420 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



No other problem in our poultry experience has been so difficult of solvina: 

 as how to feed. What to feed and what not to feed. There are two things 

 necessary to produce large quantities of eggs. First, proper food and care; 

 second, a strong constitution, ona which will enable the fowls to digest and 

 assimilate a large amount of food. 



The moulting season of the hen isabout as good an indication of her 

 vigorous constitution as can be found. If she moults in a short time and 

 scarcely stops laying at all she is worthy of being selected as the mother of 

 a great nation and can be safely bred from. If she takes a long time to 

 moult, is "off her feed" she is weak, and the sooner you get rid of her the 

 better. Breed from her and your stock will soon "run out." 



In feeding for egg production a valuable lesson may be learned from 

 nature. If we notice fowls that receive the least care and attention laying 

 most of their eggs in the spring time notice the conditions surrounding 

 these fowls; the weather is warm, they have plenty of green food, more or 

 less grain, insects, plenty of exercise and fresh air. If we feed for egg pro- 

 duction we will endeavor to make it spring time all the year round. Provide a 

 warm place, not warm by artificial heat, but made as warm as possible, 

 give the poultry proper proportion of green food, such as vegetables, grain 

 and meat (milk in various forms will take the place of meat), grit, fresh air 

 and plenty of exercise. A great many make a mistake in feeding too much 

 corn. Get a chemical analysis of the egg and various foods, study them 

 with an eye to the demands of your flock and cost. This will keep you 

 figuring a day or two perhaps. Then judgment is a good thing to mix the 

 food with. Chickens should be made to work for every grain they get. To 

 make them do this throw it into a deep litter. Chickens, like people, do 

 not thrive and relish on a perpetual diet of the S9,me kind of food year in and 

 year out. If those who fail to get eggs will try the bill of fare they will be 

 amply paid for their trouble, and there will be no need of asking "Why 

 don't my hens lay?" I can not say that I have solved the problem to my 

 satisfaction, but I have received a good supply of eggs all winter. 



L'aying hens in winter require extra care and attention. Where a great 

 many people fail is in not properly protecting their fowls from sudden 

 changes of the temperature. Weather conditions are very changeable, 

 especially here in this neck of the woods where no two days are exactly alike. 

 Watch the thermometer while you are working for eggs. It is not the 

 extreme cold weather that checks egg production-, but the sudden changes 

 which in nine cases out of ten may be avoided by a watchful poultryman. 

 Keep the hens in their houses when the thermometer gets to zero and lower. 

 Care of poultry in winter is no small affair and when properly done the 

 results will be beyond expectations. 



THE INCUBATOR. 



An incubator is today as much a necessity in the poultry business as the 

 poultry itself. You might just as well try to run an egg farm without hens 

 as to try to raise chickens without an incubator, or cultivate corn without a 

 cultivator. Incubators have been used for thousands of years. In Egypt 



