The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1922-03-10
EGG PRODUCTION SLUMPS-HOW
TO OVERCOME THEM.
(By Mrs. George r. Shoup,


conditions have not been to their lik
ing for sometime. If no heed Is pait
to this Information and production
continues on the down grade, enough
feathers to start feather bed will bt
found on the dropping boards sOm'
fine morning. Unless the owner thel
has confidence in the stock, the feel
ing that someone sold poor stock t
fill at least this one order, will be The
first thought in placing the blame
With broader understanding OF thu
language of the flock the blame vii
be placed on the feeder.
No live creatures are more talk.
ative than laying fowls. They sing
they scold, they quarrel. and worst o.
all they stop saying anything at all
Every one who has had the pleasure
of seeing flock Of young pullets come
into egg production knows that thu
throat swelling song means happiness
in the normal work of egg laying.
Upon approaching a house, the loud
singing and lusty cackle tell all is
NCll. hCS oNOlu coSh OtuCA - thS oNP
ply of feed is not enough to satisfy
them, and il the dispute over who
shall have the mOrsel demands direc,
action they go to battle to settle the
point. A scolding. quarreling flock al
feeding time say they want more feed
usually grain. When they squawk, flar
their wings and half fly. half run the
length of the coop, playing among
themselves between meals or just af.
ter grain feed in the afternoon they
mean to take vacation and within
a few days the egg record will verify
their having done so. This is the time
of all times to PREVENT slump
or even a moult, partial or full. Upon
a laying house If all is
still, no sound is heard, it may we'll
strike CONSERVATION to the heart OF
the caretaken. When no one has wOrd
to say nothing interests them, nothing
suits them and they do not eat enough
to produce eggs, and group after
group huddles under the sleeping
closets, or in some corner, bumped
up with closed eyes, waiting for bed
time.
Varying degrees OF the above condi-
tion must be interpreted according to
their bearing on all the conditions
taken together. Slumps ray be
brought on by
Extreme cold or hot weather.
2-By feeding wrong quantities for
purpose in hand.
BY feeding too many times a
day.
4--By feeding an unbalanced ration
5--By allowing birds to get feed
while frozen.
6-By changing from feed they like
to equally good feed they have not
been taught to eat.
disease, such as chickenpox, OF
bad colds.
s-Indigestion, either acute or
chronic.
9-Heavy, damp litter, whether dir
ty or not
1O-Stuffy air, either in the sleep
ing closets or the whole house.
ll--Shortage of kale, or the lack OF
he equivalent of It.
12-Spoiled feed, or poor quality OF
feed.
Knowing the meaning Of the noises
in the laying house, and the probable
cause of trouble, the caretaker mus,
draw conclusions from day to day as
the flock receives first one feed and
then another.
If extreme cold weather comes
on, water must be warmed several
times day; kale put in warm room
so that it will be thawed before feed
ing time: milk warmed so that there
will be no ice offered the birds, and
in extreme cases, even the afternoon
grain needs to be brought into a warm
room by 1000 a. m. to feed at 300
p. M.
Extreme heat requires increased
shade, cool water three times a day
succulent green feed supplied besides
the greens in the runs.
First aid to wrong amounts fec
is to reduce a. m. feed. When laying
flocks that are fed 6 to quarts o.
scratch per 100 do not cdean up this
amount, the birds have been fed sc
much breakfast that they no longer
have the necessary afternoon appe
tites. This happens most often a
about the time the pullets become
fully grown. Since birds never dt
more than satisfy their appetites, thu
feeder must see to it that those pres
cious appetites are keen for the whole
afternoon program. To guarantee thi!
feed breakfast that by no mean!
satisfies them. In this way the flocl
will keep working throughout the day
some at hOppers, some on the floO7
and others at the fOunts. i'Othins
helps to make birds hungry as we'll a!
this exercise and hunt, and any TIM
the birds are so completely filled will
their a. m. feed that they huddle or e.
to perch for long periods during th'
day, the feeder should know that les'
is required the next morning. II tina
is not seen quickly. the grain left owe
in the litter will show it in few
days. Wrong quantities PERSISTENT.
fed because the schedule in use start
ed the birds off right, brings ruin Il
the flock, as surely as any othe
error. The flock has been fed the cor
rect amounts when they finish eatini
their breakfast by 900 a. m. an,
keep moving from one hopper to an
other or working in the litter a larg
part of the day and then eagerly NEE
the feeder at p. m. feeding time, an
n n oooarl,, 4 II tho M Of p,ach and ka1