CHAPTER SIX 



THE MATURE FOWLS 



MANAGEMENT OF BREEDERS AND LAYERS 



HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS FROM MANY PROMINENT POULTRY KEEPERS ON THE CARE AND 

 FEEDING OF BREEDING AND LAYING STOCK— TESTED DRY AND MOIST MASH RATIONS 

 FOR THE MOST POPULAR VARIETIES— ANOTHER EXPERIENCE SYMPOSIUM OF SUUCESS 



f THE beginner with poultry there is probably no 

 more troublesome question than: "What and 

 how shall I feed my fowls?" There are many 

 good rations and as many good methods of feed- 

 k ing them. Believing that the best possible way 



j' to place before the beginner reUable information 



I on this subject was to obtain advice from suc- 



cessful poultrymen concerning the rations and 

 methods employed by them, we asked the foUowng questions: 



Q. 27. What do you feed your breeding stock? 



Q. 28. How do you feed adult stock, also how often? 

 ' Sixty-five of the leading successful American breeders re- 

 plied to our questions, some briefly and some in detail. It is 

 interesting to note that 28 are decidely in favor of dry rations 

 and 37 use moist mashes. Of these latter there are a number 

 who are trying both plans but are not yet decided which is pre- 

 ferable. By careful study of these replies the beginner should 

 be able to select a ration and method of feeding that will be well 

 suited to give satisfactory results with his favorite variety. 

 Under the name of each breeder is given the variety or varieties 

 he breeds, and that should be considered when comparing his 

 ration with others, for there are some poultrymen who claim 

 that different varieties need different food and care. 



In the care of all breeding stock irrespective of variety 

 there are six essentials to success and these must never be over- 

 looked, they are: Comfortable quarters, cleanliness, whole- 

 some food in variety, pure water, exercise, and an abundance 

 of pure fresh air. 



Comfortable quarters means good buildings (not necessarily 

 expensive), dry, well ventilated and free from drafts. These 

 should never be overcrowded — better keep too few fowls in a 

 house than too many. Provide comfortable roosts above an 

 easily cleaned droppings board, have roomy nests, at least three 

 to every twenty birds; all nests, grit and shell boxes and food 

 troughs or hoppers freely accessible and easily removable. A 

 good dust bath and plenty of clean, bright and sweet Utter are 

 necessary to comfort. Good sized yards kept clean and with 

 ample shade must be supplied. 



CleanUness means that the droppings are to be removed 

 sufficiently often to prevent them from becoming offensive and 

 to prevent soiling the plumage of the fowls. Use loam, lanc^ 

 plaster or sawdust on the droppings boards as an absorbent and 

 clean up often. Once a day is less work than once a month, but 

 once a week will answer if you must put it off and the weather 

 is not too warm. Keep clean straw or shavings in the nests. 

 Don't let too much dust accumulate on walls and timbers, sweep 

 down once in a while and whitewash the whole interior of house 

 at least once or twice a year if you can. Keep the fowls free 

 from vermin. Use a good Uce powder often to dust the birds 

 thoroughly. Use a good liquid lice killer on the roosts and drop- 

 boards. Both the powder and liquid are necessary. The 



powder for the body lice and the liquid for the mites that may 

 infest the roosts and droppings boards unless guarded against. 

 Wholesome food in variety means good, sound, sweet 

 grains, wheat, com, oats, barley and buckwheat, preferred in 

 the order named: Green stuff like grass, clover, alfalfa, green 

 rye, corn fodder, lettuce, etc; raw vegetables including potatoes, 

 mangel wurzels, turnips, etc; animal food, 



(bugs and worms preferred) then beef scrap, lean meat scraps, 

 green cut. bone, blood, meat meals, etc; good clean grit, crushed 

 oyster shells or clam shells and last but not least good, honest 

 charcoal, well granulated. Charcoal as a preventive of diges- 

 tive disorders and bowel trouble is unequalled, and no poultry- 

 man can afford to try to get along without it. It is best kept 

 before the fl(5ck in a hopper in the same manner as grit and shell. 



Pure water means water that you would consider fit to 

 drink yourself. Don't draw the poultry supply from the duck- 

 pond, or brook that runs through barnyards and hog-wallows 

 and then look for success. Impure or fouled drinking water is 

 a prolific source of disease and death among domestic poultry. 

 Many a man gives his birds water to drink that he would be un- 

 wiUing to wet his lips with. This is neither safe nor sane. Use 

 good pure water and have it fresh and clean. Keep it in clean 

 drinking vessels or fountains. Earthen crocks are best in sum- 

 mer and galvanized iron buckets in winter. See that all drink- 

 ing water receptacles are rinsed often and refilled at least once 

 a day in winter and twice a day in summer. 



Exerdse, that means that no matter how you feed, the 

 birds should have a chance to scratch and enjoy themselves. 

 Without exercise they wiU not make the best disposition of their 

 food and you will not get as many or as fertile eggs. A sufficient 

 amoimt of exercise means health, eggs and fertility. Any 

 healthy hen will scratch if you give her a chance. In winter 

 provide good, clean litter 6 to 8 inches deep on the floor of the 

 houses, and keep just enough whole grain in it to give them 

 something to work for. Pile the litter in front near the hght 

 and the hens work it toward the back of the house. They will 

 work in Utter even if you keep hoppers fuU of food before them 

 all the time. In summer provide ample outdoor runs, plough 

 them up and plant with grain. The hens will scratch it up 

 again but that is what you want them to do, aiid the fresh 

 green sprouts are very beneficial. Remember that the same 

 ration th^t gives an abundance of eggs with exercising fowls, 

 will produce fat if they do not exercise. 



An abundance of pure fresh air means well ventilated, opea 

 front, scratching-shed or curtain-front houses. Buildings ini 

 which an abundance of fresh air is suppUed without drafts at 

 all times night and day. Plenty of fresh air and sunshine are 

 , the most reUable, safe, sure preventives of disease tWt we have 

 and they do not cost money. Provide cool, well-aired quarters: 

 in warm weather, and in cold weather see that' all buildings are 

 well ventilated night and day. A house that is kept too tightly 



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