138 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



With this care and feed they should grow very rapidly, 

 and as they develop and show maturity, with red combs and 

 gills, they should be removed from the cockerels and placed in 

 their winter houses before they begin laying, for if they begin 

 laying previous to this, the moving or housing will check egg pro- 

 duction, as it is the happy, contented hen as well as the busy hen 

 that produces the eggs, and anything that interferes with this 

 contentment will stop the production of eggs. Hence the im- 

 portance of having them accustomed to their new quarters 

 and begin laying before cold weather sets in and then they will 

 seldom stop if they have comfortable, dry quarters and proper 

 care. 



The style of the house is not so important as it is that it 

 should be dry and comfortable, but not too warm. The 'house 

 should face the south or southeast, with the back to tihe cold 

 winds, and be perfectly tight. Avoid too much glass, as, being 

 a good conductor of heat, it will make the house too warm in 

 the middle of the day and conduct all the heat out in the night 

 and make it too cold. The floors should be made of matched 

 boards through w'hich no draft can come from below, or 

 preferably a floor of cement ; these should be covered with dry 

 leaves, straw, or light litter of some kind to the depth of five 

 or six inches, and in this all the grain feed should be thrown, 

 causing them to scratch for it, thus keeping them busy. Al- 

 low five or six square feet of floor space to each hen in the 

 house; feed one pint of scratch feed per 12 hens in the morn- 

 ing and one quart to 12 hens in the afternoon, about an hour 

 before sunset, keeping the above dry mash in the hoppers at 

 all times and a liberal supply of clean water always before 

 them, as an egg is composed of 75 per cent, water. In addition 

 to the above-mentioned feed they should be furnished with 

 green or succulent feed, such as cabbage, turnips, mangels, 

 sugar beets, etc., as this will have a two-fold benefit. First, it 

 will help the other food to digest more readily, so that more 

 benefit will be derived from it ; and second, the succulence will 

 help to furnish them more moisture in addition to the water 

 that enters so largely into the composition of the egg. 



In the absence of the succulent feeds mentioned, no better 

 substitute can be found than sprouted oats. This can be sup- 

 plied in winter by soaking the oats in warm water 24 hours, 



