Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1919-04-17
EGGS It REQUIRES
TO REAR PULLET
Choosing Reliable Sitting Hens
How to Manage Them-Bal-
ancing Rations-Hints on
SQUAD Neutrality-suspicious. Side
Line for the Farmer
tBy II. ARMSTRONG ROBERTS,

Don't let the nests go without straw
or similar nesting material. Bare nests
mean broken eggs. In addition to this
loss broken eggs are almost sure to
start the egg -eating habit. which Is ex-
ceedingly difficult to discourage. More
over. bare nests are uninviting places to
the layers, and may tempt them to steal
their nests in out Of the way places.
Bare nests are usually responsible for
soiled eggs, and soiled eggs are dis
counted in price.
Excelsior and planer shavings make
good nesting materials.
Water Is cheaper than feed. but 1t Is
worth Just as much to the hen that is
laying. Experiments show that hens lay
two and three times as many eggs when
they have access to liberal supply Of
drinking water at all times. instead Of
receiving an occasional drink when it
suits the attendants convenience.
The familiar saying: Tho same sun
which hardens clay will melt wax"
| should be remembered in connection
with the rearing of chickens. The same
sun which Is SO beneficial in the poultry
yard, may prove Injurious If there Is no
escape from 1t. Sunshine is essential to
the healthy brood, and to all ages of
poultry; yet shady places must be pro-
vided, too, wherein the birds can find a
cool retreat when the heat Expresses
them. Sunshine and shade-is the thing.
| Heat is the wors. enemy Of the egg.
CHOOSING THE SITTING HEN
Do not be misied into thinking that
all hens found on the nests after night
| fall are really and truly sitters in the
sense that they can be trusted with
eggs. They may be broody. They may
have stopped laying. They may even
"clucli" and ruffie up their feathers at
your approach, and still not qualify as
sitters. In short. this pretense at want
ing to sit may be nothing more than a
brief rest period between the laying of
two series OF eggs. In which event the
hens will abandon their nests In a few
days.
To be sure of a hen that is qualified to
bring off a hatch a good plan Is to test
| her; chase her off the nest two or
three times for several days, and note
her anxiety to return. The feathers on
the breast of sitting hen are another
indication. AS a rule. the breast of re-
liable sitter is quite denuded. bare. which
Is for the purpose of bringing the eggs
in direct contact with the flesh fol
added warmth.
| me nuTnDeT Oh eggs u dIoW n HSi
will depend upon the birds ability tc
cover them Never put so many eggs
under a hen that they are even slightly
visible from under her plumage. From
10 to Is eggs is the correct number
Needless to say. sitting hens should bt
fed and watered the same as other stock
Keep feed and water before them at al
times. Disturb them as little as pos
/, sible. q.
Brown eggs have a tendency to pro
duce poorer fertility, more dead germs
more chicks dead In shell and fewe
chicks than white eggs. So far as in
-, cubation is concerned there is nothing
to account for this popularity 1t II
simply in the nature Of things to be so
apparently.
COST OF RAISING PULLETS
{ Based on four seasons work and sew
eral thousand chicks Matched, the In
3 diana Experiment Station deduced tn
5 following interesting facts in connection
l with raising Leghorn pullets:
3 1t required 1873 eggs set for every Leg
1 horn chick Matched.
;. The cost of Matching these eggs wa
i $.O2l per chick, which, when added t
t the cost Of eggs, increased the total cos
|
y CThe cost is somewhat higher to-day.
Based on the first u weeks Of life.
u took $50 pounds OF grain and mash an
6O7 pounds Of milk to feed chick. Dur
: ing the same time 1t took $3.50 pounds Q
!, grain and mash and 3.H pounds of mil
, to produce one pound Of gain In weigh
!. The average Leghorn pullet "a week
a old and ready to lay weighed 275 pounds
d The feed was by far the most expensiv
8 item in the cost of rearing chicks.
d On the basis of 100 chicks Matched an
|. u II per cent. mortality, the percentas
= of pullets and percentage of cockere
r. was 4o1 and 429, respectively.
d The time of Matching greatly influence
h the rate of growth of chicks, price {
r. broilers, net cost of growing and weigh
i Of pullets at laying age. Early hatchin
n paid best.