19ol 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
8i5 
Daily Rations for Hens. 
Have you ever measured the grain feed 
required by a hen of average size? Various 
estimates have been made, and we would 
like to know what the practical poultry- 
keepers have to say about it. In our ex¬ 
perience five ounces of dry grain have given 
good results as a daily ration. 
My hens give better results on a daily 
ration of five ounces dry grain than 
when a larger or smaller quantity is 
given. H. H. c. 
Franconia, N. H. 
As I keep different breeds of poultry, 
I have never accurately measured the 
grain food required daily by the aver¬ 
age-sized hen, and therefore cannot ad¬ 
vise definitely, although it seems to me 
five hunces of dry grain as a daily ration 
is correct, according to your experience. 
Delaware, N. J. a. j. m’o. 
I cannot give any definite figures. I 
feed wheat, in the sheaf, to quite an ex¬ 
tent, and have never made any attempt 
to weigh their complete rations for any 
day or length of time. Making a rough 
estimate I think it is about four ounces 
of dry grain daily. I feed some cab¬ 
bage and clover hay through the Win¬ 
ter, which would make a difference in 
the grain. gkant davis. 
New Jersey. 
I have made two or three estimates 
and make it a fraction less than five 
ounces. Twenty-five years ago, when I 
commenced to keep hens, corn was about 
$1.45 per bag, bran $21 per ton—those 
are the only prices that I remember. 
The cost for grain, shell and everything 
they ate was—during the Winter—just 
two cents per hen per week. I feed all 
the hens—Barred Plymouth Rocks—will 
eat up clean three times a day. 
Hanover, Mass. a. h. m. 
Our rule is to feed all the hens will 
eat up clean, and no more. In several 
particulars, our method of feeding 
makes it difficult to form a correct esti¬ 
mate of the grain eaten. In the morning 
we feed a mash composed largely of 
small potatoes, turnips and cabbage, 
boiled up and mixed with bran and 
animal meal. At noon either a few 
heads of cabbage, or a little buckwheat 
is fed, and at about 4.30 P. M. they are 
given all they will eat of a mixture of 
wheat screenings and whole corn. The 
corn is of our own raising, and is fed in 
an unusual way. The corn is husked and 
instead of being shelled, is run through 
a Tornado feed cutter. This shells part 
of the corn, and cuts the ears, cob and 
all, up into lengths of about three-quar¬ 
ters inch. The hens have no trouble in 
picking the kernels from these pieces of 
cob. This saves us the expense of a 
sheller, is much quicker, and so far as 
we can see, is just as satisfactory in its 
results as any other way of feeding 
corn. Many of our hens are moulting, 
and consequently eggs are not as plenti¬ 
ful as we might wish. b. w. b. 
Mill Brook, Conn. 
I think your estimate of five ounces 
dry feed per hen too high for econom¬ 
ical feeding. I am no poultry specialist, 
keeping only from 50 to 75. The most 
practical experiment I have recently 
made was with a fiock of about 60 
hens and chickens about equally divided, 
chickens full grown. I have had them 
confined in a yard for from six to eight 
weeks to keep them from my garden, as 
they were very fond of cabbage and 
tomatoes. I feed twice per day. Morn¬ 
ing four quarts of oats, and at night 
four quarts of corn. During the day 
they would usually have a quantity of 
cabbage or refuse apples or pears, which 
they needed to get best results from 
grain. The fowls were contented and 
kept fat, and young ones increased in 
weight. They are of the Wyandotte 
breed. I did not get many eggs in the 
meantime, as they soon commenced 
moulting. Seven and one-half pounds of 
corn and 41,^ of oats make a daily 
ration of 12 pounds or 192 ounces, which 
gives but littie over three ounces per 
fowl. Had my experiment taken place 
earlier, expecting egg production, I 
might have added a little, if not in 
quantity, in variety; but with the neces¬ 
sary variety of food for the health of 
the fowls and for eggs, I believe four 
ounces would be a large daily ration. 
Five Corners, N. Y. j. m. c. 
Farm Hens in Ohio. 
The 125 to 150 B. P. Rocks and White 
Wyandottes that I usually carry through 
the Winter have free range, and are di¬ 
vided into three flocks about equally; 
one at poultry house near the dwelling, 
one at horse stable, and the third at the 
large barn w'here the cattle are kept. 
The two latter flocks have, of cours.\ 
abundant scratching facilities, and man - 
age to pick up considerable loose grain. 
The home flock has scratching material 
furnished them. They all receive a feed 
of corn at night. After freezing weather 
they have warm mash mornings, con¬ 
sisting usually of cooked vegetables with 
enough bran or ground oats added to 
take up the extra moisture after mash 
ing the vegetables. They have access 
to growing rye in pleasant wea:ther 
Green bone is fed only occasionally, as 
it is difficult to procure, aside from 
the grinding which must be done by 
hand. Water, shells and grit are, of 
course, convenient at all times. Sur¬ 
plus cockerels are disposed of or penned 
separately by January 1. This Winter 
I shall try about 25 hens and pullets of 
Buff Wyandottes. So far they have not 
bred very true, though the eggs from 
which the start was made were procured 
from a supposed reliable source. Laying 
and table qualities, however. Show them 
to be equal to the Barred Rocks and 
White Wyandottes. m. e. 
California, 0. 
HOLSTEIN AND JERSEY CROSS. 
The Two Oreeds Do Not ‘"Nick ” 
Will you tell us whether you consider a 
cross between a Jersey and a Holstein prac¬ 
tical, or is it likely to result In undesirable 
animals of no distinct type? If this cross 
were to be made, would you advise the Jersey 
bull and Holstein cow or vice versa? 
A few years ago we tried to use a 
Jersey bull on our herd of grade Hol- 
steins and grade Durhams, and met with 
such poor success that we had to aban¬ 
don that kind of a cross, as the calves 
were not fit for anything. We also 
have used a Holstein bull on grade Jer¬ 
seys with poor results. The breeds are 
so different that there is nothing com¬ 
mon with them, hence the poor results. 
We are now using Holstein bulls on our 
grades (Holstein and Durham) the bulls 
being of the best registered stock, and 
the calves we are getting are not equaled 
by anything outside of purebreds found 
anywhere. We have heard Mr. H. B, Gur- 
ler say repeatedly that a Holstein and 
a Jersey cannot be crossed with any de¬ 
gree of success. H. n. ourt.eb co., 
Illinois. 
Tie to One Breed. 
In my judgment one makes a mistake 
to cross-breed. Our experience is con¬ 
fined to the use of a single Jersey bull 
on grade Holstein cows. The heifers 
are now coming into milk. Their milk 
on the whole is better than the Holstein 
milk, and they are persistent milkers, 
but the flow is lessened. The most dis¬ 
appointing feature of the cross, how¬ 
ever, is the lack of uniformity in type 
^nd size. We have Holstein heifers, Guern¬ 
sey heifers, and Jersey heifers, and some 
not belonging to either class. Classified 
and put by themselves, they look well 
enough, and will make very good cows. 
They do not possess the vitality of the 
Holsteins, nor are they as large con¬ 
sumers. I do not regret the attempt, 
because I have been very much inter¬ 
ested in studying results, but I would 
not do so again, nor would I advise 
anyone else to try it. I am satisfied if 
the trial is to be made that the Hol¬ 
stein should be the top cross. This 
idea is drawn from considerable corre¬ 
spondence with breeders during the past 
three years. I am indebted to S. Hoxie, 
superintendent of the Holstein Advanced 
Registry, and to H. B. Gurler, of Illinois, 
author of “American Dairying,” for 
much valuable information. Mr. Gur- 
ler’s experience was similar to ours; 
Mr. Hoxie’s observation, that results 
would be fairly satisfactory with a Hol¬ 
stein as a top cross, owing to the greater 
vitality. I firmly believe that cross¬ 
breeding is a mistake. No one has yet 
succeeded in fixing the good qualities 
of each breed in the offspring, and prob¬ 
ably they never will. On the contrary, 
the effect seems to be to intensify their 
weaknesses. Where one has a mixed 
herd without special reference to breed, 
the use of a purebred sire of any breed, 
if he is prepotent, will have a marked 
effect and a salutary effect on the young 
animals. The wise thing to do, it seems 
to me, is to tie to the breed that meets 
our demand, and then stick lo it. There 
will be failures enough; we never hear 
of the blanks that are drawn, and every 
farmer and breeder gets a share. 
H. E. COOK. 
Training a Horse. 
When I was 16 years of age I went to 
work for a farmer who had a horse which 
was continually getting the line below his 
tail. This he did most when the flies were 
troublesome. Otherwise the team, of 
which he was one, were well broken and 
obedient. The horses that I had used be¬ 
fore were not well trained, and one might 
as well say “fly and dive” as say "haw or 
gee,” but this team would step 12 Inches 
to haw or gee as commanded, so I was 
very fond of them. The man who had 
“handled” the team just before I did had 
Jerked the horse when he had the line 
under his tail, and had the under-surface 
badly cut. But pulling the line only made 
the animal worse. He was very kind, so 
when he got the line into the troublesome 
place I called him to stop still. I then 
lifted the tail and took the line gently out. 
At first, when I did this, he would cringe 
and make ready to jump, as he expected 
t 9 get a slap with the lines, but I petted 
him a little to assure him that I would not 
hurt him after letting out the line. This 
continued for about two weeks, when the 
horse began to walk quietly with the line 
under his tail, and Anally, when he did 
forget and switch It in he would w'alk 
along and shake It out himself. After the 
animal was cured of the habit the “boss’’ 
told me he had been watching to see how 
I would do with the animal, and compli¬ 
mented me on the success of my patience. 
I And that 90 per cent of the bad habits 
in domestic animals are the result of bad 
temper in those w’ho handle them. The 
animal does something by nature or 
chance, and bad temper in some human 
being Axes the habit In the animal. This 
is very plainly so in breaking in a young 
cow to be milked. Have patience with 
her; don’t retaliate, but stick to her and 
get her milk. Scratch her head and pat 
the udder, but two or three good kicks 
and you have gratified your temper but 
spoiled your cow. This advice I saw in 
The R. N.-Y. some time ago and have ever 
since been grateful for it, as I break in a 
young cow nearly every year. a c 
Nassau Co., N. Y. 
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