Poultry.

Western Star, Issue 346, 24 April 1880, Page 2 (Supplement)

Poultry.

OF EGGS.' IY, WINTER.^ Hens must have comfortable and coh-; venieht- quarters in winter. 1 Most keep too many hens for the ! accommoda-* tions they furnish them. Hens are naturally active animals, and when confiued in winter' quarters require plenty of room. Fifty hens an&, four cocks, of aUprdinary should Fave a feet by, 16 feet . in. the; clear, 1 and'lQ feet’ high in the (dear?' No class of atiiraals isrsb susceptible to the' ill effects of crowding-as the feathered class? The building, should .be well ventilated without admitting any gusts orndraughtsl of. wind. The, houses ,must be kept clean, and neat. , The , floors,,should, be .swept every day, and be dusted over .with' dry earth' ashes.'phaff, short straw, or, litter of any kind that can be’eisily removed;' Everyv hen f hoiise should have plenty of suitable roosts.-- There shduld be a shallow' box or tin in one Corner—a sunny. cdrhe'rt is best—containing idry o; ashes,- dry Cbipi dirt, or a mixture of them for the hens, to, wallow in j they enjoy their .bath in, winter’ as much "as in’ suihmer. 1 Where oyster shells cannot be easily procured there should be a box containing gravel within easy reach of the fowls.- n insufficient number ,of nest-boxes with nest-eggs J in them, several shallow vessels for water and a feed trough, will complete the necessary, outfit for the hen. house. A 'yery irapprf tant adjunct to the hen house is an. open shed where the fowls can-stay at pleasured Such a shed should protect the hens from* the prevailing; winds. ”; : v ; ’ h-U There is a great difference in the laying qualities of fowls. . Undej the same conditions some, breeds will lay twice Or thricer as many eggs in a given..time as, others. } As a rule, the smaller breeds are tbie best layers and of the ’’smaller breeds, the Leghorns'arepreferable for various reasons ; they lay a full medium-sized egg, are' enormous layers, are docile and easily re’--strained, and have a yellow skin. Of the large breeds the brahmas are the ? best layers. A ’cross of a Leghorn on light Brahma hens will be satisfactory. Where, one wishes to make eggs a specialty, only pullets should be kept for the and the earlier they are hatched the better. Do; not keep hens over more than onewinter unless for some good reason.;;; , c

When the proper accommodations are furnished, and the proper: breeds selected,} the next and mhst important step is., the,, feeding. Egg production is hard work forhens, especially 1 for those that are large layers] An egg is a potential chicken.' The hatching process adds nothing to the contents of the egg, but only develops thes chick from the substance already there.;} Thus in an egg there is the material for* bones, flesh, blood, brain, nerves, and all the organs of life. Hence, egg' production, considered physiologically, is an exhaustive when-hens s lay regularly and constantly. the shells of eggs are composed almost ex-’ clusively. of. carbonate, of lime..,; . Whena hens lays freely, she requires, a; supply of; the, raw material from which to secret this, carbonate,- and it should be furnished to her at: Ull times; vTsit th&& [ UVuio;:'.- Wiihkicai rub JuJo

that hens, as they are : ordinarily kept, do not lay in winter ? Their food must contain the materials: from which they secrete eggs, or they cannot lay. Probably ninetenths of all the poultry in the country are fed on raw, whole corn; We know that corn contains all. the elementary substances that eggs ;do, but in very much smaller quantities bulk for bulk, and when a hen has no other food, she cannot eat enough to afford the materials for an egg a day, or every other day. She will get fat and lazy, but cannot lay.; Hence the necessity for: a variety of diet.

■ln summer, when at liberty, then hens can find the variety of food that suits them, arid generally lay well without iriuch care ; but in winter they can get only what is given them; and generally they do not lay. But if we know the wants of the hens and supply them we may have as many eggs in winter as in summer. Poultry are large consumers of grass . when they can get it, and to keep in good health they must have it-or its equivalent in winter. Cabbages or boiled vegetables of any kind are good substitutes. Grass, if cut green and carefully dried in the shade, when put fine and steeped awhile in hot water is nearly as good as green grass, and is eagerly eaten m.winteri;. .Besides grass or its. equivalent we>; must .give a supply of lime. -Oyster shells, when they, cam be had, are the most convenient;; when:' .they- cannot bm had, ordinary;stone limeffoaMhekilns will do as well after it is slacked, but gravel must be;supplied with; this .latter form of lime. poultry must be classed among the omnivorous animals. There is nothing* that can be eaten that a hen willuriot; eatifehe can gets it; any kind of odds and ends, therefore, will not come amiss,- : ;and much Refuse matter that; would otherwise he wasted maylbeJhua.turned to good account. Hens are very large consumers in proportion to their size, arid scanty feeding in%ititefy?ill : n6t db, They should have as r muCh as they ivant to eat, and. as often, as *they want it, especially when they are laying well; They, should be supplied ■with animal food in sbme fprm; offal meat, crtfckHng, chandler’s scraps, thick soUr m?k,' &c., will give the hecessaryjsupply,

ijrnye made qUt a bill-of fare .for my hens based upon physiological principles, keeping in view, the composition of the egg itself, and. the-health and comfort of the hen.. . I do not claim that it la ths best or the only way to feed hens, hut it has answered so well with.me that I do not know how to alter it for the better. My beds have laid enormously. This is how : X .feed Their morning feed consists of cracked (very coarsely ground) corn, wheat screenings, or.wheat, or oats, and wheat bran scalded and fed warm in a trough. This is given them as soou as they can see to it; As soon as they are fed I break up a pound of oyster shells for thirty-five bead. Then they have fresh waferTrom the pump,’as much as they will dripk. Fowls * often j suffer for water in winter. After 1 have had my own breakfast I give them about a pound of scraps, or .crackling from the chandler’s shop. This is broken rin pieces with a hatchet. It furnishes animal food and is cheap; freshmeat is better, but dearer. I give 2 or 3 quartz of thick, sour milk every day, with a handful or two of wheat bran stirred iatd if. Besides this, I feed some cabbage, or .turnips, or potatoes every day. At; noon, they have a little, corn, or-:oats, or screenings, as the case may be, and fresh wafer again in- clean vessels. At night, before, roosting, time, they get as much whole corn as they will eat and; fresh water again. , I make it a rule-to; give as much ail they with eat,A hungry hen will not be a laying hen. : My hens never get too fat lay. i

The greatest regularity should be observed in feeding- and caring for flocks. Hay„e, a regular time for all the different operations,', and the hens 'will r, become as methodical as their keepers, Eggs should be GT ofteher in very cold weather. .'The morning'feed should,not be made too wet, and should not be given too hot. If some of it freezes before it is. eaten, break it up with a hammer/arid it will ail be consumed. In very cold weatherltis advisable to put a little cayenne pepper and a sprinkle of saltern their morning feed. Besides the above enunirirated ’articles, the heps should have all this scraps from the table; they are fond of them, arid will turn them to better account than cats or dogs will.

us recapitulate. Give your hens a reasonable share pf your attention ; furnish suitable accommodation; get and keep the right breed ; do not keep too many; fifty hens and four cocks are. as many as ever shoulff be k ept together-half the number Till,be heiter per xapHa; save only pullets, the hatch for furnish as grea£a variety of diet as possible, and feed as much as they will eat ; give green; food and.aniraal of spine sort in winter ; keep the ■•• hens quiet and comfortable ; don’t allow them to be worried or frightened; water is as important as food, and should be ijept clean and fresh. These rules, in* applied, will secure an abundant •uppfr of c?B8 at all times of the year.— Fancier*’Journal.t i [;

quarts of water in a kettle mad one large seed pepper,, or two small ones.- Then put the kettle'over. the. fire. .When the water boils, stir in coarse Indian meal until you have a thick mush. Let it cook an hour or so.' r. Feed hot. Horseradish chopped fine, and stirred into mush as prepared in the above’directions, and for results we are getting from five to ten eggs per day, whereas previous to feeding we had not had eggs, for a long time. We hear a good deal ;of complaint from other people about not getting eggs. To such we would warmly recommend cooked feed, fed hot. Boiled apple skins seasoned with , red pepper, or boiled potatoes seasoned with horseradish, are good feed —much better than uncooked food. Corn when fed to the hen by itself, has a tendency tp fatten rather than produce the more profitable; egg. laying. A spoonful of sulphur stirred, with, their feed occasionally, will rid thena ; of virmin and: tone up their system.—Kentucky Live Stock Record. Wintering Fowls. —lt is a great mistake to winter a large number of, fowls. It is a wellknown fact that poultry-keeping is always more profitable where flocks number no more than fifty or sixty each. If 200 or 300 are crowded together, they are much more [liable to be attacked by disease. We would advise that all bens over 2 years old should be fatted, either for table' or market; In case of hens possessing excellent qualities as mothers and sitters, or if pure-bred, an occasional exception to this rule might be made. By this time,, if fowls have been properly, managed, the superfluous young cockerels will have found they way either to the market or the table as broilers. As soon as the moulting season is over, separate the old hens and the inferior pullets-from such as are to he kept over. Keep, them ;in separate pens, not over a dozen in each (that is the old hens),, -andfeed them all they will, eat,- changing their food aiily,. giving cdrn in the grain,' boiled potatoes, " and - slightly salted 1 and peppered, cooked meat twice a week, with plenty of pure water; and.in a.very short time they will he in good marketable condition; then either use them "or sell them in marketeer table use.—Kentucky; Live Stock Journal.. : 1 : Tendency of the'High Breeding of Fowls.— So things are coming to this -pass, pays a writer in the London Gardeners’ Chronicle, that we are likely, soon to-have in'England beautiful birds, too good,to be eaten,’’ kopt_ like horses,' riot for their utility, but to gain prizes—• while, our market will be supplied ( with birds of no breed at all.: For if, as I suspect, exhibitions tend to produce pampered, tender birds, whose eggs and chickens cannot be depended on in :a bad winter like our last, those who rear, fowlsfor market will gradually cease to buy their eggs, and* will r 'content' themselves with hardier, - commoner birda ;• and the fine birds, of superior size and excellence, which were to have been introduced into every farm yard arid cottagegarden when exhibitions had drawn attention to them, will hut find .their way to .our tables. — There is a good, deal of truth in this, and we believe the want of success, arid the prevalence of disease, amongst poultry in New South "Wales is mainly attributable to "this; : cause, combined with indiscriminate, crossings. f .. The value of onions as .a food for fowls can scarcely" be overrated. They are a preventive remedy fer many of the diseases which domestic fowls are liable. For gapes onions are the best things that can he fed. "Werecommend giving fowls, arid'especiallyj young chickens, as many as they will eat, as often as three times a week. They should ho chopped up fine.