Jasper County Democrat, Volume 15, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 July 1912 — POULTRY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

POULTRY

Renew the nests often with clean material. Field peas make most excellent feed for laying hens. Feeding clover is a preventive of soft shelled eggs. It takes knowledge, experience and skill to produce a good egg. The more comfortable and happy the hen, the more eggs she will lay. A hen should have all the green feed she will eat every day of her life. A turkey will consume more grit than any of the poultry kept on the farm. New blood is a necessity, if one intends to build up the egg-laying and market qualities of his flock. After mated, give your birds the best sanitary conditions possible and keep the houses free from lice and mites. Great care should be exercised that breeding stock, young chicks, or eggs for hatching, be secured from flocks which are free from white diarrhea Infection. Air-slaked lime sifted or scattered over the dropping boards will assist the cleaning process materially, and also take up much of the dampness from the droppings. Save the small potatoes and other vegetables that would otherwise go to waste and feed them to the fowls. They will help In keeping up the egg yield in cold weather. A scratching hen and opportunity to get out in the sun in moderate weather are Important to the health and) thrift of hens In winter, and consequently to winter egg production. Room, exercise, food, warmth, kindness, pure water and a management that will conduce to the comfort of the hens generally, win keep the egg basket full in winter and make winter poultry growing profitable.