Show THE VACATION careful reeding and sympathetic of liens during the trying ordeal of the molt will do much toward accelerating their return to productiveness the thought has often occurred to me that hag has compell ed both man and fowl to do a great many things that nature never in tended to do civilization and evo lution combined have also changed many of their natural bodily tune eions yet with incomprehensible stubbornness stub borness they still retain organs and habits tor for which the need has long since disappeared A man s ap for instance is his souvenir of some long forgotten physical bunc tion while the fowl s habit of molt ing Is her reminder of the time when a vital need existed tor for the periodical I 1 removal of her feathers A hen in the wild state frequently had to depend on her wings for flight from birds and beasts of prey her feathers moreover were her only protection from the elements in the wild life she led they were edly in need of repair and renewal at the end of a season in brush and briar it was to be expect ed therefore that wise mother na ture would provide some regular automatic method to supply the need ed renewal at the proper time now the wild hen had only to lay enough eggs to hatch out a small brood when the chicks were old enough to shift tor for themes lyes she was as free from duties or cespon ties of any kind as a modern flapper Is tree free from hosiery in the summer time she was then at lib erty to renew her coat and she could take the rest of the year tor for the job now civilization has changed all that whereas the wild hen might lay a dozen eggs or less and started hatching at once the civilized de ascendant ant Is expected to lay ten times that much and gets no chance to ex enelse mother instinct instead her eggs are hatched by a machine and her chicks fostered by a capon or a brooder although man now provides shel ter and protection from wild beasts the hen takes no chances she con finues to molt this would be of no great consequence were it not that egg laying and boulting moul ting do not often go together A hen can neither eat and digest food enough nor supply energy enough to produce both new feathers and a regular supply of eggs consequently the longer it takes for the molt the less time she has tor for laying and the less ble it will be to feed and care tor for her T TI e big problem in collection with the molt therefore Is to make Is as sho as possible careful breeding offers one tion good layers will not stop lay ing until laic august early septem her or laic and are through in about six we s eggs tor for hatching should alwa be from such hens hens that mo t early and take two or three mor hs for it should be watched carent ly the chances are they do not la enough to pay tor for their feed and I 1 ep but would be more profitable it ir marketed tor for the table by constantly culling out the loaf ers and breeding only from the best layers a flock will eventually be built up which will require only a very short vacation period for the molt with a corresponding increase in time devoted to laying very care ful dandling randling rand land ling and feeding is desirable at all times however to keep the va cation at a minimum and the pro period at a maximum avoid anything that hinders laying like sudden changes of feed it may bring on th unproductive molt soon er than need be on the other hand correct feeding and a litle extra care may accelerate feather growing so 80 the hen can complete her new winter costume and get back to profitable production in a very litle while during the molt fowls should have the very best of care they should have ample shade and aban dance of green food and plenty of fresh water they should be pro from dampness drafts and exposure of any kind very late holters should be especially protect ed against cold if possible put molting birds to themselves they are timid and self conscious when bare and the other hens will make life miserable for them the less hens are disturbed at this time the easier it is tor for them to convert food into feathers proper feeding is of paramount importance feathers are derived from the same materials as eggs be ing about 80 per cent protein it is wrong therefore to take away the mashes as many people do when hens are molting the mashes contain the protein concentrates while grains contain evry little to rob molting hens of their proteins I 1 is a simply to prolong the molting period until enough proteins are assimilated to supply the feathers needed the regular scratch grains may be fed including oats wheat and corn but not too much corn as it is too heating feed also some sun flower seed and linseed meal in the mash also a little more meat scraps or cut bone that Is asua usua usually y fed e an and g give plenty of milk it if possible possible A good mineral tonis Is also valuable remember the molting hen Is really very much out of condition ut that careful handling and spec spee al diet will help to speed up the 1 bassage of this trying period then as she begins to get back to normal gradually work back to the regular feeding practice of the laying period avoid sudden clingen as they will only delay full completion of the molt careful adherence to t these ese methods Is sure to speed up the molt with a commensurate increase in egg production just when prices are be ginning to soar upward copyright 1930 by dr L D le gear V a s st louis mo i A st tar 4 |