28 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK 



or dug out of the straw or litter in their scratching pen. A hen 

 that is very fat over fat will not have fertile eggs and will not 

 have strong, sturdy chickens. It is neither kind nor wise to over- 

 fatten your breeding hens, but they must be fed the proper food for 

 fertility. How can we decide what food to feed for fertility? Let 

 us interrogate Nature again. The wild bird, the Gallus Bankiva, 

 from which sprung all our domestic fowls, lays her eggs and raises 

 her young only in the spring. She only has two broods of about 

 thirteen eggs each, but those eggs are rarely infertile. What does 

 she eat? Principally insects and the tender green grasses or small 

 leaves, not much grain, for the seeds have fallen and have begun 

 to sprout and grow. 



During the winter Nature has supplied the birds with grains in 

 plenty, so they have put on fat to withstand the cold ; but now there 

 are only a few grains left and the fowls are becoming thinner, yet 

 Nature does not starve them, only gradually changes the ration and 

 gives them worms and larvae, insects of all kinds, for the insect life 

 has also commenced to pulsate and develop ; the buds are bursting, 

 too, and the tender green appears and beautiful spring is here, pro- 

 viding all the green food they can eat. How about our captive 

 hens? In our bare back yards, with only the ration we choose to 

 give them? Poor things ; they have a natural craving for the tender 

 green, a wild desire for the succulent insect or animal food ! See, 

 how they will fight over or scramble for the meat that is thrown 

 to them, or for the head of lettuce! They try to tell us in their 

 own way what they require to produce fertile eggs at this season 

 of the year. 



How to Feed 



How shall we follow their teachings? Increase the amount of 

 their animal food and give the breeding fowls more green food. 

 How shall we do this? Increase gradually whatever animal food 

 we are now feeding until from 20 to 30 per cent of their daily food 

 is animal food. The best animal food is fresh meat of some kind ; 

 the scraps and bones left over at the market; this ground or 

 chopped finely is the best I know of. Rabbits, squirrels, gophers, 

 are all good fresh meat. If fresh meat cannot be obtained, you can 

 get at the poultry supply houses granulated milk, dried blood, blood 

 and bone, beef scrap and other animal food. The best green food 

 is fresh-cut clover lawn clippings, green alfalfa, lettuce, cabbage 

 and other vegetables. 



The Male Bird 



The male bird is considered as half the pen. The germ or seed 

 of life of the future chicken is from the male. Be sure to have the 

 male vigorous and healthy, and see to it that he gets sufficient food 

 of the right quality. The male bird is often so gallant that he calls 

 up his wives and they greedily eat all the best part of the food, 

 choosing first the meat or animal part, which is the most necessary 

 for fertility, and the husband, the father of future chicks, on which 



