The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-12-26
years egg yield feeding consumption of of the hens feedin

1 oats, or of two parts of cracked corn and one part each of wheat and oats. It will pay the poultry owner to de- vote a little trouble to providing his birds with the most favorable sur Iroundings for the winter.
 The house should be thoroughly cleaned, disinfected, and made tight before the cold weather sets in. If the house has a dirt floor, it is well to re- move three or four inches of dirt from the top and replace this material with dry gravel or sand. On cement or wooden floors four or five inches of fresh straw or litter may be thrown down after the floor has been cleaned
 Ventilation is another important fac- tor to consider. The house should be 1 tight on three sides, but for the fourth
 muslin curtains may be used for from one-third to one-half it's extent. In any case, there should be some venti- jlation in the house, even on the cold | est nights Fowls will stand consid- erable cold air, provided it Is dry, and venti1a ton will keep the air thoroughly | dry in the house. On the other hand, drafts are likely to cause roup and other trouble.
 LEGHORNS PAY BEST | Leghorns produce eggs cheaper than | hens of the general purpose breed Plymouth Rocks Wyandottes, Rhode Island Reds and Orpingtons. This | fact which confirms the belief and eX }perience of commercial poultry farm- | CTS, was one of the results obtained Tn l a rather extensive feeding test con ducted by poultrymen of the United States department of agriculture. Be- cause they lay as many or more eggs, | eat only about 55 pounds of feed per | head, as compared with 70 to 85 pounds i eaten by the general purpose breeds,
 and because their egg yield very mate | rially exceeds that of general purpose
 breeds during their second and third 1 laying years, Leghorns, the specialists say undoubtedly are more profitable to
 keep for the production of eggs only
 AVERAGE WEIGHT OF EGGS
 The Leghorns produce smaller eggs | than the general purpose breeds. The l leverage weight of the eggs of pen ot Leghorns during the first laying year was 1 AZ pounds per dozen as against
 l .53 to 5S pounds for the other pens
 However, Leghorns laying eggs weigh
 ing 1.50 pounds per dozen or even
 more the specialists say, have been
 selected and bred by many poultry
 men. An examination in May. 1915
 of 5e9 eggs from three Leghorn pens showed that St per cent weighed more
 than two oKnces each, or 50 pounds l to the dozsn.
 | The vaRie per dozen of the eggs pro;
 duced by the Leghorns was from l tt 1 3 cents less each year than the eggs | of General purpose hens. This differ enee is due to the fact that the genera | Purpose breeds are better winter lay lGrs than the Leghorns while the lattel i give a higher production in the spring 1 and summer. Very few Leghorns be come broody, which probably mate rially affects their egg yield, as com
 pared with the general purpose breeds
 Better fertility in the eggs, especial! with stock confined to the yards, i
 more often secured with Leghorns thai
 with the general purpose or any of tn heavier breeds.
 FEED BEEF SCRAP
 Many farmers, in feeding their birds joyerlook the fact that beef scraps, fisl scrap, or some similar feed is very es Isential during the winter months if good supply of eggs is to be obtained A convenient method of feeding bee scrap Is in a mash made of three part corn meal and one part each of whea Ibran, wheat middlings. and beef scraI Skinned milk or buttermilk may b head in placa of tho heef or fish acraI