l66 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I907. 



that was seeded on the frozen ground in March was tall enough 

 to cut, and when that was too mature to use, the second crop, 

 from the field of clover first used, was available. This method 

 of supplying green food proved so satisfactory for confined hens 

 that the practice will be continued. Of course, considerable labor 

 is involved in bringing the clover from the fields and feeding it 

 to the hens, but it makes certain an adequate supply of fresh, 

 clean, appetizing green food every day, which it has never been 

 possible to get continuously from the yards. The labor involved 

 in cultivating and reseeding the yards, which must be done 

 frequently in order to have them at all satisfactory, is saved, as 

 is also the expense of maintaining fences about the extra yards. 



Clover is the most satisfactory green food that the Station has 

 used and the expense of growing it need not be great, as small 

 areas will furnish enough for liberal feeding. The supplies of 

 it should be constant, and that there may be no shortage between 

 the first and second crops in the regular clover fields, small tracts 

 of land can be seeded on the frozen ground early in the spring 

 and the clover be large enough for use when needed to keep 

 good the supply. 



Dwarf Essex rape has also been satisfactorily used for green 

 food for growing chickens in the open field. If the land is rich 

 and the weather not too dry it springs up quickly after having 

 been fed down, when the birds are removed for a few days, and 

 it is soon ready for grazing again. Its use has been abandoned 

 for laying hens as apparently it gives the yolks of some of the 

 eggs a greenish color when they are boiled. No trouble of this 

 kind was noted before beginning the feeding of rape, and none 

 after its use was discontinued. 



Experience with the wide, open front house is in favor of 

 yards on the north rather than on the south side of the building. 

 With the open front houses it is not necessary to get the hens 

 out into the sunny south yards as soon as spring comes, as they 

 are really out in the open air and sunshine, when on the floor, 

 within the walls of the building, by means of the large open 

 section in the front wall. On hot days in summer the front 

 yards become very uncomfortable, from the sun shining on the 

 front of the building, and the birds retreat into the house for 

 shelter or go into the back yards and sprawl on the ground as 

 close to the building as they can. With no front yard fences 



