Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-01-09
THE POULTRY YARD
WATER AND WINTER EoGs.
BY Ed weber

After visiting many farm fiocks. al
well "a several fanciers' hocks one l,
forced to conclude that there are more
poor results n farm fiocks as result
OF lack OF sufficient water than fol-
want Of food. II is surprising how
many farmers you will nnd who never
think Of giving their fowls water. I
has only been less than week since
visited i -.arme- who owEed a large
flock Of fowls, p ,ssibly 600 or moro
and not an esq laid this winter. Every
thing was frozen up tight and not q
drop OF water in sight. asked him Il
he ever tried watering his hens to see
II that would have any effect on the
egg production, and his reo.y was: 81
suppose they got water whenever they
wanted It, don't suppose they would
drink water In cold weather like this
So that's the idea many hav, Of TAX
ing care Of fowls in winter. Our ex-
perience mas been that fowls Will con-
sumo more water In the winter season
than any time VI the year. You may
foods you can find. and fail to give
them water and your egS production
is crippled TO such an eXtari as to pre-
vent you from receiving any eggs al
all.
No Eggs Owners Fault; Not Hens.
When hen has to suffer from any
cause she Is not going to lay eggs. A
hen. to lay eggs, must be In the very
pink of condition. She must he
healthy, have a surplus Of fat. She
must have proper food, she must have
all the clean, fresh water she wants,
she must have comfortable house
to live in, she must have grits and
everything possible to make hcr COM
the average flock is not produclns.
eggs It's the owners fault and no. the
fowls. Where the fowls must depend
on the owner for water, they must
have water twice each day. eggs. you
must remember, are at least Is per cent
water. and II = hen lays eggs she must
have water. In warm weather thou
sands Of fowls die for the want Of wa
ter. It Is surprising how much water
q flock Of fowls will consume. On a
rather severe cold day recently a flock
Of laying fowls consumed almost two
gallons of water. OF course, they will
not drink that much every day, but the
change in the weather, and being con-
Of water. However, they will consume
on an average a gallon Of water a day.
Water Should Be Clean.
Experiments have demonstrated be-
yond a doubt that water which Is un-
At for man 10 unfit for poultry. Foul
water Is a common cause Of disease Of
many kinds TO the human being, and
win cause the same trouble to the poul-
try, as well as lower vitality and fewer
eggs. Cold water in summer acts
as tonic, and warm water in winter
invigorates and keeps the hen warm.
A scientific and careful analysis Of
the egg shows 1t to contain 73 per cent
water. This water must pass thru the
hens system, and II she doesn't get the
clean, pure water&in sufficient quaint
ty, how are you going to get the eggs?
have seen the watering vessels for
fowls stand full Of filthy water for
days. the fowls drinking very little,
Just what they could get along with,
and when the fact was mentioned to
the owner that his fowls needed some
fresh water. his remark was: o, they
have plenty Of water. they don't need
much / deliberately emptied the
fountain and filed It with the. fresh
water and In ave minutes afterwards
every fowl on the place was trying to
get good pure drink. g
Don't DO deceived: fowls will drink
and drink lots of water II they can get
It clean. m aG"
Winter Unnatural Laying season.
At this time Of year 1t Is unnatural
for fowls Of any kind to lay eggs. Ma
ture has provided tho spring of the
year for every feathered tribe to lay
eggs and replenish It's kind. but in the
winter fowls are supposed TO take on
fat preparatory to laying eggs in the
spring. You will notice fowls will take
on fat very quickly in the winter sea-
son: this 10 natural. but 1t is unnatural
for fowls to lay eggs in the winter;
yet with our domestic hens we can feed
and water them in such a manner as
to compel them to lay eggs all winter.
If hens are under two years Of age.
and healthy, they should be laying and
will be II they are housed and fed as
they should DO.
1t is not all in the feeding, however.
that produces the esq. but 1t Is the
good clean warm water that is provided
in addition to the food during these
cold days that play an active part in
getting the eggs. You water the fowls
these cold days with Ice cold water IN
one vessel and good milk-warm water
in another vessel and see of which
they win drink most freely. After you
have tried the experiment you will be
convinced that the warm water Is the
thing and II you are at all interested
you will ever afterwards provide them
with warm water.
To Barber Shop Patrons.
At the request Of the conservation
committee, all barber shops will open
at 1850 and close at 8 p. ~. except
Wednesdays at TA IN. and Satur-
6ays at 10 o. m. beRinndng Monday,