Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1879-10-30

to prevent the damp from rising from the
ground.
The system OF feeding practiced at this
farm is as follows: The fowls leave their
roosts at the first rising of the sun, and are
out and about for two hours, picking up
the early worm, ETC.. at eight O'Clock they
get their morning meal, which consists Of a
mess of mixed meal, or bran and buckwheat
meal, or small quantity of bran is mixed
through the latter; this is then thrown to
them on some clean spot, each fowl being
allowed as much as it will pick up greedily.
Midday they geta small allowance of pota-
toes (boled), parsnips, carrots or mangoes,
hot, with little bran and chandler's graves
or other stimulating substance mixed
through it, and at four o'clock, before go
ing to roost, they are supplied with whole
grain at the rate Of II ounces to each bird !;
taking the price of grain at Id. per pound
a fair average price-and this feeding is
found to keep the fowls in the highest pos
sible state Of health and profit. Five or six
broods of chickens are hatched every March
to replace the chickens killed of in the atl-
tumn. and SO a succession Of young and
profitable birds is being constantly kept up.
A little dry mould or earth is sprinkled
twice week over the droppings of the
fowls in the hen-house, to deodorize their
excrements, fix the ammonia, and keep the
house sweet, and so render the manure as
valuable as possible, and so obviatc the ne
cessity OF continually cleaning the house.
This manure and earth is removed every
two months, and used upon the farm and
garden, and found to be nearly equal in its
fertilizing power to guanO. Two or three
! broods of chickens are reared tor market
J purposes during the months Of March,
! April, May and June, and of either the
9 Hondan or Brahma-D Dorking breed. The
! chickens are forced on by liberal feeding.
and continued SO as to get them ready for
: market as soon as possible. The chickens
: are usually fit to kill at the age of eleyed or
+ twelve weeks.
7 The young chickens are cooped for ten
, days with their mothers upon grass-plat
! and fed with variety OF nourlshing dain-
+ ties, to give them start in life. After this
: time they are allowed the liberty with the
: hen, and fec literally three or four times !
0 day. AT the age of ten weeks they are con
! fined for fortnight, and fed upon as large
e a quantity of fattening food as they can b
J induced to consume, chiefly oatmeal ant
e milk; they are then killed and disposed OF
y The profit derived from fattening for th
market considering the risk and attention
/ necessary is not at all equal to that real
If lied by laying stock. The former reQuir
2 little or no attention beyond mixing ant
= throwing them their food three or fon
t times day. and daily collecting their eggs
it and the manure made during the twelve
month is estimated TO well cover all cor
e. Tor attendance. The casualties that aris
g from the death of chickens are found to b
y very trifling Suppose one-third Of eac
y brood to die before they attain the age I
II eight weeks, the cost of food consumed b
d, a young chicken of this age will certainl
y not exceed Sd. or 4d, and what a trii1e
I'd this deducted from the los. or lis. clei
o profit realized in twelve months by eac
of fowl that comes to maturity.