The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1914-05-07
A Weekly Page of Poultry Hints to You
AF THE VARIOUS kinds of live
~ stock, poultry is most widely

land. The waste products from the
kitchen and the table may be used to
advantage as feed. The care Of the
chickens is pleasant work, is compare
lively simple, and may be done by any
member of the family. Eggs and dressed
poultry are always in demand and may
be sold to advantage in any quantity,
or used at home, thus furnishing
strictly fresh product which is hard to
secure under general market conditions;
and in addition, the care Of poultry
may provide recreation for adults, en-
ployment and good discipline for the
children, and be source of income to
the housewife, or saving in the food
account. for the family.
The following breeds are among the
most popular in this country: Plymouth
Rocks, Wyandottes, Rhode Island Reds,
Orpingtons and Single-Comb White Leg
horns. The Leghorns belong to the
egg-laying class Of fowls, lay a white
egg and are especially adapted to large,
commercial egg farms, or to sections
where white egg brings q premium
over brown eggs.
The other breeds belong to the gen.
eral-purpose class, and lay brown eggs.
They are better adapted to the average
person, or the farmer who keeps only
a small number Of fowls, as they are
good layers and also make good table
poultry. Another advantage Of the gen.
eral.purpose breeds is that they will
hatch eggs and brood their chickens,
while the Leghorns, and other breeds
Of the egg.laying class are non-setters.
Methods Are Many.
A great variety Of methods Of feed.
ing and caring for poultry are used
successfully. Hatching and brooding, or
rearing chickens under hens, is the best
method to use where small number
of chickens are raised, and especially
if the care is apt to be irregular. In
cubators and brooders may be used also,
but they increase the cost Of equip
ment considerably. Chickens can be
reared under hens successfully by keep.
ing the hens confined in the brood coop,
while allowing the chickens to room at
will
When many fowls are kept in a
small space, the ground becomes SO
foul that in time it becomes difficult
to rear chickens with good success. In
order to avoid this condition, it is ad-
visable to divide the lot and SOW part
of it with some of the quick-growing
grains such as oats, wheat or rye.
By this method the yards may be
rotated every three or four weeks dur
ing the growing season, turning the
hens onto the growing grain when it is
few inches high. A good combina-
tion of grains is oats and wheat in equal
parts, sowing six or seven bushels to
the acre (43,56O square feet), and using
wheat alone for the last seeding in the
fall.
Fresh Air Essential.
The prime essentials in poultry
houses are fresh air, dryness, sunlight
and space enough to keep the birds
comfortable. Allow about four square
feet Of floor space per bird for the gen.
eral-purpose breeds, and three square
feet for the smaller breeds. A good
egg-laying ration may be made Of a
dry mash Of equal parts Of corn meal,
bran, middlings and beef scrap, which
is kept before the birds in 4 hopper all
of the time; and q scratch ration of
equal parts of corn, wheat and oats fed
in a litter four to five inches deep
twice daily. Regulate this feed so that
the birds eat about one-half mash and
one-half scratch grain, which will mean
feeding about one quart Of mixed grains
daily to IL Plymouth Rock hens, or to
IA Leghorns. In order to utilize the
waste table products to the best ad.
vantage, a moist mash may be used
in place Of the dry mash, feeding once
daily. If it contains much meat, table
scraps may be substituted for the beef
scrap; if not, merely add it to the mash
given above.
The selection Of stock is a matter Of
considerable Importance, as a great deal
Of ones success or failure with poultry
depends upon the individual specimens
used to breed from. Care. should be
taken to select the early maturing, fast