POULTRY 



4801 



POULTRY 



and good brooders and mothers. They are more 

 active than meat fowls and less active than the 

 egg: layers. Examples are Plymouth Rocks, 

 Wyandottes and Rhode Island Reds. 



Care of Poultry. Chickens cannot thrive on 

 wet land, so the plot selected for their range 

 should have good, natural drainage. Accumu- 

 lations of mud can be prevented by spreading 

 sand or gravel on the ground. Chickens should 

 have plenty of room in which to run about, for 



Fi 



HOW TO JUDGE FOWLS 

 Fig. 1 shows a bird of good conformation. Com- 

 pare neck (1), back (2) and keel (4) with cor- 

 responding parts in Fig. 2. This bird has good 

 depth (3), medium length of leg (5) and a plump 

 bnast. 



Fig. 2 shows a bird of weak constitution and a 

 poor breeder. The neck ( 1 ) is too long and 

 slender, the back (2) and keel (4) are too short, 

 the leg (5) is too long, and the breast (3) is too 

 shallow. 



they require exercise; if the business is con- 

 ducted on a general farm and it is not advis- 

 able to give them free range, they should be 

 provided with fenced-in yards of reasonable 

 size. Housing is a matter of first importance. 

 Elaborate design and costly fittings are not 

 essential, but convenience and provisiqn for 



MJiness and ventilation are prime requisites. 



Thf henhouse should be warm in winter and 



! in summer, be provided with good roosting 



ities, and be so constructed as to prevent 



entrance of rats, vermin and other chicken 

 peats. Overcrowding of poultry, especially of 



little chickens, should always be avoided. 



Specific suggestions as to size, material and 



plan of construction may be found in the nu- 



mrrous poultry books, bulletins and journals 



riunlly published (see list at the end of 



article). 



-ons should not be fed in a haphazard 



nor, for it has been definitely proved that 



ggs as well as the moat are affected by th.- 

 food. Egg layers should be fed a mixed diet 



rain, animal food and green matter, and 

 should also be supplied with lime and other 



ral matters that enter into the composi- 



of eggshells. Grit for helping digest the 



food and an abundance of pure water are no 



301 



less important. Though corn is the standard 

 grain for fattening fowls, wheat and oats are 

 essential for egg layers. In general, egg layers 

 should have a diet in which the ratio of protein 

 to carbohydrates and fat is one to four or five. 

 The following table shows a number of the 

 standard poultry foods and their percentage 

 composition: 



Percentage Composition of I .., MI- 

 CARBOHYDRATES 

 N 



Breeding and Hatching. Poultry raisers are 

 now giving much attention to the subject of 

 breeding, as they know that the success of (ho 

 business depends upon the elimination of the 



