POULTRY. 



HENS, CHICKENS, TURKEYS, DUCKS AND GEESR- 

 Winter Care of. upon a Large Scale — House For— Best Breeds, 



Etc.— As it has been thoroughly taught through the newspapers for several 

 years passed that poultry raising upon a larger scale than about fifty hens could 

 not be done safely, I propose to give a different idea, by quoting the report of 

 a committee of the New York Farmers' Club, made through the Hearth and 

 Borne. All that is needed to carry on the business upon a large scale is to 

 know how, and that is learned from this report, from one who has proved, by 

 several years' experience, that it has been done and therefore can be done again. 

 The committee was appointed by the Club to visit poultry yards and ascertain 

 the best mode of carrying feathered stock through cold weather, which was 

 as follows: 



" On Wednesday last we spent the day at the farm of "Warren Leland, 25 

 miles north of this city ( New York ). at Rye Station, and have derived, from a 

 careful survey of his yards, ideas which we consider important. We find him 

 carrying 150 turkeys, about 300 hens, a large drove of ducks, and several 

 dozen of geese through the winter without the loss of any of his poultry by 

 disease of any sort, and without the freezing of their feet or their legs. We 

 learn that he never has maladies among his poultry, that he will aUow the 

 greater part of his hens to set in the spring, and each of them will yield aa 

 average brood of 10 chicks; so that he will raise about 3,000 chickens from his 

 present flock, and his losses be very few. How does he do it ? 1. His hens, 

 ducks and geese have the best winter quarters we have ever seen provided for 

 any of the feathered tribes. Their main barrack or hennery is a stone house 

 75 feet long and 20 feet wide, and faces south. The openings on the north 

 side are small and filled with window-glass, and in some cases with double 

 sash. Those on the south side are much larger, consisting of double doors, 

 which are opened on sunny days. In the middle of the north side is a wide, 

 old-fashioned fire-place, with crane and a big camp-kettle. Nearly every day 

 in winter a fire is lit and fed with chunks, knots and old logs that would other- 

 wise be knocked about the wood-yard. The walls are of stone, and the floor 

 of rock or earth, so the fire can be left without the least danger. On cold days, 

 and especially in cold rains, the hens gather before this fire and warm them- 

 selves and trim their feathers. The chimney can easily be closed, or the logs 

 rolled out into the middle of the building, and feathers or sulphur used 

 to make a fumigation. This is done whenever hen-lice appear; and the open- 

 ings of the house can be closed so as to hold the fumigation till it penetrates to 

 every crack. Smoke he finds better than carbolic acid, or kerosene, or white- 

 wash to drive vermin. 



" The roosts are oak slats 1 inch thick by 2^^ inches wide, fastened to the 

 rafters near the ridge. They are nailed at different heights and at proper 

 intervals. About 2 feet below the perches is a scaffold of boards that fit quite 

 closely. This is from time to time covered with plaster and ashes. Aoout 

 once a month the accumulations are shoveled down and piled up for the corn- 

 field. He calculates that 50 heus yield in the course of a year as much com- 



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