Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1912-01-02
Getting Eggs In Winter.
KEEP THE FOWLS HAPPY, COMMENTED
AND ACTIVE.

Questions are so often asked about th'
care of winter layers. 1t Is at this sea
son of the year, when the price of egg
is high, that the full egg basket sseml
most attractive, for later in the spring I
is not so difficult to produce eggs.
When, then, shall the special care o.
winter layers start? 1t must be long be
fore 1t is time for US to expect winter
Really, the start should be the year be
fore, with the careful attention to th'
breeders which are to lay the eggs from
which our pullets are to be hatched
The stock then is to be the first consider
alton, and this must be healthy and Wig
orous, and bred for heavy egg produc
ton. Then, from the time the chicks
are first Matched they must be kept grow
ing and developing continuously
throughout the season, for no culll
should be kept. They only decrease th'
average profit. -,
As autumn approaches the pullets viii
begin TO sing and show signs of gettini
ready to lay, and it is then that they
must be taken from free range and pu
in the winter quarters which have al
ready been prepared for them. If they
are to be put in new house it shoule
be finished and ready for them early
with every ything for their comfort and
contentmeut. If an old house is to bt
used it should have been thoroughly
cleaned and disinfected; the windows
washed-in fact, a general houseclean
ing. After this has been done and fresh
litter has been supplied and charcoal
grit and oyster she'll have been put In
convenient places the pullets are ready
to get acquainted with their new sur.
roundings, and this they must do before
they will do much laying, for it is the
happy, contented hen that is the layer
When the pullsts are moved to their new
quarters great care must be taken in
handling them SO that they will not be
frightened. They should be given more
consideration than market fowls, which
are generally carried by their feet with
heads hanging. Perhaps the easiest way
to move them is to catch them at night,
when they are Oh the roosts, and move
them in crates. l find catching COOP
very satisfactory if l wish to catch them
in the daytime. 1t takes the pullets
some time to feel really at home in their
new houses, and if they have been NOV.
ed early they will be accustomed to
their new surroundings by the time that
they are sufficiently developed to lay.
Now that the pullets are in their
house, what do they need to make them
lay? Fresh air and plenty of it, but not
draft; plenty of fresh, clean litter to
scratch In. Keep them active and
scratching, for this helps to keep them
in good condition. Now, let US con-
slider the feeding. believe that it is
rather the way that hens are fed than the
kind of feed which brings the desired
result of large number Of eggs. Al
night my hens are fed grain in the litter,
so that they have all they want to cal
and can go to roost with full crops, and
there is sufficient grain left in the litter
for them to have something to scratch
for in the morning, but only sufficient Sc
that they will really have to scratch and
hunt to find it. Hens do not like to
have grain lying in the litter day after
day. They like better to have 1t freshly
scattered. A mash is kept before the
hens in hoppers, 80 that they can help
themselves to it. Sometimes during the
morning, IL find that they have eaten
all of their grain, have very little
grain scattered in the litter so that there
will be some incentive for scratching
This is rather to keep them active thar
for the actual amount of feed that they
eat then. They usually scratch while
and then 60 to the hOppers for mash,
aud that is the egg producing food, for
il can be more easily digested and as
simulated and converted into eggs.
The hens that are laying heavily al
ways are the ones that eat the most
mash. The water must be kept fresh
and clean. Each day the drinking pans
are thoroughly cleaned and fresh water
is given twice day, so that they are
infected. All poultrymen advocate
balanced ration, which, of course, the
hens should have, but in this must be
included something which seems to the
hens especially appetizing, something
that they are ready to scramble and run
for, such as green bone. l feed the com
mercial meat scrap, but the green bone
makes a variety. 1t is well to give them
a variety in green feed, too. My staples
for green feeds are mangsl wurzels and
the cut alfalfa which has been steamed
Occasionally cabbage Is fed. Sprouted
oats are also very good If one has facili'
ties for sprouting them.
When everything has been considered
perhaps the most important thing in the
care of winter layers is to keep them
happy and contented and active.-Mrs
A. Hooker, Geneseo, N. Y, in Tribune
Farmer.