The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1875-12-20
RICE THREE CENTS.

| HOOK. Another good way IS save your
earliest and best shaped pullets, and net a
cock of some pure breed TO put with them.
Tie chickens will almost invariably prove
good layers. Either brahmas, cochins,
houdans, hamburgs or leghorns crossed
with common hens will give good results In
eggs and dressed poultry.
My own preference for layers is the ham
burgs. They have justly been called "ev-
erlasting layers" They are email eaters.
| good winter layers, non-setters and con-
tinue to lay well in to the fall They are
not flrst-class market-poultry, as they are
small, and dress off rather blue. The
cochins will lay the best 10 the winter, with
cold quarters of any breed 1 have ever
kept If kept in large numbers they will
be rather troublesome on account of their
propensity to set. If any breed but ham
burgs are kept they must be fed stimulating
food, and be made to lay all the eggs pos
sible until about July, then all but those
with young chickens sold alive. They
will usually bring as much alive at this
time of year as they will dressed in the
fall, and it saves much feed. Hamburgs
will lay well nearly all summer, and con-
tinue to lay well until three years old,
while most breeds are the best the first
year.
| If any of the non-setting breeds are kent.
some other breed must be kept to raise the
chickens. If any breed but hamburps il
selected the old stock must be replaced ey-
cry year with early hatched pullets. This
is very important, for we must have eggs
in winter to make good profit
Much depends upon the feed, both in
quantity and quality. What we want is
the greatest amount of meat and eggs for
the feed consumed.
| Thara danoar of oyor roo1:n.
much danger among farmers generally of
! not feeding enough. We can lay down no
rule as to quantity. The safest guide is,
give them as much as they will eat eagerly.
Never give more than they will eat up clean.
The best plan is to feed twice day. Give
| warm dough in the morning, and whole
| grain at night. 1t is well in very cold
weather to give light feed of something
warm at noon. Scatter the whole grain
among the leaves on the floor, ut least an
hour before the hens usually go to roos..
Always give as much of a variety as pos
sible. For ground feed use shorts, fine
feed, corn meal, and barley meal.
A good feed is corn and barley meal or
shorts equal parts. Feed more corn in
cold weather, but not too much, as corn is
not good feed for eggs. In warm wealth
er let the feed consist largely of shorts, and
buckwheat, or oats and ,rey Buckwheat
is the best feed | ever used to stimulate
the production of eggs Wheat is also one
OF the best, but is generally too dear. 1t is
| necessary to have some animal food in the
winter. This is best supplied by ground
| scraps, but be careful and not feed too
much. feed scraps every other day
mixed with the dough-at the rate of
spoonful to each hen.
They must have green food all the year
ground. Raw turnips cut in thick slices
and thrown on the floor. is the best of any.
thing in the winter Keep,plenty of sarel
| gravel pounded oyster shells or cracked
them plenty of fresh water. | use the
"DOugldss mixture" nearly every day. 1t
is made as follows. To pound of sui
| phate of iron dissolved III one gallon of
water, add ono ounce of srlnhuric acid
Use spoonful of the mixture to each pint
| of water that the dough is wet up with.
usually feed little cayenne pepper in
cold weather. Last winter tested small
package of Imperial egg food, put up by
l.. II. Sherwood & Co., Hartford, Conn,
| and it had wonderful effect. 1t will
keep the hens in good condition, and great.
| ly increase the production of eggs. l shall
use it again this winter. The house must
| be kept clean, and should be white washed
once year, and wash the roosts with fish
brine once month to kill lice. cheap
| and sure remedy for lice is, take tin trelu
and pair of old fashioned bellows, load
the trelu with tobacco, put in a small piece
of red hot iron, then the nozzle of the bel
| lows, and blow the smoke into the feathers
when the hens are on the roost. 1t is sure
| death to the lice and does not injure the
hens.
The manure must be carefully saved
Clear hen manure is fully equal pound for
pound, for most crops, to any phosphate
have ever used.
| Most breeds of hens if kept laying all
winter, are ready to set when wanted.
They should never be set in the same room
with the laying hens, as they are apt to
get into domestic row over the eggs, and
most of the eggs will be broken. Ii is best
| to have warm room on purpose for set
| ting hens. The best plan is, take a lUt Of
old flour barrels and saw them in two, and
make nest in each half, of m list earth
covered with straw. That from an old
straw bed is the best. When you find a
hen on her nest at night, let her stay over
one or two nights. SO as to be sure she
means business. Then move her in the
night carefully, and put her in one of the
nests already prepared in the setting room.
Give her few old nest eggs, and cover
1
day let her off to eat, and put her back
carefully. In day or two she will go back
Of her own accord. Then give her from
nine to thirteen eggs according to the size
of hen, and the weather. 1t it is cold nine
| is enough. See that the hen somes off
every day to eat and drink. Let her stay
off from 10 to 80 minutes if it is not too
cold. Keep ashes in the room to wallow
in, and sprinkle the nest with sulphur to
kill lice. Sprinkle the eggs with water
warmed to blood heat, two or three times
the last ten days the hen is setting. AL
ways feed whole grain to setting hens. Corn
is the best, but give a change. have had
hens set seven weeks and come off in good
condition.
Let the hckens stay on the nest the first
"a hours, unless the hen is very uneasy. 1t
is best to coop the hen, and let the chick
Gus run until few weeks old
Put the coop in a dry, sunny place. Do
not have floor to your coop unless the
ground Is wet and cold, but it a floor must
be used, keep ii covered with dry ashes or
sand, and be sure and keep it clean. Feed
the chickens often. At first feed every
two hours from daylight to dark, and give
only what will be eaten up clean at one
time. feed corn meal and shorts mixed,
curd, boiled potatoes, and after afew weeks
Old few scraps, and the last feed at night
of cracked corn. Give little bone, meal
in their dough-say spoonful TO pint
of meal once day. Keep fresh water by
them, and 90 not forget the Douglass
mixture" And here let me remark that
skim milk IS one of the best feeds, or rather
drinks for either chickens or laying hens.
The chickens must have good range, and
plenty of grass, when old enough let the hen
out of the coop when the dew is off. The
chickens must have chance 10 eat away
from the grown hens Make rack of
lath, or board sides and top will do just as
well, and have the ends both running up
and down, just far enough apart so the old