SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEPING 



This constitutes all the green food they have, except once 

 in a while we may substitute onions in place of cabbage. We 

 have gotten our mash made for the day, and as 9 o'clock has come 

 we will feed our first feed of it for the day, only feeding what 

 they will eat quickly. We feed on tin plates, about fourteen 

 inches in diameter and a quarter of an inch deep with a wide 

 fold at the top. These can be readly cleaned preparatory to 

 another feed by scraping with the feeding shovel, which is a 

 small shovel about four inches across, made of heavy sheet iron 

 and a white iron handle. We have a pan to put the leavings 

 in, if any. They go into the swill for the pigs. At 11 o'clock 

 another mash, then the dishes are picked up, taken into the 

 kitchen or cook room and washed. 



Again at 1 and 3 o'clock we feed the mash and if we have 

 used good judgment we have had a hungry mob each feeding. 

 If we have been liberal, we find they have left something each 

 time and are not ready for their feed. When this is so just 

 scant them until they clean up each time and do it quickly; 

 taking care you have enough for all. You will find the nimiber 

 of plates will have to be increased, as the chicks increase in size, 

 in order that each may have a chance. At 5 o'clock or before 

 dark throw down a liberal feed of cracked corn. 



We follow this bill of fare for about four weeks. As we 

 have crowded the chicks pretty well, by putting one hundred in a 

 pen we must take extra precautions against fUth. At about four 

 weeks of age a day's droppings is considerable on the floor of 

 the pen so the floor is now raked over each day and the collections 

 wheeled out. For this we must use aloop toothed rake. 



We have by this time found our fountains small and easily 

 tipped over by the chicks, so we have adopted new ones hold- 

 ing nearly two quarts, made of galvanized iron and cone shaped 

 on top, to keep the youngsters from roosting on them, and in- 

 stead of the Saucer we use a small deep agate pan, only a trifle 

 larger than the fount. This we find to be very satisfactory as 

 the chicks can not put their feet in it. ' 



FINISHING OFF THE CHICKS 



To come back to the six to eight weeks old chicks. We 

 must now think of finishing them off. We examine them, 

 weigh a few, calculate how much flesh can be made on them in 

 about ten days, for as broilers Boston has no' use for anything 

 over four pounds to a pair. We have fed sb much bran that 

 as we lay back the feathers on the breast we say, "They ought 

 to have more color." How can we get it? We cast about for 

 a way to get this. We know com will do it, but we lose time if 

 we drop off from soft feed to hard. The chicks won't grow as 

 fast and we must turn theni off as soon as possible to get the 

 most profit from them. So we put into the mash all the cotton 

 seed meal we can stir in and not make it "salvy" or "puddingy," 

 as we call it. With a little treacle added we have accomplished 

 the resiilt. 



We now have a fine yellow skin if we have not foolishly 

 chosen a blue blooded carcass, but any yellow-legged variety 

 will respond to the treatment. I would caution you against 

 tryiiig to feed this for too long a time, say more than two weeks, 

 as the chicks will get cloyed by it, and you cannot hold their 

 flesh, to say nothing of making any unless you keep their appe- 

 tites "up to the clip." This being such a high feed, it seems 

 to become nauseous to them. One would find it difficult to keep 

 them on their legs if it were fed from the first. We have now 

 "forced" the birds for eight weeks and have obtained what we 

 set out for, viz: Two-pound broilers at eight weeks. 



This has been successfully accomplished on our farm with 

 White Wyandottes. We have not done quite as well with any 

 other variety. They will stand on their legs where Plymouth 

 Rocks would be rolling on their sides with the same feed. 



We put up two pens of 110 each, and at eight weeks they 



weighed two pounds each, and a portion two and one-quarter 

 pounds each under this system of feeding and almost the same 

 treatment. By continuing the regular feed we have made five 

 and five-eighths pound roasters at fifteen weeks old. 



SHIPPING LIVE CHICKS TO MARKET 



One thing more before closing: If you ship poultry to 

 market ahve, and it travels twenty to thirty miles on the rail- 

 road, feed the night before, not too heavy but some, as the 

 birds will empty themselves in the night and on the journey. 

 Give them all the water they will drink before they start on their 

 funeral ride. You will thus save a portion of yoiir shrinkage 

 to nobody's injury, but to their gain, I believe, as you help 

 retain the juiciness of the flesh. 



Some of these hints have been gained in the expensive 

 school of experience, but if any earnest, honest poultryman can 

 get anything of assistance from them he is welcome. As one 

 word of caution, do not attempt to raise your breeding females 

 under such hot-house methods, because you will sacrifice your 

 size through early maturity, as after a period of forcing as given 

 above it is no uncommon thing for pullets to lay at sixteen weeks, 

 and we all know that is enough to stop growth. You may 

 start your breeders in the brooder, holding off foTcing foods, 

 but get them out as quickly as possible. 



The summing up of the discussion is, breed, feed and care. 

 Let us not disdain to use the breed because it may be bred to 

 "fancy points," as the fancy has given us our best and most 

 practical varieties, and the nearer a typical bird he have, of 

 almost any breed, the better carcass we have. , 



THE ECONOMY OF CAPONS 



AN ENGLISH POULTRY FARM WITHOUT FENCES 

 WHERE ALL THE COCKERELS ARE CAPONIZ- 

 ED— THE CAPONS BEING A GOOD PROFIT 

 WITH THE SMALLEST AMOUNT OF OUTLAY 



FRANKLANE L. SEWELL, Artist 



Aside from the small ruiis connected with the long brood- 

 ing house and a few yards for the favorite breeding birds, fences 

 were quite needless, as all the cockerels for market stock were 

 caponized, thus doing away with the need of separating the 

 sexes. This is immediately recognized as a great economy. 

 The farm was a large one mostly worked for hay and grain. 

 The land not the richest, would hardly pay the 80 pounds 

 (nearly $400) per year rent from the product of its hay and 

 grain. The poultry added considerably to the income of the 

 tenant who had made poultry quite a study in America as well 

 as in England, having been a student at Kingston, Rhode 

 Island. 



THE MOVABLE BREEDING PENS 



The farm being devoted to hay and grain gave ample room 

 for portable houses. Our visit was in haying time and the long 

 swaths stretched out over the wide meadows on which quite a 

 number of movable breeding pens were arranged. Those in 

 the picture at the lower left hand are the shape favored on the 

 place. They are of five-eighth inch tongued-and-grooved boards. 

 Three by 6 feet on ground measurement and 4 feet high to the 

 peak; three feet at sides with sliding door at center of long side. 

 They are very simple but answer the purpose well. A small 

 door at the end assists in gathering the eggs and the handles 

 at each corner makes frequent moving about quite a simple 



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