Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1918-11-21
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USES FOR DIFFERENT FOWLS
Poultry, Other Than Chickens. Have
important Place in Increasing
Needed Food Supply.

prepared by the United States Depart.
ment of Agriculture.)
The hen. first and last is the main
dependence for increasing the supply
of white meat and eggs, but she re-
quires the aid of turkeys, guineas,
geese. and ducks, just as. on a dairy
farm, the COW requires the aid Of pigs,
sheep, and goats. The setting Of the
standard at 100 hens per farm is safe,
hut no such arbitrary standard can
be set for the other kinds OF poultry.
The small farm, with grain fields Of
neighb0ring farms in proximity to the
barn and dOOryard, would, perhaps. be
better without turkeys. The farm
through which no streams run and
which has no large pond would per-
haps be better without ducks. hut
the circumscribed farm on which tur.
keys would be disadvantage may be
well supplied with streams and ponds
so that ducks would be unusually
profitable, and the farm that has no
streams and ponds may have large
range for turkeys. Each farm family
will have to determine for itself what
poultry can be profitably kept In adj
dition to 100 hens, bearing In mind
always that an adequate number
should be kept Of all the kinds for
which free range can be found.
Turkeys, ranging farther af1eld,
prey upon insect forms that escape
the hens, From the time the young
are old enough to begin foraging for
themselves. perhaps early In June, un-
til near frost, turkeys take the bulk
Of their food from field insects. de-
vOuring millions of grasshoppers and
other injurious forms In meadow and
pasture. In regions where wooded
areas are still fairly extensive. mast
Is an important item In the diet of
the turkey. When the insect stores be-
gin to fail, the mast lartiers are be-
ginning to he filled. Feeding on
acorns. chestnuts. beech nuts. and the
like, turkeys will go long way toward
fattening themselves for the Thanks
giving ar Christmas market and will
not require much feeding Of corn or
other grain to finish them. Generally
speaking. turkeys will require larger
feeding Of grain than chickens to fit
them for market, but. as they utilize
forms Of waste that hens and their
broods would not reach. the keeping
Of fair number OF turkeys Is good
economy
Guinea fowls utilize still other kinds
Of waste that would escape both hens
md turkeys. Taking wider range
than chickens and yet not quite so
wide as turkeys, keeping largely to
thickets aud weed patches, and com
mitting fewer depredntiOns against
field and garden than either chickens
or turkeys. requiring little feeding at
any time. Seing prolific layers, during
their seas6a Of eggs that are thought
by many to have a richer ana firer
flavor even than hen eggs, the guinea
fowl IL an economic necessity on any
farn where II serious effort Is made to
coavert all waste into meat and eggs.
Geese .old still another sector in
the line II the poultry army that
makes VIZ asainst waste. They taGch
issitikS VIII Nllt Si4kNhftiS ia GtsilIIilE
waste greln about stables and feeding
pens. l. larger measure than chick
ems or avs ether kind of poultry. they
ARE grazing stock. taking their living
in large part from the ordinary grasses
of the pastures.
The one kline of poultry Of question
able ecnaC.nic status ~. farms Is the
pigeon. Almost exclusively a grain
eater. tn pigeon renders 70 notable
service as conserver If waste. ex-
cept 1t might be shattered grain In the
fields. and that In large measure would
b taken mp by other poultry and ny
pigs. The pigeon has It's economic
place In the scheme ri urban poultry
production. hm. except In isolated ir,-
stances where conditions are peculiar
ly favorable, It's production on general
farms MAY no: ha desirable.