Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1935-08-15
LET PULLETS LAY
HALVORSON GIVES
AS TIMELY ADVICE


sons Poultry Farm at Sandstone,
recognizing the need of Informal
ton about chickens preparatory
to housing them for the winter,
and especially in regards to
the young chickens writes the
following for publication under
the title of, Believe it or Not:
A farmer called me up the other
day and asked me what he should
do because his pullets were already
laying. The only advice l could give
him was, Get the Eggs" l can see
no reason why anyone should try and
keep pullets from laying. The sooner
they start to lay the sooner they
help pay the feed bill.
If a mash of about 2O% protein
along with some grain has been fed,
or an all-mash ration of about 1870,
would say, move the pullets into
a thoroughly cleaned and disinfected
laying house and continue with the
same feeding program, adding a moist
mash once a day. This mash consists
of two pounds corn meal and two
pounds ground oats per 100 hens.
This will help keep up the fat neces-
sary for egg production.
A big mistake is in allowing pull
lets to stay in brooder coops and trees
until the fall crops are taken care of.
One month indoor feeding is worth
two months ON the range. Late and
slow maturing pullets should be
closed up early, given treatment of
worming powder followed with dose
of EPSON salts, one half pound of
salts per 100 pullets mixed in a moist
mash. Be sure there is always plenty
of clean water handy for them to
drink.
September to the Is of October all
pullets should be housed for the win
ter. Culling, if necessary, should be
done one month after indoor feeding.
Colds generally attack birds that
should have been culled. If proper
housing conditions have been pro-
vided. if pullets have gone into the
laying houses with their batteries
charged or in other words if they are
fat and in good condition, disease is
eliminated.
If the ceiling of your poultry house
frosted Last winter and held back egg
production, be sure and remedy it
now. A layer of wild hay inside the
ceiling or on top of the roof, or dry
sawdust in the ceiling will do much
to take care of that dampness and
increase egg production. Remember
your birds are not apt to lay if frost
comes through the ceiling, no matter
how we'll they have been bred.
l believe it will pay to hold back
as many hens on the farm as you
can possibly house, even though you
have to do a little crowding. About
the price of eggs there can be no
positive answer. For the first time
that l can remember egg prices have
held from February until the present
time without much change. We all
know the seasonal decline i'm prOduc-
ton is here. that is fresh receipts. It
must be some packers are unloading
to meet the demand.
One thing sure, there are no cheap
eggs in storage today. They went
in at a high price. The packers
must get soc in November for their
storage eggs if they are going to
break even. I think 35c for fresh
eggs in November will be the peak,
although should times improve they
should 90 higher but l hardly be-
lieve this will happen. If cold stor-
age companies miss their guess this
year on high priced eggs, we will
pay for it next spring SO why worry
until then.
The feed ratio at the present time
requires 90 eggs per 100 hens or a
20% production to pay feed costs.
We cannot control the markets but
we can produce good eggs and even
through this depression quality mer-
chandise" hasn't gone begging. Re-
member the second largest industry
in the United States is carried on by
the hen. She has never received a
cent from relief and even though she
may lose a few feathers this fall,