The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1901-11-05
Poultry Briefs.

pIOuldDle Will depend on DOtn the SIT
uation Of the farmer and on the vari-
ETY. Of ducks to be raised. The farm
er that Is near a body of water or has
a large water area on his farm can
utilize i. as a feeding ground for ducks.
IL he expects to sell his birds In the
general market he should not depend
on the common duck, but should use
only the highly developed breeds like
the Black Cayuga, the Rouen, the
Aylesbury and Pekin. These all prove
very acceptable to the growing public.
The young OF these breeds are very
hardy and soon attain a good weight.
Stock intended for breeding should
never be permi..ed to get fat, as the
breeding powers will be greatly les
sened If not entirely destroyed. The
birds that are intended for the pro-
duction of future focks should be Sc
lected now and kept by themselves.
We know that on most farms no such
distinction is made but all are per-
mitted to run together. At this time
OF year a good part of all the poultry
is being fattened for market and corn
Is fed Unfortunately. This is the
proper thing for tine birds that are to
be sold, but is an unwise thing for
those that are to be kept for service
next year. Thus, two distinct meth
DDS Of feeding should be adopted, one
preparatory for marketing and the
other preparatory for egg production.
This applies as much to the male
birds as it does to the laying hens.
According to reports from South
Water street, Chicago, the supply of
chickens for the holiday season prom
ises to be about the same as last year.
The supply Of turkeys is reported larg-
er than usual, as is indicated by the
low prices now prevailing In the re-
tail markets. A young spring turkey
or first quality can be purchased at
IL cents per pound, and this was the
price even a month ago. The low
prices will greatly stimulate the con-
sumption of this kind of poultry. The
cause OF the large supply of turkeys is
said to be the good prices that have
prevailed for some years, added to the
favorableness of the season for the
raising Of pou..s. The supply OF ducks
and geese is reported somewhat less
than last year. We, however. see no
indication hat the prices for ducks
and geese will be high, as the album
dance of the turkey supply will have
a tendency to lessen the demand for
ducks and geese.
One writer on poultry, in a book
Issued by him, says: las the result
of my experience of nearly half a CEN
tury, / do not hesitate to affirm that
no one breed of fowls has been taken
In hand by the fancier that has not
been seriously deprecated as a use
full variety" This is a very sweeping
charge, and doubtless has some truth
in it, though we notice that some of
the writer's in the poultry papers de-
clare it untrue. There is no doubt
that the work of the fanciers during
the last half of a century has been
more along the line Of feather, sym
metry and of beauty rather than
along the line of utility, especial
ly when we consider the egg producing
breeds. So iG is today that If a man
wants a more than ordinarily useful
breed he must to some extent build it
up himself. Tho fanciers, however,
are not to blame for the course they
have taken. They have responded to
the demands of the general market,
which calls for qualities that are WIS.,
lble to the eye.
In some experiments carried on at
n OF the western stations two lots
Of hens were fed differently, with the
purpose of a%scertaining what the eff
feet would be on the winter produc-
ton of eggs. Ono lot was fed merely
wheat screenings ana corn. while the
other and more favored lot had a va
riety Of food and meat in abundance.
The lot fed ON wheat and corn alone
did not begin to lay till nearly March,
but they laid during the year an av-
erage Of $50 eggs. The better treated
lot only laid 1853 eggs each. But a
very large share Of the eggs from the
well-fed hens came in December. IAN
uary and February, when eggs were
high and the average price obtained
for them was is cents per dozen. The
eggs from the hens fed on wheat and
corn brought only IL cents per dozen.
Thus the eggs from the hens that
had a mixed ration brought $3.50
while the eggs from the other lot
brought S1.65. a difference OF 65 cents
per fowl for the year. The reason is
Obvious to every poultryman. The
other hens matured very slowly and
did not reach the point where laying
was a necessity till the time when the
price of eggs fell to the lowest point.
Hardness of Butter.
At the last meeting of the California
Dairymen's Association the question