OCR Text |
Show PRODUCING EGGS IN WINTEFi Much Depends on Other Things Than Feed Early Mouited Hens and Pullets Only Layers. Egg production at this time of tha year depends o other thlngH than feed to a large extent. Hens that ure over three years old seldom lay at ull In cold weather, so unless they are wanted for spring breeders because of their Individual excellence, they should have been marketed as soon as they stopped laying nd began to moul: io the fail. Yoiiiik lens that moulted late will not be apt to begin now before midwinter, mid-winter, under any .ystem of feeding for It takes longer In cold weather to got back to laying condition. The early moulted hens and the well grown pullets are the only ones that can be exnected to If y now, and whether wheth-er they do or not depends as much on tnelr condition at the beginning ol cold weather and on general care as on feeding. The feed needs to be well balanced, that Is, they need a variety of the ' foods that contain all the elements of 1 growth and egg production. "Plenty uf corn and water' Is not a good egg ration and If that Is practically all the 1 feed they get they can hardly he ex 1 peeled to lay ninny eggs, for they ' haven't the kind of material they need. Wheat Is a much better food for laying hens than so much corn, nd in the absence of that, bran is a most excellent substitute. I A mixture of bran, meat meal and wine meal may be fed dry In a hopper hop-per or the bran may be molmened with nllk and seasoned with a little salt md pepper, with a little of the meal I meal added. |