Evening star., 1915-06-27


TO fasten II up when desired
Another handy arrangement consists
OF a stout hinge at one end of the feed
troushs. fastening the troughs to the
wall. At the opposite end of the
trough is a hook, to fasten in a screw
eve placed at the proper height in the
vail When the troughs are not in use
they are to be raised off the floor and
fastened up out Of the way by means
or the hook and screweye This saves
moor space and keeps the troughs from
becoming fouled. they are up out of
the wet except when the fowls are be
ing fed.
A device that can be made by any one
possessed of a little ingenuity and an
ordinary alarm clock permits the poul-
tryman to remain in bed later in the
morning, and at the same time gives
the fowls their early morning grain
iced The alarm clock must be of the
type in which the winding key revolves
in a reverse direction when the alarm
sounds, and the bell should be remov-
ed from the clock, which is to be fas-
tened firmly to the wall. The feeding
device consists of a hopper with smooth
wooden sides converglng funnelw ise to
the opening at the bottom. This hopper
is to be fastened firmly to an upright
near the middle of the poultry house.
The opening should be about three or
TOUR inches square. and a couple of
inches beneath ii a smooth board a
foot wide is to he placed at an angle
of about forty-five degrees. The open
Ing in the hopper is to be covered with
another smooth piece of board. which
slides in grooves. and it will be well
to keep the grooves well grea ased 4
screweye in one end of the slide is for
a strong cord leading to the winding
key of the alarm clock. The cord must
be of such length that when the clock
is wound the cord is so tightly drawn
that the reverse revolution of the key,
winding the cord around its shank,
opens the slide. At night wind the
alarm and set ii to go off, say, at
o'clock in the morning. Close the slide
in the bottom of the feed hopper. fill
the latter with the required quantity
of grain, and don't worry about the
early morning feeding of the hens. The
clock will attend to that. Attthe in
dtcated hour the alarm will 90 off, the
tightening cord will draw the slide
. from the opening in the bottom of the
feed hopper, and the released grain
sliding down the inclined board, will
be scattered in the litter, ready for the
hens as soon Is they leave the roosts.
Such a device has been in use on a
small poultry plant near Washington
for the last five years, and it has not
failed to work properly every morning.
excepting a few occa SionS when the
poultryman for some reason omitted
the evening winding of the clock.
warm and dry. All several barrels with
dust that has been passed through the
ash sitter. Fowls like nothing better
than good bath of fine. dry dust.
which is much better than sifted ashes,
Is the latter have a tendency to bleach
the shanks of yellow-legged fowls.
The barrels of dust may be kept in
corner of the poultry house, where they
will be handy. They should, of course.
be covered. that the hens may not
get into them and waste the dust.
The practical poultryman is the one
who knows exactly how much it costs
to maintain his flock. After the initial
expense of building and equipping the
plant. the largest item of cost, of
not know just what his feed cost Is
can have any real idea of the cost of
production of eggs. dressed poultry. etc.
The practice of feeding the fowls about
as much as it is thought they need is
a careless and waSteful habit to fall
into: yet that is the way most poultry
men feed their hens. A platform scale
in the feed room will more than pay
for itself in feed saved In a single sea-
son. and the fowls will be kept in bet
ter condition by reason of weighing
the feed. Bear in mind that to keep
hen of any of the Mediterranean breeds
in good laying condition requires about
two ounces of hard grains daily. For
the American. Asiatic and English
breeds about two and a ha If ounces of
hard grain daily is the proper guam
tity. The hard grain ration. of course.
is in addition to the dry mash and the
green feed both of which should be fed
in proper quantities. Allow an ounce
and a half of dry mash a day for each
laying hen, with the same quantity of
green feed in whatever form it is fed.
Such a ration. fed regularly. Will keep
the layers in better condition than
larger quantities, or than more or less
fed at irregular times. Too much feed
is as bad in the matter of egg produc-
ton too little, because overfed
hen becomes too fat to lay, while one
that is underfed does not receive the
proper amount of material with which
to make good bodily waste and at the
same time provide for eggs.
Any time during the summer is the
proper time to lay the foundation for Il
flock of evenly developed pullets for
winter laying. AS the chicks grow
from time to time select the pullets
that show the most advanced develop
ment. placing them in a flock to them
selves. During the summer and early
fall Gull out of this flock the individ
uals that do not keep up with the
others in the matter. of growth. shape,
pluma ge, size. weight, etc, and fatten
them for market or for use on the
home table. In selecting the layers
many of which undoubtedly are to be
used later as breeding stock-go over
each pullet carefully for defects that
would render her useless in the breed
ing pens. No pullet that has a crooked
breaStbone keel should be saved for
laying, as such fowls. by reason of the
deformity, never make profitable egg
producers; while every poultryman who
wishes to build up a strong. healthy.
vigorous strain must vigorously eN-|
clude every deformed or otherwise
physically imperfect fowl from the
breeding iocks.
A little time each morning during the
summer spent in thoroughly securing
and rinsing the drinking vessels in the
poultry houses may result in keeping
all kinds of poultry diseases out Of the
flock. Water vessels accumulate more
or less slime and filth. especially dur
ing the summer, and unless the accu-
mutation is secured out all water placed
in the vessels becomes polluted as soon
as it is placed in them. An ordinary
scrubbing brush kept in the poultry
house for this particular purpose VIII
cost only a dime. and its use each
morning will probably save several
hundred times that amount in sinEl"
summer in sick or diseased fowls from
which infection may easily spread tel
the entire flock.
Fresh, cool, clean water three times a
day will do wonders toward keeping
chicks and grown fowls alike com
Portable and contented during the hot
weather. Fowls drink large quantities
of water during the hot weather, just
as all other animals do. and they like
it cool and fresh. No flock Of chicks can