82 



RHODE ISLAND REDS 



good order. However, this moving of the houses is not prac- 

 ticed as often as might be expected, and on the Almy plant 

 the colony buildings occupied by the laying stock have not 

 been moved far from the site where they were originally 

 erected for a number of years. 



For the greater part of the farm the fields are fairly well 

 drained, although one or two in w6t weather might be con- 

 sidered a little soft. In going about the district, we saw 

 many farms where the poultry houses were located in low, 

 wet meadow land and had been there for twenty-five or 

 thirty years, while the proprietors were credited with being 

 exceptionally successful in rearing young stock and produc- 

 ing market eggs. 



All of these houses have earth floors, being usually filled 

 in to "about a level of the sills. Most of the houses face 

 south and have a door in the east side of the front or in the 

 east end; the roosts are located in the west end of the build- 

 ing, averaging about 2J feet off the floor. 



These buildings are cleaned and the droppings removed 

 twice a year, spring and fall, and this apparently is all the 

 cleaning necessairy. On a practical plant run for revenue 

 only, it is neither necessary nor desirable to be always on 

 the alert to scrape up the droppings as fast as they fall, if 

 the fowls are in good order. On a show plant where visitors 

 are catered to, frequent cleaning would, of course, be neces- 

 sary, not for the fowls' sake but chiefly to make the quarters 

 look more attractive. 



All of the fowls have free range but seldom roam far 

 away from their respective houses. The male birds par- 

 ticularly are inclined to remain close by their own quarters. 

 There is very little fighting among the males, not nearly so 

 much as one would naturally expect. As long as the male 

 birds remain near their own home they are usually able to 

 meet and drive off all other male birds that may intrude 

 upon them, so that they may be said to fight best in their 

 own dooryard. Salt water beach sand is used on the floors 

 of the poultry buildings mainly for 'purposes of cleanliness 

 and to avoid soiling the eggs with mud or dirt from the birds' 

 feet. Nests are arranged in a row on a shelf along one side 

 of the poultry building about 3 feet ^bove the floor. Oat 

 straw or meadow hay is used for nesting material. 



When we asked about cleaning the poultry buildings- 

 Mr. Almy informed us that all of the .houses were cleaned 

 regularly in the spring and fall and that they were cleaned 

 oitener if they needed it, though this seldom happened. 

 Cleaning one of these buildings is an easy matter, as it is 

 only necessary to raise the house a little, drag it a few feet 

 from its old location and then load the accumulated drop- 

 pings into a wagon to carry them to that part of the farm 

 where they will do the most goqd. The floor is then filled 

 in with sods and earth well up to the tops of the sills, with 

 a few inches of salt water beach sand on top. 



All the fuss, theory spinning and worrying of poultry 

 keeping is eliminated on this plant. Only the sane and com- 

 mon-sense details of poultry keeping receive attention. All 

 the unnecessary work is avoided, as this is a one-man plant, 

 the kind that succeeds, and time and labor represent money 

 and are too valuable to be wasted. Mr. Almy does the 

 greater part of his own work even in the chicken season. 

 This includes general farm work as well as the care and man- 

 agement of the poultry. The helper, or Portuguese assistant, 

 acts chiefly as a time-saver working with the proprietor, sav- 

 ing steps, providing an extra pair of arms and legs where 

 needed, carrying food, water, and doing all other work under 

 the owner's eyes and personal direction. Compared with 

 the work of the proprietor, the helper's duties are very light. 



Mr. Almy told us that he enjoyed turning out early in 

 the morning, and apparently getting up time at the Almy 

 plant is usually 4 a. m. throughout the year, while bedtime 



comes again at 10 o'clock p. m. Breakfast comes early, 

 about 5 o'clock, after the barn chores (looking out for two 

 horses, seven cows and four calves) have been attended to. 

 Six o'clock finds the proprietor and his helper at the cook 

 house loading up the feed and water wagon ready to start 

 the morning work of filling up the feed troughs of the laying 

 stock with the day's supply of food. The mash food used 

 has all been prepared the night before and allowed to remain 

 in the cook kettle to finish cooking in its own heat. In tne 

 chicken season the morning work of feeding and watering 

 consumes about two hours. The Uying stock receive but 

 one feed for the whole day. The young chicks and selected 

 yarded birds are fed a second time, which comes directly 

 after dinner, when about an hour is occupied in distributing 

 the food, a portion of which has previously been scalded 

 during the forenoon in the cooker. 



Allowing two hours in the morning for feeding and 

 watering, an hour and a half for scalding, mixing and dis- 

 tributing the noon feed, and another hour and a half in the 

 afternoon for preparing the cooked mash for the morning 

 feed and gathering the eggs makes a total of five hours occu- 

 pied by strictly poultry work in caring for 2600 chicks and' 

 1800 laying fowls by one man and a boy in the busy summer 

 season. The balance of the day is consumed in general 

 farm work. 



At the time of our visit Mr. Almy found time to spendl 

 three hours of the afternoon in driving us about to show us-' 

 some of the sights in the district. We returned to the farm 

 shortly after five o'clock and between that time and six the- 

 proprietor and his helper found time to finish up the barn 

 chores, start the morning mash cooking in the cook house, 

 and do many other things too numerous to mention while- 

 we were taking a before-supper swim in the Sakonhet River. 



Directly after supper, which was one such as only New 

 England house-keepers know how to prepare, the heavy 

 work of finishing the thorough mixing of the morning mash 

 was quickly accomplished, and Mr. Almy brought out a base- 

 ball and mits eager to pass ball, until too dark to see to- 

 play, for recreation sake, and here we have the keynote of 

 success in poultry keeping; a man with sound common sense, 

 a fondness for 'work, a lover of good sport and full of vigor 

 and vitality. How many of our readers after putting i'n a. 

 strenuous day at poultry and farm work, entertaining in 

 this case three visitors (there were two besides ourself — a. 

 gentleman from St. Louis and Mr. Tom McGrew, editor of 

 The Feather) would feel equal to and eager for a game of 

 ball? 



Foods and Feeding 



On the Almy plant all laying and breeding stock are fedi 

 once every 24 hours. The feed for the day is placed in a 

 divided trough, mash in one end and mixed grain or cracked 

 corn in the ,other. One of these troughs is shown in the- 

 illustration. The daily allowance of food so fed varies a- 

 little according to season and the appetites of the birds. 

 The proprietor attends to this feeding personally, with the- 

 assistance of the helper, and knows by experience just how 

 much food the birds will clean up during the day. It is 

 very rare to have any grain left in the troughs at night,, 

 while the mash food is always cleaned up. 



These feeding troughs vary in size, but on an average- 

 are 3J feet long by 14 inches wide. Four upright posts of 

 inch square stuff 12 inches long form the corners and legs. 

 The bottom of the trough is made of smooth board notched, 

 at the corners to receive the posts which serve as frame as 

 well as legs. The bottom board is nailed to the posts about- 

 4 inches from the lower ends. On each side is nailed securely 

 a strip 3 inches wide by 3i feet long^ giving a depth of about 

 2 inches to the trough. On each end is nailed a piece of 



