Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1901-11-14


Mr.. Hyle is careful to so feed his
hens that they will remain in vigor-
Gus health. He is careful not to burn
out their digestive systems by an ex-
elusive grain diet. The morning feed
usually consists of warm mashes, the
digestion of which is easy. This saves
large part Of the tax upon the dl-
gestive organs. In the middle Of the
day wheat or some other small grain is
thrown into cut straw or chaff, and the
biddies have to work for every grain
they get. At night an abundant feed
of corn is given. In this way his
birds escape the attacks of indigestion
so common to many carelessly fed
flocks.
In conjunction with the corn carni-
val recently held at Peoria, there was
small display of poultry. A major
ity of the exhibitors were local breed
ers, but the largest exhibitor by far
was Geo. A. Hyle of Washington, H.,
well known to many readers of the
Farmers Review. Among the birds
s-own by him we noticed Buff Ply
mouth Rocks. Barred Plymouth Rocks,
White Plymouth Rocks, Muscovy
ducks, white and colored Alysbury
ducks, Rouen ducks, Pekin ducks,
Embden, Toulouse and China geese,
and white Holland turkeys. These
are but few of the varieties handled
by Mr.. Hyle. Being asked how he
could successfully manage so many
kinds of fowls, the owner replied that
he did it by farming out some Of the
varieties on shares. Mr.. Hyle may do
this successfully, as he has number
Of relatives that are engaged in farm
ing, and on whose Judgment and ex-
perience he may depend. We have
heard of the same system being tried
elsewhere and failing. The success
of Mr.. Kyle illustrates the fact that
one man may succeed with the very
method that some other man has dis
carded.
At present he Is raising water fowls
without the assistance Of water for
SWIMMING purposes. He, however,
does not agree with those men that
say that water, except to drink, is not
an advantage to water fowls, but De.
lleves they will do better with ponds
in which to swim, as that is along
the lines of nature. He Is considering
the advisability Of constructing for
this purpose small swimming places,
cemented on the bottoms and sides to
keep the water clear. Into this wa
ter he would throw the corn fed the
birds and let them dive for 1t. This
would induce exercise, Just as with
hens the throwing of the wheat into
the chaff and compelling them to
scratch for it induces exercise. Water
fowls cannot be made to exercise by
having their grain thrown into mass
of cut straw; they refuse to initiate
the hen and scratch. Therefore 1t
is advisable to employ the measures
that nature has made apparent as APP
plying to them. There are, however.
some obstacles in the way of building
cemented ponds. The principal one is
the likelihood of the cement being
broken each winter by the action Of
frost This would be almost certain
to be the case II the cement were laid
on a clay foundation. The danger
may be obviated by making the i'm
mediate foundation under the cement
small stones or coarse gravel. Side
walks are in this way laid on all kinds
of soils, and, IL constructed of good
material, last indefinitely. The water
in such ponds might need to be
drawn off before heavy freezing
weather.-Farmers' Review.