i 4 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
January 4 
FEEDING A HEN. 
Part I. 
Last year we had a series of articles 
spent malt and other articles that are 
much cheaper and better for the fowl 
than grain alone. Potatoes, boiled and 
mashed with bran, while hot, and cov¬ 
ered up and allowed to cool off slowly, 
are an excellent morning feed, especially 
for young and growing stock. Fowls 
on a good grass run, need no noon feed. 
Sweet potatoes have a local reputation 
in New Jersey of being bad for laying 
on “ A Balanced Ration,” in which we s t 0 ck; doubtless if fed too plentifully 
tried to show a few of the advantages of an( j con tinuousLy, and without bran, 
understanding the scientific principles ^ey w m produce more fat than is good 
that guide us in feeding animals. The for i ayerS) but in practice, and by care- 
most important point in those articles ^ i n qvii ry , I am satisfied that sweet 
was the fact that, in building up the potatoes are not, per se, unfavorable to 
body with the bones, muscles and fat The small “hog potatoes,” 
and the milk, meat, eggs or work which swee t and white, are either fed to hogs 
it produces, there must be in the food, or are so i<i at a price that would almost 
certain proportions of different sub- wa rrant their being used as fertilizer, 
stances which we called ash, muscle- j} y us i ng . them for the fowls, they will 
makers, fat-formers and pure fat. We ren( j er m0 re value than even using them 
need to understand that the bones of f or hogs. In using potatoes, several 
the body are made from the ash in the £ ays i n succession, the flavor of the mess 
food. The lean meat and muscles are may changed each day by using, at 
made from the muscle-makers, the fat times, a dash of cotton-seed meal, a few 
from the pure fat, which in its turn is sma u apples, middlings, and, in cold 
made from the fat-formers. It is like a wea ther, some corn meal, squashes, man- 
house made of brick, wood, iron and g 6 i S) ruta-bagas, windfall apples, cull 
mortar. The frame or body is of wood, p ear s, and many things that now go to 
—like the ash—the rods and nails that t j ie trough, can be boiled up and 
hold it together are of iron—(muscle- mas hed, while hot, with middlings or 
makers), the foundation and some of the Q ther flavoring stock, and are eagerly 
trimmings are of brick (pure fat) and ea t en by the chicks. In all these messes, 
these are made useful by mortar (fat- a tittle Cayenne pepper will help diges- 
formers), which by a simple process sets tion, correct looseness of the bowels, 
into an artificial stone. keep the blood warm, and give good 
All these different things are neces- color to the yolks of the eggs of layers, 
sary in order to make a good house, and A good dry sample of fish guano, one 
economy consists in using the proper which has no sulphuric acid in it, is a 
proportion of each. For example, it good flavoring to a mess, and an encour- 
would be folly to use and pay for twice agement to laying. This should be 
as many bricks as were necessary, or to ground fine so as to leave no long, sharp 
drive two nails wherever one would bones to trouble the fowls. There are 
answer, because all this expense would varieties of coarse beans that are heavy 
be needless. So in feeding an animal, bearers, that it would pay to raise for 
there are a good many reasons why the chicken feed; also of peas. Both of 
muscle-makers, pure fat and fat-formers these are good food for layers. The dry 
should be combined in the proper pro- peas may be given for a night feed, 
portions. Health and profit both de- Turkeys, geese and ducks are generally 
mand such a fair proportion, just as fond of them; turkeys seem to have^an 
strength and economy in the house especial liking for them, and hens soon 
demand a fair proportion of wood, iron come to appreciate them. The beans 
and brick. Last year, this matter was must be parboiled, or boiled, but not 
discussed from the standpoint of feeding enough to break them up. Until the 
the cow entirely. In our present review, fowls come to like them, a few ground 
we shall take up the hen’s ration. Here cracklings, bones, or other flavoring, 
we have a very different matter, for the may be boiled with them. The bean 
hen, by reason of her life habits and water may be used in boiling the other 
make-up, calls for special treatment and messes, or may be poured into the hog 
cannot be fed by the rules laid down barrel. 
for cows or horses. Therefore, these may seem a strange assertion, but I 
articles will be largely suggestive and S p ea k from experience, that hens will 
little more. not take to any food on which their an- 
First let us read this article by Geo. cestors have not been fed ; but they can 
D. Coleman of New Jersey. His object be taught to acquire a taste for almost 
is to show the great need of variety in anything in reason. In Chili, my native 
poultry rations, and the fact that it is hens would not eat corn, but looked on 
possible to make up at least partial sub- it with disdain. The only grain they 
stitutes for grain : cared for was wheat. Wheat is the cheap- 
Fowls fed entirely on grain, and est grain there, corn is the dearest, and 
especially where the feed is bought in their ancestors had never been fed on 
small lots, are neither as profitable it. When I wanted to fatten them, or 
nor as healthy as those fed on a mixed feed them to be broody, they went to 
diet. Much is fed to hogs that could school and learned the lesson. The spent 
be to much greater profit fed to poul- malt of the breweries, when it can be 
try, and much that could be raised, obtained fresh and cheap, and fed be- 
or even bought cheaper—for its food fore it sours, is a good change, 
value—is not raised or used. Fowls fed it will pay to raise sweet corn ; broad- 
on a continuous ration of grain, or on cas t on a rich piece of ground, make two 
any feed that is not varied, do not thrive or three cuttings, according to the cli- 
as well as those fed on a less expensive ma te, curing it well, and stack under 
and less nutritious food, even, but with CO ver. This, cut up fine and steamed 
variety. It is now beginning to be quite overnight, with middlings and corn meal 
generally known that fowls need bulk scattered among it, makes an excellent 
as well as substance, and that some of winter morning feed, or an ail-the-year 
the best foods for fowls, would have f ee d for fowls without a good grass run. 
been deemed, a few years back, as en- Good clover hay, especially White clover, 
tirely out of the question. Except it be j s better than corn fodder, and Alfalfa 
in the severest weather in midwinter, or bay better still. These hay or fodder 
for other good and sufficient reason, it feeds may be varied by using ground oats, 
is the best economy not to feed fowls ground peas, cotton-seed meal, a dash 
grain but once a day, and especially if Q f ground oil cake, ground fish guano, 
on good range, and always at night. cracklings, and any common-sense com- 
Fowls may be fed—when properly pound that may be suggested by the 
prepared—corn fodder, clover and Al- needs of the flock, or experience. These 
falfa hay, ruta-bagas, mangels, white steamed with the hay, give it a different 
and sweet potatoes, squashes, pumpkins, flavor, and give variety to the ration ; 
apples, bran, beans, peas, cotton-seed but any new departure, will have to be 
meal, fish guano, artichokes, skim-milk, “tapered on,” as fowls are^conservatives, 
and need to be led up to new ideas. 
A great deal is written about what is 
the natural food of fowls ; but our poul¬ 
try are now as artificial animals as their 
owners. According to some people who 
claim to know all about it, it is unnatural 
for man to be clothed and cook his food, 
to shave, or, in fact, to be civilized; but, 
for my part, I purpose to be unnatural, 
and fowls pay best when artificial. Fowls 
need grain, and hard seeds ; they are 
built that way, but even in the much 
talked about state of nature, these do 
not form the greater part of their food. 
One grain -feed a day, at night, is all 
sufficient, and in summer, when the 
nights are short, even every second day 
will suffice, providing they get insects 
and other natural food. It is hard to 
eradicate the idea from peoples’ minds 
that fowls must have a gra in diet. 
Geese never need be fed grain except 
when fattening, or when necessary in 
the breeding season. Even when fatten¬ 
ing, these hay and fodder messes with 
the ground seeds mixed with them, will 
do to bring them well on, and then 
finish off with something more concen¬ 
trated. 
Ducks, even more than geese, will 
thrive on cooked messes, and young 
ducks can utilize much of the skim-milk, 
which is also useful, when curded and 
the whey drained off, for laying hens. 
In all cases, cooked messes should be 
mixed as thick as possible, and never 
sloppy, unless for ducks, and even for 
them are preferable “ crumbly.” 
When onion tops can be had, they 
make a good seasoning, chopped fine, 
and added the last thing when off the 
fire, and mixed. Never try to boil thick 
mixtures ; they will burn, and fowls do 
not like burned food any more than we 
do. You may say that it is good for them, 
but you cannot argue with them that 
way. Mix just as you take off, and 
cover. If you wish to add some ground 
charcoal, do so, but avoid burning food. 
Ground charcoal is a good thing to have 
where fowls have access to it, and for 
medicine, but the pit is the place to 
make it. _ 
Holstein-Jersey Cross. — George R. 
Sneath, in Hoard’s Dairyman, gives an 
interesting account of his efforts to im¬ 
prove his dairy herd. First he tried 
Jersey bulls. This was not fully satis¬ 
factory, so he changed to Holstein bulls 
on the Jersey cows. This is what he 
says of it: 
The crosses between the pure Holstein and 
pure Jersey were mongrel in color and appear¬ 
ance, and took after neither parent, except that 
the eye and deerlike head of the Jersey could 
always be detected, however woolly or mixed in 
color they might be. These crosses are larger 
than the Jerseys and smaller than the Holstein, 
but increase in size for every cross. They are 
stoutly built, have good-sized udders and teats, 
are gentle and intelligent, break in easily, have 
good constitutions, are good feeders, and are 
without the extreme delicacy of the Jerseys or 
grossness of the Holstein. 
The crosses between the Holsteins and the 
common cow are mostly black and white, and re¬ 
semble the pure Holstein so much as to require 
the utmost care in keeping the Holsteins pure of 
record. They are a great improvement over the 
common cow in size, shape and in milking quali¬ 
ties, but not as much as in the Holstein cross 
with the Jersey, which shows at this time about 
100 per cent over the returns of milk from the 
Jerseys and their crosses of 10 years ago. This 
gain in milk, together with the increased size and 
much greater vitality of the animal, gives us an 
assurance and promise for the future of better 
things to come. The milk of to-day from our 
herd, as an average, is about the same in quality 
as it was 10 years ago, by the test tube, and will 
show 16 per cent of cream, and as our milk is 
sold in this city, we cannot say what the average 
butter-fat test would be ; but we know that it 
has been tested thoroughly in various ways, at 
numerous times, by the city milk inspector and 
found above suspicion, as to its standard. 
Take Care 
of your leather with Vacuum Leather 
Oil. Get a can at a harness- or shoe- 
store, 25 c a half-pint to $ 1.25 a gallon ; 
book “ How to Take Care of Leather,” 
and swob, both free; use enough to 
find out; if you don’t like it, take the 
can back and get the whole of your 
money. 
Sold only in cans, to maie sure of fair dealing 
everywhere—handy cans. Best oil for farm ma¬ 
chinery also. If you can’t find it, write to 
VACUUM OIL COMPANY, Rochester, N Y. 
DECADE Send 2-cent stamp for 80-page Illus- 
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Stands at the head of all articles for 
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made. Writeforfall 
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MITCHELL 
MACHINE CO., 
Kendallville, Indiana. 
6 
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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER New York. 
KNOCK 
THE 
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