Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 150, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 July 1918 — SELL ALL EARLY MOULTING FOWLS [ARTICLE]

SELL ALL EARLY MOULTING FOWLS

Requisites for Layers Are Shade, Clean Water, Fresh Air and Proper Food. UTILIZE CULL VEGETABLES Problem for Poultry Keeper is to Get Greatest Number of Eggs Possible —Unproductive Hens Should Be Sent to'Market. Now that the hatching season is pretty well over, the problem for the poultry keeper, particularly for the back-yard poultry keeper, is to get the greatest number of eggs possible from the number of hens kept during the summer. Hens that are not good layers should be marketed. Unless the hens have already been carried through one summer, which is perhaps not the best practice for the back-yard poultry keepers, there is necessarily some difficulty in determining which are the good summer layers. The fact that a hen has been a good spring layer does not prove that she will be a good summer layer. Of course, no hen should be sold while she continues to lay, but a hen that has become broody may, after a brief period, begin laying again and continue through the summer. The condition of the comb will Indicate some time in advance whether the hen will begin laying again. If she shows no Indication of preparing to lay, it would be wise to sell or eat her. The time of moulting is perhaps the safest indication. Hens that moult early are not good summer layers, and it is good practice to sell all hens that begin moulting in June or early July. Summer House Problem. The problem of summer housing is not much less a serious one than that of winter housing. The principal requirements are fresh air, access to both shade and sunlight, dryness and room. The matter of air properly comes first, and free circulation of air practically Insures dryness. Air and sunlight are nature’s best disinfectants and germicides. But hens are very susceptible to an excess of heat and it is equally necessary that they have plenty of shade.

The problem of a summer ration for the back-yard poultry keeper is much easier of solution than that of a winter ration. In most cases the necessary green feed can be supplied without buying anything. Beet, carrot and turnip tops, waste leaves from cabbage and lettuce, onion tops, potato parings, watermelon and cantaloupe rinds, together with the clippings of grass from the lawn, will supply in most cases all the green feed required by the back-yard flock. . Dry Feed Requirement Bread and cake crumbs, particularly if you can Induce your neighbor who keeps ho chickens to save hers for you, will go a long way toward supplying the dry-feed requirement. Meat scraps from the kitchen may be sufficient to meet the requirements for animal food, particularly if the hens' have even a little range in which they can scratch for bugs and worms. Such scraps are best run through a meat grinder and mixed with three parts cornmeal and one part wheat bran. This should be ted at noon or later. If any grain is necessary* it should be fed in the morning and should be scattered in litter sufficient to make the hens work for it Not more than a pint to ten hens should be fed in any case. Corn, either whole or cracked, and oats will be the most suitable grain feeds. If hens show a tendency to get too fat, the grain ration should be reduced, as excessively fat hens are never good layers. Some beef scrap should be fed If enough meat scraps from tables can not be procured to meet the requirements of the hens. Hens should have constant access to grit or stones small enough to be swallowed and to crushed oyster or dam shells. A matter of first importance is that the water supply be always plentiful

and clean. Laying hens require a great deal of water, and it should be fresh and clean. Do not place the water receptacle where litter can be scratched into it Wash it frequently enough to prevent the accumulation of green scum on the inner surface. Preferably, for summer, keep it outside the house and in the shade.