There are several types of unprofitable chickens that should not be kept:

ness.

1. A chicken of any breed or age that shows signs of sickness or weakAll such should be removed at once and doctored, or killed and burned. Prompt action may prevent further trouble. Delay is almost certain, in the end, to have serious results for the rest of the flock.

2. Old hens that may still be well and strong. Generally it does not pay to keep hens after they are two or three years old unless they are strong and especially valuable for breeding purposes. Fowls should be marked so as to indicate their age.

3. Surplus cockerels are unprofitable boarders. It is a common mistake to keep too many males. This is frequently due to a natural desire to avoid killing desirable breeders, and with a hope that if they are retained they may be sold alive for high prices. After they become large enough for market most cockerels do not make enough growth to pay for the food they eat. They also injure themselves or others by fighting. The room they occupy, the food they eat, and the labor they require might better be bestowed on early hatched pullets. They should seldom be allowed to go into winter quarters. They usually fail to grow well in cold weather, and occupy valuable space that should be used by better stock. They are unable to wrestle with larger individuals and generally remain undersized.

Careful grading of all stock as to size, age, breed, vigor, and purpose for which it is kept is one of the most important factors in the successful handling of poultry. This is second in importance only to the elimination of the undesirable members of the flock. This policy should be practiced

persistently and continuously from shell to maturity.

VIII. FEEDING THE CHICKENS

CLARA M. NIXON

The food. The egg yolk is enclosed within the body of the chicken just before hatching, and may supply nourishment to the chicken after it leaves the shell. For this reason chickens should not be fed until they are thirty-six hours old. The first meal may be of equal parts of bread crumbs and rolled oats, moistened with some milk or water to make the food crumbly but not wet. Sprinkle over this food a little fine sand or grit, fine charcoal, and some finely shredded clover, lettuce, or chickweed leaves. Mix with the food a little well-burned bone or some bone meal. After the first few days, hard-boiled egg may be added in the proportion of one part of egg to eight or nine parts of the bread and rolled oats. In addition to the moist food, a grain food should be given. A mixture

of three pounds cracked wheat, two pounds corn (finely cracked), and one pound pin-head oatmeal, rolled oats, or hulled oats is good. A dry mash may be left before the chickens at all times, but only as much

should be given at one time as will be eaten in a day. If any of the mash becomes dirty it should be taken away from the chickens. The mash may consist of four pounds wheat bran, three Troughs for feeding large chickens pounds wheat middlings, three pounds. corn meal, three pounds sifted beef scrap, and one-half pound bone meal, well mixed together. Beef scrap that is not perfectly good and fresh should never be used.

For chickens four weeks old or over, the bran may be reduced to three pounds. Cottage cheese may be given in addition to the other foods, but not in large quantities. It may cause bowel trouble if the chickens get too much at first. All foods should be sweet and clean, never mouldy or sour. Make all changes in ration gradually.

The feeding. Care should be taken to have the hen well supplied with whole grain and large grit. The chickens should be fed often at first, usually five times a day. The moist food may be given in a shallow dish or on a bit of clean board, and should be taken away as soon as all the chickens have had enough. The first few days, they will probably eat but a small amount of grain, and it may be scattered in a shallow dish containing a little dry mash made according to the directions given above. After two or three days, the dry mash by itself may be fed in the dish, and the grain scattered on the ground or floor. Two other meals of the moist food may then be given, the other feedings being of grain. The dry mash may be left where the chickens can get it at any time. After the first week, the bread and rolled oats need not be given, but a little of the mash mixture may be moistened and given instead.

Chick feed-trays of different sizes

As the chickens grow older the number of meals may be less, and the grain of larger size. At four or five weeks of age they will be able to eat whole wheat, hulled oats, and larger cracked corn.

Then if they have a

large range and the weather is favorable so that they may run about, they need only two meals of grain and one of moist mash a day. They

An outdoor hopper for feeding mash, grain, grit, and bone meal

wheat and cracked corn.

can always come back to the dry mash if they get hungry. Beginning with the first meal green food should be supplied, but the hen will soon teach the chickens to peck tender pieces of clover and the like if she is allowed to range with the brood.

When the chickens are about eight weeks old, the grain and ground food may be fed from a large feed hopper from which they may help themselves at any time. The grain mixture may consist of equal parts of

The chickens should also have free access to

cracked bone, fine grit, screened oyster shell, and charcoal.

Give plenty of fresh, clean water in a vessel into which the chickens cannot jump. Ordinarily a water fountain is used for the purpose.

A serviceable water fountain can be made from a pint basin and a tomato can that does not leak. Cut half-inch notches in the edge of the can on opposite sides. Fill the can with water, cover with the inverted basin, then turn the whole thing over, holding basin and can tightly together. The water will run into the basin, but not overflow. If the basin does not become full enough cut the notches higher.

IX. FEEDING FOR WINTER EGGS

C. A. ROGERS

Does it ever occur to boys and girls that fowls are fond of a variety of food? This is especially so when the weather becomes cold and they are shut up in their pens. Then they are away from the fields where in summer they can nearly gain a living on the bugs, scattered grain and seed, and grass. It is true that they will subsist, even in the winter, on corn and water given them at irregular intervals, but under such care they cannot lay eggs. Notice how much better you feel after eating a meal of wholesome, well-cooked food that you like. Fowls are just as partial, and respond when well fed. There is no one method of feeding that can be applied equally well under all conditions. The method described in the following paragraphs, however, may be followed to advantage under many

conditions and may also serve to suggest ways of improving your present practices.

Morning feed. In the morning the fowls are hungry and ready to work for their breakfast. It is well to let them keep as busy as possible. Work keeps them warm, healthy, and contented. With this in mind, scatter mixed grains in the litter. Be rather sparing of the feed in the morning, so that the fowls will not quickly obtain their fill, but will continue to work and hunt for the grain for the greater part of the forenoon. This grain should be a mixture of all the kinds grown on the farm. They may be mixed in the proportion of three pounds corn, two pounds wheat, and one pound oats, to which may be added, if available, one pound buckwheat and one pound barley. Fresh water should be given to the chickens every day.

Noon feeding. At the midday meal is the best time to provide those appetizing mixtures so greatly relished by the fowls and so successful in helping to produce eggs. Take the scraps of meat, bread, and vegetables, or oatmeal, from the table, mix them with corn meal, wheat bran, and wheat middlings. Moisten the mass with skimmed milk until it is crumbly. When skimmed milk and table scraps are not to be had, take a pail of cut alfalfa or clover hay and pour boiling water on it, allowing it to steam. Feed when it is still warm. A portion of this steamed alfalfa added to the noon mash gives it a pleasant, appetizing odor. A little salt and pepper can also be added to the mash, in about the same proportion as would be used in your own food. When it is not convenient to make a moist mash, the same ground feeds may be fed dry in a hopper that should be left open during the afternoon. A good mixture for this purpose is: six parts corn meal, six parts wheat middlings, three parts wheat bran, five parts meat scraps, one part oil meal. The best results will be obtained if the hens eat about one-third of the ground feed mixture to two-thirds whole or cracked grain. At noontime as much green food (beets, cabbage, or lettuce) as the fowls will clean up before the following noon should be given. At this time see that the oyster-shell and grit hoppers are filled. When it is impossible to follow the practice of feeding three times a day, the scraps and green food should be given with the morning feed.

Night feeding. Fowls go to roost very early, making it necessary for them to eat before sundown. This requires feeding in the latter part of the afternoon, while they can still see to pick up the grain. When given the opportunity, a fowl will go to roost with its crop rounding full of grain, which it gradually digests during the night. This process of digestion. warms the body and keeps it more comfortable. An empty crop is a poor bedfellow for the fowl. The same grains can be fed at night as in the morning, but in large quantities so that some will be left over after the fowl's appetite has been entirely satisfied.

X. FATTENING POULTRY
W. G. KRUM

By fattening we do not mean filling a fowl's body with a large deposit of oily fat such as is often found in old hens, but producing large, soft muscles with sufficient fat so that when cooked, they will be tender, juicy, and of fine flavor. Not only does this improve their quality for home use, but they will sell in good markets for a much higher price a pound. The best way to fatten poultry is to restrict exercise by placing them

Shutting birds up in coops or small pens is very satisfactory when fattening them. The coops should be arranged in the shade. By means of troughs, wet mash may be fed three times a day

in slatted coops about two feet square, having the bottom slatted or covered with onehalf inch mesh wire cloth. This will hold four to six fowls or eight to ten young birds.

The fattening coop should be located in a cool, shady place in hot weather and in a comfortable place in cold weather.

The fowls should be thoroughly dusted with lice powder, as fowls infected with lice do not fatten well.

Neither do fowls or chickens of low vitality fatten readily. Poultry should not be fed for twenty-four to thirty-six hours before feeding the fattening ration. The ration should then be fed sparingly at first. Afterward they should be kept eating well by feeding only as much as they will clean up in ten to twenty minutes. If they have more than they can digest for a meal or two they lose their appetite, fail to grow well, and may lose weight.

Feed fowls or mature young stock three times daily for about two weeks, this being as long as they will do well under this heavy feeding.

A good ration consists of three pounds corn meal, three pounds buckwheat middlings, three pounds oat flour, one pound beef scrap, and a little charcoal. These are mixed with sour skimmed milk or buttermilk (the latter preferred) to the consistency of batter, which is then allowed to stand and sour twelve hours before feeding.

Ten pounds of feed usually require seven to nine quarts of milk. The oat flour may be obtained of manufacturers of oat flakes or oatmeal. Flour middlings may be used in the place of oat flour, although it is not quite so satisfactory a food.