68 



NEW ENGLAND FAKMER. 



Feb, 



"WINTER CAKE OF POULTRY. 



ANY persons complain 

 that they get no eggs 

 from their fowls in the 

 winter, seem disap- 

 pointed, and "wonder 

 what the matter is." 

 This is true in a large 

 number of cases, even 

 among farmers who 

 look to profits of the 

 poultry as an item of 

 considerable account. 

 Every year, soon after 

 two or three weeks 

 of cold weather have transpired, eggs are 

 scarce, and sell readily at twice the price they 

 brought in September and October. Precisely 

 the same fowls that laid once liberally, have 

 ceased entirely, or their product of eggs is ex- 

 ceedingly moderate. Why is this ? the good 

 housewife frequently asks, when the egg-basket 

 in the store-room is empty, and none can be 

 purchased or borrowed in the neighborhood. 

 As a consolation to the anxious housekeeper, 

 whose plans are thrown completely out of joint, 

 the good man of the house informs her that 

 "hens cannot always lay, — they must have 

 time to rest, and by-and-by they will com- 

 mence again." All this may be true, but he 

 has not given the reason why the hens do not 

 lay, even if it is cold weather. 



When fowls have their liberty, they are not 

 contented with remaining quietly in a limited 

 space. They love to roam considerably ; quite 

 as far as they deem it safe so long as dogs, 

 foxes and hawks are about. They are not 

 idlers in their rambles, but assiduously search 

 for the materials which not only nourish the 

 body, but which go to build up the egg. In 

 worms, grasshoppers, &c., they find the animal 

 matter they need, which goes first to sustain 

 the body, and in part, perhaps, to make the 

 ogg. Then they need gravel, old bones, lime 

 in oyster shells, old mortar, or something else, 

 and a little sulphur, all of which they find in 

 their rambles. They are an inquisitive, pry- 

 ing people, often getting where they are not 

 wanted, but rarely where they do not find 

 something agreeable to themselves. 



When at liberty, also, they suit themselves 

 as to heat and cold. If the weather is clear 

 and cool, they cluster together under the lee 



side of the building, fence, or bushes, and 

 bathe themselves in the sun's rays. Or, if the 

 weather is hot, they seek the shade, where they 

 droop their wings, so that their heated bodies 

 are cooled as fresh breezes go by them. 



All this is what we should do for them — or 

 give them the opportunity to do for themselves 

 in cold weather, while in a state of confine- 

 ment. 



In the first place, ivarmtli is indispensable 

 to success. Without this, all the care that can 

 be used in feeding, and in supplying a variety 

 of food will be in vain. They must have 

 warmth. When this is supplied, they must 

 have something of the variety of food which 

 they find when at large. A third requisite is, 

 plenty of room in their house, and the roona, 

 or rooms, roosts aad laying boxes, kept 

 clean. 



It is found best to keep constantly before 

 them, corn, barley, oats, a box of saiwJ, 

 pounded oyster or clam shells, old mortar, 

 or something that they get of that nature 

 when at large, which they require. A 

 dozen hens will eat all the bones that come 

 from the kitchen of a family of eight or ten 

 persons during the year. Diy them in the 

 stove oven; place a firm stone in the hen- 

 house, and pound the bones into fine pieces 

 upon it. They will be sought with more ea- 

 gerness liian corn. 



Each morning, in cold weather, give them a 

 mash of boiled potatoes and meal, mixed up 

 with some fatty matter. 



Part of a cake of pressed pork or beef 

 scraps from the butcher, lying before them, 

 will furnish what animal food they need, in- 

 stead of the worms and grasshoppers which 

 make a portion of their summer diet. 



Then thej need vegetable matter, such aa 

 turnips, beets or mangolds, to take the place 

 of grass which they eat in summer. Fifteen 

 to twenty hens would gladly eat two or three 

 dozen cabbages during a winter if they could 

 get them. 



Another care must be observed, that they 

 are free from vermin. No fowls will lay well, 

 and continue healthy, if they are continually 

 preyed upon by these parasites. 



Preventive and remedy are both easy. 

 Scrupulous cleanliness is the first. But, if these 

 are not entirely effective, and vermin exist, 

 take the fowl from the roost in the evening, 



