No. 4.] FEEDS AND FEEDING. 31 



for high egg production during the fall and early winter, but 

 give them plenty of exercise, free range if possible, and all 

 the green food they want. 



Feeding the broody hen is something that is sadly neg- 

 lected by a great many poultrymen. I have been surprised 

 to find that there are some who starve them for a number of 

 days in order to break them up. This seems cruel to me, and 

 also an expensive way of doing it. The main object of the 

 poultryraan is to bring the broody hen to laying again in the 

 shortest possible time, therefore she should be fed on very 

 rich feeds, and even tempted in every way to eat. So treated, 

 most broody hens will begin to lay again in from ten to fif- 

 teen days. A stimulating mash should be given to these 

 hens, if to no others. 



In feeding poultry, the main thing after all is not the feed, 

 the hens or the house, but it is the man with the feed pail. 

 Hens may be overfed or underfed; they may be fed the 

 wrong thing at the right time, or the right thing at the wrong 

 time. The imjiortant factor in this work is judgment, and 

 this can be used only by those who have had experience and 

 know chickens thoroughly. I have seen men walk through 

 their houses, feed their hens and never look at them. I 

 once accompanied a man of this type through his house, and 

 when we reached the other end asked what was the trouble 

 with the hens in a particular pen, having noticed they had 

 roup. The feeder replied that he had not noticed anything 

 wrong, except that the hens in that pen were not laying as 

 many eggs as the others. These men are automatic feeders, 

 and feed as a matter of routine. We do not believe that a 

 man can be successful with poultry who cares for them in 

 this way. He should watch the hens eat as he throws out the 

 grain, see if they are hungry, stir up the litter to see if they 

 have eaten all he has given them previously, etc. One man 

 has put it very nicely by saying, " When you go out to feed 

 your poultry, take one pail of feed and two pails of judg- 

 ment." 



