WINTER EGG PRODUCTION 251 



water the fowls will drink. It should be kept in vessels 

 that they cannot upset. 



At night, feed corn and wheat, sometimes one, some- 

 times both, enough to fill their crops. Now, this is the 

 way I feed, but I do not guarantee it to produce eggs 

 unless combined with some details of more or less impor- 

 tance, and all directed by an intelligent interest that is 

 quick to note and to provide for special conditions. 



The morning feed should be given early, for fowls are 

 early risers, and should not be kept waiting for their 

 breakfasts. It should not be necessary to say that the 

 warm mash should not be thrown in a dirty or muddy 

 place, but on planks or a firm, hard spot. Shallow 

 troughs are better yet. Perhaps it is best to give the 

 mash in the morning, while through the day the hens 

 should be compelled to take exercise by hunting for grain 

 in a litter of straw or hay. If they can be allowed the run 

 of a barn through the day, it will help to keep them 



active. 



Hens dread the snow, and will not walk through it 

 unless forced. Therefore, on snowy days, sweep a path 

 from their house to the barn or shed where they can take 

 their exercise. If you don't see to their daily exercise, the 

 hens will stand around in their house, shivering and 

 miserable, and the eggs will shrink. 



This is one of those details that good judgment should 

 approve. It is impossible to enumerate them all. Elabo- 

 rate directions are thrown away unless there be a critical 

 and judicious eye to administer them. 



The amount of brain and muscle work used in the man- 

 agement will give a proportionate profit, and of the two, 

 brain work counts first in this, as in all work. 



