MY SCRATCH HENS LAY GOLDEN EGGS
(Page 2 of 4)
July/August 1975
By Allice Merritt
Nowadays, when I see the need for more hens, I buy New Hampshire Reds or other good stock from local hatcheries. Often I choose sexed pullets, but sometimes ask for regular run chicks (since roosters and young fryers are in demand anyway). I select the nicest cockerels for breeding purposes and dispose of the others.
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My chicks' first home is a box made of scrap lumber with a bottom of small-mesh wire, through which droppings fall to an easily cleanable platform. The sides of the homemade brooder admit light but are shielded from bad weather by a curtain of old sheeting. A 60-watt bulb hangs from a weatherproof cord to provide warmth for the biddies. The height at which it's adjusted depends on the weather, and takes a bit of figuring since a bulb that's placed too low will cook the chicks, while one that's too high does little good. The arrangement is: valuable for light as well as for warmth because the young birds can feed 24 hours a day under the artificial illumination, and because rata won't bother them as long as the brooder is lit.
Brooder chicks are fed starter mash mixed with cornmeal or table scraps. I make waterers by punching a hole about half an inch from the top of a three-pound shortening can, filling the container with water, placing an aluminum pie or cake pan on top, and turning the whole thing upside down. Water trickles out of the tin to the level of the hole, and the pan is refilled automatically as the chicks drink.
When the biddies are three weeks old, I begin to turn them out for at least an hour a day. The time is increased gradually to condition the newcomers to take their place among young birds which have grown up here.
Most of my home-grown chicks are offspring of hens which are especially good at hiding their nests. If one of these crafty old gals is already setting when I find the eggs, I let her hatch them and raise the brood herself and some are such experts at concealment that I won't even know what they're up to until they appear with their new families. I feed the little ones extra cracked corn, but otherwise leave their care to the mothers. Since I keep only vigorous roosters, I know the biddies are of hardy stock and those which survive such a life are sure to be strong birds.
I don't set a hen myself unless I've obtained eggs which I think will improve my breed. When I do, I'll sometimes shut up the mother and her family for a week or so after hatching and feed them on grits, oatmeal, or table scraps. The chicks may be allowed to run loose while the hen is kept in (so she won't lead the young ones through wet grass) or all may be turned out, according to the weather. In any case, mama always furnishes warmth and protection at night.
The food my chickens eat is very important to my customers, and I keep careful check on anything that could cause an off flavor in their meat. Nothing with a fishy smell; for instance, is allowed on the premises. I also cut weeds before they mature, because one kinda member of the genus Crotalaria-bears seeds which I'm told are poisonous to fowl. (Several species of this genus occur in the southeastern United States. The most familiar is Crotalaria sagittalis or rattlebox, which produces yellow flowers shaped like those of the garden pea followed by the seedpods which give the plant its common name. I haven't been able to learn for sure which species, if any, are toxic to poultry, and would be pleased to receive more information.-MOTHER.)
