FARM ANIMALS. ii5 



older hens and the young ones when not laying should be 

 fed only enough to keep them eager for food. 



Salt should be fed mixed with the food, but not large 

 coarse crystals. One ounce of salt per day for one hun- 

 dred hens is a good proportion. 



Animal food and green or succulent vegetable food, as 

 well as grain, should always be fed to hens that are con- 

 fined. It is very important that ducks should have these 

 foods, especially growing ducklings. 



Some form of grit should be liberally supplied. 



A largely grain ration will not contain the lime required 

 by laying hens, and oyster-shells_ or some other form of 

 carbonate of lime will supply this deficiency. 



A grass run is better than any substitute in summer, but no 

 run should contain hens in such number as to kill the grass. 



Common fowls, especially laying hens, must be kept in 

 moderately small flocks. Where large numbers are kept, 

 they should be divided in small lots in separate pens and 

 yards. Ten to twenty in a pen give better results than 

 larger numbers. The laying hens should be kept sepa- 

 rated from those not laying. 



Hens will not always moult early enough to resume lay- 

 ing before midwinter. Chicks should be hatched in March 

 and April if eggs are to be obtained from the pullets in 

 November. Asiatics, to begin laying in the fall, should 

 be hatched in February and March. 



The best results in egg production cannot be secured 

 where the average space of open run available per hen is 

 much less than lOO square feet. The average floor-space 

 per hen indoors should be about 20 square feet. 



Exercise is of the utmost importance, especially for lay- 

 ing and breeding stock, and a good way to assure this in 

 winter-time is to scatter the grain in straw or any clean 

 and dry substitute. 



Dampness is fatal, and dry warm houses free from 

 draughts are essential in winter. The floors should be of 

 dry earth or fine gravel, or wooden floors covered with 

 straws or dry sand. The houses should be warm enough 

 to prevent freezing of water, but should not be warmed by 

 heating apparatus more than will insure against freezing. 



