Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-03-04


of food. but a lack of regularity o
needed exercise, for enough was give.
in the morning to last all day. and afte
4 filing up they lay off, instead of lay
i ing eggs One time. getting out o
wheat, oats We're fed for a week: nov
cats are good for horses. but are no
Iequal to wheat for hens. Wheat is ais;
the cheapest food at the present tim
one can buy. The hens We're lively am
yet dropped off again.
These little experiments knock tht
egg record into object lessons of the
folly of leaving flock Of good laying
| I.eghorns in the hands " Inexperienced
or listless helpers. My fens are paying
their way and leaving profit, bu
nothing compared to the old aunts
small flock under the hull, which lay;
half as many eggs each day as she
has hens. 1t is no use II scold the boy
who makes no more mistakes according
to what he knows than we do. but per.
/, haps n little talk may aid him.
"Aunt's hens get all they will eat
told him; and he replied: If / give
ours all they will eat they go off their
feed and will not eat at (Which was
!
| get table scraps and bulky food not sc
itch as grain, and when full are not
overfed SO l snid: You must put in
more bran, feed more heets, cabbage
and clover hay. make bulk ration and
feed less whole grain"
| Asking HON how he mixed the mash
he replied: One sixth meat, one sixth
cornmeal, one-sixth ground oats and
| three-sixths bran. by weight"-which
| is a good mixture. But when l went
| with him to see him mix the noon feed,
| he measured out all the different foods.
which is very different thing. When
III got the scales and weighed out the
ration 1t looked so different from his
that he was actually surprised. and
that is very unusual fo. him. Try it
and see for yourself. Two hundred and
forty hens ate fourteen pounds of bar
I ley for breakfast, fourteen pounds OF
the mash for dinner AMI four pounds of
corn for supper and cost 53 cents for
the days board, not counting some
cabbage oyster shells and grit.
One can not afford to keep a large
flock and not have good, careful atten-
ton given 1T. Good care does not al
ways pay either. and there has been a
tendency to over-rate the profits of
the poultry business. a very careful
woman Who feeds on time, and never
neglects her poultry for anything.
found her money from them footed up
s113 for 100 hens. well-ored I-egporns
at that. A carefully kept record OF
eggs laid and money received would
open the eyes of many Who fancy they
are making money, when facts would
give a different result. a Mr.. Ward.
of Auburn, sends me his report: Two
hundred and fifteen White Leghorns
produced sS69.S4 worth of eggs sold.
and l have now 245 hens. paid S206.3G
for the feed leaving profit or pay for
labor of $163.4S for the year 1902" A
profit of rs cents above feed is very
reasonable sum for any one except q
fancier. His ration is warm mash in
the morning, green bone and meat at
noon and corn at night. The mash is
half bran and half corn and oats equal
parts
a man who keeps White Wyandottes
had about seventy-five good pullets,
and was getting thirty eggs per day in
January, which was surprise. as
had not supposed they We're winter lay
ers. Twelve cockerels weighed eighty
six pounds, and sold at 10 cents per
pound. 1t would seem as If this might
pay. but when the feed is taken out up
to Feb. !, the date they we're sold. there
would be only fair margin left. He
thinks his large egg record for January
is due to the meat, which he. fed liber-
ally.
In my travels at the Institutes have
visited many poultry houses, and l do
rot find many men getting eggs unless
they are feeding considerable milk or
meat. One woman said, MY hens
combs withered as soon as the milk
gave out" We must feed more protein,
bulky foods and compel exercise to get
results. Fine ground grain, indigss ton.
srupor from overlooking and shivers
from dampness do not fill the egg
basket.