The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1918-07-18
Requisites for Layers Are Shade,
Clean Water, Fresh Air. and
Proper Food.
UTILIZE Gull MeETkBlEs
Problem for Poultry Keeper . to Get
Greatest Number Of Esss Possible
-unproductivs Hens Should
Be Sent to Market


Now that the Matching season is
pretty well over, the problem for the
poultry keeper, particularly for the
backyard poultry keeper, In TO get the.
greatest number Of eggs possible from
the number of hens kept during the
summer. Hens that are not good
layers should be marketed. Unless the
hens have already been carried through
one summer. which In perhaps not the
best practice for the backyard poultry
keepers. there Is necessarily some diff
entity in determining which are the
good summer layers. The fact that u
hen has been q good spSfne layer does
not prove that she win te = good
summer layer. OF eouTte; no hen
should be sold while she continues 10
lay, but hen that Has become broody
may. after a brief period. begin luying
again and continue through the sum-
mer. The condition Of the comb win
Indicate some time m advance whether
the hen will begin laying again. II
she shows no Indication Of preparing
to lay, It would be wise TO sell or eat
her. The time Of mouiting Is perhaps
the safest Indication. Hens that moult
early are not good summer layers, and
it is good practice to'sell an hens that
begin moulting in June or early July.
Summer House Problem.
The problem of summer housing Is
not much less a serious one than that
of winter housing. The principal re-
quirements are fresh air, access to both
shade and sunlight. dryness and room.
The matter OF air properly comes first.
and free circulation Of afr practically
insures dryness. Air and sunlight are
natures best disinfectants and Rermi-
cides. But hens are very susceptible
to an excess of heat and II IL equally
necessary that they have plenty OF
shade.
The problem of summer ration for
the backyard poultry keeper In much
easier OF solution than that of q win
ter ration. In most cases the neces-
sary green feed can be supplied with
out buying anything. Beet. carrot and
turnip tops, waste leaves from cabbage
and lettuce. onion tops, potato psrings.
watermelon and cantaloupe ffnds, to-
eether with the clippings OF grass from
the lawn, will supply In most cases
all the green feed required by the
backyard flock.
Dry Feed Requirement..
Bread and cake crumbs. particularly
II you can induce your nei&bber who
keeps no chickens to save hers FOR you,
will 20 4 long way toward auppiying
the dry-feed Requirement. Meaf scraps
from the kitchen may be, suf7cient to
meet the requirements for animal food,
particularly II the hens have even
little range in which they can psscratch
for bugs and worms. Such scraps are
best run through meat grinder and
mixed with three parts cofnnfeal and
one part wheat bran. This should be
fed at noon or later. II any grain Is
necessary, It, should be fed IN the
morning and should he scattered In i
litter sufficient to make the hens work
for It. Not more than pint to ten
hens should be fed In any case. Corn,
either whole or cracked and oats VIII
be the most suitable grain feeds. II
hens show tendency to get too fat,
the grain ration should be reduced. as
excessively fat hens are never good
layers. Some beef scrap should be fed
II enough meat scraps from tables can
not be procured to meet The. require
ments Of the hens.
Hens should have constant access
to grit or stones sf1all enough to be
swallowed and tocrushed Oyster or
clam shells.
A matter Of hrst importance u that
the water supply be nlways plentiful