XLIV.THE CARE OF POULTRY.
WE make no pretense to any great skill or experience in raising poultry, and may not be able to furnish satisfactory answers to questions which have been sent by some of our readers who appear wellnigh discouraged by repeated failures; but we venture a few suggestions which, if acted upon, will, we think, in part at least, overcome some portion of their difficulties and perplexities, and may be acceptable to others in their first attempt.
The agricultural papers are filled with descriptions and recommendations of many fanciful, and, no doubt, very excellent, heneries and poultry-yards. We have very little acquaintance, however, with these modern improvements. The few we have seen do not excite our enthusiasm, and we cannot see that the income or gain in any degree compensates for the extra expenditure. We do not learn that Nero’s horses were much benefited when fed on golden oats and shod with shoes of the same precious metal; nor do we believe hens sheltered in sumptuous palaces will be more productive than our Leghorns and Cochins. But each one has a right to his own peculiar fancies; we are speaking now to those who have not yet found time or means to build fancy heneries, but content themselves with more simple arrangements.
We think it important, if possible, to have a good yard and commodious hen-house, in whichlaying,setting, androostingapartments can be kept separate. These conveniences cannot always be secured as ample and pleasant as is desirable; but however simple the accommodations may be, it is indispensable that the building be kept scrupulously clean if you would insure success. Theroostrequires the most care. It should be swept out once a week, the poles and sides being well brushed off with a stiff broom, and the loose feathers and droppings from under the poles collected in barrels, removed from the hen-house, and kept dry. It is an excellent manure or guano, and very valuable when well composted.
The same care is needed in thelayingandsettingrooms. It is wise, once a week, to take all the straw from the nests, brush the boxes out clean, and replenish with fresh straw. A little ashes or a few bits of charcoal put under the straw helps to keep the nests sweet. The old straw and filth should be put on the compost heap. In thesettingapartment the nests must not be disturbed till the eggs are all hatched, and the little chicks, with their mother, removed. Then the box must be emptied, well washed, dried, and whitewashed, ready for a new occupant.
It takes time and some trouble to keep the hen-house and yard always clean; but it well repays the trouble, and, if well done every week, will really take less time than to have a grandclearing uponce or twice a year. These clearing days in dwellings or outbuildings are great nuisances and torments, making every one cross and uncomfortable; but if in each department it is understood that everything must always be put into its appropriate place, and that once a week the whole is to be tidied up, the most careless, if once tempted to try the experiment, would be astonished at the increased ease of the labor, and the pleasure would certainly be fourfold.
Every fall and spring and once at least during the summerthe birds should all be turned out of the house and yard, that the inside of the building may be well smoked with sulphur, and then thoroughly whitewashed, to secure the destruction of the vermin and the good health of the occupants. A day should be selected when no hens are sitting, and then some charcoal must be kindled in an old tin or pan kept for the purpose in each compartment, and some bits of sulphur sprinkled over the coals when well burning. This done, shut the doors and windows tightly, and leave the sulphur to burn out, which it will do in a few hours; then throw open the doors and windows and let in the air. After this, every part must be well whitewashed, filling all cracks, holes, or corners with the wash,—particularly the nests or boxes for the laying and sitting hens. Sprinkle a few small bits of charcoal in the nests, when dry, to keep them sweet; fill them with fresh straw, and recall the fowls to their clean home.
A box or bin of wood-ashes should be placed in one corner of the roosting apartment, and kept always filled, and free from filth, for poultry to roll in and free themselves from vermin as far as possible.
The roost should be made so that the poles can be raised or let down at pleasure. In the winter, have the poles raised as high as may be, as the heat ascends, and the fowls need as warm a place as possible for winter. In summer, lower the roost, that they may sleep where the air circulates freely. If possible, provide a good roomy yard back of the hen-house, where the hens may have ample space to range. Plums do well in such yards, and the hens do much toward destroying the curculio. Old pans or wooden troughs filled with water must be kept in the yard, that the hens may have drink at all times. If you have plenty of skim-milk or buttermilk, they will be grateful for all you can spare, and show their gratitude by the increase of their daily offerings.
Heaps of old plaster or oyster-shells must be kept in different parts of the yard; if part of the shells can be burned and pounded, it will be better. Any slops from the house will be of great benefit; and if no pigs are kept, everything that is thrown into the “swill-pail,” not salt, can be used to advantage. Keep all water in which potatoes and vegetables are boiled; throw their parings or skins into it, and after each meal put in all refuse bits, bring this water to a boil, stir in a handful or two of coarse meal, and in winter feed it to the hens warm, and you will find it very acceptable and profitable. Every scrap of fresh meat, soup bones, but nosaltmeat, will do them good. If near a butcher’s shop, he will sell you for a few pennies, or give you, the “lights” or the head of one of the animals. Chop it up and throw it into the poultry-yard. Worms and grasshoppers will help them through the summer months; but they must have something in the way of fresh meat in winter. Every morning and evening scatter cracked or whole corn about the yard in a clean place. In picking it up, they will take with it a little gravel, which is very necessary to keep them healthy.
In many cases it is not convenient or thought necessary to provide a hen-house and yard, all the poultry being allowed to roam at will over the premises. A little care will train them to keep from doing any great mischief in the gardens; but you must not expect too much; if you have grapes, currants, or small fruit, these will be too tempting for a hen’s nature to resist, and, in the end, it will be found to be worth considerable sacrifice of time and money to place them out of the reach of temptation. Besides, if they are allowed to roam, you cannot track their nests at all times, and you will be left without an egg in the house when most needed. With very little care, and by selecting the best and most reliable breeds, this need never happen where hens are kept in an inclosure and with a suitable house. The pureLeghorns molt but six weeks in the year,—in November and December. If they bring out their broods the first of April, the pullets will begin to lay in October, just as their mothers begin to molt. If hatched in August or early September, they will lay by the first of April; so that part of the hens will be laying all the time. Some people kill off their hens as soon as the pullets begin to lay, thus having no molting fowls on their premises; but we think this foolish. The second year’s eggs are usually larger, and a hen may be kept profitably for three or four years. Our own experiments lead us to think the White Leghorns and Cochins the best layers.