Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1884-12-11

W uity ioWls. are necessary. They should
be at quite distance from each other. so
that the colonies of birds may be kept to
them> elves. Turkeys, ducks, and..geese will
wander over considerable space, but chick
ems will keep quite near the building where
they roost. The buildings need not be cost
" structures. tight roofis necessary b ut
the walls may be made of light and inc K
pensive materials Good ventilation should
be secured by means of air passages through
thr roof. and sliding windows. The walls
should be smooth, so as to allow them to be
frequently whitewashed with the least diff
Guilty possible. The roosts should be so con-
structed that they can be taken out and
cleannd as often as occasion requires.
Experience has shown that it is best to
move the houses every two or three weeks,
and on this account they should be light. A
change of location is desirable on many ac-
| counts. Fowls soon eat much of the grass
near the buildings where they are kept.
Their droppings render it dirty and unfit for
food. By changing the location of the
houses. fresh clean grass is constantly with
IN reach of the fowls, and they will eat it
With relish. Their droppings will be dis
trlbuted over large space of ground, and
Will be of the greatest benefit to the soil.
Buildings of light materials. sufficiently
large to accommodate forty fowls, may be
carried by four men. II made of tolerably
heaVy materials, they may be moved on
rollers or drawn on runners. foundation n |
OF brick or stone is desirable. in order to !
prevent the sills from rotting by coming in
contact with the ground.
An effort should be made to raise on the
farm the grain and vegetables the fowls will
require for food. Corn, buckwheat, and all
the small grains are desirable. Fowls re-
quire greater variety of food than animals
do. They derive much benefit from sun
flower seed. A variety of vegetables should
be raised to supply green food during the
winter. Not only beets, turnips, and car
rots, should be raised for the purpose, but
onions, cabbage, and celery. The common
garden pepper is of great value to fowls
A small sio will be found useful for pre-
serving clover and other tender vegetable
tor food during the winter and early spring.
In many localities green food may be insur-
ed during several months by sowing fall rye.
BY Keeping the fowls from it after the grass
starts in the spring, good crop of grain
may be raised, which will help keep the
owls during the next winter Provision ,
must be made for furnishing constant sup
ply OF pure water. A running stream is of
great advantage to farm that is devoted to
'aisng fowls. 1t no other arrangement can
se made, water must be hauled and placed
n troughs near the poultry house.
Fowls, to be profitable, require as careful
attention as dairy cows. To protect them :
rom wild animals, it is necessary to close
heir houses every night They must be
opened early in the morning to give the !;
birds an opportunity to get out to their food
llmost as soon as it is light. They must be
ed regularly. All this work may be done 1
~ persons who cannot perform the hard Z
abor required in raising and harvesting
ield crops boy can tend thousand |
Iens, and, with the occasional assistance of |
man and team to move the poultry houses '
an do all the work required. 1t is a ques- {
ion whether the products of tine farm can !
lot be utilized by feeding them to fowls, L
nstead OF animals, a constant revenue NAV t
'e obtained. There will be eggs tor sale
very week. Early in the summer there
vii be supply OF spring chickens to dis. h
'ose. During the holiday season there will t
e brisk demand for turkeys, ducks, and b
eese. During the past few years fowls of C
II kinds have brought good prices during }
ne entire season. If the fowls are dressed e
efore they are sent TO market, a considera- S
lie sum may be realized from the sale of
gathers. A Welch farmer who has been r
eeping chickens on IA farm OF sixty acres, il
the rate of forty to the acre, writes as il
ollows, regarding his success: MY farm v
stocked with cows, breeding sows, and p
oultry. keep no regular special poultry
ccount, as the same people attend to all my u
tock. have not, however, kept fowls by g
ne thousand for sixteen years without fl
moving to shilling what they cost to n
eep and the average yield OF eggs laid by h
ne several breeds. have constantly tested 81
a fraction the cost of feeding a given
uantity OF laying hens, and have always 81
'und it to average from four shiliings and IL
Expense to five shillings per head in the al
ear, and the yield of eggs l20 to $50, ac- o
ording to the breed, those varieties which a