No. 9. 



Fecundity vf Hens. 



273 



eating that if fowls were left to themselves, 

 they would, like wild birds, produce two 

 broods in a year. 



Spring-hatched birds, if kept in a warm 

 place and fed plentifully and attended to, will 

 generally commence laying about Christmas, 

 or even somewhat earlier. In cold and damp 

 this is not to be expected, and much may, in 

 different seasons, depend on the state of the 

 weather and the condition of the bird. 



It is a well known fact, that from Novem- 

 ber to February, — the very time we are in 

 want of eggs the most — they are to many a 

 bill of expense, without any profit. To pro- 

 mote fecundity and great laying in the hen, 

 it is necessary that they be well fed on 

 grain, boiled potatoes given to them warm, 

 and occasionally animal food. In the sum- 

 mer they get their supply of animal food, in 

 the form of worms and insects, when suffer- 

 ed to run at large; unless their number is 

 so great as to consume beyond the supply in 

 their roving distance. I find it quite advan- 

 tageous, in the summer, to open my gates 

 occasionally, and give my fowls a run in the 

 garden and field adjoining their yard, for a 

 few hours in the day, when grasshoppers 

 and other insects are plenty. I had two ob- 

 jects in view; one to benefit the fowls, the 

 other to destroy the insects. It will be found 

 that the fecundity of the hen will be in- 

 creased or diminished, according to the sup- 

 ply of animal food furnished. 



Hens moult and cast their feathers once 

 every year, which generally commences in 

 August, and lasts until late in November. 

 It is the approach, the duration and the con- 

 sequences of this period, which put a stop 

 to tlieir laying. It is a critical time for all 

 birds. All the period while it lasts, even to 

 the time that the last feathers are replaced 

 by new ones, till these are full grown, the 

 wasting of the nutritive juices, prepared 

 from the blood for the very purpose of pro- 

 moting this growth, is considerable; and 

 hence it is no wonder there should not re- 

 main enougli in the body of the hen to cause 

 her egg to grow. 



Old hens cannot always be depended on 

 for eggs" in winter, they scarcely being in 

 full feather before the last of December; 

 and then, probably, may not begin to lay till 

 March or April, producing not more than 

 twenty or thirty eggs; and this is probably 

 the cause of the disappointment of those 

 who have supplied themselves at the mar- 

 kets for their stock to commence with, and 

 get but few or no eggs. As pullets do not 

 moult the first year, they commence laying 

 before the older hens, and by attending to 

 the period of hatching, eggs may be pro- 



duced during the year. An early brood of 

 chickens, therefore, by being carefully shel- 

 tered from the cold and wet, and fed once a 

 day on boiled potatoes, warm, with plenty 

 of grain, in the feeding hoppers, and occa- 

 sionally a little animal food, will begin to 

 lay in the fall, or early in the winter. 



"When," says Bosc, "it is wished to have 

 eggs during the cold season, even in the 

 dead of winter, it is necessary to make the 

 fowls roost over an oven, in a stable, or to 

 erect a stove in the poultry-house on pur- 

 pose. By such methods the farmers of Auge 

 have chickens fit for the table in the month 

 of April, a period when they are only be- 

 ginning to be hatched on the farms around 

 Paris, although farther to the south. It 

 would be desirable to have stoves more com- 

 mon in poultry-houses near cities, where lux- 

 ury grudges no expense for the convenience 

 of having fresh eggs." 



A writer in the Cultivator, under the sig- 

 nature of B., says, "I never allow cocks to 

 run with my hens, except when I want to 

 raise chickens." He recommends giving 

 them fresh meat chopped fine, once a day; 

 never allowing any eggs to remain in the 

 nest, for nest eggs. " My hens," continues 

 the writer, "always lay all winter, and from 

 75 to 100 eggs each, in succession. There 

 being nothing to excite the animal passions, 

 they never attempt to sit. I have fbr seve- 

 ral years reduced my theory to practice, 

 and proved its entire correctness. It must 

 be obvious that the presence of the male is 

 not necessary for the production of eggs, as 

 they are formed whether the male be pre- 

 sent or not. Of course such eggs will not 

 produce chickens." 



In contradiction to the foregoing, Bo?well 

 says, "To promote fecundity and great lay- 

 ing in the hen, nothing more is necessary 

 than the best corn and fair water; but malted 

 or sprouted barley has occasionally a good 

 effect, whilst the hens are kept on solid corn, 

 but if continued too long they are apt to 

 scour. It must be noted, that nothing is 

 more necessary towards success in the par- 

 ticular of obtaining plenty of eggs, than a 

 good attendance of cocks, especially in the 

 cold season ; and it is also especially to be 

 observed, that a cock while moulting is 

 generally useless." 



" Man," says Parmentier, " who thinks of 

 nothing but his own interest, has attempted 

 severni means of arousing hens from their 

 torpidity, when they cease at the natural 

 period of the year to lay, inasmuch as it 

 seems very hard to pass through the winter 

 without the luxury of eating new laid eggs.*' 



The method adopted by the ancients was, 



