Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1892-10-07

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HENS THAT PAID a MORTGAGE.
A New York Hen Farm Where No Incu-
/ bators Are Used.
The stock is pure White Leghorn,
with the exception Of a few common
fowls which are kept for sitters. The
houses nov number eighteen which
together accommodate ! 200 hens. The
farm Of $50 acres is run entirely for
poultry. The crops and sl1imlnilk are
used to feed the fowls, butter being a
secondary product. The soil, a gravelly
loan inclined to sand in some portions,
is capable of producing cereal and root
crops in abundance, and is good fruit
land. There is some pasture and mea-
dow land. Although wheat, corn and
j potatoes are raised to a certain extent,
! the staple is a mixed crop of oats, peas
! and barley, which is easily harvested
with a binder.
This mixture is ground, and an excel
lent meal is the result. Fourteen of the
houses are grouped near the dwelling,
and there are no fence restrictions. A,
cook room is connected with the dwell
ing, and each morning a large box is
filled with the hot mess, placed with a
; barrel of water upon a stoneboat, and
hauled from house to house by teams.
The methods are Of the old style, that
is, no incubators o. breeders are used,
no eggs are packed, and the build
ings lire cheaply built, and not in q
way to secure a great degree of
warmth. The hens, however. are fed
enough during the winter months to
keep them healthy, and the floors are
covered with straw, which when worked
down, is drawn out upon the land.
Behind each house a shelter has been
formed of rails covered with straw.
This enlarges the run, and when fright
ened the hens go into it at any time Of
the year. An eighth of a mile from the
house the farm is cut by a ravine in
which there is an abundance of spring
water. Four substantial houses have
been built along this ravine, and each
year the most promising pullets are
transported to these buildings. A s,ufa-
cient number Of nonrelated male birds
are obtained, and all the eggs for hatch
ing are taken from these houses. The
fowls have unrestricted range, but the
focks are too far apart to mingle. The
hens are abundantly supplied with oyster
shells and gravel at all times; the latter
is taken from a bed on the farm.
The fowls are fed only twice a day
morning and afternoon. The first ration
is cooked the day before it is used, in q
large furnace kettle, and warmed up
each morning. It is a mixture of meal,
bran, middlings, often whole grain,
milk. water, salt, apples, beans, pota-
toes, pumpkins or other vegetables. Mr.
, Subway buys scorched or wet grain in
large quantities, often by the carload.
The damp grain is distributed around
on the available floor space in barns,
outbuildings and garrets, and is shov-
eled over at intervals until thoroughly
dry. When LII elevator fire occurs any
where within reasonable distance Mr..
Subway usually obtains some of the
scorched wheat, and has sent. as far as
Baltimore for it. Hardly n corr is
fed.
The Matching and rearing Of chicks
have been the work principally of the
women folks. A building is selected for
sitting hens, and a row Of thirty or forty
nests is made of boards all around the
interior next to the wall on the ground.
The nests are divided only by board par
titions. Great care is taken to obtain
enough hens to fill all the nests, and
they are all set at one time. The eggs
are placed in the nests, and the hens are
put upon them after dark. The hens
are shut on for a day by boards placed
over the nests. An abundance of food and
water is set in the center of the house.
After that no trouble is experienced with
the hens, as they do not try to double
up" as long as there is one nest apiece all
around. At Matching time the hens are
left entirely to themselves. If there is
danger of. lice, a quantity Of sulphur is
put in the nests before the broods are
taken off. Thus hens and chicks get
the full benefit of the warm fumes that
arise from it.
When strong enough the broods are
removed to an orchard on the north side
Of the house. Here are scores of coops,
and after q few days the hens are al
lowed to range at will with their chicks
among the trees and currant bushes.
The hens do not fight each other or mo-
lest strange chicks. This is because all
are white. When a hen matches by
chance a dark colored chick, the others
lose no time in pecking it to death. A
number of long, low shelters have been
built here under which the broods gath
er during storms, and eventually many
Of the growing chicks make these their
home.
On this farm large profits have been
realized in spite Of comparatively low
prices, as eggs in any amount are not
expected before the middle Of February.
The prices received range from fourteen
to twenty-five cents per dozen, a few
early eggs being sold at much higher
figures. But at any time of year these
eggs sell for two to three cents above
the market price. The eggs are all Of