The Republican journal., 1913-03-13
Points for Poultrymen.
Lectures Given in the Farmers Week Pro-
gram at the University Of Maine.

Lectures Given in the Farmers Week Pro
gram at the University of Maine
Feeding for Egg Production. was tn,
topic of talk by Prof. w. F. Schopp'
at the University of Maine, Tuesday. l,
part Professor Schoppe said:
In the feeding of poultry for egg pro
duction it is essential that the system
used be such that it will compel the bird!
to take exercise, and the ration include
as wide variety OF feed as can con-
veniently and economically be supplied.
1t has been conclusively proven thai
exercise is essential to egg production
that the active, energetic hens, the hens
with high vitality and great constitu'
tional vigor are the ones that produce
the eggs, while the inactive, poorly con-
stituted birds that nope about the house
all day are the first on the roost at night
and the drones of the flock. There is nc
tural conditions will indulge in such va
feeding IN this way pick up grubs, grain
their meal consist of anything that comes
that focks of hens kept on free range
where they are able to pick Up variety
of feed produce more eggs and require
less shell in feeding than do those birds
kept under more intensive methods.
During the winter when birds are con-
fined to the houses, and with f1ocks kept
strives to overcome any bad effect of
Of
feeding that will furnish the birds with
cise 1t was with these objects in view
that the Maine Experiment Station work.
ed out its system of feeding. The ra-
ton used consists of combination of
grains fed in the litter twice daily with a
dry mash before the birds at all times
four quarts of cracked corn (per hun
dred birds) scattered in the litter in the
morning, two quarts each of wheat and
oats at ten o'clock.
The dry mash is slightly changed from
month to month as follows: First Month
in Laying House-300 lbs wheat bran, 100
lbs. corn meal, 100 lbs. Daisy or other
low grade -four, 100 lbs. meat scrap.
Second Month-200 lbs. wheat bran. 100
lbs. corn meal, 100 lbs. Daisy flour, 100
lbs. gluten feed, 100 lbs. meat scraps.
Third Month-same as for the Second
Month with addition of so lbs. linseed
meal. From this time on the linseed
meal is put into the mash every alter
nate month.
Green feed in the form of cabbages,
mangels, or sprouted oats should be fed
each day. Clover is an excellent feed
and much relished by the birds. 1t can
be chopped into short pieces and fed. or
the chaff taken from the bottom of the
clover NOW can be used.
If skim milk is available it can be used
to very good advantage as substitute
for some of the meat scrap in the mash.
If milk is used it should always be in one
condition sweet or sour.
Besides these feeds it is essential to
supply the hens with clean, fresh water,
grit, and oyster shell.
"MAINE" HOUSING SYSTEM FOR POULTRY
Prof. Schoppe in his lecture on the
"Maine" system of housing poultry
brought out the following points: A sys-
TEN of housing to be successful must be
such that the birds will be comfortable
at all seasons of the year The house
must be SO constructed that the work
can be easily and conveniently done.
Prof. Schoppe in the course of his lee
ture showed that by comfort for the
birds is not meant that the house be
warmed or that it be built tight to keep
out cold, but that it be free from damp
ness and drafts White frost on the in
side walls and roof of poultry house is
an indication of dampness and poor vent
ilation, condition which must be RENE
died. Birds will stand the cold but they
cannot stand dampness. Under these
they become inactive and are
very susceptible to disease a colds.
Drafts have nearly the same effect. The
birds strive to get out of the wind and
are usually found huddled in a protected
not out in the pen scratching as
they ought to be.
The house should be constructed for
AS a general thing the
poultry are kept as a side line to other
farming operations and is the first to suf-
fer when a rush of work comes. For
this reason, if for no other, the house
must be conveniently constructed so that
the work may be easily and quickly done.
Cleanliness is one Of the first rules for
success IN the poultry business and the
houses must be SO constructed that it
may be easily cleaned.
Convenient and handy devices for feed
ing and caring for the birds must be
used. In fact, anything that will cut
down the labor and time required for
doing the work is desirable.
Prof. Schoppe went over the develop
ment of the open front system of hous-
ing which is recommended by the Maine
Experiment Station, and showed how it
had been built up step by step; the pur-
pose beng to develop system of hous-
ing that should be adapted to Maine con-
dltions.
DISPOSAL OF SURPLUS CoCKERELS.
Tuesday afternoon in the Animal In
dustry Section in the Farmers Week
course a Round Table on Markets and
Marketing of Poultry Products was held.
One of the speakers was Mr.. T. B. o.
Roberts of Norway, one of the best
known poultrymen in the State along
utility lines. Mr. Roberts took for his
subject Disposal of Surplus CockereIs,
and treated this important phase of the
poultry business In an intensely inter-
esting manner, showing how they can be
handled profitably.
Mr.. Roberts said: The profitable dis
posal of surplus cockerels is an impor-
tant consideration in successful poultry
work. Nine out of ten farmers will find
the sale of live broilers the easiest and
all things considered the most profitable
way to dispose of the cockerels. Certain
rules should be observed; the early