The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1897-12-01
Some Mistakes OF the Farmers,

Why don't farmers have better sue
cess with their poultry, ID question
that we sometimes hear. They always
have poultry on their farms, they al
ways keep few hens, and in the
spring, when everybody's hens are lay
ing, they have eggs TO sell, and in the
autumn they have some chickens to eat
or sell; but they certainly fall far short
of their possibilities in this branch of
agriculture, and very, very far short of
the results which experienced poultry
men get What is wrong in their
methods? What should they do to get
the better results? A brief but con-
prehensive answer to these questions
would be the well known quotation
from the prayer book: "They have
done those things which they ought not
to have done, and have left undone
those things which they ought to have
done" If they would but apply their
intelligence to the question, as they do
to their dairy or other farm work, they
would soon adopt better methods, and
get spondingly better results. One
of their great mistakes is
KEEPING OLD AND YOUNG RUNNING
TOGETHER,
The average farmer keeps all OF his
birds, old hens, pullets and cockerels,
all running together in one large flock,
all getting the same food and the same
Indifferent care. The results of such
| laundering work are very unfortunate,
and this is one of the mistakes entailed
by free range" by not having houses
and yards in which TO conline the old
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adult fowls, the youngsters are turned
into it to keep them out of the garden
in summer; when the fowls can be
given free range again, after the gar
den is beyond injury, the youngsters
are spoiled irreparably. There are sew
eral reasons for this. One is the lice,
with which the old fowls are literally
infested, and with which the youngsters
soon become infested by contamina-
ton. A strong argument for keeping
the old and young birds separate is that
the lice can be so much better fought.
Annihlate the lice on the sitting hens,
rear the pullets without contamination
and we have taken long stride towards
immunity from that costly pest. Anoth'
er reason is that the young and grow
ing chicks do not get the proper food
to promote growth, and do not get a
sufficiently liberal ration to induce
growth. Growing chicks eat tremen-
dously, they seem to be almost all APP
petite, and where they are reared in
the company of the old fowls they get
only a scanty food supply at best, grow
but slowly, and are stunted, are smaller
in size than they ought to be. How
much of this stunted, understood con-
dition, which we see so much of in
farmers fowls, is due to scanty food
supply, and how much to other contri-
buting conditions, it is difficult to say.
Lice contribute materially to this fail
ure to attain full growth, lack of suf1i-
cient food and proper food assists, and
another aid is shutting them up for the
summer in foul houses and small runs
in which the ground has become I'M
speakably filthy and repulsive through
being in constant use for years.
Another serious difficulty where old
and young all run together is the con-
stent interference (nagging) of the
cockerels. The pullets would have a
better chance to grow if the Fostering
cockerels were kept away from them;
and the cockeres would grow better
also. 1t is remarkable how Indifferent
farmers are to this simple and common
sence method of lettering both the
pullets and cockerels; and yet, in
ninety-nine cases out of hundred no
attempt whatever is made to keep them
separate. The simplest method is to
sort out the cockerels and cOnfne them
in roomy yards, moving the pullets out
into the grass fields directly after the
hay is harvested, or putting them out
in the orchard, where they can have
the shade of the apple trees. If farm
ers knew of how much benefit chickens
were to grass fields and orchards they
would take much pains to have families
of them scattered about the farm. An
illustration of this came to our notice
in England this summer. A gentle
man who hasn't much land about his
house, pays neighbOring farmer two
pounds ($10) year for the privilege of
allowing two or three hundred chickens
to run over an adjoining field. The
farmer was rather 10th to rent the
privilege at first, some years ago, but
now has come TO see that the chickens
are of great benefit to the land, by scat
tering their droppings over it and de-
| otlOyluR SiCab quohIisiSo Va ibJo' iooo
insects, worms and grubs, and he tells
the gentleman he may let the chickens
run there for nothing; to be exact, he
says, " he could better afford to pay for
having the chickens run there than
have them kept off the land" The
gentleman, however, says he prefers
the ten dollars year, which secures
the absolute right to the chickens rang
ing the field, and then there is no OPP
portunity for any question to arise.
1t is remarkable that farmers do not
see the benefits which accrue from this
colonizing of the pullets about the
fields after the grass is cut off. The
pullets would destroy immense num-
bers of injurious insects, grubs, and
worms, which now prey upon the crops,
would enrich the ground by their drop
pings scattered far and wide; and, last,
but not least, would grow much faster,
grow larger, and be greatly benefited in
health. To have pullets mature
promptly and then lay well when eggs
bring forty cents dozen, they must
have chance to grow, and they get
| that chance IN GROW nv hpinp given free