Maturity Of Pullets Research Articles

The Influence of the Presence of Cockerels in the Flock Upon the Development of Pullets

IN all successful brooding operations, the chicks are always separated as soon as the sexes can be distinguished with certainty. This is done, according to Lippincott (1923) because “it is the only method by which normal growth and satisfactory development of the pullets can be secured.” Jull (1930) in a slightly different way, expressed the same thought thus, “the separation of the sexes at an early age is necessary for two reasons: to provide more roosting and housing room for the pullets and to prevent the cockerels from annoying the pullets.”To what extent does the presence of cockerels in a flock influence the growth and maturity of pullets? As far as the writers know this question has never been subjected to experimentation, and because of this the experiment here reported was conducted. The object of the study was to determine the influence of the presence of males upon the .

Relation Between Body Weight and Age at Sexual Maturity

SEXUAL maturity in pullets has been studied rather extensively by a number of investigators because of its relation to egg production. Some of the workers who have reported on this characteristic are: Rice (1915), Kennard (1921), Hurst (1921), Goodale (1922), Hays and Bennett (1923), Dunn (1923), Jull (1924), Kempster (1925), Lippincott et al (1925), Parkhurst (1926), Knox (1930), and others. The data of these investigators indicate in general that age at sexual maturity is highly variable in a flock. In the Rhode Island Red flock of 820 pullets hatched in 1923 at the Massachusetts Station, the coefficient of variation for age at first egg was 13.31 percent.Body weight at sexual maturity should be a useful crude measure of growth if the effect of variability in age could be removed. Card and Kirkpatrick (1918) report the mean weight at weekly intervals on 250 Rhode Island Red pullets. Their data show .