The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1897-12-31

ana the lOOu ItQuIlSiiS"'''
cember l, we put lorty -siN
chickens, including several Varle-
ties of birds into the poultry
house. The weather at that time was
quite warm and they were fed per uay
five pounds Of feed in the morning anu
two hounds in the evening, the morn
ing feed being table scraps, such as
meat pieces Of bread, boiled and trled
potatoes, and such material as usually
comes from a boarding table. lhelr
ration of grain consisted OF wheat
screenings, which was composed prlh-
cipally of small berries OF wheat anu
cracked wheat. AS the weather got
colder. their food gradually increased
until they took on the 31st day Oh De
cember eleven and three-fourths
pounds of scraps in the morning ana
eleven and half pounds of wheat IN
the evening. During the month OF
January the feed ration remained
about the same. January 20 a large
stove was put into the house, ana
fire started with Ignite coal. On the
31st of January the feed had decreas-
ed to six pounds in the morning ana
eight and three-fourths in the even
ing. The last of March four and a hall
pounds mornings and four and three
fourths evenings. The total amount OF
fuel burned from the goth OF January
to the 1st of April cost $3.50. during
the month of January previous to the
use of the stove, the average number
of eggs per day was "a, the remain
ing of the month from the 21st to the
end. it was 3-11, showing the lnnu-
ence that heat eXerted upon the pro-
duction of eggs. The question natur-
! ally arises, can the farmer, under the
conditions existing on the ORDINARY
farm. afford to take care of his poultry
by furnishing artificial heat? An ex-
animation of the above figures SHOWS
that but half the food is consumed
and that the egg production is more
than doubled. With eggs worth 20
cents per dozen at this season OF the
year and food at the ordinary prices,
it should seem to me that It would
not only be economy to heat the poul-
try house, but would be source OF
great profit, especially after arrange
ments had once been completed, SO
that it would require but little extra
work.
Feeding for Eggs.-That food has az
much to do with the egg production as
it has with beef or butter, there is but
little question. We placed two pens OF
fowls, under exactly the same condi-
tons, as far as the temperature, room
and care were concerned, but fed them
with an entirely different object in
| view. One pen we wished for breed
ing purposes and did not want them to
lay until the breeding season opened
so that we can get more steady egg
production than if they were made to
lay during the entire winter. The
other pen it was not intended to use at
! all for breeders, but to produce the
greatest number of eggs possible, at
the time of year when they would
bring the highest price. During the
month of December, 1885, the pen which
was intended for laying experiment,
contained nineteen pullets, and the
one intended for breeding purposes
contained sixteen pullets. During this
month the laying pen laid siXty-three
eggs, the non-laying pen no eggs Dur
ing the month of January the laying
pen 124 eggs, the nonlaying pen seven
eggs. During the month of February,
the laying pen 100 eggs and the non
laying pen twelve eggs. During the
month of March the laying pen 16S
and the non-laying pen forty-three.
During the month Of April, the laying
pen 129, and the non-laying 1879.
We began the last of March to get
our breeding pen, which has been so
far designated as the ''non-laying pen"
into good laying trim, with the results
as above stated. From this time on,
the breeders, although less in number
than the other pen, laid great many
more eggs. For the month Of May the
laying pen laid 142 eggs, the non-lay-
ing pen 9S1 eggs. The method of feed
ing that was employed to bring this
about was substantially as follows:
The morning feed for those which
were intended to produce eggs consist
ed Of boiled lean meat, scraps from the
table, the fat having been removed,
wheat screenings, with constant drink
ing water. For the evening feed, wheat
screenings what they wanted to eat,
mixed with corn twice per week.
Those which were not intended for
producing eggs were fed on wheat
screenings Of poorer quality with corn.
These gradually increased in weight
until they had the appearance of being
over-fat. This pen, although not put to
laying until the LIST or April, averaged
15015 eggs per hen during the season.
They we're pure bred Plymouth
Rocks. The other which was put to
laying during the entire winter aver
aged 1853 eggs per hen. The average
price of the eggs was Is cents per
dozen. The average price of those
which did not begin until April l was
liz cents per dozen, at regular mar
ket prices. This shows a marked diff
ference in the average price, due prln-
cipally to the high price of eggs dur