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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 38

Food for Fowls

Food for Fowls.

A writer in the New York Herald says: "If hens are rightly cared for they should pay from 200 to 300 per cent, profit as layers. They must not be stinted as to space, nor too many kept together. If confined, allow at least a square rod to each fowl. Imitate as closely as possible the condition of the hen in summer, and supply by artificial means the wants which nature supplies in warm weather, and hens will lay in winter. Let the floor of the hen house be of dry earth, with a box of dirt and ashes for their sand bath. Keep their quarters clean by removing their droppings at least three times a week. Give free ventilation. Supposing your hens to be in-good condition and healthy when they commence laying, give them the proper food to keep them so. Buckwheat and wheat are the best grains, although for varity other grain must be given. Give cooked food in various ways every day. Mush is excellent, as also fresh meat and scraps from the kitchen. Two or three times a week give fresh bones and ground bones, with gravel and broken oyster shells always within reach. Apples, cabbage, turnips and onions, raw or cooked, will be relished. The later in life a pullet commences to lay the longer she will continue to lay, and the greater will be the uniformity in the size of her eggs. A good Houdan hen will average from 100 to 150 egg a year; but to average that a flock must have care. Thick sour milk or buttermilk is an excellent article of diet through the heated season. The Haudans are very prolific, and will stand a great deal of cold, but they must be kept dry. The Plymouth Rocks are; almost constant layers, and bear confinement well. Their eggs are large and very even in size. Although their frame is not so large as the Brahmas, they are more plump and fatten readily.

Handling Improved Poultuv.—One of the important principles in the breeding of improved poultry, and the principle will apply as well to the breeding of stock of any kind, is the absolute necessity that each individual should be absolutely without fear of those who care for them. Many clutches of eggs are ruined every year by inattention to this matter. The birds should be used to being handled, and should be taught to come freely to the breeder or the attendants at call. If birds are early taught this lesson, and are never allowed to be frightened, they will have no fear whatever of those about them, and will soon come to be as much attached to the attendants as the house dog. On the other hand, if allowed to be driven and goaded about they never forget it. If properly handled they will not only give uniform satisfaction while setting and rearing their flocks, but will also thrive better and fatten more kindly.