Oo : : eta ag y . 9 Oa pags oe DH ¢ t f s 1% ¢ a a3 Q as S lg . i.) wy = E - CUCU ED TILLED LECCE CLELAND TLL LACOSTE EECCA ARECACEAE CCC CLEC CCUM CCEA UA AAACN ALLOA CTE CAS CAUCE CCEA Sshoy dud ul sja[jnd surAe, poipuny usoistf GaGVW SI YVAA UAd NAH UAd LIAOUd 1+'9$ AHL AYAHM $6.41 Profit Per Hen Per Year THE CORNING EGG BOOK Illustrating the Poultry Methods originated by the late Prof. G. M. Gowell, of Maine, and perfected by Edward and Gardner Corning Edited by MICHAEL K. BOYER Published by WILMER ATKINSON CO. 1909 25 Cents oy) Copyright, 1909 By Witmer ATKINSON Co. he fot J 27veF © c1A250482 Contents PAGE IimliReKehneioRn ae DomtHamenie Hobs OLGer i recdcran Geer to CC UA mobos one ciao inerar te) iBoombanminlesas:ay brontabler Wndeniaktmers citric jal ctsstrarietetia eters oy: 9 SSMATRMA RESO PEr e eATeA Neco 57 shel cle) Srelva: oie iiatenetasoler a) aisvagopd eho ota aagom oho el Lae Paka ats 10 @veruSisc Dollarsvb enallente er eaten tiers cctepseene so okel srry cya telaoonkasicte ore II remit ienices ton Conminet Wethod Morse series peridicteclelet-ctelicrs secon 12 Mair eetinn oy shine alu So Samat cy 5s uicusterte arom ab atte er rans Retest isys easy sheets ie mile els akorenoee I5 Ppres BECO TOs NE SIV linis oe: cai'a OE els ata aia arene: Seve eual shaves Suctattener elise alts ‘stie tate, sole lane ob oyantere 16 nll etswone Yeatlin ov bl Oni; ei gerbe sce cnicaenstchoe sbete tessa cys) eraiots slants aves: « 16 EOUSEHNOOM!: anGuSiZevOr LOCKS see oa cha heh hee cence teeta efoet 7 Buildmesconounny Slope arm. ede ose ita cis el alr 19 Eestam Arie ame Stttaliolitey. cr. or ceostere| cr ncuer ete toieles Nokes Male cee erage Morskclerder eter sca 20 Imcubator Cellars, piacere oadeeee a cee Ieee Mee a sees eas 21 MiemBnOOdERMELOUSE:)2).. amen. heme le she. So Sedrbeie torah shstn sel behemsbam ious sis 2 Glory OUSES as ays sk hes ek a cles uate A eaten Sartre te pide ence? erecta e or «Me 25 IMleninn Sl Genabotss 1a Ne Cecaee oc re ORenaes caine ao MO nISmerSarold Odo oS eo oer aer 27 MivemBreedinS el OMS Esse, asses. & roid Melepsuecsns Syaneretet eres) dos vpcedshepens BIS wiemtchet rere sys 33 hie: (Crore fairs Pa Bor Coe igs BCR Gok Aa Gio geo Dito d Domic Oo printicnd uaa Bere 35 iheskeedhouse and) Workshopees oo accercsc coco tebe nels eles ie tere ie 35 Onenanines themlncubators serie terry eer este iere ke «Le rieierefelsiele tion 37 Ventilation and=\loisture of Incubatom €ellan---.-..-...--seesaaeee oc: 38 WA Toxera yoyo hae nis oer shin cta.a bic Oo Rand Cmca Ris Hee. oto Pattee be ond Go cee aed eons 30 Maliney Gareszon the “Chicksa se eraa seieaieisse sn ete cleo talents owen 30 Beedinewm Newly—ilatched)" Ghicksier cs. s\raterciseets sha cyets locke toasters
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Details of wire divisions for Brooder Pens
Along the entire length of the house are run five 2-inch hot water
pipes, placed alongside of the north wall about two feet from the floor.
The hot water system is regulated so as to never allow the temperature
in the brooder house to drop below 7o° F. When the water indicator
shows between 180 to 200° F. in ordinary April weather, the temperature
in the house can be readily kept above that point.
In case the house gets too warm, the fire in the boiler is not dropped
but the amount of fresh air is increased. It is realized that if healthy
chicks are to be raised it must be done with pure air. In the Sunny
Slope Farm brooder house no consideration is overlooked to reproduce
summer conditions as nearly as possible.
Colony Houses
The pullets are brought to maturity in the colony houses, twenty
of which were used on this farm last season. These houses have a floor
space of 6x 10 feet. They are 6 feet high in front and 4 feet at the back,
with an ordinary shed roof, except that it does not project either in front
or in the rear.
The framework is built on three skids. The outer ones of these
are made of 3x4 studding, rounded at the ends in order that they may
slide readily, and are 12 feet in length, projecting a foot at either end
beyond the sides of the house. The centre skid is made of 2x 4 studding.
These three skids are securely fastened together by four pieces of
2x4 studding. Across this is nailed the floor, which is made with inch
stuff, tongue and grooved. The upright studs are made of 2x4 stuff.
This framework is covered by matched boarding, and over the roof
is placed heavy asphalt roofing, the joints of which are cemented.
In the front cf the house is a door through which the attendant may
The colony system for growing stock is practiced quite extensively throughout
New England on all the large poultry farms, and where such range can be_ had
over rich grass land, it is a wonderful help in growing the youngsters. The objec-
tion, however, to most of these ranges is that there is too little natural shade for
hot weather, and artificial arrangements must be provided. Professor Gowell was a
great believer in this colony plan for developing pullets. The cockerels should be
separated from the pullets as soon as sex can be distinguished.—Eprror.
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HSNOH ANOTIOO ONINYOO FHL
CORNING EGG BOOK 27
enter, 2 feet wide and 5 feet high. On either side of this, and well up
from the floor, are windows 45 x 27 inches. These windows are covered
with medium-weight cotton duck and open outward. The advantage in
having them open thus is that when open they act as an awning to
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exclude the sun from the coop and keep it much cooler than it other-
wise would be. Wire netting is also placed over these windows on the
inside.
The pullets come in and out of this house through two small doors
on either side of the main door.
With each four of these colony houses is provided a shelter 12 feet
long and 9 feet wide, made of a framework covered with asphalt oe,
The front of this shelter, which faces north, is 3 feet high, and 2 Beet
at the rear.
Main Laying Houses
The main laying houses are 160 feet long and 16 feet wide, facing
due south, without outdoor runs.
Theoretically, there would be no economy in having more than 1,500
birds in one flock, and this size house has been found abundantly large
for this number of layers. True, this breaks all previous theories as to
the floor space required for each bird, but in practice it has been found
ample.
It is also better to have the building only 16 feet wide instead of
20, because the sun cannot be made to readily reach all parts unless the
front elevation is made unnecessarily high. If the ceiling is high enough
to allow the attendants to go through the houses without stooping, and
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CORNING EGG BOOK 29
it certainly should be, the sun has no difficulty in reaching to every foot
of a house 16 feet wide. It is, therefore, economical to make it that
width instead of narrower.
The Main Laying House
The foundation is placed on &-foot cedar posts, placed 3 feet in the
ground on a large rock or cement bottom. These posts are 8 feet apart,
and are braced at the ends and cross tied at the corners. They are also
braced both ways every 50 feet. This prevents the building from rock-
ing. On top of these posts are placed 4x 4 sills, and on these the frame-
work rests.
The floor joists are 16 feet long, of 2x10 timbers, and are placed
3 feet apart. The elevation of the building is 7 feet in front and 5
feet behind. The uprights are 2x4 studs, placed 3 feet apart. At the
corners the studs are doubled and spiked. The plates are also made of
2x4 studs. The maidtens are made of 2x10 studs and have no projection
beyond the plates. This saves something in lumber, and makes it easier
to make the walls at the back air tight.
The floor is doubled. The under floor is made of rough inch-
boarding, running lengthwise of the house. On top of them is placed
a covering of heavy asphalt roofing paper, every joint of which is care-
fully cemented. This prevents any draughts coming up through the floor.
On top of this, laid crosswise of the under boards, is another floor of
No. 4 matched tongue-and-grooved flooring.
This floor is not only absolutely air tight, but on account of its
construction and the fact that it is 5 feet from the ground, it is proof
against rats, skunks, weasels or vermin of any kind that prey on poultry
or are a nuisance around a poultry house.
On the outside of the uprights, on the back and sides, inch-boards
of good quality lumber are nailed. These are planed on the outside and
Professor Gowell, on the Go-well Farm, built his houses 20 feet wide, believing
it was better economy than having them narrow, and, in Bulletin No. 144, says:
“Nearly two years’ use of this wide house shows its advantage over the narrower
ones to be greater than was anticipated when it was planned. Its great width and
the low-down door in the back wall make it much cooler in hot weather.”
Sunny Slope Farm does not have outdoor runs, but the Maine Station has, and,
especially during July and August, Professor Gowell said the fowls delight to go
out into the yards early in the morning. On Sunny Slope Farm, however, open
sheds are constructed under the house (something on the order of the plan sold
hy the Philo System), where the fowls can have a change of diversion—scratching
in the loose soil.
No glass is used in the laying houses on Sunny Slope Farm, but at the Maine
Station the front side of each section has two windows of twelve lights of 10x 12
glass, screwed on, upright, 2 feet 8 inches from each end of the room. They are
3 feet above the floor. The space between the windows is 8 feet 1o inches long,
and the top part of it down from the plate, 3% feet, is not boarded, but left open
to be covered by the cloth curtain when necessary.
Another change that Sunny Slope Farm has made in constructing the laying
houses after the plan of the Maine Station, is that they have the house all in one
room, placing 1,500 birds in one flock, while the Maine plan has the building divided
by tight board partitions in twenty sections, each section being 20 feet long.—Eprror.
30 CORNING EGG BOOK
covered with heavy two-ply asphalt rooting paper, well nailed down and
carefully cemented at the joints. The nails have large galvanized heads,
and are used so generously as to prevent bulging.
On the inner sides of the uprights another covering of heavy roofing
paper is used, the joints carefully cemented, and over this is placed
matched lumber. ‘This gives an air-tight 4-inch vacuum, which is at
the same time the warmest and coolest wall known, on the back and
sides.
Under the floor, the back and sides are all boarded in and covered
with paper, as in the upper part of the house, except that only a single
covering of boards and paper is used.
Except for the window openings, the front wall of the house is
constructed in the same way as the other walls.
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The roof is made of seven-eighths sheathing, on top of which is a
layer of two-ply asphalt paper, and on the under side of the rafters is
nailed another layer of roofing paper and sheathed.
Care is taken to have the paper lap at all the corners and joints
and around the ridges, so as to prevent any draughts from getting
through at these points.
There are eight windows on the south side of the house, and each
of these is 3% feet by 9 feet. They are 3 feet from the floor and run
up to the plate. The object of this is to keep the draughts from blowing
in on the floor, striking the fowls and scattering the litter.
The window frame is made of 4-inch stuff, seven-eighths of an inch
in thickness, with two 4-inch supports placed so as to divide the window
into three 3-foot sections. These come against the upright studs of
the building, the latter not being cut out or weakened in any way to
reduce the strength of the building.
This frame is covered with medium-weight cotton duck. Cheese
cloth is too flimsy, and the duck lets in abundant air if care is taken to
CORNING EGG BOOK 31
brush the accumulated dust off at regular intervals. Not a square inch
of glass is used on the plant, outside of the brooder house and office
and feed buildings.
A water shed 8 inches wide is built over each window, extending
2 feet beyond the opening to prevent driving rains or storms from the
south from beating into the house. The tar paper from the roof extends
down over this storm shed.
The windows may be opened or closed as desired by being hinged
at plate. They are kept open throughout the year, except on cold,
blustery days and on winter nights. j
Across the front of the window openings is placed 1-inch mesh wire
netting to prevent the fowls flying out when the cotton-duck window is
swung up.
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The entrances to these houses are at each end. Seven steps lead to
a platform 5 feet square, large enough to set feed pails on, which is
surrounded on two sides with a hand rail. The doors are made of heavy
matched lumber, of two thicknesses, with roofing paper between, the
inner boards being nailed diagonally with those on the outside. The door
is put together with one and one-half inch No. 12 screws. This makes
the door very substantial. It is 6% feet high and 3% feet wide.
A second door is also provided, which opens outward, the main
door opening in, the upper half of which has panel removed and 1s
covered with wire mesh. At the bottom it is tight boarded. In milder
weather the double door is opened, and the latter is used as a ventilator.
The roosting closets are built differently to those in any other house
HSNOH ONIGHYYd ONINYOO FHL
CORNING EGG BOOK 33
known to the writer. They are built in 20-foot sections, with close
board partitions extending 12 inches beyond the dropping boards, which
are 6 feet wide.
This extra width in the partitions is very important, as it obviates
entirely the dangerous draughts which so baffled the late Professor
Gowell in his large flock houses. When cross winds are blowing the
fowls will go back into these closets to work and sun themselves.
The dropping boards are placed 3 feet above the floor, leaving plenty
of room for the hens to work in the litter thereunder, and sufficient for
the attendant to easily get under to gather the eggs that may be laid in
the litter. A hen dearly loves to round out a nest in the straw litter and
deposit her egg therein. It also gives the sun a chance to reach every
corner of the floor from the front to the back at some period of the day.
There are two sets of roosts in each closet. These are made of
five perches of 2x 2 stuff, rounded at the top, nailed to crosspieces.
The first perch is placed 9 inches from the back wall, and the suc-
ceeding ones are 13 inches apart, measuring from centre to centre. This
distance has to be regulated by the variety kept.
The crosspieces to which the roosts are nailed are securely hinged
at the back, a foot up from the dropping board, and are hooked up to
the ceiling when the dropping boards are being cleaned. They are sup-
ported by a leg a foot high in front, which keeps the perches up the
required distance at roosting time.
There are openings to the yards under the house, which are placed
under the roosting boards at the rear. There are five of these openings
in each house. Boxes are built up around them a foot high to keep the
litter in. A runway therefrom leads to the ground 5 feet below. After
about May 15th all the layers are allowed free range, but spend a great
deal of the time under the house, the floor of the house providing the
necessary shade to protect them from the sun and keep them cool and
comfortable.
From the time the pullets are put into the laying house until warm
weather in the spring comes they are never within less than 5 feet of
Mother Earth. But they are as happy and contented as can be, and sing
and lay eggs each livelong day.
The Breeding House
This is built in exactly the same way as the laying house, except
for the fact that it is only 50 feet long.
The small doors through which the fowls reach the ground are kept
open every day, in order to allow the fowls free access to the open yards
except on very wet or stormy days.
It is the rule on Sunny Slope Farm that the fowls must not be exposed to wet
and stormy weather. Poultrymen are apt to be too careless in this matter. A fowl
is just as miserable when exposed to drenching rains, or snowstorms, or heavy wind-
storms, as would be a human being, and an uncomfortable hen will receive a severe
check in her laying. It is important that the hens be kept comfortable.—Epiror.
ASNOH THYaMOOOD AHL
CORNING EGG BOOK 35
The Cockerel House
The house in which the young males are placed for fattening or
bringing to maturity for breeders has a length of 30 feet and a width of
12 feet. It is built on posts, with the floor 5 feet from the ground and
the superstructure put together in the same way as in the brooder and
laying houses. :
The dropping platform is also arranged in the same way as in the
other houses, but the roosts are made 6 inches in width instead of only
2 inches. This is done to prevent the young birds from pressing on their
breastbones, which are very tender in growing stock. In front of this
house is a wire pen, 15 x 30 feet, covering over the top to keep out the
sparrows.
The cockerels get into this yard through two small doors opening
to a runway down underneath the house. Including the space under
the house, the birds have a yard 25x30 feet. In the warm weather
they spend a great deal of time in the shade and away from all draughts
under the house.
The fences of these runs are made by putting in posts at suitable
distances apart and over this is placed the wire netting. The boards upon
the yards are used in order to keep the young males as ignorant as pos-
sible of what is going on in the world beyond the runs.
The Feedhouse and Workshop
This is a building two stories in height, with an area of 20 x 30 feet.
At the present time the upper story is used as a dwelling by one of the
attendants, the stairway leading thereto being from the outside. On the
ground floor are the food bins for each variety of grain and meal used
in, the fowls’ rations.
The machinery used in preparing the feed is all of the approved
type. The gasoline engine is a 4 H. P. and furnishes the necessary
energy for the bone cutter and the mash-mixing machine. The bone
cutter was specially built for this plant, the ordinary sizes being too small
to grind expeditiously the 175 pounds of bone used daily.
The mixing machine stands in close proximity to the bone cutter.
This machine was also specially built for this plant, and is constructed
on something the same lines as a cement mixer. The various ingredients
of the mash are placed therein in the required proportion, and are mixed
much more thoroughly than they could possibly be by hand, except in
small quantities. The thorough mixing of the mash is regarded as one
of the secrets of its effectiveness in producing large quantities of eggs.
A small shed, 12x16 feet, built of rough lumber, is conveniently
placed. It is used for the storing of the droppings, and the side boards
are placed on the inside of the upright studs in order that they may not
be pushed off by the weight of the manure. If these droppings are
sprinkled occasionally with sand or ashes there will be no odor from them.
The ice house is also one of the buildings on the plant, and is used
for the preservation of the green bone until such times as it is required
for food.
Professor Gowell used vacated brooder houses for his cockerels. When the
chickens reached the age of nine or ten weeks, and the cockerels weighed a pound
and a quarter to a pound and a half, they were placed by themselves into vacated
brooder houses, one hundred to a house. Each house has a yard in front, about
twelve feet square.—Ep1ror.
A great point made by the Sunny Slope Farm is the thorough mixing of the
mash food. This is highly important, so that the different ingredients will be avail-
able to all the fowls. The workshop arrangement on this farm is very complete.—
Eprror.
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Operating the Incubators
The arrangement of the incubators in the cellar is worth some con-
sideration. In purchasing the machines care must be taken to buy them
built right and left. This will permit the lamps of the two machines being
placed side by side and means a considerable economy in time in attending
the lamps as well as floor space. They are placed side by side along the
north and south sides and close to the wall. This arrangement leaves a
good aisle through the centre for the operators. When installed they are
carefully leveled with a spirit level.
Two tables are provided for convenience in turning the eggs. These
are made three feet wide and a little longer than necessary to take two of
the incubator trays side by side. They are built on revolving castors and
their height is gauged so as to make them a trifle lower than the tray
slides in the machine.
By having two of these tables much time can be saved. While the eggs
on one are being turned those on the other can be left to cool. By taking
rays out of alternate machines the time for cooling can be increased as
desired. Last season 5,000 eggs were placed in the incubators in this
cellar, and from these 3,313 fluffy, bright, lively chicks were placed under
the hovers in the brooding house.
On the leg of each machine is placed a tag, on which is provided blank
spaces in which the following information is filled in:
The day and hour that the incubator is set.
The number of eggs placed in the machine.
3. The day, which will be the third day, when the eggs are turned for
the first time.
4. The day, which will be the fourteenth day, when the eggs are tested
out. Many incubator men test their eggs for the first time all the way
from the third to the seventh day, but no test whatever is made on this
farm until the fourteenth day. The principal reason given for testing
on the seventh day, or earlier, is that the eggs taken out may be saved
to boil for the newly-hatched chicks when they come. There is not
enough in this, however, to take chances of losing valuable chicks
thereby. In addition it saves time and labor.
5. The number of infertile, doubtful and fertile eggs found in the
machine as a result of the test on the fourteenth day. The infertile
eggs, of course, are removed from the machine and the doubtful ones
are marked with a cross, so that when the hatch is off the operator can
go over the remaining eggs. This enables him to perfect himself in the
testing art.
6. The date, which will be the eighteenth day, when the incubator
is closed and not interfered with again, until the doors are opened to
remove the newly-hatched chicks.
Most people believe that an incubator does not begin to hatch until
the twenty-first day. This is not always correct. The chicks begin to
In this connection Professor Gowell says, in Farmers’ Bulletin No. 357:
“There are many makes of incubators on the market, most of which will give
fairly satisfactory results. The Maine Station has not tested many makes of incu-
bators, and very likely some of the makes not tested would prove as satisfactory
as the make used. Where many machines are used the hand turning of the eggs
absorbs considerable time. Several turning devices are in vogue and equally good
hatches have been obtained with them as when the eggs have been turned by hand.
Machines that have artificial turning shelves will not hold quite so many eggs as
when flat shelves are used, but the saving of time compensates for this.
Whatever make of incubator is used, pains should be taken to become _ thor-
oughly acquainted with the machine before the eggs are put into it. It is advisable
for a person not familiar with the use of an incubator to run the machine empty
for several days before filling it. After the eggs are put in, changes and adjustments
should be made with the greatest care for fear of extreme results. By the use of
an incubator it is possible to determine exactly the time when the chickens shall
be hatched.’’—Epiror.
38 CORNING EGG BOOK
leave the shells on the twentieth day if the germs are strong and the
temperature has been kept at proper height and the eggs were fresh
when placed in the machine. If the temperature has been allowed to
run low, the hatch is retarded and the chicks are apt to be not so strong
as are those that come out on the twentieth day.
7. A final space is left in which is indicated the number of strong,
healthy chicks hatched. Any weaklings are quickly disposed of.
This enables the operator to keep an accurate record of the work
of his machine from season to season, and to correct any defects that
may be observed.
Ventilation and Moisture of Incubator Cellar
It is impossible to properly ventilate many of the incubator cellars.
for the reason that the ceilings are too low. When a large number of
incubators are being run there must be sufficient height to readily get
the impure air from them out of the room. The windows in the hatch-
ing cellar at Sunny Slope Farm, which act as ventilators, are hinged
at the bottom and drop into a “V”-shaped box with solid sides, forcing
the air in or out, as desired, over the top, and not letting in cold gusts
of air to strike directly on the machines.
Night and day these windows are kept at least slightly open, so that
there is constantly a considerable change of air, insuring freshness. Fresh
air in the machine is very helpful to the growing germ. The poisonous
gases from the lamps must be driven out of the cellar or anemic chicks
will result every time.
The temperature is kept as nearly even as possible. It should never
be allowed to go above 70° or below 40° F.
Moisture, and a large supply of it, is very important. In this cellar
earthen pans are filled with water and placed on the floor almost directly
below each pair of lamps, pushing them sufficiently far back against the
wall as to be out of the way. If the atmosphere is particularly dry,
after turning the eggs at night the concrete floor is thoroughly wet by
sprinkling it with a watering can. This gives a relative humidity identical
with that which occurs in natural incubation, being about 60°, and also
provides the same amount of evaporation as in an egg under a hen.
This method of supplying moisture has proved most successful, for
when the chicks are hatched the incubators will fairly run water, and it
is no uncommon thing for the attendant to be obliged to take the hinges
off the doors leading into the egg chamber as well as those through
which the chick drawers are taken out.
Sunny Slope Farm has a greater belief in moisture than is general among
poultrymen. Notwithstanding that the cellar on this farm is built upon a damp
location, additional moisture is supplied by the pans mentioned above. This, too,
despite the fact that the incubators used are of the ‘‘no-moisture’’ type, which goes
to prove a theory the writer has held for years, that the ‘‘no moisture’? claim is not
founded on fact—that all depends upon surrounding conditions as to the amount
of moisture to be used.—EbprrTor.
CORNING EGG BOOK 39
When to Hatch
April and May are considered the best hatching months on Sunny
Slope Farm, and the nearer the middle of April that the first hatches
come off the better. Professor Gowell recommended April and May
as the right time for hatching Plymouth Rocks. He knew a thing or two
about bringing on young fowls, but in his writings he never gave the
information the emphasis it deserved.
To be able to delay hatching until April and May has several advan-
tages, among which are the greatly increased percentage of fertility in
the eggs and the fact that when the chick is old enough to be moved into
the colony house settled weather conditions are obtained.
The Corning Method of feeding is described in another chapter,
which brings the pullet to maturity in about five months. Chicks hatched
on this farm in the middle of April are laying by the middle of Sep-
tember and continue to do so throughout the ensuing ten months. If
they aré hatched earlier and forced along under this Method, they will
commence laying earlier and are very liable to molt, which, with the
Leghorns, means about two months’ absence from the nests. It also
necessitates the feeding of the pullets for two months, during which
they are producing nothing.
With the heavier American breeds, such as the Plymouth Rocks and
Wyandottes, maturity can be reached almost as quickly. We believe the
reason Professor Gowell did not emphasize more strongly the hatching
of chicks in April and May was because he knew the average poultry-
man would not give the care to his young flock nor force them along as he
did. Under ordinary feeding methods it takes from seven to eight
months to mature a bird of either the American or Mediterranean breeds
and get them started laying.
A pullet rarely begins to lay in very cold weather, and if a supply
of winter eggs are to be had she must be started to work on the nests
before the thermometer goes regularly below freezing at night. If she
is hatched late she must be forced along quickly to the laying point to
have any returns from her in the winter months.
Taking Care of the Chicks
The hovers are operated with the same care and in the same method-
ical way as the incubators. A tag is placed on the wall of the alleyway
back of each brooder yard, and on this is indicated the number of chicks,
the day and the hour they were placed in the brooder and the losses
from any cause as they occur. These tags are also filed away from season
to season for reference, and they form a valuable guide as to what can
be banked upon. Less than ten per cent. of all chicks placed in the
brooder house were lost from all causes last season.
On account of lack of room in the brooder house a number of
Professor Gowell’s main idea in having May hatches is that they yielded more
chicks, there being better fertility, and natural brooding conditions are better. In
Bulletin No. 130, referring to tests made at the Maine Station, in order to study
the hatchability of the eggs from the same lot of hens through their first laying
year, a pen of fifty pullets was set apart for the purpose. They were hatched late
in May and commenced laying in October, continuing laying moderately through
November and December. The fifty birds were mated in November with two cock-
erels that did not quarrel, and these matings continued through the ten months’
test.—Ep1Tor.
Records shown the writer, upon his visit to Sunny Slope Farm, gave a_ very
small loss in the brooders. In the spring of 1909 7,505 chicks were hatched at Sunny
Slope Farm. There were 1,192 deaths in the brooder house, and up to August 15,
1909, 481 deaths on range from crows, rats, etc.—IpITorR.
ASNOH YAdOOUd ONINYOD FHL AO YOIMALNI
CORNING EGG BOOK 41
chicks had to be removed when they were between three and four weeks
old to the colony houses to make room for new hatches from the incu-
bators. Among these there was a considerable mortality, as they were
not sufficiently feathered to provide the necessary warmth in the cold
nights. The total loss of birds in the colony house from hawks and
other causes was about 400. There were 899 cockerels raised to sufh-
cient size for broilers or were matured for breeders. The pullets placed
in the laying houses numbered 1,953. Of these 453 were placed in what
is known as No. I house and 1,500 in No. 2 house.
It is a fixed belief at Sunny Slope Farm that the chicks should be
handled as little as possible; so when a change is being made from one
place to another it is accomplished by removing the sliding board, open-
ing into the alleyway, which is then blocked so that the chicks can only
go in the one desired direction. The board opening into the nursery
pen to be oceupied is raised, then the attendant walks behind these chicks
and quietly and easily moves them along until they are in their new
quarters. When removing them to the colony house a box is placed at
the little door leading from the house to the yard. In this box is another
door corresponding to that in the brooder house, and the front of the
box is made of wire mesh. The chicks are quietly driven into the box
and when it is comfortably filled the door is closed and they are carried
down to the colony house, which is to be their home until they are suffi-
ciently matured to take their places in the laying house. To facilitate
the emptying of the boxes just described, doors are placed at either end.
Feeding Newly-Hatched Chicks
The chicks hatched at Sunny Slope Farm are not fed for forty-eight
hours after they come out of the shell. The last act which the chick
performs before breaking the shell is to absorb the yolk, which makes
food unnecessary for at least two days.
The third day after hatching, the chicks are fed every two hours,
of a good commercial chick food, not heavily, but just enough to enable
them to readily fill up their crops. The feed is placed on the floor in
close proximity to the hover. The fifth day after hatching they are
allowed to run in the little hover yard and then their feed is thrown to
them in litter.
This litter is made of wheat chaff, or the screenings taken out of
the bottom of the hay mow. If neither of these is available, straw is
cut fine with a clover cutter and is used as a substitute. The litter
should be put in deep in these yards—at least a couple of inches of it.
~ Professor Gowell’s method of feeding newly-hatched chicks is as follows (Bulletin
No. 130):
“The best method of feeding young chicks is at present a matter of some
uncertainty. Many different kinds of food and different ways of feeding give good
results.
One condition appears to be imperative, and that is, that the young things,
until they are at least three weeks old, be not allowed to overeat. We have guarded
against this by watching them closely and examining their crops for emptiness just
before feeding time. This enables them to eat four good meals a day and be hungry
at feeding time. Where regular full meals are given they are allowed at the troughs
only a short time. A long-drawn-out meal to enable them to clean up the dishes
impairs their digestion, and ruin follows.
Where small broken grains and meals are kept constantly within reach of the
young things, either in the litter or small troughs, the crops never appear to be
empty, neither are they ever crammed full, as they are when fed at regular hours,
and yet the birds live well and seem to thrive when they are within easy reach of
food all of the time.
At the present time the Station is studying young chick feeding closely, for
it is the most difficult feature of the whole poultry industry. We can now give no
better method than that practiced in raising the chicks during this and the last
season, because by it few birds have been lost and good thrift has been secured.
Infertile eggs are boiled for half an hour and then ground in an ordinary
42 CORNING EGG BOOK
While the bulk of the feed is fed in this litter, a small portion is
scattered around the hover where no litter is kept, so that any weak
chick may get it without too hard work.
From the start the chicks have water before them, placed in sanitary
drinking fountains which are thoroughly washed and refilled three times
a day—first thing in the morning, at eleven o’clock and again at three-
thirty o'clock. TMese hours are not set arbitrarily, but were decided
upon from the fact that it is at these hours approximately that the chicks
drink the greatest quantity.
When the chicks begin to work in the litter, they are fed but three
times a day instead of every two hours. While not overfeeding, enough
grain is thrown into the litter so that the little fellows in scratching will
always find something to reward them.
About this time beef scraps are added to the ration, and care is
taken that these are ground fine. This is fed at noon. To each 100
chicks at the start a couple of little piles are thrown into the litter.
Each pile contains about one handful. The amount of beef scrap is
increased day by day until six handfuls are fed to each pen of 100 chicks.
The chicks are fed in this way until they are six weeks old. Then
they are given wheat and cracked corn. This change is made gradually
by mixing with the chick feed, each successive day feeding less of the
latter until it is taken out altogether.
meat chopper, shells included, and mixed with about six times their bulk of rolled
oats, by rubbing both together. This mixture is the feed for two or three days until
the little things have learned how to eat. It is fed sparingly, in the litter and
sand on the brooder floor.
About the third day they are fed a mixture of hard, fine broken grains, i. e.,
cracked corn, wheat, millet and pinhead oats, as soon as the birds can see to eat
in the mornings. This is fed in the litter, care being taken to lmit the quantity
so they shall be hungry at ten o’clock. Several of the prepared dry chick foods have
been tested. They are satisfactory when made of good, clean grains without grit.
The grit and charcoal can be supplied at less cost and must be freely provided.
At ten o’clock the rolled oats and egg mixture is fed in tin plates with low
rims. After they have had the food before them five minutes the dishes are removed
and they have nothing to lunch on, except a little of the fine broken grain which
they scratch for. At one o’clock the hard grains are again fed, as in the morning,
and at four-thirty to five o’clock they are fed on the rolled oats and egg mixture,
giving all they will eat until dark.
When they are about three weeks old the rolled oats and egg mixture is grad-
ually displaced by a mixture made up of two parts, by weight, of good clean bran,
four parts corn meal, two parts middlings or red dog flour, one part linseed meal and
two parts screened beef scrap. This mixture is moistened just enough with water
so that it is not sticky, but will crumble, when a handful is squeezed and then
released. The birds are developed far enough by this time so that the tin plates
are discarded for light flat troughs with low sides.
The hard broken grains may be safely used all the way along and the fine meals
left out, but the chicks do not grow so fast as when the mash is fed. There seems
to be least danger from bowel “looseness when the dry grains only are fed, and it
is very essential that the mash be dry enough to crumble, in order to avoid that
diffeulty. Young chicks like the moist mash better than though it was not moistened,
and will eat more of it. There is no danger from the free use of the properly made
mash, twice a day, and being already ground the young birds can eat and digest
more of it than when the food is all coarse. This is a very important fact and
should be taken advantage of at the time when the young things are most susceptible
to rapid growth. But the development must be moderate during the first few weeks.
The digestive organs must be kept in normal condition by the partial use of hard
foods, and the gizzard must not be deprived of its legitimate work and allowed to
become weak by disuse.
By the time the chicks are five or six weeks old the small broken grains are
discontinued and the two litter feeds are wholly of screened cracked corn and whole
wheat. Only good clean wheat, that is not sour or musty, should be used.’’—Eprror.
PULLET RANGE &
COLONY HOUSES
EACH-HOUSE:-6 x10
DUI OSI DS
IMKO WEAN ILEIE-
LAYING HOUSE AOS
oes
TAYIAG HOUSEZI02 | ,citE
BROODER HOUSE &
INCUBATOR CELLAR.
.a
WELL 117 DEEP
& WINDMILL
SON EE
a
Bounpn Brook FOI VOUUEN VANES SOMERVILLE
SING *PHILADELPHIA:TURAPIKNE SKEIEING
Plan of Sunny Slope Farm
44 CORNING EGG BOOK
Feeding Pullets While on Range
At Sunny Slope Farm the pullets are moved from the brooder house
to colony houses and are given free range when they are six weeks old.
From that time until they are mature enough to be placed in the laying
houses they are made to do a lot of hustling for their living. Some
poultry breeders throw corn to the pullets in the vicinity of their quarters
early in the morning. This is a serious error. At this stage in a chick’s
life it is greatly to its advantage in developing stamina and hardihood
to make it hustle for its food. The pullets also enjoy ranging, as can
be seen by watching them playing tag with each other and chasing the
worms and insects.
In the mornings the grass is thick with insects and there are always
plenty of pickings to be had if the pullets are forced to look therefor.
To satisfy their appetites they are kept busy until about eleven o'clock,
when they come into the.shade for rest. It is late in the afternoon before
they are given any grain, when it is scattered on the ground near the
colony houses. This is a mixture of two-thirds whole wheat and one-
third cracked corn. At this time they are given all of this that they will
pick up clean.
Inside each colony house is a feeding trough for mash, and this 1s.
supplied in such quantities that it is never entirely consumed. Every
afternoon at three o'clock fresh mash is placed in the trough, and what-
ever little may be left over from the day before, is mixed therewith.
To provide a sufficient amount of grit two basins are placed at each
colony house and are always kept filled. Care is always taken to use a grit
which carries a large percentage of lime. This helps to make bone, and
the pullets come into laying without causing any trouble. The pullets
also have a wonderful affinity for hard coal ashes, and large quantities of
them are regularly provided. It is surprising the amount of ashes the
pullets will consume.
This system of feeding sends pullets to their quarters with full
crops, which is very essential if rapid growth is to be had.
There stands in each house an automatic drinking fountain, which
holds five gallons of water, so that it has to be filled only every other
day. This affords a considerable saving in labor.
In Pulletin No. 130 Professor Gowell says:
“When the cockerels are taken out for finishing, the pullets of the same age
are moved to the grassy range, still occupying the same portable houses in which
they were raised. At this time the method of feeding is changed, and dry food is
kept by them constantly, in troughs with slatted sides and broad detachable roofs,
so it may not be soiled or wasted. The troughs are from 6 to 1o feet long, with
the sides 5 inches high. The lath slats are 2 inches apart and the troughs are 16
inches high from floor to roof. The roofs project about 2 inches at the sides and
effectually keep out the rain, except when high winds prevail.
The roof is easily removed by lifting one. end and sliding it endwise on the
opposite gable end on which it rests. The trough can then be filled and the roof
drawn back into place without lifting it. This arrangement is the best thus far
found, for saving food from waste and keeping it in good condition. When dry mash
is used in it there may be considerable waste by the finer parts being blown away.
When used for that purpose it is necessary to put it in a sheltered place out of the
high winds.
In separate compartments of the troughs, they are given cracked corn, wheat,
oats, dry meal mixture, grit, dry cracked bone, oyster shell and charcoal. The dry
meal mixture is of the same composition as that fed to the laying hens. The
troughs are located about the field in sufficient numbers to fully accommodate all
of the birds.
The results of this method of feeding are satisfactory. The labor of feeding
is far less than that required by any other method followed. The birds do not
hang around the troughs and overeat, but help themselves, a little at a time, and
range off, hunting, or playing and coming back again, when so inclined, to the food
supply at the troughs. There is no rushing, or crowding about the attendant, as is
usual at feeding time where large numbers are kept together.’’—EpiTor.
CORNING EGG BOOK 45
Feeding Laying Pullets
When the pullets are put into the laying houses they still receive
their main feed of grain at night. Six quarts of wheat and corn, varied
in proportion according to the weather, for each hundred pullets are
scattered in the litter an hour before sunset on clear days, and fifteen
minutes earlier on cloudy days. The litter is at least eight inches deep
and preferably of wheat straw. The grain is thrown on top of this,
and being fed in this quantity the pullets are able to nll up quite easily
at just the time when you want to get their crops chock-full. As she
moves and scratches, the pullet buries the remaining grain in the litter.
When she leaves the roost in the morning she has to work, like a beaver
to get out the remaining grain, which gives her the needed exercise and
starts her blood well in motion for the day.
By thus feeding the extra quantity at night the attendants are saved
the necessity of another trip with the morning ration of grain, and the
burying of it in the litter. It is necessary that this feed more than any
other should be so fed as to make the fowls work hard for it, and con-
sequently it must be buried deep in the litter. At eleven o’clock a small
quantity of oats is fed in the litter (two quarts for each hundred
hens). In very cold weather a little buckwheat is mixed with the oats
on alternate days. Buckwheat is too fattening to have a part in the
daily ration.
The mash troughs which are placed under the dropping boards,
two troughs being provided for each 20-foot section, are filled with mash,
twenty-two pounds of mash being given to each 200 hens, at three o'clock
in the afternoon. This mash is made by thoroughly mixing the following
ingredients in the proportions named:
WV inca.» Rai peaidy Be pein ea remine G On din 4 dice ocladernmioc adm ° 8 parts
(Grermmdl nls: (Cio. iin) ig soe Ba ows Maaco a aans Blo blac vio DucUIoodibn cd 4 parts
\Wineatimnicla lhe weneea ceeae oo lems Dome neieabion gb omopo oneour I part
ROMMROGES Se CML IMC AL ees 5 aie ajo deities, s.5,0 Seuss wth sia op ciopa + = ots terete ta ce I part
Gliiem ameall Cine nese GiuIlinpyageotaeso des ogn cobs sboccesodaacouc I part
(Comm smell eg Bees a eieiee HiRISE IRS Aine Se non BOMnD mocaas dage I part
ER Grech OS ate eR Serene meter ec Some Inin Olea ormane 16 parts
This mash must be thoroughly mixed, so as to have the juices from
the animal food taken up entirely by the ground grain. Absolutely no
water, only the animal juices in the cut green bone is used in making this
mash.
It is sweet-smelling and palatable enough looking to tempt any man.
When ready for the hens there is not the slightest appearance of the green
bone in it, all these particles having been thoroughly covered by the
adherence of the meals.
Where it is not convenient to cut green bone, beef scraps may be sub-
stituted. Where small flocks are being handled, the mash can readily be
mixed in a tub—or large pan—with a wooden paddle. This method was
practiced at Sunny Slope Farm until the flock became so large that labor-
saving machinery became an absolute necessity.
Professor Gowell’s method of feeding laying stock and that followed by Sunny
Slope Farm are practically the same. There is a difference in the Gowell mash,
as follows:
ASU Er scaled Ds Te eAT ee eee Bosh oh osha > wd aio tego PaletoeNe Is Se euspopass @slatOWIe wldievislelel-ly actreustemmses: PALES
(Corn “ical 4 Poe SAeaise Dp geen tien Eten o Hector on Gor OO Dc cggO 00.4.0 OD or COO ink 1 part
Wwe: aeclbires.! | ops 6 op eB OD OOO OpO nds oer Cone UacIOr GSD UG CO OBO DOOD COI Cai0K0 Cc I part
HUTT Sere Merrie tlm ee hk ey ame aie) cutiayer s avebtvonerobe’arevalte labefetsy ofols ishetetelKolegshens\ «eyo I part
‘Glisten TaVecil 2 ae ae CO Ie Seite OO miinmic choco pot nGe Lis tp anGc. oo Soe Sooo mmpe 1 part
Digest Sere Qddescosd eee end GOO DEC OOS DU AoE Os Poco DOOUCS DOGO Cn On OO.CGOL I part
The mash contained one-fourth of its bulk of clover leaves and heads obtained
from the cattle barn. The clover was covered with hot water and allowed to stand
for three or four hours. The mash was made quite dry, and rubbed down with the
shovel in mixing, so that pieces of clover were separated and covered with the
meal.—EpIrTor.
40 CORNING EGG BOOK
Feeding Cockerels for Broilers
At six weeks of age, as a rule, the cockerels are transferred from the
brooding house to the fattening pen, or just as soon as their sex can be
surely determined. The Leghorn cockerel is very precocious and develops
the masculine traits at a much earlier age than those of American or
heavier breeds.
The first thing in the morning the cockerels are fed a mixture of
grain, composed of two parts of cracked corn and one of wheat. This is.
thrown on the floor, on which no litter is placed, as it is desirable that they
should do as little moving about as possible, They are given all they will
eat up clean.
At ten-thirty o’clock they are given a bountiful supply of green food.
At three-thirty o’clock the mash boxes are filled full and they are given
all of this they will eat. This mash is made in the same way as that
described for the laying pullets, except that the proportion of corn
meal is very considerably increased.
This method of feeding has been found superior to any of those
which use large quantities of milk in the mash, as it produces a broiler
the meat of which is sweeter and more juicy. It has also been found
more effective in pushing them to maturity.
Feeding the Breeding Stock
The birds in the breeding house are fed in exactly the same manner
as those in the laying houses. That this method is correct is amply
proved by the fact that in the past two seasons, since it has been adopted,
the fertility of the eggs has averaged go per cent. or better, and the
germs have been exceptionally strong. The chicks from these hens have
great vigor and vitality, and grow rapidly. It keeps the males as well
as the females in a strong, healthy condition, and does not make them
too fat.
To secure a heavy supply of eggs the hens must be well fed, but
to have a high percentage of fertility it is important that they should
not be allowed to become overfat.
Bulletin No. 90 of the United States Department of Agriculture states:
“A very large proportion of the cockerels raised in New England are sent to
the market alive, without being fattened. Quite extended experiments at the Maine
Station with many birds, in different years, indicate very clearly that keeping the
cockerels for a few weeks with special feeding will add materially to the selling price.
Not infrequently this will make the difference between loss from the low price
obtained for slow-selling unfattened birds and the profit from comparatively quick-
selling specially fed birds at a much higher price. The higher price is due partly
to the increased weight and partly to the superior quality of the well-covered soft-
fleshed chickens. As the bulletins containing the results of these feeding experiments
with cockerels are out of print, the following brief summary of the results obtained
is given:
The number of pounds of grain required to produce one pound of gain in fat-
tening cockerels was ascertained in experiments comparing the effect of housing, the
effect of age, and the effect of skim milk. The grain mixture used in these series of
experiments was the same, consisting of too pounds of corn meal, 100 pounds of
wheat middlings and 40 pounds of meat meal. This was fed as a porridge thick
enough to drop but not to run from a spoon.’’—Ep1rTor.
__ Care is exercised on Sunny Slope Farm that the hens are kept in good condition
without becoming overfat. Like the layers, they are kept active. The high percentage
of fertility proves that their method in this particular is correct.—EDITOR.
CORNING EGG BOOK 47
Feeding Hens Through Molt
At Sunny Slope Farm no hens are carried through the molt except
those required for breeders. As soon as the pullets finish their first
laying season, which lasts approximately ten months, they are sold at
once for breeders. There is always a demand for these birds.
Care must be taken in feeding a molting hen not to let her take
on fat. At this period in her life a hen is much less active than when
she is laying, and is much given to “standin’ ’round.” It is therefore
necessary to see that all the grain is buried deeply in the litter. The
amount of cracked corn given is materially lessened and the quantity of
mash feed is cut down by at least one-half.
If the hen is going to feather well and keep her strength some
animal food is necessary, but she does not require it in so large quan-
tities as when being fed for eggs. With the exceptions noted, molting
hens are fed the same as layers.
When the hen begins to lay, the amount of mash is increased to the
requirements of the hen, gradually, until it reaches the point of the
laying ration.
Mash—Morning or Night?
It is a much disputed question whether mash should be fed in the
morning or at night, but on Sunny Slope Farm it has been detinitely
answered to the satisfaction of its proprietors.
Professor Gowell used to feed his layers twice a day only, and kept
the mash always before them. On Sunny Slope Farm better results
have been obtained by feeding the mash in the late afternoon.
To keep her body in a perfectly healthy and natural condition, the
hen must spend the greater part of the day in activity. If she is per-
mitted to cram her crop with mash in the early morning she will lie
around until the middle of the day or later, in a semi-dopy, sluggish
condition.
The theory of the “morning mash” poultrymen is that by giving the
hen warm mash in the morning it heats her blood and makes her more
comfortable. This is a fallacy. It does not send the blood coursing
through her veins nor make her nearly so comfortable and happy as to
be forced to hustle, and hustle hard, for her morning meal.
If a hen is going to lay well she must be sent to roost with a full
crop. For this reason, on Sunny Slope Farm she is given the mash late
in the afternoon, and this is followed a short time before she goes to
roost with an abundant feed of grain. Before she starts to pick the
grain at all her crop is full of mash, but there are always a number of
small cavities into which the hard grain can be pushed, which puts her
to bed with a full crop of egg-making material—‘It works while she
sleeps.”
Molting is a period that is a great strain upon the vitality of the fowls, and in
order to carry them through safely it is necessary that their feed be of a more
stimulating nature than when they are in laying condition. This fact is plainly
exemplified at Sunny Slope Farm.—Enpiror.
On this point, in Bulletin No. 90, Professor Gowell says: ‘“‘Years ago the
‘morning mash,’ which was regarded as necessary to ‘warm up the cold hen’ so she
could lay that day, was given up, and the mash was fed at night. The birds for
several years prior to 1903 were fed daily throughout the year as follows: Each
pen of twenty-two received one pint of wheat in the deep litter early in the morning.
At 9.30 A. M. one-half pint of oats was fed in the same way. At 1 P. M. one-half
pint of cracked corn was given in the litter as before. At 3 P. M. in winter and
4 P. M. in summer they were given all the mash they would eat up clean in half
an hour.’’—Epi1Tor.
48 CORNING EGG BOOK
Fresh Cut Bone
Fresh cut bone is a valuable egg producer, and an average of more
than an ounce a day is fed to the layers and breeders at Sunny Slope
Farm. It forms half of the mash mixture, and the hens are given all of
this they will eat at one feeding.
Green bone is cheap in price and highly nutritious, easily digested
and heartily relished by the fowls. It is stimulating to the egg-producing
organs, but more in the way of. strengthening than simply inciting to
greater activity. The feeding of it is not followed by reactionary results,
as is the case when condiments are used.
It not only imparts strength to the egg organs, but it contains in
about equal proportions the same elements as the egg. Consequently,
it is a valuable food. It has a noticeably favorable effect upon the
fertility and hatchability of the eggs and upon the chicks after they are
hatched.
Great care must be exercised in the selection of bones and meat put
into the cutting machine. Unless this is done it is a very simple matter
to give the fowls an aggravated dose of diarrhea, and diarrhea caused
in this way is practically incurable. From a financial standpoint, it is
much better to kill the fowl than to try to doctor her back to health.
The bone and meat scrap as it is supplied by the butcher is gone
over piece by piece, and all the salt or putrid pieces are thrown to one
side. No chance is taken of allowing any meat that has been in brine
to get into the hen’s mash.
The attendant soon becomes quite expert in selecting the fresh from
the salt bones. If the flavor of the eggs is to be maintained, care must
be taken that no tainted bone or meat are used.
The bone is weighed out in exact proportion in preparing it for the
mash, and as much bone is used as all other ingredients in the mash
combined. This gives the laying stock something more than an ounce
per head each day.
Green Food
All the birds on Sunny Slope Farm are given an abundance of
green food, the supply starting when they are three days old and con-
tinuing until they are finally disposed of.
The little chicks are given grass and clover cut fresh every morning
and reduced to lengths of about one-eighth of an inch. This is thrown
into the litter in abundant quantities and they are allowed to eat it at
will throughout the day. As soon as the chicks are removed from the
brooder house they are placed on range, and of course get their own
supply of green food.
When the pullets are placed in the laying house the green food has
to be supplied to them. This is obtained by sowing a sufficiently large
patch of ground with winter wheat in the late summer. This comes up
very readily and is cut and fed in large quantities every morning, at
least a bushel basket packed down being given to each 200 hens.
In all the Maine Station feeding formulas Professor Gowell does not include
green cut bone. While the writer has never read or heard of his opinion on this
article of food, it is known that Professor Gowell personally preferred beef scraps.
Green bone should be fed the day it is cut, and care should be taken that no tainted
bone or meat is used. This is a hard matter to avoid where a large amount of bone
daily is needed.—Epiror.
Professor Gowell was a firm advocate of clover. He said: ‘Poultry keepers do
not begin to realize how valuable a food we have in clover.’’ Clover supplies the
much-needed mineral elements (ash) so necessary to the vigor of the new-hatched
chick, and that much-desired mineral element must be in the egg from which the
chick is hatched.—Ebprror.
CORNING EGG BOOK 49
When this wheat gets covered by snow so that it is not cutable,
green food is supplied by feeding short cut clover or alfalfa which has
previously been gathered and cured. This is prepared for the fowls
daily. It is placed in large tubs and over this is poured boiling water
through a watering can. It has been found that the clover takes up water
much more evenly when it is thus sprinkled on than when it is poured on.
Sufficient water is used to thoroughly moisten it.
Then the tub is covered with burlap or old sacking and allowed to
stand for thirty minutes. This limit of time is very important, for the
reason that clover or alfalfa becomes brownish in color as well as soggy
if allowed to steep longer, and it is not nearly so palatable to the hens.
The quantity of water used in making this green food mixture is
not always the same, for sometimes the clover will suck up a good deal
more moisture than it does at other times. The weight of the food
is always more than doubled by the addition of the water.
The yards of the breeding pens are plowed as soon as they can be
worked in the spring and are sown heavily with oats. The oats grow
very quickly and after they have a fair start they will beat the hens,
what is eaten down during the day being fully made up by the growth
over night.
In the winter and early spring months the breeders are supplied with
green food in the same way as the layers. A large amount of green food
fed to the breeding stock adds greatly to the strength and fertility of
the eggs. To the stock in confinement in the summer and to all the
birds in the winter and early spring months the green food is fed to
them warm at nine o’clock each morning.
Much has been written about sprouted, or “processed” oats, but the
whole matter is very simple. A frame made of flooring, or any boards
4 or 5 inches wide, and set upright, gives the growing bed.
Roofing paper, laid on level earth, makes a good bottom; concrete
or board floors are equally good. In any event, the water should be
allowed to drain away.
Frames 3x6 feet are used at Sunny Slope Farm, but any desired
dimensions can be made.
Dry oats are spread in the frames, not over one inch in depth, and
are thoroughly and evenly sprinkled with cold water every day, for
ten to fourteen days, when the green sprouts are about six inches long.
A dark, cool cellar is best adapted for this operation, though sheds
or other buildings can be utilized.
Oftentimes, as the oats swell and sprout, there will be upheaving
spots, or islands, showing an uneven surface over the bed. These
“islands” should be most thoroughly soaked with water, which will in a
day or two bring the whole bed to a level growth. In bulk, this process
produces a full four parts for one part planted, and makes a most excel-
lent green and oat food. Better results are obtained by following this
plan than other methods.
Drinking Water
Chemical analysis shows that more than three-fourths of an egg is
composed of water. It is therefore essential that the fowls should be
given an abundant supply of water, that it should be pure, and placed
before them in such a way as to prevent their fouling it. At Sunny
Slope Farm the water is given in automatic fountains which hold about
Professor Gowell considered water one of the greatest, if not the greatest, “egg
foods” that could be given hens. In his class in the University he urged a constant
examination of the drinking fountains, that they not only are filled, but that the
water in them is fresh and clean.—EpITor.
50 CORNING EGG BOOK
~
five gallons apiece. A_ sufficient number of these are placed in each
house to meet the requirements of the day. In the laying and breeding
houses this is given in the morning, and in the cold months it is put in
the fountains boiling hot. F
This meets all the advantages claimed by the advocates of warm
morning mash in heating up the fowl’s system if it has been chilled
through the night. It has the same effect upon the bird as a cup of hot
tea or coffee has on a man whose system has become chilled from ex-
posure or other causes. Together with the work the hen has to do to
dig her breakfast out of the litter, it sends the blood circulating rapidly
through her veins and makes her active and lively almost as soon as
she is off the roost.
If cold water is given, the pullet will stand around dumpy, often
for a couple of hours after leaving the roost in the morning, and much
of the advantage that has been obtained by discarding the morning mash
will be lost.
After a little experience the amount of water that the hens require
can be readily gauged, so that the fountains are practically empty at
night.
Young chicks are given water simultaneously with their first food,
and plenty of it is always before them. Water is kept in each of the
colony houses for young stock and replenished just as often as the
fountains are empty—about every other day.
Charcoal, Grit and Oyster Shell
Charcoal is kept regularly before the fowls. It is fed in automatic
hoppers, which are filled once a week. It does not affect all breeds alike,
but it seems to make the Leghorns on this farm susceptible to colds,
and for this reason it is not kept constantly before them, unless a hop-
perful lasts them a week. The hens are very fond of it, however, and
this supply usually is consumed in a couple of days.
Charcoal has no equal as a bowel regulator, and it purifies the crop
and keeps it sweet. Only coarse charcoal is used, as there is less waste
in it and the fowls seem to prefer it.
The hens have free access to grit all the time, and care is taken to
secure a grit that is really sharp, that does not crumble, and that carries
a stiff percentage of lime. Do not make the mistake that a limestone is
desirable.
Coarse oyster shell, perfectly free from dust and fine particles, is
also kept at all times in front of the fowls. If there is a good percentage
of lime in the grit used, less oyster shell will be required. Growing
birds also need it for bone-making material. Good shells cannot be had
on the eggs unless plenty of lime is supplied, and a good shell adds
materially to the appearance of the eggs.
Eggs for Hatching
As is stated in another chapter, the layers are disposed of imme-
diately at the close of their first laying season, or when the birds are
between fifteen and sixteen months old. This is true of all the stock
that is kept for the production of eggs for domestic purposes; but each
season a sufficient number of the best pullets are selected and transferred
Professor Gowell preached: ‘‘Keep clean water, charcoal, granulated bone, oyster
shell and sharp grit always before the chicks; and cracked bone, oyster shell, grit
and water before the hens all the time.’’—Epiror.
CORNING EGG BOOK SI
to the breeding house, for the eggs of yearling hens hatch stronger and
better chicks than those of pullets.
No trap nests are used on this farm for the reason that it is be-
lieved they interfere to a greater or lesser extent with the laying of the
birds. The Leghorn is a very nervous fowl, and the closing of the
confining door of the trap nest always has a tendency to keep her in a
nervous state. This is not conducive to a big egg yield.
Notwithstanding this, the proprietors of the farm believe that they
are able with close accuracy to select their best layers for the breeding
pen. Indeed, when the egg yield given in detail in a previous chapter
is considered, it would seem that there were no drones in the laying
houses. Every bird on the farm carries a year numbered leg band.
With these yearling hens are mated carefully-selected cockerels, one
for every fifteen hens. No attempt is made to divide these breeders
into flocks, but all run together in the one room and yard. Cockerels
are used rather than cocks because experience has proven that they
throw a larger percentage of pullets. The experience on Sunny Slope
Farm backs up this theory, only one-third of the chicks hatched in the
last season being males. It is also believed that cockerels produce a
larger percentage of fertility than can be obtained from older males.
The birds are not mated until within ten days or two weeks of the time
that it is desired to start the incubators. Experience has proven that
Leghorn eggs are fertile within three to five days after mating.
The eggs produced by birds mated this way are gathered at regular
intervals and placed in turning machines, being carried so as to lie on
the end and not on side. They are turned regularly every day until they
are placed in the incubator. This is done to prevent the germs adhering
to the side of the shell.
The sooner an egg goes into the incubator after being laid the
better. At Sunny Slope Farm an effort is made not to have the eg ges
over two days old.
Some breeders believe that a larger percentage of fertility may be
obtained if each male was given his own mates. It would involve con-
siderably more labor, however, and as the eggs from the breeder pens
on this farm have given better than a 90 per cent. fertility, and some have
gone as high as 95 per cent. With strong, lively, fluffy chicks, it does not
seem that any mistake is being made in placing all the breeders in
one room.
Last season the first chicks were brought out in March, but many
of these molted after they had laid for a few weeks in the fall. It has
been decided that in the future all the stock on this farm will be hatched
between the roth of April and the toth of June.
This is not only the best period to hatch Leghorns for winter eggs,
but it is the natural period, and the eggs are always more hatchable and
iggoate better chicks—chicks that live and thrive—than either earlier
or later.
Sunny Slope Farm does not use trap nests, believing that it makes the Leghorns
too scary. The experience of the writer, however, not only proves that Leghorns very
quickly get over their nervousness when trapped and handled a few times, but become
very tame.
Professor Gowell was a staunch believer in the trap nest, and had between 400
and 500 nests for the 2,000 to 2,500 hens at the Maine Station Farm, and 400 traps
on his own Go-well Farm. It is the only apsuletey sure way to pick out drones.
Sunny Slope Farm estimates that to trap nest 5,000 hens would cost at least $1,000
a year labor, which is one reason why they do not do it.—Epiror.
CORNING EGG BOOK
on
i)
Cleanliness
Only five birds were lost from all causes after the pullets were re-
moved from the colony to the laying houses on Sunny Slope Farm last
season. This is attributed to the absolute cleanliness which is main-
tained there. Cleanliness is a vital element in chicken raising.
The dropping boards in the laying and breeding houses are cleaned
every day, the droppings being carefully stored in a shed _ specially
provided for the purpose. The drinking fountains in these houses are
washed and scoured with a brush every morning. This removes all the
slime which naturally clings to the sides from the water. The nests
are gone over every day, and any filth which may have been taken into
them by the fowl is removed. Excelsior has been found capital material
to use in the nest boxes. It is clean and sanitary.
The birds are not allowed to roost anywhere except on the perches
provided for that purpose. This prevents the birds inclined to. steal
their roosts from befouling any section of the house except the dropping
boards, and helps to maintain the general cleanliness.
Every few days the canvas drops which act as windows are brushed
with a stiff whisk-broom to remove any dust adhering to them and which
may prevent the free access of the outside air.
No disinfectants or lice killers are used, for the reason that they
have never been required. The absolute dryness of the house probably
makes it uncomfortable for lice. At any rate, they have never yet
appeared in the houses on this farm.
When the laying stock is disposed of in the fall the laying houses
are thoroughly cleansed. All the litter is removed and the floors are
swept. Then the entire interior is gone over with a mixture of kerosene
and crude carbolic acid. New litter is placed on the floor and the
houses are ready for another flock of laying pullets. At the same time
the nest boxes are all removed, cleansed and painted with the above-
named mixture.
The colony houses are all cleaned out at least twice a week. There
are no roosts in these houses, and consequently the litter has to be
removed at every cleaning. The hover parts of the runs in the brooder
house are scraped and thoroughly cleaned every day while they are in
use. In the yards covered with litter the floor is swept and everything
removed every three weeks, or at the time the chicks are moved to the
cold hovers to make room for another lot. The alleyway in this house
is regularly swept and the hot-water pipes are frequently dusted.
At the end of each hatch the incubators are thoroughly gone over.
The lower diaphragms, drawers and trays are carried outdoors and laid
in the sun. When thoroughly dry they are swept with a stiff brush
until every foreign substance is removed from them.
All this detail is gone over regularly. Older poultrymen do not
think such close attention to this matter of cleanliness is necessary, but
here there are very fixed opinions thereon.
All who visit Sunny Slope Farm mark the order of cleanliness that is kept. The
writer never saw cleaner houses, and this is remarkable, too, considering the large
number of fowls that are housed all the time. Without strict cleanliness it would be
impossible to keep such a number of birds in the pink of condition.—Eprror.
CORNING EGG BOOK 53
Punctuality and Regularity
It has been said that the hen is a systematic animal. One thing is
very certain—she works on time. Close attention to this characteristic
of the hen has been one of the important factors in bringing success
to Sunny Slope Farm. Everything there is done by the clock—a large
eight-day one, which hangs in a prominent place in the workshop.
Following is the day’s schedule:
Between five-thirty and six o’clock every morning in summer, and
as soon as it is light in winter, the attendants open the house and put
water—boiling hot in winter—into the drinking fountains.
At nine o’clock green food is fed, and the first gathering of eggs
follows.
At ten-thirty o’clock green food is given the cockerels.
At eleven-thirty oats are fed, sometimes mixed with buckwheat, and
the second gathering of eggs follows.
At two-thirty o’clock the third gathering of eggs is made. This is
always the principal collection of the day.
At three o’clock in the winter months mash is placed in the troughs.
In the summertime it is fed at four o'clock.
At three-thirty o’clock the cockerels are given their mash ration.
At five o’clock in the summer grain is fed in the litter. In the
wintertime this is varied to make the feeding one hour before sunset, in
order to give the fowls plenty of opportunity to fill up before it becomes
dusk.
According to the weather the houses are closed for the night, and at
dusk a final careful search for eggs is made, not only in the nest boxes,
but particularly in the litter.
At seven-thirty o’clock the houses are again visited and all birds
not so roosting are placed on the perches.
This schedule is adhered to rigidly throughout the year, nothing
whatever being allowed to interfere with it.
This is another great secret of success. It was no easy task to get such a large
farm like Sunny Slope down to such a good system. The poultrymen who will ‘‘go
and do likewise” will find that in poultry culture there are no more important acts
than punctuality and regularity.—Eprror.
Index
PAGE
A
PAN rom PETES een paverode ete stevel af otercheqeravetersysieie 20)
INN EINI SagoonooopUaccocdoru ous 15
B
Barred! Plymouth ROCKS: .1.c.701steleiel sie 6 16
WeetaesCra PSereiceidicuste tera cre recveleieretrtenstons 45
Bone we TLeSHaClitar ernetstetsletcuoisi sia ssieierate 48
rcallitra Semester cteneleteverevegereteiote seis telelsieuotere 16
IB GAri enw Hea leben syaictedersteleliotekelelele fers ove ane 45
IBrECdine meh OUSCs sient i relerereretersteietoieneiens 33
Breeding stock, feeding............. 46
IBTEECEO PEEPS ctoiyetsratele wie « sroieieletejels eve 16
Broilers) (CockenelS sy LOijer. ss