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curds for the older fowls. Once the chickens are feathered they 

 should be encouraged to roost, by being driven into the fowlhouse 

 or where the roosts are. The hen will generally teach them to roost, 

 after which they are of no further trouble. 



" Directly the young cockerels arc noticed chasing the hens they 

 should be separated from the rest and put into a pen by themselves, 

 and either fattened for market or sold to improve other yards. 

 Those intended for the show-pen should be kept apart, fed generously, 

 and handled as I have directed elsewhere. Pullets for the show-pen 

 should be penned up also, and specially treated. 



FEEDING THE FOWLS. 



" Fowls are very early risers, and should be fed as soon as possible 

 after they leave their roosts. Grain is best suited for this time of day. 

 Meat is a wonderful egg-producing food, and I would advise every 

 poultry -keeper to arrange with his butcher for the supply of a certain 

 amount of waste meat for the laying hens each week. It has been 

 said that much meat makes the eggs coarse and strong in flavour ; this 

 is only so when no grain food is given. For instance, hens fed on 

 meat, pollard and bran, or only soft food Avill produce eggs of a strong 

 flavour and very rich-looking yolks. But if a fair amount of grain 

 be fed with the meat, and the fowls have access to plenty of green 

 food, there will be no better flavoured eggs. Raw meat will impart 

 an unpleasant taste ; but all meat for the hens should be boiled to 

 rags, — unless it be dried and ground or pounded up, when it would 

 not be so good for laying hens. Fish, also, makes an excellent food for 

 all kinds of poultry, particularly for growing stock ; and as there are 

 very often quantities rendered unfit for human consumption during 

 the hot weather, those poultry-keepers who can do so, should try and 

 make some arrangement with the fishermen to let them have all their 

 " gone-off " fish before it gets too bad. It will not do to kill birds for 

 table off a diet of fish ; they require to be penned up and fed for 

 about ten days on other food, and a good proportion of grain to harden 

 their flesh. 



" One thing with regard to feeding meat to the hens : It does not 

 do for the breeding stock, as it reduces the fertility of the eggs. Too 

 much fish has the same effect ; and hens penned up for breeding should 

 have no more than a moderate share of meat while laying. Sweet 

 potatoes, either boiled or raw, are excellent for fowls ; and, a diet of 

 them makes a very noticeable difference in the quality of the eggs. 

 The yolk is rather light in colour, but the "white" firm and thick 

 without the least liquid or watery matter about it. So rich are they 

 sometimes, that they have been known to thicken a pint of milk without 

 any cornflour or any other thickening being necessary. 



" The great secret to keep the hens laying is constant change of 

 food, and variety in what you give. Where a large number of fowls 

 are kept the food should be measured, so as to allow of each one get- 

 ting a fair share. They will look after themselves, provided the food 

 is distributed so that all can get to it. If bone-meal or bone-dust (it 

 is often called) is procurable, it will pay to always have some, and 

 allow about a cupful to the soft food for fifty hens once a day. On a 

 large poultry farm it will pay to buy a small bone-mill and crush the 



