Evening star., 1916-09-24
FIELD, FARM AND FLOCK.
Pouymen Gardeners Stock Rasers Orcharsts and
Cleaned From Researches of Experts
Pointers for PouItrymen.

With strictly fresh eggs up close to
the half-dollar mark and promising to
go still higher, consumers are asking
the reason for the apparent shortage
! Farmers and poultry raisers in general
know that hens will not lay while they
are molting, but the consumer Of eggs
who has to pay 35 or 40 cents a dozen
for eggs of doubtful vintage, and as
much as so cents for guaranteed
strictly fresh ones. fails to take this
into consideration. Most of the hens
of the United States right now are en-
joying their annual vacation, while the
pullets and young stock have not begun
to lay.
Hens are obliged to have a resting
season. just the same as human beings
4 The difference is that the humans
often are compelled to forego their
vacations. while nothing can keep the
hens from taking time off. When the
molt begins the eggs stop. or at least
fall off until the production doesn't
| amount to much. If this were not sc
the hens. forced to continuous egg lay
ing. would kill themselves In a single
| legg-laying year.
| Many poultrymen make a practice OF
| Matching early, forcing growth as
rapidly as possible in order to bring
| the pullets to laying condition in the
4
winter and forcing extra heavy produc-
ton in the spring. the natural laying
season. Then as soon as the pullets
show that they are laid out they are
disposed of for table use. This kind OF
| management naturally obviateS the
necessity for feeding the stock through
an idle season, but the plan has serious
drawbacks. Among the objections that
make 1t Impractical in most cases is
the necessity for using pullets as
! hra hn o1f two Of h.rxy
ing eggs for Matching each year. This
cuts down profits and makes it i'm
possible for poultrymen to build up
| heavy laying strains, as might be the
case If egg production was not forced
so strongly and the extra good layers
were reserved for breeding purposes. .
| To endeavor to force heavy laying
all the time will not only meet with
failure in most cases. but will put the
| layers out of condition and perma-
nently impair their productivity toe
early in their lives. For this reason, il
| for no other, the period of rest for the
| hens should center around the moltine
| season. as nature has provided. The
to give the hens a short vacation i'm
mediately before the moIt, together
| with a change of diet calculated to aid
the fowls in getting rid of their old
! plumage and growing a new coat
A writer in the American Agricultur-
! ist says that for several years he has
made aspractice of cutting down the
feed of the hens about the middle OF
June, allowing the e:fowls practically to
| gather all their feed on range--grass
worms, bugs and other insects, seeds
and the like. Most of the hens resen,
| the cutting off of their usual rations
and will stand around looking for the
morning feed. he says. but after a few
/ days they Will start out as soon as they
are off the roosts in the morning, and
| will range the fields and pick up a
cropful by sunrise. The fowls are al.
| lowed to range all day. and at night
grain to go to bed on. This practice
| says the writer. soon rids the fowls o1
| surplus fat. and the change of feed re.
suits in complete renovation of their
systems. Wide ranging brings hardi-
ness and general health. and when the
moit begins it progresses in perfectly
natural manner and is soon finished
Usually. the writer says. the new feath.
ers have begun to show by the middle
| OF august. Regular feeding is then re-
sumed, the molt is soon completed and
| egg production starts again. By fol-
| lowing this plan, the writer saws his
/ mems always go into the winter in fine
| condition, retain their usefulness as orc
producers for from three to four vears
I and the eggs are always highly fertile
| during the breeding season, PRODUCING
strong. virile chicks.
Healthy fowls do not REQUIRE medicine
| or so-ealled tonics any more than do
| healthy humans. Efforts to stfmulate te
egg production by means of highly sea
soned Feeds, tonics or condiments of
various kinds always result in much
more injury than good Stimulation OF
| egg production may for short time
Follow the use of cayenne pepper
fenugreek. ginger and other stimulants,
trail of the poultryman who makes a
practice OF using these artificial aids.
Linseed meal in the proportion of one
! part TO twenty parts of the usual dry
| mash makes valuable addition to the
mash feed Of the fowls during the
molting season. While the old feathers
are falling and the new plumage is
coming II Is. even safe to use a larger
proportion of the linseed meal, as much
as one part to ten parts of dry mash,
| TED two or three times a week, will he
found helpful. Most dry mash for
muias contain linseed or faxseed meal
In varying proportions. and poultry
! men should be careful to know lust
what is in the mash they are feeding.
| so as to avoid giving the fowls too
| fnuch of the inseed meal, which exerts
| a mildly laxative and beneficial effecf
on the digestive and e,ininatiye organs
| At the present price of fertilizers
fresh manure from the poultry houses
| is worth about so cents per hundred
Z! pounds. Properly composted with lit
ter. sod and similar materials and shell
| tered from the weather during the WIN
| ter. the value of the manure would be
/ even greater in the spring, without
| taking into consideration probable fur
| tner advances in prices of fertilizers
i Figures from number of experiment
stations. both state and governmental,
give the droppings of 100 hens for six
! months OF the winter season as 1900
pounds for the dropping boards alone
This. material, properly handled. at
present prices for fertilizers, would be
! worth 50.
A firm mind and determined purpose
| Is necessary in culiing the flock for the
winter Too many poultrymen hesi-
| tate to cull sufficiently because they
are afraid they will not have a suffi-
| ctent number Of layers and breeders
| left. They fail to take into considera-
ton the fact that every weakling,
! every Improperly developed pullet.
every faulty cockerel left in the flock
| is liability rather than an asset. In
most cases such improperly developed
/ or weak pullets do not begin to lay un-
til spring. while the strong, healthy
| ones are producing eggs-or should be
!-before Christmas. Cockerels that pos
sess inherent defects. II left in the flock,
| Invariably transmit those defects in
! tensified to their offspring. Further
| more, nine out of ten outbreaks of
roup In flock may be traced directly
to some undeyeioped or weak member,
! which, readily susceptible to infectious
colds or to other poultry ailments. soon
! infects the entire flock. 1t Is better to
have only twenty-five absolutely sound.
| healthy. strong. vigorous fowls than
| to have fifty, among which are to be
| found score of non-producers, con-
sumcrs OF costly feed and probable