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U.S. DEPOSITORY

Issued October 15, 1912.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,

BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY —Circular 206.

A. D. MELVIN, Chief of Bureau.

HINTS TO POULTRY RAISERS.

By Harry M. Lamon,

Senior Animal Husbandman in Poultry Investigations ,

Animal Husbandry Division.

SELECTION OF A BREED.

Be sure that the male at the head of the flock is purebred.

The Mediterranean or egg breeds are: Leghorns, Minorcas, Spanish, Blue Andalusians, and Anconas.

The American or general-purpose breeds are: Plymouth Rocks, Wyandottes, Javas, Dominiques, Rhode Island Reds, and Buckeyes.

Fig. l.— Brood coops with hens and chickens on a well-managed poultry farm.

The Asiatic or meat breeds are: Brahmas, Cochins, and Langshans. The English breeds are: Dorkings, Orpingtons, and Redcaps.

For farm use the American breeds are probably the best.

Purebred poultry means uniformity of products.

58240°— 12

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HINTS TO POULTRY RAISERS.

Uniformity of products means increased profits, if products are properly marketed.

Given the same care and feed, purebred fowls will make a greater profit than mongrels.

Subscribe for a good poultry paper.

Every poultry keeper should have a copy of the American Standard of Perfection.1

ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL INCUBATION AND BROODING.

A well- ventilated cellar is the best place to operate the incubator.

The machine should be operated according to the manufacturer’s directions.

Eggs saved for hatching purposes should not be subjected to high or low temperatures.

In cold weather place from 10 to 13 eggs under the hen; in warm weather from 13 to 15.

Always test the hen on china or nest eggs before setting.

Given proper care and attention, the hen is the most valuable incubator for the farmer.

Use insect powder freely to exterminate lice when necessary.

If several hens are set in one room, it is desirable to confine them in good nests.

Straw and hay make good nesting material.

Sitting hens should be moved at night.

Whole corn is a good feed for sitting hens. Water, grit, and dust baths should also be provided.

All eggs should be tested by the seventh day, which often makes it possible to reset some of the hens.

Toe-mark the chicks as soon as they are hatched.

Powder the chicks occasionally during the first eight weeks.

Start the brooder a day or two before putting in the chicks, to see that the heating apparatus is working properly.

Brooder lamps should be cleaned every day.

Chicks should not receive feed until they are 36 hours old.

In cool weather 10 to 13 chicks are sufficient for one hen, while in warmer weather 15 to 20 can be cared for successfully.

• Never mix chicks of different ages.

Confine the hen until the chicks are weaned.

The coop for hens and chicks should be well ventilated, easy to clean, and of sufficient proportions to insure comfort.

1 This is the official standard of the American Poultry Association and may be obtained from the secretary, Mr. S. T. Campbell, Mansfield, Ohio.

HINTS TO POULTRY RAISERS.

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POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES.

Select a location that has natural drainage away from the building.

A dry, porous soil, such as sand or gravelly loam, is preferable to a clay soil.

In most localities the building should face the south, as this insures the greatest amount of sunlight during the winter.

Allow at least 2 square feet of floor space per bird.

Proper ventilation and sunlight mean a dry house and healthy birds.

The partial open-front house is conceded to be the best type for most sections.

The colony plan of housing poultry may be adopted to good advantage on many farms. This system does away with the danger of tainted soil.

The roosts should be built on the same level, 2 feet 6 inches from the floor, with a droppingboard about 8 inches below them.

Good roosts may be made of 2 by 2 inch material with upper edges rounded.

The nests may be placed on the side walls or under the dropping boards. It is best to have them darkened, as the hens prefer a secluded place in which to lay.

FEEDING.

In order to obtain eggs it is necessary to have healthy, vigorous stock, properly fed.

Nature provides —	Scientific classification.	Poultrymen feed —
Worms and bugs	Nitrogenous material or protein. Nonnitrogenous	Eggs, meat (green cut bone or beef scrap), milk, or cottage cheese. Wheat, oats, com, barley, etc. Lettuce, cabbage, kale, mangels, alfalfa, clover, etc. Grit and oyster shell. Water.
Seeds
Greens	Succulents
Grit	Mineral matter
W ater	W ater

A splendid mixture for laying hens is equal parts of cracked corn, wheat, and oats, which should be scattered in the litter.

Bran or middlings and beef scraps should be kept in receptacles to which the fowls have access at all times.

Plenty of exercise increases the egg yield.

Provide 4 or 5 feet of good, clean litter in which to scatter the grain.

Cabbages, mangels, potatoes, etc., make excellent green feed.

When wet mashes are fed, be sure they are crumbly and not sticky.

For the first three days chicks may be fed a mixture of equal parts hard-boiled eggs and stale bread, or stale bread soaked in milk. When bread and milk are used, care should be exercised to squeeze all

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HINTS TO POULTRY RAISERS.

milk out of the bread. From the third or fourth day until the chicks can eat wheat and cracked corn, commercial chick feed is a good ration.

Plenty of pure, fresh water, grit, shell, and green feed should be available from the first day.

Feed the chickens about five times daily and only what they will eat up clean in a few minutes, except at night, when they should receive all they want.

EGG PRODUCTION.

Produce the infertile egg. (See rule 5, last page.)

Infertile eggs are produced by hens having no male birds with them.

Removing the male bird has no influence on the number of eggs laid by the hens.

The hen’s greatest profit-producing period is the first and second years, and unless a hen is an exceptionally good breeder she should be disposed of at the end of her second laying season and before starting to molt.

If possible, mark the pullets that lay in the fall, and use them in the breeding pen for the following spring.

Soft-shelled eggs are often caused by fowls being confined, becom- ing overfat, and from lack of mineral matter.

MARKETING.

Uniform products command the best prices. Pure bred fowls pro- duce uniform products.

Begin marketing the cockerels as soon as they weigh 1 \ pounds or attain a marketable weight.

When selling the eggs to the country merchant or cash buyer, insist that the transaction be on a quality basis.

Ship or deliver eggs twice or three times weekly.

Small or dirty eggs should be used at home.

When taking eggs to market they should be protected from the sun’s rays.

Infertile eggs will withstand marketing conditions much better than fertile eggs.

LICE AND MITES.

The free use of an effective lice powder is always in order.

A dust bath is very essential in ridding the fowls of lice.

In applying powder hold the fowl by the feet, head down, and work the powder well down into the feathers.

The free use of kerosene on the roosts and in the cracks will ex- terminate mites.

Whitewash is very effective against vermin.

HINTS TO POULTRY RAISERS.

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COMMON DISEASES AND TREATMENT.

All diseased birds should be isolated.

Colds and roup. — Disinfect the drinking water as follows: To each gallon of water add the amount of potassium permanganate that will remain on the surface of a dime.

Chicken pox. — Apply a touch of iodin and carbolated vaseline to each sore.

Gapes. — New ground and vigorous cultivation will often remedy this trouble.

Scaly legs. — Apply vaseline to the affected parts, and after 24 hours soak in warm soapy water. Repeat treatment until cured.

Diarrhea in hens. — Low-grade wheat flour or middlings is good for this trouble.

Bowel trouble in chicks. — Well-boiled rice mixed with a little char- coal will often check this complaint.

RULES.

It is urged that all farmers and poultrymen adhere strictly to the following rules in handling their poultry and eggs :

1. Keep the nests clean; provide one nest for every four hens.

2. Gather the eggs twice daily.

3. Keep the eggs in a cool, dry room or cellar.

4. Market the eggs at least twice a week.

5. Sell, kill, or confine all male birds as soon as the hatching season, is over.

Approved.

James Wilson,

Secretary of Agriculture.

Washington, D. C., August 13, 1912.

ADDITIONAL COPIES of this publication n may be procured from the Superintend- ent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. , at 5 cents per copy