Evening star., 1914-11-22

soon at it is light enough to see, they
will be down off the roosts and scratch
| ing for dear life for this grain, and
by the time you are out with the morn
ing feed the birds will be right on the
job. warm from their exercise and with
appetites sharpened, ready for their
| breakfast.
| See to it that the straw in the nest
boxes is renewed frequently, and never
, permitted to become foul. Hens like
clean nests in which to lay, but they
are mighty untidy about their house.
keeping. and the nests are likely to be-
! come fouled pretty frequently. If they
| tion 1t will be necessary to wash the
eggs before they will be marketable,
and 1t is much easier to put fresh.
clean straw in the nest boxes at fire.
quent intervals than 1t is to wash
| every egg.
Now that the supply of bugs, worms
and other forms of animal food avail
able during the summer is cut of, don't
! overlook the necessity of supplying the
deficiency. Good egg yields depend
largely on the animal food-the meat
that is fed to the laying hens Cut
green bone is best. 1t can usually be
bought at from to cents a pound,
and if you do not own bone cutter 1t
will be advisable to buy 1t already cut.
In case the cut green bone Is not avail
able, commercial beef scrap Is the best
substitute. Much less of the latter is
to be fed. however. owing to the fact
that it is highly concentrated. Half an
ounce of the cut green bone may be fed
to each laying hen every other day.
The beef scrap may be fed in feed hop
mash mixture. In any case the dry
mash should contain a fair proportion
of the beef scrap.
oil lrnI 1iv,a In, hn
dry soil on the dropping boards be-
meath the roosts. The use of the lime
keeps down odors and at the same time,
by fixing the ammonia in the droppings.
lizer.
Don't forget the crushed oyster shell
that all laying hens must have. hen
an immense amount of lime. and the
other portions of her ration-the hard
grain. dry or wet mash. and green food
cannot supply all she uses in making
supplied in other ways. and ground
oyster shell is the best of these.
Cleanliness, first, last and all the
time. This should be the watchword of
every poultry breeder. whether his
flock be large or small. Clean houses.
clean. dry litter. clean roosts. clean
dropping boards, clean nest boxes. clean
food hoppers. clean drinking vessels.
and clean dust bins or boxes-these are
the things that keep poultry in good
health and good laying condition.
Cleanliness. ventilation-plenty OF air
without drafts-and light. dry houses
mean more to the health and well-being
of a flock than any other items; the
reverse of such conditions means sick
liness. colds. roup. chickenpox. reduced
vitality. reduced egg production. re-
duced profits and no satisfaction In
keeping poultry.
The change from open range to win
ter quarters may cause digestive -trou-
bles among the fowls. Do not attempt
to overcome such trouble by dosing the
birds with cayenne pepper. as many
small poultry raisers do. Instead. mix
EPSON salts with the mash feed, in the
proportion of about a tablespoonful to
every four fowls. Give them this dose
once or twice a week. at the same time
giving them plenty of fresh green
stuff, such as cabbage, turnips and the
like, and the trouble will soon disap-
pear.