WHAT BACKYARDERS CAN DO 27 
not to the fowls or their environment, but to carelessness, neglect 
and general mismanagement. I have also known instances where 
failure has been the direct effect of starvation. The owner may 
not—probably did not—have any intention of deliberately under- 
feeding his birds. To do so would imply a foolishness that self- 
interest rarely exhibits. 
Do Not UNDERFEED 
It may happen in a variety of ways, but chiefly by a desire to 
“save” a part of the food when the fowls are not laying. Now 
nothing could be more stupid than a policy of this kind. When a 
normally healthy bird is not laying it is due, as a rule, to one of 
two things. Either it is “‘resting ” after a period of laying, or 
it is undergoing the annual moult, when feathers instead of eggs 
have to be produced. The bird that lays when moulting is 
flouting the laws of nature, and it will assuredly suffer for it later 
on. When the non-laying bird is having a temporary rest, or 
is undergoing the longer suspension of the moult, underfeeding 
will only aggravate the trouble. It is during these periods of 
nature, when the bird is recuperating and storing up energy and 
material for a new cycle of production, that she needs plenty of 
good food. To underfeed a bird during these times is like starving 
a cow that is about to calve. Parenthetically, I may say that 
there are no periods in a laying hen’s life when she may, with profit, 
be underfed. Old hens do not need quite so much food as younger 
hens, but if you want the best results they must receive adequate 
nourishment. 
No doubt there is a tendency on the part of some thrifty-minded 
people to keep back part of the food when the hens are not laying. 
They seem to argue that if the fowl does not lay neither shall she 
eat. Or it may be that if the owner is not getting eggs, he cannot 
afford to pay for a full feed. But no matter what the reason 
assigned for underfeeding, the policy is wrong from beginning to 
end. Besides, it is suicidal. By underfeeding during the non- 
laying periods, you are directly prolongmg the unproductive 
stage. Feed well and your eggs will come all the quicker. 
