Licking Valley courier. [volume] (West Liberty, Ky.) 19??-current, 1912-10-17
Farmer S Corner.

10 by Is feet and let the cover
extend 6 feet in front and 8 feet
on each side. / find this a good
style of house for this climate,
as isgives good sheds for nests
or coops for the youngsters.
| made the roofs of strips three
inches wide, not over three feet
high, and fasten them slightly
at each end and by cleats so they
can be removed for cleaning.
The floors of my houses and
the sheds as well are made of
dirt packed smooth and then
covered with wood ashes. After
this has been sprinkled with wa
ter a few times it becomes quite
hard and is easy to keep clean.
The floors of the houses and
sheds are somewhat higher than
the ground outside. There is a
door on each side and one in the
front and two windows placed
rather high in the back above
the roosts. The doors all open
into the sheds under shelter. The
doors should be made of wire
netting in order to keep mink
and other animals from carrying
off the chickens at night.
Nests are made movable and
are placed on low benches in the
sheds.
A house Of this size will give
room enough for 100 hens. The
houses are kept open all the time
except in cases of severe storms.
Two food coops for biddies and
the young chicks are kept under
the front shed, where they are
always dry and which allow the
young chicks to run out on the
ground in the garden.
l divide my poultry yard into
two plots, one of which contains
some fig and peach trees. l SOW
oats in the fall and field peas in
June. The plot next to the poul-
try yard is sown in oats in Octo-
Der and they furnish a great deal
of green food during the winter,
and May be cut if not eaten off
by June.
| give my chickens free range
after they are three weeks old,
but take great care to keep them
out of the rain and early dew.
If you are unable to have
poultry house and scratching
shed, separate nesting house,
roosting house. bone cutters. self.
feeders and all of that sort Of
thing, just try my plan and you
will have good success.
make nests Of clean leaves,
straw, cotton seed or light trash
with plenty of tobacco leaves.
give a broody hen one old nest
egg the first day or two until
am satisfied she really intends tt
sit and then place IL or 19 egg:
under her. / always select the
quietest hens for brooders anC
shut up the others in a well
ventilated slat-coop and leaves
feed lightly on green cabbage
or other green stuff with plenty
of water.
Baked corn bread is excellent
for droody hens.
move the slat coops every
day, always placing them in the
shade. l believe success in rails
ing poultry is due as much to alb
solute cleanliness as anything
else. 1t requires a great deal O.
work to keep your coops ant
poultry houses and drinking ant
feed vessels perfectly clean, bu
it pays better than any other kinC
of work woman can do on /;
farm.
For grit in winter | save every
piece of broken dishes and with ;
hammer and old piece of railroad
iron | pound it up fine and keel
a supply before the chicks all thu
time. use this piece of iron as
dinner bell and my chicks al
come running the moment the.
hear the strokes of the hamme
upon it.
Sometimes | trade a fat hen t
a restaurant or boarding hous
for a basketful of broken dis
es.
Let me urge farm woman foil
to keep but one breed of chick
ens-the kind you like best anC
tho hnct for ,,o,,r nnrnoea +Lo,