Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1907-03-06


that any particular kind of grain as a
continuous feed but we do mean a
variety Of grains. While corn has
very little of the egg in it this par
ticular kind of chickens appear to
have the faculty of turning nearly any
kind of food into eggs, provided you
change the feed and feed them spar
ingly It is perfectly natural for the
hen to work for all her food. The
crop is the receptiele for receiving
the food gathered during the day by
the fowl, and she should be all day
at it. In the crop it receives the
moisture and during the night the col
lected food passes into the gizzard
and is ground fine and absorbed by
the digestive organs. The next morn
ing that crop is as empty as a last
years birds nest and the hen anxious
and ready for another days work.
Never oVer-feed. Never feed enough
to I'll the crop at once unless 1t be at
night. Feed no more sloppy. soft
food than you are obliged to- Re
member the gizzard was furnished to
grind the food and if you feed much
soft food you viii deprive it of it's Of
fee work and the consequence will be
indigestion, and lot of dumpy, dark
combed worthless hens.
GAG BY this we mean the coup
feed, water, etc The hen-house
should be built on high, dry ground
sheltered, if possible, from the west
and north winds. Build it alright
on the sides, bank up around the bot
tom, put in the windows low down on
the south side and ventilate through
the roof. Keep the floor space GOV
cred with at least six inches OF some
kind of straw or leaf litter, thus com
pelling the hens to scratch for every
kernel they get. Exercise promotes
warmth and warmth in winter means
eggs. Keep them hungry Let them
meet you half way A hungry hen is
always healthy hen
Variety of feeds is what counts
shrunk wheat, buckwheat, oats. bar
ley, CATER corn, millet and sorghum
seed and, last but not least, corn. The
scraps from the table can probably
be used here better and to better adj
vantage than any other place on the
farm. Ground fresh bone is the best
way of furnishing the chicks a sub.
stitute for the bugs and worms they
cannot get in the winter season. Water
should be placed before them at all
times. In winter it should be fur
nished fresh each morning, having
been on the stove long enough to
become warm. Mica crystal grit
and crushed oyster shells are both
very cheap, and can be bought here or
any of the, villages around and should
be in every hen house in the coun.
! try
For green food during the winter
hang up some loose cabbage heads
and let them pick at them. Beets
are good. Glover hay viii do. Even
an armful of bright corn fodder will
be picked to pieces and quite a lot
Of it eaten. Oh, you, say, that is a
whole lot of little things. Yes, that
is just what successful poultry cult
ure is composed of. Yet, taken as
2 fnole, the business today is second
to none in the United States. We
might go on and tell you how to make
money out of fancy poultry or fancy
combined with broilers and eggs
but let us look for few minutes at
the future of poultry culture The
past few years have witnessed a re-
markable increase in interest in
poultry for market and fancy The
Improvement in the different var
ieties of standard bred poultry has
been marked. In many varieties
the first prize bird of so late a period
as three years ago would in most
cases be pretty near a tail-ender IN
the shows of 1867. The curtain.
front poultry-house now gives good
ventilation and assures the health of
hundreds of fowls, but has almost
unknown three years ago. Incuba l.
ors, brooders and appliances gene al
~ have increased in efficiency with
out corresponding increase in price.
Where one incubator was used five
years ago, there are 20 in use today
The knowledge of poultry keeping as
a business has increased two-fold
and then some, in the last few years.
The foregoing influences have, as
might be expected, brought about a.
considerable increase in production.
Not only are more standard bred
birds Of exhibition quality raised.
but far greater number of poultry
and eggs of all kinds are marketed OF
which the percentage of superior
quality is higher than formerly. It
happens, too, with this increase in
production the demand has more
than kept pace so that prices n.
stead of being reduced by greater
production. have in most cases not
alone held their own, but increased
even faster than have the prices Of
other food stuffs. We all remember
well when eggs sold for seven cents
a dozen in the summer time. and now
they seldom 60 below twice that
amount and where in the winter
there is no difficulty in getting 40
cents for every dozen of eggs that
are fully guaranteed to be fresh. In
any of our cities eggs that pass as
fresh laid cannot be found to supply
the demand, but the increase in