LESSONS ON POULTRY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. 



29 



A ROTATION FOR POULTRY YARDS WHICH HAS PROVED PRACTICAL IN SOME 



LOCATIONS. 



. Date. 



Yard A. 



Yard B. 



Mar. 1 to Apr. 30 











Peas and barley. 









Feeding 





July 10 to Aug. 1 





Aug. 1 to Aug. 20 





Cow peas and millet. 



Aug. 20 to Sept. 20 





Sept. 20 to Dec. 1 





Rye and vetch. 







Special care must be taken lest the fowls return to the yard to "which they have 

 become accustomed. 



GRAZING CROPS FOR POULTRY.! 



[Adapted to the latitude of the southern boundary of Pennsylvania.] 



Crop. 



When sown. 



Seed per acre. 



Grazing period. 



Stage. 



Duration. 





About Apr. 15 



May 10 to July 1 . . . 

 Beginning Apr. 20. 

 Aug. 20 



1 bushel peas, 2 



bushels oats. 

 3 pounds 



About Mav 20 



8 inches-10 inches 



high. 

 6 inehes-8 inches 



high. 

 About May 15 



Sept. 20 . . 



Until full grown. 



Chard 







Do 





12 t>ounds... 







do 



closely. 





May 10 to Juivl... 

 May 10 to June 10 



Sept. 1 



Aug. 15 to Sept. 1 . . 











do 



1 bushel rye, 15 

 pounds clover. 



12 inches-15 inches 



high. 

 Graze early winter 



and spring. 

 8 inches-10 inches 



high. 

 do 





Rye 2 and crimson 

 clover. 





Alfalfa 





too tough. 













1 Suggestions by the Division of Forage Crop Investigations of the Bureau of Plant Industry. This 

 phase of the investigations has received little attention from the viewpoint of poultry grazing, especially 

 as to the relation of number of fowls to area of crops. 



2 Winter wheat may be substituted for rye. Farther north substitute hairy vetch for crimson clover. 



MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY MANURE. 



The manure produced is a valuable by-product of poultry raising. It is estimated 

 that the average night droppings of a hen amount to 30 to 40 pounds per year. This 

 represents the manure which can certainly be saved with the exercise of a little care. 

 A conservative estimate indicates that this manure contains fertilizing constituents 

 which would cost 20 to 25 cents if bought in the form of commercial fertilizers at ordi- 

 nary prices. A flock of 100 hens would at this rate produce manure worth $20 to $25 

 per year. If, however, the manure is not properly cared for, as much as one-half of 

 its fertilizing value is likely to be lost. To prevent loss frequent cleaning of the drop- 

 ping boards is necessary, and some sort of absorbent should be used daily. The use 

 in moderate quantities of fine, dry loam or road dust, or, preferably, mixtures of these 

 with such materials as land plaster, acid phosphate, and potash salts has been recom- 

 mended. Sawdust has also been used with good results at the rate of 10 pounds per 

 hen per year mixed with 16 pounds of acid phosphate and 8 pounds of kainit. This 

 gives a fertilizer which contains about 0.25 per cent of nitrogen, 4.5 per cent of phos- 

 phoric acid, and 2 per cent of potash, and is worth about $10 per ton at ordinary prices 

 of these fertilizing constituents. It is a better balanced fertilizer than manure alone 

 and is usually in better mechanical condition for application to the soil by means of 

 fertilizer distributors or manure spreaders. 



