—Lancaster Farming. Saturday, December 24, 1960 8 Improved Breeding Fewer Hens Lay Impi oved systems of poul try breeding developed through Federal, State, and pnvate lesearch are pay ing big dividends in more efficient egg production, a recent issue of Agriculture jf, search magazine stated Thirty yeais ago, the av < iage hen in the United St ates laid 121 eggs per year, today she’s laying 206 eggs Our best flocks average 250 eggs or more per hen As a result, 13 per cent fewer hens on farms last year pro duced 60 per cent more egg ! than their ancesters did in 1930 The savings in feed, labor, and equipment repre sent a net gam to the egg in dustry , Better balanced rations, di seasc and pc?t control, and other improved practices ha ve contributed to this pro gress But is is the fltek that produces more eggs per hen than other flocks ' receiving similar feed and care that returns the highest net pro fit To build flocks like this, poultry breeders must have stock capable of transmitting high egg-laying ability to them offspring Development or moie ef fective systems of bleeding -Don't Neglect Your Eyes Visit Your Eye Doctor if you are in doubt. Doctor's Prescriptions Filled Adjustments, Repairs. D A VID ' S .• OPTICAL CO. 114 N. Prince St. Lancaster Phone EX 4-2767 Always See Better for 'frill music at it’s very Ue magnificent Magnavox i ii ic <; tnn* ? . uh ' I 1 1 9 r tit r o *<4 h A o ’i<iLoi l sit{r*e U iiiflli the DllObOlllC <?YQ Oft F-M/AiVJ RADIO*? I •/••>U BHcH;s Audio Sales 2210 DOBSON ROAD, SMCKETOWN. PA. Express 3-7242 Holiday Hours will con tinue Dec. 25 to Dec. 31. Closed January 2. Mon. - Sat. 9 - 5 Tues. & Fri. 9 - 9 Open other evenings by app jintment One b ock north of State PoVc barracks, then one !>i f cast on Hobson Road 60% More Eggs has been a goal of USDA poultry research since 1931, when ARS genetictist C W. Knox was put in charge of poultry breeding investigat ions at the Agricultural Re seach Center, Beltsville, Md. A few years earlier at lowa State College, Knox establi shed the first succesful in bred lines of chickens. He has been a pioneer in ap plying to poultry breeding the principles of hybridizat ion, which have proved so successful in corn breeding Knox and his associates set up long-term experi ments with White Leghorns and Rhode Island Reds to de termme the best system of breeding for improved egg production, ogg and body weights, viability, and other economic characters. (Pre vious research at Beltsville had been concerned mostly with such characters as plu mage and skin colors, type of comb and body size ) Since the early 1930‘5, two standardbred flocks have be en maintained as controls— a Rhode Island Red (RIR) “open” flock with new stock intioduced every third year, and While Leghorn (WL) closed - ’ flock (no outside stock added Experimental breeding systems have in cluded (1) Inbreeding mating c£ closely related in- 8 S COPE & WEAVER g X 8 I '.v ?EHH SQUARE * h e &ovc**ave * moun*tviu.e ★ east *ete*s»u*o ♦ akron \\ •ttmtaf jfderdl deposit imutancc corpor<Uwn % dividuals within a variety; (2) Topcrossing inbred RIR males mated to stand ardbred' RIR females; (3) Incrossing inbred RIR males mated to unrelated in bred RIR females; and (4) Incross-breedmg inbred RIR males mated to inbred WL females and, reciprocal ly, inbred WL 'males mated to inbred RIR females. Knox recently completed a review of the records ob tained in these experiments during 1946-56. His studies showed that incross-breds (progeny of inbred WL_ mal es x inbred RIR females) out-produced all the others They average 260 eggs per bird annually (survival bas is) during the 10 years. The Crossbreds (WL ' males x RIR females) ranked next, with 247 eggs per bird per year The Standardbred control flocks averaged only about 200 eggs per bird per year.' Despite careful selection on basis of both individual and progeny records, as well as improved rations, these fl ocks have gained only 20 eggs in average annual egg production since they were assembled 30 years ago. Topcrossing and Incross ing within the same variety resulted in little or no im provement and were discon tinued after a few years. Inbreeding alone de pressed egg production, but hybrid vigor in the progeny from crosses of inbreds pushed their production to top place The- biggest gains came .Season's Greetings These carolers bring, from us to you, greetings of the season, and every good '' wish for a wonderful New Year. WILLOW STREET from using Wlitie Leghorn males in crosses of the two breeds. In previous investi gations, the scientists used only RIR males—on the theory that nothing would be gained in making recipro cal crosses. Fortunately, in 1946, Knox decided to test this theory and found that progeny of WL males x RIR females averaged about 30 more eggs per bird than pro geny of RIR males x WL fe males. This was true of both crossbreds and incrossbreds Knox’s studies also show ed that incrossfcreds out ranked both standardbreds and crossbreds in age at first egg, viability, body and egg \veights, hatchability, and nonbroodiness. The inbreds were inferior to their stand ard-bred parents in most of these characters, but when they were crossed their pro- A registered Guernscj geny_ regained whatever had cow, Witlas Le Betty, ownei been" lost in mbrpeding. by J. Rohrer Witmer, Wil Most of our commercial low Street, has complete! egg-producing stock today an official DHIA productioi includes some type of cross- record of 9,740 lbs. of mill breeding either between and 538 lbs. of fat aS a sen strains, varieties or' breeds ior three-year-old. Increase your egg profits — H&N MARK II LEGHORN PULLETS From FLORIN FARMS companion famous H & N Nick Chick Leghorn .... America’s all-time profit Champion. LARGE WHITE EGGS at.an early age, plus famous H & N Breeding for high production, high livability and superior egg quality—Vitally im portant now to qualify for USDA’s ‘'Fresh Fancy” pro grams. Free descriptive circular. Write or phone now. FLORIN FARMS, inc POULTRY FARM & HATCHERY MOUNT JOY. R. D. *1 Knox says poultrymen a becoming more aware ( these higher producing stocl and are buying more , them each year. If this ti end continues, he estimate that average egg products could go as high as 250 p f hen within the next decade This means that by 197( the average flock in the Uni ed States may produce a well as our best ones do t ( day • Demonstrations f Vrom rage Ponn Manor High Schut will present “X Marks Hi Spot”. An hour later t’> i team from Manheim Centn High School will dcmoi strate ' “Animal Cut - u Cakes ” ORDER OL 3-9891
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers