Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1898-03-17
Poultry Range.

| - 81
Poultry Range.
Too little attention is paid to the
poultry range, which We often call
poultry yard. 1t is the custom OF
farmers to think that the yard Is a
thing Of little moment. On farml
where the poultry have the run of the
whole place this article does not apply.
But there are many farms and per-
maps should be more, where the poul-
try are kept shut up through good
part Of the season. In such q case 1t
Will pay to give a range so large that
the fowls will not be able to eat all
the grass that grows on it. There Is
no economy in restricting the range
and feeding grain. Grass is one OF the
cheapest feeds that can be fed.
Just how large the range should be
will depend on many things. One OF
these is the richness Of the soil and the
luxuriance Of the growth Of grass on
1t. We have seen new lands that had
JUST been redeemed from q scrub OAK
forest, where the soil was so thin that
q small flock of fowls would in few
weeks completely denude Of grass .
large yard. But IL the land has been
cultivated and has a good blue grass
sod on 1t, and is in thriving condition
1t is safe to say that the area will sus-
tain In fair condition three times as
many fowls as the yard spoken Of, as
being reclaimed from scrub oak
forest and left with nothing but the
original nondescript grass on it.
Suppose you give an acre Of land
to fifty fowls. Will it not pay? We
think it will. In the first place the re-
turns from it will be without cost to
yourself. There is no blowing, NO SOW
ing, no cultivating, no reap1ng and
threshing. Almost the entire returns
Will be profits. The grass that grew
on it will have been turned into meat
and eggs. The hens will keep healthy,
and the saving to the life of the flock
Will be quite an item. Then, too, most
farms are so situated that the giving,
OF an acre of ground for such a pur-
pose is not a great matter. In many
anyway.
AS to fencing the yard, this need not
be great question in this age of cheap
wire. The larger the lot the less will
it cost to fence it per square rod.
Thus, if lot be two rods long and two
rode wide it will take eight rods, of
fencing to go around it. But if the
lot be four rods long and four rods
wide it will take but 16 rods to fence
it. If it be eight rods wide and eight
rods long it will take only 80 rods to-
fence it. On this presumption the first
lot will be rods in area, the second
16 in area and the third 81 rods in
area. Four foot woven wire fence may
be purchased at 40 cents per running
rod. On this basis the first lot will
cost for fencing each square rod, 80
cents, for each rod will require two,
linear rods of fencing. On the lot that
is four rods square the cost for fenc-
ing each square rod will be 40 cents,
as each square rod is fenced by one
linear rod. For the third lot the cost
will be only 20 cents for each square
| rod.
So we might extend the figures. II
the lot were 16 rods square the cost
would be 10 cents per rod. If it were
80 rods square the cost would be five.
cents per rod square. If the lot
were ga rods square the cost would be
21a cents per rod. A lot 1913 rods
square would cost III cents per square
rod. Finally if the lost were 256 rods
square the cost would be only 70 of
cent for every square rod of land.
This shows the economy of great OPP
erations. The big lot is the cheapest,
everything considered, and this is es-
pecially true in the fencing. OF course
we do not suggest that anyone build a
hen yard 256 rods square. The figures
are given to impress the truth of
great principle that we cannot afford
to ignore.
This is one of the great reasons why
it would be desirable to keep fowls in
large flocks were it not that they are
more likely to become the prey Of
diseases of contagious nature. A
large range is always desirable, but it
is difficult to have large range WITH
out having large flock of fowls.
In some yards the large range fur
nishes the fowls with goodly supply
Of fresh meat in the form of grass
hoppers. 1t is astonishing what large.
number of these insects inhabit a
single acre. If the acre patch be ex-
hausted by the industry of the hens,
a few hours suffice to replenish it.
Not only grasshoppers but hundreds OF
varieties of bugs and worms infest and
journey through this field, falling
swift prey to the, feathered sentinels.
With the green grass and fresh meat
the fowls are kept healthy and happy
and continue to manifest their content
by voluminous product of eggs.
Egg Records.
Send in the egg records. We doubt
mt that MANY ~ mr. readers hava hoon