Imperial Valley press., 1912-11-22

| taken all day. Then they stand around
looking about as detected as lot Of
dyspeptics in a sanitarium. In fact.
that is just what they are, for they
have not had a bit of exercise to set
! the natural function of digestion u
| work.
| prefer to start the day as near to
! nature as 1 can get, with yarded fowls,
, and for this reason it starts the cir
culation and digestion, both of which
! count In health and profit. Wheat,
Kaffir corn, split peas, or any small
seeds are good, and they can either
! be fed separate or mixed, just as we
can get them cheapest. Price must al
ways be counted in feeding or we can
not stay in the business. Grain Is
| whole feed, that is, 1t contains the
concentrated quality and the ash. but
in order that the hen may get the full
benefit of the protein and other con-
| centrated portion of the grain, some
green vegetable food should follow II.
An Argument by Analogy
1t is something like making SOUP.
To get the strength out of meat TO
make good soup, we put it on in cold
water. And by feeding some form of
green feed after the morning grain we
get the whole strength out of ii to
nourish the hens system and go to
making eggs. Now the portion of grain
which requires this dissolving usually
passes out Of the hens system in the
droppings. If meat is cooked by start
ing in boiling water. great amount
of the juices retain ed and the
liquid is much poorer. This is
. simply to illustrate what I mean. Feed
ing is really study; it is not just
buying SO much of this and that and
throwing it out to the hens.
What to Feed For
Ny idea is to feed first for the health
and well being of the hen herself, for
unless we have healthy hen it is
going to be a hard matter to make her
profitable. And health is never present
when a hen is sluggish and huddled
up in a corner. Activity is the surest
sign of health in the flock, and we
want to feed SO as to get and keep
them as active as possible.
few days ago lady came to look
at my chickens, and incidentally to
tell me her troubles. She said she
had a pen of Orpingtons, but they did
not do well for her. By dint of in
quiry l found that she kept them IN
a Philo coop and kept a rich dry
mash before them all the time to force
eggs, but as the hens did not have
any exercise the egg food went to
making fat, and the result was her
hens got SO fat they died. She pointed
out rather small pullet in my yards,
saying her hens were no larger than
that. and yet the ones that died
weighed 1O1a pounds.
1t does seem to me that people ought
to have more sense that to feed like
that, but just long as they do not
reason out for themselves the differ
ences between the small active breeds
and the large breeds that must be made
active by judicious feeding, these blum
ders will be made.
Keeping the Hens Busy
In the first place Philo coop is no,
good place to keep chickens of any
kind in, unless by man who likes
! work himself. In that case he is en-
ergetic enough to see that his hens
are kept busy. These coops require
digging up the ground and spading
oats or other feed in for the hens to
scratch out or let them starve. A wo-
man does not want to get in and dig
, every day with a spade-I know [
don't, and 1 like work as well as the
average.
This is the rock on which so many
split; they feed all alike. This same
, lady said her Leghorns did well in
these coopS; but Leghorn will travel
miles around even small coop trying
to find a weak place to get out, while
an Orpington is satisfied to stay where
it is put and never tries to get out
The Leghorn gets the exercise in ma
tural restlessness, but a hen of any
of the larger breeds must have exer-
! else provided in some way, because in
stead of being restless, it is restful
docile and inclined to laziness
The intelligent breeder feeds accord
ing to the breed he has and not ac-
cording to the general rule. All the
small active breeds will stand more
carbonaceous or starchy feed than the
larger breeds, so that a dry mash
kept before large hens requires very