November, 191; 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



WINTERING THE SMALL FLOCK 



IT is always true that the busy hen is 

 most likely to be the laying hen, but par- 

 ticularly true in Winter. Consider that a 

 hen is off the roost only about eight hours 

 out of the twenty-four these short days. 

 She must eat a large amount of grain in 

 that short space of time if she is to pro- 

 duce an abundance of eggs, at the same 

 time making enough fat to keep herself 

 warm and comfortable. Various schemes 

 for lighting poultry houses with electricity 

 or by other means have been devised, but 

 none of them has worked out satisfactor- 

 ily. Fowls seem to have little liking for 

 artificial light. 



It might seem an easy matter to give the 

 birds three short meals a day and supply 

 enough food in that way, but hens do not 

 thrive with that sort of treatment. It is 

 natural for them to hunt for their rations, 

 getting a little here and a little there. If 

 cracked grain is thrown into a litter five to 

 eight inches deep they will get it in just that 

 fashion, while they secure the exercise 

 which they need in the act of scratching 

 in the litter for the hidden kernels of corn 

 and wheat. 



At the same time it is advisable to have 

 a hopper of ground grain placed where the 

 hens may have access to it at any time, or 

 at least part of the time. Some experts 

 advise keeping the hoppers closed until 

 noon, but most practical poultrymen leave 

 the ground feed exposed at all times, except 

 that at night they may close the hoppers to 

 prevent rats feasting on the grain. Hens 

 are not over-fond of dry ground feeds and 

 so seldom eat too much, but they take a 

 little at frequent intervals and the owner 

 may feel sure that his birds will not go to 

 roost hungry, even though he is occasionally 

 unable to get home before dark. Also, the 

 dry mash is at hand as soon as the fowls are 

 off the roosts in the morning, so that they 

 may begin feeding at once even though they 

 may be up before their owner. 



The amateur with a small flock may re- 

 duce his Winter work to a minimum if his 

 time is limited. In case he has to go away 

 before daylight and is not able to return 

 until after dark, he may install a self-feeder, 

 by means of which the birds will be able to 

 obtain a supply of cracked grains at any 

 time by pecking at a bait bar filled with 

 corn. A slight tap on this bar will release 

 a shower of grain from the reservoir above. 

 This reservoir will hold enough to last a 

 small flock several days and if there is litter 

 for the grain to fall into, the birds will be 

 kept busy both releasing the kernels and 

 scratching for them afterward. 



No fear need be felt that the poultry 

 will not learn to use this device. Often 

 they are found operating it constantly in 

 a few hours. They seem to understand, 

 too, that the grain does not come from the 

 bar which they are first attracted to, but 

 from a source higher up. After a sharp 

 tap with the beak, they wait expectantly 

 for the grain to appear. This feeder used 

 in connection with a dry mash hopper large 



enough to hold sufficient for a week will 

 reduce the work of feeding to an occasional 

 replenishing of the supply and make regu- 

 lar feeding hours unnecessary. 



There remains the question of furnishing 

 water, for water in abundance the hens 

 must have if they are to produce eggs freely. 

 Eggs are largely water, anyway. In cold 

 weather water in an ordinary fountain will 

 freeze, making the fountains which are 

 large enough to hold a large supply unavail- 

 able during the severe Winter months. 

 There are other fountains, however, which, 

 while they will not hold so much water, will 

 prevent it freezing, so that one filling a day 

 will be sufficient. Some of these fountains 

 are heated by small lamps, while others are 

 insulated on much the principle followed 

 in constructing fireless cookers and thermos 

 bottles. 



Something may be said about the rations 

 for Winter. In the northern states at least, 

 corn may well constitute half the scratch 

 feed. As an all-round poultry feed corn 

 can not be surpassed, whatever may be said 

 to the contrary, and all practical poultry 

 keepers know that to be a fact. Wheat and 

 oats in equal parts will be satisfactory for 

 the other half. Oats are especially to be 

 recommended when feeding for eggs, al- 

 though the hens are not quite so fond of 

 them as of corn and wheat. If barley is 

 cheap it may also be used to some extent. 

 Cracked corn is better than whole corn, un- 

 less as a final feed just before the birds go 

 to roost, at which time there can be no ob- 

 jection to their filling their crops in a few 

 minutes. Sixteen hours on the perches will 

 give them ample time to digest it and to 

 acquire a keen appetite for breakfast. 



Amateurs commonly use one of the com- 

 mercial dry mashes and with good results. 

 It is about as satisfactory, although involv- 

 ing a little more work to mix a mash of 

 bran, cornmeal and ground oats, with five 

 per cent, of beef scraps and perhaps some 

 cut alfalfa added. There may be equal parts 

 of meal and oats, with twice as much bran. 

 Bran and corn are two poultry foods which 

 the practical man could not well dispense 

 with. 



Most of the commercial mashes contain 

 both green food, usually in the form of al- 

 falfa, and beef scraps. An additional green 

 ration will prove an appetizer, however, and 

 help in getting a large number of eggs. 

 Sprouted oats are excellent, dried lawn clip- 

 pings, cut clover soaked in hot water or 

 steamed, and various vegetables like car- 

 rots and beets are good, and cabbages will 

 answer, if there is nothing better. In all 

 feeding formulae devised for the small flock, 

 table scraps should be taken into considera- 

 tion. Often they will go a long ways to- 

 ward feeding a few hens and as they pro- 

 vide an endless variety, they are greatly 

 relished by the fowls. Hens so fed often 

 lay more eggs than those in the pens of 

 professional poultry keepers. 



Most amateurs build poultry houses 

 with dropping boards, but while they pos- 

 sibly may add somewhat to the general 

 appearance of the interior, they also add 

 to the work which must be done. Drop- 

 ping boards are worse than useless if not 

 cleaned at frequent intervals. They need 

 to be covered, too, with loam, ashes or 

 some other absorbent every time the 

 droppings are removed. The plan I have 

 adopted is to set up a board on the floor 

 a little in advance of the roosting perches 

 and to do away with dropping boards en- 

 tirely. A deep litter of some kind is 

 thrown under the perch to hold the drop- 

 pings and absorb the odor. The best 

 litter for the purpose which I have found 

 is sold on the market in bales and looks 

 like dried peat. When the floor under 



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