212 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



However large a liencry may be, it is recommended that the 

 various apartments should be of moderate size, and it is a good 

 plan to provide separate quarters for each variety of fowl. This 

 will preserve tlie purity of the breeds, and, as small coops are 

 thought to be favorable to the hens' laying, it may be economi- 

 cal also. In winter a good many hens may be kept in a small 

 place, with the advantage of comfort caiised by the animal heat 

 of their bodies, provided that the atmosphere be not contami- 

 nated by offensive accumulations of dung. 



FOOD. 



The appetite of fowls is so nearly omniverous, and their usual 

 food so well known, that not much description is necessary. In 

 general they are fond of all sorts of grain, most of the wild and 

 succulent vegetables, insects and worms of nearly all kinds, 

 and flesh, both raw and Qooked, not excepting the flesh of 

 their own kind. 



Oats, corn, barley, buckwheat, rye, millet, rice, sunflower 

 seeds, and many other varieties, are readily devoured, although 

 with different degrees of fondness. Careful experiments have 

 shown that as to bulk or measure there is not much difference 

 in the daily consumption of grains, and it is therefore best to 

 provide those sorts which are cheapest, taking care to furnish 

 a suitable variety. The kinds which the fowls may prefer — for 

 tastes differ among the biddies as well as among humans — will 

 be best determined by experiment. 'Good economists find that 

 grain food goes further when boiled, except oats, buckwheat 

 and rye, which are not much swelled by cooking. Sunflower 

 seeds are said to be particularly good for fattening. Corn is 

 composed largely of starch, which is a fat-producing element, 

 and is deficient in the nitrogenous substances of which eggs 

 are made ; hence hens fed too much on corn lay on fat, but 

 do not yield eggs. Oats and animal food, on the other hand, 

 yield the egg-forming materials, and will promote laying, but 

 will not fatten. A laying hen of course should not be fat. 



Of green vegetable foods, the leaves of cabbage, lettuce and 

 spinage are preferred ; but in the season of grass and duckweed, 

 there is nothing better than these. Boiled potatoes, mashed and 

 given warm, are an excellent stimulant, and much used by, the 

 French poulterers in fattening. Potatoes mixed with Indian 



