SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEPING 



what are commonly spoken of as cold houses; These are tight, 

 well-made buildings, either provided with scratching sheds 

 where the fowls can have a sheltered place to exercise and are 

 at the same time supplied ^th an abundance of fresh air, or 

 closed houses having windows or doors in the front wliich are 

 opened wide daily to admit a large volume of fresh air and prac- 

 tically convert the house into an open shed. In such buildings 

 the birds keep in better health and are less Uable to colds than 

 when confined in warm houses and houses supplied with arti- 

 ficial heat. 



It is a well-known fact among practical poultrymen that a 

 fowl wiU catch cold quicker from a small current of cold air in 

 a Warm poultry hoiise than it will from similar exposure in a 

 cold house; while colds among poultry housed in cold houses, 

 that are run wide open for a large portion of the day every day 

 throughout the winter^ are almost unknown. 



In the matter of. housing the safest plan is to provide com- 

 fortable, tight buildings, so arranged that they can be thor- 

 oughly aired and sunned daily while the birds are- exercising. 

 ' Keep these buildings practically wide open throughout the day 

 except on very stormy days. In most localities there will be 

 very few days in winter when the house cannot be kept open 

 for ajew hours during some portion of. the day. Such houses 

 should always be closed at least an hour or two before dark 

 and remain tightly closed aU night;, Keep the houses clean 

 and in a sanitary' condition. Filth and success are sworn 

 ; enemies and are never foimd on the same poultry plant. Care 

 should be taken not to overcrowd the poultry buildings and 

 there should not be more fowls in the pen that can find com- 

 fortable roosting accommodation. As a rule it is a good plan 

 to allow about ten square feet of floor space per breeding bird 

 and not to run more than 15 or 20 birds in a pfih, according to 

 the variety: At this point it may be well to state that there 

 is often a great difference in breeding males as to the number 

 of hens they can properly care for; some males cannot properly 

 serve more than eight or ten females, while others wiU easily 

 take care of 20 or more. In this matter the breeder will have 

 to exercise his own best judgment and he should be careful not 

 to overtaJt the ability of his breeding males, preferably giving 

 them fewer, rather than more, females than "they can easily 

 take care of. 



Bear in mind that exercise is of vital importance in keeping 

 the breeding birds in good condition and for this reason they 

 should receive a large proportion of their dry gi-ain food fed in 

 deep litter. It is the active, busy, hustling hen who is always 

 scratching in Utter and may be found at almost any time buried 

 tail deep, with straw flying in all directions, that produces the 

 eggs that hatch best. Any good Utter material may be \ised, 

 either straw, chaff, corn-stover or planer shavings, and this 

 should cover the floor of the breeding pens from six to ten 

 inches deep. Leaves may be used, but they do not make as 

 satisfactory litter material as either straw" or shavings. 



After the snow comes breeding stock should always be kept ■ 

 confined to poultry houses until the weather becomes settled 

 in the spring. Dry earth floors, well Uttered, are very satis- 

 factory, but if there is any tendency of the earth floor to be 

 damp or wet, a wooden floor is more desirable. Do not allow 

 breeding birds to run out on the snow and ice or to eat frozen 

 grass or weeds. 



FOO£>S AND FEEDING 



Given' souild; healthy breeding stock, well housed, the food 

 and the inahnfer of feeding it plaiys a most important part in 

 the getting bf fertile hatchable eggs. 'It is not necessary for 

 the breeder to trouble himself with regard to .the chemical 

 composition' of the grains' or the nutritive ratio of the food fed 

 so long as he suppUes his birds with an abimdance of good, 

 wholesome food in variety. It is much better to allow the 



birds a reasonable opportunity to balance their own rather than 

 for a breeder to attempt to prepare a scientilicaUy balanced 

 food, the formula for which is based largely on guesswork, 

 haphazard reading and theory. The average healthy fowl 

 instinctively knows what it wants ana what its system craves 

 and can be trusted to balance its own food ration if given an 

 opportunity. This should not be construed to mean that the 

 poultryman should entirely ignore the chemical content of the 

 foods he suppUes his flock. The government chemists supply 

 lis with ample and authoritative information as to the con- 

 stituents of aU the foods available for poultry feeding. 



We know that the grains Uke wheat, barley, com and oats 

 are weU propbrtioned in regard to protein, carbohydrates, fats 

 and mineral matter. We also know that clover and alfalfa are 

 rich in protein and mineral matters, posess health-giving pro- 

 perties and supply the necessary bulky food without which 

 the digestive organs of the fowl wiU not work properly. We 

 also know that in beef scraps and other meat food we have a 

 product rich in animal protein, differing in some not thoroughly 

 understood way from vegetable protein, and very essential to 

 the life and health of the fowl. If we know this we have Uttle 

 need to worry ourselves concerning the chemistry of foods, 

 provided we give the birds an opportunity to select what they 

 need as they require it. 



Wheat, barley and com are named because they are the 

 most desirable and most easily obtaiijable grains, as weU as 

 the most economical. Oats, if of good quaUty, may be sub- 

 stituted where barley cannot be obtained. Barley and ' com 

 can be made to answer if wheat is scarce and high. Heavy 

 wheat bran is desirable for use in dry or moist mashes. The 

 coarse Ught bran contains more fibre and is of less value. Clover 

 or alfalfa is necessary to afford roughage and supply a substi- 

 tute for the anti-scorbutic and medicinal properties of fresh 

 plant Ufe. Breeders who use clover or alfalfa freely and en- 

 courage their fowls to eat it, get the best results in fertile eggs. 



It is not possible to get strong, weU fertilized, hatchable 

 eggs where birds are forced for egg production by feeding con- 

 centrated mash foods. Mash food too freely or too often will 

 result in large watery eggs that wiU not hatch well. The free 

 use of moist mashes also tends to create more or less disturbance 

 of the digestive organs, resulting in looseness of the bowels or 

 some other evidence of lack of perfect condition. This does not 

 mean that mashes should not be fed to breeding birds, but that 

 rich mash food should never be pushed with a view to getting 

 the greatest possible egg production if the eggs are intended for 

 hatching purposes. 



Highly concentrated mashes, containing quantities of beef 

 scrap or other meat food, should not be fed to breeding stock. 

 Any considerable amount of scrap or other meat food fed in 

 the grain mixture has a tendency to create digestive disturb- 

 ances and it is the beUef of the writer that nearly all of the 

 trouble which has been experienced by those who feed mash 

 foods is due to the use of meat and animal fats in the ground 

 gi'ain, moist mash mixtures. 



A MOIST MASH RATION FOR BREEDING STOCK 



Where it is desired to feed breeding stock according to the 

 moist, mash method, the following wiU be found a desirable 

 plan for feeding: Scald a quantity of out or mealed clover or 

 alfalfa, sufficient to form one-fourth to one-half of the bulk of 

 the mash for your flock, into this stir a mixture of equal parts 

 by measure of heavy bran and coarse com meal or equal parts 

 by measure of com and oat chop and heavy bran. Mix the 

 whole into a crumbly mash as dry as possible and feed either 

 morning, noon or night, according to the convenience of the 

 breeder. When fed at night this mash should be followed by 

 a' feed of mixed hard grain. Adopt some regular plan of feed- 

 ing and stick to it. If you start with a moming mash, make it 



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