Pe 2a Seo ” Fs Worlds Best Rhode Island Reds Single and Rose Winners at Winners at Chicago Fort Wayne Cincinnati Toledo Indianapolis Grand Rapids Kansas City~ Michigan State Milwaukee Illinois State Detroit Tri-State WARD SBURG. AN) CHICAGO KING WHAT THEY SAY “Edwin R. Cornish, the CHAMPION WINNER ON REDS at the 1908 Chicago Show.”—JUDGE FRANK HECK. “He (Chicago King) is the finest bird, the best RED I have ever seen.”—JUDGE THOS. F. RIGG. Editor THEO. HEWES said in INLAND POULTRY JOURNAL that he fully agreed with Judge Rigg’s estimate of CHICAGO KING. “There are among your flock two females which if mated to these males (still in my yards) would produce Reds the equal of which the world has never seen.’—JUDGE THOS. F. RIGG. IN SEASON Eggs for hatching, $2 to $20 per fifteen eggs. Baby Red Chicks $30 per 100 and up. Breeeders for sale at end of hatching season. HIGH GRADE EXHIBITION STOCK FURNISHED EXHIBIT- © ORS. Breeding pens carefully mated at reasonable prices, pairs, trios, pens. All stock sold on approval. Book orders ahead for eggs, chicks and stock. Edwin R>5 Cornish Edwardsburg, -“Michigan TWO YEARS ga = Wh > POULTRY ILLUSTRATED pace FIFTY CENTS PUBLISHED BY THE POULTRY TRIBUNE MOUNT MORRIS, ILLINOIS 5 a APT no et COPYRIGHTED + ai ee ties va * = akan 96 gaa ; : te ¢ ont, Fern, A Sy ‘? ; HIS work is intended to render assistance to the average poultry raiser of this country, those who annually grow, or ex- pect to grow, from fifty to one or two thousand birds each year, either for the fancy trade or market or for both. Con- sequently we do not take up or attempt to ex- plain or describe large market plants such as are to be found in some sections of the country or their mode of operation, believing that one who contemplates such an establishment should serve a "personal apprenticeship" on such a plant in order to become qualified to profitably conduct an establishment of that nature. In choosing the title for this work we have found it necessary to assume that we are taking the beginner in poultry culture through his first two years, hence "Two Years With Poultry," but the following pages will be found replete with information, hints and ideas of great value to the ee ————————— great majority of poultry people, belonging to the above class, whether beginners or those of many years experience and wherever located, east, west, north or south, on the farm; in the village or _ ES suburban home. ON i ee CHAPTER | The Start—Hints On Buying Foundation Stock— Selecting a Location About the first definite information the prospective poultry keeper will “which variety?” The stereotyped advice which has been given for years by those considered as authority is to choose the variety which pleases you most, and this advice is good in the main. However, one who expects to derive a goodly portion of the revenue from his flock from the market pro- duce of the same (meat and eggs) will do well to avoid the more “fancy” varieties, while on the other hand, one who expects to derive his revenue al- most entirely from the sale of breeding and exhibition stock and eggs for hatching can with profit and great pleasure take up the very varieties dis- carded or passed up by the first mentioned beginner. Then again, those so situated that it is a hardship, financially or otherwise to procure absolutely pure bred fowls for a start may content themselves for a time with grade birds, or so called “scrubs” and at the present very remunerative prices for market poultry and particularly market eggs, can not fail to make a satis- factory showing on the right side of the account, if they are given. right care and food, as indicated in the following pages. However such a be- ginner will soon be in shape and have a very strong desire to discard his grades and replace them with the pure breeds and can readily do so. But . remember, much time will be saved and great increase will be made in the profits if the pure breeds are secured in the beginning for a foundation, or start. Besides much more pleasure will be derived from a flock as “alike as peas” in color, form and disposition, all requiring the same care, food and treatment instead of some being hustlers and able to handle -almost unlim- ited food without becoming too fat, while others are sluggish and require careful feeding of the right foods to prevent them becoming too fat to be profitable as layers. Another query of many beginners is “When shall I start?” and our re-. ply would be whenever you are ready and able to properly care for your birds, even if only a very few are procured at first. Tens of thousands of residents of cities and towns could, if they would, keep ten to twenty hens in their back yards and feed them almost entirely on the clean, sound waste from the kitchen and table and a few hens thus kept would prove great providers of “absolutely fresh” eggs for the table. They would not lay “cold storage eggs.” Those who aim to breed the pure breeds, not only for the market pro- duce, but also for sale for breeding purposes, will do well to make a com- mencement by purchasing some gocd birds in the fall, either early, young birds or yearlings. Good yearling breeding birds can always be purchased at this time, at very reasonable prices and will prove excellent breeding birds for the following season, as well as good winter layers, if properly cared for. Buying eggs from a reliable breeder will prove a cheap and satisfactory way of beginning, if frcm any cause a start has not: been made in the fall. Of course there is more of the element of uncertainty in buying eggs than. in buying stock, but it is a good gamble, the buyer will have more good birds to show for his money than he could buy at that time for the same © 6 TWO SMB ARS) Wala iniie © easly: money. Some twenty years ago when the White Plymouth Rocks were first brought out, the writer bought two settings of eggs from one of the originators, paying $6.50 for them and in the fall sold $25 worth of birds and refused $50 for a pen of birds he desired to keep. There are many instances occur every year which would show even greater returns from buy- ing gocd eggs for hatching. It is also a good plan for the one who makes his start in the fall with stock to purchase a few settings elsewhere in spring and thus raise two families of birds, without the expense of keeping two breeding pens. This applies particularly to the small breeder whose means or room are limited. . To sum up, we would say, choose the variety which is designed by nature to fill your wants. If it is meat and eggs both that you want, then choose. some of the American, French or Asiatic varieties, if eggs principally, then take up the Leghorns, Minorcas, Anconas, etc., and if you care more to cater to the extreme fancy, then the various varieties of Polish, Hamburgs, etc., will fill the bill for you, and, also, bear in mind that these latter will make a very respectable showing as egg producers if given proper care. Buy stock with which to start if you can, and if you are prepared to house them properly, or failing to get started with stock, do not hesitate to purchase eggs for a beginning, since if cared for as directed in a following chapter, your chance of producing chicks to a value far exceeding the first cost of the eggs is extremely good. TMVOmVEARS WITH. POULTRY == CHAPTER II House Building—Plans for Houses Adaped to Various Climates and Locations ~ About the first definite information the prospective poultry keeper whi need will be on the location and construction of houses suited to his means, location and needs and we give in this chapter very complete descriptions and illustrations of houses suitable for different locations, flocks and purses. House No. 1. The first house we present was built and used by Mr, Richardson of Iowa; This is a combination incubator, brooder. storage and breeding house, and is described by him as follows: The main building is 16 feet wide (outside measure) and 7 feet to the eaves. It may be of any length desired. One end is for the brooder plant, the other for the breeding pens, and between is the storage and heater room, which is 16 feet wide. On the north of the storage and heeter room is a room 8x16 feet, divided into bins. The incubator cellar is under the storage and feed rooms, and is 14x22x7 feet (inside measure,) is walled with stone, the wall being 12 inches thick. For the remainder of the house the foundation is made of concrete, as this will last a lifetime without the usual repairs which are necessary in tem- porary buildings that are generally erected. It will also be rat proof and will not rust out like wire netting which is sometimes sunk into the ground as a protection against vermin. It should be 12 inches thick and reach far enough into the ground to be below frost, and extend above the ground about 6 inches. Sills, 4x4 inches are notched and spiked wherever they join. Studs, 2x4 inches and two feet apart are toe-nailed to sills and held in place at top by plates and ties 2x4 inches. The ties are also 2 feet apart, and on the un- der side of them are nailed the ceiling boards. The rafters are 2x4 inches, 2 feet apart, cut to give the roof one-third pitch, are spiked together at top, and tce-nailed to plates. The sheeting is of 4-inch boards laid 2 inches apart, in case shingles are used for covering; but if roofing felt is used they should be fitted closely together. A hall four feet wide runs along the north side of the building, entire length. In this is laid a track to carry feed to troughs. The outside of studding is covered with building paper, and sided up with drop siding; the inside is covered the same way and boarded with ship lap. The ceiling over breeding and brooder pens'is 4 inch boards laid 2 inches apart, and the ceiling over the storage and feed rooms is ship-lap fitted closely together. The loft over breeding and brooder pens is filled with straw, g TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY which will absorb and hold moisture arising from the fowls and prevent the pens from becoming damp. In both ends of the loft is a door for putting in and taking out the straw. These are opened on nice days, and in this way will let the moisture which has accumulated escape. Floor timbers over cellar are 2x8 inches, 2 feet apart. Upon these is laid matched flooring. The floor of the feed bins is laid slanting so that it may not be necessary to enter bins in order to get the grain when bins are run- = ETT TET TT SIT TTT A (ig) a Zs LGA | ‘; Poor ee a” wine FEED Bin Es) ay 3” CONCRETE. Elevation epitnandecd House. ning empty. The floor of hall is also made of matched flooring. The floor of pens is of earth filled in to lower edge of sills. The cellar floor is of cement. The chimney is of brick with 4 inch walls, leaving a hole 4x8 inches for passage of smoke. The chimney rests on the cellar wall and runs up partition between storage room and brooder pen. At the bottom an open- ing 8x8 inches is left for soot,pan, and ventilation of cellar. The windows in the front of pens slide in between outer and inner walls. These are single sash. On the outside are placed solid board doors, hinged TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY ee at side, to be closed on very cold winter nights. On the inside are placed frames covered with muslin, hinged at top so that they may be fastened up to the ceiling when not in use. When down and windows open they will virtually make the house an open scratching shed and roosting pen com- bined. Windows in incubator cellar are hinged at top and swing in. Win- dows along hall are double and push in between the outer and inner walls. / / s/f ey / ; Wi Yy YW Uy / // / Mh i. : / A\ A, PME St bf ff > End Elevation of Breeding Pen Section ‘‘Richardson’’ House. Doors three feet wide are placed at each end of hall. and one in south end of storage and heater room. The doors in the partition between the pens and hall are 3 feet wide, covered with muslin. The openings into feed bins along the hall are closed with loose boards sliding in grooves at either end. The door in rear of bins is 2 feet wide and 16 feet long, hinged at bottom, Partitions between breeding pens are wire netting covered with muslin and are placed 12 feet apart. The muslin will prevent draughts. The nests are of a size and depth suitable for variety of fowls kept, and are 18 inches 10 PWOUYEARS WITH POUL Ry above the floor and under dropping board. Below the nests the partition is of slats so that the fowls can eat ircm trough in’ hall’ Abowesthe drop- ping board door, the partition is of muslin. In the front 95f each pen, directly under the window, is the dust box, 2x4 feet. The water fountain is placed in hall at end of feed trough. A grit box-is placed in every other partition SO as to accommodate two pens each, and also to save time in filling. STORAGE AND 0 eee HEATING ROOM Be G Ese i > a eon HEATER ooo wa se eee : Taga 2 ROP BOARD W ww Ground Plan of “Richardson” House. ing pens. This allow for young fowls, after Scrathing floor GRIT Box i PEGE: zs was 2 Ground Plan of “Richardson” House. House No. 2, This is a log house described by Mr. Gorline, of Utah: The beginner must prepare suitable quarters, and possibly the old timer may have to rebuild or put up additional houses for increasing numbers of stock, In any event the two yital points of consideration are economy and ENO UME AN SW Ere) POUL TRY 11 the comfort of the birds. If we may combine the greatest comfort at the least expense, we are far on the way to ultimate success in poultry keeping. Warm, comfortable quarters for the fowls must be had at all events; to at- tain this result few poultrymen can afford to go to greater expense than is absolutely necessary. The greatest number of any class engaged in poultry keeping are the farmers and farmers’ wives. Each year more or less straw Log House Described by Mr. Corline. a NE &. Door oe End Elevation of Mr. -Corline’s House. is produced, and if timber is within hauling distance, these—straw and tim- ber—are two factors in the successful housing of poultry that are unexcelled for cheapness and comfort. A log house 8x10, 7 feet high in front and 6 feet high in the rear, will afford ample roosting accommodations for 35 or 40 ike TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY hens; build the house of logs at least 12 inches in diameter and chink the cracks with mud; place the building to face the south and cut a doorway in the southeast corner of the building, opening to the south, with a win- dow in the east side; for the roof use ordinary poles piled high with straw, and as the straw settles replenish it occasionally before bad weather sets in. On the south and east and adjoining this building construct a scratching shed of poles—four upright forked poles set in the ground like posts to sup- _ port the cross poles—piling the straw close and high on the west and north, and on top of the shed. Such a house and shed may be constructed by any farmer at an outlay of not exceeding $2.50 in actual cash—being cost of sash and a few nails and door hinges—in regions where the logs may be had for the hauling. A wagon load or two of fine, sharp sand should be dumped on the floor of the roosting quarters, and above the floor, two feet above the ground, the roosts may be constructed of poles three inches in diameter with the bark peeled off and all knots trimmed smooth, the squared ends of the roosts resting on cross cleats nailed to the logs on opposite sides of the, building, so that they may be readily taken out once a week and coaloiled with a whitewash brush. Grit and shell boxes and a water fountain in the scratching shed are essential, and a large dusting box filled with dry road dust and ashes placed where the sun will strike it is necessary. If roosting quar- ters are cleaned once a week—the droppings taken out, the floor resprinkled with ashes or sand and the roosts oiled—no building of any kind, at any cost, will excel this simple affair in the comfort it will afford, nor can any build- ing be constructed at any cost to which the birds will take more naturally or in which they will be more contented. They will make their nests in the straw sides of the scratching shed and will work in the straw, on the floor, and sing and sheil out the eggs all winter. These houses should be built on the colony plan and the number increased from time to time to accommodate the increase of flocks. For the town or city poultryman a building 8x10 may be constructed of 2x4’s—7 feet in the rear and 8 feet in front, boarding up the four sides and roof with 1x12 common, with a door for entrance in the west and a window in the east, with a transom containing three panes of glass to swing upward at the top facing the south; line the inside with tarred felt, and batten the cracks on the outside and cover the roof with prepared roofing. On the south side of this building construct a scratching shed 8x10, framed of 2x4’s and boarded with 1x12 common, and batten cracks. The front of the building will be the north side of the scratching shed, thus saving the lumber for one side; the shed should be 5 feet high where it joins the building and slant to the south to a height of three feet. “On the east and west sides of the shed should be a good sized window to admit the sunlight morning and even- ing, and the south end of the shed may be swung on hinges so that it may be raised in pleasant weather and closed tight in stormy weather. In the buildings the roosts should be constructed of ordinary 2x4’s with corners planed off and supported by cleats nailed lengthwise with the north and south sides of the building. Have a door in the east side of the shed adjoining the building, which may be left open in mild weather and to allow the at- tendant to enter to gather the eggs from boxes constructed along the north wall; in the northeast corner of the building cut a small door 10x12 to allow the fowls to go from roosting room to shed. The dust box, shell box, grit box and fountain should be set high enough to keep the litter out of them. The entire cost of such a building should not exceed $20. Any man handy with tools may construct such a building at iess cost—or simply at the cost of material. This house will be found warm and comfortable even in zero weather, and I have yet to see a frosted comb where fowls were housed in such a building. i EWOr YEARS (WiTH POULTRY 13 House No. 3. The builder of the following house is Mr. Stegensn: I will give a general descriptizn of the sketches of poultry house I send you. The house is to be built facing the south and can be made any length desired, each pen being a duplicate of the other. They are 8 feet wide and will accommodate 25 fowls; some people might put 35 in but I will not rec- ommend more than 25. But the length of the house is determined by the number of fowls to be housed. The house is 24 feet wide, 6 feet high and has a gable roof 6 feet high at the center. The foundation is of concrete, 6 inches wide with a two-inch air space in center. This can also be made solid, or be a stone foundation, but ncne of them are so good as the one with an air space in it, it takes less concrete and is very little harder to make. The foundation is 3} feet in the ground and 1 foot above. This gets HS¥S-0/x$—-1HDI7-Tl ~ MOTNIM =. g FT ACCOMMODATING 15 Fowss [Ke 2X4 FOR GUPPORTING PROPPIRGS— BOARD gSa< WATER WSJ Fountain /, SEE Sa | Ee 777777 | aE | a ean ee | ieee Ae WINDOW (CONE FOR EVERY 2 PENS Ground Plan of Mr. Stegeman’s House. it low enough to be under the frost line and consequently will not settle as it would if it were not so deep. Being 1 foot above the ground, allows the inside to be filled with sand or ground 1 foot high. If sand is used, which is the better, then dust boxes must be provided. The reason I don’t use sand is because it is pretty expensive and I have to buy all mine. The dirt is also banked up against the outside so as to run off most of the water. 14 TWO VEARS” Wie APO Uline: If, after the foundation is made, small stones are put in front of it, about 4 to 6 inches deep, the whole of the foundation under ground, and then the dirt put on top you will have the best foundation obtainable. On top of the foundation lay a 2x6, which is firmly held to the foundation by bolts previously placed in the concrete. The walls are double, 2x4 studd- ing being used. The outside is drop siding put on horizontally, the narrower kind being the better. The back of this siding is covered with neponset paper and the inside wall is plastered. After putting on the laths half way, pack the wall with straw, and then finish lathing to within a few inches from the top and finish packing wall. The ceiling is only 1-inch boards laid on top of the joists in the ceiling. Plaster that also, leaving a manhole above each pen so that the moisture can get up into the straw. The gable is filled with straw from 1 to 2 feet thick, the boards holding it being 2 inches apart. This straw keeps the coop warm in winter and cool in summer, and & ROOF GOVERED WITH MATCHED Pp LUMBER AND THEN WITH Ves, ROOFING FELT (PAROIN) Ve, ‘2 Lefr Floor Covered | foD Fe thick With Sfraw 12-8 X10 Ligh! Sash 1 in each end SPAGED 3 ff APART yy X SIDES AND ENDS PACKED WITH STRAW reese. SSSR Sos RRO 4. ESCSOSOSOS 2 2509 SRK SEK LS L5 SOS? “4 <2 CSL St 5 LKR ISL OST SLRS 94 0 Ss SOS $250] 44 Fr boor for cleanin | I Ts SRO handling SSSR Fowis eeceneees PATH NEST ar. SLES] Night) BSONSSLSLI 3 SSS : BSG} < SSSR Riis | Ne astied, 4 PATH pls (5 g athering eggs XY OKA ON CX OX, et . KS \) RR (x) 4 Nao < se SOSSS SSO SOS SPSS OSES OSOSS 9: XX PS > Wood es i oe End Elevation of Mr. Stegeman’s House. FOR CLEANING DROPPINGS Boaml| SNAP HOOK FOR GATHERING GAS fC | nee Pea find Diana uta: ace FOR GATHERING EGGS ~ | ee ce Plan Mr. Stegeman’s House. also absorbs all the moisture in winter. In each end of the gable put a window, which should be opened on nice days and soon dries the straw. The roof is covered with matched lumber and covered with Paroid roofing. This is the best roof I have ever seen. In the rear of the house and running the full length, is an alley way 3 feet wide, on the north side of which can be placed individual coops for cocks, coops for hatching and all utensils hung. There is a window for every two pens on this side of the house. These windows are all made double. These pens are divided by a partition which is solid boarded, 44 feet from alley way, PWO~ YEARS “WITH POULTRY 15 to prevent drafts from hitting birds while roosting, and for two feet high the rest of the length of the pen. Above this is a 2-inch wire netting. The boards also prevent fighting between the pens. There is a door between each pen at the south end and one entering each pen from the alley way. The doors of two pens are always together, as seen in plan. We can there- by use one water fountain for two pens, and save labor in filling, etc. In the south end, there is a window in the center of each pen as high as I can get it. The exit into the yard is built close to the fence; the exits for two pens always close together. This will enable you to use a low covered runway in winter, which can be placed against this exit and in this way have an outdoor scratching shed. I use portable fences and remove them in the winter. My covered runways are also portable, but I will de- scribe them some other time. The roosts are 6 inches above a dropping board. which is four feet above floor. This gets the birds up high as they should be, and keeps them warm in winter. My roosts are low above the boards as this prevents the fowls from crawling under and getting dirty. Under the dropping boards are the nests, two tiers of them, with a passageway in front. This passageway is made of boards to keep the nests dark. The nests are 18 inches above the floor, thereby leaving the whole floor for scratching. There is'a drop board in rear of each dropping board. which hooks on ceiling, enabling me to clean roosts and handle birds at night from alley way. The same kind of a door is in the rear of all nests for gathering eggs. Trap nests can be used in the same manner, except that one large door in the rear will be best for handling fowls. Doors entering pens are in halves, the upper half held to lower by a bolt. When feeding grain I open only the upper half to pre- vent fowls from running out. In summer I take this door off and replace by wire screen door. All windows are hung from top and swing out. This keeps out rain in summer. Sketches are to scale, each square representing six inches each way. House No. 4. This is a description of the house of Mr. Smith, of Florida, which is admirably designed for the southern climate: Size of the house inside is 10x16 feet, 8 feet to ridge, 4 feet at back and Guiece at jront. Door, 3x6 feet, can be put in either end and roosts be. put in opposite corner. The ends and back are made solid of matched boards. wy » 0°. 0UAV.05 AVAL UNLV. USAW 00807 ON RRNA aX ROXOINY XO OXON XSXR » POULTRY NETTING ; , 6 WAX LEI OO VAX XA A UX YY SIR SAHA ISAK NE RHI eS LIND Soe Se "EXIT Exit igin SQ cue FRONT Front Elevation Mr. Smith’s House. The front is 33 feet solid of matched, boards, 2 feet of poultry netting any size mesh desired, (I use the regular 2 inch) and 6 inch board at top for facing. 16 EWO) YEARS” WAC rie POUL hoe The roof projects one foot all around and in front a little more, so no rain blows in through the netting. A burlap curtain can be used.during the cold weather and cheese cloth during the mosquito season. No drop board is used, the droppings being confined to a 6-inch board (OFT soe Sa A ee 3 pe ceo | hags= 2 bet. een | = | > ROOST pore G Fr | |® Hee Ease = > ae HOST GFT i a | Lo} ans St im * H = ! =z Nee RoosT POLE a) | oS c =z G c Boars 41% ABOVE GROUND NESTS 18'N SQUARE exit ; zis Mg in SQ Ground Plan Mr. Smith’s House. sunk about 3 inches in the dirt floor and 18 inches outside of roost poles. Roost poles are made of 2x3 rounded on the 38-inch side set in mortise on rack and easily moved for cleaning. q 3X 6 Door Rer ‘(ORT End Elevation Mr. Smith’s House. Nests can be made solid or of orange boxes, (I use orange boxes) and should be a foot above the ground. An 18-inch platform gives a three-inch DO eM BARS = WITH: POULLRY 17 projection with the orange box nests. The grit, shell and beef scrap boxes or an automatic feed box, can be placed in the end with the door. Water foun- tains can be placed along side. The door should swing outward. The exits ‘are intended to be used alternately, as there are two runs to the house, one to be used while green stuff is growing in the other. _ As fowls have access to the yard the year around and house is used chiefly as a roosting room, this house will accommodate 20 to 30 fowls, according to variety. Bill for Material: 4 pieces, 2x4x16, for sills and plate; 2 pieces, 2x4x10, for sills; 2 pieces, 2x4x9, for end plates; 2 pieces, 2x4x44 for end plates; 1 piece, 2x4x18 for ridge plate; 3 pieces, 2x4x9, for rafters; 3 pieces, 2x 4x43, for rafters; 3 pieces 2x4x8, for center support; 4 pieces 2x3x9, for roosts; 1 piece, 1x6x17 for board to confine droppings; 350 square feet matched stuff for sides and eds; 2450 sq. feet boards for top; 250 sq. ft. roofing paper. The cost of material varies as does the cost of labor, so no definite sum can be named as cost for this building, which meets all the demands for a southern poultryman. = House No. 5. This house is used as a laying house, and has been in commission since 1904 by its designer, Mr. Sharman, of Illinois: The house is 16x50 feet, divided into five pens. Each pen is 10x16 feet, giving 160 square feet, all of which is available for scratching by raising the alley-way 18 inches. (See cross section Fig. 5.) The foundation of this house is constructed with the view of excluding rats and similar vermin, and is as follows: In a trench, dug to the proper hoor Graund Pfan Door eee Fee. ha _ Lol a a ee eee a ene en SS See 0 9 FRONT ELEVATION SOuTrH SE Pa ere ae ~ level, are laid two rows of brick, one row side by side and the other end to end; on these place 3-inch tiles, on end, close together (Fig. 6). On top of the tiling comes the foundation timber, 2x6 inches, on the outside of which 18 TWiOr VEARS WY Ei se O)UiMesliey is nailed sheet iron. This makes a foundation that is practically indestructible and not expensive. The tile costs 14 cents each, and it takes three fo the running foot, or 43 cents. The brick costs $7 per thousand and takes 43 to the . ERR OK XR? Or; SoS” “0 6? SSOSSERSSS SSS SEIS SSPE ER “ross Section ie aarman’s House. (€ Sect Mr. Sharma running foot or $3.15, making $10.10 cover the cost of brick and tile for the entire building. This expense can be avoided if desired, by substituting posts or any other support. The internal arrangements of the house, it is claimed, is convenient for the attendant and conductive to the health and comfort of the fowls. The roosts are on a #4-inch round iron rod, which is fastened to the drop- ping board by screws. The dropping board is hinged to the studding of the alley-way (Fig. 5) and is raised and lowered by a wire string, operated as a screw pulley, first letting down the door to the roosting room, which forms a slide way for the droppings to a receptacle below, which can be run along the alley-way on wheels. In front of the roostinesnee@mmmss a drop curtain for use in severe cold weather, which is operated by a string from the alley-way. The floor of the alley-way is made of 2x24 in., and 2x 6-inch pieces, with 2-inch spaces be- tween them, and the feed troughs are let up and down through a trap door. Cleaning the dropping board, feeding, and gathering the eggs, are all done from the alley-way. The walls of the building are made of 2x4 studding, tar paper and drop TWO sVEARS WEE POULERY 19 siding, and the roof covered with good roofing material. The inside cf the building is not lined, but the enclosed roosting rcom protects the fowls from drafts and at the same time gives excellent ventila- tion. Wire netting, 2-inch mesh, divides the pens between the roosting rooms and front of building. The windows are made to slide, two sash, four lights each 19x16 in., small doors front and back, leading to runs North sand soum OL the buildine to be used alternately. Runs are 10x75 feet: each: Grit boxes, dust boxes and water troughs, can be located and arranged to suit the ideas and conveniences of the operator, and can be fastened to the boards below the wire netting. The floors are of earth, covered with gravel. This building costs $149.66, including $10.40 labor bill, and lum- ber at the rate of $20.00 per M. House No. 6. This is a novel design by Mr. McMillin, of Pennsylvania: This hcuse is ten feet long by eight feet deep, eight feet high at the front and seven feet in the rear. The floor is 30 inches off the ground, which prevents dampness and allows all the original floor space. It also furnishes shade in the hot summer days and a place to scratch in the winter when the eround is covered with snow. The building faces the east, upon which side there is a door four feet wide by three and one half feet high, which is covered with cne-inch mesh poul- try netting and over this is drawn a curtain in the cold winters days. The south end has an ordinary window sash which is hung from the top on hinges and opens to the outside. The window can be placed at any angle, admitting any quantity of fresh air and at the same time preventing the rain from beating in during bad weather. This end has an opening for the fowls to pass in and out at their will. The west side contains one small window which opens to the inside and is used for ventilation, the occupants appre- ciate this very much during the warm summer nights. The north end is plain. The roof contains a trap door, 2x3 feet, which, when removed, permits the sun to enter for sanitary effect. Of course we all know how important this is. The interior contains nothing except the roosts which are made to ex- tend from front to rear, and are made of 1x3 inch pine in the following man- ner. The roosts proper are cut the proper length to fit from front to rear of building, allowing sufficient space at each end to keep them from binding. They are then nailed to slides upcn which they rest, marked “A,” the first one at the extreme end, the second one allowing a space of 15 inches, the third one in like manner. The guides are 54 inches long. The roost is then cut in the middle and joined together with two hinges. There are also two hinges attached to the ends opposite from the first roost, and these are fastened © rau) TWO XEARSY WaAEH “POUL ¥, to the north end of the house, the whole resting upon 2-inch strips fastened to either side of the building. Thus you can see the roost is a two-piece ar- rangement, and by taking hold of it in the middle can be folded up like a book and stood at one end of the house, this being very convenient when cleaning or doing any other kind.of inside work. You will notice that the hinges in the middle are placed upon the bottom side of roost and the end ones on the top, otherwise the roost would not close up properly. The cost of above materials differs so much in different localities it makes 1 it useless to put a figure upcn them. —$$——— SSS ——————————— (+f fa lar a West Side Mr. McMillen’s House. The nests are under the house and are of the “Trap” variety. They rest upon cleats fastened to the sides near top and these in turn fit into guides attached to floor of building, thus you observe they slide in and out from under the house, and as the cover of nest is in two pieces, it only requires the nest to be drawn out one-half its length, to release the hen and secure the egg. : This size is sufficient to accommodate twenty fowls. Since I have been using this style of house have had no signs of a sick chicken. I use one of these houses as a brooder by placing in it a small stove in which is used natural gas at a cost of twenty-five cents per month in the coldest weather. To build this house requires: 100 feet of 2x4 hemlock; 300 feet of 1x12 hemlock; 1 window sash and lights for same; 5 pounds of nails; 1 roll of tar paper. I can build a house of this description at a cost of less than $10.00; 1ex- clusive of my time. 21 TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY C eg SE ee o S 1S) ; \y? sy S i 6 si 3 2 a a - ies, oy NY x “x GO" TRAP DOOR 30 GAS SOUTH END South End Mr. McMillen’s House. ae DWO YEARS WIT POU LAN House No. 7. Mr. Trent, of Iowa, describes the following double house: This poultry house is 20x24 feet on ground, and 5 feet high on the side. This makes two nice apartments, which will be 10x20 feet with a 4 foot alley. The roosting part is 8x10, and scratching shed is 10x12 feet. Put the alley flcor about 2 feet from the ground, so the hens can run under it. Put the nests level with the alley floor. The nests are 12x12 inches inside and 14 inches high, so that when the hens are sitting, you can turn the nests around PI Netting amas ay ae fie Showing Construction of Mr. Trent’s House. so they can come off in the alley to feed, and the laying hens cannot bother the sitting hens. Put a 12-inch board along the feed trough, so the hens can fly up on this to eat their feed and drink their water, and your water and feed troughs will. always be clean. The windows above will keep the house well ventilated, and in the winter, the sun will shine on the roosts and floors and you have no draft over your fowls. Put in a 4-inch brick wall, 6 inches above the ground, and fill to the top of the wall with dirt. This will make a nice dry flaor and you will TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY 93 have no dirt. The lumber bill for a house like this plan, 20x24, 5 feet side, is as follows: EPMA ec cS en SS CO oe rlelen Cag COL ee eal gre Cle ee en $ 5.00 4, 4x6, 20 feet, sills; 11, 2x4, 16 feet long, rafters; 11, 2x4, 14 feet, short rafters; 11. 2x4, 10 feet, side studdings; 8, 2x4, 16 foe end studdings; 10, 2x4, 14 iaceaincide shuddinesy cee ae ae eee eee eas ks se 13.81 SC ARNO RST TITS ch o/h eae oe yale wiles cepias tog seth ane kee SE. @ wpa ney SE Bee te 23.04 MERA Hemmer CHAM IS ITC PEIN) Shas Fan PTT eee rete lasscouereanltele Aisi fellouailece ie ele Se o's 11.52 UCM eh, as oho he ie oo ok, ook cen cla tenia tule ee ted AS 11.50 RA Mea STC ELIS, TTS TC Ce ee ahead fet etchn wee ote Wa Bite bl abetaee lee nee e's 4.40 ennai inom PORTA SIT 2k de 2 ec we elm oe late ole a tp) why See tte Se eee ep? 6.00 $70.27 If you desire to line it inside, add 768 feet of ship lap, which will cost 14.08 $84.35 Scratching Shed Serdtchingdhied 10:X 12 [0X12 PlotForm = 19 reieel : Plot Form eR J | PLOOR I PRANE jouw. 2 Alley ae D ahs Nests eeu Py ca, ki a Pia Form. | l | | | Roost “I Floor Plan of Mr, Trent’s House. 24 | TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY House No. 8. Mr. Davidson, of Indiana, gives the following description of his house, which is designed to accommodate from seventy-five to one hundred fowls: For a most convenient and serviceable poultry building for the accommoda- tion of 75 to 100 fowls, I call attention to the following description of my poultry house, and of modern improved fixtures for same. This building is 30x12 feet with 9 foot front and 6 foot back. It has an 8-inch raised dirt floor, with the 10x12 ft. room and 2x20 ft. hallway floofed with 1 inch oak. It is built to face the south, with three 3x4 ft. windows in the south side. (These windows have screens for exclusion of poultry enemies.) The building is made rat and varment proof by the use of 1 inch mesh, 18 inches wide poultry netting, which is extended into the ground 10 inches and up the side of the building 8 inches,—or to even with top of dirt floor. The cost, at prices of material here, is less than $35.00, with the same building, 20x12, costing but $21.00, as the floored 10x12 room may be left off at a. saving of $14.00. a as a Sian Bam DBCS OO 8: 3A) Exte rior View ~ Showing use of 184/*mesh galvanijed wire as USEDTo make house vat and he me Te it extends to" intoThe - ground and 8" Up ne side ff building Affer wine is placed ints proper placethe 10" ofearth is carey ully thrownback Cs wire and building. © Wire required 845% Mr. Davidson’s House. The floored room and hallway permit the keeping of feed, and a brood- er of chicks separate from flock of hens, and allows the handling of any or all of flock from roosts without entering their apartment, as well as the feed- ing of same from the same position. . The north partition of hallway is made of laths for four feet from floor, then 2 in. 6 ft. poultry netting to top of building. A swing gate 84 ft. long, (separated by ordinary 5 cent pulley) which passes over roosts and up to roof is shown in cut. The dropping board allows of easy cleaning, and permits the use of 80 square feet under and about the roosts as a scratching shed or floor. (Litter it 1 foot deep with straw, hay sweepings or other good litter). The exit door is so arranged that the flock may be housed or liberated at will from ra) Oru TWO VIEARSy WITH POULERY é: Yc feel ae Fes 3 ERiRView — Showing Nests—Roosts -Dropping Board-0 Uae jou ropping Doard- Dust Bath Feed Hoppers ~ Grit box~ Walerfourlain i -andhor is Opened and closedfrom yah oe A-NESTS. O- FEED Hoppers. “G-LINE oF Topof lathes. B-Roosts. E-pust BATH. H-sRit P-Ppuevs~ C-Dpoarn. F-ExT . FOR OPERATING W~ WATER. S-¥WALK BETWEEN RoosTsand War, 4 ff if => i] “<9, SOA a \| LC] = ie Rea: : OB rive CP iil, ( nTERIor View~Showing Swinging Wire saTe imme diate) orerorat southside of roosts the bottom of said gate being 14” abovetop of roosts.-A)so grain bins-G"flooresroomnfor Bran-Oots-Wheat-Corn Bene arley Swinggdle is OpERatedbypulley This swinggaleis hingedat top a LU ulley and Makes it Easy To Examine jos fromthe roosts while in alway, Fi b Should bep\deed on Top J Fig ¢ Eivplanatie te aR nesTframe for sup porting nests, a Lower tige of nests fromfloor Fig B shows one row of nests easily | removable in sectionsfor cleaning. Fig.c shows fig b. onfig a— showing hor the bolton of ones ection formsthe top of the lower one Views of Mr. Davidson’s House and Nest Arrangements. 26 DVO OY BARS © WoT POU hallway, (being rat proof when closed), and allowing of the use of but one door to the building. The windows are arranged to slide and have a screen covering for pro- tection when sash is withdrawn. The roosts, which are but 3 feet from floor, are easily removed for clean- ing and are so arranged as to permit of easy passage on all .sides. The dropping board is suspended by heavy wire, and so arranged with hooks that the lowering of either end for cleaning, (oi the entire removal of same), is but the work of a moment. The nests are provided in roomy boxes, arranged in sections, which make them easy to clean. They are large, dark, convenient, and near gate for entrance. in asker S| The ventilators have the required shape to throw the current of air up against the roof. They are also provided with a screen covering which also breaks up the current, and also protects the house from po enemies and sparrows. ee eee The bill for such a house with fixtures Ate pRiGes. On mate at Ne point is as follows: 800 ft. 1 in. oak, 500 ft. 2x4-——2x6—4x6 fet: @ $125...%)0.. $16.25 3 windows. @) $1.00) 2. sc.mhic i ee te pw. 3.00 84: ft. 18 in. 1-in. ‘mesh: wire’... 3 baleen jae cl ee ee ee 2.50 16OKSq. it: wite, for imsides.... o. Ly Sek oA Va a ia ng 1.50 Hinges, 40c, nails; 50c, screen witre,.20C ..cn...2..604. 00) ee 1.10 Roof—3 3-5 sas.) @ $2:25 wel. 2 ae ee an we al 8.10 Material. for, fixtures 2.252. 8000. el eae 1.35 Total. : fc ae cee oR SN Se ee $33.80 House No. 9. Mr. Metcalf, of Maryland, describes a house well adapted to that section of the country: I send you a photo of my new fresh air house and a description and draw-. ings of the same. I am not an artist, but hope this will give you a clear idea of the convenience, as well as the health giving qualities, the fowls will Floor Plan of Mr, Metcalf’s House, TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY oN have. No. 1 shows sections of the floor plan, where I keep, separately, the different breeds, as J admire more than one. The small wire represents open door made of wire, fastened with transom snaps. When I want one breed to run at large, I just pull the rope. inside which releases the spring locks and fastens the rope on hook. When the birds are in, I simply unfasten the rope and let it slack, and the weight of the door’s falling locks it with- out my going in the pen. The doors slide to go in pens. The back of the nest has an opening, so by simply walking up the aisle, I can collect the eggs without much trouble, as you can see at a glance which nests have eggs in, and the empty nests the hens enter from inside the pen. Below the nests I have laths nailed so the chickens can put their heads out in the aisle for a drink as I set buck- ets of water there fcr them. This also keeps the water clean from litter flying in from above nests. I have it wired, and the rope to open each pen hangs in aisle. Feed can be thrown in all the pens in a few minutes, for the chickens to scratch for. | No. 2 shows how roof is braced, also the rope to open the front doors, which are supposed to be always open, except in extremely cold weather, and then the wooden doors on the outside are left down. The roosts are movable across two strips, so they can be cleaned or new ones put in, if Fresh air Rope To. open och ait door : ! { I ! | ' | i) Showing Construction of Mr. Metcalf’s House. necessary. The top sash swings in and is left open, but has a wire back to prevent fowls from flying out. Lower sash raises. The lower doors and top sash being open causes a current of air and sunshine to circulate at all times, and it is surprising how clean and dry the litter keeps. You can see one of the wooden doors closed in the end. The two small doors between windows are for pigeons. The house is raised above the ground to give us 2 chance to get at the rats and keep above dampness. The floor is tongued and grooved, and filled in with white lead to prevent a draft. On the outside of figure No. 1, at bench, I have my bone mill and shell grinder, 28 | TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY The house is 24x18 feet. The birds roost in the back, above lower draft, and as the coop slants, it makes it warm in winter. This same plan can be used for a large flock of one variety, by simply leaving out the partitions. My chickens enjoy the house so much that they sometimes refuse to go out on Photo of Mr. Metcalf’s House. free grass range. They will go out and eat a little and then return and scratch in the litter. Sickness and lice are scarce articles. I believe that fresh air, sunshine and plenty of light frighten them away. Where/is no damp, wet litter, no dampness at all, like there was in the old closed house. House No. 10. Mr. McCormick, of Illinois, describes a very cheap and serviceable house which will especiaily interest the farmers: The illustration shown of a straw stack poultry house is probably the healthiest house that can be built. I built it two years ago, size 16x32 feet by 5 . ft. high, but may be made any dimensions to suit one’s wants. I set 8 ft. posts in the ground 3 feet deep, and 8 feet apart either way, thus using fifteen posts in the house. The south side is sided up with drop siding, with a large roomy door in the middle and two 2x3 windows on each side of door. On each end and on north side I have stretched 4 ft. wovén wire fencing. The top was made by laying 16 ft. logs both ways, using fifteen logs in all and on top of this was put brush to keep straw from going between logs. Now, [ am ready for the straw which was blown.on by a wind stacker when we threshed. ; I put eight or ten feet of straw on back and two ends, letting it come around in front as far as possible, so as not to cover any of the windows; enough straw must be put on to make a waterproof top. I threshed on it over a quarter of a day and it was at least 20 feet high when completed. Now we have the building complete except the inside which may be arranged any way to suit user, I allow to keep 150 hens in this house and get eggs the TW Oa ARS WEP Et POULTRY 29 year round. This house is never damp and there are no frosted combs; neither is there any foul air, always sweet and fresh. It is warm in winter and cool in summer, and my fowls are never sick in any form. The woven wire, put on before the straw. is absolutely essential, otherwise, the fowls will scratch out the straw in different places and steal away nests occasionally. This hcuse is the best, and cheapest that can be built, but if you are careless and let the lice get in it, it would be the worst to get them out of. I never have seen a louse or a mite of any kind in it. I keep Mr. McCormick’s Straw House. lice killing nest eggs in the nests at all times and aim to paint the roosts with lice paint every two weeks in warm weather and every four weeks when it is cold. This house cost $9.80 and is better than any house that can be built at any price. -I must say, however, that I did the wcrk myself and was able to get the logs and posts from a grove at home, so my only cost was for windows, drop siding and woven wire. The straw may be fed off to cattle or horses after winter weather is past and new blown on each threshing time, thus having a new house every year, SO. TWO. VEARS “WEEE? POUrPT RY House No. 11. This is a house built by Mr. Bowman, of Illinois, who had in mind the con- struction of a commodious one: -qaim™M aj 4000 v- ee The house illustrated is 136 ft. long and 20 ft. wide of which 128 feet is the poultry house, leaving a room 8x16 feet on the end for feed and storage. The foun- dation should be made either of brick or concrete as it will last a life time, need no repairs and be rat proof. The house ‘can be made any length and retain all the advantages shown, whether small or large. While this house is not the cheapest, it would be the cheapest in the end because of its durability and convenience. The attendant never needs to enter, pensmexecpr te clean the floors, put in new litter or gain access to the fowls as all the rest of the work is done from the hall. A four-foot hall is on the north side of the building. 7 = : | \I| 7 A small track is laid in the hall for a car to carry soft a 1 food to the trough in the hall. The nests are a foot “Winds » and a half from the floor and under the dropping board. } (I The space underneath the nests is slatted so the fowls can eat out of the trough in the hall. By opening the nest door the eggs can be gathered and put on the car. The droppings can be scraped into the car through the | dropping board door. The dropping) boands demain ty, | | AA, t} EAacH o00R 2fb WIDE. inches from the floor. Each roosting room is 6x8 feet and has a wooden floor, but cement would be better. A drinking fountain and grit box is in every second partition and serves the two, pens. A pipe from a tank should run from one fountain to another with a faucet at each end of the building so the flow of water can be regulated. The double doors between the roost- ing room .and scratching shed are two feet wide and | \ have a window with four lights near the top in each \\ 4 door. The doors can be hooked back out of the way, OQ h | see sips | FOUNDATION. No. 2, Bowman House. > Se shed during storms. It rolls up or ) i Oe Ch] POS AN down. The floor of the ‘shed is dirt STP S SES : | AES ESS and it makes a good place for the | Rio] PESOS OPES NSO fowls to dust themselves. Every pen or section is designed to hold twenty- five laying fowls when eggs for mar- NesT Door ' ket are wanted, or ten to fifteen fe- 8 ee SLATS: males and a male when eggs for (|) Pen I 8F G+. dd) 4, S | a | >) Gr | y : She i si ae Ty A ane iS SS VA weary) : XK ; ; —= ' 3 & “ cede aaah BAe | | Rg ara sk | 5 i a : ESR Ro a a Q a S CE ree ceil W Ee aS Bale mS Be round Plan Four-Pen Breeding House. spiked to top of stud. Two nail girts 2x4 inches are placed between the plate and sill to nail«the siding and lining to. The lower one along the south side is placed two feet 6 inches above the sill, and the other, the width of the window above. Rafters 2x4 inches, two-foot centers, cut to give the roof one-half pitch, are spiked together at top and toe nailed to plates. Ties 2x4 inches are placed across between the plates to hold the walls from spread- ing and to nail the ceiling to; they should be placed at end and partition. Outside of studs and girts is covered with building paper and boarded with tongue and groove siding. Boards extend one inch below sill to prevent the water from rotting sill. Inside of studs and girts is boarded up with ship-lap. The ceiling is of 1x4 inch boards, a two-inch space being left between the boards. The floor is of earth filled in to the lower side of sills. Roof is of © 1x4 inch boards covered with best grade of cedar shingles. The windows are 32x38 inches placed between the nail girts on south side of house. When opened they are pushed in between the outer and inner walls. A frame covered with wire netting is placed on the inside of each window to prevent the fowls from breaking the glass or getting out when windows are opened. PWOo MEARS | WETELY POULTRY OV Partitions between pens are boarded up two feet from floor and three feet of the north end is boarded solid from floor to ceiling, the balance finished with wire netting, with a double swing door to allow attendant to pass through from either way. Dropping boards are three feet wide thirty inches above the floor. Two perches are placed ten inches above the platform. Nest plat- form is two feet wide and eighteen inches above floor and placed under the roost platform. Nests fifteen inches square are placed on the platform close to back wall, leaving nine inches in front for a stepping board for the fowl. Dust box is three feet square and placed under each window. Water aa SSSR KX st DS ones SOE SoS y eee Sot Kogme Ere a) SOND S&XSO eo > CO SOSCSOS < So SSeS SeS O59 S25 cS eo & SS ss > SSNS SSeSoSSSoc See OSS SOS SS OSS oe oS ‘S SSL PSS SOSSSSSS So SoS S SERS SOS EROS SOS SED SSS OK | £ SSS SSSI 3s SSeS $5 CSS PESOS POX SOS ‘ SOS D Ores Se, SESS SOS SOO | PSSRSOSSSSOS SESS SC SoS OC ISSESON SC SGC SSCS End View “‘Four-Pen Breeding House.” fountain is placed in partition, one fountain serving two pens of fowls. Grit and shell box is placed in partitions also. Eaves troughs are placed under the eaves to catch the water from roof. This will prevent the washing away of the ground in case of a heavy rain- storm. The loft is filled with ‘straw, which will not only add warmth to the house in winter, but will also absorb and hold moisture arising from the fowls and so prevent the accumulation of moisture on the walls. This house may be extended to any ‘size desired by adding the required number of pens to either or both ends of those already built. 38 TWO. YEARS WITH PO Wa Ray: House No. 16. Mr. Harroun, ue Michigan, describes an‘excellent house designed particularly for city lots: The first consideration when a poultry house is contemplated is the selection of a suitable location, for on this, as much as anything perhaps, depends the success of our undertaking. Such location should be as convenient as possible to one’s dwelling or other work, should be dry, and exposed to all available sunshine. Where natural drainage of the soil is deficient, artificial drainage can often be resorted to, but if neither is possible I would follow that famous advice to people about to be married: “hesitate a long time and then—don’t,” for a poultry house in a low, damp, poorly drained location is worse than a poor investment. ae Sl 77, LET a re | : | f= = -\Q"--) SS Lz. C2 ron S S EGS ea CRNA ee 72 A 77, ay Nee. Ground Plan of the ‘‘Harroun’’ House. The poultry house itself must be dry, hight, draught proof, warm as pos- sible in winter, cool and well ventilated in summer, easy to keep clean, and must be convenient to take care of. Many writers advocate small windows under the plea that windows rad- late heat too rapidly and make the house cold at night; admitting that they do, I am still an advocate of generous windows, and plenty of them. My experience is that if there is any one thing that poultry thoroughly delight in at all seasons of the year it is good, bright, warm sunlight, and they certainly do not thrive when they are deprived of it, any more than any other animal or plant will, while sunlight is also a great destroyer of disease germs, foul odors, ia mniese. ebet The evils charged up to large windows are easily remedicul at small ex- pense, by having sash double glazed. or providing curtains, either on rollers or frames, to close down inside of windows on winter nights or extreme cold days, when the sun is obscured, and this small expense is money wisely and profitably invested. i w t ' t ' t I { ! ' I ‘ Pe/acr) ‘ eae ONS = ' ' ‘ t ' ' ! iG ' ' ! ' N I ' 1 ' ' L] t 1 ' 1 ZN TWO MEARS £ WiHMEED, POULTRY o9 Dampness inside the house, especially sweaty walls with the invariable frost which follows, I know can be avoided to a great extent if not entirely by proper construction and arrangement of our houses. The house I illustrate herewith is planned for a city lot, or small place, and is without “open scratching pens,” though the plan is capable of unlim- ited extension and can be constructed with alternating open sheds when desired. As shown in the drawing the house is twenty feet long by twelve feet deep, divided into two pens. It is seven feet high at the plates and twelve feet at the ridge, built with double walls throughout, with two or four inch my on "i TY WY VY OY hE RAYE YO XO Ware Ny 44 OX) ne ) \ XY K I i XX WX i —— eae 7 2 ae ee | =— —— pe : aa 3 == { SSE SSS eae em Pe as ee ——— ee a a AY caleawy wn HL yt ye SSS | >= —— i —_————_ ———~ | eC -_ ————— a ————— | See — —_——__—_—. =< —_—_—_—__. : ———— aes =e Fiat 3 End Elevation of the ‘“‘Harroun’’ House. dead air space, as climate or inclination may dictate, is lined with tarred felt on inside, and with same or some good building paper on outside, or where climate is moderate the outside can be thoroughly battened, or a good lap siding used. ‘The roof should be laid “close” and covered with a good roofing paper, or better with shingles. A gocd plan where first cost must be low, is to roof with a good substantial paper and then when means permit shingle right on top Of at: A brick or post foundation’should be used of sufficient height to bring bottom of sills at least eight inches above the natural surface of the earth. 40) TWO. YEARS “Wit peo. Sills of four by four stuff, framed at corners, corner posts of a two by two and a two by four spiked together, studs two by four, set flat, and plates also of two by four laid flat. For sheathing and lining I prefer thoroughly seasoned ship lap, one inch thick, which with your two-inch air space makes a four inch wall flush with sills and plates, and if carefully fitted in makes with the lining a wall that is absolutely draft proof, and it also confines the air in the space, making iiedead’ air in reality: Where a four inch air space is desired studs should be set “edgewise,” four by four, or double two by four corner posts, and sheathing and lining lapped onto sills and plates. Two by six rafters, though two by fours placed nearer together will give equal strength and a little more roof in loft; ship lap for roof boards, laid snug, whether for paper or shingles. Partition between pens of ship lap, built solid from floor to ceiling except als CANA say eR Caw when eae OL NP EI EA I I SAG Se Fig. , Front Elevation of the ‘‘Harroun’’ House. the door, which can ie of wire netting, or slats, from a height of two feet from floor. At a height of seven feet from bottom of sills a light floor is put in, which extends from front to rear wall, and to within two feet six inches of each end wall. . Roosts, platforms and nests are arranged against partition as shown and should be so constructed that they may be entirely and easily removed for cleaning, fumigating or whitewashing when desired. One large window in each pen, three by five feet, in the front (ooutin wall; 28 inches from bottom of sills gives an Baer of light and SR Se though if surroundings permit I would put another window of same dimen- sions in both east and west walls to admit early morning and late afternoon sun. (Where open scratch sheds are used the front windows alone are prac- ticable). All windows should be protected on inside by wire netting and ‘be hung on substantial hinges at the top, and swing outward from bottom, so TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY moka: 3 they can be opened in summer and on pleasant days in winter. Thus hung they will keep rain from drifting in, and if whitewashed on inside will act as awnings in extreme hot weather. They should also be fitted on inside with curtains of good drilling, factory or light duck two or three inches larger than window op- ening. These can be hung on rollers or tacked to a light frame, hinged at the top to swing in and up. Sash to be of inch and half stuff, rabetted for glass on both sides, and glass should be securely tinned and puttied on both front and inside of sash, thus continuing your dead air space. Outside doors should also be double with dead air space if it is only half an inch, same as windows. For a floor I would advise dry earth, filled in to bottom of sills; this earth should be light sandy loam, and kept loosened up with spade or spading fork, and should be taken out and replaced with fresh each summer. This entails considerable labor, but the value as a fertilizer of the earth removed -will more than repay the labor; if, however, you have no use for such fer- tilizer, then a cement or board floor can be used in which case dust boxes must be provided, or the floor covered several inches deep with dry earth. I ob- ject to a board floor for the reason that rats and other vermin find safe harbor under it. Over the roost platforms a number of pens two feet deep, thirty inches high, and two or more feet wide can be built, or a shelf on which to set exhibition coops can be substituted. These pens are always in requisition for confining broody hens, extra males, training and conditioning show birds, eke. etc. ‘ In the center of the roof, on the south side, a skylight is built perman- ently into the roof. This can be built like a hotbed or greenhouse sash, and should be “leak proof,” while directly above it, on the ridge of the roof, is an adjustable ventilator. These, together with the loft, form the feature of this house. The loft in winter should be loosely packed with straw. hay, leaves or even cornstalks, leaving a clear space under the skylight and ven- tilator. _ The moisture which is bound to find its way into the interior of the house will naturally ascend through the open space at each end, to the left and out through the ventilator on warm sunny days; during dull, dark weather it will be readily absorbed by the straw in the loft until such time as the sun again penetates the skylight, when the loft becomes heated, setting up a strong current of air through the ventilator and carrying off the moisture so accumulated, this action going on automatically, only varying with the amount of sunshine that penetrates the skylight and lower windows; of course, in bad weather and at night the ventilator should be closed, or nearly so; still if this is neglected no direct current of air can possibly reach the birds on the roosts or in the cages. This house will be found perfectly dry at all seasons and in all weather, and entirely free from that accumulation of moisture on walls and windows— sweating—which is so generally complained of by poultrymen. Frost on the windows will also be practically unknown. In extremely cold climates a light curtain can be hung from front of extra pens and lowered down in front of the birds after they have gone to roost. Roost platforms should be of matched lumber and should have a number of augur holes, one inch or larger, bored through them directly under the roosts to allow a circulation of fresh air to the birds at night instead of forcing them to breathe the air that is rendered foul by their droppings during the long hours of the night. ; In the drawings Figure 1 is front elevation. Figure 2 is ground plan, showing partition, roost platforms and roosts, and the dotted lines show the ends of loft floor. This gives a floor space in loft eleven feet four inches and four feet six inches clear under rafters at ridge. Figure 3 is cross-section showing construction of building, arrangement of nests, roosts and extra 42 TWO. YEARS Wit GE SOUT, training pens. N. P. is nest platform; N. nests; R. P. roost platiorm); sei 2B: extra pens. The ventilator can be regulated by a trap door hinged inside near bot- tom, or by a damper arrangement similar to damper in a stove pipe; either arrangement to be worked by cord and pulley from lower floor. Grit boxes, water fountains, etc., should be attached to walls at a height just convenient for the fowls to reach; also trough for feeding mash. This prevents much of the dirt from being scratched into them, as is the case when placed on or near the floor. In very cold climates I would extend the partition at right angles to Or a little beyond the front of roost platforms; this also helps to darken the nests. ; It will be noticed that the roosts are placed farthest from possible drafts from windows and ventilator, and in warmest part of the house. An extra. thickness of lining on north wall at end of platform would be a good idea. In building yard fence I would suggest dispensing with the usual two foot bottom board and using wire from ground up, with an additional two foot wide strip of netting stapled to opposite side of posts; this, not only on ac- count of high price of lumber, but because the netting permits a better circula- tion of air and sunshine, and will not cause the snow to bank up so in the yards. In closing would again urge absolute cleanliness in house and yards; have a place for everything and everything in its place; study to make your work as systematic as possible and save steps wherever you can; watch for and fight vermin from January first to December thirty-first. It is the constant attention to details and doing necessary work when it should be done that brings success in the poultry business the same as in every Other. If there is any one motto a poultryman should nail up to the wall it is this: “Never put off till tomorrow what should be done today.” House No, 17. Designed and built by Mr. Alden, of New York: I just read your request for description, ete., of poultry house, and as I am using some I consider just about right I take pleasure in submitting for the consideration of yourself and readers the information sought. I will describe my ideal one this time. First, then, we will look over the location of the house, soil and drainage. The soil is yellow sand, drainage good, and along side the maples, set out this spring, the sand is dry and loose and we predict will be used largely for taking a dust bath. We decide to place the house flush with the line, and while the ground is not level it is nearly so, and but little grading is necessary to place it in condition, so no surface water will stand to make a stench in summer or any ice pond in winter. We dig our post holes deep (two and one-half to three feet) set our posts, which are old, cast-off timbers, properly sawed to right length, leveled with the spirit level and-plumbed. Posts are set every six feet, although this was not entirely necessary owing to the size of the sills. The sills are placed in position and we are ready for the uprights. On the inside of houses from top of sills and running into the ground we have placed boards fitted nicely and this serves to shut out cats, skunks, etc., which have a fondness for Mr. and Mrs. Rock and the babies. It is 14x36 feet long and contains three houses each 14x12 feet. It has a shed roof, the front uprights are nine feet high and feat Ones seven icet: high, , All) parts: asiwell) as sills and plates, are com- , posed of old freight and car sills, and the outside sheeting is old car siding nicely fitted and then painted. 2x4 could be used for posts, or other waste stuff strong enough. Sills need not be more than 4x4, or any size waste stuff that could be utilized. Partition and roof boards are odd $-inch stuff all fitted 43 TAVO! See ARS «Wilh» POULDERY ‘auvog doug -9'Q Sax0d ISIN ol Quvogdoyd YaagNn JONVYINA - J “HONOU! ~[ syood uvay -O-4 sax0g a3zaj-4 Sisooy —Y SitNaA—A Sisan-N SMOONIM —M eSuiood = Ul o—Al “OSNOF, « Spee) 3 Tet S| Tas i Si ! a le Bae as » ae S ‘B ; S = Wy Re ‘ _— Soe tes oe See Door Door- Ground Plan—Wm. J. Ide’s House. building is 9 feet, and from the top of the roof of the south) maligne front of roof of the north half, the distance is 3 feet, giving a two-foot drop co the roof on the south side. The boxes shown in me ground plan in the roost- ing room, are designed to contain water and grit. Experience is’ the best of teachers and | will put tshis Miousesaeamst any other one, where results in the way of winter eggs are considered. PWOrYEARS WITTE POULTRY a5) CHAPTER III Care of Breeding Stock On this subject Dr. Babcock, of Illinois, an old and experienced breeder of ‘pure bred fowls, says: Early in the season the fancier should look his flock over and decide upon certain birds that are to go into the breeding pens f-r the following season. If the poultryman is a constant user of that great help, the trap nest, it will be quite a factor in deciding in favor of certain birds for breeders. If a pullet hatched in the spring previous has proved herself a persistent layer for the past eighteen months, and has an egg record equalled by few in her flock, if she is of good size, is in perfect health and has been since she began laying, it seems to us that she would be a splendid specimen to se- lect as a breeder. This same pullet, now a hen, may not have the proper points required in the standard for an exhibition fowl. If placed in the show room she might not score over ninety points by a competent judge. On the other hand, there may be a bird in the adjoining coop that would score from 94 to 96 points and carry off the honors, while she would not produce more than one-third to one-half the eggs in a year, that her rival does. In selecting hens for a breeding pen, first choose your best layers and then go over these selected layers and pick out those which come nearest the standard, taking each point, eyes, head, comb, wattles, lobes, beak, legs. car- riage, color, etc. In this way one should be able to select females for his breeding pen that will throw good layers and many birds that will be fit to compete at the shows. In selecting a cockerel or cock bird, be sure that his mother is a persistent layer, with a good egg record to her credit. Also that his father-is the son of a hen that has an enviable egg record. The bird should be a splendid specimen, with fine carriage, color and hav- ing all of the standard points, as well as being the descendent of parent stock, who were perfect specimens of their kind. He should be a strong vig- orous fellow who has never known a sick day in his life. Now that we have decided on the type of birds we are to use for our breeding yards, we will devote a moment to their care. Mate them up early in the year so they will become used to their new quarters before they get down to business. Give them plenty of fresh air, the curtain front house being a good one. Do not crowd them for egg production, but feed them plenty of good feed and water with no egg foods or condiments. An occasional feed of meat scraps or ground bone, fresh from the bone mill, is fine for them. Charcoal, grit and oyster shells should be kept before them at all times. Be sure and give them plenty of room, as overcrowding means sickness, and a breeder in poor health means disaster. Supply them with plenty of litter and keep their quarters scrupulously clean, as this is half the battle, in the matter of health. 56 TWO VERS «Wes © Ue aio Rev. Peterson of Maine, another cldtimer, says: During the month of January, most of our breeders will mate up the breed- | ing-yards that are going to produce-next year’s crop of fancy fowls, and as of course much depends on this output, too much care can not be bestowed on it. It is a matter of great importance how the pen is mated, and by whom. For the great secret in producing fancy fowls is in the knowing how to put them together in such a way that the progeny will be of an improved quality. As nothing but experience and knowledge of the breed can teach this, we can only lay down some few rules, and give such advice as will be of benefit to all breeders of fancy fowls, and that we in our own experience have abe efficient. There are some things that we still take for granted, and one of them ~ is, that the house accomodations are such that they will facilitate health, com- fort, and an opportunity for exercise, without which not much success can be expected. Give little heed to all this talk about ventilation, with a house of the dimensions it ought to be to accommodate a breeding pen, there is no need for any. More colds, influenza, and all other ailments leading to roup. have been caused by “so-called ventilation” than by any other means. On fine days open the doors, or the windows, or both if so located that it can be done without having a cold wind blowing through the house. In the fall of the year we have about a foot of fine gravel put into the houses, and on this foundation, we use a plentiful supply of straw or cut hay, this we clean out frequently, at least three times a week, and at the same time attend to the dropping boards, and we have no trouble with frosty or damp houses during the winter months. Our houses are made with a pitch roof, single boarded and shingled, with a good sized window, to let in sunshine, and here in our rugged old state of Maine, this seems to be all sufficient, and with me has proved itself so, by giving me a lot of healthy, happy, contented, winter laying fowls. and with the kind of a winter, where the thermometer will run down as low as thirty below zero, and aces Zero weather is the rule most every night, and not the exception. Our roosting pletiarn is curtained in front, and on very cold mina we lower this curtain. With this kind of housing, and without any direct venti- lation, we have never had a single case of roup in our flock for 12 years. There is nothing that succeeds so well as success, and therefore we intend to keep on in the same old happy way, and not bother ourselves with “im- proved” methods of ventilation. The feeding problem is not so much of a problem as some ‘try to make | it. Good sound food of most any kind in a healthful variety will answer the purpose. We ought to avoid extremes of any kind, if best results are to be obtained, and after having continued for any length of time a certain bill of fare, it should not be changed for some other all of a sudden, as more than likely it would cause a considerable falling off in the egg production. Where eggs for breeding purposes are to be produced, care should be taken to avoid anything like forcing. And for that reason the hot mash has no place in the bill of fare, daily given to the birds selected for breeding. Forcing for eggs is the bane of the Breeder who in so doing, may increase the daily output of his hens, but at the same time decrease its quality and fertility. Strong fertility should be the main object to be obtained in the eggs coming from the birds selected for breeders, and no man who has his best in- terest at heart will neglect this all important feature, and particularly so if those eggs are sold for hatching purposes to others. Overmating is another thing constantly done, so ag to produce more eggs fram a pen, in which some winning bird is the sire, \ EWOn VEARS WITH POULLRY 57 Where such means are resorted to, so as to increase the income, both in eggs and money, to the breeder, failure only can be expected, as the eggs will not be very strongly impregnated, and in consequence, hatch poorly. The grains we have found most conducive to strong fertility, when used as a food, are oats, wheat and corn. And the last we have always used sparingly, as sooner or later, it will produce more fat than is necessary for a laying breeding hen to have on her. We have obtained excellent results by mix— ing two parts of oats, two parts of wheat, and one part of cracked corn. Added to this we have given meat in some form, scraps, ground bone, and this last is a fine food, but not absolutely necessary, as is so often found stated by those interested. Green food of some kind should be given ad libitum; cabbage, clover, apples, roots, in fact any kind of green food is acceptable at this time of the year. Plenty of water, with the chill taken off, should be before them, and if a good supply of eggs is wanted do not neglect this matter, it will have ‘to be done several times a day during some of our cold winter days, and this is more or less trouble, but it must be done, a hen will produce some eggs on most any kind of food, but she will not produce any on ice water. Grit, charcoal and a good dust bath, and there we have everything necessary for success in the breeding pen as far as the production of strong and liv- able chicks are concerned, for we, of course, take for granted that the eggs laid are for hatching purposes. As to the amount of food to be used will depend on the breed, and whether the hens are in full lay or not. If pullets, go slow and watch out carefully, so that if they are not laying, you will not feed so as to fatten them, which is very easily done at this time. If the flock is laying first class, give them all they will eat, by scratching for it, as it is almost impossible to over-feed a laying hen. All the rule we can lay down, however, is use common sense in the matter of feeding as any- where else, and success will ‘crown your efforts. What about stimulants? Well, we came near forgetting about this matter for the simple reason that we never use them. Some of our best writers on poultry culture deplore the old fashion use of “the pepper-corn” and ‘one of them, (Mr. Lewis Wright). advises the use of “eggs and brandy administered through a delicate glass tube.’ Mrs. Arbuthnot’s balance sheet, contained in her otherwise excellent little work, “The Henwife,’ shows five pounds and five shillings a year for ale and beer, which was probably not all drunk by the fowls. Another writer’s ideas in her management of little chicks are rather peculiar; she writes that “bread-crumbs should be soaked either in wine to strengthen them, or in milk to give them an appetite.” The pepper-corn was bad, the wine worse, the toast and ale little better, but the brandy, even through a delicate glass tube, was the worst of all. Stimulants and so-called “Poultry Tonics” have no place in any well reg- ulated poultry establishment, and certainly not as an accessory to the Breed- ing Yard. A healthful, normal condition of the fowls, with some inducement to exercise their natural proclivities of scratching, is all the tonic we have found necessary. Where a healthy, normal condition is not to be found, a change of conditions is more likely to produce it, than a dose of patent medicine. Do not change the egg boxes or laying places from one place to another as it retards the laying, and more or less eggs will be dropped on the floor, and induce egg eating. Watch out carefully if the male attends to his duties, and leaves no female untouched, as sometimes a male will take a dislike to one of his consorts, and such a hen becomes of course useless as a breeder in that pen. New females should not be introduced into the pen, after it has been mated up for some time, as it is sure to cause fighting all around, and this may 58 DWO! YEARS, WDE? POU Ray continue for several days, and is, of course, not conducive to egg production, and I have known cases where severe injury was inflicted on the female, which by the cther inmates of the pen was considered an intruder. Some of these seemingly minor items should be taken into consideration where best results are a desideratum. On fine days shovel off the snow outside the houses, scatter some straw and let the birds out in the open, we did this, whenever the weather would permit, for a number of years with excellent results, and are doing it still, and can see no reason to discontinue it, even though it may be the truth that it will lessen the production of eggs more or less. We are now talking about fowls for breeding and not abcut fowls forced for increased egg pro- duction. I said “may be” for I do not believe that letting poultry out in the winter is detrimental to egg production, as has been recently stated. Fresh air, and plenty of it, if not administered through cracks in the poultry house, is as much essential to egg production, as food and shelter. A few hours, in the middle of the day, say from 11 to 1 o’clock, will, even in zero weather, be beneficial, if the sun is out and shining, and shelter frcm strong winds pro- vided. With all of it mix a little discretion, and all will be well. To the foregoing we ‘will only add the advice given by F. B. Squires ot Ohio, also a fancier of long experience: There are few questions but what a clearer understanding can be reached by some preliminary explanation leading up to the question itself. Before cutting a tree we often have to cut away the rubbish and underbrush before the actual labor can ccmmence. So, it seems to me, this question must be apprcached, to, have a fuller understanding of the care to give fertility to eggs and vitality to.the chicks. Strong constitutions are not built up in any two selected months much less the two preceding the hatching season. Constitutional vigor must start farther back than that to give us a base for good physical life force. The chicks bred from other than strong, sturdy stock are always handicapped in the race for “the survival of the fittest.” We may take stock of ordinary vital force and develop quite strong fowls; gradually bettering our flocks. But in this intensive age the “get there” re- quires favorable results as quickly as possible. The virile forces, by the law of transmission; are inherited and transmitted in all animal life. The two-minute horse was not built last year, but by sev- eral generations of most careful selecting, judicious feeding and manage- ment for several generations laid the foundation broad and deep for the muscular developement that we have today in the kings and queens of the turf. An intelligent conception of a few basic principles, not difficult to under- stand are the keys to successful poultry raising. So I will give the lines upou which to answer the question, Exercise is recognized in all quarters as the one thing ‘needful for that superb physical development which characterizes all animal life of the highest order. And whatever of success has crowned my efforts, I attribute to that basic principle for constitutional strength in both male and female. As soon as the chicks are hatched in the spring, I commence to apply the exercise system. The food is scattered in litter fine enough to be thrown about in the brooders and when large enough to wean are taught to gather their feed scattered in the meadow and pasture field which lies back a short dis- tance from the house. Every kernel costs a movement and the activity de- velops that hardiness and muscular growth which gives bone and muscle. People often ask me, “Don’t they run off their fat?” I reply that “Il am not fattening, but developing my laying and breeding stock,” the spare cockerels having been sold out as broilers early in the season. PWOreY SARS -WItTE POULTRY 59 - By this system they become active, alert and strong; thereby fitting each for the fulfilling of the life mission I have mapped out for them. I will add here that the brooders are moved a little at a time toward the winter quarters during the summer, so that each learns early to go to its winter house and the habit once formed they will drift there, though I have three different roosting places for the flock. As the winter closes in I teach them to run from house to house by scattering feed along where in due time a path must be kept clear by shoveling and sweeping the snow, making a broad path, as fowls reared to activity will keep it up if a place is kept clear of snow. I am satisfied that out door exercise provided in this manner, added to the scratching litter in each building, induces the poultry to constantly move from house to house to get the required amount of food. I would as soon think of tying up a frolicsome pup and see it happy, as to see my Leghorns shut up in the houses very long at a time. It is a sight worth looking at to see the three flocks out in the path where a little straw and chaff have been scratching litter in each building, induces the pultry to constantly move from precludes any possibility of out-door exercises under any other management. Of course each, flock can be shut in its own house if too stormy; but few indeed are the days but what you may see the alert hens hustling back and forth giving conclusive evidence that vigorous blood and hardiness is fitting each for producing the best possible condition in the coming stock, even be- fore the eggs are laid that shall give us the next year’s chicks. This is to them what recess is to a house-full of scholars and practically the same re- sult: increased vigor and a superabundance of vital force. This brings the fowls into January and February in the very pink of condition. Not fat, but muscular; with the reproductive organs stimulated by the approach of spring weather the supreme object is attained. The keen air, when accustomed to it, is a better tonic than anything else; more life-giving than stimulants of any kind. It is true perhaps that they will require more feed. So does it require more feed for the romping, playing children than the ones shut up indoors; yet who questions the extra cost when we see the vital forces giving roses to our children’s cheeks every time. This much is written to stamp the fact definitely in the minds of readers of this article that successful breeding is based upon the activity of the layers. The incubator pullets being hatched early reach’ full maturity in early winter. By January and February the eggs are full sized and very fertile. Last winter was the coldest in this locality (northern Ohio) ever known of late years, giving my method of development a fair test. I see by consulting my poultry record that the incubators were -set February 12th, and kept going, as fast as hatched a new set was put in. The hatches ran as follows: 52, 674, 75, 814, and 904 per cent, for January, Feb- ruary, and March eggs. When we take into consideration that the machines were in a part of one of the poultry houses and that twice the mercury was at 8 and 10 below zero during the pericd of incubation, I feel assured that the stamina of the flock was stamped upon the vital forces and transmitted to the germs within the eggs. I will now take up the manner of feeding. I am well aware that this article sounds more like a description of a season’s work among the poultry than their management for the first two months of the year. However. it must be con- ceded that we must know about the stock and how it was treated prior to the short time mentioned to judge correctly of its merits and results. As to the feeding: In carrying out my general plan it must of necessity smack of the central idea heretofore made prominent, viz: Work for nearly all they get. For the best feed of the day (although varied at times), unless very cold, cracked corn and wheat either scattered in the litter the night before or just as soon as the hens can see a little and can pick up what is on the sur- face. If you, reader, never tried this plan, try it. The flock rapidly leaves the perches and a struggle for breakfast commences at the start. The music of 60 DWO “YEARS: NVA Rie OWE ied eager hens has a charm for the owner, for he well knows that the lively singer is almost invariably a good layer. I prefer to see them warm up their blood by exercise than by a hot mash. We farmers and all whose hands are exposed to the winter cold, know that if we can get them warm in the morning, we can often work throughout the whole day without using mittens at all. My flocks are'never fed a full feed until the last or afternoon meal. It applies equally before the two months of January and February and after. If very cold, more corn; it is warmed on the stove the night before and | will keep so all night, materially adding to the comfort of the hungry birds. } If warm and open weather, boiled oats are also mixed, using less corn. As an egg is about 80 per cent water, I always try and supply that fresh and clean, hung high enough above the litter so they may fly up on a platform to get it. I use kettles holding about a pailful; then if by oversight some is left and freezes it can be easily cleaned out by setting on the stove. At noon, I mix dry, equal parts of meal (if cold) bran and shorts. Stir well together and feed dry in boxes, so.arranged as to keep the feed clean and make as little waste as possible, varying with moistened mash so that the change is always relished by the stock. Apples, cabbage, turnips, etc., are supplied, also cut rowen and small. potatoes. Oyster shells and grit are not luxuries but necessities, and must be supplied. A bone cutter in motion soon claims the attention of the whole flock, and meat in some form is almost as important as shells and grit. I may say, equally so. Perhaps it may be well to state here the amount of feed, also the reason for giving less than required, to make a full meal for each bird. . My rule is for one quart to each dozen head of Leghorns. Having about 200 fowls, it requires about 17 quarts for a full feed. Instead of 17 I give about 15 quarts, which would fully feed 180 instead of 200 head. By this method the late riser, after a few lessons, finds promptness alone will insure a fairly filled crop. Some people are afraid to do this way for fear some will be left hungry. Ifa hen has not enough appetite to force her off the perch she is either out of condition or too fat to lay. I watch such and at the first opportunity at night, lift her, if too fat, sell; for she is useless to me to keep. If run down, got light symptoms of diarrhoea or any other disease fowl flesh is heir to, she joins the silent majority. As can be seen in the fore part of this article the hungry ones are at lib- erty to visit the other houses and by dint of hunting may make out a fair meal. One is clearly convinced that a healthy hen and especially a layer will make promptness a cardinal virtue. The instinct of the hen is to begin to look for her evening meal about three o’clock in the short days of winter. So at about 3:30 the litter is again filled with feed in the same proportion as before, begetting the same bustle, but the songs seem to belong to the earlier part of the day; the idea of a half-filled crop stimulates the membership to con- stant rushing about, and if in my judgment the walk litter is best (which depends on the weather), the feed is scattered from house to house as well as inside. Now note that I have said this was the only full meal of thé day. If a cold night is coming on ear corn is broken up and scattered in each building; or if warm, oats are substituted in troughs or places easily reached. They faeinetively fill their crops to the utmost for the long winter nights. This does not fatten as full meals would in the fore part of the day; then the hen would seek the perch with no desire to exercise and become logy and fat. The results of my system will be as good evidence as any I can produce. Last winter was one of the coldest and most unfavorable for egg production ever known in northern Ohio. By consulting my poultry record again I find ENVOY VEARS WV ITE POULTRY 61 the three months of January, February and March furnished the following number of eggs, no record being kept of those used in the family: ° No. hens. Doz. | SRE Lp Mek SRE UNE ee GR erik CRON gta NOR ok Re Ac gE 118 1 Oe) SoS a Se aie Bee eee pe Sees ies aR RE! Sil ca Sen a aaa Ae aye 163.4 ae Re NRE on ON Re eo Re cg eee Thal a MS 141 183.1 —__— 125 av. 477.6 477.6 dozen are 5,730 eggs. Average per hen would be 5,730 divided by 125 are 45.84 eggs. Those set in incubators figured at the market price at that time would, with those sold, have brought $120.79, or an average of $0.9666 per hen. The total sales of eggs, broilers and fowls could be given further, but the question |}does not include them. The average per cent of hatches for the first three ‘months was over 71 per cent. To sum up briefly will say that the constant activity of the parent stock, the summer training of the chicks, the autumn teaching of the pullets to “occupy their own house, even though constantly intermingling, brought the | flock up to January in a prime condition; a superabundance of animal vigor 'to be transmitted by the law of heredity to the hatching stock fot the com- ing generation of broilers and layers. } | | 62 TWO HEARS CAWIET Bie PO 6re EN CHAPTER IV Hatching and Care of the Chicks by the Natural |, Method—Nest and Coop Designs The most insportant feature of poultry culture is the raising of the young chicks |}, and they should not only be raised but well raised. In the following pages we gwe \. the experience and methods of old and successful poultry growers im various parts of the country. March, April and May are the most important months to the ordinary poultry man, be he breeding for the fancy or the market trade. Much the larger portion of the pure bred fowls rased in this country are hatched and brooded by hens, and any information at this time tending toward | success in hatching and raising the young may prove of great benefit to sone of our readers, hence we here reproduce an article on above subject which appeared in a former issue, with designs for nests and coops which we know by actual ex- perience to be excellent. Many of the eggs placed under hens during April and May will be from the yards of breeders of pure bred fowls, and upon the success of the purchaser in getting a good hatch will depend in some instances the esteem in which the sel- ler will be held in the future as a shipper of eggs that are well fertilized and capable of producing good, strong chicks. Too often those who sell eggs A fil Vi ee ial (A | i : mew ee Ee Eee erg shige, a a ee pee BURNER See eon (ese for hatching, and send out none but those that are fresh and well fertilized, are severely condemned by the purchaser on account of a poor hatch, when in fact the latter alone is to blame for the failure. To insinuate that “one does not know enough to set a hen” might cause trouble, and yet it is a fact that a large proportion of novices in handling fowls register their first failure from this cause, and many who have raised fowls for years do no better; this first step is a very important one and has a great influence on the result of the season’s work. It will be found very convenient if one can arrange to have a room that can be given up entirely to the use of the sitting hens. A dirt floor will be an advantage in the room. It should also be arranged so that it may be darkened, since the hens will be more contented with their lot and attend EVO MEARS WET H> POULTRY . 63 'more strictly to business if they are not allowed too much light. The nest should be not less than eighteen inches square, and a six or seven inch front to nest box is sufficient, the sides and back may be higher, especially when hens are set in adjoining nests. The length of ‘the. four nests is six feet, and the width eighteen inches, each nest being eighteen inches square; the front may be seven inches and the back about twenty inches; partitions sloped back from upper edge of front to the top. This nest box may be set on the floor against the wall of the room, and thus will require no boards at the back and should not have board bottom, but should rest on the dirt or earth floor. A lid may be hung at the front which can be let down to enclose the nests and prevent other fowls from disturbing those on nests. A number of such boxes may be ar- |} ranged around the room, leaving space for dust bath, water vessels and feed- ing place in center. Many have a mistaken idea that a hen will not do well ‘if moved to a different nest from the one in which she has laid, but there will seldom be trouble if the moving is done at night. Prepare the nest, shape it and press down well, place the eggs, which should be slightly warm, in the nest, bring the hen to the nest quietly, set her carefully at the edge and give her plenty of time to get her “bearings,” and it is very seldom that one will refuse to make herself at home; those that do not take kindly to the nest and appear “fussy” should be discarded as sitters, since they will almost in- variably cause trouble and loss if, used. When setting eggs that are very valuable. it will be well to place inferior eggs in the nest until the hen has settled down to actual work and thus avoid the chance of having them spoiled or broken by one that is unreliable. Should an egg be broken during the hatch, the nest should be changed and the soiled eggs carefully washed in warm water, otherwise those soiled ,will not hatch and the nest will become foul. After these nests are full of hens that have settled their task, the lid may be let down until the next day when they should have an opportunity to come off to feed; a little caution may be necessary at first to see that they return to the nest properly, but after a few days no trouble will be experienced, providing all is kept quiet, and the nests may then be kept open. Shelled corn and water, also dust box. should be kept constantly before them, nor should plenty of grit be forgotten. Lice cause the loss of more chicks, both before and after hatching, than all other causes combined, and great care should be taken to free the setting hens from the pests during the hatch as well as afterwards. We have always found Persian or Lambert’s insect powder the very best application for this purpose; sprinkle it liberally in the nest before putting hen on, and dust the hen also at the time of setting and several times during incubation, especially a few days before due to hatch. These precautions will destroy and drive off the lice which are always present on the fowls, and prevent them sucking the life blood from the young as soon as hatched. We have frequently known people to protest that their fowls “had no lice,” but bear in mind that the large species, the ones that fasten themselves on the necks and heads of young chicks as soon as hatched, are always to be found on the hens unless recently killed or driven off by some application. The above insect powder may be found at any drug store, and many country stores keep it; it should be fresh to be most effective. If satisfactory results are to be had, when chicks are reared by their natural mother, the hen, a good coop is almost a necessity. To be sure one can get along with old boxes and barrels if they will be ready at any 64. TWO \YEARS* WITH” POULTRY moment to dash out and secure them against danger on the approach of the sudden wind and rain that is sure to come during the spring and early sum- mer, or to seize lantern and shot gun at the first squawk when the festive skunk pays a visit to the range. But the question is, does it pay to be a prey to all this anxiety and perhaps in the end lose a portion of the young 1 stock? We do not think it does, and hence illustrate in this issue a brood coop which can be built by any poultryman, and at small expense. No. 1 shows the com- } plete coop as it would ap- } pear when occupied by a are as follows: Bottom, this point and wetting the bottom of the coop). The sides should be 12 inches high at rear and 21 | inches at front, to give proper slope to roof. The roof is made separate | from coop and nailed to two cleats about 1x14 inches, notches are cut in sides of coop to fit these cleats, which have ——.. a small hook at each end; staples are driv- en into the sides of coop at proper place, and roof can then be hooked on secure against any wind. The object of having roof movable is for convenience in clean- ing, it can be quickly and easily removed, coop turned upside down and a few taps on the bottom will clean the coop. ‘The loose’ ‘root, or “flap, “ithat is//shown, as a “porch roof” is one of the greatest ad- vantages of the coop, as it may be ar- ranged to suit the requirements of all kinds of weather and let down entirely and fas- tened at night, thus securing the hen and her brood from molestation from without. Ky.2. This flap is shown in illustration as being fastened with iron hinges, but a strong piece of leather may be used instead and will allow “flap” to be laid entirely back upon the roof or closed entirely as may be desired; inch cleats should be nailed cross this flap, also, thus allowing an inch space for ventilation when same is let down over the front of coop. The cleats shown on bottom of coop are about 13x14 inches and raise the coop sufficiently to prevent any dampness. A slatted door to fit the front of coop may be made and fastened at one side with hinges and will be found very convenient when letting hen out or in. This coop may be made of % matched stuff and will then be light and easy to move about; the roof should be well painted or covered with roofing paper and then painted, and should extend over the sides of the coop about three inches. The material for such a coop will not cost to exceed 60 or 70 cents, while the saving in anxiety. “fussing” and valuable chicks will repay the first cost many times during one season, and if coops are well made and stored away carefully when not in use, they will last for years. hen and brood. The di- { mensions of this coop | 18 inches wide by. 24 } inches long on the inside } (the siding would extend | down over the edge of | bottom, as shown in illus- | tration, this. will prevent | rain from blowing in at | ae pat TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY . 65 A small yard, two feet wide, four feet long and as high as the front of the coop and made of lath, will be found a convenient addition to this brood coop, as the hen may be allowed to be outside the coop and yet not run at large, while at feeding time the chicks will be secure from the older fowls and can get the full benefit of the rations given them. To arrange coop for the reception of the hen and the chicks just hatched, place it (if in early spring) in some sunny spot, on a slight elevation if pos- sible, put in dry dirt sufficient to cover the bottom of the coop to the depth of about half an inch, cover with fine, dry straw or chaff, and coop is ready for tenants. The dry dirt in bottom will absorb all moisture and prevent filth from adhering to the coop. On cool, sunny days turn the “flap roof” back and allow the sun to shine in; when it is wet and stormy, the same may be let down as shown at No. 1. Raising Incubator Chicks. A Connecticut lady who is always very successful gives her methods as follows: As I raise several hundred chicks each year. and most of them are hatched in February and March, I have to depend principally on incubators to hatch and brooders to care for the babies instead of the old mother hen. My first hatch for this year was out February 20th, and I will tell you how I care - for them. The hatcher which I use has a nursery under the egg tray so there is no need to open the machine till the hatch is all over. On the morning of the 22nd day I remove them from the machine (which is in the cellar) and place them in a flannel-lined basket and cover them with a piece of flannel. so there will be no danger of their getting chilled on their way to the brooder. This has been placed in a small vacant room, in the house, opening out of a room heated by a coal fire. The temperature of the brooder is nearly 90 degrees and soon becomes 90 after the chicks are put in. The brooder has nine square feet of floor space and the 90 chicks which I got this hatch have plenty of room now to run about, but before they are large enough to get along without a brooder they will be rather crowded if they all live. They are left undisturbed in their warm home till afternoon, with nothing to eat but the clean sand with which the floor of the brooder is thickly covered. They pick up more or less of this and also of the tiny bits of egg-shells which I have crushed fine and scattered about before them, thus getting their little gizzards ready for the work of digesting the food to be eaten later. About four o’clock, as it is now from 36 to 48 hours since they came out of their shells, they have their first feed, consisting of “Chick Feed,” several kinds of cracked grains mixed, with a liberal supply of fine white grit. They seem hungry and are soon busily engaged in making out a good square meal. Some of the last hatched ones are not as ready to eat, but seeing the others picking up the grains they soon learn how. For a number of years I used rolled oats for their feed for the first few days but I find the Chick Food much more satisfactory as it seems to do away with the pasting up behind, of which I had some cases in nearly every flock when I fed the rolled oats. I also give them some water, slightly warmed, in a drinking fountain so that they cannot get into it and get wet. as dampness is bad for the little fellows. They soon learn to drink, and pure water with the chill off is kept before them all the time. After their supper they are ready for their night’s sleep. I am very particular about keeping correct temperature in the brooder for the first day or two, as at this time in a chick’s life, warmth is much more important than food. When I go to bed at night I leave a lighted lamp so placed that while it does not shine directly into the brooder through the glass in the roof, yet it will not be very dark inside. This is for the first night only and the reason for it is that sometimes one chick wanders away from the others perhaps into the coldest corner of the brooder and gets lost and in the darkness, is unable to find its way back to the others and 66 | TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY is uncomfortable and unhappy, keeping up a continual crying. I used to get up and look at them once or twice during the first night to see that they were all right, but if I leave the light for them I can go to bed and sleep knowing the babies will be all right till morning. The second day the door of the brooder is opened and they are allowed to run out, a little inclostre about three feet square having been made for them so they cannot stray far away from the brooder. Several thick newspapers were spread on the © floor of this inclosure and then covered thickly with chaff and hayseeds, from the bottom of the haymow. During the first day out they need to be looked after carefully to see that none get cold. Occasionally one that seems chilly will need to be put back into the brooder but they soon learn to take care of themselves, scampering in and out many times a day. The first two or three days I feed them abcut once in two hours, scattering some of the grain in the brooder and some among the hay chaff where they seem to take great pleas- uré in scratching for it. I also keep fine crushed charcoal before them, as that is good to help digestion. If there are any that show signs of looseness of the bowels I give them to drink sweet milk which has been scalded. When they are about a week old I begin to vary their feed by giving them a little of a cake which I make as follows: take one part cornmeal, one part wheat middlings and a little meat meal, add a little salt and soda, wet stiff with milk or boiling water and bake well. A little of this is crumbled and placed before them in little troughs. They soon learn to like it better than anything else, but I have learned that three feeds of this a day is all they ought to have as they are apt to overeat if fed on this entirely. The first day the cake is fed they only have one meal of it, thus getting them used to it gradually. I give them just what they will eat up quickly, and after a few minutes remove the troughs and whatever of food remains in them. When giving three feeds a day of the cake, I alternate with dry grains, giving first a feed of the cake and then of the grains, continuing this way through the day. It is better that the last feed at night should be of the hard grains. Occasionally, at night, I sprinkle the chaff to keep down the dust and the dampness is good for their feet, what they would naturally get if they were out on the ground. : After they are a week or ten days old they will relish some green food and as the ground is covered with snow, something will have to be sub- stituted for green grass. Sometimes I take a cabbage and cut some fine into strips; they are very fond. of this, and it is amusing to See ene meue fellows chase each other around the pen to get the desired delicacy. They should have one meal of some sort of green food every day from now on. Sometimes I take a raw potato and feed in the same way, but as soon as they learn to like the taste of this, I just peel one or two and put them into their pen whole and they will work away on them till nothing remains, the potato being entirely hidden by the pushing, crowding chickens eager to get at the potato. Small beets are also fed in the same way. I think the exercise of eating them is perhaps as beneficial as the food. So they scratch and eat and grow in their warm quarters till nearly three weeks old. Soon another hatch will be due from the incubator and must have the place now occupied by these chicks; so they are removed to a similar brooder out doors in a shed open to the south, Here they have more room to run about and more sunshine; the part of the shed in front of the brooder receives sun nearly all day. I prefer to have the brooder set where the sun’s rays do not strike it, as it is easier to keep it at a uniform temperature. Before removing the chicks to the brooder in the shed I gradually reduce the temperature of the brooder in the house to 70 degrees, though under the hover it is much warmer; I also accustom the chicks to out-door air by keeping a window near them raised on days when the weather permits. I try to keep the temperature of the brooder in the shed as near 70 as possible. Early in the season there are some cold nights when the ground Se ee TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY 67 freezes, but the chicks don’t seem to mind it; they eat and scratch for awhile and then scamper into the brooder to get warm and then run out to scratch again. A chicken will stand considerable, cold if it has a place where it can get warm quickly. They have to be watched for a day or two, when first put in the shed, to see that they do go in the brooder when they get cold instead of huddling together in a pile outside as they are sometimes in- clined to do. But once they get accustomed to going in to get warm, there will be no further trouble in that line. After keeping them in the shed for about two weeks they are given the freedom of the yard connected with it. Sometimes after the chicks are removed from the yards in the fall I have the = ground sown to rye which makes good green food for the chicks in spring besides cleansing the ground. If there is no green in their yards for them to pick I cut grass from the lawn for them; care should be taken that these lawn clippings are cut very short and fine or they are apt to clog in their crops, as they eat it so greedily. As the chicks get large enough to eat them readily, I feed wheat, cracked corn and hulled oats; little chicks are very fond of hulled oats and I consider them one of the best foods for growing chicks. These grains gradually take the place of the Chick Food. When they are large enough so the sexes can be distinguished. if I wish to remove the pullets for breeders or layers, I remove them to another yard where they can have more range, and I also change their feeding somewhat, only giving them mash once a day and grain for the other two feeds. To the cockerels I give two or three feeds of mash per day alternating with the dry grains. At the age of six weeks I substitute a scalded mash of similar ingredients for the baked cake, on account of the saving of work; in the mash the soda is left out; the percentage of meat meal has been gradually increased as the chicks have grown older. The cockerels, I find, attain the desired weight and condition for broilers quicker if kept in rather small yards and fed often, than if allowed free range. I use the Barred Rocks and White Wyandottes for broilers, keeping only pure bred stock. If I see any signs of leg weakness in the flock I add to their drinking water citrate of iron and ammonia (crystals) a teaspoonful to a quart of water. They usually get well after a few days. But in all my raising chick- ens I have had but very few cases of leg weakness or of bowel trouble. If the weather is not too cold they can usually get on without the brood- ers after they are eight weeks old. The brooder is then removed from the shed and they sleep in one corner of the shed nights. In the warm weather but little heat is needed in the brooder but I prefer to keep the lamp burning turned low as it keeps the brooder dried out. and without heat it becomes damp and unhealthy from the breath of the chickens. The other hatches, as they come along. are treated much the same as the first. except that later in the season, the weather being warmer, the chicks do not have to be kept so long in the house or confined so long in the shed before being given the run on the yard. A much better way, when it can be conveniently arranged, is to have a grass yard into which they can be allowed to run when desired. It is surprising what an amount of green grass a flock of chickens will dispose of, if growing in their yard. where they can get it at pleasure. Occasionally in the flock we notice one or more individuals which, while they are healthy and lively and have apparently good appetites. are away behind the others in growth, perhaps a third smaller than the others of the same age. There is some reason for this; let us do a little investigating and see if we can discover the cause. If we watch closely when they are eating we will see that while picking busily at the grain not more than one time out of three or four does it get any to swallow. Let us catch it and examine. We will probably find that the upper bill has grown away beyond the lower one, so, as the ends do not meet, it can not easily pick up the 68 TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY grains. If let alone it would finally become a crossbill and starve to death, unless we were kind enough to kill it first. But we will take a sharp knife or a pair of scissors and trim off the end of the long bill, being careful not to trim as far back as the quick, causing it to bleed. It only takes a minute and causes no pain to the chick, but makes a vast difference in its ability to eat. The process may need to be repeated two or three times, at intervals of a week or two and often they are finally cured entirely. Some may say, it does not pay to fuss with such chicks, but I think it does pay, for with early chickens worth from $1.00 to $1.50 per pair at broiler size, we want to raise every one in the flock that it is possible to raise. A Wisconsin lady who is very successful in raising natural or “hen hatched” chicks says: In order that strong, vigorous chicks may be hatched, many things must be taken into consideration:. The location of the nest, nest material and shape, the disposition of the hen and her comfort. All of these things play a very important part in the operation. Of course the eggs must be strong in fertility, or no matter how well incubated, the result will be a disastrous one. If one’s fowls be of a breed that is not prone to broodiness, not really non-sitters, but not the best for incubation purpose, it would be well not to move the hen from her chosen nest. If this be in a good place where other hens will not molest her, she may be given a setting of eggs, if not, it will be a saving of time and patience to give the eggs to a more reliable hen, or use an incubator. A broody hen in a flock of good sitters and mothers may easily be moved, if handled carefully. Sitters should have a room to themselves, if possible, with an earth floor. Make the nest, or nests, in boxes with no top or bottom, on the floor of this room. The nest should be made of some clean, soft nesting material, shaped into a wide and shallow nest. Deep nests cause the eggs to pile up and get broken. The box or frame enclosing this nest need be but five or six inches deep. as a hay stack-is not necessary for a hen’s nest. Some hens will make a good nest for themselves, if furnished material, while others will not shape the nest at all. In the nest place a few glass eggs and the nest is ready. The hen should have shown a disposition to sit for at least two or three days before moving her to a new nest. After dark take her carefully in the hands, head towards you, in such a way as to pinion her wings and prevent any fluttering, and place her on the new nest, holding her down gently so that she can feel the eggs. Usually she will settle down without much trouble but in any case, keep your temper well in control. The more carefully you handle her, the more likely is she to obey your wishes. If one thinks best, a cover of slats may be placed over the nest, though personally we prefer to have the hen uncovered. If she has been very carefully handled. after dark, she usually sits without any covering; if she does not, we take her out and try another. On the floor of this room keep corn, grit, and a dust bath. This should be ready before moving the hen. The next morning the hen usually comes off to eat and drink, and then goes back to her nest; occasionally one refuses to do so, but will stay on if put back. We often set five or six hens at the same time in one room, sometimes having ten or twelve in the same room. If necessary we might have more. 3 The first night after the hen has been off and returned to her nest without any trouble, take her carefully from the nest, take the feet in the left hand, allowing the head to hang down, the breast resting against you, which will prevent fluttering, and thoroughly dust her with some good insect powder, shaking it well into the roots of the feathers, then return her to the nest. The next evening, or whenever you think she is settled for good, remove the TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY 69 china eggs and give her the ones you desire her to sit on. If the eggs are very cold, put them in a comfortably warm room for two or three hours before putting them under the hen. A nest full of cold eggs must be far from comfortable for her to sit upon. At this time one may feel that he has done his part. and the future of : ‘the eggs depends almost entirely upon the hen. Of course feed and water must not be neglected. nor the dust bath. With the exception of an occa- sional glance at the eggs while the hen is off, to see if any are broken, it is best to let her severely alone. If an egg is found to be broken in the “nest, carefully wash the soiled eggs in tepid water, and if the nest be much soiled, put in clean litter. When several hens are set at the same time, test the eggs on the tenth day, and ‘after taking out infertile eggs, those remaining may be given to fewer hens and the others reset with fresh eggs. It is a good plan never to give a hen more than thirteen eggs, and early in the spring only ten or twelve. Some hens may properly cover more, but we never know, and as the hen moves her eggs from the middle of the nest to the outside, and vice versa, it is not one or two eggs that will suffer, but all, consequently nothing is gained and much may be lost. Three days before the hen is due to hatch, again dust her with insect powder. If this is thoroughly done, vermin will be kept in check. While hatching she should not be disturbed unless to remove shells. and this should - be done without raising her from the nest, and if she shows any resentment at your approach it is far better to keep away. This is a critical time, the tiny chicks are just emerging from the shells and should she move her feet. they are in great danger of being crushed. Let not your desire to count the chicks get the better of your judgment at this time; do not be in a hurry to feed them, as some are, before they are scarcely dry. This mistake is not '-made oftener by the young and inexperienced than by older people. Indeed, wks not so often, for many of the young poultry keepers are reading and profiting thereby. We read again and again that first before the chick leaves the shell it absorbs the yolk, and by it is sufficiently. fed to last two or three days. But the thoughtless desire of some people to feed the chicks as soon as possible is the cause (not infrequently) of digestive disorders and bowel trouble.» What did the hen in her natural wild state feed her chicks? They did not find a bowl of bread and milk, or cornmeal and water awaiting their . pleasure when first opening their eyes in this mundane sphere. When the mother hen first left her nest she could move but a short distance before hovering her young. In their short moves they found only a few seeds, a little grit. No chance to gorge themselves here. Nature provided for their neces- sity. Let them assimilate the food they contain before giving them other food. Before moving the hen and chicks from the nest have a coop ready in which to confine them. This need not be a costly arrangement, but it should have a floor and be rain proof. Later in the season the floor may be dis- pensed with, but even then it is safer to have a floor for young chicks, for pouring rains make the ground wet, if it does not actually flood the coop. An ideal place, early in the season, is an open shed facing the south. In this a number of broods may be placed in brood coops. The hens are then confined so that the chicks can run in at any time to be hovered, and they have plenty of room to exercise, even on stormy days or when the ground is covered with snow. Later the orchard is a good place to set the coops. After a few days, if the weather is favorable, the hen may be allowed her liberty, but should be shut in at nights or she will have her brood out too early in the morning. When moving the hen and chicks from the nest to the coop. see that the chicks do not become chilled. On cold days we have warmed a brick and placed it in a pail and put a woolen cloth on top, then put the chickens 70 TWO. YEARS PW ee ae © re ae Ne in and cover them closely with another cloth. If one has to move them _ iq some distance, a wooden pail is preferable to a basket, as it does not admit air through the sides. In severe weather we also warm the chaff to be placed in the coops. Before placing the chicks in their future home, dust them with insect powder, and again once each week for four weeks. If done thoroughly lice will be conspicuous by their absence. Hold the chick in left hand, head towards you, back of the hand up in such a way to pro- tect the little eyes from the powder, it makes them smart. Then dust care- fully under each wing and into the down. After placing them in the coop, cover the front and leave them to rest. The first thing we give them is a dish of \coarse sand, and water. On the third day of their lives give bread crumbs, rolled oats or chick feed. A mix- ture of bread crumbs, rolled oats and hard boiled eggs, slightly moistened with sweet milk, is also excellent. Fresh water, in clean dishes, and coarse, sharp sand should always be within their reach. A teacup turned upside down in a saucer makes a good fountain for small chicks, and one that they cannot get into or spill. If only a few chicks are to be raised the purchase of any prepared chick feed may be unnecessary® for bread and cracker crumbs, a boiled egg occa- sionally, rolled oats and cracked corn and wheat will be an abundance. When large numbers are to be fed, the supply of crumbs, etc., from a family will not be sufficient. It is then that one of the prepared chick feeds comes in so nicely. It is always ready, requires no preparation. If thrown in litter what a contented sound the chicks make while busily scratching out every grain and seed. The only fault we have found with. the chick feed was that it contained too much grit, but when fed in connection with other food, it will all be consumed. However, one scarcely wishes to pay such a price for grit. We have tried feeding both four and five times a day with different lots and found no difference in results. If the young stock are to be fed for broilers, they may.be forced and fed largely of fat making food for a few weeks before they are sold. If not it would be better to feed less of such food, and give plenty of oats in some form, also wheat. Oats either rolled, hulled, or steel cut, gives them frame and vigor. Early in the season, before insects appear, feed the chicks a little meat. Boiled ham meat, chopped fine, is relished by the chicks, and does them untold good. A feed of this once in three or four days is certainly beneficial. Pieces of meat left at the table may be utilized to advantage in this way. If sweet milk is fed every day there is not much necessity of feeding meat, but it should be fed sparingly to chicks under two weeks old. “Where are three things that agree with all flocks, at all times, and in all places. ‘These are fresh water, good sharp grit and charcoal. .A meager diet with these is much to be preferred to a generous one without. Chicks should be fed enough to keep them growing and thrifty, but not enough to prevent them coming for the next meal with good appetites. We have not mentioned here that if vigorous chicks are to be hatched, strongly fertilized eggs must_be set, but begin with the eggs just as we might have them, either from our own or others’ yards. “There is nothing new under the sun,” but the reading of our old story often reminds us of duties unperformed. A Utah breeder, of long experience, describes his methods as follows: Arranging the nest. A cracker-box makes a light, convenient, inexpensive nest-box. Begin at the top of one end and saw out a door ten inches square. Fill in soft earth four inches deep. Fashion a nest with your hands, about the size of a wash-basin. Sprinkle a thin layer of a mixture of soda, sifted ashes and sulphur in the nest and cover to a depth of three inches with by wwuctiy * TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY ral straw cut in six inch lengths. Cut the top of the box into slats and nail on, leaving cracks two inches apart for ventilation. Make a door eleven inches square. Nail the bottom with two narrow strap hinges just below the opening, so that when the door is open it will swing downward, making a bridge from the ground to the nest for the hen to walk on, and the nest is ready. Setting the hen. Place two or three stale eggs or china eggs in the nest. When quite dark carry the hen carefully to the prepared nets and place her ‘on it and close the door and prop it shut. If early in the season of if a young hen she may try to get out when daylight comes and should she succeed, it is hardly worth while to induce her to sit in that nest, there- fore, keep the door shut fast and in a day or two she will become contented, if she decides to sit at all. When you feel sure she will sit, give her the eggs you wish her to hatch. If very expensive, I would not. give the largest hen more than ten at a setting. When the weather is mild and eggs and setting hens numerous, I have had good success by giving sixteen eggs to a hen, at times getting fourteen or fifteen good chicks, but I would not think of taking any such chances with high priced eggs. When eggs are shipped from a distance I have had the best results from allowing them to be spread out on the floor of the cellar and allowing them to remain there, for a day or even twenty-four hours before setting. I would prefer to place the nest-box in a room where none but sitters are kept, but if cramped for room, with this kind of a nest-box, good results may be obtained in the laying pens. If none but sitters are kept in a room, fresh water, corn and wheat and plenty of grit should be on the floor conveniently near the hens and after a few days the trap doors of the nest-boxes may be left open and the hens allowed to come and go as they choose, but if the nest-boxes are kept in the laying pens, the trap doors must be kept closed all the time and at a certain time each day the hen must be taken out and fed and watered and the door left open until she returns of her own accord, when the door must be again closed. It is a good plan. no matter where the hen is set. to keep a shallow box filled with road-dust or sifted ashes where the hen may get to it and dust herself. After she is fairly established on the nest, I would sprinkle her every two or three days with lice powder or pure insect powder. About twice a week while the hen is feeding I find it a good plan to use a spray-pump on the inside of the box, using coal-oil, to which has been added a tablespoonful of oil of sassafras, being careful not to spray the eggs; give the inside of the box a very light application, but the outside a thorough application. Care of eggs. If the eggs are very valuable I would examine the nest each day while the hen is off, if convenient, otherwise about every other night, and if any eggs are broken take out the rest and rearrange the nest with fresh straw. and any of the eggs that are soiled or stained must be washed clean in warm water and wiped dry with a soft cloth before re- turning to the nest. Be very careful that the nest is not so deep that the eggs will roll together. It is better to have it so shallow that the eggs will roll from each other when the hen steps on them, and the eggs should be sprinkled once a week with insect powder or soda and about twice during the hatch sprinkle a tablespoonful or two of pulverized naphthaline flakes in the straw about the eggs; it will not harm the eggs and it throws fumes that will keep away the mites. After the first week the hen must come off the nest every day without fail to air the eggs, and about once a week the hen should be dusted well with lice powder on the breast, under the wings and about the fluff. While hatching. Do not disturb the hen while the chicks are hatching. I do not like the plan of taking the chicks from the hen as they hatch. It worries the mother and makes her restless and sometimes quite savage, and she is liable to kill more chicks in her uneasinesss upon the nest than you U2 TWO: YEARS: Witt POUuUriTRY will save by taking them from her. I have had more and better hatches by not touching the hen at all after the 19th day until she is ready to bring the chicks off on her own accord. Keep a written memorandum of the day each hen was set, noting the number and kind of eggs given her; add 21 days to that date and you will know what date to expect the chicks to hatch. Some hens will begin hatching on the 20th day and finish on the 2ist. Others will not finish until the 22d day. No two are just alike, so do not be im- patient to remove the hen and count the chicks. I have known them to hatch as late as the 23d day and have occasionally gotten a good chick, but not often. The brood. Always have a coop prepared and ready for the brood when ready to come off. A box three or four feet square will do. Knock off one side, split the boards and nail them on in slats three inches apart. Batten the cracks on top of the box to make it rain proof; cut a door ten inches square in one end and use an old piece of carpet or gunny sacks. for a curtain to hang over the slatted front at night or in stormy weather. If likely to be troubled by rats or cats, attach a six-foot covered run of one inch mesh wire netting to the coop. Dig a trench one foot deep the size of the wire run and stand the wire in the trench, then fill in the dirt and tramp it down and the run will be rat proof, When the chicks are all hatched, oil the tops of their heads, their throats and under their wings with pure olive oil, which is perfectly harmless to the chicks, but sure death to the gray body lice that will infest and sap the life from your chicks. Sprinkle the chicks well with Persian insect powder, give the hen a good dusting with lice powder, or a good substitute made by taking equal parts of Persian insect powder, air slacked lime, sifted ashes and pulverized naphthaline flakes. Place the hen and chicks in the coop, the floor of which should be well covered with dry litter. Let down the curtain over the slatted front to within two or three inches of the bottom to keep the coop dark and the hen will brood the chicks well. Keep the curtain down for three cr four days. : Feeding the chicks. In 36 hours the chicks will be alert and hungry and ready for their first feed. Right here is where your success or failure is decided. The chicks must have grit; their little crops are empty. Without grit, and the right kind, you may feed them the most nourishing diet and they will die. Just as well expect to raise a baby on food for an adult as to attempt to raise chicks without grit and proper ration. Grit, all important —most important, at their first feed. Take a small board covered with fine, sharp sand, sprinkle it with chick feed and watch them gulp down the grit with the feed; instinct prompts the grit; then the hen will select the dainties from the chick feed and offer it bit by bit to the babies, and you will note - they will not be slow about taking it. A chick fount of fresh water must be convenient at all times from the moment the brood is removed from the nest. The hen will want a drink and the chicks will want a sip, too, A tin fruit can with a nail hole half an inch from the top and inverted in a saucer makes a convenient and cheap fount. For the first few days feed the chicks four or five times a day and do not forget the hen. She will like the chick feed, but it is too expensive for Mrs. Biddie. Serve her with cracked corn and wheat, which is quite good enough, and when the chicks are three or four days old, a little dish of the chick feed placed just beyond Biddy’s reach will be found and appreciated by the chicks, especially if they may scratch in it and scatter it in litter on the floor of the run. The following is an excellent chick feed: Take by measure 20 pints of cracked wheat, 10 pints of millet seed, 5 pints of cracked corn, 5 pints of rolled barley, 3 pints of cracked oats, 2 pints of ground meat scrap, 3 pints of ground bone, 2 pints of fine grit, 1 pint of charcoal dust, mix thoroughly and feed dry. If the meat scrap cannot be had, substitute scraps of meat from the table, cut fine and feed separately once a day or dig angle worms and throw to them. When the chicks are a week old, if the weather is damp, grease their heads, - Rs TWO YEARS: WITH POULTRY 73 throats, and under the wings with salty lard at least once a week until they are six weeks old. when the feed may be changed and the greasing omitted. Growing chicks. A mixture of cracked corn, wheat, cut green bone, cracked barley and oats three times a day with a bran mash mixed with alfalfa or clover meal, varied with an occasional feed of scraps from the table will be all that is necessary to keep the chicks growing. As soon as they are weaned they should be removed to a house prepared for them with low roosts, where they should be shut in for a few days until they become at home, when they may be let out. and with a little watching they may soon be taught to return to this house each night. As soon as pullets can be distinguished from the cockerels they should be kept in separate yards. Important summary. Keep the eggs and nest clean during incubation. Keep the hen well dusted with lice powder during incubation and while rearing the brood. Keep the heads, throats and under the wings of the chicks greased until six weeks old and dusted with Persian insect powder once a week at least. Place sharp. fine sand.or grit before the chicks before the first meal. Keep clean, fresh water before them all the time. For the first four or five days keep the coop well darkened, that the hen may brood without uneasiness. Feed chick feed for five weeks. After that feed growing feed and watch them grow into profit. How a Texas breeder raises them: The first step in raising chicks successfully is to have healthy, vigorous parent stock, so the eggs will contain germs that will hatch strong chicks. To obtain this the breeders must be of standard size, as hens that are under size lay small eggs that seldom hatch, the chicks are weak and hard to raise. Provide comfortable houses and where breeders are penned, have the runs large, so they will have plenty of room to exercise. I feed my hens wheat, oats. millet seed. Kaffir corn, Indian corn and maize. I give them wheat or millet seed early in the morning, at noon I feed, on alternate days, oats and Kaffir corn, at night I feed a little whole corn or maize and a mash composed of cooked vegetables and alfalfa meal. I feed all grain in a deep litter so they have to work for all they get. Keep plenty of fresh water before them all the time. I give my hens two or three feeds of green cut bone and meat scraps a week, keep plenty of gravel and oyster shell for them. My hens fed in this way lay well and the eggs average 13 fertile out of every 15, and the chicks are strong and healthy and not hard to raise. For nest-boxes I use boxes I get at the grocery store, which are about 16 inches wide, 20 inches long and 12 inches deep. I take all but about 4 inches at bottom out of one end. I put a roof on, elevating it 4 inches in front, leave gables open for windows, fix a sliding door for front and have an ideal nest. I find them very convenient and easy to handle. [I place several of these in laying house. Now we are ready for the broody hen. I run incubators and set hens, but will give my way of managing setting hens first and take up artificial incubation later on. When biddy takes a notion to set I leave her on the nest of her choice, giving her an egg or two and close the door to nest so the other hens cannot bother her. I keep her tnis way a day or two, to be sure she means business, open the door once each day so she can come off for feed and water. She is now ready for the eggs. If weather is cold thirteen will be plenty, but when the weather is warmer I give her fifteen. Place eggs in nest and give hen a good dusting with an insect powder ‘that will not injure the eggs, put her on nest and fasten door, dust her again about the 18th day. If one has a separate room for setting hens, they can be moved to it by doing it after dark, but when they are turned off for food 4. TWO: -YEARS Ware Olina and water, they must be watched for a few times to see that they go back all right. I frequently move them this way and I have never had any trouble. If left in laying room, turn them out about four o’clock in afternoon, and there will rarely ever be any trouble with hens going on to lay, as most all the hens have laid by this time. My hens, managed this way, hatch every hatchable egg and I am rarely ever bothered with broken eggs or chicks killed in nest. When I notice first egg pipped, which will be the 19th or 20th day, I fasten her up and leave her until the twenty-first day, I then remove shells and if she is finished hatching, I put chicks in wool lined basket and put them by the stove, where they will keep warm, give the hen feed and water and let her have time to dust and exercise, IJ then carry out nest and burn material, give box a coat of liquid lice killer and leave it out doors a few days; it is then ready to be used again. I like to set two or three hens at the same time and give all the chicks to one hen, but if the weather is very cold, ten or fifteen chicks are all one hen can manage. I| always prepare my coops for hens and chicks several days before needed. I find colony coops, 3x6 feet, 2 feet in rear and 3 feet in front, witha shed roof, give best results, as they are heavy enough not to blow: over in hard winds, and are large enough to keep them in on bad days and have room for scratching. JI make sides, ends and floor of matched flooring and put a window sash in front; the top is made separate and fits on like a box cover with hooks and screw eyes; I make it of 1 foot boxing plank and strip cracks, but corrugated iron roofing would be as good or better. After hen exercised, ate and drank, I put some litter in the coop, putt hen and chicks in, first dusting hen good to rid her of lice, I put in a dish of coarse sand and gravel, fasten up and leave until morning; then I feed hen whole grain, put in tountain of fresh water, and scatter a few millet seeds in the litter; in a little while I give them a hard boiled egg, mashed finé, or a few bread crumbs. I feed this four or five times a day, until they are a week or more old. On nice, warm days I let them outside, I keep plenty of fresh water and gravel for them and feed them meat scraps and some kind of green stuff two or three times a week. I feed on chops made of a mixture of different grains and find it as good as prepared chick feed and not near as expensive. I never let them out early for the old hen to drag them around in the cold and always feed them their supper early, so they will go to roost before it is cold in evening. 4 The colony coop I have described is large enough for a brood of chicks to roost in until time to take them to winter quarters, and it can be moved about, if necessary. I will now take up artificial incubation and brooding, which is my favorite - way of raising chicks; the success depends a great deal on the parent stock. as before stated. Fresh eggs hatch best, but I have saved them three weeks and got good hatches. I turn the eggs every day after they are two or three days old, gather them every day and keep them at a temperature be- tween fifty and ninety degrees; when I have enough to fill the machine, I start machine according to directions, run it a day or two and get it properly regulated, so I can control temperature. I put the eggs in the machine in the morning so I will have all day to get temperature up right, don’t bother lamp flame or regulator, as the heat will come up all right if given time; it takes several hours to warm up a machine full of cold eggs, but the tem- perature must not be hurried, the main thing is to follow the directions that come with the machine and not get careless and neglect it. The last week the temperature will be inclined to run up and will need closer watch- ing. If it goes up to 105 or 106, take trays out leave machine open and turn eggs. If they are turned several times a day, it does not hurt them, but is good for them, I think. I test the eggs the tenth day and take out all clear eggs. If by accident the temperature should go to 108 or 110 for a few minutes, ] take out tray and cover eggs with a cloth, wrung from as EVO ACE ARS: Wid 2 OU Eas ¥ 5 hot water as I can, and allow them to cool off, and let machine cool down | before replacing them; it is not good for them to get so hot, but I have had good hatches after it had happened. I get best results when I run at 102 to 103 the first week and 103 to 104 the rest of the time. If temperature is kept at the proper degree, signs of hatching will begin the evening of the 19th day and the hatch will be finished by the morning of the 2ist day. After the eggs begin to pip. I shut up machine and do not open it, unless abso- lutely necessary, until 21st day; I then remove all the shells and leave chicks until next day; I rarely ever put chicks in nursery or take them out of ma- chine until hatch is completed. Never let temperature go below 103 while hatching; my machines managed this way hatch every hatchable egg and the little fellows have no vermin to sap their life away and to keep one continually doctoring them, to rid them of the pests. I light up brooder the day before needed and get it warmed up good, cover the floor with straw. When ready, I take them to brooder, in a lined basket, well covered to prevent their chilling. Ninety-five degrees is about right for the first week, after that the temperature can be gradually low- ered; the chicks are the best thermometers; if they stand and holler and hold their wings down they are too hot, but if they crowd together they are too cold, if comfortable they will sit down and be quiet. I feed very much the same as I do with hens, and don’t let them stay out from under hover long enough to become chilled, as a chick that has been chilled is sure to have bowel trouble. Give water in fountain so they can’t get in and get wet; a small tin bucket with a hole punched about half-inch from top, filled with water and inverted in a shallow pan, a little larger than bucket, makes a very good fountain. Fifty chicks in one brooder will thrive a great deal better than if more are put together; the house described before makes an ideal place for chicks after they outgrow their baby quarters and they are so easily kept clean and nice. The brooders for the baby-chicks I put near the house so they will be. handy, as little chicks need close watching for the first few days, as they have to be taught where to go, though they are quick to learn; the first two weeks is the most critical period of a chick’s life. The way I feed the little brooder chicks is to give them fine gravel for the first day, with fresh water, after that, for four to five days, I feed hard boiled eggs, mashed fine, or stale bread crumbs moistened with sweet milk; I feed this 5 or 6 times a day. When they are old enough to begin to scratch, I have litter for them to work in and scatter a variety of grains in it, such as millet seed, cracked corn, Kaffir corn and maize and keep gravel, char- coal and fresh water for them all the time; I feed meat scraps, chopped fine, once or twice per week, use alfalfa meal for green stuff early in spring, when there is nothing else; I prepare it by pouring boiling water over it and allow it to stand until cold; they are very fond of it. Twice a week I put a teaspoonful of lime water to each pint of drinking water; I take about a pint of lime and put it in a gallon of water and stir well and let stand a day or two, then pour off the clear liquid in another vessel, being careful not to get in any of the sediment, as the clear liquid is the part to use, it is now ready to use. After the chicks are 4 weeks old they rarely ever need attificial heat unless the weather is very cold. They must be fed well until maturity, as a starved and neglected chick is not fit for anything. They must have plenty of roosting room and everything must be kept in the best sanitary condition possible, and free from lice and red mites; the only way to fight lice successfully is to keep after them every week in the year. I find whitewash and liquid lice killer the only way to rid poultry houses of them. I make my own liquid lice killer, which I find just-as’ eood as- that” 1 buy and a great deal cheaper. 16 - TWO YEARS» WIth POULTRY will give formula for liquid lice killer: . Carbolic’acid, crude, + pint, . Bisulphuret carbon, 2 pint. wbar (North Carolinas not yoasin sacle . Petroleum oil, crude, or coal oil, 15 pints: Mix first three together, add coal oil and mix thoroughly, shake before using and keep tightly corked; I use this to paint perches, nest-boxes and DO OO tl | insides of all poultry buildings, and find it very effective in ridding them 7 ( of all kinds of vermin and it acts as a disinfectant as well. For head lice on young chicks I use lard, 10 parts; snuff, 1 part; or sweet cream with a few drops of oil of sassafras; rub a little on head and neck of young chicks. I whitewash interior of all poultry houses, brood coops and brooders twice a year with a whitewash of lime, sulphur and a little carbolic acid. I have a place for fowls to dust, and about once a week I add some of the lice powder and let them do their own dusting. Remove droppings from houses and coops once a week and paint perches and inside of coops with liquid lice killer. I do this winter and summer, so I am never troubled. with vermin and my young chicks are healthy and grow like weeds. I raise several hundred chickens every year and rarely ever lose one, except from accident. I now have over 300 young chickens from 5 days to 8 weeks old, some were hatched with hens, some with incubators, and I never saw a healthier or thriftier bunch of chickens. . Now, @ great many will say, “Oh! all this is too much trouble for me.” Well, there is trouble and work about it, but if one is not willing to do it, they had better let chicken raising alone, for it is no lazy person’s work; but if there is anything there is any profit in, without working, I want to know what it is. I think that a thing that is worth doing at all is worth doing well. I am fond of my pretty chickens and like to take care of them, and anything that will add to their comfort I am always ready to do. Much good advice is given in the follounng paragraph, by an Iowa poultryman: In preparing for a season of setting hens and raising chickens one of the most important points is to see that the stock from which you expect to get the eggs for setting are in the best. of condition. Strong, healthy chicks cannot come from run-down stock. Chickens carefully cared for during the winter and early spring, that have had plenty of exercise and that have been fed sound grain, vegetables or clover hay, with very little mash and no forcing foods, should be in the best of condition to produce strong, fertile eggs. Never use eggs from stock that are inbred or from late hatched pullets, as they will not give satisfaction. Early hatched chickens are better matured and stronger. In selecting eggs for setting discard all misshaped, rough, or thin shelled ones. When the weather is cool they should be gathered often to prevent chilling. If you are careful about all these things there is no reason why you should not get healthy, vigorous chicks, that hatch and live, provided they are incubated right. If an incubator is used the directions should be followed closely. The manufacturers have studied their machines and- know how they should be run. But with the hen it is not such an easy task, yet with a little prepara- tion a lot of hens may be cared for with very little work or worry. Do not be in too great a hurry to set the hen. Unless she has chosen a quiet, secluded place for her nest, where there is no possibility of her being disturbed, it is best to prepare such a place and carefully remove her in the evening; after dark is the best time, and by morning she will have become quiet, and there is little danger of her leaving or becoming dissatis- fied. Of course you will have to see that she returns after feeding the first PP ake dS VO YEARS Waele sPOULERY ed few times. When a room or building can be used for the sitting hens alone the work will be much lessened. With a few lath or a piece of chicken wire~a sitting room can be easily made in one part of the chicken house or shed that will save many steps, and be a great help in many ways. A shed with a dirt floor makes a good place by closing the front with netting. In this sitting room put a box of shelled corn, another of grit and char- coal, mixed, and a good sized vessel for water, which should be filled every morning. One corner might be given to the dust bath; make it of generous size and it will help greatly in keeping hens free of lice and they will take considerable exercise and be more comfortable. It is a good idea to set two or three at one time and at the end of a week test the eggs, the fertile ones given to the two hens and then the other hen may be given fresh eggs. This would be a good time to set any choice or high priced eggs, as it is much safer to give them to a hen that has set a week or so. In early spring when sitters are scarce a hen may be reset without injury to her health. For nests, boxes about 18 inches square, are best. Turn on the side and nail a board across the front at the bottom about 4 inches high. . Now put in two or three quarts of fresh. fine dirt, work into the corners and hollow out in the center a very little; this will protect the eggs from the bottom boards and keep them in better shape. Over this put a little clean straw, or fine hay will do. Do not put in chaff, as the hen is likely to scratch for a seed or two, and thus break the eggs. If at any time during the sitting an egg is broken or the nest soiled in any way, remove the eggs carefully and wash ‘in warm water, put new straw in and replace the eggs. Dust insect powder over nest and hen once each week. Never use anything oily or strongly scented in the nest, as it is liable to hurt the unhatched chick. Date each setting and you will not forget the hatch. When chicks are about half out remove the shells and give them more room. When all are hatched and dry put little chickens in a basket on a cloth; cover closely. Dust the hen with insect powder and let her out for exercise and feed. A good, roomy coop that will not leak is a necessity. If you have a grassy yard, fenced so the older chickens cannot bother, you will have an ideal place for your chickens. Shut the mother hen in and let chicks out after the first day, if weather is good. Do not set coops too close together. as the hens are liable to kill each other’s chickens. When weather is change- able, ten chicks are enough for one hen, but later she will care for twelve or fifteen; nothing is gained by crowding. In early spring the coops should be placed in a building or shed where they are protected from the stormy weather. If brooders are used thirty-five may be placed in each one, with much less work in attending them. Use a good make of brooder and follow in- structions carefully. At all times use your best judgment; do not be too easily discouraged and in the fall you will have a lot of fine chickens for your trouble. The first feed for chicks should be chick grit or sand. When about 24 hours old give a little dry bread crumbs, slightly moistened. This should “be given about four times the first day. I feed this for two days, then they may be given a little chick food or any small seed that they can easily swal- low. Aim to give a variety after the first week. A baked corn cake is good, corn meal and bran, equal parts, well scalded and fed cold is good. Avoid any sticky or wet food. I think the dry, hard grain is best for the principal feed, and the soft feeds in the morning, about four or five times a week, not oftener. When a week old, blood meal or lean meat and cut bone, if it can be procured, should be fed. When not on grass some green food should be given, such as lettuce, onion tops, etc. The lettuce may be grown ina box near the window, very early, when weather is still cold. 198 TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY | Before giving the chicks their first meal when you put them in the coop they should be given a little drink of water. After the first day keep fresh water before them at all times, in little pans so arranged that they ae eet their feet wet. Watch for any signs of disease. Boiled milk _is good for them at all times and when there is looseness of the bowels, a little, say three drops, of carbolic acid in a cup of water may be given. Douglas mixture may be given occasionally. A feed of boiled rice in which a little cinnamon has been added is good; brown or scorch the grain sometimes. Disease is easier avoided than cured. By using preventive measures occasionally disease may be prevented to a great extent. They need grit, clear water and clean grain, with a grassy run and there will be very little loss, if kept dry and warm. You cannot give them too much attention, yet they should not be pam- pered. Chicks can be successfully raised in June or even in July if care is taken. Lice are apt to be troublesome in those months. Unless yarded separately the older chickens will not give them much of a show. On wet mornings, or rainy days they should be kept in the coop or shed. Once in ten days, or oftener if necessary, clean all runs and coops and spray thoroughly with a liquid lice killer or the Douglas mixture. Burn all nest material and scorch the boxes and coops over oun paper. For head lice use coal oil and lard mixed. Rub a few drops on the head, under wings and around vent. This should be done in the evening to prevent blistering. If too much is used it will injure them. A sharp outlook should be kept for rats, skunks, or cats. If feed is left to lay around it will tempt the rats. Have fine netting doors on coops that can be closed at night, thus shutting out any enemy and admitting fresh air. Have yards, if possible, some dis- tance from other buildings, and all high weeds cut and all rubbish cleared away. If there is no hiding place near they will give very little trouble, but if once they get a taste of the tender chick your loss will be great. Breeders for the next season should be selected early and given plenty of range. Those for market do not need so much exercise and should be fed mashes containing fattening foods in addition to the grain ration. Raising the chicks in limited space, thus described by a city dweller: Owing to the fact that I must confine myself to a limited space for house room, I have found the following plan to be satisfactory, both to myself and to the hens, judging from the way they attend to business. I have a house eight feet wide by fourteen feet long with a floor in eight feet of it. the balance being filled with fresh sand every fall. I also have a scratching shed twenty feet long by eight wide, the front of which faces the south and is made with removable windows. placed near the ground, the west end also has windows. The front slants a little towards the back, giving the hens sunshine all day. As soon as my hens get broody I remove the roosts from the house to the scratching shed, and fix temporary nests in shed for hens to lay in—keeping them out of house, as I want it for my sitting hens. Before the hens are set I remove all old nest material from the nests, giving the whole house a thorough cleaning. I set my hens on the floor for their nests. I nail a 2x4 about 8 feet long, securely to the floor, about 18 inches from the wall, then I make my par- titions about 16 inches apart and 18 inches high, and let them extend out over the 2x4 at least 2 inches, this prevents the hens from picking at each other, while sitting. I now have spaces 16x18 inches, which I find are large enough. These I fill to about one inch from top of 2x4 with clean, fresh earth, free from sticks, ar ee ie SPO NE ECRORSS GS WALT Eis ea ¥ 79 stones, or other foreign material. This earth I] hollow out in shape of nest. Next I fill up even with the top of 2x4 with lawn clippings, carefully saved from summer before for this purpose. I find this makes a much better nest for sitting hens than hay or straw. as it contains no seeds for them to pick at, and if an egg is broken, as sometimes happens, it is much more easily removed without disturbing the other eggs. For sitting I prefer a hen two years old or older, as my experience has been that pullets are very apt to be flighty and restless, although some make excellent sitters and good mothers. When the hen becomes broody I remove her to the house, put her on one of the nests with two or three china eggs, or an old door knob, for a day or two. If she means business she will. sit on anything. Take her off and feed her. Jf she returns to the nest I feel safe in giving her the eggs; 15 if the weather is warm and 13 if it is very early in the spring, and danger of much cold weather, or if she is a small hen. ' Before she begins to sit in earnest, give her a good dusting with some good lice powder, holding her up by the feet and sifting it in well, not for- getting the back of the neck and top of head. It is a good plan to sift some of the powder into the nest. Now leave her alone, except for dusting once a week, the last to be just before time for the chicks to hatch. For the first three or four days a sitting hen should be given her regular feed of whole grain, with a little mash, made of potatoes boiled and mashed and mixed with ground feed and bran. At the end of that time leave out the mash, and feed nothing but whole corn and barley. as they contain the most heat. See that she has plenty of good sharp grit, with fresh water where she can get it at any time. My hens seem more contented if they can get off and on at will. An old hen will seldom leave the nest more than once in two days. Once or twice a week I let them out in the yard to wallow and dust in freshly turned earth; two or three shovelfuls are enough. I always try to set two hens at same, or nearly the same, time, as I can let one hen take care of all the chicks, sometimes re-set the other hen and find that when she brings off the second hatch, she is none the worse for her six weeks’ sitting. As the chicks are hatched I remove all shells and leave the chicks in the nest with the hen twenty-four, and sometimes thirty-six, hours, without food. Sometimes the chicks are hatched twelve hours apart. I use individual coops and cages, which is one reason why I try to give one hen all the chicks she can possibly take care of. The coops I made, in sections, of lumber from dry goods boxes. They are 18 inches high in front, 14 inches high at the back, 20 inches wide, and 24 inches long, with a removable roof which extends out 2 inches all around. and no floor. In the front J cut a door, just large enough for biddy to go in and out easily. The sides and ends are put together with 14 inch screws. When not in use, they are taken apart, placed one upon the other,- tied and stored, taking up very little room. For the cages I make light frames 4 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 18 inches high; two sides and one end I cover with one inch wire mesh, leaving one end open to be placed against the front of the coop. For the top I like light boards best. as it protects chicks from the rain and hot sun later in the season. It also keeps the ground dry, and it is easier to feed, and to remove drinking fountain for cleaning and filling. For the fountains I use large bottles with small necks, in the mouth of which I insert a wire bent in the shape of a letter V, with ends bent back to hold bottle up from bottom of drinking dish. For the stand I nailed together two pieces of boards about 6 inches wide and 12 inches long, in the form of an L to the upright. I fasten a piece of tin just large enough to hold the bottle when inverted over dish. For the little chicks I use the cover of a baking powder can, which is large enough for them to drink from, but not to run through. As they grow older larger dishes are used... _ 80 TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY For the coop and cage. select a high, dry piece of ground, outside the chicken yard, on grass if possible. In the coop put lawn clippings for bed- ding. A shovelful of coarse, clean sand, and the drinking fountain filled with fresh water in the cage, and the new home is ready for biddy and her chicks. Put the chicks in a basket. take the old hen and put them all in the cage. Feed nothing for a couple of hours. Their first feed consists of hard boiled eggs only, then stale bread soaked in milk, sprinkled with a little black pepper and squeezed dry, then feed dry bran, rolled oats, ground feed, corn and oats, cracked rice and always good sharp grit. For the first three weeks ‘feed five times a day, after that four times. When they are three weeks old I give millet seed, a little mash mixed up for the old hen, and some green bone twice a week. Scraps of meat left over from a meal, cut up very fine, is enjoyed by them. The old hen must have her whole corn every day. I also feed wheat and cracked corn. The corn is best if cracked just before it is fed; a good way to crack it is to run it through a bone cutter. When the chicks are about six weeks old, they get the mash twice a day, together with grain. © The first two or three days the little chicks are kept in tie cage with the old hen; after the third day I pull the cage away from the coop about two inches, end raise the other end two inches. This confines the hen, and allows the chicks to run in and out as they please; in this way they get green grass and have free range. which helps to rapid growth. Dust the hen occasionally and watch the chicks for lice. Examine care- fully the top of head, back of neck and throat, and if any mites or lice are found, grease with fresh lard or a couple of drops of machine oil, being very careful not to use too much, as it may prove fatal to the chicks. The first summer I kept chicks I noticed one little chick, about two weeks old, acting dumpish and sick, at first I thought it might be due to the hot sun, but upon examining its head and neck, I found twelve large head lice literally eating its life away. I greased his head with fresh lard, picked off the lice, and in less than half an hour he was as lively as ever. Two or three times a week, or every day if possible, let the hen out with her chicks to dust, and teach the little ones to dust, and about.once a week I move the cages and coops to a fresh spot of ground and put in fresh bedding. In the evening after biddy has taken her family into the coop. close up the opening, take away the cage and let the other hens out to clean up what the little chicks have left, then remove board from door, push cage up close to coop so that chicks cannot get out until I let them out next morning. When the chicks are small, if it rains I keep them in the cage until the grass is dry. As long as the old hen stays with her brood i use the cages. When she leaves them the cages are put away, but the chicks still use the small coops at night. As the chicks grow larger, it may be necessary to provide more coops for them, dry goods boxes, or anything that will shelter them at night and protect them from rain. The first two years I was troubled with neighbors’ cats. I got an airgun and some BB shot, and used it whenever a cat came in sight. I have not © lost a chick through cats since. As soon as the breeding season is over, I put all the old hens in one yard, spade up the other and plant it to rape, or some quick growing grass. I also plant sun flowers in every available spot. When the earliest chicks are large enough, weighing from one and q half to two pounds when dressed, I begin culling out the cockerels and pullets that are not well marked, getting better prices for them than for those sold later. I continue to dispose of them, mostly to private families, until Ihave left only those I wish to keep through the winter, and a few for our own, + Sear ias a TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY 81 er use. We are fortunate in having two vacant lots next to chicken yard, in which the chicxs have free range until the grass in the yard is three er four inches high, then I put them into the yard. still letting them use their coops, and giving them a run in the grass every evening. Crowding should be avoided. When they have settled themselves for the night, examine the coops. as sometimes they all try to crowd into the same coop. I have often found them packed into a coop like sardines in a box. : If allowed to crowd, the stronger chicks trample upon the weaker, and as a result you have broken wings and legs, if not dead chicks. This sounds like a good deal of work, but care is necessary in order to get the best results with limited space. I do not like to let the chicks go to roost when very young, as I think it causes a deformity of the breast bone. When old | enough I put them into a large coop, used earlier in the season for my breeding hens, in which I have placed temporary roosts, six or eight inches | from the ground, of course cleaning it thoroughly before putting chicks into it. It sometimes takes three or four days or a week for them to get accustomed to their new quarters, but as I have already removed the small coops from the yard, taken them apart, given them a good cleaning, and stored them, to be ready for next season, there is no other place for them. I keep my pullets and hens in separate houses and yards as long as possible. The feed a pullet requires when growing would make an old hen fat and lazy, and I find that a hen that is too fat is not a good layer. Last spring I used nothing but pullet eggs for hatching and had excel- lent results, out of 137 hatched I raised 125 strong, healthy chicks. 82 TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY /\ CHAPTER ¥ Artificial Incubation The art of rearing chicks by artificial method is very ancient. In the time of Rameses II, some fifteen hundred years B. C., the Egyptians are accredited with a knowledge of this art. Huge ovens were constructed in the valley of the Nile where thousands of eggs were annually hatched. Egypt was one of the earliest seats of civilization, and like her civilization, her method of artificial incubation antedates history. Modern incubation is of comparatively recent date. Less than fifty years ago poultry raisers in and about Boston became convinced that there might be an easier and more profitable way of rearing chicks than by natural methods. One of the most successful of the pioneers in American incubation was Mr. James Rankin, of South Easton, Mass., a suburb of Boston. He invented and greatly perfected a hot water machine which he called the Monarch, and a right good hatcher it was, too, when you got acquainted with it. It was equipped with a float regulator, designed to keep the heat at an even temperature. Mr. Rankin amused himself during the winter months in facilitate his work in this direction that he finally and successfully applied his Yankee ingenuity to the invention of an incubator. With the aid of his incubators he finally became famous as a raiser of Pekin ducks for roasters. As I look back over my first futile attempts with incubators and brooders and recall.the infinite care and time expended, to say nothing of broken rest and blasted hopes made bitter by dire disappointment over the meagre results attained, and compare such results with those now possible with our splendid modern incubators, it seems such a simple thing to bring off a TNMORN EARS. With POULDPRY 83 good and vigorous hatch that I often wonder that there should be any failures at all, for the directions sent out with each incubator are so simple and easy to follow that it would seem that any one with ordinary intelligence should be able to make a success of artificial incubation. My first incubator was of the hot air type, of a hundred eggs capacity, and it seemed quite large. I think the largest size made at that time was 150 egs size; the major portion of them being 50, 60. or 75 capacity. It had a metal regulator that operated with a damper which it was designed to raise and allow the surplus heat to escape through the flue when the heat became too great; when the machine became too cool, the damper would fall and close the flue and throw more heat into the warming chamber just above the eggs. The theory was very pretty and seemed quite reason- ables in tact, was, a fine talking point for the salesman, but, alas! The way that regulator behaved was as interesting as a trick-mule at a circus. At times it would balk—absolutely refused to go—and the heat would keep climbing, climbing, and yet, just a little higher; then, with a lunge, up would go the damper, wide open and stick, and the temperature would begin to fall, and maybe there would be a gradual fall from 110 to 90, all in the course of two or three hours, and thus the temperature would continue to race up and down throughout the alloted three weeks of incubation. When my first incubator was brought home, I proceeded to install it in my bedroom. I was careful to place it in one corner, remote from doors, in order the better to protect it from possible draughts. I wasn’t exactly afraid it would catch cold, but I certainly felt that it was safer to place it where there was no danger from an inrush of air caused by opening and shutting of doors, for it was in late winter, and I meant to hatch out a goodly number of early spring chicks. I was very particular, too, to follow the printed directions that came with the machine. so the incubator was carefully leveled up with a level, the lamp wick trimmed, the lamp filled, and about seven p. m., the eggs were put in, the lamp lighted, and we were off. I did not know, and there was no one to tell me that the incubator should be fired up slowly and carefully regulated for two or three days, or even a week, before consigning the eggs to it. I learned later, to my cost, that in nearly every instance this is the better and safer plan in dealing with any new incubator on first firing up, for there are no two of them just alike, even of the same make. The lamp was turned on full blaze and once at least and sometimes twice an hour that evening I got down on my prayer bones and took a peep at the thermometer, which was a long glass affair about the size of your little finger with a bulb twice as large around, that the directions said must be placed between two fertile eggs. That thermometer. which was guaranteed to be tested, and, therefore, ab- solutely accurate, and for all of which I paid a dollar and a half extra, was wonderfully and fearfully made. The back of it, as you faced it, was cov- cred, or rather plastered with a substance to make it look like solid gold; the graduating marks were black and the fatal 103 was indicated by a 0 with a red arrow pointing to it from each side and 100, the low danger mark, and 105, the high danger mark, were indicated by red lines. The directions stated that in no instance must the temperature be allowed to go below 100 nor above 105 and that if a temperature were maintained anywhere between those lines, a good hatch was assured. That was why I kept so careful a watch upon the thermometer. The beautiful gold background made it almost impossible to see the needle, as the mercury was called, and after two or three hours’ watching and the needle failing to appear from somewhere below 90, I turned the lamp as high as I could without its smoking, and went to bed. About 12 o’clock I waked up and jumped out of bed fon bee a look at the thermometer and to my satisfaction, discovered it was coming along all right—registered 101, I believe—and I went to bed contented forgetting, or not thinking to turn the lamp down, for naturally I thought 84. TWO -YEARS WITH POULTRY / | the regulator would take care of any surplus heat, because the directions said so. I didn’t know at that stage of the game that the regulator must be first regulated and the man who wrote the directions forgot to say so. I think it was about two o’clock in the morning when I again waked up and jumped out to have a look at the thermometer, and this time I looked in vain for the needle; couldn’t see it anywhere—not a sign of it. Something must be wrong; I opened the front door and took the thermometer out, when horror of horrors! I guess something was wrong, for then I clearly | saw it registering 112, or thereabouts. Then I had recourse to the direc- tions again. They stated that if the temperature got too high, take the eggs out and cool them immediately. I took out the tray and put it down on the floor and sat down beside it, with the thermometer on the eggs. When it registered 70 I put the tray back in the incubator and went to bed. I was up again at five and took another look at the thermometer; it was behaving nicely, thank you—doing the best it could—for again it was registering, this time, 110; that was some improvement over 112 at any Tate, so out came the eggs again and when I was through with my break- fast, they were put back, and this time I thought to turn the lamp down; I was sure I had it that time, and I did, for when I came home to lunch the thermometer registered exactly 90 and it had been that way for half a day. By the way, I was using two thermometers now—one that registered as low as 40 above that I had purchased to try out with the other one, and be it to their credit, when placed side by sidé in a cup of warm water, they registered alike. This time I turned the lamp up a little and went back to work hoping all would be well when I returned in the evening, and it was, for now the thermometer: registered 101. That gave me a hunch and I turned the lamp a trifle higher and I went to bed that night satisfied that I had the temperature under control, but along some time in the night I waked up with a desire to know how the incubator was doing and I crawled out of bed, and have a peep at the thermometer, and lo, it was again at 110; I had yet to learn that one or more persons sleeping in a close room with an incubator will raise the heat of the outside temperature sufficiently to affect the inside temperature of the machine. It wil] do it with the best of the modern incubators, for a raise in the outside temperature will affect the inside more readily than a drop in the outside temperature will, for most incubators are built to keep out the cold and thus keep an even temperature inside, but the best of them will not keep out the heat. This can readily be determined by anyone wishing to make the test. After cooling the eggs I put them back and turned the lamp even lower than it had been left in the morning. About four o’clock I got up and took another look at the thermometer, when wonder of wonders! It was actually registering 102. I went to work that morning feeling easier than I had since I started the incubator, but when I came home at noon I found the temperature registered at 97. What on earth could the matter be? Studying the direc- tions did no good, for the trouble wasn’t there. that I could find. According to the directions, there shouldn’t be any trouble at all; therefore, it must be my fault. What was the matter with me, I wondered. Then I took an inventory to see if I could find out. My bedroom was without a fire day or night; outside temperature was not below 40 above, at nights et was cooler at night than in daytime, and yet the temperature of the incubator was higher at night than during the day. Well. I could fix that, so at night I lowered the blaze and in the morning raised it a little. By this means I managed to keep the temperature, by getting up two or three or more times during the night and making as numerous visits during the day as was convenient, during the remainder of the hatch anywhere between 100 and 108 or 109. It wasn’t necessary to cool the eggs, so the directions stated, except while turning them, which took about ten minutes, as each egg must be turned by hand, carefully half over, twice a day; that meant la a ani sg ls TWO YEARS: WITH: POULERY 85 about 5 minutes cooling in the morning and again at night, so that ten min- utes a day was all the cooling they got in a mild spring temperature. I may as well tell you now, that all this happened in northern Texas, so that you may know that the average February temperature is about like early May in central Illinois or Indiana. This, too, was at an altitude of 500 feet above sea level, where the air is very generally densely saturated with moisture. Now, the directions stated that after the tenth day, the moisture pans under the eggs must be kept filled with warm water, all of which was religiously performed. Had the machine been located in the higher altitude of Colorado or Utah—say at an elevation of 4,500 or 6,000 feet, the moisture directions would have been all right, for in a high alti- tude in an arid region, those who use the moisture pans under the eggs continuously during the hatch get the biggest, bounciest chicks, but that is another story. Well, the hatch finally came off—and such a hatch! Seven measly small chicks came out on the nineteenth day and four of them were - spraddlers; that left three chicks out of a possible eighty-five, that being the number of fertile eggs remaining in the machine on the 14th day. The three chicks were not worth bothering with and were consigned to an early grave, which they would have soon found in any event, doubtless. But although discouraged, I did not give it up and filled the machine up again. I had learned something at any rate, and that was that the regulator would not regulate and that the temperature would have to be regulated by turning the lamp up or down. By studying this feature, I learned just how high to turn the lamp to get about a certain temperature, and this knowledge has been of great service to me in all subsequent hatches, for even with ’ the best of the modern incubators it is important to know just how high to turn the lamp to get the proper temperature without wasting oil, for with a properly constructed regulator, when the required temperature is reached, the damper will open and the surplus heat will escape and be wasted; the remedy is to watch the lamp and turn it down and save the oil. Another thing I learned by my first hatch, and that is never allow the heat to get above 103 if possible to avoid it. As will be noted, my temperature was alto- gether too high and very irregular. Either is bad enough, but the high temperature is the worst foe of the hatch, for it may hasten it one, two or even three days and the number of spraddlers is invariably much greater; these, however, I believe to be due more to lack of keeping the eggs stirred up properly; mind you, I say stirred, and I mean it, literally. ‘Turning the eggs half over twice or three times a day will not get so many lively “stand-up” chicks as rolling the eggs around and about, first this way, and then that, over and over and over. Don’t be afraid of mixing them up and thoroughly rolling them about. Sometimes very brittle shells will pop and crack; never mind that, only handle them more gently in future. They will hatch just as well as the others, just so long as you do not break the membrane inside of the shell. When that happens, throw the egg away, or it will muss the others up and make a nasty state in the tray. Another thing I learned about a high temperature; it may kill the germs and thus completely ruin the hatch, but if you find the temperature registering 110 or even 112, you need not despair; I have since occasionally had a machine get away from me through some carelessness in regulation and in testing . the eggs a few days afterwards found but a few dead germs. These, you may always tell from the live germs very readily; a live germ is a floater, and as you turn the egg about before the tester, the little black spider will move about, but the germ killed by high temperature is stationary; it will look like a little black dot and seems to be glued fast to the shell, and in any event when you find a “stuck germ,’ or a mushy, wobbly, cloudy one, better throw them out at once. In my second hatch with my new incubator I watched the lamp very closely and not once did the temperature get above 105, but several times I 86 TWO YEARS Wait seOUraRY found it at 90 or ranging around 100. Of course that delayed the hatch and when it did come off on the 23d day, I got but twenty chicks and some of them were fairly good to look at, but they were so weak that but two or three of them lived to maturity. I was curious to know what was the matter that time, for my heat was fairly good throughout the hatch and I broke a number of the eggs that failed to hatch and found a great many of them dead in the shell; in fact, the shell seemed to be packed full of chick, and years afterward I learned that that was exactly what was the matter, for in accordance with the printed directions, I had kept the moisture pans under the eggs filled with water in-an altitude in a humid region, where no moisture in the incubator was required and the chicks grew so big they simply couldn’t turn or get out of the shell.. Here were two im- portant things to learn about an incubator. Too low temperature means a delayed hatch. The eggs should begin to pip on the 20th day and the chicks should all be out on the 21st or in case of thick shelled brown eggs, not later than the morning of the 22d. A delayed hatch, therefore, means weak chicks. Moisture in an incubator in a humid region is seldom needed, while in an arid, mountainous country, it is indispensable during all or a portion of the hatch at all times. This is the result of my observa- tions and experience covering a period of thirteen years in a humid and twelve years in the arid country. In order to get a hatch out on time, a steady reliable temperature of 103 is the best rule to go by. Some operators claim the best results by running at 102 the first week, 104 the second and 105 the third week. About this time I read of a hot water machine, and after studying the description carefully, concluded it would be more likely to produce good results than the hot air machine I was using. Then Eb Hayes came along and made me an offer of ten dollars less than I paid for my machine and I told him to take it along, as I thought I had sufficient experience with that incu- bator. Then I wrote to the manufacturer of the hot water machine and after some correspondence we arrived at an agreement. I was to deposit the price of his machine with his banker and he was to send me the machine on sixty days’ trial, and if his machine failed to hatch eighty per cent of all fertile eggs, the banker was to return my money after I had returned the machine in good order to the manufacturer. And so the new machine came. This was a two hundred egg machine, and I tell you it looked like a whopper, larger than a five hundred egger does now, and I had to hustle a few days to get eggs enough to fill it. First, I set it up in my bedroom and leveled it up as I had done with the other machine. Then according to direction I poured about three bucketfuls of cold water into the tank; why on earth it was necessary to use cold water I have never been able to determine, but that was what the maker said to do, and I did it. The cold water only took that much longer to warm up the machine, and J should have known better, but I didn’t. I fired up slowly this time and I watched the lamp and the thermometer carefully. This machine had no regulator; the manufac- turer said none was needed, and I found he was right. It took me about two days to get the temperature up to 103 and when those three buckets of water got warmed up, the ease with which I could maintain a proper tem- perature was a surprise and a pleasure, and then I put in the eggs; put them in in the morning this time, and when I came home at noon, they were coming along nicely—up to 90; I did not touch the lamp when I came home at night, there it was—103 and holding steadily. Pleasea? Well. I guess, yes! Well, sir, do you know, that was the first night I went to bed for more than two months feeling easy in my mind about the eggs, and it was a blessed relief. But, force of habit is very strong, and along about one o’clock in the morning I waked up and hopped out of bed before I thought; even had I stopped to think, I am sure I would have done it, any way, I was that curious and interested. Down on my prayer-bones I got and held BWO: YEARS, WITH: POULTRY 87 the lamp high to take a look through the glass door, when wonder of wonders! And then some! That thermometer must be wrong, for the mer- cury was actually glued to the 103 arrow mark. Would you believe it? I didn’t—just naturally couldn’t, so I actually opened the door and took out the thermometer and looked at it, but it must have been all right, for the mercury immediately began to fall. Then I put the thermometer back in a hurry and closed the door and went back to bed with a contented sigh. Things were coming my way, all right, all right. But I forgot about the moisture pans and the next day looked up the directions carefully; simply couldn’t find it. Oh, yes, there it was away back at the end of the chapter: “With this machine, no moisture, other than that contained in the air of the egg chamber, is necessary, because the moisture given off FROM THE TANK IS AMPLE.” I had good cause to remember that sentence as my experience widened, and I learned that the manufacturer had stated the fact correctly. Better than this, the directions stated that after the second day, the eggs must be turned twice daily and ought to be cooled at least fifteen minutes once a day. Moreover, there were explicit directions about opening and shutting the ventilator slides, all of which I religiously and willingly complied with. Then, too, I was told to test the eggs an the seventh and fourteenth days, which I did, and I was cautioned not to throw out an ege that showed cloudy—in other words, to always give the egg the benefit of the doubt—and to test out only the perfectly clear ones. Needless to Gay edie the second testing onthe fourteenth day, there .were none to come out, and of the entire two hundred eggs. I took out only a dozen or fifteen. The advice about leaving in all but perfectly clear eggs is good even unto this day, for a few dead germs will not seriously affect a hatch; better leave them in, rather than run a chance of throwing out a doubtful germ where one is not experienced in detecting the absolutely good ones from the bad. Very anxiously I awaited the coming of the 19th day, for according to the directions, the eggs should begin to pip then. and. sure enough, they did. I have since learned that if they do begin to pip on the 19th day it is due to one of two things; either the temperature is too high, or the eggs have not been cooled long enough. The eggs of a normal hatch should begin to pip about the evening of the 20th day and the chicks should all be out by the end of the 21st day, except as above mentioned—very thick shelled brown eggs; these are usually from six to twelve hours longer in hatching. Well, the chicks of this hatch were all out by the end of the 20th day and I took them off on the 21st and was surprised and delighted to count one-hundred and sixty, and they were nice, healthy, normal chicks, apparently as good as the average hen hatched chicks. I was so pleased with this hatch that I did not allow the light to go out, but rustled another sitting and started it going. Then, J-inquired of Eb Hayes how he came out with my first machine. He told me that he had taken the machine home and set it up in the base- ment of his house and fired it up with a gas jet, and that for days at a time the temperature did not vary a half degree from 103. He had filled the machine with White Leghorn eggs and that out of a hundred eggs, he had taken off seventy-eight nice chicks. Here was another lesson. Eb had succeeded where I had failed, and I went to work to reason it all out. There was but one conclusion to come to. The basement—under the ground. free from atmospheric variations, cool and moist, for he had sprinkled two inches of river sand on the dirt floor, and instead of using the moisture pans, he had occasionally wet down the sand. He did not attempt to use the regulator, but depended entirely upon the jet, for when he had once obtained the right heat, the blaze was never changed, and with no change in the outside temperature, of course the temperature inside the incubator remained unchanged. I had failed with the hot air machine because I had 88 TWO YEARS *Withe PoOuULi Ry lacked these: aids, and I had succeeded with the hot water machine because the volume of water in the tank, when once heated, entirely overcame the slight atmospheric variations in my bedroom. This was worth remembering, and I was very glad, indeed. that I had made the discovery and had gotten rid of the hot air machine so easily and I continued to congratulate myself daily on having changed to the hot water machine, but about the end of the second week of my second hatch with the hot water machine, I noticed when I took out the eggs to turn and cool them, that they seemed to be moist. Then I remembered the directions and turned back to that chapter and read again: “With this machine, no moisture, other than that contained in the air of the egg chamber, is necessary, BECAUSE THE MOISTURE GIVEN OFF FROM THE TANK IS AMPLE.” The next morning when I took out the tray to turn the eggs, they were actually wet. I should say the moisture given off from that tank was ample; in fact, I thought it was more than ample, and proceeded to investigate. I held a lamp close and looked inside the egg chamber, when, holy smoke! The entire bottom of that tank was an oozing, seething, dripping sieve; the hard water had bitten through the galvanized iron tank, and I guessed there were at least nine million, four hundred and sixteen thousand and some odd minute leaks, through each of which the water continued to ooze in ever increasing quantities. Of course the hatch was ruined, and of course I was disgusted generally, for I had been so pleased with the result of the first hatch that I gave the manufacturer a flattering testimonial, and likewise, the price of the machine, so that now, indeed, I had a real white elephant on my hands. I packed the machine up and took it to a tin shop and had the tank patched up, but the tinner said it wouldn’t hold water very long before the sides gave way and that discouraged me from attempting another hatch with that machine. I wrote the manufacturer and he suggested that I allow him to send me a copper tank at a cost of twenty dollars, but I did not care to invest. I finally sold the machine to a man for five dollars. He told me afterwards, that he had knocked the legs off and was using it without water, for a nursery for young chicks and that it answered very well. That. I sincerely hope, was my last experience with a hot water machine. Mrs. Dean’s Experience, Billy Dean was an ardent sort of fellow—a good, hard worker, but he was governed largely by impulse. He was, therefore, inclined to vigorous starts without much persistence. Mrs. Dean, his wife, was very enthusi- astic and her moods were such that they carried her spirits, either very high in the clouds or let them down, down into the very uttermost depths of woe, Billy contracted a severe case of henosis (hen-fever) and became very enthusiastic over a few common chickens that he had picked up at a low price from various sources. But sitting hens was too slow a process for Mrs. Dean, especially after seeing a brooder full of newly hatched chicks, so nothing would do but Billy should buy an incubator, and this was in- -Stalled in the dining room, adjoining the kitchen, where Mrs. Dean could take care of it. She was going to do the hatching and Billy was to take care of all the chicks she could hatch and, between them, they expected to raise a lot of poultry, Mrs. Dean brought the news first: said they had secured 170 eggs and wanted to know if we couldn’t let them have 30 more, as they needed just that many to fill the incubator. Billy came with her, and after inspecting our incubators, offered a lot of advice gratuitously as to just how the machines should be run, suggesting that in his opinion our heat was wrong, as a machine ought to be run so and so and that having the ventilators open was the cause of so many bad hatches, etc. but as TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY 3 89 we knew Billy and the amount of experience he had had, we forgave him, and let him have the 30 Leghorn eggs requested and wished him well. Mrs. Dean came over frequently during the hatch ahd always said how nicely the incubator was doing—temperature hardly varied at all, and couldn’t for the life of her see why other folks should have any trouble with an incubator and she knew if they’d just get a “Sure Pop” machine (her’s was a Sure Pop!). there wouldn’t be any more trouble in hatching chicks. Had she tested the eggs for fertility, we inquired. “Oh, no,” she said, “that wasn't necessary at all,’ as she could tell from handling the eggs that they were all fertile. Gracious! Where on earth did you succeed in getting such eggs, we managed to inquire. “Oh,” she said, “Mr. Dean had engaged them from country people he knew, that had brought them in to market,’ and that was why they were so good. One morning about the time the hatch was due. Mrs. Dean burst in upon us while we were at breakfast. “Oh,” she said, “I just couldn’t wait to tell you; the eggs are hatching and I do believe that every egg in that incubator has hatched. Looks like there were fully two hundred little chicks in the machine. I declare, I don’t know how to behave myself, we are so ‘pleased, and Mr. Dean has gone up town to see about buying another incubator, and it may be he will get two or three more and go into the chicken business. He thinks we can make more out of it than for him to worry along on a salary drudging in a store all day long. Oh, I knew all along I could hatch them all right.” She was in a high state of spirits and when she took her departure, called back: “Now, be sure and come over right soon and see what a fine lot of chicks I have.” Well. we pondered upon that; one hundred and seventy eggs bought up here and there that were sold for market purposes, and all hatched. Maybe. If that were possible, it was far better than our eggs were doing, and there must be something wrong in our method of handling breeders for fertility. Well, we concluded to wait and see. We were pretty Dusyvetthat Gay. and idid not. get ‘over to «Dean's, but the. news hate spread. and our ‘next door neighbor, Mrs, Clark, called that evening to tellus about it. Said she went over to see the hatch, but failing to get a response to her knock, opened the door and walked in and found Mrs. Dean seated upon the floor beside the incubator crying as if her heart would break, and by degrees, learned the nature of her grief. Out of the entire hatch, she had brought off but twenty-three little white chicks (doubtless Leghorns) and of the entire number of market eggs incubated. not one even was pipped. No wonder the poor woman was heartbroken, with all her fond hopes crushed, and air castles tumbled in ruins about her. Being inexperienced, she did not know that incubator chicks always crowd forward to the light, or she would have looked into the incubator more closely and would have learned how poor the hatch really was. Now there are two very important lessons to be learned from this hatch. We should never permit our hopes to carry us up beyond the bounds of reason; you know the fall in itself does not hurt, no matter from how high; it’s the shock from coming in contact with the earth again that does the harm, and it is always foolish to assume a knowledge of that which we have not learned. Again, we have never heard of anyone who succeeded in getting a good hatch from eggs gathered up promiscuously about the country and we believe that anyone investing money in such a manner is very apt to make a failure of the experiment. Brady’s Experience. Jack Brady is an affable shoe salesman in a down-town shoe store. He isn’t very tall and he is rather stout and wears a perpetual smile. Every- body likes Jack. He has a pretty wife and a pretty home out in the sub- 90 TWO: YEARS “WIth POUL ERY urbs. When his wife comes to the store for him in the evening, she drives a fat, sleek horse, and when I went out to his home I found even the dog and the cat were fat and sleek, and so were the children—just like Jack. Everything on the place, including the chickens and trees and grass had the same flourishing appearance. Jack joined the Poultry Association, and then he wanted an incubator; you know that generally follows, but Jack didn’t jump in in a hurry. He didn’t want to guess at at and) tien make positive assertions as to just how an incubator should be run. He wanted to know, and so set about learning. Before he bought an incubator, he visited several people who were using them, and asked questions, and took note of all he saw and heard. He became posted on prices and upon the merits claimed for each machine he saw. He learned that a hot air machine, under proper conditions, will produce just as good results as a hot water machine, with no danger of ruining a valuable batch of eggs from a leaky tank, and with a lamp properly cared for daily, there is no danger whatever from the lamp of a hot air machine going out and chilling the eggs. After considerable investigating, he decided upon and purchased a two hundred and fifty egg hot air machine. Under the kitchen and dining-room of his home is a double cellar, rock walled and floored with cement. Each cellar has a window about 24x36 inches in the middle of each room near the top of the south wall, so that there is splendid ventilation without a draught. By leaving the door open between the two cellars and each window slightly open at top and bottom, there is a fine circulation of fresh air at all times. The incubator was placed a few inches from the north wall of one of these cellars. The floor being of cement, the machine was easily and solidly leveled up, and then the lamp was lighted and Jack proceeded to learn how to regulate the machine by adjusting both the flame and the regulator. In two or three days he had caught the knack and had it down pat. Then he proceeded to test the regulation by opening and closing the ventilators in .the machine and the windows in the cellars, taking careful note of differences and conditions, always recording them in a little book which he kept on the incubator for_ready reference. When he felt sure of the regulation, he put in the eggs, which had been engaged two weeks before wanted, and for which he paid twenty dollars. None of the eggs placed in the machine were over three days old. For the first four days a steady temperature of 103 was maintained, during which time the eggs were not disturbed by cooling or turning. On the morning of the fifth day, the trays were taken out, the eggs well turned by rolling them over and over, and the trays reversed—that is, the one that had been on the right-hand side was placed on the left-hand side of the machine and the one on the left-hand side was changed over to the right-hand side, with the front end Of each tray to the back of the machine. That evening, the trays were again taken out, reversed, ends changed back, eggs turned and cooled for fifteen minutes, and while cooling, the big glass door in the front of the incubator was left open to air the egg chamber. Each morning thereafter, the trays were changed and ends reversed and eggs turned and each evening the trays were changed, ends reversed and eggs turned, and cooled for fifteen minutes until the middle of the second week, when they were allowed to cool for twenty minutes each evening, until the beginning of the third week, when the time of cooling was lengthened to twenty-five minutes each day, and at the close of the eighteenth day, cooling and turning were discontinued. For the first twelve or fourteen days-a steady temperature of 103 was main- tained, when the temperature began to rise gradually and to meet this rising temperature the flame was adjusted and the regulator-nut screwed down, so that the thermometer was not allowed at any time to register above 103. On the fifth day, the ventilator slides on the bottom of the incubator were slightly opened and by the middle of the second week, were thrown wide open. On the evening of the seventh day, the eggs were tested. Eggs CENMIO)S NEEC URS Wile POULT of that were perfectly clear were carefully laid aside and preserved to feed the newly hatched brood when they should come off. Jack was not familiar with testing eggs, and while he had studied the illustrations in the cata- logue and was familiar in a general way with the appearance of a fertile egg before the tester, he was unwilling to risk his own judgment and called in to his aid the services of an experienced operator. As each egg came before the tester, the operator explained fully and carefully the differences noticed, between the strong fertile germs and those of a doubtful charac- ter. A beautifully shaped, nice white shelled egg was selected and placed before the tester. Slowly turning it around, the air-cell in the large end of the egg was pointed out, showing that the contents had dried down about one-fifth of the contents, which at this stage of incubation was about right. Next it was explained that if the contents were permitted to dry down too much, the chicks would be small and stunted. lf they did not dry out suff- ciently, the air-cell would be so small that the chicks could not move their heads to break the shell at hatching time. and would therefore stick, and die in the shell; hence the importance of learning to watch the size of the air-cell and see to it that it should be kept at the proper size during the last two weeks of incubation, for from the beginning of the second week is the critical time. If the air-cell does not enlarge sufficiently, fresh air- slaked lime should be put into pie pans and kept under the eggs in place of the moisture pans, which should be removed. The lime causes the air to become very dry and within two or three days, usually, will cause the contents of the egg to dry down, and thus enlarge the air-cell. If it is ‘found that the eggs are drying down too rapidly, causing the air-cell to appear too large, pans filled half full of clean river sand and kept covered with warm water, must be placed about two inches beneath the egg tray. If dirty sand is used, it will either sprout or cause a bad smell in the incu- bator, or both. If clear water is used. the evaporation is not so efficient. The following paragraph, taken from Bulletin 102 of the Utah Experiment Station, tells the story: “Sand vs. Water. To show the difference in evaporation from a tray of sand and a tray of water, incubator No. 6, set June 1, was provided with a tray of water instead of sand. This tray was the same as used in other machines. The loss in weight of eggs in this machine was 16.13 per cent, as against an average of 12.28 per cent, for the maximum machines where sand was used. THE. SAND IS, THEREFORE, MORE EFFECTIVE AS AN EVAPORATING SURFACE .THAN WATER.” The study of the air-cell cannot be too strongly urged upon those who desire to become successful operators, for, unless the air-cell is just about right when the eggs begin to pip, a good, strong hatch is impossible. Next, the germs were examined and explained. A strong, healthy germ on the seventh day should be about as large as a common house fly and looks something like a spider, with innumerable delicate little blood vessels branching out from it in all directions. When the egg is turned before the tester, the germ is seen to dance about. usually upon the full side of the large end of the egg—that it, the side opposite the lowest depression of the air-cell. Other conditions being right, such a germ will live and develop into a strong, healthy chick. Next comes the doubtful germs, which may be divided into three classes. First, the most uncertain for even the trained operator to rightly judge, is one that appears about the right size, but seems to be surrounded by a small. cloudy envelope. When the egg is turned, it will jump about and come to position again when the egg is brought to rest, but upon a close examination, it is difficult to trace the ramification of blood vessels. the fine red lines being scarcely, if at all, per- ceptible. and more often than otherwise, these cloudy germs become too large. sometimes to the extent of clouding nearly the whole of that side of the egg. Right here is the danger of excluding such eggs, for when an 92 EWO: YEARS -WUPEESPOUBT RY egg just laid, or within an hour or two thereafter, is put into an incubator, it may hatch 24 hours sooner than eggs that have been laid for a few days, and upon taking such eggs out and breaking them, instead of being a dead or dying germ as supposed, a well developed chick was found instead, and then the experimenter will feel sorry that he didn’t know better. When such germs are found on the first test, it is better to allow them to remain in the machine until the second test is made, on the fourteenth day. The second class of doubtful eggs includes the weak germs, or if the machine has run away with a high temperature, those that may or may not have been killed by the excessive temperature. It used to be supposed that eggs subjected to a temperature of 110 or even 112 degrees for a few hours would not hatch, but many experiments have shown that this is not true. Much, of course, depends upon the advanced stage of incubation. Eggs on the 1st to 4th day, or those of the last week of the hatch, are less likely to be abused by a high temperature than those of the latter part of the first week and those of the second week. In any event, it is better to class such doubtful eggs with the weak germs and give them the benefit of the doubt by allowing them to remain in the incubator until the second test. The weak germ on the first test, may develop into a hatchable germ on the second test, as eggs that have been kept a good while before setting them, nearly always show weak germs on the first test. Such germs have the appearance of strong germs, but in a very faint way. The strong red lines of the blood vessels, are very faint and of a faded pink color and the body of the “spider” has a shadowy ap- pearance unlike the strong black outlines of the strong germ. It is best to allow all such eggs to remain until the second test. Last, we have the dead germs, the clouded and the clotted. In the first, the body of the “spider” is entirely wanting. There is just an oozy clouded blotch on the germ side of the egg. some times stationary and again appears to be float- ing, but never any blood lines nor firm looking outlines. Shake such an egg and the contents will jostle. Its just a “rotten” egg—nothing more. The germ is dead, and the longer it has been dead, the more pronounced will be the odor emitted, if the shell is cracked. The clotted germ is very easy to recognize—just a little black or reddish black speck, may be the size of a fly’s body, or may be only the size of a fly’s head, while the rest of the contents aré clear. If killed by too high heat, the clot will stick to the side of the shell; if dead from other causes, it will generally float. In any event, its a bad egg. Take it out as soon as discovered. Last, but alas! By no means least. we have the infertile eggs—some times so many of them that it makes the operator’s heart sick—if he paid a big price for the eggs. Any one can pick them out as they appear before the tester at first glance —just a clear egg—that’s all. Take them out and save them to feed the baby © chicks. All of this was very interesting to Jack, because he wanted to learn, and as usual, his pencil and note-book were handy and put into service as each stage of the testing proceeded. On the fourteenth day the operator was again called in, and the testing proceeded as before. At this time the eggs containing strong germs were very much clouded—in fact the germ side and both ends seemed to be pretty well filled, not with germs this time, but developing chicks. The air cells had now enlarged to- almost a fourth of the size of the egg and all of the balance of the contents of the egg was black, in fact pretty much all chick. Some of the doubtful eggs of the first test now appeared to be all right. The pronounced cloudy ones were excluded. Turning and cooling the eggs was next explained by the operator. They should be turned twice a day at least—three or four times is better, if one has the time—the object of which is to keep the contents of the egg stirred up and the germ active. Unless this is done, the chicks will be weak and there will be many cripples (spraddlers) amongst the brood. Cooling seems id tc rs EW Or YEARS WITH POULTRY | 93 to be necessary to enable the germs to accustom themselves to a cooler atmosphere than that necessary for incubation. Where the cooling is omitted, the chicks are always weak and more subject to bowel trouble and many otherwise hatchable germs will die in the shell. Lack of sufficient cooling will account for a large proportion of the deaths of chicks in the shell from the fourteenth day on, Insufficient cooling must therefore be avoided. Better over-do the cooling act and prolong the hatch a day than to cool insufficiently. -About fifteen minutes a day after the fourth and up to the seventh in average spring temperature is about right, and say thirty minutes a day from the seventh to the fourteenth, and for the next four days, forty- five minutes. That brings us up’to the 18th day, when all cooling and turn- ing should cease, for the chicks are so big, that if the eggs are turned now, some of them are likely to rest on their backs or heads and being unable to turn.over in the tight shell, perish, and another “bad hatch” is recorded. In a temperature of 40 to 50 degrees, half the above time is sufficient, but with the temperature above 50 and up to 65, this time is about correct, while in summer hatches, a longer time is desirable, even an hour a day dur- ing the last four days of the hatch is not too much. All of these matters were fully explained to Jack, and were fully noted and recorded, and when his hatch came off, out of 179 fertile eggs, he re- ported. a hatch of 163 fine chicks, with only three cripples. Not a bad hatch, you say, for one’s first experience, and you are right. That was a | good hatch, and one that can be duplicated by any one who will follow the ' method pursued by Brady. Summary of Incubation. Here then, is a summary of the methods employed by the most successful incubator operators. Locate the incubator in a cellar, basement or dug-out, with plenty of ventilation near the top, so that the air surrounding the machine always smells fresh and sweet. Trim the wicks and fill the lamps once a day. The evening is best, as a freshly trimmed wick throws off more heat, which is most needed during the colder temperature of the night. Always set eggs as newly laid as obtainable. Eggs one or two days old hatch best. If properly cared for, eggs 15 to 18 days old will hatch well during the early spring and summer months. Not one out of six such eggs will hatch in fall or winter. Locate the incubator as far from the door or windows as possible to avoid as much as possible the effect of draught on the lamp, and comsequent variation of temperature inside the machine. Always examine the length of the wick before beginning a new hatch; if too short to reach the bottom of the lamp, put in a new wick. Cool the eggs once a day, beginning with the fifth day, and cool no more after the morning of the eighteenth day. Turn the eggs twice a day—three or four times is better—beginning with the fifth and ending with the night of the seventeenth. Too much cooling, or too low a temperature, prolongs the hatch; too little cooling and too high a temperature hastens the hatch and weakens the chicks. A steady, never varying temperature of 103 is best. Learn to watch the air-cells; if too small at any period of the hatch, introduce pie pans filled with air slacked lime, under the eggs until the air- cells are sufficiently enlarged. If found to be getting too large under ordinary conditions, use the sand pans filled with warm water, under the eggs. In high altitudes, use the sand pans from beginning to end of the hatch. In arid regions, in addition to the sand pans, it is often necessary during late spring and summer months to moisten the eggs for twenty minutes a day Pe the last three days by covering the eggs with a double layer of cheese cloth 94 = TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY sopping wet with warm water. In low altitudes and in humid regions, no jf moisture is needed at any time, and more often it is necessary to introduce | the lime pans. | In turning the eggs, roll them about. in the tray—never use a slatted | tray if you can avoid it—turning them over and over and over, but so gently that the shells will not crack, and in returning the trays to the } machine always reverse ends and sides, that is, change the one from the left | to the right side and the front end of the tray to the back each time the ff eggs are turned. Clean the flues of the lamp burner with a stiff tooth brush frequently. Never allow them to become clogged up with soot or burnt wick. | A hatch that has been delayed by too much cooling may be hastened by using the cheese cloths spread over the eggs for twenty minutes a day as above outlined. The chief end of incubation is to hatch a vigorous chick from each fertile egg, therefore study well the foregoing summary. Brooding the Chicks. While it is of great importance to bring off a good hatch, it is equally important to start the chicks off on a successful life voyage. While it is impossible to raise chicks if we can not hatch them, it is equally true that it is worse than useless to hatch them, if we can not rear them. Under present conditions, and with the methods of brooding as generally practiced, it is doubtful if even twenty-five per cent of the chicks hatched in incubators | are raised. The minority of chicken raisers—those who are successful—will | tell you that under the most favorable conditions they seldom raise to maturity, seventy-five per cent of their hatches. Occasionally there is some man or woman amongst the fraternity who is singularly successful in raising chicks in small numbers—say a few hundred each season, or even a thousand, that may average higher than this, but look about you at the hundreds of people in cities and towns and villages and in the country who raise chickens, and what think you is the average number raised. out of the number hatched? Again, we say it is very very doubtful if twenty-five per cent is the correct average. Go amongst those who operate a number of incubators—on the great egg ranches even, where large numbers of eggs running into many thousands of dozens per season are farmed out to incubator operators who merely hatch the eggs for the rancher, and these people will tell you that out of perhaps ten thousand eggs hatched, the man who can raise five thous- and chicks considers that he has done well. What then, is the cause of such great mortality? Not one cause only. for there are many who are willing to testify to many causes, and yet we believe these causes may be grouped under three heads, or classes, as follows: Causes of chick mortality: Ignorance on the part of the operator; disease; accident. Each of these classes may be divided into sub-classes, and for each cause there is a remedy, but experience has shown that prevention is so far superior to cure in poultry culture, that we shall devote more space to the former. The major portion of mortality amongst chicks we believe is due to im- proper handling immediately after the hatch. With the outside temperature at 40, the method of handling must of neces- sity be far different from that when the temperature is 60 or 75: If we take the chicks out of a temperature of 100 of the nursery to 103 of the egg cham- ber and keep them in a temperature of 40 for even two or three minutes, they are sure to take cold, and that means a wrong start right there, for bowel trouble is sure to follow. Every ,operator should have one or more small boxes double lined with soft flannel and as fast as the chicks are removed from the incubator, slip them into one of these boxes and immediately cover al COS VIEARS WIPE POULTRY 95 with a little blanket and as soon as the box is comfortably full, take them at once to the brooder. With a warm spring temperature or in summer, such care is not so necessary, but even then, it will not be time wasted to attend to so small a detail. The chicks, by this method, (which is the most ‘successful we have ever tried), should be taken from the incubator during the day—early morning is best, for two reasons: The chicks are given a com- fortable rest in a warm brooder where there is plenty of room and fresh air, and as soon as removed, the incubator may be cleaned and the regulator again adjusted, ready for the next batch of eggs the same evening, so that but little time is lost between hatches. In the evening, take the chicks from the -brooder and place them to the number of about forty in little boxes about \the size of an ordinary cracker box previously prepared by boring holes two inches apart on sides and ends, 2 or 2% inches from the bottom and double lining insides and ends of box with soft flannel tacked to the top, allowing the strips to hang down inside the box. Each day the bottom of each box ‘must be covered with a clean piece of paper, or what is better if it can be had, is chopped clover or alfalfa leaves to bed down the chicks. If the nights are cold, in winter or early spring, two or three or even four thick- nesses of blanket to cover the chicks with will be necessary; tuck them in when 'you put them to bed, as carefully as you would a baby, and in the morning you will find them all right and ready to go into the warm lamp-heated -brooder, ready for a comfortable day. During the second day they will | begin to wander about and come out into the run from under the hover. There should be plenty of sharp grit where they can get to it and when about forty-eight hours old, we like to give their first feed of hard boiled eggs and bread crumbs, with a sprinkling of Germaid or fine cornmeal, or | both, added dry, to the eggs and all crumbled together. A small fountain of water with the chill taken off, should be where they can get to it as (soon as they want water. Broods vary about this; a dry hatch will get | thirsty and hunt water sooner than a wet hatch, but in any event let them : have it and all they want when they want it. In cool weather we like to keep them in these little boxes at night until ten days or two weeks old, returning them each day to the warm brooder. We like to feed the chicks about five times daily while kept in the little boxes at night, and the longer the eggs and bread crumbs are fed, say once or twice a -day, the better it will be for the chicks, but they should have at least one feed a day of chick feed after the fourth day, gradually increasing the quantity and add ground charcoal and sharp grit a plenty. It is well also to keep a good sized pan or a little trough full of clean bran constantly renewed, for them to scratch in and peck at. They are very fond of this and will early get busy where they can find it. Bread crumbs and sweet milk is good for them, or sweet milk and oat meal, or germaid, or even a little corn meal, all mixed up crumbly—never wet or sloppy—should be given as often as convenient. When the chicks are ten days or two weeks old, it is safe to leave them at night in the lamp brooder with a low temperature, but this must be watched closely to see that they do not sweat or chill, for be it known that bad night brooding is the cause of most of the ills that young chicks are heir to. This is why the little boxes are preferable, and if taken into the house each night and allowed to run in and out of the lamp brooder during the day, there should be very little trouble from disease in the brood. Brooder chicks suffer principally from two diseases, diarrhoea and in- digestion. The two diseases are entirely different, and from altogether dif- ferent causes. Diarrhoea is the result of extremes in temperature generally, or it may be caused by irritating ingesta. However, diarrhoea arising from imperfect digestion, must not be confounded with indigestion itself. Indi-_ gestion is the result of imperfect action of the liver and the consequent lack of ‘assimilation of food results in “going light.” Diarrhoea caused by irritating ingesta, such as sloppy feed, soured or spoiled food, rotten meat, 96 TWO-YEARS- WITTE POULERY etc., is of a very different character from what is known as white diarrhoea, | ‘and may be easily checked at the start by changing the diet to dry feed of the proper kind. ) White diarrhoea has been the bane of poultrymen since the beginning of artificial brooding and there are many learned treatises upon microbes and fumigation of the incubator and cleaning the brooder, etc., and all the time we have overlooked the real first cause—allowing the chicks to become too warm, generally during the day, and then become chilled—usually at night— resulting in arrested secretion. By using the boxes for night brooding, we | avoid the night chill, and the chicks are clean and comfortable, consequently } there will be few or no cases of white diarrhoea amongst them. If im- properly fed, there will be diarrhoea, we grant you, but it will not be | white diarrhoea, which is more or less contagious. In white diarrhoea the | matter exuded from the vent is thin and watery, like mucilage, and almost as sticky, and when dried, becomes hardened, forming an impenetrable plaster | over the entire rear end of the chick, and always there is more or less fever | as evidenced by the chick’s frequent desire to drink; there is complete | loss of appetite and the chick gets weaker and weaker and mopes about for | two or three days and finally dies. There is but little hope of a cure) | Prevention is far better and much easier. Placed in a comfortably warmed | brooder in the morning, the chicks are soon ready to run out and exercise. When chilly, they learn very readily to run under the hover to get warm. | As soon as warm, they will race out again, and if there is chaff in the | playground, will soon be very busy and they are very fond of finding mil- | let and cracked wheat in the chaff and there should be a little dish handy, | filled with ground charcoal, grit, ground bone or finely ground oyster shell-| and plenty of fresh water. When the weather is suitable. we like to get them out on the ground for two or three hours during the warm part of | the day. If there is grass and weeds with plenty of shade for them to play in, chicks three days old will surprise you ‘with the way they will race around the yard. In warm weather, we prefer the fireless brooder, but chilly mornings and evenings, the chicks will do mtch better to have access to a comfortably heated hover. After the chicks are ten days old, they will do better in a fireless brooder at night, as the little boxes become too hot for them. If a fireless brooder is placed in a warm shed, chicks ten days old will be warm and comfortable in zero weather, at night, but we do not recommend the fireless brooder for day brooding at all in such weather. We have seen instances where the chicks would do well—have raised them ourselves in a fireless brooder in cold weather. How comfortable and how well would you do in a fireless house in cold weather. The principle is the same. You would doubtless survive, but how much enjoyment would you get out of such an experience? You would shiver, doubtless, and so does the chick. No, we prefer a warm house and a warm brooder for both man and chick in cold weather, but in warm weather, both man and chick do bet- ter in fireless apartments; artificial heat is not needed. . The most comfortable and efficient brood-house we have ever seen was a tight, warm shed with a glass front to the south, an individual lamp brooder for a brood of fifty, a nice little scratching floor where the sun can shine in on it and a healthy bunch of chicks working away for dear life, with an outside temperature of 20 to 30 above zero, As soon as tired or cold, the chicks run into the brooder and get warm, and then out they go again—running about, busy all day long; at night, bedded in boxes or a fireless brooder, they cannot help but do well. : Indigestion is one of the most prolific causes of mortality amongst the chicks. The principal causes are feeding too soon, too great variation in temperature, feeding sloppy mashes and lack of grit. It is a good plan to allow the chicks access to a bed of sharp sand before their first feed. To do this, sprinkle the floor of the play room of the brooder half an inch TWO VEARS: Wibn POULPRY 97 thick with sand and as soon as the chicks begin to run out, they will find it and partake of it. If feed is withheld for 48 hours, the chicks will then 'be hungry; if not. then keep back the feed for another twelve hours and feed sparingly five times a day of hard boiled eggs and bread crumbs or oat meal or germaid as before described. The best and easiest way to pre- vent indigestion ts to keep the chicks always hungry and well supplied with erit. Charcoal ground up fine in a food chopper and kept in.a little pan on the floor of the brooder is good. As an appetiser and all around tonic, take a medicine dropper and drop seven or eight drops of medicated car- bolic acid in a quart fountain of drinking water that has had the chill taken off. It is bad management to allow the chicks to drink ice cold water at any time, and especially in cold weather. Indigestion and bowel trouble will surely result. In some sections of the country, chicks that are permitted to run will pick up gape worms. Brooder chicks are not so subject to this evil as hen-raised chicks, as the hen is always scratching and working in the dirt with one or more chicks in close attendance. The best way to rid the chicks of the worms is to take each by hand and work the worms out of the throat with a small piece of bent wire. The better plan is to put the chicks on a grassy run. Where there is plenty of thick grass and weeds, there is little danger from gape worms. It is the bare ground that must be avoided. Going light is one of the most stubborn diseases to which brooder chicks are subject. It is a disease of the liver arising from indigestion. The best way to avoid it is to keep plenty of grit and charcoal in the brooder, and as a tonic use the carbolic acid as above, being careful to stir the water well with a small stick or paddle made for the purpose. Another good tonic for a .hange is to drop eight drops of the tincture of red pepper and six or eigut drops of the tincture of aconite in the drinking water. In white diarrhoea, use ten drops of the aconite to a quart of water in addition to the tincture of red pepper, to allay the feverish condition of the bowels, and change the diet each feed. Bread and milk fed crumbly is good, and boiled potatoes mashed fine and sprinkled with black pepper and salt is good. Boiled rice is fine and oat meal mush with warm milk and a little sugar sprinkled over it is good for the sick chicks and the well ones will greatly relish it for a change. Beet tops and lettuce in season is fine for the chicks if chopped fine enough for them to take hold. Next to disease, accidents will rapidly decrease the brood if not con- stantly watched. If the evenings are a little cool. look out for piling up in the corners of the brooder, especially fireless brooders, when the chicks first turn in. Some times six or eight may be smothered in this manner in a few minutes. Shoot or have shot, every stray cat or dog found on the place. Take no chances. Next, see to it that the chicks are well pro- tected at night from prowlers—trats, possums, coons, mink, weasels—you know them—they all like young chickens. Then protect the chicks with inch mesh wire and heavy planks. Some cock-birds and most cockerels are mean and will kill or try to kill every baby chick it is possible to get at. Sonie hens are vicious to chicks, other than their own. Fence the chicks out from these killers. Look out for summer showers. A good steady down- pour for half an hour may put you out of business so far as young chicks are concerned, if you do not provide ample shed-room for the chicks to take shelter under, even after they are half grown. Be on the watch always to avoid accidents, for it is heart-breaking to the proud owner to lose a num- ber of healthy, growing chicks from this cause. 98 TWOU YEARS ) Wage POs dR, CHAPTER VI Selling the Product—Both in the Market and for | Breeding Purposes If the beginner has started with a liberal supply of breeding stock he will, toward the close of the first year, have at least some surplus stock for sale and on the selling will depend much of the profit or loss. If this surplus consists of pure bred birds suitable for breeding purposes there is only one right way to sell any quantity of it and that is to advertise it judiciously in some of the poultry papers. To be sure a small number of birds can usually be disposed of among one’s neighbors and acquaintances at some figure, possibly a little in advance of market price, but the most satisfactory manner of selling will be found to be through advertising and shipping to more dis- tant customers. Besides the person intending to continue breeding pure bred fowls for exhibition and breeding purpeses for a term of years cannot commence too soon to build up a reputation and a line of customers cover- ing a wide territory. The full benefit of an advertising campaign is not derived merely during the term the advertisement may appear, but will be felt for many months or even years thereafter. In other words the benefits, from such an expenditure, lap over from one season to another and the effect of a series of years of this kind of publicity is cumulative, building the advertiser’s reputation higher and higher each year and continually extending his line of customers. Care should be taken, however, to choose the right mediums, those which can give pretty good assurance of their ability to bring the customers. The breeder of pure breeds will also have a certain per cent of culls among his birds which are only fit for market and these should be weeded out and sold as soon as possible to make more room for the stock it is intended to mature. To dispose of these birds, the breeder, as well as the one ‘who is siriply raising grades or scrubs fit only for market, should look over his local market carefully and if situated where he can readily reach a city of 10.000 or more population he will no doubt readily find an excellent market right at his door. This will particularly be the case if he will take the trouble to properly fatten and dress the chicks intended for this trade. To properly fatten they should be separated from the balance of the flock and fed liberally for from two to three weeks, largely on a mash made of corn meal, two parts and middlings one part. If milk can be had to moisten this mash with, so much the better. This should be moistened only sufficiently to make a stiff mixture never sloppy and if the birds are confined so that they cannot procure green food, then it should be provided them in some shape. When ready to market, dress a few nicely, tie up the neck and legs with a piece of colored ribbon and offer them to the prospective customers in the nearest Or most convenient town or city, of course choosing as patrons the more well-to-do and those whom you know must purchase the poultry for their table and nine times out of ten a customer will be made that will will- ingly pay several cents a pound above market price as long as the fowls are delivered nicely fattened and dressed. : See TD PWVOUME ARS OWI) POULTRY 99 At the same time these same people will prove special customers for selected and guaranteed fresh eggs. These should be carefully assorted, discarding all small or extremely large eggs and if they can be assorted as to color it will add to their attractiveness in the eyes of the customer. Above all be absolutely sure that all the eggs are strictly fresh. During hot weather discard all eggs which have lain for even a short time in the hot sun. Cartons made of pasteboard and holding just a dozen or two dozen in which to deliver these eggs may be procured at a small cost. Some who are mak- ing a specialty of fresh eggs for this class of trade stamp or stencil on the egg the date on which it was laid and this doubtless adds somewhat to the confidence of the buyer in their quality. In recent years the home market for poultry and eggs has greatly im- proved (by home market we mean the demand in the towns and smaller cities) and the enterprising poultryman who will cater as above to the better class of customers and who will get up and present his goods in an attractive and desirable shape, need not look elsewhere for a demand that will take his surplus at a price materially above that to be obtained in the general markets. 100 IWO) YEARS 5 Wise seOUliaRy CHAPTER VII Selecting, Preparing and Conditioning Show Birds The breeder of pure bred fowls will, at the close of his first year. be in a position to reap some of the rewards, in both money and pleasure of pro- ducing choice birds and one of the greatest pleasures will be found in his ability to select some of the choice birds of his own raising, prepare them for exhibition and win with them. An exhibit of such birds will also be a great aid to him in selling his other surplus breeding birds both through acquaintances made at the poultry show and as a reinforcement of his adver- tisements in the poultry papers. But to insure winning, birds should be carefully prepared for exhibition and in this chapter we give instructions by one of the most successful showmen in the country. The preparation of fowls for ribbon winners at a show, such as was held at the St. Louis World’s Fair or the winter shows at New York, Boston and Chicago, taxes the skill of the most experienced professional exhibitors. There are so many minor essentials to be taken care of and while anyone taken alone seems insignificant, to neglect or ignore often means the loss of the coveted prize. For instance, to fail to clean out the accumulation that gathers beneath the scales of a fowl’s shanks, while requiring probably two hours, a very short time in comparison with the weeks and months pre- viously spent in anxious care, may mean the forfeiting of the prize the bird “might have won.” In other words, it does not pay to spend months con- ditioning a fowl and then send him to a show without giving him “the finishing touches,’ in the hope that “the other fellows” have been even more careless. The chances would be, that while their birds might be slightly inferior in quality, they would more than make up the difference by attending to every little detail in the “grooming” of their fowls, your com- petitors would win. In reality, the preparation of a string of show birds begins before they are hatched, in fact “the beginning” runs back through several generations of ancestors, but in this article we must narrow the term and will confine our remarks to the few months prior to showing. It is the supposition that _one is looking forward to the sending of a string of fowls to a certain show which is still some months in the future. The number of old or ma- tured birds to be shown has been decided, and probably three or four times as many specimens as the required number have been selected to put into show condition. This precaution is taken for the reason that birds do not always “shape up” as one wishes and it stands one in hand to have several substitutes. One should fully understand the variety to be prepared and should study each specimen thoroughly to learn its individuality. The idea is to gradually bring the birds up to a point where they will look their very best during the first three days of the show or until the judging is completed. If you please, to a point where the hens feel like laying, but don’t lay, for in many varieties a laying female is handicapped in the show room. The males should be in an accompanying vigorous condition, hardy, alert and muscular. To get the bird in the proper physical condition is, per- haps, not quite as difficult as to get the plumage “just right.” So at the close of the breeding season we begin to Tay our plans. We have, for. some | Wie VEARS NW EE POULTRY 101 'time, been feeding our matured fowls rather sparingly to reduce them in flesh which ripens their plumage so that when we begin feeding up again \their old feathers readily loosen, making room for an early appearance of | pin-feathers which in turn develop into the full plumage. The proper time to begin “feeding up” is determined by counting forward the number of weeks to the beginning of the show and then, by past experience, roughly calculat- |ing the time required to develop full plumage on each fowl. All fowls do not moult at the same rate so we aim to have enough time to have them all well feathered or else begin the feeding-up process at different times with | different specimens. On account of the length of the sickle feathers. the males generally require a little longer time than the females. || Different methods of feeding should be employed for different breeds. The Cochins and other breeds requiring long, abundant and fluffy plumage may be fed considerable mash or soft feeds which have a tendency to soften and increase the length of plumage, particularly if fed during the moult. The writer breeds Cornish and White Indians, varieties that should be scant in plumage, the feathers tight, short and wiry, and very brilliant and glossy, so the soft foods are dispensed with entirely. We feed oats, barley, wheat, millet, sunflower seed, kaffir corn and corn, preferring white corn for the White Indians and yellow corn for the Cornish Indians. We like a liberal | quantity of good clover hay scattered in the litter. The fowls will eat a ‘great deal of the clover and this with the green foods. cabbage, mangel beets and green grass, as long as the latter may be had, will form the bulky -portion of the food which is so necessary in a balanced ration. When pro- curable, we like to feed a liberal quantity of fresh cut bone and meat. In- dians can stand a great deal of meat and would thrive on quantities that 'would give Plymouth Rocks and many other fowls indigestion. Condition powders and similar stimulates are not used. Fresh water, good grit, clean quarters, free from drafts, and plenty of room for exercise are about all ‘that the fowls require. To prevent the fowls from taking cold while moult- ing, a small quantity of one of the many advertised pulverized roup cures | may be placed in their drinking water. Some of these “cures” contain in- -gredients, such as log-wood, which act as a tonic. Doubtless, they are all | better preventives than cures, but let it be said in their favor that if they are used in time as a preventive their curing properties will not need to be “tested. They seem to tone up the system without stimulating, and but a small quantity is required. Speaking of exercise, we know it is the custom of many fanciers to coop their fowls a few weeks before showing to sort of round their birds to What they consider the proper condition, a method we cannot commend. Like Mr. Duston, we prefer to have our birds in pens and, if possible, would give them a great deal of free range. that the birds might exercise and round themselves out by putting on solid, muscular flesh, rather than coop them, depriving them of exercise and fattening them to a sort of beefy, flab- by plumpness. We would have our birds active. strong and solid, capable of endurance like a race horse, rather than confine and feed them as one would a hog for the market. Of course it is advisable to confine each specimen in a coop an hour or two each day that it may become accustomed to the confinement that is necessary during the show, and during this time one should spend some minutes handling and training the fowl. Loose feathered fowls are perhaps better trained without the use of a judge’s stick, but the stick may be conveniently employed to lightly tap the tight feathered breeds to make them tighten their feathers. During the confinement, the shanks of the fowls should be looked after, they should be softened and brightened. This may be done by applying vaseline or olive oil, but the shanks should be carefully wiped dry with a cloth, particularly if the bird is not to be washed. The vaseline or oil also softens the dirt beneath the scales which may easily be worked out when one has a little spare time, 102 TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY But it may take longer than one thinks, so don’t put this off until the last | two or three days before the show, for if the birds have to be washed your time will be fully taken up. White fowls and parti-colored fowls with white in plumage are generally washed, and it may be added that it is a rather difficult problem to give these birds plenty of exercise in the open ) air and prevent them from getting into the sun, which often colors the plum- } age to a brassy tinge, a serious handicap in the show room. We have now # brought the old fowls up to three or four days before entering the show. | Let us turn to the young birds a moment before giving our method of washing. It is well to hatch chicks every week during the breeding season, for some } of the oldest ones you had hoped to exhibit at a fall show may begin to | moult just when you had hoped they would look their best, so you will have to select younger ones in their stead, but these older ones may be your }} best for showing six or eight weeks later. The main thing is to keep them growing steadily, confining and training them an hour or more each day, as | with the matured fowls, the last two or three weeks before the show. For wasting we use two rooms, one provided with plenty ot lignt and a good heating stove, keeping the temperature up. to about 95 degrees, and in which we had previously placed on boxes and tables the clean coops in } which the fowls are to dry. provided with planer-mill shavings for litter and a little grain scattered therein. The other is an adjoining room containing a | cook stove with reservoir and boiler for heating soft water and a number of flat irons which are heated to drop into the tubs of watet to keep the water so it feels warm to one’s hand. One or two tables are convenient and three or four tubs one-half to two-thirds full of warm water are absolutely neces- sary, the tubs being placed on chairs or boxes a little higher to save one’s back in stooping, the water always being soft. Provide good sponges, a number of turkish bath-towels and wash-cloths, a couple of good stiff nail brushes, some sharp tooth picks, a bar of Ivory soap, a good patient assist- ant and you are ready for business. As it often takes the males a little longer to dry, we prefer to wash them first. This room is kept at a comfortable temperature to work in. so we bring in as many birds as we expect to wash before dinner time or evening. We first place the bird to be washed upon a table or box covered with several piles of old carpet, wash his feet in a basin of soapy water, and then with the tooth picks and nail brushes and warm soap suds we clean out all the dirt beneath the scales of his shanks and toes, permitting the suds to work up around the hock joint feath- ers to loosen up the dirt and grease or oil that generally accumulates there. This done, we place the bird in the first tub which contains warm water and soap and duck him to the eyes, being careful not to get the soapy water into his eyes, as it would doubtless be painful. In a moment the feathers are soft and pliable. he is permitted to stand up in the tub while we lather him all over with soap, being careful to work the soap thoroughly into the feathers around the oil sack at root of tail and through wing feathers, -etc. We wash and dry always the way the feathers lie, until we cannot find any more dirt and we are certain the bird is wet to the skin, then after pouring a little clear warm water over him, we place him into the second tub which contains clear, warm water, ducking him completely for an instant, with his beak and nostrils held shut, working out all of the soap. If any feathers should still remain soapy. they would curl when drying and perhaps ruin the bird for showing, so it is advisable to put the bird in the third tub, which contains clear water, possibly a little cooler in temperature. At this stage some advocate giving the bird one-half to a teaspoonful-of whiskey, but we think it makes the bird rather stupid and they do not seem to work with their feathers and fluff out as quickly, so we place the bird into the fourth tub, containing water very slightly colored with bluing.’ After drain- ing the bird as much as we can, we wrap him in a clean, warm turkish towel to carry him into the warm room, placing him on a chair and working TWO VEARS. WILTEr POULTRY 103 out all the water possible, particularly at the base of the neck and under the wings. Then we place him carefully into a coop close to the stove and as each succeeding bird is brought in we work the first birds back away from the stove, always being careful that they are not close enough to the stove to get scorched, and as they begin to fluff out we like to place them in the sun-light. All birds are treated in the same manner and when the last one is nearly dry we begin to let the fire go down gradually until at the end of twenty-four hcurs from the time the last bird is washed the fire is out and the birds are ready to be placed in the shipping crates that are to take them to the show, cooping them but a few hours before the train is due, the less time the better if one has not far to take them to the station. Of course they are banded, the crates have the proper entry tags, are well lit- tered with feed therein and watering tins, the crates being covered with muslin to keep all dust out. And now, dear reader, you ask, does it pay? It depends upon how much you get out of it, and it certainly does not pay to send a bird unprepared. It certainly paid me, for these are the methods I used with my White In- dians which won the coveted prizes for me at the great St. Louis World’s Fair. 104 TLWOCY EARS \ Wasting ae OVGie ay Rey, CHAPTER VIII Care of the Laying Stock to Promote the Pro- duction of Winter Eggs ‘Our poultryman will now be interested in knowing how to induce his hens to produce the much coveted “winter eggs.” Since they will add very materially to the amount placed on the credit side of his ledger and we give in this chapter the methods of practical people in different sections of the country who have been very successful in this line. How to feed: Feed the best of grains, such as, wheat, oats, rye, barley, kaffir corn, cane seed and corn. The morning meal is a mash composed of either alfalfa meal | or cut clover, oats and a little cracked corn. Let the alfalfa meal or clover and oats steep for an hour on the stove before using, add enough bran until it crumbles nicely, feed it warm and in a treugh and regulate the amount according to the number of fowls so each will get about a half crop full. Then scatter equal parts of the small grains in the litter to keep them busy scratching for it until the noon hour, when they get their greens. We use cabbage mostly, one or two heads three or four times a week is enough for 25 or 30 fowls, but see that each gets its share. Onions and potato peelings chopped fine are ‘also used as greens. Occasionally a feed of boiled turnips and small potatoes are fed. At noon some more of the smaller grains are scattered into the litter to keep them busy until evening. The night feed is equal parts of oats and whole corn which has been warmed, feed it in a clean trough and see that they have all they want, as laying pullets require a little more than the hens as they are not so easily fattened. Feed about 1 ounce of fresh beef scraps and green cut bone to each fowl two or three times a week. Grit, oyster shells, charcoal, dust box and old plastering cracked fine are kept before them at all times. Give clean fresh water three times a day, that has been slightly warmed, never allow them to drink cold, icy water, and fight the lice (if any) by dusting with a good insect powder. Should they stop laying from the effects of a severe cold spell, feed heavier for a few days as they will require more at this time to keep up the bodily heat. The same person should do the feeding and have full control, as a few days careless feeding or management will affect their laying. Never allow the fowls to sit on the roosts by day, they should be separate from the scratch- ing shed. Try to keep them busy scratching as that gives them exercise and keeps them in good health and they will not be affected by the cold so much. In fact try to make summer out of winter for them. The way of a Maryland poultryman: With December come winter conditions as to feed for our poultry, and for the best success, as far as the egg basket is concerned, a liberal exercise of the brain is a paying proposition. Eggs are produced in an abundance in spring and summer from many natural causes. Tender green shoots first, then an unlimited supply; a variety of animal food from bugs and insects awakening into life after a long winter’s sleep, both of these items inducing plenty of exercise in hunt- PE, ORGY TAGCR SO VINE POU aan Y 105 ing and scratching for them over more or less wide ranges. Then again warm, bright, sunshiny weather cheering and brightening up nature in all the forms both animal and vegetable. Now if we want spring and summer returns all through the winter, we must think out matters and try to make the surroundings as near summer- like as possible; and this can be accomplished to a large extent by everyone really interested in his or her poultry, and without any great outlay of cash. One of the most important points of the whole business in my estimation is a good house—and by this I do not mean an expensive house— but one that is not damp, that is rain proof, and above all, that is bright and sunny. Glass is cheap, for with a ten-cent cutter we can patch up old sashes with any size scraps, and the sun will shine through these scraps just as well as through French plate. If we do not have too many fowls on the floor. and the floor covered with some good light scratching materials, we have as near an approach to springtime conditions as we can make. Right here I will state that I am opposed strongly to any artificial heat in the hen house at any time. We have the spring surroundings outlined, but we have not got the warm weather, so we must try to supply this in the food given the poultry. Science tells us that corn is the greatest heat producing food at our command, and as it is within the reach of everyone we must use more corn through the cold weather than during summer. But if we gorge the fowls on corn we shall get no eggs, while the hens will be as fat as seals; therefore we must use it with discretion, and in such quantities among the litter that the poultry must scratch-and work well to find it, even then) only getting a grain or two at a time. If all grain is fed in this way we make our nearest approach to the spring and summer exercising and have the hens in a muscular and thrifty condition, with all the organs in good shape to perform their functions, the blood coursing freely through the sys- tem and full of life. Heat and exercise provided, the next point to consider is material for egg production. Unfortunately, I am no scientist and I can not give the different technical constituents of each, so I have to rely on what I can see with my naked eye. One reason for plenty of eggs, is plenty of green food; and this is a point which I think is frequently neglected. I have satisfied myself that the fowls getting plenty of green food, produce eggs that hatch more chicks and of the better quality physically, than those which have none, or at best a limited supply. Therefore, friends, my advice is. use plenty of vegetables in your hen-house whether leaf or root; omit no op- portunity of throwing some green stuff into them. Watch the kitchen and let no paring, leaf or scrap of vegetable get away from your fowls. If you can get a few bushels of turnips do so, or of beets. cabbage, celery tops, etc., etc. If too small to be eaten raw, cook them up soft, and mix in the soft mash which should be fed just warm, either morning or evening of each day. As I have often stated in these articles, we prefer the evening, for then the fowls have all night to digest a full crop; whereas if they fill up on soft mush in the morning they will invariably loaf around more or less; and don’t forget that where the fowls are loafers, the egg basket is empty, and the hands full of ailing chickens. ’ We have about accounted now for all the conditions of spring except animal food, and we have different means at hand to provide for this. The farmer has at all seasons of the year, milk in more or less abundance; and it is a profitable investment to let the fowls have a goodly share of this perfect egg-food. Then again at hog-killing time, or a beef slaughtering, there are lots of scraps and bones. Don’t give all of these to the dogs, but let the hen have a goodly share. Use a hatchet or axe to chop them up as fine as possible, but don’t make a bad hit and chop off two or three of your choicest hens’ heads in the meantime, for they will be very enterprising while you are operating on the bones, and care will be needed to avoid 106 TWO: YEARS) WITH) POULTRY accident. Even the bigger bones that the dogs have partly eaten, or that come from table joints can be utilized by scorching in the oven until nearly black and then pounded into pieces on a rock or slab. To the poultry keeper near the city or town, or to the trucking farmer, a bone-cutter is a good investment as well as a fine muscle hardener. At the most, the bones cut from joints can be purchased at the butcher’s for a cent a pound, and when taken home and ground in the bone-mill and fed to the fowls about twice a week, you have provided the most perfect egg food obtainable. For the poultrymen or’ women who have neither bones nor bone-mill there is no excuse for not supplying this animal food, because there are many brands of the dried article—either meat alone, meat and bone, bone, or meat-meal—advertised by reputable firms in all the poultry papers, and at a reasonable price. Having used bone mills for years, and also having used these preparations, I know each of them to be good egg- ‘producing foods. We prefer. to feed the dry article in Soft Meedmandy ire green cut separately in the feed troughs. There will be none of the latter wasted I assure you, and the song the hens will sing for you ought to drive all thoughts of care away, for of all the happy dumb creatures around us, I know of none so happy as a pen of fowls getting a feed of green bone on a cold winter’s day. I have attempted to outline a plan of winter feeding that will make your towls the wonder of your neighbors, and the earners of many a dollar that some one else will get if you consider it too much trouble to carry out this routine. The cost is nominal-if the will is behind it, and if the will is not there, you had better sell or eat your fowls and sit by the stove quietly through the dreary winter leaving your wife to buy what few eggs her con- science will allow when eggs are costing big money. A Kansas farmer’s wife tells how she feeds for eggs: Now comes the winter feeding for eggs. The culls should all be sent to market before now, so they won’t crowd the rest. It does not pay to crowd them. We feed a warm mash in the morning. Some do not care to feed a mash in the morning, claiming that it makes fowls lazy. But I do not think so. A light mash won’t make them lazy. I have given this subject: some thought, but a mash in the morning seems to suit our need the best. I feel that on a cold morning the fowls would like a warm breakfast as well as we people. I don’t care to feed mash at noon, I would rather have them scratching in their litter at that time. And I don’t think that a mash is hardly solid enough for their evening meal. The nights are long. They can stand the long, cold nights better with their crops full of corn. The mash that we feed is light, and does not make them stay on the roost long after eating it. I tdke one part of alfalfa or clover meal} and Scald 1. Some prefer to let it steam awhile. To this I add one part of bran, and one part of shorts, and a little beef meal. This I stir into a crumbly mass, and feed while warm. I feed the mash on clean boards, in boxes or troughs. I use the beef meal which has little particles of bone in it, and is of a brown color. I feed as much of the beef meal in the mash as the directions that go with it say. I believe it is sometimes sold under the name of animal meal. A little powdered charcoal, added once in awhile, aids digestion. Sometimes I leave out the alfalfa or clover meal, but scald the bran and shorts as before, and feed raw vegetables instead. Fowls should have plenty of vegetables to eat during the season when they cannot get all the green food they want of their own free will and accord, such as grass, etc. Small potatoes, or potato parings, turnips, carrots, pumpkins and squashes, and cabbage are good green feed for them. It is best to hang the cabbage u, by the roots, just high enough that the hens have to jump up to get a bite. This is good exercise for them. Sometimes I boil small potatoes or turnips and mash-them, and mix with their morning mash. And some- EWOeVMEARS WITH MPOULTRY 107 times I cut a pumpkin through the middle and put the halves in the oven to bake. When done I set them where the fowls can help themselves. This makes a good change of food. I also feed pumpkin raw as well as the other vegetables. Onions make a very good green food for fowls. If winter onions are pulled up in the fall and stored away in the cellar in boxes they will stay green all winter, and can be cut up for the fowls. The fowls will regard a little fresh meat, fed them once in awhile, as a welcome change from the beef meal. You can get scraps of fresh beef from the butcher. he always has some scraps that he cannot use for anything else. Or if, you live on a farm in this state, and keep a few dogs, they will prob- lably supply you with fresh rabbit meat. The fowls will be pleased if they do. And feed some green cut bone, if you can get it. They will need less grain if fed plenty of green cut bone. If you can’t get the green cut bone, the beef meal with the particles of bone in it, will do all right without bone in any other form. An hour or so after they have their mash, and some warm water to drink, I scatter some small grain in the litter, so they will have FO sctatch for it to get it. And they soon begin to scratch, too. I don’t use much cornmeal in the mash, only once in awhile just for variety. I ‘think it is too solid and too fat producing, I would rather feed whole ‘corn, and feed it in the evening. I don’t buy any of the commercial scratch- ‘ing feed. I use millet seed and cracked grains, such as are screened out of \kaffir corn and cane seed. Some of the grains always crack during threshing. “Sometimes the straw alone has enough grain in it to scratch for. If they ‘have considerable of the scratching feed and vegetables they will probably ‘not need any more grain until towards evening. But vary this sometimes by feeding wheat or kaffir corn in the litter at noon, and not so much scratch- ing grain. Wheat is a splendid egg producing grain. Oats are a very good \feed, but I prefer to boil them before feeding, if they are to be fed whole. \In the evening we feed mostly whole corn and sometimes kaffir corn. Some (parched corn fed about three times a week is a very good change and is ‘also healthy. They won’t eat it very readily at first, but after awhile it will ‘be all gone. We must feed enough feed, but not too much, either. Fowls should gimgeys be feady for their next meal. I do not care: to féed a dry mash because so much is wasted. It is awful windy at times, and what me wind does not blow out the fowls manage to dig out some way. I | like to feed some dry bran, however, but I don’t feed much on account of the waste. I would feed more if I could find a hopper that will exactly suit my needs in this line. Do not feed unsound grain, it is high priced at any price. We give our fowls warm water three times in a day in freezing weather. Plenty of water is very necessary because a large per cent of the egg is water. In real cold weather I put a little red pepper in the drinking water in the morning. They seem to enjoy it, too. Put the water dishes on a box, or something to keep fowls from scratching the litter into the water. A good powder to make hens lay is 2 parts of red pepper, 4 parts of allspice, and 6 parts of powdered ginger. Mix thor- oughly, and mix one tablespoonful with every pound of feed, and feed 2 or 3 times a week. Always keep plenty of grit and oyster shell before them at all times. And have a large box filled with road dust and ashes for them to dust in. Keep in a sheltered place. If your conditions are such that are liable to produce roup, use some preventive in time. Use some good roup cure, or put some harmless disinfectant in the water at least once a week. And no more than a teaspoonful of the disinfectant to one gallon ‘of water, unless otherwise stated in the directions, Also disinfect the houses. Let the sun shine in them, if possible. I think it is much easier to feed a flock of pure bred fowls for eggs, than it is ‘a mixed lot. It is impos- sible to feed a mixed lot so as to meet all the requirements of each breed in the lot, at the same time. Of course any flock, of any breed, that is bred for laying, will respond to your coaxing quicker than one that is not 108 TWO. YEARS) Wit EF WPOULMERY bred for layers. The pullets will need more feed than the hens because they begin to lay before they have had their growth. Pullets usually make | better winter layers than hens. I do not care to force my fowls to eat a lot of | nasty drugs, as some people do. A healthy fowl does not need them. Mine | are usually healthy. With good care fowls will pay all right in winter. Missourt methods: The industrious poultry raiser will, ere this, have anything the fowls | would be likely to destroy, safely stored, and his fowls, especially the hens if and pullets intended for winter layers, on free range. It is now, during | the pleasant autumn days, that worms, bugs, etc., are to be found in abund- ance. Free range and an opportunity to roam the nearby woods in search | of this much needed food is just what is required to place the fowls in the | pink of condition for the work which they will later be called upon to per- | form. The insects which they gather daily is nature’s oil and fuel, which | sets in motion the machinery of the egg mill.. Nothing so quickly places | them in condition for the work to follow. I would not, and do not, advocate the use of anything to hasten the | moulting period. A hen in good health will get through this operation as | promptly as nature expects, taking a much needed rest through this period, | and forcing her to complete the operation in half the time allotted by nature | can only result in weakening her in some other way, and, in the long run, the egg production will be anything but satisfactory. My experience in this respect has cenvinced me that nothing is to be | gained by forcing, in fact, I invariably lost through it. Others may and | doubtless do differ from me and possibly could offer proof in abundance | as to the success attained in their individual efforts. However, I am at- | tempting to show how I have succeeded in getting a fair per cent of eggs from my winter layers. At this time of year and while your stock for winter egg jroduenen is busily engaged in taking care of the numerous creeping, crawling and hop- ping things with which the earth abounds, you should be getting a place of abode in order for winter. The laying and roosting pen should be placed in thorough repair. Ob- serve great precaution in regard to draughts, as I consider this of the ut- most importance. A slight cold and down goes your egg production to zero. Whitewash is essential to the health and welfare of your poultry and while it may not be absolutely necessary to apply it as often in winter as in the hot months of summer, I would not advise anyone to become careless in this respect or laggard in the use of same. The litter in the scratching pens should be renewed, at intervals de- pending, of course, upon its condition. No one desirous of attaining the best results will overlook this important matter and allow it to become foul and ill-smelling. Cornstalks, husks and straw cut in lengths of five or six inches and scattered over the floor to the depth of three or four inches, makes an excellent litter, in which the fowls take real delight. Your grit boxes must be kept well filled. Do not overlook the dust box or imagine that it is not needed in winter. Of course it is hardly necessary to mention the fact that hens drink water, however, as this article is intended for the benefit of the amateur, I might say that they do, and add, that water in cold weather a few degrees warmer than freezing should be supplied and will be duly appreciated. Milk is good in egg manufacture, but should not take the place of water. Nothing can do that. woe The question of food becomes one of vital importance inasmuch as the supply depends to a large extent on the food supplied. The morning meal should be given in the shape of grain, in the litter, where the hens car BWVO UM EAR Ss WET Eh POULTRY 109 scratch for it. The exercise is needed, as it warms them up, something desired after a night on the perches. You know the nights are long and growing longer as winter approaches, and daylight is gladly welcomed by the denizens of the roost. With the approach of winter, comes disappear- ance of the juicy bug and the luscious worm, also the grasshopper and other ‘things filled with protein, for which the hen scratches so industriously, or runs, as the case may be. Here is where you must step in and continue the work so wisely begun by nature. Your free range hen from having such intimate relations with the insect world is full to overflowing with the necessary ingredients for egg manufacture and it is to your interest to keep her in that condition. Practical poultry raisers have demonstrated the fact that nothing pro- vided by man quite equals green bone in keeping the hen in condition for egg production. Therefore, in order to have eggs in plenty in winter, it is evident that green bone becomes a very important factor. If you desire to give mash let it be the noonday meal. Do not, if you value your fowls, give them a mash at night, on going to roost. Just think what a condition in which to place a fowl on a cold night, with a crop full of wet, mushy food, with nothing but a thin covering of skin between it and the cold outer air, it certainly must feel as though a lump of ice had found lodgment in its very vitals. A crop full of corn is wiser, something to furnish warmth while the hen sits, an almost inanimate oo oa > wD =| Pe —— el oe Oo —- TWOrVEARS? WITTE POULTRY 115 In the treatment of diseases for convenience I have thought best to ar- _|fange as the easiest of reference, all such ailments in alphabetical order. 15 Apoplexy. | Generally it is the plumpest, fattest fowl that suffers from apoplexy. The finding of a nice, heavyweight hen beneath the perches excites wonder and dismay to the novice in poultry raising. Cause—Overfeeding on fat forming foods, such as corn diet, and strongly spiced or stimulating foods. Egg bound hens if not promptly relieved are liable to it, as the exertion to expel the egg forces the blood to the brain jin larger quantities than the distributing organs can receive it, and death results. 7 Symptoms.—A giddy. staggering or trembling gait; the head may fall and there be a spasmodic action of the legs, if a laying hen is attacked, unless the care-taker is frequently about the laying pens, she is usually found dead on the nest. Treatment—There is no effective remedy for the novice to use _ suc- cessfully, except in the case of the laying fowl. Then treat as for “egg- bound.” Prevention:can be exercised in that a light diet and plenty of igreen feed and if a fowl is gaining in flesh rapidly a weekly dose of one ‘ttablespcon of castor oil will aid also in freeing the bowels of any lodgment of effete matter. ie Accidents. | Accidents to fowls are not common or numerous. There may be a broken ywing or leg. When the bird is a valuable one, fasten the wing in its natural |position with thin, strong bandages, and nature will do the healing. With a leg—I once had a 95% point hen break her leg, and my young son held her firmly while I put the bones in proper position and then shaped plaster ‘of paris round the leg, covering the fracture and extending for an inch and ta-half above and below the break, the leg and toes were frequently bathed ‘(after a hot and cold water showering) with a liniment of my own com- ‘pounding, which I now call “Pickering’s Poultry Panacea.” The fowl was kept in one of our exhibition coops for ten days, lightly fed on beaten egg and bread crumbs. with pure water before her at all times. At the end of itthat time the plaster cast was removed and she showed no signs of the injury though she lived in my yards for six years after, dying at the age of 14 summers. Eye Injury. The eye should be bathed with dioxygen as directed on the bottle for such uses, and the bird should be cooped or yarded separately till full re- covery takes place. i Frosted Comb. | | Perhaps my readers will think this does not properly belong under the caption of “accidents,” but no fancier or poultry raiser will knowingly per- it the frosting of their fowl. So soon as discovered coat thickly with the hite of an egg, so ~~ to allay the pain, which is very like a burn. Rezeat the pplication until the frosted bird shows no further sign of suffering. The ay following, carefully wash the comb clean with lukewarm: water, then wipe ‘Ary with absorbent cotton or old, clean linen, and coat thickly with cam- | phor-ice, having first carefully noted if there be any blisters, if so, open by ‘piercing with a sterilized needle, gently pressing out all watery formation. Twice daily examine the comb, and remove all water from blisters, cleansing horoughly each time with dioxygen before covering thickly with the cam- hor-ice. A badly frosted comb will come out with scarce any loss of spikes r other blemish under the above treatment; so, too, will frosted wattles, rovided, that the blisters are emptied of the water three to four times aily and cared for as directed for frosted comb. 116 TWO, YEARS “With POULTRY Anthrax, Caused by foul water. Symptoms.—The head turns black or blue, and death speedily follows | after the first signs of illness appear. Treatment.—See that all drinking vessels are cleaned daily and that the | water supply is pure and clean at all times. Thoroughly clean the poultry | house, to get rid of the germs that cause the disease, as they propagate rapidly. Whitewash with a hot lime wash, in which put one ounce of crude | carbolic acid to each pail of wash. Give an ounce of hyposulphite of soda to a | quart of water and wet bran with the solutisn and feed to the fowls to ward off further attack. There is no use in attempting to cure the fowls already sick; | kill and burn them. This disease can only be overcome by removing all sick | and removing the source of infection. Asthenia—(Going Light) According to the investigations of Dr. Charles F. Dawson, this trouble | in fowls is not a form of consumption, as many suppose, but is caused by | a microbe or bacterium in the small intestine. The bacteria, Dr. Dawson be- | lieves, subsists on the food consumed by the fowl and causes a fermentation | in it so that no nourishment can be derived from it. A slight inflamma- | tion of the intestines will be noted. Symptoms.—A droopy attitude, and on examination the bird seems to be | nothing but a living skeleton. Treatment.—First remove the bacterium and build up the poor bird. who | is actually starving to death. As medicinal agents, Dr. Dawson recom- | mends castor oil as a purgative in two-teaspoonful doses, following purga- | tion by a stimulating tonic. In similar affections, Dr. Salmon recommends | the following: Powdered fennel, anise, coriander seed, cinchona, each 30 | grains; powdered gentian and ginger, of each one dr.; powdered sulphate | of iron, 15 grains; mix; give 2 to 4 grains of the above mixture to each affected fowl daily till fully recovered. Bronchitis. An extension ot a common cold to the air vessels or chest. Symptoms.—A rattling, rasping sound eminating from the throat of the ailing fowl. Cause-—Mucous collection in the throat. from exposure (and digestive affections), the fowl tries to free its throat by forcing out the foreign secre- tions very like a “cough” in a person. Treatment.—Remove the bird from its mates and place in a dry, warm coop, give 20 drops of tincture of aconite to each quart of water, and a one-half grain powder of Tartarus Emeticus, which will almost surely pro- mote the expulsion of the mucus that is the real cause of the hard, rattling breathing. Feed the patient warm, crumbly mixture of beaten eg s, bread crumbs and oatmeal. Grit, charcoal (medicated) and a bit of raw beef will aid in rapid recovery. Bumble Foot. This awection is causeu in a variety of ways. A bruise, high perches and a tiny microbe that infects the foot, all or any of these may be the source of trouble. | Symptoms.—A lameness showing a sore or wound on the foot-pad. Five- toed birds, such as Houdans, Dorkings or Favorolles, are peculiarly liable to this disease, especially if not provided with low perches or if given range in_ stony runs. Treatment.—Place the lame bird in a coop deeply bedded with clear straw, cleanse the wound with dioxygen, then poultice with corn-hats; le these remain on for 12 hours, then soak the foot in lukewarm water ani TWO VEARS WITH) POULTRY 1A lance the bruise, cleanse with dioxygen, when the liquid ceases to boil in the wound, dry with a soft linen cloth or better, far, with antiseptic cotton, and apply the following ointment: Carbolic acid and glycerine, two drams; percipitated chalk, two drams, calamine cetate, half an ounce. An eminent authority declares that the disease is confined wholly in the cutis or true skin—and that the evil is from lesions made by a species of insects (Sar- coptes mutans). When a fowl is seen to step about in a tip-toeing manner better inspect the feet at once and by disinfecting with dioxygen prevent a wound. Colds. Fowl are liable to colds and a very good way is to abort the cold at once by giving 30 drops of camphor spirits on a tablespoon of sugar and then adding a pint of water to that amount of camphor. A ene-half grain pill of quinine will also “nip-a-cold-in-the-bud.” Canker, This disorder may be from a neglected cold, but more often it is from an attack of indigestion. Change the diet first and disinfect the poultry house, too. Symptoms.—Yellow or white spots on the inside of mouth, tongue and throat, refusal to eat, and a rough and dejected appearance. ‘Treatment.—With a swab, clean out the affected parts with dioxygen; give nux vomica, 20 drops to each quart of water to drink, and sprinkle the tiny wounds with boracic acid. Contagious Catarrh. Fowl, old, middle-aged and young, are alike subject to this disease. It is very similar to roup, but is distinguished by the absence of the offensive odor. Symptoms.—Eye or eyes swollen, a watery fluid runs from the nostrils and sometimes clog the nose. The birds usually retain red combs, and eat fairly well. even to no unusual impairment of appetite. Treatment.—Cleanse the nose and eyes with dioxygen, the mouth and palate cleft. too. To each quart of drinking water stir in a teaspoonful of the following mixture: Ten drops each of tinctures of aconite, nux vomica, spongia and bryonia, add one fluid ounce of alcohol; it’s ready for use as directed above, if well shaken before taken. Spray all pens and runs with one gill of sulphuric acid to five gallons of water, Clean off the drop-boards daily and sprinkle with fresh earth. Any chicken that does not improve after three days of such care better be killed and burned. A one-grain quinine pill to each adult bird and in like proportions to younger ones should be given when the first dioxygen treatment is adminis- tered. Cramp. Sometimes a fowl is seen that cannot stand on its feet, this may be an attack of cramp, but is not like leg-weakness in growing fowl. Symptoms.—Inability to move, dampness, rheumatism, liver disease, or ‘long confinement of hens at hatching of young. Treatment.—Remove the cause and the treatment is readily dearer ined: Bathing with liniment and the giving of some mild physic is usually all -that is needful. If long continued (more than 24 hours) foment the legs with hot soap-suds, wipe dry, bathe in liniment and bandage with all-wool strips. Place in a warm dry coop and give a light nourishing diet, as advised in other illness, and give morning. noon and night one one-hundreth grain drug strength tablet of Rhus Tox, Cholera. 7 True cholera is seldom known, when present it sweeps whole flocks to a death not unlike Asiatic Cholera in humans. I know of none but pre- ventive measures that are of any real value in cholera. Clean yards, free 118 TWOe ny EARS Wil TE POUMERY use of disinfectents, wholesome food. Diarrhoea or bowel looseness is not true cholera. Were cholera to appear in my poultry yards, every chick would be killed and burned, the ground plowed and cropped for two years before a chick would be permitted on the premises. Crop-Bound. The fermenting of food or the retention of dried grasses in the crop sometimes so distends and inflames this “first stomach” of the fowl unless relieved of the decomposing accumulation death results. Symptoms: En- largement of the crop or craw, unnatural thirst and a drooping attitude. Treatment.—If the crop is not hard and unyielding, a teaspoonful of common baking soda dissolved in a pint of luke warm water and poured down the fowl, then gently massaging the mass, will break up the contents of the craw. After the mass becomes softened pour more of the soda water down the fowl and turning the fowl’s head downward press out the accumu- lated contents, using more water as needed till the crop is emptied and thoroughly washed out. Now give the fowl a teaspoon of castor oil and wait for a bowel movement before feeding. Where the craw is engorged and discoloring, heroic measures have to be used if the fowl lives. Sterilize a sharp knife, a crochet-hook and a needle. Cut the skin covering the breast over the crop, making an incision one and one-half inches long, pass the skin over and cut about the same into the crop-skin; carefully remove the contents with the “hook,” cleanse with dioxogen, sew up the craw opening and then hold the edges of the outer incision together with strips of sur- geon’s plaster so as to afford a drainage. Feed very sparingly on cooked rice, giving free access to pure water to which there is 20 drops of aconite to the quart. When healed feed on wholesome grains, greens, and give plenty of sharp grit to aid in “grinding” food. (Use white cotton thread to sew the opening, it is less likely to “tear out” than silk thread.) Diarrhoea. ‘The causes of this malady are manifest in the voidings changed char- acter; in health they are not so liquid, and the color is not that of normal condition, this too, with a mucous glairy appearance and offensive odor, makes the diagnosis plain, and it may attack old or young. Change of feed or lack of grit and charcoal is the basic cause if the water has been pure and perfect cleanliness of the drinking dishes has been maintained. Treatment.—To assist in the expulsion of the irritating effete accumula- tion, give a dessert spoonful of castor oil in which ten drops of laudanum have been stirred in. Ifa free evacuation does not follow in two hours repeat the dose. Keep in a dry coop and feed on bread-crumbs mixed ee raw beaten egg, or boiled rice. Egg-Bound. When hens stay upon the nest for an unnatural length of time, or go about with wing points nearly or quite touching the ground, it is well to - investigate the cause. If an inflamed condition presents an unusual degree of heat in the abdominal region, dip a feather in oil and pass into the vent up into the egg-passage. Give also a tablespoonful of castor oil by the mouth. This should give relief in passing the egg. If not then steam the vent over a jug of hot water, and -2peat the oil treatment. Handle the bird very gently as the breaking of the egg internally is sure death. Enteritis. This is an inflamed condition of the mucous lining of the stomach, and of the intestines as an after effect of neglected diarrhoea. It may also be caused by poisonous or fermenting food, an excessive use of stimulating poultry condiments or by internal parasites. DWOr YEARS “Wilh POULTRY 119 Symptoms.—Looseness of the bowels, of a greenish or deep yellow hue and a roughened appearance. Treatment.—Give one 3x tablet of Mercury Protiodide according to the directions on the vial in which the remedy comes. It can be purchased at any homeopathic pharmacy. It can be given best in drinking water and is very useful in all diarrhoeas of poultry. If this cannot be readily pro- cured, give rice water to drink and bread soaked in boiled sweet milk to eat; keep in a warm dry coop, removing the chaff bedding often to insure clean- liness. Egg-Production. It is evident from the many questions that come to my desk that there are many individual fowls that evidence some abnormalities or pecularities in egg-production, some of which we mention under the above heading. Blood-spots are due, so acknowledged authorities say. by a slight inter- nal hemorrhage, due to lack of green food or by the feeding of a stimulating egg diet, that excites inflammation. Soft-shelled eggs are produced usually by over-fat fowls or by the hens that are not securing sufficient shell-making material. Double-yolk eggs are of such infrequent occurrence that they need not excite anxiety. They should not be incubated, as, if hatchable, only monstros- ities would be procured. Very small eggs, which nearly always show an absence of yolk, are the’ result of an irritation in the oviduct that prevented the normal union of the yolk and albuminous matter forming a complete egg. Such hens as lay these “peculiar” eggs should be treated for inflammation of the ovi- duct, which will be more fully described under that heading in regular sequence. To prevent such losses in egg-production as arise from such abnormalities the health of the fowl must be as nearly perfect as possible. That such eggs are seldom present in any considerable numbers is evidence that one’s methods of management are not far wrong in this particular. Favus. This is a skin disease not commonly met with. Round or irregularly shaped scales (higher in the outer edge than at the center) varying in size from a small point to half an inch or slightly more; the head and wattles are usually attacked first, the disease unchecked spreads over the neck and the region of the vent and surrounding parts, forming a whitish covering causing a nude appearance that is repulsive. It is infectious and contagious. Treatment.—Disinfect the premises with formaldehyde gas as directed elsewhere. Soften the “scales” with mentholatum, then further cleanse with dioxogen till the wounds cease to “foam.” Then keep the affected parts covered with mentholatum. Treat daily. Every sanitary precaution must be observed. Heper-Sulph. 2x, in the drinking water will hasten recovery. Feather Pulling. See Poultry Parasites. Frosted Combs. This is fully diagnosed and treatment given under “Accidents.” Frost-Bite, Treat as for frosted combs and wattles. Fleas. The best means of ridding poultry-houses and premises of these pests is to fumigate the buildings with formaldehyde gas, and spray the runs with Bordeaux Mixture. 120 EWO YEARS WIth (POUL RY Gapes. Doubtful if any one poultry disease peculiar to young fowls has excited more interest and conjecture than gapes. The adult fowl. it should be said, is not exempt from gape-worms, but it is in the little chicks that these parasites are the more fatal. These worms, known to scientists as the “syn- gamus-trachealis,” vary in size from an eighth of an inch to One-half an inch long, the circumference of the body being not larger than a very fine needle, while their color depends on the amount of blood they have taken from the chick. Symptoms.—The first symptom is usually a slight cough; as the worms increase in number and the irritation they cause increases the gasping or “saping” movements which give the name to the disease are miore apparent and without speedy relief at this period, death soon follows. Treatment——Poultry folk honestly differ as to “cause and cure” of gapes. The usage of feathers partly stripped, feathery grass-tops or twisted horse- _ hairs inserted into the windpipe, then with a deft turn in a swab-like move- ment quickly withdrawn, is recommended by some poultry writers as a “sure cure.” No one will contend but that such treatment will always be attended with great hazard to life, even in the. hands of an expert operator, in that of a novice Such treatment is as surely fatal as the disease, because the trachea is so small in young chickens and so easily injured that strang- ling or lesions are almost certain to result. Neither are such “cures” prac- ticable where there are large numbers of chicks to be treated. So, a French scientist (Meguin) has made the whcle poultry world debtor to his discovery —that pounded garlic (one bulb to each ten treated birds) of the pheasant kind, with their usual food eradicated gapes from a whole flock, care being taken to give the birds drinking water in clean vessels several times a day also. To my mind there is a logical reasoning in that like treatment would be equally effective with the young -and adult of the “Hen-Family.” for, all GALLINAE are a sub-order of birds that embrace the peacock, turkey, pheasant, domestic cock, hen, etc. At Snowbird Poultry Yards finely chopped onions are a staple article of food on our baby chickens’ bill-of-fare, and though earth-worms are often fed our chicks they have never had gapes. Feeding pounded garlic or finely minced onions will prevent as well as cure gapes. Inflammation of Oviduct. This malady is more often present in fowls of heavy-laying qualities, over-fat hens, and hens that are fed egg-forcing or stimulating foods are often affected with inflammation of the oviduct. Symptoms—Eggs with blood spots on the albumen, straining as if to expel an egg or an inflamed vent with an increasing temperature causing loss of strength that may end in death from exhaustion. Treatment.—Prevent so far as is possible by providing a more health- giving diet. Separate the ailing bird from its mates and give if possible a quiet yard with plenty of green feed. Ustilago 2x is especially effective in all disorders of the egg-producing organs. Every vial is labeled with the dose per ‘bird. If the vent is inflamed, bathe with witch-hazel and keep the bird in a coop deeply bedded but do not allow to perch till all inflammation subsides. Lice. See Poultry Parasites. Leg Weakness. This disease may be present in brooder chicks that have “floor heat” in brooders or from forcing young chicks too rapidly on fattening foods. TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY 121 The bones of the legs not being strong enough to hold the body which is out of proportion in size to the leg development. Treatment.—Reduce the feed. Give a half-teaspoon of olive oil to each chick that is “off its legs,’ bathe the legs with some good liniment, and keep in dry coops or runs. See that they have free access to sharp grit, oyster- | shells and bone meal. Feed on bread and milk till able to walk with ease. Then on regular diet omitting corn and corn-meal. Paralysis. By paralysis, I mean the total loss of “moving power.’ Would advise the bird be destroyed. Poultry Parasites. More ills than we “wot of” are the true off-spring of ravages wrought by poultry parasites. They affect the respiratory organs, denude the fowls of plumage, cause unsightly excrescences on legs and toes. LICE—this is the true source of wasting disease, of going light, of low egg-yields, of many untimely deaths among fowls, young, middle-aged and old. There is a diversity of opinion regarding the source from which these pests spring, but, one and all alike are interested in the destruction of these life-destroyers. At least ten dif- ferent species of lice are known that prey upon poultry. Seven of these varieties are wingless insects, while the remaining three properly belong to the same class as spiders. Body lice are found on all parts of an infested fowl, usually being thickest around the vent or where the most “fluff” in plumage is. Luwen- hock, an authority on insect-life estimates that in six weeks time a pair of lice will have had more than 100,000 descendents. Body lice do not suck blood but live on the plumage and scales or scurf of the skin, producing . great irritation and a constant picking on the part of lice-ridden fowl. Head Lice Fasten themselves on the heads and throats of young chicks, depriving them of vitality and frequently causing the death of large numbers of chick- ens that seemingly die “mysterious deaths.’ Brooder chicks may become infected if they come in contact with grown fowl. only eternal vigilance will keep our. young chicks free from these creatures that “Go about seeking whom they may devour.” Mites. Mites, infinitesimal in size, are perhaps the worst of all poultry parasites in destruction of poultry life. They do not, like some vermin, remain upon the fowl, instead they hide during the day in every crack, crevice, or seam in and about the perches, drop-boards, nest-boxes. as well as the floors, sides and ceiling of the poultry houses, scratch pens and fencing. They get in their deadly work at night, where they are at all numerous they cause wake- fulness and an irritation coupled with the loss of blood, that fowls become so debilitated they fall an easy prey to disease. Many a supposed case of cholera, dysentery, liver complaint and sore-head were really the sequel of the ravages of that mighty MITE. Countless numbers of these little creatures may be that “handful of dust” that is innocently passed by, when in reality it is a living mass of lively mites just biding their time till the fowls come home to roost, to fall upon the poor things and bite and bore over the entire body surface. The Nest Bug. Is another pest that drives setting hens from their nests, sucking the blood of the faithful “cluck” and causing her to break the eggs she is expected to hatch instead. This parasite is not unlike its sister, the common bed-bug, quite as annoying and blood-thirsty. 199. TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY The Feather-Pulling Mite(?) That: the true cause of “feather-pulling” is really LICE instead of VICE. I discovered by the aid of a microscope some number of years ago, only to be good naturedly “rallied” by my co-workers in poultry press work. But now that I have the findings of the Board of Agriculture of Great Britain to emphasize this discovery(?) my timidity has given place to full assurance that the true cause IS LICE in this deplorable VICE—feather-pulling! The leaflet above referred to issued by our brothers “across the big pond” reads as follows: “Feather-pulling in poultry is due to a minute parasite (garcopis laevis) at the roots of the feathers. It is generally supposed to be a vicious habit. Numerous absurd theories have been put forward to account for it.......There are two kinds of feather-eating, viz: self-eating and the plucking of other birds feathers. The former is chiefly due to mites living upon and irrigating the ROOTS of the feather-quills. These mites are found in the white powdery matter at the base of the quills. The fowls in relieving the irritation caused by these mites frequently pluck out their feath- ers too. The minute young are transmitted by copulation.” : The Depluming Mite. This parasite works more effectively in the spring and summer months, attacking the base of the feathers which become weakened thereby, breaking off, leaving naked surfaces, that present an inflamed appearance. They spread rapidly from fowl to fowl till the whole flock is infested. Scaly (or Scurfy) Leg. Here again we see the work of another parasite. This one burrows be- neath the scales on both feet and legs. The scales become loosened and the powdery or scaly scurf accumulates till the legs and toes are abnormally large, often making the fowl walk much as a person suffering from many corns. While no fatalities occur from this affection it is communicated to little chicks and injures the market value of all fowls so affected. Treatment of Poultry Parasites. All external parasites prevail among poultry of all varieties and infest. their shelters. In treating for these pests of poultry-life all filth must be removed, and the poultry buildings, perches, nest-boxes and drop-boards, (AS BEFORE SAID) kept scrupulously CLEAN. Fumigate with formal- dehyde and spray liberally with cresol or zencleum. Provide the fowls with ample dust baths, and keep fresh nesting under-laid with tansy leaves. To successfully treat “body-lice” dust with a nonpoisonous insect powder, using ' if possible a “lice-dusting”’ machine as it more thoroughly forces the powder into and through the plumage than is possible by hand, and if one has any considerable number of fowls the saving in powder and time will soon pay for the cost of the machine. Head lice can be most effectually treated by using a weak solution of fresh kerosene emulsion; to each pint of water add a piece of white scap the size of an English walnut, shave it fine to dissolve the soap more quickly, when thoroughly melted see if the water has boiled down to less than a pint, if so add enough hot water for a full measure, now add to this two tablespoonfuls of kerosene, beat well with an egg-beater till the mixture is perfectly emulsified, then use luke-warm. Try - on a few, if no bad results are seen, it is of the right strength. If it sickens the young things add more water. MITES require the gas fumigation, and hot white-wash forced. into every crack and crevice. THE NEST BUG—, tansy leaves in the box and frequent dusting of “old broody” will make her comfortable, and not made restless by-this pest of all setting hens. The DE- PLUMING mite needs the bared surfaces cleansed off with dioxogen and then kept ointed with carbolized vaseline, treating each alternate day till the FWOO YEARS WITH POULTRY _ 123 feathers are shooting forth once more. The feather-pulling mite can be de- stroyed by rubbing carbolated vaseline well in at the base of the quills. The parasite that causes scaly legs, requires the washing in luke-warm soap-suds with a brush, the whole leg and foot; soaking the raised roughness so as to “scrub” off as much of it as can possibly be removed with»sut bleeding. Wipe dry and oint with lard and sulphur (equal parts by measure, smoothly blended before applying. Treat weekly till cured. Where fowls are badly in- fested I prefer “dipping” as the more rapid method of freeing fowls of the debil- itating and irritating effects of these enemies to their lives and profitable- ness. Heat water to 110 degrees Fahrenheit, add cresol or xenolium as di- rected on the box, hold the bird so the beak and eyes will be above water, move the biddy up and down and from side to side, being sure that the “dip” thoroughly wets every feather; press out the water with an old, soft white cloth and place the bird in a coop before a fire to dry. Be careful that no drafts reach the bird and that the fire is not so hot as to blister the face and wattles nor yellow the plumage. Proceed in like manner with each bird. If the poultry quarters have been well fumigated. whitewashed and aired before the fowl are permitted to return to them, and frequent removal of the excrement, together with a weekly spraying of a good liquid “louse-killer,’ there should be no very great annoyance to the biddies with such a quarterly house-cleaning (once in three months). — Internal Parasites Are tape. round and gape worms. The gape-worm has received atten- tion earlier.in this chapter. The tapeworm is so called from its great length and thinness; the round worm is as it is called—round. It is white and they are not usually present in any great number; if they are, then they set up an irritation that may result in diarrhoea, the fowl may “go‘light” from their (the worms) getting the sustenance of the fowl’s food. Wormy fowls droop about from no apparent cause, losing the brilliancy of their plumage, and act dull and listless. Treatment.—Santonin 2x is useful for ridding all poultry of worms; give according to directions. It is best to deprive the affected bird of all food for 20 hours previous to treating for worms. Follow the first evacu- ation after giving santonin with a teaspoon half full of castor oil. Burn all droppings and thoroughly disinfect the premises. Since the excrement is the carrier of the worms, it is evident that where this ailment is prevalent it is necessary to observe the most sanitary meas- ures. Prolapsus of the Oviduct. Prolapsus or protrusion of the oviduct is a result of straining to expel an egg. Cause.—It may be caused by overfeeding, constipation or some inflam- mation of the oviduct. The protrusion in severe cases may be attacked by gangrene, which may be followed by septic infection, or blood-poison- ing. If the protrusion be caused by an obstructed egg treat as for egg-bound. If there be no egg obstruction. treat the protruding parts with carbolized vaseline and press the protruding parts inward to place, first having washed the parts with dioxygen. Keep the hen quiet and the bowels free with a dose of 20 grains of epsom salts and two grains of bi-carbonate of soda. Feed soft food till fully recovered. Pox. Chicken-pox in fowls is called by a variety of names. It is of fungus growth, and multiplies fast. It is highly contagious, and is especially notice- able in damp, cold weather and in houses that are not kept dry and clean, 124 TWO YEARS. WADE POU ERY Symptoms.—Scabby, wart-like sores on lobes, comb, wattles and face; when broken, a thick yellow liquid is discharged. Treatment.—Isolate the birds and thoroughly clean and disinfect the buildings. Dry and air, too. Treat with dioxygen and keep the vescicle smeared with mentholatum. Give this attention daily till the warty growths have sloughed off and a normal smoothness of the affected parts has taken place. Give heper-sulph 2x as directed on packet, in drinking water (no other drink allowed) till fully recovered. Pneumonia. An acute, infectious inflammation of the air cells of the lungs. Cause.—It is infectious by its own special germ, needing only the re- quired conditions to develop. Sudden exposure to cold 4nd dampness, im- proper ventilation, in fact, anything that renders fowls easily susceptible to disease. Symptoms.—Labored and rapid breathing frequently uttering a gutteral sound; a squatting position with drooping wings, in severe cases the neck is stretched forward, the mouth open and the bird may even pant for breath (as in a summer’s heat). If the ear is placed to the chest a crackling noise is heard with each respiration. Treatment.—Place the sick bird in a warm, dry coop, where it can have pure, fresh air to breathe, keeping the temperature about 65 degrees Fahr- enheit. Use ten drops each of aconite and bryonia to the pint of drinking water, and keep up strength of the patient by giving bread dipped in beaten egg and sweet milk. Pip. Is a “symptom of disease.’ It may be stomachic, bronchial or of some other nature. Just as a furred or foul tongue in a human patient is an indi- cation—one of several—of departure from normal health, so is “pip” in fowl. Cause.—The closing of the orifice of the nostrils by mucous discharges or any cause that compels the chicken to breathe through the mouth, whether this is from impaction of the crop, a stomach ailment or other organs. Treatment.—Remove the cause! Meantime smear the tongue with pure glycerine and when this softens the scale on the tongue so it can be removed, loosen it and smear again, keeping the tongue so protected till normal breathing is restored. Roup. There are but few poultry raisers but have had some experience with roup. Now, not all colds are roup; catarrh, canker, bronchitis, pneumonia, all or any of these ailments may attack fowl that have been “chilled” and then neglected, but even so, these are mot roup: Symptoms.—A severe swelling of the head, one or both eyes being shut, deep inflammation of the air-passages, a viscid discharge, which is very offensive in odor, sometimes a cheesy-like substance closes one or both nostrils, and the cleft in the roof (?) of the mouth, which is very like a false membrane. Pitiable, indeed, is the listless, dejected attitude of the sufferer, with neck and wing plumage soiled and gluey from the frequent efforts of the sick bird to free beak and eyes of the discharge that blinded and choked the fowl. Lack of space prevents more specific details. But the foregoing will enable even a novice to determine the disease, if it be roup. Treatment.—The best remedy, in the writer’s opinion, is prevention! | Sanitary cleanliness; dry sun-lighted houses free from draughts; prompt remedial measures when colds first appear will prevent losses, vexatious “doctoring.” A one-grain tablet of quinine morning and evening will almost EVOGV ARS WUE POULTRY 125 surely free the system of any incipient cold. If the “cold” has developed into roup, isolate the bird, providing a warm coop, covering the floor with coal ashes, and daily sweep them up and burn, sprinkling the floor with cresol and again covering with ashes. Place water to drink within the reach of the bird, in which ten drops each of aconite, bryonia and spongia to the quart of water have been added; change the drinking water several times a day. Scald the vessels each time before giving fresh water. Cleanse the mouth and nostrils with dioxygen as directed on the bottle for such ills, taking care to dilute as directed for “eyes” or blindness may result. If there is no radical change for the better in three days kill the bird and burn the carcass at once. For after the quinine. medicated water and di- oxygen treatment, if there is no improvement the bird is totally unfit for any practical use and really endangers the health of the attendant. For food, give the affected bird bread sopped in milk, rice, cooked flaky. or oatmeal cake crumbed in warm milk. I am firm in my belief that birds that have true roup are unfitted for all time as breeding stock. So soon as “colds” in poultry take on an offensive odor, kill and burn them as you value your reputation as a poultry breeder. Whoever sells chicks from such parent stock or eggs for hatching should be prosecuted as rigorously as the cattle breeder who sells stock from tuberculosis parentage. Rheumatism. It is hard to distinguish rheumatism from liver ailment, cramps and _egg-bound at first sight. There may be difficulty in walking in all three very similar at the outset. But a contraction of the toes and a continued stiffness of the legs are distinguishing features. Treatment—Keep warm and dry, bathe the legs in a rheumatic: liniment and wrap the legs in flannel bandages. Give rhus tox, ten drops to the pint of drinking water. At the first treatment give a good liver pill. Scaly Legs. See Poultry Parasites. Tuberculosis. ce The chief of the Division of Animal Pathology says: much is written concerning tuberculosis in fowls, especially in Europe, the investiga- tions of poultry diseases by this bureau (Washington, D. C.) have thus far shown it is not common among fowls in this country.” Personally, my advice is to destroy and burn every bird suspected of tuberculosis. Vent Gleet. This is caused by inflammation of the cloaca and is first noticeable by the frequent attempt of the fowl to pass excrement, though frequently no evacuation takes place. The membranes of the vent are swollen, red, and the discharge becomes white and offensive in odor. Treatment.—Bathe the inflamed parts in warm water (as hot as the bird can bear), then wash out with dioxygen. If the discharge continues, make a tampon of antiseptic cotton, wet with the following liquid and insert in the cloaca: One ounce water, acetate of lead three grains, sulphate of zinc three grains. Shake the mixture thoroughly before wetting the tampon. Vertigo. This is similar to megrim in horses, arising from determination of blood to the head, or from injury to the brain. Symptoms.—A staggering gait, ruffled plumage, and temporary blind- ness. Treatment.—Reduce the diet, give a tablespoonful of castor oil. 126 TWO) YEARS, With) POULIRY White Diarrhoea. White diarrhoea is one of the greatest enemies to wee chicks they have } to cope with, and probably causes a higher percentage of mortality in young fowl than all other diseases combined. Many causes have been set forth | as the true origin of this malady. No one has as yet been able to prove | the ulterior causation. Various remedies, too, have been used with more } or less success. True it is, that every poultry raiser is menaced with this mortal foe of chickens. After the usage of many remedial agencies, quite | by accident the writer discovered a preventive of this chick-ailment, though | still in doubt as to the rea] cause of the disease. Symptoms.—Thirst and general weakness, with a white ooze of an acrid, offensive fluid from the vent of all affected chicks. Treatment—Twelve drops of medicinal carbolic acid to each one pint of drinking water, first having boiled and cooled the water. Begin the car- bolized drink with the first water given, allowing none other than this | medicated drink for the first ten days. At the expiration of that time give | but once daily (the first drink in the morning). Where chicks are already ailing when this treatment is begun cleanse the vent of all soil with vaseline (water is likely to be followed by chilling) wipe clean and “boil off” with | dioxygen. Thoroughly clean and disinfect the coops or brooders, burning the chaff and droppings. Continue the vent cleansing and carbolized water till normal bowel condition is regained. Whenever diarrhoeal symptoms | appear resort immediately to the treatment above. Less than one per cent of deaths have occurred at the writer’s poultry yards since using carbolized drinking water. White Comb. A white, scaly appearance of the comb. Wash in strong soda water, wipe dry and oil twice daily with Mentho- latum. Worms. See “Internal Parasites.” Things Good to Know. Where there has been any foul-smelling disease or a diphtheretic affec- tion in a poultry house, I would advise that it and all adjoining buildings be thoroughly fumigated with formaldehyde gas. A 40 per cent solution will cest about $2.00 a gallon. Bight ounces of this formaldehyde solution evaporated to dryness will thoroughly disinfect a room the size of the average poultry house. Care must be taken to remove every chicken before dis- infecting, for no living thing can survive the fumes of this ‘disinfectant. Close every opening, Preparatory to fumigating, so all the gas may be re- tained. Heat the solution by first taking a dishpan with some water in the bottom, then light an oil or alcohol stove and set it inthe pan of water, then place the granite pan (which has the solution in) over the flame of the stove. Exclude the fowls of a morning, prepare the above and leave it fumigating for six or seven hours; now open the house and air thoroughly before’ permitting a fowl’ to enter. This is a good insecticide, but more expensive than some others. Frequently the soil becomes so fouled where poultry is kept year after year that infection really emanates from the soil. The well-known Bor- deaux mixture is an excellent disinfectant for soil fouling. For the benefit of any who possibly may not know how to compound the above mixture will say: Take of copper sulphate, 6 pounds; quicklime, 4 pounds; water, 40 gallons; dissolve the copper sulphate by putting it in a coarse cloth bag >t EW Y PARS. Wilh POULTRY 127 _and hanging this in a vessel holding four gallons, or sufficient water to fully ‘cover the copper sulphate. Use a wood or earthen vessel. Slake the lime ‘in an equal amount of water. Then mix the two, and add enough water ‘to make 40 gallons. It is now ready for use. Spray the soil till thoroughly “wetted down. For obscure diseases where diagnosis is difficult or impossible a good . Medicine is 20 drops each of the tinctures of aconite,‘spongia, bryonia and mux vomica, adding enough alcohol to make two fluid ounces. A teaspoonful | of this to a quart of drinking water, no other drink till normal health is regained. A poultry friend says that a drop of oil of sassafras introduced to the windpipe on the point of a fine stick will dislodge gape-worms. The Arkansas Experiment Station advises the following as an insecti- cide: 14 gallon of kerosene, soaked through 23 pounds of pyrethrine, which results in a yellow, oily extract which will not mix with water, but will form an emulsion with soap similar to kercsene emulsion. Use one pound of soap to a gallon of boiling water, add this to the. above “extract,” churn till emul- sified, then spray the interior of all poultry buildings and coops with this emulsion. : Dr. Haynes, a noted authority on poultry diseases, advises the following for pneumonia in fowls: Fluid extract bryonia, 12 drops; extra ipecac, 25 drops; water, pure, 8 ounces; mix thoroughly. Dose: three drops every three hours. Also free access to clean drinking water in which 20 drops of aconite to the quart is added. Continue this treatment till fully recovered. Sulphuric acid, one gill to five gallons of water is a cheap and effective disinfectant for spraying old floors and foul runs. Thirty drops of spirits of camphor, mixed with sugar (a teaspoonful), added to a pint of water and given as the only drink, will abort a cold if taken in the very beginning of the attack. Douglas Mixture: Dissolve one-half pound sulphate of iron in one gallon of water; take another one gallon water, and add to it one oz. sul- phuric acid. Mix the two. Dose, 21 teaspoonfuls to each one pint drinking water. Ever try Vapo Cresolene for cold in fowls? A friend who has says: The first time we tried it on a wheezy cockerel. He had been Sitting in a drafty place all night. We took him to the furnace room, put him in a clean, dry coop, lighted our Vapo Cresolene lamp as we would have for a croupy child, and in a short time his asthmatic breathing gave place to free respirations and a valuable bird was restored to normal health without be- coming diseased. A trial will be convincing of the wonderful curative prop- erties of this sinmiple remedy. Constipation in poultry can be easily overcome by giving the bird 10 to 20 grains of Epsom salts in warm water sufficient to dissolve. Twitchel’s Poultry Ration: 25 pounds each of oats, wheat-bran and wheat. ground, tegether with 10 pounds corn-meal, 10 of linseed meal and 5 pounds of meat scraps. A practical way to provide green feed on yarded lots of limited area is to sow winter rye and dwarf Essex rape seed, then fasten one-inch space wire poultry netting on pegs ten inches above the ground, this will sag so that the biddies can pick off the tender sprouts by the time they are four or five inches high. Medicated charcoal, sharp grit and oyster-shells are preventives of in- digestion and liver ills. 128 TWOUCYEARS: WIPE Ae OMIlIvay Excelsior meal is compounded by grinding together in the following proportions these grains: Corn, 20 pounds; oats, 15 pounds; barley, 10 pounds; | wheat bran, 10 pounds; mix thoroughly; feed dry in hoppers; wet slightly with sweet milk, or baked in cakes make growing food for chicks. ~ Two Invaluable Tables.—In an old poultry scrap book were found these two tables; the following one shows the approximate weight and number of eggs per annum that the average domestic fowl lays: Geese, 4 to the pound; 30 per annum. Bantams, 16 to the pound; 100 per annum. Leghorns, 9 to the pound; 200 per annum. Plymouth Rocks, 8 to the pound; 150 per annum. iangshans, the same as Rocks. Brahmas, 7 to the pound; 130 per annum. Ducks, 5 to the pound; 30 to 60 per annum. Turkeys, 4 to the pound; 30 to 80 per annum. The other table is for medicinal usage: 60 drops, one teaspoonful; 4 tea- spoons, one tablespoon; 8 tablespoons, one ounce; 4 cunces, one gill; 4 gills one pint; 2 pints, one quart; 4 quarts, one gallon; 3 gallons (about) one pail- ful. A one per cent solution, or one part to one hundred is as follows; One- - half teaspoon to one-half a pint; ten teaspoons to a gallon of water; one pint to six gallons; one pint to twelve gallons. No name was signed to these “tables.” Thanks though to whoever their authors may be. Egg-Eating Dogs.—Blow out the contents, fill with ammonia, seal with beeswax and place in the nest with one or two sound eggs. When the dog takes the “filled” egg there is trouble straight-way. If he is “smart” it will cure him; if not, better dispose of him, so he will harm no one else. Rat Exterminator.—Barium, carbonate percip., av. oz. 34. Tartar emetic, 16 grs. Mix with baked flour and glycerine in 30 grain boluses, which are fried brown in hot fat. Another: Gypsum, 2 parts; oatmeal 750 parts. Flavor with oil anise. And another: Plaster of Paris and sugar, equal parts. Mix, spread on plates where no other animals can partake of it; place a vessel of pure water close by. Ducks. Duck raising has developed within the last ten years into a paying industry. Properly housed and given dry quarters, allowed the freedom of runs when the weather is suitable, they seem to be healthy and at ten weeks old they will, if properly fed, be ready for market. Thus managed usually only such birds as are required for breeding purposes are kept over to the season fol- lowing. They are not therefore subjected to the trying experiences that the chicken family are, as with but few exceptions a limited number only are “wintered over.’ Dampness causes rheumatism; over-forcing may develop leg-weakness, and poultry parasites may attack. In my narrow experience with ducks I found the same treatment for their small ills could be the same as for the chicken-fowl with like ailments. A bed of tansy was a favored spot for their “dusting-ground” and as long as the tansy held out the ducks never showed any signs of poultry vermin. Their feeding is very different from chicks, and one must be governed by the successful methods of those who have had wide practical experience or the ducklings will soon die from indigestion and its attendant ailments. Geese Are usually healthy. Here again, as with ducks, every keeper of chickens might learn a lesson of value in that—small flocks are more healthful than — over-crowded pens and houses as is so often done with chickens. The largest goose-plant in the United States it is claimed is at a near-by town of mine TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY 129 (Watertown) and they assure me that geese are excéptionally free from disease. For lameness, or kindred ills, the same remedies as are helpful to chickens are suited to their needs also. It has been my privilege to rear the Bronze, White Holland and the Black and the Gray turkeys at different periods of my life. While young the poults are very tender, the “white” baby turkeys though are nearly as hardy as the young of the “hen-family.’ The greatest enemies to turkey life are liver diseases. poultry parasites and dampness. All of these yield to the same treatments as are recommended for chickens. Nearly all ills of poultry could be truthfully classed as PREVENTIVE. Perfect cleanliness would save all losses of life from poultry vermin, from all infectious diseases provided care is always taken regarding the introduction of other fowls into the flock. Blackhead in Turkeys: Is so called because the heads of affected fowls turn yellow or of a deep purplish or black. This, however, is not where the disease is located, but it is a symptomic indication. The true seat of the ailing is in the liver and intestines. The pronged blind portion of the bowels may become ulcerated and thickened, abscesses of the liver may form and it becomes broken down. A bird so affected is capable of transmitting the disease to other fowls feeding on the same runs, through infection of the bowel evacuations. August and September are the more trying months of the year for the developing of “blackhead” in turkeys. New grain is fre- quently the real source of liver ailments and the drinking water, too, may become a deadly menace to health in turkeys. Worms also may be the source of irritation. Close inspection of the droppings will reveal if this be the seat of the trouble. If so, then treat as for worms in chickens. If worms are not present, then give each ailing bird a liver pill of some especial merit for the liver affection of the human family, then add a tablespoonful of lime water and ten drops of Nux Vomica to each half-pint of drinking water, no other drink allowed till recovery takes place. All droppings should be collected and burned. Drinking vessels scalded and water kept pure, all feed must be given in clean pans or troughs, as feeding on the ground or in litter spreads the disease rapidly. Keep the perches clean and disinfect the housing with formaldehyde gas. Canker in Turkeys. This may develop from a cold, or from indigestion. Treatment.—Cleanse the mouth with Dioxygen and treat as for “canker” in chicken-fowls. 130 TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY CHAPTER X The Advantage of Combining Fowls and Fruit Growing An Illinois man gives valuable advice. There are a number of occupations in which side lines may be introduced advantageously, especially in the poultry business. Doctors, lawyers, etc., will find poultry a valuable side line, as it not only adds to the bank account, but to the health of the person also. More pleasure can be had with a few chickens on a city or suburban lot, the work being done during spare time, than from many fads and games. The poultry business can be combined with turkey culture, gardening, bee culture and dairying. Fruit culture is one of great importance, especially the cultivation of small fruits. After the egg season is past the strawberry season comes shortly, then gooseberries, cur- rants, raspberries and grapes follow, which brings in money while the sale of birds and eggs in June and July is light. After the small fruits come the tree crops. Thus it is seen there is a constant income where fruit culture is combined with poultry culture, and many breeders are beginning to ap- preciate this fact. The small fruits are as easy to grow aS common vege- tables. They need little space, give returns quickly, and best of all, no more land is necessary. It takes a very small outlay to buy the plants, bushes and grape vines to get the added profit they give. Small fruits will commence bearing the second and third years, while it generally takes fruit trees over three years. s | ; It is far better to plant small fruits on the city or suburban lot, which is set aside for growing the young stock, than to crowd fruit trees ten feet | apart, as many do. Bush fruits generally give ‘better satisfaction to the city man than fruit trees, as they bear earlier, and not many trees can be planted on a small lot. If one is desirous of planting trees at the proper distance, a row of raspberries could be planted between the rows of trees. This is not recommended when one has plenty of room. Grape vines should be planted around the permanent fences, and allowed to run on them. Train the grapes toward the top of the fence out of the chicks Teach. evince chicks commence to uncover the roots of the grape vines, put a few stones around the base of the grapes. Strawberries should be fenced off from the chicks during the fruiting period, which makes them less desirable for a small lot than raspberries and blackberries, the fruit of which is mostly out of reach of the chicks. Currants prove attractive to them, while the fruit of the gooseberry is eaten by some and not by others. It depends upon the disposition of the chicks. Plenty of green stuff must be in their reach or they will eat the leaves off of the bushes. Put the brooder out as early in the spring as the weather will permit. After the chicks have passed the brooder stage, place them in colony coops (3x6 feet) set around in different parts of the lot. The chicks will eat many bugs and insects which hover about the bushes. It is not practical to plant small fruits in the regular poultry yards where matured fowls are confined the year round, If chicks are given the free run of a large patch, they will hardly ever touch the fruit; and then only on the under branches which generally have inferior fruit on them. The shade of the bushes protects the chicks from the sun. Chicks in this TWO “VRRRS WIE. -POULTRY 131 way can have as much shade or sunshine, as they desire. Where the runs are sufficient, large colony houses take the place of the small colony houses previously mentioned. The first thing to do in planting a fruit garden is to examine the soil which must not be very wet or rocky. If the soil is not as is desired there is no reason for discouragement, because bush fruits adapt themselves ta many kinds of soil, and oftentimes when results are not satisfactory it is be- cause of some neglect on the part of the owner. When the ground is too wet it can be drained with tile drains. Dirt may be hauled on land that is rather rocky, and sand on clay lands; but this is rather expensive, although yielding good crops. This shows that by intelligent treatment what can be done in adapting soil to the fruits. If the land is not very well fertiltzed a good coat of poultry manure will help to make conditions right. Soil will hold a greater amount of water when thoroughly fertilized, and the chicks by mixing the droppings with the soil saves the labor of distributing manure. The ground should be ploughed deep. Small lots are generally spaded, which does very well. After spading or plowing, the ground should be pulverized with a rake or harrow. On small plots the chickens could be turned in on the freshly plowed ground, and they help pulverize to a great extent by their scratching and wallowing, and besides they would get numerous bugs and worms. Visit people in your neighborhood who are growing small fruits and find out which varieties are best adapted to your locality. In selecting do not buy novelties, as the standard sorts give fruit of high quality. while many novelties are uncertain. Do not allow the catalogue of the nurseryman to influence you to buy varieties that you know nothing about. Patronize a nursery nearest your home, as the stock will be more liable to suit your condition. The stock will be dug and shipped directly, and will be out of the ground a shorter time. Freight will be saved. Avoid the agent unless you know him to be reliable, as nine times out of ten the people are disappointed with the goods. His books showing highly colored fruit are a great deception. Remember and deal with a reliable nurseryman. M'any small fruit gardens are unsatisfactory because of late planting. so order early. Do not order second best but buy the best obtainable. You save eggs from your best layers to hatch pullets and try to improve the flock by so doing. For the same reason select your plants and vines as carefully as you select the breeders for the breeding pen and notice the difference. Also, when a bush bears fruit of high quality and quantity. take a few suckers or runners and raise plants you know will give good results. The nursery affords a fine place for the plants to become infected with some disease. Many patches of bush fruits have been ruined because the owner neglected to examine the stock for diseases. Fumigating as soon as the bushes arrive helps to prevent the spread of any disease or pests. Examine the strawberry plant for diseased leaves; galls on raspberry plants and orange rust on the under side of the leaves on blackberry leaves. Look out for scaly surfaces caused by insects. When seriously diseased plants are found on the patch, grub them out immediately, and those near if doubt- ful about it, as the disease may break out on them. Many people get the idea if they buy plants that are old enough to bear that they will be saving time by doing so. On the city lot where one is very anxious for quick returns it may do, but it is not advisable. The tops of the old plants are so large in proportion to the roots when transplanted that they are greatly weakened. Young plants are better, as they get a good root system large enough to care for the increasing top, and generally out- strip in the end plants that have been planted from which fruit is expected immediately. Select new strawberry plants, currants and gooseberries not over two years old, raspberry and blackberry stock one year old, and grapes from one to three years old for planting a fruit garden, 132 TWO: YEARS (WIth? POULIKY The middle of October is as late as fall planting can be safely done to insure the roots to get a start before winter sets in.. Only well drained land can be used, that which becomes wet during the winter should be rejected. If an extremely cold winter follows, there is danger of injury to the plants. The spring is the best time to plant as less risks are taken. Plant as early as the ground can be worked easily. Keep the plants in some moist place as soon as they are received from the nursery until they can be planted. It is very important to plant deeply, which is not done by many people. Bring the earth around the roots well and press with your feet around the bush. Sprinkle a little loose soil on top to prevent moisture evaporating. Carry the plants in a pail of water to protect the roots from the sun: Plant =rasp- berries and blackberries in rows, six feet apart, and three feet apart in the row. After two or three years the suckers will make the rows four feet wide and they should not be allowed to get wider. Some plant them six feet apart each way in hills. Currants and gooseberries are planted in rows five or six feet apart. and four feet apart in the rows. Strawberries are planted in rows, four feet apart, and one foot apart in the rows, and if the rows are allowed to become two feet apart they are easier to care for. The strip in between the rows is cultivated. Plant the strawberries with a spade. Sink it into the soil, pressing forward, and put the plant in the hole, being careful not to cover the crown. If the season is dry it pays to water newly planted plants. : The care given the fruit garden during the first season, which is a very important time, will indicate whether the venture is going to be a success. Do not allow chicks on it until the plants are thoroughly started. A high state of cultivation should be kept. The chicks’ continuous scratching keeps the ground constantly stirred, making a mulch of the dry soil and prevents the moisture from escaping. The patch should be gone over with the hoe and cultivator occasionally. After heavy rains if you find the ground too hard for the chicks to stir, go over with the cultivator. The young weeds will be killed by the chicks as fast as they appear. Leave the blossoms on three or four strawberry plants for a sample the first year, the rest being all picked off. When the runners get over the rows, which are two feet wide, chop them off. The white grub is troublesome among strawberries, and when a strawberry plant has a sickly look, dig it up and you will find the grub eating the roots. The chicks have a feast when the currant worms appear. They make away with them in quick time, and keep killing them as they appear from time to time. This makes spraying needed less often. Branched canes may be had by pinching the ends off of the raspberries and blackberries when they are about a foot and a half to two feet high. Though diseases do not appear very often, it pays to be on the lookout. The small fruit garden needs protection during the winter. When the ground is frozen, cover the strawberries with two or three inches of leaves or a very clean straw. This will amply protect them during the winter. Some cover just the tips of raspberries and blackberries with soil, though it is not necessary where the winters are not too severe. Poultrymen whose farms are situated near cities of fair size, having routes for distributing fattened poultry and fresh eggs to families, will find small fruits a valuable addition. They can distribute the fruit at the same time they do the poultry and eggs, thus saving transportation expenses. The fruit being fresh and of high quality, [emp the pocketbook, and an advanced price may often be obtained. No better opening in business today can be found than the combined cul- tivation of fruit and poultry raising. Success depends, as in every line of business, on diligence and honesty. DWO. YERRSYWiLTrc POULTRY 133 What a Young Man did near Salt Lake City, Utah Does intensive farming pay? Is it possible to live and lay by a little each year from a few acres of ground? Is it possible for a man who loves the ‘sunshine and pure air—who loves flowers and birds and trees and fruit, to leave the maddening whirl of a great city and find peace and quiet and plenty in the suburbs? These questions involve much—very much that must be gravely considered. Much will depend upon the man; a great deal upon the location. The production of the food supply for this great nation is daily becoming of more importance. Our population is increasing rapidly, and each year large numbers of the best and brightest young men and women leave the farms to seek situations in the towns and cities, and add _ their number to the ever-increasing non-producing element. The great cities and towns, and thousands of mining camps. north, south, east and west. all over this broad country, are teeming with millions who produce no food sup- plies—the food that is necessary for their very existence. These are con- sumers pure and simple, and they must be fed. How? Principally with the product of the intensive farmer. for which they must pay cash—for poultry. butter, eggs, fruits and vegetables. These products are as staple in the kitchens of the miner, the day laborer, the well-to-do, and the rich alike, as are sugar and flour in the corner grocery. Each must have them, and the producer of these staples—the man who has some one, or more of them to sell each day—will surely be in a position to a safe and profitable busi- ness; but in this business, as in any other, very much will depend upon the man. He must be a hard worker, and in love with the work, a hard thinker —a man who studies from causes to effect—a reasoner and one who reads. In these days the possibilities of a small plot of land are almost incredible; in the irrigated districts especially, they are simply past belief to one not acquainted with the facts. A farm of ten acres would seem to be a small affair to a man unacquainted with the possibilities of intensive farming, and yet in many instances, a good living is derived from less than half that number of acres. The location of course has much to do with the results attained. It would be folly for a man living in a village, or in the country, remote from any of the industrial centers where he was surrounded by peo- ple who produce all of these necessities, to expett to make a living from the sale of poultry, eggs, butter, fruit or vegetables. But if located near a large town or city, or any of the great mining regions, he can always find ready sales at good prices for all he can produce. It is not possible in a limited article to give the details necessary to attain success in the production and market- ing of poultry and small fruits. It is not possible to tell us how to become an expert poultryman, nor how to become an expert fruit grower. It is only by adaptability, by study, by experience, by love for the work, that one may attain success along these lines, but it is known beyond a doubt, that the right man cannot only make a good living for his family from a small plot of ground, but that many do lay up a nice sum of money annually. Here is the experience of one man, told me less than a year ago, and what John Jones has done may be accomplished by others. John was a city blacksmith—young, strong and intelligent, but dissatisfied with his lot. A born fancier, his love for his White Leghorn pets caused him no end of trouble with his too near neighbors. He was fond of fruits and flowers, and his little home—paid for by the sweat of his brow—was the best kept in the neighborhood. Year by year went by and John found himself with a family of four children. Increasing expenses made it impossible to lay by any thing for old age. The eldest son, fourteen years of age, was well through the eighth grade, and beginning to be allowed to seek employment. What to do under the circumstances worried John and his wife—worried them as thousands of other parents, under similar conditions, are worrying today. Many were the consultations held, and many were the plans evolved by these 134 TWO YEARS) Wir ow© Ciao devoted parents. “We must have a farm,” decided John. and the little home was advertised and sold. Eight miles from the city blacksmith-shop—out be- yond the suburbs proper—a little plot of ten acres was found and purchased; the price agreed upon being $4,000.00. John had a little more than $2,000.00 in cash, $1,500.00 of which went to apply as a part payment on, the new home. “When I went in debt $2,500.00,” said John, “I did not see how on earth I was ever going to pay out, but we determined to risk it. I bought a horse and buggy, a wagon and a cow, and I hired a man for $20 a month to work on the place. We had a little five-room frame house, a pretty good little barn, and a good well; there were twenty apple trees and about as many peach trees on the place, and that was all. With the little ready money I had remaining, I bought 100 two-year-old cherry trees at a cost of ....... $ 25.00 POO Pear tMeSs ies ln SS etc ns er MEL LAS, SU ENON! Bee ee ar 30.00 100“peach “trees wf oc. 2 CL ee. SP ee GR I 25.00 25 plum trees, three and four year-olds....:.... 1 athe aa ns Oe 25.00 | SO Mapricots: W2N A) ie, LEAR Aa a ee 25.00 selected strawberry) plants. for 4 acre.\..2 $1. 00 a eee 100.00 Selected raspberry. plants for’S acres WIth POULTRY with cracked corn, wheat, etc., etc. We were afraid to feed this food, but we had to learn. It was an experiment. So we fed a small feed, about one- half thimbleful to each bird. In 48 hours, five were dead, dead, dead. The other seven refused all food, until all were dead. Now all I could hear was, “Y told you so,” still after looking soberly and honestly at the facts, I could not call it a failure. é Three things had been fully demonstrated. First, confinement did not kill. them, else why should they thrive in a 3 x 8 coop, and die while out in the open. Second, grain of any kind, before maturity or up to the age mine were. will kill them. Third, they were as strong and vigorous and more easily tamed than a chicken. The secret therefore is the food. The work to be done to successfully rear a brood is little, but this little must be done. They must be fed -enotigh and not too much. They must * be kept) ‘clean andumec from vermin. Ours were never troubled with lice. We do not allow a louse or a mite in ovr Houdan yards, and there was. now othemmpae for them to get lice. We had given un the thought of more quail until another year. when fortune again favored us. On Sentember 12th, a man brought me 12 eggs in his dinner pail. In mowing weeds. he had severed the head of the brooding auail with a scvthe. These esos were put under 7 Rantam on September 17th or 18th. Eleven hatched. The weather was cold and wet. Two of them jumned'out of the hox and were drowned. This left me nine I'ttle frail things. almest frozen. and winter coming fast. so we had not much thought of rearing them, bvt they grew and grew. On Halloween night, some boys came and overturned the coop. I was looking for just this very thine. but could not get ovt in time to prevent them from killing three. the coon falling on two and one had been trampled. This was the last straw. IT was MAD-: Ovuietly the coon was righted. quickly and auietly my pocket was filled with egg coal, anthracite. The night was quite dark but I managed to make out two silent shapes gliding softly over a fence. I was on a still hunt. J turned loose my anthracite artillery. and at the third round, a howl smote the night air that would have made old Geronimo’s ghost turn green with envy. Next day a boy about town had a “carbuncle.” somewhat smaller than a goose egg near his left ear. and it so happened that it was the same boy that had a habit of whistling Bob White whenever he thought it would annov me. This left me six birds, beauties, all of them. We, my good wife and I. reared them to full grown birds, tame and gentle as a Houdan. We never had them scored, and we did not know their sire or their dam’s egg rec- ord, but I am sure that under the most critical judges, they would score 99 to 125. When the autumn’s winds were blowing and everything was bleak but still warm along the hedge rows in the sun, we carried these birds 80 rods from home and gave them their liberty. We had accomplished what we had started out to do and were satisfied. We did not wish to take the chances of winter- ing them, especially as our Houdans were crowding us for room. We had to drive these birds from us, they were bound to follow us home. We had tolose them in acorn field. 7 prefer to think they taredwelljomm@jete grasshoppers. But I believe I have not told you about the habits of this last bunch, while running with the hen. On being let out of the coon in the morning they would lead the hen to a patch of crab grass and would strip the small seeds off the stalks; then all would go to the neighbor’s cabbage patch. Each bird would take two or three worms. After this they would hunt for crickets around the base of the elm trees, in the thick turf where the crickets hatch. From here. they would hunt hoppers along the roadside in the short weeds and clover. By 11 a. m.. they could usually be found in a patch of beets, under the leaves, rolling in the dry earth. At about 2:30 or 3 p. m., they TWO; YEARS+WITE. POULTRY 148 would again become active and chase hoppers till about an hour before sunset, when they would fly home to the coop. Sitting in the evening sunlight, they would preen their feathers and wait for the hen and mother to walk home. They always went to roost earlier than the Houdans. Every evening, before retiring, I visited their box and would find them sitting by the hen in a circle, heads out. We tried to get a flash light photo of them, in this position, but found them quicker than the flash light, so did not succeed in this. Altogether we call this experiment a decided success—we have learned how, and some- time in the near future, we will take them up again. 146 TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY CHAPTER XII The American Turkey By Mrs. Everett, Missouri. The American turkey of which we, today, are justly proud is truly an American bird and all breeds of turkeys, both here and abroad, are descendants of the American wild turkey. The early explorers found the turkey at home in Mexico and roaming the forest far into Canada. Of course, these explorers were obliged to subsist on the products of the forest, and they very soon learned the value of the wild turkey as a bird for meat, and many were carried back to be domesticated in the various European countries. Cortez, with his band of conquerors, found turkeys in abundance in Mexico and many under domestication at the capitol of the Montezumas. Another early explorer relates that thousands of turkeys were fed to the wild animals caged in the royal gardens of Mexico. So we see the wild turkey and the Red man were at home on the American continent when discovered by white men and though we search for their origin, both alike seem veiled in obscurity. Many believe the turkey originated in the Turkish Empire and received its name from that country. Investigation shows, however, that the name “Turkey” has no reference whatever to that famous country of the Orient. It is claimed by some that it was given this name because of the peculiar “turk, turk, turk,” made whem lost or when a scattered flock was collecting. Be that as it may, the turkey is our honored bird and methinks more fitting to be our National Bird than the one now holding forth. Here in our American forest the Pilgrim and Puritan fathers, with gun in hand, went boldly into the forests and sought turkeys to grace their’ Thanks- giving and Christmas tables. And as we look back through the vista of years and see these same fathers struggling for existence on that rugged and inhos- pitable New England coast, we do not wonder that they prized the meat of the turkey so highly. Nor do we wonder they were so thankful to the Father of all for bountiful harvests and years of plenty, after experiencing such want and woe the first few years of their sojourn here. And in celebrating their Thanksgiving and Yuletide feast, it seemed fitting to them to prepare the best that was possible. And the turkey seemed always their chosen meat. Now down through the centuries, we appear on the scene of action, reverently observing Thanksgiving day, which they instituted and Christmas so dear to them in their new found freedom. And as we observe these two hallowed days, the spirit of the meat seems to have an established part and no feast at such times seems quite complete without the honored turkey. All praise we say to those tried and true fathers who left us such an heritage and likewise to those who have expended much of time and labor in domesticating and improving this special fowl. For it certainly has been improved almost beyond our power to comprehend. ae Six different varieties, bronze, white, narragansett, buff, slate and black all stand as monuments of labor. All so differently marked and thus standing apart as different breeds, yet all in a sense similar with similar habits. In each and every breed you can see habits of their wild days stamiped upon them. Though so long under domestication, they stil] enjoy secluding their LWO. YEARS, WITH. POULTRY 147 nests as much as possible, still prefer to sleep in the free, open air and to kill the sick and weaklings of their flocks, if not separated from them. _ And while we notice these traces of wild, free days, they certainly grow dimmer all the while and with proper environments and care can, I believe, be obliterated. Our individual flocks will be very much as we have trained and cultivated their habits. If we desire them to be tame, we must work with that end in view. The horse, once roaming the plains, has become the faithful and obedient servant of mankind. But the master must today use _ judgment and care in the training and handling if he would keep him as his faithful friend and helper. Even so with the turkey, we must use care and judgment in creating | within the turkeys a love for home and a contented spirit. This may seem hard to the inexperienced, but a trial will reveal the fact that it is a simple matter. The turkey enjoys being fed, but remember he does not need a large quantity at once. Naturally he picks a little here and a little there and | one should form the habit of feeding in that manner. A turkey cannot stand over-feeding, but has learned to walk as he eats. Scatter a little choice grain of mornings, call the birds, even though you think they don’t need it; it helps to tame the birds and give them an interest in home, but be very careful and not satisfy their appetite. During the day they are busy picking about, but do /not forget that something awaits them at home and they fairly run to meet | you for their evening meal and a kind word. And don’t forget that kind word, it means much to us and it no doubt means something to the turkey,—and -along this line I write wholly from practical experience and not from theory. We have always put forth greater efforts to have our turkeys grow tamer each year and I believe we have been successful. This year they roamed no further than our chickens. and the gathering of the eggs was no more than gathering the chicken eggs, since we made their nests in the orchard before laying time and they accepted them with good grace and decided the orchard and meadow furnished them plenty of range. When the hens came off with the late poults, we drove them into the far meadows, but they were not satisfied and always delighted to work nearer the house. If you are trying turkeys for the first time, be patient, study them, allow them as much freedom as pessible, not to cultivate their wild habits. Feed, but don’t overfeed, as therein lies the history of many failures. 148 TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY GENERAL INFORMATION Attend to the details. The work of poultry growing and the care of poultry is made up of details which must be attended to promptly if the) greatest success be attained. Kill the lice and then prevent their return by preventive measures. More’ chicks are lost through neglect of this important detail in the care of fowls} than from any other cause. Keep houses and coops clean and spray or sprinkle frequently with some good liquid lice killer or even kerosene oil, but do not allow either to come | in contact with eggs intended either for hatching or eating. Cleanliness and | spraying, as suggested, will prevent lice spreading and obtaining a foothold. During the moulting period the fowls should be liberally fed with nitro- | genous food. A little linseed meal added to the food two or three times a | week at this time will help out their ration, which in grains should consist | mainly of oats, with a little barley, if convenient, sunflower seed is also an | excellent food at this time, as well as when preparing fowls for exhibition | and every farmer should without fail grow a good liberal supply of this food | for his fowls. Many out-of-the-way corners and waste places which on many farms yearly grow up with weeds seeding the surrounding farm lands and | adding to the labor of cultivating them can to great advantage and profit | be planted in sunflowers which will also prove much more ornamental to the | farm than will.a weed patch. This food is highly recommended by all who have | used it, not only for the periods above mentioned, but as an occasional food } throughout the entire season. Don’t crowd. This is a mistake so frequently made, particularly by | the beginner, both with the fowls and with the growing chicks. For a pen | or flock of layers, 25 to 30, and not to exceed 50, housed together will give much the best results. In the brooder the same rule will apply as to num- | bers of chicks to be kept together. Green food should be religiously supplied to fowls or chicks if they are | not so situated that they can help themselves. For winter green food, cab- | bages, beets, carrots, or other roots should be provided in the fall. Another | method (and a very good one) for providing green food during this period | or at any time for that matter, is to sprout grain for some days when it is | greedily eaten and provides at one feeding both green food and to a certain | extent grain food. Oats or barley are best for this purpose. Place a quantity | of grain in a vessel and cover with warm water and allow it to soak for twenty- | four hours, then drain water off and place grain in a box where it may re- | main until sprouts are started. It should be thoroughly sprinkled once or | twice each day, with warm water. and all through the process until fed to the fowls should be kept at a temperature of 60 to 70 degrees. After sprouts are started the grain may be spread about an inch deep in trays and allowed to so remain, sprinkling with warm water once each day, until the sprouts are three or four inches long. when it is ready to be fed. Chicks as well as grown fowls relish this food greatly and it solves the green food in winter problem, completely. Trays in which to keep this grain while sprouting it, may be made out of 1x2 inch stuff of any size convenient for attendant to handle. Make the bottom of these trays out of burlap supported by several cross pieces of lath to prevent sagging of the burlap, then as trays are filled they may be stacked on top of each. other. As trays are emptied they are refilled with freshly soaked grain and thus the process will go on, thoughout the season. Don’t forget that charccal is one of the very best correctives and an ex- cellent remedy in all bowel diseases. SENN © Tis Ase W iil: -POULTE RY 149 cAdvertising Section [Pesene se sege ede at ae at ae ae ae ke ae | << SoD OED SD be As an accommodation to many of the readers of this book who may want to know where to procure desirable stock or eggs or Incubators, Brooders, etc., and from reliable parties, we have admitted to these pages the advertisements of a very few fanciers in whom we have entire confidence. Any reader desiring to procure anything offered by these advertisers may open correspondence with them with the assurance of being treated right. We would ask as a special favor that the advertisement in this book be mentioned in the first letter written. The Lawn Pheasantry Young and old stock of the following varieties for sale: Golden, Silver, Lady Amhersts, Reeves and English Ring Neck Pheasants, also Buff Cochin Bantams, the best mothers for rearing the pheasants. Prices on application. | Dr. I. L. FURMAN, Prop. Cynthiana, Indiana oom ooo ooeoe dd ofa >> | Light and Dark Brahmas q : AND SINGLE COMB WHITE ORPINGTONS : ‘ | capes DS OSD OVD VS DVO ssa I have bred fancy poultry for the last 30 years. I breed only the : best of these three varieties, one pen of each only, as I] have no more room—Egegs for sale in season and I sell stock of each reasonable. My motto is to treat everyone as I would like to be treated by them. GEO. LUHRSEN Sadorus, Illinois —_-<_> So OS SS SD Austin’s White Wyandottes Light Brahmas, Bronze Turkeys and Pekin Ducks are always winners; Stock score up to 964. . Stock for sale at all times. Eggs for sale in season at right prices. O.J. AUSTIN Box10 Pana, Illinois SoD o> =. >< <«- & 150 TWO .YEARS WITH POULTRY 7 vegies q want M h Light Brah waNT Mammoth Light brahmas Bred from the first prize pen at the Illinois State Show at Bloomington last season; also winners at Peoria, write me for prices. I also have some excellent yearling birds moulted out Py, in fine shape which I will sell. Get in line for the shows. ‘sz MRS. S. M. ROBINSON Washburn, Illinois a | Poccoe | HAS. L. WEED, LANARK, ILL. BREEDER OF Mammoth Bronze Turkeys, Jumbo Pekin Ducks, Buff Plymouth Rock Chickens LARGE POLAND CHINA HOGS Short Horn Cattle and Scotch Collie Dogs WRITE YOUR WANTS HENRY PFILE FREEPORT, ILL. All the leading varieties of Land and Water Fowls. Stock and eggs for Hatching always for sale at right prices. Mention this book and get my catalog which is mailed for a 2 cent stamp. Get it befote placing an order for anything in my line. rissov stant WHITE HOLLAND TURKEYS The kind that wins at such shows as the Indiana State Fair, the Big Chicago Poultry Show, etc., is my specialty. There is no better Turkey than the White Holland. They are hardy, vigorous and easily raised, grow to heavy weight and are besides, quiet and not inclined to stray away when at large. If you want the Best Turkey write me. LEN CRESSWELL, Fairland, Ind. TWO YEARS: WITH :- POULTRY 151 CASCADE POULTRY YARDS 20 years with Silver Laced Wyandottes, Barred Plymouth Rocks. and White Crested Black Polish. My birds have won at Oelwin, Iowa, Jan. 4th to 9th, 1909. 12 first prizes, 12 seconds, 3 thirds and 8 fourths, and 2 American Poultry Association Diplomas for best Cockerels in class. Good breeding and exhibition stock for sale at all times. Eggs in season. WM. NEIERS Circular FREE Cascade, lowa ‘1877 32 Years With Barred Rocks 1999 For 32 years I have bred them in their purity on my large farm where they grow up with a vigor and con- stitution that makes them a pleasure and a profit. Each year I produce high scoring prize winners for my customers. Stock always for sale and eggs for hatching ‘n season from selected matings. Mention this book nd write me your wants. : Vrs. LIZZIE HARNISH, Mount Carroll, Ill. BLACK LANGSHANS NONE BETTER : Always winners in the | strongest competition. The bird shown here was the highest scoring male in two big shows and won the A. P. A. Medals and Diplomas. ~ Choice stock always for sale also eggs for hatching from my winners. Mention. this ad and write. Theo. Johnson Box 695 Oregon, Ill. 152 TWO vYEARS (“WlEeaeoOuULrRY Pose PPP PPD DOD = > EE QB A Have been my specialty for years and I have with- out a doubt one of the Grandest Flocks in the United States. The photo shown here is the first prize pen at two big shows. No Fancier Fowl Grows than the Buff Cochin and they are an ornament to any lawn or country place. I can always furnish choice birds at reasonable prices and EGGS FOR HATCHING in season. Mention this book. Frankie Dinehart Parrish Smithshire, Illinois ; ES ESE PD Ge i> > <> a SE GAY’S ROYAL STRAIN DARK BRAHMAS Fowls of Merit Winners of the Blue at Winners of the Blue at Kansas City Polo (Ill.) Show 1909 1909 Stock For Sale. No Eggs White Cochin Bantam Cockerels for sale for fall and winter delivery C. DONALD GAY, Prop. Gay’s Poultry Place camp Point, I. Member the National Dark Brahma Club IV Or eas WL EL POULTRY 155 White Crested Black Polish My Specialty If you want a fowl whose fancy | points and elegant appearance around the home and on your lawn OR will be a constant source of pleas- AA, | ie ro sa By Fer 1500 PE ozs NS ure to you, then get some of my PRIZE WINNING POLISH And they will produce the eggs for you too My birds are constant winners at the big shows including the GREAT CHICAGO SHOW. Birds always for sale. Eggs for hatching in season from yards of winners. Address W. H. SNOOK Polo, Illinois 4 Truckenbrod Bros. Breeders of the Finest Strain_of Standard Prize-Winning Barred Plymouth Rocks in the World. Chicago Winners. The last four years, our breeding has produced Ist, 2d, 3d, 4th and 5th prizes on males at Chicago Show. Our breeders are Chicago. winners that produce winners. We breed and raise all our winners and can furnish prize winners to our customers for all large shows, in either males or females. Orders ean filled, quality guaranteed. Stock for sale at all times. Eggs $5 per 13; $9 per 26. . eZ / “«! Grand circular showing our Chicago Win- | ners free to you. : | TEDDY FOURTH. | Our Second Prize Cockerel at the che | Standard Rock Farm cago Show, December, 1908. Truckenbrod Bros. MENDOTA, ILL. boom ewww new enw ee eww eww owen ew wo oo ewww wwe wooo ew eee oon 4 OOO 156 : TWO YEARS WITH POULTRY Peecroes A Boy’s Best Friend is emembe His Mother, and the Farmers’ and Fanciers’ BEST FRIEND is AMERICA’S BUSINESS HEN— THE PEDIGREED Prolific-Laying Trap-Nested SNOWY WHITE SINGLE COMB LEGHORNS [The Genuine Wyckoff Exclusively ] These noted pedigreed birds are frum parent stock that scored 93% to 954 by judges 17K. Felch, Harris, Emery and Hitchcock, and having a record of 237 to 268 eggs in twelve months. My White Leghorns have WON HONORS in the hands of MY CUSTOMERS at leading state and poultry shows. Can furnish birds mated to produce excellent results. PRICES ON BREEDING STOCK Samtole «5 Migles ax’ cote eae eee. 3c eee en ee $3.00 to $10.00 Single wtemales. | Sake ce ets... cee as Wee eee eee 2.50 to 8.00 Pairs i Vales. FP enintale cst 22s oacs oo aoe a 5.00 to 15.00 ditros, 4 Male. 2. emialeciiiee do. kk 4 Sy ie ae ee 7.00 to 20.00 Breeding =Pens; ai Maler4isRemales i..2. eRe eae 10.00 to 25.00 Remales: in dozentlotsreern tiie NOR ie oe ee mae 18.00 to 35.00 EXHIBITION BIRDS: A- MATTER OF CORRESPONDENCE, Eggs for HATCHING from. March 15, to June 15) Jatysoronmera, $5 for 30. Day old chicks, $25.00 for 100. GOLDEN OPERA SINGERS Imported Golden Hartz Mountain Canaries sold singly or in pairs. Imperial songsters. Money makers. $1 to $5 each. St. Andreasburg Rollers, trained under the tutelage of European Larks and Nightingales. Possessed of wonderful vocal power, long trill, flute like notes. $4 to $10 each. GOLDEN ANGORA CATS—Write For Prices PRACTICAL ADVICE BY MAIL on poultry culture, 50 cents. Addresses prepared for speakers on any poultry topics, $5.00 to $15.00. Poultry Associations desiring a Poultry Institute conducted in con- nection with Poultry Shows and State Fair Poultry Exhibits, of Farm- ers’ Institutes in arranging annual programs would find Mrs. Pick- ering’s talks on Poultry culture as entertaining as they are in- structive. A Wisconsin Journal commenting upon her work, says: “Mrs. Pickering is a careful student of Poultry culture, a practical Poultry breeder, an authentic writer of recognized ability and a pleas- ing speaker, a rare combination of talent.” Terms, recommendations, etc.. will be forwarded on application. BEAR IN MIND—Pedigreed Single Comb White Leghorns and illustrated Poultry talks are specialties. Address ALMA COLE PICKERING SNOWBIRD POULTRY YARDS "GOLDEN MILESTONE! Te]. 60, Box 32, Plainfield, Wis. (Wisconsin Vice-Pres. National Single Comb White Leghorn Club) Life-Member of and Licensed Lecturer for the American Poultry Association. RD a ea a A ee ae ooo ee OOo CO or Se oo eS od — a | HIS is a reproduction of the cover of the new Standard which contains nearly 300 4 pages, and has nearly 100 full page ' illustrations of male and female of the leading varieties. Many im- portant changes and additions have been made, and you will be groping in the dark without this authority. This book is the only authorized description of the different vari- eties of fowls and is issued by the American Poultry Association, who fix the price at $1.50. It is the law j hich governs the judges in making which go e judg omg their awards. You can neither buy. sell. show or breed thoroughbred | fowls without it. We can furnish a copy of this book at above price postpaid. You cannot know which birds to take to the show and which to leave at home without it. ( Address, R. R. FISHER, Publisher MOUNT MORRIS, ILL. i] | PUBLISHED BY | | | AMERICAN | | POVLTRY coe eed 158 oooeoeooeowowowow oe oro ooo eo oooeoseoooooororesrs, EE EP EEE EE TWO YEARS WITH POU LIRRY 3 RED AND WHITE BRED TO LAY RHODE ISLAND REDS, WHITE LEGHORNS AND WHITE ORPINGTONS ¥ For more than a year past, owing to unprecedented heavy local demand for White Orpingtons and Reds, we have been obliged to discontinue all advertising of any nature whatever. We now have hundreds of healthy, vigorous youngsters com- ing.on that will make glad the heart of every purchaser with a well-filled egg basket and a heavy purse. Twenty-five years experimenting with many breeds for Great- er Egg Production has established the fact that no one breed is best for all purposes. FOR EGGS ONLY, our White Leg- horns—bred in line thirty-five years for great egg production— are preeminent. FOR BROILERS AND ROASTERS, the Reds are-hard to beat, but for a strictly ALL PURPOSE FOWL, the WHITE ORPINGTON is most excellent; of large size, gentle, lovable and easily confined, good rustlers and quick to mature, they consume less feed than the Leghorns and when net broody, will lay just as well. NO ONE EVER MADE A MISTAKE IN BREEDING THE ORPINGTONS. OLD AND YOUNG STOCK FOR SALE. C. S. GORLINE sits 1224 East 12th South Street Salt Lake City, Utah ee a ee | White Plymouth Rocks TWO YEARS. WITH POULTRY 159 : | es : a: ee Are conceded to be the most beautiful and profitable of all varieties. As egg producers there are none to compare with them, while as a market fowl, they have no equal. From a fancy stand-point, no breed has sold for so high prices. | ( ' | U. R. FISHEL’S | £ a ‘ 50 page catalogue will be mailed on receipt of two dimes. It tells how to care for and feed poultry, in fact this catalogue is worth dollars to : any one. Like the Fishel White Plymouth Rocks it is “THE BEST IN THE WORLD”’ We would like to correspond with you, before you decide what breed to take up. ee U. R. FISHEL nope, indiana 160 TWO, YEARS” Witt POULTRY eal Prize Winning Strain of the | | West : They have won from Maine to Cali- fornia and have never failed to get a fair share of the prizes. Are the Leading | Pe a a ee eee Il Poooe De SS ESS OS SE I have a large flock of vigorous healthy young stock, fit for breed- ing or high-class exhibitions. Males with fine combs and lobes, nicely — striped hackles and saddles, and females equally as good. No better or more carefully bred stock can be bought anywhere at any price. Send for circular. Second Cockerel, Cedar Rapids, 1909 EES AI ES: Re ES W. G. Warnock Box 98 Geneseo, Illinois PE EE SE EP ER ae rms ‘ Piser’s Famous Buff Wyandottes For 19 Years the Best in the Country SHOW STOCK BREEDING STOCK UTILITY STOCK JECHAMPION é' ke Sees BRED % OWNED BY. L:C: PISE:R:e Pe CMUSHANNY oO - First Cockerel, Boston 1908 We publish, during the year, a number of interesting catalogues and circulars. Upon your request these will be sent to you FREE OF CHARGE during the next season. L. C. PISER & SON Box 15 | Shushan, N. Y. Have Been BIG WINNERS For Years At Leading Western Shows in Strong Competition We always have most desirable breeding birds for sale and during the fall and win- ter we furnish many exhibition winners to our customers. Eggs in season from our selected breeders. Circular FREE if you mention this book. Get it before buying. ‘ iil J