Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1872-03-02
Agricultural,

SPRING CHICKENs.--Veryea early spring
chickens are geLerally dear, and pay extra.
ordinary we'll for raising, and they are
much easier brought. through tho cold
weather of the latter part OF February and
the following month than people suppose,
and as practical knowledge is worth much
more than aught else, what am going to
say can be done, and has been donu by the
writer and his better half Having little
birds, rather larger than pigeons, sell for
rs cents each in April and Nav, giving n
dollar per couple clear profit, is making
money fast enough TO satisfy reasonable peo-
pie. The way TO do it is TO have the hens
all comfortably lodged in warm roost by
the 1st of January. .......
Have some nice, snug, warmly situated
pests in place near the roost for the hens
to lay in, and contrive that they can go TO
and from without going into the bad wea-
ther, aud if they have been well fed they
will be laying when the new year begins,
and il Braham blood is in them (half will
dol they will sit by the end Of the month
after Matching, put them in coops which
can be closed and made dark by fastening
up font board-then in bad weather the
chickens can be fed by letting down the
board, and be shut up again rs soon as
they have eaten, which Will cause the hen
TO sit sti.l and nurse them till they are fed
again have no bottoms to the coops and
move every day, putting dry fine straw or
any kind of litter under the coop when the
ground is wet, but in moderate weather or
whenever dry let them be on the sod Keep
the hen confined till tho chickens are a
month old, unless unusually mild, and let
these coops be on a slope facing the south,
and away from the haunts of the old fowls
There are many days in February when
the chickens will run around the coop pick
ing up blades OF grass. &c, cnioving the
sunshine, which puts them in strong health
and clear confinement in cold spells and
during snow storms, which, with these
coops, do not hurt them at nj! and there
will be no dropping wings and no crying,
rs there invariably is when little chickens
are raised in glass lighthouses or in any
kind Of houses or barns for in any ofthese
places they miss the fresh ground to be
daily moved on, and the fresh air and sun
shine which gives them an appetite out-of-
doors, however spacious the apartments
may be. | have had to dig the snow away
from the Coops several times in one season,
and brush places for them to be placed on
which is quickly done by having q spare
coop and going from one to the other with
basket; and by 10 or / O'Clock the whole
of the bro)ds from Lotto 40 coops would be
Seen rs brisk as bees, dozen or more at
each coop, and racing to meet the feeder
The feed requires variation and should
be given every two or three hours-say one
day scalded meal at wheat or barley at
9-cracked corn at 12--liver or other meat
chopped line, at 2--and bread sopped in
milk with oats or any dry grain, at 4, and !
then shut them up. Next day, egg shells |
broken fine mixed with the mornings first |
meal. and give one feed of some kind of
sprouted grain in about such stage rs |
malt is made, and vary this feeding as CON
venient and as the chickens seem to pre-
fer one form to another {; for generally what |
they like best is best for them, as nature |
seldom gives desire for that which is not |
good--and in case of anything being too
rich it will cloy them till the system re.
quires more, Country Gentleman.