EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 241 



roof is accessible, draw it out into a nearby meadow or corn field. The 

 sides of the house ma}^ be enclosed with wire which should be covered 

 with cloth or burlap on the north and east. This will prevent a direct 

 draught on the chicks. The general trouble with summer houses is 

 from too little rather than too much air, yet a direct draught should 

 be avoided. 



The mash feed at this time should be similar to that used earlier. 

 A mash composed of two parts corn meal, one part bran, and one part 

 middlings has been found very satisfactory. This feed may be placed 

 in a self-feed hopper and the pullets allowed to help themselves. They 

 will be able to find plenty of meat in the form of insects on most ranges. 

 A flock of growing pullets will do more to rid a meadow of harmful 

 insects than a lot of such pests as crows, and one will find that even 

 in the corn field they do no harm if properly fed. With a large run 

 they do but vei'y little scratching, as they seem to prefer to run down 

 an insect rather than dig one out of the ground. They will, of course, 

 appropriate a small place for a dust bath unless you furnish them with 

 one. 



The house should be constructed so that it can be locked. Leave a 

 place, however, where the pullets may go in and out at will. If they 

 are allowed to do this you will find that about three o'clock in the morn- 

 ing they will come stealing out and scatter over the meadow. The 

 grasshoppers are now sluggish with the cold dew and are readily picked 

 up and devoured. Perhaps the good that the pullets do to the crops 

 has been emphasized more than the good they derive from the open 

 range, but a single trial should convince the most sceptical that the 

 healthiest kind of fowls can be raised in this way. 



In case the owner of the fowls lives in a village, so plan your chicken 

 house, yards and garden that the hens can be readily changed from 

 one place to another. As soon as the early vegetables have been re- 

 moved from one part of the garden, seed the ground to rye. When the 

 rye has made a good start, turn the pullets in and let them dig and 

 scratch all they will. Some may say that this is too much trouble, 

 but those who have tried it are satisfied with the results. One cannot 

 expect to raise strong, healthy chicks on ground that has been poisoned 

 for years by preceding generations of fowls. Plow up the old yard 

 and use it for a garden for a year or two. If it is not too rich it will 

 prove an excellent garden and the old one ^ill be greatly benefitted 

 by a year's rest and fertilization b}' the droppings from the fowls. 



Man}' people have failed in poultry raising simply because when they 

 increased the number kept they did not increase the size of their houses, 

 yards and runs. For instance a farmer or villager is doing well with 

 thirty hens. He determines to increase the number to one hundred. 

 The next spring he hatches about three times as many as formerly and 

 raises them on the same range. The range probably could be kept 

 sanitary with fifty chicks, but when increased to one hundred and fifty 

 they do not grow strong and vigorous. Before increasing the size of 

 the flock consider the possibilities for greater facilities to accommo- 

 date and handle them properly. Provide ample house room to accom- 

 modate the increased flock for winter. Each hen should have about five 

 square feet of floor space. Measure the house and see how many hens 

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