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Poultry, Pet and Live Stock . _ _ Section of= , = The Atlanta Georgian ' . AND NEWS • DEVOTED TO POULTRY* PET AND LIVE STOCK, PIGEONS AND KENNEL ■ ATLANTA, GA„ SATURDAY, JUNE 17, 1911. POULTRY WORK AT THE MICHIGAN. STATE COLLEGE A Description of the Equipment Furnished the Poultry Department at This College—Economical Method of Brooding Chicks— Food Given Chicks and Fowls—The Poultry Courses—Service.Poultry Department Is Trying to Render Farmers of Michigan H. L. KEMPSTER in Reliable Poultry Journal Poultry * work at the state colleges i throughout the country .has been increas- j ing during the last tew years and the indications are that during the next tew years the growth will be even more rapid*. We quote the following from the report of the A. P. A. committee on college work: • “At the end of our first year's work. 1906-1907. it was reported to us that there were eleven men teaching poultry in' the United States and Canada. This year. 1908-1909. we have 65 teaching poultry and 42 investigating.** Realizing the importance of poultry on the general farm and also the possi bilities for poultry as a commercial field, there was established at the Michigan State Agricultural college in 1906 a department of poultry husband ry. A visit to this department would leave no doubt that it has been a de cided success and that its popularity Is gradually Increasing. A great deal of the credit for the success of the work so far must be given to Mr. J. G. Halpln, wfco left last summer to take charge of a similar department at the University of Wisconsin. The writer, now in charge of the poultry depart ment here, hopes that he may carry on as successfully the work started by Mr. Halpln. The college is located three miles east of Lansing* The campus consists of about 80 acres; the whole farm of about 700 acres. The students at the college number about 1,500 for the whole year. There are several courses of instruc tion. fitting the student for almost* any branch of agriculture or engineering that he may wish to take up, and there is also the home economics course for girls. Should the visitor follow one of the walks he would soon come within 1 sight of a large bqllding known as “The New Agricultural Building.” Ini this building Is the main office of the I poultry department. “Chlckenville,” or I * this* poultry yards, is located within a - few rods of the main grounds, so that It is /easily accessible to the students : and visitors. The poultry department covers an area of four acres with prac- * tically unlimited area for range for the growing chicks. There are 550 running 1 >et of buildings, consisting of thirteen colony brooding houses, one exhibition * house 16x84, one laying house 18x180. three colony laying houses 14x24. one Incubator cellar and feed house. It is J* located on a knoll of sandy soil, the yards sloping to the south and east, making it an ideal place on which to keep poultry. To the right as you ^ass toward the' - Incubator house Is a yard used for brooding purposes, which in the spring Is covered with little active chicks. Dur ing the brooding season, small colony * houses are grouped together in a con venient manner for the brooding work. The Incubator house is a plain building with a well-ventilated cellar contain ing several makes of incubators. The second floor is used as a laboratory with an adjoining office and dormitory rooms for the assistant. Just beyond the incubator house is a laying house used for the exhibition of stock, prac tice pens for students and breeding pens. This house is 16x85 feet and has seven 12x12 pens with an alley-way in the rear. Koch pen contains a different variety or mating.. The next house Is the long laying house; 18x180 feet. It la a commercial house, divided into ten pens, connected by swinging doors, but there Is no al ley-way. because It would talcs up the room. In this house the muslin front method of ventilation Is used. The front of each pen Is 71-1 feet high and II feet wide. In the center is a glass door consisting of two nine-light windows. 3x2 feet, making a door 2x6 feet On hinged at the top so that it can be hung up during the day If desired. There is hardly a day but that one of these frames is raised, thus making the air fresh and maintaining an even tem perature in the house. These frames are 3x5 feet and are 31-2 feet from the floor, so that when open the air circulates over the birds, but there is no draft on them. The interior of each pen is simple. All furnishings are portable so they can be easily cleaned. The roosts or drop pings boards are three feet from the floor a^. the back of the house. The nests are hung on the walls in sections and are so arranged that a hen can enter from the rear. A door in the front lets down to permit the removal of the eggs. The darkened nest is very satisfactory The yards are practical, being 36 feet wide, or twice as wide as each pen. They run both north and south. This affords & yard for each pen and during the summer the pens are doubled up so that one yard may be growing green stuff while the other is used. Connected with this house is a feed house, work shop and killing room, where the student mixes feed, makes fixtures or kills and dresses poultry for the market. Off to the east ore three experiments houses, known as the farmers* houses, because .designed to meet the needs of the general farmer. They have been used as experimental houses in house construction work. They have the muslin frame for venti lation. the frame * taking the place of one sash of the window. Practical Brooding Methods. The method of brooding Is one that impresses the visitor and it Is so prac tical that he can not help carrying, away' some suggestions for bis own use. A great proportion of the poultry of this state Is raised on the farm and not in quantities that will permit the use of large hot water brooder systems. With this In mind the colony house method of brooding was established. Small colony bouses. 8x12 feet with a 6-foot front and 4-foot rear, with an ordinary shed roof, are used. These houses have two 2x3 windows in the front and a door. They are large enough to accommodate two Indoor brooders or hovers, which makes the brooding capacity of each bouse about 120 chicks. The hovers are preferred because they are more economical. These houses are built on runners so they can be drawn from one place to another. Aj soon as the chicks are large enough to do without heat, the house on the range, during the sum mer. In the winter they can be used as store houses or breeding pens, so that they are not idle at any time of the year. That they are practically as cheap as outdoor brooders and are use ful at all times. Is a strong argument in their favor. The stock consists of Light Brah mas, Barred and White Rocks, Brown and White Leghorns, Partridge and White Wyandottes, Pekin and Indian Runner ducks. There are other varie ties which are used only for class room work and not for breeding. The larger part of the stock consists of White Leghorns, but the other varieties equal them in quality and are of sufficient quantities for practical use. • Methods of Feeding at College. The method of feeding the laying stock is very simple and effective. A scratch food is given morning and night In a heavy straw litter, thus com pelling the hens to exercise. Practical ly twice as much is fed at night as In the morning, th& aim being to keep the birds active during the day and to sup ply enough so they can have full crops at roosting time. The scratch food va ries with the price of grains, but is ap proximately equal parts of cracked corn and wheat. Sometimes wheat screen ings are substituted, or barley or oats added, but not In large quantities. At noon a dry mash is fed which consists of equal ports, by weight, of bran, mid dlings, cornmeal and beefscrap. Green food Is supplied by feeding beets and cabbage. Grit and oyster hsells are before them at all times. Green bone Is fed about twice & week during the winter. By affording a va riety of food, plenty of fresh air and good, clean water, one has gone a long way toward egg production. About 2,500 chicks are raised each y$ar. Their first feed Is fine grit. After being removed to the brooder com mercial chick food is scattered in the litter of clover chaff in the brooder, about twice a day. This chick food is used until the chicks are large enough to eat cracked com and wheat. In ad dition to the chick food a mash consist ing of bran and raw egg is fed about three times a day until the chicks are four weeks old, when they are given more In quantity at less fqeruent per- rlods. The first week the mash con sists of bran and raw eggs, tho Infertile and cracked eggs being thus disposed of. The egg is stirred In the bran and Is diluted with a small amount of wa ter to make It crumbly. At the end of the first week a small amount of bone- meal, com meal, beef scrap and pow dered charcoal is added. The amounts of these are gradually increased until at the end of four weeks the mash con sists of equal parts «of bran, middlings and com meal, and one part consist ing of beef scrap, bone meal and char- coal. Crumbly mashes are fed until the chick has learned to use the hopper feed and then they are discontinued. As soon as possible the chicks are re- znoved to the range, preferably to an orchard or edge of a com field where the chicks can have plenty of shade, fresh, clean ground and access to in sects. One can not overestimate the importance of shade and where arti ficial shade Is necessary, sunflowers ore hard to beat and they also furnish con siderable feed. % The Poultry Course. , The student Is Impressed with the practical features of the course given. It is necessary to learn the practical, then they are better prepared for the higher work. With this in mind the courses In poultry were designed. The person who specializes In poultry is re quired to take the course outlined for a whole year’s work. This Is taken dur ing the senior year when the student Is best prepared and It occupies three hours a day, including lectures and practice work. At the end of the year the student has cared for mar ket stock and laying hens. Incubators and brooders and learned how to build and plan poultry houses—In fact, he is in a position to start a poultry farm of his own or to run someone rise’s. There are others who are not able to take the regular college course, but who are anxious to obtain poultry instruc tion. For them there is a special short course extending over a period of right weeks. This course covers thfi same Held as the first, but is not as thorough, nor does the student obtain the practice work. In this course are a lot of men who Intend to go into poultry raising as a profession and they are able to obtain a great deal of gpod. Realising the importance of poultry on the farm, there is another course especially for the graduate who expects to go back on the farm—a lecture course extending over eleven weeks and dealing with the care and management of farm poultry. ' Throughout the year the department assists In other courses by giving lec tures on breeds, feeding and general farm poultry. Special features are put on during the year. The college poul try show has come to be an annual af fair when the student learns how to prepare, show and judge poultry. He also gets acquainted with other poui- trymen. such as judges and exhibitors, who usually make him more enthusi astic. Representatives are sometimes called on to judge the poultry ex hibitions at the fall fairs. Bach year the institute train makes a trip of near, ly two weeks, during which time lec tures and demonstrations along poultry and other lines are given. Excursion Wf*k * at the colege is a regular event and people flock in by the hundreds to visit the departments in which they are most interested. Special efforts are put forth to entertain vis itors at that time. -In addition there Is the daily visitor and the farmers* insti tute work, so that the Influence of the poultry department is extended throughout the state. , There Is some experimental work being carried on. At present those In charge of the department are endeavor ing to learn and meet the needs of tho greatest number of people. "How to Improve Poultry" Is the slogan and this includes housing, yarding and summer care. These are the problems that they are trying to solve. The Importance of cleanliness, fresh yards, etc., are a few of the things that .they are , trying to teach poultry raisers. A few minutes spent at the depart ment Is worth hours of reading. So much can be absorbed In a moment, se many details that can not be mentioned can bo seen at a glance. Problems are constantly confronting us. How to meet them Is the work of the depart ment. More and better poultry is tho object. How to get more returns at less cost, how to reach more people, how to do more good, how to make the peo ple realise the possibilities and Impor tance of the poultry part of their busi ness, are only a few of the things that the poultry department of the Michigan Agricultural college Is endeavoring to accomplish. each aid* of tho door Ui an opening borers sre removed, roosts sis put in flttsd. with s muslin frame which Is sad the bouse ess be used ss s colony