The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1912-11-12
GETTING EGGS
DURING WINTER
Expert Offers Advice on Methods
Of Handling Poultry

/
! v inter and farmers who wish to have
| their poultry yards show nice bal
snce during December and January
| should bear In mind that to bring
] this about more can he done IT. a
| few DAYS during the fall than Ia sew
eral weeks after winter is here, says
an expert i'm the Northwest Farm
| stead.
Start right now and. clean out the
| henhouse Take out the dirt TO the
I depth worked In by the hens and nj
In with clean. fresh soil, so IL will
! dry out before winter comes. Spray
the interior well with some good dis
infectant. Examine the roof carefully
and repair all leaks or weak places
| that may become leaks before sprirg.
Wash the windows and replace all
broken pancs of glass with new ones.
! There will he several months during
which the hens must be as comfort
able for them rs possible I'm order to
| have them do their best work i'm fill
| ing the egg basket.
Liberal Feeding An Egg Secret.
The hens have probably molted by
| this time and craving the new feath-
! ers Is Keeping them thin. The sooner
J the new feathers are grown the sooner
the eggs will come, and u hurry
them along rs fast as possible the
fowls should be fed literally. Give
! them all the mash they VIII eat, and 4
good feeding Of grain 1T night. To
many II looks like throwing away
money to practice heavy feeding while
there are no eggs coming. i'm. but this
is one OF the secrets of getting winter
eggs. The melting season is the most
critical period i'm the, life OF a hen
Growth OF new feathers Is heavy
strain on vitality. AS the hen is eed or
the average farm IL takes her two to
four months To recover from the eff
fects Of il. BY giving ner the neces-
sary materials with which to make
the feathers so she will not have t.
take them from the tissues OF her
body, she will be ready for work as
soon as che has her new plumage:
often before.
+. Pullets should be handled in ;heI
same way. They are not vet fully
developed and will not begin to lay
until the amount of food they CON
sumo is enough to support growth
with the surplus TO go into something
else. This surplus will go 'nto eggs
or fat, according 10 whether the food
OF, fe, 70 -,
Ing. With both the hen and the pull
let it is the surplus food that goes to
make the egg. The reason the aver
age farmer does not get moro winter
eggs from his flock - that afte;
keeping the body in good physical
conditions the hens baye no surplus
Food Formula for Eggs.
The laying mash has become gem
orally recognized as the most con-
venient as well as the most economi- |
cal method Of providing the hen with |
these materials. The following is a |
good formula Coarse wheat bran.
coarse middlings. ground corr and
oats. alfalfa meal. ground scrap. each
100 poun,ls linseed meal 40 pounds.
fine table salt 10 pounds. THis 800
pounds of feed, costing around $40
should be enough to last flock of
100 hens one month. and should pro-
duce during that time. at December
and January prices. from $50 to sec
worth of eggs. There is not another
animal on the farm tat will show
this profit from the same ancunt OF
feed given in addition to the regular
rations.
AS soon as snow comes so the hons
are confined to the house they should |
nc given a good litter of straw. in
which they are compelled to dig for
very Kernel OF grain they get i'm Or
Ter to keep them active and in good
health. In the morning give them
light feed Of wheat, huckwhcat or
,ats, and about 10 o'clock put enough |
Try mash in the hoppers To- last al |
lay. BE sure II is thoroughly mixed |
and remember that when YOU begin |
to economize OH mash you will ge; |
ever eges. IL is a good plan to have |
the hopper. cleaned up daily SO the !
fowls viii always have fresh feed be-
fore them. About an hour before |
lime to so to roost. give them lib
cral feed of cracked cora i'm the litter |
.'he exercise they get in scratching |
Cor thus will get them warmed up by |
bedtime.
Re sure they have plenty of pure |
waite. and though authorities differ |
do not favor giving them u warm