PRACTICAL FEEDING OF POULTRY 



so that the practice is now quite general in a few sections 

 of this country, especially in New York, New Jersey, 

 Oregon and California. The object is to provide a normal 

 length of day throughout the winter season, usually about 

 a fourteen-hour day, so that the fowls are able to eat and 

 assimilate a much larger amount of feed than they can 

 get in the average short winter day. It does not pay to 

 use artificial lights unless fowls are properly housed and 

 otherwise well cared for. 



The method used apparently at the present time with 

 most success is to provide lights early in the morning at 

 such a time that it will give the hens 14 hours of daylight, 

 which means putting the lights on about 4 a. m. and 

 leaving them on until morning, using the lights from 

 about November I to April I, depending upon the section 

 of the country. Lights may be used both in the morning 

 and at night, still limiting the day to 14 hours. Where 

 artificial lights are used the fowls will lay a much larger 

 percentage of their eggs in the fall and winter but do 

 not lay a much larger number of eggs for the entire year 

 than where no lights are used, as their spring production 

 is usually lower than that from hens kept under normal 

 conditions. Fowls so handled must be given extra feed 

 and are usually fed about four times a day, at 8 in the 

 morning, at noon and just before dark, giving them 

 plenty of feed at this last feeding time. Unless sufficient 

 grain is left over for the early morning feed, additional 

 grain is scattered in the litter after the hens go to roost. 

 In addition to the extra feeding, water must be provided 



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