Poultry Scratchings.

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 425, 4 December 1889, Page 3

Poultry Scratchings.

Feathers. — They are very rich in nitrogen, and should be used to add to' the strength of the manure pile. Like bones, they can ,be quickly reduced by soaking, them in a solution of sulphuric acid and covering them with a coarse compost, with which they may be subsequently mixed. Indeed, so strong- and rich are feathers, that if properly distributed and applied, the results on a crop of corn will be surprising, and at the same time improve the soil. Male Birds an Advantace. — u I frequently luive read," says a correspondent of the Country Gentleman, " that a yard of fowls having no cock with them would lay more eggs^ and be less inclined to- set than where there were cocks, 'and as I thought that would bo a saving of feed I concluded to try it, and in each experiment have lost more than ten per cent, in numbers of eggs compared with other yards under sao^.e circa instances except the company of male birds." LO ur experience coincides exactly with this writer's.— Ed. N.Z.F.] Fkatiikr Eatkks. — To prevent hens from picking oft their feathers teed them two or three times a week with fish bones, crushed with a hammer, or with chopped fresh liver. Give them a little sulphur in their feed in fine weather, and in moulting time add a little linseed meal. Feather eating is often contracted by reason of the fact tliab the feathers do nob moult easily, aqd the hens pull them out. Linseed meal loofcens the feathers. Feathers contain a good deal of sulphur, and the hens must be supplied with it.