THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



March, 1914 



\\ ith fowls promiscuous polygamy is 

 the rule. Some birds have their indi- 

 vidual affinities and antipathi*, but 

 these are only interesting exceptions 

 suggesting that it may once have been 

 their habit to pair. Ducks in domestica- 

 tion, are hke fowls in their breeding 

 habits, except that the drake will not 

 mate with as many females as the cock. 

 In geese the young birds usually pair. 

 After the tirst year the gander will, if 

 there are unmatcd females about, mate 

 with several in addition to his first mate, 

 but in general these polygamous unions 

 are permanent. Indeed, breeders of 

 geese often find that when they arbitra- 

 r.ly break up established matings, and 

 undertake to make the birds mate as the 

 breeder desires, geese will not breed 

 freely the first season in the new rela- 

 tions, and in some instance will not ac- 

 cept the new mates. Turkeys are more 

 like fowls in their mating habits, though 

 the turkey cock is more intolerant of 

 the presence of rivals during the breed- 

 ing season than the common cock. 

 Among the rarer kinds of domestic birds 

 kin to the admitted members of the poul- 

 try group, as Guinea Fowls and peacocks, 

 the tendency is either to mate or to unite 

 in very small families and permanently. 

 How far this tendency would be modi- 

 fied if men found it to their advantage 

 to breed these birds extensively, we do 

 not know. Broadly speaking, the most 

 popular and useful domestic birds are 

 those which have most nearly lost the 

 tendency to pair in permanent union. 



♦ ■ 



For stock purposes a hen may be well 

 worth keepin^r, and one that has 

 proved an exceptionally good breeder 

 should be retained as long as it is pos- 

 sible to breed from her. 



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'Phone 273. 



Inducing Hens to Lay. 



— From "Poultry." — 



The problem which most poultry 

 keepers face at certain seasons of the 

 year is how to make their fowls lay. 

 Big profits await those whose birds lay 

 well at the right time ; but most people's 

 won't lay, and the profits, instead of 

 being greater than usual on account of 

 the high prices, dwindle away, and some- 

 times a considerable balance accrues on 

 the wrong side of the ledger. 



The first matter to take in hand in 

 order to get eggs at the right time of 

 the year is to get the proper kinds of 

 Ijirds. Here, of course, the necessity for 

 careful breeding comes in, and it is 

 mostly by attention to this matter that 

 consistent good records have been put 

 up by birds from some of our best uti- 

 lity poultry yards. But there is more 

 than this. Not only should the birds 

 be well bred, but they must be early 

 hatched, so as to get time to mature pro- 

 perly before the scarce season comes 

 round. 



But neither birdswell bred nor of the 

 right age will ensure eggs if their treat- 

 ment is not good. And it is necessary 

 that this treatment should commence 

 from the time the birds are hatched. 

 Chickens, like cauliflower plants, should 

 never have a check from start to finish. 

 Their food should be always sound, well 

 prepared, sufficient given, and in the 

 early days fed frequently. Habits of 

 activity and foraging should be fostered. 

 In small spaces food should be buried 

 occasionally under litter or loose earth, 

 so as to encourage work. They should 

 never be stinted, and never given so 

 much that they will not pick it up 

 eagerly. Then docility should be fos- 

 tered. The fowls should be taught not 

 to he afraid of their attendant, so that 

 at no time should they be perturbed if 

 he should enter their pens, even when 

 they are sitting on the nest. Some birds 

 are much more timid and harder to 

 tame than others, but all arc amenable 

 to treatment if taken in hand early 

 enough. They need to be taught that the 

 attendant is their best friend, and that 

 there is no reason to avoid him. 



Egg-laying competitions have taught 

 us much in the management of birds for 

 laying, and amongst the important les- 

 .sons imparted is that regarding the num- 

 ber of birds in a pen. It has been con- 

 clusively proved that a very few birds 

 in each pen will result in very many 

 more eggs than if 50 or 100 are in one 

 pen, or allowed to promiscuously run 

 hither and thither. This is a most im- 



portant factor, and should not be lost 

 sight of. The size of the pen admits of 

 considerable variation, some of the best 

 results having been obtained in very 

 small pens; still, too small pens are not 

 conducive to vigorous health, and the 

 poultry keeper cannot afTord to neglect 

 this feature. On the other hand, it is 

 generally admitted that birds can have 

 too much liberty. A great deal of wan- 

 dering in search of food does not seem 

 to be an aid to prolific laying. 



Shelter is an important provision, and 

 at the same time, so is ample fresh air. 

 Experiments recently carried out in 

 America have shown that, in a far more 

 rigorous clim'ate than ours, open sheds 

 have given the best results, when a 

 period of two or three months was taken 

 into consideration. On the other hand, 

 cold, especially at night, greatly reduces 

 the egg supply. It is, therefore, impor- 

 tant that the roofs of fowl houses should 

 be something more than galvanised iron 

 alone, for this material lets the cold in 

 very much, and cold comes in through 

 the roof more than any other way. Yet 

 galvanised iron makes the best of roof- 

 ing, everything considered, and may be 

 made thoroughly serviceable in winter 

 by having boards or tarred feh nailed 

 up temporarily underneath. 



Feeding is half the battle. Time, 

 variety, quality, quantity, and manner of 

 preparation, must all be taken into ac- 

 count. It never pays for birds to remain 

 long without food after they leave the 

 roosts. If they are in small pens, and 

 have little opportunity for forage, this 

 is the more important. The poultry 

 keeper who meets his birds as they leave 

 the roosts with a well-compounded warm 

 meal in cold weather, gets a good pur- 

 chase on their egg-producing capabilities. 

 The attendant himself can only gauge 

 the quantity to be given; hence, upon his 

 observation a very great deal depends. 

 Birds do not require a hearty feed be- 

 tween the morning meal and evening, 

 but if they arc in confinement they re- 

 quire a little. Table scraps and green 

 food, with possibly a very little grain 

 if these things are short, will tide the 

 birds over till evening, when, from an 

 hour to half an hour before sundown, 

 enough grain should be fed to satisfy 

 them, but no more, as it deteriorates by 

 lying on the ground. 



To get first class results, some animal 

 food must be given, especially if the 

 birds are in small pens. From an ex- 

 tended observation, the writer is con- 

 vinced that green cut bone is the best, 

 apart from cost, notwithstanding, analy- 

 ses which have been published showing 



