Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1906-10-06
Nroulting.

few suggestions, therefore, as to the
best means Of getting poultry through
the moult will be appropriate to the
season. Careful treatment is neces-
sary at this time, for several reasons.
The more quickly poultry are got
through the mout the sooner they
will begin TO lay, and the healthier
and better they viii be for it through
the coming winter. With utility
poultry keepers the tine Of the an-l
nual moult ought to be time of
constant and unwearying attention,
special care being taken that every
bird which seems to need the slight
est amount Of attention gets what it
needs. A bird which is thrown back
at moulting time will very often de-
velop into an unhealthy and unprofit
able menber Of the poultry yard,
and binds very often do get thrown
back in this way, when, had trey re-
ceived even a very small amount Of
attention, the natural process of
changing the feathers would have
been consummated without any diff
fculty.
Poultry are like other living Great
ures-some enjoy better health than
others, for various causes, which we
need not enter into; and in a large
flock of poultry there are always
some members of the community
which are less healthy, and which re-
auire care and attention distinct
from the others.
1t may be remarked that young
poultry always moult more easily
than old poultry. They commence
to shed their feathers earlier, and
they do not take so long in the pro-
cess. The older fowl is, moreover.
the later it usually begins to moult
and the longer it takes in the process
very often old hens get so late that
the winter is upon them before they
are half through their moult, and,
consequently, they never do really
get through the moult satisfactorily,
with the result that they are always
in Indifferent health more or less
at erward.
We need not enter into a scientific
description of the growth of feath-
ers. They are actually, of course, a
development from the skin, just as
hair is. What we want to know for
practical purposes is, how can they
be most rapidly developed when the
old feathers have been shed? Nature
always provident-plans that the
feathers shall not all fall out at once,
the process of shedding is a gradual
one, but when the weather is favor
able poultry will shed their feathers
more rapidly-warm weather at the
end of summer seeming to encourage
rapid shedding. Obviously, the pro-
cess of moulting involves attacks on
the physical resources of the bird,
and not only is warmth essential
and by warmth | mean something
more than a high degree Of temper
ature-I mean rather freedom from
cold, but, more than that, birds need
to be fed on stimulating food, which
will not only maintain the bodily
warmth, but will tend to grow fea-
Their substance. This is the period
of the year at which. if ever, birds
may have a little Indian corn, that
being a heat producer, whilst at the
same time they should have a liberal
supply of bone and fibrine meat, both
of which will supply what is neces-
sary for the growth of new feathers.
Birds that are moulting must, above
all things, be protected from sudden
changes of weather. Often in Au-
gust and September the warmth of
summer gives way for a time to
bleak, cold, stormy, wet weather and
poultry in the middle of the moult
are often seriously intertered with
/ by reason of this change. Provision
should, therefore, be made in the
way of shelters. scratching sheds,
etc., so that they never need be ex-
posed to bleak, unfavorable weather.
Amongst stimulating foods | might
also mention hempseed and linseed-
a little of which will not only encour-
age the development of feathers by
reason of the oily matter which they