Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1904-09-15
POULTRY
Yardlnu Fowls.

A good deal Of experimenting VIII
have to be done before the question Of
yardfng fowls Is settled. With the
small flock on the farm the problem
Is not large one, but with the large
mock the problems increase both In
size and number II a man have sew
eral hundred hens shall he let them
all have the run Of the farm; shall
he confine them in one yard; or In
several? The man with a good many
fowls will hardly care to let them
have the run of the farm. With
small flock 1t is different; and he Will
need to keep them confined only while
the plants are getting a start In the
spring. After the garden has got to
growing we'll the birds may be turned
in with no possibility Of harm except
to lettuce and to tomatoes when they
begin to get ripe. AS to other vegeta-
bles the birds will only prove a help
by picking off the bugs. Also in the
fall of the year when the grain has
been harvested the birds will do the
farmer much good in his grain fields
by picking up the seeds that have
dropped from the heads in time Of har-
vesting. Incidental arrangements and
circumstances also affect the problem.
lady told the writer that she had 200
Brown Leghorn hens. She said her
husband was a thresher and much
grain was hauled to his farm and
threshed there. This gave a consid-
cradle amount Of lost grain which
supported her 200 fowls with little
other feed. This was happy arrange
ment that seldom exists.
All things being equal, 1t will be
better to keep large flocks yarded
most Of the time. If there are more
than one flock they may be turned out
after the grain harvest, one flock one
day and another another. But 1t is
far easier to keep the flocks shut up
and establish a regular system Of
yarding and feeding them. In this
country OF cheap land there seems lit
tie reason in depriving fowls Of room.
The more room the less the required
height Of the fence. Yards on farms
should be large enough so that they
can be divided into two or three
parts. Green stuff, like rape and oats
may be sown in one part, and after 1t
has obtained a good growth the fowls
may be turned in and another part Of
the yard seeded. 1t Is not possible to
grow any crop while the fowls are
in the yard as they will feed off the
developing crop to the roots.
If man have heavy fowls the
fences need be not more than three
feet high. The birds will not gen
orally try to fly over. This does not
include the Plymouth Rocks, which
are both quite heavy and good flyers
We have found that with a good-sized
yard four-foot wire fence will stop
even the Leghorns if there is no board
at the top of the fence. They will
not make the attempt to fly over un-
less they can have a board to light
on. On the other hand, in cramped
quarters we have seen Leghorns be-
come very expert in gettiles over a
wire fence even without a top board.
1t is a mistake to suppose that
fowls having the run of the farm lay
more than birds yarded. Carefully
conducted experiments have failed to
show any advantage of this kind,
popular impressions to the contrary
notwithstanding. The man that yards
his fowls must simply supply them
with the green and animal food they
would get on their foraging expedi-
tons.