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PRACTICAL Book
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HOW TO RAISE
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COPYRIGHT 1913.
In the United States and Great Britain.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

CONTENTS

Chapter

Coa Oe jess |S

The Occupation.

The Man—General Requisites for Success.
Choosing the Breed.

The Location and Construction of the Coops.
The Start—When and How Made.
Hatching the Chicks.

Brooding.

Feeding the Chicks—
Complete Daily Schedule and Formulas.

How to Prevent Chick Mortality— White Diarrhoea.
Growing the Young Stock—Complete Formulas.

Scientific Feeding for Eggs.
Complete Formulas—Balanced Rations.

How to Get a Maximum Egg Yield in Winter.
Marketing Poultry Products at Top-Notch Prices.
Selecting and Mating the Breeders.

How to get Fertile and Hatchable Eggs.

How to Insure and Assist an Early Molt.

The Prevention of Disease.

“Free” Poultry Foods.

How to Grow Sprouted Oats.

A Word of Encouragement.

Be

CHAPTER 7,
THE OCCUPATION.

All those who engage in the poultry business may be classed
under three headings, according to the principal motive that actu-
ates them in taking up the care of chickens. The first classifica-
_ tion would include all those who keep chickens because they desire
recreation; or this may be termed their “hobby.” The second clas-
sification includes those who are tired of paying high prices for
poultry, meat and eggs and desire to keep sufficient fowls to supply
these products for their own table consumption. Then there are
under the third heading, all the legion of persons who are tired
of the ordinary business grind, and city life, and who desire to en-
ter some occupation that will be congenial and, at the same time,
remunerative. It is true that there are some persons who are in-
flamed by reports of exaggerated profits that have been made by
a few, and who think that the poultry business is the long-looked-
for industry with “millions in it,’ to be made with little or no
effort, but this class of persons will not be discussed here. The
few who do start under this misapprehension are usually the ones
that add only to the list of failures.

There are many professional men who are sufficiently well
fixed with this world’s goods not to feel the lure of the profit that
may be derived from keeping chickens and who are not obliged to
depend on the returns to pay for the actual expenses incurred, who
desire to take up some “hobby” for the recreation it will afford
them. Physicians, lawyers, ministers, and all who have a great
deal of mental work and strain, find in the poultry industry the
necessary recreation, and change from mental to physical, and
from indoor to outdoor labor. Persons who are unable to get out
of doors but an hour or two during the day have found that the
care of a few chickens will give them sufficient exercise to alle-
viate the depressed feeling of being confined all day long. In-
valids and others who may be incapacitated for work in some lines,
are able to care for poultry without overtaxing their strength. As
a hobby, keeping chickens affords the double satisfaction of pleas-
ing recreation and healthful occupation.

It makes little or no difference whether the present high prices
for general food products are caused by an excess of demand over
supply, or the methods of the cold-storage operators, the increas-
ing population or any other cause, the result—high prices—is an
actuality. There are a great many persons of moderate means
who would like to have on their table poultry products, but who
are unable to pay the prices asked. If such persons have some
available space in their yard, they quickly come to the conclusion
that it would be feasible, as well as economical, to raise chickens
themselves and save the various profits that are made by the “mid-
dle men.” Hence, some fowls are purchased, coops are built and
the miniature poultry plant springs into existence.

5

Under the present business methods, and the keen competition
that is everywhere apparent in the mercantile world, the man who
is not a specialist of an exceptionally high order, or an expert,
becomes merely a cog in a big wheel. His individuality is almost
entirely lost. He goes to his daily work and if, for any reason,
he is unable to keep up with the increasing demands, he either
drops out or is dropped, and another immediately takes his place.
It is only with an ever-increasing struggle that one can keep up
with the enervating daily “grind” of business life. Many a man
longs for the time when he can take things a little easier, but usu-
ally this opportunity seems far off. There are times innumerable
when every business man (and particularly those who live in the
cities) will soliloquize in this way: “I’m so tired of the hurry and
rush and nervous excitement of business life. Oh, if I could only
get away somewhere, where I would not have to rush and drive
every moment; where I would not be hemmed in by four brick
walls; where I could breathe pure air and enjoy the beauties of
nature, and live an ordinary, sensible and peaceable life!” It is at
such times (and they come frequently to all) that one casts long-
ing glances about him for an occupation that will afford a fair
living—all he is getting at the time—and which will allow him to
be somewhat independent—to be a Man. To such, the poultry
business appeals very strongly. And well it may.

There is a living in poultry. There is more than a living, if one
is willing to give the same time and energy and brains AND BRAWN to
this business that he would devote to any other line to make a success
of it. We live in a day of specialists, and those who expect to get a
profit, as well as a living, from the poultry business must specialize this
work. This necessitates study, care, and application to the minor de-
tails that go to make up the business as a whole. Chickens that are
neglecied or that are expected to care for themselves will lay about
enough eggs in a year to pay only for the food they consume, and little
net profit can be expected from them. But fowls that are well cared
for will always pay a handsome dividend on the investment.

The natural question propounded by those not familiar with the
inner details of the business is: “How much net profit can be derived
from a hen in a year?” ‘There are so many different matters that con-
trol the amount of profit made that it is impossible to state any exact
amount. No two flocks will return exactly the same profit. The care,
feed, attention, housing, and quality of the birds, the marketing of
the products, the amount of help necessary to operate the plant, the
success in hatching and raising the chicks, the sale of stock, etc.—these,
and innumerable other things, all govern the profit one can make.

\When one develops a heavy-laying strain of fowls, or gets the
“fancier’s” fever, and builds up a strain of exhibition birds, the net
profits will increase with remarkable rapidity. The sale of hatching
eggs and day-old chicks, at prices considerably in advance of those
received for eating eggs, of course, will also enlarge the receipts and
net profits. As has been said, there are so many things entering into
the matter that it is very difficult to state any exact amount that may
be realized from a flock of hens.

Irom the viewpoint of health, the poultry business is particularly
inviting. The exercise one takes, in caring for the fowls, outdoors,
under the blue skies, expanding the lungs and breathing in God’s own
free, pure air, will make rich, red blood to flow vigorously through
one’s veins; it will develop good muscle and build a constitution of
iron; it will make a sick man healthy and a well man healthier. To
those who love nature, the poultry business affords an excellent oppor-

6

tunity to get into the open air and sunshine, on cold and warm, on
pleasant and unpleasant days, and one has an excellent chance to see
Nature from many different viewpoints and to appreciate and enjoy her
many changing phases and unsurpassed beauties.

Though the term “man” is used in this book, it should he under-
stood that this includes both the masculine and feminine genders. It
would be quite untrue, as well as unjust, to say that only men are
engaged in the poultry business, for there are numberless women. suc-
cessfully carrying on this industry, both with and without the aid of
men. It is hard to explain why women do not come to the fore and
claim the important place in the poultry world to which they are en-
titled, unless it is because, in their modesty, they hide their light under
a basket. Generally, women do not figure prominently in the business
side of the poultry plant, though many are quite capable of this, too;
but they far excel men in their care of, and chances of success with,
chickens. Some one has said that patience is “seldom in a woman,”
but if the truth were told, in displaying this virtue with live stock (and
young stock, in particular), women have us poor men “beaten to a
frazzle”’ Man in his “bigness” does not see the little needs and
small necessities that will add much to the comfort of young stock,
yet a woman will perceive such things instantly. And possessing the
indispensable patience to “fuss” with them, women will do the many
little things that will help the little chicks over the rougher places in
their lives, thereby largely decreasing the great loss from this source
and increasing the chances of chicks living. And this care and love
for the little tender puff-balls grows as the chicks grow, and instead
of tiring of the game as quickly as a man, a woman will give as much
attention to the grown fowls as when they were smaller. Woman is
the indispensable helpmate of man, and in no place is this more clearly
shown than on the poultry plant.

CHAPTER II.

THE MAN: GENERAL REQUISITES FOR SUCCESS.

The question is frequently asked: “I have $1,000 capital, and
would like to know if this would be sufficient to start in the chicken
business, and what are the chances of my making a living from it?”
There is very little possibility of giving a definite answer to this
inquiry. To cover the whole matter at once, entirely and concisely, the
reply might be given: “It all depends on THE MAN”: or, to make
it a little more pointed: “It all depends on YOU!” After all, when
everything is sifted down, one finds it isn’t a business that makes a
success of itself or of the man engaged in it; but it is the man, with
his mind, and will-power, and energy, and good judgment, etc., etc.,
that is the foundation on which the success is built.

It is a greatly mistaken idea that “anybody can keep chickens.”
The man who goes into the poultry business needs just as much brains,
business sagacity, etc., as is necessary to succeed in any commercial or
mercantile line. There are just as serious problems to deal with, just
as many trials, disappointments, etc., to contend with, just as much
energy and push needed, just as much good judgment necessary, and
just as much honesty and principle to be used in the poultry business
as in any other kind of business. It isn’t, by any means, a catch-all
business for any old sort of a person to go into and get an easy living
from. People who have made a failure in almost everything else they
have tried may succeed in the poultry business, but their chances are
only about one in one hundred.

A prime requisite of the poultryman is an innate love of animals
in general and chickens in particular. The man who loves his fowls
will do everything in his power to add to their comfort, and he is
justly rewarded by them for his pains. There is all the difference in
the world between fowls that are well kept and well cared for and
scrubs that have to take care of themselves. Any flock of chickens will
quicklv reflect the good care and attention that may be given them,
and a man who really loves his fowls cannot be cruel (even by neg-
lect) and permit his birds to suffer through any fault of his. A man’s
poultry is said to be his mirror—it reflects better and more truly his
attitude toward his fowls than anything else he may say or do. With
a love of animals frequently goes a love of Nature and outdoor life,
and these two combine excellently in the chicken business. The work
of caring for the fowls is largely out of doors, and those who dislike
to be “penned up” in an office or who dislike indoor work will find
much solid satisfaction in beine able to work outside with poultry.

To accomplish anything in the poultry business one needs a great
amount of perseverance and stick-to-itiveness. Cast your eye over the
list of leading poultrymen and you will note that all have been in
the business for years. It takes time to learn the ins and outs of
this business, with its many different phases and branches. <A steady-
going “plodder” will accomplish more in the long run by his slow but
sure way of doing things than the man who works like a Trojan for
a while and then does nothing for a longer while. The poultry busi-
ness is not one of minutes or hours but a 365-day job every year (some
years 366!), and it takes a pretty steady disposition to stand the pull.
Slow progress is sure progress, and though some give way, the fittest
survive. And in this respect the poultry business may be classed with
all others: “Eternal vigilance is the price of success.”

Slip-shod methods are not in place on the poultry plant; if fol-
lowed long enough, they positively insure failure. “That’s good
enough” and “Oh, that’ll do!” are not slogans the poultryman should
adopt if he wants to be classed among the leaders. It requires bright,
up-to-date methods to make a success of any business, and the lazy
man will not find his sinecure in keeping chickens.

Patience is a positive virtue and an actual necessity for any one
who expects to make the most of his poultry. The business in general
is largely a repetition of small details, day after day. If one cannot
fasten his attention to one small duty at a time and be willing to work
at that until it is finished, he had better think twice before starting in
this business. And, further, this same duty will probably have to be
done to-morrow, and the next day, and perhaps every day throughout
the year. Without an infinite amount of patience these recurring duties
may become irksome and will then be neglected, with sad results. Lest
someone be frightened by these remarks, let it be said that ordinarily
every man in any line of business pursues the same routine day after
day. But it takes a larger bump of patience to respect the demands
of dumb creatures than it does to obey the sharp commands of an
employer who is backed with the power to “hire and fire.”

One who can be a “Jack of all trades” to a certain extent will find
daily use for his capabilities. While there are certain things that one
can have done by hiring outside labor, the net profit at the end of
the year will be just that much less. If one can handle a saw and a
hammer, though far from being an experienced carpenter and joiner,
many a dollar will be saved by being able to accomplish necessary
work without outside aid. It is expensive to hire labor to build coops,
and to saw every board and drive every nail needed. If one can
“push a paint brush,” this will also save many a dollar, both in the
cost of labor and preservation of the building. These and other sim-

8

ilar capabilities, while not so absolutely essential as to prevent one
from making a success of the business if he does not possess such
advantages, will keep the expense account down and thereby materially
aid in swelling the profits.

CHA PT ibe ci
CHOOSING THE BREED

When one has definitely decided to keep chickens, the first thing
that should be done is to decide just what is the exact object in view.
When this matter is settled, it will also indicate, to a large extent, the
breed of fowls that is to be kept. If the fowls are to be kept as a
hobby and for the pleasure and amusement that one will get from
caring for them, the breed that suits the fancy of the individual will
be the only breed to choose. As the monetary returns that are re-
ceived under this plan are secondary to all else, no consideration need
be given the matter of whether the birds will be an expense or a
source of revenue.

In the case of keeping fowls to supply meat and eggs for one’s
table, the main thing to be considered is to get a general purpose fowl.
By this is meant a breed of fowls that will lay a fair number of eggs
during the year, and when the bird’s usefulness in this respect is
over, to have a fowl that possesses sufficient meat to make a good
meal for an average family. Birds of this type will also usually
produce broilers for home consumption that can be used at a com-
paratively early date and yet be of fair size. If eggs for home con-
sumption are desired primarily, it would be best to choose some of
the lighter breeds that are noted for their prolific egg production.

If one is starting to keep chickens with the ultimate idea of en-
larging the plant until it is of sufficient size to support one or more
persons, the choosing of the breed will require much thought and a
great deal of care. To make the mistake of choosing a breed that
later on will prove to be unavailable for the business needs or the
demands of the market, will mean the loss of much valuable time and
money. To change from one breed to another is also very expensive
and troublesome. It is, of course, very hard for the beginner, without
any previous experience, to know just what breed would be best to
suit future conditions. There are, however, certain fundamental con-
ditions that will disclose to the careful thinker the route he must
follow, and what will be best under existing circumstances.

There are three branches of the poultry business under which all
the breeds of poultry may be classed, as follows: Eggs, meat, broilers.
Certain breeds are egg producers; others are better for the production
of meat for market purposes, and still other breeds should be chosen
if one is going into the broiler business. \WWhen it is said that the
principal branch of the business followed is the production of eggs,
this does not preclude absolutely the production of meat or the sale
of broilers. It simply indicates that it is this particular branch of the
business that is featured, and the other things are of secondary con-
sideration. This same idea applies to ali the branches of the business.

The principal thing that should govern the decision of those who
have had no previous experience in the matter is the market conditions.
The demands of the market to which one will cater should be given
preponderance over all else. This will make the disposal of the prod-
ucts far easier than if other things are given preference. For instance,

9

if one is near a market that demands and can consume an enormous
quantity of strictly fresh eggs, and will pay remunerative prices for
them, it would be very poor judgment to produce broilers principally
And where the prices and demand for broilers are greater than can be
realized from the production of eating eggs, to follow the latter
branch of the business would be wasting one’s ammunition,

It is quite an easy matter to ascertain the preferences of the local
markets, and with this in mind the choice of a breed is narrowed down
very much. If, for instance, one finds that the market to which he
will cater has a greater demand for eating eggs than for all other
products of the business, the choice of a breed would naturally fall
among those varieties which produce a maximum number of eggs in a
year, regardless of whether the fowl weighs three or six pounds. As
there are numerous breeds which produce about the same number of
eggs per hen per year, the further demands of the market should be
locked into. This may disclose the fact that there is a premium paid
for eges of a certain weight, or color. In the case of the New York
market, a premium of five cents a dozen is paid for white-shelled eggs.
In the vicinity of Boston the brown-shelled egg is preferred. Some-
one may say: “What's five cents? Too small to notice.” But where
two thousand hens are kept, that shell out fifteen dozen eggs per hen
per year, this five cents means just fifteen hundred dollars extra re-
ceived—a neat sum to be added to the profit side of the ledger.

In localities where eggs are sold by weight it would be rather
foolish for a man to keep a breed that lays nineteen-ounce eggs to
the dozen, when another breed will lay eggs weighing twenty-four to
twenty-eight ounces to the dozen on about the same quantity of food
consumed. These little things are what count in the long run, and
to figure them out before a start is made in many cases will prevent
ultimate tailure.

Secondarily, the choice of the breed may be governed by the pref-
erence of the individual. This preference, however. should never be
given greater weight than the demands of the market. After it is
found thet there are a number of breeds that will fulfil the demands
of the market, the particular breed that comes nearest to suiting the
taste of the individual will be the best breed to choose. Other things
being equal, it is undoubtedly true that greater success will be achieved
when the chosen breed suits one’s tastes and preferences than when it
is a breed in which keen interest is lacking.

It should be the object of the beginner, before finally deciding on
the breed or variety upon which he will base his chances of success or
failure, to gain as much knowledge of the various well-known breeds
of poultry as possible. Numerous books can be easily procured which
fuliy describe, in an unbiased way, the merits of the different breeds.
From such a source at least a decided preference will quickly be
formed. At this point it would be well for the novice to go to one or
more poultrymen who have been sufficiently long in the business to
have lost the first glamour and excitement which might bias their
opinion, and who have had sufficient practical experience to enable
them to give a proper decision in the matter. Tell them of your tastes
and the preferences you have formed; of the demands of your market,
and all the circumstances in the matter, and ask for an unbiased opin-
ion. In most cases a poultryman will be glad to give his best judg-
ment, regardless of the particular breed he keeps. Then by combining
one’s preference with the advice received from a practical poultryman,
and taking into consideration all local conditions, it should be a com-
paratively easy matter for any one to decide definitely on the breed
of fowls he will keep.

10

CHAP T Ei iy:

THE LOCATION AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE
COOPS.

When one starts keeping poultry much careful consideration should
be given the matter of the location of the plant. If the beginner would
save himself considerable work and perhaps much worry later on, he
would plan ahead definitely where his coops are to be located. This
is one item which should be clearly decided before any stock is bought
or orders placed.

A practical poultryman, who has achieved considerable success,
when asked how he was able to incorporate so many satisfactory de-
tails in a big coop he had recently built, replied: “I was building that
coop for six months before I drove a nail!” In consequence, there are
no “mistakes,’ and the building is well-nigh perfect for the use for
which it was designed.

With small coops there is not a great deal of labor to shift them
around when it is desired to make a change, but why not take into
account as many possibilities and contingencies as one can beforehand,
rather than to leave it all to experiment or “chance”? It may be a
decidedly costly experience to find a lot of chicks drowned some day
after a heavy rain, when a little study of the situation would have
disclosed the fact that the brooder coop was being placed in a hollow.

Location.

Of course, the ground that is available will control the situation
somewhat and perhaps even the size or number of coops. But whether
much or little ground may be had, one should plan along a definite
line—both literally and figuratively speaking. Nothing is more indica-
tive of a person’s disposition than his poultry plant. If one is lazy,
shiftless, careless, or slovenly, it will show at once on his place. If,
on the contrary, care, attention to details, neatness, etc., are in a per-
son’s makeup, these traits will also make their appearance in a well-
kept, clean poultry place. The coops will all be laid out in fine and
harmonious in their entirety. As the flock is enlarged, and new coops
are added, they will be so placed as to conform to the general scheme
of the place. Such a poultry plant is as much a pleasure to look at as
it is satisfying to the one who planned it.

One of the most important elements entering into the location of
a plant, aside from the ground available, is the character of the soil.
Sandy or gravelly soil is the best that can be had for poultry, as it
absorbs the droppings quickly, allows the rain to filter away rapidly,
and will remain sweet longer than a heavier soil. Where a soil is in-
clined to be of a clay nature, it can be lightened by first loosening it
and then introducing sand, ashes, or the like,

After the character of the soil is determined, one should look
sharply to the grading. The higher the general level of the plant the
better, but in any case the coops should never be placed on very low
ground, or in a hollow. The ground in the immediate vicinity of each
coop should be raised, if necessary, by filling in, and then graded off
in all directions. Ground which slopes one way, preferably to the
south or east, makes a satisfactory place on which to keep poultry,
but care should be used not to set a coop where it may be in the direct

11

course of water that runs off after a sudden downpour. By looking
well into some of these important points before locating the coops,
one will prevent dampness, perhaps even saving his chickens from
worse fate.

It is important to have as much sunshine enter the coops, in winter
especially, as possible. Sunshine is one of the greatest purifiers and
disinfectants known, and, aside from this valuable service, produces a
warmth so necessary to and so appreciated by laying hens. Coops
with southern or southeastern exposure will receive a maximum amount
of stinshine, and if the glass in the coop is properly placed the chickens
can enjoy a sun bath the greater part of every pleasant day.

In laying out a new poultry plant take into consideration the mat-
ter of accessibility. That is, the entire flock should be housed so that
the attendant can get to each and every house in the least space of
time and with the smallest amount of walking possible. This is not a
lazy man’s proposition. Some day when a wind or rain storm comes
up suddenly, and things must be made “snug in a jiffy,” if one’s coops
are easily reached, serious loss may be averted. On the contrary, lack
of attention may be fostered by a combination of a protracted spell of
rainy weather and inaccessible coops.

As much protection from high winds and driving rains should be
given the coops as circumstances will permit. This can be accomplished
by locating the coops near heavy shrubbery, on the “lee side” of a
house or barn, or beneath trees.

The advent of young stock may bring with it the discovery that no
space has been allowed for the brooding and raising of the chicks.
This short-sightedness sometimes necessitates the rearrangement of
practically the entire plant. While fifty or a hundred chicks may he
kept in a comparatively small space the first week or two, they grow
rapidly and very soon need larger quarters. These must be provided,
and fortunate, indeed, is he who has planned ahead far enough to
make allowances for the natural expanding of his flock.

A consideration which some may have to take into account is that
of protection from thieves. It seems that some localities are more
subject to depredations from these pests than others. Where such is
the case, one should take full precautions to guard against loss. While
each person can best judge what to do according to his local condi-
tions, one general feature is important: the plant should be so
located that practically every part of it is in full view all the time.
Then one should in various other ways be fully prepared to give any
marauders a “perfectly good reception.” Where possible it will be
found very advantageous to have a bright light, either burning all night
or so arranged that it can be flashed on at any time to illuminate the
entire place, thus making detection of a thief a comparatively easy
matter.

Construction—Size and Style.

The size of the coops, and the number, will depend, first, on the
amount of capital one decides to put into the business, and, second, on
the amount of ground available. A long continuous house costs less
to build than a number of smaller, separate coops. It is also cheaper
to build a house that is approximately square, or in square units, than
it is to build a long, narrow house. Thus, a house that is sixteen feet
square would cost less to build than one that is six feet wide and
about forty-three feet long, though the square feet of floor surface in
each would be the same.

12

In constructing a poultry house, the size should be made as large
as one can possibly afford at the time, even though part of the house
may not be necessary for immediate requirements. As the business
expands (and in nine cases out of ten it will expand), a large-sized
house will obviate the necessity of continually building more coops,
taking valuable time and labor when perhaps it can be ill-afforded.

In estimating the size of coop one will need, it is safe to figure to
give each fowl three square feet of floor area in coops smaller than
eight by ten feet, and two and a half square feet per fowl in larger
sized coops. Thus, a coop eight by ten would house about twenty-five
fowls, while a building twelve feet wide and forty-eight feet long
would comfortably house two hundred fowls or more. The lighter,
smaller breeds will need quite as many square feet of floor space as
the heavier birds because the former are more active.

All poultry houses should face either south or east, preferably the
former. This will permit a maximum amount of sunshine to enter
the coops during the greater part of the day.

The style of house will depend on the capabilities of the builder
primarily, and on the amount of money one figures to expend. A one-
span roof—or, as it is usually called, a “shed” roof—is by far the
easiest type of building to construct. For a poultry house it has the
very important advantage of affording a high front, permitting the
sun’s rays to reach farthest back into the coop to purify the ground
and warm the interior. There will be only one line of eaves-trough
necessary, as all the rain water is thrown to the rear, and this also
keeps the front of the building dry. The pitch of the average one-span
root need not be much over one-quarter—that is, one foot rise in four
feet of width.

The combination roof (which is usually about two-thirds shed style
and one-third gable) and the gable roof are both exceedingly difficult
for an inexperienced person to build. The advantages are so few that
these roofs are in the minority on the average poultry plant. If one
is to have the coops constructed by experienced carpenters, however,
either of these roofs can be chosen if it is the preference of the indi-
vidual and will prove fairly satisfactory for most purposes.

The height of the sides of the building will depend on the style
of roof. The principal factor to be considered is to atford sufficient
head room, otherwise keeping the roof as low as possible. A high roof
creates too much unnecessary air space and will make a cold coop in
winter. The rear wall should be as low as is consistent with needed
head room, thus minimizing the northern vertical exposure and cheap-
ening the cost of both lumber and construction. When figuring the
height of the rear wall, it should be remembered that it need not be
quite the necessary height to walk under, as the dropping boards will
prevent one from getting within three or four feet of the wall. The
rear wall, and the end exposed to the worst weather, should be cov-
ered with double matched boards with double paper between.

Floors may be put into the coops if desired, but they add consid-
erably to the cost—usually from one-fifth to one-quarter. Floors must
be kept covered with sand or straw at all times. Concrete floors are
sanitary and usuallv rat-proof, but are very cold in winter, and in
this respect may interfere with a good egg yield. A good dry dirt floor
will generally give the most satisfactory results, all things being
considered.

The matter of ventilation for the coops should receive very careful
attention. Present-day methods of housing chickens are quite the con-
trary of those pursued some years ago. Now the coops are made so
that they will absolutely prevent draughts, but a circulation of air is

13

constantly going on in them. Air is usually admitted through so-called
“open-air fronts.” The front of the building is not entirely open, but
open spaces of varying sizes are covered with cheap muslin, through
which the air gently sifts in and out. This creates sufficient circulation
of the air inside the coop to remove moisture and to purify the air,
without making any direct draughts. The muslin openings remain the
same throughout summer and winter. During excessively cold nights
a curtain of burlap or cheap unbleached muslin may be drooped in
front of the roosts to assist in keeping the fowls warm while they are
inactive. The usual proportion of muslin placed in the front of the
coop is about one square foot of muslin to ten square feet of floor
space. Thus, for a pen ten by twelve feet the amount of muslin would
be about three feet bv four feet.

The windows of the coops should be placed as high in the front of
the building as possible. This will permit the sunshine to reach far-
thest back in the coop, especially during the winter months. Care
should be taken not to put too many windows in a coop, or it will be
cold, particularly at night. Glass radiates heat at night as rapidly as it
collects it in the daytime. Either eight by ten or nine by eleven is a
good size light to use. The former come in six and nine-light single
sash. With the windows properly placed, about one square foot of
elass surface may be allowed for every sixteen square feet of floor
area.

Inside Fittings.

The number of separate pens, and their size, will depend upon the
size of the house or the number of fowls to be housed. The larger
the pen the greater proportionate number of fowls can be kept in each
ren. The smaller the pen the greater amount of labor necessitated in
caring for the birds. A pen ten feet square will accommodate about
thirty to thirty-five birds; a pen sixteen feet square will accommodate
about one hundred birds. Practically no more labor would be neces-
sary to care for the birds in the latter pen than the smaller number
in the former pen. Chickens kept in small flocks will usually produce
more eggs than when kept in large flocks, however.

The perches may be made of either one by two-inch sticks, well
braced crosswise to prevent sagging, or two by three-inch pieces, with
the two-inch side uppermost. The two top edges of the perches should
be rounded off. About six to eight linear inches of perch room, ac-
cording to the size of the fowl, is usually allowed for each bird. The
nerches should be as close to each other as the size of the fowls will
permit. The lighter breeds will need only about twelve inches between
each perch, while fifteen inches will be necessary for the heavier birds.
All perches should be on the SAME LEVEL.

To keep the house sanitary, a platform should be built under the
perches to catch the droppings. This platform, or dropping boards as
it is ordinarily termed, should be tightly constructed of matched or ship
lap boards. The platforms and perches are usually put at the rear of
the pen to keep the birds farthest from the front of the building, free
from draughts, and this also places the roosts where they will be least
in the way. The platform should be about eight or ten inches below
the bottoms of the roosts to permit of easy cleaning, without moving
the perches. The edge of the dropping boards should extend about
ten inches in front of the first perch, so as to afford room for the
fowls to walk on when going to a desired place on a perch.

14

When building dropping boards, care should be taken not to make
them too tight. The moisture of the droppings will make the boards
swell, and if the boards are so tight there is no play at all they will
buckle up and not only present a very poor appearance but will be very
hard to clean thoroughly.

Where it is possible the roosts and dropping boards should be
movable to facilitate the fighting of lice and mites. It is an excellent
idea also to lower them as the weather gets warm. The closer the
roosts are to the roof, in summer as well as in winter, the hotter will
be the fowls. Not only does the sun warm the roof in the daytime,
which in turn heats the air under it, this remaining warm far into the
night, but the bodily heat thrown off by the fowls has less chance for
escape when the roosts are close to the roof than when they are some
distance away. If the fowls have the choice, it will be noticed that in
summer they are content to take the lower roosts; in winter those
nearest to the roof will be crowded, while the lower roosts are almost
empty.

The nests may be placed under the dropping boards, above the
floor, or on a specially built platform at one side of the coop; but
they should never be stationary. They should be so that they can be
easily taken out and thoroughly and frequently cleaned. Stationary
nests mean a fine hiding-place for lice and mites. It is an excellent
thing, after the nests have been cleaned (which should be done about
twice a month), to burn the old nesting material and by putting the
nest box right over the burning material for a few moments, a dense
smoke can be made to permeate every corner and crack of the nesting
box, and it is “sure death” to all vermin.

Fences and Yards.

The available space will govern the amount of runs or yards that
can be given the fowls. The larger the yard the less danger there will
be from contamination of the soil by the droppings of the birds. The
smaller each individual yard the greater will be the restriction of the
liberty of the hens, and the greater the proportionate cost of con-
struction.

The fences can be of two-inch mesh wire for grown fowls. For
little chicks, one-inch mesh is necessary, at least the first two feet up.
For all ordinary purposes, two by four-inch posts of chestnut or hem-
lock, finished rough, and placed about two feet in the ground and not
much over twelve feet apart, will sustain a six-foot fence. To pre-
serve the life of these posts it is well to paint them where they go into
the ground with a heavy coating of cheap tar paint. A baseboard of
one by six-inch (cheap) boards, placed about two or three inches into
the ground and nailed to the posts, will give a solid foundation on
which to nail the lower edge of the wire, and will also prevent the
fowls from scratching holes deep enough to get under from one run to
another. It is a decided mistake to put boards along the tops of the
posts, as the fowls will see these and fly up on them. A five-foot
fence is usually high enough to pen in any of the heavy breeds, and
six feet is sufficient for the lighter breeds.

15

CHAPTER Y.

THE START—WHEN AND HOW MADE.

When sufficient quarters have been actually provided for the num-
ber of fowls that one desires to keep, the next step is to consider how
and when the start will be made.

The advice that is given to beginners by all practical poultrymen,
that is acknowledged to be safest and best to follow, is to begin with
a SMALL NUMBER of fowls of GOOD STOCK. In beginning in a
small way, one’s ability and capacity for the necessary work increase
with the enlarging of the plant. After one has done certain routine
work, day after day, for a long time, this work becomes easier, and
double the amount of work can be accomplished later .on in half the
time that it took at the beginning. And even more important than this
ic the fact that one’s fund of practical knowledge and experience will
increase as he works out the various problems as they present them-
selves.

Figuratively: speaking, it is better to start with six chickens than
with sixty. Some one may say: “Oh, six chickens; I could never
waste time on so few!” But it is better to experiment with a few
than with a large number, for one can get “closer” to the few; his
experience will be just as great, if not greater, in caring for a small
number than if one’s energies are spread over a large number; one
can see more easily and clearly both the good and had effects of what
has been done, and errors will be discovered and corrected much easier
and quicker, hence with less loss, with a small flock than with a
large one.

The amount of spare time one has to devote to his poultry would
also control, to a large extent, the number of fowls kept. It is out of
che question for the man who works from seven o'clock in the morning
until six at night to be able to have as large a flock as the school
principal, or teacher, who need not. leave his house until almost nine
c'dock in the morning, and who returns shortly after three in the
afternoon, and also has all day Saturday in which to improve his
flock and place. Then again, the person who is away all day long must
leave his birds to the care of another, or, worse, to care for themselves,
in which case the amount of attention they receive varies.

Where one’s time is obviously limited, the progress must neces-
sarily be slower, and this is often discouraging to those who desire to
increase in a short time to a size that will permit them to leave their
present position and make a regular business of keeping poultry.
Progress in the poultry business is necessarily slow, unless one has
unlimited funds with which to buy the labor of others, in which case
the satisfaction of personal accomplishment is entirely lost. The man
of average means must be contented to increase his plant largely from
his own efforts, and his increase must be controlled by the amount of
available time he has in which to work upon his plant.

A mistake that the beginner should be careful to avoid making is
to figure that he would like to keep so many hens and think that this
settles the matter. Do not forget that most important time of the year
with poultry—the breeding season. While some experienced poultry-
men can properly care for one thousand fowls (laying hens princi-
pally), it would be a physical impossibility for them to care for this
number of fowls plus the hatching and rearing of sufficient chicks to
replace the old fowls. During every breeding season, on all the large
poultry plants, extra help is necessary. The practical poultryman who

16

can care for one thousand hens knows it takes three people to care for
this number when the young stock is being raised, or during about four
months of the year. Therefore, the novice would do well to figure that
he would like to keep one hundred hens and then cut this to twenty,

rather than to start with the larger number and find he must neglect
both old and young stock during the following breeding season.

Good Foundation Stock.

‘One principal requisite for ultimate success with poultry is to
start with GOOD FOUNDATION STOCK. Too much stress cannot
be put upon the fact that on this one point hinges innumerable vital
reasons for success or failure. One mistake some beginners make is
to think that they can gain just as much experience with monerel fowls
as with pure-bred birds. This is not so. Mongrel fowls will take care
of themselves, to a certain extent; and this very fact alone would be
apt to inculcate a strain of neglect in the novice. And what is the
use of spending a year or two breeding from poor stock (to get expe-
rience), when the entire flock will have to be discarded and a new,
fresh start made with good stock? This would simply be so much
time and labor wasted. And the experience one may gain from poor
or mongrel stock will largely have to be discarded with the birds, and
new methods learned with the better grade of fowls. Mongrels will
return little more than trouble for one’s pains. They are highly unde-
sirable, unsatisfactory, and expensive in the long run.

It is better to buy and start with five fine birds at five dollars apiece
than to begin with twenty-five poor birds at one dollar each! Fancy
birds are not what is meant by good foundation stock, but this term
includes‘birds that are full-blooded, true to type, and from the best
laying strain that can be bought for the amount of money one has to
spend. When such birds are used to breed from, the progeny will
usually improve, and when one is ready to make a regular business of
the pursuit, his birds will warrant and support the step.

There are two seasons of the year that are particularly favorable
for the beginner to make a start in the poultry business; spring and
fall. Spring offers many points of advantage, and fall also has its
superiority in certain ways.

When one starts in the spring he will have the advantage of some
months of warm, pleasant weather before him. This will be a valuable
aid, as poultry always does better in warm, pleasant weather than
when fighting the rigors of winter. Those who so desire can start
in the spring with either young stock (chicks) or with grown stock—
laying birds—or with some of both. In the fall, however, the start
must invariably be made with grown birds. Whether one feels capable
of attempting to master the two different branches of the bsuiness—
that -is, the chick branch and that of caring for the older birds—or
whether he will tackle only the care of grown fowls in the fall and
investigate the chick end of it the following spring, is something for
the individual to decide according to his own feelings and his. local
conditions.

One can, of course, start in the spring with but one branch of
stock, either chicks or grown fowls. It is usually considered best
when one desires to start keeping chickens in the spring of the year,
to purchase first some grown fowls and try to learn how to care for
these for a few months and then, if desirable, chicks can be either
raised from one’s own hens or purchased, and the details of this
branch looked into.

ily

The price of grown stock will be greater in the spring than in the
fall. The person who has wintered the birds is justihed in charging
for this, and also for the fact that hens are ready in the spring to lay
a large number of eggs. But this greater initial cost of the birds can
be more than made up in the number of eggs that will be received and
the chicks that can be hatched from these eggs.

If one purchases six yearling hens and a cockerel (and this will
make an excellent mating), any time before the first of April, and
hatches all the eggs received for the next three months, with fair suc-
cess in hatching, he should have about one hundred and fifty or more
chicks by July first. Even if some of these chicks are lost when
raising them, and about all the cockerels are disposed of, one should
have between forty and fifty pullets to show for his summer’s work
and to carry into the winter. And this is really a big stride for a
beginner to make in such a short time.

A start made in the fall brings with it many opportunities for
buying good stock at low prices. Large breeders are then planning
for the winter housing of their birds, and they usually have some
stock for sale. The current year’s pullets must be housed, and these
are usually put in the houses previously occupied by the older birds.
No practical poultryman crowds two birds where one should go, hence
some birds must be disposed of. This gives the person starting in the
fall a chance to pick up some fine birds at reasonable prices.

Of course, the rigors of winter make it a fairly trying time for
everyone interested in poultry. But if one can fight successfully
through this period and master to some extent the details of proper
feeding and housing of grown stock, he will be quite capable the fol-
lowing spring to continue and enlarge.

CHAPTER VI,

HATCHING THE CHICKS.

To make a success with chickens—that is, where they are not kept
solely as a hobby, but where a net profit 1s expected—one must know
something of the fundamental laws of reproduction in general, the
formation and composition of eggs in particular, and also possess a
certain knowledge of grains, as to their chemical analysis, feeding
values, ete. There is something more to keeping chickens than throw-
ing them some corn in the morning and gathering eggs (perhaps) in
the evening. In other words, one must know chickens from start to
finish, and back to the start again, to gain the greatest success. Let us
observe a litthe more closely that very innocent-looking, yet most in-
teresting object, an egg. To do so we will have to go back a little
further, to the hen, and see how the egg is formed, of what it is
composed, ete. ;

The Egg.

The ovary of the hen, or that part in which the miniature eggs are
formed, when the hen is in laying condition or about to lay, looks
very much like a bunch of grapes, with the exception that instead of
being all one size, the eggs vary in size, according to their stage of

18

——— ie

development, from about three quarters of an inch in diameter down
to so small a size that they can be seen only with the aid of a micro-
scope. During the period of laving, these eggs are gradually increas-
ing in size in due succession. The yolk and germ, which go to make
up these rudimentary eggs, are encased in a transparent sac which in
turn is held to the ovary by a thin membrane. This containing sac
becomes thinner as the yolk grows, and finally, when the yolk is ma- ~
ture, ruptures around. the centre, and the yolk, surrounded by a thin
membrane of its own, drops into the funnel-shaped beginning of the
oviduct.

The oviduct is a passageway that in the normal hen is about two
feet long, and its function is to carry the yolk and germ to the outside
world, encasing them with a number of different coats on the way.
The first coat deposited around the yolk and germ after they are re-
ceived in the oviduct is what is generally termed the “white” of an
egg, or the albumen, a secretion of the mucus membranes of the ovi-
duct. This coat is not thrown around the egg all at once, but is de-
posited in layers as the yolk passes along. These layers may be readily
distinguished if an egg is boiled hard, when they may be peeled off
like the layers of an onion. A little farther along in the oviduct the
egg receives another coat which is generally termed the “skin” of the
egg, and lies just inside the outer shell. This skin is of two layers,
and can be easily peeled apart; in fact, at the larger end of the egg
one layer is a quarter of an inch or more away from the other layer,
forming what is usually known as the “air cell” of the egg. The
inner layer of this skin contracts, the air cell growing larger, as the
ege grows older and moisture evaporates. When very rapid evap-
oration takes place, as in the case of eggs that have been incubated
for eighteen days or so, this air cell may occupy as much as one-fifth
of the entire space inside the shell. As the egg approaches the last part
of the oviduct it receives another and final coat commonly known as
the “shell.” Here also the coloring-matter is deposited on the shell,
certain breeds depositing a dark color solidly on a white ground, or
perhaps only in spots, making the so-called “speckled” egg shells, and
in still other varieties a coating of white is deposited over a_ buff
ground—all governed by the various secreting organs of the different

breeds.

Knowing these things, one can more readily see some of the won-
derful provisions of Nature. The albumen is a poor conductor of
heat, hence protects the egg, when hatching, from being suddenly
chilled when the hen leaves her nest. It is “tough” enough to protect,
to a large extent, the embryo germ from sudden jars or jolts. The
albumen is also the principal nourishment of the growing chick in the
shell, and in time is practically entirely absorbed by the chick, thus at
the same time making room in the shell for the rapidly growing chick.

Nature has also so arranged the chemical properties of the outside
shell that, considering its thickness and texture, when first laid, it is
of remarkable strength, yet as hatching proceeds chemical changes take
place in the shell itself so that the particles soften and partially disin-
tegrate, permitting the shell to be much more easily broken, thus mak-
ing it possible for the little chick to break its way through. Just
before leaving the shell, the chick absorbs the yolk, and this is used
as its nourishment for the forty-eight hours or.so while the little
chick is yet unable to procure proper or sufficient nourishment for
itself. Truly as we study more closely the details of Nature's handi-
craft we marvel more and more at the wonders we discover.

19

The Hatching Period.

The hatching period is looked forward to each year with much
eager expectation, and hopes of big results run high—sometimes ap-
proaching the altitude of air castles. But he who aims low seldom
hits anything, and high ideals often accompany and frequently foster
excellent results. But when the usual difficulties have been overcome—
as they can be and have been by hundreds of people—and a goodly
number of downy little puff-balls greet one at the end of the hatching
period, he feels that the very careful attention given, largely superin-
duced by a natural anxiety, was well worth while.

Close care and attention, not only every day but all during each
day and as far into the night as is possible, other things being equal,
will help to bring off a maximum number of chicks. It will pay one .
well to look after things in the closest way during the three-weeks’
period of hatching, and one’s visit to the incubator or setting hen
should not be made as seldom but as frequently as possible. This
will enable one to “nip in the bud” any impending trouble before any
serious damage can result. The loss of one of more hatches, espe-
cially if a large number of eggs are set, may make all the difference
between a successful year’s work and one bordering on failure.

Care should be taken in figuring the number of chicks desired,
not to “bite off more than one can chew.” Many have made costly
mistakes by getting in over their head. It isn’t the number of chicks
hatched that one should look to, half as much as how many can be
properly cared for, both as regards time and facilities, and how many
can thus be raised to maturity. Instead of hatching more than can
be cared for, resulting in poor care for all, figure on hatching half
that number, and then give these the benefit of the best care and
attention, and success will be more assured.

In regard to the size of incubator that the beginner will need,
it is best for the individual to carefully estimate the number of
chicks he expects to hatch the first or second season, and then buy
a machine that will hold about double that number of eggs. For
the majority of beginners, an incubator that holds either fifty or
seventy eggs will be quite large enough. Unless one has a large
amount of capital to invest in the business at the start, it would
hardly be advisable for a beginner to buy larger than a 120-egg
machine. This will hatch all the eggs that the novice will need to
incubate at first. As the business grows, the number and size of the
incubators can be increased.

As there are a host of different incubators on the market, all
of which are differently constructed, it is quite impossible to give
any set rules or instructions regarding their operation. Each manu-
facturer, however, knows his own machine best, and as all send mi-
nute instructions for operating their particular machine, it is safest
and best to follow carefully the directions that accompany the machine
when purchased.

Kegs that are intended for hatching should be set just as soon
as possible. The longer any egg is kept the less valuable it becomes
for incubating purposes. Evaporation of the moisture in the egg be-
gins as soon as it is laid, carrying with it, also, certain material
necessary to the growth of the chick. Eggs that are set the day they
are laid will give the best results, though an egg may be kept a week
or two and yet give satisfactory results. Chicks have been hatched
from eggs kept from four to six weeks, but they were very hard to
raise. Eggs used for hatching should be as nearly uniform in size,
shape and color as possible, and the shells free from ridges or lines

20

around the middle, or at the small end of the egg. They should be
carefully handled and not be jarred. When kept for a short time, the
eggs should be laid on the side and turned only once every second or
third day. They should be kept in a room where the temperature
does not go below 45 nor above 55 degrees.

Hatching With Incubators.

The first week of incubation, like the first week of the chick’s
life, is the most crucial time. Extra care and attention during this
period are not only in order but absolutely necessary to secure good
results. When the eggs have been properly handled the first week,
the worst may be considered over, and after two weeks of incuba-
tion they may receive fairly harsh treatment, yet will hatch satis-
factorily. This, however, provides no rule, or even an excuse, for
neglect, and the same careful attention given the first day or the first
week should extend throughout the entire hatch.

The incubator should be thoroughly disinfected and run a few
days before any eggs are trusted in it. The first week a temperature
of 102 to 103 degrees should be maintained, care being taken not to
exceed the latter figure. Beginning on the morning of the third (3rd)
day. the eggs should be turned (not necessarily half-way round, but
simply enough to change their relative position) twice each day, with
as little airing the First week as possible. The second week, the
temperature should be evenly maintained at 103 degrees. The eggs
should be turned twice daily and cooled five minutes (inclusive of the
time consumed in turning the eggs), when turning at night, where the
room temperature is between 60 and 70 degrees. If the room temper-
ature is less than 60 degrees, deduct from the five minutes one min-
ute for every five degrees cooler. Thus, if the room temperature
is 50 degrees it would allow but three minutes for turning and cool-
ing. It is hardly advisable to incubate, especially during the crucial
first week, where the room temperature runs much below 50 degrees.
It would chill the eggs too severely when cooling and perhaps spoil
the hatch. The third week the eggs are treated in a similar method
to that employed during the second week, with the exception of an
additional five minutes’ cooling every night, making ten minutes’ cool-
ing instead of five, and running the temperature half a degree higher
(10334).

The seventh, twelfth and eighteenth days, the eggs should be
‘tested, this being done best at night. Eggs that are perfectly clear
are infertile, and those having a dark ring around the embryo (which
during the first few days is generally floating freely) are imperfectly
fertilized, and both of these should be discarded. If one is uncertain
whether an egg is fertile or if the germ is still alive, it is best to
leave it in the machine until the hatch is over. Experience is the
best teacher in testing eggs. If the temperature has been maintained
at an even degree and the eggs cooled properly, it is usually unneces-
sary to supply moisture in the machine.

At each testing time (on the seventh, twelfth and eighteenth
days), the eggs should be cooled a full half-hour in a room where
the temperature is about seventy degrees Fahrenheit. This exces-
sive cooling causes the contents of the egg to contract, drawing in
a large supply of oxygen through the porous shell.

Never under any circumstance should one egg be placed on top
of another during incubation, making two layers. If this is done, the
entire hatch will undoubtedly be a failure.

21

After testing the eggs on the eighteenth day and removing all
those with dead germs, ete., the incubator should be closed and re-
main closed until the hatch is over. This does not mean that the
temperature in the machine should be allowed to change appreciably,
but regulation of the heat must be made from the outside by means
of the lamp. Many hatches that might otherwise be successful are
spoiled by opening the machine after the eighteenth day.

It is practically useless to try to assist chicks out of the shell.
If a chick has insufficient vitality, from any cause whatever, to liberate
itself from the shell, it will be unable to make proper growth, and
sooner or later will sicken and die. It is true that it is hard to work
for three weeks over the eggs and to see a chick pip the egg and
then not to help it out, but such assistance will only cause endless
trouble for those who permit sympathy or desire for a large hatch
to run away with their common sense. Where it is possible to raise
some of the chicks that are helped out of the shell, they will only
lower the general vitality of the flock and never will make good
layers or profitable birds. Besides this, the opening of the machine
to assist a few weaklings out of the shell at the crucial time of hatch-
ing, will probably cool the temperature sufficiently to chill other
chicks about to hatch, and this may result in the loss of large num-
bers of chicks that would otherwise have hatched.

The chick should begin to pip the shells about the end of the
twentieth day, 1f the correct temperature has been maintained, and
the hatch should be completely over by the end of the twenty-first
day. The chicks should be permitted to stay in the incubator until
they are thoroughly dried off and are strong enough to run around,
when they may be safely removed to the brooder.

Beginners should not become discouraged if the first few hatches
are not entirely successful. Poultrymen with years of experience do
not always get big hatches. There are many causes for poor hatches.
One of the principal reasons why experienced poultrymen advise
beginners to start with good foundation stock is, because they know
that the chances of getting fertile eges that will hatch strong, live-
able chicks are far better with good stock than with poor stock.
Poor breeders seldom lay eggs that will hatch well. Thus the im-
portance of getting the best foundation stock possible becomes very
apparent in the reproduction of the flock. Improper feeding will affect
the fertility and hatchability of the eggs. Too little green food
given the breeders; improper care of eggs during the first week of
hatching; too much cooling; too high or too low a temperature;
jarring the eggs; eges kept too long before being incubated; these,
and many other similar reasons, cause poor hatches. ;

\Vhen a hatch has not been successful, the conditions should
be carefully studied with a view to ascertaining the cause or causes,
and these removed or corrected before attempting another hatch.
With good breeding stock, properly fed and cared for, and correct
incubation, the chicks will pop out at the proper time. If the be-
ginner can get an average of seventy-five per cent. fertility and then
is able to hatch fifty per cent. of the remaining fertile eggs, the
first year, he will be doing very well indeed. Better results than these
are, of course, possible and should be diligently sought. And with
proper application and close attention to details, they will be achieved
in time.

Hatching With Hens.

The best instructor in hatching with hens is experience. The
local conditions vary so greatly, both with the operator and the hen,
that only a few general rules and suggestions may be given.

22

The principal trouble with hatching hens is the possibility of their
deserting their nests. This is usually caused by one of two things: Lice
or a poor sitter. The first cause can easily be overcome. The hen
should be thoroughly dusted with lice powder before she is given
any eggs to hatch. This dusting should be repeated at least once
a week (even after the hatch is off), until the chicks are almost
weaned. The second cause may be overcome by a little experiment-
ing. When a hen appears broody she should be placed on some
china eggs for two or three days. If she still sticks close to the nest
at the end of this time, it will usually be safe to place her on the
eggs that are to be hatched. If Biddy persists in frequently leav-
ing the nest to perch on top of the nest box,,or tries to hatch a
house by sitting on a door-knob in some other place, she will be an
unreliable hen to trust with a batch of eggs.

A roomy box should be filled with nesting material and the hen
should be changed to the new nest, preferably at night. The nest should
be placed where other hens cannot annoy the sitter. It should be
in a dry, comfortably warm place where there is not too much bright
light. After the hen has been placed on the eggs, she should not
be disturbed for about twenty-four to thirty-six hours. Then she
should be carefully lifted off the nest and permitted to run around
for a few minutes. Plenty of grain and fresh water should always
be within easy reach of the sitting hen. During the first week, and
to a certain extent throughout the entire hatching time, the attendant
should remain near the hen when she is off the nest, to see that
she goes back again within a reasonable time. A hen that sits too
close is not as good a hatcher as one that is somewhat nervous and
moves around in the nest frequently. The former will not allow
sufficient air to get to the eggs to permit the growing chick to obtain
enough oxygen to make proper growth. In such a case, the close
sitter must be lifted off the nest more frequently and the eggs moved
around gently to change their relative position.

Occasionally a hen will step on and break one or more eggs
during the period of incubation. These should be removed as soon
as noticed. If the nest has been badly soiled, new nesting material
should be furnished. If any of the contents of a broken egg should
get on the remaining eggs, it should be carefully wiped off with a
cloth dampened with warm water. If a coating of egg is allowed to
remain on the outside of an egg in the process of incubation, par-
ticularly during the second or third weeks, it will prevent the grow-
ing chick from getting sufficient air through the shell to hatch.

As the chicks begin to hatch, it is best to remove them from the
nest and put them in a warm place where the temperature is about
ninety-eight to one hundred degrees. If the chicks are left with
the mother, as they begin to come off, the stronger ones will soon
begin trying to get out of the nest. If one chick succeeds in get-
ting outside, the hen will probably follow it, leaving the eggs in the
nest, and these will be chilled and will not hatch. If the hen does
not follow the chicks outside the box, they are likely to die from
exposure. After all the chicks are hatched, the entire flock may be
given back to the mother hen, which should previously have been
given another thorough dusting with lice powder.

CHAPTER VII.
BROODING.

While the correct feeding of the chicks is one of the most im-
portant features of successful poultry raising, the brooding of the

23

chicks will either hinder or aid one materially in raising a large
proportion of the chicks hatched.

There are two methods of brooding chicks: The natural way—
with hens—and the modern method of supplying artificial heat. Both
methods have their advantages and disadvantages. Some _ poulty-
men think there is less work to brood the chicks under hens.
Certainly, in the majority of cases, there is little or no trouble with
the “heating apparatus.” But there is a pecuniary loss, because the
hen that is brooding chicks lays practically no eggs for about three
or four weeks. This means about fifty cerits loss. The hen, par-
ticularly if it is of a heavy breed, may clumsily step on and kill one
or more chicks in the brood. Chicks which are brooded by hens
are naturally more wild and are harder to tare, also feeling the
restraint of winter quarters more than those raised. by the artificial
method.

When brooding chicks with artificial heat, there is, of course, the
great danger of loss of both chicks and brooder by fire, but care
should reduce this element to a minimum. While the equipment is
necessarily more expensive, much larger flocks, both individually and
collectively, can be raised by the artificial method than when brooding
with hens. One can hatch and brood the chicks at any time of the
year, and it is not necessary to await the pleasure of a broody hen,
When the heat is properly supplied and the method of feeding is
correct, just as many and just as strong chicks can be raised by the
artificial method as by the natural way.

Brooding With Hens.

A mistake that is frequently made, when brooding with hens, is
to combine the hatchings of two or more hens into one flock and give
all the chicks to one hen to mother. Nature intended one hen to
mother only the chicks she hatched, and these would never exceed a
number which she could properly take care for. If one hatches only
half a dozen chicks from each of two hatches, for instance, these
might be combined and given to one hen to brood, while the other hen
is put back into the laying pen, but it is unwise in the extreme to give
twenty-five or more chicks to even a big hen to mother.

When the chicks are fully dried off and sufficiently strong
to run around (usually about thirty-six to forty-eight hours after the
hatching), they may be moved with the hen to the brooder coop. The
brooder coop (two feet by two feet by two feet makes a good-sized
coop) should previously have been placed in a dry location, prefer-
ably facing south, and protected from high winds and heavy rains.
If the weather is cool, the coop should be placed where it will be in
the sunshine a maximum part of the daytime, but in mid-summer shade
must be provided. The bottom part of the coop, to a height of about
three or four inches, should have earth banked against it to prevent
draughts from blowing under, and to give good drainage. If the
weather is excessively cold, the hen should be confined in a small box,
placed inside the coop, and the chicks allowed to run inside the re-
mainder of the coop. If pleasant, warm weather is present, the hen
may be confined in the coop proper and the chicks should be given the
privilege of running around outside. The clucking of the mother hen
will prevent the chicks from straying too far.

The food for the chicks should be placed on a board in front of
the coop for the first two or three days. This board should be where
the hen can put her head through the slats in the front of the coop
and eat, for she will then call the chicks and teach them how to eat.

24

Later the chicks should be fed farther from the coop, where their food
will be inaccessible to the hen, as the food given the chicks is too ex-
pensive to feed to the hen continually. Plenty of grain should be
provided for the hen, and fresh water in abundance should frequently
be supplied to both the hen and chicks. When the chicks are weaned,
numerous individual flocks may be assembled and placed in a colony
coop.

The Artificial Method.

The suggestions for the placing of the brood coop for hen-
mothered chicks apply equally well to the brooder coop in which the
brooding is to be done by supplying artificial heat. The usual size of
a lamp-heated brooder coop is three by six feet (though some indoor
brooders are three by three feet). For convenience in operating a
number of brooder coops, they should be placed as close as accessi-
bility will permit, usually about two or three feet apart, and prefer-
ably in line with each other.

When the first eggs are set, the brooders should be overhauled
and put in thorough working order. To leave this till the chicks are
hatched may mean that parts which are missing or broken will have
to be procured at the last moment. Inability to procure these parts
at once may seriously prevent one from properly heating the brooder
and caring for the chicks, resulting in the loss of some of the brood.

A day or two before the hatch comes off, the brooder should be
made ready for the chicks. The floor should be covered to the depth
of at least one-half inch with sand or loose, dry dirt, and about one-
half inch of cut hay, clover or alfalfa should be placed over the sand.
A little chick feed should be scattered over this, and two or three little
piles should be put in the corners. After new wicks have been put in
the lamps, they should be lighted. The flame should be regulated so
as to maintain a uniform temperature of ninety-five (95) degrees un-
der the hover, irrespective of the temperature of the air outside. In-
cidentally, the heat that is supplied in the hover should be supplied
from the top downward—this is following the natural method of the
hen. Most manufactured brooders are constructed so that the heat is
supplied according to this principle.

When the chicks are placed under the hover, the temperature may
go up to one hundred or one hundred and five degrees, but the lamp
flame should not be altered. It is the natural bodily heat thrown off
by the chicks that causes the temperature to rise, and the lamp heat
should not be decreased on this account. Boards should be placed so
as to keep the chicks within twelve inches of the hover for the first
day or two, until they learn to go in and out from the hover.

The afternoon is the best time to place a new lot of chicks in the
brooder. They should be fed and then gently put in under the hover
where they should be kept for half an hour or so, when they may be
permitted to come out and exercise. After the next feeding this oper-
ation should be repeated. A little chick should not be kept exercising
too much the first day or two. Sleep is quite as essential at first to a
chick as to a baby. After the chicks get the way of running in and
out of the hover (usually in a day or two), it is no longer necessary
for the attendant to see that they go back after feeding. The boards
that kept the chicks near the hover may also be placed farther away
from the hover gradually, and taken away entirely after one or two
days.

At the beginning of the second week, the temperature may be
lowered to ninety degrees, and to eighty-five the third week. This

Las)

temperature is gauged as at first, with no chicks under the hover. The
comfort of the chicks should be the gauge by which the temperature
of the hover is regulated. Chicks that are comfortable will put their
little heads out of the fringe of the hover; if insufficient heat is being
supplied, they will huddle together under the centre of the hover. The
latter condition is to be avoided.

In clear weather the chicks should be let out on the ground after
they are about one week old, even if the temperature outside is but
forty or fifty degrees and the chicks are out only a few minutes. The
chicks should be watched closely in cool weather, however. They
should not be permitted to huddle, and as soon as they show signs of
becoming cold, and huddling, they should be immediately put back into
the brooder, under the hover. The chicks will enjoy this little run and
look for it every day. In pleasant, warm weather the chicks may be
allowed to run outside the brooder as they like, but they should never
be permitted to go out in the snow or rain.

To successfully brood chicks, when supplying artificial heat, one
must maintain a proper and uniform temperature under the hover. A
place must also be provided where the chicks can get away from the
heat to a cooler temperature—about seventy (70) degrees is correct—
in which they can exercise. Pure air must be supplied the chicks at all
timves—under the hover and in the exercising pen.

It is hardly safe to put more than fifty to sixty chicks in the ordi-
nary three by six-foot brooder coop. This allows about six-tenths of a
cubic foot of air and four-tenths of a square foot of floor space per
chick. Less than this will prevent one from doing the best with his
chicks.

The brooder should be cleaned daily under the hover part and
thoroughly once a week throughout. It should be disinfected by spray-
ing with a solution of creolin and water or crude carbolic acid and
water. The coops should be moved to new runs about once a month,
and the old runs spaded up and planted to oats or rye to renew the
ground.

Brooding Without Heat.

It is quite possible to brood chicks without supplying any heat to
them whatsoever. Neither a hen nor a lamp is used to provide warmth
for the chicks. The principle is to conserve the natural bodily heat
that the chicks are constantly throwing off. This method has been
proven of practical value in that it does not require a hen to be off
the laying job for three or four weeks, and precludes any possibility
of loss from fire.

The chicks are carefully watched to see that they do not huddle,
and as soon as this tendency is noticed they are at once put into the
fireless brooder. This brooder is made of an ordinary cheese box, or
any other kind of a box that may be handy that is about sixteen inches
square and five or six inches high. A square wooden frame is made
to fit iust inside the box, and unbleached muslin is tacked loosely on
this frame. The muslin is tacked so that the centre falls about to
the floor of the brooder when the frame is placed an inch down from
the top of the box (where it is held in position by cleats). A “quilt”
is made to cover the top of the box, and the heat inside the brooder is
regulated by placing this quilt either snugly or loosely on top of the
muslin frame. A three-inch square hole is cut in the side of the box
through which the chicks can run in and out. When the chicks are
cold they go inside the brooder and each chick helps warm the other.

26

This method of brooding may be used when the weather is mod-
erately warm or when the chicks are few in number and brooded in-
side a house or coop. It requires a great deal of watching and “hand-
nursing” at first to get the chicks into the way of going into the
brooder to get warm, but when they once get the habit there is no
more trouble with this than with any other system.

CHAPTER: ViGk

FEEDING THE CHICKS.

One of the most interesting periods in the poultry keeper’s yearly
experience extends from the time the little chicks are hatched until
they begin to feather out. Most hatching is done during the spring
when everything seems to be taking on new life, and one’s spirits are
simply bubbling over with exuberance. One’s expectations seem to
grow daily as the three weeks’ period of incubation gradually draws
to a close, and it is an exciting time indeed when the little chicks begin
to “pop out.”

The little downy puff-balls seem to “sit up and take notice” almost
as soon as they are dried off. They instinctively begin picking at every-
thing within the limited range of their sight. In the absence of, any-
thing more inviting they pick at each other’s bills and toes, and woe
be to the chick so unfortunate as to have the blood drawn. It is this
instinctive picking that holds much danger for the beginner. \When
he sees the little fellows picking at each other, at the felt, even at little
specks on the glass of the incubator, etc., etc., the novice immediately
concludes the chicks are hungry. Forthwith he takes them out of the
incubator, puts them into a brooder, and promptly begins stuffing them
with all they will eat. In reality, he is banking up trouble for himself
in direct proportion to the amount he gives the chicks to eat.

Nature has provided little chicks with proper food in sufficient
quantity to last them for sixty to seventy-two hours after they leave
the shell. The last thing a chick does before breaking through the
shell is to absorb the yolk of the egg, and this becomes its food until
it is sufficiently strong to gain its own livelihood. Not only is the
chick abundantly supplied, but if other food is eaten before this yolk
is assimilated trouble will invariably result. It is like a man who has
just eaten a big, hearty dinner and then is forced to eat a lot more,
only the effects on a tender little chick are more far-reaching and
disastrous than in the case of the man. Feeding chicks too soon after
they are hatched is one of the principal causes of the high death rate,
and large financial loss, in the chicken business.

The kind and quality of chick food that is fed little chicks must
of necessity depend largely on local conditions. There are many
mixed chick grains on the market, and, if the truth were told, but few
are of inferior quality.

The one point on which half the success of raising chicks depends
is feeding only sound, sweet grain that has not been “heated” and that
is free from mould or mustiness. Poor grain will not afford sufficient
nourishment for the chicks, and sour grain will very quickly upset the
sensitive digestive apparatus, resulting in sickness and final loss.

Method of Feeding for the First Two Weeks.

_ The first day the chicks should first be given a little grit (smallest
size), fed sparingly, so that the chicks’ crops will be induced to begin
their natural working functions and thus be ready to take care of the

27

food when it is received. The grit may be put before the chicks first
on a board so it can readily be seen, and later should be kept in hop-
pers, accessible at all times. About three times a day the chicks
are given a mash, composed of hard-boiled eggs cut up fine, mixed
with dried bread crumbs, and slightly moistened with sweet
milk, not mushy, but just so that when a handful is taken up and
squeezed in the hand and permitted to fall it will crumble away in
pieces. Tapping with the fingers on the board holding the food will
attract the attention of the chicks, and their curiosity, spurred on by
their appetites, will quickly induce them to eat. The mash is left be-
fore the chicks about five minutes at each feeding, after which it should
be entirely removed.

The bread and egg mash is made by boiling (infertile) eggs hard
for about thirty minutes and chopping these up fine, shell and all.
Bread should be cut into slices and slowly dried in an oven for at least
an hour or more until it is brittle, and then crumbled very fine. One
dozen eggs is sufficient to mix with two loaves of bread. This mix-
ture should be made for a day’s feeding only, as it will quickly sour.

Wheat bran may also be given from the first, as it is a “bulky”
food and balances the more concentrated food of the mash. It is sur-
prising, after the chicks get a good taste of the bran, with what relish
and in what quantities they will consume it. It is perfectly safe to
permit chickens of any and all ages to help themselves to bran, as they
cannot consume too much for their good.

From the very first the following chick mash is put before the
chicks DRY, in shallow trays, and the chicks are allowed to eat as
much as they desire. After a few days or a week, the mash may be
fed in hoppers, and always kept accessible. This mash is given the
chickens dry continually until the fowls approach maturity, when the
laying mash is gradually substituted.

A Chick Mash.

20 Ibs. Corn Meal.
20 lbs. Wheat Bran.
20 lbs. Wheat Middlings.
20 Ibs. Fine Beef Scraps (best quality).
8 lbs. Fine Bone Meal.
After the chicks are one week old, add 2 lbs. fine charcoal.

The first day a little commercial chick feed is placed on a board
before the chicks until they become used to picking it up and eating it,
and then a handful or so is fed in between the times the egg mash is
fed, in the litter, to make the little fellows scratch for a living, thus
keeping them in fine, healthy condition. A little rolled oats may be
given occasionally to vary the ration. Fresh water, or half water and
half sweet milk (lukewarm), should be given the chicks from the be-
ginning of the second day. Giving water too soon after hatching may
bring on diarrhcea and other bowel troubles. The chicks can easily be
taught to drink by dipping their bills in the water a few times.

A Daily Schedule for Feeding the Chicks.

Ordinarily, about three teaspoonfuls of the egg and bread crumb
mash will be sufficient for about fifteen or twenty chicks, at each feed-
ing. About one and a half teaspoonfuls of water should be sufficient
to use in moistening this quantity of mash. If milk can be obtained at

28

a reasonable price (skim milk is quite as good as clear milk), this may
be mixed with the water and given the chicks. Milk is better than
water to use in moistening the bread-and-egg-crumbs mash.

_ The following is a practical schedule for the daily feeding of
chicks for the first few days or a week:

Proportions for about 20 chicks:

7 A.M. (or as soon as light) —Lukewarm water (with one-quar-
ter to one-half milk).

8 A. M.—Small handful commercial chick feed, scattered around.

10 A. M.—Three (3) teaspoonfuls of bread crumbs and egg, slightly
moistened.

12 M.—Fresh lukewarm water (and milk). Small handful of grain
scattered around.

2 P.M.—Three teaspoonfuls of bread crumbs and egg, slightly
moistened.

3:30 P. M.—Fresh lukewarm water (and milk). A generous sup-
ply of grain, scattered around, so that the chicks can have all they
want. Ordinarily, about two handfuls is sufficient.

4:15 P. M—AlIl the bread crumbs and egg, slightly moistened, the
chicks will eat.

This last feeding of bread crumbs may be left before the
chicks for twenty minutes or so. About five or six teaspoonfuls
will be sufficient. DRY CHICK MASH BEFORE THE CHICKS
AT ALL TIMES.

The bread crumbs and egg should be before the chicks at the 10
A. M. and 2 P. M. feedings, not more than FIVE minutes at each
feeding—then it should be removed.

If there is any grain to speak of in the litter, which the chicks
have not scratched out from the previous feeding, do not give them
any at the next feeding, but skip a feeding.

The greatest secret in raising a large proportion of the chicks
hatched is to feed the proper kind of food, without overfeeding! Keep
the chicks a little hungry during the day. They should come forward
for the next feeding with some appetite. The chicks should be filled
up at the last two feedings only. DON’T OVERFEED—DON’T
OVERFEED!

This feeding is continued as outlined until the fifth day, when a
little green food, such as lettuce, sprouted oats, or very young grass,
cut in quarter-inch lengths, is added to the ration and fed freely every
day. Without a large supply of green food, the chicks will not make
proper growth. Very fine charcoal should also be given at this time
and kept before the chickens all during their lives. Charcoal may be
considered the chickens’ “medicine chest”—if kept before them at all
times, they will be their own doctors to a large extent, and they will
take this wonderful corrective medicine in sufficient quantities and at
the proper times to keep themselves in good condition.

The sixth day a dish or hopper of very fine beef scraps should be
put before the chicks and kept accessible at all times. After ten days
or two weeks the egg and bread crumb mash may be omitted, a grow-
ing mash gradually being substituted. As the chicks develop, larger
sized grains may be given in preference to the very fine chick feed.

Method of Feeding the Chicks from Two to Four Weeks.

At the end of two weeks the chicks should be fed less, both in
the number of feedings and in the quantity given at each feeding.

20)

The chick feed should be scattered in the litter only twice daily,
at 9 A. M. and 4 P. M. The morning feeding should be light and
scattered well into an inch or more of litter, thus keeping the chicks
active and a trifle hungry early in the day. The 4 P. M. feeding may
be heavy, to fill the chicks up for the night. Give plenty of succulent
green food. Discontinue the milk in the water, and give lukewarm
water only, three times daily.

The bread crumbs and egg should be gradually discontinued toward
the end of the second week, and the chick mash used in place. This
can be easily done by introducing a little of the chick mash with the
egg and bread crumbs about the tenth day, and gradually increasing
the quantity of chick mash and decreasing the egg and bread crumbs,
until only chick mash is fed at the end of two weeks. This mixture
should be slightly moistened, the same as the egg and bread crumbs
were. Two feedings a day are enough for the mash—at about 12 M.
and 5 P. M. Keep the chick mash dry before the chicks at all times.

It will be noticed, according to the schedule, that grain is always
fed for the chicks to fill up on at night, before the moistened mash.
This is so that the chicks will be induced to eat as much grain as
possible, as this will remain in the crop longer than the soft mash
food. Then again the chicks will eat their crops nearly full of grain
but relish the egg and bread crumbs so well that later they will eat
more of this, when, if things were reversed, they would not touch grain
after having eaten their fill of soft food.

This second schedule of feeding should be continued for the two
weeks following (or until the chicks are about four weeks old). Fur-
ther schedules for feeding the chicks will be found in the chapter on
“Growing the Young Stock.”

Plenty of exercise, plenty of green food, dry mash, and charcoal,
with judicious feeding, should raise a large proportion of the chicks
hatched. Common sense should play a prominent part in the brooding
and raising of chicks, and he who looks not at the labors of the mo-
ment but rather at the results that will become apparent six months
later, will get closest to success in the long run.

CHAPTER IX.

HOW TO PREVENT CHICK MORTALITY.

There is a loss of millions of chicks annually, and a large propor-
tion of these chicks could be raised if proper conditions were in évi-
dence. There are two or three things which are the principal causes
for this terrible loss, but there are usually attending causes that lend
aid in making this appalling death rate.

To be able to prevent chicks from dying, one must know the prin-
cipal reasons why chicks become sickly and die. Knowing the causes,
one can more intelligently provide a means of prevention.

One of the most far-reaching causes of chick mortality is the con-
dition of the breeding stock. By condition is meant the entire matter
of the quality of the ‘stock; its care and feeding. In the hatching and
rearing of the chicks, the quality of the breeding stock, and the care
and feed it receives, will become very apparent. One cannot be too
particular about the breeding stock. While it is very nice to be able
to procure a male bird from a flock of 200 egg-layers, if he does not
possess the best of health and vitality he is worse than useless as a

30

pr eS ee ae ©

breeder. And the same applies equally well to the females in the
breeding pen. Healthy birds are of the greatest importance to the
poultryman who is in the business to stay. Without healthy breeders,
the general flock will deteriorate in vitality, and that means the begin-
ning of the end. More complete details of the breeders and their care
will be found in a subsequent chapter.

A lack of care in the selection of eggs kept for hatching will cause,
to a large extent, chick mortality. Eggs that have been kept too long
will not have sufficient nourishment remaining in them when set to
furnish the chicks with proper nutrients to sustain life. The eggs may
have been kept in too warm a room, or may have been roughly handled.

One cause of chick mortality may be found in faulty incubation.
Chicks may be hatched that seem all right, but they will die after a
few days from apparently no cause whatsoever. If the heat in the
incubator has been either too high or too low, it will seriously inter-
fere with the proper growth of the chick while in the shell, and this
will become apparent after the chick hatches. When the heat is run
too high for an extended time, the yolk of the egg will probably be
baked, sometimes until it is as hard as that of a hard-boiled egg. When
a yolk is in this condition it cannot be assimilated by the chick, which
means that the chick will live for a while but will ultimately die.

Errors in brooding are frequently the cause of chick mortality.
To crowd too many chicks into a brooder will prevent all from get-
ting proper nourishment and exercise, and dead chicks under the
hovers will be the result. One cannot put more chicks in a given space
than should properly go there, any more than one can put a quart into
a pint jug. The manner of supplying the heat may cause the chicks to
die. If the heat is supplied from underneath, instead of from the top
downward, the chicks will get “weak legs” and this will kill a great
many.

If insufficient heat is supplied in the brooder, the chicks will
huddle together to get warm. To keep from being trampled upon,
they will have to stand, and no chick can sleep while standing. A chick
that does not get proper sleep will not grow. Or the lamp in the
brooder may go out some windy night, and the chicks will become
chilled, which will probably so lower their vitality that they will be
unable to overcome the handicap.

Impure air in the brooder or under the hover will not afford suf-
ficient oxygen for the growing chick. Chickens of all ages are rapid-
breathing fowls, and must be supplied with a sufficient quantity of
pure air to enable them to live. If the fumes of the brooder lamp are
allowed to seep into the hover or brooder proper, or if the brooder
coop does not have sufficient ventilation to admit a good supply of
fresh air at all times, the chicks will suffer in consequence. A lack of
sunlight will kill chicks almost as quickly as improper feeding or breed-
ing. It is impossible to raise chicks in a cellar or anywhere below
ground, where no sunlight penetrates. In summer, however, too much
sunlight makes the coop (and chicks) too hot, and mortality will ensue.
Shade positively must be provided in summer for fowls of all ages.

A very prominent cause of chick mortality is unclean coops. This
applies especially to very young chicks, but it is also applicable to chicks
that may even be over the more dangerous stages of their growth.
Unclean coops will work havoc in the best flock in the land. The
droppings of chicks quickly become foul, and many diseases (particu-
larly that most dreaded chick disease, white diarrhcea) are spread to
healthy chicks by their coming into contact with infected droppings in
unclean coops. Clean the brooders underneath the hovers EVERY
DAY, and thoroughly clean the entire brooder at least once a week.
Disinfect the brooders frequently with a solution of creolin (one pint}

31

and water (thirty-two quarts). A plentiful supply of sand on the
floor of the brooder will aid in absorbing the droppings during the
week, and will also prevent disease.

Chickens are more susceptible to dampness than they are to cold.
If a brooder is placed in a hollow, where the water will remain under
or around it, the chicks will soon show the ill-effects of this lack of
precaution. The roof or cover of the brooders should be absolutely
rainproof. If a brooder should become wet from any cause, the chicks
should be removed to another dry brooder.

Improper feeding probably does as much as, if not more than, all
else to increase the death rate of chicks under two weeks of age. To
this one cause may be attributed at least one-half the failures in the
poultry business. It may be that the chicks are fed too soon; they
may be fed too much, either at one time or in the aggregate; insuffi-
cient exercise may be afforded the chicks in procuring the grain, thus
allowing them to get too much food too easily; too much of either
soft food or of grain, i.c., an unbalanced ration; the mash food fed
too wet—these and many other similar causes, in connection with feed-
ing, reduce the percentage of chicks that are raised. A healthy chick
hatched from an egg laid by good breeding stock in excellent condition
can have its vitality sapped and really be killed by improper feeding
in a very short space of time. Incidentally, the contrary is also true.
Chicks that are somewhat weak at first, with proper care and feeding
can be built up until their vitality is practically normal. It all depends
on the quality, kind and proportions of feed given, and the method of
feeding.

knowing the causes of chick mortality, one should do his best to
keep his chicks from dying by preventing their getting sick. To keep
the chicks well, change or remove entirely and at once all conditions
that lean toward any cause or causes that might bring on chick mortal-
ity. This is the secret of preventing chick mortality. It seems simple
when learned from those who have “been through the mill,” but it is an
expensive lesson, costing much valuable time and money and labor, if
one has to learn it by sad experience. An ounce of prevention is worth
tons of cure!

White Diarrhoea.

During the past few years scientists, medical authorities, and prac-
tical poultrymen have all been trying to ascertain the specific cause of
white diarrhoea. So far, some valuable progress has been made, but
much more has yet to be learned regarding the strange malady that is
dreaded so much by all poultrymen. While the deaths of numberless
chicks are attributed to white diarrhoea, it is a question in the minds
of those who have studied this disease whether white diarrhcea is the
actual cause of the chicks’ death or only an accompanying symptom
that materially aids with other causes in reducing the vitality of the
chick until it dies. It is generally acknowledged, however, that there
are certain fundamental causes for the deaths of chicks, and these
same causes will also foster the disease known as white diarrhcea.

In a word, the causes that have been given in the early part of
this chapter will cause chick mortality, and at the same time white
diarrhcea will undoubtedly be in evidence.

There are several specific causes of white diarrhcea, as follow:
The condition of the breeding stock; a lack of care in the selection of
hatching eggs, in their handling and the time they are kept; faulty
incubation and brooding, and incorrect feeding and care of the chicks,
particularly at first.

a2

In this disease, as with general chick mortality, the treatment
should be one of prevention, based on a knowledge of the causes of the
disease. See that only thoroughly matured, healthy breeding stock is
used to supply the hatching eggs. Do not hatch eggs that have been
laid by very young pullets, nor should immature cockerels be used to
head the breeding pens. Hens that are to be used in the breeding pens
should not be forced for a maximum egg production. If they have
been so forced, the best of their strength has been used up, and they
cannot lay eggs that will hatch strong, livable chicks. Unsound breed-
ing stock will bring on white diarrhcea in the chicks that will take off
half a flock in a week.

Enough has been said in previous chapters about the care of hatch-
ing eggs, the methods of incubation and brooding, and proper formu-
las given for the feeding of the chicks, to give even the beginner suffi-
cient knowledge to enable him to prevent conditions that will be apt to
start or spread general disease, or white diarrhoea, in his flock. The
poultryman should be ever on the lookout for the first symptoms of any
trouble, and as soon as exceptional conditions are noticed the cause or
causes should be ascertained and at once removed. An ounce of pre-
vention is worth tons of cure!

CHAPTER x.

GROWING THE YOUNG STOCK.

A chick that is properly handled the first ten days of its life may
be considered one-quarter raised. After the chick is three weeks old,
it is practically half raised, and when it reaches the age of six weeks
it may be pretty roughly treated, yet will live and grow. It is as hard
to kill a chicken over six weeks of age by injudicious feeding or poor
care as it is easy the first ten days of its life.

From the time a chick is two weeks old until it reaches the age of
six weeks, care should be used not to give it food that will make flesh.
During this period chicks will take on flesh rapidly, and the result will
be too heavy a body for the amount of bone and tissue. This causes
indigestion also, and the chick gets “weak legs.” If the food is not then
changed, the chick will soon die. With a properly balanced ration for
the chicks at this period, they will make a fair growth without any
trouble.

As has been said before, the chick mash should be kept before the
chicks at all times. The moist mash should be given the chicks ONCE
a day only during this period, preferably at noon. The first feeding
early in the morning should be chick food, well scattered in at least
one inch of litter. The chicks should be made to work for all the
grain they get in the morning. At night a more generous supply of
grain may be fed—in the litter, of course. The quantity of grain to be
fed morning and night will depend entirely on the condition of the
chicks and the quantity they consume readily. At the night feeding the
chicks should get all they want and go to bed satisfied, leaving just a
little grain in the litter. This they will dig for early in the morning
before the attendant comes around. About half the quantity that is
given at night will suffice for the morning feeding, but one must use
his judgment in this matter.

Chicks should be held back in their development for the first six
weeks, but from then until maturity they cannot be pushed too hard.

33

When the chick passes the age of six weeks, its entire nature
changes. All the food then goes to build up the frame, hence a chick.
will stand very heavy feeding without adding much flesh. The chicks
also show, at this time, that they are becoming tired of the chick feed,
and a change is necessary. The following developing food may be
fed morning and night in litter, or may be hopper-fed, if necessary. A
certain amount of exercise will materially aid the proper growth of
young birds, hence the feeding of the grain in litter is preferable.

Developing Food.

LBS.
Gracked Gores os ea eer eee 50
WHE, Sarace oe eet cle aostGa ena eka Gat 30
Keatire Conn epee rite wut ae ee 10
Wate eles ee oe ee 2
Bitekwhest sce nena ce canes eee ee ee 2

The developing food is rich in carbohydrates also, but young grow-
ing birds can stand more heat-producing elements. It is fed when the
fowls begin to show the preference for larger grain than the chick
feed (at about the age of five or six weeks)—making the change grad-
ually. This can be done by introducing this feed with the chick feed
and gradually increasing the quantity of the developing food and de-
creasing the amount of chick feed, until all developing food is being
fed. An abundance of green food (either lawn clippings or sprouted
oats) should be fed twice every day.

This method of feeding is continued until the birds become about
four to four and a half months old, when the scratching food mixture
and laying mash are gradually substituted.

Separating the Sexes.

As soon as the sexes can be detected, they should be separated. In
the light breeds the cockerels begin to develop their combs and wattles,
and these become red very rapidly when the birds are about six or
seven weeks of age. The heavy breeds are somewhat slower in devel-
oping these distinguishing marks. Just as soon as one is reasonably
sure, however, the pullets should be placed in colony coops, and, if
possible, given free range on a grass lot. If one has not_ sufficient
room to give the pullets unlimited range, they should be afforded as
much roaming space as is possible, and grass must be supplied them
in abundance.

After the cockerels have been separated, one should continually be
on the lookout for poor specimens and those that have glaring defects,
such as crooked tails, hump backs, poor general shape, etc., etc. The
best-shaped, best-developed male birds should be put in a separate pen
and kept for breeders, and the culls fattened for broilers and killed as
soon as they reach about two pounds in weight.

To fatten broilers they should be fed all they will eat up clean of
a grain mixture in the morning. This mixture is composed of two-
thirds cracked corn and one-third wheat. The grain should be given
on the floor or ground, where there is no litter, as cockerels should be
made to exercise and move around as little as possible. At noon they
should be fed all they will eat of a moistened mash mixture. This

34

mixture is made similar to the chick mash mixture (formula for which
is given in the chapter, “Feeding the Chicks”), with the exception that
the quantity of cornmeal is doubled. At night they are fed another
liberal feeding of grain, same as in the morning feed. Green food is
given twice a day.

All pullets that do not measure up to a certain standard of appear-
ance, size and general good health should be placed by themselves and
given special care and “food. Certain birds are occasionally kept back
in their development by being picked on by some of the larger and
stronger birds in the flock, and thus are unable to get sufficient food
for proper growth. These birds, if separated from their antagonists,
and given a little extra care and attention, plus sufficient nourishing
food, will frequently make a remarkable gain, and it will not be long
before they are again on a par with their fellows and can be returned
to their original pens.

Pullets of different ages should not be put together or they will
not do well. The older ones will pick on the younger ones and other-
wise seriously annoy and worry them.

Neither cockerels nor pullets should be permitted to roost until
they are put into the laying house (at about the age of five or six
months). Early roosting will result in crooked breast bones.

Providing Shade.

While shade is of prime importance to chickens of all ages, it is
a positive necessity to little chicks and young stock. There is nothing
so debilitating and enervating to a little chicken as an excess of heat.

The runs, if there are any, should be so arranged as to include
whatever natural shade there may be. Shrubbery and small, low-
hanging trees make excellent shade because of their close proximity
to the ground. Where these are absent, however, one might plant some
fruit trees, particularly plum, apple and peach. These grow quickly,
and will make especially rapid growth owing to the great amount of
nourishment derived from the droppings of the chickens.

An excellent method of providing artificial shade for chicks is to
grow oats or rye in the runs. They should be sown the fall previous
to the spring when their shade will be needed, but up-to-date, suc-
cessful poultrymen are always planning from six months to a year
ahead. Rye and oats grow to a fair height and may be sown so thick
that it makes a most excellent shade. The young chicks take great
delight in running in and out amongst-the stalks of grain, and at the
same time they have the advantage of getting excellent exercise in the
shade on cool ground.

Sunflowers make good shade, grow quickly, and at the same time
yield an actual return in the seed, “which, when fully ripened, may be
fed in moderate quantities with excellent results, especially during
molting time. Grape vines also make excellent shade which quickly
becomes available. Both sunflowers and grape vines should be planted
outside the runs, if one does not want the chickens to harvest the
crops.

In small coops that are in the sun most of the day, the tempera-
ture may be lowered considerably by stretching a piece of muslin or
other light-colored material over it, leaving a four to six-inch air
space between the muslin and the top of the coop. This muslin serves
the double purpose of reflecting back the heat and permitting the hot
air underneath it to rise out through it, while the air space prevents
to a great extent the outside heat and the direct rays of the sun from
beating directly upon and into the coop.

35

CHAPTER AL
SCIENTIFIC FEEDING FOR EGGS.

Though the egg yield of different breeds of poultry varies, no
matter w hat particular variety one may choose, every one who keeps
chickens on a commercial basis desires a maximum egg yield. By a
commercial basis, the writer means every flock of chickens except *
those kept solely and purely as a “hobby.” Whether it be just a few
fowls on a farm or city lot, kept primarily to supply eggs and meat
for one’s own table, or a large plant from which a monetary return,
or perhaps even a living, is expected by the owner, eggs must be got-
ten or failure will inevitably result.

For the poultryman in business primarily to supply fresh eggs
for market and eating purposes, a large egg yield is an actual neces-
sity. The reason a number of poultry “plants fail is because they have
a flock of ordinary egg producers, and the margin between the high
cost of feed and the moderate egg yield is not sufficient to leave a
livable profit after other necessary expenses are deducted. The differ-
ence between the hens of one flock that averages 120 eggs a year, and
those of another flock which averages 180 eggs per annum, constitutes
the difference between hens that “don’t pay,” and a flock of profitable
chickens. The cream of profit on a poultry plant, which supplies eggs
for table use primarily, is gotten from the hens that lay above 144
eggs every year.

That the quality, quantity and method of feeding controls the egg
yield to a large extent is acknowledged by all practical poultrymen.
And that no single, definite rule of feeding can be given for all flocks
is equally agreed. to by all who keep chickens. Each individual flock is
a unit in itself, and requires certain treatment to obtain the best re-
sults.

While no method should be followed in its entirety, there are cer-
tain fundamental laws and rules regarding egg production that must
be observed if maximum results are to be had. Ignorance of these
laws of nature, or indifference thereto, resulting in neglect, will insure
poor results in general, if it does not entirely foster failure.

To get eggs from hens we must attend to the details of supplying
all the elements that are needed by the hen in producing an egg. In
the first place, before man undertook to increase the laying qualities
of a hen from about 50 eggs a year to 200 or 250, the making of an
egg as Nature planned was simply and solely an act of reproduction.
Nature decreed that spring and early summer should be the time this
should be accomplished, for many reasons. One reason was that ani-
mal and vegetable life (1.e., the sustenance of the hen) is most plenti-
ful, and in its most succulent form, at this time of the vear. Thus a
hen could easily get the kind of food, and plenty of it, that this extra
duty entailed. Man has been able to extend this period of reproduc-
tion from a few to almost the entire twelve months of each year. To
do so, however, it was necessary to observe the “rules of the game”
as closely as possible. .

Eggs are without doubt a court of last resort for the surplus
energy of the hen. Whatever food a hen consumes necessarily goes
to sustain life first—i.e., to repair and replace the tissues and other
parts of the body that are constantly being used up; to furnish bodily
warmth, and to store up a certain amount ‘of surplus fat, to be used in
time of special need. It is only after the normal bodily needs are
fully supplied that any remaining energy can be put to other use.
Aside from the normal maternal instinct, the egg production will be
small or large in direct proportion to the amount of surplus energy a
hen can create.

When we look at an egg as an act of reproduction, possible
through the hen possessing a certain amount of surplus energy, we
immediately see the great importance of proper feeding. It is quite
out of the question to pursue a haphazard method of feeding and ob-
tain good results. To feed the proper amount of the different grains,
one must naturally first know their chemical composition and nutritive
values. Possessing this knowledge, we are enabled to combine the.
various grains, in proper quantities, to obtain what is commonly known
as a “balanced ration.” Such a ration will give the hen all the kinds
of feed, in proper proportions, to make eggs. When all other factors,
such as proper housing, ventilation, cleanliness, etc., are favorable, a
maximum egg yield should be the inevitable result.

The Chemical Composition of Grains.

While the elements that go to make the chemical composition of
all grains are the same, one grain differs from another insofar as
these elements differ in proportion. Briefly, the elements in all grains
are as follows: The carbo-hydrates, which are the fats, oils, sugars
and starches; protein, an albuminous substance found largely in the
white of an egg; ash and mineral matter, which is chiefly what is left
after the combustible part of the feeding stuff is burned away; water,
which is present in all grains, being about 10 per cent. of the body of
the grain.

The carbo-hydrates go largely to form the fats which are burned
or stored in the body. This element is turned into bodily heat and
energy much the same as coal that is burned in a stove, under a
boiler, goes to make warmth and energy, the latter in the form of
steam. A hen that is in laying condition should have a little surplus
fat in her body. This shows that the system is plentifully supplied
with carbo-hydrates, and there is also some to spare. The first part
of the egg to be formed is the yolk, which consists of about one-third
fat and two-thirds protein. The necessity of a surplus of egg-forming
matter in the hen’s system is, therefore, apparent. It would be a great
mistake, however, to think that by simply increasing the carbo-hydrates
one will get more eggs. On the contrary, this would ‘only result in the
hen soon becoming overfat. When in such condition, the tissues are
weak and flabby and are not strong enough to perform the function
of egg-making. While an underfed hen cannot lay, an overfat one is
in little better condition.

The element of protein is used to form muscle, to build up the
body, and in egg production. In running around, scratching for food,
etc., every hen uses up certain tissues which must be replaced or re-
built. Protein furnishes this most important element, and without it
a fowl would practically waste away, and could live but a short while.
An excess of protein is not a “sure egg producer,” however. While a
hen is able to adjust her digestive organs to a certain extent to an
excess of protein, in the absence of sufficient carbo-hydrates, the kid-
neys and liver are unduly taxed in an effort to work off the large
amount of nitrogen in the former element. Such a method of forcing
egg production would also be quite expensive, as protein is a more
costlv fuel than carbo-hydrates.

Not all the ash and mineral matter taken by the hen is used. A
large proportion, however, is used in making the bones of the fowl,
and in making egg shells, while the remainder is thrown off as refuse.
All the ash matter a hen needs in a year cannot be supplied through
the quantity of this element in the different grains. A hen that lays

oH

159 eggs a year will use in this production alone about one pound and
a half of mineral matter. Only about half a pound can be procured
from the ash contained in the different grains, which leaves about a
pound to be obtained from some other source. This is generally sup-
plied by keeping oyster shell or mortar (both rich in lime) before the
hens all the time, in which case the hen will take care of the balanc-
ing of this part of the ration herself.

From this survey of the situation one can easily see the impor-
tance—nay, absolute necessitvy—of giving the hens the proper propor-
tions of the elements needed, if a big egg yield is desired. Hens that
are keeping their bodies in the “pink of condition,’ and at the same
time are making eggs (sometimes one a day), are working at topnotch
speed, as it were. Such results cannot be obtained if a limited or
improper variety of fuel is given.

In the first place, no matter what food is fed, it should be sound
and sweet. Poor grain will give poor results, regardless of how it
may be fed and in what proportions. To give hens corn that has
been or is heated or moldy; to feed so-called “chicken-wheat,’ which
is nothing more than burnt grain that is good for nothing, but is
sometimes thought good enough for poultry; to feed sweepings just
because they cost a few cents a hundred less; to feed any kind of
grain, in fact, that is not perfectly sound and sweet and wholesome,
and of the best grade or quality, simply means that the hens receiving
such feed will be an ordinary flock of fowls “that don’t pay.” It is
not the fault of the hens half as much as it is the fault of the owner
if they don’t pay. He who stints on the grain bill by feeding poor
grain, or too little, is a perfect example of the “penny wise and pound
foolish” type.

Balanced Rations.

It is undoubtedly necessary to feed a variety to get good results,
but to get a maximum egg yield the different grains that are fed must
be given in proper proportions. A feed containing the proper pro-
portion of all the necessary nutrients is a “balanced ration.”

From experiments it has been found that the nutrients a hen re-
quires are approximately as follows: Protein, 10 per cent.: carbo-
hydrates, 42 per cent.; ash, 2 per cent.; dry matter, 45 to 50 per cent.
From this table we see that the protein (10 per cent.) in comparison
with the carbohydrates (42 per cent.) has a ratio of 1 to 4 (or, as it
is generally written, 1:4). This is undoubtedly the best (and proper)
ratio for egg production. Corn analyzes as follows: Protein, 7.9 per
cent.; carbohydrates, 76.4 per cent. This is a ratio of almost 1:10—
far from the ideal egg ratio. A glance at this tells why it is futile to
expect to get a maximum egg yield by feeding corn alone.

While the ratio of 1:4 is right for an egg ration, there are other
rations, for instance: A growing ration for young stock; a mainte-
mance ration—that is, enough for life; a fattening ration, such as is
used for fattening fowls for market. All these rations are somewhat
similar, the changes being made according to the results desired. Many
persons use corn meal to fatten birds, but, if asked why, would prob-
ably be unable to give a satisfactory reason. A glance at the analysis
of corn meal makes the matter clear at once: Portein, 6.3 per cent.;
carbohydrates, 73.2 per cent.—a ratio of 1:11. Thus, for fattening
fowls we use a ration weaker in protein and richer in carbohydrates—
the fat-forming element.

38

By long and continued experimenting, in time one might be able
to find a ration that would be satisfactory, but few of us have time
or money to spend in trying such experiments. On the contrary, with
but an elementary knowledge of the science of feeding, and a table
of analyses of the different grains, one can sit down and with little
difficulty formulate rations with certainty as to their theoretical value,
and with reasonable anticipation of achieving the best results. Such a
course leaves but little to guesswork.

How to Find the Nutritive Ratio.

To find the nutritive ratio of any ration, between the carodohy-
drates and fats, and the protein, it is first necessary to multiply the
weight of the clear fat by 2%, because it is considered 21% times as
valuable to the digestion as the carbohydrates. The product is then
added to the carbohydrates, and both are considered as carbohydrates.
The protein is then divided into the carbohydrates, and the result is the
nutritive ratio. Thus is the table given of the nutrients a laying hen
requires, we may find it written: Carbohydrates, 35 per cent.; fat (or
clear fat), 3 per cent.; protein, 10 per cent.; ash, 2 per cent. To find
the ratio, we multiply the fat (3 per cent.) by 2%, equalling (about) 7,
which is added to the carbohydrates (35 per cent.), equalling 42—the
total carbohydrates. In order to reduce the proportion to its lowest
terms, this 42 is divided by the protein (10 per cent.), giving us the
rativ of 1.4.

in order to find the nutritive value of a ration, we must know the
chemical analysis of the different grains. The following table gives
the amount of digestible nutrients in the principal grain used for
feeding poultry. In this table the clear fat has been included under
the heading carbohydrates :

Feed. Prot. Carb. Ash.
BeGh SSGhapSaicG BS sGheis less a5 a4 66.2 33.1 41
Tree clahirs bier teha earache im aks oi cece 44.1 23.2 39.2
ONT tata leet tn eld iste ae ccct aoe, ces aoe coeics 32.0 23.0 195
(OA Sa etersull”: 3. elee ert een eee 29.3 48.5 5.3
(Gr AEG Tieetnl Gal Meee od ateeah fi ons (ays -core 25.8 65.6 ae
Gluten’ feeds) jn asget en bores s ws 5 19.4 64.3 ted
Green cut bones. see ccenc asc. 18.0 43.0 21.5
LEAS La eNO ake fe) 5 See ee 16.8 53.4 2.6
Wheat Middlings .............. 12.8 60.7 3.8
Aili Litailend s* athecedle atte o's ait avs o)ave alee 45.3 5.8
Sunflower seeds ............... 3 85.8 2.6
Qatmedil Pi eae ee 11.5 65.6 2.9
PNG ei lil cise ce Arco aay tat A Sea Soe Wiss va 11.0 42.3 7.4
ViliGaltigs «tase srare oyieete, suve 2 eR oa. < 10.2 73.0 1s
Wheat screenings ............. 9.8 55.9 2.9
(ORT Seer epee ee oe Mose 9.2 56.8 3.0
AV ee Gh eae ett ay PAM a ere aye erected 8.9 52.2 3.3
eer (enagiog Gmrtrhras rs cee ee CnC eNOS gene 8.9 69.2 2.4
(Chao Acer Parone ee cece ek en ee 7.9 76.4 1.5
Bitclewheat 25 ses lose ss cle ere rer) 53.3 2.0
(Gorinseniecl Were sae ene eee Site: cee 6.3 73.2 1.4
Slammed. milk) ....s0062 0.6.00: 2.9 5.9 an
(Grilnlonied oa) wae ent a eee ieee 1.8 9.1 1.4
BEES meapen Merete etnies tees a es ileal 10.4 ial
PLTURINI DSA mlegetes ate ete eo tc. 6 tere at 1.0 7.6 8
Potatoes. Gethin ween io. sees wae a) 16.5 1.0
WRerfir) COD csc a. 208 fee tee v ge alee 5.8 56.7 1.3

Skimmed milk, cabbage, beets, turnips and potatoes have from 85
to 90 parts water in 100.

An illustration of the use of this table, and the method of finding
the ratio of a mixture, follow:

Scratching Food Formula.

Lbs. Prot. Carb.

CGracwed: “Corn... rine eee 33 260.7 Ae
WiKEHT sa cierae eae anieen nem ctins 33 336.0 2409.0
(ehri gam Olot cue were wrens eee 16 92.8 907.2
Mite S cunpt ee a fetes ee 3 26.7 156.6
Sunflower Seeds ............. 1 12.1 85.8
Buckwheat ts...) eee e oe ee eae 1 ar, bow
Ratio—1: 8.3 736.0 6183.1

For instance, we multiply the quantity (or parts)—corn, 33 pounds
—by the proportion of nutrients according to the table of analysis:
Protein, 7.9—carbohydrates, 76.4, thus getting the amount of protein
and carbohydrates in the various items. We then total all the amounts,
and divide the carbohydrates by the protein, giving us the nutritive
value or ratio.

No formula of any kind should be followed in an iron-bound,
steadfast way, without any deviation whatever. The time of the year
and the condition of the fowls naturally necessitate slight changes. <A
little observation will tell us what the hens do not need or like—it
will be the last thing eaten—but care must be used, however, not to
give them, or let them, eat only the things they like—chickens must
be treated like children with candy in this respect. USE YOUR
JUDGMENT —that’s what it was given for! There’s a world of ad-
vice in that one sentence.

In winter, for instance, the amount of cracked corn, or Waffir corn,
should be increased about one-quarter to one-half. During the sum-
mer, the amount of these heat-producing grains should be cut down
somewhat from the quantities given in the formula, as is also the case
during the moulting season, when the hens are very apt to take on fat.
The amount of sunflower seeds and buckwheat is also varied accord-
ing to the season and weather; as it gets warmer, these are cut down
one-half each, and during the moulting period and on very cold days
they might be doubled. Barley (about 16 Ibs.) may be added occa-
sionally to give a greater variety, but it is not necessary to follow
this up indefinitely. With the addition of the barley, the ratio is
changed to 1:8.1.

The scratching food should be fed early in the morning and a full
hour or more before sunset in the afternoon. On an average, one
quart is fed to every 20 hens. Birds of the light breeds will not re-
quire quite as much as this. Here again the use of judgment will pay
profitably. \Vhen one finds the hens do not seem to have much relish
for the food and do not dig after it in the litter, the quantity should be
cut down until the appetite improves. Of course, the grain should be
fed in six or eight inches of litter, or it may be raked or spaded into
the ground—in any case, the hens should be made to WORK for what
they get.

40

It might seem that the Scratching Food Formula was a fattening
ration, but this grain mixture should be fed in connection with a mash
food. The method in its entirety brings the whole into a well-bal-
anced ration. Following is the laying mash formula:

Laying Mash Food Formula.

Lbs. Prot. Carb.

Gornemedle see. ace este eee 30 189.0 2196.0
Mirddlines 72 ei tics ase ee 30 384.0 1821.0
eG iemSGiai Series, ccc Sai ate nthe 25 1655.0 827.5
WWiltec te Diclitie paste titi. eres 15 183.0 679.5
@ilbiricall ries. foe hae es 5 146.5 242.5
NG Ge) ig: Ne ene ea a 10 111.0 423.0
2678.5 6189.5

Ratio—1 :2.3.

This, as can be seen, is a lower ratio than 1:4, and when this mash
is used with the scratching food, we have a well-balanced egg-produc-
ing ration. If so desired, beef scraps can be fed extra, increasing the
proportion of protein, but this is not absolutely necessary. Wheat
bran, if kept before the fowls continually, is excellent in furnishing a
bulky food so necessary to counteract the consumption of too much
concentrated food (grain, etc.).

The usual mistake in compounding a ration is to get an excess of
carbohydrates over protein, with the result that the hen is unable to
throw off the surplus heat and soon becomes overfat. Keeping this in
mind, one should try to balance the ration so that an excess of one
thing (protein over carbohydrates, for instance) will be counteracted
by including another grain in which that particular element is weaker,
Hem

The writer believes in a slightly moistened mash, particularly in
winter, when it should be fed hot. One will have to reckon the quan-
tity to be fed by the actions of the hens themselves. Ordinarily, the
hens should consume about one-half as much mash as scratching food.
Not more should be given than the hens wil! consume (with avidity)
in fifteen or twenty minutes. What is left should be removed. A little
experience will teach one how much to prepare each day. Feed the
mash food about noon.

The mash food should be prepared as follows: Take a certain
quantity of the mash mixture in a pail and an equal amount (in bulk)
of alfalfa, in another pail (this alfalfa has nothing to do with the
quantity of alfalfa already in the mash food—it is in excess of that).
Hot water (the hotter the better) is poured on the alfalfa (which
soaks up a large quantity), until it is thoroughly saturated. About one
quart of water is sufficient for three quarts of alfalfa. The alfalfa is
covered and allowed to steam, on the back of the stove, for about half
an hour. The dry mash mixture is then added to and thoroughly
mixed with this alfalfa. The quantity of moisture in the alfalfa is just
about right to make a crumbly mixture—that is, when some is taken
into the hand and squeezed, it will crumble away when the hand is
opened. Under no circumstances should the mash, when fed, be
“mucky” or sloppy. <A little practice will make one proficient in the
amount of water to be put on the alfalfa, so that when the dry mash

41

is added the entire mixture will be of the proper consistency. In
winter a little red pepper and salt can be added, but the red pepper
should be omitted as the weather grows warm. In summer fresh-cut
lawn clippings are fed for green food, in place of the alfalfa, and then
the mash food can be fed without the alfalfa, either slightly mois-
tened or entirely dry.

Little has been said about the keeping of grit, oyster shells, and
the “chickens’ medicine’—charcoal—before the fowls af all times, as
this “goes without saying.” Fresh water is another thing under the
same heading. [arm (tepid) water should be given the hens two or
three times daily in the winter. Fresh, cool, pure water should be
supplied frequently in summer.

The use of stimulating compounds in the feeding of poultry 1s
something poultrymen old in experience will never tolerate—much less
advise. A prominent poultryman has well said: “A man going out to
feed his flock needs to take along with him more judgment than feed.”
Small is the judgment that produces eggs (temporarily) by the use of
stimulants. A hen that is laying a fair number of eggs is like a piece
of mechanism. When running at high rate, if the speed is further
increased and greater pressure added, something will get hot—and
snap !

Not only is the present or shortly ensuing state of the fowls’
health materially lowered by the use of stimulants, but the vitality
that has been sapped cannot soon be replaced.

CHAPTER XII.

HOW TO GET A MAXIMUM EGG YIELD IN
WINTER.

To get eggs during the winter months, when the price of eggs is
highest, thus bringing in the greatest net profit, is the ardent desire of
every poultryman’s heart. Some people look on this as an extraordi-
nary feat, spoken of by many, but somehow accomplished only by a
lucky few. Those who have the temerity to say that they ARE getting
a fair egg yield during October, November, December or January, in
reply to that eternal question: “Getting any eggs?” are frequently
looked upon as eligible members of the Ananias Club. But after all,
to get winter eggs is not an impossibility, but they can be had if all
the “rules of the game” are observed. Naturally, one must first know
these “rules” before they can be followed.

An egg being an act of reproduction, it would naturally be ex-
pected to be accomplished solely as nature originally decreed, but Man
(with a big capital “M’’) has seen fit to try to improve on nature and
has apparently so far succeeded that the time of reproduction in the
case of chickens has been extended from its original feriod of a few
months in spring and early summer, until it now embraces all the twelve
months of the year. But though Man has gotten thus far ahead of
Nature, as it were, he must ever turn back and obey at least some of
the laws he finds he cannot change.

The natural reproducing time of most animals is during spring
and summer, when everything is bright and fresh and green, when
bugs, worms and various other kinds of succulent nourishment abound
in profusion, when it is warm and comfortable for both old and young.
Therefore, the poultrykeeper who desires eggs in winter—that 1s, forces

42

reproduction at an unnatural time of the year—to get the best results,
must profit by what he learns from nature, and make winter as near
like summer, in all its phases, as he can. He must bluff the hen into
believing that winter is summer, and when the hen calls the bluff, the
poultryman must be able to furnish a mighty good imitation, otherwise
the hen comes off winner, to the detriment of the egg receipts.

That a maximum egg yield in winter is fostered by housing the
hens in warm, dry, comfortable coops is acknowledged by all practical
poultrymen. It is quite impossible to get a large number of eggs when
the hens have to roost in any coop or box that happens to be available
or when they are kept in damp, draughty quarters. A hen that ts
comfortable in the full sense of the word—that is, warm, well fed, dry,
protected from the cold, biting winds of winter, afforded sufhcient
exercise and so forth—simply cannot keep from laying. One of the
reasons that hens lay so many more eggs in summer than they lay in
winter is that they are comfortable; they have plenty of green food;
are warm, and, if wet from being out during a rain, are not apt to
take cold, but will dry off quickly. All this means that the hen does
not have to use so much energy in summer in taking care of the
bodily wants and, therefore, can place this energy toward egg pro-
duction.

The animal food the chickens naturally get in summer in the
shape of insects, worms, etc., may be easily duplicated in winter by
supplying commercial beef scraps, ground bone, etc. As the hen must
chase (sometimes long and far) for one grasshopper, or a bug, and
only gets a comparatively small supply in the aggregate during a day,
the rich beef scraps should be fed sparingly and with discretion. If
left to its own choice, a hen may eat more of this rich food than 1s
good for it, much as a child would gorge itself with candy, 1f pos-
sible, in preference to bread.

To get eggs in winter, one must provide the hens with sufficient
exercise. This item, so often overlooked, is quite as important as the
feeding of the hens. It is essential to both large egg production and
the general good health of the fowls. Hens that are fed grain on a
hard floor, so that they can pick it up easily without having to work
for it, will not pay for their keep. Such birds will fill up their crops
in the morning and remain on the roosts most of the day. Proper
exercise will not only keep the hen in fine condition, but will give the
various organs of the bird the necessary vitality to produce eggs in
fair quantities. The best method of affording sufficient exercise, when
the fowls are confined in the coops, day after day, throughout the long
winter months, is to feed the grain mixture (scratching food, as it is
frequently called) in deep litter. This litter should be at least six
inches deep, and if it is composed of rye straw, for instance, which
breaks up easily, this depth should be from eight to ten inches at first.
As the hens scratch in this litter for the grain, the straw will break
into short pieces, and more full-length straw can be added from time
to time. It is really a pleasant sight to see a number of fowls at the
feeding time (and for some time thereafter) digging in litter for
their food and “singing” their delight. This “singing” is what fore-
tells nests filled with other than china eggs!

When putting the hens into their winter quarters care should be
exercised not to overcrowd the birds. It is a mistake to think that
one can put fifty birds where but forty should go and then have as
good results. Then the birds roost too closely at night in the cold
winter; they are apt to sweat, and upon coming down on the floor of
the coop will undoubtedly take cold. This means the starting of dis-
ease and trouble which will be hard to eradicate.

43

Another principal requirement for getting winter eggs is to have
good foundation stock. That like produces like is one of the un-
changeable laws of nature. No one would expect to breed race horses
from truck horse stock; then why expect to breed winter layers from
summer-laying parent stock? To get chickens that will lay in winter,
therefore, we must breed from parent stock that are good winter
layers and whose ancestors for many generations back have been win-
ter layers. Get the chicks hatched early so that they may be well ma-
tured and in fine condition to lay before winter comes on. A late
hatched chick simply cannot mature before the winter comes on, and
as growth and development progress very slowly during the cold
weather, egg laying simply has to be deferred until after the hen is
quite matured, thus bringing it well toward spring before she starts
laying. By getting the hatches off early, and quickly, and successfully
maturing the young stock, the chances of getting eggs in winter will
be increased fifty per cent.

It is a mistake to let the hens out on the cold, wet ground during
the winter. The amount of blood that is continually circulating
through the legs of the hens is surprising, and if the birds stand
around on wet, cold ground it will seriously affect the egg yield. For
this same reason the floor of the pens should not be permitted to get
wet or become damp. Hens that are used to one place in winter will
not mind being cooped up, provided they are dry and warm. But it is
quite out of the question to expect a hen to keep itself warm when
standing in snow or slush or upon wet ground.

Another aid to a large egg yield in winter is to supply warm
water, instead of giving the hens ice-cold water. While fowls will not
drink quite as much water during the winter as during the hot months,
ye: they require clean water as much at one time as another. The first
thing in the morning the water jars or founts should be filled with
water which has had the chill taken from it by adding a little warm
water. The birds will show their appreciation of this by drinking, even
if feed is offered at the same time. They seem to want to drink the
first thing in the morning. At night the water founts should be
emptied and turned over, or so placed that no dirt or litter can be
scratched in before they are filled in the morning. When the birds
are fed at noon, the water jars should be inspected to see if they
need refilling. When filled at noon, there will probably be enough to
last for the remainder' of the day. Be sure about this, for a large
per cent. of the egg is water, and the hen needs it in egg- making. Do
not make the hens pick at snow or frozen water if you wish winter
eggs and good healthy birds.

When the work for the night has been completed, and one is
ready to go to the house, take up the grain that you will want to use
in the morning. This should be put into a large baking or roasting
pan, and placed in the oven to warm the first thing in ‘the morning.
This grain will hold the heat for some little time after it is fed, and
the birds relish this warm grain. This same thing should be done
in the morning with the evening’s quota of grain.

Last, but far, far from least, is the matter of green food. Put

a number of laying hens in early summer into a new run that has a
carpet of four or five inches of grass on it, and note in a few days
the wonderful change the chickens have wrought. Some of the grass
has been scratched up at the roots, of course, but probably 90 per cent.
or more has been eaten by the chickens, and in less than a week
scarcely a single green blade is left. This is simply another important
attribute of eggs in summer. Then doesn’t it appeal to one’s common
sense that green food of some kind positively MUST be supplied in
winter, if eggs are to be had? Green food, besides being a bulky food,

44

is also very rich in protein, and protein, as we know, is a prime requi-
site in egg production. It may be easily supplied in steamed alfalfa,
sprouted oats, cabbages, beets, etc., but green food of some descrip-
tion is an absolute necessity. Winter eggs and green food are quite
synonymous terms.

These are but a few of the most important things that must be
supplied to the hens in winter to induce and aid egg production, and
the poultryman who treats his hens as generously in winter as they
are able to treat themselves in summer will have little cause to com-
plain of an empty egg basket.

Results are what everyone is after in all lines of business. Re-
sults in the poultry business are frequently spelt e-g-g-s—get them by
all means—fair means, and “fowl”!

Cab TE XI

MARKETING POULTRY PRODUCTS AT
TOP-NOTCH PRICES.

One of the most important requisites of a successful poultry busi-
ness is a profitable market. No matter what kind of products may be
produced on a place, or how varied if they cannot be disposed of prof-
itably the plant can only be classed as a hobby.

The market must be one that will not only take all the goods
that the poultryman has to offer, but will also pay prices sufficient
to cover the actual cost of production and to leave a fair net profit.
The market for the very best quality of fresh eggs is almost unlim-
ited. Although thousands of new poultry plants are started every
year, the demand for eggs is still far in excess of the supply.

The production of eggs for table use is one of the most profitable
branches of the poultry business.

Large hotels in all the principal cities use daily an enormous quan-
tity of strictly fresh eggs. The writer knows of one moderately-sized
hotel in New York City that guaranteed to use all the eggs from a
poultry farm that kept about fifteen thousand hens. And such con-
sumption is not at all uncommon. As a rule, yearly contracts are
made for a guaranteed delivery of so many crates a day at a stipu-
lated annual price, which in some cases runs as high as fifty cents a
dozen. This, it is true, is a market for the larger poultry-keepers;
beginners and smaller poultrymen cannot bid, for the simple reason
that they cannot produce eggs in sufficient quantities to fill the orders.
But statistics prove that only about 5 per cent. of the eggs consumed
in the United States are produced by the so-called big poultry plants—
that is, plants with over a thousand laying hens. This leaves an enor-

mous market to be supplied by those poultrymen who have smaller
flocks.

The poultryman who has about four or five hundred laying hens
would find it nearly impossible to retail his eggs a dozen or two at a
time, but there is an excellent market waiting just a step away from
the retail customer—the restaurants, the soda fountains, and the better
class of delicatessen stores constitute this market. They demand the
very best eggs, and the prices range within a few cents a dozen of
the highest paid. There are many such places in the cities that use
every week from one to six cases of strictly fresh eggs. In some

45

instances these stores buy the best eggs they can get from the com-
mission men, but would be delighted to get new-laid eggs directly from
the producer. A market of this kind can easily be worked up by the
average poultryman, and will prove highly profitable.

Clubs and hospitals use a great many eggs, and these must be
of the very best quality. The numerous sanitariums throughout the
country for the treatment of nervous troubles and tuberculosis offer a
good market.

If one can produce fancy eggs for a retail market, getting top
prices for them, his net profit at the end of the year will be as great
as, if not greater than, could be obtained from any other branch of
the business.

To build up a retail trade for select table eggs, one must, of course,
produce eggs of superior quality; it 1s on the merit of these that the
poultryman keeps desirable customers. Those who do a direct retail
business know that a satisfied customer is the best kind of an adver-
tisement.

An important point in marketing eggs is the method of preparing
them for delivery. Eggs half covered with dirt and of three or four
different colors, shapes, and sizes are far from attractive. All dirt
should be carefully wiped from fancy table eggs with a damp cloth
until they are well-nigh spotless. They will dry quickly if placed on a
cloth or wire tray, and when dry should be packed in cartons—the
size that holds one dozen being the most satisfactory.

Considerable care should be used in selecting eggs for packing.
Under no circumstances should they be put into the cartons promiscu-
ously, and no spotted, rough, thin-shelled or very small eggs should be
sent out. All eggs should be carefully tested, and any that are double-
yolked or that contain blood-spots should be discarded. The eggs
that are thus rejected can be used at home. A large egg should not be
packed next to a small one, nor a dark-shelled egg between two light
ones. In a word, only neat, sound eggs should be sold, if one would
get the highest price for them. A little care in cleaning and boxing
the eggs makes all the difference between a favorable and unfavorable
first impression when the customer opens the box.

The carton may be neatly labeled with the number and grade of
the eggs and the name of the poultry farm where they were produced.
The advertising received from this practice will more than repay the
small cost of printing. It need scarcely be said that eggs must be
delivered at the earliest possible date. In winter they may be held a
week and still be considered fresh, but in summer they must be dis-
tributed every day or two.

As a source of revenue and profit to the poultryman, the selling of
day-old chicks is of great value. Though of comparatively recent
origin, this branch of the business has even now assumed enormous
proportions, and the strides that have been made in the past few years
attest the favor it has found on all sides. It is necessary that the
chicks come from strong, healthy stock, and that they be hatched
properly and boxed well, to obtain and hold a market of this kind.
Under such circumstances the distance which day-old chicks may be
shipped with comfort and safety is surprising.

The production and sale of hatching eggs makes another remuner-
ative source for the wide-awake poultryman through which he may
market his poultry products at good prices. The prices received for
either hatching eggs or day-old chicks vary greatly, according to the
stock and whether it is a utility strain or an exhibition strain. Adver-
tising in local poultry papers will usually bring more orders than one
can fill, and as the quality of stock becomes better known, this demand
will increase with the enlarging of the plant.

46

While one is largely compelled to accept whatever price the mar-
ket is paying for broilers, at the time they are sold, early broilers will
naturally bring the best prices. This is another strong argument in
favor of getting the chicks hatched early. The average price received
for fancy broilers, in the open market, about July 1st, is 38 to 40 cents
per pound. By July 15th this price has dropped to 30 cents. Around
the first of August it is 25 cents, and by August 10th it is only about
20 cents per pound. This clearly indicates where the best prices and
greatest profit lie. To dispose of broilers to private families is, of
course, most remunerative.

The secret (if it be one) of getting highest prices is to have
highest-quality goods. The quality must not only be brought to the Al
standard, but it must be religiously kept there, with no deterioration
whatsoever. In every line of business there is now, and always will
be, a demand for the BEST that far exceeds the supply. One does
not have to seek a market for poultry products—it is waiting. Why
be satisfied with ordinary goods and ordinary prices? Keep only the
best stock and get the best prices. It may cost a little more at first
to get on this basis, but soon the added receipts will more than even
matters up and leave an enviable profit besides.

CHAPLER XLV,

SELECTING AND MATING THE BREEDERS.

The careful selection of the birds that are to go into the breed-
ing pen will more than repay one for the time and trouble taken. Not
only is it decidedly advantageous from many points of view, but it is
absolutely necessary if one expects to maintain the vigor and increase
the egg yield of his flock. As the principle reason for mating up spe-
cial pens is to get fertile eggs, it is also necessary to look to the fact
that improper matings will not hatch strong, livable chicks, and con-
tinued breeding from inferior matings will quickly run any flock of
fine chickens into worse than mongrels. Every large successful poultry
plant is successful because those in charge understand breeding, and
have a definite method which they follow closely in mating up their
breeding pens. “Hit-or-miss” breeding is inexcusable on any poultry
plant, whether it is run for pleasure or profit. That means it is inex-
cusable at all times.

The importance of selecting the best males for breeders is self-
evident. The male is half the breeding pen, and results, whether good
or ill, will be in direct proportion to the qualities the male possesses.
Poor results, from using inferior males in the breeding pen, may not
be noticed at once, but a year or two later they will become apparent.
Considerable labor will then have to be expended before the harm
that has been done can be eradicated.

In choosing birds for the breeding pen, one of the most important
requisites every bird should possess is GOOD HEALTH, and a plenti-
ful supply of “red-blood” vitality. It should make no difference how
perfect a comb a bird possesses or what is its shape or color or other
fine points, a poor state of general health should disbar it from being
used as a breeder. It should make no difference if the bird has had
a disease and seemed to have entirely rcovered. The taint of the
discase remains, and such a bird will transmit the tendency to the off-
spring. To use birds as breeders that have had roup at any previous
time will be banking up trouble for one’s self in direct proportion to

47

the number of birds that are so used. Any hen that has had diarrhoea
will transmit this deadly disease to the offspring, through the egg, and
the result will be a large proportion of youngsters that are sickly and
puny. The requisite of excellent health in birds chosen as breeders
cannot be too strongly emphasized, as it controls to a very large ex-
tent the results, and, in many cases, the success or failure, that will be
achieved in the future.

The general condition of the birds’ health is reflected in their
appearance. All birds that are in “the pink of condition” are naturally
active. The male will try (and generally succeed) to achieve the title
of “Boss of the Ranch.” He will be able to best all the weaker males
in the pen, and he will sometimes turn his combative propensities to-
ward even the attendant! The female usually shows her vitality in a
lare2 egg yield, as well as by general good health. She is on the
move from morning until night, scratching for the last piece of grain
to fill her already overcrowded crop. Her comb is red—a bright red—
and her general appearance is that of business-like activity.

Naturally, birds suffering from any serious defect should not be
chosen as breeders. By this is meant such shortcomings as wry tails;
poor general shape; white shanks where vellow are desired, or vice
versa; a greenish or grayish-colored eye when bay‘or brown or some
other color is preferable; crooked backs or breast bones; flopped
combs where they should be upright; points sticking out from the
single comb where there should be none, called “side sprigs’; black
feathers in birds of white plumage—these, and, in fact, any startling
items of difference from what is found in the standard bird of the
breed, should disbar such birds from the breeding pens. Such defects
will not only greatly mar the good appearance of one’s flock, but will
seriously interfere with the sale of stock, hatching eggs, or day-old
chicks. Of course, such defects as a torn comb or a bruised wattle,
resulting from such exterior cause as a fight with another bird, would
not in the least mar a bird’s use as a breeder.

The breeders, both male and female, should be well-matured.
Very late-hatched birds cannot mature in time and be of sufficient
size and vigor to be used as breeders the following year. Males that
are a little over a year old, if early hatched and well grown, mated
with hens that are two years old, will give excellent results in fer-
tility and hatchability. Females that are used as breeders should be
large for the breed, for the size of the female largely governs the size
of the offspring. A mating of yearling hens, or pullets that have
passed through and finished their first laying period (i.c., when they
are a little over a year old), mated with a two-year-old cock bird,
will not give quite as good fertility as the mating just described, but
the chicks that are hatched will be exceptionally strong and possess a
maximum amount of vitality.

Line Breeding vs. Inbreeding.

Poultrymen frequently resort to what is known as “line breeding”
to produce certain desired results. This is breeding birds, which at
first may be closely related, that possess as far as possible the particu-
lar features sought, and then taking the best of the offspring from
this mating and crossing these with the parent stock. As line breeding
proceeds, the results desired should become more clearly defined, and
the relationship of the birds mated (by losing one point each year)
continually grows farther and farther apart, while the natural vitality
of the flock steadily improves.

48

Inbreeding, on the contrary, is mating birds that are closely re-
lated, and then permitting the offspring to mate together again, this
continuing year after year. For the first and second years the evil
effects of such a method (or neglect, as the case may be) may not be
particularly noticeable. The third year, or positively by the fourth
year, the lowered vitality of the stock will clearly show itself. The
flock will be subject to all kinds of diseases, and bird after bird will
become ill and die from very slight causes. The egg yield will fall
rapidly to a very low point. Fertile eggs will be few and far be-
tween, and the chicks that do hatch will have a hard time of it, usually
being scrawny, poorly developed, and their chances of growing to ma-
turity are decidedly small.

But, some one says, in line breeding one begins with birds closely
related. This may or may not be true. Usually the first pair is closely
related, because they possess most fully the points desired, and the
breeder knows their “past.” But sometimes two unrelated birds can
be procured that have sufficient similarity in the points desired to start
the strain. This is, of course, preferable. But even where the first
pair of birds are related, in line breeding the female offspring is
crossed with the sire, and the male offspring is crossed with the orig-
inal female. Thus a point in relationship is already lost. Every year,
by this method of crossing, the relationship is lost, point by point, and
the danger of bad results from the first inbred mating hardly ever be-
comes apparent. In inbreeding the first pair is mated, and the off-
spring is mated together. and the offspring of these birds are again
mated together, the relationship continuing so close that none but
the worst effects can be had.

How to Select the Laying Hen.

Naturally, it is desirable to breed from those hens that are the
best layers or the offspring of fine layers, so as to improve the laying
qualities of the flock generally. It is impossible to tell exactly just
which birds are the best layers in a flock unless trap nests or some
similar device has been used. This will immediately show up the
good layers, as well as the drones. To breed from a hen that has
laid two hundred eggs in a year will be more likely to produce off-
spring that will be in the two hundred class than if hens that laid only
one hundred and twenty eggs in a year are used. “Like begets lke”
to a very large extent, and this law is applicable to the matings of
poultry in particular.

Where one has a large flock and perhaps insufficient time to trap-
nest the entire flock, it is quite possible to tell which are the better
layers from their appearance alone. A good layer will generally be
the last bird to go to roost at night, and the first off in the morning.
It makes little difference whether one figures that the hen wants the
food to make the egg or whether the growth of the egg compels the
hen to hunt for more feed—the layer is always a “hustler.”

A long body is usually an excellent indication of a good layer.
If such a bird has a broad, low fluff she is undoubtedly one of the
best to choose as a breeder, and will surely improve the egg yield.
She should also have a large, broad breast, indicating large crop ca-
pacity, so essential to good egg production. A bright eye, bright red
comb, legs set well apart, general good health, and plenty of activity
are all sure indications that a hen will “produce the goods.” Close
study of the individual birds will soon enable one to pick his best
layers without the aid of trap nests, though the use of the latter
precludes any possibility of doubt.

49

When the proper feed is given, and other conditions are favorable,
one should have little trouble in breeding a large flock that will aver-
age well above one hundred and fifty eggs a year. The average egg
yield of the poultry in the United States, including that kept on the
farms, etc., is less than eighty eggs per hen per year! And yet, on
the contrary, a flock of six hens, in a recent egg-laying contest held in
Australia, laid 1,589 eggs in one year—an average of about 265 eggs
for each one of the six hens! Such a pen is not a haphazard accident,
but is the direct result of careful breeding with a definite purpose in
view. A record of this kind shows what can be done with good
foundation stock that is properly bred, properly fed, and properly
cared for.

When to Mate the Breeding Pen.

Those who desire early hatched chicks from winter-laying birds
(and these are the profitable ones) usuaJly mate up their breeding pens
about the first of the year, certainly by the middle of February at the
latest. As the eggs from a mating will not run sufficiently fertile to
hatch strong chicks much before ten days or so, if one mates up his
breeders about the first week in January he should be able to begin
saving eggs for hatching about the middle of the month. If he sets
these after two weeks’ accumulation, or about the first of February, he
should have a fine lot of youngsters running around before the first
of March. With proper care and feeding these chicks should mature
and lay by about the first of September. As the older hens are begin-
ning to moult about this time, the eggs laid by those early hatched
pullets will come at just the right time to fill in the gap that is made
in the egg yield by the non-production of eggs by the moulting hens.
Those who fear that the pullets hatched in the latter part of February
will moult after laying for a while, can obviate any danger of this by
waiting about two or three weeks before they start hatching in the
spring.

CHAPTER Vv;
HOW TO GET FERTILE AND HATCHABLE EGGS.

To get a better percentage of fertility, and eggs that will hatch
well, it is best to keep the male birds away from the females all during
the winter, or at least for about two or three weeks previous to the
time the matings are to be made. This will give the male bird more
vitality ; he will be more attentive to the hens when they run together,
and the result will be a ereater number of strongly fertilized eggs.
If possible, it is best to have pens that accommodate about fifteen birds,
as this will not necessitate putting two males in one pen. When two
males run together with a number of females, it will cause continual
fighting between them, and this seriously interferes with the proper
fertilization of the eggs. It is also liable to cause serious injury to
one of the males from their fighting, and the fellow who comes off
second best will be continually “nagged” by his superior, rendering
him almost useless. More fertile eggs will be had from a dozen hens
with one male than with twenty hens that have two male birds in the
same pen with them.

50

ee eee
. se

It is decidedly advantageous in the matter of getting fertile eges
to change the male birds from one pen to another occasionally. After
a male has been running with a number of hens for an indefinite
period, he will select a few “favorites” and will pay attention to these,
neglecting the others to a more or less extent. By changing the males
from one pen to another frequently, this trouble will be obviated to a
large extent, resulting in eggs that will be better fertilized.

The number of hens that can be put with one male to get the best
results will depend on the breed and on the “quality” of the male
bird. Grouping all the heavy birds together, it might be safe to say
that ten or twelve females to one male should give satisfactory re-
sults. In the case of the lighter breeds, which are naturally more
active, as many as fifteen or sixteen females with one male will not
be too many. If the male birds are changed from pen to pen occa-
sionally, and taken apart from the hens once in a while and kept in
seclusion for a week or so, and if they are particularly active, one or
two more hens than given in the above figures may be safely put
into the breeding pen. “The proof of the pudding is in the eating,”
and the results of the first or second hatches will be the best guide to
judge whether there are too many female birds in the pen, or if the
male is inactive.

The feed that the breeders get will also govern the fertility and
hatchability of the eggs. While no forcing food should be fed the
breeders, they need some meat food and a limited quantity of bone.
The best way to feed these two things is to give the birds a liberal
supply of commercial beef scraps. This usually contains sufficient
ground bone, and if this food is kept before the birds continually they
will consume only what they need. Beef scraps should not be fed
spasmodically, however, as this will upset the digestive organs of the
birds. Bulky food (mash or bran) should be before the breeders at
ail times. Plenty of succulent green food should be given the hens.
This can be easily fed by giving plenty of lawn clippings, or in such
ways as steaming alfalfa, by growing (sprouting) oats, or feeding
cabbages, beets, and so forth.

The scratching, food should be fed in deep litter if fertile eges
are to be had. A lack of sufficient exercise causes more infertility and
poor hatchability in eggs than inattentive males. The more exercise 4
hen gets the more eggs—fertile eggs—she will lay. Eight inches of
chaff or straw or litter of any kind is none too much in which to
throw the scratching grain.

A little care in choosing the birds for the breeding pen and in
caring for them, with especial attention to the matter of keeping these
birds healthy by feeding them properly, will give surprising results in
a maximum yield of fertile eggs that will hatch strong, livable chicks.

CHAPTER XVI.

HOW TO INSURE AND ASSIST AN EARLY MOLT.

A yearling hen and a young pullet are alike in one respect: if they
do not start laying before real cold weather sets in they will lay but
few eggs during the winter. Hence, it is of the utmost importance, ia
getting a large winter egg yield, to get the hens to start molting
EARLY, and to have them practically through the molt with a new set
of feathers grown before the first of November.

Ji

The length of the molting period varies with individual birds.
The time different birds, even in the same flock, will start to shed
their feathers also varies greatly. Usually hens will take anywhere
from sixty to ninety days to complete the molt. The later the birds
start molting, ordinarily, the longer it will take them. Sometimes,
some birds will take as long as four months in which to molt, but
such birds are more the exception than the rule. If left to their own
devices, some hens will start molting in the latter part of August; but
it is usually well toward the middle of September before the majority
of the flock will begin shedding the old coat of feathers. Averaging
the first of September as the time the majority of the hens will start
the molt, makes it about the first of December before the hens will
be ready to start laying. As the weather has probably been very cold
for the previous month or more, the hens will have about all they
cau do to grow the new coat of feathers during the month of Novem-
ber, hence cannot spare any energy from this task and that of keep-
ing their bodies warm, to put toward egg production. This means that
few, if any, eggs will be received from the flock of yearlings until
early in the spring.

To assist the hen in getting an early start in molting is quite
within the possibilities of the average poultry keeper. It is largely a
matter of judicious feeding. During the molting period the hen needs
certain foods that will assist her in loosening the old feathers and in
growing the new coat. If the proper food is supplied, the: molt can be
hastened, both in time of starting and in duration. The constitution
of the hen will not be injured—in fact, it will in all probability be
strengthened. The molting period is a severe tax on the strength of
the hen. It should not be forced during this period, but should be
materially assisted. Proper food will do this better than anything else.

It should be the object of all who desire to get eggs during the
winter from their yearling hens to get them started molting by the
first of August. The molt will then be completed by or before the
first of November. Then when cold weather arrives the hen will be
able to use all her energy toward keeping warm and producing eggs.

The Method.

During the last two weeks of July (that is, beginning about the
fifteenth of July), the quantity of food should be gradually lessened.
This can be easily done by curtailing a small quantity each day of the
two weeks. The quantity should be so curtailed that on the first of
August the hens will be getting about HALF the quantity they had
received before the fifteenth of July. This applies to both the grain
that is fed in the litter and to the mash food. Some poultrymen say
to “starve the hens” during the early molting period. This is a gross
mistake. Hens that are molting are undergoing a very great tax on
the system, and it is utter foolishness to starve anything that in reality
needs extra nourishment. The reason for slightly curtailing the
amount of feed is simply to loosen the old feathers. When one begins
curtailing the amount of feed, the amount of sunflower seeds should be
increased one-half. All during the molting period, and particularly during
the first month, the hens must be supplied with more green food than
they can eat. They must be forced, by curtailing the grain fed, to
eat larger quantities of green food than they might otherwise con-
sume. By giving them more green food than they will eat each day,
one will be sure they never have too little. The success of the early
molt depends largely on the generous supply of green food.

32

.. ee

a he. eee melliel

By the first of August a great many birds should begin to show
that they are starting to molt. This is clearly indicated by the in-
creasing quantity of feathers on the dropping boards and around the
pens and yards. Also by the scarcity of feathers on the chickens’
necks—the place they generally begin shedding the feathers first.

As the hens now need more nourishment, the amount of feed
should be gradually increased—a little eaclt day—for the next two
weeks, until at the end of that time they should be getting the usual
quantity. As one starts increasing the quantity of food, increase also
the quantity of sunflower seeds, until at the end of two weeks the
amount used in the mixture is double the regular quantity. All buck-
wheat should be omitted from the ration as soon as the birds start
molting. GREEN FOOD IN ABUNDANCE AT ALL TIMES.

To give an illustration of the method of feeding: If one had a
flock of eighty (80) yearling hens, he would be feeding them about
two quarts of grain in the morning and four quarts at night, with
about three quarts of mash at noon. Beginning the fifteenth of July,
he would curtail the morning, noon and night feedings a trifle each
day, until on the first of August he would be feeding one quart of
grain in the morning, one and a half quarts of mash at noon, and
two quarts of grain at night. In making up the grain mixture at
this time (August Ist), the amount of sunflower seeds would be three
pounds to a mixture instead of two, as given in the formula in the
chapter on “Scientific Feeding for Eggs.” One would give more green
food daily than the hens could eat.

After the first of August the amount of food would be increased
a trifle each day for the next two weeks, until the fifteenth of August,
wlien the quantity would be the same as that fed before the change
(July 15th), or two quarts of grain in the morning, three quarts of
mash at noon, and four quarts of grain at night—with plenty of green
food daily. No buckwheat at all during the entire molting period.

After the fifteenth of August the quantity of sunflower seeds
should be four pounds to the mixture, instead of two or three pounds.
This quantity should be so continued throughout the rest of the molt-
ine period. At the same time (about August 15th), put double the
amount of linseed meal into the mash for laying hens, the rest of the
mash formula to be the same. The regular method of feeding is fol-
lowed during the rest of the molting period, care being taken not to
overfeed.

The reason for the increase of both sunflower seeds and linseed
meal is that these are very rich in oil, and aid materially in furnishing
the hen with sufficient oil to grow a new coat of feathers more easily,
and to improve the gloss of the new feathers.

If one finds that the hens are becoming overfat, and the molting
hen is much given to standing around, hence will easily take on fat,
the amount of food given must be cut down until the appetite im-
proves. One’s judgment is the best guide in this matter. Make the
molting hens work for what they get, but see that they are able to
get something when they work for it!

By following this method of feeding through the first stages of
the molt, and with proper care in general, the birds should start molt-
ing early and finish in the shortest possible space of time. Of course,
the egg yield will suffer somewhat during the early part of the molt,
and one may not like to lose eggs when others about him are getting
them in fair quantities, but this temporary loss will be more than
equalled by the eggs that will be received during the winter. And it is
far better to get eggs from the yearling hens, when eggs are bringing
top prices, than to get them in summer at lower prices and be com-
pelled to carry the hens over the winter, receiving few, if any, eggs to
offset the high price of grain.

33

GHAPLER 2y 1,
THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE.

The cold winter months may bring with them a certain amount of
trouble for the poultryman. Despite the fact that one may care for
his fowls in the most conscientious manner, disease may creep into
the flock from no apparent cause. Under such conditions it 1s the man
who is properly prepared to combat illness among his birds that suffers
the least loss.

Naturally, if disease comes on through neglect of the poultry
keeper, he has but himself to blame. His chances of saving many of
his fowls are, for the same reason, rather small. Neglect on the
poultry plant is inexcusable under any circumstances, and always dis-
astrous in the long run. :

Where disease creeps in from no apparent cause, however, and
after all ordinary precautions have been taken, there is but one thing
for the energetic poultryman to do—find the cause and remove it, at
the same time doing all in his power to prevent the spreading of the
disease through the flock.

Every poultry keeper should possess a book treating on poultry
diseases. This should be carefully studied, until one is thoroughly
familiar with the causes and symptoms of the more common diseases
to which fowls are heir. Then when one sees a fowl that seems dopey
and stands around, refusing to eat, he will be able more readily to
diagnose the disease. By applying the remedies suggested in the book,
the fowl may then be easily cured.

One of the principal causes of numerous diseases (and one which
many poultrymen overlook) is low vitality. This may be the result
of poor breeding, poor feeding, improper care, etc. Poor vitality is
without doubt the underlying reason why some fowls contract dis-
ease, when other birds kept under exactly the same conditions are
perfectly free from all sickness.

Unsanitary conditions in and around the coops will breed more
disease than any ordinary person can hope to combat. Cleanliness
with chickens is positively as essential as feed and water. Though its
absence may not be noted as quickly, its disastrous effects will be
fully as great. Lice, mites and other vermin that breed in filth, and
which sap the health and strength of the fowls, is only one of the
troubles that result from a lack of cleanliness.

Improper food, or poor food, will sometimes seriously affect
the health of one’s flock. To feed moldy grain is to positively in-
sure much trouble and loss. It makes no difference whether this is
done in ignorance or purposely, the resultant harm is the same.
Nature never makes a mistake, hence never makes any allowance
for mistakes.

These and other local factors have an important bearing on the
sickness or health of one’s flock and must be looked after carefully
at all times.

To be able to recognize sick fowls at a glance and to diagnose
their cases, is an art desired by all poultrymen. Those who are most
adept in this line are indeed fortunate. However, this is within the
reach of anyone who will give this important phase of the business
the attention it justly deserves. To become proficient in detecting and
diagnosing disease takes considerable time and much application. One
must possess a quick, keen eye that is able to note at once the slight-
est difference in a fowl’s appearance and actions. If this were simply
noted, however, and no connection made with other slight changes ap-

54

pearing in the bird, it would do no good at all. One must be able to
make a local application of what he has discovered, to the end that
he may be able to treat the bird in the proper way to get at the ail-
ment. A process of elimination is one of the easiest methods—+.e., to
localize the disease as much as possible. Then by taking into consid-
eration all the symptoms apparent, the real trouble can be ascertained
and properly treated.

One thing is positively essential in treating sick fowls, if the
spread of the disease is to be checked: They must be removed AT

“ONCE from all well fowls and placed by themselves. Herein is one

of the principal advantages enjoyed by the good diagnostician: he
immediately discovers and removes any fowls that have the slightest
symptoms of illness before the disease has any chance to spread.

To care for sick fowls properly, one must have a “hospital coop’”—
i.e., some place detached and away from all other coops, where ailing
birds can be quarantined and treated. Theré are two very important
requisites to such a coop: warmth and proper ventilation. A sick

chicken’s vitality is far below normal, and it should be kept warm and

comfortable so that every particle of its energy can be used in com-
bating the disease. Warmth, however, must be accompanied by proper
ventilation. Sunshine and fresh air are probably the greatest anti-
dotes for all diseases. But air must be admitted to the coop in such
a way that all draughts are entirely eliminated. Muslin permits air to
enter a coop gently and also allows the impure air inside to escape.
If the amount of muslin is properly proportioned to the size of the
coop and glass it contains, and suitably placed, little trouble will be
had in keeping the air inside the coop both warm and fresh at the
same time.

Of course, the best way to prevent loss from disease is to keep
the birds healthy. It is far better to spend an hour a day doing the
things that will prevent sickness, than it is to spend three times as
long doctoring sick birds. “An ounce of prevention is worth more
than tons of cure.”

CHAPTER XVIII.
“FREE” POULTRY FOODS.

There are two foods for poultry that cost actually nothing in cash,
yet many poultrymen are less generous with these than with other
feed costing $2.50 per 100 pounds. These “free” foods are: Fresh
water and green grass.

Water constitutes over 75 per cent. of the bulk of an egg, and
almost as large a proportion of the chick’s body is water. An active
little chick, running its legs off, needs a large quantity of water to
replenish this waste, as well as for its rapid growth. Chickens of all
ages that leave stale or warm water practically untouched, when given
fresh, cool water, will immediately form a circle around the fountain,
and as they drink raise their heads in thanksgiving. Give the chickens
more fresh water and give it more frequently. It costs absolutely
nothing. The result will be a saving on the grain bills, as well as a
noticeable increase in the chick’s growth and development, and the
laying qualities of the hens.

Green grass (lawn clippings) makes an excellent food for chick-
ens of any and all ages. Frequently the writer has seen chickens leave
both grain and mash and partake of lawn clippings that were given

a)

them. If any one doubts a chicken’s appetite for green food, let him
put a flock of chicks in a yard or run entirely covered with grass, and

then watch it disappear, not in weeks, but in days. Pretty good proof

they like it, isn’t it? And when the chick’s run is entirely cleared of
green food, where are they to get a supply from, unless the poultry
keeper furnishes it? -

An easy method of obtaining lawn clippings, without the bother
of raking them up, is to purchase in a hardware store what is known
as a grass-catcher for a lawn mower. The usual price is about sev-
enty-five cents. This catcher can be easily and quickly attached to,
and detached from, the lawn mower, behind the roller. As the blades
of the mower cut the grass, the clippings fly into the catcher, and
can be put into a basket and fed to the chickens later. The absence
of dead and dying grass clippings will also greatly improve the appear-
ance and life of the lawn.

Grass is very rich in protein, an element that is an absolute neces-
sity to the chick’s growth, for the maintenance of its body, as well as
for a large egg yield. If this valuable ingredient can be gotten in
grass, for the cutting, why pay high prices to feed it in grain? Feed
more of these “free” foods. They furnish invaluable elements that
will grow the chicks into sturdy, active cockerels, and pullets that lay
eolden eggs.

GHAPITEE 21%.
HOW TO GROW SPROUTED OATS.

Practical poultrymen all agree that it is quite impossible to get
eges in large quantities if the hens are not fed a generous supply of
green food. One of the principal reasons that hens lay more eggs
in spring and summer than in winter, aside from the fact that this is
the natural reproducing time, is because there is a plentiful supply of
succulent green food available during this period. Hens that are on
free range, where they can get sufficient green food, will lay a great
many more eggs than will the same number of hens that are confined
in a yard which is bare of all grass.

There are certain nourishing properties in green food that are
not to be found in other food consumed by fowls, and that cannot be
well supplied in any other kind of food. Hens that have sufficient
grain or mash food continually before them will leave all this when
given some succulent green food. This alone should prove conclusively
to those who might have any doubts, that green food is an absolute
necessity for large egg production, and that hens should be given
liberal supplies of this most necessary food.

If properly done, the growing of sprouted oats can be accomplished
with very little trouble and labor. The principal secret of growing
oats, if it can be termed a secret, is to know how to water the oats
properly the first week. If this item is given the attention it deserves,
the actual care in growing the oats is very small. Those who have
never tried to sprout oats are, in some cases, held off by an indefinite
fear of not being able to successfully grow the oats; but a little actual
experience will quickly dispel such feelings.

The method generally used in sprouting oats is as follows: take
an ordinary pail, either metal or wooden, and fill it with oats to within
about three or four inches of the top. As the oats swell considerably
in a short time, if the pail is filled too near the top either the oats
will fall out over the top or the water will run out. Into this pailful

56

a

a

of oats pour in water until it comes to the top of the oats. When
this water is being poured into the pail, the oats will rise but can be
pressed down with the hand. All the oats should be thoroughly wet
by raising those from the bottom of the pail and pressing those on
top farther down. The water that is poured on the oats should be
as warm as one can bear on the hand—it should not be boiling, as this
would scald the oats and interfere with proper growth.

The pail of oats should soak for at least twelve, and preferably
twenty-four, hours. The oats, which are then considerably swollen
and thoroughly wet, should be placed in trays that may be of almost
any size, but that should have sides about three inches high. Place
the oats in the trays to a depth of two inches, levelled off. There is
absolutely nothing in the bottom of the tray except the bottom boards
—no dirt, paper, straw, or other material for the oats to grow on.
Literally, they grow on themselves, the roots forming a solid mat
within a week. Holes should be bored in the bottom of the trays,
like a sieve, or cracks made, to permit most of the water to run off,
otherwise the oats will soon sour.

After the oats are placed in the trays to a depth of about two
inches, there is little more to do for the ensuing ten days or two
weeks but to water them. The trays should be placed in a warm cel-
lar or room where the temperature does not drop much below fifty
degrees; if warmer, the oats will simply sprout quicker. The oats
must be thoroughly soaked with water at least twice every day (morn-
ing and evening) for the first week or ten days and thereafter once
a ‘any: If one desires a rapid growth, the oats may be placed in a
warm room (of about seventy degrees temperature), and watered three
times daily for the first week or so, but this is necessary only when
there is a special hurry in which to get the oats sprouted.

The water with which the oats are wet daily should be lukewarm
or about the temperature that is comfortable for one to place the
hand in. It is easiest to apply the water from an ordinary garden
sprinkling can. The surplus water can run off through the holes in the
bottom of the trays. If the trays are placed above one another, the
surplus water will run down from one tray to the next, thus giving
the lower trays the advantage of a double wetting. On the fourth
day, and also on the seventh and tenth days, once each day, instead
of putting on warm water, use cool water as it runs from the faucet.
This change from warm to cold water seems to give the oats new life,
and a rapid growth will be noted almost immediately after. Proper
watering of the oats will aid materially a rapid growth.

When the oats are about four or five days old, small sprouts begin
to appear, and these grow noticeably daily. At the end of a week,
these sprouts are about two or three inches long, and in two weeks
may be as much as seven or nine inches long. Instead of permitting
the sprouts or blades of grass (as they resemble grass blades very
much) to grow to this length, the tops should be cut when about four
inches high. An ordinary pair of grass shears will cut the sprouts
easily and quickly. The undergrowth will then sprout out again, and’
sometimes as many as three clippings can be had before the remaining
oats and sprouts are fed to the chickens. ‘If it is desired to have a
ereen color to the sprouts (when they are grown in the dim light of
a cellar the sprouts will usually be light yellow in color), this may be
obtained by placing the oat trays in the sunlight or near a window
for a day or so. After the oats have been clipped two or three times
they can be fed by cutting out chunks of the sprouts, roots and all,
and given in this way to the hens, or the entire tray may be placed in
the coop. The latter method is preferable, as the hens relish picking
and scratching in the tray, and they will eat practically all of the
contents.

ay

A frame to hold a number of trays can be made by almost any
one and with but little labor. Four pieces of two-inch by four-inch
lumber are the uprights used for the corners, and cross cleats, one
inch by two inches, both hold these four corner pieces together and
form the places on which the trays slide in and out when the oats
are being watered. These cross cleats should be about eight inches
apart, to afford sufficient room for the sprouts to grow up. The
easiest tray to handle is about one foot wide and two feet long, the
sides, of course, being about three inches high. An ordinary sixteen-
quart pail, when about three quarters full of oats, after soaking for
twenty-four hours will fill a section of six trays of the above dimen-
sions. One tray will give sufficient cut sprouts for about twenty-five
or thirty hens, and if there are seven of these trays a succession of
croppings can be had each day that will permit the first tray to be in
shape for a second cutting at the end of a week. By having three or
four sections a large number of fowls can be given plenty of sprouted
oats. The labor of growing the oats will be decidely small when com-
pared with the marked increase in the ege production. Sufficient suc-
culent green food given the hens during the winter produces eggs at
the time when eggs mean money.

CHAPTER XX,

A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT.

Beginners should not be discouraged when they find they are not
getting many eggs, or when the number received is seemingly small.
It is true it is not very pleasant to read of big egg receipts by some
when one is getting but few, but remember that there are many cir-
cumstances that account for this. If, as in most cases, it is the big
breeder who is doing so well, remember he has spent years in patient
care to breed a strain and flock to this point. With his fund of prac-
tical experience behind him, naturally he can obtain results quite be-
yond the power of the beginner to reproduce. The older poultryman
has studied his fowls for a long time until he has been able to find
out just what they need, and can feed the foods that will produce a
maximum number of eggs, and still keep the hens’ vitality intact.
Don’t expect to duplicate such results at the beginning. They can
and will be achieved in due time.

The keeping of a diary is an excellent accessory to a good sys-
tem. There is a great deal of satisfaction in occasionally going over
the work of the previous year, as briefly recorded in a diary, to have
the mistakes and errors that have been made brought vividly before
one’s mind—not to be repeated. The joys and pleasures one has ex-
perienced may also be lived over again and again—this alone repays
one for the few minutes spent each day in making entries. Then
again, when everything appears to be going wrong, despite the very
best one can do, and when it seems as if one never before could have
had greater discouragements, to pick up the diary and read of other
heavier trials and disappointments one has lived through and ovrcome,
will put new vim into one, and one can tackle the present problems
with renewed vigor and zeal and turn the tide toward success.

There is one, and only one, stimulant the writer advocates, and
that he recommends most highly. It is not for the hen; it is ‘“‘stick-to-
itiveness” for the poultryman. Sounds rather sticky, but that’s just
what it means. It’s a sort of “ginger” that keeps the poultryman’s
interest excited when it might otherwise flag. It produces maximum
results, and, best of all, it permits no reaction.

58

If at times things on the poultry plant do not go as smoothly as
one might wish, remember everyone in the poultry business has gone
through the same troubles, not only once, but many times. Give your-
self the encouragement that is always to be derived from intense en-
thusiasm. Say to yourself: “Some have failed, but many others have
succeeded, so it is possible—I WILL SUCCEED, TOO!” That’s the
spirit. Then buckle to with double the energy and enthusiasm dis-
played before; profit by your mistakes; learn all you can from every
available source; fight manfully on, and it will not be long before
people will point you out as a man who SUCCEEDED with poultry.

“Tf the day looks kind o’ gloomy
An’ your chances rather slim,
If the situation’s puzzlin’
An’ the prospect’s awful grim,
An’ perplexities keep pressin’
Till all hope is nearly gone—
Just bristle up an’ grit your teeth,
An’ keep on keepin’ on.”

Perkins’ Profitable Poultry

SINGLE COMB
WHITE LEGHORNS

Exhibition and Utility Strains

Breeding
Stock

Hatching
Eggs

Day Old
Chicks

‘Os birds are housed right, bred
right, fed right and the
quality of stock is there. ‘This en-
ables us to obtain such results as
902% fertility and 76% hatchability
in the month of February! Our day
old chicks are the kind that live and

thrive.

When starting in the poultry busi-
ness, get good foundation stock.
When introducing new blood into
the flock, procure only that of proven
merit. Our birds are vigorous and
healthy, full of ‘‘red blood vitality”’
and bred according to the Standard.
Our hens are good layers of large,
chalk-white eggs.

Good stock is the cheapest in the
long run.

Results Prove the Quality of Our Stock

Prices Reasonable Send for Free Catalogue

PERKINS POULTRY PLACE

C. N. PERKINS, Propr.

MIDLAND PARK NEW JERSEY

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CONTINENTAL PRINTING CO.
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IBRARY OF CONGRESS

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Hollinger Corp.
pH 8.5