Middletown transcript., 1901-01-05
HENS ON ONE MEAL A DAY


iiau M usually given to my fowls. was
oOilged to be in my office at at least rea-
Sonaole hours, AID was SO often detained
there until aftc lark that it became nee.
essary either to dispose of my fowls, en-
Ploy some one to take care of them, or to
put them upon one meal day. did
hot wish to do the first; the second I
could not do, as I could not secure proper
heip at reasonable price; so l was COM
PEELED to submit to the IL ird method.
once each day the hens were watered and
LED, the only convenient time being in
'he morning. The fowls were yarded.
and consequently had to depend on their
feeder for all that they obtained. What
were the results?
l. The fowls remained in as good health
as usual. They were plump, looked
thrifty, and the loss among them was
never above the normal rate.
2. They laid fairly well, but not so we'll
as when they were fed twice day. Civ
ing them all the food they needed for a
day at the morning meal resulted in some
dlminution in the number of eggs laid.
3. The eggs seemed to be fully as fertile
as they had been under the former meth
ods of feeding. They Matched well at
home, and the number of complaints
from the eggs sold was not increased,
The effect upon fertility was inapprecia-
ble
4. As to habits, feather-pulling appeared
In one pen, which possibly may have been
due to the method of feeding; but of this
l am not fully certain, as this habit is
sometimes contracted when the hens
have their regular number of meals each
day. Another pen of fowls contracted
the habit of eating their eggs, and this
habit l am inclined to think was due to
the feeding of but one meal day. 1
think that the one meal day led them
to roll their eggs out of their nests,
through sheer idleness, and, accidentally
breaking some of them, they found a
means OF adding to the number of meals
which they received. Of this, too, I
cannot be absolutely certain. This habit
may perhaps help to account for the
smaller number of eggs received, though
l do not believe it fully accounts for it,
because in the years when the egg-eating
did not take place, there appeared to be
a diminution in the productivity.
My experience in feeding hens once
day, therefore, cannot be regarded as
very satisfactory. Still, the loss was less
than feared it might be, and left mar
gin OF profit after all. Itproved that one
could keep hens at some profit, even if he
were SO situated that he could give them
only in the morning. And 1
believe that the possible ills attendant
upon this method might have been
reduced if 1 had at the outset
provided dark nests and had given them
an abundance of green stuff to occupy
their attention through the day. If any
very busy fancier is inclined to try this
plan, l advise him to do certain things,
which I neglected to do.
l. Give the fowls plenty of green food. |
In the early part of the season give them
an abundance of green grass, later on
substituting cabbage and other vegetables. |
If the houses are provided with litter,
scatter some grain in the litter, SO that |
they may have some inducement to keep
busy.
2. Provide a reasonable quantity of |
neat-in any available fo rm-as part of |
heir daily diet. Meat is one of the best |
Egg producers, and will tend to keep the
lens from acquiring bad habits, such as
eather pulling.
8. Provide dark nests for the hens, so
Is to remove the temptation of eating
heir eggs. Egg eating is an acquired
labit, easily prevented but rather diff
ult to cure. 1t is, also, good plan to
lave one or more China eggs upon the
loor of each pen. The hens will pick at
hese, but finding the picking results in
lothing, will grow Indifferent to eggs ly-
ng about, SO that if real egg happens to
ct out of the nest into sight, it is less
kelly to be picked at by the hens.
If these precautions are taken, I have
o doubt that hens can be kept proftably,
ven if they are fed but once daily. do
ot believe that, cared for in this way,
ley will give quite SO good results as
ley would if fed twice day; and for (
nose who can give the necessary time,
lis method is not the one to be followed.
ut there may be not a few who would
e glad to keep hens, and who can devote {
} them only limited time. For such '
ersons it may be worth while to know
lat fowls can be kept successfully on one I
zeal day. The by no means fully sat t
factory results of my experiment lead t
e to this conclusion. 1t is worth irving c
any rate, and 1 am SO well satisfied t
ith the results obtained that I shall not t
estate to try the experiment again if I a
n SO situated as to make the trial desir- s
'le. But I shall, if do try it again,
'ovide SO far as possible against the ills F
at followed my former experiment,
me of which seem to have been
holly preventable.-H. S. Babcock.- E,
,untry Gentleman q
unrr n