Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-11-21
The Poultry Yard.

himself we'll informed on prices. The
farmer who has done this for several years
and kept record will be able to come very
close 70 the time when prices will bc up,
and in advance Of the market, by compar-
ing the prices Of previous wears, rs they
keep somewhat in the same channel every
year. Whenever Il cold northwest wind
comes. followed hy snowstorm. the
probability i that eggs will be high, not
because of difficulty of transportation, as
such drawbacks are but temporary, but
because a change OF weather affects the
laying of hens. All the eggs do not come
from nearby locations, and the supply
from those hens that are able TO he out of
doors during mild weather will be short
ened by the changed conditions Of the
hens, due 10 cold and sudden storms.
When eggs begin 10 get scarce the far
mer should be willing TO buy the best egg
producing food, which is lean meat. 1t
may apparently be more costly than grain,
but it will he the cheapest of all foods
just at the time when eggs are high, as 1t
will induce the hens To lay more of them,
and we may repeat what we have before
st tied that one egg per week Will pay
for the food of the hen, while thpc eggs
will give twice the profit that can he Sc
cured from two eggs.
Sometimes an addition 10 the food of a
substance rich in nitrogen, carbon and
mineral matter will start the hens to laying
because it supplies them with some needed
substance. For instance half a pound of
lnseed meal. given three times n week to
20 hens and first mixed with ground grain,
has been known to start all the hens TO lay
ing A mess of cut bone and meat will
also make wonderful change if the hens
have been kept mostly on grain: warmth
also is an excellent assistant. Make the
hens scratch in the leaves. 1t is better to
scatter corn and wheat in litter than to put
it in a trough, as each hen will then have
TO work for her share, and the greedy hens
cannot rob those that are timid.
Many experiments have been made to
determine how soon the eggs from flock
become fertile after a male is introduced,
and also how long after the male is re
moved will the eggs hatch that were laid
after his removal. An experiment recently
made showed that when a new male was
introduced two eggs We're fertile Tested
by hatching} Is hours thereafter. The
third day H. eggs were fertile, the max
imum being reached. ON the eighth day.
Forty Lcghorn hens We're used. in three
runs, with three males. The males were
then removed and the eggs saved, being
placed under sitting hens. All the eggs
laid on the fourth day We're fertile On
the fifth day there We're two eggs not
fertile. On the eighth day all We're fertile
but one. The eggs seemed fairly fertile
until the 18th day, but after that time the
e I. Ii, a..l,.,
portion of those laid on the 18th day pro
duccd chicks. The experiment is a valu-
able one, and shows that for about ten
days after the male has been removed the
eggs will hatch with as much certainty
as will eggs laid the first day after his
removal.
Il may not be known that nearly all
kinds Of feathers are salahlc if from dry
picked fowls. Any of the commission
merchants will receive them ON consign-
mcnt The quilts from the second and
third joints of the wing of the turkey are
used for making feather busters. Feather
bone now creates demand for the large
quilts Of both geese and turkeys. Dry
chicken feathers are used for cushions, and
the feathers from the large Pekin and
Aylcsburv ducks (Which are whitc) are
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