HINTS ABOUT MANAGEMENT. 



HOW TO GET LARGE BIRDS. 



Many purchasers of fine stock, or of their immediate 

 descendants, fail to secure as fine birds as the seller raises, 

 and are unhappy. They hear of eighteen-pound light or 

 dark Brahma cocks, and twelve-pound hens of some noted 

 breeder, or of mammoth bronze turkeys weighing sixty 

 or more pounds to the pair. They order the eggs or 

 young birds of such stock, hand them over to some ser- 

 vant or neighbor, who is not skilled in breeding, feeds 

 irregularly, or regularly stints them, and at the end of 

 six months wonder that they have not first-class birds, 

 equal to the advertisement. They think they have been 

 cheated, and set down the breeder as a rogue. There 

 are men, no doubt, in the poultry business who cannot be 

 trusted, but there are also a large number of men who 

 have brought capital, skill, and integrity to their busi- 

 ness, and who would not knowingly let a poor fowl go 

 from their yards. They sell, uniformly, stock true to 

 name, but at so early an age that the development does 

 not always answer expectations. A turkey does not get 

 its full growth until the third year, but most of them are 

 sold at from four to eight months. Ducks and hens are 

 not fully developed until the second year, and yet most 

 of them are sold under nine months old. While it is 

 true that large stock is essential to the raising of large 

 birds, another factor is quite as essential. This is abund- 

 ant feed during the whole period of growth. The grand re- 

 sults obtained by our skillful breeders are reached by care 

 and feed, after they have selected their stock. To make 

 the most of a young bird, it should be fed with a variety 

 of food at least five times a day, from daylight in the 

 morning until the middle of the afternoon. It is well to 

 omit late feeding, to give time for digestion. Slack or 

 full feed will make a difference of six pounds in the 



