,/SF 4 8y 
 
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 Poultry 
 Pension. 
 
 xr^5JS^v8^^«^ 
 
$ 100 Hens 200 Hens 
 
 $8.00 per Month. $16.00 per Month. 
 
 i Poultry Pension, 
 
 | For the Average Farmer 
 
 I or 
 
 'i Poultry Man. 
 
 
 Exactly What to Feed. 
 
 Exactly When to Feed. 
 
 Exactly How Much to Feed. 
 
 Price 40 Cents, Postage Prepaid. 
 Poultry Pension, 
 
 Sarcoxie, Missouri 
 
 1900. 
 The Sarcoxie Tribune Print. 
 Sarcoxie, Missouri. 
 
3628 
 
 tvvo r- 
 
 otftta of tkA <; 
 
 jhn 9 -1880 
 
 rttjj-Uttr of CtpyffgHft ' 
 
 SECOND COPY, 
 COPYRIGHTED. 
 
 BY W: R: GLASBY, 
 
 SARCOXIE, MO. ' £Uj_ 
 
 62940 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 This little book is devoted to poultry for 
 fresh eggs for market, from a business point 
 of view, not for fancy or pleasure. The greater 
 the profit the more the pleasure shows up. 
 
 A big majority of those who supply the mar- 
 ket with esfofs, o-ood, bad and indifferent, do 
 not know the magnitude of the business, noth- 
 ing" the average farmer produces comes near it. 
 It is not our intention to fig-ure out a great big 
 thing for you — do your own figuring. We will 
 put you in a position to figure correctly, when 
 you do. You will find it a bigger thing than 
 you are aware of, counting capital, labor, etc., 
 invested, with little or no risk; no risk at all if 
 you go at it as a business, in a business way. 
 It is only risky when you undertake to overdo 
 the thing, so go at it meaning business. 
 
 After writing three times as much as was 
 necessary, we carved it down to about one- 
 third, as it was something- practical and to the 
 point we were after, knowing from experience 
 the average farmer or poultryman wanted it in 
 short metre. 
 
 We have tried to give it so you can almost 
 
6 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 learn it by heart, leaving- out a great amount 
 of figures, cuts, etc. We hope it will find its 
 mark, for of all the reckless handling, or not 
 handling, of poultry, it is done on most farms, 
 the very place where it shouldobtain its great- 
 est success. 
 
 At the present time poultry for fresh eggs is 
 in its prime, there being- a greater demand for 
 fresh eggs than ever. Why? Simply because 
 thev are, most generally, scarce. There are 
 plenty of other kinds, stale, icehouse, etc.. but 
 these will never supply the demand for fresh. 
 Of course, if you can't get fresh, you take the 
 next best, so with the market. Of late years 
 the best of everything goes. Strawberries are 
 graded right here (we are in a strawberry 
 country) before being- put in the car, and at 
 what kicking. It is the same in almost every 
 line of produce, and why should it not be with 
 eggs. You are in better shape to control that 
 part of the market than most any other pro- 
 ducer, let the produce be what it may. 
 
 Cold storage cuts a big figure with almost 
 all other perishable produce, not so with the 
 fresh Qgg, they had just as well brand it "-not 
 fresh", after storage, for it is known the min- 
 ute it gets into market; so with your fresh egg\ 
 it is known also. The same egg does not bob 
 up in the market long as a fresh egg; you can't 
 store it in an ice box and freshen it up every 
 
POULTRY PENSION. / 
 
 morning". The average farmer and poultry man's 
 fresh egg's bob up pretty reg-ularevery day. 
 
 As tor the meat side of the poultry business. 
 the big - packing- and cold storage corporations 
 handle a larg-e quantity of dressed poultry. 
 
 The big - corporation is all right in its 
 proper place, but where is its place? They 
 seem to have an awful appetite for 
 all they g*o after. The big- cattle ranches are 
 being - , or trying- to be, corraled by them. We 
 have heard a great many say they would fin- 
 ally corral the farmer. All they lack now is 
 to shut the gate. What could the farmer do if 
 he would? What sort of a job do you think 
 they would do towards corraling- the poultry 
 business? They can never corral theold hen, 
 unless by buying- up poultry in larg"e quanti- 
 ties, storing - it and then dish it out in differ- 
 ent localities. 
 
 The fresh eg-g - has g-ot the grip and you have 
 only the hen that lays the egg to deal with, 
 treat her rig-ht and you are perfectly safe, you 
 are beneath the notice of these big - concerns, 
 simply because they cannot handle you, nor 
 can they crush you. 
 
 In attempting- to tell exactly how to feed 
 and manag-e poultry to make them pay we 
 have taken the "Averag-e Farmer" for a tar- 
 get, althoug-h any one w T ho may read this will 
 see instantly that it is suitable to all who wish 
 
8 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 to try it, and especially those of small means, 
 also those in cities who are bound down to call 
 of bell or whistle, with no certainty of 
 their jobs lasting a month or maybe not a 
 week. In a great many cases they may be do- 
 ing" very well, if so, "let well enoug-h alone." 
 
 Who ever may take up this calling- he also 
 becomes an average farmer, as he will raise a 
 great deal besides poultry, in fact the greater 
 part of his living - , fruit, vegetables, milk, but- 
 ter, etc., maybe some for market, as poultry 
 alone, in accordance with this plan, will not 
 keep him employed as we do not advocate very 
 big- flocks. We call one hundred laying* hens 
 an average flock. We do not for one minute 
 advise any one to g-o into it by the thousand, 
 as is the first thoug-ht by a great many, es- 
 pecially the amateurs; they are the last ones 
 who, at first venture, should attempt it on a 
 iarg-e scale. 
 
 Probably after trying- the plan on a small 
 scale you mig-ht enlarge. If you are posted, 
 just think a moment, how many of these one 
 thousand hen poultry farms (for eg-g-s for mar- 
 ket) you know of, not that you hear of, but 
 actually know of. 
 
 Some years ag-o poultry and other papers 
 were full of accounts of big - farms, some of big 
 extent, others contracted to town lots, but do- 
 ing- big business, using- various incubators, 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 9 
 
 brooders, heaters, etc., turning-out broilers by 
 the wholesale. What has become of them, and 
 they were expert poultrymen (or writers, one 
 or the other) . No, the fresh eggs are not sup- 
 plied from the mammoth poultry iarms. There 
 are special fruit farms, dairy farms, stock, 
 etc., where would the market be if it were not 
 for the average farmer and poultryman who 
 steps up with his little package of fruit, but- 
 ter, eggs, etc., drops it on the pile and moves 
 on. The large farm egg is not in it at all, nor 
 ever w T ill be, that is for fresh eggs for market. 
 
 You read of so and so having; an eighty acre 
 poultry farm, another, forty acres devoted 
 to poultry, most generally they do not try to 
 furnish eggs for the general market. They 
 are fanciers or breeders and they are very es- 
 sential to the average farmer, as you will rely 
 on such to improve and keep your stock fresh 
 by buying eggs or roosters from them for that 
 purpose. On most farms they swap eggs or 
 roosters amongst their neighbors; that may do 
 in a few cases, but if you are up to date that 
 won't suit. For the average farmer, on a 
 reasonable scale, the fresh egg business for 
 market, is a permanent thing. 
 
 The meat side is furnished just as the egg 
 side; every farmer having a few 7 extra chickens 
 to sell keeps the market well supplied. The 
 surplus helps pay the feed bill. 
 
10 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 Some say the poultry business is overdone, 
 or will be, if everybody goes into it. That is 
 the beauty of the business, there is no prob- 
 ability of it ever being - overdone. Where one 
 goes into the business, two go out, not because 
 it was overdone, for the simple reason it was 
 not half done, so let us give you a pointer, the 
 the greatest trouble will not be over doing", let 
 you try ever so hard, so don't be backward. 
 
 There are patents for fixtures for running 
 the business on a large scale. Their advocates 
 claim that the expense for labor eats up the 
 profit. For about one or two thousand fowls, 
 
 labor, lice, etc., are heavy pull on them. Take 
 one hundred hens managed as w T e describe, 
 or any good way, soyougetfull returns (that's 
 the rub), let the average farmers's wife at- 
 tend to the light work connected with it, the 
 farmer himself, or boy, or hand, doing the 
 heavy work. After deducting the feed bill, 
 the wife will have at least $8.00 per month for 
 her labor and she can tell anyone she never 
 had to labor hard or long at a time. 
 
 Children can also attend to a flock; when 
 they are old enough let them become interest- 
 ed in keeping account of everything. It is a 
 good thing for them, they can pay you for feed, 
 etc., but give them the proceeds after paying 
 necessary expenses, and probably you might 
 have to borrow money from them, but treat 
 
 J 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 11 
 
 them fair and they will stay with you a long- 
 time; boy or gfirl, it makes no difference. Only 
 it is better for the g-irl than for the boy as she 
 may not have to g-o out from home to work, as 
 is the case on too many farms. How many 
 g-irls now are, well no telling-- where, away 
 from home, who could have been kept at home 
 by this plan. They may earn $2.50 per week 
 (not often) or $10.00 per month, when she could 
 have stayed at home and earned, with one 
 hundred hens, $8.00 per month, or with two 
 hundred hens, $16.00 per month. Look at the 
 satisfaction and pleasure to herself and her 
 parents. As for the labor, you know the value 
 of a hired hand in your locality. How many 
 such flocks could he attend to and do a fair 
 day's work besides? 
 
 The labor is a stumbling- block for the big- 
 concerns. You can very seldom g-et help to at- 
 tend to hens as they should be. for that reas- 
 on the averag-e farmer has the advan- 
 tag-e — he is personally interested. .Instead 
 ot following- after hired help to see if the 
 work is properly done, he does it himself, only 
 undertaking- what can be properly handled, in 
 most cases where he undertakes it on a big- 
 scale, he too g"oes to the wall. 
 
 Labor saving - machinery may be all rig"ht, 
 but it is hard on the laborer. Some condemn 
 it, but in every vocation it is eag-erly soug-ht 
 
12 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 after. The farmer himself bites at it as soon, 
 or sooner, than any one, even though he may go 
 in debt for it. 
 
 As for labor saving- machinery for the poul- 
 try business, we don't see where it can come 
 in to any great extent. That also protects the 
 business for the average farmer and poultryman 
 
 It has been tried, is being tried now, to see 
 if there is not an opening for capital to take 
 hold of it, as in various other products. Capi- 
 tal is all right and of course there is room for 
 some of it in the business, but not in quanti- 
 ties to suit the capitalists, it also being very 
 risky. A limited amount of capital is neces- 
 sary, so it naturally falls to the man with lim- 
 ited means to furnish the egg market, and that 
 is the man we are after — the average farmer 
 and his family — and there are others who can 
 also do well, man or woman, with or without 
 families. Say three or four women club to- 
 gether, live together on a few acres of land, 
 handling what suit each. You say again, too 
 many going into the business. In the first 
 place, some never will make a success of it, 
 even under a plain plan like we suggest. To 
 be sure if all who are in it now and who have 
 been in, and out, for years, the average farm- 
 er, those that may. yet go into it, and all 
 succeed, there would be plenty of eggs. At 
 present we are short on fresh eggs. The case 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 13 
 
 is the same the world over. Takeour averagfe 
 farmer, for instance, in other lines of produce: 
 some do well, others fail almost entirely. So 
 with poultry, some come across one of those 
 pieces telling" what can be done with a thou- 
 sand hens. In they go and out they come. 
 
 Some can take our plan, attend strictly to 
 details, enlarge by degrees, stop short at their 
 limit, and do well. The little one or two hun- 
 dred hen man is generally on deck. Others 
 can not take fifty hens and get full returns. 
 
 Is that any reason why you should fail ? We 
 say you will suceeed if you mean business. 
 We know of a cripple who is not able to do 
 hard labor, that is constantly, but with the 
 help of his g-ood wife, makes a gxxxl living 
 easily with two one hundred hen flocks, g-etting 
 his $16.00 per month pension from his two 
 hundred hens, for fresh eg"g"s. Raising- most 
 of his own food, vegetables, fruit, milk, butter, 
 etc., on forty acres of land. 
 
 His neighbor has one hundred and twenty 
 acres of land with a mortg-ag^e hale and hearty, 
 borrows money, in small amounts, occasionally 
 from his crippled neighbor. He is a hard 
 worker, is shiftless, but he says there is no 
 money in chickens. There probably ain't for 
 him. Just such cases level the supply on the 
 market. 
 
 Time and again we have been asked, "What 
 
14 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 do vou do to <>"et so raanv esrsfs in winter, what 
 
 kind of chickens have you. what d 
 
 you feed, what isthe secret? Asfaras we are 
 
 concerned, there isnosecret. and we willingly 
 
 tell any one what we do, only hoping' they may 
 
 profit by it. We have asked different ones the 
 
 following questions in return : 
 
 Have you a hen house? 
 
 The greater number say no. 
 
 Where do your hens roost? 
 
 Some in the trees, some at the barn, on the 
 
 fence and wood pile. 
 
 Do you feed them regularly ? 
 
 No, they get all the feed they want them- 
 selves. 
 
 Where do they get it? 
 
 Around the barns, pig- pens, oh, all around 
 the place. 
 
 Did they g~et all they could eat yesterday 
 and the day before? (Feb. 27 and 28, 1898). 
 
 Well, no, lots of them never got off their 
 roosts, some of them even froze to death on the 
 fence. 
 
 How many eggs did you say you are getting 
 a day ? 
 
 Eggs a day? Why, we don't g'et "no egg's" 
 
 at all. 
 
 How many hens did you set last spring? 
 Seventy or eighty, in spring and summer. 
 How many eg*g\s do you put under a hen ? 
 When the old woman sets them she puts fif- 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 15 
 
 teen to twenty eggs to a hen. 
 Who else set any ? 
 A good many set out in the weeds and all 
 
 around. 
 
 How many young chickens did you take off? 
 
 Don't know; 'bout two or three hundred. 
 The f-ats and pole cats bothered the old hens a 
 
 heap. 
 
 Where did you say the hens were set? 
 Most of them set at the barn,' some in a big 
 brush pile. 
 
 Who attended to them ? 
 
 Tended to them how? The old woman and 
 the children done all the tending to them, I 
 guess. 
 
 ' You say you took off two or three hundred 
 chickens in all, where did you put them ? 
 
 Some were in old barrels and boxes, some 
 used under the brush piles. 'The boxes and 
 barrels were open so they could go in and out 
 as they pleased. 
 I suppose you raised them all didn't you ? 
 Hush, I don't guess there is seventy-five. 
 What do you suppose became of them ? 
 I told you the rats and pole cats were awful 
 bad and a good many got drowned. 
 
 Your coops were open so the chicks could go 
 in and out as they pleased; do you think those 
 pole cats and rats would go in and out as they 
 pleased, too ? 
 
16 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 They surely must, we are mightily put out 
 with the chicken business. I guess next year 
 we will just let them go on their own hook and 
 not try to raise any; if they raise any them- 
 selves all right, if they don't we won't be out 
 anything". 
 
 The above is literally true; at one time this 
 very family had the "hen fever" terribly bad, 
 and were going at it wholesale. Now they are 
 just letting them go on their "own hook", and 
 it would be hard to convince them that there is 
 any money in the chicken business. 
 
 Now just look around you and see if you can 
 find any who are managing as they did (be- 
 fore thev "just let them go on their own hook") 
 and are getting "no eggs." 
 
 As strange as it may seem there are a vast 
 number who are in the same boat, maybe lack- 
 ing the brush piles and other fixtures that 
 these people had at hand. 
 
 Will very much of such management ever 
 overdo the business? 
 
 Now we want to try and tell you how it is 
 done, that is for the average farmer and poul- 
 tryman. In fact tell you exactly how it is 
 done. That is quite an assertion. Bear in 
 mind we do not say it is the only way, but we 
 believe as sure, as cheap and as reasonable 
 as any plan that is successful, for those who 
 are getting "no eggs", in particular. 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 17 
 
 To the average farmer or poultry man, we 
 wish to state emphatically, this is a business 
 proposition, not very complicated, butif not run 
 on business principles you cannot expect full 
 returns. It would indeed be strange if this 
 plan as we describe, escaped criticism, as 
 opinions differ widely in regard to poultry; 
 more so in regard to feed, quantity, quality, 
 etc. 
 
 Should you be interested try the plan in full 
 and you will succeed. "as sure as a gun is iron"; 
 as before stated, some never will succeed, 
 neither are all guns iron. This is from actual 
 experience, as yet, has never failed. 
 
 Twenty years ago we wondered why some 
 one did not tell more particularly what to feed, 
 how much. 
 
 We have found out and propose telling it, so 
 it can be profitably used by others whom we 
 know are lost when it comes to the feeding for 
 eggs for market. 
 
 The average farmer, whenever attempting 
 to feed regularly, generally feeds too much. 
 On the other hand, when he becomes an old 
 hand, he tries to feed them race horse or road- 
 ster fashion. We hold to the opinion that the 
 hen wants to be well fed to lay many eggs, 
 more particularly in winter. On some farms 
 they get "no eggs" — their hens are too fat. 
 They are very seldom too fat, with plenty of 
 
18 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 range, unless they are deprived of egg produ- 
 cing" material, ground bone, animal food, etc. 
 If not laying at all they may become too fat. 
 At no time, by our plan, have we ever had any 
 complaint to make, although when killing - one 
 to eat, they are sometimes pretty fat. the re- 
 turns from the flock always holding- its own, 
 but they are surely well fed. Some say differ- 
 ent breeds require different treatment, try 
 this treatment on any of them, for eggs, with | 
 range and scratching" pen. Compare it with 
 the feed and care you read of in some places 
 and see what is lacking". The "mush and 
 milk" is lacking - . We have no fault to find 
 with milk, as it is fine most any time, but soft 
 teed is not in this to any very great extent, 
 
 We are not responsible for failure if you do 
 not follow directions, but will gaiarant.ee suc- 
 cess if you attend to the details, which may 
 appear of little importance. That is the key 
 note, or secret, as some call it. 
 
 LOCATION. 
 
 Various sections are often mentioned as «-ood 
 locations for poultry and fruit farms. Some 
 localities are more favorable than others, the 
 climate being- more suitable in the south and 
 southwest, say for poultry, small fruits and 
 vegetables in connection. 
 
 Don't you think you can take this plan and 
 make it pay where you are, with your poultry 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 19 
 
 house built warm enough to suit your locality, 
 the scratching- pen being essential everywhere, 
 it being a good regulator towards keeping 
 your hens warm as well as busy. Probably 
 in the extreme south the scratching pen would 
 not appear so needful, where your fowls have 
 range in both winter and summer. In some 
 cases it may do to go to new locations to con- 
 duct the business, but you must have the cap- 
 ital, no big amount, to buy, improve stock and 
 live for at least a year, or until you get your flock 
 of laying hens to help you along. In this case 
 be sure before venturing - too far. The man with 
 "money to burn," needs no such caution. The 
 man with small means can read what "the 
 man from the east" has done, but he is an ex- 
 ception. 
 
 To the man with practically no means but 
 big ideas try and see if you can not get a foot- 
 hold where you are. We have heard some, 
 yes, a great many, say a man in this day and 
 
 age who has not accumulated something is not 
 much account. Be careful — that is the very 
 one" we are trying to reach. 
 
 And great is the man with sword undrawn, 
 And good is the man who refrains from wine, 
 But the man who fails and yet still fight on, 
 Lo ! he is the twin-born brother of mine. 
 
 — Joaquin Miller. 
 
20 
 
 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 Like kk the man from the east", we believe 
 South and Southwest Missouri, Arkansas, 
 Texas, etc., will some day be a great poultry 
 producing 1 section, especially for winter egg 
 production, the same being" produced there 
 cheaper than in the colder climate of the north. 
 
 We do not say the north will be depopulated, 
 to the contrary the business will pay there as 
 well as it ever did, or anywhere, north, south, 
 east or west, according - to the management — 
 that tells the tale in any locality. 
 
 So go slow, make no rash moves to new lo- 
 calities, unless you can go prepared, and it 
 might be a good idea to go prepared to come 
 back. 
 
 HEN' HOUSE. 
 
 We will take it for granted you have some 
 fowls, if not you will have some, but don't 
 overdo the thing-, only keep what you can take 
 proper care of. If you already have a hen 
 house add to it in any shape or style until you 
 get the required ground space mentioned be- 
 low, for if you expect to take the treatment, 
 take it according to directions; but we don't 
 expect you to give up what you already have, 
 but you will see where you are lacking- and 
 can act accordingly. 
 
 The ground room in the house is what we 
 want to commence on, and we must have it, as 
 there are times when all the outside range in 
 
 i 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 21 
 
 your state is of no avail, especially when cov- 
 ered with snow, or very cold days, 
 
 We will give you our plan for building - and 
 assure you anv new building* you may wish to 
 put up can not be put up much cheaper to an- 
 swer the purpose. For one hundred hens we 
 build 24 x 24 feet square, 4 feet high on each 
 side and 10 feet in the center, with a roof slop- 
 ing- both ways. Some may say, in fact often do. 
 that four feet is not hig-h enough. We are 
 building- for chickens, you spend butlittle time 
 in the house under the 4 feet, and it rises very 
 quickly to 10 feet. Be your own judg-e and ar- 
 chitect, but save the ground room. 
 
 One end of house should face the south, with 
 doors in end to suit yourself. You may think 
 that considerable ground room for 100 hens; 
 my friend, we are coming- rig-ht close to the 
 "secret" of winter laying - . If you expect eg-g-s 
 in cold freezing- weather, you are bound to have 
 it, you want some windows in the south end; 
 say you have your door in center of south end, 
 put window sash on each side of door, not over 
 two feet irom the ground. It is hardly safe for 
 us to tell you how much glass to put in as you 
 might think we had glass to sell, but put in 
 two sash side by side on each side of door, at 
 the corners of the house. You want more glass 
 on east side of the house. It would be "mighty 
 nice" to commence at the southeast corner of 
 
22 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 the house and go north half way. Now don't 
 get excited, your hens will more than pay for 
 it many times, if you follow directions. As for 
 the material for the house, we see no use for 
 very expensive houses. 
 
 We do not propose to go into figures, esti- 
 mating- cost of houses, cost of feed, labor, etc., 
 nor do we intend trying- to fig-ure what a big 
 thing you have in this plan of management, it 
 is of no use whatever, to any one interested, 
 as they are certain to figure the cost before 
 ever making a move, besides one set of figures 
 cannot suit all localities, so you must do your 
 own figuring in every case, then you will know 
 more about it than it we undertake it for you. 
 You want your house close, no draft, warm in 
 winter and cool in summer. We use common 
 boxing, or barn siding, painted, with the crack 
 well battened. For the roof you can use the 
 same, shingles, felt or whatever you choose. 
 Your locality will have something to do with 
 it. 
 
 How many in your«neighborhood have as good 
 hen house? 
 
 For inside arrangements we will only state 
 the more particular parts. For the roosts, 
 commence in the center of the north end and 
 go six feet each way, put up ten roosting poles, 
 each being twelve feet long, have them up five 
 feet from the ground and fifteen inches apart. 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 23 
 
 We make the frames for roosts solid, not swing- 
 ing - , all on a level, the five feet being- plenty 
 high and handy should you wish to take chick- 
 ens from the roosts. You now have north end 
 of house, twelve by twelve feet square, for a 
 roosting place We enclose this room up to the 
 roof, in fact make a house within a house, the 
 idea being- to keep your laying stock, all others 
 of course, warm in winter. The room has no 
 direct contact with the outside, only on north 
 end, which must be close, and the roof also. 
 
 This room in its present shape, becomes 
 very warm in summer, we put two shutters, 
 six feet long and one foot wide, even with the 
 bottom of the roosts, in each, side of roosting 
 room, north and south, the north doors or 
 shutters opening on outside of main house. «SBy 
 opening these doors and the corresponding- 
 door in south end of main house, you obtain 
 ventilation in the warmest weather. On each 
 side of the roosting room you have a space six 
 feet by twelve feet. One side is for the laying 
 department; make and place the nests to suit 
 yourself, but make them all movable. We use 
 boxes when we can get them of proper size 
 and shape; one foot square is about right. 
 This room is ample for a flock at this house. 
 
 In the southeast corner of main house put a 
 dusting' bin, or box, rigmt in the corner in the 
 sun. Do not make it too small, say eight by 
 
24 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 eight feet; have it even with bottom of sash so 
 the sun can get a good sweep at it; have a 
 tight bottom and keep it supplied with dirt, 
 say road dust, fill it in the fall; also have a 
 few barels or boxes full for renewing. Step in 
 some cold day and watch the hens in it, al- 
 though they will use it the year through. 
 For the floor of your house, take your choice, 
 some prefer one and some another. We have 
 always had a dirt floor; if too low, fill up and 
 occasionally take out from eight to twelve 
 inches, put it on your onion bed and put in 
 fresh dirt well tamped down, sprinkling with 
 water as you tamp, to make it solid. 
 
 There is no fancy work attached to this plan, 
 but if you attend to business you will soon be 
 able to put on a few extra touches; but go 
 slow. You are aware by this time that this 
 book is intended for those at the bottom, that's 
 the place to begin. We are now coming pret- 
 ty close to the "secret" of healthy fowls. 
 
 In first writing this book for the average 
 farmer, we had fourteen pages devoted to lice, 
 telling a lot nonsense about their habits, loca- 
 tion, etc., having also anumberof cuts of same. 
 After re-reading it, we politely threw the 
 whole amount out! After getting started we 
 carved right and left, but we want to assure 
 you you have not missed a single thing by it; 
 to the contrary, you are the gainer, as you 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 25 
 
 will make time by its omission. You will be 
 just as able to deal with the lice without it- 
 
 If vou neglect this part of the plan you had 
 better build no house at all, we honestly mean 
 it. "Just let them go on their own hook", 
 roosting- where they please, for with a lousy 
 hen house you have various diseases, so called, 
 when in reality, the lice are the cause of the 
 whole thing, in order to beat them you have 
 got to be vigilant. Clean out from under your 
 roosts, the year round once a week, going- into 
 roosting room from a door in north end of 
 same; with a wheel barrow, it is a short job, 
 wheeling the manure right on to your g-arden, 
 there is money in it. Sprinkle a little dirt 
 under roosts occasionally. At anv time, should 
 roosting pen smell bad, more particularly in 
 damp weather, dissolve a small amount of 
 copperas in the water and sprinkle, air slacked 
 lime is g-ood. Whitewash, you know, won't 
 hurt your house, but by cleaning out the ma- 
 nure once a week you do not give the lice much 
 show in that direction, which is a great source 
 for them. 
 
 There is another verse belonging - to this se- 
 cret — the roosts. Some say sassafras poles, 
 cedar, two by four scantling, with the corners 
 rounded off, etc., etc. Take your choice. We 
 have never found one any better than the 
 other as far as lice are concerned. They do 
 
26 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 just as well on one as the other, as they do not 
 seem to be very particular. We get nice, 
 straight poles from the woods, all knots cut 
 off smooth. 
 
 What ever your choice, oil them once a week 
 with coal oil; we use a quart bottle, with a 
 quill, or small pipe stem, put through the 
 cork. The first time you oil them it will take 
 some oil, but when you get them saturated and 
 oil them regularly once a week, it won't take 
 much at a time. The quantity does not cut 
 much of a figure as the hens will foot the bill, 
 provided you do your part. 
 
 Build as fine a hen house as you wish, feed 
 and care for them otherwise, but if you do not 
 keep them clean and oil your roosts, your suc- 
 cess, if any at all, will be very moderate. We 
 have heard some say, all that is a heap of 
 trouble. Right there the curtain falls. When 
 we tell you how easy it is to obtain a pension 
 of from $8.00 to $16.00 per month (more accord- 
 ing to your ability, less according to your dis- 
 ability) from your poultry, you will plainly 
 see it is sure necessary to pay attention to 
 these little details. 
 
 Figure the cost; if you can beat it at any- 
 thing else w r ith as little labor, don't be hoggish, 
 let us hear from you. We mean on an average 
 farm. 
 
 Say, brother, right here we put up the bars. 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 1 1 
 
 We came very near asking you a question 
 which it would take a good one to answer. 
 Should we have asked it, we might have at- 
 tempted to answer it, in that case we know 
 some of you might have been offended, so we 
 will just let it go until another time. 
 
 If you will figure a little, you see you have 
 three hundred and sixty feet of the ground space 
 of your house left after cutting off your roost- 
 ing and laying room. 
 
 Here comes another "secret"; it ought not 
 to be such a great secret as it has been pub- 
 lished time and again, but there is no doubt of 
 it beinjr a secret to some. You who have read 
 of it often, don't see why it should be a secret, 
 almost too true to mention, some take no pa- 
 pers at all that ever mention anything relative 
 to their especial calling. Instead of taking 
 one or more good agricultural journals, and 
 also poultry papers, they barely take their 
 county paper, in lots of cases not even that. 
 Say, for land sake don't say a word about it, 
 but we have been in lots of houses where the 
 only paper they get is one wrapped around 
 some purchase made in the country town, and 
 is not always on account of poverty that they 
 take none. We wish to tell our average farm- 
 er that we havcno ax to grind at all, but if 
 you want to keep posted after starting in on 
 this plan of managing poultry for fresh eggs, 
 
28 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 take some good papers; they are almost giving 
 some of them away. Keep posted and you will 
 find many suggestions; you can't near try al] 
 of them, but sift them and you will find many 
 that are usetul. 
 
 Some years ago we first read of the scratch- 
 ing pen, had we tried it at that time we would 
 have done a great deal better than we have 
 After waiting eight or ten years we adopted 
 it. With us it was the missing link; as it is in 
 any other calling, so it is with the poultry 
 business, to slight the undertaking in what 
 may appear of little consequence, sometimes 
 wrecks the whole thing. 
 
 We aim to tell you just what is needful, no 
 more, no less. Of course you may improve on 
 it, but don't cut down. On some farms the 
 only eggs they g'et in winter come from the 
 barn; what few hens that get therethrough the 
 snow, with those that roost there, on the farm- 
 ing implements, etc., find a place to scratch, 
 but even those do not lay as they should, lack- 
 ing a full ration of egg* producing food, bone, 
 meat, etc. Water also is scarce at barn and 
 everywhere else in cold, freezing weather, if 
 not provided. Yes, but they eat snow. So 
 would you if you had to, but you know it 
 won't satisfy. 
 
 In the foregoing, we have merely given you a 
 fair start at what is needed in the way of a 
 
POULTRY PENvSlON. 29 
 
 house. There may be other things needed 
 which you will soon see. Say you want an ex- 
 tra sash in north end of roosting pen, forlight, 
 poultry do not like to go in a dark place to 
 
 \ roost; or it may be more light in the laying 
 
 j room, hens would rather lay in the dark, and 
 rarely go in there only to lay, thus 
 
 j keeping - out of mischief in a room intended only 
 
 ■ for business. 
 
 In the northeast corner of house, adjoining 
 the roosting - room, we have a small grainery 
 (a large dry goods box) with a partition in it. 
 holding from twenty to twenty-five bushels, say 
 ten bushels of oats and ten bushels of wheat, 
 for scattering in the straw in the scratching 
 pen. It is raised two and one-half feet from 
 the ground, or floor, giving plenty of room for 
 hens to g*o under to scratch. To look at it, 
 under there would look like a good place for 
 nests, don't put any there nor anywhere else, 
 only in laying room. 
 
 LAYING OR SITTING ROOM. 
 
 In the division of house, we have left six by 
 twelve feet for your laying and setting room. 
 This room would also be better enclosed. You 
 see there is only one side of it open, you might 
 enclose it up solid the height of the low side, 
 four feet, with lattice or wire, the balance of 
 the way. By having the room tight you can 
 just set an old setting hen on the outside or on 
 
30 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 the roost, close it up and she can't get back to 
 the nest at least until morning-. Such treat- 
 ment will most generally break up a great 
 many hens, especially hens best suited for 
 eggs for market. 
 
 In regard to the nests, you can make good 
 and cheap ones for layers, out of common four 
 foot lath, making the bottom, front and back 
 with the lath, with a solid partition between 
 each nest, high enough so hens won't bother 
 each other. Make four nests to each length 
 of lath, that number being easy to take out of 
 house at one time for cleaning, renewing, etc. 
 
 This room, as stated before, will be some- 
 what dark; all the better for your laying hens, 
 but as you will have to be in there occasional- 
 ly attending to your setting hens etc., you 
 might make a door in the north side to enter, 
 leaving it open for your setting hens to come 
 out for exercise, water, etc. 
 
 Don't let the nests get filthy, renew them oc- 
 casionally, sprinkling- sulphur or some insect 
 powder in them, also keep the whole room clean 
 and in shape; it won't take long at a time nor 
 will it have to be done often. None of your 
 fowls should be allowed to roost in there. The 
 house, as divided, has one apartment for each 
 certain purpose. For one hundred hens we 
 provide twenty-five or thirty nests. 
 
 Now listen, more trouble: every morning, the 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 31 
 
 whole year through, we put a nest egg in each 
 nest, provided we do not have permanent nest 
 esrirs. We have not missed doing so for five or 
 six years, not even one morning. 
 
 There are artificial nest eggs, but we have al- 
 ways used the hens' eggs for the purpose, 
 making a very small mark on one end w r ith a 
 lead pencil, so there will be no possibility of us- 
 ing the same egg twice for a nest egg, as they 
 will soon spoil, especially in summer, and if 
 taken to market will hurt your reputation as a 
 fresh egg poultryman or farmer. The mark 
 beinjr so small the merchant nor anvone else 
 will notice them. It may look a little suspi- 
 cious to some, as though the eggs might have 
 been marked for setting purpose, or had been 
 set, but we have never heard any complaint. 
 On the contrary, it acted as our trade mark 
 on one occasion. One afternoon my wife and 
 self were away from home, and somebody came 
 and cleaned up the hen house of eggs, amongst 
 them being the nest eggs with the little pencil 
 mark. We suspicioned certain parties, went 
 direct to the store where they do their trading 
 and asked the merchant il they had brought in 
 any eggs lately. He said they had. We went 
 direct to a tub of eggs and there found the 
 eggs with the mark on them. The merchant 
 had never noticed the mark; but am glad to 
 say it is not necessary to mark them for that 
 
32 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 purpose. 
 
 The egg gourd makes a very good nest egg, 
 but when seasoned they become rather light 
 weight, the hens raking them around with 
 their bills out of nest on floor, etc. We believe 
 if there were made a small hole in one end and 
 shot put in to make them heavier they would 
 answer for nest eggs, but you will probably 
 not notice your nests so closely as you would 
 were you putting nest eggs out every morning. 
 A great many will say that it is too much trou- 
 ble. How on earth do you expect to earn your 
 $8.00 to $16.00 a month, are you doing as well 
 at anything else, especially something for 
 nothing ? Now you see it and now you don't. 
 
 Poultry confined in small quarters do not 
 need nest eggs nor much of anvthing else but 
 more room. Where they have plenty of range, 
 as by our plan, we have found the nest eg'gs of 
 benefit. Very few hens will lay anywhere 
 else but in the room intended for the purpose; 
 there is one thing you will get very nearly 
 every single egg laid on the place, with nest 
 eggs, provided you keep up all along the line; 
 it all goes together. The young pullets long 
 before beginning to lay, find out where the 
 nests are and go right to them when they are 
 ready for business. 
 
 We do not claim that the nest egg will make 
 the hens lay any more eggs, they will lay just 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 35 
 
 as many, but you may not find them all, and 
 may have a great deal more trouble hunting- 
 what you do find than the putting- out of nest 
 eofg's would have been. Now can't you plainly 
 see the shortest route of the two is the nest 
 eg-g- ? You not only g-et all of the eg-g-s, but 
 you g-et them regularly every day, while if the 
 hens laid everywhere some eg-g-s are often from 
 one to three weeks old when run across; then 
 where would you be in the fresh eg-g- business? 
 No, we are trying- conscientiously to save you 
 trouble rather than otherwise. 
 
 The eg-g-s are g-athered every evening- just 
 before or after feeding-. It is better for one 
 person to attend to the hens all throug-h, feed- 
 ing-, etc.; hens are partial to a degree in that 
 respect. There is no use of running- to the 
 nest every time a hen cackles, as is the cus- 
 tom on some farms, especially with the chil- 
 dren, and somebodv else's come to stay all 
 day, make a dive for the hen house, scaring- 
 every hen off to see how many eg-g-s are under 
 them. Children can be of great help in the 
 business when old enoug-h, eventually tend to 
 a flock of their own. Fowls are naturally shy 
 but by kind and g-entle treatment they become 
 quite familiar, but rush into their laying- room 
 off and on all day and they are, from nature, 
 inclined to move their place of laying- rather 
 than be disturbed. It is not necessary, it is 
 
34 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 handier to gather the egg\s at a regular time, 
 one person attending- to them; especially when 
 laving-, they are not near so shy. Should you 
 wish a chicken to eat, don't call everv one at 
 hand, armed with clubs, rocks, etc., and two 
 or three dogs, and then sail out after a chicken. 
 Have a coop for the purpose, putting- in what 
 chickens you wish to dispose of or eat; you 
 then have them handy. If spring- chickens are 
 ripe just pick them up out of feeding coops 
 while feeding- them, pen them up, feeding- and 
 watering- them g-ood, they soon become fine for 
 the table or market. Have a small iron rod 
 about the size of a lead pencil, bent at one end 
 in such a shape that it will g-o around their 
 leg-, but will not slip over the foot as you draw 
 them to you. When your neighbor calls to see 
 you bringing- a dog or two with him, gets seat- 
 ed and his dogs begin taking in the bone meal 
 boxes, hens' nests, etc., just say, I'll be back 
 in a minute. Go for those dogs with anything 
 you can get hold of, you will miss them nine 
 times in ten. 
 
 A CHEAP POULTRY HOUSE. 
 
 When approximating the cost of housing 
 fowls comfortably and well, one dollar per 
 head is considered a proper estimate here in 
 New England. 
 
 Nearly every hen house on my farm, in fact 
 every one that is arranged for laying stock, 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 35 
 
 has its annexed stratching pen, tight roof, 
 sides and back, with open front covered by 
 wire netting- to admit the air. These fronts 
 are provided with oiled muslin curtains which 
 can be opened and closed at will during very 
 cold, stormy weather, hinged at top or on the 
 end, whichever may be most convenient for 
 hooking- the frame up out of the way when not 
 in use. 
 In the fall ot '98 I had about 125 extra late 
 
 hatched pullets that must need either be housed 
 or sold then at a sacrifice. I bought some sec- 
 ond grade spruce timber and hemlock boards 
 for $14.00 per thousand feet. The sills 4x4 
 inches were set on cedar posts with a stone 
 underpinning" between posts. Balance of 
 framing, 2x4 spruce. The lumber was all 
 14 and 16 feet in length, which cui with very 
 littje waste. The roof was covered with pack- 
 ing paper and over this two-ply tarred felting- 
 kept well washed with g-as tar. 
 
 The interior is 14x28, with a partition from 
 the front to rear, making two rooms 14x14. 
 The platforms or floors or roosting- pens are 
 raised two feet from the sills and are four feet 
 wide. These extend the entire depth of each 
 room, running- along the partition, which of 
 c6urse, is in the hig-hest part of the house. 
 This arrangement leaves the entire floor space 
 to be used as a scratching room or pen. The 
 
36 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 inside doors, or those over the roosts, are ar- 
 ranged so as to shut down flush with the edge 
 ot dropping" boards. During cold weather 
 these make a cupboard-like arrangement for 
 the hens to roost in, while in summer the doors 
 are left hooked up at all times, which leaves 
 the roosting place practically as cool as would 
 be an open shed. 
 
 Small windows for ligmt and ventilation are 
 put in front of each roosting room, and one 
 each on side of the shed part. The laying- 
 nests are arranged around these latter pens. 
 In buildings of this kind we can scatter the 
 birds about the farm on the colony plan with- 
 out having any yards. Where it was neces- 
 sary to confine the flock the house could set in 
 an enclosure or have adjoining yards. 
 
 The pullets that were housed in this build- 
 ing in November were quite small and imma- 
 tured Barred Plymouth Rocks, but with these 
 lodgings they developed rapidly and com- 
 menced laying early, keeping up a remarkable 
 egg yield throughout the entire season. I have 
 another lean-to shed fixed up after the same 
 principles, with only one pen, the pullets in 
 this shed were the best layers on thefarm last 
 winter. 
 
 I have spent over twenty years of my life in 
 connection with practical poultry keeping and 
 different methods and have yet to learn of a 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 37 
 
 better plan to keep hens in a laying- condition 
 
 during- the winter months. 
 
 Apponaug-, R. I. D. J. Lambert. 
 
 The above was taken from the "Farm Jour- 
 nal" published at Philadelphia, Pa., by the 
 Wilmer Atkinson Company, and written by a 
 poultryman who has been in the poultry busi- 
 ness for over twenty years and he finds the 
 poultry house, as described to you by us, as 
 just the thing - . We may differ a little, but in 
 no case does it change the jreneral structure. 
 You may also think a little different, but as a 
 whole you can't beat it. It gives us pleasure 
 to have the endorsement of such a man as D. 
 J. Lambert, Apponaug-, R. I. Our plan is of 
 our own selection, after trvin«- various other 
 plans. 
 
 SETTING THE HENS. 
 
 In setting - the hens you have the same object 
 in view as you do all throug-h, eg-g-s in winter. 
 It is the early hatched pullet you have to rely 
 on for eg-g-s in winter, consequently you must 
 set your hens early 
 
 Don't keep on setting- throug-h the whole 
 year unless you have an object in it. If your 
 object is to keep them throug-h the winter, you 
 w r on't find much pension in a late hatched pul- 
 let, as they won't lay until tow r ards spring-, 
 but will eat just the same. Bear in mind we 
 are fig-uring- on the one flock ol one hundred 
 
38 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 hens. If you should only have fifty and do not 
 wish to enlarg-e, take it at one half; if you have 
 two hundred, double it and so on. The above 
 may sound strang-e to some, but try it on ten 
 by taking- it at one-tenth, and you are all 
 rig-ht. For the averag-e farmer and poultry- 
 man it is what we call a soft snap, written for 
 your especial benefit. It is only necessary for 
 you to raise fifty pullets every year to keep 
 your one hundred winter layers in shape. 
 Each fall fifty of your hens will two years old 
 next spring- and fifty one year old next spring-. 
 The fifty you raise each spring- takesthe place 
 of your coming- two year olds; each fall you 
 sell off your two year olds. There may be 
 some exceptions, say in extra layers or early 
 moulting - . 
 
 Before describing- the manag-ement of the 
 setting- hens, we will say it does not make so 
 very much difference about what kind of stock 
 you have, that is to beg-in on; you can improve 
 them every year by g-etting- new blood, in eg-g-s 
 or males. You can soon have a g*ood flock 
 of any breed that may suit your fancy, but treat 
 them well and any of them will respond to 
 g-ood treatment. Sometimes you may thinkone 
 certain hen an extra g-ood layer; set all her 
 eg-g-s you can g-et. 
 
 We have one hen, "Blackleg's," which isnine 
 years old, "Old Blue" is eig-ht years old; they 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 39 
 
 were the best hens with young - chickens we 
 ever saw. They are very uncertain now as to 
 setting - , they do not commence laying- until near 
 spring - ; they are privileg-ed characters, never 
 having- had any disease, and I g-uess the lice 
 have not hurt them. In the spring- when they 
 commence laying- they make as much noise as 
 any of them. We never fail to set all their 
 eg-g-s that are on time. "Blacklegs" is an in- 
 cubator chicken; as for their breed, they are 
 more Leghorn than anything- else. In their 
 early days we had all colors and kinds, but 
 by keeping the best we now have a pretty gxx>d 
 stock of Leg-horns of our own build. You can 
 do the same with any breed you prefer. We 
 have often heard a great many lay the blame 
 altog-ether on their chickens, because they 
 g-ot "no eg-g-s". It is not their fault at all, al- 
 though some are, we think, better eg-g- pro- 
 ducers than others, any of them will bearg-ood 
 treatment. 
 
 To supply the fifty pullets it is only neces- 
 sarv to set ten hens. This will seem strang-e 
 to a great many, but let me tell you, it is the 
 number of chickens you raise out of a g-iven 
 number, not the number of hens you set. If 
 any one person had the amount of eg-g-s wasted 
 insetting-, they would have a pretty fair in- 
 come. 
 
 To some, the idea of only setting- ten hens in 
 
40 POUlTRY PENSION. 
 
 one year we know appears strange, more so to 
 those who are use to setting them the vear 
 round, when and wherever they come across 
 them. We never set a hen outside of the hen 
 house, notwithstanding- the hen that steals her 
 nest out gets great credit in some places, she 
 has got to make a complete job of it before we 
 come across her, if it were any trouble to get 
 setting- hens in the henhouse, it would be dif- 
 ferent. You know they are taught to lay in 
 the house, and that's where they go to setting. 
 They are taught, also, to lay in the winter, 
 so by spring - there is no scarcity of setting 
 hens, in fact a great many morethan are need- 
 ed, by this plan, provided they are of the set- 
 ting kind. 
 
 We set our ten hens in each house from the 
 fifteenth to the lasi of March, so as to have the 
 chickens all off in April, which isearly enough, 
 and the weather settled, the chicks all grow- 
 ing off finely, will make good winter layers, if 
 fed and cared for as directed. You know they 
 will do better than those hatched in February 
 or March and left to rustle for themselves, the 
 old hen tied to a tree with a string to her leg; 
 that is common. Of all the makeshifts that 
 takes the cake, and some of these very people 
 will tell you that they take good care of their 
 chicks. They may think so, but w r hy they do 
 it is hard to understand. If you have good 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 41 
 
 warm coops with a run for each coop, you can 
 do the fair thing- bv them, but as stated be- 
 fore, you can do a better job by waiting- until 
 the proper time. In the early spring- how often 
 do you hear, Have you g-ot any young- chickens 
 yet? No. Why we have g-ot one hen hatched 
 and eig-ht more setting-. 
 
 How many young- chickens has your hen 
 g-ot? Generally they say five or six. Ask 
 them two months later and you will find you 
 are ahead of them. At the end of the season 
 they may tell you they have set from fifty to 
 eig-hty hens, but the pole cats, rats and etc., 
 were awful bad; that they did not get througm 
 with many. After trying- the ten hen plan, 
 with five g-ood coops and runs you can tell 
 them you only set ten hens, took off one hun- 
 dred and ten chicks (a low estimate some 
 years) and raised one hundred and five. 
 
 Which one, or are you both overdoing- the 
 chicken business, only taking- different routes? 
 It is all rig-ht to be up to date provided you are 
 fixed for it. 
 
 Our plan is comparatively easy, 
 
 much more pleasant and profitable. 
 Your hens, after laying- in fall and win- 
 ter, will be plenty early wanting- to set; some 
 too early, but don't get excited and set some 
 so you can blow around the neig-hborhood that 
 you have hens setting-. The principal time is 
 
42 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 in the wind up, not what you set but what you 
 raise. We have five double boxes to set the 
 ten hens, a common cracker box does very 
 well, with solid partition between each nest, 
 always setting" two hens at the same time; 
 don't fool away the time with setting- one hen 
 at a time; shouldthere be only one hen wanting- 
 to set, let her alone, not in your double box, 
 as it is not in your hen house, they are only 
 used for setting- hens in; when another hen is 
 ready, fix up your double box, making- plenty 
 of nest, sprinkling- some sulphur or insect 
 powder on same, carefully select fifteen egg's 
 for each hen, that is enoug-h. Some put twen- 
 ty and even more, they think the more the bet- 
 ter, everything- on a big- scale, only as to re- 
 sults. 
 
 This double box is perfectly tig-ht all over, 
 having- a door, with leather hing-es, to close up 
 so other hens cannot bother them, nor those 
 pole cats, rats, weasles, etc., that your neigh- 
 bor spoke of, but your hens must have air, so 
 you will bore plenty of holes small enoug-h so 
 a mouse cannot g-et in, all around, front, back 
 and sides; it is also better to sprinkle the 
 nests and hens occasionally with insect pow- 
 der or sulphur up to the third week after set- 
 ting-. 
 
 When your hens have been setting- a day, 
 take some corn in a shallow pan or box, open 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 43 
 
 each double nest and feed them on their nests. 
 It may be neither of them will eat the first time 
 but they will soon come to it. Have a regular 
 time to feed them every day. notice that none 
 of the grain falls in their nests, as it will 
 tempt other hens to scratch in their nests 
 while they are off, it is not often they wish to 
 leave their nests more than every other day. 
 Leave the doors down so they can go out for 
 water, exercise, etc., the water, of course, al- 
 ways being- handy and in the same place at 
 all seasons, they know just whereto go. Most 
 generally some laying hen takes their nest the 
 moment they go off. Notice when the setting 
 hens begin going back; see that they g-et 
 their own nest; they may gx> on another nest. 
 Put the laying- hen out of her nest and lift her 
 on gently. You may not have gotten hold of a 
 jrood hen in the start and she may stay off too 
 long. Walk around her and most generally 
 she will go back. If she does not appear to 
 mean business, bear w r ith her until you g-et 
 another, there are plenty most generally want- 
 ing to set; put the other one up, she will soon 
 
 go to laying- again. 
 
 One of the greatest sources for lice is the 
 
 setting hen. By this plan you do not spend 
 
 much time with the setting hen unless you 
 
 manage as some do. Never break up a hen; 
 
 that won't do, put them in a coop a few days. 
 
44 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 Don't let them hatch lice, there is no money in 
 them. There being- one hundred hens in each 
 tiock and you only set ten out of them, if of 
 that nature or breed, all will want to set dur- 
 ing- the season. We have a special double coop 
 foT breaking- setting- hens, letting- out one side 
 at a time, feeding- and watering- them well, 
 after breaking- them up, or at the lime, is a 
 a g-dod time to disposeof someof your two year 
 old stock, as they will weig-h well. 
 
 It is natural for some to say, too much trou- 
 ble. Well, try the fifty or eig-hty hen plan, 
 set here and yonder all through the season. 
 Notice the ages of your pullets in the fall; see 
 how many of them will lay that fall or winter. 
 Have often read, not feed setting hens on the 
 nest. In ten or twelve years' trial, have not 
 found anv fault with it. After attending to 
 your poultrv by this plan, in every detail, or 
 any other good plan, if you do not make some 
 headway in improvement in different lines you 
 are not as deeply interested as you should be. 
 You could, or may, have a different room for 
 your setting hens; not a bad idea at all, pro- 
 vided you also give them the proper attention. 
 Our principal object is to start you, trying to 
 get you to abandon some of the old time poul- 
 try fixtures, brush piles, fence corners, etc. 
 
 When your hens commence hatching, once a 
 day notice and see that the egg shells do not 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 45 
 
 cover another egg. Take then out of the nest. 
 When nearly through hatching" take one hen 
 off, the one you may select as liable to be the 
 best mother, put he'* with what chickens are 
 dry* in a roomv box, leaving- the other hen to 
 finish the job. When finished put the hen and 
 chickens out in the coops, put your other hen 
 in the setting - coop. She is in good condition, 
 being well fed will soon gx> to laying. Grease 
 • her well under the wing's and body before put- 
 ting her in coop. Also your hen with the 
 chickens, not the chickens at this time, but at 
 any time if you think they are not looking 
 right, standing sleeping, wing's drooped, 
 grease every one lightly on the top of thehead. 
 taking them out of back door in coop; if you 
 have kept your hen house clean, oiled your 
 roosts, you will not have much trouble with 
 lice. 
 
 The best feed we have ever used is the com- 
 mon corn or egg bread, just as you make it 
 for yourself. Before g'oing" any farther in the 
 feed line we will tell you of the coops. 
 
 In all profitable manufacturing establish- 
 ments they have their plant, so with you in the 
 poultry business for manufacturing fresh eggs 
 for market. The hen does a manufacturing 
 business that is beyond comparison unless it 
 be to that piece of machinery that turns out 
 the same product. Other fowls may equal her 
 
46 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 but only to a limited extent, the reproduction, 
 whether of animal or vegetable, is beyond 
 comparison. Man has attempted and accom- 
 plished wonders, but here he stops, and well 
 he may. ' 
 
 Your houses, coops, etc., are the permanent 
 part of your plant, if properly constructed will 
 last a long- time. We make our coops of the 
 old style letter A, or roof fashion; make them 
 two and one-half feet wide and two feet deep, 
 two and one-half feet from eaves to comb. We 
 make the frame or rafters out of 2x2 inch stuff 
 covered with siding- overlapped so as to shed 
 the rain. The bottom, to keep out those pole 
 cats, rats, etc., is made of two 2x4 cross pieces, 
 with most any kind of lumber for bottom, only 
 letting- the lumber extend half way on the 2x4, 
 leaving- room for the coop to set down in so the 
 rain will run off clear of the bottom of coop. 
 The above well painted will last a long- time. 
 We make a sliding- (upanddown) door in each 
 end of coop, the outside or back door being- 
 handy to take your young- chickens out to 
 grease, if necessary, also for inspection of 
 coop. In making- the two ends of coop do not 
 let your lumber g-o clear up, leave a hole you 
 can put your fist in for ventilation, covering- it 
 with wire cloth. In very warm weather bore 
 small holes in front and back doors. In early 
 spring- break the ends ot corn cobs in those 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 47 
 
 holes, punching them open when needed. Put 
 a small piece, 2x1 inch sloping-, in front of each 
 door to keep the dirt in the coop. Put the dirt 
 in the cooo and you are ready for your chick- 
 ens, but don't forget to renew it occasionally. 
 In connection with the above coop, we have 
 two lath coops to feed in. We lake common 
 lath, cut them half in two, nail them to a full 
 length (four feet) lath, one-half inch apart 
 — four of such panels make the coop — to set 
 right in front of your roosting- coop. Make the 
 top out of lath; for a few days feed the old hen 
 and chickens in this coop, drive stakes in the 
 ground and fasten the panels to them with 
 wire Most old hens are soindustrious scratch- 
 ing- that they keep the teed in such shape the 
 little chicks fail to j»*et enough to eat, so we 
 have another coop for them alone. We cut the 
 lath into three pieces, making" and staking- it 
 at the corners, the same way as the other: this 
 one only takes three lengths, as one end of the 
 other coop makes one side of it. This addi- 
 tional coop more than pays for itself in a 
 short time in the saving- of feed, as the old hen 
 can not g-et in there to scratch and waste the 
 feed. Of course you must feed the old hen. 
 When putting- up this additional coop raise the 
 partition between the two so they can run 
 from one coop to the other, but never raise the 
 the small coop on the. outside as outside hen* 
 
48 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 try to reach in under to get the feed. When 
 your little chicKens get strong- and lively, 
 raise the main coop up so they can run 
 in and out and very shortly you will let the old 
 hen out, but of a morning- when the dew is 
 heavy the little ones can run out and in, also 
 in wet weather. On such days and times a 
 great many young- chickens are lost, 
 the old hen dragging them through the dew 
 and rain. Of course you know you have to 
 shut them up in their house every night. 
 
 We feed these little chickens in a trough two 
 and one half feet long, six inches wide, with 
 lath nailed around the edges, with a partition 
 in one end four by six inches. As stated be- 
 fore, feed the corn bread, don't feed soft feed 
 at all. Some of you may go against us, but we 
 are sure many young chicks are killed by 
 feeding soft feed, especially corn meal made up 
 a few minutes before feeding. There is old 
 bread etc., on many farms, soak it, squeeze it 
 as drv as you can, throw it to the main flock 
 and give your chicks some small grain, millet 
 seed, cane seed, cracked corn, wheat or some- 
 thing similar, by putting a little in the coop 
 they will soon get to eating it and you will 
 need have no more bother with your corn bread. 
 The partition in your trough is for bone 
 meal. Keep it there constantly. You are 
 aware this plan is for business as well as 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 49 
 
 pleasure, so you want them laying- by fall. In 
 order to do so you must feed them for this pur- 
 pose. Some time when you are admiring - your 
 chickens and the "soft snap" you have by this 
 plan, drop a little charcoal in (fine gTained) 
 the troug-h, or a little cracklins (also fine) and 
 notice your chickens g-o for it; they are fond of 
 it and it is g-ood for them. We have known 
 people who would never rest until they had a 
 box in the coop for that purpose, and in the 
 fall chuckle to themselves because their pullets 
 commenced laying- so early, not telling- a soul 
 the cause of it. You mav pick up lots of little 
 tricks, but don't be selfish, tell it, it will do no 
 harm, besides there ain't one in ten that will 
 try it, they are afraid they mig-ht overdo the 
 chicken business. 
 
 There are various ways for watering- the 
 little chickens, but by all means use something- 
 that thev cannot g-et into with their feet. A 
 pie pan or saucer is most g-ener ally used — about 
 as poor a vessel as you can use, We use a 
 common half g-allon fruit can. Set it in a saucer 
 open end down, take a case knife, lay it level 
 on top of saucer, mark on the can by rubbing- 
 the knife backward and forward, take a peg - - 
 ging- awl or small nail and make a hole in the 
 can just below, not too low, the mark, "fill the 
 the can with water, lay the saucer on top, give 
 it a quick flop, set it on an inch block in one 
 
50 POULTRY PENSIOX. 
 
 corner of the coop. The water will, flow just 
 as they drink it out, in a short time set it up 
 two inches hig-her, a brick is good to set it on. 
 The drinking - fountain is to remain in thema ; n 
 feeding" coop all the time as the old hen will 
 have to have water. Should she g"et restless 
 at times, running - around in the coop trying" to 
 g-et out and knock the can over, slip a piece of 
 lath throug"h the cracks of your coop, in front 
 of the can or put a loop of wire or string" around 
 it. Keep plenty of water in the cans until 
 your chicks are big- and bold enough to g-o to 
 the larg-er vessels having" the water for the 
 main flock. Recollect you want to raise every 
 one of the whole five flocks, or say about one 
 hundred and ten or twentv chicks, which is no 
 trick, barring" unavoidable accidents. Prom 
 now on pay a little attention to those who take 
 off from two to three hundred chickens in a 
 season and see what they have in the fall. 
 Thev hate to tell. "Oh, I g-uess there is a 
 hundred or hundred and fifty. " 
 
 We don't say all are that way but we do say 
 an overwhelming- majority are. 
 
 You should keep feed in your little chickens' 
 troug-h all the time until they are half grown, 
 then feed them morning - , noon and nig-ht for a 
 short time, then morning- and evening", event- 
 uallv mersrinjjf them into your main flock. The 
 old hen will quit her chickens sooner by this 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 51 
 
 double coop plan than she would otherwise. 
 Some of her chicks may follow her to the hen 
 house to roost; let them gx>, but they will still 
 visit the feeding- coop and run with the others 
 during- the day. When all the chicks are 
 weaned, put several of thesmallcoops tog-ether 
 in front of the larg-e coop nearest the hen 
 house and make that the g-eneral feeding- place, 
 calling- all up tog-ether, old and young-, putting- 
 the feed in the pens for the young, scattering- 
 it to the old, by this means you will soon feed 
 all tog-ether. Do not take the big- coops from 
 any of the roosting - coops, only what small 
 coops you need, as they may still go home to 
 roost, or some of them, nor do not raise the 
 small coops off the ground, but let them go in 
 through the big coop as before. The older 
 ones are not apt to bother the feed in the small 
 coops as they do not know how T to get in. You 
 will have to raise the big coop to suit the size 
 of your young- ones, from time to time; the older 
 ones will learn the trick and go in there. You 
 will have to let them go as there is no use scar- 
 ing them out, by so doing your younger ones 
 will get wild. You ought to take off twenty- 
 five chicks to each two hens, at the least cal- 
 culation, making- one hundred and twenty-five 
 chicks all told. There is a screw loose some- 
 where if you do not raise from ninety to nine- 
 ty-five per cent, as you are prepared to pro- 
 
52 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 tect them from all varmits. or conditions of the 
 weather. The old hen and chicks are partial 
 to their coops and will make for them when a 
 rain comes up. We often round them up when 
 it begins to look squally, by opening- the door 
 and letting- the old hen in, all's well. Don't 
 g-o in a whoop but be gentle, at the same time 
 g-et a move on yourself. The chickensthat are 
 lost by this route will compare favorably with 
 the pole cat route. 
 
 Some of us averag-e farmers take a notion to 
 go to pa's and ma's Saturday evening- and stay 
 until Sunday evening-, sometimes until Monday 
 morning*. Every one the place go,' even to the 
 do«\, more often dog's. Possiblv a near nei»-h- 
 bor may milk the cow and teed the chickens. 
 As for shutting- them up, it won't hurt this 
 time; it sets into raining- some are drowned, 
 the polecat, weasle, rats, etc., do love to ram- 
 ble on a wet nig-ht, they take a turn at the 
 chicks, which almost, if not completely ends 
 the whole business, as they, or some of them, 
 merely suck the blood and kill a great number 
 in one nig-ht. When we return, what? The 
 the chicken business don't near pay, so we 
 "just let them g-o on their own hook." 
 
 We don't say you do that but don't you 
 you know some who do, or have done almost 
 exactly that way? We told you in the start 
 we were g"oing- to gfive it to you from actual ex- 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 53 
 
 perience. The above is positively so, but not 
 personal experience. ,k Once upon a time we 
 ourself, had one hundred and ten as fine chicks 
 as vou would want to see in a brooder of our 
 own make, it had a lid to shut down like a box. 
 near the top there was a small opening - ; we 
 thought it was just the thing- for air. So it 
 was. One night something" came and killed 
 every one of them and as near as I recollect, 
 did not eat the whole of any one. The sig-ht 
 was awful; we thought awful. We soon knew 
 what the air hole was for. We just closed 
 down the lid and left everything - just as we 
 found it. The next nig-ht we put a steel trap 
 down in where what ever it was would g-et it. 
 The next morning- there was the mother pole- 
 cat in the trap, with nine little kittens dancing 
 around in the brooder. They were sure cute 
 little thing-s — not half as cute as my little 
 chicks were. That was twelve years ag-o; when 
 we want air holes we always put wire cloth 
 over them. 
 
 Out of the number of chickens you raise you 
 will have no trouble g-etting- your fifty pullets 
 to renew your flock, the balance being- roosters, 
 disposing- of them as you please. But don't 
 forg-et to g-ive proper credit for them, as you 
 oug-ht to keep a strict account so you will know 
 if you are making - your $8.00 per month pen- 
 sion, clear of all expenses. You are expected 
 
54 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 to charg-e to your flock all thefeed fed to them; 
 vou certainlv will jrive them credit for what 
 you use or sell. Try it one season and see how 
 interesting- it will become; but don't think be- 
 cause you have done so well that you will in- 
 crease your flock to two or five hundred and 
 crow r d them into your one hundred hen house; 
 it is often attempted. Then another one has 
 overdone the chicken business and "-one out. 
 leaving- another place to be filled. 
 
 We will g-ive you a pointer here in reg-ard to 
 proper credit for eg-g-s, Whenever eg-g"s are 
 used in the family we drop a grain of corn in 
 jar or bottle for every eg-g- used. At the end of 
 each month the corn is counted and credited to 
 the month in which thev were used. The ejrirs 
 that are set should be credited in their proper 
 month. It is not so particular what you use. 
 you are the judg*e on that score, but if you are 
 running- on business principle you have no 
 rig-ht to use them and not g"ive credit for them. 
 It is on that principle we are giving" this, on 
 no other whatever, not for fun or pleasure, al- 
 though you derive lots of pleasure if you are' 
 interested. 
 
 How do you expect to tell if your hens are 
 laying- the amount of eg-g-s they oug-ht to if you 
 do not keep close account of them ? You can 
 also tell what comes in every month, otherwise 
 you can not. You are expected to have dis- 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 55 
 
 posed of your fifty coming - three year old hens 
 by or before the pullets are-leaving" their coops 
 going to the hen house to roost, which they 
 will soon do, as the mother hen has often taken 
 them into the scratching pen, consequently 
 this is no new place to them, but should any of 
 them take a notion to a tree or fence to roost 
 when nearly all the rest are on the roosts in 
 the house, gently scare these off the fence or 
 tree for as sure as they become accustomed to 
 roosting" out, it is almost impossible to break 
 them of it. By setting" your coops near the 
 hen house when you first put the old hen and 
 chiCKens out, and by moving' your general 
 feeding" pen, on the wind up, close to house, the 
 most of them will naturally take to the house. 
 
 We have often read, don't set your coops 
 near hen house on account of lice. For a great 
 many that may answer, but by this plan of 
 management, cleansing" your house and oiling 
 your roosts as per directions, you need have no 
 fear on that score, and as stated above, you 
 must put them near the house you wish them 
 to occupy when they are grown. 
 
 At the end of the first season, after practi- 
 cing this plan up to the above time, just call 
 the "old woman", put your arm around her 
 waist, stand in the door of the hen house, see 
 if everything is snug and neat, see if you have 
 fifty coming" twq year old hens and fifty coming 
 
56 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 one year olds, pay close attention and see if 
 they all have not plenty of room on the roost, 
 notice what a mess you would make if you im- 
 agine, next year we will set more hens and 
 raise twice that many. Don't, not in the same 
 house; hew to the line and you are in to stay. 
 You and the "old woman" will be far better 
 off. Of course in due time you may "expand", 
 which is all right in some cases, but expand 
 alongthe line; just multiply two, say two 
 houses, twice the amount of feed, twenty set- 
 ting- hens, ten hens and chickens, two hundred 
 laying - hens, twice the amount of labor, twice 
 the amount of dilig'ence, $16.00 per month pen- 
 sions. The above reads fine, by experience 
 you can accomplish it. Were we personally 
 acquainted with you we might tell you by 
 what figure to multiply the experience. We 
 do not wish to frighten you for we are giving- 
 you an exact plan by which it can be done; 
 but will you do it? 
 
 SETTING SIX HENS. 
 
 In some cases, parties advocate that a three 
 year old hen is in her prime as to laying*. 
 
 By this plan we prefer the one and two year 
 old hen, thoug-h there are good laying three 
 year old hens, those especially thatmoult early 
 in the fall. In many cases we have discarded 
 an inferior pullet, keeping a coming three year 
 old in her place. As you dispose of your stock 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 57 
 
 in mid summer, or coming" fall, all are called 
 coming- so and so, as they are not evened up 
 until spring", the time when all are supposed 
 to be hatched out. We give you the six hen 
 plan, which is all rig-ht for those holding the 
 above opinion, also not wishing too much set- 
 ting hen business. 
 
 In order to fully explain the plan, we will 
 suppose you start in the spring* of 1901 with 
 the following aged hens : 
 
 50, 1 yr olds *} 
 
 > Spring 1901 set 6 hens. 
 50, 2 " " ) 
 
 to replace one-half, or 25, of your two year 
 olds which you dispose of during summer. 
 
 In spring of 1902 you have : 
 25, 1 vr olds ) 
 
 50, 2 " " } 1902 set 6 hens. 
 25, 3 « « ) 
 
 Replace your 25 3-year olds. In spring of 
 1903 you have : 
 25. 1 vr olds ) 
 
 25. 2" '1 > 1903. set 10 hens. 
 50, 3 « » ) 
 
 Replace your 50 3-year olds by setting 10 
 hens. In spring of 1904 you have: 
 50, 1 vr olds } 
 
 25, 2 " " > 1904, set 6 hens. 
 25, 3 " " ) 
 
 You drop back to your six hens. By the 
 above plan you will only set the ten hens every 
 third year. The plan is feasible and will bear 
 
58 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 investigation; the only advantage of the plan 
 is you have fewer setting hens to bother with. 
 The same as with the ten hens, in comparison 
 to the brush pile, fence corner plan, you get 
 all your chicks at the proper season, raising a 
 greater per cent, in fact nearly every one, 
 with no trouble at all compared with the old 
 plan. But to any whodesireto set more hens, 
 there is no one to stop them even from one 
 year's end to the other. Some believe they 
 have to set hens the year through to get eggs 
 the year through; that is a mistake. The early 
 hatched pullet is the queen of layers the year 
 through if fed for the purpose. 
 
 INCUBATORS. 
 
 Of all poultry fixings, the incubator is terri- 
 bly abused by both the manufacturer and the 
 unskilled user. We remember how th,ey used 
 to say the chicken business was gone up the 
 spout, the incubator was going to revolution- 
 ize the whole thing; things were going to be 
 done on a grand scale, by the wholesale; that 
 did the business for the incubator, as it does 
 for every branch of the business today, a sure 
 thing to the amateur. Manufacturers said, 
 raise chickens by the thousand, or rather 
 hatch; a child can run it, etc., etc. 
 
 The amateur jumped at it, loaded it with 
 various brands of eggs collected from various 
 sources, not even having enough hens to sup- 
 
 
POULTRY PENSION, 59 
 
 ply egg's for breakfast, much less for an incu- 
 bator. But they were too deeply interested to 
 let the children try to run it, they were actual- 
 ly out of joint until the time for results rolled 
 around, and then — well, you know the rest. 
 Of course the incubator was to blame. Some 
 put in fair egg-s, had a fair hatch and raised 
 only a few to maturity, after a short while 
 they quit entirely. Others did better and are 
 still using - them. 
 
 We know of various makes of incubators that 
 can be purchased for "name the price and take 
 it". At the start some of them were as g-ood 
 as any on the market, and in proper hands, 
 are all right. Learn to raise chicks with the 
 old hens before tackling - an incubator. The 
 brooder is the thing- that has to be perfect. 
 
 Most incubators do very well when started 
 with good eggs, no better than you ought to 
 put under the hen, and faithful care. Don't 
 risk them with children. The raising" of the 
 chicks is the rub with a new beginner, and we 
 don't know as any one has it down to perfec- 
 tion. 
 
 When you are in the business up to the two 
 hundred notch, an incubator mig-ht come in 
 good play. Should you take a notion to try 
 one, get one of some reliable manufacturer. 
 With your two hundred hen plan it ought not 
 to be a big job to keep up your flock, as you 
 
() Q POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 will only want one hundred pullets each year. 
 You could start your Incubator say the first of 
 March, have everything- in good shape to care 
 for the chicks. Don't feed too much soft feed; 
 you can't beat the feed you used to feed in 
 your one hundred hen business, before you ex- 
 panded. Keep the chicks warm; they hatch in 
 a pretty good month, April, you may be able 
 
 to do well. 
 
 Don't think because you have an incubator 
 you will keep it fired up and going the year 
 round. True, it is idle capital most of the 
 time— in a great many cases had better be. 
 Personally, we have used them, and do not 
 blame the incubator as much as the man, not 
 the child, who is trying to run it. Be your own 
 judge; if you should fail with the incubator 
 your old hen is still on deck ready for business 
 at the old stand and you have a good plan, 
 which, like the incubator, needs a certain 
 amount of attention. Go slow, don't expand 
 too much, there is a limit to everything— you 
 may bust. 
 
 FEED AND CARE OF LAYING HENS. 
 
 We now come to a part of the plan on which 
 a great deal depends, whether you get the full 
 amount of vour pension, more according to 
 your ability, less according to your disability. 
 
 You cannot do any feeding in your house, 
 only in your scratching pen; neither can you 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 61 
 
 put your water in the house because of the 
 dust which the hens raise in scratching - . Your 
 bone meal boxes will also have to be outside on 
 account of the dust. Your house being" twenty- 
 four feet square g"ives you plenty of room on 
 either side, according- to the wind or weather. 
 
 We use two two-gallon crocks for water ves- 
 sels; they are easy kept clean by scalding- them 
 occasionally. A board fence running-out from 
 the house, from either side you prefer, makes 
 a g*ood shelter for your water crocks and bone 
 meal boxes. 
 
 We make the fence ten feet long- and two feet 
 hig-h, haying- rafters across the top, extending 
 two feet on each side of fence, with movable 
 cover or roof, shifting from one side to the 
 other, in case of wind, rain or sun. In freezing 
 weather you, of course, will emptY the crocks 
 at nig-ht, setting- them just inside of house 
 with the bone meal boxes. 
 
 The above is very handy; atter you get 
 straightened out, doing- a "land office" busi- 
 ness, you may see some way to improve on it, 
 as you oug-ht all along - the line. It did not take 
 the "man from the east" long- to catch on. 
 
 In freezing- weather we keep the tea kettle 
 hot all the time, pouring- water into the drink- 
 ing- vessels, no telling" how often during- the 
 day. Good, clean water (warm in winter) is 
 as necessary as any other part of the feed. 
 
62 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 Some say water three times a day; that raav 
 do, we know certain it is better than not at all, 
 as we have heard people say sheep and poul 
 try did not need water. Poultry may be taught 
 to drink three times a day, we won't dispute 
 that, but what would be trained bv it? The 
 three times a day is advocated for a purpose, 
 for what we can't say; if it is to save labor, by 
 our plan it is no go. In winter when we see 
 our hens pecking away at a frozen up vessel, 
 we would sure thaw it out, or else put it out of 
 sight, which you would have to do by the three 
 times a day plan. We notice our hens on the 
 coldest of days come from the scratching - pen 
 at all hours of the day for water, and they al- 
 ways look to us like they could hardly wait 
 until the regular time, if it was far off. The 
 same with the hen when she lays her egg. She 
 comes from her nest cackling, goes straig'ht 
 for the water. If it suited the hen, it would 
 suit us. Ours don't like the plan, but it may 
 be the way they are raised. I know the way 
 thev are raised has a heap to do with their 
 laying, it may be so with watering. So water 
 for results. Let your hens be the judge. After 
 you teach them the trick, you can load up your 
 water tank, setting them to go off at the re- 
 quiredtimes a day, and you are in it up to your 
 neck and if your poultry are not there to drink 
 the water at stated time, you may get 
 
1 
 
 POULTRY PENSION. 63 
 
 drowned. There are lots of yfood fountains 
 now on the market where the hen herself 
 touches the button, that's more like it. Look 
 in your poultry paper or farm paper and see 
 if you don't find lots of "food hints from corre- 
 spondents, etc. In winter when a big - snow 
 falls, we are up before daylight clearing- the 
 snow away from the hen house, more particu- 
 larly where the water crocks and bone meal 
 boxes set. also paths around the hen house and 
 to various other places. Make yourself a 
 snow plow out of lumber, something - in the 
 shape of a big - hoe with the handle on the bot- 
 tom, well braced so it will push easy. 
 
 Some say they never let their hens out in 
 the snow at all. Like the watering - , they may 
 be taug-ht that way; ours g-o to the barn, in fact, 
 wherever we have our paths plowed out. As 
 we don't like to wade around in the snow we 
 soon have all around the place looking - like a 
 switch yard of a railroad, someof the branches 
 running - out to a grass patch. 
 
 When it is extremely cold they don't go very 
 far, some hardlv coming* out atall, not because 
 they are shut up. The coldest days of last 
 winter (1888 and 1889) they laid equally as 
 well as before and kept at it, increasing - all 
 along towards spring - . 
 
 From the start we have faithfully tried t 
 avoid almost anv figures at all, for the reason 
 
64 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 that we did not want to mislead any one. 
 Should we have attempted it we could surely 
 have given figures as straight as a string, of 
 results from this plan of management, which 
 are hard to beat. Not for one, but sever a- 
 years" faithful practice, showing an increase, 
 every year, of eggs to the individual hen, or in 
 other words, the average to each hen, knowing 
 that if you try the plan faithfully you will do 
 the same and you are just as apt to try it with- 
 out the figures as with them. 
 
 We will say the increase in eggs, commence 
 in the fall in November, increasing each month, 
 more in December, January, February, March 
 and April, with May a good second, gradually 
 decreasing until September; September and 
 October being the least months of the year, al- 
 though with plenty of eggs in the above two 
 months to more than pay running expenses . 
 The above is just as good as figures and as 
 true as steel. Brother, we have no desire 
 whatever to deceive you and do not know of 
 anything that would give us more pleasure 
 than to see or hear of you doing equally as 
 well, it is easy enough. 
 
 The laying is done by the early hatched 
 
 chickens we told you of and how to get them. 
 
 We also told you it was of no use to keep up 
 
 the whole year unless you had another object. 
 
 The boxes for your bone meal are not partic 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 65 
 
 ular as to shape. We g-et tobacco caddies, if 
 toohig-h we cut them down to aboutfour inches, 
 nail lath flat down on top, letting- project over 
 on inside of box; that keeps the hens from flip- 
 ping- the bone meal out with their bills; then 
 nail lath across each way in center of the box, 
 to keep the hens from scratching- with their 
 feet. Should you prefer, you can make a 
 troug-h, nailing- lath on the'edges and across 
 the top. Whatever you use, scrape the meal 
 from out of the corners occasionally, keep it 
 supplied the year round with bone meal; it 
 will take more in fall and winter, as that is 
 the time they are g-etting- ready, also laying-. 
 You will notice your laying- hens visit it pretty 
 reg-ularly,|also hens when moulting- find use for 
 it. When you quit putting- it in your chicks' feed 
 coops, watch them hunt it up. 
 
 We will tell you our way of obtaining- the 
 bone meal. We buy the bone meal that is sold 
 for fertilizer, as raw, pure bone meal, coarse 
 ground. It is easy to g-et most everywhere, 
 and we have yet found no fault with it. In an- 
 other place we will tell you of other kinds and 
 sources of obtaining- bone meal; having- never 
 used them we cannot put them as belonging- to 
 our plan, but you might find them to your idea. 
 We have no doubt they are just as good, no 
 better, nor as cheap. In buying the bone meal 
 get the pure bone, not a mixture of bone and 
 
66 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 some other stuff for fertilizer. It is no trouble 
 to get if you call for it. Buy it by the quan- 
 tity, or at least by the one hundred pounds, if 
 you have to have it shipped to you, as the rate 
 is^the same on a less amount. You will need 
 for each flock of one hundred hens, about four 
 hundred and fifty pounds a year; make it say, 
 five hundred. It may be you can get your 
 neighbors interested in the business, go to- 
 gether and buy it by the ton, delivered. Make 
 no secret at all of the way you manage to get 
 so many eggs, especially in winter, for when 
 you try this plan according- to directions you 
 are sure to get the eggs, and if your neighbors 
 are like a great many neighbors they are sure 
 to want to know, as they think you have a se- 
 cret. It does seem it is a secret to some. It is 
 nothing new at all, although vve have given it 
 to you in a bunch and in a shape so it is easily 
 understood or practiced. 
 
 There is one more box to provide, or if you 
 prefer, can make a trough, for winter use, es- 
 pecially when the ground is covered with 
 snow; it is for grit and charcoal, neither one 
 being hard to furnish. If you have ever paid 
 much attention to chickens, you have often no- 
 ticed them hunting the ash pile for charcoal. 
 They are very fond of it so we furnish it to 
 them when they cannot get it themselves. It 
 is very little trouble to lay up a quantity for 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 67 
 
 them. You can easily make a sieve to sift the 
 ashes in; say a box, with neither top nor bot- 
 tom, with common wire screen tacked on one 
 side. The ashes after sieving-, make good fer- 
 tilizer for either putting- in the hill or broad- 
 casting-. It won't take very long- to sieve 
 enough charcoal to last a long- time. For grit 
 you can save all the broken crockeryware, 
 grinding- the same in a mill made for the pur- 
 pose, answering- also to grind your charcoal; 
 or in case of necessity you can pound it up, 
 which is slow, for the old crockery, but if you 
 are up to business it won't be long- before you 
 can afford to buy a mill. There is grit al- 
 ready prepared, on the market now for sale, 
 but it looks like theaverag-e farmer or poultry- 
 man could furnish plenty of grit for his poul- 
 try, sharp gravel, etc., as it is only needed 
 when there is snow on thegroundashort while 
 at a time. They are both needed for your win- 
 ter layers, otherwise we would not have said 
 a word about them. You can have a partition 
 in your box for both the charcoal and grit. 
 
 These little tricks are of more consequence 
 than a great many are aware of. Your poul- 
 try pension, or the amount, is g-overned to a 
 great extent by just such little things, that ijti 
 reality cost comparatively nothing. 
 
 In regard to the feeding of the flock, as 
 stated before, we are up early, in fact a great 
 
(,g POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 part of the time, in winter particularly, before 
 the chickens are off the roosts, getting- their 
 bone meal boxes, water crocks, etc., in shape. 
 On most farms, the chickens, when fed at all, 
 are the last thing- to be attended to. That is 
 a losing- g-ame; just as soon they come from 
 their roosts they should be fed, by this plan 
 they come off pretty early, going directly into 
 the scratching- pen. We have long 1 since come 
 to the conclusion that one certain person should 
 attend to the feeding", watering, etc., having a 
 regular time and system. 
 
 Have you not often heard some member of 
 the family, way up in the clay, maybe near 
 night, say. Has anybody fed the chickens? 
 Do you call that business? When it is one 
 person's duty it is more apt to be attended to, 
 sure to if they are taking any interest. Chil- 
 dren, when old enough, are all right, one at a 
 time, attending to chickens; but don't drive 
 them, give them an interest, it will stimulate 
 them not only for the present, but will give 
 them good ideas. 
 
 You are aware hens generally commence 
 laying in the spring, even the brush pile, 
 fence corner stock, simply because nature pro- 
 vides them with the certain foods necessary 
 for the egg. one of which is bugs, worms, in- 
 sects, etc. In order to obtain eggs in winter, 
 you may provide similar food. The best sub- 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 69 
 
 stitute for bujrs, insects, etc., is animal food of 
 some description. We could give you page 
 after page describing certain different things 
 that an egg contains, what a certain grain 
 contains toward making an egg and so on. 
 We don't propose to take your time to read 
 such, besides it does not interest very many. 
 We plainly tell you that how to get the egg it- 
 self, which we believe is of far more import- 
 ance to an average farmer and poultryman. 
 
 Animal foool being what you want to supply 
 in the place of insects, we propose telling' you 
 what we have used, we will also tell you other 
 substances, all being easy to get. On most 
 farms there is generally enough cracklins to 
 supply a big portion of the animal food. In 
 case you run short you may be able to g-et them 
 at your nearest butcher shop. Should many 
 in your neighborhood try this plan, cracklins 
 at the butcher shops become scarce. In an- 
 other place we tell you how to obtain some- 
 thing else. The cracklins are cheap but they 
 are sure hard to cut, as they must be cut pret- 
 ty fine. The butcher shop cracklins are easier 
 to cut on account of being pressed so much 
 harder. It takes a heavy tool to cut them, we 
 use an ax for the purpose. 
 
 Some tear the cakes up and throw them out 
 in that shape; no use going to the expense of 
 buying cracklins to feed in that way, chips. 
 
70 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 old boots, or shoes are just as good, as the 
 
 hens can come as near eating- one as the other. 
 
 There are bone mills on the market that cut 
 
 them, they have knives that shave them, so it 
 
 said. We have never tried them, but may do 
 
 so, as the ax cutting is a hard job. 
 
 We commence feedingthecracklins, or what- 
 
 ever food you use, in the early fall, when bug's, 
 grasshoppers, etc., begin to g-et scarce; better 
 a little too early than too late, as you want to 
 start your hens into the winter laying-. To 
 do this you must commence in time, time is 
 money in this case. You need not expect full 
 returns unless you do this. When you refer to 
 the feed tables g-iven in the following - pag-es, 
 do your own figuring - , you will find it a money 
 making- investment. Some have come to us in 
 dead of winter wanting- to know what we do to 
 get so manv eg-gs, then when we tell them thev 
 pull out for cracklins and bone meal, expect- 
 ing* to g-et a full flow of eg-g-s. So bear in mind 
 you must commence early, attend to the details 
 in full, if you expect complete success; if you 
 
 take the treatment, take a full dose. 
 
 The first of August is earlv enoug-h to com- 
 
 mence feeding- the animal food in small quan- 
 tities (see table). When you commence feed- 
 ing- the animal feed (Aug-. 1), mix it with your 
 bone meal until the nights beg-in getting- cold, 
 but continue the bone meal. 
 
 For feeding the cracklins, in cold weather, 
 
POULTRY PENSION, 71 
 
 we feed it in steamed grain. We put wheat, 
 corn or oats in a pot, pour boiling- water over 
 and let it steam on the stove; when ready to 
 feed, pour it out in a large vessel, dish pan is 
 good enough (this is expected to be only 
 steamed grain, not a lot of water in it, if so 
 drain it off), mix your cracklins and a little 
 bran to take up the moisture. By letting- it 
 set a while the cracklins become soft. This 
 you feed every other morning- in cold weather. 
 From the tables you will see the amounts to 
 feed, we merely tell you how to feed at this 
 time, the tables belong entirely to themselves. 
 You must be your judge in a great many 
 cases, say in regard to feeding- the steamed 
 grain, which we feed whenever the weather is 
 cool, that is in fall; if you become interested 
 yotl will do the same, wh'le others may not 
 take such interest and feed altogether by the 
 tables, principally dry. The steamed grain 
 is only for a change and you know that is a 
 benefit, even of the same grain, although we 
 change from one grain to another, but no mush 
 anywhere in it. 
 
 We have a reg-ular feeding- place all the 
 time. We take the steamed grain, drop a 
 handful in a pile briskly. Sbould the ground 
 be wet and muddy, we omit the steamed grain, 
 feeding- the animal food mixed with the bone 
 meal, making- the grain lood dry, of whatever 
 
72 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 grain we take a notion to. According- to the 
 table, most generally wheat, that is of a morn- 
 ing', and in the scratching- pen, also on bad 
 days when the hens cannot get out and rustle, 
 we scatter small grain of almost anv kind, at 
 noon in the scratching - pen, In the even- 
 ing- just before going to roost, we feed them 
 corn straig-ht from the hand on the ground. It 
 is very seldom but what corn can be fed broad- 
 cast, often all throug-h the year in muddy, 
 rainy weather. We feed it in the place of 
 wheat for the evening- feed, as spoken of in 
 table for summer feeding- of wheat. Some 
 farmers think wheat expensive feed for chick- 
 ens, such is not the case. Wheat is an expen- 
 sive crop. To feed it to chickens according- to 
 this plan, you will realize more for your wheat 
 
 than in any other way. The grain fed to your 
 chickens is supposed to be good, sound wheat, 
 not the rotten, mouldy refuse that anything- 
 else won't eat. Feed according to tables and 
 see that they get good weight of some good, 
 sound grain. You need not weigh every feed, 
 have a measure of some kind, box, bucket or 
 such, after testing the grain, you can feed it 
 by measure. Some grain will not weigh out. 
 Whenever you change grain, change your 
 quantity by measure to correspond with your 
 weight per bushel. Take oats, for instance, 
 some seasons a bushel will over run the 32 
 pounds, more often they fall short. Some years 
 oats are not fit to feed your poultry at all. In 
 that case change to wheat. You can starve a 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 73 
 
 hen awful easy on such kinds of grain. When 
 your eggs begin falling off, slip out and weigh 
 your grain, you will soon see where the trouble 
 is. 
 
 Often you. read in the papers, correspond- 
 ence from the women how they are doing with 
 poultry. Frequently they say, the old man 
 don't believe in chickens, they eat too much, 
 waste too much, etc. Such "old men" are a 
 tough proposition. We have known such "old 
 men ', one in particular; he raised a big rack- 
 et in the family on account ol the chickens. It 
 went so far the lady quit trying to raise any 
 chickens, not even setting a hen. Pretty soon 
 the "old man" began to notice the children 
 were not shoed and clothed as before, the table 
 lacked in several things. Don't you think 
 they began raisingchickens again, what would 
 you have done? Now honestly, don't you 
 know several such old men, only they did not 
 go far enough to choke off the supply of extras 
 the chickens afforded without taking- money 
 directly out of his pocket. 
 
 Now in regard to the waste and destruction, 
 it is the fault of the "old man", if he had his 
 grain cribbed so the fowls could not get to it, 
 they w r ould not soil it. If you will give them 
 time they will eat it all and not waste a grain, 
 but feed them as they should be, they are all 
 right and more profitable. Some, of course, 
 
74 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 claim they g-et all they want at crib, pig- pen, 
 etc. On very cold days, ground covered with 
 snow, they sit on the roost and if by chance 
 some one thinks of them they may throw them 
 some corn in the snow; but w T hen spring - comes 
 and nature provides for these poor, neglected 
 fowls, all are ready and eag-er to get the eg-gs 
 and market them, but no one hardlv thinks of 
 them at other times. Not on all farms -is the 
 above the case, but it is positively so on some. 
 
 On one farm, we knew of two yOung- ladies 
 who took week about — not feeding- the hens — 
 g-athering- the egg-s to sell for their own es- 
 pecial benefit, the hens took careof themselves. 
 Either one of the above ladies could take a 
 flock, manag-e them properly, pay the "old 
 man" for his grain and make from $8.00 to 
 $16.00 per month. More according to their 
 ability, less according- to their disability. 
 Have no fear of the hens, they will discount 
 you. 
 
 Let us talk to the "ofd man" a while. As 
 we told you in the start, he is a hard proposi- 
 tion. He says they don't pay for their feed. 
 We want to tell him he has no other stock on 
 his place that will come anywhere near pay- 
 ing- like the hen. The trouble with such "old 
 men" they expect one hen to equal one cow. 
 Now, "old man", just try it and find out for 
 yourself. Put the same amount of money into 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 75 
 
 poultry that you have in one of your cows, 
 counting - everything-; you will soon find out 
 what a big- difference there is, and in favor of 
 your poultry. The old man would rather sack 
 up and haul thirty bushels of wheat to the 
 mill or market at sixty cents per bushel, the 
 miller making it into flour, when he could have 
 let the hens grind it, and get adollar a bushel 
 for it. taking the egg's, a finished product, to 
 town with less trouble than he could the orig- 
 inal thirty bushels. Say, old man, you are 
 standing in vour own light. 
 
 On a great many farms, not only the old 
 man, but others think any kind of grain or 
 waste is good enough for chickens. That is a 
 big mistake. They also think they only need 
 feeding during the winter and even then onlv 
 in stormy, bad weather, another mistake. 
 While it is true there is no other stock on the 
 farm that will come as near taking- care of 
 themselves and still give returns, we yet say 
 she will give more clear profit, above feed and 
 care, than any other stock kept by the average 
 farmer. 
 
 It is not profitable to feed and care for any 
 stock unless you get full returns. The hen, 
 without care will not lay near the amount of 
 egg-s she would if proper attention was given, 
 in which case you will make a good profit. 
 
 In order to g-et full returns you should feed 
 
76 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 regularly the whole year through. Do you 
 know that some of you really feed more than is 
 really necessary ? That may sound strange 
 to some, but it is so. We mean the storm v, 
 cold day feeders. What can you expect of 
 your hens when you do not try to get them 
 ready to lay when eggs are high? Consequent- 
 ly you must keep them in good shape all the 
 time. 
 
 The following" tables are given for hens who 
 are supposed to have good shelter, a place to 
 work in scratching pen. The tables were not 
 intended for hens that have no house or any- 
 thing else, although it is more feed than prob- 
 ably most of them get, generally. 
 
 Take the amount named in the tables and 
 vou will find out it is not a large amount of 
 grain, etc., for one hundred hens, but a little 
 every dav in the year, with some idea of busi- 
 ness. 
 
 DECEMBER 1, TO APRIL 1. 
 
 A. M., 6 pounds of wheat (or oats). 
 
 P. M., 6 pounds corn. 
 
 4 pounds cracklins (every other day). 
 
 2 pounds bone meal (every day). 
 
 With this four months feeding you can feed 
 any apple, potatoes and other vegetable peel- 
 ing's, etc., of a morning in your steamed grain, 
 also with this four months, or any time during 
 the year, give any surplus milk you may have. 
 Feed the steamed grain whenever you can, that 
 
POULTRY PENSION. / / 
 
 is, every other day. After a while you may 
 be able to fix up like "the man from the east.' 
 You can feed it under shelter whenever you 
 wish. Nice days do not put too much feed in 
 your scratching- pen at noon. On most farms 
 there is generally plenty of grass range. We 
 have found it of gTeat benefit to sow a piece of 
 wheat, sown a little earlier than for the gen- 
 eral crop, it makes fine picking to go with this 
 four months of winter feeding. 
 
 With this four months you will pay close at" 
 tention to your charcoal, grit and bone meal 
 boxes, particularly in bad weather. There is 
 nothing very hard about this four months, al- 
 though it requires a little closer attention, 
 which will repay you well, as you should get 
 lots of eggs, at a season when they are high, 
 to pay you big" for your time and trouble. As 
 for the time, it will take probably an hour all 
 told. 
 
 Keep a garden rake in your scratching pen 
 to loosen up the straw, leaves or whatever you 
 have in your scratching pen. After your flock 
 has gone on the roost is a good time, it will 
 then be readv for the morning- grain. Your 
 hens generally come off the roosts pretty early, 
 a great deal earlier than they would if they 
 were roosting out of doors on fence or trees, as 
 they will not have to fly down in the snow, and 
 your glass or canvas makes it light and com- 
 
78 poultry pp:nsion. 
 
 fortable. Say, brother, you have got a snug- 
 little business "under your own vine and fig- 
 tree. " 
 
 Give plenty ol water and warm it whenever 
 needed. 
 
 Of all the seasons, this is the time to get 
 
 there, the other seasons, or tables for feeding-. 
 
 are all making ready for this one, getting- 
 
 them in shape, ready for business w T hen your 
 
 neighbor's hens are idle, provided they have 
 
 not been attended to on the same plan or one 
 
 similar. , Tell them the secret, it won't hurt 
 your business one iota. 
 
 The above feed is all you will need for the 
 four months named, but we will state again, 
 you will substitute oats for wheat occasionally 
 in your steamed feed, which does not increase 
 your feed bill. The oats aregood for a change, 
 provided they are sound and of full weight. 
 If not, don't fool with them, for we want 
 to fully impress it on your mind, poor oats are 
 next to nothing as food for poultry. 
 
 Recollect, you ought to charge your poultry 
 for everything you feed, market prices. ' It is 
 no more than fair that you should deliver it, 
 not by the w r agon load, but as they need it, the 
 same as you would do for the merchant. Fill 
 your little grainery with so much grain, of any 
 kinds needed, keep account of number of bush- 
 els put in; when fed out you know just what it 
 takes. While you are doing all this charging, 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 7 l > 
 
 don't forget to give your poultry proper credit 
 for everything", then you will know what vou 
 are doing. You may talk as you please, that 
 is the only correct way of doing- it. 
 
 APRIL 1, TO AUGUST 1. 
 
 A. M., 3 pounds wheat. 
 
 P. M., 4 pounds wheat (or corn). 
 
 1 pound bone meal. 
 
 In most of cases, those who feed the four 
 months previous, during- cold spells, fail to feed 
 any more until cold weather comes again. 
 That won't near pay, that is if you are in the 
 business for profit, nor do vve know of any 
 other case where it is the rig-ht thinjr to do. 
 This four months' feed is less expensive, but 
 just as essential. It is about the only time 
 during the year in which they can get animal 
 food, bugs, etc., consequently, it is not neces- 
 sary to feed your substitute, but put out the 
 bone meal. There are times when you will 
 feed corn in place of the wheat mentioned 
 above, when the ground is muddy or sloppy, it 
 is much handier for your fowls to pick up, you 
 can feed it on the short grassaround your house 
 for evening feed. The morning meal you can 
 throw in your scratching pen, as your hens 
 never give it up during the whole year, and 
 will spend about as much time in there as any 
 where else. Same with the hens with chickens. 
 The chickens, when about full grown, run in 
 
80 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 there out of rain the same as the older ones. 
 Pay attention to the little details, neglect in 
 small matters sometimes makes great loss, a 
 missing- link in any chain weakens the whole 
 chain; so with this plan, one part depends on 
 the other for success and the size of your 
 monthly poultry pension. You will g-et plenty 
 of eg-g-s the year round to more than pay your 
 expenses, even if you had to buy your grain, 
 etc., from day to day. 
 
 Some few years ag-o there was a great cry 
 about corn being- too fattening-; such is not the 
 case, when fed properly. We often use it for 
 evening- feed; if fed according- to the tables it 
 is all rig-ht the year around, if short on wheat. 
 
 AUGUST 1, TO DECEMBER 1, 
 
 A. M., 4 pounds of wheat. 
 
 P. M., 5 pounds corn (wheat occasionally.) 
 
 1 pound bone meal (Nov. and Dec. \)A lbs.) 
 
 2 pounds cracklins. 
 
 This four months is sure a business period. 
 You will have to keep the machines supplied 
 with the rig-ht kind of fuelasevery pulley (pul- 
 let) must be started at this time. 
 
 This period's feeding- almost settles the 
 question in reg*ard to the winter laying- of your 
 stock. If attended to properly will greatly aid 
 your hens when moulting- or shedding-, which 
 is quite an item. Some people (town lot poul- 
 trymen) say moulting- and laying- hens should 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 81 
 
 be fed differently. Not by this plan, where 
 they have plenty of range, for you know we 
 are out in the open. 
 
 The latter part of the summer, especially if 
 dry and hot, does not furnish sufficient animal 
 food, bug-s, etc.. so we commence on our crack- 
 lins, or substitute. You must g-et your hens 
 started to laying - , or under the spell, before 
 winter sets in; if you do not, it is a hard matter 
 to g-et them started in mid- winter, whatever 
 the feed, they may lay a little earlier in the 
 spring-. For that reason, we say commence 
 in time. This four months' feed cuts quite a 
 fig-tire and if you wish to keep a sure secret in 
 regard to winter laving-, never mention how 
 you feed this period; if you do you have let a 
 bird go. Say, don't be foolish, you have noth- 
 ing- to g-ain by such secrets. It is really true 
 some try to keep such things a secret, when if 
 they would stop and think they must know 
 they are not a drop in the bucket when it comes 
 to keeping- the markets supplied with eg-g-s. It 
 is all rig-ht to know such so called secrets and 
 practice them, that is the one who is at the 
 top, but how many will do it if you tell every 
 one yon see ? 
 
 On most farms the above season is when 
 most of grains are ripe and are being - , or are, 
 harvested. When the grain is near the fowls 
 they may help harvest some of the grain; don't 
 
82 - POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 give up feeding-, call them up at night and give 
 them some grain different from the grain they 
 have been harvesting-. Here comes the same 
 "old man" bellowing- and shooing- them oft his 
 shocks of grain, but leaves them still stand in 
 the field to tempt them, and it might be long- 
 enoug-h for the wet weather to set in and spoil 
 them. It is of no benefit to the chickens; under 
 our plan it our purpose to give them all the 
 grain they need, but should they have access 
 to such grain, feed them only at nig-ht as long- 
 as they g-etthe grain outside, but don't make 
 a habit of it. 
 
 In feeding- the crackling, or substitute, this 
 four months it is not necessary to steam, al- 
 though it will do no harm, and the steamed 
 grain, in October and November especially is 
 a good inducement to start them laying- and 
 also a g-ood chang-e in the matter of feeding-; 
 but if you wish to take the shortest route, 
 take the sieve for sifting- ashes and sieve the 
 cracklins, putting- the fine with the bone meal, 
 saving- the coarsest to feed with the steamed 
 grain. You can mix the cracklins and bone 
 meal in the bulk, two pounds of cracklins to 
 two pounds bone meal, putting- it out in the 
 boxes used for bone meal. The above mixture 
 is a g-ood eg-g- producing- mixture; if it were not 
 for feeding- the steamed grain in late fall we 
 would feed it as described. 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 83 
 
 We have given the above tables for the aver- 
 age farmer or poultry man, not for the one who 
 has his poultry in little pens; but with the 
 scratching- pen the big - range is not as essen- 
 tial as it would be without it, but on an aver- 
 age farm there is no lack of range. 
 
 You should get — well, now, how many eg-g\s 
 do you say you should get? Of course you 
 have no idea. It all depends on the manage- 
 ment, not alone in the feed and shelter, but in 
 getting the early hatched pullet we told of at 
 first. You may not have the flock 'to suit you, 
 but come at it by degrees. When you get 
 down to business, be sure and have the early 
 hatched pullet. 
 
 The way the average farmer, the majority, 
 manage, they get from seven to nine dozen eggs 
 from each hen in the course of a year, more 
 often seven dozen. You have probably often 
 heard of your neighbor having hens that lay 
 every day. That might be so for a few days, 
 
 but not long at a stretch. 
 
 One man told us of a Hamburgh hen that 
 layed every day for a year. The Hamburghs 
 % are good layers and a good breed for this plan, 
 but no Hamburgh, nor any other hen, ever was 
 guilty of such a trick. Any of them that put 
 in one half of the time in a year are good ones, 
 and there are some that have beat it, but only 
 under good conditions and where there were 
 
84 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 but a few hens in the bunch, not by the one 
 hundred hen plan. But come to think of it, we 
 read, not long - ago, of a poultry man who got an 
 average of one hundred and ninety-six eggs 
 from each hen in a flock of six hundred White 
 Leghorns. Now that is very seldom heard of, 
 much less accomplished. We have no reason 
 for disputing it as the Leghorns are noted lay- 
 ers and such is not improbable, which beats 
 the half time we spoke of. Counting 365 days 
 to the year, the whole six hundred went 14 
 day soverthehalf time. Say. thatis business and 
 if you ever reach that number you are a good 
 one. Note difference between the seven dozen 
 we generally get, us average farmers, and the 
 sixteen and one-third dozen he gets from each 
 of his six hundred hens, but don't let that 
 worry you, you don't need that many to keep 
 your pension up to $8.00 per month. But you 
 ought to get eleven dozen from each of your 
 100 hens; that will pay the pension and leave 
 some, but should you keep along with the 
 crowd, managing by the brush pile, fence cor- 
 ner plan, you may get seven dozen, often not 
 that. Do your own figuring and see if this * 
 way of managing" won't pay. 
 
 BREED OF FOWLS. 
 
 As regards the different breeds, we would 
 say, if you are just starting in the business, 
 start with the best you can get. Of course for 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 85 
 
 fresh ej»i>s for market, vou want to <ret egrsf 
 producers, such as LegHofns, Hamburghs, 
 
 Spanish, etc. If you already have chickens, 
 build up and improve by introducing new blood. 
 
 For our own use we prefer the Leghorns, 
 but all are not alike as to choice of breeds. 
 You may now have hens that you think are 
 good layers, if so, stick to them, improve until 
 you get the average laying- hen up to a good 
 notch. Some may wish to breed for fancy 
 stock. But with this plan it is for business, 
 not much fancy work about it. 
 
 We first imported the Leghorns, but they 
 were not hardy, appeared tender, although our 
 stock at present is nearly full blood Leghorn 
 of "our own make," built from the ground up. 
 from common stock, bv getting- a setting of 
 eggs occasionally, or roosters if you prefer, 
 you will soon have a flock to suit. 
 
 Get roosters or eggs from some reliable 
 breeder, picking the best eggs for setting, 
 whenever you come across the hen that lays 
 every day, set all her eggs you can get. If 
 you wish, you can have asmall flock for breed- 
 ing from, of course keeping them separate 
 from the main flock. In that case you need no 
 roosters w r ith the laying hens, they lay just as 
 well, some say better. At present writing we 
 have not got a rooster on the place and are get- 
 ting lots of eggs. 
 
86 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 Should you keep a breeding- pen you will not 
 have to keep them shut up long", as you are not 
 long- in g-etting" what egg's you wish to set, as 
 by this plan it don't take many. After ob- 
 taining - the amount of eg"gs you wish, you can 
 let the breeding- flock out with the main flock, 
 or even when you are g'etting eg-gs to set, you 
 can let the hens and rooster out late of an 
 evening-, as they will all g*o back to their own 
 house to roost. You can shut them up for the 
 next day's laying-. This g-ives them exercise. 
 
 The breeding - pen will appear expensive and 
 useless to some of the brush pile, fence corner 
 poultrymen. Keep the right kind of stock, 
 bred to lay, and you sell enough settings of 
 eggs to pay expense of same. 
 
 We do not aim to sugg-est any particular 
 chang-e in our present plan of manag-ement, 
 but merely state, once in a while, another way 
 of accomplishing the same thing, our plan in 
 the main being correct. You are expected to 
 make any change to suit your convenience* 
 improving wherever the same may appear. 
 
 As we have mentioned more than once, we 
 have found, in our locality, no inducement to 
 set any more hens than it takes to keep our 
 laying stock up to the proper number, not find- 
 ing it profitable to raise chickens especially 
 for the market. You may think differently; 
 your locality may offer better inducements to 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 87 
 
 raise chickens tor the market. With the plan 
 as given, you ought to have every year fifty 
 hens to dispose of and say one-half of your 
 early hatched chickens, which will be roosters, 
 another fifty, making 100 head or 8 dozen. 
 Do you sell that number by your present plan 
 of managing"? 
 
 The market, of course, is your dictator. It 
 never fails to call for fresh eggs, if it calls for 
 poultry. You must be your own judge whether 
 you will supply your part or not. 
 
 All along- w r e trv to tell vou how to g*et full 
 returns; we will tell you of another source of 
 income. 
 
 A few years ago, the big packing' houses 
 were throwing away a vast amount of refuse. 
 What do they throw away now days? Well, 
 just say nothing whatever and you have told 
 it in full. With the average farmer it should 
 be the same in every branch of his business 
 With his poultry managed by this or some 
 other good plan, he has a field for profit. 
 Take the manure taken out of the hen house 
 each week, and the refuse from the scratching 
 pen occasionally, its value is far greater than 
 many who have never tried it are aware of. 
 There is still another source which makes a 
 fertilizer equal to the best on the market. We 
 often notice our hens are very destructive to 
 young birds, toads, etc. Just let a youngbird 
 
88 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 get out of its nest, they willgo for it immediate- 
 ly. We did not like that part of the game and 
 could see no reason for their being* such canni- 
 bals. We at last came to the conclusion thai 
 it had been taught to them the same as some 
 hens are taught to eat eggs bv throwing" the 
 eg-g shells out to them; when cleaning chickens 
 for our own use we threw the entrails to the 
 other chickens. We have no doubt but right 
 there we were teaching them the habit of eat- 
 ing- birds, or anything that satisfied the appe- 
 tite in that line. We thought at once of bury- 
 ing- the entrails, feathers, feet and head. On 
 second thought we recognized in the above a 
 very valuable fertilizer, provided it was manu- 
 factured so it could be properly handled. You 
 know that is hard to beat, and on every farm 
 there are the materials at hand for manufac- 
 turing the same. Most all of vou know how to 
 make the old time ash hopper. Well, make one, 
 or get an old barrel, box or such, sieve your 
 ashes to get the charcoal out to store away for 
 the chickens in winter — say, they eat char- 
 coal the year around — put a layer of ashes in, 
 and when cleaning the chickens, or when 
 through, pour the wholemixture, entrails, etc., 
 and bloody water, onto the layer of ashes, 
 scattering it, then cover with another layer of 
 ashes, and you have your manufacturing plant 
 going. There may be other refuse to put in, 
 
POULTRY PENSION. * 89 
 
 the more the better. Keep it moist enough for 
 the ashes to work, not too wet, as you do not 
 aim to make a liquid fertilizer, but a compost. 
 Should it run, put something- under it to catch 
 the liquor, pouring- ii back on the mass. 
 Should it become too dry, moisten it up; 
 chamber lye is fine for the purpose. Work it 
 over occasionally; after setting-, say a week, 
 take a spade or shovel, mixing- it well, after 
 while you have a sure enoug-h hig-h gTade fer- 
 tilizer. You must use it with judg-ment, put it 
 in the hill for corn, etc. Five acres fertilized 
 will equal, or beat ten acres not fertilized, and 
 you have it of your own make, as is the same 
 with the other manure. Fort}' acres of land 
 devoted to poultry, using- the manure as above 
 described, for raising- their and your own food, 
 will beat oceans of eigvhtv acre farms as now 
 run. Some people think land not fit for any- 
 thing- else is just the thing- for poultry. You 
 averag-e farmers know better, but you can im- 
 prove any of it with poultry, that is if you use 
 all the manure they furnish. Every hen on 
 on the place will produce enoug-h fertilizer, 
 and of the best, every year, to more than raise 
 what she eats. 
 
 For curiosity, my brother, let us talk with 
 you on that score a little. It has been counted 
 for years that each hen will consume in one 
 year, one bushel of corn, or its equivalent. 
 
90 , POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 That may be all right for one hen, but suppose 
 you had two one hundred hen flocks, or two 
 hundred hens; it makes no particular differ- 
 ence as to the price of corn, as to the quantity 
 your hens eat, they should have the same 
 amount at each feed, let it be high or low, let 
 it be corn or wheat. 
 
 When you want to lay in a supply of corn 
 for your teams, not having- sufficient on hand, 
 you try to purchase on the best terms you can, 
 for that reason you most generally purchase 
 in the fall at gathering time. When vou get 
 for the chickens, do the same thing. 
 
 Last fall all corn sold, at gathering time, at 
 25 cents per bushel. Your hens, by this plan, 
 always have a little money on hand. You take 
 their own money and purchase their 200 bush- 
 els of corn, giving for the same $50.00, or 25 
 cents a bushel. By this plan of feeding, they 
 won't eat a bushel of corn apiece, but they 
 may consume the equivalent in something- else, 
 say, wheat, oats, bone meal, animal food, etc. 
 You are supposed to purchase the above in 
 quantity and at the proper time whenthe mar- 
 ket is right. Of course you are expected to 
 raise all the grain, or most of it, but what we' 
 want to tell you is this, corn is now selling 
 from 40 to 45 cents per bushel; are you going 
 to charge the hens 40 or 45 cents a bushel for 
 it when she could have bought it with her own 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 91 
 
 money at 25 cents, enough to do her a year ? 
 These extra touches are for your own benefit. 
 By taking- the tables you can fig-ure it all out, 
 but the labor. On very few farms is the labor 
 taken into account, but it should be. The 
 poultry business is not as some would suppose, 
 simply a sitting- down and folding- the hands- 
 True, the labor is not killing- hard, but it is 
 there al^the same. You can compare it with 
 other labor done on the farm, a great deal 
 with no profit at all attached to it. The "old 
 man" spoken of will plainly tell you it don't 
 pay to hire help on the farm. He thinks aheap 
 of his old woman and girls, but from outside 
 appearances, only for what work they can do, 
 as he has them out in the fields working-. For 
 a chang-e we give you a piece of poetry that ex- 
 actly suits a big- majority of such old men. 
 
 "ONE OF A THOUSAND." 
 
 BY MRS. M. A. KIDDER. 
 
 "She's one in a thousand," 
 
 Said old farmer Grey, 
 As he waded knee-deep 
 
 In the sweet-scented hay. 
 "You won't find her like, marm, 
 
 From here to the town — 
 That woman out there 
 
 In the calico gown ! 
 
92 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 •'You thought 'twas a servant 
 
 A yoking- the steers !" 
 And the old farmer laug-hed 
 
 Till he started the tears. 
 "And you was half right, marm, 
 
 For, 'twixt you and me, 
 She has worked like a slave 
 
 Since the year forty-three. 
 
 "If you could have seen her 
 
 That morning - in May, 
 When I stopped at her father's 
 
 And took her away — 
 A likely young- bride, marm, 
 
 So blooming- and fair, 
 And chipper as that little lamb 
 
 Frisking- there! 
 
 "You wouldn't a thoug-ht it, 
 
 Now would you, friend, say ? 
 As you look at her wrinkled 
 
 And brow r n face today? 
 Her hard, bony hands, marm, 
 
 Her back like a bow? 
 Ah, she's one in a thousand 
 
 To labor, tha't so ! 
 
 "When first we were married, 
 All, all for my sake;" 
 
 And here the old farmer 
 Leaned hard on his rake, 
 
 "She g'ave up her music, 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 93 
 
 And gave up her books — 
 No nonsense about her, 
 You'd know by her looks!"' 
 
 *'And if you should lose her?" 
 
 I ventured to sav ' 
 The old farmer sighed 
 
 And looked down at his hay ! 
 "'Twould near break my heart," 
 
 He replied with a tear, 
 "And then help's uncommonly 
 
 High about here!" 
 
 — New York Ledger. 
 
 Well, the girls, or mother, could take a flock 
 of chickens, attending to them with half, yes, 
 one-tenth of the labor, and do well, even 
 though they mig-ht have to pay the "old man" 
 for his grain to feed their poultry. He would 
 probably want to borrow the balance to hire 
 his help, and of course never pay it back, and 
 yet growl that there was no money in chickens, 
 but mother and daughters would have a far 
 easier time. 
 
 A great many girls are now working out for 
 just such a purpose, to help keep up the farm. 
 It is the same with girls as it is with boys, 
 some don't care the snap of your finger for 
 poultry: those who do should be encouraged. 
 • In fact, in some families there is not a single 
 one from the "old man" down, who pays much 
 attention to poultry. No longer than yester- 
 
94 POULTRY PENSION, 
 
 day we heard a lady say she was g"oing to 
 raise 300 young* chickens this year, and as 
 true as can be she did not have a hen house 
 or chicken coop on the place. She raised Cain 
 for a new smoke house and summer kitchen, 
 got it, too, but does not need a hen house, or 
 at least no complaint about it. But she is for- 
 tunate in way of brush piles, big- barn, straw 
 stacks, etc. 
 
 MARKETING THE EGGS. 
 
 The first consideration is the quality, many 
 think it is the quantity; quality is more in 
 demand in every line of produce today on the 
 market than ever before; to the average farm- 
 er an egg is an egg-. 
 
 Do you know eg^s are spoken of as being- 
 rich? While we are not surprised at any new 
 thing thatmay happen in the poultry business, 
 we always watch where it originated. Keep 
 your eye skinned and see if there won't be 
 some brand of food gotten up to produce rich 
 eggs. 
 
 There is a difference in the egg produced by 
 the well fed hen and the one on half or no ra- 
 tions at all. There is no disputing the fact, 
 the beauty of the whole thing is, the average 
 farmer is prepared to feed such food. The 
 plan as given you is for producing eggs of as 
 good quality as anybody's and especially in 
 good quantities, also some markets or locali- 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 95 
 
 ties want the shells a certain color. Now how 
 about that? The average farmer will hardly 
 be bothered in that respect, unless it be in a 
 case where he has regular customers, serving 
 them something on the plan that a milkman 
 furnishes milk. Should they take a notion to 
 different colored eggs the producer would have 
 to furnish them or lose the trade, but for the 
 average farmer in the main, the general mar- 
 ket is his port of entry. In a few T cases, near 
 mining or manufacturing centers, large cities. 
 etc., there may be established, an egg route, 
 having regular customers. You yourself, will 
 have to be regular, also. At no time of the 
 vear are vou to run short of eg^s; if vou do 
 your regular customer business is gone up. 
 You can not depend on outsiders for eggs, as 
 you can in no wise guarantee anyone else's 
 eggs and such a route has to be furnished 
 with the freshest of eggs. In the spring you 
 may have lots of eg«fs, but it takes good man- 
 agement and good judgment to supply such a 
 trade the whole year. In the most of cases, 
 the average tarmer takes his eggs to the coun- 
 try store, taking them up in trade, which is all 
 right, so far, but w T hen you try this plan ac- 
 cording to rule, you are going to get more eggs 
 than you ever got before and may not be able 
 to take them all up in trade. 
 
 All over the country there are plenty of cash 
 
96 POULTRY PENSION, 
 
 buyers, in the future there will be more of 
 them, ready and eager for your egg's, and the 
 farmer that is awake is the one to profit by it. 
 But you are sure to have to quit the business 
 unless you have fresh eggs. Before long no 
 other egg goes. When coming across a nest 
 of eggs laid out, never mix them with other 
 eggs known to be fresh. Some times a neigh- 
 bor may suggest going in together and ship- 
 ping'. Never ship unless you can ship a guar- 
 anteed case of fresh eggs; in that case you can 
 not guarantee your neighbor's, egg's, nor can 
 he yours. Feel your way before-commencing it. 
 
 In the winter time an egg may be called 
 fresh for a week from the day it is laved, in 
 summer, 4 or 5 days, and then it beg'ins to be- 
 come stale. 
 
 Should you manage right, keep on and get 
 up to the two hundred hen plan, you can easily 
 get a case of thirty dozen eg'gs in, at the low- 
 est calculation, four days. If near a shipping 
 point, you might ship a case, guaranteed fresh, 
 which you can easily do by this plan. Mark 
 them as such and see what you can do. Un- 
 der no circumstances put in a doubtful egg: 
 the sooner you can see the advisability of 
 handling only fresh eggs, the sooner you will 
 command better prices. 
 
 All produce, no difference what kind, is 
 graded, so with eggs; there is not much mid- 
 
POULTRY PENSION. v )7 
 
 die ground in the eg"g\ It is simply fresh or 
 stale, good or bad. Notice in the market re- 
 ports the following": 
 
 ''Quality so poor, dealers do not care to 
 handle it." 
 
 '•The best of near by points stock, higher." 
 "The supply was light of fresh, salable, on 
 basis loss off. " 
 
 "Quality of stock poor, loss heavy." 
 The above tells just what is on the market; 
 who is to blame? First the producer, in not 
 selling - his stock (eg-gs) when fresh. Next, 
 the merchant for holding- them so long- before 
 shipping-. What are you g"oing- to do about it; 
 do you notice what was said above, '.'Quality 
 so poor dealers don't care to handle?"- After 
 while you will not hear, they don't care to 
 handle it, when you take vour doubtful es^s 
 in they will say, the dealers positively won't 
 handle it. So g-et on board if you wish to be 
 in front. The whole thing- is on the. move, just 
 stick a pin right here. The above conditions 
 are sure to exist. They don't like to handle 
 them now, shortly they won't; and then where 
 will the brush pile, fence corner poultryman 
 be? 
 
 As stated above, all over the country there 
 are cash egg buyers. Tenor fifteen years ago 
 did you ever hear of us poor averag-e farmers 
 ever being offered cash for eggs ? What 
 
98 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 brought those cash buyers amongst us ? You 
 may not think think of such things. You yet 
 have time to take notice of the progress of the 
 egg business with much less trouble than be- 
 fore as there is but one direction to look in — 
 the k 'Fresh Egg Route, " and to think some 
 will say the poultry business is overdone. 
 
 We have often heard some of the country 
 merchants complain about this '-loss off" you 
 notice and hear of, claiming the last shipment 
 they made the loss was so heavy that they 
 could not pay much for eggs this time. Right 
 here there is a screw loose, the merchant can- 
 dles your eggs (no, not candles, be safer all 
 around if he would), but tests them with a 
 tester, to our notion of not much consequence, 
 only to tell a real bad eg~g from a tolerably 
 fair one, not distinguishing the genuine fresh 
 one at all. At any rate, if he ships them out 
 pretty soon after receiving them, the loss ought 
 not to be so much. We are an average farmer 
 (hardlv that) ourself, but the eggs are very 
 nearly lost, in a great many cases before the 
 farmer ever starts to town with them. The 
 commission merchant gets the blame, in most 
 cases, for this last "loss off", some even claim- 
 ing he keeps it as a part of his profit. Gener- 
 ally speaking, they are a high class of men ) 
 and they sure have a hard job handling just 
 such eggs as are first taken to town by us 
 
POULTRY PENSION, 99 
 
 average farmers to the average country mer- 
 chant and tested by not an average tester. 
 Most e<i"«'s taken bv the average farmer are 
 gathered from all over the farm, may be have 
 been held for higher prices, two weeks or more, 
 part the time with a hen on. Eggs have been 
 known to hatch on the way, or on the market, 
 in the hands of these very commission men, 
 and you know it takes three weeks at home for 
 the purpose. The commission man is to blame, 
 I suppose. When you come to keeping the eggs 
 for higher prices it is generally a losing game, 
 on most average farms. Shove them into mar- 
 ket fresh. If you cannot get proper credit at 
 home for guaranteed fresh eggs by the case, 
 try shipping. Cold storage cuts a figure in 
 holding egg's over, but when they get into mar- 
 ket and run up against thefresh egg, you hear 
 the following: "Choice, fresh eggs sold 25c, 
 but cold storage held or doubtful stock would 
 not bring anything like that figure. " In just- 
 ice to the cold storage man, he doesn't try to 
 compete with the fresh egg, he is only buying 
 them up so when he catches the hens napping, 
 in winter, he shoves in his stock. In some 
 cases the market is glad to get them. That is 
 a trick in the trade, not a very old one either. 
 As we told you before, keep your eye skinned 
 and stay with the procession; whenever they 
 try to turn the trick on the old hen, they are 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 no t ta it at aU. she hold^ the t— * «g 
 
 tation. but the genu" , ou got to do 
 
 where or what have jw » 
 
 thing. V\here, o ? y ou are right 
 
 with it, you ^erage farmer, • ^ no 
 
 next to the old hen, for without y ^ 
 
 egg market to talk about you ere mj 
 
 but don't neglect your oppo ^ 
 
 pile, fence corner P^» M 
 
 r DISEASED- 
 
 that the fowls kept uj 
 
 have been healthy. a fead state 
 
 Several years ago we wer our 
 
 of affairs, some k,nd of a d-ease 
 
 fowls and struck them ^^ ^ ^ w£ 
 chicken cholera; it may th t cause d 
 
 have always ^^m, £"-< nests and 
 it , for they had lo s o^ ita , & grgat 
 
 all, covered w.th them We 
 
 chickens, but we got nd of ^ had a 
 
 ki „ed some. ^"f^S days we did 
 general cleaning ;up. ^ dean t 
 
 not oil our roosts at all^n ^ ^ faith . 
 
 the hen ^ej * had n0 troub i e . We 
 fnlly done since and h ^ ^ ^ ^ 
 
 never hand a case ui r 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 10) 
 
 and from all accounts of the disease, I guess 
 that we would have known it. We are very 
 particular in regard to drafts in cold weather 
 hi the roosting room. The roosting 1 room, if 
 protected as we have described, has no imme- 
 diate contact with the outside, except on one 
 side and the roof, which can be protected if 
 necessary. In a cold climate, double it, or 
 cover with roofing felt. 
 
 Our idea is that half the so called diseases 
 are caused from filth and lice. We sometimes 
 have noticed sulphur-colored droppings under 
 the roosts; being afraid of cholera, we throw 
 air slacked lime on it. more often take it out 
 and throw it on the jjarden. 
 
 An old lady told me that steamed oats would 
 cure the cholera every time. We have had no 
 cholera since to try it on. but if a hen ever 
 looks bad, or wrong in any manner, she gets 
 steamed oats. At any rate we have adopted 
 it as a ration in our feed table, changing oc- 
 casionally to wheat. 
 
 We don't feed any preventatives at all, but 
 we believe a <*"ood way of feeding is affoodway 
 to prevent several things. We have noticed a 
 lot of different things put in the water, at dif- 
 ferent places, to keep off the cholera. Some- 
 times very little water was in sight, but the 
 other stuff was there, poke root, white oak- 
 bark, blue stone, common, bottledblueing, etc.. 
 
102 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 etc. Whenever they thought of giving the hens 
 water, it was poured in on that stuff and they 
 call it a preventative for disease. Many are 
 the farms where poultry seldom ever tret a 
 drink of water only when it rains, and we have 
 just finished telling- you that the market for 
 fresh eggs depended on the average farmer, 
 or do vve count them as not average? 
 
 Don't fail to give plenty of pure, fresh water 
 every day in the year, in clean vessels, leaving 
 out the stuff named above, it is of no good on 
 earth. If you manage by this plan, or some 
 other g'ood plan— we don't pretend to sav this 
 is the only way; we do say for one who does 
 not know of any system at all, it is just the 
 plan to jump at. 
 
 There is a habit which some call, or rather 
 class among - diseases; it is eg-g- eating-. In 
 many cases it is taught to the hens by the 
 throwing- out of eg-g- shells, especially just after 
 breaking - the eg-ef for house use, and tossing 
 the shells out of doors, which is very common. 
 It looks like they would soon learn it is not a 
 g'ood thing-. to do, but they do not, having prac- 
 ticed it all their lives, are still at it. Lay the 
 shells on the hearth of your stove, or in a pan 
 in the oven, letting them heat, not burn, until 
 they crumble easily; mash them up and scat- 
 them on the ground or in the scratching pen 
 for the chickens; don 't putthem in the bone meal 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 103 
 
 boxes. Some hens seem to take to eatin<r eersrs 
 and are hard to break. Whenever you catch 
 one certain hen eati ng - eg"g"s very often, the best 
 idea is to eat her, the sooner you g*et rid of her 
 the better it is for the balance of the flock. 
 By feeding- the rig-ht kind of feed there is not 
 much trouble on the eg-g- eating- score. Half 
 fed, or not fed at all, hens, are worse than anv 
 other. By eating- one egg- they may be able to 
 produce another, but it is not profitable as 
 they will only come out even; so feed them e«-<r 
 producing - food, according- to the tables, and 
 you can g-et the finished product for your pav 
 for your food and labor. 
 
 (rive the poultry g-ood care and attention and 
 there is no more dang-er of disease than with 
 anv other stock. 
 
 TWO HUNDRED HENS. 
 
 We hardly know how to upproach the two 
 hundred hen plan as we have been talking- to 
 you altogether on the one hundred hen plan, 
 You know as well as anybody there are manv 
 who will not manage 100 hens and g-et full re- 
 turns, but for your especial benefit we will 
 tell you something- of the two hundred hen 
 business, but don't g-et excited and go into it 
 until you are perfectly satisfied you can mas- 
 ter the business. It is not the number you 
 keep at all; some may have the 200 hens now, 
 while if they only had 50 they would g-et more 
 
104 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 clear profit. 
 
 For the 200 hen plan, everything- is. of 
 course, double. Twice the amount of house 
 room, etc., but as we told you in the start you 
 need not abandon what improvements you al- 
 ready have, add a shed here, an addition 
 somewhere else and so on. If you build a new 
 house out and out you can't beat the plan as we 
 have g-iven you, but don't attempt to run a 200 
 hen business in a 100 hen house. Don't think 
 because we tell vou of one thinir more than the 
 one time that you are hard to make understand. 
 Take the book all throug-h. makeanote of each 
 point where we have cautioned you so often. 
 It you don't succeed, or are not doing" as well 
 as you wish, look up those oft repeated points 
 and see if you are not hung - up on one of them. 
 At one time we thought we would put up sigm 
 boards all along- the route, but have just made 
 them so plain that you can tell rig-ht where 
 are to be put. Before proceeding - , let us tell 
 you the 200 hen business is no hard proposi- 
 tion at all, that is for you, but your neighbor 
 might not do so well. You say you are not 
 your neighbor's keeper. Help him along- if 
 you possibly can, it will benefit you and the 
 whole neighborhood. 
 
 Notice in the poultry and farm and poultry 
 papers and see what certain counties are 
 doing- in the egg and poultry business. See if 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 105 
 
 they don't get better prices than you do, in a 
 neighborhood where but a few produce first 
 class poultry and g-enuine fresh eg^s; egg and 
 poultry buyers hunt such places. If we knew 
 the exact location of your farm and iarin build- 
 ings we could tell you more particularly about 
 the location of your two houses, as it is we w r ill 
 but make sug-g-estions; but will most emphat- 
 ically say if you really mean business and aim 
 to attend to the details, there is not much show 
 for your losing - anything - by making" the 
 houses substantial, neat, well painted, etc.; 
 the hens will soon pay for it. You may not be 
 able to do it all at once, but beg'in with the in- 
 tention, it will add to the appearance of your 
 farm, besides paying - more, counting - the capi- 
 tal invested, than any other improvements on 
 the farm. They are permanent improvements 
 and if properly put up in the start, will not 
 have to be replaced soon. 
 
 It is not necessary for us to attempt to esti- 
 mate the cost, as you are no£ compelled to use 
 any particular plan or material. You may 
 have some building - already on the place which 
 can be worked over to suit the purpose, or 
 some lumber at hand that woul d do, but be 
 sure and have the ground room for scratching - 
 pen at each 100 hen house. We contemplate 
 building another house by the plan as stated, 
 fixed up in fine shape, but w r e do not expect 
 
106 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 one more egg from the fine hou.se than in the 
 first house, built of common barn siding - , roof 
 of same, and painted with mineral paint. The 
 hens don't care a copper so they are comfort- 
 able; but before we forg-et it vve wish to tell 
 you the hen is a sure queer bird. Paint the 
 houses at each station a different color and 
 see how soon they notice it, each one going to 
 her proper house. 
 
 The location of the two houses has some- 
 thing to do with the management. At first 
 thought you migmt think to have them as far 
 apart as possible; that might do provided they 
 were out of sig-ht of each other, out of hearing- 
 distance or fenced apart, which would be necs- 
 sary in case you had another two flock of 100 
 each, but we will only talk of the two 100 hen 
 flock. If you gx> any deeper it's your look out; 
 be careful when you go to expanding", it is 
 risky in almost every case, let alone poultry, 
 but it is sometimes advisable. If you run your 
 200 hens up to the notch, and still improving-, 
 you are almost sure to expand, and then what! 
 
 We prefer the houses close together, not jam 
 up: "the man from the east" is working- them 
 on a g-ood plan. You have to feed them alto- 
 gether so you had just as well have the houses 
 close together, for they will all come if they 
 see or hear you. Some arg-ue that 200 hens 
 are too many for one flock, so say we, in one 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 107 
 
 house, especially a 100 hen house, but it is no 
 trick at all too feed 200 hens out of their 
 houses, on the ground. Just stand in one 
 place and throw the grain broadcast over a 
 small space; don't throw one handful and 
 watch the hens pick that up. keep it going-, 
 watch where they are cleaning- up the fastest. 
 The above is for corn. Should you take a no- 
 tion to feed wheat outside of house, in summer, 
 iust trail it along- in a circle big" enough for 
 them to g*et around it. In winter you will 
 have to do most of your feeding - in the scratching* 
 pen unless you g-et a move on yourself and clean 
 the snow away from the house. Manag-e just 
 as you did your 100 hen flock when ..you first 
 went into the business for profit, only a little 
 more so. When running a 200 hen flock, if you 
 expect to use the eggs for setting, it will take 
 several roosters and they cause a heap of 
 bother, more particularly in winter, when the 
 flock uses the houses during- the day. When 
 you g-et up the 200 hen flock you can surely af- 
 ford a breeding- pen, you know it don't take so 
 very many eg-g-s to set, considering- the size of 
 your business. You only want 100 pullets 
 each fall and you oug-ht to g-et them easy out 
 of 300 eg-g-s set. With a g-ood breeding- pen 
 you can build up some trade in your neigh- 
 borhood selling eggs for setting. When you 
 also reach perfection with your 200 hen flock 
 
108 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 vou will commence thinking of an incubator. 
 Well, a good 200 egg - incubator run and man- 
 aged with the same energy, should enable you to 
 tackle the 200 hen plan, it being - sufficient to 
 set it Only twice to keep your layers fresh. 
 Should you undertake it, the first thing- is a 
 reliable machine, and vou can onlv jret one of 
 a reliable firm. Don't go for one because it is 
 cheap, but of course get it as reasonable as 
 possible. Get a good brooder also, that is of 
 more consequence, to very many, than the in- 
 cubator. By this plam the Chicks ought all 
 come off in April and May, two good months 
 for raising" chickens, Read your poultry and 
 ag-ncultural books and you will find lots of 
 good suggestions on raising" them; that is for 
 warmth, etc., you can't beat the plan already 
 given for feeding - them. 
 
 Only when raising - them in a brooder, you 
 are to supply them animal food and grit. You 
 will find from time to time various suggestions 
 in your papers that will equal, and you may 
 think beat ours; go for it, that is what makes 
 the thing - g-o. We don't care how near the 
 head of the procession you get. We simply 
 want to g-et you started in on the tail end be- 
 fore the whole thing moves off and leaves you. 
 The average farmer and poultryman belong in 
 the front. Some are away up now, but for the 
 lands sake, look around and see how many 
 
POULTRY PENSION. !()'> 
 
 you know who are being* left fast. When you 
 yet to talking- to them, tell them if they can't 
 do any better, build a straw shed for their 
 hens to scratch in, even if they have to roost 
 out of doors. We don't like to mention it to 
 them, they might g"et offended. Let them have 
 your book to read if they can't afford one, any- 
 thing to start them, it's for their own g-ood. 
 
 SUBSTITUTES. 
 
 There are various substitutes for furnishing- 
 the animal food, bone meal, etc. We don't 
 know much about them from actual use. We 
 used beef meal a short time on account of the 
 cracklins becoming scarce. You can g*et it 
 from same parties you g-et the bone meal from, 
 but you cannot mix it with the steamed feed: 
 of course von can but we believe it is better 
 mixed with the bone meal as described in the 
 table. 
 
 There are bone mills on the market for cut- 
 ting- or shaving- green bone as it comes from 
 the butcher shop, but like the cracklins, will 
 be hard to get when manv are wanting- it, un- 
 less in larg-e towns and cities. 
 
 In some sections, rabbits are plentiful 
 enough to supply meat in winter. Boil them, 
 season as you would were you g-oing- to eat 
 them yourself, chopping-them up fine, bone and 
 all. steaming- the grain in the water they were 
 cooked in. To some, the rabbit may not seem 
 like the proper thing - ; to others, it is just the 
 
110 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 the thin«-, as there are localities where it is no 
 trouble to get them, sometimes catching" 
 enough to last a long time, during- a big 
 snow. The beef meal, in the long" run is the 
 most reliable, as it is no trouble to get. Now 
 it may seem extravagant to furnish animal 
 food for your hens; we will just say it is far 
 more extravag-ant not to furnish it, as it is a 
 dead loss, for you cannot get full returns with- 
 out it, not only once in a while, but regularly- 
 Some have tried it occasionally, once or twice 
 during the winter. Regular or not at all, that 
 is the plan all through; the investment is some- 
 thing- like laying down a dollar and taking up 
 two. 
 
 There is also, on the market, granulated 
 bone, about the size of wheat grains or larger, 
 which is fine, but for the average farmer the 
 bone meal is cheapest and, from our experi- 
 ence, answers the purpose. The granulated 
 is claimed to be green bone; we hardly think 
 it is. in every case, but believe it is all bone, 
 that is all we have handled, but what it may 
 be after while is another thing. The bone 
 meal we speak of is sold as pure, fresh ground; 
 it may have been when ground. In buying any 
 of it you want to buy irom some reliable firm. 
 
 There is a brand we intend trying, it is sold 
 as pure flesh, blood and bones, if so it seems 
 like it ought to be very near what we want. 
 
POULTRY PENSION. Ill 
 
 At the present you will be all rig-ht with 
 such as we first mentioned, and when vou be- 
 g-in expanding-, just keep posted with papers, 
 and if you don't find enoug-h to satisfy, you are 
 among-st the first. Be economical in buying- 
 but don't try to be economical by not buying 1 
 at all. 
 
 THE MAN FROM THE EAST. 
 
 For an example, we g*ive you a partial ac- 
 count of the operations of "the man from the 
 east." He formerly worked in a manufactur- 
 ing- establishment in a northeastern state, 
 running or tending- a certain class of machin- 
 ery. The proprietors, from time to time, have 
 been adding- other machinery, making- it so the 
 one man who formerly tended one machine 
 now tends to three. His health besran to fail: 
 was in one strike; he beg-an thinking- of other 
 machines being- put on to replace more men: 
 his health also beg-inning- to fail, he thoug-ht 
 he had better begin making- other arrange- 
 ments while he had a little money saved up, 
 knowing- if he lost his job his money would not 
 last long-. 
 
 He corresponded with the land ag-ent of the 
 Frisco R. R. in reg-ard to land in Southwest 
 Missouri and Arkansas. During- a shut down 
 of the mills, he pulled out for Arkansas. He 
 says it was a hard pull, as he hardly knew 
 what was o-oin<r to become of him. He was 
 
112 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 convinced be could not lon<r remain where he 
 was. 
 
 He landed in Southwest Missouri, just over 
 the state line from Arkansas. He bought 
 forty acres of land near a railroad station. 
 paying- $320.00 for the same. It had a pretty 
 fair box house on it, a log- stable, 22 acres 
 fenced and broke out, the balance being cov- 
 ered with trood timber. He built a log- hen 
 house 20x30 feet, with the help of his g-ood 
 neighbors, it cost him very little cash. He 
 bought fifty hens, as gx>od as the country af- 
 forded, which was far above what he had ex- 
 pected, set out three acres of strawberries, 
 twenty-five apple trees, with various other 
 small fruit. The first year came very near 
 doing" him up. His wife could hardly stand it, 
 being- raised in the east and eominif to that 
 ••wooded country" it was sure hard to stand. 
 Now it is all chang-ed, neither himself nor wife 
 cares to g"o back. 
 
 His stock now consists of 196 laying- hens, 
 his first poultry house; another built of pine 
 lumber, 20x30, sawed right there in the neigh- 
 borhood. There is a stone foundation under 
 his new hen house, the stone also g"otten close 
 at hand. 
 
 His two houses are 30 feet apart, with a 
 covered run between the two, 12 loot wide, 
 with door connecting" each house to this run. 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 113 
 
 It is used for feeding- purposes in bad weather, 
 mostly in winter. There are hinjred troughs 
 all around this feeding- room, the sides of 
 house making- one side of trougfh. Bv unhook- 
 ing- at each end and' center they are easily let 
 down for cleaning-. On south side of this run 
 there is plenty of lig-ht and sun, having* lig-ht 
 glass and oiled muslin in plenty. The above 
 run makes a fine place for feeding- the steamed 
 grain, in the troug-hs around the sides. All 
 the above building-s have eave troughs for run- 
 ning the water away from the houses. To 
 come right down to the point, everything is in 
 good shape. 
 
 Now we come to a new idea of his own «et 
 up. When he first undertook the business, he 
 knew very little about chickens. As he has to 
 have 100 pullets every fall, it is a hard matter 
 to pick out what he wishes to discard every 
 fall, as they are now all full blood Brown 
 Leghorns and look almost exactly alike. He 
 is starting two breeding pens, one of Brown 
 and the other of White Leghorns, one house 
 to be whites and the other browns. One year 
 set all browns and the next year all whites. 
 By that means he says he will have no trouble 
 in picking out what he wants to dispose of. If 
 there is no sale for the eggs for setting pur- 
 poses, he lets which ever pen he is not using 
 run with the main flock. 
 
114 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 He prepares his oiled muslin in the following" 
 manner : 
 
 Stretch the muslin tightly on a frame the 
 size you want, get one quart of linseed oil, one 
 ounce of sugar of lead and three ounces of 
 rosin. Pulverize the sugar of lead in a little 
 oil and add it to the other materials. Put all 
 into an iron kettle and, heat it until the resin 
 is dissolved and all is thoroughly mixed; ap- 
 ply while hot. At the end of five years, he says 
 he is all O. K. He is head boss, runs his own 
 machine, has his own living, butter, milk, veg- 
 etables, fruit and honey, as he now has fine 
 bees. 
 
 He thinks his section of country will soon be 
 noted for the poultry business, the climate 
 alone being- a great inducement, to say noth- 
 ing of cheap land, building material, etc. 
 Transportation to market is ample, with talk 
 of more routes being laid out. At present, 
 there is a pretty good market, winter resorts 
 using a good supply of both poultry and eggs, 
 with egg buyers by the wholesale. At any 
 rate he thinks he made a safe venture, having 
 plenty of everything, good health, with two 
 fine baby boys. 
 
 My reader, don't you think a man of the 
 above type i« a "winner" most anywhere? 
 
 He is talking of expanding, purchasing a 
 200 egg incubator, enlarging his flock, etc. It 
 
POULTRY PENSION. 115 
 
 is almost certain he will succeed, the firm that 
 sells him an incubator and brooder can rest 
 assured that the children won't run it; all the 
 better for them, as a machine in such hands 
 is a trood advertisement. 
 
 THE MAN FROM THE WEST. 
 
 This man was born and raised in the west, 
 or rather Southwest. His parents were 
 wealth}'. The boy was not a complete success 
 (according - to our plan) in the city in which 
 his parents lived. They moved to the city 
 from a fine farm to "educate their children." 
 They, him. or some one, concluded he was only 
 fit to make a No. 1 poultry man. We have often 
 thought it was against his own will. 
 
 They purchased land in a near by county 
 and set him up in the business. Let me tell 
 you there was no discount in the "set up". He 
 had everything- you ever heard of in the busi- 
 ness, as far as fixtures are concerned, incu- 
 bators, brooders, houses, glass and wooden, 
 heaters, etc., he and his business were the 
 talk of the whole section, and are yet. There 
 was one grand mistake in the start, there 
 were no children. to run those incubators and 
 they would not, or did not, run themselves, and 
 
 they had a fair and impartial trial, as he left 
 them entirely alone, while he spent the great- 
 er part of his time in a near by town, telling - 
 the bpvs just how he was going" to stampede 
 
116 POULTRY PENSION. 
 
 the broiler market, and the boys all thought a 
 great deal of him and always will, as long - as 
 the old folks at home foot the bills. 
 
 After cooking- a batch or soof eg-g-s, smother- 
 ing- or starving- any chickens he may have 
 hatched, he concluded the incubator was not 
 reliable and g-ave them up. He then went 
 after the fresh eg-g- market; he served it just as 
 he did the broiler market. 
 
 At last accounts he was still in the chicken 
 business, drawing- regularly on the old folks 
 for funds to keep him (and the boys) g-oing-. 
 The markets that he was g'oing- to glut remain 
 the same as before. Take vour choice. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 MAY g 
 
 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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