Show 1 0 how to A raise ib poultry by dr L D legear V S st louis mo dr legear is ig a graduate of the ontario veterinary college 1892 thirty six x years of veterinary practice on diseases of live stock dock and roul poultry try eminent authority on an poultry and stock baisi n g nationally known poultry breeder noted author and popular ler lecturer editors note this Is another story in a series saries of 62 52 stories on poultry raising written by that well we known national poultry authority dr L D legear V S of 0 st louis louie the entire series will appear in this paper our readers are urged to read beai them carefully lully and clip them tor for future reference rt THE GREAT MOLTING MYSTERY A rather amusing story has rained gained considerable circulation among poultry fanciers young mrs newlywed stopped tile the local veterinary on the street and demanded that he come over immediately to inspect her flock ot of blooded leghorns leg horns borns A lot of them bho said had bad suddenly become afflicted with a strange apparently patently ly contagious malady when asked lor for a description of 0 this peculiar disease site she explained that one after another they had ceased laying and then began to lose their feathers in a most alarm ing in fashion starting with nith the neck feathers they had successively lost in turn the body feathers then the tail feathers and finally most of the wing wine feathers until they were practically nude and truly pitiable objects the young woman was naturally quite relieved when the old doctor informed her that it was just as natural tor for her hens to shed their feathers at a certain time of the year as it was tor for certain kinds of trees to shed their leaves they were simply molting bolting and would recover shortly without any great effort on her part I 1 shall make no effort to vouch tor for the truth of thid story I 1 do not liesl hesi tato fate to say however that I 1 have often been amazed at the comparative lack of knowledge even among a great many experienced poultry ralser raiser on the subject of molt for example there Is considerable difference oi of opinion even anions experts as to whether the molt effects and controls egg production or whether the egg production controls the molt some contend that a hen stops slops laying because she Is getting ready to molt and others maintain with equal spirit that the hen hell wout wont molt moll until after she Is through with the business of egg product production io tor for the time lime being at least 1 I myself am strongly inclined to the latter theory and I 1 am su ported in my belief by a great many qualified observers who also have given the matter considerable se scientific study the exact sequence Is of no particular moment to practical poultry raisers however the tact fact remains that molting bolting does docs not start until after egg production has ceased only in exceptional cases regardless of which governs the other just why liens hens are committed to this peculiar habit of shedding their feathers once a year Is another matter which has baa been the subject of a great many profound treatises by learned scientific men the average poultry raiser Is however mainly concerned with the tact fact that this peculiar phenomenon may serve as a very valuable guide in the cul culling 1 ing out of 0 poor layers from the rea rest t ot of the flock most alost authorities now agree that the hens which start molting bolting earliest and keep it up longest are the poorest layers good layers seldom start molting bolting until later r in the tall fall and are completely finished in from six to eight weeks less productive hens bens on the contrary may start as early as june july or august and fiddle around tor for four or five months before they have regained like what president hard ing would probably have called A to ta of 0 normalcy while nearly all feathers are ratified at it one time or another the most reli reliable able guide Is in the manner in which wing feathers are molted bolted high producing late molting bolting hens hem molt taster faster than on feather at a time or else they only a part of their leathers feathers carrying carryl iii others over tor for another year at ar poor lasers on the other hand may molt but one wing feather fracher at a time so th that it the process may require as long as 24 weeks most moet poor foor layers take very nearby this long to complete t the lic bolting molting of 0 their wing beathem feath ra so BO it can be atlen ecru that this Is it avery very aci accurate brate index of prod productiveness although the alleged dismay of young mrs newlywed as related at the he beginning ot of this article Is doubtless more or less of an exaggeration ge ration there Is no escaping the tact fact that a hen ben during the molting bolting time Is really very much out ot of condition and should receive extra food and attention the caro care and feeding or of liens hens at this time might be the subject ot of a separate article in itself I 1 shall therefore ther etore let it suffice bunice to say that molting bolting hens should have plenty of good shade nourishing food and ample protection from bad A good mineral tonic should alao be given them so BO their appetites will be whetted for an abundance bun bunda dance of food then they will take the necessary necessary nutriment to offset the strain on their system grow their feathers again and get back to laying feed a variety at 0 good sound grains such as oats wheat corn coin and bran but do not teed feed to much corn as that is too heating beating feed also some sunflower seed and linseed meal also a little more ot of meat green cut bone or meat scraps than is usually fed and gave plenty of milk it if possible feed an abundance of greens have pure fresh water amate r available at all times all this will help to bring the hen back into laying condition rapidly |