UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA CIRCULAR 299 October, 1925 POULTRY BREEDING RECORDS WILLIAM A. LIPPINCOTTi INTRODUCTION Pedigree records of the larger pure-bred animals are permanently kept and given official standing by the officers of an association or society of breeders. By means of the association herd book or flock book, the exact ancestry of any animal of any breed may be traced to the foundation animals of its breed. There are several reasons why this has not seemed feasible for poultry, but they are not important for the present purpose. The important fact is that it has not been done. Yet the poultryman who strives for improvement through breeding is in even greater need of breeding records than the breeder of larger animals. The generations of poultry follow each other in more rapid succession, and the poultry breeder frequently deals with vastly greater numbers. A man's memory may serve him fairly well in the case of a relatively small herd of cattle, but it is almost useless as a pedigree record for a large flock of chickens. This is doubly true with chicks hatched by foster moth- ers or in incubators. The need of records is emphasized by the very practical consideration that producers and breeders are increasingly demanding stock that is pedigreed with regard to production. Since there are no official breeding records, the individual breeder is thrown upon his own resources and must work out his own record system. PURPOSE OF BREEDING RECORDS The purpose of breeding records should be to answer at least four questions regarding any individual bird which has ever been mated. These are: First, who are its ancestors and what have been their 1 A paper by the author bearing the same title, containing practically the same text and several of the same illustrations, was published by the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station as Circular 99. The courtesy of that station in permitting its republication in a slightly revised form is gratefully acknowl- edged. Z UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION breeding and productive performance ? Second, who are its brothers and sisters, and, if the information is available, what have been their breeding and productive performances? Third, with what in- dividual or individuals is it at present mated, or has it been mated in the past ? And fourth, what were the results of these matings ? The first question is concerned with preceding generations, the second and third consider the individual's own generation, while the fourth looks forward into the next succeeding generation. EECOED OF ANCESTEAL PAIES The service most commonly associated with breeding records is furnishing information concerning the successive matings which have finally culminated in the production of any given individual ; that is, making it possible to trace its pedigree accurately. It is rather too customary in this connection to look upon a pedi- gree as a list of ancestral individuals. Emphasis should be given to the fact that every individual is the product of a pair of indi- viduals, and that a pedigree is a record of ancestral — that is, parental — pairs running back through preceding generations. In considering a given cockerel or pullet as a possible breeder, a knowledge of the breeding performance of each ancestral pair, as well as the productive performance of each ancestral female, is a matter of first importance. Aside from the appearance of the bird, and the appearance of its brothers and sisters, its pedigree is all one has to go by, unless its parents happen to have been mated in a season previous to the one in which it was hatched. In such a case breeding or production records of older brothers and sisters may be available. SIB EECOED 2 It makes a considerable difference in its probable value as a breeder whether a given bird is the only outstanding product of its parents, or whether it is simply one among several almost equally good brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, a single great performance at the nest, or an individual show bird of unusual excellence, may mean little in the line of breeding progress. The chances greatly favor, however, the bird with numerous brothers or sisters nearly or quite as good as he. A good system of records should not only show, but call special attention to an individual's brothers and sisters. 2 "Sib" is a convenient term of which the meaning is easily recalled by considering it si(ster) - b(rother). A sib record is a record of sisters and brothers. CIRC. 299] POULTRY BREEDING RECORDS 3 EECOED OF MATINGS The proper pairing of birds is the foundation of the breeder's art and the basis of improvement through breeding. The breeding unit is the pair. During any given breeding season a promising male will be mated usually with several females. And in successive seasons a given female may be mated with more than one male. In order to give proper consideration to the pairing of birds it should be possible to study the results of former matings in the case of all individuals previously bred. For this purpose there must obviously be available a list or record of all matings. PEOGENY EECOED In considering a pair of birds as possible parents their individual- ity, their ancestry, their sibs, and their previous mates are of the greatest importance. Upon them hopes are built, though predictions are uncertain. There is but one sure ba\sis of judging a bird's breed- ing value from th& standpoint of heredity, and that it is by the breeding of it. Only after a pair has been mated, and progeny gotten and grown can really accurate judgments be formed. The test of suitable mating is the character of the progeny. As suggested above, the progeny test, from the standpoint of a parental pair, is a look forward into the next generation, as the study of the pedigree is a look back into past generations, and of sibs and mates a survey of the contemporary generation. This forward look gives sounder and more dependable information than the other two combined. The fourth service which breeding records should give, therefore, is to show the progeny of any pair in a group so that they may be readily available for study. BREEDING RECORDS AND BREEDING PRACTICE In breeding practice the unit of management is the pen; but as already pointed out, the breeding unit is the pair. The incubating unit is determined by the size of the incubator tray, and the time unit involved is usually one breeding season. Except with pigeons, economic considerations generally preclude the mating of as many males as females, Usually one male mated with several females constitutes a breeding pen. While pen records are considerably better than no records and give some information regarding the breeding performance of the males, provided, always 4 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION that but one male is used in a pen, they do not give the information necessary for the best progress, or, in some cases, even the main- tenance of a high level of excellence. From the standpoint of breeding, a pen is a group of matings or pairs, with the male a member of each pair. Usually the progeny of certain pairs is more or less meritorious than that of other pairs, a fact which the forward-looking breeder should know. Some females are suitable mates for a given male, while others of as good, perhaps better, individuality and as proud a pedigree are not so suitable. The breeder's search, with the help of progeny records, is for fortunately mated pairs, and when these are discovered, there is a real foundation on which to build. A fortunate mating made one season is likely to be as fortunate a second season, barring a break in the vigor and fertility of one or both of the mates, and is both the signpost and anchor of the breeder. These considerations, combined with the artificial incubation of eggs in large numbers has necessitated the trapnesting of all mated females during the breeding season and the marking of each egg so that the mother of each may be identified. It. is in turn necessary to sort out the eggs of each female before hatching, and to arrange means of identfying each chick with its dam, through the record of matings. This also identifies it with its sire. Each step in this series of operations must be a matter of record if the whole purpose of the record is to be served. A fact that requires consideration in breeding practice is that mat- ings are usually made for an entire season. "While the time elapsing between copulation and the appearance of a resultant fertile egg is short, the laying of that egg does not end the influence of the female 's mate. The number of sperm ejaculated during a single copulation is enormous, and their length of life in the oviduct is a matter of weeks. If for some reason it is desired to mate a given female with more than one male during one breeding season, and at the same time be sure of the parentage of all offspring by both mates, it is necessary to leave the female unmated for a period of at least three weeks before introducing the second male. Such a procedure involves the production of a larger or smaller number of infertile, and, from the standpoint of breeding, useless eggs, and a corresponding loss of valuable time during the breed- ing season. These considerations make the usual time unit of mating an entire breeding season. Because of the great desirability of setting eggs soon after they are laid, and of the fact that some months are more favorable for ClRC. 299] POULTRY BREEDING RECORDS 5 hatching than others, the progeny of any one pair do not appear as a single seasonal litter as in the case of swine, but are hatched periodically throughout the season. Thus full brothers and sisters of a single season may have different hatching dates, and individuals hatched on one date are likely, because at different stages of maturity, to be more desirable as breeders the following season than those hatched at some other date. It is, therefore, highly desirable to make the dates of hatching a part of the record. KEEPING A COMPLETE BREEDING EECORD There are five essential steps in the yearly cycle of keeping a complete flock breeding record which will furnish the information discussed above. These are: (1) Recording each mating; (2) Record- ing each breeding male's pedigree and progeny; (3) Recording each breeding female's pedigree, production, and progeny; (4) Marking imiA > Fig. 1. — Wing-band above and leg-band below. each egg of each breeding female as it is laid, and pedigree hatching it; and (5) Marking and recording the chicks at hatching in such a way as to identify them with their parents. For any given mating the first step and the last two will be com- pleted within a single breeding season, but the second and third obviously cannot be entirely completed until the breeding and pro- ductive life of the individual is over. Record of Mating s. — In order to make a record of matings, the individual breeders must be marked. The method generally approved is by a numbered metal leg-band, which may be sealed, as shown in figure 1. In the record system described in this circular, the leg- bands used on males are distinguished by a letter M following the number. This distinction is convenient because the sex of any individual shown on the record by number is self-evident. Its further useful- ness in tracing pedigrees will be indicated in a later paragraph. 6 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION It is an excellent practice to have the name of the breeder or of his farm stamped on each band. Usually this can be done with slight added expense. For convenience in reading the numbers, the leg-bands should be put on so as to be upside down when the bird is standing. It will save time in reading band numbers when trap-nesting if the band is always placed on the left leg. A mating record is simply a list of the birds in any given breed- ing pen, and is most useful for future reference. If posted in each pen, it is very helpful in preventing errors, especially for the large- scale breeder dependent on employees to do the trap-nesting- during the breeding season. Fortunate is such a breeder who goes through an entire season without having at least one female escape into another breeding pen and mate. This is perhaps not so serious where but one breed is kept except that, if not discovered, the offspring of such a hen will have a false pedigree on the record. The first requisite of breeding records is accuracy, and a false record may easily be worse than no record. A list of females posted in each breeding pen so that the trap-nester may glance at it, as he should be required to do each time he takes a female from a nest, will lead to early discovery of escaped females. A convenient form for keeping the record of a single mating is shown in figure 2. 3 It provides a space at the left for the leg-band number of the male (172M) which heads the pen, and for his mating number (115M2004). The latter is made by combining the num- bers of his sire (115M) and dam (2004), and is the basis of tracing pedigrees in the record system here described. Below the leg-band number of the male heading the pen are spaces for the leg-band numbers of one or more males held in reserve as substitutes in case the male chosen proves sterile or is otherwise unsatisfactory. In figure 2 a full brother and a half brother are indicated by their mating numbers as having been reserved. To the right are spaces for the leg-band numbers of females in the pen, followed by their mating numbers and yearly egg records. Where pullets are mated, that fact may be indicated by writing "pullet" in the egg record space, or by leaving it blank. The number of spaces allowed for females (in this case 12) may be increased where considered desirable, though keeping the number of females mated with one male comparatively small is to be recom- 3 The conventions <$ and £ are used to indicate the sexes. The arrow of Mars (■<$) stands for the male; and the looking glass of Venus (?) for the female. Circ. 299] POULTRY BREEDING RECORDS UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA POULTRY DIVISION ^ » tb s ^ ^ ^ *\ Cfe 5 H <*> U> c* i s. 33 PI OP1 oo o o k ft "UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION S^ss I to Q a. O o 111 x 0) UJ 0) 11 £ 1 s S'b * u B 8 _. *s «l W S s Po * W ** S^o f J $ * ^ •> <0 8? <0 K ^ ^ ^ 5 is." S ^ V $ > a a B ^ > ■ a B > 1 N. s a a u E a B a o a ■b o •b Of Id •b o u H "b CO Ni a? 2 9 _bJ0 Pn be o> VI "S © c£ s, 1 ^ CO ■ fcj) u £ ClRC. 299] POULTRY BREEDING RECORDS 9 mended. Such a practice probably increases the percent of fertile eggs, and, what is even more important, applies the progeny test to a larger number of males. In the space below, headed ' ' Notes, " it is usually advisable to make a record of any special reasons for making the whole mating or for including certain females in the pen. When very few pens are mated this is perhaps not quite so necessary ; but even then it is very useful, and is increasingly so in the case of extensive breeding oper- ations. The reverse side of the form shown in figure 2 is shown in figure 19, and is the first page of the "Progeny and Sib Record" of that mating. This record will be discussed in a later paragraph. Sire's Record. — The sire's record should furnish at least three sorts of information; viz., (1) his ancestry (or pedigree); (2) his progeny; and (3) notes on his individuality and breeding per- formance. A convenient blank form for the pedigree is shown in figure 3. If of one's own breeding, so that he was "pedigree hatched," it is well to give his wing-band number (to be discussed later) as well as his leg-band number, as shown in the upper right-hand corner. Leg- bands are likely to wear out and be lost particularly in the case of male birds. The wing-band number is always to be found elsewhere in the breeding record, so that any bird losing its leg-band can be certainly identified, even if the breeder does not know him as an individual. It is also convenient to have the wing-band number on the sire's record, and this will inspire confidence in actual or prospective buyers of pedigreed breeding stock. The breed of the individual should always be indicated on the pedigree of any bird sold, and it is a good practice to have it on all pedigrees. Where a single variety is bred, the breed and variety is usually printed as a part of the blank. The year date, and if pos- sible the exact date of hatching, should be indicated, as shown in figure 3. The pedigree of a male used as a breeder should be completely recorded for at least four generations if possible. In beginning a pedigree record system, unless one purchases foundation stock from some one who has kept breeding records, this is of course not possible. As the successive generations follow, however, an increasingly com- plete ancestral record may be given. The method of tracing a pedi- gree as recorded in figure 3 will be described in a later paragraph. 10 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION CIRC. 299] POULTRY BREEDING RECORDS 11 As previously indicated — and this cannot be too strongly empha- sized — the breeding value of any individual is most accurately judged by the character of his or her progeny. In breeding for high egg production, the egg records of a given male's daughters are of particular value in forming a judgment concerning that male. The importance of the records of his grand-daughters by his sons must not be overlooked, but these will not be available until a year later than the records of the daughters of his first breeding season. It is not likely that all the sons will be mated in the breeder's own pens where a complete record of the daughters of all of them will be available. It is a mistake to over-emphasize the importance of a few success- ful daughters and under-emphasize the importance of the unsuccessful ones. The sire's record should show every daughter (and her rec- ord) of each succeeding season that he is mated. It is quite apparent that this record cannot be made for a sire's first daughters until after he has been mated, the daughters grown, and their records brought in, by which time the sire in question will be approaching his third breeding season. In practice, all of a given male's get in any one season will be listed in the " Progeny and Sib Record" for the pen which he heads that season. When the daughters mature and are leg-banded, their numbers may be listed in numerical order in the spaces provided on the reverse side of the "Sire's Record," as shown in figure 4. The egg records of the respective daughters are entered later as they are completed. In the space provided for "notes," brief record should be made concerning the production of the sire's sisters, the breeding per- formances of his brothers, the breeding performances of his sons, or other facts bearing on his value as a breeder. The fact that offspring out of certain females are usually better than others should be noticed and particularly successful mates noted. Not infrequently the space allotted for this information as shown in figure 4 will be insufficient, and must be supplemented by an additional sheet. Dam's Record. — The dam's record should cover the same points of information as the sire's, and in addition give her egg production. The blank form used consists of an "Individual Egg' Record" (fig. 5) with spaces on the reverse side for her ancestral records, for her daughter's records, and for further notes (fig. 6). It is helpful also to have a system of reminder checks to ensure the entering of the information furnished by the completed dam's record, in her sire's, dam's, sons', and daughters' records, respectively, as shown in the lower right hand corner of figure 6. 12 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA FOULTRY DIVISION <0 D -i i- < ^ ^ ^ S9 k 1 1 ^ ^ £ ^ 5 5 < o >- OS 2^ <0<^ O i - £ o s ^ V K k ^ ^ 5l U> r> N «H ^ Si > ^ vo m ■as ■ ^ « £ °" s " 5 s £j X Fl S3 "S X s. x til is \ X O e< \ N X x X se* u « X X S3 N \ \ X X X LlI el X N X s ?,7 E a X s X cc \$L 2 N X X s^ X 00 s LlI 5 \ X X X j <£ X 5 5 < lO \ X \ X X D s X X X K Q s X X X o x > « X \ X X X oo Q o S s X z N. ^^ps^ X X a S £ & <* 00 N X x x o 5} r» N X X s « X x X 4 ■o in \n\J\ * & « N X $ CO > s s l > N \ X X Breed i_5T£ Hatching Dat - 8 xr UJ \ ^- < 1 <0 <3 d i «5 1 b : ^ >§ ^ -8 <* ^ H its o > s o »- o Ul < W>£ o ^^ O © o S .5 a. o s ij » "So bF.S -* §z a) ^ .5 rd r- 1 * •S ^ ^ T3 5 "w ^ s 1/ oo S ~ ffl b£ 2 c £ •^ ffl r— I ffl O „ «H ci g rt M rt ct ffl o EH h * o ■= ffl C3 «5 CO ffl * ft ft ^ ^ S3 CO h ° o bc^ ffl « ^ ffl 3 be 2 ill* fl $ ft I O as ■ CJ_| -i — ' lO °° < co aS ^^ fl IS as as CiRC. 299] POULTRY BREEDING RECORDS 13 ^tsj^gj SJ^^I 14 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION The "Individual Egg Record" gives an opportunity to see and study a whole year's production with its cycles and pauses and is preferable to simply keeping monthly and yearly totals. A new sheet is needed for each succeeding year's production. In practice, the several years' records of each hen trapnested are filed together, form- ing a continuous record. The information given on the reverse side of the first form serves for the entire record and need not be repeated. Fig. 7. — Trap-nests which are accurate, economical to build, and simple to operate. Modeled after a nest brought from England, origin,*! 1 designer unknown. In cases where the spaces for daughters' records and for notes on the first year's record sheet are not sufficient, use may be made of those on the backs of the second and later years' records. Trap-Nesting. — A necessary adjunct of pedigree breeding is the trap nest. While it appears to be possible to secure a reasonably accurate count of the number of eggs a given female lays by handling her each morning, no means have so far been developed of identifying an individual egg with the hen that laid it, except by making it impossible for her to leave the nest after laying until some one releases her. This gives an opportunity for reading her leg-band ClBC. 299] POULTRY BREEDING RECORDS 15 number and recording it on the egg, from which it is posted later in her individual record. In districts of California serving markets which object to figures on the shells of commercial eggs, it is the practice to use daily trapnest sheets. These sheets carry in numerical order, the leg-band numbers of all hens and pullets being trapped during a given season. They are hung in the pens or are carried from pen to pen by the trapnester. The numbers may have any range, as for example, 1 to 309, or from 3045 to 4158, according to the range necessary to include all females being trapped. When a given female whose eggs are to go to market lays, a line is drawn through her number, but nothing is written on her egg. A new sheet (or sheets) is used each day and the individual egg records are then posted from these daily trapnest sheets. Aside from the advantage of having to make no marks on the eggs, there is the convenience of being able to post the individual egg records at leisure, say once or twice a week instead of every day. This convenience is likely to be abused, however, unless one is sys- tematic and has a regular, definite, and fairly frequent time for bring- ing the individual records up to date. Accuracy in Trap-Nesting. — The trap nest that is absolutely mis- take proof has not yet been devised, though there are several that are very accurate. One of these is shown in figure 7. The number of eggs laid on the floor may be reduced to from 1.5 to 3 per cent by careful management. It is not these eggs, however, which are the greatest problem from the standpoint of pedigreeing. The hen laying on the floor or dropping an egg from the perch fails to be credited with that egg, or if it is hatched, the chick goes unpedigreed on its dam's side. There is a lack of information, but no misinformation. It is the wrongly credited egg that may prove serious, leading to the recording of a spurious pedigree. Aside from the eggs laid outside the nest, errors in trap-nesting are most likely to arise through the efforts of two hens to enter the same nest at the same time. If both are successful the trap-nester dis- covers the situation. It is when one hen enters while the other pre- vents the trap door from closing that error is most likely to go undis- covered. The first hen lays and comes out. The second hen enters and is found on the nest with an egg, which is credited to her. She is released, and not infrequently fails to return to the nest that day, in which case the error may not be detected. If she does return and lay, suspicion will be aroused by the appearance of two eggs bearing her number. If on comparison marked differences between the eggs were found, one would be safe, though by no means certain, in assum- 16 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION ing that both were not laid by the same hen. If the eggs were closely similar it would be difficult to decide whether the hen had actually laid two eggs in one day (which sometimes undoubtedly occurs) , or whether there was a trapnest error. In such a situation, the safe course from the standpoint of pedigree accuracy, since one cannot be sure which egg belongs to the hen credited with both, is to pedigree-hatch neither, or to record the resulting chicks as the progeny of male heading the pen out of an unknown dam. It is a useful habit, when trap -nesting, to write the band-numbers on the small end of eggs which are to be incubated. This part of the shell is least frequently broken by the chick as it emerges. It is in fact so seldom destroyed, unless insufficient moisture is supplied in the incubator, as to make it unnecessary to include identifying labels in the pedigree trays or sacks. Identifying Wrongly Numbered Eggs. — In order to discover, if possible, the few eggs which are credited to the wrong females during the breeding season, and which if hatched would be entered on the records as the progeny of the wrong dam, provision should be made for the inspection and comparison of all eggs that have been credited to each female and that have been saved for hatching. This should be done every time eggs are put into the incubator, and may be done most conveniently by assembling the eggs of each female, as a matter of routine, as they are brought in and recorded. One section of a home-made cabinet for this purpose, devised by Dr. H. D. Goodale at the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station, is shown in figure 8. It is a chest of trays fitted with grooves so that the eggs lie in rows, one groove being reserved for each mated female and bearing a label with her leg-band number. Each egg, after being recorded in the proper egg record, is slipped into the front end of the groove bearing its number. If there are eggs already in the groove these are rolled back and thus automatically turned. When "setting day" comes, all the eggs of each mated female are found together, and after being carefully scrutinized are put into the incubator tray together. If on inspection the eggs in any one groove are found to be closely similar in shape, shell texture, and color (in the case of eggs from breeds showing variation in shell color), it is probable that no mis- take has been made. If an egg that is noticeably different from the others in several particulars is found, it is safe to assume that an error has been made. Such an egg should be discarded, or its num- ber changed from that of the female to that of the male heading the pen, so that it will be recorded as the offspring of the certainly known parent only. Circ. 299] POULTRY BREEDING RECORDS 17 Pedigree Hatching. — In so incubating eggs that the chicks of each hen may be identified, ordinary practice is followed until the eighteenth day of the incubation period, with two exceptions. First, it saves time later if care is taken that at each setting all eggs that have accu- mulated from any one hen go into the same egg tray. Second, the Fig. 8. — Pedigreed egg cabinet designed by Dr. H. D. Goodale. One section accommodates the eggs from 50 mated females. Courtesy Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station. second testing for live eggs should be delayed until the eighteenth day. Or if preferred, the customary fourteenth day testing may be made, and a third test made on the eighteenth day. The reason for delay is that a considerable proportion of the fertile eggs which die do so between the fourteenth and eighteenth days 18 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION (shown by Payne 4 to be about 19 per cent, or more than half of the average death rate of 35 per cent between the seventh and eighteenth days). No dead eggs should be left to be carried through the pedigree hatching process. Fig. 9. — Pedigree sack containing seven chicks from seven eggs set. Courtesy Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station. On the eighteenth day all the eggs of each mated female are put into a separate sack, small tray, or wire basket (figs. 9, 10, 11 and 12), so arranged that the chicks cannot escape after hatching and can be identified with their mother bv the numbers on the shells. Fig. 10.— Looking down on an egg tray full of pedigreed chicks in sacks. Courtesy Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station. Hatching Record. — The record of a given female 's performance as a breeder is quite incomplete unless it includes her hatching record. So much emphasis has been laid upon a hen 's ability as a producer of eggs that the importance of her ability as a reproducer of chicks has been largely overlooked. A first requisite of an individual's success as a breeder is that it shall be an efficient reproducer. Sterility or a 4 Payne, L. F. Distribution of mortality during the period of incubation. Journal of American Association of Instructors and Investigators in Poultry Husbandry. 6:9-12. 1917. CiRC. 299] POULTRY BREEDING RECORDS 19 tendency toward sterility on the part of a male will usually be noticed because it affects the hatching record of a whole breeding pen. But low hatching power of the eggs. of an individual female, and, con- versely, exceptionally high hatching power of another individual Fig. 11. — Home-made pedigree baskets. Courtesy Hollywood Farms. c^c* Fig. 12. — Another style of pedigree basket. Courtesy Maine Agricultural Experiment Station. female in the same pen, are likely to go unnoticed unless the relation- ship between the number of eggs set from each individual and the number of chicks hatched during an entire season is a matter of record. Whether the eggs failing to hatch do so because of actual infertility or of a failure of the fertile eggs to hatch should also be recorded. 20 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION INDIVIDUAL HATCHING RECORD Season ot/9££ UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Mated with / ° D b. It 5 -i > D I o Q. 5g 3 2 0" H D J Z * 4 N T *5 « S3* H ^ s $ 8 ^ > ^ KSs nVO H**>* !a «i«U fa^ i^i (G «o I n n 8 S N{. s 1 *<0 i ^\4 l| ^ > i \ ^1° 5l3 % * \ I ^ I! 3 S8|3 (SIS S?$ $ > * K «0 ^ $*%• I $.0 K. 1 ^ 9 2L=S s * < V^ xv^ S N ^ ^ I > $ 1 CIRC. 299] POULTRY BREEDING RECORDS 27 Leg -Banding. — While the wing-band furnishes an accurate means of identifying individuals, it is neither quick nor convenient. The wing-band is small, and on the adult bird is hidden among the con- tour feathers of the wing. To lay back these feathers so that the number may be read when trap-nesting takes so much time as to be imprac- tical. On this account, birds are marked a second time with leg-bands, as described on page 5. There are numerous methods of numbering these adult bands, sev- eral of which are perhaps equally good. With any method it should be a cardinal principle that numbers are never duplicated. Some leg-band manufacturers recognize this fact to the extent of refusing to sell duplicate bands to a breeder, thereby rendering a valuable but not always appreciated service to beginners. Some breeders prefer to make the wing-band and leg-band num- bers correspond. AVhile such a practice is convenient in some ways, in the long run it is of doubtful value. Unless the method of num- bering leg-bands suggested above for wing-bands, or its equivalent, is resorted to so as to keep the size of the numbers comparatively small, in a few years they will become tco large to find space on the wing-band. While such a scheme works very well for wing-bands whose num- bers are copied on the records a very few times, and in such a way that the year date -need appear but once on a page containing many wing-band numbers, the situation is very different with leg-band numbers. Those of the females must be written on the eggs many times, during the breeding season at least, and many more times on pedigrees. In either case, the numbers under such a method are needlessly cumbersome and unwieldly. On the other hand, if the wing-bands were to be numbered in series continuing from year to year as suggested for the leg-bands, the breeder would be forced to one of two alternatives. He must either waste many leg-bands or do his own leg-band numbering. In the best-bred flocks under the most approved methods of management, a larger or smaller number of pedigreed chicks die or are discarded as unfit for survival. Each dead or discarded chick carries a number which cannot be used for an adult bird. If ready-numbered leg-bands are used, those carrying these numbers must be thrown away. If one makes it a practice to buy blank bands and number them oneself, which is less economical, there are wasted numbers which force the size of the numbers up with undue rapidity, hastening the day when a letter must be used on the female leg-bands and changed from time to time in the interest of shorter and less unwieldy numbers. Thus 28 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION ^ OS o Q CIRC. 299] POULTRY BREEDING RECORDS 29 when the number 9999 was reached, it if seemed undesirable to extend the numbers to another place, as would be necessary with 10.000, a new start could be made with Al. A hen with this number mated with 906M would appear thus — 906MA1 — in the mating numbers of her chicks. It will be obvious that if the wing-band and leg-band numbers agree, the columns in the "Chick Index" headed "Leg Band No." are unnecessary. With the plan of numbering used in this circular, when the pullets are put in the' laying house in the fall and the best cockerels are reserved as possible breeders, the leg-band numbers given must be recorded opposite the respective wing-band numbers. The cockerels destined for sale as breeders, and this also applies to any pullets to be sold, should not be leg-banded. Purchasers will prefer to use their own leg-bands, and the identity of the birds can be determined by the wing-bands. TRACING PEDIGREES Where a sire's record is kept for every male used as a breeder, and individual egg records are used for all females trap-nested, it is unnecessary to keep a separate flock breeding record corresponding to the official herdbooks of other pure-bred live stock. Such a record is automatically kept by the two records named above. Each chick hatched has its mating number, which makes known its sire and dam. The sire's record (figure 2) shows the sire's mating number, which makes known the chick 's paternal grandsire and granddam. The dam 's egg record (figure 5) shows her mating number. The mating numbers of the grandparents will be shown on their respective records and the numbers of the eight great-grandparents learned. The mating numbers of these individuals in turn will appear on their records, and so the ancestry may be traced back to the foundation breeders of the flock, or to the individuals which were the first recorded. For the sake of making clear the use of the mating number in writ- ing pedigrees, without unduly increasing the number of illustrations, as would be necessary to show all the sires ' records and egg records of the individuals involved, pages from a "Flock Breeding Record" are shown in figures 22 and 23, from which the pedigree in the "Sire's Record" shown in figure 3 may be traced. It should be clearly under- stood, however, that these figures are for convenience of illustration only and are not essential to keeping a complete breeding record unless one is not keeping egg records. In this case the "Flock Breeding Record" would be necessary for the females. 30 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION university of California FLOCK BREEDING RECORD POULTRY DIVISION Band No*..--jL 3~6 LEO BAND NUMBER MATING NUMBER LEG BAND NUMBER MATING NUMBER X^™ MATING NUMBER LEG BAND NUMBER MATING NUMBER / ttrndona 1 - bred /*- &/rc/x*red of /mdar-d- 6/Te-d t^A^?ob/^/-Arvd fores??* or?4y?o*> 3J fbreatj onfao*") 44 tforr/s . FLrrchosed of 4 1 /Cow* \ At/rc*x/sed of IS \jbno a&fofe Cb//epc 4&favdosd- Ared 3£ \/bme/j& oo/r/*o*rs? t PfrrrddT/ -Arvd ^fbndxtJed of 3~ 3oneo~ \{&kzoabro'- &n?d 33 /%s/-oAojed of 46 AisrcAayec/ of A/anr^x POULTRY DIVISION Band Not./cfj?./. to 33.6. LEG BAND NUMBER MATING NUMBER LEG BAND NUMBER MATING NUMBER LEG BANO NUMBER MATING NUMBER LEG BAND NUMBER MATING NUMBER ££/ / Af £8 £.93 3 A7 3f 309 3~ A/ 43 3£3 / Af Af £88 3 Af l?o £96 .-9 Af 3£ 3/0 £Af 33 ^£4 fAf#7 283 3 M30 £97 3 Af 3t 3ff 3 Af 30 3£3~ / Af £9 £84 / M £9 £96 / Af £7 3f£ 3 Af J' J£6 / A? 3/ UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA POULTRY DIVISION FLOCK BREEDING RECORD Band N«..l£&£....to,.%£&