Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1901-03-28
Bellows Falls Times
Bellows Falls News
Halliday on Hens.

AsS2o prize essay written by "A. A.
Halliday of this place appeared in a re-
cent issue of ''The Practical Farmer"
published in Philadelphia. The article
is illustrated with cut of Mr.. Halla-
days poultry house. We give some of
the many good suggestions the writer
offers.
Poultry on the farm is, l believe, the
most important and the most abused
stock the farmer owns. The most i'm
portant, for, if rightly managed, it is the
most profitable. The most abused for,
with many farmers anything will do for
the hens" A large number of farmers
who own good buildings for the accom-
mediation of their horses, COWS, sheep
and swine, and give this stock the very
best care and feed, think that any place
is good enough for their hens.
We keep about 100 laying hens, and
raise 500 or 600 chicks, which we sell.
for broilers, roasters and for breeding
purposes. Varieties are white Wyan-
dottes and White Langshans. Our hen
house is 12X65 feet, with a two-Story
part 10x24. The upper part is used for
storing coops, ETC., in, and the lower
DdIJ lOI d gram loOlll, anu Ill OllC lopiil
we have pump there is a spring under
meath the building), feed cooker and a
Mann green bone cutter "a power ma
chine. The house has six pens 12X10
and an outside run for each pen about
I5X100 feet, at the back of the house.
In front and around the house are about
four acres of plum and cherry orchard,
about two-thirds of the land being in
rrhic apol,orI &c fancaH on1 with
a temporary wire fence through the
hens each day to have almost unlimited
range during the spring, before the
chickens need much of the room.
In winter the morning feed consists of
cut clover rowen, scalded and mixed
with one part provender (corn and oats
ground), one part fine middlings and one
part shorts. Meat meal is given in this
warm feed every other day. Days when
we do not feed green bone.) Every
other day at noon we give full feed of
fresh cut bone, feeding little at time,
and going through the pens two or three
times, feeding just what the fowls will
eat up clean and no more. The alternate
days we feed wheat or buckwheat at
noon. And every night, sifted cracked
corn and oats, all they will eat, and gen
orally there is enough left in the litter to
keep them busy until breakfast the next
morning, which they get about 9 A. NJ
in winter.
My house is built very warm and has
double floor with paper between, AND
the floor is covered every summer with
dry, clean sand to depth of or {
inches; each pen is abundantly supplied
with dry leaves, which are gathered il
the fall and stored in sacks in the upper
story of the hen house. The house ha.
one large window in each pen, which i.
open every day except duriug driving
storms, and is ventilated by means O.
large cupola on the two story part
which is in the middle of the house
thus the hens get no direct drafts OF
them from above. This plan may no
be the best in the world, but we have
never had sick or ailing hen in thi
house, and [ have not seen a flock O
hens of the size that laid more eggs
During the month of January, 1900, ont
hundred hens laid 1852 eggs; February
1179 March, 1915; April, 1851, or 421 81:
| dozens during the first four months o
1900; at an average price of 80 cents pei
| dozen, $126.40 at a cost for feed of no
exceeding the odd change of $26.4O. O.
course if we had fed less rowen and more
grain, the cost would have been greater
and the number of eggs less; fully one
third, in bulk, of all the feed was clover
rOwen.
We also feed good many vegetables
both raw and cooked; by running then
through the bone cutter it cuts them VI
| fine SO they are readily eaten and mucf
| relished by the fowls. Oyster shells ant
grit are kept constantly before them
| Also pure spring water. Wooden shut
| tiers are provided for all the windows
which, closed at night in cold weather
do much toward keeping an even tenn
! perature in the building. The roost
are arranged above the droppings boards
and hinged to the side of building Sc
they can be turned up out of the way fol
cleaning off the droppings boards. The
nests are under the droppings boards
and are so arranged that the hens ente
them from the back side. A board let
down in front for getting the eggs; thu
the nest is somewhat dark, and we art
never troubled by the hens eating thei
eggs. The droppings boards are cleaned
off every morning 1865 days in the year,
and fine coal ashes are sifted over thu
roosts and droppings boards. Thu
manure is taken direct to the orchard
and scattered about, and 1 am confiden