Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1892-09-16
GUINEA FOWL.


GUINEA FOWL.
The guineas are also the most trust
worthy watchdogs. If taught to roost
in the hennery or close to it they will
give the loudest alarms as soon as an
enemy approaches. Dogs, foxes and
human beings alike attract their atten-
ton and they keep up the shrill cries
until the enemy has left the place. A
great many poultrymen try to keep O.
few guineas in their focks simply for
this one purpose of giving the alarm
when chicken thieves come around.
+ The hens always hide their nests, and
often in very obscure places, but if one
watches them carefully in the breeding
season they are easily discovered. They
always make a shrill noise when they
come off the nest, and this always be-
trays them to those OH the watch. All
the hens of a flock lay in one nest, and
in such a place it is not to
find from $50 to 200 eggs.
i, Each guinea hen that is good for
much will lay about 1875 eggs a year,
and these can generally be sold for
prices that range a little less than chick
IN eggs. It should be remembered,
however, that the COS. Of feeding the
guineas has practically been nothing,
while the hens of the common fowls
have required heavy feeding all the year
around. One guinea hen will bring into
the world a big brood of young ones,
and these car generally be sold at a
fair price. The eggs can be Matched
under the hens in the poultry house or
in the incubator. 1t takes about four
weeks for them to hatch.
In robbing the nest care should be
taken not to touch it with the hands.
Z The guinea hen can tell Immediately if
the hands have touched the nest, and she
will leave it Immediately, seeking an
other place. But if the eggs are re-
moved with a stick she will never desert
the nest, even if the eggs are taken out
nearly every day or two.-Annie G.
Webster in American C%ultivator.
A Grain Ration for Steers on Grass.
A Missouri correspondent writes that
he has a bunch Of steers in good Aeshy
condition, weighing about 1000 pounds
each, that he wishes to sell in Decem-
Der. Grass is washy and he thinks of
feeding a grain ration to hurry up the
f~attening process and make more solid
beef. Corn is ffty-six cents per bushel.
bran ten dollars per ton, oi]meal twenty.
two. He inquiries what form Of ration
I would recommend, tho whole to cost
say fifteen or sixteen cents per head per
day. The pastures are bluegrass, timo.
thy and white clover.
At the prices named bran is the cheap.
est feed in the list and I should use it
literally in the ration. Start with ten
pounds of bran and five of corn. This
will cost ten cents per head per day.
AS the fattening period progresses corn
will come down in price and should be
increased in the ration, cutting down on
the bran. Some oilmeal might be fed
also toward the close of the period, espe.
cially for the purpose of making a glossy
coat and giving the animal a finished
appearance. 1t is a little unusual to rec.
ommend bran for fattening steers, but
in q case like this I should not hesitate
for a moment to use it in the way here
mentioned. The nitrogen and phosphates
in the bran are alone worth IL large part
Of what the bran costs, ana the drop.
pings on the pasture will tend to make
it very rich.-Professor w. A.. Henry in
Breeders Gazette.