The evening meal should contain a good scratch food 

 which may be improved in cold weather by the heating of the 

 grain which will help to increase the egg production and the 

 hens are sure to like it. Scatter well and what they will pick 

 up in 20 minutes will be sufficient. Don't let anybody go to 

 bed hungry and without a drink of good clean water. In 

 addition to this, the housing of the poultry is something 

 that must be looked after very carefully. Avoid drafts of 

 air, dampness, and untoward conditions and above all, prac- 

 tice cleanliness. Clean the dropping boards as often as pos- 

 sible. Keep the houses well sprayed with a good disinfect- 

 ing spray but always avoid using water. Also avoid over- 

 crowding at any stage of the game. If your chickens are 

 housed in small coops about your place, see to it that they 

 are up on good dry ground. If placed on low spots, the water 

 from every rain will run in and make the place damp. When 

 placing the coops, place them high and dry. It is a good plan 

 to fill the dirt end of the coop so that it will be higher than 

 the outside dirt. 



A well cared for, well bred bird is a thing of beauty and a 

 joy forever. You can tell the difference between a poorly 

 and well bred bird almost at a glance. Almost any novice can 

 tell the difference. It pays to breed good stock so long as you 

 have to have them around you, and it doesn't cost any more 

 to raise a thoroughbred than it does a scrub and you will 

 derive much personal satisfaction in seeing good stock. Be- 

 sides, the monetary consideration is something to be 

 thought of. 



Making a success in poultry work is determined in a large 

 measure by the man or woman taking it up. One cannot tell 

 beforehand whether or not they can readily adapt them- 

 selves to the work. By starting on a small scale and moving 

 slowly, this can be determined without a loss of a good deal 

 of time or money. 



IMPOSSIBLE FOR A HEN TO LAY HALF AN EGG 



In dressing a hen, one frequently finds a bunch of little egg 

 yolks. The natural assumption is that the hen is about ready 

 to lay, but frequently this is not the case. A hen cannot lay 

 half an egg. If feed is largely grain she gets an abundance 

 of yolk-forming elements but little with which to make 

 whites. She therefore makes a lot of little yolks which are 

 eventually absorbed back into the system if white-forming 



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