Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-10-27
OUR HOUSEHOLD
CONDUCTED BY LIZZIE O. THOMAS

| tnem TO stay. AS line DIS nave CIVIL
! them ostay. AS fine as I have ever
| seen were Matched the tenth of Oc-
| tober, but they had a shed that was
| dry and warm, and spent three
months right there, with green SSdff
thrown to them every day, the moth
er raised twenty five, she took them
on a roost that was put in there
when she got tired of the box, and
laid six eggs before she was allowed
! to leave them.
Charcoal and crushed oyster shell
can be placed in fiat boxes and the
| hens will get it as they need it. l
am often astonished at the amount
of shell the hens on the range con-
sumo. 1 had five loads of gravel
thrown in the yard so that 1 could
get it when I needed it, and there
is a hen or two there all the time
l have big box of sand and the
hens also find that. The first of
September L had some young chicks
that I did not know what to do
with, so L put wire netting over
the box of sand and put them in
there, last week for the first time
they. were taken out. They are
husky youngsters, I hope to have the
sort of shed I spoke about, and will
try to make fine hens out of some
of this bunch.
December is a good time to be-
gin to set the hens, or a fifty-egg
incubator. Don't try to have too
many of the early chicks. I have
some that are moulting, they laid in
spite of all L could do, and the
winter eggs are supposed to come
frnna ha vi NH
the poultry specialist said what he
did. One was here and made the
same talk; my hens had all the
white shank and every indication of
heavy laying, and were then moult-
ing. Did kill them? Not enough
to be noticed. They ars reaoy ~
lay now.
If one really studies her flock, and
trapnests, she can Gull them, but lt
depends on whether one wants the
hens to lay in the fall or not. We
can't ship eggs very successfully,
for Matching, after the middle or May,
and must let climatic conditions, and
our environments help us decide, how
to keep our flocks, and hens for
breeders must not be pushed for .
month or so.
If I have only q few I give the
young chicks cornAread made with
the bread for the table the egg and
milk in the bread are good for them.
give them thick buttermill1 and
after they are ten days old cut some
sort of green stuff fine and once O.
day give it to them. Nothing is bet
ter for them from the time they ar4
matched than cornbread, but it is
too much of a job if there are many.
For over twenty I start them with
oatmeal, hominy, or grits, and the
cornbread In a uay of two thS
regular baby chick feed is added.
and the combination goes on till thew
are at least three weeks old, then
just occasionally a little scratch is
added. You will notice that I believe
IN variety. they relish the feed bet
ter think. If you expect to raise
broilers for the market, and there is
money in it, set your hens early in
december, but have a dry place for
the chicks. 1 saw bunch last Jan
uary that had shed built for them,
1t held three lots, and twenty-six
dollars worth were sold, when thew
weighed a pound and a half. You,
too, can do as well, and the mark eft
Is good early in the year.
If you have plenty of corn, wheat
oats and peas at home, mix equal
quantities of cracked corn and wheat
with half as much oats and cracked
peas.
One peck of cracked corn.
One peck of wheat.
Half peck oats.
. Half peck cracked peas.
But if you have shelled peas and
want to get quick results soak them
in hot water from dinner till night.
mix in bran till stiff dough and feed
just before they go to roost. I've
known hens crops. to be bursted bv
gorging on raw peas. If they pick
them out of the shell they are not
such gluttons.
I have just put in an order for
feed for thirty hens and seventy
| five growing stock. Have fifteen
cockerels that are bound to help
some pens later. My order today
is for:
One hundred pounds wheat bran.
Two hundred pounds mash.
One hundred pounds scratch.
Five bushels oats.
twenty-five pounds fine oyster
shell.
Twenty-Five pounds meat scraps.
This, with peas mot beans, they
are too hard) and sorghum seed
will last until January. When the
bill comes in there are some people
who would faint over it, but we av-
erage more than S. month in
eggs and chickens in the month
and there are also plenty for the
market.
Don't follow anybody's "cut and
dried" rules. If you are succeeding
be slow about changing. But be
open minded and see II you can
adopt any of my own or the Poultry
Experts methods and do better.
Don't change your breed if you are
succeeding; just get finer cockerel
Of that breed.