REARING THE YOUNG BIRDS 149 



given all the feed they can clean up, for they are very active, 

 and need a good deal to give them energy. 



Care at Maturity. — As the pullets approach maturity, 

 also, their growth must be watched. They should be put in 

 the laying house two or three weeks before good egg produc- 

 tion can be expected, which will be about the middle of 

 October, and this early housing accustoms the birds to their 

 quarters. No animals are so easily affected by change of 

 environment as poultry, and if the poultryman gets his 

 fowls in laying houses, under close observation, he can, to a 

 certain extent, control the time of their maturity. This 

 often means all the difference between a good and a poor 



winter egg yield. 



LABORATORY EXERCISES 



Exercise No. 27. — If funds are available, purchase the 

 liunber necessary to build the summer colony house described 

 in the text and allow the pupils to build same. The class 

 can be divided into a number of sections, with four or five 

 in a section. Usually enough interest will be maintained so 

 that most of the work of construction can be done outside 

 of regular school hours. If land is available, these buildings 

 which are built by the pupils can go towards equipping a 

 small poultry plant to keep as a part of the teaching equip- 

 ment. 



Exercise No. 28. — If there is room in the school yard 

 a small area should be set aside on which a succession of 

 crops can be planted in order to demonstrate how to provide 

 a continuous supply of green feed to growing chicks, which 

 of necessity must be closely confined. It is best to plant 

 these crops in a poultry yard. If no yard is near, an area 

 ten feet square will serve to give practice. By having the 

 crops growing, the pupils will not only become familiar 

 with the appearance of the seed and the manner of planting 

 but they will also become acquainted with its habit of growth 

 and the appearance of its leaf and stalk. 



