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Show Poultry Notes For Winter. If cold is pinching your hens these days it will also pinch your profits. They are liable to stand around outdoors out-doors drawn up in a ball unless you give them something to do. Let them scratch merrily within doors and they will soon open with a song, of joy, says I the New York Tribune Farmer. With I eggs at 2 cents apiece and rising, no one should delay extra attention to the hens. In a few months, all the flocks will begin laying, and, or course, the price will drop. For eggs in winter the poultry house I should be kept clean and the litter frequently fre-quently changed. A fresh lot of dry litter at frequent intervals will do much to remove dampness from the house. Hens like a change, and it does much good to , scrape out often and gring in something fresh and new. One will be pleased to see how they will hop into fresh straw and make it fly. The loose heads of cabbage that are often wasted are about as good as solid ones for the hens. Nailed fast to a block, they will be consumed way into stump. Cabbages are selling at ruinous prices $1.25 a ton and what cheaper green food can be found? Hens will appreciate them as well as if they brought four times as much, and they will produce as many eggs. The shrewd poultryman will not let the season sea-son pass without laying in a supply of cabbages, if he has not grown them. Clover leaves and heads will be found useful for laying hens. Thrown upon the barn floor, a vigorous use of th flail will soon ranove enough to last a week or two. I mix a handful or two in their hot morning mess daily, and it gets steamed and cooked a little. The term "hot" here means "warm," as a hen may be injured by food taken too hot as easily as any animal. A warm meal each morning is highly important, and they want it as soon as they leave the roost. |