Thomas County cat., 1890-10-09
THE POULTRY-YARD.
The Case of Laying Hens.

II you want your hens to lay give them
food best calculated to furnish egg-form-
ing material and gently stimulate, ma
terial to furnish lime for the shell and
meat to make blood. Remember that
there is continual drain on the re-
sources of the regular laying hen. In
summer on extended runs hens will al
most or entirely find their own egg
making material. But in winter and in
confinement these must be supplied
regularly. One simple rule with adult
fowls is to give them as much food as
they will eat eagerly and no more.
When practicable make laying hens
scratch and work for their feed. Exer-
else conduceS to prolificacy, while mop
ing about and over-feeding results in too
much fat to allow the production of a
full quota of eggs Food for laying
fowls is one of the subjects considered in
the poEltry report of the experiment
farm at Ottawa, Canada. Following
are some of the directions given:
In the cold weather of winter warm
meal in the morning is necessary to start
and keep up a steady supply of eggs. A
good plan is to throw all the waste of
the kitchen, in the shape of scraps,
pieces of bread, uneaten vegetables, &C.,
into a pot, heat up in the morning until
nearly boiling, and then mix bran, pro-
vender, shorts or whatever is most
abundant or cheap on the farm into a
hot mess, duSting in a small quantity of
red pepper before mixing. Let the mix
ture stand for few minutes until the
meal is nearly cooked: then feed in a
clean trough, with laths over it, to keep
the hens from jumping in and fouling or
wasting the feed in their eager anxiety.
Feed only enough of this soft stuff to
barely satisfy, never enough to gorge.
when hen has had so much food that
she will go into corner and NOPE she
has had too much, and if the over-feed-
ing is continued will soon cease to lay.
The laying hens are the active ones. If
food is given at noon it should be oats,
and scattered among the litter on the
floor. This meal should be light. The
last feed in the afternoon should be gen.
erouS. Each hen should be sent to rooSt
with full crop to carry her over the
long night. Green food. in the shape of
vegetables usually grows on every farm,
will be relished by the layers.
Cabbages, turnipS or carrots are gen.
toes boiled and mixed with provender or
bran is good change for the evening
meal. Some of the above named vegeta-
bles should always be in the pens of the
layers. Red clover hay, steamed,
chopped and mixed with bran. and given
while hot is one of the healthiest foods
for the morning meal. Meat in some
shape must be given at least twice a
week. to furnish blood-making material.
Hens fed on meat lay well. If given no
meat the hens will eat their eggs and
pick feathers from one another.
As cold weather approaches provision
must be made for keeping laying hens
warm, especially at night. Hens will
bear great deal of cold in the sunshine,
and will not stop laying if they roost
warm. The Importance of warm quar-
terS. with good ventilation. can hardly
be over-estimated. \ very good ar
rangement for a hen house for winter,
suggested by one authority in such mat
tiers. consists in making the ceiling of
rails about six feet above the floor.
These rails are covered with soft hay or
coarse swamp hay of any kind. The
roosts are placed about three feet high
above the tioor.-Ne,c York World.