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Show fowls ill mum Make Profit From Flock During Extremely Cold Weather. PREPARE FOR HENS' COMFORT All Immature Pullets Should Be Separated Sepa-rated and Forced for Development or Fattening Make General Clearting Up. J The showing that the hens make during the severity of winter, is a good index of the person handling them. Spring is the natural laying season. Nature usually lends aid for the hatching and rearing of chicks from March until October, but winter and late fall finds the hen entirely en-tirely dependent upon her owner so far as the profit she will pay is concerned. con-cerned. The careful farmer or poultry-man poultry-man makes a profit from the flock during the cold weather and prepares the way from the time the eggs are selected in the spring until the snow begins to fly by selecting eggs from tested winter layers, keeping as winter win-ter producers only well developed pullets pul-lets and healthy, energetic young hens by preparing for their comfort in the fall before the rigors of winter set in. Granted that one has these well matured ma-tured pullets or hens that are young enough to be profitable if held over for another year, the problem of winter win-ter eggs is not so difficult. No producer pro-ducer on the farm responds more readily to good care than the hen and the cow. Begin Culling Now. In order to get into winter quarters with the best possible prospect, culling cull-ing should begin now. All immature pullets should be placed to themselves and forced for development or fattened fatten-ed for market and all -extremely old hens had best be prepared for the pot. Cockerels intended for next season's breeders should be separated from the others and a general clean up made of all surplus stock. It Is possible that It will be rnore profitable to hold some or all of the surplus for a better market mar-ket but they should at least be separated from the winter flock and the latter placed in permanent quarters quar-ters early. It is remarkable how well a little flock of 50 or 100 hens and pullets will pay if well attended. The housing need not be elaborate or expensive. The feed is all at hand on the average grain farm and no one need worry about proteids or ash or balanced rations. ra-tions. Give the hen something to balance bal-ance and she will do the work for herself. Make Needed Repair If your house is in need of repair, begin now In your spare time to repair it. Patch the roof if it leaks. There are usually enough odds and ends around the farm to fix it. If It has wide cracks between the boards of the wall, set fodder around three sides of It, leave a part of the south or east side open and make a frame covered with cheese cloth or some other light material for extremely cold and stormy days. Fill In a dirt floor four or five Inches higher than the surrounding yard. Clean out the old nest boxes and spray the wall and perches. You will have made a nice start toward winter eggs when these things are accomplished. |