S7487I W65 t Cornell University Library SF 487.W65 Poultry for the 'a™ anfj |;°'T!,^;,, POULTRY FOR THE FARM /IND HCMiE International Harvester Company INCORPORATED Agricultural Extension Department Harvester Bldc. Chicago » J nmiti ?v7*'i?r5E=?j*S«sB The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924003182387 POULTRY FOR THE FARM AND HOME By Zella Wigent of the Agricultural Extension Department. NOTE — ExLracLs from this booklet may be reproduced by giving proper credit to the publishers. Electros of cuts will be furnished at coat. The writer wishes to thank the practical farmers, Ihe pouUry breeders, and the various Experiment Stations (especially Indiana and New York) for the advice and help which have been so freely given at various times. Much credit needs to be given to the patient and painstaking work of our poultry investigators. COPYRIGHT 1921, BY International Harvester Company INCORPORATED Agricultural Extension Department RG.HOLDEN FIELD DIRECTOR Harvester Bldg. Chicago AE 40C— 50M-12-1-21. /^^'^"^ The Only Thing On the Farm That Can Make Money by "Just Laying Around" All You Men Folks who tolerate chickens as a neces- sary nuisance, who by your in- difference indicate that you think the chicken business is just a side issue, a mere woman's-and-kid's job Read the Opposite Page h \ POULTRY— A BILLION DOLLAR CROP Most of us have poultry. We like our eggs for breakfast and fried chicken every twice in a while. Poultry produces wholesome food which our family needs — this alone is reason enough for keeping it. But aside from this, poultry is an important item in our farm business. Study these figures : In the United States in 1920 there were 360,000,000 chickens. They produced 1,656,000,000 dozen eggs. The chickens and eggs sold during the year 1919 brought $1,048,000,000. This was 39 per cent of the total value of all live stock products. Poultry is worth one-third as much as corn, half as much as wheat, as much as cotton, and more than oats. It falls only a little short of being worth as much as hogs. Ninety per cent of this billion dollars goes to farmers or rather to farmers' wives. These good wives spend it for groceries, clothing, lights, washing machines, rugs, pic- tures, books, phonographs. Take the poultry money out of a farm community and the country town merchants would wonder what happened to their business. Poultry turns waste into profit — waste grain, grass, ^s'ced seed, insects, and scraps from the table and garden. A farm without some poultry, a garden, and a little fruit is not a real farm. When farm business is good the poultry and garden products more than feed the family and leave the money crop clear profit; when farm business is bad, they feed the family and save the day. Poultry is more than a necessary nuisance — more than a side issue — more than a woman's-and-kid's job. It is an important and profitable branch of our farm business. The hen fits in with diversified farming — the oiily kind of farming that brings permanent success to an individual or to a community. Let us help mother make good with the hens. Let us give her decent equipment, encourage her to get better stock, lend her a hand with the heavy work. 3 HOW TO MAKE OUR POULTRY MORE PROFITABLE Provide a decent poultry house and keep it clean. It s a shame to agk decent hens to live in the poorly constructed, filthy hen-houses found on many of our farms. Get rid of lice and mites. There is no profit in these fellows. Feed for egg production. A hen is just a factory: we can't expect eggs unless we feed the kind of material it takes to make eggs. Many farm hens have all they can do to scratch their living — there is no surplus food from which to make eggs. Market only clean fresh eggs. A candler is the X-ray of the poultry business. Out of every dozen eggs that leave the farm only 10 are fit to reach the consumer. This loss comes back to the producer in lowered price. Produce infertile eggs in summer. Infertile eggs keep better because they do not have in them the germ that produces the chick. Every year 145,000,000 are lost because of bad eggs. Fertile eggs in summer account for the greater part of thi3 loss. Fertile eggs are needed only during the hatching season. Let us not keep 10 or 12 roosters all summer to eat up our profit and spoil the eggs. Breed only from the best. Good housing and feeding won't count for much unless we keep good stock. Poor stock handicaps us at the start. We must breed hens for egg production, just as we breed draft horses for heavy work, or dairy cows for milk production. Take better care of the chicks. Fifty per cent of the chicks hatched in the United States die. Loss! Loss! Loss! Cull, cull, cull. Get rid of the slackers. Give their room and feed to hens that work. Grow our poultry feeds, if possible. Too much of our profit gOes to the other fellow when we depend upon buying our feed. (9n many farms the poultry is sadly iiOfiU-cUd — scrub hens produce dirly or blood-ringed eggs and in (he summer raise a few scraggly, undersized chicks that have been halehed in stolen nests. One owner of such a flock, «hen urged to take better care of her hens, replied: '"It's right sm.Trt trouble picking up the eggs." Such farm folks have "right smart" trouble making ends meet, especially when the bottom drops out of the cotton market or the drought injures the corn crop. HENS ARE A NUISANCE IF WE DON'T PRO- VIDE FOR TAKING CARE OF THEM No man likes to have hens roosting on his machinery, bui^gy, or automobile. No woman likes to go out 10 or 20 times a cia\ to "shoo" chickens from the back poi'ch, yard, or garden. It takes time and is hard on one's religion. When the chickens get into mischief, we energetically shoo or club them, or pelt them with stones, or chase the dog after them. This drives them away from the seat of mischief but it also drives the profit out of the flock. Avoid trouble by making the proper provision for taking care of the chickens on your farm. /<^j Build a good yard fence. Save mother's time and tem- per. Fence the garden. Gai- dens and hens don't thrive together and every farm needs both. Provide a good hen house. Hens will use it if it is comfortable and free from mites. Eiioui temper, h to make any man lose his bill whose fault is il? Good for the chickens but hard on the garden. Fix coops and feeding places for the chicks. save not only your time, but more of your chicks. This will All too often deserving farm women struggle along with their flocks as best they can with no equipment, no improved stock, no encouragement, "no nothing." Any other live stock given so little attention would vield no return. WHERE THE POULTRY CROP IS PRODUCED EACH DOT STANDS FOR 1,000,000 FOWLS U. S. Census Report The Central or Corn Belt states lead in poultry production. In this section every farmer keeps a fair-sized flock. There are comparatively few large commercial poultry farms here. The East has many commercial poultry growers but not so much farm poultry. Twenty-four per cent of the farms of the country do not have poultry. ' The average number of chickens per farm is 55. We need : More poultry on the farms of the East and South. Better care of poultry on farms. Greater production from all farm flocks. The average farm hen produces about 70 eggs a year. Flocks well bred and properly cared for average twice that many. It is not setting the standard too high to have for our slogan: At Least a Hundred Hens on Every Farm and a Hundred Eggs from Every Hen WHICH HEN REPRESENTS YOUR FLOCK? two farm flocks nearly equal production per hen. This chart shows the record of in size. Note the difference in egg Two hundred and thirty of the72-eggs-per-year hens made a profit of only $61; 200 of the 124-eggs-per-year hens made a profit of $373. These profits do not include charge for labor. Each owner kept a record of the time used in caring for the flock. The first made 4 cents per hour; the second 53 cents per hour. What is your time in the chicken yard and coops worth .i* Are you a 4-cent-per-hour or a 53-cent-per-hour poultry keeper? WHICH HEW REPRCSEIMTS YOUR FLOCK Z30 HEMS LIKE ; THIS MADE 561 PROFIT OWNER EARNED 4« PER HOUR FOR LABOR 200 HE1\1S LIKE THIS MADE t373 PROFIT OWNER EARNED 53« PER HOUR FOR LABOR tS THE DIFFERENCE DUE TO THE HEWS OR THEIR WAWAGEMENT RECORD OF AN EXPERIMENT STATION FLOCK The poultry department of the Indiana Experiment Station keeps a flock of puUets as nearly as possible under the same con- ditions as prevail upon the farms of the Corn Belt states. Here they apply the advice on care, housing, and feeding which they give to Indiana farmers. A summary of a four-year record of this farm flock is shown here : Breed White Leghorns Average number of hens in flock 180 Number of eggs pfer hen per year 127 Average income per hen $2.97 The price received for these eggs was slightly higher than the average Indiana farmer secures but it shows the advantages of being able to ship in case lots and select good markets. AVERAGE OF TEN FARM FLOCKS We give on page 8 the average of 10 farm flocks in Indiana for the year 1918. They represent typical farm conditions. Wp could hardly call them average flocks because the minute a farmer begins to keep a record of his poultry he begins to be above the average. KEEP A RECORD Average of 10 Farm Flocks Number of hens per flock 147 Number of eggs per hen 103 Profit per hen (labor not charged) $1.91 Profit per flock (labor not charged) $278 Hours of labor 367 Labor was worth 76 cents per hour. The average hen lays about 70 eggs a year. A commercial poultryman would go broke on such production. A farmer breaks aV)out even. The average hen with average care never gets anyone any- where. Get out of the average class. Keep first class hens, feed and care for them intelligently. They'll pay you by producing eggs in the winter when the average hen under the direction of the average man is loafing and eating up the profits on the eggs she produced the previous spring. KEEP A RECORD AND KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DO- ING. THIS PUTS YOU IN THE ABOVE-THE-AVERAGE CLASS |ffl^r'ws?M?fe^^«^j;^^^'~^"'T'n f No scrub flock given scrub care could inspire this proud, approvin:;, satisfying inspection. A GOOD HEN DESERVES A GOOD HOMK They call this a poultry house. Isn't it a shariie to ask a decent hen to live in a place like this? The inside is no more inviting than the outside. 9 The firsl bul not the worst poultry house ever made. MAKE THE HEN HOUSE A GOOD HEN HOME Hens roosting in trees use all their food and energy just to licep warm. It makes vigorous stock but it results in few eggs. The final test of the hen-house is the egg yield. The hen house should be: Clean. No matter how expensive your poultry house is, it is not a real hen home unless it is kept clean. Disease and vermin thrive in filth. Plan the house so that it will be easy to clean. Put in a good floor, have a dropping boaid, hinged roosts, and nests that are easily cleaned. Make sure there are no cracks or crev- ices to affoi'd hiding places for mites. Light. Sunhght is the best germ destroyer in the world. Prof. James Dryden of Oregon says: "Sunshine is abetter egg producer than red pepper." Not many disease germs can develop in a dry, sunny house. Dry. A good floor and a good system of ventilation insure a dry house. Well-ventilated. Hens require from 2^2 to three times as much air per pound of weight as horses, cows, or other farm animals. This is because they maintain a high temperature — 106 to 108 degrees. It takes air and food to keep up this high temperature. Another thing to remember is that hens have no liquid excretion from the kidneys and no sweat glands. AU the moisture of the body is thrown off by the lungs. The aii- in a poorly ventilated hen house soon becomes full of moisture. Damp air is always cold air. An open front, or parth open front house, equalizes the temperatme inside and out- side and gives enough circula- tion of air to keep the house dry arid comfortable. 10 DON'T JUST HOUSE HENS GIVE THEM A HOME CONVENIENT COMFORTABLE LIGHT DRY WELL VENTILATED FREE FROM DRAFTS CLEAN FREE FROM VERMIN '& t^ --iU, GOOD HOUSING DOES NOT MEAN EXPENSIVE HOUSING GOOD HOUSE CHKAPER THAN SICK HENS 11 Build the house deep enough so the roosts will not be too close to the open windows. Build it low enough in the rear so the body heat of the hens will help to keep the space above the roosts warm. Unbleached muslin or burlap curtains are necessary for zero weather. The warmly-built hen house with no ventilation is a hot-house during the day and a refrigerator at night. Cold dry air is better than warm moist air. Free from Drafts. Avoid drafts in the hen house. Admit all the air from one side of the coop ; have the other three sides tight. Feathers are a hen's overcoat — they act as an insulator holding in the body heat. They are a good protection against cold but not against drafts. Because of her high temperature, a hen is more sensitive to drafts than farm ani- mals. Nothing in- duces colds, roup, and other respiratory dis- eases so quickly as drafts striking the hens while they are in- active on the roosts. Convenient. Don't put the hen house too far from the other buildings. Make it of material that will be easy to clean. Put as many of the labor-saving devices in and about it as you can afford. Labor costs money. Anythingwhich lessens the amount of labor in caring for your flock increases your profit. House Need Not Be Expensive. Good housing does not mean expensive housing. Examine your hen house and see if you cannot make it a better home for your hens. Perhaps it needs a few boards nailed on the north side, or a hole cut in the south side, some good nests built, or clean Utter on the floor. If you are building a new house, make it right. If you aheady have a hen house, go out and look it over and make sure that it is as clean and comfortable as you can make it. Healthy, comfortable, and happy. It is easier and more profitable to provide a good hen house than to doctor sick hens. MAKE THE HEN HOL SE A GOOD HKN HOAH: This hen house is too close lo the barn. It is loo high to be -warm. There is no ventilation. It is too narro«. If venlilaled by cutting windows in the front, the roosts would be too close to the open windows. This house is too high and has no venlilalion. bcr is wasted here. 12 A lot of good luni- A NARROW HEN HOUSE IS HARD TO VENTILATE Only 10 feet wide — too narrow for best results in ventilation . Mnoto ^jourcesy Ind. lix,). bLuLian A good way to remodel a narrow house. A house of this type should be from 20 to 24 feet wide. This is an excellent house but it is more expensive to build than the shed type. 13 SHED HEN HOUSE ECONOMICAL TO BUILD Courtesy Mo. Exp. Station A shed house for a farm flock should be at least 16 feet wide. A house more than 16 feet wide needs heavy framing timbers and good bracing and hence is not so economical to build. In place of the barn window ventilators muslin curtains could be used. In the South the hen houses are often put on stilts. This gives good ventilation and is a protection against minks, skunks and other enemies. A FEW POULTRY HOUSE POINTERS Don't waste a good hen house by building it in an unsanitary, muddy, poorly kept yard. Don' t build close to granaries, cribs, or barns. Face the house to the south; make the north, east, and west sides wind-proof. Concrete foundations and floors are rat-proof and easy to keep clean. Use plenty of litter ; litter is cheaper than sick hens. Have the top of the floor from six to eight inches higher than the outside ground. This insures good drainage. Use a filler of crushed stone, coarse gravel, or cinders to prevent moisture from coming up from below and keep- ing the floor damp. Make a wide door so that litter and grain can be wheeled in and the old litter wheeled Out. The severity of the winter de- termines the type of house needed. The house should provide enough protection to keep the combs and wattles of the chickens from freezing. For small flocks figure on foUr or five square feet of floor space per hen; for large flocks figure on three or four square feet per hen. Good dimensions are: For 25 hens — 12 feet deep by 10 feet long. For 75 hens — 16 feet deep by 10 feet long. For 100 to 150 hens— 16 feet by 32 feet. For larger flocks build a house 20 to 24 feet deep. !5 , A muslin curtain is no good unless you can get it quickly when wanted. Tack the muslin to a hinged frame. When not in use the curtain can be hooked to the roof. 16 POULTRY HOUSE POINTERS Extra long houses without partitions in them are drafty. The size of the front opening will depend upon the size and depth of the house and upon climatic conditions. A deep house can have more open front than a narrow house under similar weather conditions. A general rule for open front is: For cold climates one-fifth of front open. For moderate climates from one-third to one-half of front open. For the South, entire front open. Doors and windows should be so arranged that every part of the floor will be flooded with sunshine at some time during the day. Long, narrow win- dows are better than square ones. Use thin un- bleached muslin for curtains. Bleached cotton contains so much sizing it keeps out the air. Sweep the curtains occEtsionsdly to remove dust; otherwise the air spaces become clogged and not enough air is admitted. Build perches on the level ; otherwise hens will fight for the Wall nests utilize space to good advantage. highest perch and some may be hurt. The distance between perches should be: For meat breeds, such as Langshans 10 inches For general purpose breeds, such as Rocks 8 inches For egg breeds, such as Leghorns 7 inches Allow from 8 to 15 inches of roosting space for each hen. A dropping board below the roosts helps to keep the hens warm by preventing air from coming up from below. The dropping board should be six or eight inches below the perches. A hoe is the best tool for cleaning the dropping boards. If no dropping board is used, several inches of dry earth or sawdust should be placed beneath the roosts. This should be replaced as often as it becomes foul. POULTRY HOUSE POINTERS 17 Back view of a section of wall nests illustrated on op- posite page showing how the nests can be taken apart for cleaning. Have one nest to every four or five hens. Paint does not last long on the inside of a hen house. For this reason the inside is often left unfinished. Whitewash is frequently used as an inside finish. It makes the house light and is cheap. A good whitewash can be made by slaking 10 pounds of quicklime in a pail with two gallons of water. Cover the pail with burlap or an old sack and allow it to slake for one hour; then add enough water to make the whitewash easy to spread. To prevent the whitewash from peeling and furnishing a hiding place for mites, add one pound of glue and a handful of salt to each five gallons, l-se ordinary stick glue, dissolving it in warm water. If gUio is used the whitewash must be warm when it is put on. This whitewash can be made a disinfectant by adding one pint of crude carboUc acid to each five gallons of white- wash. A cement walk leading to the poultry house wins a smile of ap- preciation from the lady-of-the- house. Provide shade for sum- mer. Hens need protection from extreme heat. Panting is the only method they have for coohng off. Paint the outside of the hen house; make look as though it belonged to somebody. It POULTRY HOUSE CONVENIENCES One corner of a convenient poultry house. Note the hinged roosts, the coop for breaking broody hens, the platform for the feed hopper and the water pan, and the protector for the water pan. When the dropping boards are cleaned, the roosts can be hooked to the roof, where they are out of the way, as shown by insert cut. A couple of large bins in the poultry house to hold a supply of grain and ground feed save many steps. Hopper for ground feed. Feed hopper made by nailing boards across the rafters. A small hopper for grit and char- coal. c n catching hook saves leg muscles. Better use a hook than let the dog run down the chicken you want for dinner. Fear and excite- ment among hens do not promote egg production. A fish landing net is also useful in landing a chicken. Gather the chickens about you with a little feed and drop the net over the one you want, then turn her quickly upside down. By the time she gets righted about, disentangled and ready to squawk, you have her safely in your hands. 18 SAVE THE POULTRY MANURE A hen produces about 30 pounds of roost manure and probably about 20 pounds of day droppings each year. These droppings contain about 13 pounds of organic nitrogen, 8 pounds of phos- phoric acid, and 53^ pounds of potash. Ask your dealer the price of these fertilizing elements and figure the value for yourselves. Poultry ma- nure IS the most valuable manure on the farm. It loses its value quickly unless it is properly cared for. Dry loam spread on the dropping boards is one of the best absorbents. Gypaum or kainit are also used as absorbents. Sawdust mixed with either of the latter improves it. When removed from the dropping boards, the manure should be put in a rain-proof barrel or box until time to put it on the soil. The man who built this hen house knew the value of poultry manure and planned to take care of it. Don't build a dropping board unless you have perseverance enough to keep it clean. A dirty dropping board is worse than none. It is poor policy to have nests under the dropping board because it makes it more difficult to fight mites. CLEAN OUT THE MITES The red mite is a blood sucker. There will be few eggs if your hens are feeding many of these fellows. Mites are the little fellows that crawl on you when you go into the chicken coop; they make the setting hens leave their nests; they suck the very life blood of the hens at night and drive the hens to roost on trees and fences in order to escape torment. They belong to the bed-bug family. They live and breed in the cracks and crevices of the coop They are about 1-36 of an inch in length, gray in color, becoming red after each feeding. You won't get many eggs if your hens are feeding mites. It takes too much good red blood to keep the mites going. Little energy or material is left for egg making. Sometimes setting hens die on the nests, being literally bled to death by the mites. In warm weather the mites multiply so rapidly that they can be gathered by handfuls if left undisturbed. MITE DESTROYERS The entire coop should be cleaned and disinfected at least once a year. Whitewash with carbolic acid added makes a good paint and disinfec- tant for this yearly cleaning. See page 17 for instructions for making whitewash. If you do not want to use whitewash, brush down the walls well and spray or paint them with any of the disinfectants given below and on the next page. A thorough spring cleaning followed by occasional spraying of roosts and nests will insure freedom from mites. Kerosene, Crude Petroleum, or Cresol. Any one of these is effective in killing mites. A mixture of three parts kerosene anb one part crude carbolic acid makes a good mite destroyer. 20 A quarter inch gas pipe for the roosts to ■ rest upon does away with many biding places for mites. DON'T LET MITES BREED 21 Kerosene Emulsion. Kerosene emulsion is better than plain kerosene because it sticks better and is effective for a longer period of time. Dissolve a bar of laundry soap in a gallon of hot water. Add two gallons of kerosene and stir vigorously so that no oil stands on the surface. To this stock solution add eight gallons of water. Carbolineum or other tar preparations are effective. Nests, roosts and brood coops should be thoroughly painted. The paint should be dry before the coops are used again. Cresol Soap Mixture. Dissolve a bar of laundry soap in a pint of hot water. Add a pound of commercial cresol. When cold stir in a gallon of kerosene. Apply without diluting. Don't get any of this on the hands or face as it will smart. Lime Sulphur. The lime sulphur spray used for fruit trees is also an effective remedy against mites. TEXAS TICKS OR "BLUE BUGS" In Southwest United States the Texas ticks or "blue bugs" are great pests. They breed in the cracks and crevices of the coop and feed by gorging themselves on the blood of the hens. Hens badly infested cease to lay and often die. These ticks are extremely difficult to con- trol because they breed in great numbers and can live for months without food. They are very flat and can hide in deep crevices. Fight them along the same Unes as you fight chicken mites, but use only the stronger, more penetrating, and more lasting sprays or ptdnts. Crude petroleum or carbolineum have proved most effective. The TexaS' tick or blue bug is the worst poultry parasite in dry SouthwestUnited States. It can live for months with- out food. Mites in a poultry house proclaim to the world a careless poultryman just as bedbugs in a home pro- claim a careless housewife. GET RID OF LICE The common hen louse lives on the scurf of the skin and on filth. Lice are not as in- jurious as mites but they don't add to the com- fort of your hens. Lice feed on the scurf of the skin and the fluff of the feathers. Unlike the mites, they live and breed on the bodies of fowls. They are found in the feathers under the wings and in the fluff below the vent. Various species of lice affect poultry but only one is common. This is pale yellow in coloi' with indistinct dark marks on each side of the body. It is about 1-20 of an inch long and slightly more slender than the chicken mite. Lice breathe through the pores of the body. Any fine powder or any greasy substeince. which will close the pores, kills them. Dust Bath. If a dust bath is provided, the hens will keep themselves fairly free from Uce. Equal parts road dust and wood ashes make a good mixture. Put it in front of the window so the sun will shine on it and if possible put some protection over the box so that the dust will not polhjte the air in the poultry house. Home-made Lice Powder. For this use: Three parts gasoline. One part crude carbolic acid. Plaster of Paris. Mix the gasoline and carbolic acid. Add enough plaster of Paris to take up the moisture. The gasoline evaporates, leaving a pinkish brown pow- der. This formula weis worked out by R. C. Lawry of the Yester- laid Egg Farm, Paci- fic, Mo. Lard and Kero- sene. Equal parts lard and kerosene can be used. Powders and grease will kill the lice but will not kill the eggs of the Hce. In a week or two you will A bit of blue ointment rubbed well into the skin beneath the vent kills lice. One treatment lasts six or eight months. LICE REMEDIES need to apply these remedies again in order to kill the Uce that have hatched in the meantime. 1 Do not use anything greasy on hens just before setting them. The grease closes the pores of the eggs and prevents their hatching. Blue Ointment. Blue ointment will kill both nits and lice. It is a poisonous salve and can be purchased at any drug store. S. small amount about the size of a pea should be well rubbed into the skin just below the vent. One treatment is effective for six or seven months. Sodium Fluorid. Powdered sodium fluorid is giving excel- lent results as a Uce remedy. One pound treats about 100 hens. It can be used as a powder or as a dip. The dipping method is rapidly growing in favor because of the saving in material and time. Select a clear warm day for the annual "dipping party." Use one ounce of sodium fluorid to each gallon of water. A tub is a good vessel for the solution. Heat the water to a tempera- ture of 70 to 85 de- grees. Work in the middle of the day when the sun is shining. She doesn't like it but a sodiiiiu fluorid dip once a year is a cheap and easy way to keep her free from lice. LICE ARE FATAL TO YOUNG CHICKS Lice mean death to young chicks. Avoid lice on chicks by disinfecting the nest and kilHng the lice on the broody hen and disinfecting the brood coops. For lousy chicks use any of the remedies given above or on page 22 except the sodium fluorid dip. If blue ointment is used on the chicks, mix it in equal parts with vasehne. You can't successfully raise chicks and lice. There is no profit in lice or mites. FEED FOR EGG PRODUCTION Eggs cannot be produced unless the feed contains the materials from which eggs are made. Below are shown the substances found in an egg and the feed which furnishes the materials for making these substances. WATER 66 PER CENT CLEAN FRESH WATER DONT EXPECT EGGS IF THE DRINKING PAN IS DRY OR FROZEN OVER PROTEIN 13 PER CENT FOUND CHIEFLY IN THE EGG WHITE MADE FROM BUGS. WORMS. INSECTS, HILK, MEAT SCRAP. BRAN. ALFALFA FAT * lO PER CENT MOST OF THIS IS IN THE YOLK MADE FROM GRAIN AND STARCHY FEEDS LIME II PER CENT NEARLY ALL OF THIS IS IN THE SHELL Green Food. In addition to Ihc food shown above, green food is necessary to keep the hens in good physical condition and to furnish the life-giving, growth-promoting substances called vitamines which are found in every egg. Note — These percentages are given from a production stand- point and include the egg shell. From a food standpoint, ex- cluding the shell, an egg is 74 per cent water, 15 per cent pro- tein, 10 per cent fat, and 1 per cent mineral matter. DON'T EXPECT EGGS UNLESS YOU FURNISH EGG-MAKING FEEDS Out of every five pounds of feed which a hen in good laying con- dition eats, four pounds are used to maintain her body and one pound is turned into eggs. It is poor economy to skimp on feed, or to fail to provide all the essential egg-making materials. Hens fed on grain alone plus what they can scratch or glean for themselves about the farm are not getting enough milk or meat food for profit- able egg production. hILK „ BEEF SCRAP 15 SAL™ a IBS. THE PRODUCT OYSTER SHELL .„.6RIT 3 LBS *™2LB9. Almost any hen, backed by decent breeding and intelligent management, can lay 144 eggs a year. To make these 12 dozen eggs, weighing a total of 18 pounds, it requires from 70 to 90 pounds of feed, exclusive of water and green feed. Heavy breeds eat more than light breeds; good layers eat more than poor layers. 25 VARIETY IMPORTANT MILK OR MEAT FOOD NECESSARY Feeding whole grain and only one grain at that is the greatest fault in farm poultry feeding. Hens get a variety in the spring and summer when they are ranging about the farm. In the winter when there is no grass or clover, no bugs or worms, when the water is frozen over, when the snow is on the ground so they cannot pick up bits of gravel and sand, these things must be furnished in their feed. Exercise Necessary. The fat, active hen is the layer. Some hens naturally keep themselves in good physical condition. Others, like some folks, have to be forced to exercise. Skill in winter feeding is shown by abihty to force the hens to exercise. Pound for pound in weight, poultry cats more feed than any hve stock. Slacker hens and surplus cockerels can eat the profit from your grain feeding faster than any animals you have on the farm. About one-seventeenth of all the grain fed on the farms of this country is fed to poultry. Every year we feed the poultry of this country five times as much grain as we feed our sheep, one-seventh as much as we feed our hogs, and one-third as much as we feed our cattle. Since such a large proportion of our grain goes to feeding poultry and since non-producing hens have such a capac- ity for eating up our profit, isn't it worth our while to see that we keep the right kind of hens? The 144-eggs-per-year hen on page 25 probably eats more than the hen shown here, but she pays well for all she eats. Courl'^sy A 36-eggs-per-year hen — I he kind that "eats her liead off." Milk or Meat Scrap. Egg production depends more upon the amount and kind of protein eaten than upon any other feed. Hens are naturally grain eaters and will do well on almost any grain mixture if they have milk or meat scrap to go with it. By holding most of the whole grain until the night feeding, we keep the hens hungry and thus force them to exercise and to eat the more concentrated protein feed through the day. Milk is the best protein for chickens as well as for folks. One of the best ways to market part of your milk is through the egg basket. Milk should not be sold from the farm until the chickens. 26 SKIM MILK BEST PROTEIN FEED ^ the pigs, the calves and the folks have had their portion. Many dairy farmers near the large cities where there is a good market for milk make the mistake of not using enough milk at home. One-crop farming is always disastrous whether that crop be cotton, potatoes, fruit, or milk. Milk can be fed either sweet or sour but do not feed it sweet one day and sour the next. Give aU the hens will drink, more egg^lt malfes'yLng"hick- If you do not have milk or «"« grow, cannot buy it at a reasonable price, use beef scrap in its place. It is often good practice to use part beef scrap and part milk. Beef scrap is a product of the packing houses. Waste pieces and offals are ground, disinfected, and cooked. In this form they keep indefinitely. Get a good quahty, one testing 60 or 6.5 per cent protein. Where no milk is fed, one pound of beef scrap to every nine pounds of grain is about the right proportion. Save the table scraps and offals from butchering for the hens. If wild game is plentiful, kill rabbits or squirrels and hang them in the poultry house just high enough so the hens will have to jump for them. Feeding bran, shorts, alfalfa, clover, and such vegetable products rich in protein lessens the amount of the more expensive animal protein needed but will not talie the place of milk or beei scrap. Grain. Corn, wheat and oats are the common poultry grains' Where barley, buckwheat, or kafir are-gfown, the,y,Gan!be used^, Make use of cull potatoes by cooking them for the hens. They have the same starchy feeding value as corn. A ration consist- Use home-grown grains whenever possible. Beef scrap, bran and shorts are by-products of manufac- ture and can often be bought to good advantage. There might be occasions when it would pay to buy whole grain, but in the long run the farmer who raises his feed is the winner. 38 GIVE PLENTY OF WATER ing of two or three grains is just as good as a complex one with many grains. Feed only a little of the grain in the morning, scattering it in deep litter to keep the hens exercising. In the evening feed all that will be eaten. Wei or Dry Mash. Wheat is an excellent poultry feed but expensive. By substituting bran and shorts for wheat and using a little more corn you can get the same results at lower cost. It also makes it possible for the hens to eat and digest more. If you are feeding beef scrap, mix it with the bran and shorts mash. The grain mash can be fed either wet or dry. A dry mash in a self-feeder saves labor. There is some loss of the dry, fine, floury particles. A wet mash, especially if mixed with milk, or a warm mash on a cold day, gives excellent results when used by a careful feeder. If too much is given or the feeding troughs get sour the conse- quences are bad. A dry mash can be kept before the hens all the time. If a wet mash is used, feed it about noon, giving not more than the hens will clean up in 20 or 30 minutes. Clean, Fresh Water. Water is needed even if >ou are feed- ing milk. The more eggs your hens lay and the warmer the weather the more water they wiU need. If you fail to give water you'll get Feeding part of the grain in ground form lowers the cosl of feed and enables the hens to oal and digest more. The grain mash can be fed either wet or dry. A dry mash fed in a hop- per saves labor, and can be kept before the hens all the lime. Courtesy i\. \ . Exp. St^UoD An outdoor hopper for sum- mer feeding. Better feeding in the early summer months -wiU prolong the spring egg-laying period. Many farm hens stop laying early because they can't glean enough grain and weed seed or chase enough insects and worms to furnish the fat and protein for egg production. GKEEN FEED NECESSAUY 29 fewer eggs, and the hens will probably have diseased egg organs. In the north it is difficult to supply water in the winter but some way or other it can and must be done. Non-freezing drink- ing fountains are supplied by many of the poultry supply houses. ^, , ., , Green Feed. All hens Mangels are easily grown and eas- <■ i n i • ily stored. They provide at small need green teed all tlje time. cost an abundance of green food. [^ ^qq^^ the digestive tract in good condition and furnishes certain egg-making materials (vita- mines) that can be secured from nothing but green feed or milk. On farms the best green feeds for winter are mangel beets, cabbage, chopped alfalfa and clover hay, or alfalfa meal. Mangels are easily grown and easily stored. Clover and alfalfa not only furnish green feed and vegetable protein but they furnish Ume in an easily digested form. Courtesy Ore. Exp. Station Jumping for their green sives these hens exercise. food Silage, if sweet, is good for the hens- Sprouted oats are excellent but mean considerable work. All vegetable and garden waste should be saved for the hens. One dozen egg shells weigh about 2}4 ounces. This is practically all lime. In addition there is a little lime in the egg itself. Hens will do best if they get a large proportion of their lime direct from their food. Milk, alfalfa, clover, and most green feeds are rich in lime al- ready in an easily digested form. Oyster shell should supplement the lime in these feeds but cannot be expected to take the place of it. Griti Oyster Shell and Char- coal. Laying hens need about three times as much lime and mineral matter as is furnished in the grain and meat food. If this is not supplied there will be fewer eggs or soft-shelled eggs. Grit is the hen's teeth; oyster shell helps to furnish the lime for egg sheUs ; charcoal is an absorber of gas. It aids digestion, sweetens the diges- tive tract, and helps keep the bowels in good condition. BUTTERMILK OR BEEF SCI^AP INCREASES EGG PRODUCTION 76 HENS - 6 MO. - ONT. IT IS POOR ECONOMY NOT TO FEED MILK OR BEEF SCRAP This chart gives the results of an experiment conducted at the Ontario Experiment Station, Guelph, Canada. The experiment lasted eight months, starting the first of September and ending the first of May. Seventy-five hens were used. They were divided into three pens, 25 in each pen. Hens in pen No. 1 were fed buttermilk ; those in pen No. 3, beef scrap, while those in pen No. 2 had no milk or meat food. Pen No. 1 produced 1,762 eggs, and pen No. 3 produced 1,625 eggs. Pen No. 2, the pen having no milk or meat food, produced only 730 eggs, not quite half as many as either of the others. The buttermilk pen made a profit of $11, and the beef scrap pen a profit of $10. There was a loss of $3 on the pen receiving no milk or beef scrap. Of course it costs more to keep the buttermilk and beef scrap pens, but it is the profit rather than the cost that counts. A similar experiment con- ducted in Indiana shows prac- tically the same results. The experiment lasted four years;. White Leghorn pullets of simi- lar breeding were used each year. Skim milk was used instead of buttermilk. The milk pen averaged 135 eggs per hen at a profit of 11.62 each; the beef scrap pen averaged 135 eggs per hen at a profit of $1.55; the pen receiving no meat food averaged only 33 eggs per hen and the hens were kept at a loss of 10 cents each. It is good feeding practice and good business pohcy to furnish milk or beef scrap. MILK OR BEEF SCRAP INCREASES EGG PRODUCTION WHITELEGHOfiWS- AVE 4VRS-IIVD ' WO MILK OR MEAT ■ loss PER HEN 10 CTS SKIM MILK PROFIT PER HEN H 62 BEEF SCRAP PROFIT PER HEN » 1.55 30 FEEDING POINTS A good laying ration contains one part protein to A)^ parts of carbohydrates. The carbohydrates are the starches and fats. In actual practice this means about one pound of beef scrap or from \]^Xo two gallons of milk to every nine pounds of grain. The value of any commercial feed depends upon its composi- tion and the quality of the grain used. You know the quality when you do your own mixing. Cotton seed meal is rich in protein but hens do not digest it well. Alfalfa meal is rich in lime and protein, but it also contains considerable crude fibre. Hens can't handle roughage in great quantities. Meal made from young first cutting alfalfa is best. Moldy grain causes digestive troubles. Grain smuts will produce soft-shelled eggs and will result in serious disorders of the egg organs. Hens first off the roost in the morning, busy scratching all day, and late to go to roost at night, are the layers. Get rid of the loafers. A decided change in methods of feeding may throw a hen into molt. Lack of green feed causes pale yolks. Yellow corn helps in giving a rich color to the yolks. Wheat can be fed alone better than corn; corn is too fattening. Hens do not get too fat to lay. Most of the fat of an egg is in the yolk. Often yolks form but there is not enough protein in the feed to finish making the egg. What happens? The yolk is reabsorbed. You lose an egg and because she did not lay, the hen gets fat. If your hens are fat, and are not laying, feed less corn and starchy food and see that they get exercise If they are too thin, increase the grain ration. One reason the hens lay more in spring than they do in winter is because they have a longer time to eat. Commercial poultry- men get excellent results by fooHng the hens with electric lights during the winter months, thus keeping them eating and working longer hours. Don't extend sympathy to these over-worked hens. Results show that the longer working hours are not as hard on them as the long, cold hours on the roosts without feed. HENS THAT ARE PROPERLY FED ARE EASY TO FENCE IN. 31 A FEW STANDARD RATIONS A hen will eat from three to four ounces daily. One hundred hens on range with plenty of green feed will need daily from 20 to 25 pounds of grain including ground feed. The U. S. Poultry Farm at Beltsville, Maryland, gives the following choice of rations: The peu'ts are by weight. Use one grain mixture and onf mash mixture. Any grain mixture can be used with any mal£UEeK WEED OUT THE SLACKERS The Babcock test weeds out the boarder dairy cow. The trap nest weeds out the slacker hen, but the time and labor involved in using it makes it impractical except for the poultry breeder who can command high prices. A study of thousands of trap-nested hens shows certain physical chai'acteristics which, with remarkable accuracy, distinguish the good layers from the poor layers. Any man, woman, or twelve-year old child can in an hour's time learn these points and with a little practice can cull a flock accurately enough for all practical purposes. The chart shows the result of a culling experiment in Indiana. There were 450 hens in the flock. The week before culling they laid 643 eggs. Two hundred and forty-three hens were selected as layers; 207 hens were culls. The week foUowing the 243 good hens laid 624 eggs while the 207 culls laid only 13 eggs. By selling the 207 hens and saving the feed eaten by them, the flock was put on a paying basis. Thousands of culling demonstrations held in many states show the same results. Often in flocks culled on a fifty-fifty basis, the half selected produce more eggs than the entire flock did before culling. The workers are getting extra feed, care, and attention- they respond with a greater production. Time to Cull. The better the flock, the later it can be cuUed. Some poorly bred and poorly fed farm flocks are ready to cull in June. The New York State certified flocks are cuUed in October. Commercial poultrymen can afford to cull every month. If thie flock is culled only once a year, August is the best month. It is good farm practice to cuU twice a year. The first cuUing in July cuts out the extremely poor producers as soon as the spring production season is over. The second culling in September enables one to select the good producers to be used as breeding stock. HOW TO TELL A GOOD LAYER FROM A POOR ONE DIFFERENCE IN MOLT 203-egg hen molted late. In the last of September this hen was just starting to molt. Her new feathers will grow quick- ly for such a hen uses her food as effectively in feather production as in egg production. Her rest period for molting will be short. As soon as a hen starts a general molt she usually stops laying. A few extraordinary bens lay even through the molt. 36-egg hen molted early. This hen laid a few eggs in the spring and then began to "laze around" and grow her new coat of feathers. In September her feathers are new and clean and bright — a pleasing contrast to the scraggly, soiled, dirty coat of her hard-working sister. This hen is as useless as are folks who spend ALL their time keeping themselves good looking. DIFFERENCE IN SHANKS Pale, thin. Soft in the back. The shanks are pale because the fat has been used for egg production. It takes a long period of heavy laying to fade the shanks. Yellow, full, hard. Round in the back. Color fades out of and comes back into the shanks very slowly. For this reason the shanks are good indicators of long periods of production or rest. +0 HOW TO TELL A GOOD LAYER FROM A POOR ONE DIFFERENCE IN HEAD Face — thin, lean. Comb and wattles — large, red, full, waxy, warm. Beak — white. Eye ring — white. Ear lobe — full, white. Face — coarse, fat. Comb and wattles — small, pale, dry, hard, scaly. Beak — yellow. Eye ring — yellow. Ear lobe — shrunken, wrinkled, yellow. DIFFERENCE IN BODY Vent — largcj moist, pale. Pelvic or lay bones — wide apart, ends of bones soft, thin and pliable. * Body capacity — large. Skin of abdomen — soft, pliable. Vent — small, dry, yellow. Pelvic or lay bones— close to- gether, ends hard, thick and stiff. Body capacity — small. Skin of abdomen — full, hard and plump. *The distance between the lay bones and the end of the breast bone indicates body capacity. Photos on pages 40 and 41 courtesj New York Experiment Station 41 HOW TO HANDLE A HEN IN CULLING If you have to chase around all over the farm-yard to catch your hens you won't treat them for lice or won't take the trouhle to cull them. A catching crate such as is shown here makes culling easy. Note the sliding end-gate. This end opening is put against the small opening of the hen house and the hens are either driven in or attracted in hy throwing a little feed in the crate. Note the small hinged door in the top through which it is easy to take out the hens. Don't grab a hen by her feet and let her flap her wings and struggle. Grasp one wing firmly close to the body and bring her out of the coop head first. In this way the wing feathers are not broken and the hen has little chance to struggle and hurt herself. The heaviest breeds can be handled in this w ay without danger of injury. Take the hen from the coop ■with your right hand; grasp her shanks with your left hand; lei her rest on your left arm. If she is wild and squawks hold her head under your arm. Your right hand will be free and the hen in II good position for examination. A I left: Good head. Note the well-developed comb and wattles, the bright eye, and the full car lobe. At right: Poor head. The comb and wattles are not developed, the car lobe is shrunken, and the face is coarser. 42 HOW TO HANDLE A HEN IN CULLING Good spread between lay bones. This hen has a three-finger spread between the points of the lay bones. A two- or three-finger spread is considered good for White Leghorns. The general purpose breeds have a wider spread. After a rest period the lay bones will be closer together. Poor spread between lay bones. This hen has only a one-finger spread which indicates that she is not in present laying condition. If in addition to the poor spread, the ends of the lay bones are stiff and blunt and hard she can be classed as a poor producer. Dis- pose of her immediately. Good body capacity. The fore-finger is against Ihe lay bones. The end of the little finger is on the keel of the breast bone. This is an unusually good capacity for a Leghorn. The ab- domen skin should feel soft and pliable. Poor body capacity. There is only a two-linger spread here between the lay bones and the keel. This hen has no capacity for eating and digesting the amount of feed necessary to sustain heavy egg production. tf HOW CLOSE TO CULL The closeness with which you cull will depend upon: 1 . The size of flock you wish to keep. 2. The number of pullets you have coming on. A flock of 40 or 50 per cent hens carefully selected and 50 to GO per cent pullets is practical for the average farmer. The pullets are good winter layers; the hens are best for breeding purposes. The pullets will lay in November and December when eggs are high. Most of the hens will not get back to laying before January. Mark your best hens and use them for breeders. When cuUing punch the toes or leg-band your best hens. Next spring breed from them. Nothing will help more to bring up the egg production in your flock. In this class are: 1. Hens that molt late. 2. Hens with faded shanks. 3. Hens true to the type you own — not underweight or off-color. Sell the slackers. Get them clear off the taiia without delay. Don't waste feed on them longer. In this class are: 1. Sick or diseased hens. 2. Hens that molt early. 3. Hens with yellow shanks and beaks. 4. Hens with small, dry, hard combs. Keep as many medium producers as you need to main- tain your flock. Picking out the best hens and the culls is eavsy. The in-between or medium producers are the ones that bring questions to the mind. Eggs bring such a good price in the faU that you should keep any hen that is laying at cuUing time. Sometimes a broody spell or poor feeding in the summer throws a hen out of laying. When conditions are favorable she again begins to lay. The color of the vent and eye ring, the spread of the lay bones, and the condition of the abdomen change very quickly when a hen ceases to lay. The beak changes more slowly. It takes about six weeks of laying to fade the color from the beak and about six weeks of lesl to bring it back. The beak, head, and vent changes, taken in connection with the condition of the molt, give a very accurate idea of when a hen stopped laying or whether or not she is laying at the present time. No one point alone can be used as a basis. Each point must be checked up against the others. DON'T CULL A HEN BECAUSE OF AGE Don't get rid of a hen because of her age. If she lays weJl the first year she should be kept as a breeder. The more cullings she survives the better. It is proof that she has the vitality to stand up under heavy laying, the kind of vitality you want to breed into your stock. HOW FEED AFFECTS COLOR The yellow of shanks, beak, eye ring, and vent is due to a deposit of fat. Feed- ing yellow corn and plenty of green feed gives the fat a deep color. The way the flock has been fed must be taken into consideration when culling. In culling white-skinned breeds the color changes of course are not evident. If you own a carefully culled at- tractive uniform flock, your neigh- bors will notice it and want to buy hatching eggs and breeding stock from you. CULLING PULLETS Pullets for winter laying should be early hatched and well ma- tured before cold weather. They should have yellow shanks, yellow beak, bright eyes, and well-developed combs. Slow grow- ing pullets do not make good winter layers. A well-bred carefully culled farm flock of White Leghorns owned by Miss Ella Marqueis of Cedar Lake, Indiana. The eggs from this flock are sold to a leading Chicago hotel for 5 cents above the market price quoted for extras, the hotel furnishing the cases for shipping. DETERMINE ON ONE BREED AND STICK TO IT A mongrel flock cannot be as profitable as a pure-bred flock provided both flocks are given the same care and attention. Keep one breed only because : It is easier to tend. The products are uniform. The products bring a better price. You will be proud of i t and take better care of it. It is hard to take care of a mixed flock. The needs of each variety are different. Leghorns are active and hard to confine. Plymouth Rocks are sluggish and need to be induced to exercise. If the two are kept together it is hard to get the best out of either. When you have one breed, the fowls are aUke in rate of growth, size, temperament, and habits. Stick to the breed you select. Get your breeding stock from an egg-laying strain. KEEP BREEDING STOCK SEPARATE Give up breeding from the entire flock. The feed eaten by 8 or 10 ordinary scrub cockerels wiU pay for one or two first-class cockerels whose breeding is guaranteed. Keep the breeding stock separate for three or four months during the breeding season. Many farmers confine the layers and let the breeding stock have free range during the breeding season. Confinement will not cut down the egg production but it will impair the fertihty of the eggs and the vitaHty of the chicks hatched from them. r. .1 1 '~..^?4 #•; : di^fl^...^^ Courtesy U. R. Fishcl This splendid type of White Rock cock indicates that there has been brains behind his breeding. Courleiiy Mu, Exp. Stalion He has a right to crow for he is responsible for most of the improvement of the flock. 40 ^ SCRUB ROOSTERS MUST GO Many a farm with pure-bred hogs and cattle is disgraced by ils scrub chickens. We've tolerated scrubs in the poultry yard too long. Hundreds and thousands of scrub roosters should have their necks wrung before another breeding season opens. Results from using pure-bred males can be obtained more quickly with poultry than with any other class of live stock. The trap nest enables poultry breeders to pedigree their stock from the standpoint of egg production. We farmers can't afford to trap-nest, but we can well afford to pay good prices for cockerels that come from reliable breeders. In many states, the State Experiment Station furnishes, at reason- able prices, roosters with high-producing pedigreed ancestry. We go to a little trouble and expense to get the best seed corn there is. Why not take the same pains with our poultry? ~-'^*^ Oourtesy Ind. Exp. Station . , ; The rooster should be well jointed, well built and sturdy. His legs should be straight and set well apart. His comb and wattles should be well developed and fiery red in color. He should be a good feeder and a good fighter. 47 EARLY HATCHED PULLETS MAKE BEST EGG RECORDS Hatch the chicks early so that the pullets are mature for winter egg production. The trap-nest records show that the high producers of the flock are the pullets that lay four or five dozen eggs before March 1. EARLY HATCHED PULLETS WAKE BEST EGG RECORDS 450 R fSLflWD RED Pt^U-ETS ' EGGS LAID YEARS HATCHED pE FQH? WAP l*T AFTtB MAR I" ^. ^ lAPR/ THE EXTRA EGGS ARE PRODUCED . WHEN THE PRICE IS HIGH Notice that the summer egg production from the early maturing pullets is just as good as from the late maturing pullets. If pullets mature early and start laying before severe weather sets in, they will continue to lay through the winter. If they don't get started before the severe weather, they will not be likely to start before spring comes. The time it takes for pullets to mature varies with the breed and with the care and feeding given them from the date of hatching. Rocks, Wyandottes, and Rhode Island Reds mature in from six to eight months; Leghorns, Minorcas and Anconas in from five to seven months. If Leghorns are hatched too eeu'ly they may stEu^t laying early and have a fall molt before cold weather. This throws them out of laying all winter. The general-purpose breeds should be hatched in March or early April. Leghorns and other Mediterranean breeds should be hatched in April and May. BREAK BROODY HENS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE This coop for breaking broody hens has wire sides and a slatted bottom and is placed out of doors where it is cool, light and airy. A hen will not sit on any- thing she cannot warm. If placed in a coop where the air conies up from below, she soon becomes disgusted, stands up, and forgets all about her broody tendencies. The small pictures at the top of the cut, num- bered 1, 2 and 3, show the con- dition of the egg organs after various periods of broodiness. ^MJMU •^ « ^m. •1 ^ HHS "'' Vf^ m/'J MM s m Courtasy Mo. Exp. StnlioD « GIVE THE CHICKS A SQUARE DEAL GIVE US A SQUARE DEAL DOWT HANDICAP US BY POOR BREEDING CARELESS HATCHING DOWT OVERHEAT OR CHILL US DOWT GIVE US IWDIGESTIOW BY FEEDING TOO SOON FEEDING TOO MUCH AT FIRST FEEDING mOLOY GRAIN 'give US PLENTY OF SOUR MILK PROVIDE GOOD COOPS CLEAN THER OFTEN DONT CROWD US PROTECT US FROM RATS DOWT DRAGGLE US THRU WET GRASS KEEP US FREE FROM LICE AWD MITES WELL PAY WELL FOR YOUR TROUBLE About 50 per cent of the chicks hatched die. For every six eggs used for hatching purposes one mature pullet is produced. Instead of carelessly selecting our hatching eggs and trusting to luck to grow our chick- ens, let us study the chick's needs and meet their requirements. Don't raise the chicks on the same ground year after year. You would not think of raising corn on the same ground year after year. Gape worms and many of the in- testinal diseases can be avoided by chang- ing the location of the brood coops from year to year. Rotate your chicks to new soil just as you rotate crops. Many chicks are handicapped at the start by poor breeding and hatching. Eggs for hatching should come from good parent stock and should be carefully handled before they are set. Keep them in a clean, dry place at a temperature not over 70 degrees. Turn them once a day. If they get too warm the germ begins to develop and the egg either spoils or hatches a weak chick. Don't keep hatching eggs more than a week or 10 days. When a hen leaves her nest, or when the temperature of the in- cubator gets too high or too low weak chicks will result. A chick that needs to be helped out of the shell isn't worth saving. Courtesy Farmers' Review A good batch. CARE OF SETTING HENS Hens will hatch a larger per cent of chicks than incubators but it is less trouble to raise incubator and brooder chicks. Flighty, nervous hens or any hens showing symptoms of diarrhoea should not be used. Build good nests for the setting hens. In the bottom put a layer of moist earth. Over this put straw. Keep the mother hen free from lice. It is a good plan to set several hens at once and put them in a room apart from the rest of the floek. If food and "water are kept before lh<'ni, they -will practically take care of t h e ni - Grass is good for chicks when it is dry, but keep them penned up in the morning while the dew is on and get them in when big.rain storms are coming up. If chicks are caught in a storm and get nearly drowned, bring them in where there is heat, dip each in warm water, and keep them in a warm place until they revive. SO PROVIDE GOOD BROOD COOPS How could one expect success willi such a brood coop? Isn't it a shame to ask any woman 1o use such poor equipment? Rat-proof but hot in the summer. If used then, put it in a shady place. J. W. Poorman ot the Poorman Poultry Farm recommends for farm use this inexpen- sive but practical rat- proof brooder coop. When the season is over it can be taken down and stored for another year. This brood coop has a. large grass run. A. brood coop like this is an excellent place in which to set hens. A coop of this size would be plenty large enough to provide comfortable quarters for two setting hens. One hen could rear the chicks hatched by both. A Stormy day in January or February spent in making good brood coops for the spring chicks will be time well, used. 51 INCUBATOR CHICKS An incubator enables us to hatcb chicks early so that the pullets can mature for winter egg production. The chief causes of weak incubator chicks are : Temperature too high or too low. Too little circulation of pure air in the incubator. Not enough or too much moisture. The room in which an incubator is used should be mcU \eii- tilated. Incubator chicks should be "hardened off" 24 or 36 hours before they are removed to the brooder. This is done by gradually reducing the temperature and increasing the ventilation. Many chicks die because they are chilled in removing them from the incubator to the brooder. Select a standard make of incubator and carefuUy foUow the directions furnished by the manufacturer. Coilrlf'sy of Field lllusLraLud Millions of chicks are shipped in this manner through the mails every year. It is lucky for the chicks that have to travel in this way that they carry a 48-hoiir lunch basket in their "tummies." Just an ordinary baby chick sells for from 12 to 15 cents. One with a little brains and breeding back of it can command twice that amount. THE COAL-STOVE BROODER IS PRACTICAL FOR FARM USE Coal-slove bro<»j; in Ihe can, the bijj end down, and the other h-fj; in, little end down. Fit the other pieces in on top of these. To save space cut the tips from the wings and if necessary leave out the neck. For further details on packing and canning chicken write for bulletins from tlie U. S. Department of Agriculture. 64 DIRECTIONS FOR CANNING CHICKEN First Method — Stewed Chicken. 1. Dress and clean chicken as usual. 2. Cut and pack as directed on page 64. 3. Season to taste and fill jar with hot water. 4. Put on rubber and cap. Do not fasten cap tight. 5. Sterilize three hours in a hot water outfit. See time-table for canning. G. Remove from water and tighten covej'. Second Method — Stewed Chicken The chicken can be partially stewed as for table use, packed in the jars while hot and the jars filled with the liquid in which the chicken was stewed. Sterilize three hours. Third Method — Fried Chicken 1. Prepare and cut as before. 2. Fry as for table use. Each piece should be nicely browned but need not be cooked tender. 3. Pack as before. 4. Pour in the grease used in browning the chicken. This will make gravy when the can is opened. Add no water. 5. Sterilize three hours. Fourth Method — For Creamed Chicken If you want chicken to cream or for patties or on toast or chicken a la King, can it this way : 1. Remove meat from bones and cut into small squares. 2. Pack in jars, add salt to taste, fill jar with hot water and sterilize three hours. To use, make cream sauce in the usual way and add the can of chicken just before serving. Fifth Method — For Sandwiches 1. Cook chicken until tende]'. 2. Remove meat from bone and run it through a food chopper. 3. Pack the ground meat into jars. Half-pint jars are good for this. Pack lightly — do not press it down. 4. Add broth in which chicken was boiled. Season to taste. o, SteriKze 2H hours if half-pint jars are used — three hours in pint or quart jars. This is a good way to dispose of tough old roosters. They defy recognition in the tasty sandwiches served on the hot days when we don't like to cook or for lunches on the summer picnics or auto excursions. Any meat can be canned by the methods given above. Canning is long distance cooking. 55 BREEDS OF POULTRY f^t The American "Standard of Perfection" recognizes 121 dif- ferent breeds. Not counting the Bantams, they range in size from 3 pounds to 12 pounds. The breeds are clsissed under three groups : Egg — Mediterranean. General Purpose — American. Meat — Asiatic. When egg-laying contests were started a few years ago it was thought by some folks that they would forever settle the question of the one best breed. The one thing that these contests have made clear is that there is no best breed. These contests have, how- ever, been invaluable in help- ing to point out certain breed characteristics, amount of feed required by different breeds, cost of feeding, seasons of greatest production, etc. Study your farm conditions and your market and select the breed that you like best. Be sure to get stock from an egg-laying strain of the breed vou select. This White Leghorn hen, pro- duced at the Oregon Experiment Station, laid 303 eggs in one year. Five other hens at the same sta- tion each produced 290 eggs. EGG BREEDS Representatives of the egg breeds are Leghorns, Minorcas, Spanish and Andalusian. They are small, active and nervous in temperament, and good foragers. They mature early. The hens are not inclined to be broody. Because of their large combs, they are rather sensitive to cold. They produce large white eggs. On the commercial egg farms there are more Leghorns than any other breed. While they are found on a great many farms, their small size, poor broody tendencies, and the difficulty in confining them, keep them from being especially popular with farm folks. There is no best breed. GENERAL-PURPOSE BREEDS The Rocks, Wyandottes, and Rhode Island Reds belong to this class. These breeds are popular with farmers because they are fair producers and are of good size for table use. They are less active than the egg breeds, and are not such good for- agers. The hens are good setters and mothers. The general-purpose breeds lay brown-shelled eggs. The fowls are at- tractive in the market because of their yellow skin. The Orpington is an EngKsh general-purpose breed that is winning quite a place in America. Orpingtons have white skin and produce brown eggs — an unusual com- bination. The New York mar- ket prefers a white egg; the Boston market a brown egg. Some hotels One of the representatives of the Purdue Barred Plymouth Rock flock. In the egg-laying contests the records made by the general-purpose breeds compare favorably with the records made by the egg breeds. prefer white eggs for table use. U. R. Fishel of Hope, Indiana, owns this attractive flock of White Wyandottes. 67 MEAT BREEDS The meat breeds originated in Asia. Ttie Brahmas, Cochins and Langshans are the chief members of this class. They are noted for their unusual size and gentle disposition, they move slowly and are poor foragers. They mature late and are persistent brooders. The Brahma origi- nated in the Brahma- Pootra district of India. The Cochins and Lang- shans came from China. Because of their large size these breeds are us- ually used on the farms it:aking a specialty of capons. ;.«.F^£i2u Four-year-old Norman Uerr of Sikeslon, Mo., feeding his pel Light Brahma cock whieh is almost as big as he is. The Light Brahma is a popular meat hrccil. America owes a large debt to I he meat breeds, for practically all of our general-purpose breeds originated through crossing with the Asiatics. There is only a limited de- mand for large meat fowls and it is probable that these breeds will never be grown in great numbers in this country. A few feu-mers who give extra fme attention to their chickens and have a good market find it profitable to caponize the cockerels. Capons make good use of their feed and demand several cents premium in the markets. DUCKS, GEESE AND TURKEYS Pckin ducks. On many farms ducks, geese and turkeys^re the source ol' con- siderable income. Ducks. Ducks are the meat birds (jC poulliy. They arc hardy and with the exception of pickin<^ arc easy to handle. A duck, if well-cared for, weighs five pounds at the end of 10 weeks. It takes a chicken twice as long to grow to this size. Ducks are good egg pro- ducers. The eggs are larger than hens' eggs. The Pekin and India Runner are popular breeds. Geese. A few geese can be grown each year almost without expense. They are the easiest of all poultry to handle. "A gosling hatched means a goose for market," is an old saying which holds true. They grow best where there is good pasture and plenty of fresh water. The breeds common on American farms are Embden and Toulouse. Turkeys. Turkeys are a great aid in keeping grasshoppers under control. They require little feed and little investment in the way of buildings. Their need of a wide, free range makes it somewhat difficult to grow them in thickly settled countries. Grown turkeys aie extremely hardy but young poults need considerable care. A little water on the feathers, cold feet, a bit of spoiled food, or even one louse will kill them at this stage. Turkeys are native to America. The Bronze and White Holland breeds are the most popular. Wc all like rhicken but in November turkey ha.s the place of honor. . 69 MANY CITY PARENTS WOULD GIVE A GOOD DEAL TO AFFORD THEIR CHILDREN THE OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN THINGS AND TO DO THINGS THAT THESE CHILDREN GROWING UP IN THE COUNTRY HAVE A hatful of chickens. These chickens have good care. This is the son of H. C. Fishel of Hope, Indiana, with his father's prize-winning White Rocks. This was the poultry house on his father's farm when Robert Northcvitt of McFarlane, North Carolina, became a member of a poultry club. -•toil. n.c. Courl.-sy Burpaii Animal lii.lusCry, \\ ^ New poultry house which Robert built with money from his poidtry. 70 MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE Take Care of Us — Give Us a Chance — ^We Will Do Our Part To Help You Buy the Things You Need for Your Home and Family. The IHC Agricultural Extension Department What It Is — What It Does TIZHAT is the Agricultural Extension Department of the Inter- ' ' national Harvester Company? It is not a sales department. It is not an advertising depart- ment. It is a department to help every community to be more prosperous and happy. The Harvester Company is a citizen of every neighborhood and through its extension department offers to help folks who want to help themselves. Every community must work out its own problems but the department wiU. do all it can to help ,in any movement that means a better community. How is this done? Through seven divisions of the depart- ment. 1. Short Course and Campaign Division furnishes prac- tical lecturers and demonstrators to help communities with short courses and campaigns on farming and home making. Ask the nearest IHC Branch House about this service. 2. Lecture Division furnishes lecturers and demonstrators for special meetings when possible. There is no charge except traveling and hotel expenses of the lecturer. 3. Chart, Slide and Reel Division has 2,000 large lecture charts and 1,000 sets of lantern slides and motion picture reels on farm, home and community problems which are loaned to county agents, community clubs, schools, colleges, lecturers, teachers or anyone making good use of them. They are loaned free, those who borrow them paying transportation charges to and from Chicago or nearest supply point. 4. Publicity Division prepares booklets like this one (about 100 different booklets on list); prepares special educational articles which are furnished free to newspapers, farm journals and other publications ; furnishes cuts and photographs to news- papers, farm bureaus and others. 5. Literature Division distributes the booklets. A small charge to cover the actual cost is made for the books. Merchants, bankers, business men — all public spirited citizens who wish to co-operate in getting these books in the hands of those who will be most benefited by them can have their compliments or message to their local people printed on the back cover without additional charge. 6. Library Division has complete library of agricultviral information including state, government and experiment station bulletins, for the purpose of answering inquiries and furnishing information. No charge is made for this service. 7. Art Division makes lecture charts for ouj own use, for county agents, farmers organizations, commercial clubs or individuals who want to do something for their communities. .-:■:■ " ' , ^:.::^.;f-■■tl;^>Jl;4*5i •CC'^frcV' r J:>^mi^^ L^!^;. w, ■„ >^ %^#. Ill 1.111 I III.