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Vol. LXVII. No. 3040. 
NEW YORK, MAY 2, 1908. 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR. 
MAPES, THE HEN MAN, COMES BACK. 
The “ Hen Barn ” and the Roup. 
I am wondering if our friend, O. W. Mapes, died with 
the roup, or has only the hen bam and the poultry died 
with it? As I have been all through the roup business 
and came out all right on the other side (by the use of 
the hatchet), I have a. lot of sympathy for Mr. Mapes and 
his trouble; I would like to know what the Deacon thinks 
about it. w. o. o. 
No; the Deacon is not dead yet. In fact I find 
his questions more and more troublesome the older 
he grows. As for the roup, I had almost forgotten 
about it. Strange, is it not, how this disease will 
come and go without apparent cause? No danger of 
forgetting about it, however, when it is in full blast. 
Many of the worst outbreaks that have come under 
my observation have been, like mine, in a new and 
clean house immediately after the birds were intro¬ 
duced. Have other R. N.-Y. readers ever noticed 
this? Can it be that the smell of new lumber has 
any connection with it? I did not see a single case 
of roup in the young stock that I raised last year, 
about 1,000 in all, and only about a half dozen in the 
older hens during the past Winter. 
The Deacon and I have had troubles enough of 
our own, however, without the roup. The past year 
was the most unprofitable of any I recall in my ex¬ 
perience, though I do not attribute any part of it to 
the “hen barn.” Our egg yield was not up to the 
usual average, and grain prices have been so high 
as to cut down profits seriously. The hens in the 
hen barn have laid equally as well as those in smaller 
(locks, and been equally as healthy since the outbreak 
of roup subsided. There can be no question as to the 
ease and satisfaction of caring for one large flock, 
A LADDER IN TIIE CORNFIELD. Fig. 165. 
rather than so many small flocks. The upper story 
containing the perches has been absolutely dry dur¬ 
ing both Winters, and free from condensation of 
moisture, and the droppings under the perches did 
not freeze even on the most severe night of the past 
Winter. What is the reason for the decreased egg 
production ? 
That is a question the Deacon and I have had 
SEVENTY DAYS FROM PLANTING. Fig. 166. 
many a tilt over lately. I tL ught I was giving the 
dry mash system of feeding a fair trial, but for some 
reason the egg basket did not respond like many 
which we read about. During most of the year 1907 
we kept the dry mash before the hens, and fed in 
addition a mixture of oats, wheat and cracked corn. 
“Aha!” said the Deacon along in January, “I have 
an idea.” 
We were feeding a pen that had for whole grain, 
corn at night and a little wheat at noon. It hap¬ 
pened that too much corn had been given the night 
before, so that some was still left before them. 
“These hens are hungry,’ said he, “though there is 
corn before them, and also dry mash in their box.” 
I placed a quart of wheat (the usual allowance) in 
the V-shaped trough, and stood by while they eagerly 
devoured it. 
“Give them some more,” said the Deacon. 
A second quart and then a third quart of wheat 
shared the same fate, but the fourth quart for the 50 
hens proved too much for them. Here was food for 
thought. In feeding the mixed grain my aim had 
been to give only as much as they would eat up 
clean. I noticed that the oats were usually the last to 
be eaten. Possibly the hens were needing more wheat 
or corn, while I, seeing oats before them, supposed 
they were not hungry. When we feed only one 
kind of grain at a time, and alternate frequently, 
the danger of such a complication is avoided. 
About the same time I saw a cow milked and fed 
that was being pushed for a record so successfully 
that she now stands third on the list, I believe, for a 
30-day test. I noticed that this cow was coaxed to 
eat an enormous amount of food by giving a great 
variety. This cow ate 40 pounds of grain and 100 
pounds of roots a day, in addition to hay ad libitum. 
A hen that lays even 10 dozen eggs a year is as far in 
advance of a state of nature as a cow that makes 
five pounds of butter a day. When a hen has eaten 
all the dry mash she will, but will still eat some of 
the same mixture made into a wet mash, is not that 
the proper thing to give her in order to force her to 
do her best? If her system calls for corn or wheat, 
is it not folly to tell her to eat the oats she has 
before she can have anything more? If the Deacon’s 
idea has any value, the *practice of feeding mixed 
grains is unwise. By feeding each grain separately 
we can much more easily keep the needs of the system 
supplied. 
Do I consider the hen barn a success? Yes, and 
no. I doubt if I ever build another on the same 
plan. It costs too much money. Something cheaper 
would be more in accord with the profits of egg 
production; $650 for a 500-hen house makes $1.30 
per hen for shelter. The Deacon says that should be 
cut to about 40 cents per hen. That is rather a 
radical assertion, but he says he believes it can be 
done. In the first place, I want a building on a con¬ 
crete foundation that will be permanent, and not one 
with sills down on the ground, where they will soon 
rot. Neither do I want one set on posts set in the 
ground, which will soon rot off. I also want either a 
shingle roof or one of the better grades of sheet 
roofing that do not have to be coated every few years. 
It should also have novelty pine siding, well painted 
with two coats. It must be well lighted and venti¬ 
lated, and reasonably warm, so there will be no 
danger of frosted combs. Another requisite is plenty 
of head room for a tall man to stand erect and do 
his work. Not less than three feet of floor space 
per hen is another feature I want. If the Deacon 
ever succeeds in combining all these features in a 
building for 40 cents per hen I may be induced to 
try again. 
All our hens are now falling over each other to get 
on the nests, as all hens do at this season of the 
year (some of the smaller flocks laying 100 per cent 
of eggs some days), and how to market the surplus to 
the best advantage is quite a problem. I am think¬ 
ing of trying some in cold storage to be sold next 
Fall or Winter, when the usual shortage occurs. 
“Mapes, the egg man,” placed some White Leg¬ 
horns which I seld him a year ago at 23 cents in cold 
A SHOCK OF CORN. Fig. 167. 
storage and in November, when fresh Leghorn eggs 
were selling at 50 cents per dozen and scarce in the 
market at that, he had no difficulty in disposing of 
them as seconds at 38 cents. As yet very few Leg- 
