No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 649 



iterranean fowls are best adapted. If for botli meat and eggs, the 

 medium-sized fowls, such as the Plymouth Rocks and Wyandottes 

 will answer best. If simply meat production is desired, the Asiatics, 

 or heavy-bodied fowls should be bred. Such stock should have a 

 variety of food. As grain food, wheat and oats take the lead, corn 

 should be fed rather scantily on account of its fattening properties. 

 They should have a daily supply of green food, also some meat or 

 milk food. Ground oyster-shells and grit should always be supplied. 

 Fresh water should be supplied twice daily. Lice should never be 

 allowed to infest breeding stock, as a lousy fowl is as bad to breed 

 from as a diseased fowl, as both are debilitated, hence cannot pro- 

 duce healthy chicks. Eggs from such stock, as described, if prop- 

 erly handled and cared for previous to incubation, cannot fail to 

 produce healthy chicks. 



We have practiced both the old way of incubation and the modern 

 method (machine incubation). Both have their advantages and 

 disadvantages. It, however, remains a fact that where large num- 

 bers of chicks are to be raised artificial incubation must be resorted 

 to to meet that end. It is beyond doubt that the incubator and 

 brooder have come to stay. 



Chickens require no food for the first twentj^-four hours after in- 

 cubation; warmth is what is most needed during that time. Stale 

 bread soaked in warm, new' milk, afterward pressed almost dry, 

 is the best feed to be given for the first few days they are fed. After 

 that we give granulated oats and wheat in addition to the bread 

 ration. We feed in shallow troughs, kept clean. For drink we pre- 

 fer new milk for the first week; after that fresh water is supplied 

 in clean fountains, thrice, daily. After they are a week old we feed 

 cracked corn and wheat, a little bone meal and clover meal daily, 

 if in winter, in place of grass. After they are several weeks old until 

 they are fullgrown we feed a variety of food, all they will eat up 

 clean. I never saw a chick get too fat by liberal feeding, as the rapid 

 growth prevents that. Young stock should always be supplied with 

 sharp grit, as it prevents bowel troubles and indigestion to quite 

 an extent. 



Since egg production is the chief object by the majority of poul- 

 trymen, it is necessary to practice the best methods of feeding adult 

 fowls. In the springtime, when the weather is warm, green food 

 should be given in abundance. When the fowls can roam over mea- 

 dows, fields and forests in quest of insects and grains, it is then 

 when they will lay the most eggs. Consequently, we must try to im- 

 itate nature by making springtime, even during winter, when the 

 ground is frozen and covered with snow, consecjuently devoid of vege- 

 tation and insect life. We must seek to supply this deficiency by pn- 

 viding for our hens a spacious, cl^an, warm place to roost and exer- 

 cise in, besides furnishing them a proper proportion of the different 

 cereals and green foods, also a liberal amount of so-called meat or 

 milk food, to take the place of bugs, worms and other insects they 

 are now devoid of. 



It is conceded by most poultryraen that soft-mixed feed should 

 constitute a portion of the daily rations. On account of the condi- 

 tion of the digestive organs, it is best to feed soft food in the morn- 

 ing, as it will digest quicker than whole grain. From five to six 



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