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Show POULTRY NOTES. 8 , . i Commercial Poultry claims thaj geese come as near being, all profit as any stock on the farms. Thcy make1" their living largely on grass and nrc practically self supporting. They do, not require a large pastute field, bu$ one that produces a good yd eld. Add1-a Add1-a little grain, occasionally, and you? will have no trouble raising geese. They only require water for drinking purposes, same as the hen. They are" louse and mite proof and arc seldom' subject to any kind of discas'c, Jnd" hawk scldum. prey upon 'the young; gosling. Some complain that -a goose is a nuisance; so a.rc.hog& if ttycy are not confined to thoir pasture. A Gaj?0,a, poultry raigor who raises poultry for the egg and mea nmrkcts ,ofr San Francisco ;aind Los Angeles gives -the following as his combination ok-ieed The, mornings food is mash of bran and dry cut alfalfa, al-falfa, equal parts, to which s per cent meat and blood meal and the same amount Of crushed charcoal arc "added; "ad-ded; also'cnough -salt to season. During Dur-ing the winter a lit,tlc corn meal is "used. The alfalfai n's boiled1 and added ad-ded to the other feeds, which have been mixed dry. The noon uveal is the same as the morning meal, except that meat meal and charcoal ait: omitted. The evening meal is two parts wheat and one part barley. Lime and coarse sand, mixed as for mortar, dried and crushed, r-akc an excellent and cheap grit. He advises . that where alfalfa is not grfown to supplement it with red clover., . , , m The United States Department of Agriculture guves the following as the standard ration for growing chjeks: Digestible nutrients per day for cc'i . ' loo pounds live weight: For first two weeks, ten end one-tenth pounds; two to four weeks, nine and six-tenths pounds; four to six weeks, eight and; J six-tcntlis pounds; six to icight weeks. f I seven and four-tenths pounds; eight to ten weeks, six and four-tenths I pounds; ten to twelve weeks, five and I four-tenths pounds. After twelve I weeks the same ration as for laying 'hens, for pullets, and a fatlcnlhig ration ra-tion for surplus cockerels. A simple ration is: Cracked wheat, four pounds; granulated oat meal, two a pounds; wheat middlings, one-half 1 pound; cnimal meal, two and one-fourth one-fourth pounds; young green alfalfa, two and three-fourths pounds. This amount will feed from 8oo to 1,000 j chicks a day. Young chickens require plenty of i ground to range over; some con- venient shade, such as fruit trees, or growing corn, or artichokes; tcnd?r j green food md insects. Many grow- ' crs of large numbers of chickens on limited areas crowd the birds far to 3 much, the result being a large pro- portion of unthrifty chicks. The las; ; mentioned chickens have beenvery - much in evidence on pearly all the I large intensive chick poultry plants J that I have visited. The chicks fre- j quqntly outgrow these conditions to such an extent that they are very djf- J ficult to pick out when mature, but A arc readily seen when about half grown. Many growers appear to believe be-lieve that as long as a chicken is alive it is a good one, but this is folly. I believe that from breeding from such stock the vitality will gradually decrease de-crease until we shall reach a point where eggs arc practically unhatch-ablc. unhatch-ablc. Ex. |