The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1892-06-03

AT1NMN3 M . AHAAss8e
AT a meeting of the Lancaster,
Pennsylvania Agricultural and Horti
cultural society, DIR. G. Greene read
the following essay upon the subject
of poultry raising:
For forty years, with occasional
interruptions, it has been my fortune
las boy and man to care for poultry,
and some experience ! have gathered
during these years / propose now to
make public for all who are interested
in the matter, and for convenience
sake j will arrange the facts under
different heads.
l. Hens, if properly kept, are
source Of profit and comfort to their
owner.
2. The eggs can be increased in size
and richness by proper feeding of the
fowls.
8. They require variety Of food,
and get excessively tired Of one kind.
4. The egg contains almost all the
constituents Of the human body, and
hence the hen must have a variety Of
food to construct 1t.
8. No other product of animal or
vegetable life contains substances
exactly like the albumen and yolk of
an egg.
6. The hen ceases laying when
improperly fed, or when in a diseased
condition.
z. They require warm, clean, proper
ly ventilated houses for winter months.
8. If by neglect vermin infest the
bird roosts and house, they should
at once be removed, as they are dele
terionS to the health Of these friends
of man.
8. The droppings of hens should
be occasionally removed They should
not be allowed to accumulate. The
floors should be covered with loan or
sand
10. AS hens require a great deal of
water, drinking only a small quantity
at a time, it should be supplied abund
anlly and kept clean and fresh.
II. AS they require and mnst have
carbonate aud phosphate of lime for
their shells it must be given them in
unstinted quantities and in the most
convenient manner for them to pick
and swallow into the crops.
II. These requirements will be
found in old plaslering, broken oyster
shells, and best of all, in fresh bones,
with some of the gristIe and meal
attached. It should be cut on a log
with Ratchet every day; the strife
made by fowls TO get at it when
offered them will plainly prove to you
that they like and need it. The in
stincts of the hen 10 summer, with q
proper range, will teach 1t what and
where to collect the variety of food
required. In winter, when honsed,
man must supply II to them.
10. AS hens have no teeth and drop
their food into their oraRs nDmasti
Gated, in order to digest it they must
have access TO stones and gravel,
which being swallowed, take the place
of teeth 10 the stomach, hence they
must have q liberal supply of gravel.
IA. The application of sulphur
sprinkled upon the fowls, while roost.
ing or otherwise, with a pepper box,
will destroy yermin. Coal oil applied
to their roosts in small quantities will
also kill parasites. Two or three
drops of whale oil dropped occasion.
ally on the back of a hen or any other
bird will kill the lice.
Is. The nest must occasionally be
renewed and kept clean. Straw is
better than hay. Tobacco stems
covered with straws is an excellent
prevention of insect breeding, especial
" when they are setting.
lG, When clucking and not needed
for mothers, the quickest way 10 stop
their chicken raising desire is 10 put
them iu boxes or cages without any
thing TO- lay upon except the board.
II. A few fowls 10 seperale pens
are much more profitable and more
easily kept healthy than in large
Numbers.
Is. They require and must have 10
winter green food, such as grass,
turnIps, beets or cabbage leaves.
10. The temperature of a coop
should not be allowed TO be lower
than As degrees in winter, and should
be most of the time up to so degrees.
20. Corn and wheat mfddliDgs,
corn unground, oats, bread and other
Stops from the house should all be fed,
changing as often as twice a week.
81. Like COWS, horses and other
stock, harsh, treatment Injuries them.
They like a kind master, and know.
mis- voice As quick as heard.
20. Hens should be killed when
8 years old, as they lay less eggs
every year after the third, and they
naturally become diseased, and not so
good eating when they become older.
30. The sooner in the spring you
commence setting the hens for the
purpose of raising chickens the better;
late chickens generally fare badly.
"a. Pallets rarely make good
three and four-yearrold hens