The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-09-20
ADULT FOWLS REQUIRE SPECIAL CARE AND
 ATTENTION DURING THE MOLTING PERIOD
Comfortable Quarters, Lib eral Feeding and Reliable TOnics Hasten the
 Process
By PROF. F. H. sroNEnuRN

De shortened and the stock returned to laying condition much sooner thanssY. would naturally if the attendant will gx } special care during this trying period.
 Professor Stoneburn's present arsiele is full of money making hints. which the earnest poultry keeper may adopt to ad- vantage. Now is the time to put these into practice.
 Adult folws change their clothing each year. discarding their faded, broken. dis colored coats, and after time appearing resplendent in new feather garments throughout This change is made in the fall or early winter, thus insuring com plete protection for the birds during the cold season which is before them.
 The molting period, especially in the case of old fowls. is a trying one. The birds are not only subjected to the irain upon their systems, caused by the aeces- sity of making new feathers. but they also often contract colds and other sim- lar troubles due to exposure to cold and rain while they are without the protection of their normal coats. Therefore, the poultryman may well adopt such meas Lres as are necessary to hasten the mott ing process, to keep the stock free from sickness and to induce the layers to again take up the duty of laying al the earliest possible moment.
 Melting Season Now Here
 In most iocks of poultry kept under average conditions, many individuals will be found in partial or complete mott at this time Therefore, it is none too early to give this very practical question the consideration it deserves
 The molting process varies with individ- tc hen .T1t cIn nnfIxr cha 1ircr 1 few feathers at time and replacing these immediately with new ones. The attend ant will freqeuntly fail to note this grad ual change and will suddenly awake to the fact that these slow-moltng sneci mems have in some mysterious way se- cured patches of new feathers.
 Other hens seem to drop their old feathers practically at one time, and for a little while are ridiculous-looking ob- jects In such cases, the new feather growth seems to start simultaneously on , practically all sections of the body, in- stead of following a regular, sequence as is usual in the slower mott.
 Because the molting hens must bend their energies to the secretion of feather making material, they naturally cea SC egg production. either partially entirely. Some few individuals, especially those (which molting slowly or are possessed of unusually vigorous constitutions. may , but such only exceptions to the gen eral rule.
 The effect of this annual change of ap- parel on the part of our layers and the consequent stoppage of production is re- fected in market egg quotations. The winter shortage of the egg crop is not so much due to unfavorable weather con- diticns as to the fact that more than half s of our layers are so busily engaged in other work during the late fall and early winter months that they forget to visit their nests
 Poultrymen have long recognized this fact, and have attempted in many ways to induce early molting. and get the flock back in laying condition by the 1 time the period of high prices arrives. One favorite method is to induce early molting by the so-called starving process" the idea being to cause the flock to do their molting when eggs are of comparatively little value, and so be prepared to give a good daily yield when their product is in such great demand.
 Starving Process Forces Mott
 Since it usually takes about 90 days for old hens to complete their mott and again get into laying condition poultrymen who X make a practice of forcing the mott start 1.-the process in August. The usual proceed Sure is about follows: The selected hens are confined to their houses or, at least, to small wards. to prevent them from picking up any food save that sup piled to them. The daily ration is then gradually reduced, until at the end of a week they are receiving but half the normal amount each day. In some cases this half feeding is continued for an- other fortnight, and during the fourth week the amount is gradually increased, Nntil at the end of the month it is again Restored to the usual amount. In others food is entirely withheld for four or five days during the second week, and is then gradually supplied, so the stock is on Full feed again at the end of the third Week. Of course. water Is supplied in abundance during the time when the birds are kept on a total fast
 Either plan results in a total stop page of egg production after the first week. upsets the normal condition aud activities of the fowls and almost ina variably throws them into mott. Then when they again receive a fall ration rich in meat and other nitrogenous , foods. they begin building feathers in- \ stead of producing eggs.
 Forced Mott Not Cruel
 There is no actual cruelty involved in this treatment. though 1t may seem a bit harsh. As matter of fact. few, if any. hens will appear to be seriously affected and the loss in weight will be but a few ounces per bird
 There is difference of opinion as to the practical value of this plan. Some very successful egg farmers believe 1t ! to be the most satisfactory and use 1t every year. The writer's own expc- rience has caused him to regard the forced mott" as being unprofitable, and this view is supported by the re- suits of certain careful experimental work, notably at Cornell agricultural experiment station.
 Al the above institution two equal lots of White Leghorn hens, containing more than 100 individuals each, were tested for about IS months. One lot was permitted to mott naturally; the other was put through a forced mott. suits secured, the investigators say:
 '"rhe findings would indicate that with the methods employed. with White Leghorn fowls, one, two or three years old. it does not pay to force a mott by starvation method, and that appar- ently 1t is good policy to encourage hens by good care and feeding to lay during late summer and fall, rather than to resort to unusual means 70 stop laying in order to induce early ! mott, with the hope of increasing pro- ductiveness during early winter sca- son which is naturally unfavorable for egg production. In short, it appears l wise when hens want to lay. to let them lay
 This question of a forced mott is l mentioned at this time merely as a | matter of information. as it Is point | which Is generally discussed by poul 1 trymen at this season of the year.