The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1901-03-05
DAIRY AND POULTRY.
INTERESTING CHAPTERS FOR
OUR RURAL READERS
How Successful Farmers Operate THIS
Department of the Farm - A Few
Hints as to the Care of Live Stock
and Poultry.


Poultry Briefs.
This Is the time Of year to purchase
stock for the breeding pens. The
prices at this time are more reasonable
than at any other season of the year.
The men that have a goodly lot of
birds on hand are anxious to realize
on them and must face a good deal of
competition from other fanciers. This
reduces the price.
There is little danger of cleaning out
poultry houses too often. We notice
that writer in an exchange says that
this cleaning out poultry house every
day is all nonsense. He may be right,
but the fellows that clean out the poul-
try house every day are merely erring
on virtues side. and it is well to let
them alone. The great difficulty with
most poultry houses is that they are
not cleaned out often enough. The
fowls have to suffer greatly during the
warm nights Of winter, when ammo
MIA is rising from the mass o. fer
menting droppings.
The number of poultry shows being
held this year in different parts of the
country is said to be greater than usual
which fact speaks much for the con-
dition of the poultry industry. These
shows are bound to have a very salu-
tary influence on the development of
the poultry industry, especially as to
the raising of the standard of breeding
among farmers.
A California paper publishes COM
munication from a reader who thinks
he has discovered a new poultry pest,
which he describes as something like
a bed bug" 1t is not only like the bed
bug, but is the bed bug, for this house
hold pest is also poultry pest. 1t is
about as difficult to exterminate them
az it is the red mite, but can be accom-
plished with heroic measures.
A contemporary says that the morn
ing feed should be warm and should
be fed as early as possible. There are
various practices in the feeding of SOFT
feeds, and all equally profitable. While
it is good practice to give the warm
mash in the morning, especially in
cold weather, we do not see any great
advantage on the feeding of the soft
/ food at other times during the day.
The real good is to relieve the over
worked digestive organs.
We sometimes see strange advice
given in poultry journals, and here is
sample: Table or kitchen scraps, as
fed, usually do more harm than good
for they are made up of mouldy bread
cake and pie, scraps of salt meat, and
scraps of pure fat. It is safe rule not
TO feed anything from the kitchen tc
poultry that is unfit for human con-
sumption. There is no profit in it. 1t
is cheaper to burn or bury such stun
than to feed it." Then what becomes
of the saying that the French nation
could live off what the American ma
ton wastes? Small f1ocks of poultry
are valuable for the very reason that
they eat the scraps from the table
which would otherwise be wasted Meat
that is too salt for human food does
not often find its way to the hens. We
certainly could not advise the farmers
to throw away the scraps instead OF
giving them to the poultry. The varie-
ty of food that the hens get in the
table scraps goes long way to keep
ing them in good condition.