244 State Board of Agriculture, &c. 



from dayliglit to dark, and give only wliat will l)e eaten up 

 clean at one time. I feed corn meal and shorts mixed, curd^ 

 boiled potatoes and, after they are a few weeks old, a few 

 scraps, and the last feed at night of cracked corn. Give a 

 little bone meal in their dough, say a Spoonful to a pint of 

 meal, once a day. Keep fresh water by them, and do not 

 forget the " Douglas Mixture." And liere let me remark 

 that skimmed milk is one of the best feeds, or rather drinks^ 

 for either chickens or laying hens. The chickens must have 

 a good range, and plenty ot grass. When old enough, let 

 the hen out of the coop after the dew is off. 



The chickens must have a chance to eat away from the 

 grown hens. Make a rack of laths, or board sides and top 

 will do ]'ust as well, and have the end laths run up and 

 down, pist far enough apart so that old hens cannot get 

 through ; two feet is high enough. The size of the rack 

 can vary with the number of chickens raised. Keep cracked 

 corn by them, and feed four times a day with dough, after 

 the chickens are five weeks old. The cockerels should be 

 sold for broilers when large enough, if possible. They 

 should be sold early at any rate, as they bring a good price,, 

 and it saves feed. If kept until fall, the cockerels should 

 be separated from the pullets when about twelve weeks old, 

 the age depending somewhat on the breed. Keep over only 

 the best pullets. Many farmers sell the largest and earliest 

 because they bring more. 



Any number of fowls may be kept, always remembering 

 that twenty are enough to be kept in one flock In locali- 

 ties where hawks and foxes do not trouble, small, movable 

 houses, such as I have described, can be scattered over the 



