Connecticut western news., 1885-02-25
FARM AND GARDEN.
POULTRY KEEPING - FEEDING FOR
 EGGS.

POULTRY KEEPING FEEDING FOR
 EGGS.
 Henry stewart Gives Some Valuable
 Information Concerning the Cure of
 Poultry.
 Naturally any bird produces eggs merely for the purposes of reproduction of the species and in only sufficient quantity for incubation and the rearing of the young brood. A hen by long process of domestication has had its natural disposition in this direction changed very much. just as in the case with COWS, which produce milk for 0 much longer period than nature really calls for for the rearing of calf. The domestic hen has been educated or trained to lay eggs during nearly the whole year, instead of for only month or so in the spring. This training has been carried on for along period, and it is only during a comparatively recent time that the hen has become so productive as it now is. It is not uncommon now for hen to produce 120 eggs in year, and to continue laying for ten years. It has been recorded of a brown Leghorn hen that she laid over 2,000 eggs in eleven years. Such case, however, is quite exceptional, and at a moderate es- innate a hens productiveness might be taken as equivalent to 120 eggs year for three years, after which, as rule, it will not pay to keep her any longer. This product, however, is equivalent to a product of three times the hens own weight yearly, and this, of course, can not be expected without very liberal feeding of such food as will supply all the elements of the egg.
 An egg is the most concentrated toTm of animal matter. It contains all the clements of living animal and in ad- dition large excess in the form of the shell, which is its natural protection. Necessarily everything that is in the egg must be supplied in the food, so that feeding for eggs is a subject that the poultry keeper should study very care fully. An egg is rich in various ele- ments that are not generally understood. For instance, it contains large pro- portion of sulphur, the decomposition of which produces the malodorous sul. phuretted hydrogen which gives to de- cayed eggs their exceedingly objection able character. An egg also contains a large proportion of oil, phosphorous, lime, and nitrogen. The shell is nearly all lime. Moreover, the character of a hens digestive apparatus is to be con- sidered; for as a hen has no teeth, these necessary parts of the digestive apparatus have to be provided for in an- ot her way. This is by part of the stomach known as the gizzard, an ex- ceedingly strong muscular organ, which is provided with hard, rough, corruga- ted surfaces that act precisely as the grinding surfaces of a grain mill. To facilitate this grinding or masticating process the hen swallows gravel and small stones, by which the hardest food, first softened in the crop, is triturated and reduced to pulp. This peculiarly of the hen makes it necessary to furnish her with supply of gravel, and if this consists of limestone, it will serve the purpose of nutriment and supply need. ed lime as well as perform the requisite mechanical action in the gizzard.
 The greatest mistake in feeding fowls is overlooking. Hens are gorged witt food which makes fat instead of provid ing those clements which go to make up the egg. Corn consists almos wholly of starch and oil, and while it ii a good food for fattening fowls it is ont of the worst of all foods for producing eggs. No one food contains all tn, needed clements, and a mixture of vari ous kinds should be given. It is quit, possible that the production of eggs may be largely increased by trul. scientific system of feeding, and tn, ordinary poultry keeper should make study of such a system; not beinl alarmed at the scientific part of it, be cause science is nothing more than per fectly right and exact practice, and i nothing that any ordinary sensible per son need be afraid of.
 The following foods contain all tn clements that exist in eggs: oats, wheat barley, corn, bran, linseed, hemp seed rape seed, crushed fresh bones, mustar, seed, green cabbage and clover, and reasonable mixture of all these, varie more or less, with the aid of crushe limestone and gypsum would affor every element called for to produce
 a constant yield of eggs. A large guar tity of broken fresh bones is one of th most important aids, and with wheat barley, broken lnseed oil cake and mul stard seed and plenty of green vegt tables and water, will provide evreythin that is required. But food alone is nc enough and there are some other neceG saries which will be mentioned hereafter