Jasper County Democrat, Volume 14, Number 74, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 December 1911 — NOTES from MEADOWBROOK FARM [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

NOTES from MEADOWBROOK FARM

By Willian Pitt

Corn is the most relished by poultry of all grains. To make money is the chief object of breeding pedigree hogs. Systematic work is required to rid a poultry house of mites or lice. The feed and feeding is the first important point in successful dairying. One of the most successful pigeon raisers feeds his birds nothing but whol,e corn. Never feed soured or tainted food of any kind to the chicks, or to the old fowls, either. It takes a good manager to make a profit of $2 per head each year from a single pair of breeders. The sheep Industry cannot yeach perfection until every mongrel dog in the land is exterminated. There is one rule always to be remembered: Never mate birds that are hatched in the same nest. It is best not to put sawdust in the poultry house, as it gathers too much moisture and causes dampness. It is a fact that the dogs destroy more sheep in some certain spates than all the diseases combined. Keep, sows and pigs away from fattening hogs, and give them feeds that produce flesh, and bone rather than fat. Thoroughly clean and whitewash the inside of the hen house and It will be lighter and cleaner during the entire winter.

Cabbage Is one of the very best vegetables to feed to poultry, as it keeps green a long time and the chickens enjoy picking at It. An egg, to belong to the strictly fresh egg class, should not be over three days old in summer weather, and a week old during winter. If a man allows his chickens to roam amid the mud and slush of the yards in the fall, he is preparing the way for some sick fowls this winter. He who makes a success in the chicken business from the start will be the man who does things, not he who waits for a favorable opporunlty Get rid of the cockerels as rapidly as they get large enough and thus cut oft the feed bill and protect the others of the flock from these scrappy youngsters. If good, dean, sound grain In abundance, and a variety, with pure water, grit oyster shell and meat in some form, will not produce eggs, nothing else will. Only an expert is able to tell by the smell just when the cream is right for churning. It then has a clean, sour taste and smells like nuts fresh from the woods. , Impure air, as well as dampness, are a danger to any flock. Separate the Hocks in bunches of 25 or 50 and feed them separately and they will make much better gains.