The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1908-09-15
FALL AND WINTER LAYERS.

III Is CU0 early udICueu pull0I lude
fills the egg basket and in the end
tends to fill the owners pocket, and
the selection of our layers rightly be-
gins when we make up our breeding
pens in the early spring, says writer
in Modern Farming. We believe in
line breeding as the surest method
to obtain results, both in breeding for
feathers or for eggs.
When we mate our pens in the early
spring, we select females that are as
near to the standard requirements as
possible, and those that have proven
to be good layers in the past. We Sc
1ect females that are slightly larger
than those generally seen in the show
rooms today and of uniform color Civ
ing more thought to color than to
shape. The male for the yard must
be a bird that is strong in color, and
one that has plenty Of vigor, paying
full attention to shape. size and car
riage, and we'll up to the standard in
other requirements in all other points.
We will not go into detail as to color
of birds, as this would be deviating
from our original subject.
We will take it for granted that the
eggs ITOI1 SuCH d IudCluS VIC hbfo
lust described have been incubated
during the middle of March, or the
first of April, either under hens or in
an incubator, that is as near perfect
as brains and machinery can make.
and the little chicks have been brood
ed in brooder that furnishes plen-
tiful supply of fresh air and a proper
amount of heat to suit the needs OF
the growing chicks. Right here we
want to say that the future course of
the hen or cock bird is moulded in
the first six weeks Of chickdom.
At the age of six weeks or as soon
as we can determine the sex, the pull
lets are separated from the cockerels
and placed in large yard where we
have a plentiful supply of green food
provided. About three times a week
we feed small quantity of green let
tuce leaves or beet tops. We also
feed them three times daily at this
stage of the game, as at this period
we are trying to advance them as
rapidly as possible, rather than hold
them in check This method of feed
ing we continue throughout the entire
period that we have them out in the
colony houses and until we remove to
laying quarters, about the first OF &C.
tober. We believe in a variety of food,
as experience has taught us. In the
earlv fall we lay by a plentiful sup
ply of beets, cabbage and turn1ps, as
we'll as some cut clover or alfalfa, to
carry us over until early spring. Green
bone we feed the year round. The
bullets are now placed in laying quar-
tiers, about 20 to 30Sin each house.
The floors are bedded to a depth OF
six or eight inches with either straw
or leaves and all of the feed is fed in
this litter where "biddy" must scratch
for her daily food
For the grain ration, we feed wheat,
corn and oats with an occasional feed
of mash, composed OF the following
mixture: Fifteen pounds or ground
oats ten pounds of brownstuff, ten
pounds of shipstuff, and four pounds
of linseed meal. This is mixed with
boiling water into which has been dis
solved a small handful of table salt.
This mixture is allowed to stand
short time until sufficiently cool to be
fed to the hens, when it is poured into
a long trough provided in each pen.
We feed no more of this than they
will eat ND clean, and this we feed at
night so that the hen will be ready to
scratch for her food when she leaves
the roosts in the early morn. With
this system of feeding we can nave a
large portion of our pullets laying at
six or seven months of age, or just IN
time to get eggs when prices are the
highest.
To sum up the whole, we try 10
follow the following few rules IN or
der to get our pullets to fill up the egg