148 LESSONS IN POULTRY KLLPING SECOND SERIES. 



In the morniDg, wider toward noou ; then close partially as the sun begins to get low, and 

 altogether, or as nearly so as is cuetomary, at dark. This for fair bright days. On stormy, 

 cloudy, or windy days, the opening should be adapted to conditions. Here is where the tight 

 house becomes a troublesome proposition to those who have to be away from the place much of 

 the day, or find it inconvenient to vary the time of opening and closing doors and windows; 

 The day starts bright, and everything is opened, the attendant leaving not to return until 

 toward night. A storm of some kind comes up, and the house becomes very uncomfortable 

 for fowls that are tender to such conditions. Or, the opposite case occurs. The morniug is 

 chilly and threatening, the houses are left closed. It clears, and the sun comes out warm, and 

 the houses are overheated. It is such conditions that baffle the poultryman who with a warm 

 house, hens fit to lay, and good food, has to take chances on the ventilation that is right in the 

 morning being right through the day. 



If one wishes to get the largest egg yield possible; if he can look after the ventilation prop- 

 erly ; and if he is Indifferent about the usefulness of the hens after the first winter, I would say, 

 by all means use a warm tight house. One is surer of big egg yields In It. But if there are 

 likely to be occasions when the ventilation of such a house would not be given proper attention, 

 or if it is desirable that the hens should come through the winter in good physical condition, 

 use a more open house, and be satisfied with the prospect of a more moderate egg yield. Bear 

 in mind that the kind of house does not control the egg yield. It is only a factor a factor 

 which varies in value according to other conditions. The warm house seems to offer the great- 

 est possibilities of heavy winter egg production, and at the same time to involve the greatest 

 risks of poor egg production and debilitated fowls. It is a forcing house, and the dangers as 

 well as the advantages of forcing are in it. 



The matter of yard or range also seems to have an important bearing on egg production. 

 The largest egg yields are almost invariably made by hens that are quite closely confined. The 

 common experience is that as between two equal lots of fowls, fed as nearly alike as possible, 

 but one confined quite closely and the other given a large yard or free range, the hens that are 

 most restrained will give the better egg yield, often a very much better yield. The most 

 reasonable explanation of this seems to be that the closer confined hens utilize all their food for 

 maintenance and egg production, while the others put much of it into energy expended in 

 running about. It is also reasonable to suppose that hens at large are more often frightened or 

 disturbed, and it is well known that such experiences are likely to have a marked and imme- 

 diate effect on egg production. Dairymen know that to get the largest possible flow of milk 

 from their cows they must be kept quiet and contented not disturbed or frightened ; but 

 poultrymen do not so generally appreciate the effects of such things on the functions of the- 

 fowls. 



Exercise is not always essential. By exercise here I mean compulsory exercise, compelling 

 hens to exercise for much of the food they take. Undoubtedly many poultry keepers find that 

 their hens do better when compelled to take exercise than when fed all they will eat, and taking 

 almost no exercise; but a great deal of good laying is by hens which take little exercise. If 

 hens have sound digestion and are not overfat to start with, they are likely to lay fully as well 

 without much exercise during the early part of the winter, though as spring approaches they 

 may get too fat or develop digestive troubles. We may say of cases where exercise is found 

 necessary as (in a preceding lesson) of cases in which very careful attention to diet is found 

 necessary, that these are abnormal. We may leave the matter of exercise in this way : Exer- 

 cise is not always essential; when it does appear to be essential provision for regular exercise 

 should be made; it is always advisable if it is desired that the hens should go through the 

 winter in good condition. If they are to be disposed of in the spring it does not make so much 

 difference about exercise. 



Generally the most convenient and satisfactory way of providing exercise it by littering the- 

 floors and feeding the grain in this litter. 



Winter Rations for Fowls. 



In this connection the reader should refer to the sample rations given in Lesson I., in th& 

 preceding series (1905). Indeed, it would be well to review the entire subject of feeding. 



