652 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



tlioir feed from (he first nnd always give skim milk if it is obtainable. 

 It makes an excellent diink for j^rowing chicks and la\in<>' liens. 

 Unless the weather is very mild, I like to shut up my winter layers 

 by the first of November. When once shut up they should not be let 

 out again until warm weather comes, because it takes from two to 

 four weeks for them to get used to being confined. If let out for a 

 few warm days they will be uneasy when shut up again, so will 

 not lay much until they are settled down. I generally put twenty 

 to twenty-five in a pen. The room should be at least 10x12 or larger; 

 five square feet of floor space to each hen is my rule. Such a room 

 should have at least one double sash window on the south side; a 

 dust box close to it. If the house is made warm enough so large 

 combs wont freeze in the coldest w'eather, then it is warm enough. 

 Never give your hens a heavy breakfast of warm raash the first thing 

 unless you want to make them fat, for as soon as they have eaten 

 they will climb up on the roost or stand on the edge of a nest and 

 act stupid until hungrj' agaio. They do not get the exercise neces- 

 sary for a lading hen. Either give a light feed of mash or cooked 

 meat, or boiled vegetables, something that will digest quickly. As 

 soon as they have eaten, or shortly after, I give a light feed of wheat, 

 buckwheat, corn or oats, in the litter on the floor, which is gener- 

 ally oat straw six inches thick. The fowls are still hungry and will 

 dive into this and work hard. They should be watered the first 

 thing with w^arm water in cold weather; never let the dish gee 

 empt}'. A laying hen requires lots of drink. At noon I give green 

 stuff, either cabbage or beets, one day; the next day I give meat, 

 either raw or cooked, nearly all they will eat; also a little more 

 grain in tjie litter to start them to exercising. At night they get the 

 heavy feed, which is cut clover or clover leaves, enough to make half 

 the bulk of the feed, which is scalded with enough hot water to soften 

 it. Then I add some liquor from some cooked meat, or some skim 

 milk, enough to make what slop I want. Then add some cut bone and 

 thicken with bone meal and shorts. Of this they have all they can 

 eat before going to roost. A pen of twenty-five pullets hatched the 

 first of May and well raised should begin to lay by Thanksgiving, 

 and by January 1, they should lay from six to twelve eggs a day and 

 keep it up all winter. When spring comes they will lay more, but 

 not as much, of course, as the hens that did not lay in the winter. 

 If they are of the heavy breeds they will want to set early and keep 

 it up. The light breeds will set some, but not as much. Some of 

 them will quit laying early, probably by July. If you have a suffi- 

 cient number of pullets raised to fill your coop for the coming win- 

 ter, then by the first of July beg^n to cull out the poorest hens and 

 sell. They bring a good price early. By the first of November they 

 should all be gone and the coop cleaned out, fresh dirt and sand put 

 in and made ready for the pullets when the bad weather begins. By 

 keeping a close watch of your flocks through the season you will 

 all the time be getting new ideas. Experience is one of the most 

 essential requirements to make egg-production a paying business, 

 especially on a large scale. 



