LESSONS OK POULTRY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. 
29 
A ROTATION FOR POULTRY YARDS WHICH HAS PROVED PRACTICAL IN SOME 
LOCATIONS. 
Date. 
Yard A. 
Yard B. 
Mar. 1 to Apr. 30 
Feeding. 
Peas and barley. 
Feeding. 
Apr. 30 to May 25 
Feeding 
Buckwheat 
July 10 to Aug. 1 
Aug. 1 to Aug. 20 
Cow peas and millet. 
Feeding. 
Rye and vetch. 
Aug. 20 to Sept. 20 
Sept. 20 to Dec. 1 
Special care must be taken lest the fowls return to the yard to which they have 
become accustomed. 
GRAZING CROPS FOR POULTRY.* 
[Adapted to the latitude of the southern boundary of Pennsylvania.] 
Crop. 
"When sown. 
Seed per acre. 
Grazing period. 
Stage. 
Duration. 
Peas and oats . 
Chard 
Rape 
Red clover 
About Apr. 15 
May 10 to July 1... 
Beginning Apr. 20. 
Aug. 20 
1 bushel peas, 2 
bushels oats. 
3 pounds 
6 pounds. 
About Mav 20. 
12r>ounds. 
8 inches-10 inches 
high. 
6 inches-8 inches 
high. 
About May 15 
Turnips 
Buckwheat. 
Sov beans. . 
Rye 2 and 
clover. 
Sweet clover. 
Alfalfa 
do 
May 10 to July 1.. 
May 10 to June 10. 
Sept. 1 
Aug. 15 to Sept. 1 . 
August 
3 pounds. 
1 bushel.. 
....do.... 
1 bushel rye, lc 
pounds clover. 
25 pounds 
20 pounds. 
Sept. 20 
6 weeks 
12 inches-15 inches 
high. 
Graze early winter 
and spring. 
8 inches-10 inches 
high. 
do 
Until full grown. 
Until consumed. 
Do. 
Until fed down 
closely. 
Until snowfalls. 
Until mature. 
Until fed down or 
too tough. 
Alternate periods. 
1 Suggestions by the Division of Forage Crop Investigations of the Bureau of Plant Industry. This 
phase of the investigations has received little attention from the viewDoint of poultry grazing, especially 
as to the relation of number of fowls to area of crops. 
2 Winter wheat may be substituted for rye. Farther north substitute hairy vetch for crimson clover. 
MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY MANURE. 
The manure produced is a valuable by-product of poultry raising. It is estimated 
that the average night droppings of a hen amount to 30 to 40 pounds per year. This 
represents the manure which can certainly be saved with the exercise of a little care. 
A conservative estimate indicates that this manure contains fertilizing constituents 
which would cost 20 to 25 cents if bought in the form of commercial fertilizers at ordi- 
nary prices. A flock of 100 hens would at this rate pro4uce manure worth $20 to $25 
per year. If, however, the manure is not properly cared for, as much as one-half of 
its fertilizing value is likely to be lost. To prevent loss frequent cleaning of the drop- 
ping boards is necessary, and some sort of absorbent should be used daily. The use 
in moderate quantities of fine, dry loam or road dust, or, preferably, mixtures of these 
with such materials as land plaster, acid phosphate, and potash salts has been recom- 
mended. Sawdust has also been used with good results at the rate of 10 pounds per 
hen per year mixed with 16 pounds of acid phosphate and 8 pounds of kainit. This 
gives a fertilizer which contains about 0.25 per cent of nitrogen, 4.5 per cent of phos- 
phoric acid, and 2 per cent of potash, and is worth about $10 per ton at ordinary prices 
of these fertilizing constituents. It is a better balanced fertilizer than manure alone 
and is usually in better mechanical condition for application to the soil by means of 
fertilizer distributors or manure spreaders. 
