HINTS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF HENS. 
247 
planted, and some small parcels will soon be ready 
for distribution among our farmers. It is a nutri¬ 
tious grain, excellent for cattle, and will probably 
come into general use.” 
The maize above alluded to in a morning paper, 
promises to become an object of much interest to 
the farmers of this country. The officers of the 
American Institute are entitled to great credit for 
the zeal and industry they have used in introdu¬ 
cing this grain to cultivation among our farmers. 
This maize is deemed so valuable that little doubt 
is entertained it will be found on every farm in the 
country in a few years. It is prolific, and a most 
nutritious grain, and well calculated to fatten 
cattle. I am but a farmer, not a writer, or I would 
say more on this interesting subject. You, sir, 
ever having the interest of the farmer at heart, I 
hope will bring this remarkable corn or maize to 
the notice of all agriculturists. 
An Old Reader. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
HINTS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF HENS. 
Buffalo , October 1 2th, 1843. 
The receipts for producing eggs are innumera¬ 
ble. One proposes retaining no male bird in the flock, 
another would have one to each half dozen hens. 
One requires, as the sole condition of their laying, 
that they be furnished with lime; a second, a warm 
room ; a third, plenty of gravel; and a fourth, parch¬ 
ed corn; while some would allow a nest full 
of eggs to lay to, others would not permit the 
poor biped even one she may call her own. There 
is scarcely anything on which there is more twat¬ 
tle and quackery; and to remove equally the 
whims and ignorance connected with it, we de¬ 
vote a few minutes for the purpose of partially 
elucidating the subject. 
The hen is peculiarly an egg-producing bird. 
She has the same predisposition for laying, that 
the cow has for secreting milk. Some breeds are 
better adapted for this object than others; hut in 
all that have ever come within our notice, the 
proper food and circumstances are alone wanting 
to produce a reasonable quantity of eggs. What 
are these requisites ? Let us first inquire what it 
is we wish to procure, and the answer will en¬ 
lighten us materially as to our first queries. 
The egg consists of three distinct parts; the 
shell, the white, and the yolk. A good-sized egg 
will weigh 1,000 grains, of which about 107 are 
shell, 604 are white, and 289 are yolk. Of the 
shell, 97 per cent, is carbonate of lime, 1 per cent, 
phosphate of lime and magnesia, and 2 per cent, 
albumen. The white consists of 12 per cent, of 
albumen, 2.7 of mucus, 0.3 of salts, and 85 of wa¬ 
ter. The yolk has about 17.4 per cent, of albu¬ 
men, 28.6 of yellow oil, 54 of water, with a trace 
of sulphur and phosphorus. The above are the 
constituents of eggs, which have been formed 
when the bird has free access to the various arti¬ 
cles which constitute her natural food. But they 
vary with circumstances. When full fed and de¬ 
nied all access to lime, she will form an egg with¬ 
out the shell, and deliver it enclosed in the mem¬ 
brane or sack which always surrounds the white 
when covered by the shell. When scantily fed, 
they will frequently lay; but from a deficiency of 
nutriment, the egg will be meager and watery, 
and possess but a small portion of the nutritious 
qualities peculiar to them. To produce the lar¬ 
gest number of good eggs on the least quantity of 
food, several things are requisite, the first of which 
is an abundance of the right kind of food. This 
is the most readily obtained in part from animal 
food. In warm weather, when they have a free 
range, they can generally supply their wants in 
the abundance of insects, earth worms, and other 
animal matters within their reach. How greedy 
do they show themselves of everything of an ani¬ 
mal character. There is nothing scarcely of this 
nature they refuse, and so ravenous are they for 
this species of food that I have seen them fasten 
to the entrails of a slaughtered pig, a part of which 
they had swallowed, and were unable to separate 
it from the adhering mass ; and who that has 
been familiar with rural scenes, has not often ob¬ 
served them in summer, with a snake 15 or 18 
inches long squirming in their beak, or an unlucky 
toad, as large as one of their own eggs, dangling 
at legs’ length in their bill, a prey to their carniv- 
erous propensities. The large proportion of albu¬ 
men contained in their eggs, requires that much 
of their food should be highly nitro^enized, and 
when they can not procure this in animal matter, 
it must be given in grains containing it. Indian 
corn has but a very small proportion, yielding only 
about .19 per cent, of nitrogen. Oats have a much 
larger proportion, affording 2.2 per cent., being 
more than eleven times as much as corn, pound 
for pound. Wheat has from 2 to 3^ per cent. 
Barley affords more than com, but much less than 
oats. Many of the vegetables yield nitrogen in 
small quantities, such as potatoes, which, when 
boiled, are a favorite, and perhaps economical food 
for hens. But after supplying them with a due 
proportion of animal food, which, under favorable 
circumstances, they will procure for themselves 
when enjoying a good range in summer, the most 
economical food is oats. When wheat is grown 
on the premises, it is probable that is the itext 
most economical, the much larger quantity of ni¬ 
trogen contained in it, being more than a compen¬ 
sation for its increased price. 
Hens will do much better to have a free range, 
as their instinct enables them to select food pre¬ 
cisely adapted to their wants; and the exercise 
and rolling in the dirt are essential to their health. 
If confinement is necessary, in addition to the food 
above, they must be furnished with plenty of clean 
water, gravel, and lime. Gravel is necessary to 
grind their food, and without lime they can not 
form their shells; for though a small portion ex¬ 
ists in all grains, it is not in sufficient quantity to 
afford the amount required for the formation of 
the shell. A small amount of sulphur and phos¬ 
phorus is found in the egg, but this exists to a 
sufficient extent in their ordinary food, nearly all 
substances yielding a portion of each. In winter, 
hens should be kept warm, or they will not lay to 
any extent. If surrounded with a comfortable 
temperature, with the addition of the food above 
indicated, they will lay nearly all the time. 
