Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1894-12-25
TIIE I,s,I,.

How 90 make hen. lay Al this time 81
the year, when egg. are bringing all the
say FROM - to % cents dofen, sccord-
ing "a ia. market iaCilitle. that the
farmer may have. l. the mO-, frequent
question that arises In the minds oi
those Who are Keeping poultry Tor
profit.
The question !. relatively an easy one
Ia ansssr,-therc l. no secret or magic
connected therewith, u but requires
that few chief fact. b. kept persistent
IN In ones mind and that they be a.
p.r.l.tently lived up to.
The hen has become, after all these
thousands Of years that she has been
undsr domesiication, literally a laying
machine. She l. machine that will
a. surely turn out sggs, az she !. surely
fed with the proper raw material, aud
kept we'll oiled. The aboy. condition.
being brought about, Biddy u compelled
to .hell out the eggs-.he cant help
herself.
III. factors concerned are but three,
aud ihese. are all wholly possible of ac-
cOmplishmeut. The iirst of these, the
proper housing oi the flock, has already
becn dW.llei upon; namely, that the
building be warm, that there be allow
"a about ten square feet of space per
hen; that the pen have southern
lighting, aud that the floor of th. pen
.hsIl b. of earth aud covered with litter.
IN. second factor. aud the most impor-
tant one, l. the matter 81 feeding. Upon
this rock more poultry ships are founder
"a than upon All others combined. II u
easier to make mistakes Ia the feeding
81 poultry than In any other Kind of live
stock. one can feed hen merely With
the result of keeping her alive. One can
also feed her for the purpose of plllng
up a certain amount III fat upon her car
css.. But one can also feed her for the
purpose aud with the result of getting
from l2O to l1j eggs out of her In the
course % year from the time .he be-
gins LAYING.
This l. the object for which the wide
awake poultrymtn keep. hens, because
Ia this way he has return for his time
aud labor expended, and has the siimu-
Ia. Of satisfactory results obtained.
Their morning feed, (and this should be
Ted a. early In the morning as they can
sse) should always consist Of warm
mash made of equal parts Of bran aud
ground ost. aud corn. The latter two
ingreiisnt. are usually tn be obtained si
feed stores, ground together and known
a.. ground feed. Into this should De- stir
red u haieyer Kind of cooked vegetable.
NAV be- at command, whether potatoes,
tuTnips, beets or carrots, or all Kinds
together. Table scraps Of whatever
nature are always Ia order. Into this
mash should daily be stirred either
ground bone meal, or better s,ill meal
scraps. A very good substitute foI
fresh meat, or cooked meat from The
table II this be- not present 10 sufficient
quantities, IL the ground beef meal fur
nishsd by dealers In poultry supplies
The writer feeds this entirely la the
morning mash, soaking sufficient guam
tity the night before, and Incorporating
n With the mash In the morning. \
great addition To this mixture, and ons
to which much Importance In its efirc'
upon egg-production IL to be attached
Is clover Tosen, cut very short and
steamed by pouring boiling water o'eI
II aud allow Ing IL IN stand an hour. M
times half the bulk Of the morning
m..h may consist of stesmed clover.
A. tn the amount of beef or animal
meal 10 allow for each hen, q half table
spoonful IL considered about the righ,
quantiiy. This mash should be fed IL
troughs, made long and narrow 40 that
all the hens may have access st thu
same time and crowdlng be prevented.
Never feed as much mash as the hen
are willing to eat. They should have
eaten up everything clean In the cours'
of three or four minutes, aud should b
eager for more. After the mssh hai
been eaten tb. hens should be still hun
CRY enough to begin picking sud scratch
Ing around among the litter OF the nool
of their pen for more food. They mus
not be fed AZ much ~ they would eat
else they will spend most of their tim'
upon the roost, waiting for the mex
feeding time to come around. NJ noon
perhaps q half hour before noon now
since the days are so short, throw Int
the chaff on the door OF their pen,