The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-09-27
Poultry Department
BY c. o. Perkins.

The spare time during the bright
days of fall should be spent in going
over the poultry buildings and making
all needed repairs. Cracks should be
stopped up, new nests and fixtures
put in where needed and things gen.
orally made ship-shape before snow
flies.
The buildings should be painted with
kerosene or well whitewashed, taxi
ing care that every crack and Granny
is treated. Then each fowl should be
busted with a good louise powder well
worked into the feathers, and this
treatment repeated in about ten days
to get rid of the lice that Matched after
the first treatment. This seems like
a lot of work, but 1t permits the fowls
to go into winter quarters ready to
make the most of their feed, unham-
pered by hordes of blood-sucking mites
and lice.
The pullets must be we'll cared for
now If they are to lay during the
months when eggs are highest A mash
fed occasionally win help them along,
and they should have all the grain they
will clean up at night Grit and oys-
tershell should always be before them
and If it is impossible to give them free
range green food Of some kind should
be supplied. Some kind of meat food
such as beef scraps, lard cracklings or
green bone three times week will
hustle them along Our favorite mash
is composed Of one part each ground
corn and oats and two parts middlirgs
This may be varied, but is a good ALL
round mixture. The whole grains used
are mostly oats, wheat and cracked
and whole corn. We feed about so per
cent oats-boiled, sprouted. whole and
ground, as they are a splendid food for
growing chicks, as well as mature
fowls.
Potatoes. mangols, turnips, cabbage,
etc., are all excellent green foods
Lawn clippings fed green during the
summer and cured in winter are also
excellent. Alfalfa and clover hay or
meal are great egg foods, which the
fowls will eat readily.
The culls and surplus cockerels
should be put into small pens or coops
and fatted up nicely before they are
sold. In one of the large twin city
commission houses the birds are plac-
ed in small coops with Slated bot
toms and trough in front. They are
fed very moist mixture of ground
oats, shorts and cornmeal for ten days
Or two weeks which puts them in first
class condition. No water is given
them, except in the mash. Our own
way is to put the birds into small pens
In fiocks Of about thirty, and feed
plenty of cracked corn in the morning,
mash at noon and cracked corn at
night, followed, after they have eaten
all the corn they will by wet mash.
They have grit and fresh water before
them all the time. This will finish
them nicely in a very short time.
Chickens fatted in this way will gain
from one to two pounds, and on ac-
count of their plump condition. com
nand premium on the market. Even
Il there are only a few fowls kept for
'our OWN eating it paws to give them
this conditioning, as there Is a great
Inference in the flavor of a chicken
nicely fattened, and that of one that
has not been so prepared.
Ducks do not require as warm a
house as chickens; in fact any build
ng that is dry will house them nicely.
They may be wintered on alfalfa or
,lover hay, with very little grain at
hight, as it is unnecessary to feed
hem mash until eggs are wanted
rom them, usually starting to feed
hem a mash in February.
Indian Runner ducks, however. If
cared for will lay all winter.
Ind their eggs surpass those of the
len In flavor. Two of them are equal
o three hens eggs. To get winter
Eggs from ducks a little special treat !
nent is necessary. They must have a
nash containing a good percentage of
'eef scraps three times day and
plenty of green food. Plenty of water
n dish deep enough for them to get
heir entire head in is a necessity, also |
Ducks do not lay in regular nests, |
tut drop their eggs around on the
loor, SO keep plenty OF clean litter in
heir houses.
Indian Runner ducks are small |
Weighing only five or six pounds. but
heir meat is Of fine flavor, and they I
re ready for market at eight to ten
weeks old. These ducks lay an aver
ge Of LAO eggs a year.
TIE most profitable market duck is
robably the Pekin. These weigh /
we've pounds or more when mature.
nd are the only kind used on the
reat Long Island duck ranches. When
aised in large numbers they are very
roftable. They lay from forty to sixty /
ggs year.
Digestion and Assimilation.