Care of Mature Fowls. 
7 
ing the vacant section two or three times yearly with a quick-growing 
green crop, such as rape, oats, wheat, rye, or barley. This method 
furnishes green feed and also helps to keep the yards sweet and 
clean, which is a very important consideration. 
Good kinds of green feeds are sprouted oats, alfalfa meal, chopped 
alfalfa and clover hay, cabbages, and mangel beets. Cabbages 
may be hung up in the poultry house; the beets are usually split 
and stuck on a nail on the side wall of the pen about a foot above 
the floor. Clover and alfalfa may be fed as hay cut into \ or \ inch 
lengths, or they may be bought in the form of meal. 
Oats for sprouting are soaked overnight in warm water and then 
spread out from | to 1 inch thick on trays having perforated bottoms 
and put into an oat sprouter. Water the oats thoroughly and turn 
the trays around once daily to promote even sprouting. Artificial 
heat should be supplied in cool weather by the use of a kerosene 
lamp or by some other means. Use a good grade of oats, allow a 
square inch of sprouted-oat surface per hen daily, and feed these 
sprouted oats on the floor of the poultry house or in the yard. Feed 
at any time after the sprouts are well started, which usually takes 
from 5 to 7 days. Keep the sprouter clean and spray it occasionally 
with disinfectant to prevent the growth of mold. 
Keep oyster shells, grit, charcoal, and plenty of clean drinking 
water before the hens all the time. 
PREPARING POULTRY AND EGGS FOR MARKET. 
Care should be used to put the dressed poultry and eggs in first- 
class condition, whether they are used in the home or marketed 
elsewhere. 
The eggs should be gathered daily, kept in a cool, dry place, and 
marketed at least twice a week. Eggs to be used for hatching 
should be collected two or three times daily in very cold weather to 
prevent chilling. When the eggs are not to be used for hatching, 
it is better to produce infertile eggs, as they keep better than fertile 
eggs in warm weather. If the club member has eggs enough they 
should be sorted and packed in dozen cartons, according to their 
color and size. Any soiled eggs should be cleaned by wiping with a 
damp cloth. 
Cockerels which are not to be saved for breeders should be mar- 
keted, either as broilers or roasters, as soon as they are large enough. 
Hens should be culled and marketed according to their age and 
condition, as discussed in Farmers’ Bidletin 1112 on “Culling for 
Eggs and Market.” 
Birds which are to be killed and marketed should be kept with- 
out feed for at least 12 hours before killing. The best method of 
