44 
The Australasian Book of Poultry. 
food as fowls are ; but, if unavoidable, it is best to feed them apart if it can be managed. An excellent 
method where fowls and ducks are kept together is to have a large wooden trough, nearly square, with 
sides, 3 or 4 inches in height, fixed on four legs a couple of feet in height. (See Fig. 36.) The fowls 
can be fed in this manner, the ducks rarely attempting to fly up, w^hile the latter may have their food 
placed underneath a shallow box, a foot in width and several feet in length, about 4 inches in height. 
(See Fig. 37.) This can be made with or without a bottom, one side being left open. The ducks are 
enabled to obtain their food easily, owing to the flexibility of their necks, while the fowls are 
prevented from scratching or pulling the food about. By feeding the fowls first, they will get out of the 
way, and after one or two meals have been given them in this manner no trouble is likely to arise, the 
ducks soon understanding where their food is obtainable. 
As far as there being a possibilitv of making a Poultry Farm, b\' the production of birds and eggs tor 
market, a profitable concern, we can safel}' offer the opinion that it can and has been done in more than 
one instance, and under disadvantages that would astonish many of our readers. We are well aware 
that many preposterous statements have been made by some writers on Poultry matters which were 
grossl)' misleading, but this does not upset the fact that good and lasting results have been achieved 
by men of practical experience ; and has distinctly' shown that Poultry' Farming, carried out in a 
svstematic and intelligent manner, can be made as successful a venture as any other form of business. 
There are numbers of persons having no knowledge of Poultry whatever who invest their capital, 
imagining that it is an easy matter to acquire the knowledge necessary to make a success, but are 
grievously disappointed when failure stares them in the face. We venture to state that in the majority 
of instances where failure has resulted, that if the same persons had invested their capital in anv other 
class of business of which thev were as ignorant, the same end would be arrived at, so that before 
embarking in the Poultry Farming line it is well to have some practical experience on the subject. 
Feeding occupies such a prominent part in the management of Poultry that serious loss is ofcen 
occasioned for want of study and observation, and, as there are a thousand and one details which have 
to be systematically carried out in connection with a Poultry Farm on a large or small scale, it can be 
understood that those people are most unwise in risking their little all in a venture of this sort before 
gaining some sound practical knowledge of the business they are about to undertake. 
On a Poultry Farm, when egg-production is the point aimed at, the laying hens do as well, or 
better, without the cocks running with them. No male birds, outside of those reserved for the breeding 
pens, should be allowed to remain on the farm one day after the)' are old or fit enough to be sent to 
market. There is no necessity to feed a lot of cocks or cockerels, as the food eaten by them would go 
towards the support of more productive birds, or a saving effected ; and, as the experienced farmer keeps 
no hens when they are past their profitably productive age, why should he keep a lot of useless cocks, 
for which a certain return could be obtained? A positive loss in the management of many farms is 
occasioned by neglect of this one item. Poultry Farming is a pleasurable pursuit, and can be made a 
profitable one if carried out on systematic lines. As such an amount of likely and attainable 
success rests in the hands of the Poultry Farmer in breeding hens for laj-ing whose powers of egg- 
production are considerably greater than the ordinary hens, he will naturally' reap the reward of his skill 
and labor by doing so ; if this is neglected, and the laying stock are bred in a careless and indifferent 
manner, this will as surely turn to loss. Hens bred in the latter manner generally cost more to feed, 
and, as they cannot give anything like as good a return in the number of eggs laid annually, this tends 
to failure. Economy must be studied in the management of all Poultry if success is wished for ; and, as 
housing, feeding, and general care of the flock play such an important part in turning a possible loss 
into a payable profit, these essentials must not be neglected. 
