POULTRY KEEPING 581 



and can generally be obtained by feeding the moderate amount of 

 corn. Plenty of green feed also enriches the color of the yolk. 



The Droppings as an Indication of Health The condition of the 

 droppings furnish a good indication of the hen's health. They should 

 be of sufficient consistency to hold their shape, but should not be too 

 solid. In color they should be dark, tapering off into grayish white. 

 If the droppings are soft or pasty and of a yellowish or brownish 

 color, it indicates too much carbohydrates or a lack of meat. If, on 

 the other hand, the droppings are watery and dark with red splashes 

 diarrhea usually indicates unsanitary conditions, either in the sur- 

 roundings, the feed, or the water. 



Molting. Where a specialty is made of producing winter eggs 

 it is important that the hens shed their feathers early, so that the new 

 plumage will be grown before cold weather begins. Henry Van 

 Dreser has proposed a way by which it is possible to cause a flock of 

 fowls to pass through the molting period early and uniformly. This 

 method consists in withholding part of the feed for about two weeks, 

 which stops egg production and reduces the weight of the fowls, and 

 then feeding heavily on a ration suitable for the formation of the 

 feathers and the general building up of the system. This method 

 was tried at the West Virginia Experiment Station with good results. 

 The hens molted more rapidly and with more uniformity, entering 

 winter in better condition than similar fowls fed continually during 

 the molting period on an egg-producing ration. Whether this 

 method is employed or not, the fowls should receive a more nitroge- 

 nous ration than the one ordinarily fed. The addition of a little lin- 

 seed meal during the molting period will aid in the production of a 

 new coat of feathers. An increase in the amount of animal feed will 

 also be beneficial. 



Exercise. During the spring season fowls having free range 

 get abundant exercise. Close confinement without exercise is not 

 conducive to the best results, although the feed provided may be the 

 best, for idle hens soon grow too fat to lay. It is almost impossible 

 to give laying hens which are confined too much exercise. The fowls 

 may be encouraged to exercise in various ways, such as feeding corn 

 on the cob, suspending cabbage heads, beets ; etc., so that the birds 

 have to jump for them, and scattering grain in the litter. The litter 

 should be from 4 to 8 inches deep, and may consist of straw (either 

 cut or whole), hay, leaves, buckwheat hulls, shredded corn fodder, 

 or any convenient material of this nature. The hens should be kept 

 hungry enough so that they will work diligently all day for the grain 

 scattered in this litter, which should be removed whenever it becomes 

 damp or soiled. 



Age of Birds for Profitable Egg Production. There are people 

 who have the right variety of fowls, who house and feed them prop- 

 erly, and yet who can not obtain eggs early in the winter because 

 their fowls are too old. It is seldom that it pays to keep hens for 

 laying after they are two and a half years old ; not that they will not 

 give a profit, but that younger fowls will give a greater profit. A 

 great many poultrymen who make a specialty of winter-egg produc- 



