The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-07-01
FALL MATCHING
By a Breeder

ing up Of the breeding pens, and It is
here that many people fail. They start
in spring after the comparative torpor
OF winter with a certain amount of en-
thusiasm, but as month succeeds
month this admirable quality is con-
sumed, and when July or August
comes it has completely vanished and
nothing remains but listlessness, care
lessness and thoughtlessness-a COM
bination which is well calculated to
throw a poultry keeper or any other
man into bankruptcy. 1t is bad enough
if the poultry keeper is in this state,
but matters are not improved should
the breeding stock be in a similar con-
dition.
My advice to the man who feels that
he has no desire for turning up
his yards, lime-washing and painting
his houses, repairing the leaks and the
chinks, and selecting his breeding
stock as If it were spring. is to take
a holiday and get his mind and body
into good working order, for he will
need to have his wits about him in this
business of fall chick rearing.
A Good Plan.
AS soon as possible after the middle
of August the houses, appliances and
yards should be put into working or
der, as one would do 1t in the spring,
and having all things prepared, it only
remains to select the stock. This is an
exceedingly difficult task, for it is not
easy nor always possible to get suffi-
Cient numbers of both males and fe-
males Of the desired kind. The fol-
lowing plan I have found to work very
well in practise: Reserve the requir-
ed number Of April or May Matched
cockerels and keep them away from
all hens in cockerel pen until the
following year. When required for
mating in August they are then in
good condition and over the moult,
care having been taken in due time
to put them on a diet calculated to
promote early moulting. They are
then fifteen or sixteen months old and
make excellent stock birds.
With the hens there is much great
er difficulty, but by exercising a little
forethought one can generally man
age to get enough suitable birds to
fill a few pens. These may be made
up purely of pullets and party OF hens
in their second and third years. BY
keeping over a number Of the best Sc
lected pullets, which were Matched in
October of the previous year, and
raising them for breeding use one can
get them to lay about the end of April,
and to moult toward the end of Au-
gust, having laid so or so eggs each.
Shortly afterward they will be in
splendid condition for breeding. The
supply of pullets If not sufficient may
old hens. The only hens which are fit
for work In the autumn breeding pens
are those which have Matched and
reared two or three broods of chicks
during April, May, June and July, and
I have found that these hens make the
very best fall breeders, as they have
been we'll fed and not overworked
All to- IL. Ie
have good rest during the summer
and the ovaries have not suffered from
continual laying.
The question of rational care of the
breeding stock is one the importance
of which can scarcely be overestimat
ed at this season, for if we care for
the breeding stock in such a manner
that all the organs of the body may
keep IN sound and healthy condition,
we may then expect to produce sound,
healthy chicks. The term care" in
cludes housing. penning and feeding,
and l have already referred to the
matters of housing and penning brief
ly by saying that these should be look
ed after as carefully as they would be
in the early spring. But there is still
the question of feed to be consider
ed and this can not be dismissed In
the same summary way, for the ra-
tons which are suitable for the breed
ers in spring are not quite the same
that will suit in autumn. In spring If
the hens have
Access to a Grass Run
they can pick up an abundant supply
of tender. edible, digestible shoots,
buds and leaves as we'll as young
blades of grass, and it is a proven and
we'll known fact that nothing is more
helpful to the production Of fertile
eggs than an ample supply of green
stuffs. Some green foods, but espe-
cially clover, are particularly rich in
nitrogen and the hens feed largely on
these in spring, but in the fall they
can not, in many cases, find much
grass food as would be good for them
and for the production Of their eggs,
because the grasses and clovers have
grown into hay and have become
parched with the summer sun, and
are no longer digestible nor capable
of being utilized in the formation Of
eggs.
This want Of natural green stuff
must be supplied by means of a well
balanced ration, calculated to keep
the birds in health and to furnish
them with ample material for the pro-
duction of fertile eggs. Having tried
the following ration for breeding stock
penned in autumn and winter / am in
a position to say that it is a good one.
In the morning. about s o'clock, l
feed slightly warmed mash composed
of four parts clover (steamed) two
parts cornmeal, two parts ground oats,
enough skimmilk to make a crumbly
mash, and fresh meat scraps or cut
green bone at the rate OF one-haf