64 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



use an open iron dish that is just about the size of an ordinary 

 brick, made out of cast iron. 



Question. Just how do you rig that private box for the 

 hen? How do you keep them so that the chicks can go out 

 and in? 



Mr. Almy. Do j^ou mean the cracker box? 



Question. Yes. 



Mr. Almy. We take the cover that comes on the cracker 

 box and saw the top of the box right through and then we take 

 the cover side of the box and nail lath over the open space so 

 that from one-third to one-half of the front is open, and the 

 rest is closed. I put on strips of lath across the open space so 

 that the hen cannot escape, and so the chickens can easily run 

 in and out. 



Question. Did you ever try feeding from a hopper? 



Mr, Almy. That is quite generally used in our locality. 

 I think a large majority of the poultrymen in that section do 

 feed from a hopper, but I have never done so. 



Question. What is the objection to that? 



Mr. Almy. One objection is that the house soon gets in- 

 fested with rats, so that you waste a lot of your grain, where- 

 as if you put in each day just what they will eat there is not 

 much grain left over during the night. Of course, the night 

 time is the time when the rats come in. 



Question. What amount of food do you give to a dozen 

 hens? 



Mr. Almy. Well, in flocks of from 40 to 45, we feed 

 about four quarts of ordinary grain, and of the mash all they 

 will eat up in an hour or two. 



Question. You speak of rats. Do they get your chickens 



sometimes ? 



Mr. Almy. Occasionally, yes. Not to any great extent. 



The President. What do you feed them when they get to 

 feeding on your chickens? 



Mr. Almy. \ye usually take a big stick to them, and go 



