GRIT AND GIZZARD 91 



her head down, the trouble is indigestion. Give her grit and char- 

 coal. 



When your hens do not care for their food, tone dp their appe- 

 tites by a dose of grit. 



When they are not laying as well as you think they should, give 

 them grit. 



When hens moult slowly, it is often from impaired digestion. 

 Give them grit and charcoal. 



When you want the hens to derive all the benefit of the nutrition 

 in the food, supply them with, good, sharp grit. 



If you want vigorous, profitable hens, give them a liberal supply 

 of grit. 



When your hens are too fat, when they lay thin shelled eggs, 

 give them grit. 



A friend of mine was very much troubled with soft-shelled eggs. 

 She got her husband to take his wagon to the hills, where there is 

 a good quarry of what is called rotten granite. He brought home 

 a load of it, and in a few days the hens laid hard shelled eggs and 

 she told me that the shells were so hard that the chicks could hardly 

 break out of them. 



The value of good sharp grit can scarcely be overestimated, and 

 yet even intelligent people do not realize it. Some think that there 

 is grit enough in the natural soil. This is rarely the case, for hens, 

 wild birds, or pigeons pick up the sharpest and best grit, so that 

 even on a farm where the hens have free range there is rarely 

 enough grit of the proper kind, and when fowls are kept yarded 

 there is never enough unless they are artificially supplied. If you 

 doubt this, try the experiment of giving your hens some broken 

 china. The pieces should not be larger than a pea and should have 

 three sharp corners. You will be surprised to see how eagerly the 

 hens will eat the china. 



The best layer I ever had laid 225 eggs in nine months and 

 moulted during that time. She was the greatest eater of grit I 

 ever saw. Every night before going to roost she ran down to the 

 grit box and took three pieces. Every time she laid an egg she 

 refreshed herself with some grit, and I learned by observation that 

 all my best layers were the most constant visitors to the grit box. 

 Hens that consume the most grit are those that get the most nutri- 

 tion out of their food, lay the most eggs, are the healthiest, have the 

 most fertile eggs and pay the best. 



Grit to grind the food and charcoal to keep it pure during this 

 process and, for laying hens, oyster shells to supply the lime for 

 the eggshells, these are so necessary that we are almost tired of 

 the mention of them in the poultry papers, but "lest we forget" I 

 have written about them again. 



