NATURAL LAWS. 25 



skunks, minks, etc. If you leave an opening about 8x10 

 inches, five feet from the floor, the hens can all go out at 

 four o'ciock in the morning 1 , \vhile you are still sleeping 1 . 

 You will find the hens out looking- for bugs and grasshop- 

 pers, which are easy to catch, as the dew makes the grass 

 and their wings wet, so that they cannot fly. 



Corn is the best food for chickens if you know how to 

 feed it, and when to feed it, and how often. The feeder 

 must use his judgment. I personally feed corn, cracked, 

 nearly every day in the winter and spring, but very little, 

 and sometimes none at all, for a month in hot weather. Corn 

 makes strong, fertile eggs, and you will find the yolk a 

 a rich yellow color when you feed it. If your hens show 

 loose yellow droppings and are drinking all the time, feed 

 them nothing at all for a week or more. Put lime in the 

 water, feed cabbage, no grain at all, but lots of grit. The 

 lime, if stirred up, makes the water white, and sweetens the 

 water, and prevents looseness of the bowels. You will 

 notice that a fat hen gets sick first, and if not careful the 

 whole lot will die of cholera; in other words over-fat hens 

 cannot stand hot weather, and it will kill them. Therefore 

 don't keep your hens hog fat and don't feed them too much 

 corn. In fact, don't feed any corn at all during September 

 and October, then feed them all they will eat every night. 



While hens are coming to moult, and are two years old, 

 sell them, keeping only the pullets, unless you want a few 

 hens to breed from. Hens are better breeders than pullets 

 if you want strong, healthy stock. 



Fall Care. 



About November 20 the hens should all be sold except 

 a few of the best stock, held over for next spring breeders, 

 Pullets are the best winter layers, and twenty-five out of 

 every hundred will lay every day during the winter. When 

 it gets so cold that the ground freezes hard move all the 

 colony houses near the house or some place where it is handy 



