348 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 6 
The Hen. 
AN EXPERIMENT WITH HENS. 
CONDITION POWDERS, CUT BONE, “ WIDE 
RATION.” 
The Cost of Hen and Egg. 
Plymouth Rocks —Some interestirg 
experiments in poultry have been con¬ 
ducted at the Massachusetts Experiment 
Station (Amherst). Plymouth Rock pul¬ 
lets. April-hatched, were used, divided 
as far as possible, into even lots of 20 
each. Each lot occupied a house by it¬ 
self, the roosting room being 10 x 12, and 
the scratching shed 8x12 feet They ran 
in large yards whenever the weather 
permitted. The Winter tests be^an De¬ 
cember 12, and ended April 30. All the 
green feed and the cut clover were fed in 
the form of a mash early in the morn¬ 
ing. This was mixed the night before 
in boiling water, and fed hot. At noon, 
a few oats were scattered in the straw 
of the scratching shed; at night, the 
rest of the whole grain was fed one hour 
before dark. Water, shell and grit were 
kept before the fowls all the time. Twice 
a week, a small cabbage was given to 
each lot of fowls. The food was very 
carefully weighed, as were the eggs, also. 
Once each month, the fowls were all 
weighed to determine whether they lost 
or gained. 
Condition Powders. — The first test 
was made to show whether condition 
powders will increase the egg produc¬ 
tion. This experiment has now been 
conducted several years, and the Station 
people conclude that poultrykeepers 
throw away money when they buy condi¬ 
tion powders One experiment showed 
a slight gain when the powders were 
used, while two experiments were 
against it. The powders were mixed ac¬ 
cording to the manufacturer’s directions, 
which amount was enough to make the 
mash several shades darker than the one 
without it, and to impart a strong odor. 
When mixed in a room where milk was 
standing, it gave a bad flavor to butter, 
which was recognized by one who knew 
nothing about its use. 
Cut Bone for Meat. —There has been 
some controversy as to whether cut green 
bone is as useful for egg production as 
the prepared animal meals; therefore, 
tests were made to determine the mat¬ 
ter. In the morning mash of one lot of 
20 hens, one part animal meal to five 
parts total dry matter was used. In the 
mash of the other lot, the same propor¬ 
tion of the fresh-cut bone was mixed. 
Almost from the first, bowel troubles 
prevailed in the cut-bone coop. The 
bone was fed at the rate of about one- 
quarter ounce per hen daily. Writers 
often recommend 1)4 ounce per day. The 
report shows that it was impossible to 
feed this amount without serious bowel 
trouble. A test of the eggs, both raw 
and boiled, was made by an expert, who 
found the eggs from the animal meal in¬ 
ferior in color and flavor. There have 
now been five experiments at the Station 
in comparing these two feeds ; two have 
given results slightly in favor of the 
bone in number of eggs, and three quite 
decisively in favor of the animal meal. 
The latter has been found the safer food, 
and the weight of evidence from the five 
experiments is quite decidedly in favor 
of the animal meal. 
Wide or Narrow Ration. —Another 
interesting experiment was tried to de¬ 
termine the difference between what is 
known as the narrow and wide ration. 
Most people think that the food of the 
laying hen must be very rich in nitro¬ 
genous food. In this experiment, corn 
meal was substituted for wheat mid¬ 
dlings and gluten feed in the morning 
mash, and about one-half of the oats and 
wheat was replaced with corn. The 
same amounts of cut clover and animal 
meal were given in both rations. To 
put the thing exactly, the following 
table shows bow these rations differ. 
This gives the food consumed from De¬ 
cember 12 to April 30, a period of 139 
days : 
Narrow ration. Wide ration. 
Kinds of food. 
Pounds. 
Pounds. 
Wheat. 
257 
126 
Oats. 
147 
63 
Bran. 
43 
39 
Middlings. 
43 
— 
Gluten feed... 
43 
— 
Animal meal. 
43 
39 
Clover. 
44 
39 
Corn meal.... 
_ 
108 
Corn. 
_ 
136 
Cabbage. 
18F-16 
165 16 
The same experiment was tried in 
Sunmer, and after carefully noting the 
result, it was concluded that the hens 
fed most corn laid a great many more 
eggs in both the Winter and Summer 
experiment. During the Winter, the 
hens on the narrow ration laid 800 eggs, 
those on the wide ration, 1,071. In 
the Summer, the narrow-ration pen 
laid 859 eggs, the other 1,095 While 
this will, undoubtedly, surprise many of 
the so-called authorities, it will agree 
with the conclusions of many practical 
men, who have found that corn or corn 
meal fed properly, is one of the most 
useful grains for poultry. Tne value of 
this experiment is that it shows that it 
is not absolutely necessary to pay high 
prices for wheat, but that corn and 
meat reasonably mixed, will prove a 
perfect substitute. 
Figures of Cost —We have been much 
interested in figuring the average re¬ 
sults from the 12 experiments noticed in 
the report. As an average of the 12 
feeding trials, the cost of feeding one 
hen one day, Winter and Summer, wa6 
three-tenths of one cent. In our own 
experience, we have been able to reduce 
this cost to about one-fifth of a cent on 
the average. The cost of each egg for 
food in these 12 experiments, was 1)4 
cent, which is altogether too much 
for average profit. These hens were 
confined in small pens, and could not, of 
course, pick up most of their living. The 
ordinary farm hen costs but little from 
May till October, and it is during that 
time that most of her profit is made. 
We have figured out the number of 
eggs laid per hen. The average shows 
that the yield for one day was .35 of an 
egg, that is, the hens averaged slightly 
more than one egg every three days. 
This does not tally very well with the 
stories told by some of the poultry au¬ 
thorities, but from our own experience, 
we consider the record considerably 
above the average. The average weight 
per egg for all the pens and for the en¬ 
tire experiment, was 1 96 of an ounce, 
which would make a little over eight to 
the pound. Certainly not a large-sized 
egg. As a result of the 12 experiments, 
it was found that each hen consumed 
about one-fifth pound of dry matter per 
day, which just about tallies with our 
own experience. 
Figuring the amount of food consumed 
by one hen per day, and the egg yield, it 
is found that it required .62% of a pound 
of dry food to produce one pound of eggs. 
These figures are interesting, for they 
show the results obtained from careful 
feeding and accurate care. They are, 
probably, more favorable than the re¬ 
sults obtained in the average poultry 
yard, yet it will be seen that there is no 
wide margin of profit, even at these fig¬ 
ures. 
SOME NEW HAMPSHIRE HENS. 
I have been interested in reading of 
the doings of the hens at Hope Farm. 
We have between 75 and 80 hens and 
pullets, and they have been kept in two 
pens 10 x 12 feet each, making 240 square 
feet of floor room, which, according to 
hen experts, is a very small place. In 
January, they laid 1,161 eggs; Feb¬ 
ruary, 783 ; March, 1,374, making a total 
of 3,318 eggs for three months. I have 
14 hens sitting, and we got 863 eggs for 
the first 20 days of April. 
The hens have had no meat except 
what few scraps would be left by a 
family of two persons, no hen food of 
any kind, or the different kinds of grain 
which many think hens must have in 
order to make them lay. They have had 
a warm breakfast of bran or mixed feed 
and corn meal, two-thirds bran, one- 
third corn meal. At noon, a little cracked 
corn or oats are covered in the gravel 
and chaff so they have to dig for it; at 
night, four quarts oats and two quarts 
whole corn. Oysters shells are be¬ 
fore them all the time, and warm water. 
I cannot tell the breed of these hens, as 
they are so much mixed up; neither do 
we care what they are, as long as we can 
get the eggs. I have five Buff Ccchins, 
and they do not amount to any thing here 
Dover, N. H. w. k r 
Nuts for Poultry. —A friend in New 
York State tells us of his poultry ration. 
He grinds hickory and butternuts in a 
$5 Wilson bone mill. This crushes the 
nuts about as fine as cracked corn, and 
the hens are very fond of them. He 
makes a mash of six quarts of heavy or 
eight quarts of light bran, 7% quarts of 
corn meal, 3 quarts of gluten meal, 1)4 
quart of the nuts ; 1)4 quart of oil meal 
is put in nine quarts of boiling water, 
which stands about one-half hour. One- 
third of this mixed in hot skim-milk is 
added to the regular mash. The night 
feed is usually wheat and buckwheat, 
equal parts by measure, or, in cold 
weather, cracked corn. The hens run 
out in fine weather all through the Win¬ 
ter, and have a laa-ge range. In return 
for this care, they have shelled out eggs 
at a lively rate. 
I wish to raise some turkeys, but do not kn< w 
how to care for them or feed them. a w i 
Needham (No State). 
Ans —A book entitled, Turkeys and How to 
G ow Them, give3 the best information on the 
subject. It is a standard work. Price $1. 8old 
by The R, N.-Y. 
Prof W. L. Carlyle, of the Wisconsin Erperl 
ment Station, says that bran alone has never 
given the best results when fed to very young 
animals. It is, evidently, too bulky and not easy 
enough of digestion. This, he says, is especially 
true when fed to lambs before weaning time. In 
one sense, this is unfortunate, for bran really 
contains a greater percentage of bone-forming 
food than any other grain. It is richer in ihe 
phosphates even than oats; yet the latter is a 
much better food for young stock. We rega>d 
br*n as oae of the best of poultry foods, because 
of its high per cent of mineral matter; but we 
do not find that tbe hens eat it readily, ano it is 
aiways desirable to mix corn meal or some other 
grain with the bran, in order to tempt the hens 
to eat it. 
IT ENDED HER TROUBLE. 
“ I never courted newspaper notoriety, yet I 
am not afraid to speak a good word for your 
‘ Favorite Prescription ’ ana * Pleasant Pellets.’ 
Over a year ago I suffered terribly for nearly four 
weeks with prolapsus and weakness. After us¬ 
ing one bottle of ‘Favorite Prescription’ and 
one of Pellets,’ I was a well woman. I have 
taken no medicine since and have had no symp¬ 
toms of my former trouble.’’—Mrs. EJ- A. Bender, 
Keene, Coshocton Co., Ohio. 
POULTRY 
We keep everything in the POULTRY LINE,' 
Fencing, Feed, Incubators, Live Stock, Brooders ' 
■ —anything—it’s our business. Call or let us < 
■ send you our illustrated catalogue—It’s free for • 
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■ Excelsior Wire and Poultry Supply Co., < 
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BRABAZON’S POULTRY CATALOGUE 
C D C C f It’s a beauty ; over 50 colored plates. Ilia*. 
* Atfca tratea and describes fins Turkeys, Ossss. 
vDucka snd chickens; rives prices of fowls A egg*. Vlaest 
•TOsr*i G«!d# published. Inclose 10c. for postage, at*. 
I J. IL Brabuou, Jr. ft Co., Box 57, Dclorta. WU. 
WHITE WYANDOTTES and standard- 
bred. Hens prolific layers. None better. Low prices. 
Write for egg dr. Ralph Wood ward, New Rochelle, N.Y 
200 
young Barred P. Rocks; also Eggs. Cironla 
_ _ free if you mention this paper. 
C. F. G1FFEN, Lock Box 86. St. ClairsvlUe, Ohio. 
W, WYANDOTTE EGGSiiiX™.?"". 
white prolific. J. T. COTHRAN, New Rochelle, N.Y. 
Eggs for Hatcbing — B P Rocks, 
Light Brahmas, White, Brown and ButT Leghorns 
and Black Minorcas, $1 for 3; $2 for 30. Circular 
free. CUAS. RUE, Minerva, Ohio. 
30 B P. R. Hens, $30; 18 B. Leghorns, 
$16; few W. P. R. and W. Wyandottes. Eggs, 50c. per 
13. Stamp. Mrs. J. P. HKLLINGS, Dover, Del. 
White Wyandottes.—S end for circu¬ 
lar. Geo. R. Schactbkr, Box Y, Ballston Lake, N.Y 
Wanted —Every reader to send for our 
circular of Buff Cochins at farmers’ prices. 
CHA8. D. THOMAS, Slatlngton, Pa. 
White Plymouth Rocks a Specialty. 
Eggs. II for 15. JOS. P. PALMER, Geiger’s Mills, Pa. 
White Wyandottfs Exclusively.— 
Write wants. Spencer’s Poultry Farm, Phenix, R. 1. 
Best Farm Breeds. —Buff Rocks, Buff 
Leghorns, Maiumoth Bronze Turkeys. Eggs now. 
SAMUEL DUNBAR, Elkhorn, Wis. 
THK IMPROVED 
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Hatches Chicken, by 8t«am. Absolutely 
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reliable, and oheapest first-class Hatcher 
IL j2. th S.S,* rl ESi? Circulars FREE. 
CEO. EKTKL CO., QUINCY, TT.V. L 
LOUSY SITTING HENS 
will leave their neats at every op¬ 
portunity, grow thinner and thinner— 
often die before hatching time. 
Lambert’s Death to Lice 
will clean a hen, slttlngor standing, the 
minute you put it on. It will not Injure 
eggs or little chickens. Trial alae lOo 
post paid. 64-page POULTRY 
BOOK FUEE. 
D. J. LAMBERT, 
Box 807 Apponaug, K. L 
A Watch for a Dollar. 
During the month of May for the last 
t vo years, we furnished our old sub¬ 
scribers a Watch for $1 It is giving so 
much for a little that we could not 
afford to do it continuously, but to keep 
up the record for new subscriptions for 
the month, we will repeat the offer for 
May this year. The Watch is fully war¬ 
ranted, solid nickel case and movement, 
jeweled, stem-wind and set. Any time 
during the month of May, you may tend 
us one new subscription and $2, and 15 
cents extra for postage and registering 
by return mail, and the paper for a year 
to the new subscriber. Of course, you 
get the dollar for the new subscription, 
so tbe Watch will cost you only $1, be¬ 
sides the postage. If you are not satisfied, 
we will return you all the money. The 
Watches are actually worth $5 at retail. 
Remember this is only for the month 
of May. Last year, we were obliged to 
return several orders in June. If you 
want the watch on these terms, send 
during May—the earlier the better. 
The Rural New-Yorker, New York. 
