36 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



It is well said by Beatson that poultry, when 

 rightly managed, might be a source of great 

 profit to the farmer ; but where many are kept, 

 they ought not to be allowed to go at large, in 

 which case little or no profit can be expected ; 

 for not only many of their eggs will be lost, and 

 many of themselves perhaps destroyed by ver- 

 min, but at certain seasons they do much mis- 

 chief both in the barn-yard and in the field. 

 Poultry, it is thought, ought always to be con- 

 fined ; but if so, instead of a close, dark, dimin- 

 utive hovel, as is often the case, they should 

 have a spacious, airy place, properly construct- 

 ed for them. 



LAYING. 



The question is often asked, " Why can not 

 hens be made to lay as well in winter as in 

 summer ?" They can, to a certain extent ; but 

 they require as a condition, that they be well 

 provided with warm and comfortable lodging, 

 clean apartments, plenty of food, pure water, 

 gravel, lime, fine sand, and ashes to roll and 

 bathe in. 



There seem naturally to be two seasons of the 

 year when hens lay; early in the spring, and aft- 

 erward in summer; indicating that if fowls were 

 left to themselves, they would, like wild birds, 

 produce two broods in a year. 



Early spring-hatched birds, if kept in a warm 

 place and fed plentifully and attended to, will 

 generally commence laying about Christmas, or 

 even somewhat earlier. In cold and damp this 

 is not to be expected, and much may, in differ- 

 ent seasons, depend on the state of the weather 

 and the condition of the bird. 



It is a well-known fact, that from November 

 to February (the very time w r e are in want of 

 eggs the most) they are to many a bill of ex- 

 pense, without any profit. To promote fecund- 

 ity and great laying in the hen, it is necessary 

 that they be well fed on grain, boiled potatoes 

 given to them warm, and occasionally animal 

 food. In the summer, they get their supply of 

 animal food in the form of worms and insects, 

 when suffered to run at large; unless their 

 number is so great as to consume beyond the 

 supply in their roving distance. I found it ad- 

 vantageous, in the summer, to open the gates 



occasionally, and give the fowls a run in tl.e 

 garden and in the field adjoining their yard, for 

 a few hours in the day, when grasshoppers and 

 other insects were plenty. I had two objects in 

 view; one to benefit the fowls, and the other 

 to destroy the insects. It will be found that 

 the fecundity of the hen will be increased or 

 diminished according to the supply of animal 

 food furnished. 



Hens moult and cast their feathers once ev- 

 ery year, generally commencing in August and 

 continuing until late in November. It is the 

 approach, the duration, and the consequences 

 of this period, which puts a stop to their laying. 

 It is a critical time for all birds. All the peri- 

 od while it lasts, even to the time that the last 

 feathers are replaced by new ones, till these are 

 full grown, the wasting of the nutritive juices, 

 prepared from the blood for the very purpose 

 of promoting this growth, is considerable ; and 

 hence it is no wonder there should not remain 

 enough in the body of the hen to cause her egg 

 to grow. 



Old hens can not always be depended on for 

 eggs in winter, they scarcely being in full feath- 

 er before the last of December ; and then, pro- 

 bably, may not begin to lay till March or April, 

 producing not more than twenty or thirty eggs ; 

 and this is probably the cause of the disappoint- 

 ment of those who have supplied themselves at 

 the markets with their stock to commence with, 

 and get few or no eggs. As pullets do not 

 moult the first year, they commence laying be- 

 fore the older hens, and by attending to the 

 period of hatching, eggs may be produced dur- 

 ing the year. An early brood of chickens, there- 

 fore, by being carefully sheltered from the cold 

 and wet, and fed once a day on boiled potatoes, 

 warm, with plenty of grain, in the feeding hop- 

 pers (which will be hereafter described), and oc- 

 casionally a little animal food, will begin to lay 

 in the fall, or early in the winter. 



"When," says Bosc, "it is wished to have 

 eggs during the cold season, even in the dead 

 of winter, it is necessary to make the fowls roost 

 over an oven, in a stable, or to erect a stove in 

 the poultry-house on purpose. By such meth- 

 ods the farmers of Auge have chickens fit for 

 the table in the month of April, a period when 



