130 MAKING POULTRY PAY 



METHODS OF SUCCESSFUL POULTRYMEN 



Growers say that the way they feed and take care 

 of their hens leaves only two alternatives; either lay, 

 or die, and they choose the former. The boiler and 

 the boiler house are essential preliminaries of the 

 farmer poultryman's outfit. From the infant chicken 

 to the mature hen, the food can be cooked to advan- 

 tage. Chickens just hatched will not need much food 

 for the first day or two, and for the first week they 

 need to receive delicate treatment. A food which has 

 lieen successful is composed of cracker crumbs and 

 hard-boiled eggs with a little milk, while others use 

 wheat bread softened with milk. 



For the first month the chicks should be fed at 

 least five times a day ; early in the morning, at 9 a. m., 

 at noon, at 3 p. m. and just before dark, being a con- 

 venient arrangement. After the first week the chick- 

 ens may receive for their morning food the same as 

 the larger poultry, although some even then abstain 

 from giving them meat scraps. For the afternoon 

 feed, give wheat or cracked corn which has been 

 swelled. 



The food for the matured hens consists of meal 

 and shorts, about twice as much of the former as of 

 the latter, and some meat scraps, from one to two 

 quarts to 100 fowls. These three elements should be 

 mixed the night before being used. To this mixture 

 ■other ingredients may be added, such as wheat, cracked 

 corn and oats. In the winter, vegetables, such as car- 

 rots, turnips, onions or potatoes, should be cocked 

 with this soft feed, several times a week. Sometimes 

 -a small quantity of clover hay is mixed in. 



Milk is a valuable food for hens, and if the food 

 is cooked with the skimmilk, nrofitable results will be 

 ■sure to follow. If more milk were fed to poultry 



