St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-02-21
A LARGE POULTRY FARM.

| have just started a poultry and
egg farm on a little larger scale than
is practiced to any great extent i'll
the east. | am wintering just 1000
| LAYING hens besides about 20 varieties
of fancy poultry. AS l do not wish
any free advertising | will not name
what | breed, my object being to tell
your readers how l feed. In the first
place it would be well for me to men
ton, that | am depending entirely on
my egg-farm for my support and am
not in the business for mere pleasure,
so it will be seen that | am working
the hen business for what it is worth
and my experience may probably be
of value to some.
For 1000 laying hens, l give for a
morning meal a cooked mash con-
sisting of bran two parts and meal
one part, bone meal, cracked oyster
shell or broken crOckery and powder
ed charcoal l first boil the water in
a 60 gallon kettle stove, then mix in
the mkt ure and let it cook well and
have it SO it will cr-umble when done.
am particular about not getting it
SOggv or too wet; all stock is fed by
6 a. M Atnoon | scatter boiled oats
among dried leaves and let them
scratch. At night feed boiled corn.
You will notice that nearly every
thing | feed is "cooked;" somebody
will probably say, why all this
| trouble or nonsense? Let me give
my reasons for this extra work and
probably some one will agree with
me; in the first place a cooked morn
ing mash is appreciated by the fowl,
especially on cold mornings, and
again | believe it increases egg pro-
duction secondly, scalded oats won't
stick in the crop of hen, they are
more bulky when cooked and are a
cheap food. Boiled corn is more
bulky and lis not fattening" like
hard grain. | am a sincere advocate
ing hens. Most people feed too much
instead of not enough. | am not
stingy, but l believe in keeping my
hens after the fashion of good trot-
ter, neither fat nor lean, yet healthy.
| forgot to add that after cooking
my feed | cool it down in q long
trough and never feed it too hot; in
stead of meal | alternate with shorts
in the morning mash. Every bit OF
food l give my fowls is seasoned with
salt, not quite as much as we would
use for our own use.
Boiled pumpkin and boiled cabbage
is fed twice week. Y and the water for
cooking same is used next morning
for cooking mashes. Second crop
clover hay is cut in One-half inch
lengths, scalded and fed atnOOn-day.
Wheat, buckwheat and rye some
times enter into my bill of fare. Now
| have given you my system of feed
ing for egg production, and if any
reader can tell me cheaper or bet
ter method | would be very glad to
hear it. Beside all this trouble, we
have every accommodates for our
boilers, proper buildings and every
thing to insure success and last if not
least, continual warm water for the
fowls.-[Dr. G. D. Johnson, in Iowa
Farmer and Breeder
Mrs. Maria F. Montgomery, widow
of the late Gen. Bacon Montgomery
of st. Joseph, Mo, has died. Mrs.
Montgomery distinguished herself
during the war by carrying dispatch
es across the state of Missouri to
Gen. Lyon. At one time she was sus-
pected and taken prisoner by the
nOn-UniOnists and searched. The
dispatches were concealed between
the sole of her foot and stocking, and
were not found. She afterward de
livered them to Gen. Lyon in person.