The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-02-09
A POULTRY SERMON
J. Il. Livingston Diseoursss on Gross
bred Hens.


Editor Banner:-Not to disparage
my good friend, John Madden of
Holy Hnl". who reports 10 dozen
eggs from IA Rhode Island Red pull /
lets in January. / have to report p /
1912 dozen in the same month from IA /
cross bred pullets and two thorough |
breds, but really only IA TO be count |
ed at any one time, since two were |
trying TO set most Of the time and |
one was knocked out by sending her
to the North Adams poultry show
These pullets shelled out 10 eggs on
four days, IL on four days, and y on
? days. Let il be understood that a
flock Of hens that will lay 80 per cent
in the winter months, when eggs
bring from 40 TO so cents a dozen, is
worth having This is we'll above
the average.
And while at it why not have a
short sermon on poultry, for a good
many people would like to know how
to produce eggs when eggs is eggs.
My fourteen pullets are crossed as
I follows are Rhode Island Red on
Barred Plymouth Rocks,-almost pure
black; are White Leghorn on
Barred Plymouth Rocks,-almost pure
white; are r. l. r. on Brown Leg
horn, brown color Note that the
crossings were from pure stock. IN
my opinion the cross should always
be among pure stock-the heavy or
the light weight, and vice versa pref
erably. otherwise we get usually
worthless dunghill. The stockneed not
be prize or show birds but what is
called utility" stock, therefore com
paratively cheap.
But possibly care and feeding cuts
the largest figure, and bred 20 lay"
is important. Trap nesting has culled
out the drones in many flocks, and
200 egg hens are now common, while
27S eggs in a year has been reached.
1t cost about $3.50 to keep this hen a
year, and she earned 1874 at 8 cents
each egg. Being a 27S egg hen, how
ever, her eggs were worth much more
than that to the breeder.
| house my hens comfortably, part
glass and part muslin front, facing
the south, and a muslin curtain to let
down in front of the roosts in zero
weather. There are no frozen combs
in my henery | give warm water
twice a day. | keep a hopper of dry
mash before them all the time, and
in another hopper sea shell, charcoal
and beef scrap. feed ground green
bone every other day. At night
feed grain in the litter, so that the
birds get it on coming off the rooSt
and again the same feed we'll along
in the afternoon The dry mash is
composed of wheat, oats, barley
buckwheat, kafir corn, western corn,
few sunfower seeds and alfalfa,
ground together. The scratch feed is
composed of wheat, oats, barley, Ka-
fir corn, buckwheat, cracked corn aud
a fow suniuwer ooods. Rowon olever
is fed abundantly.
The eggs from this system of feed
ing are as superior to the fresh eggs
from the farmer as the latter are
superior to cold storage Whatever
hen eats influences the flavor OF the
egg. For instance, feed raw onions
to hen and you are a hero If you
can swallow her egg. The average
farm hen picks up much Of her feed
among offal and dung heaps If fed
at all, corn is the staple diet, and
that produces an egg deep yellow in
yolk and strong of flavor
p Do not think that ! disparage thor
2 oughbred stock, however but cross
breeding is advisable where utility is
desired
Let me add my record so far in
February, the low record at the start
being due to the fact that let my
? hens out one warm day, and the out
put dropped at once from 10 and II
eggs a day to Z and 8. Feby. l, got
s eggs; I'd, 7; Sd, o. 4th, 9; 9Th, 10;
9Th, 10; 7th, 10, total of 60 or 8 3-12
dozens eggs in 7 days Doubtless !
would have got six dozens If / had
= not let my hens out on the cold wet
ground. even though the temperature
4, was springlike.
| ~ Al