Evening star., 1915-11-07
For Better Understanding.
Poultry Yard Notes.

during the summer birds on free
range pick up bugs, worms and a va
rlety OF other insects which furnish
some or the necessary elements from
which bone. tissue, feathers and eggs
are made. In the winter when insect
Ire mas disappeared, or in the case of
birds kept confined. these elements
should be provided in some other way.
The best winter sources of these ele-
ments are beef scraps or meat meal.
green cut bone and milk in its various
forms. Many poultrymen find it profit
able to keep a small bone mill for
grinding up bones obtained at small
cost from the butcher. as well as those
from their own kitchens. Gristle.
sinews or any meat adhering to the
bones make them 80 much more val
liable as feed for chickens, especially
as egg producers.
Ground bone must be given with care
Or trouble may result It should be fed
in small quantities at regular intervals.
After getting flock used to the meal
pound daily to about twenty hens.
Small amounts should be given for a
few days to prevent loose bowels from
which more serious ailments may re-
suit. Another precaution is to see that
the bone meal is always fresh and
sweet. For this reason 1t should not
be ground up in large quantities be-
forehand and should be kept in a cool
place.
Mixing in these feeds as an ingredi-
ent of the dry mash is also practiced
very extensively. AS in the case of the
bone meal, one should be careful to
feed nothing but meat that is in good
condition. But milk Is easiest to feed.
1t requires little trouble to prepare
and put it before the flock and few pre-
cautions are necessary In giving 1t to
the birds. Skim milk may be poured
in a trough or fountain and the birds
allowed to drink of 1t as they desire.
Milk that has turned sour. or butter
milk, should be fed with a little more
care than sweet milk. Too much of
especially where the bir,1s have not be-
come used to them If given in the
right quantities either sour or butter
milk will act as corrective of di-
gestive disorders.
II the chickens show an inclination
to fly over the yard fence and range
where they want, clip a few feathers
from either wing and there will be no
further trouble from that cause.
Don't keep two or three different
kinds of ducks. Choose one variety
and breed for quality.
Don't try, by mixing it with their
food, to force ducks to eat more grit
than they want.
Now is the time to deal with the roup
ouestion before your birds get 1t. When
thew get a hard case of 1t cure is diff
cult: in fact many authorities say that
there isn't any cure. There isn't much
danger of roup If they can get through
the fall months without 1t. Cool nights
and wet mornings are pretty likely to
cause colds, more likely than the ex-
treme cold of midwinter.
Roup is caused, for one thing, by
crowded conditions, SO all the old hens
that are not wanted as next years
breeders and that you do not care to
keep through the winter for laying
should be disposed of. This is true also
of cockerels. The price is going down
they will be worth sixty days from
now when they are heavier.
Lice and mites should be cleaned up
now because they weaken the condition
of the fowls and make them subject to
roup The floor should be clean. New
earth should be put in II the floor Is of
dirt and new roosts should be put in
regularly There should be room enough
so that the birds can play and exercise
while shut in during the stormy wealth
err Feed and water should be clean and
of the best quality obtainable. The
birds that are weaklings, whether
young or old, should be disposed of.
They catch cold easily and colds. when
they reach the rouP stage, are infec-
tious. The runts sMould be killed.