The Aberdeen weekly., 1921-12-02

prepared by the United States Department
OF Agriculture)
] Hens that devote too much attention
early in the season to the fall styles in
feathers are not the kind that please
i the flock owner. 1t costs too much to
. support them and they demand too
/ long a vacation period. But the hen
that wears her old clothes until
autumn has almost passed is the best
of the flock, for she has kept on lay
ing since the previous fall or winter
So now when you see a bird that looks
shabbier than the others, do not con-
cIude that she is of the no-accOunt
kind and that her smartly dressed
sisters are the ones to keep.
Take Short Vacation.
OF course some of the hens that
molted earlier, say in August and Sep
tember, are profitable enough TO keep,
but the cream of the flock is made up
of hens that do not change their
feathers until October or November.
Their molting will require only a few
weeks and they will probably be laying
again by the 1st of January. The
poor ones. the early-mOlting lOafers,
will not begin until about this time,
even though they have been resting
since the middle of the summer. 1t
takes one about two months and the
other twice that long TO get back into
production.
The poultry keeper who has an eye
for business will not neglect this worn
looking late layer. for she is the best
highly nutritious ration If she is to be
in the best condition to start on
another year of high production. When
she quits laying and starts to mOlt she
has as much need for a ration strong
In protein as she has when she is
shelling out the eggs, as feathers are
highly nitrOgenOus in their makeup.
They use the materials supplied by
beef scrap. gluten feed, and oil meal.
The oil meal is very effective in keep
ing the feathers in a healthy condition.
Hens that lay eggs late In the fall
and in the winter are really producing
an Out-Of-season crop, for it is normal
for the hen to lay for a time In the
spring and early summer and rest for
the remainder of the year. Profitable
hens are really those that have the
capacity TO force their egg-making
machinery, but they must have the
right sort of feed with which TO do 1t.
That means feeding well-balanced ra-
tions designed for the particular class.
and sometimes for the particular
breed. balanced ration is a cOmbina-
tion of feeds which furnish just the
f,Fv re RI
duce the highest and most economical
egg yields. The amount of feed needed
to produce a dozen eggs varies with
the kind of birds According to ex-
periments conducted by the United
States Department of Agriculture
neraI-purpose pullets produced a
dozen eggs from 81 pounds of feed. |
and Leghorn pullets laid the same |
number from 4S pounds.
Simple mixtures are usually the |
most desirable. As the fall advances |
and the days grow shorter the birds |
should be encouraged to put away as |
much feed as possible during the day |
so that their bodies will have plenty |
to work on for all Of the "a hours. |
A good handful of scratch grain for |
each bird at night viii fill the crop. 1t /
Is not desirable that the hens be made |
TO work very hard for this feed. Be |
sure that the hens go to rOost with |
full crop.
In making uP rations 1t IS necessary |
to adhere to standards within certain
limits. but some feeds may be sub
for others. as barley. wheat, |
and oats for corn. However, meat |
scrap and other animal-prOtein feeds
can not be replaced by high-vegetable-
protein feeds. All changes should be
made gradually. as sudden changes
may decrease egg production.
A great many poultrymen and live
stock feeders now believe that If the
animal has a free choice it will select
the ration that is most suitable. At
the government farm at Beltsville, Md,
the following mash was made up by
keeping account of the amounts of
the different feeds a laying flock con-
Samples of Balanced Rations.
Mash Scratch Mixture.
IS lbs corn meal 1 ID. cracked corn
61z lbs. meat scrap ID. wheat
1 lb. bran ID. oats
1 ID. middlings
Here is a simple ration that has
given very good results with Leghorns,
Dut that has proved too fattening for
Rocks and Wyandottes. Meat scrap,
t will 5e seen. makes up over % per
,ent of the mash.
Mash Scratch Mixture.
8 lbs. corn meal lbs. cracked corn
i ID. meat scrap l ID. oats
For birds that are made too fat by
he preceding ration, the following,
containing only 16 per cent of meat
scrap but having considerable pro-