Imperial Valley press., 1913-04-29
Novel Eco Laying Contest


A bunch Of live poultrymen up in
Napa County determined to have some
thing new in the line Of a poultry
show. The ordinary display of stock
perfect of form and feather is Won
derfully attractive, but they wanted
something still better. \ siX-months'
egg-laying contest was decided upon
As the work Of preparation advanced
it was seen that the full 12-mOnths'
contest was to be preferred and or
February 20, 1913, &C pens of birds
toed the scratch ready for full years
test of prOductivenes5. Each pen
consists of six pure bred pullets or
yearlng hens. Some of them are ac-
cOmpanied by the males, although
many contestants preferred the simple
test of production. The eggs are sold,
those from the pens containing no
males Of course for consumption, the
others to breeders where orders are
received, one-half the returns from
these particular pens going TO The
! owner of the stock. At the end Of the
contest the birds belong Of course to
| the exhibitors. An entrance fee of five
dollars is charged for each pen II
| ltTap-nested an extra fee of five dollars
is required. Each bird must be banded
and marked so that Identification is
easy. The prizes offered by the asso-
citation are as follows:
For the greatest number of eggs
laid-ist S25; 2nd $50; 2rd SIS; 4th
$40; 5th s5.
Greatest weight per dozen eggs
! ist SIS; 2nd $40; 3rd IS.
Best individual record-ist SIS, 2nG
$40; 3rd So.
The &C pens of birds come mostly
from California although Missouri and
Nebraska are represented in the en-
| tries. Napa county is more largely
represented than any other portion OF
the state, though entries have been
| made from as far south as Los Angeles
| was somewhat surprised to find
| the contest carried on entirely under
roof. A pavilion so by 1870 has been
constructed for the accommodation of
the. fowls. 1t is supplied with ten sky
! lights and, excepting for sufficient
! openings for ventilation, entirely en-
closed. At first it seemed that this
was an unfair test to put the birds
| up against, for sunlight and air are
! supposed to be necessary to most
| healthful conditions, but Mr.. A. J.
LOds, the superintendent, informed me
that the ulrds in the darkest part OF
the hOuse-the portion where they get
the least sunlight-have laid the most
eggs and are in the best general
health. Each penis by 10 feet, en-
closed and covered with wire mesh.
The nest box is simplicity itself, be-
ing nothing more nor less than the
ordinary tengallOn oil or gasoline case
with partition in center, making two
nests for each pen, or two trap nests.
The. ground is kept covered with clean
straw the dropping board, raised two
or three feet from the ground, sup
ports 2 by 4 uprights some IL or IA
inches high. On the top Of these rests
small perch or roosting pole easily
lifted off and affording opportunity for
convenient cleaning. The cleaning is
done very quickly and simply each
morning.
Two feeds are given daily, one in
early morning grain feed, the other a
slightly mOistened mash consisting Of
wheat i3k pounds, cracked corn 5 Y
pounds, middlings t51s pounds, alfalfa
meal five pounds, bran eight pounds.
soy bean meal three and one-third
pounds, meat scraps three and one-half
pounds, bone meal three and one
third pounds, making a total Of 81 23
pounds for AGA birds, to which is added
five per cent Of the total in charcoal,
with some coarse river sand. The
other feed consists of a grain feed
five pounds of wheat, one pound oats
and nine pounds rolled barley scat
tered in the straw. This is the morn
ing feed. Each pen is fed according
to its demands, care being used to
see that each has sufficient. How
ever, no record is kept OF the amount