THE BOOK OF POULTRY 



the large boiler, in which we have already 

 steamed a few bucketfuls of whole oats. The 

 whole IS well mixed in the mixing trough, 

 until a good mash, crumbly, but not sloppy, 

 is made, and this is taken to the birds in the 

 wheelbarrow. 



" We give the birds as much as they will 

 possibly eat at night, and if there is a little 

 left overnight we do not mind. In my opinion 

 they should leave a little of the night's feed. 

 There is not so much danger of the stuff going 

 sour in large flocks of birds like these. They 

 are not easily overfed. But the great point is 

 to give them sufficient m proportion to the 

 smaller flocks. 



" My idea is, that the profit from such a 

 house, with such treatment, should yield ;{,iOO 

 per year ; this is allowing for depreciation of 

 the house and birds and rent, but not including 

 the proportion to be debited to attention. This 

 IS my honest opinion, and I have tested it now 

 for some years. In conclusion, I do not want 

 readers to run away with the idea that the semi- 

 intensive system is something quite new ; it 

 has been given a twenty years' experience 

 by me and is English. Providing a man 

 will do all that I have set forth, and take 

 off his jacket to it, he will get on all right, 

 but it is no use the lazy man attempting 

 the business, for it requires attention every 

 day — .Sunday as well as week day." 



A statement such as this from 

 Conclusions. =0 experienced a poultry-keeper 

 as Mr. Barron naturally at- 

 tracted considerable criticism, and a reply 

 by Mr. Meech, in his paper on Jan. 14, 

 19 14, took grave exception from the inten- 

 sivist point of view to these criticisms. 

 Briefly put, these objections were to the effect 

 that for intensive purposes Mr. Barron's 

 house was not suitable, being wrong in con- 

 struction, deficient in light and ventilation, 

 and for the number of birds (400) had, instead 

 of four square feet for each bird, but a frac- 

 tion over three feet. Mr. Meech condemned 

 the apex type of house and the size of the flock 

 of birds placed therein, maintaining that with 

 smaller flocks of 100 at most, and a better 

 arranged house, Mr. Barron's conclusions 

 would have been different. 



Such points are, of course, quite fair to 

 advance, but we think from our visits to several 

 of these great utility poultry-farms, including 

 the well-known Worcestershire Poultry Farm, 

 and the experiences already cited, that for them 

 the semi-intensive method is the better. The 

 large and varied head of stock carried, the fact 



that ample grass run -is usually available, and 

 that the big staff of helpers necessary does not 

 admit of that minute personal attention to de- 

 tail which seems such an essential feature of 

 the purely intensive system, all tend to the 

 conclusion, as they themselves appear to have 

 found, that for them the older method is the 

 better course. 



Such a conclusion can be arrived at without 

 in the least disparaging the utility of the in- 

 tensive system for egg and table chicken pro- 

 duction, as indicated earlier in this chapter. 

 For breeding purposes it will always be well 

 to have stock available bred and raised on free 

 range systems until more exact information is 

 forthcoming as to the effect of close confine- 

 ment, and purely artificial feeding on several 

 generations of intensively bred fowls. It has 

 been stated, we know, that neither health nor 

 constitutional vigour suffers even to the tenth 

 generation of intensively bred poultry, but 

 until exact comparisons can be instituted and 

 results scientifically tested, it appears better 

 to go by human analogy, and just as most 

 statesmen deplore the growth of a town-bred 

 nation as opposed to one of the sturdy 

 yeoman type, so we may conclude that young 

 stock reared under healthy, open-air conditions 

 and free range will make better material, both 

 for intensivists and semi-intensivists, than 

 others bred and brought up in confined and 

 purely artificial surroundings. 



Within these limitations, and with a wise 

 regard to the general principles of poultry- 

 keeping laid down in the other chapters of 

 this work, there seems little reason why the 

 intensive system, especially as applied to back- 

 yards and suburban gardens, should not add 

 thousands of successful recruits to the ranks of 

 poultry-keepers. 



For the benefit of beginners we conclude 

 this chapter with notes from a well-known 

 writer on utility poultry of a dry mash suit- 

 able for fowls kept intensively for egg 

 production : — 



" A useful mixture is one measure of pea 

 or bean meal, four measures of sharps, one 

 measure of maize meal, four measures of 

 ground oats, one measure of fish or meat meal. 

 The above is described as the 'stock mash,' 

 and to one measure of this stock mash should 

 be added two of bran and two of clover meal 

 when it is ready for feeding. The feed is 

 supplied in hoppers, which may be closed or 

 opened at will by the attendant, and the birds 

 should have the run of these hoppers about 

 two hours per day." 



