Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1912-11-14
CARE or THE FARM FLOCK
PuLLETs SHOULD START LAY
ING BEFORE COLD WEATHER.
BY II. 1. kempster. Assistant Pro-
fessor of Poultry Husbandry In
the College Of Agriculture.

-|"|N
The farm hen should come in for
special consideration at this time Of
the year. Both old hens and imma.
ture pullets should receive extra care;
the old to enable them to complete
the moult; the young to fully mature
80 as to induce them to lay before
winter. If the birds do not lay be-
fore cold weather sets in it is diff
cult to get them started until about
February 1st, but if they commence
laying now there is no reason why
they should not continue to lay dur
ing the winter months.
If the hen house has not been thor
oughly cleaned now is the time to do
it, All the foul litter and dirst should
be removed and new dirt put in to
take the place. During the winter
the birds are quite largely confined to
the house and it is more necessary
that the quarters which they occupy
be perfectly sanitary. Hens will not
do well if the floor of the house is
damp. Quite often the floor is lower
than the ground outside caused by
cleaning out the old dirt and failing
to replace with new. If the hen house
floor was damp last year now is the
time to remedy it. A good dirt floor
can be made by filing in with about
four inches of coarse material, such
as cinders, covering this we'll with
two inches of clay so as to prevent
the dirt from above sitting down
through and then covering the clay
with a couple of inches more of loose
earth. This will prevent moisture
from working up from beneath and
will make the floor dry. The floor
should then be covered with a foot
or more of straw and the grain fed
by being buried in this litter, thus
keeping the hens busy scratching for
their feed. Pullets should If possible
be separated from the hens. Mature
hens will often fight and overrun the
young and the smaller will not do as
well as if kept by themselves.
The rations which the University is
feeding at present consist of the fol-
lowing: Scratch feed is made up of
equal parts of corn and wheat-fed
morning and night. A mash, consist
ing Of bran one part, middlings one
part, cornmeal one part, beef scrap
one-half part, alfalfa meal one-half
part, by weight, is fed at noon in a
hopper to which the birds have &C.
cess only in the afternoon. APPROX
'mately twice as much grain is fed at
night as in the morning and twice as
much scratch feed is consumed as
mash. Skim-milk or buttermilk is
kept in pans before the birds and they
have access to grit-oystershells and
clean, fresh water. Green food, such
las cabbage, sprouted oats, steamed
clover, ETC., should be fed to take the
place Of the green food consumed dur
ing the summer. Often patches Of
rye, ETC., can be sown about the poul
try house and during mild weather
the birds permitted to range over it
Where table scraps are available they
furnish an excellent addition to the
ration.
DIN general during evere and stormy
weather it is not advisable to let the
hens range. Quite often egg produc
ton is retarded by this practice, Al
the University the pullets are being
housed and kept enclosed. While the
.lx,n a4faO 10 ctrhiant u IN nrittnfdra III
seems the only way in which the
young pullet can be taught where her
home is, otherwise the bird would seek
its old roosting quarters and would
necessitate catching a number each
night. After a few weeks they can be
allowed range without danger of their
leaving their new home. On the farm
great difficulty is often experienced
because of the birds persisting in
roosting in trees, etc. When confined
the immature can be forced into egg
production much quicker than when
they are permitted ranged.
The feed should be liberal, but moi
too much. They should he fed all
they require, hut must be kept busy
scratching and exercising during the
day. An active hen with a full cror
at night is the one which will be mos
liable to produce.
Above all, make changes gradually
Quick changes induce mott and a pull
let thrown into the molt now will MOI
be through until 80 days have elapsed
and during this time she will not pro
duce eggs. All weak, backward, I'm
healthy chickens should be culled ou'
and marketed. Culls are not produc
tive and a few will cut down thu
profits of the remainder of the flock
The essentials to be observed ther
are, dry, we'll ventilated, comfortable
quarters; clean food fed in liberia
quantities to birds kept active, ant
keep stock, the young of which arr
fully mature, strong and healthy, ant
the old Of which has a icy coat o
plumage. Y