Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1888-11-01
MONEY IN POULTRY.
osetai suggestions on the More Important
Points in Chicken-Raisine,

eou warm poultry-houSe. a house
10 accommodate 100 hens flor this is
the greatest number that ought to be
together) should be built IL feet by 20,
and feet to the caves. Make a ball
loon frame. with studding 2 feet apart,
ana ratters to match; and side it up
with the cheapest cove siding. The
building should stand north and south,
on as dry ground IS possible. Have
Two large windows in the south end.
with 2 by 5 foot door between them.
Near the ground, under each window.
nave sliding door large enough for
fowls to pass through. Over the large
door have a good-sfzed board window,
made OF Stats, like window blind, SO
as to be easily opened and closed for
ventilation. Have two similar windows
high up in the north end. The win
oows will need to be opened constant
~ during summer. Have a floor two
ieet wide. on each side, against the
wall; and one three feet wide across
the north end. Have one roosting pole
u feet from the floor, the whole length
OF each side, one foot from the wall.
Put two poles across the north end,
nearly foot lower. one foot apart.
These are for chickens that are old
enough to be weaned.
The material for such a building. in
Guiding good hemlock shingles, only
cost me $50. A cheap floor overhead
In this building would make it warmer
In winter and cooler in summer Make
a sort of box against the west side, out
side OF the main building, some or
feet wide, to shield the house from
cold, west winds, and put nest boxes
in, as hens prefer a dark, secluded
place in which to lay their eggs. There
can be two or three openings made
under the roosts for the hen to steal
through, to her nest The 100 hens
should have as many as twenty nests,
at least, and each nest should be fur
nlshed with china nest egg. This box
building should have now and then a
board left movable, to give easy access
to the eggs.
One hundred hens need six quarts of
corn each morning, during the winter.
Put the corn into pan and set it in the
oven till it begins to parch, then feed
1T hot. At noon cook six quarts of
small or refuse potatoes for their din
ner. AT night give them six quarts of
wheat. Have the central part of the
hen-house (the bare ground) we'll COW
cred with straw. Scatter the grain
among this straw, SO that the hens will
have business in scratching to find it.
Every day or two wet quart of bran
with sweet milk (never use sour milky,
and stir in a teaspoonful of cayenne
pepper; also stir in all crumbs from
the table, and bits of fresh meat when
you have them; feed this to the fowls
just before noon. If you have sour
milk, curd it for them. If you have
them once in awhile; and onions also.
Keep plenty of clean water in shallow
iron dishes in their house, for their
drink; box, large enough for a hen to
wallow in. filled with ashes; a box filed
with small gravel stones, and a mar
row dish of slaked lime, should also be
kept in their house. These boxes
SAoulu OO 1hPplCo OSSoolohctilS
filled with fresh material. Hang a
cabbage within their reach, for them
to peck at when the ground is covered
with snow. The droppings under the
roosts should be taken up each morn
ing and put on the manure heap.
A mixture of smallish breeds is bet
ter for all purposes than any one par
ticular breed. Chickens Matched in
April and May will lay in November
and December. When you set a hen
put fourteen or fifteen eggs under her.
Set two at a time if possible, as one
hen can usually care for both broods.
When setting hen, put shovelful of
earth in the nest first Hollow it out,
nest fashion, put little straw on the
earth, then the eggs (that is. if she does
not sit on the ground). When a hen
wants to sit, and you don't wish her to
do so, shut her in one of the chicken
coops. and feed her we'll. You will need
q number of chicken coops. A very
good way to make them is to take two
wide boards four feet long, stand two
ends together, like a house roof, then
nail strips of boards on each side,
little apart, but not wide enough to
admit rat or weasel. When the
chickens are all Matched (Which will
be some three weeks after setting)
shut the hen and chickens in coop,
and keep her confined a week or so.
You can raise one edge of the coop
enough for the chickens to run out
during the day. In a week or so let
the hen out with her chickens from
nine:a- M. till four p. NJ, on pleasant
days.
Chickens should not be fed any thing
except corn meal (bran and alp wet
with clean water. Feed them all they
will eat every two hours During the
daytime0 at first, and lengthen the
time of feeding as they grow older.
Raise enough chickens every other
wear for "a new stock, then sell off all
the others. Keep seven or eight
ROSTERS with the one hundred hens,
At Christmas trade these roosters for
others, with some of your neighbors.
If all these directions are strictly fol-
lowed. the fowls will not be troubled
with many diseases, or infested with
lice. Each hen will lay, during the
year, On an average, ten dozens OF
eggs, besides raising a brood of chick
ems. This / knew from experiences
Mrs. III. c. Wilkinson, tn Ohio Farmer.
A Sufficient Objection.