
lm ll‘t)lll the food eaten is diverted from the skin, beak and shanks to ·
*1* the yolks of the eggs being formed. The yellow pigment already
stored in the skin, beak ami shanks gradually fades and the parts
become white. The changes occur in the following order;
The color of the \'liN'I` changes very quickly with egg production
" so that a white or pink rent on a yellow-skinned bird generally
means that the bird is laying, while a yellow vent means a bird is
not laying. It should be recognized that all yellow color changes
Lite dependent on the feed, coarseness of skin and size of bird. A
heavy bird fed on an abundance of green feed, yellow corn, or other
heavy material that will color the fat deep yellow will not bleach ottt
me nt·arly as quickly as a smaller or palcr-colored bird.
·y¥· The color goes ottt of the lil·ZAl{, beginning at the base and grad-
llltl ually disappearing until it finally leaves; the front part of the upper
l Y beak. The lower beak bleaches faster than the upper, and should
l’lll‘ be used where the upper beak is obscured by horn or black. On the
Fill" average-colored, yellow-skinned bird, a bleached beak means heavy
ll" lll`t>dl1Clio11 for at least the past four to six weeks.
HM- The SHANKS are the slowest to bleach out and hence indicate
a much longer period of production than the other parts. The yellow
mm Sees out from the scales on the front of the shanks first and finally
IW"] Twin the scales on the rear. The scales on the back of the shank
mi ?ll`€ the last to bleach out anti may generally be used as an index
  to the natural depth ot yellow color or the bird. A bleached-out
mug Shank usually indicates fairly heavy production for at least 4 to 6
hm. months.
t env The yellow COLOR COMES BACK into the vent. ear lobes, beak
lg it Hlld Shanks in the same order that it went out, only ihté color 1`€·
tttrns much more quickly than it goes 0t1t.
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4 Ifczilttc/.·y Iu`.t·/titisnnt (il·I't'l({(I)' No. lll}
1 Body Changes Due to Laying. lleavy prtitlnetioii is also slniwil
by the quality of the SKIN. l·`at goes out from the skin aml hotly
with protltietion, so that the heavy protlmwrs have u sott. \`t·l\`elj.‘
skin that is not nmlerlaitl hy layers nt` hartl l`at. 'l`he ul»tlem··n_ in
particular, is soft uml lilialile.
The eharaeter of the head is one til` the niost vultialile t`ut·ttn·< in
culling. The heutl ot a gootl layer is tleep uml liroutl, yet it is not
A (f0L\1’S€. The skin ot the t`at·e is sinmith aiitl not nntlerlaitl with tai.
The eye is fnll, ronml uml prominent, especially when st-en t`i··»in tls.
front. The heatl shonltl not be sniall uml over-retim·tl.
After the hen luys heavily the feathers lose their sleek uni
glossy 21ppet\I`Ll11Ce. It is t·hat‘at·teristit· till a gtiotl ]il‘otlttt·er to he ii;
Z1 worn aml threatlbare eomlition tlnring the Slllllllll’l'.
HOW TO TELL WHETHER A HEN IS LAYING
A laying hen has a large. moist \'l·1N'l`. showing a tlilutetl enml}
tion uml looseness as cotnnaretl with the hartl. pm·kert·tl vent ny ;;
non·laying hen.
The whole AIEDOMICN is tlilatetl. as well as the vent. so that tlt»·
` pelvie bones ate witlespreatl aml the keel or lireustlitine is l`tvl‘.‘».i
tlown, away from the pelyie bones, so as to give large t`.\l’.\t`l'l`Y.
Just hesitle the vent are the two tielvie l;ones_ one on eaeh sile.
tiiejeetiiig towattls the rear. ily placing the lingers, tlut, lietw.»t·ti
these bones, the witlth apart can he tletertninetl. lt` the emls oi the
bones are soft aml pliable uml the wltltli or two tir tln···e ortlihztrg-‘
fingers tvarying with the size til` the lieni eun lit- plueetl l»»·tw··t·i1
them, the hen is. in all proliahility. laying at the tinie til` exaniinatl»»n.
It the bones are elose together aml the points hartl. the hen is not
laying.
The comb, wattlcs and ear lobes enlarge or t·ontrut·t tlepemlitig
On the COIl(llll()ll of laying. lt` these parts are large alitl Hllltltlllh el'
' hard ami waxy, the liirtl is laying. lt the eotnh is linin the liirtl is
either coming into or going ont ot' lay. or laying lint little. \\`hen the
comb is shrunken aml rough, the liirtl is not laying.
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