Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1914-12-30
FACTORS IN WINTER EGGS

DlrdS can range out and secure a var
1 iety of foods, though small i'm amount.
1t may be that the mild condition of
| the weather is the main factor in
making the hens lay more. Ii is
similarly true with cows giving a good
| flow of milk in winter. If the cows
are stabbed warmly and are given a
variety of feeds of roots or other sue
culent matter. they will give as much
milk as in warm weather. The theory
with dairymen is that if spring condi-
tons in general with their cows can
\ be maintained in cold weather, they
will give milk as in springtime.
The same principle works out sue
cessfully with chickens. IL spring
conditions with them during the cold
months are initiated, other conditions
! being right, the hens are almost bound
to lay eggs during the months when the
| days are shortest and coolest. Dairy
cows in winter are fed succulent slage
in cold weather to initiate May and
June pasture grass. Good poultry
men who get lots of winter eggs feed
their hens fresh vegetables and other
green stuff. One OF the best green
winter feeds for poultry on the farm
! is mangels. which yield enormously
of mangels will yield enough roots to
! feed flock of 200 hens all winter
with enough surplus roots TO feed a
| COW or two and several pigs. Mangels
will keep perfectly in a cellar or other
frostproof room all winter. They are
well liked by poultry, pigs and cows
A standard green feed for laying
hens in winter, now coming into
! nnnIllar ia 10 GnFaIltad oats These
are secured by placing a layer Of
threshed oats or 3 inches deep in a
tray, wetting them and allowing them
to stand in warm place for several
days, during which time they sprout
and grow up several inches high as
green, tender, young oats. Chickens
| like sprouted oats very well in winter
when they can secure no other green
| feed and this feed, when combined
with the right kind of heavier good
| feeds, is a strong stimulant To egg
production. Those who have tried
| feeding sprouted oats TO laying hens
in cold weather pronounce them the
| best green feed that can be used.
During the spring. when chickens
are out on range, they secure not only
green matter, but meat in the form Of
bugs and worms and mineral matter
| in the form OF pebbles and the like.
| 1t is necessary, then, when hens are
confined in cold weather, TO furnish
them with some animal food and
mineral matter. The mineral matter
is furnished in shells and grit, while
one of the best and most economical
meat foods is commercial beef scraps,
meat meal or -digester tankage, meat
scraps being considered the best for
! poultry Another good commercial
| feed for laying hens is graduated
bone, which contains both animal and
mineral matter. Both meat scraps
and granulated bone are relatively
high priced poultry foods, yet IT pays
to use them, as the extra eggs secured
will more than pay for the feeds. The
average farmer and poultryman would
double his winter egg yield by feeding
beef scraps and graduated bone with
little green matter, and, remember
winter eggs are worth two or three
times as much as summer eggs. Winter
| layers make poultry profits sure.
Another good feed for laying hens
in cold weather is alfalfa meal, which
is similar TO green matter, and II con-
tains both protein and mineral matter.
When alfalfa meal can not be easily
secured, good substitute can be made
| by running "pea-green" alfalfa hay
through cutting box and cutting il
in short lengths. This may be fed as
il comes dry from the cutting box, al
though il is better to scald or steam
il to soften the fiber. Alfalfa leaves
are the best part of alfalfa hay for
| poultry or other animals, as the leaves
contain more actual food than the
stems. Glover leaves are almost as
good as alfalfa leaves, and clover hay
! may be cut into short lengths, steam
ed and fed to laying hens with good re-
suits Where alfalfa or clover is fed
to farm stock. the trash and leaves
on the haymow floor may be raked up
and placed in the poultry house for the
! hens to scratch over and eat on cold
| days in confinement.
Chickens are heavy drinkers in all
kinds of weather. Laying hens must
not go thirsty in cold weather If they
are TO do well and lay eggs. Water
must be supplied in abundance and
kept from freezing in their drinking
vessels. Brood sows dairy cows and
| laying hens must have an abundant
supply OF good drinking water at all
/ times.
! The average Hock or mems stops lay-
ing suddenly when cold spell comes
on and the temperature outside drops
| to or below zero. Often they stop lay
! ing during a cold windy spell when
the temperature is not much, If any,
below freezing. This can be easily
remedied by providing a comfortable
windproof house for the hens. Their
house must be comfortable and roomy
so that they ccn eat, exercise and
roost and not feel the cold. Their
water, feed and scratching material
must be i'm their house, where they can
live with as much comfort inside on
cold days as they do outside on mild
days.
Chickens must be clean, healthy and
active TO thrive in cold weather. Their
house should have sunny southern
exposure, with windows to let in the
light, and IL should be whitewashed in
side TO make the interior bright, clean
and sanitary. Under these ideal con-
ditions they will lay IL it is possible for
/ IN Low