PRICE ONE DOLLAR ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY New York State Colleges of Agriculture and Home Economics Cornell University SF 487.B3i r i922 niVersi,y Library V, te!2U2S!!afi90l !; teds you wha, ,o d 3 1924 003 150 9™ The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924003150921 FOREWORD AS AN AUTHORITY on the raising of chickens and other fowls, there is probably no one in this section of the country^who is more fitted and has had more practical experience than Mrs. A. Basley. From her early youth she received training that equipped her with a knowledge of bird life. As a girl of ten or twelve she lived for a time at her Grandmother's home, an old country mansion, in England. There were hundreds of wild birds, as well as pheasants and partridges, in the spinnies or woods, and orchards. At that early age she became interested in the little birds raising their young, and she was particularly delighted in finding the nests and learning their habits. Her uncle, a lover of bird life, taught her the life history of each bird, the number and color of its eggs, besides the great variety of food the different species required, and she was never permitted to bring into captivity any bird whose food she could not duplicate. In that way she learned to study the needs of all varieties of birds, and thus prepared herself for the poultry business. On coming to California more than twenty-six years ago she was advised that the poultry business did not pay; that chicken raisers usually failed, even those who had been successful in the East, and in proof of this was informed that hundreds of carloads of poultry and eggs were shipped here from Kansas and Nebraska. When she found the keeping of poultry on this Coast was such a failure, she argued that the needs of a hen do not vary, but the local condi- tions of climate or soil must be the cause of failure ; also that it should be pos- sible to remedy these conditions, and supply artificially what was lacking. Upon investigation she soon found that in this ideal climate fowls lacked green food, shade, water, animal food, etc. There were no worms, bugs, not even grass- hoppers, and that corn was fed too liberally. Also that this is a delightful climate for lice, fleas, mites, ants, ticks, mosquitoes, and other pests. What was lacking in comfort, food and soil she supplied, and the chapters in this book are a record of her work, in which it can be plainly seen that she suc- ceeded. Thousands of copies of this book spread the tidings of her success, and now the publishers are demanding another edition, which will complete thirty thousand books that have been published. This book has been revised with the assistance of some of the leading people in the poultry industry. This revised edition will unquestionably be a great help to the thousands of people who are flocking here to make new homes. Instead of California importing from the East chickens and eggs, the sit- uation is now reversed, and hundreds of carloads of both items are now being shipped out of California to the Eastern market. Successful poultrymen every- where not only indorse the "Western Poultry Book," but are following the rules laid down in it. Copyright 1922 Germain Seed & Plant Co. Los Angeles, California INTRODUCTION In the hope of helping beginners and others of my friends in the poultry business, and in response to urgent requests for a book on poultry culture from my pen, I wrote a small volume three years ago. The whole edition was sold in a year, and on account of the interest taken in it and the demand for something more, a second edition was issued. This edition and also a third edition are now exhausted and a fourth edition is now offered, with additional chap- ters and up-to-date information on breeding, fireless brooders, and other new features in the poultry industry. The book is a synopsis of many chapters of my "Woman's Work in the Poultry Yard" and other talks on poultry, and em- bodies the personal, practical experiences I have been through my- self in many years of pleasant work in the poultry yard. Its ob- ject is not necessarily to urge anyone into the business, but to en- courage and help beginners and especially newcomers, not back East but on the great Pacific Coast and in the Western States, where conditions differ materially from those in the East and where there is an increasingly large demand for both poultry and eggs; where the poultry business is about as profitable as any that can be undertaken and a good living may be made in the pure air and sunshine by any industrious man or woman. Having for many years been lecturer at the Farmers' Institutes in the Extension Courses of the University of California, for f6ur years instructor in poultry husbandry at the poultry school of the University of California, and having been editor or associate edi- tor of four agricultural magazines and several other newspapers on the Pacific Coast, many questions have during this time been pro- pounded to me relating to the poultry business, its difficulties, the troubles of poultry raisers and the ailments of fowls. Some of these questions will be found in this book with the answers to them, also remedies for the diseases or ills of fowls in this climate. Hoping and feeling sure that my little book, which is the only book dealing with the climatic and other conditions "Out West," may prove a help to all its readers, I am, Very cordially your friend, Mrs. A. Basley WESTERN POULTRY BOOK BY MRS. A. BASLEY TELLS YOU WHAT TO DO AND HOW TO DO IT THE CHICKEN BUSINESS FROM FIRST TO LAST Questions and Answers Relative to Up-to-Date Poultry Culture Published by GERMAIN SEED AND PLANT CO. Los Angeles. California FOURTH EDITION— THIRTIETH THOUSAND Price One Dollar Los Angeles 1923 I*.* TABLE OF CO NTENTS Common Sense Poultry Houses ' What Variety to Choose 14 Eggs for Breeding 22 Eggs for Market 25 Sprouting Oats 29 Feeding Problem ..-.. . . /t-tT*: 30 Breeding-in-line k-'- v . L-rr 38 When to Hatch . s - '. .' . -^ 44 Fertile Eggs (X. &U 48 Testing Eggs for Incubation \. .y. . .1. 50 Natural Incubation ."O- . ■r> . I 55 Artificial Incubation :--. £)■ .«>. I 60 Care of Brooder Chicks i /N « . . -n 66 Fireless Brooder ./. f\ . .L-.. A". 70 Diarrhoea in Chicks 72 Vigor 75 One-Day-Old Chick Trade 79 Summer Work g . -gQ03 81 Broiler Ranches 83 Trap-Nest 84 Grit and Gizzard • , ■.-..... 88 Pests of Poultry Yard %£K3ffi£ 4 91 Diseases of Poultry (Roup) ".'.....'. 95 Town Lot . Fowls 100 Moulting Season 3&BfiHK* 103 Value of Economy ^2!?«W» 106 Preserving Eggs ' 110 Capons 113 Turkeys and How to Raise Them ■. . . . 117 Ducks and Their Varieties 130 Geese 140 Pheasants 143 Guinea Fowl 144 Bantams 145 Canaries 160 Basley Formulas *: 164 Questions and Answers 166 Cause and Cure of Sickness 167 Lice, Mites, Ticks and Worms 184 Feeding in General 188 Egg Question 193 Hatching with Incubator and Hen 195 Yard Room 198 Mating and Breeding 199 Miscellaneous Questions 199 Turkey Questions 202 About Ducks 206 About Geese 208 Index 209 Mrs. Basley's Continuous Fresh Air House and Scratching Shed PART I. COMMON SENSE POULTRY HOUSES The poultry business is one of the most fascinating as well as the most profitable, considering the amount of capital invested, in the West. The conditions here, however, differ so greatly to those in the East and other localities, that the ways of treating the fowls must also be different. The needs of fowls do not vary; the resources of the places do, and the success of the poultry raiser greatly depends upon adapting the conditions of the locality to the need of the fowls. Nothing is more important than the proper housing of chickens. The style of house a man builds for his birds will depend upon his means and inclinations. It is not always the most expensive house that gives the most eggs. In planning poultry houses and yards, two or three principles should be firmly held in mind: First, the house must have a liberal supply of oxygen, which can only be supplied by perfect ventilation; secondly, it must be free from draughts and be dry; and, thirdly, be easily accessible to the attendant, not only for cleaning and spraying, but to enable one to handle the fowls when on the perches. It should also be large enough to avoid crowding of the fowls. The laying hens should be kept in yards in permanent houses, easy of access, whilst the young and growing fowls will do best on free range with movable houses, called sometimes colony houses. These give the best results. After many years of experience here, the writer has found that there are two classes of houses admirably adapted to the needs of the fowls and to this climate. These are called the open front or the "fresh air" house and the "mushroom" house. What is meant by an open front house, is a house enclosed on three sides and roof, with one side open to the fresh air. This style house can be con- structed as a separate and movable house or as a continuous and MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK W. G. Suit's Double Open-front Houses and Scratching Shed, BandiniI Ranch. scratching shed house. A plain open front house without scratch- ing shed attached, is used in many places as a colony house where fowls have free range or where they are kept in an orchard. The "mushroom" house is built tight on four sides and roof, without any floor, and is raised from the ground about twelve inches. Cuts of both of these styles of houses will serve to show their construction. A "fresh air" house that proved excellent and which I used for years on my ranch, was one hundred and twenty feet long and ten feet wide. It was divided into six houses with scratching pens. 1 also had another which suited me well. It was eight feet wide and a hundred feet long; besides that, I had twenty colony houses for the young and growing stock, and two brooder houses. The continuous house and scratching shed of which I give a photograph and part of ground plan were built flooring, tongued and grooved. The other house was of boards, battened, and the colony houses of resawed redwood or of shakes. Some were of rubberoid or building paper. Many of the artistic looking house plans which may be found in poultry books were planned by men who never owned a chicken, and if built in this, or in any other climate, would be highly unsatis- factory. The plans here described have all been used either by myself or by successful poultry raisers. I have seen them all and can assuredly recommend them for use on the Pacific Coast. COMMON' SK.Nbfc. POULTRY HOUSES Continuous House and Scratching Shed The houses I am describing are of the inexpensive kind, for so great is the variety of plans of houses designed for fowls that it would be impossible to mention them all in a short article. We will, •E FT. E > 27 Oo 'i H u ^ i «* «j! 1-1 js - <2 a rt — pq % i-. rt ts js ,/ w u.M S2 "> x; <-> & *3 nl § o « K w Ss n < a * ..;s Q en o 2 M a o < Board to vision wire ft. 10 in. a o P o Crt mS* 9 p U O o fe.2 H Pn °- « < ., flH < 10 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK therefore, consider only a few of the cheapest and most satisfac- tory small houses adapted to this climate. The first requisite in the house is pure air. To secure this the ventilation must be at the bottom. Some people think that the bad air ascends, but this has been proved a mistake— the foul gases descend ; the pure air and the warm air are lighter, and they rise and we want to keep them in, but if we have an opening for ven- tilation at the top or near the top of the house, we lose the warmth. A loss of warmth at night in the winter means a loss of eggs, or more food is needed to supply this loss. The ventilation should either be at the bottom, or one entire side of the house should be left open. I'WSXKCOM AVOV3C VStt) IN" CJkLlFORIMIA- A Variety of Houses The accompanying rough little cut of a "mushroom" house will give some idea of the bottom ventilation. Houses like this were used by a successful poultryman. He made a light frame five feet •square and five feet high. This he covered with canvas and the roof he made of rubberoid roofing. He left a space below of ten or twelve inches. These "mushroom" houses were tipped over every day to be sunned or cleaned. I improved upon his plan by making a door of one whole side, for I wanted to be able to handle my fowls at night without tipping the house over. Perches should be placed about twelve inches above the open space, and in case of heavy breeds, a small ladder or run board should be placed for them to reach the perches easily when going to roost. The advantages of . such a house are its lightness and the free circulation of air without ' draughts on the fowls. These houses can be covered with matched lumber, shakes, canvas, burlap, rubberoid, or even common domes- tic muslin, which may be oiled or painted with crude petroleum. The open front house is admirably adapted to California cli- mate. It is now meeting with favor even in the rigorous climate of the East, where poultry raisers begin to realize the value of fresh air without draughts, if they want to have vigorous hens that will COMMON SENSE POULTRY HOUSES 11 lay eggs in the winter time. I have been using the open front houses of various sizes for over twelve years, and can assert that they are the only kind I ever want to use. Another style open front house that I have seen and like very much is fifteen feet by eleven feet six inches, and is seven feet high at the back and four feet at the open front. It is constructed of rubberoid or malthoid and is almost vermin proof. It is divided in the middle by chicken wire, so form- ing- either one house or two as required. The roof is first covered with two-inch chicken wire to support the rubberoid. At the bot- tom of the walls, next to the ground, it is boarded up for about two feet all the way round ; this is to keep in the straw, for all the floor space of the house is used as a scratching pen. The sides and back above these boards are made of panels of rubberoid, nailed to light frames without the chicken wire. These panels are taken down on all fine days to sun and air the house. The panels are kept in place by large wooden buttons. The front is entirely open or only closed by chicken wire, except when it rains, then a burlap curtain is let down. The perches are near the back of the house, about six inches above the dropping boards. The dropping boards are made of the rubberoid on frames. They are four feet wide and are placed on cleats two feet from the floor. This is a double house and each side will hold from twelve to twenty hens. The above description is of the Hoffman house. r- i ■ i ■i i 't-RUBBEftOlO Off | ' OILED MUSLIN i J PA NEL. \ £ Cv IS FT. Hoffman's Combination Open-front House and Scratching Pen A cheap and substantial house can be made of two piano boxes. The simplest way to make such a house is as follows : Removing the backs of the piano cases, place the cases back to back thirty inches apart, on light sills. Use the boards which were the backs to fill up the thirty inches on the sides and roof; cover the roof with rubberoid or with oilcloth, and you have a comfortable house, that will hold about a dozen or twenty hens, at a small cost. The front of the piano box house should either be hinged so it can 12 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK always be kept open, except during the rain, ox it may be . ent1 "^ dispensed with and a burlap curtain used to keep out the rain, j.^ cost of this piano box house is about three dollars. Inexpensive Colony Houses An inexpensive colony house is pictured below. This house is of resawed redwood, four by six feet. It is light and easily moved. The front is on hinges and it is always kept open except during rain, and when it is closed it only comes down six inches- below the perches, leaving an open space of about fifteen inches across the entire front. Open-front Colony House Without Scratching Shed Still another style of colony house and one well adapted for use in an orchard or in the colony plan has been in use for some years on a large poultry ranch in California. The house is eight by ten feet and two feet to the eaves ; all the framework, including the runners, is of two by three-inch stuff, and the walls and ends are of one by twelve inch boards, shiplapped so as to avoid using bat- tens. The rafters are five feet four inches long, and three pairs are used ; a one by six inch strip is run all around the outside of the roof to form the eaves and also to make it tight; eight pieces of one by four are used for sheathing, and the sawed shakes are close, so that there is no draught from that source ; the only opening is from the front, which is open at all times. The houses do not require cleaning, for they are on runners, and are slid along about fifteen feet each time. . Thus they are on fresh ground and much cleaner than one could do it in any other manner. In conclusion, to quote Mr. Harker, "If every poultry keeper on the Pacific Coast would make his roosting- houses absolutely draught proof on three sides, yet leaving the front entirely open so that the fowls have an abundance of pure air, yet not to be exposed to a draught, the manufacturers of roup remedies would have to go out of business, for this disease would then be com- paratively unknown from Seattle to San Diego." Painting the Houses For painting the houses I have found nothing better than the crude petroleum. I add to it for all my houses, red Venetian paint, COMMON SENSE POULTRY HOUSES 13 mixed with a little kerosene or distillate oil to thin it. This colors them a handsome chocolate. Creosote stain of a dark green is also a very good color, harmonizing well with the landscape, and both of these are preventive of mites and keep their color well for several years. A good whitewash also is quite suitable. A cheap green stain is made, of six pounds of yellow ochre mixed with one gallon of kerosene, adding lamp black until it is of the desired shade of green. I think that mixing the yellow ochre with the crude petroleum which you can get at the oil wells, with- out using the lampblack, would make a very desirable green, but I have not tried it. Another good green can be made by mixing chrome green (dry) with one gallon of linseed oil, four gallons kerosene, and one gallon of water. The color is a matter of taste after all, and I am only describing the inexpensive methods suc- cessfully used. Here is a recipe for whitewash which is unrivaled. It will stand the wear and tear of the elements for a long time. Anyone by adopting the following formula cannot help attaining success : Into a tight box or barrel put five or six gallons of hot water in which has been dissolved four or five pounds of coarse ground salt. Into this put a pail full of the best lime obtainable. The large lumps should be broken into quite small pieces. Immediately cover the barrel and cover with a heavy weight, in order to keep it in place when the lime is slaking, for the uplifting power of the boiling mass will be surprisingly great. After a few moments uncover and stir the mixture to the bottom with a long stick, then recover and keep closed for a day or two. When fully slaked the lime should be of the consistency of thick cream. When applied to hen houses or a fence, it should be thinned with water to the consistency of common paint. If too much water is used in slaking, the lime will be drowned and as a result the wash will be thin and watery. If not enough water is used, the lime will "burn" and granulate. If properly slaked, the mass will be smooth and free from lumps. When applying the whitewash, dip out a sufficient quantity into a pail, then stir in a handful of cement. This will cause the wash to firmly adhere to the surface t which it is applied. It will be a dazzling whiteness and will "lay on" like paint. An excellent plan when' whitewash is to be used about the hen house, chicken coops-,-etc, is to put in a liberal quantity of crude carbolic acid^r-" This may be a lengthy description of the simple process of making whitewash, but anyone will, find the recipe first class. The oldtime method of slaking lime in cold water and applying the weak solution is very unsatisfactory. WHAT VARIETY TO CHOOSE "Poultry for profit" is the slogan. We are all looking- more or. less for the "almighty dollar." Every week, almost every day, I am appealed to for information as to which breed is the most profit- able. I can and often do tell which breed I have found the most profitable in the twenty years I have bred, but I cannot decide for another person what his or her likes or dislikes may be, nor can I tell what poultry will suit another's location or market. That, each one must decide for himself or herself, and then get the best of that breed to start with. A hint as to what to start with may help some of our readers. First of all, study your market, decide whether it requires a brown or a white egg, and choose accordingly ; secondly, decide what you will do with the surplus chickens, although this may seem like counting the chickens before they are hatched. Will you sell them as broilers and fryers or use them as roasters or capons? Thirdly, it is always a good plan to look ahead and choose a breed with a prospective value and demand — one of the breeds that may be rare in your neighborhood, or one of the newer breeds, such as the Orpingtons, Campines, Faverolles or Anconas. Choose a breed for which there is likely to be a large demand for eggs for hatch- ing and for breeding stock. Or else take one of the best old breeds that you know will make you money from the start. Whatever breed you decide upon, get the best of that breed, and from a re- liable breeder. Different Breeds A brief review of the different classes and breeds of domestic fowls may be of use to beginners. There are a large number of breeds in this country suitable to any branch of the business, with all colors of plumage and size. Some especially adapted to the farm, others to closer confinement, as on the city lots, and still others — like the beautiful little bantams — adapted to lawns and front yards. Black Orpingtons WHAT VARIETY TO CHOOSE 15 The American Class The American class consists of what are called the dual-purpose fowl. That is, they are good for market as well as excellent layers, so when their day of usefulness in the egg basket is over, they can end their existence on the table. This class gives us the Barred Buff, White, the Partridge, Silver Penciled and Columbian Ply- mouth Rocks, the Silver, Golden, White, Buff, Silver Pencilled, Black and Columbian Wyandottes, the Single and Rose Comb Rhode Island Reds, the Buckeyes, the Black, White and Mottled Silver Wyandottes Javas, and the American Dominique. Of the list no doubt the Barred Plymouth Rock is the best known and most popular; it may be said to lead the American class. Next to it in popularity is the White Plymouth Rock. This breed led in numbers at a late show in Madison Square Garden in New York, which is, a. sure indication of its popularity. The order of the rest might be given as follows : White Wyandotte, Rhode Island Reds, Ruff Wyandotte, Buff Plymouth Rock, Silver Wyandotte, Partridge Wyandotte, Golden Wyandotte, Buckeyes, American Dominique, Black Java. The standard weights of the above are as follows : All of the Plymouth Rocks, cock, 9^2 pounds ; cockerel, 8 pounds ; hens, 7j/i pounds; cockerel, 7j4 pounds; hen, 6}4 pounds; and pullet, Sy 2 pounds. The Rhode Island Reds, cock, 8J4 pounds; cockerel, 7% pounds ; hen, 6 l /i pounds ; pullet, 5 pounds. Buckeyes, half a pound heavier, except pullets'. The Javas are of the same weight as the. Plymouth Rocks, and the American Dominiques, cock, 8 pounds ; cockerel, 7 pounds ; hen, 6 pounds ; pullet, 5 pounds. 16 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK Barked Plymouth Rock The Mediterranean Class In the Mediterranean class we have the Single and Rose Comb Brown.-Single and Rose Comb White, Black, Buff and Silver Duck- wing Leghorns ; the Black and White Minorcas ; the Blue Andalu- sians, the Black Spanish and Mottled Anconas. The Mediterranean class is particularly well adapted to the cli- mate of California, which greatly resembles that of their home in the old countries. In point of popularity and merit, the kinds might be classed as follows : White Leghorn, Brown Leghorn, Black Minorca, Blue Andalusian, Black Spanish, Rose Comb Brown Leghorn, Rose Comb White Leghorn, Buff Leghorn, White Minorca, Anconas, Silver Duckwing Leghorn and Black Leghorn. The Black Minorca, White Leghorn and Black Spanish give the largest sized eggs. All of the Mediterraneans have white shelled eggs. There is no standard wight to the Leghorns. They are small birds, weighing 3 to 5 pounds. Of the Black Minorcas the cock weighs 9 pounds ; cockerel, 7>4 pounds; hen, 7y 2 pounds; pullet, 6^2 pounds. The weight of the Andalusians are, cock, 6 pounds ; cockerel, 5 pounds ; hen, 5 pounds ; pullets, 4 pounds. The Black Spanish weights are, cock, 8 pounds ; cockerel, 6]/ 2 pounds ; hen, 6 l / 2 pounds ; pullets, Sy 2 pounds. These lay an extra large, handsome, white-shelled egg. The Blue Andalusian has the unique distinction of wearing the national colors — red, white and blue — its plumage being blue, its face and eyes red and its ear-lobes white. The Asiatic Class The Asiatic class consists of the Light and Dark Brahmas, White and Black Langshans, the Buff, Partridge, White and Black Cochins. In point of popularity, they would be about in this or- der: Light Brahmas, Black Langshans, Buff Cochins, Partridge WHAT VAK1ETY TO CHOOSE 17 Cochins, Dark Brahmas, White Cochins, White Langshans and Black Cochins. The standard weights are: Light Brahmas, cock 12 pounds, cockerel 10 pounds, hen 9 l / 2 pounds, pullet 8 pounds. Weights for Dark Brahmas are: Cock 11 pounds, cockerel 9 pounds ; hen, 8^2 pounds ; pullet, 7 pounds. Buff Partridge and White Cochins: Cock, 11 pounds; cockerel, 9 pounds; hen, 8y 2 pounds ; and pullet, 7 pounds ; Black and White Langshans ; Cock, 10 pounds ; cockerel, 8 pounds ; hen, 7 pounds ; and pullet, 6 pounds. The eggs of all of the Asiatic class are a dark brown. The English Class The English class is composed of the White, Silver gray and Colored Dorkings, the Red Caps and the Buff, Black, White, Span- gled and Jubilee Orpingtons in both single and rose combs. The White Dorking weighs as follows : Cock, 7% pounds ; cockerel, 6 r /> pounds ; hen, 6 pounds ; and pullet, 5 pounds ; Silver gray Dorkings, cock, 8 pounds ; cockerel, 7 pounds ; hen, 6)4 pounds ; and pullet, S J / 2 pounds ; Colored Dorkings, cock, 9 pounds ; cockerel, 8 pounds ; hen, 7 pounds ; and pullet, 6 pounds ; Red Caps, cock, 7j4 pounds ; cock- erel, 6 pounds ; hen, 6 pounds ; and pullet, 5 pounds ; Orpingtons, cock, 10 pounds; cockerel, 8j4 pounds; hen, 8 pounds; and pullet, 7 pounds. The French Class The French class is composed of the Houdans, Crevecoeurs, La- Fleche and Faverolles. The Houdans weigh : Cock, 7 pounds ; cockerel, 6 pounds ; hen, 6 pounds ; and pullet, 5 pounds ; the Creve- coeurs, cock 8 pounds ; cockerel, 7 pounds ; hen, 7 pounds ; and pullet, 6 pounds. The Crevecoeurs and La Fleche are' favorites in France, but are rarely found in this country, as they are not popu- lar in the market here on account of their dark colored shanks. The Hamburg Class The Hamburg class is composed of most excellent layers of white eggs. They are the Silver Spangled, Golden Spangled, Silver Penciled, Golden Penciled, White and Black Hamburgs, and the Silver and Golden Campines. No weights are given for the Ham- burgs and Campines. The Polish Class The Polish are more of a fancy fowl. They are the White Crested Black, Golden, Silver, White, Bearded Golden, Bearded Silver, Bearded White and Buff Laced. They lay white eggs; no weights are given in the Standard for them. 18 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK The Game Class In the Game class we have the Black Breasted Red, Brown- Red, Golden Duckwing, Silver Duckwing, Red Pyle, White, Black and Birchen Games. White Orpington Hen Oriental Class Are the Cornish, White Dark, and White Laced Red, the Black Sumatras, Black Breasted Malays, and Malay Bantams. The weight for the Cornish is : cock, 9 pounds ; cockerel, 8 pounds ; hen, 7 pounds ; and pullet, 6 pounds. Pit Game Male Light Brahma Hen WHAT VARIETY TO CHOOSE 19 Bronze Turkey Male Turkeys The most popular variety of turkeys is the Bronze ; then comes the White Holland, another splendid variety. Among others we have the Black, Buff, Bourbon Red, Slate Narragansett and Wild. The weights for Bronze are : cock, 36 pounds ; yearling cock, 33 pounds ; cockrel, 25 pounds ; hen, 20 pounds ; and pullet, 16 pounds ; for White Holland, cock, 26 pounds; cockerel, 18 pounds: hen, 16 pounds; pullet, 12 pounds. Ducks The Pekin is "The American Duck" with its white plumage and heavily meated body. Their weight is as follows : Adult drake, 8 pounds ; young drake, 7 pounds ; adult duck, 7 pounds ; young duck, 6 pounds. Another white variety, very popular in England, is the Aylesbury. Weight for adult drake, 9 pounds; young drake, 8 pounds ; adult duck, 8 pounds ; young duck, 7 pounds. The colored Rouen have similar weights and plumage to the Wild Mallard, the drakes having bright green heads. Other popular varieties are the Indian Runners, both colored and white, called the Leghorn of the duck family, being rather small, very active and immense layers of fine white eggs. Then there are the Buff Orpington Ducks, the Blue Swedish, Black Cayuga, Colored and White Muscovy, Call and Black East India, these latter being more ornamental varieties. MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK White Indian Runners. Ducks Geese Perhaps the easiest kept and noisest of all our large variety of domestic fowl are geese, and where conditions are suitable, they prove very profitable. The Toulouse, a large, gray variety, and the White Embden, seem the most popular of the pure-bred varieties, and the weights for either variety are, for adult gander, 20 pounds ; young gander, 18 pounds ; adult goose, 18 pounds ; young Toulouse goose, 15 pounds ; and Embden young goose, 16 pounds. Other varieties are the African, Brown and White Chinese, Canadian and Egyptian ; these are either used for ornamental purposes or for crossing. Selection of Breed Knowing the values and weights of the different standard breeds, the beginner will be enabled to make his choice, and have no trouble in finding the proper selection. Supposing egg production is the principal object, the beginner will have to decide according to the demand of his nearest market. Boston requires brown eggs, San Francisco white eggs, while Los Angeles seems to be content with either. If you are living near San Francisco, one of the Mediterranean breeds will prove the most valuable to you. The Minorcas, Black 'Spanish and some of the strains of White Leghorns lay the largest and finest looking eggs. One correspondent who asks for justice for the Minorcas says he has Minorca hens which lay eggs weighing nearly three ounces, and there were Leghorn eggs on exhibition in a late poultry show which weighed five eggs to the pound, but these were from hens "bred to lay." The Brown Leghorns and Hamburgs give many eggs— white eggs also— but smaller, which is an objection in a good market. Should broilers be the object, we should choose the White Wyandottes or White Plymouth Rocks. These latter are exceptionally fine winter layers. For roasters and capons, the Light Brahmas or any of the Plymouth Rocks are the favorites. It two breeds are wanted, we should personally prefer the White Leghorns and White Plymouth Rocks. The White Plymouth WHAT VARIETY TO CHOOSE 21 Rocks will give the winter eggs and the White Leghorns the spring and summer eggs in great abundance, although they may not lay as many eggs in the winter as the White Rocks. In the early spring the White Rock eggs can be set for early broilers and roasters, while the Leghorns are doing their heaviest laying, and in April and May the Leghorn eggs can be set for the following season's eggs. In this manner there will be a constant succession of eggs for market, and broilers and roasters in season. Always having something to sell means a regular income. Something to market at least once a week. A poultry and egg route and the reputation -of having none but the choicest goods to offer is the secret of success. Champion Cornish Male EGGS FOR BREEDING Having chosen the breed which suits us best, let us talk on how to get the most out of that breed, for I think we are all agreed that if we keep poultry for profit, we want to make as much as we can out of it. Therefore, having got our fowls, we must treat them right. The natural instinct of a fowl is to make a nest for itself and raise a family of its own in the spring time. It never considers its owner's profit or loss ; therefore, to make it answer our purpose, to develop it into a money-maker for us, we must either change its nature or deceive it. We must let it imagine that it is the time of year for nest making and family raising. We must supply it with the conditions of springtime. Our own lives are artificial and the conditions surrounding our domestic hens are also artificial, but we must, if we want success, copy as far as possible Nature's ways with fowls and follow Nature's plans. Eggs for Breeding. Packed Correctly for Shipment. In the spring not only do we want egg production, but we want good, strong fertility in our eggs. We want fertile eggs now, for are we not pre-arranging to have plenty of vigorous pullets to lay those high priced market eggs next fall? Are we not anticipating sturdy cockerels to win prizes at next winter's shows, or to make toothsome fries or delicious roasts? Fertile eggs are now in order. How shall we get them? First, we must have vigorous and healthy parent birds ; we usually have healthy birds in the spring of the year, for the moult is well over and the ailments which prevail in the fall — colds, catarrh and sore throats, all classed as roup — have yielded to treatment, or the vic- tims are no more. The chicken pox, which also is a fall disease, has about disappeared, and the birds are in good condition. Vigor is Necessary Vigor is the first requisite for fertile eggs. To have vigor, the hens must have exercise; every grain they eat should be scratched EGGS FOR BREEDING 23 or dug out of the straw or litter in their scratching pen. A hen that is very fat — over fat — will not have fertile eggs and will not have strong, sturdy chickens. It is neither kind nor wise to over- fatten your breeding hens, but they must be fed the proper food for fertility. How can we decide what food to feed for fertility? Let us interrogate Nature again. The wild bird, the Gallus Bankiva, from which sprung all our domestic fowls, lays her eggs and raises her young only in the spring. She only has two broods of about thirteen eggs each, but those eggs are rarely infertile. What does she eat? Principally insects and the tender green grasses or small leaves, not much grain, for the seeds have fallen and have begun to sprout and grow. During the winter Nature has supplied the birds with grains in plenty, so they have put on fat to withstand the cold ; but now there are only a few grains left and the fowls are becoming thinner, yet Nature does not starve them, only gradually changes the ration and gives them worms and larvae, insects of all kinds, for the insect life has also commenced to pulsate and develop ; the buds are bursting, too, and the tender green appears and beautiful spring is here, pro- viding all the green food they can eat. How about our captive hens? In our bare back yards, with only the ration we choose to give them ? Poor things ; they have a natural craving for the tender green, a wild desire for the succulent insect or animal food ! See, how they will fight over or scramble for the meat that is thrown to them, or for the head of lettuce ! They try to tell us in their own way what they require to produce fertile eggs at this season of the year. How to Feed How shall we follow their teachings? Increase the amount of their animal food and give the breeding fowls more green food. How shall we do this? Increase gradually whatever animal food we are now feeding until from 20 to 30 per cent of their daily food is animal food. The best animal food is fresh meat of some kind ; the scraps and bones left over at the market; this ground or chopped finely is the best I know of. Rabbits, squirrels, gophers, are all good fresh meat. If fresh meat cannot be obtained, you can get at the poultry supply houses granulated milk, dried blood, blood and bone, beef scrap and other animal food. The best green food is fresh-cut clover lawn clippings, green alfalfa, lettuce, cabbage and other vegetables. The Male Bird The male bird is considered as half the pen. The germ or seed of life of the future chicken is from the male. Be sure to have the male vigorous and healthy, and see to it that he gets sufficient food of the right quality. The male bird is often so gallant that he calls up his wives and' they greedily eat all the best part of the food, choosing first the meat or animal" part, which is the most necessary for fertility, and the husband, the father of future chicks, on which :n MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK so much depends, is half starved, becomes thin and light. Ever, male bird when being- used to fertilize eggs should be fed extra, either in a pen or corner by himself, or out of your hand at least once a day. Mating In mating up the pens I have found the most satisfactory num- ber to mate is about eight or not over ten females of the American breeds to one male. From twelve to fifteen of the Leghorns or Mediterranean birds, and from six to eight of the Asiatic class to one male. Some breeders advocate using two male birds in one pen, alternating them day about, or three male birds for two pens, allowing one bird to rest every second or third day. I never did this, because I was keeping a pedigree of my fowls, and never found any necessity for it. Caring for Fertile Eggs Having the fertility assured, the next thing is to- take care of the eggs from the time they are laid until incubation begins. Eggs should be kept in a moderately cool, quiet place ; not in a draught. 1 always imitate Nature and turn the eggs, just as a hen would, every day, keeping them in a box either in the cellar or a large, dark, but airy, closet. Some people keep them in fillers with the little end down, but I prefer following Nature's ways and leaving them on their sides. To Choose Eggs for Hatching To choose the eggs for hatching I use an egg tester or I roll up a newspaper in the shape of a telescope, putting the egg at one end in the sun and my eye at the other end. If the egg shell is speckled or thin at one end, or has thin blotches on it, or is mis- shapen in any way, or if it feels chalky to the touch, I reject that egg, relegating it to the kitchen, for these eggs will not hatch. I also reject very small eggs, as they are laid by pullets or by over-fat hens, and if they hatch, the chickens will be weaklings. The very large eggs should also be rejected, as they may have double yolks, and these seldom hatch healthy chickens. Above all, never sell for hatching eggs those as described above. The best eggs are the egg-shaped eggs, with good, firm, smooth shells and not narrow waisted. EGGS FOR MARKET The hen in her wild state lays about thirty eggs per year. The farmer's average hen lays not over one hundred. On egg farms the average is 150, and some of the fowls of the "bred to lay" strains will average even more. There are 365 days in the year, and I do not see why a pullet that is fully matured, that comes from an egg-laying strain, a pul- let properly fed and cared for, should not lay over 200 eggs per year ; in fact, I have had hens that will do even better than that. 1 will admit that a hen will not lay 200 eggs a year without constant and intelligent care, and the question confronting us is, will the additional number of eggs pay for this care? Also, how shall we give this care and secure these results? You hear of heredity and pedigree in cows, in horses, in dogs. Heredity is as important with hens as with any other stock. He- redity has as much to do with the success of hens as the right handling. Heredity (or pedigree) and handling must go together. The two-hundred-egg hen must be "bred to lay." She must come from an egg-producing family. No matter how scientifically a hen is fed, or how well housed, you cannot make an extra fine layer out of one whose parents for generations past have been poor layers. It is impossible to take a flock of mongrels and scrubs and get 200 eggs each a year from them, although good handling will greatly increase the yield of even mongrels. The different breeds require different handling, but no matter what breed you have, there are three essentials to egg production — comfort, exercise and proper food. Comfort Under the head of comfort comes first of all cleanliness. A hen that has lice, or fleas, or mites, or ticks on her cannot lay her full amount of eggs. You must help the hen in her efforts to make you money. Give her every encouragement to lay. Cleanliness every- where. A comfortable, enticing nest, rather dark, where she may stealthily deposit her precious egg. Renew with nice, clean straw once a month. Do everything to coax the hens to lay. If trap- nests are used, there should be enough of them so that the hens will not be kept waiting, for by keeping a hen off the nest she will frequently retain her egg until the next day, and will soon learn to be a poor layer. Cleanliness means a clean, sweet-smelling roost- ing place, where she may sleep undisturbed by lice or mites. Just think for a moment how in the human family a fresh, clean bed in a quiet room will court slumber. I have passed the night in an Arab's tent in Africa that was infested with fleas, and my heart is full of sympathy for a hen that has to live in some of the mite- infested henneries I have seen in the West. Under the head of comfort comes freedom from draughts. A draught in this country will give human beings face ache, neuralgia, earache and a swelled face. It has exactly the same effect on hens. Influenza, swelled 26 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK head, roup, always or almost always commence from a draught (combined with lice). Comfort means also pure, fresh air without any draught, and pure, fresh water to drink. Exercise You know how in the human family exercise is recommended. Physical culture, gymnastics, Ralston exercises, Swedish move- ments, fencing, etc., and those who may be too feeble to exercise for themselves, pay others to rub, pound and knead or massage them to get the same effect. Exercise is as necessary for the hen as for the human being and more so, for the hen's exercise of scratching develops the egg pro- ducing organs and strengthens them, and hens which exercise lay many more eggs than lazy hens. If you have a vigorous scratcher among your hens, you may be sure she is a good layer. Exercise a hen must have to develop the egg-making organs. She absolutely must scratch if she is to make a living for herself and you. I consider a scratching pen as necessary for hens in con- finement as food. My scratching pens were twelve or fifteen feet long and eight feet wide, but in small yards I have made very satis- factory little pens by nailing four boards six feet long together, forming a square. The boards should be twelve inches wide and the pen filled with wheat straw or alfalfa hay or any good, litter. I do not like barley straw on account of the beards which some times run into the hen's eyes, nostrils, or mouth and cause death. Foxtails, burr clover and wild oats are all dangerous on this ac- count. I feed all the grain scattered over the straw and my hens scratch and dig happily all day long. The straw or hay is soon broken into short pieces and fresh straw must be added about once a week, and the whole cleaned out and used for mulching trees when the straw becomes dirty. This will depend upon the size of the pen and the number of hens using it. Proper Food What it is and how much to give. The scientists tell us that the proper food or the "balanced ration" is composed of one part of protein to four parts of carbo-hydrates. Before discussing this ''balanced ration," let us interrogate Nature and find out how a hen balances her own ration. Let us take a hen as she comes in from foraging in the fields after a long day in summer. Let us kill her and examine her crop. What do we find? Grains of wheat, barley, corn, according to where her rambles have led her ; bits of grass, clover and vege- tables; some bugs, worms and grasshoppers; here and there a bit of gravel and a lot of matter partially digested that we cannot recognize. The first thing that impresses us is that the hen likes variety, and the second thing that this variety consists of animal food (bugs, worms, insects), grains and green food. This is the JlGGS (UK ivlaRKET 27 "balanced ration," balanced by the hen herself to suit her needs in the summer time when eggs are plentiful. If we want eggs in the winter, we must, as far as possible, give the same conditions, the same variety of foods, with plenty of pure, fresh water, never for- getting that about seventy per cent of the egg is water. But to return to the "balanced ration." We know that a hen requires a certain amount of food to keep her alive and thriving; above that the surplus goes either to making the egg inside her or to making fat. The hen is an egg-making machine, but if you put into that ma- chine none of the elements of the egg, you cannot expect the ma- chine to turn out eggs. Therefore, the scientists analyzed the egg, and not only that, but also analyzed the body of the hen with the feathers, and discovered as follows : The very large number of different substances found in the hen may be grouped under four heads: 1, water; 2, ash or mineral matter ; 3, protein (or nitrogenous matter) ; 4, fat. The proportion of each of these groups alters with the condition of the hen. Water is the largest ingredient and amounts to from forty to sixty per cent of the weight of the bird. Ash or mineral matter forms from three to six per cent when the hen is not laying, and from six to ten per cent when laying. The group called protein constitutes from fifteen to thirty per cent of the weight. Fat seldom falls below six or rises above thirty per cent. The feathers are composed of protein and ash, the ash being largely silicate of potash and lime. . The accompanying analysis of the hen, pullet and egg has been kindly sent to me by Professor Jaffa ; that of the egg was made by him at the University Laboratory of California. Analysis of Hen and Egg Typical Pullet in Capon, Leghorn full laying, Plymouth Eggs as Eggs, edible Hen Leghorn Rock Purchased Portion Water 56.8 57.4 41.6 65.6 73.7 Protein 21.6 21.2 19.4 11.8 13.3 Ash 3.S 3.4 3.7 .7 .8 Fat -17.S 18.0 35.3 10.8 12.2 Shell ••• •■• 11-1 Total 100.00 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Composition of Hen and Egg Calculated on a Water-free Basis p rote j n 50.0 49.8 34.3 50.5 p at 41.2 42.2 31.4 46.4 Ash".'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'. 8 - 8 8 -° ZA 31 Shell ... 32.2 Tota j 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 It is interesting to compare the analysis of the hen and egg with some of our grains and poultry food. In all our grains are found 28 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK more or less the elements of the egg, but they are not in the right or proper proportion for making the egg. There is usually too much of the fattening element in the grains and not enough protein or nitrogenous element, which forms the meats, muscle, bone and feather. This is the most valuable and most expensive part of the ration. In order to keep up the strength of the hen and have her pro- duce the largest amount of eggs, it has been found that for every pound of protein in the food, she must have four pounds of carbo hydrates. This will vary slightly according to the heat of the weather and the needs of the hen. 1 would urge you to send a postal to the University of Cali- fornia at Berkeley, asking for the Farmer's Bulletin No. 164 on Poultry Feeding. This bulletin, by Professor Jaffa, is one of the most valuable bulletins ever published. It contains the analysis of the different grains, vegetables and meats and of most of the proprietary foods, besides formulas for the best rations. In Bulletin 140 of the Department of Agriculture there are some rules for caring for eggs for market which are good : 1. Use hens that produce not only a goodly number of eggs, but those of standard size. Such breeds are Plymouth Rocks, Wy- andottes, Rhode Island Reds, Leghorns, Orpingtons and Minorcas. 2. Good housing, regular feeding, and, above all, clean, dry nests. 3. Daily gathering of eggs, and when the temperature is above. 80 degrees, gathering twice a day. 4. Confining all broody hens as soon as they show symptoms of broodiness. 5. Rejection of all doubtful eggs found in a nest that was not visited the previous day. 6. Placing all summer eggs when gathered in the coolest place available. 7. Prevention at all times of moisture coming in con- tact with the eggs. 8. Disposing of young cockerels before they begin to annoy the hens. 9. The using of cracked and dirty eggs at home. 10. Marketing all eggs at least once a week or oftener. 11. Keeping all eggs cool while on the way to town or in the coun- try stores. 12. Keeping all eggs away from bad odors and out of musty cellars. 13. The use of strong, clean egg' cases and good fillers. SPROUTING OATS By W. S. Willis The following method of sprouting oats has been kindly sent to the author by Mr. W. S. Willis, of the celebrated Arlington Egg Ranch. Mr. Willis has found the sprouted oats a splendid addition to the hen's ration, lending variety to the daily bill of fare and in- creasing the egg output. Three quarts of oats will make a fine morning meal for 100 hens if properly sprouted. Place the grain in a pail and let it soak for twenty-four hours; then transfer it to a box one foot square and six inches deep, with a few small drainage holes in the bottom. Sprinkle with water daily and allow the grain to remain in the box until the sprouts are from two to three inches in length, at which time it will be ready to feed. As it takes from eight to ten days to secure the proper growth, a number of boxes or compartments should be provided for the grain, keeping each day's allowance separate, and a new lot should be started daily. For larger flocks of course it is necessary to increase the size of the boxes — a day's feed for 600 hens, for instance, requiring a sprouting space of two by three feet. In all cases care should be taken not to have the grain over two inches deep when placed in boxes, in order to guard against heat- ing and mildew. The boxes should be placed in a level position and kept covered with a board or burlap, in order to keep the grain in a moist condi- tion. In cold weather the sprouting operations should be conducted in comfortably warm quarters, and warm water may sometimes be used to advantage in sprinkling the grain. Redwood is better than pine to use in making the sprouting boxes, being less liable to swell and crack when water soaked. Should it be impossible to get oats that will grow well, barley or wheat may be substituted, but it may be found necessary to stir the barley until it begins to sprout, to prevent fermentation. White Leghorn Bantams THE FEEDING PROBLEM The three essentials of egg production, the three essentials of profit in poultry keeping, the three essentials for vigor and. health in fowls are — comfort, exercise and proper food. Let us consider (1) the proper food, (2) the methods of feeding it, and (3) recipes for a few tried balanced rations. Practical knowledge and skill in feeding can be acquired with- out the study of science. Feeding fowls for good results is a com- paratively simple matter. Requirements in Feeding The food which a fowl consumes has three chief functions to perform: (1) to sustain life, promote life, repair waste and produce eggs ; (2) to keep the body warm ; (3) to furnish strength or energy which is expended in every movement. The fowl is also able to store food, not needed at the time it is eaten, for future use; this store is chiefly in the form of fat, which serves as a reserve supply of fuel. Food Elements To supply the three functions in the life of a fowl there are three principal food elements : Proteins, carbo-hydrates and fat ; all of these are contained in the different grains and foods used for poultry. (1) Proteids (or protein), albuminous or nitrogenous, matter. Protein is the nourishing matter, the principal tissue former, sup- plying material for bone, muscle, blood, feathers, eggs. Its latent energy can also be converted into heat and energy; but it is more costly for such purposes than the non-nitrogenous foods. (2) Carbo-hydrates, carbonaceous matter, starches and sugar. Carbo-hydrates form the bulk in nearly all foods and are the prin- cipal sources of heat and energy. (3) Fats are found in almost all foods. They furnish beat and energy in addition to the supply from the carbo-hydrates. Fat also enters largely into the composition of the yolk of the egg. All three food elements are necessary. The proper combina- tion of these three is called the "balanced ration." It is, in other words, a "complete"- ration, containing in proper proportions the necessary food elements to promote (1) growth, including egg pro- duction, (2) warmth, and (3) energy or strength. The needs of a fowl's system are not always the same; it does not always need the different elements to ,be in the same proportions ; the ration prop- erly balanced or suitable for a growing chick would be unbalanced (unsuitable) for the mature hen. :/'The food to be a balanced ration must be adapted to the present ■ needs of the fowl. Many people find it easier to keep food values in their minds when they have seen a picture than after studying over figures in a table. A glance at a couple of foods to be compared, with the proportion of ingredents blocked out plainly, as they are here THE FEEDING PROBLEM 31 makes an indelible impression on the mind. One can see in a mo- ment where one pays for water in the foodstuffs and where one does not. When it is desirable to know the exact percentage of protein or carbo-hydrate that a food contains, it is necessary to refer to the table for ease of calculation. Material Water Milk 87.20 Skim Milk 90.60 Dried Milk 13.10 Cottage Cheese 73.00 Fresh Meat 71.00 Beef Scraps 5.00 Cocoanut Oil Cake Meal 14.08 Linseed Oil Cake Meal 10.93 Cotton Seed Meal 9.85 Soy Bean Meal 9.50 Gluten Feed 7.80 Beans, dried 12.60 Peas, dried 9.50 Barley, rolled 10.05 Barley, sprouted 55.50 Oats 11.00 Oats, rolled 7.70 Corn, Indian 10.60 Rice 12.30 Rice Bran 10.55 Rye 11.60 Wheat, plump 11.50 Wheat, shrunken 8.30 Wheat, bran 11.67 Wheat, middlings 11.73 Wheat, shorts 9.85 Mixed Feed 10.57 Broken Crackers 5.90 Cabbage 90.50 Alfalfa, green 80.00 Alfalfa, meal or hay 10.95 Pumpkins 90.90 Ash Protein .70 3.60 .70 3.30 15.10 58.80 1.80 20.90 1.00 22.00 17.00 59.00 4.36 19.51 4.50 30.70 4.86 47.25 5.60 44.40 1.10 24.00 3.50 22.50 2.90 24.60 2.92 12.00 1.18 7.00 3.00 11.80 2.00 16.00 1.50 10.30 .30 8.40 6.64 14.96 1.90 10.60 1.76 11.85 2.34 17.10 5.18 14.05 2.85 15.22 4.24 15.20 3.57 12.00 1.90 10.00 1.40 2.40 1.72 4.94 6.43 17.60 .50 1.30 Carbc >-hydrates. Starch, Fiber Sugar, etc. Fat 4.90 3.70 5.30 .10 12.4 1.60 4.30 1.00 7.00 3.40 3.85 17.00 9.53 42.12 10.40 8.89 37.95 7.03 3.19 22.64 12.21 4.35 28.44 7.70 5.30 51.20 10.60 4.40 55.20 1.80 4.50 57.50 1.00 2.30 69.63 3.12 4.26 31.14 .75 9.50 59.70 5.00 1.30 65.00 7.00 2.20 7.0.40 5.00 78.60 .40 4.85 50.20 12.80 1.70 72.50 1.70 2.45 70.40 2.03 3.48 66.78 3.00 8.16 57.34 3.60 4.88 60.85 4.47 5.05 64.48 3.32 9.66 59.98 4.21 .80 70.30 9.00 1.50 3.90 .40 4.70 7.90 .74 22.63 39.31 3.08 1.70 5.20 .40 Methods of Feeding The question of how to feed and what to feed for the best re- sults in egg production is the most difficult problem in poultry keeping, and has for sometime been engaging the attention of the various Government Experiment Stations in this and other coun- tries. The two successful systems in use at the present time are the Mash system and the Dry Feed system. The mash system is one in which a mash is fed once or twicfe a day. The foundation of the mash is bran, middlings, and corn meal or chops. It is mixed wet, raw, scalded or cooked. The dry feed system is when a dry mash is fed, consisting of the same ingredients as the wet mash, but dry. Dry feeding is used by many regulafly, and is becoming more popular every year. In. mAslL.ieejcLiLrig±Iie-erJ^rs„ta.b^ .ToQ_eatic£n.trate.d a mash with too much meat or fat; too light or bulky, that is. 32 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK By Courtesy of the University of California Experiment Station. ' See table on preceding page. THE FEEDING PROBLEM 33, composed principally of bran or hay; too wet or sloppy or sour or mouldy. Experience has shown that feeding wet mashes more than once a day has bad effects, producing indigestion in various forms. The advantages of the dry-feed system are : A saving of labor to the feeder, is lighter to handle and much easier to mix. It can be fed in the morning. The fowls are obliged to eat it slowly; they cannot swallow it in a few minutes. It will not freeze in cold weather nor become sour in hot weather, and the fowls will not over-eat with the dry feed. An Excellent Feed Hopper for Young and Old These hoppers are made 8 ft. long. The trough is 8 inches wide and 4 inches deep with a strip (or lath) half an inch wide nailed along the top of trough inside to keep the chickens from pulling out the feed. The slats are about two to three inches apart. The chief consideration in dry-feeding is that fowls require about three times as much water to drink as with the wet mash ; also unless the dry food is placed in hoppers or fed in boxes at least four inches deep, it is apt to be wasted. The two systems supply the requirements of the fowls in slightly different ways and both are used very successfully. Sample Rations The rations here given have been tested and proved excellent by some of the most successful poultry breeders in this country. Ration for Chicks Intended for Breeders First meal, when chicks are 36 hours old : Rolled or flake break- fast oats, dry ; give scattered on sand every three hours, then feed chick food. This is a number of small or broken dry grains which can be bought at the poultry supply houses. The use of hard grain diet like chick feed, develops the digestive organs and keeps them healthy. The chick feed prepared by reliable firms is excellent. For those who prefer to mix their own chick feed, the following is a good recipe : Cracked wheat, 30 pounds ; steel-cut or rolled breakfast oats, 30 pounds; finely cracked corn, 15 pounds; millet, rice, pearl barley, rape seed, finely ground beef scraps or granulated milk, dried granulated bone, chick grit, 10 pounds ; granulated char- coal, 5 pounds. In the chick feeds wheat, oats and corn are the staples, the most necessary part of the ration. Feed at 6 a. m. chick feed scattered in chaff; 9 a. m. rolled or steel-cut oats; 11 a. m. green lettuce; 1 p. m. chick feed; 3 p. m. green feed; lettuce, 34 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK clover or potatoes chopped fine ; 4 :30 p. m. hard boiled eggs (4 for 100 chicks), chopped shell and all, with the same amount of onions and twice the amount of bread crumbs or rolled oats or Johnny- cake. One fountain of skim milk and one of clean water always before them and renewed three times a day. Very coarse sand and granulated charcoal should be always before them. Toward the end of the second week mix a little whole wheat, hulled oats and kaffir corn with the chick food, gradually increasing it, until at the end of the sixth week they will be eating this entirely. Rations for Broilers For the first two weeks use the same feed as given for the breeders. Third week, 6 a. m. chick feed ; 9 a. m. mash, 1 part each of bran, cornmeal and rolled oats, and a little salt ; mix with skim milk, making a crumbly dry feed in a small dish or trough, taking away all there is left in fifteen minutes; 11 a. m. lettuce or clover; 1 p. m. rolled oats; 3 p. m. chopped raw potatoes; 4:30 p. m. mash same as in the morning. Fourth week, 6 a. m. chick feed ; 9 a. m. mash, adding 5 per cent beef scraps or cracklings : 1 p. m. chopped potatoes; 4:30 p. m. mash, same as in the morning. Keep grit and charcoal always before them, with skim milk and pure water. Fin- ish off at six to eight weeks by gradually adding from five to ten per cent of cotton-seed meal and a little molasses with the mash. Rations for Laying Hens In order to keep up the strength of the hen and have her pro- duce the largest amount of eggs, it has been found that for every pound of protein in the food she must have four pounds of carbo- hydrates. Many instances may be cited in which the rations fed to laying hens differed greatly, but have been productive of excellent results, provided they contain a sufficient quantity of digestible protein. The following rations have proven successful : I will give a formula that I have used for many years after ex- perimenting with others, and will give some that are being used at the present time by. prominent and successful breeders near here. There are many other breeders, but I happen to have these by me and have not those of the others. The Basley formula is as follows: By measure, 2 parts heavy bran, 1 part alfalfa meal, 1 part corn meal, 1 part oatmeal (called Breakfast Flaked Oats), 1 part beef scraps or meat meal or granulated milk, a little pepper and salt; keep this in a hopper or feed box. At noon green feed. In the evening grain, wheat, kaffir corn or cracked corn, barlev, hulled oats, equal parts, mixed and scattered in straw in the scratching pen. Fresh water constantly before them; if they run out of water, the egg yield will stop. I keep before the fowls at all times sharp grit, crushed oyster shells, charcoal and granulated dried bone. At moulting time I add to the grain sunflower seed, and to the dry mash linseed meal. The reason I feed oatmeal is that I a-hvays- feed- for "vrgorr- I want-tire parent-birds to be vigorous and the eggs to have such an amount of protein in them that the chicks THE FEEDING PROBLEM 35 will not fail in being vigorous. There is no food equal to oats for giving vigor. The reason I feed alfalfa is that although it shows on analysis almost the same protein content as bran, it gives the yolk of the eggs a rich orange hue which bran fails to impart. All fowls need plenty of green food and clean water. The green food is the cheapest food you can give and keeps the digestive organs in good condition. Green food must be given daily. Bulletin 164 of the California College of Agriculture gives the following formulas as samples of the many different combinations that can be made from the various feed stuffs on the market. They are calculated for 100 hens a day, and if fed with nine to twelve pounds of grain, according to weight of hens, and some green stuff, they will form a well balanced ration. Mash may be fed wet or dry. Quarts Pounds Bran 6.0 3.0 Shorts 2.5 1.8 Cornmeal 1.5 2.3 Cocoa O. C. meal. 1.0 0.9 Beef scrap 1.0 1.5 Coarse bone meal . . 0.5 1.0 II. Quarts Pounds Bran 6.0 3.0 Middlings 0.5 0.5 Linseed O. C. meal 0.5 0.5 Gluten feed 0.8 1.0 Ground oats 1.0 0.75 Cornmeal 1.5 2.25 Beef scrap 1.0 1.50 Coarse bone meal. 0.5 1.00 III. Quarts Pounds Bran 5.0 2.50 Shorts 3.0 2.00 Corn meal 1.5 2.25 Soy bean meal 0.75 1.00 Beef scrap 1.00 1.50 Coarse bone meal. . 0.50 1.00 IV. Quarts Pounds Bran 6.0 3.0 Cornmeal 1.0 1.5 Barley meal 2.0 2.2 Alfalfa meal 1.0 0.5 Soy bean meal .... 1.0 1.3 Beef scrap 1.0 1.5 Coarse bone meal. . 0.5 1.0 V. Quarts Pounds Bran 4.0 2.0 Alfalfa meal 1.0 0.5 Corn meal 1.0 1.5 Shorts 2.0 1.5 Barley meal 1.0 1.1 Ground beans .... 1.0 1.1 Beef scrap 1.0 1.5 Coarse bone meal. 0.5 1.0 VI. Quarts Pounds Bran 5.0 2.5 Alfalfa meal 1.0 0.5 Corn meal 1.5 2.3 Linseed O. C. meal 1.0 0.9 Shorts 2.0 1.5 Beef scrap 1.0 1.5 Coarse bone meal.. 0.5 1.0 Salt should be added to every mash, about an ounce being suf - ficient. Pepper may be added occasionally. Fresh lean meat may be substituted for beef scrap in any of the formulas, three quarts of the fresh being equal to one of the dried. Cottage cheese may be substituted in the same proportion, except that it is advisable not to replace all of the meat, one-half quart beef scrap and one and a half quarts cottage cheese being a much better proportion. The equivalent in pounds is given for convenience in ordering. The quarts represent the amount for 100 hens and may be multiplied or 'divided ad libitum. Fattening Fowls Fowls to be fattened should be confined in small yards or in coops or crates, especially adapted for feeding. The object in keep- ing them in confinement is to prevent the forming of muscle and sinew which would occur if allowed to run at liberty. 36 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK The crate used for fattening fowls can be four or six feet long. Mine were composed of lath six feet long; the frame of the crate is 6 feet long, 18 inches wide and 18 inches high, divided into six little stalls or compartments. The frame is covered with lath, placed lengthwise on the bottom, back and top with the width of one Three-compartment Fattening Coop and Trough lath apart. The first lath on the bottom should be two inches from the back to allow the droppings to fall through, otherwise they would lodge on the lath at the back. The lath are placed up and down in the front, the spaces between them being two inches wide to enable the chickens to feed from the trough. A "V" shaped trough is made to fit into two notches in cleats in front of each crate. The crate stands 15 inches from the ground; the droppings are received on sand or other absorbent material and removed daily. The coop is large enough to hold 12 or 18 young chicks (2 or 3 in a stall) or six full grown fowls. Fowls are fed three times a day all they will eat in IS minutes. See cut of fattening crate. Formulas for fattening : (1) Equal parts of bran, cornmeal and oat meal (rolled break- fast oats) mixed with skim milk, fed three times a day. (2) Buckwheat flour, pulverized oats, cornmeal in equal parts, mixed thin with buttermilk. (3) Equal parts barley meal and oat meal and a half part of corn meal, mixed with buttermilk or skim milk. (4) A favorite French combination is two parts barley meal, one part cornmeal, one part buckwheat flour. A little salt and coarse sand should be added to their food.' Three weeks is the length of time to continue the feeding. Chick- ens do not seem to be able to stand the confinement for a greater length of time. The last week of the fattening process, five per cent of cotton seed meal and a little tallow may be added to any of the above formulas. THE FEEDING PROBLEM 37 Feeding Alfalfa Alfalfa is one of the most valuable of green foods for both cat- tle and poultry. I have found by my own experience that what is good for the milch cow is good for the laying hen. You know the Holstein does best on a large amount of succulent food, while the smaller Jersey is adapted to a more concentrated diet ; so with the different breeds of hens, the Leghorn needs a wider ration than the Plymouth Rock, the ration that would bring the largest amount of eggs from the Leghorn would so fatten the Rock that it might prevent her laying. Where alfalfa is abundant the following ration will give good results. Alfalfa hay or meal when good is rich in protein and re- sembles wheat bran in analysis. In the last analysis of alfalfa hay or meal Professor Jaffa gives protein 12.3, carbo-hydrates 37.1, fat 1.6; while wheat bran has protein 12.62, carbo-hydrates 38.88, fat 2.5. By this you see that whilst the protein content of alfalfa meal is almost the same as wheat bran, the fat, sugar and starch is decidedly lower, also the crude fiber, which is indigestible, in alfalfa meal is 22.63 per cent, whilst in bran it is only 8.60 per cent, to coun- terbalance this we can use more corn meal or some linseed meal. While alfalfa is rich in protein, it has been found by experi- ment that the fowls need animal protein, a substitute for bugs and worms, so to the ration must be added animal food in some shape, usually beef scrap, meat meal or milk. Cottage cheese is one of the best animal proteins. The following ration will prove satisfactory : Alfalfa meal, 50 lbs. ; corn meal, 20 lbs. ; barley meal, 10 lbs. ; beef scrap, 10 lbs. ; coarse bone meal, 10 lbs. I gave my Indian runner ducks a similar ration : 30 lbs. alfalfa meal, 30 lbs. heavy bran, 30 lbs. corn meal, 10 lbs. beef scrap ; giv- ing at the same time all the crushed clam shells they would eat. On this ration ducks averaged 233 eggs each per year, and kept in perfect health. I wrote to Mr. Hammonds, an expert poultryman, a graduate of Cornell, and asked about a pullet that he was bringing up on nothing but alfalfa and milk. His answer is as follows : "The pullet you refer to laid 253 eggs from August 7, 1910, to August 7, 1911, and she gained one and a quarter pounds in weight. All of her eggs, except the first six, weighed two ounces or more and were of good shape and shell. She was fed from the time she was two months old until she was five months old and showed signs of laying on alfalfa meal moistened with milk, and rolled barley as grain. From the time she was five months old till the test was finished she was fed a dry mash composed of the follow- ing: Alfalfa meal, 3 lbs. ; barley meal, 2 lbs. ; bran, 1 lb. ; corn meal, 1 lb., and fine beef scrap, 1 lb. As grain, she received one handful of rolled barley at 4 p.m. each day. Aside from this she had dry alfalfa hay as a litter. After she began laying she was ofen tempted with green alfalfa but did not seem to care for it, there- fore she was not fed any green stuff." BREEDING, LINE-BREEDING, IN-BREEDING, ETC. The subject of breeding for best results in the poultry yard is exceedingly interesting, and is being developed more and more every year, not only by poultry breeders, but I believe by some of the government experiment stations. There is "in-breeding," "line-breeding," "out-breeding," "cross- breeding," and no breeding at all. Many people are afraid of in-breeding. By this is usually meant breeding brother and sister together for generations, without the infusion of new blood. This kind of in-breeding is very apt to result disastrously, because in such a flock the best, biggest and most vigorous are sent to the market, and the inferior ones are kept at home for breeders, unless a neighbor steps in and lends a cockerel to solve the difficulty. For fear of the flock deteriorating, many people think it abso- lutely necessary to have new blood in their flock every year, and here is where the danger comes in for those who are raising thor- oughbreds. If you buy pure-bred male of the same breed to mate with your pure-bred female from another strain or family, you may get one that will improve your flock, or one which will bring you disqualified birds. This getting new blood of the same family is called "out-breeding." J. H. Robinson says: "Most of the evils assigned to in-breeding are not due to in-breeding, but to careless selection. There is no evidence that in-breeding necessar- ily initiates degeneracy. There is abundant evidence that with proper selection for stamina to avoid common defects, very close in-breeding can be followed for a long time without injuring the stock. There is also abundant evidence that breeding unrelated fowls without careful attention to vigor, and avoidance of common defects is at once attended with precisely the same results as breeding fowls of near kin under the same conditions." In making, the new breeds, in-breeding is necessary to fix the color, shape, etc. If it is necessary to fix superiority in color, it is necessary to fix it in shape. If it is necessary to fix it in shape, it is necessary to fix superior laying capacity, for rapid growth and vigor. In-breeding is necessary because there cannot be intelligent breeding without in-breeding. "Line-breeding," or breeding in line, is keeping to the same family, the same blood. It is very careful in-breeding. "When we line breed we simply limit the number of ancestors in the fowl's pedigree. By so doing we intensify the qualities in the fowl, for it has been established beyond a doubt that the mating of nearly related individuals has a tendency to intensify the traits or char- acteristics which they possess in common. As an example, I had a White Plymouth Rock hen (Snow Queen), a 95y 2 point bird. She laid 225 eggs in 9 months. I mated her, when I discovered her wonderful qualities, to my first prize male. Four of her daughters from that mating were prize-winners. The following year I mated her to her best son, and the third year to her son who was also BREEDING, LINE AND IN-BREEDING 39 her grandson. By this last mating, the offspring were 15-16 of her blood. I sold a few settings of this mating, one to a gentleman in Sacramento. He wrote me afterwards that he won first cock, first hen and first pen at the Poultry Show, with seven of her offspring ; but, he added, "the great recommendation to your fowls is their wonderful vigor and healthfulness. All my other fowls have had roup and chicken-pox; in fact, I have lost more than half, and while yours were brought up with them, they seem absolutely im- mune to all sickness." Another setting of eggs I sold to a party south of town. I heard later that one of the hens hatched from that setting laid 105 eggs in HO consecutive days. By careful in-breeding it is possible to intensify the good qualities of great egg-laying and great vigor. A hen to be a great layer must have vigor. To illustrate what is meant by line-breeding, I would take a good pair or trio of the best birds procurable; raise the young, carefully feeding for strength and vigor. The vigor of a flock is sustained not by introducing new blood, but by selecting breeding birds for vigor. Vigorous birds beget vigorous offspring; weak birds weak offspring, whether kin or not. The second year I would mate the father with two of his best daughters and the best son back to the mother hen, and use these two families as two different strains for new blood, each year selecting the best from either family. By the best, I do not mean the handsomest; I mean among the cockerels the most vigorous, active and up-to-standard birds, and among the pullets the best layers as well as the earliest maturing, largest and handsomest. Let it be understood that to breed from birds because they are related without making selections of points desired, is as wrong as to refuse to mate related fowls. By breeding from only vigorous stock, and observing the rule not to mate fowls having the same bad defects, mating together only fowls which in individual merit and in pedigree (whether akin or no kin) are what they should be for the purpose of the mating, you may be sure of avoiding mistakes. "I am afraid of in-breeding," said a lady to me recently. "The book says change cockerels with your neighbor." I do not know from what book she was quoting, but I went to see her fowls. She had really fine standard-bred fowls to commence with, but she had ruined the flock by trading cockerels. A friend of mine intending to purchase them asked me to look at them, but I could not recom- mend them, as I knew the offspring would not be desirable. Many persons wishing to purchase fowls from me (when I was in the business) would say, "Can you sell me two or four hens and a cockerel not related?" I replied that I could and would if they wished, as I had fifteen separate pens and marked all my young fowls, but if they asked me to mate for best results, I would give them hens from my best layers, mated to a cockerel that was partly related to them, for I knew then the offspring would be of as good quality as the parents. To know this takes some years of 40 MRS.- BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK "clpse observation and close selection," which is the rule for line- breeding. When I wanted new blood of late years, I would get a setting of eggs from the best breeder I knew. Select the two pullets from this brood, mate them with one of my own males, and then, await results. Some years they would be quite satisfactory ; if other- wise, they were consigned to the table and proved delicious eating. When the results were good, I had fine young ones and new blood which I knew would mate with mine and not deteriorate my fowls in regards to looks and standard points, but I could not tell for two years how the laying qualities of the offspring might be af- fected. Here is a place where "close observation" comes in. The pullets were trap-nested for a season, and then if they came up to my ideal I had the satisfaction of knowing I had made another success. This getting in new blood of the same breed is called "out-breeding." I know a farmer's wife who had good pure-bred Plymouth Rocks, prize winners. She sent away and bought a first-prize win- ner — a beautiful cockerel. She thought she would have prize win- ners for the next show, when, to her grief, she found that all the progeny of that cockerel were disqualified birds. The cockerel did not "nick" with the hens, though they were of the same breed. This out-breeding was a failure. If she thought fresh blood neces- sary, she should have purchased a cockerel from the same breeder of whom she purchased her original stock, and she should have had one that had some of the same blood as the pullets, or if she could not do that, she should have bought a good pullet and mated her to the best male, and if the cockerel from that mating proved good she could have used one the following year. "Out-breeding" as she did, is a sort of lottery, and one cannot be certain of results. Crossing, cross-breeding or out-crossing, all of which mean the same thing, is introducing blood from a distinctly different breed. The first cross will usually give better layers, and occasionally will produce good birds, but the progeny of these will be mongrels un- less a pure-bred male is introduced each year. The new breeds, such as the Orpington, etc., are made by cr®ss-breedifig and then by close in-breeding. There is, however, one breed in America which has been made entirely by out-crossing; that is the Rhode Island Reds. This breed has been made by bringing vigorous blood on the male side "Red cocks" from China, Chittagong, Malay, etc., and mating them with the farm fowls of Rhode Island. This out- crossing has produced a breed of great vigor and prolificacy. Cross- ing, as a rule, is not advisable, because one can never be certain which parent the young will resemble; they will be large or small, some of one color, some of another, irregular in maturing and ir- regular in shape for market. However, I knew a farmer's daughter in New York who wished to improve her flock of mongrels of all shapes and colors. She bought a "line-bred" Plymouth Rock cockerel, and the following summer she found that nearly all the young stock had Plymouth BREEDING, LINE AND IN-BREEDING 41 Rock markings, even the offspring of the Cochin hens had barred, feathers to their toes. The next year she bought again from the same breeder another vigorous Plymouth Rock, and by the end of that season she had, apparently, a flock of fine Plymouth Rocks. I say apparently, because if she had mated them together, she would have had mongrels the following season; but as it was, she worked the mongrel old stock off and had fine looking Plymouth Rocks that proved excellent layers. A line-bred cockerel has greater prepo- tency than one indefinitely bred. That is, he will reproduce him- self or leave his marks strongly upon his progeny. This was the case with my New York friend's birds. Hers were "cross-bred," or what farmers would call "grade" Plymouth Rocks. The male bird, if he comes from a line-bred family, will be more prepotent than the female. He will impress his qualities or characteristics, good or bad, on his progeny more than a male that is not line-bred, and the male is considered half the pen. His part is the germ, the seed, from which will grow the chick. For this reason, choose the good, strong, vigorous cockerel, active and stirring, to head your pen and take a pure-bred instead of a mongrel, because in this way you will build up a flock of fine birds. "Line-breeding" is keeping in the same family for years, each year choosing the most vigorous of both males and females to con- tinue the succession. Line-breeding is very careful and closely selected in-breeding. "Out-breeding" is introducing new blood, but of the same breed. "Cross-breeding" or "out-crossing" is introducing distinctly new blood of an entirely different breed. There is some diversion of opinion as to the best ages of parent stock to produce the strongest chicks, but it is usually accepted that fowls are generally at their best at twenty to twenty-four months of age. If they are not then in good condition, the breeder should look for something wrong in his method of handling stock. A hen coming two years old, will, if properly handled between sea- sons, lay as well the second year as the first, and lay larger eggs which will hatch stronger and better chicks. A cock of the same age should be in his prime. The mating of males and females of this age will, other things being equal, give better results than any other age. However, well-grown young fowls would make better breeders than two-year-olds not in good condition. Many breeders advise mating a cock bird to pullets, and a cockerel to hens. Generally, these matings give better results than the matings of cockerels and pullets, but not as good as matings of two-year- olds. The principal quality looked for in mating birds is vigor, whether you are mating for market or for egg laying or for. fancy feathering. Breeding Chart A clear conception of the methods followed in line breeding may be had by reference to the accompanying chart which has been drawn from one published several years ago bv I. K. Felch, 42 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK the veteran Light Brahma breeder. In this chart the solid circles and segments represent the male blood elements, and the solid lines that a male has been chosen from the group from which they start. The white circles and segments represent the female blood ele- ments and the dotted lines that the females have been chosen from the group from which they start. The shaded circle represents a scheme for the admission of new blood. Suppose we have two extra good birds which when mated together produce high-class offspring. Then the problem is how to perpetuate the quality of Lime Breeding Ch/jrt rffTEH I.K.FELCH hale line. Female U&e / Q Generation* ^ J ,St Z nd. 16 1$ £1 € «• *C> ©* €T«* II 12 13 1+ IS By Courtesy of "Breeder's Gazette" the parents and offspring without the dangers of close in-breeding or of destroying the results of several years of work, by violent out-crossing. By following line breeding, three blood lines may be developed, one of which shall contain a preponderance of orig- inal male blood, one a preponderance of original female blood, and the third equal proportions of original male and female blood. In the chart let 1 represent the original male and 2 the original BREEDING, LINE AND- IN-BREEDING 43 female. Then, by crossing 1 and 2, the result isgroup 3, which pos- sesses equal parts of the blood of 1 and 2. Selecting the bestpullet from 3 and mating to her sire 1, group 4 is produced, which con- tains three-fourths of the blood of the original sire and one-fourth of the blood of the original dam. In a like manner the best cock- erel from 3 mated to his dam 2 produces group 5, which is made up of three-fourths of the blood of the original dam and one-fourth of the blood of the original sire. Proceeding in a similar manner by mating the original parents to their offspring in the third gener- ation, we obtain at groups 6 and 7 offspring which contain either seven-eighths the blood of the original sire and one-eighth of the blood of the original dam, or seven-eighths the blood of the eriginal dam and one-eighth the blood of the original ?ire, as the ca the day they are hatched, as the web is then soft, does not bleed as much as later, and there is not much risk of the other chicks pecking the toes as they would do when older. If the hens have been well cared for, properly dusted with a good insecticide during the three weeks of incubation, they will be perfectly free of lice. They and the chicks must be kept free. There is not the difficulty in this that many imagine. Dusting the chickens and hens once a week is all that is necessary. Some breeders put a little lard on the top of their heads and on their throats. This protects from the head lice. Others take a small brush (if the chicks are affected with head lice), and wash the little heads once a week with a lather of carbolic soap. They soon dry off in the sun or under the hen. From experiments made in several stations it has been con- clusively proved that hen-hatched chickens are stronger and heavier than those artificially hatched. At the Oregon Station the incu- bators hatched 78.5 per cent of "fertile" eggs and the hens hatched 96.5 per cent. The incubators showed 16.6 per cent of chicks "dead in the shell" and the hens 2.5 per cent. Chicks hatched under hens weighed heavier than chicks hatched in incubators, and hen-hatched chicks made greater gain in weight than incubator chicks, whether brooded by hens or brooders. White Leghorn Male ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION We are living in wonderful times, in the age of great inventions, and to succeed in any busines, we must keep abreast if not ahead of our times. Not the least wonderful accomplishment of this wonder-working epoch has been the growth and advancement of the poultry industry, and the invention of the modern incubator, which made the development of the poultry business in this coun- try possible. In Egypt and China artificial incubation has been known and practiced for many centuries. In this country it is scarcely out of its infancy, still it would be impossible to estimate the value of the incubator to the poultry industry. It has made possible and profit- able the large poultry plants in this country. It has developed the broiler business ; it has raised the hen to the position of the money maker. One incubator will do the work of ten to thirty hens. Egyptian Incubation When I was in Egypt recently I was most anxious to see one of their "Mamals" or hatcheries and there learned that tourists could not see them as the Egyptians were superstitious and feared the evil eye of foreigners, also that the secrets of the process are guarded with a religious zeal and the owners of the hatcheries would not dare to reveal them. However, nothing daunted, I determined to make the attempt and induced Mohamet, our handsome Drago man, to help me. He said he had married a woman who came from a village in an oasis of the desert surrounded by seventy thousand palms and as the Sheik of the village was a great friend of his he would condescend to let me see it. After viewing and climbing the Pyramids we struck off into the desert. The rest of the party were on camels but I was permitted the comfort (?) of a sand cart, a two wheeled vehicle with tires about fifteen inches wide so the wheels would not sink into the sands of the desert. Our trip was a series of adventures very amusing and interesting, but lack of space prevents my describing it. The "Mamal" or hatchery is a stone «and brick building con- sisting of four large ovens, each of such size that several men could be contained in it. The ovens were in pairs, in each pair one oven being above the other on either side of a passage into which they open by a circular aperture just large enough for a man to obtain entrance and through which I crawled. The floor of the oven was flat but around it a few inches from the wall a small gutter ran. The eggs are placed on the middle of the floor of the oven and the fire is lighted in the gutters around the sides. The fuel for the fire according to Mohamet consisted of dried camel and horse droppings collected by boys on .the desert, mixed with cut hay. The right degree of heat is reached wholly by the skill of the owner for they have no thermometers. When this is attained the fire is allowed to go out about the 12th day, and is not relighted unless the tem- perature lowers too much. ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION 01 The mamal or hatchery I saw was not being operated as it was Christmas time, but when in operation it hatched from forty to eighty thousand eggs. What interested me greatly was the fact that the Egyptians never have a failure, they report hatching about 75% of the eggs, also they move the eggs, turn them all the time. This usually devolves upon the boy, the son, he rolls the eggs along with his arm day and night just as the hen herself does. Can this be the reason for their good hatches? This hatchery was a legacy from father to son Mohamet in- formed me, for many, many generations. The owners bought the eggs which were brought in from the neighborhood or surrounding country, and they sold the newly hatched chicks to all that came for them and also packed chicks in flat baskets or boxes and sent them on donkeys into the country farms or villages. No one in Egypt hatches' under hens for the hens have lost the natural desire, or the motherly instinct and no longer want to sit. Must Approach Nature There have been many kinds of incubators invented, made and patented in the last twenty years. The difficulty is to choose which kind will do the work of hatching eggs best ; that is, will bring out strong chicks with the least attention and the lease expense. There are hot water machines and hot air machines ; round incubators and square incubators. I have heard of incubators in this state which are made like hot beds, heated with stable manure. Some incuba- tors are heated with gas, some with electricity, but most of them by the heat of a lamp which burns coal oil. The best incubator is the one that comes nearest to imitating the natural process of in- cubation by a hen, for undoubtedly Nature is our great teacher in this matter. The two favorite makes of incubators on the market now are the hot-water incubators and the incubators which bring warmed air into the egg chamber. The latter are called hot-air incubators. The difference between them is that the hot-water machines heat the egg chambrs by radiation, while the hot-air machine brings warm air into the incubator. In the machines where the heat is radiated from the metal sur- face of pipes or tanks, the temperature at the under side of the eggs, awav from the heat, is several degrees cooler than at the upper side'of the eggs. Top heat by radiation is supposed to resemble the heat from the body of the hen. In the hot-air incubators the egg chamber is heated by air that is warmed outside of the egg chamber to a proper heat and is then forced into the machines by suction or circulation and diffused into the egg chamber. This way gives a constant supply of warmed fresh air, as pure and fresh as the atmosphere outside of the in- cubator. ' These hot-air machines rarely require any moisture to be added, as there is usually sufficient moisture held in suspension in the atmosphere, which is being constantly introduced into the egg chamber. 62 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK It pays to get the best, and by inquiring at the large poultry plants in the neighborhood, information can easily be obtained as to the most popular machine in use in that locality. It is wiser to buy a machine than to attempt to make one. Good incubators are now sold at so low a price that it does not pay to risk the loss of eggs in experimenting on a home-made machine. Location of Incubator The incubator should be located in a well-ventilated room or cellar that is dry and not subject to great variations of temperature. Preparing to Hatch The first thing to do is to set the machine perfectly level, using a spirit level to make sure of this, for if the machine is not level the heat' will go to the higher side, the temperature will be uneven and although it may be correct where the thermometer hangs, in the middle, the upper side will be too hot and the lower too cold. It is most important to have the incubator stand perfectly level. Let the incubator run for thirty-six hours before putting in the eggs. This is to make sure that the machine is thoroughly warmed and that it is running steadily at the proper heat. It may take twelve hours before the eggs gradually warm through, and the thermometer again shows the desired temperature. During this time the regulator must not be altered. Touching the screw may prove fatal to the whole hatch. So wait patiently until the desired heat is again present. Selecting the Eggs Eggs for hatching should always be carefully selected. The fresher they are the better. Eggs hatch after being kept a month, but the little germ or seed of life gradually grows weaker and weaker, and at last has not the strength to develop into a fine healthy chick, and may die in the shell, if the egg is kept too long. Ten days or two weeks is better than anj r older. The eggs should come from vigorous, healthy and well-fed stock. Much depends upon the feeding of the breeders, especially the male bird. They should have plenty of vegetables and green food, as well as animal food and those grains which contain the bone and muscle-forming elements. Eggs with imperfect shell should be rejected; also those with rough or chalky shells, and with thin spots. The eggs should be of medium size, neither too large nor too small, as the large eggs may have double yolks, which rarely hatch. Small eggs denote inferiority and are either pullet eggs or eggs from fat hens, or hens exhausted from 'having laid a long time. Eggs of One Class The eggs should be of. one breed or class. It takes twenty-one days, to- hatch.. all».hen_-eggs,-.but-i£ the. eggs_ from.. JL£ghatns..ar.e_ placed in the same tray as the Brahmas, the Leghorns will be the ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION 63 first_ hatched, sometimes as much as two days sooner, to the great detriment and loss of the others, which are slowed in hatching. This is probably caused by the change in the atmosphere and tem- perature in the incubator at the time of hatching. The air is heavily charged with moisture, and the temperature always rises during a hatch from the activity of the chicks, and it is exceedingly difficult to regulate the temperature when the incubator is full of chicks in all stages of hatching. The rise of temperature does not hurt the chicks that are just breaking out of the shell, but if it takes place two davs too soon, it will ruin the hatch of the heavier and slower breeds. Experiments that I have made along these lines have always given the same results. Turning the Eggs The eggs must be left for forty-eight hours after being placed in the incubator before being turned. After that they should be turned twice a day, or oftener. In this we should imitate the hen, for she not only turns her eggs constantly, but always shifts their position, pushing those that are on the outside into the center of the nest. It is really more important that the eggs be moved or shifted from their position or location in the tray, than merely turned, as it shifts the location of the eggs in regard to weak germs or infertile eggs. If the eggs are not turned during the early stages of incubation, many of the germs will dry fast to the shell and die, and the egg will be lost. When the egg is not turned during the latter part of incubation, the embryo does not develop properly, has little chance of hatching or may prove a cripple. The turning and moving of the eggs gives exercise to the em- bryo; it is a species of gymnastics for strengthening the chick. The first forty-eight hours and the last forty-eight hours the eggs must not be turned. Cooling the Eggs Cooling the eggs I consider an important matter in our Ameri- can incubators. The first week, following the hen's example, the eggs require but little cooling beyond the time it takes to turn them. The second week, as soon as the eggs are turned, replace them in the machine and leave the door open for five minutes ; after this increase the time, a minute or two each day, till at the end the eggs are being aired or cooled fifteen or twenty minutes. Cooling the eggs helps to make the shell brittle, so that the chick at the proper time can break its way out. Cooling the eggs contracts the shell and heating it up again expands it and this con- traction and expansion gives the shell its proper brittleness. As the eggs warm up again, an almost imperceptible moisture comes over them, which takes the place of the perspiration of the hen, and obviates the necessity of sprinkling or dampening the eggs. So in our incubator it is necessary to cool the eggs. If this has been done properly the chicks will be strong and vigorous and few will die in the shell. 64 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK Testing the Eggs All sterile eggs and dead germs should be testedout. Egg testers are sold with all incubators and very little practice will en- able even a beginner to detect the sterile eggs and dead germs. Infertile eggs will be of a clear, uniform color throughout, except a slight darkening where the yolk lies. In the fertile eggs will be seen a small dark spot, and in a white egg the blood vessels can be seen branching out from it. Eggs should be tested about the sev- enth day. A second test for removing the dead germs should be made on the fifteenth day, they being easily detected at that time. The chicks in fertile eggs will be seen to fill the shell nearly, except a small space at the small end, and the air space at the large end. All eggs containing dead germs should be removed from the ma- chine and buried. On the eighteenth day the chicks fill the entire shell except the air cell, and the egg will be quite opaque, as if nearly full of ink. To become accurate in egg testing requires practice and a brilliant light. Operating the Incubator Follow exactly the directions given with whatever incubator you may purchase. The makers of the incubators are anxious for you to succeed and have good hatches ; it is to their interest for you to be successful. They have spent time and money in per- fecting and understand how to manage their own machines better than anyone else. On the morning of the nineteenth day the eggs should be turned for the last time. The machine should then be closed and kept closed until the hatch is over. Opening the door during the process of hatching may spoil or seriously injure the hatch, as by such action a large amount of heat and moisture escapes and cold air is admitted. This dries up the lining skin of the eggs that are pipped and checks or prevents their hatching. It also chills the half- hatched or newly hatched chicks and is detrimental to all of them. When the chicks are coming out lively, the temperature will rise: should it go above 105 degrees, the lamp may be turned down a little. Leave the chicks in the machine without opening it until they are thoroughly dry. The chicks should not be moved from the in- cubator until the twenty-second day and should not be fed until thirty-six hours after hatching. General Remarks Should the hatch not come off until after the twenty-first day, it shows that the heat has been insufficient; if it comes off earlier, the heat during part of the time has been too high. Too low a tem- perature will give a weak hatch, many chickens will die in the shell, and those that are hatched will be weakly and never amount to anything. Too high temperature at the commencement of incu- bation will cook and kill the germ. One hundred and six degrees ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION 65 is danger point up to the tenth day. Germs which died between the first and second testing are frequently the result of overheating. Too high a temperature during the last week will so weaken the bowels of the chicks that they will be unable to assimilate the yolk of the egg. The yolk of the egg is Nature's perfect nourishment, which feeds and nourishes the embryo. During the last day of the chick's life in the shell the part of the yolk which has not been absorbed is drawn up into the chick. This forms its food and nourishment for about three days. But should the egg be overheated, this yolk hardens and even if drawn into the chick, it becomes tough, the chicken's bowels are weakened by the overheating, the yolk remains unassimilated, like a piece of rubber, blood poisoning ensues and the chick dies some time be- tween the first and tenth day of its life. Chilling the eggs has almost the same effect; it weakens the bowels, hardens the yolk and eventually kills the chick. The incubator is a splendid hatcher of all kinds of germs, and white diarrhoea may be caught in the incubator. Infection may be conveyed through the shell of an egg or even exist in it before it is laid, thus carrying to the embryo chick the germs that lead to its early death. To prevent this some of the latest investigators thor- oughly disinfect the eggs and the incubator before the hatching is begun. To accomplish this the eggs are wiped with a cloth damp- ened with alcohol, and the incubator is washed with a solution of some antiseptic, such as creolin, in every part of the inside, and the egg trays washed and then set in the sun to dry and air. Back Yard Poultry Plant CARE OF BROODER CHICKS The hatching of chicks is but half the battle, for eggs from good, vigorous parents will hatch with but little trouble if a good standard incubator is used and if the directions with it are followed. How about the raising of the chicks after they are hatched? The poultry papers agree that there is not a subject pertaining to poultry culture that needs more thorough, painstaking investi- gation and discussion than the care of the chicks, and it is said that not more than fifty per cent of the chicks that are hatched the country over reach maturity or a marketable age. What are the principal causes of mortality among chicks, how can we combat them and what are the essentials in the successful raising of chicks? There are numberless causes for the death we deplore — among these are diarrhoea, bowel trouble, lice, improper feeding, impure water, overheating or chilling and exposure to the elements. Feeling sure that the mortality in chicks is caused in a majority of cases by the carelessness or ignorance of the caretaker, let us discuss this subject and glean from the best authorities some ideas about it as far as we may in one short article. Expert Opinion Prof. James E. Rice, of Cornell University, has for several years been making a careful study of the cause and cure— ^or prevention — of the numerous diseases that cause the death of hundreds of thousands of chicks yearly, and his investigations have led him to believe that one great cause of mortality is the failure on the part of the digestive organs of the chicks to properly digest the yolk of the egg remaining in their bodies at the time of hatching. Mr. Rice says : "If we can solve this one problem — the cause of the anaemic condition of chicks that follows this failure to absorb the yolk of the egg — more money will be saved in one year to the farmers and poultry raisers of New York state than it costs to run the State Agricultural College for ten years." Mr. Rice says he is confident that environment has little, if any- thing, to do with the disease, as has been generally supposed. When he first began his investigations, this theory was worked upon and followed up, but as the investigation progressed it was found that the same conditions existed under almost any and all circumstances — in dry places, in damp places, in light brooding houses and in dark brooding houses ; in fact, he found no conditions under which this trouble did not exist. Until this problem is solved we shall have to be content with the theories of the different breeders and hatchers, and as one I feel confident from my own experiments and experiences that the deaths from diarrhoea, or in fact almost all the deaths of brooder chicks before three weeks of age, come from faulty incubation. The tem- CARE OF BROODER CHICKS 07 perature has been either too hot or too cold, usually the former, or the ventilation has been at fault, or the chicks have been chilled in carrying them to the brooder, or fed too soon, before the digestive organs were ready to digest the food. Elbow Room Needed Mr. Hunter, the veteran poultry man, says: "With incubator chicks raised in brooders, elbow room seems to be a most important factor, and want of elbow room is one cause for the great mortality in brooder chicks." It is quite natural to suppose that a brooder which is three feet square is abundant room for seventy-five or a hundred chicks, and indeed it is for the chicks as they come out of the incubator, and if we do not want them to grow it might be all right to crowd them into the brooder, but these chicks will be almost twice as large at three weeks old as when they are hatched and will require twice as much room or will suffer for it. Fifty chickens are as many as should be put into any brooder. To increase the number beyond that point will induce crowding, which kills some and stunts others, and will prevent the quick, healthy growth that is necessary for all young animals. Ample brooder room is the first and chief requisite for the health and com- fort of the chicks. The next requisite is oxygen. In other words, plenty of fresh, warm air, but no drafts in the brooder. Here is one of the great faults with many brooders, as for example the hot water pipe brooders in use in many brooder houses. Those hot water pipes merely heat the air that is already within the hovers, which air is practically confined to the hovers by the felt curtain in front, provided to keep in the heat. It does that, but it also en- closes the air, which the chicks have to breathe over and over again. This defect in my brooders cost me the lives of many chicks before I discovered the cause. A current of warmed fresh air supplied under the hovers overcame this difficulty, when I submitted the hot-air plan. Comfort Essential The brooder should be heated for at least twelve hours before the chicks are put into it. I always keep a thermometer in the brooder and have it at 95 degrees when they are first removed from the incubator. They should be carried to the brooder in a basket lined and covered with flannel, great care being taken that they be not chilled on the way. I am sure that many chicks lose their lives by. being chilled on this their first journey. The abrupt change from the warm incubator to the outside air, which is thirty or forty degrees colder, is sufficient to chill the chick. A chill will harden the yolk of the egg, which is drawn up into the chick the last day of its stay in the egg shell. You know that the yolk of the egg forms the nourishment for the chick inside the shell. The last day of its life in the shell all that remains of the yolk, about one-fourth of it, is drawn up into the chicken through the navel. If the chick is vigorous the yolk should be assimilated 68 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK or digested in about three days. But if the chick is chilled or over- heated, it so weakens the bowels that they cannot digest the yolk or absorb it, and the yolk hardens or toughens, becomes almost like rubber; then it can never be assimilated, blood poisoning en- sues and the chick's life ends. Chicks should not be fed for from thirty-six to forty-eight hours after they come out of the shell, because, first, they do not require any food, as the yolk inside them takes nearly three days to become absorbed or digested ; and, secondly, if they are fed too soon (that is, before the yolk is digested), the effort of digesting the new food draws the nervous energy or gastric juices away from the part containing the yolk, up to the crop and gizzard, and the yolk either does not digest at all or digests so slowly that it brings on bowel trouble, which at such an early age stunts the growth, if it does not kill the chick. In a chick that is fed too early in life the yolk will take, or may take, ten days to digest. You ask how I know this. "By sad experience and post mortem examinations," is my reply. The brooder being warmed to a temperature of 95 degrees under the hover, the floor should be covered with coarse, sharp sand, the chicks carried carefully to the brooder, after remaining thirty- six to forty-eight hours in the incubator. Feed Carefully The first few hours in the brooder they require no food but the sand to eat and water to drink. The sand supplies the little giz- zards with the necessary teeth or little grindstones, so that they are ready to commence work when the food comes. Water I place in a drinking fountain, so they cannot get into it and wet themselves. I give them water from the first. I know some people do not, but it has succeeded well with my chicks. At about four o'clock they have the first meal. I scatter rolled breakfast oats on the sand. The white flakes quickly attract their attention and they pick them up. I also give them a fountain of fresh water and one of sweet skimmed milk. It is surprising to see how quickly they learn to eat and drink. In the evening I look in upon them and am pleased when I see them spread over the hover floor, as it indicates that they are comfortably warm and will not crowd or huddle during the night. The first thing in the morning I give them some more rolled oats and some "chick feed." The "chick feed" I buy at the poultry supply stores. It is composed of a variety of seeds or grains, with a little charcoal, dried blood, or beef scraps and grit. Sometimes I make my own chick feed by mixing cracked wheat, kaffir corn, millet, steel cut oats, pearl barley and rolled oats 'to- gether, adding charcoal and dried beef scraps. I put more wheat and more oats into this mixture than any of the other grains. The chick feed that I buy has in addition some other seeds, such as rape or mustard, canary seed, hemp, etc. I buy chick feed to save myself the trouble of mixing. Chick feed and rolled oats is their main feed until they are six or eight weeks of age. I feed them five times a day at first, and I always leave a little feed trough or hop- CARE OF BROODER CHICKS 69 per of chick feed where they can get it. I know this is contrary to the advice of many, but I found the weaker ones did not get the proper amount when all rushed for the food, and also it was a great comfort to me, if anything detained me beyond the usual feeding time to know they had food before them. Also when fed at the usual hour they were not so ravenously hungry; they would not overload their little stomachs. 11 T hei n l ? lor 1 nin g meal at about six in the morning, consists of ro ed or flake breakfast oats, next green feed, then chick feed, then rolled oats, green feed and the last feed after they are a few days old is hard boiled eggs (two for every fiftv chicks), chopped nne, shell and all, mixed with dry bread crumbs or cracker crumbs, and an onion chopped very fine. I mix all together, adding a little pepper and salt. If I have no bread crumbs, I add Johnny cake or rolled oats to the onion and egg. I always send them to bed with their little crops full. As They Grow Older I keep a thermometer under the hover in the brooder and lower the temperature, one degree a day until it is down to sixty-five de- grees. After the chicks are six weeks old, unless the weather is unusually cold, they require no heat. For green feed they seem to prefer lettuce to anything else. Finely cut clover or alfalfa is excellent. The lettuce I cut up very fine at first, but in a few days they learn to tear it up, and lettuce suspended on a string or even thrown on the ground, gives them exercise and amusement as well as food. In the playroom, where the chicks are fed, the floor is covered with chaff, and I throw a handful of chick feed into it for them to have something to reward their efforts. The alfalfa hay or chaff keeps them busy and exercising and this broadens their backs and increases the size and vigor of the egg making organs which are already commencing to grow and which we must develop from the very first if we want to increase the egg output. The chaff, or preferably the alfalfa hay chopped short, also conceals their little feet from their active and sometimes mischiev- ous brothers and stops them from pecking the feet and drawing blood, which tastes so good that they will actually turn cannibal and tear out and eat the bowels, sometimes causing great loss. This is always prevented by keeping the chicks busy scratching in deep chaff. They have fresh water each time they are fed. The first meal is at about six in the morning, and if I fear that I may be later than that, I put fresh feed and water in their playroom over night, so that the hungry babies may not be kept waiting. They come out at daybreak, eat a little, and sometimes drink, and then go back and take another nap. The brooders must be cleaned twice a week the first week, three times a week afterwards, and every day when the chicks grow larger. The chicks should be dusted with insect powder about once a week. After dark raise the hover and sprinkle the powder liber- ally over the chicks. This will usually keep them free from lice. FIRELESS BROODERS HAVE COME TO STAY Fireless brooders have come to stay, at least in California. I do not mean to say that they would be suitable in a broiler plant, for there chicks are raised not to be muscular and sturdy, but tender and fat, and for that they require to be kept always warm and fed a fattening diet, and the heated brooder is or may be better adapted to their needs, but for the sturdy chick, the chick we want to de- velop into a first-rate layer, or a large market fowl, or a winner at the show, the fireless brooder, properly handled, in this climate is excellent. Some few months ago I gave a description of a home-made fireless brooder which one of our readers made two or three years ago. Several made some by that plan and have expressed their great satisfaction at the ease with which they now raise their chickens. At the same time I mentioned that many of the poultry supply houses had excellent fireless brooders for sale. Since that time I have met a number of prominent poultry breeders here, who had been quite prejudiced against these fireless brooders, just as many poultry raisers years ago thoroughly disapproved of incuba- tors, and I find those who have tried the brooders without heat are loud in praise of them. One very successful business man who wins prizes every time he exhibits, said to me : "These fireless brooders are great. I have not lost more than three per cent of my hatches since I have used them." And in talking over the brooders with many others I find that one of the great advantages is that there is no fear of fire. Where no fire is, there is no danger of either smoke or a confla- gration, which is a very great comfort to a busy poultry man or woman, and especially at night. I have lately seen a brooder made by Mr. Hammons, the man- ager of the mammoth broiler plant near Los Angeles. It is easily made and has some points of special value. The brooder made by Mr. Hammons is his own invention and he has no objection to any one copying it. It is a box 20 inches square and 6 inches deep, and in each corner has a small block 4 inches high for the frame of the hover to rest upon. The lower frame does not fit tightly in the box ; this is one of the new im- provements ; there is a space of about a quarter of an inch on all four sides ; this is for ventilation. A door four inches square is cut FIRELESS BROODERS 71 and hinged on one side of the box for ingress and egress of the chickens. The hover frame is covered with heavy double canton flannel, and seven square blankets cut out of good thick felt lie on top of the hover. These little blankets must not cover the quarter inch crack for ventilation, but should just fit inside the frame. This is another special novelty. The first week all of the blankets are used and each succeeding week one is removed, until at eight weeks of age the chicks have no blankets over them and are ready to leave the brooder. The brooder 20 inches square and made as I described will ac- commodate only 25 chickens. Mr. Hammons' experience has taught him that this number is the very best for one flock, as then each chick can grow without crowding. At first he makes a nest of straw nearly filling the box, leaving a nicely rounded out place in the middle for the baby chicks to nestle in, and as they grow, less straw is needed, but a little should always be used to keep the floor and the chickens' feet clean. The blankets should be sunned and aired daily to keep them sweet and clean, as one airs one's own bed. Mrs. Frank Metcalf, the originator of the celebrated "Buck- eyes," writes: "I have had fine success with Mr. Hammons' brooder and recommend it to others as the best I have ever used. I raised forty-seven out of fifty hatched in the last batch of Buckeyes. Fif- teen turkeys may be raised in one of these ; I found that eleven did very nicely, although more would have been better at first. We had little coops 30 inches wide, by six feet long and confined the chicks with the box inside of these for the first week; after that they had wire runs out of doors." This brooder is simply a square box, 20 x 20 inches, 6 inches deep, made of 24-inch dressed tongue-and-grooved wood, with a hover laid on it instead of a lid, and with ventilation all round the edge of the hover and the sides of the box, giving free air around the chicks as it would be around a hen. It is a good imitation of a hen. Handles can be nailed on the box so it can be carried easily, chicks and all. The canton flannel cover of the hover should have a little plait at each corner, so the flannel will sag down in the middle a little, on the backs of the chicks. I have found that if too few chicks are in the brooder that they cannot at first keep warm enough. Six chicks for instance are too few. In that case I put a hot water bottle or bag on the top of the hover, under the blankets, for a short time. I also have found that the blankets can be cut out of a common woolen blanket, which does as well as the felt and costs less. "DIARRHOEA" IN BROODER CHICKS This is a disease which rarely attacks chickens hatched and raised by hens, and therefore it must be caused either by faulty incubators or wrong "mothering." We all know that at times quite a number of chicks in a brooder will be "stuck up behind," as it is sometimes called ; how they run about with their shoulders up, looking wizened and old ; how they try to huddle near the warmth and finally give up the hopeless struggle and die. "I think my chicks are taking some disease and dying from an epidemic," said a lady, who, though a novice with incubators and brooders, was an old and most successful poultry woman with hens. These chicks had been overheated in the incubator I discovered two days before hatching. Another friend, a very clever surgeon, told me one chilly night his incubator lamp went out and all the eggs got stone cold. His wife could not bear to think of losing all those nice eggs after hav- ing watched them for nearly three weeks, so she advised lighting up again in hopes of saving some. This they did, and were re- warded with fifty nice, lively chicks, but in a few days they com- menced to die ; they were "stuck up behind," or they shivered and seemed quite thirsty, and at last, when only fifteen were left, he made some post mortem examinations, and he found the yolk of the egg, which is drawn up into the bowel cavity the last day of incubation, was still there, only it looked in some like a bit of rub- ber, in some like hard-boiled eggs, and again in others it was dark and putrid. Instantly he reasoned that it was that yolk that was killing the chicks by blood poisoning. He had only fifteen left, but he decided to experiment on them, so he opened them ; his wife begged him to give them chloroform, which I believe he did, and he removed the toughened yolk, sewed up the wound, fed them lightly and all of the patients recovered and lived to maturity. It was a delicate operation, but my friend had the skillful hand of a trained surgeon. I never attempted it myself, but have made many a sad post morten on little chicks dying from being "stuck up behind," for I make it a rule to hold "post mortems" on all sub- jects that die in my yards. One time a whole incubator of eggs — 240 — were overheated by a meddlesome child playing with the regulator. Two days later 117 hatched, the others were cooked hard. Every one of the 117 died, although some lived to be eleven days old. I did everything I could think of to save them (except the surgical operation), but lost all. I feel sure that either overheating or chilling so weakens the bowels that they cannot digest, or, rather, assimilate the eggs, and that the yolk putrifies and causes blood poisoning ; and that either overheating in the brooder or chilling before the chicks are a week old will have the same result. Also if the chicks are fed too soon after hatching, the digestive juice or whatever it may be called. BROODER CHICKS 73 goes into the crop and gizzard to digest the new food and the yolk of egg is left either to digest very slowly or not to digest at all. In either case it will give diarrhoea and it may end fatally. I am often asked what to do for young chickens that have diar- rhoea, and also for those that are "stuck up behind." I know how almost hopeless these cases are, as they usually come from the un- assimilated yolk of egg, but I reply that rice boiled in milk, adding a tablespoonful of ground cinnamon to every pint of milk is about the best remedy for diarrhoea that I have tried, and to pick off with the fingers the dried excrement, slightly greasing the vent with carbolated vaseline is the only way for "stuck up." If the droppings are washed off, it is almost sure to chill the already weakened bowels and result fatally. Incubators, To Disinfect Dr. Woods recommends that incubators be thoroughly scrubbed with a solution of one gill of creolin in 8% quarts of water each time before putting eggs in them, to prevent the chicks from con- tracting white diarrhoea and other bowel troubles. The machine should be thoroughly dried before putting the eggs in. Every part should be scrubbed inside and out, and the egg trays should ;be especially well done. If the eggs are also disinfected there is very good reason to believe that the ravages of white diarrhoea will be largely diminished. White Orpington Hen WHITE DIARRHOEA IN CHICKS In the many years I have been in California I have never seen the "White Diarrhoea" of which I had read in Eastern poultry papers so I wrote to Mr. M. A. Schofield, one of the foremost poultry breeders here and the owner of the first and I think the largest hatchery in this county. I asked him to write me what he knew about "White Diarrhoea in California." He is a close and educated student in the poultry business and is hatching thousands of chicks every week, his reply is as follows : It is my personal experience that in Southern California there is comparatively little bacillary White Diarrhoea. Much so-called White Diarrhoea is simply a matter of chill. This is brought pain- fully to mind because I have just lost some valuable White Leg- horn chicks from this cause. They were exceptionally fine chicks when hatched but began to show all the symptoms of being affected with this malady. Investigation, however, showed that the water was not circulating in the brooder and therefore while the fire was burning properly, the chicks at the far end of the brooder were not receiving any heat. From my experience with bacillary White Diarrhoea among Rhode Island Reds, there is only one thing to do anyway, and that is to secure another strain of breeders so as to eliminate the trouble at its source by securing new stock. Sooner or later the owner of an infected flock will have to go out of business anyway, and it might just as well be sooner in the event that such owner will not take the trouble to secure healthy breeding stock. Of late years the matter of Coccidiosis has been a serious problem with our Southern California poultrymen. Sweating at night and a frequent chill the next morning is also a prime cause for this disease. On my own ranches, we are now able to control this malady by the use of lactic acid, as per the recommendation of the State University. Chickens fed sour milk constantly are not made immune, if environment is unfavorable. We find however, that if fed sweet milk or milk powder diluted and fed sweet, that in this event the sour milk produces a strong re-aetion. It probably is not well to feed sweet milk and sour milk the same day, but no harm results in feeding one or the other a day apart. It would be foolish for a person to drink milk and lemonade at the same meal, but there should be no difficulty where the person drank milk one day and lemonade the next. At present I use the following method : Feed sweet milk three or four days in succession, and then one feed of buttermilk paste or semi-solid diluted one to ten. If Coccidiosis threatens, I reduce both mash and grain and increase the amount of green feed, and feed a strong solution of buttermilk paste at the same time. As a rule, one day's treatment will check a mild attack of Coccidiosis, and two days' treatment will usually effect a cure, provided the chicks are not being chilled or sweated. VIGOR I never advise beginners to commence by trying to make a new breed, because very few are capable of success, just as there are but few artists who can paint a magnificent picture when they first begin to paint. To beginners I say, choose the breed and the standard that you like best, and keep to that breed. Then go on improving your flock. The way to do this is first of all, look to the vigor of your flock. It is VIGOR, first, last, and always that you want. "But," says the beginner, "how am I to get vigor, and how am I to keep it?" First to get vigor, you have to begin with the parents. Get your eggs from healthy, vigorous stock, that, have been fed the ration for vigor. Then hatch them properly, remembering that if you have a poor hatch (that is to say, if you find a number of chicks dead in the shell, if the hatch has been hurried by too much heat or retarded by too low a temperature), that those chicks which do manage to get out of the shell will not have vigor of constitu- tion, nor size of frame, nor the early development so necessary for success. A great deal depends upon the chick being properly hatched ; for that reason I advise beginners to commence hatching with hens, and when they do have an incubator, get a good standard incubator, and set one or two hens at the same time, keep them both running evenly together. Biddy will teach beginners a great deal. Then when the chicks are hatched, feed for vigor. Consult Nature, feed the fluffy little fellows after you have allowed them the neces- sary rest of at least thirty-six hours before feeding them. All a chick needs is rest and warmth to go on growing for about two days or even three ; after that time its digestive organs are ready for work; then they must have the proper kind of food. The Crop Nature has given the chick a crop where the food is first re- ceived. In this crop is found a fluid, something like the saliva in human beings ; this saliva acts upon the food, softening it and other- wise preparing it for digestion. The food then moves on to the proventriculus, or stomach, where it is still acted upon by a fluid, and it finally passes to the gizzard. The dry chick feed, so universally used, composed of a great many fine grains, is admirably adapted to feeding the chick. There are some grains especially conducive to vigor; the chief of these is oats, in any form, steel-cut, hulled, or rolled breakfast oats. There is another thing which Nature in the spring time gives the chicks, plenty of worms, bugs, insects. Often after an April shower I have seen the ground covered with worms, but here in California there are not enough insects to supply the chickens, therefore the chicks must have animal food as well as succulent green food. I used to buy two pounds of hamburger steak three times a week, and nothing suited the chicks better, fed raw once a day. 76 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK Exercise r Vigor, comes from exercise as well as from the proper food. Scratching is by far the best exercise for chicks. It keeps the or- gans of digestion in a healthy condition; it gives the chick a good appetite; it broadens the back, giving plenty of room for and de- veloping the egg organs, strengthens the muscles and enlarges the frame. How shall we give them work? The best way, of course, is to give the mother hen range. Chicks on range with the mother hen rarely acquire bad habits. It is chicks in the brooder that get into mischief, that quarrel and scrap, peck each other's toes and get to be cannibals. The best way of preventing mischief is by bed- ding the brooders, one or two inches deep, with alfalfa hay, cutting to half-inch lengths in a clover cutter. The little chicks will eat some of this, and they will scratch in it for seed of the chick feed all day long. This chaff, or finely cut hay, hides the toes so they will not be tempted to peck each other's toes. Another method for exercise is planting the runs with wheat or barley. The chicks will scratch up or pull up the green sprouts. Hanging a head of lettuce up in the brooder house will also afford both amusement and exercise. Never let chicks be crowded at night. Many a chick that might have been a prize winner is disqualified, has off-colored feathers simply from having been crowded or bruised by a larger chick treading on it. A bruise, even a slight one, will often result in a white feather on a colored fowl or a black or red feather on a white fowl, and overcrowding has the same effect. More About Vigor ■Vigor has always been one of my "hobbies." I have written much about it but must add a little more. Breeding for vigor is one of the problems most interesting in poultrydom. It might not be difficult if we could closely imitate Nature, but we are de- manding much more of our hens than Nature does, and here is the point where we fail. Much of the lack of vigor, the low hatches, weakness and mor- tality of chicks, and the inferiority of the mature fowls may be traced to the so-called "intensive" methods and of forcing the hens to produce- an abnormal number of eggs with a consequent break- ing down of the constitution of the hens. The intensive system of keeping fowls in small quarters and feeding them with stimulating rations has contributed largely to the lowering of constitutional vigor in many large flocks of hens. There' are in nearly all flocks hens that differ in vigor. There are weak fowls and strong fowls in all the different breeds- and what we want to aim for is the strong, vigorous hen that will digest the most food and lay the most eggs. Let us study how to get these hens. First, cull closely; that is, get rid of, market or eat those fowls that do not come up to the mark in vigor. Secondly, let us mate together only those that have constitutional vigor. It is VIGOR 77 often a temptation to breed from a hen that may have won a prize, ? r , ^ ve beautiful feathers, or is high scoring, but has had roup or is defective in vigor, and invariably this results in loss of vigor in the offspring. Breeding from pullets or immature stock is another source of lack of vigor in the offspring. An immature fowl cannot impart great vigor to its offspring and the continued breeding, gen- eration after generation, from pullets will result in smaller, weaker and short lived fowls. I have experimented along these lines myself, and I find that two or more years of age and still vigorous is the best age for reproducing vigor. Forcing for egg production by heavy feeding during fall and winter will also impair vigor. The most vigorous breeding stock is necessary to maintain the vigor of the flock, for "like begets like." The breeding stock should be selected for months ahead of the season, housed and fed for vigor instead of being forced for heavy egg production for the market. Keeping the young in limited space, in large numbers, is a cause of lack of vigor. The young flock should be culled frequently, the sexes separated as soon as distinguishable, and the pullets sorted according to size, keeping only for future breeders those that show early and rapid growth and development. The lack of exercise is a cause of low vitality, and slow growth in the crowded pens. On the farm, where the chicks have liberty and a good range, they have also exercise, but in our small yards it should be provided by giving them a good scratching pen, kept well supplied with clean straw or hay, and in this the grain should be buried. Too much to eat and too little to do results in a lack of vigor in the growing stock, and, worse still, brings infertility in the eggs of the breeding stock. In mentioning eggs, I believe that carelessness in the handling and care of eggs for incubation is not only a great factor in the lack of vigor in the chicks, but also is a cause of the poor hatches of which we hear so much. Our New Zealand cousins have made a series of experiments in this line, and after testing the eggs of thirty-nine different breeds, find that eggs kept best for hatching in a temperature of from 50 to 60 -degrees, that below 40 degrees or above 70 degrees the germ becomes weak — dies in a short time. To insure sturdy chicks, eggs should be fresh, from a week to not over two weeks old. Brooding and rearing chicks in insanitary, crowded conditions results in low vitality, and though it is important for the parent stock to be kept in healthy condition, it is equally important that the chicks upon whom our future hopes depend be raised naturally on the best of rations and on free range. The invariable rule for attaining vigor in the flock should be to eliminate all weak stock whenever we see it. This holds good at all ages, from the baby chicks to the mature fowl. The chick which shows weakness at any time should either be killed immedi- ately or be distinctly marked and kept apart from its strong broth- ers and eventually if it recovers be marketed. The chick may re- 78 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK cover from its weakness but still retain the inherited tendency and transmit it to the offspring, so that the rule should be to always eliminate the weak. A satisfactory way of marking that I have used is to paint a bar across the back with a few drops of bluing or with Diamond dye, which will last until the chicken moults. "How can I distinguish the weak from the vigorous fowl?" asks a correspondent. The weak chicken is inactive, and dumpy, is inclined to squat down intsead of stand, or has leg weakness — does not scratch — is the last to get off the roost in the morning and the first to go on at night. It may frequently be found on the perch during the day, disinclined to do anything, is "born tired." A loud and hearty crow is one sign of a vigorous male, also his calling up his harem to eat the best and choicest morsels before partaking himself (the careful attendant should see that the male bird that is so devoted to his wives should have extra food himself, or he may fail to transmit his vigor to his offspring). The shape of the body of the fowl at all stages of development is an indication. A vigorous fowl will be sturdy of frame, with a thick, compact body, large fluff, smooth, bright feathers, prominent eyes. Whilst a fowl that is lacking in vigor will have a long, thin, flat beak and head, a thin neck, slender body, thin thighs and shanks, long, thin and sometimes crooked toes, also usually a tired look. L .■-■'■-■* m MM bSc' 1 -^ White Rock Male THE ONE-DAY-OLD CHICK TRADE The one-day-old chick trade has come to stay. This may be said to be a separate and rather new branch of the chicken business, but it has passed its experimental stage, and both in this country and in England it is becoming popular. It can scarcely be said to be a new business, because it has been known and practiced in Egypt for thousands of years, in fact, it is the only way known there of raising chickens. As soon as one of the large hatcheries there hatches out the chickens, notice is sent to the surrounding vil- lages, and the twenty or forty thousand little chicks are sold within twenty-four hours, or before being fed. The one-day-old chick trade is, as its title indicates, the selling of baby chicks the day they are hatched. There has been and still is wide discussion over this business, which at first met with but little encouragement from the breeders of fancy poultry, some fanciers averring that it will injure the sale of their fancy eggs, while others even threaten to call in the humane society to prevent such cruelty as selling chickens at so tender an age. Some of our long-headed fanciers, both men and women, find- ing there was a demand for one-day-old chicks, rose to the emerg- ency, doubled the price of their eggs in live chicks, and have made a great success of the business. I have had letters from Nevada, Montana, Arizona, New Mexico and even from Old Mexico and Texas, telling of the great success poultry raisers have had in those distant places, raising the chicks after their long journey from Los Angeles, one man writing that he had raised 88% and another 90% to maturity. L. Yarian of Lima, Ohio, writes: "No branch of the poultry business is attracting more attention at present and no branch of the poultry business is more worthy than the selling of day-old chicks, with hundreds of others in all parts of the United States. I believe it is the best branch of the poultry business ever orig- inated." Day-old chicks or chicks taken direct from the incubator and securely packed, can be safely shipped to all parts of the United States, except to a very few places, located in some out of the way place where the chicks would have to travel for more than three days. Occasionally a chick may die en route, but don't they die for you at home, when they are only a couple days old? Certainly they do, and what proof can be advanced that the same chick that dies en route would not have died at home? Is it a cruel practice? I answer emphatically, No. Then some people will ask, what will the chick eat while on the trip? I reply, nothing, because the last thing the chick does before it leaves the shell is to absorb the yolk of the egg, which is Nature's own food intended to furnish nourish- ment for the baby chick until its little digestive system gets in good working order and is able to handle the food properly. 80 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK Poultry men. of experience are all agreed that more little chick? are killed by too early feeding than by delay in feeding, and all ad- vise that the chick be not fed until it is at least two or three days old. In fact, some people attribute the diarrhoea of little chicks to too early feeding. If you overcrowd the chick's digestive system before it is ready to digest, you will have bowel trouble, and you know with that you will not have the chicks very long. If it is the advice of men of experience, not to feed until at least the chick is a couple of days old, then why cannot the bird be traveling during that time, comfortably packed in a warm box ? That chicks can be safely shipped, has been successfully proved through all who have . ever attempted to do so, unless the chicks have very low vitality. Thousands are being shipped all over California and the neighbor- ing states, most successfully, where if eggs had been expressed in- stead of chicks, many would have been broken en route, for they would have been handled many times rougher than the baby chicks. It would be a very hard-hearted expressman who would throw a box of baby chicks across^ an express car as they some- times do when they handle eggs. The selling of day-old chicks should be encouraged, especially among amateurs who often get so discouraged by having poor hatches that they give up after their first attempt. I have frequently had persons write to thank me for sending the chicks, saying that the chicks arrived in such good condition after three days' journey that they were better and stronger than those hatched at the same time that had not taken the journey. One man in particular, in Mexico, ordered fifty chicks and his success was so great that the neighbors around ended by getting two thou- sand last season, and this year others in the same neighborhood are already sending for them by the thousand. The day-old chick busi- ness has come to stay in America as well as in Egypt. I want to emphasize the necessity of caring for the chicks immediately on arrival. More chicks are lost or injured in the last stages of their journey than in all the rest of their trip put together. Find out what train they are coming on, and meet them if possible, or if a telephone is available, have the agent call up on arrival. Make friends with the agent, and tell him that you are getting chicks in and ask him not to pile the boxes, but place them in the shade, but out of the draft. A good way to make friends with an agent is to go to him for a money order when the chicks are bought, and this gives you a fine chance to talk to him. SUMMER WORK Summer is our time for rest from hatching and now our ener- gies must be directed to safely carrying through the summer the brooder chicks and helping the older hens to shed their old clothes and come out in fine and glossy raiment as expeditiously as possible. Let us first look over our youngsters and see how we can keep them growing. They need a motherly and watchful eye and ear, and a watchful nose also, as much as children do. Our own lives are made up of little things, but a little chick's life is made up of infinitely little things and it is through little things that success is attained or failure courted. "Be sure to keep the pullets growing," was the vague order given in one of the poul- try books that years ago I was studying. The author did not tell how to keep them growing nor did he mention what would prevent them growing, and I just hated that man, but since then I decided that, poor fellow, he most likely did not know himself and was only dealing in generalities to write a plausible article for his book or paper without definitely saying anything. But he was right; we must keep the chickens growing, and at the first indication that their growth has stopped we must investigate and find out the cause. What are the chief causes of chickens not doing well in the summer? Lice and mites. If your chickens are not doing well, treat them for lice, even if you cannot see them, and give their house a good spraying with kerosene emulsion and a little carbolic acid. Comfort and proper food are the two great factors that will pro- mote the growth of our chicks, and cleanliness is the first require- ment. The drinking vessels at this season of the year require spe- cial care ; whatever may be used should be kept scrupulously clean. I find a sink brush is an excellent thing for scrubbing out the drink- ing vessels. They must be kept in the shade. They can be placed in a box set on its side or under a shed or tree, and besides being shaded, they should be frequently replenished during the day. Sunshine and Shade Provide shade for the growing chicks ; shade from the burning rays of the sun. Nothing is more conducive to health than sun- shine but it must be tempered by shade. Trees and bushes supply the best shade as the temperature close under growing green leaves is several degrees cooler than under anything that is dry or dead Few realize what a necessity shade is to fowls. ; If an epidemic seizes the half-grown chicks, it is attributed to any cause on earth but the lack of shade, when, m very many cases this is the sole cause. Vertigo, blindness, stunted growth may all be due to the glare of the sun on unsheltered yards, bhade is a necessitv and if trees or shrubs are lacking, a good shelter can be made by driving a few stakes or small posts into the ground and making a frame upon which palm branches or brush can be laid. I 82 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK have found a very serviceable temporary shade can be made by rip- ping open a common gunny sack and nailing four laths on the edges. This little frame can be laid across the top of a small pen or even hung on wire fence and afford a grateful shade. Overcrowding or the chicks huddling for even one night may stunt the growth or be the means of bringing on an epidemic of colds which may result in roup. But how to stop them crowding? A mother hen often solves the difficulty by taking the half-grown chicks on the perch with her, but for brooder chicks some other plan must be found; the best way is to divide them into flocks or colonies of only twenty-five in each, and supply comfortable perches for them. The chicks will in a short time take to the perches of their own accord. At one time I had not enough colony coops and a great many chicks. I put them a hundred together in my regular henneries, but they crowded and I not only was losing every night some of the best, but the survivors looked very badly. They sweat off in the night all they had gained during the day. I realized that this meant failure for me if I could not control it. I spent my evenings going around and patiently placing the chicks, hundreds of them, on the perches till I was completely tired out, when I decided to make it so desperately uncomfortable for them they could not crowd. I bought a bundle of six-foot lath and made a lath platform or floor, by nailing them one and a half inches apart, the width of a lath, on stringers one inch by three. This made a flooring of small lath perches three inches above the ground, and made it so un- comfortable for the chicks to crowd that it entirely prevented it. I placed regular perches four or five inches above the lath floor and in a few nights, on making my nightly rounds with my lantern, I had the satisfaction of finding all the chicks on the regulation perches. I have recommended the lath platform or floor to many and it has proved always successful. Teaching Them to Roost It is sometimes difficult to persuade the- young chickens at this time of the year (September), when moved to winter quarters, to go into the coop or house, which they should occupy. The little perversities insist on returning to the place where their mother has raised them, or they will huddle together on the ground, while the older ones fly into the low trees. Night after night, they have to be carried to their house. I, however, have found that by driving them gently with a broom for two or at most three nights, they will soon learn what is expected of them. A broom is by far the best way. of driving chickens without frightening them. A broom in each hand is the best way of driving a large herd of turkeys, also, by gently waving them on each side. They will be afraid of the broom, but never become wild or afraid of the attend- ant in this way. It is entirely possible to drive the profits out of a nock of hens by stoning and pelting them every time they get into SUMMER WORK S3 mischief. Be quiet in your manner if you wish to be successful with hens. Make the fowls feel that, when you are present there is a protector among them, not something that is likely to scare or harm them. The only way to keep your fowls on good terms with you is by keeping them tame and treating them in a common- sense manner. Protecting Chicks from Older Fowls It may sometimes be necessary to allow young and old fowls to run together. This creates trouble, as the young chicks require more frequent feeding than the older ones. To avoid this trouble, make a pen about six feet square and covered with wire netting. The pen should be made on a framework so that it can be easily moved. Feed for the chicks is scattered in the pen far enough from the edge so the older fowls cannot reach it from the outside. Then the pen is raised on blocks, just high enough to allow the chicks to pass under but will prevent the older fowls from getting inside. The Dry Hopper In the matter of feeding hens on a farm, I would much prefer the dry hopper method, keeping one hopper full of mixed grains and one hopper with beef scraps or granulated milk, and letting the fowls have free range until it is time to put them in their winter quarters. Then, instead of only grain in the hopper, make the mix- ture of bran, corn meal and alfalfa meal, or take one of the good balanced rations sold at the poultry supply houses for the hopper. The reason for this change which should be made gradually, is that the fowls being confined, do not get the exercise and consequently may get overfat from eating the whole grains, while the finely- ground food has to be eaten more slowly. For fowls in confine- ment, besides the hopper or finely ground feed, they should have a scratch pen in which the grain is thrown every morning for them to scratch in. This will give them the exercise which they wouhl otherwise miss after being on free range all the summer. BROILER RANCHES Broiler raising is one of the lucrative branches of the poultry in- dustry. It is a business, however, which should not be entered into without study or experience. There are some very large broiler ranches in the neighborhood of Los Angeles. The ration for broilers is usually that given for chicks till they are" four or five weeks of age, when they are finished off with a fattening ration for from two to three weeks. The average cost of raising a broiler is from fifteen to eighteen cents, while the sell- ing price on contract is from fifty to sixty cents at a pound and a half in weight. By using the ration given for broilers after the first two weeks, some breeders have attained the weight of two pounds for their broilers at six weeks of age. This was in small lots of twenty-five to fifty broilers in a brooder.* ♦See page 34. THE TRAP-NEST Trap-nests are one of the inventions of this progressive age. It is the surest, quickest method of securing better eggs arid more of them. A trap-nest is a nest box, the entrance to which closes auto- matically when the hen steps into the nest and keeps her in the box until the person in charge releases her, thus showing which hen laid the egg. The progressive farmer or dairyman knows that he must test the milk of his cows and he finds when he begins to do so that he has cows in his herd that do not pay for their keep. It is the same in the poultry business ; in every flock of hens there are idlers that do not pay for their feed — they lay so few eggs that their owners are out of pocket by keeping them. I would not have believed this had I not discovered it to be the case with some of my own hens. The first season that I used trap-nests I found a hen which went on the nest every day, but only laid four eggs in one month, while another in the same yard laid twenty-nine. It was a revelation to me. The first year I discovered that nearly one-fourth of my hens barely paid for their board. That was not the kind of hens I wanted. I was in the business for profit and not loss, so I weeded them out, and very good eating they made. The second, year I got, with a reduced flock, a twenty per cent less feed bill and fully twenty-five per cent increase of eggs — more eggs at less cost. Surely the trap-nests repaid me for the slight extra trouble of attending to them. They were not only of use in discovering the best layers, but I became better acquainted per- sonally with each hen. I found that the hen which laid the most eggs had the most fertile eggs, while the poor layers' eggs were not nearly so fertile. Trap-nests make the hens tame and tame hens lay more eggs than wild hens. Some hens may at first object to being handled, but after a few days they become reconciled to it. My White Plymouth Rocks were so tame that when I opened the door they would step into my hands or sit quietly until I lifted them up to ascertain the numbers of their leg-bands. . In order to make the use of the trap-nests efficient, we must be able to know each hen individually, and for this purpose each hen must wear a leg-band, a small bracelet, made of copper or aluminum with a number on it. By means of the trap-nest one can discover any hen that is be- coming too fat, or too thin, and she can be moved into another and more suitable pen. The trap-nest also renders a great service in detecting the egg eater. If there is reason to suspect a certain hen of this villainous habit, give her an egg while she is on the nest; if the egg after a time disappears it is pretty good evidence that the culprit has been discovered, and decapitation should be the verdict. Another advantage in using trap-nests is that it gives one an opportunity to examine the hens for vermin, and by taking a small can of insect powder around occasionally while visiting the nests, THE TRAP-NEST 85 and powdering the hens, they can be kept perfectly clean with very little trouble. I use a baking powder can, having perforated the lid, making a large pepper pot. A liberal use, not blown on out of an air gun, but freely peppered on the hens, is very beneficial 1 visit the nests about three times during the morning to re- lease the hens and gather the eggs. One trap-nest is required for every three hens When a hen is taken from her nest, the egg is marked with her leg-band number and the date and credit is liven her on the record sheet or record book. This is a sheet or page marked off in squares of thirty-one days with the hen's name or number at the head of the line. I mark B for broody, S for sold M tor marketed,. and so on, and have in this way the history of each hen at a glance. J Maine Exp. Sta. Trap-nest, Improved Trap-nests have taught me which hens lay the best shaped e &gs, which the largest size, which the strongest fertilized, which are the best winter layers, which pullets begin early, the number of eggs they lay in succession, the number of times they become broody and many other facts that can be learned in no other way ; in fact, I find my records exceedingly interesting and profitable read- ing. Trap-nests were a perfect revelation to me and aided me in my success with poultry. There are a number of trap-nest plans, also trap-nests on the market, ranging in price from $1 to $25. I have bought and tried several, and find that the most satisfactory trap-nest is one that has two compartments, one the nest where the hen lays the egg and the next where she waits to be released. I find that if there is only one compartment the hen often stands upon the egg and is apt to break it accidentally when she wants to come off and so learns to eat eggs. The two-compartment nest is comfortable for the hen and convenient for the attendant. The nest box here described is adapted from the first that was made at the Maine Experiment Station, is very simple and easily made. I use wooden cracker boxes or shoe boxes, and easily made two in a morning. The wire was a little difficult to bend, but a boy bent it for me. 86 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK The nest box is very simple, inexpensive, easy to attend and certain in its action. It is twenty-eight inches long, 14 inches wide and 14 inches deep. A divison board, with a circular open- Hen Entering Trap-nest ing 7y% inches in diameter is placed across the box 13 inches from the back end. The back end is the nest proper. The door is a light frame covered with wire netting or laths. The door is Wfa inches wide and 10 inches high, and does not fill the entire en- trance, a space of 2% inches being left at the bottom and Ity inches at the top, with a good margin at the sides. The "trip" or "trigger" consists of a piece of wire about ■& of an inch in diameter and 26% inches long, bent as shown in draw- ing. To hold the trip wire in position and let it roll sidewise easily, nail a cleat to the cover and put two staples for the wire to hang in near its bent corners. The long end of the wire hangs in front of and close to the center of the 7%-inch circular opening. When the door is set, the half-inch section of wire marked "A" comes Trip Wire under a hardwood peg or a tack with a round head which is driven into the lower edge of the door frame. The hen passes into the nest through the circular opening and in doing so presses the wire to one side and the trip slips from its connection with the door. THE TRAP-NEST 87 The door promptly drops down, without noise and without fright- ening the hen. The double box, with the nest to the rear end, is necessary, as when a bird has laid and desires to leave the nest she steps to the front and remains there till released. With one section only she might crush the egg by standing upon it. One word of caution : It is well to have nests enough, because the hens must be coaxed to lay, and when they are ready they must not be kept waiting. If a hen is dissatisfied with her nest she may hold her egg for twenty-four hours, and in time be taught to lay only every two or three days. It is wise to encourage the hens to lay, and I have found these trap-nests are much liked by the hens whilst others that I bought frightened them and prevented them laying, entirely defeating the object of the nest, which is more eggs and better hens. There is not any patent on this nest; any one is at liberty to make and use it, as it is the original trap-nest made by the Maine Experimental Station, slightly altered. I will add that anyone wishing to make trap-nests should write to the Director of the Government Experiment Stations in -differ- ent states for plans of their trap-nests. These plans are free to everyone wishing to use them. Puyallup, Washington, has a good nest, also Corvallis, Oregon, Cornell, N. Y., and there are many others. I visited the celebrated ranch of George England at Inglewood, near Los Angeles, who has 5,000 hens and uses trap-nest all the year and EVERY day. He has eleven hundred trap-nests and is building more. He assures me the plan of the nest in this book is the best of all. Rhope Island White Pui.let GRIT AND GIZZARD One of the most important things necessary for the health of poultry is a supply of grit of the right kind. Nature provides a use for every organ of the body, and in every body an organ for each specific duty. Most animals are provided with teeth to enable them to prepare their food for the action of the fluids secreted by the stomach, pancreas and liver. It will also be remembered that be- sides being crushed in the mouth by the teeth, the food is acted on by the saliva. Nature has not endowed birds with teeth, but it has provided a good substitute in the gizzard. This is a tough, strong, muscular organ, so situated in the body that all food taken into the mouth must pass through it. Previous to passing through the gizzard, all food has been received into a pouch or bag, the crop, where it re- mains some time. There it is soaked with and acted upon by a fluid secreted in and by this pouch, and a modified process takes place similar to that of the saliva in the mouth of animals with teeth. The food gradually leaves this pouch (the crop), passes through the proventriculus and into the gizzard, where it is ground up, and thence it goes to the intestines, where, after being mixed with other fluids, it passes on and the nutriment is absorbed. No doubt a bird may be made to exist for a time, perhaps a considerable time, without grit, just as a person may live for years with bad teeth, or perhaps with none at all. We all know how little they enjoy their food or health, and surely if the birds do not have the means of masticating their food they can neither be healthy nor enjoy their food, and will not give their owners a good return for their food and care. The Best Grit The gizzard is a marvelously strong little mill and when pro- vided with the proper grit, or little grindstones, will keep the fowls in good condition: Hard, sharp substances are necessary, such as flint stones or granite pounded up. Broken china, earthenware, glass and all such substances broken up -make excellent grit. When the grit has not sharp edges, the harder parts of the food are not digested, husks and green food accumulate and frequently causes a stoppage between the crop and the gizzard, so that nothing but liquid can pass. A lack of sharp grit brings on diarrhoea also, the gall overflows and sometimes the gall-sack bursts. There are two passages, one into, and the other out of the gizzard ; they are both on one side of it. The one leading out of it is much smaller than the one leading into it. Thus the gizzard can receive larger substances but cannot get rid of them until they are ground small : and sharp grit is needed for this. When I first came to California I purchased a grist mill and. alas, I had broken china also ! I had two dozen hens just bought and proceeded to grind up some crockery for them. The man who was building my fence thought it dreadfully cruel of me, remarking GRIT AND GIZZARD 89 "It's enough to kill a dog; let alone those poor hens." "The hens will riot eat it unless they need it," was my reply, though I agreed with him about the dog. To his surprise those hens ate almost a quart of it. None of them died and they soon commenced to lay. Give the little chicks the small chick-grit. Eight pounds of this will be sufficient for the first two months of the life of fifty little chicks and then they should have a larger size. One hundred pounds of hen grit, which can be bought at the poultry supply houses, is sufficient to last a hundred hens about a year. Pigeons consume more grit than hens, proportionately to size. Give pigeons grit to keep them healthy. My attention to grit and gizzards was aroused many years ago. "Will madame look to what I have found in the interior of this fowl?" said my French maid to me. She had opened the gizzard of a fat young hen and had found thirteen china buttons and two pearl buttons or parts of them, mixed with the black adobe mud. Since that day I have tried to keep my fowls well supplied with grit. Starve for Lack of Grit "I cannot think what ails my fowls," said one lady. "They have all the food they can eat, but here is another dead." j'Have you ever opened one to discover the trouble?" I asked. "Yes, but 1 never find anything." "Well, I think your fowls have indigestion,' I said, "but we will hold a post mortem on this one and try to solve the difficulty." We found a medium sized gizzard, full of dark earth, no stones, no grit, not even buttons. That told the story, the fowls were starving to death in the midst of plenty, just for lack of grit to grind their food. I occasionally make curious discoveries when I hold a post mor- tem, for the contents of a school boy's pockets are scarcely more varied than those of a fowl's gizzard, when not supplied with the proper kind of grit. My Indian Runner ducks, being great pets and never doing any mischief, were allowed the freedom of my place. I had noticed them around the out-door fireplace where the caul- dron was boiled, old boxes, building scrap and rubbish being used I thought the ducks were picking up bits of charcoal, but one morning I found a fine duck dead. The post mortem revealed an enormous gizzard, twice the usual size, on opening which I found a number of nails, some bits of wire two two-pointed tacks Sev- eral of the nails were embedded in the gizzard and the largest one pierced quite through it. The ducks had always been supplied with Plenty of river sand, but this particular duck seemed to have de- veloped an ostrich's appetite. After that I gave them also the smaller chick grit and with most excellent results for never ducks laid as many eggs as did those. Grit, oyster shells, or clam shells, and charcoal are indispensable for fowls. The Symptoms of Grit Craving When your hens seem "mopey" just break up some old china, and see if thev will not refuse the bost food for it. 00 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK When you see water run from a hen's mouth, when she puts her head down, the trouble is indigestion. Give her grit and char- coal. When your hens do not care for their food, tone up their appe- tites by a dose of grit. When they are not laying as well as you think they should, give them grit. When hens moult slowly, it is often from impaired digestion. Give them grit and charcoal. When you want the hens to derive all the benefit of the nutri- tion in the food, supply them with good, sharp grit. If you want vigorous, profitable hens, give them a liberal supply of grit. When your hens are too fat, when they lay thin-shelled eggs, give them grit. A friend of mine was very much troubled with soft-shelled eggs. She got her husband to take his wagon to the hills, where there is a good quarry of what is called rotten granite. He brought home a load of it, and in a few days the hens laid hard-shelled eggs and she told me that the shells were so hard that the chicks could hardly break out of them. The value of good sharp grit can scarcely be overestimated, and yet even intelligent people do not realize it. Some think that there is grit enough in the natural soil. This is rarely the case, for hens, wild birds, or pigeons pick up the sharpest and best grit, so that even on a farm where the hens have free range, there is rarely enough grit of the proper kind, and when fowls are kept yarded < there is never enough unless they are artificially supplied. If you J doubt this, try the experiment of giving your hens some broken china. The pieces should not be larger than a pea and should have three sharp corners. You will be surprised to see how eagerly the hens will eat the china. The best layer I ever had laid 225 eggs in nine months and moulted during that time. She was the greatest eater of grit 1 ever saw. Every night before going to roost she ran down to the grit box and took three pieces. Every time she laid an egg she refreshed herself with some grit, and I learned by observation that all my best layers were the most constant visitors to the grit box. Hens that consume the most grit are those that get the most nutri- ment out of their food, lay the most eggs, are the heaviest, have the most fertile eggs and pay the best. Grit to grind the food and charcoal to keep it pure during this process and, for laying hens, oyster shells to supply the lime for the eggshells, these are so necessary that we are almost tired of the mention of them in the poultry papers, but, "lest we forget," I have written about them again. PESTS OF A POULTRY YARD Fleas The common hen flea (pulex avium) is prevalent in the Pacific States. It is found in filthy hen houses, especially those located on sandy soil. Dirty nests, cracks, dust and dark corners are fa- vorite breeding places for them. They produce great irritation of the skin and in young birds the growth may be permanently stunted and many young chickens killed by them. For treating flea bites, bathe the bites -with vinegar and water, or lemon juice, and apply carbolated vaseline or lard in which a little carbolic acid has been mixed— 5 drops of carbolic acid (90 per cent) to a tablespoonful of lard. To free poultry houses, and yards of the fleas, use whitewash freely, adding a pint of carbolic acid to every twelve gallons of whitewash. Spray it or slop it thoroughly into all the corners and cracks. Dark dusty places in the poultry yard afford favorable breeding places for fleas. These corners should be soaked with hot soapsuds or boiling salt water to" kill the young broods of fleas. Use carbolized lime, tobacco dust and moth balls in the nests. Fleas are very hard to get rid of. A kettle full of scalding water with a handful of salt in it or a clothes boiler full of soapsuds poured into the dark corners where the fleas breed is an excellent cure ; or even scattering salt and spraying it with water will have the same effect. If the fleas adhere to tke-freads, breasts or under the wings of chickens, bathe them with vinegar and salt. The salt kills the fleas and the vinegar is an antidote to the poisonous bite. Bedbugs and Ticks Bedbugs sometimes attack poultry on their roosts and suck their blood. In California there is also a species of tick that is fatal to poultry which somewhat resembles the bedbug of the East. To destroy them fumigation is usually employed, either fumigating with sulphur, or, better still, the cyanide process used for the scale on citrus trees. To fumigate with sulphur close every door and window and see that there are no cracks to admit the air. Burn one pound of sul- phur for every 100 square feet of floor space in the house. A house 10x10 will require one pound of sulphur; one 20x10, two pounds, and so on. The sulphur must be burned in iron vessels which should be set on gravel or sand, so there may be no danger from fire. Into each vessel put a handful of carpenter shavings saturated with kerosene and upon these sprinkle the sulphur. Apply a match to the shavings and hastily leave the house, closing the door. The house should remain closed for 5 hours. Fumigation may be followed by thoroughly whitewashing the inside of the house. Painting or spraying the house with corrosive sublimate is also very effective. Care must be used in handling this poison. 93 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK Mites There are several varieties of the tiny blood-sucking mites to be found in carelessly kept henneries. The red mite is the most com- mon and active of all parasites which attack birds. It is about one thirty-fifth of an inch in length, white or grey in color, except when filled with blood, when they will be red or black. It hides by day in the corners and crevices of buildings, nests, perches, floors, etc., where they may be found in clusters. At night these clusters scat- ter over the birds and by pricking the skin can fill themselves with blood. They are injurious not only on account of the blood they draw, but because of the itching pain and loss of rest. They will even kill young fowls and sitting hens. When they are discovered vigorous means should be adopted to get rid of them. The Iowa State Experiment Station gives a full description of the best and cheapest way of exterminating these mites. At this station the kerosene emulsion was found to be perfectly effective in killing them. It is made as follows: KEROSENE EMULSION— In one gallon of boiling water dis- solve one pound bar of soap of one pound of soap powder. Remove from the fire, add immediately one gallon of kerosene, churn or agi- tate violently for ten minutes, or until the solution becomes like a thick cream. If the oil and water separate on standing, then the soap was not caustic enough. Take one quart of this, add to it ten quarts of water ; spray thoroughly the houses every three days with this diluted emulsion until all the mites are exterminated. To make it more effective, you may add one pint of crude carbolic acid to the emulsion as soon as taken from the fire. The diluted emulsion (one part to ten of water) is also used to rid fowls of lice. By using this spray once a month always, the houses can be kept perfectly free from vermin and thoroughly disinfected from disease. For a Spray or Paint To be applied to roosting boards, walls and floor of the hen house, the following preparation is used : Three parts of kerosene and one part crude carbolic acid. This is stirred up when used and may be applied with any of the hand spray pumps or with a brush. In both of these formulas it is highly important that crude carbolic acid be used, instead of the purified product. Be sure and insist on getting crude carbolic acid. It is a dark brown, dirty look- ing liquid and its value depends on the fact that it contains tar oil and tar bases in addition to the pure phenol (carbolic acid). I have found that kerosene (coal oil) is the best preventive or cure for mites. A noted poultry man who has thousands of hens told me that he pours kerosene on his perches about once a month to keep them clean of mites or lice. Another poultry man uses boiling hot salt and water. He throws the boiling salt water all over the walls inside the hennery. PESTS OF A POULTRY YARD 93 Lice There are nine varieties of lice affecting poultry. Some of these lice spread rapidly. One infested bird is capable of spreading the vermin through a large flock. They cause dumpishness, drooping wings, indifference to food and may stunt or even kill the chicks. One of the best means of preventing lice is the dust bath. This bath should be a wallow of freshly turned earth, mellow and slightly damp, out of doors under some tree in the summer time, or in a box six or eight inches deep in the hennery in the rainy weather. Provided with a good dust bath, healthy hens will almost keep themselves clean from lice. When fowls are badly infested with lice they should be well dusted with a good lice powder, of which there are a number on the market. In looking for lice on a fowl, examine the head feathers care- fully, one by one, then look under the wings and along the shafts of the underside of the long wing feathers, examine the feathers of the cushion and saddle down to the skin, and then turn the fowl quickly and look beneath and around the vent. If you have eyes to see you will find them. If you find only one or two, a thorough dusting of the bird will be all that is needed, but if the lice are plentiful a more vigorous treatment will be necessary. Lice breed very rapidly on the fowl among the feathers where the warmth of the bird's body can hatch the eggs, which are deposited singly or in clusters among the soft feathers. They seldom ever breed on young chicks, but are passed along to the chick by some lousy adult bird. Lice Eggs on Hen's Feather. Should be Pulled Out and Burned How to Keep Poultry Free from Lice The following formula is used at the Maine and Cornell Ex- ^^Take^See^parts of gasoline, one part of crude carbolic acid. MixThese together and add gradually, while stimng enough plas- ter of "pari s to take up all the moisture, the liquid and the dry PlLtersSould be thoroughly mixed and stirred, so that the hquid wiH be uniformly distributed through the mass of plaster. When 94 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK enough plaster has been added, the resulting mixture should be a dry, pinkish brown powder, having a fairly strong carbolic odor and a rather less pronounced gasoline odor. Do not use more plaster, in mixing, than is necessary to blot up the liquid. This powder is to be worked into the feathers of the bird affected with vermin. The bulk of the application should be in the fluff around the vent and under the wings. Its efficiency can be very easily demonstrated by anyone to his own satisfac- tion. Take a bird that is covered with lice and apply the powder in the manner described. After a lapse of about a minute, shake the bird, loosening its feathers with the fingers at the same time, over a clean piece of paper. Dead and dying lice will drop on the paper in great numbers. Anyone who will try this experiment will have no further doubt of the wonderful efficiency and value of this powder. Insecticides This best insecticide I know is called in California "Buhach" or "Insect Powder." It is made from the Pyrethrum Daisy, one of the Cinerarias. In Europe it is called "Dalmation Powder" or "Per- sian Powder." It contains a small quantity of essential oil and asphyxiates every kind of insect but is harmless to animals and birds. I have used it effectively on the smallest canary to the larg- est turkey for lice, on cats and dogs for fleas and in my travels in Africa and the European countries for fleas, flies, mosquitoes, bed- bugs and ants. It is most effective. There is nothing better. Im California you must ask for Buhach, as it has been patented and is made by a firm at Stockton from acres of the daisies. Watch-it-get-em : Another good insecticide but rather strong for little chickens or baby turkeys, but very effective against lice or hens and may be freely sprinkled in their nests. The formula is : Pyrethrum Powder 7.5% Sodium Fluoride 72.0% Sodium Bi-Fluoride 5.0% Total Inert Ingredients 15.5% Sodium Fluoride : An effective insect powder is Sodium Fluo- ride 75% and talcum 25%. This is too strong to be sprinkled upon little chickens. It seems to smother them, but can be used on hens and in nests. Blue Ointment There is an ointment or salve sold at most poultry supply houses. It is bluish or gray in color and contains mercury. Apply a small amount of this to the feathers around the vent hole. Professor Quizenberry strongly recommends "Blue Ointment." He advises getting an ounce of "Blue Ointment" from any good drug store, and mix it with the same amount of lard and apply to the feathers around the vent in a small quantity. The lard is to make the ointment adhere to the feathers. This salve can also DISEASES OF POULTRY 95 be applied where fowls are badly infested with lice, under the wings or on the top of the head, but be careful to use small quantities be- cause it is poisonous. It is sometimes called "Mercurial Ointment." I have used this for years and have found that applied once in six months or not so often it will keep the hens entirely free from lice. This salve does not prevent the fertility of the eggs but I would not advise it to be used on a sitting hen. It is the best preventive of lice I have ever used. DISEASES OF POULTRY There is no reason for chickens being unhealthy except, as a general thing, from the carelessness or ignorance of their owners. Carelessness in not keeping the fowls clean, in not being regular in their feeding, in the lack of pure water and shade and in giving them either draughty sleeping quarters or too close and badly vent- ilated coops. Poultry keepers in the East, after years of trouble and anxiety over roup, which I really think is much worse there than here, are coming to the conclusion that open-front houses, even there, where they have zero weather, will prevent roup and colds. Here in our favored climate, open-front houses, cleanliness and plenty of green food are a sure prevention of roup. I am glad to be able to say that although there are more than double the number of pure-bred fowls in California now than ever before, there is a minimum amount of roup. Poultry raisers are using common sense in the feeding and care of chickens, looking upon poultry raising as a business, a money proposition, when handled in a business-like way, and the result is very little roup * and less sickness of any kind. Roup must be transmitted by contagion; healthy fowls will not have it unless a roupy fowl is introduced into the flock, or the infection is brought in through water or food, through coops in which roupy fowls have been confined or through the infection being carried on the garment of the attendant. Many Kinds of Roup It was formerly the custom to call nearly all the ailments of fowls due to taking cold by the name of "Roup." Dr. Salmon of the Bureau of Animal Industry, Washington, D. C, makes a dis- tinction, however, between the different kinds of colds or roup, simple catarrh and infectious catarrh, also called roupy catarrh, and diphtheritic catarrh or diphtheritic roup. Simple catarrh is easily cured, will often get well without treatment ; roupy catarrh is very infectious and more difficult to cure ; but diphtheritic roup is the worst of all and greatly resembles the diphtheria of children. There is also another disease called "Canker" which much resem- bles diphtheritic roup, but is less severe. It is caused by another germ and needs other treatment. 96 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK Catarrh All of these diseases commence in the same manner. Usually the first symptoms noticed are a slight discharge from the nostrils, eyes wet and watery from mucus, and often some bubbling at the corners with coughing and sneezing. In simple catarrh more seri- ous symptoms will not have developed in a few days, but with roupy catarrh the discharge thickens and obstructs the breathing by filling the nostrils and there is a foul odor to it. Sometimes swell head develops, then one or both eyes are closed, the birds wipe their eyes on their shoulders, sleep with their heads under their wings and the discharge sticks to and dries on their feathers. This dried mucus will spread the disease through the flock, for in it are the germs of the disease, the seeds of which may be sown whenever the chicken moves or shakes itself, or when others touch it or a feather falls. Chickens with this disease should be isolated, the mucus gently washed off, using a disinfectant in the water, a few drops of carbolic acid or a tablet of protiodide of mercury in a pint of water. Roupy catarrh is difficult of cure, is very infectious and often fatal. Diphtheritic Roup Diphtheritic roup is the worst of all. It requires different remedies to the simple catarrh or roupy catarrh. It commences usually in the same manner with a slight cold, but the mucous membrane of the mouth, throat, nasal passages, and the eyes are affected. False membrane forms on these parts, very much re- sembling in appearance the diphtheria of children, and by some thought to be the same. At first the patches are small and scat- tered but have a tendency to run together. The disease appears suddenly, the fowl is feverish, dumpish and disinclined to eat. As the disease progresses the mouth and throat become filled with false membrane and mucus until the fowl dies of suffocation, or the poison from the disease gets into the circulation and the fowl dies of blood poisoning or paralysis. Canker Canker is sometimes confounded with diphtheria. It is an ulcerative disease of the mouth. It is frequently found in cock birds after fighting and is common in birds that have been work- ing in mouldy or musty litter or that have been fed on spoiled grain. The disease is seldom noticed until the fowl shows a collec- tion of yellowish ulcers or cheesy growth on the roof of the mouth, the side of the tongue or the angles of the jaws, and sometimes at the opening of the windpipe. It is very common among pigeons. Roup cures can be bought at the principal poultry supply houses, but for the use of those living in the country too far away to procure these, I will give a few simple remedies that can be easily and quickly used in the first stages, thus arresting an epi- demic. For local treatment a good atomizer is the most satisfac- DISEASES OF POULTRY 97 tory way of applying it, or a small syringe, and as handy as any- thing is a small sewing machine oil can. Chicken Pox Chicken Pox or Sore Head affects turkeys as well as chickens and more rarely geese. Young turkeys are more susceptible than the older fowls. It is caused by a parasitic fungus, of the group now known to scientists as blastomycetes. There must be an abrasion or puncture of the skin or of the comb for the parasite to get into the skin of the fowl. The bite of insects or any abrasion such as a scratch from wire or from fighting in cockerels or turkeys, make conditions favorable to get into the skin of the fowl. The bite of an insect such as the flea or mite will carry or give the disease. It is contagious. At first it has the appearance of warts, these reach their full development in 5 to 10 days. The largest are found about the beak, nostrils or eye-lids. These warts seem to run together and form yellow masses upon the comb and wattles. Chicken pox is more prevalent in damp weather than in dry. The cure is, wash the warts in warm soap suds, dry and apply carbolated vaseline or carbolic salve, and feed a light nourishing diet, one-third being green food, cut green alfalfa or lettuce, and give bread and milk to which add half a teaspoonful of powdered sulphur. Segregate the patients as it is very con- tagious. Disinfect the premises thoroughly. Remedies (1) When first the cold is noticed, put a bit of Bluestone (sul- phate of copper) in the drinking water. A piece as big as a navy bean in a quart of water, not any stronger. This is a germ killer, dries up the cold in the head, is a disinfectant and will prevent the other chickens taking the disease. So if any chick takes cold, put this into the water of the whole flock for a week to prevent the disease spreading. (2) For a Common Cold: A pill of quinine and one of asa- foetida (1 gr. of each), with half a teaspoonful of cayenne pepper will frequently cure a cold in one night. Aconite also is a good remedy. One drop in a teaspoonful of milk. Always give a grown hen the same dose as to adult human being. The following are cures for Roupy Catarrh : (3) One tablespoonful of castor oil, half a tablespoonful tur- pentine, a tablespoonful of kerosene, a tablespoonful of camphor- ated oil and four drops of carbolic acid. Shake before using. Squirt a drop up each nostril and into the cleft of the mouth, and for swell head rub the whole head with it. This is an excellent cure and cheap. (4) Put one cupful of kerosene in half a gallon of water ; the oil will float on top ; dip the fowl's head slowly into this, holding it under whilst you count three. It will sneeze and cough and you must wipe off all the mucus with a rag and carefully burn the rag. Repeat the treatment twice a day. 98 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK (5) Take of lard two tablespoonsful ; vinegar, mustard, cay- enne pepper, each one tablespoonful ; mix thoroughly, add flour enough to make a stiff dough. Give a bolus of this the size of the first joint of the little finger. One dose frequently cures. If not, repeat in twelve or twenty-four hours. (6) Dr. N. W. Sanborn gives as a remedy: "Spray all mucous surfaces with the following: Extract of Witch Hazel, four table- spoonsful ; liquid carbolic acid, four drops ; water, two tablespoons- ful. Do this twice a day, squeezing the bulb of the atomizer five times for each nostril and twice for the mouth. If there are any watery or foamy eyes, give one squeeze for each. (7) One part of pulverized gum camphor and seven parts of pulverized liquorice root. Blow up the nostrils, into the cleft of the mouth and down the throat. This should be made fresh, as the camphor evaporates. (8) Five drops of eucalyptus oil on a bit of bread or a lump of sugar night and morning. (9) For Diphtheritic Roup : Peroxide of hydrogen is, I think, the best remedy. Dilute with from one to three parts of water. The solutions, when applied to diseased surfaces, begin to foam, and should be repeated until there is no more bubbling. A little of the solution forced into the nostrils by the use of a dropping tube or atomizer is driven higher up into the nostrils by the force of the foaming, reaching parts otherwise out of touch. (10) For Canker: Four grains of Sulpho-carbolate of zinc to one ounce of distilled water. Paint the canker spots with this night and morning and in three days the germs will be destroyed. The chickens should have nourishing food, such as bread and milk and chopped onions. If you have any doubts as to whether the disease is canker or roup, you had better use the peroxide of hydrogen one day and the zinc the day following, alternating the treatment. It will not do to mix the two medicines at the same time, as one neutralizes the other. Roup, Cure For. — The following treatment for roup, when it has extensively infected the flock, is recommended by the New York Experiment Station : A solution is* made of one teaspoonful of permanganate of potash, dissolved in one pint of water. All the cheesy matter is picked off with a toothpick and the spots painted with iodine. Then the heads of the sick fowls are dipped in the so- lution. This treatment to be repeated daily until a cure is effected. The Diseases of the Lungs Are Bronchitis Bronchitis: Bronchitis is confined to the lining membrane of the breathing tubes. Bronchitis is caused by exposure to storms, especially when birds are housed in too close or too warm a build- ing, or by sudden atmospheric changes, direct currents of cold air, irritating particles of dust or lime, or by spreading of inflamma- tion from catarrh of throat or nostrils. It is not considered infect- ious, though it may be almost epidemic from the same cause DISEASES OF POULTRY 99 affecting several of the flock. Birds sent on trains to an exhibition or to a new owner sometimes develop bronchitis. The hot, close air of the show room and the warm corner of the express car, suc- ceeded by exposure to wind or cold, very frequently develops bron- chitis. Symptoms. — There is from the first a rise of temperature, and a little difficulty in breathing. The lining membrane of the bron- chial tubes is dry and swollen, hindering the passing in and out of the air : On listening to the respiration, a whistling sound may be heard ; later on a rattling or bubbling sound, caused by the air passing through accumulations of mucus, is heard. Treatment. — Place the affected birds in a comfortable and rea- sonably dry place, where the temperature will be even. Give soft and cooling, but nourishing, food, such as bread and milk. Give one drop of tincture of aconite every three hours, and two or three times a day a half teaspoonful of honey with five drops of eucalyptus oil. Pneumonia : Bronchitis frequently turns into Pneumonia. The symptoms are almost similar, the breathing is rapid, difficult and painful. There may be coughing with discharge from the mouth or nostrils of thick adhesive mucus. Treatment. — This is a rapid and fatal disease and one in which treatment is very unsatisfactory. The bird should first of all be taken into a warm room without any drafts. Give it half of a five grain tablet of aspirin every three hours, and for a drink give linseed tea. This tea is made by pouring a pint of boiling water on an ounce of flaxseed and keeping the mixture hot but not boiling two hours. The seeds are then removed by straining. Add a tea- spoonful of honey to this. Give a small drink of this every three hours. When the bird begins to improve give a raw egg_ beaten up with an equal amount of milk. Give a teaspoonful of this three times a day. Liver Disease The liver is the largest and most important organ in the fowl's body. It not only prepares the bile which is poured into the in- testines to assist digestion, but it acts also as a germ destroyer and assists in some of the necessary chemical changes 'which take place in the blood. This organ contains numerous blood vessels and through it passes a large quantity of blood. It is particularly sub- ject to the attacks of various kinds of parasites. Most of these parasites probably find their way to the liver through the blood channels lodge in the minute blood vessels, and multiply there It is especially liable to congestion, which frequently occurs from errors in feeding, or other causes of intestinal irritation. Congestion of the Liver A lack of exercise, combined with overfeeding, is the most frequent cause of congestion of the liver. It also results from the overuse of stimulating condiments and the persistent feeding of many of the so-called "egg foods" to birds closely housed and 100 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK yarded. Most of the cases of liver trouble are, however, due to the overfeeding of a ration too rich in starch elements, such as too large an amount of potatoes or bread. The early symptoms of congested liver are not always recog- nized, as the bird's condition may not be suspected. There is at first a lack of color in the bird's comb and wattles, followed by a watery diarrhoea, dark at first, but changing to yellow. The plum- age is rough and dull. Then the color of comb and wattles begins to change to a dark red or purple, often becoming nearly black. The fowl is usually fat at this stage. Treatment If the early symptoms are noted and properly treated, most cases will recover. As the cause is largely one of ill-balanced rations and feeding, with insufficient exercise, a change must be made in this. Give twelve tablets of nux vomica and sulphur comp. 2x in each pint of drinking water. Feed plenty of fresh green stuff and some cooked meat. Keep up this treatment for a week, then turn the bird out in a grass range if possible; otherwise give the birds as scratching material the waste from an alfalfa haymow and allow them only a little grain (wheat) and make them scratch hard for that. Inflammation of the Liver Inflammation of the liver is really the stage following con- gestion. The causes are the same and the symptoms also, only increased in every way. There is little satisfaction in treating a case that has drifted into inflammation. The liver tissues are per- manently injured and that organ is unfit to perform its duties. Treatment Treat these cases, if at all, by clearing out the bowels with a dose of casteroil or sulphate of magnesia, following this by nux vomica, as in the congestion of the liver. Feed lightly, depending upon bran and clover with a little cookgd meat and a free range of grass. TOWN LOT FOWLS The rear of a city lot can be made to yield both profit and pleas- ure when devoted to poultry and fruit trees, and many families may enjoy fresh eggs and an occasional roast chicken, or a "Christ- massy" chicken pie by simply utilizing some of the vacant space in the rear yards of their homes. We sometimes hear that chickens cannot be raised successfully on a city lot because the land is too valuable and that the business will not pay where all the food has to be bought. The value of a city lot is often overestimated when chicken raising is suggested for the back yard, but the question is, what income is your back lot now yielding? I expect that the majority of city back lots are either an outlay or an eyesore to their owners. They grow nothing but grass or weeds, for which nothing is received. When mowed there is that expense to it, with the water tax added, which is hot inconsiderable. As much as I like lawn and flowers in the front of the house, I think the ofttimes neglected back yard should be made valuable also. Nothing to my taste can improve it like fruit trees, which are benefited by having poultry around them, and will bring in good returns, as I know by experience. The main requisite to making a success of poultry raising on a city lot, or anywhere else in fact, is to be thoroughly in love with your fowls and your trees. The man or woman who hates to work around the hens, who grudges the time and trouble, will never make a success of the work and had better let it alone. How to plan your back lot? It should be fenced to suit your space and poultry. If it is a small yard, it may be difficult to fence it high enough for the active breeds, such as the Leghorns, but if you use poultry netting and do not place any rail on the top, you will not have any trouble with the American breeds, even with a comparatively low fence. If there is no rail on the top, the fowls do not see where the netting ends and they seldom try to find the top, but with a rail they light on that and over they go. It may help a beginner to see the plan of my chicken yard on a city lot. The chicken yards are 50 feet by 32 feet ; there are eight fruit trees and three water faucets in the yard. The fruit trees, plum, peach and fig, yielded several dollars' worth of fruit two years after planting, and as they grew older, increased the value of the crop in the back lot, and gave the fowls shade. Hen House Construction The earth around the trees is kept well spaded and moist, so the hens enjoy it as a dust bath and that keeps them clean from lice and mites. The hen house is a shed thirty-two feet long and eight feet wide. It is divided in two parts for two pens of fowls. Each end of it is composed of a roosting room eight feet by eight feet, with space enough for forty hens, if necessary, although I never wish to keep more than twenty-five in each side. 102 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK The roosting room is separated from the scratching pen only by a board twelve inches wide, to keep out the straw. The back and sides of the roosting room are of tongued and grooved flooring and perfectly tight. The whole length of the front of the shed is open, except the roosting room, which has a front of burlap. One side of the roosting room is entirely open into the scratching pen, so that the roosting room is only tightly enclosed on two sides and has free ventilation into the scratching pen and only the burlap on the south side. Consequently my fowls never have colds. The roof is of shakes twelve inches to the weather. The back of the shed is six and a half feet high, the front five feet. PLAtfC* 1 ClUOCEK At the south end of the two yards is a smaller one for sitting hens or for young chicks, as they do better kept away from the older fowls. This small yard is very useful for fattening chickens, turkeys or ducks for the table, and in it I have a small portable coop for the youngsters. I have a water faucet in each yard. This is a great saving of labor and anxiety, for if I am to be absent any length of time I leave the faucet dripping just a little and know the hens will not go thirsty. I feed grain in the scratching pens, dry mash in hoppers, green lawn clippings and refuse vegetables, besides the table scraps. There is a saying that an American family wastes or throws away food enough to support a French family. Why not give all this waste to some hens? The table scraps, the scrapings of the plates, the outer leaves of cabbages, even the parings of potatoes, apples and nearly all vegetables now consigned to the garbage pail would be enough to almost keep a few hens. TOWN LOT FOWLS 103 Possibilities of a Town Lot Have you any idea what returns one dozen laying pullets or hens would give you? I have, for I have kept that number on a town lot. I have not an accurate account of all the eggs laid, but I know there were over two thousand in one year, more than enough to supply a family of six with delicious fresh eggs and to raise between fifty and sixty young fowls for frying and roasting, besides the old ones for stews for "poulet au ris," a French dish of which we are extremely fond. Nine-tenths of the home owners have sufficient space in their back yards to produce enough chickens and eggs to supply their own families, and in this way greatly lessen the expense of living, or in other words, make enough to pay their meat and grocery bills, or else give them all the fresh eggs they can consume with a nice fry always available for Sunday dinner or when a friend unexpectedly drops in. I will give you a formula for feeding hens on a town lot which I will guarantee will give you eggs in abundance and at all seasons. It is easy to feed, for all you have to do is mix it dry in a big box and dip up half a bucket, once or twice a week and fill a box or hopper full of it as the need is. It is quite dry and will keep any length of time. Formula for Balanced Ration Mix by measure two parts bran, one part corn-meal, one part oat-meal, one part alfalfa meal, one part beef scraps. Keep some of this in a box or hopper or bucket — dry, perfectly dry — always before the hens. This dry food in the hopper lasts quite a long time, for the hens prefer the table scraps which are fed to them only once a day (at night) and they like lawn clippings, but this dry feed keeps them in just the right condition for egg production — neither too fat nor too thin. If you do not want to take the trouble to mix this for yourself, you can go to any of the poultry supply houses and buy the food already mixed. This food when put up by reliable firms is what is called the "balanced ration"— that is, it contains the elements of the egg — and when the hens are fed this they simply cannot help laying. They are egg machines which turn the properly balanced ration into eggs. THE MOULTING SEASON The moult with hens in the natural state lasts from sixty to a hundred days, but with some hens, especially with hens that have hard, close-growing feathers, the moult and the results of it will sometimes last over a hundred and fifty days ; in fact I have known of some that went six months without laying any eggs. Too long to spend half a year dressmaking. Think of the loss to their owners! I did not wonder at the man who told me of it, saying that he just turned them out and "let the blamed things rustle for themselves," but I thought if he had helped them "rustle" perhaps they would not have been so long about it. Let us consult Nature, as you know I am very fond of doing. After the wild bird has raised her young and her responsibilities are somewhat over, she moults. The older she is the longer and slower is the process of dropping her feathers and growing them again, because as she ages her vitality is gradually lessening. It is the same with hens ; the older a hen becomes the longer will be the period of the moult, and not only that but the later will it com- mence. Let us again turn to Nature and in this copy her. We want the old hens, if we keep them at all, to be the parents of our young next spring and we are only keeping them over for a certain reason (or for sentiment), as they have, perhaps, proved them- selves to be our very best layers, or as the parents of our prize win- ners, or may be prize winners themselves and therefore we want their offspring in the hopes of perpetuating these excellent traits. The Starving Process How shall we help these elderly hens to get quickly through the moult? Some years ago I read of a man in New York State, who claimed he could make his hens moult at any time of the year and therefore he could also, by controlling the moult, make his hens lay at any time of the year. His plan was to starve the hens and so stop their laying, and when they had stopped for a week or two he fed them highly with fattening food. This he said made them moult and drop their feathers very quickly, so that in a few days the hens would be almost nude and the new feathers would come in very rapidly. His theory was that when hens sit for three weeks on eggs and raise a brood of chickens they moult quickly because they grow thin during incubation, and when thev have the rich feed which is given to the little chicks, it makes 'them shed their feathers and assists the moult. His theory sounded very plausible and I decided if he could do it I could also, and tried. I discovered the New Yorker was only partly right in his deductions and that it does not pay to force Nature out of season. The following year I was much more successful, for I only attempted to "assist" Nature and not to "force" her. I did not try to make the hens moult in June, but waited till nearer to the nat- ural time of the moult, that is, until August. I then put the hens THE MOULTING SEASON 105 on green food. I know that is hard to get at that time, but I had lawn clippings, vegetables and melons, or even alfalfa hay cut in the clover cutter and soaked for some hours in water, and I dis- pensed with all the grain and meat. I kept them on this green food for about three weeks until their avoirdupois was considerably lower and most of them had stopped laying for a week. I found that mature hens which are fed sparingly for about two weeks, that is on green food, cutting out the corn, and then receive a rich nitrogenous ration, moult rapidly with uniformity and enter the cold weather of winter in better condition than those that were fed corn and heating food during the summer. What to Feed It is largely a question of what not to feed as well as how little to give the birds you wish to moult early. There is one line of foods that you may feed in unlimited quantities and that is the green vegetable, the waste, small beets and thinnings of the garden rows can be supplied every day. My own plans in the days when I had small ungrassed yards, was to give full quantities of lawn clippings, putting them into the yards an hour before dark. This gave the birds time to fill up at night and yet the uneaten clippings would be still fresh in the early morning. If you have had no ex- perience in the use of lawn grass you will be surprised to see how much a few hens will eat. This low feeding or "starving process" as it is called by many is the important factor in the forced moult. Unless you really do this in good shape the birds will continue to lay and will shed their feathers in mid-autumn. The Full Ration When the birds have lost all superfluous flesh, when the eggs have ceased to appear for a week, feed them good, full rations of growing foods. Now is when you add meat, beef scraps, green bone, cornmeal, and linseed meal. You can give them a morning meal of two parts cornmeal, three parts bran, one part beef scrap. At noon feed a small handful of wheat or barley to every bird and at night a full feed of wheat or corn. Do not neglect to furnish full supplies of green food and vegetables all the fall. The change from the low feed to the full rations will be fol- lowed by the rapid dropping of feathers. The feathers will fall off all over the birds so that many of them will be almost naked. This result will be seen in most of the birds. A few will fail to respond. Keep the full feed up until the birds get the new coat of feathers and begin to lay a few eggs. Then feed them as you do the fully mature pullets ; avoid feeding of heating foods (corn and corn prod- ucts) lest you start another moult in the late autumn. The forced moult is ONLY FOR MATURED FOWLS, or fowls that are over a year old. You must not starve the pullets. You must keep them growing. They will stand more heating food than hens. Let the pullets do most of your winter laying, but do 106 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK not neglect anything that will induce the older birds to give you a good share in the profits of winter eggs. To sum up the whole matter in a few words, if you want to hasten the moult, do not try the experiment with all your fowls, but take a few, separate them from the others, and about the middle of August commence to shorten their food. You can do this suddenly, giving them only green food and all the green feed they want. Secondly, keep this green feed up for two or three weeks, or at least one week after they have stopped laying. Thirdly, in the green food should be clover, lawn clippings, alf- alfa hay cut in a clover cutter and soaked in water; beet tops, cabbage, lettuce, etc. Fourthly, after the three weeks' fast, feed rich food, fattening food, sunflower seeds, kaffir corn, wheat, barley, barley oats and meat. Fifthly, when they begin to lay, which they will do in about a month on this food, when they have completed their coat, gradually change the food, taking away the corn and its products, and the linseed meal, and anything that would be fattening. Color of Feathers and Skin The feeding of the fattening foods adds heat to the body, fever our grandmothers called it, and this fever seems to loosen the feathers all at once — just what we want — and they fall so quickly that the hens are almost nude. Then is the time for care in feeding if you have exhibition stock, for I am certain color can be greatly controlled by food. Now, I know by my own experience that yellow corn will give yellow feathers (brassy feathers) to white fowls when freely fed; that cottonseed meal will have the same effect, for that is what we add to the fattening food the last week to give the yellow tint to the skin. I know that iron in the drinking water has the same effect with white fowls. With colored fowls, such as Brown Leghorns or Partridge fowls or Buffs the iron and the corn will intensify and make more brilliant and bright their colors. The fowls that are making their new coats, the coats that have to last the hens a year, all need plenty of green food and grain. The white fowls instead of yellow corn, should have oats, hulled oats are best, but if you cannot get hulled oats, soak the oats in scalding water so the hulls will be softened. Hulled oats may appear to be more expensive than the unhulled, but there is so much waste, so much indigestible fiber to the unhulled oats, that I decided that it was more profitable to feed the hulled oats. For those who are feeding cockerels which' they want to exhibit in the winter ; for the white or black and white, give them shade, plenty of shade, for our California sun will draw out the yellow; cut off all the yellow corn and all cottonseed meal ; feed oats, wheat, barley, grit, charcoal and have granulated bone always before them. For the colored fowls add linseed meal to the ration. It will deepen and brighten the colors. VALUE OF ECONOMY The old saying, "a penny saved is a penny earned," may well apply to the poultry business. To make money in the business, one must practice economy in every direction. Economy in Grain First : Economy in buying the food. This is very important. The available grains vary in different places in price ; in some localities, for instance, barley is cheaper than wheat, then utilize barley; that is to say if there is a decided difference in the cost, remembering that barley has a husk on it, which is indigestible fiber, and that fowls do not like it as well as wheat, although they eat it readily if rolled, or soaked or sprouted, and the analysis shows the same nutritive ratio as wheat. Again in some places, oats can be obtained very cheaply, and this is a most valuable grain for feeding and building up large, sturdy frames in the young fowls, promoting egg laying and inducing fertility in the eggs. I have great faith in oats — it is good for man, beast or bird, but the husk is the difficulty there. The oats should be scalded or clipped, or better still, hulled, to make it thoroughly available. In Oregon and Washington, oats is less expensive than in the south, and therefore should be freely used there. By commencing the use of it early, the chicks will be vigorous and of large frame. Then, again, rice, rice hulls and rice bran are cheap in certain localities, such as in San Francisco and Seattle, where large quanti- ties are imported and cleaned, and these can be had very cheaply and utilized either in the dry or wet mash. In other places where beans and peas are grown in quantities, the refuse of these, which is not worth marketing, can be used most advantageously. Broom corn seed is a most excellent food and costs very little. I had in Oklahoma many tons of this, to which the fowls had free access and with green growing winter wheat, a little milk and table scraps, they laid all through the moult and through the winter, notwithstanding the blizzards and zero weather. Nothing seemed to stop their laying, and I attributed it to the broom corn seed. Sorghum seed is equally good. Another little economy I found quite good among the little chickens was buying dry or stale bread from the bakeries at 25c a sack weighing 25 pounds. This I took home, cut same in slices and dried in the sun or in the oven, ground in the grist mill and used either moistened or dry, for chickens, turkeys and ducks. Economy in Vegetables Then, again, there are the various vegetables, many of which can be had for almost nothing. There are "small potatoes." It generally raises a smile to talk of these, but they make a most excellent addition and variety to the fowls' bill of fare. Small raw potatoes can be chopped up in the chopping bowl in a few minutes, also turnips, carrots and onions, and the outer leaves of cabbage, 108 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK cauliflower or celery. I bought the largest chopping, or butter bowl, I could find, and a double bladed chopping knife, and used it every- day, especially for the little chickens and turkeys. Small potatoes, turnips and carrots can be boiled, mashed, mixed with bran and blood meal, or with milk, and make a good variety in the diet. If you have other vegetables to spare such as beets, cucumbers, pumpkins, etc., and find the fowls do not at first like them, chop some up and mix bran with them and soon the hens will acquire a liking for them. Another economy is using the leaves which fall from alfalfa hay. When the haymow begins to get empty, sweep up the leaves and put them in a box or sack to mix in either the dry or wet mash. I used to try to keep the last two bales of the alfalfa hay, as the balers would sweep up the leaves and put them in these last two and this was just what I wanted for my hens. Sometimes I soaked the leaves and fed them at noon, keeping the alfalfa tea to mix in the mash with potatoes and bran or whatever I was feeding. I always said the alfalfa tea was as good as beef tea. There are many ways of economizing in the feed. Economy in Labor Another thing to economize is labor. I know many a farmer's busy wife will agree with me in this. I found the dry feed a great saving of time and strength. It was much less labor to carry around to my many pens of fowls, buckets full of dry food nicely mixed in the proper proportions and pour it into a box, or trough or hopper and let the hens eat it dry, instead of laboriously mixing it with water. Before trying the dry feed, I had so many hens that I had a large trough made, like a plasterer's trough, and I used to mix and turn the mash with a spade or hoe and then fill those large buckets full and put them on a child's express wagon to pull out to the pens. This was quite hard work and I hailed with joy the easier task of carrying the lighter buckets of dry food. I found, too, that it saved time to mix up the food by the sackful or binful ; then all that was required was to dip up a bucketful for each pen. I showed this plan to a friend of mine and later had a letter from her telling me it was a great comfort, for all she had to do was to send her Jap boy out to that certain box or bin'and tell him to feed that; she knew he could not make a mistake for it was ready mixed. Economy in Water Another economy : Have a water faucet in each pen. This may seem like an expense at first, but it will pay in the end, for fresh water is as important as good food, and if it requires but a turn of the faucet the hens are sure to be amply supplied. At one ranch where there was an abundance of water, I saw a small fountain which ran into a basin and that in turn overflowed into some cobble- stones and a drain, so that the hens had always fresh water with- out drawing on either the strength or time of their owner. I would, however, caution chicken raisers against allowing the water to run in a stream from pen to pen, as that may carry infec- VALUE OF ECONOMY 109 tion, especially the infection of colds and roup. One gentleman who had 3000 fowls told me that letting the water run in a small stream through his pens, had ruined him in the chicken business. One pen at the top of the hill got roup, and the infection was carried through to all of them. In Kansas one of the worst outbreaks of chicken cholera came from a creek. All the farms on that creek lost all, or nearly all, their chickens, from drinking contaminated water. A faucet in every yard would be cheaper in the end than an outbreak of roup or cholera. Economy in Fencing Economy in fencing came in very handily one summer. I found I could make a very good temporary chicken-wire fence with posts 50 feet apart by "darning" in a lath every eight feet or so, passing this lath in and out of the wire meshes before putting up the wire. This keeps the wire stretched and when taken down it can simply be rolled up and used over and over again, keeping the lath in it ready for the next time. I found chicken-wire and lath quite an economy. I made cat and hawk-proof little pens of this. Bought a bundle of six-foot lath, some two-foot chicken-wire and made most useful little panels six feet long with the laths, stretching the chicken wire on them and tacking it down with two-pointed tacks. I wired or tied the panels at the corners and had a larger panel go over the top made of six-foot wire. I did not have to kill any cats or have fusses with the neighbors. The little panels were untied and piled up for the winter time and put in the barn, coming out almost as good as new the next season. They were cheap, light, easily handled and very satisfactory. Beware of Spoiled Food It is poor economy to buy spoiled grain of any kind. The best is none too good, and anything that is spoiled is very apt to bring in diseases. Wheat or any grain that has been moistened will develop fungoid growth ; smutty wheat, etc., is almost poisonous to fowls, while, of course, we know that there is no grain that so nearly approaches the analysis of an egg as does wheat, when it is good. Corn, likewise, if it has been dampened, will commence to ferment and that will disagree with fowls. At one time there was a fire at a flour mill in Los Angeles. A great deal of the spoiled wheat was sold for chicken feed. "Anything is good enough for chickens," was the cry, and hundreds of chickens lost their lives from that wheat. The owners of the fowls thought it was chemicals that had been used in suppressing the fire, but it was nothing but water, some of the firemen told me, that had been used for extinguishing the fire. The dampened wheat became musty and mouldy and it was that which killed the chickens. Again in using beef scraps, meat meal, blood meal or animal meal, be careful to buy the best you can get, and keep it carefully away from any dampness. Dampened or spoilt animal food is poisonous to the chickens and many a fowl has died from ptomaine poisoning from using spoiled 110 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK animal food. One of the greatest economies is to buy in large quantities. Most Suitable Green Foods Whilst we are on the subject of economy we must not forget the two green foods that are the most suitable for fowls — clover and alfalfa. Let those who are living on a town lot have a clover lawn ; clover requires less water than blue-grass or any lawn grass in this climate, and is easily grown when once it is properly started. The lawn clippings are just the right length for green food and if neces- sary, the hens can be turned out on to the lawn two hours before sunset, and will then busy themselves nipping off the clover leaves; they will not have time or inclination to do damage by scratching. A run on the lawn before bedtime is a wonderful tonic for chickens that are yarded closely all the day. Every farm should have an alfalfa patch, if not a good big fields of alfalfa, and no chicken ranch is complete without one, for the youngsters should have a good alfalfa run to properly develop them. Alfalfa is a legume ; is rich in nitrogen and enriches the land upon which it is grown. It is the best green feed next to clover for the hens or cows, and the hens love it. It is equally good for duck and turkeys. The question of economy of labor is a very serious matter in poultry raising, and by having a good alfalfa patch upon which the hens may be turned several hours daily, the labor of cutting and preparing green food for them is eliminated and will prove a great economy. Hens that have an abundance of alfalfa will lay eggs with very rich colored yolks and these eggs are usually fertile and produce healthy, vigorous. offspring. An alfalfa range insures health, a good digestion and to growing chicks, a large frame. In buying a chicken ranch, one of the important questions is "will the land grow al- falfa?" Is there sufficient water to raise a good crop of alfalfa? Alfalfa meal, or as it is sometimes called, Calfalfa, has been suc- cessfully used for hens. This is alfalfa hay ground up finely to form a meal. I have used this for several years and I find it some- times good and sometimes bad.' The analysis of it made by the University of California shows the protein content to be very high, and the nutritive ratio to be 1:3.3. This is the good meal. The poor meal contains too much fiber, and, as Prof. Rice of Cornell University remarked, "It is better for stuffing a bed than a hen." It all depends upon the quality of the alfalfa. Sometimes it is left until it is too old or is not properly cured, and is almost valueless ; at other times it may have been dampened and become musty. When this is the case, it will disagree with the fowls and give them diarrhoea. To test it, pour boiling water upon it, and if it smells sweet, like hay, it is all right. If there is a musty, mildewy smell, discard it. PRESERVING EGGS Of twenty methods of preserving eggs tested in Germany, the three which proved the most effective were coating the eggs with vaseline, preserving them in lime water, and preserving them in water-glass. The conclusion was reached that the last was prefer- able, because varnishing the eggs with vaseline takes considerable time and treating them with the lime water may give them a dis- agreeable taste. These drawbacks are not to be found with eggs preserved in water-glass, which unquestionably is the best pre- servative yet discovered. The most difficult point probably in the use of -water-glass for preserving eggs is its tendency to vary in quality. As a matter of fact, there are two or three kinds of water- glass, and in addition to the fact that the buyer does not always have si distinct idea as to what he wants, the local druggist may not know all about it, or he may not know which kind is best for pre- servative purposes. The main use of these preparations for years has been the rendering of fabric non-inflammable. This use in the Royal Theater of Munich has rendered the place fireproof by its use as a varnish in the fresco work, woodwork, scenery and cur- tains. It is also used for hardening stone and protecting it from the action of the weather. It was thus used many years ago, to ar- rest the decay of the stones in the British Houses of Parliament. The use of this medium for egg preservation is comparatively new, especially in this country, and it is not to be wondered at that deal- ers do not always supply just what is wanted. Different Names for Water Glass If we used the term soluble glass or "dissolved glass" in prefer- ence to either water-glass or silicate of soda, it might better de- scribe just what we want, although one of the other names might be preferable when ordering of the druggist. This term expresses exactly what the material is. When we buy it by the pine or quart, we get dissolved glass. When we buy it dry, we get a soluble glass powder sometimes like powdered stone, sometimes white and glassy as to its particles. The powdered forms are supposed to dissolve in boiling water, but they do not dissolve readily, and must often be kept boiling for some hours. Water-glass is made by melting together pure quartz and a caustic alkali, soda or potash, and sometimes a little charcoal. Several of our Experiment Stations have made some rather ex- haustive experiments with this dissolved glass in preserving eggs. The reports are, without exception, in favor of it. No other pre- servative is reported as being equal to this one. The stuff is invari- ably described as a thick or jelly-like liquid, and the proportions recommended are one pint of the silicate of soda to nine pints of water, although the Rhode Island Station reports experiments in which as low as two per cent of water-glass was used with favor- able results. This is done to find out how little could be used, but this small proportion was not recommended. Further trials may show that less than nine to one may be reliable. 112 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK Directions for Use The directions for use are : Use pure water which has been thoroughly boiled and cooled. To each nine quarts of this water add one quart of water-glass. Pack the eggs in the jar and pour the sohttion over them. The solution may be prepared, placed in the jar and fresh eggs added from time to time until the jar is filled, but care must be used to keep fully two inches of water-glass solu- tion to cover the eggs. Keep the eggs in a cool place and the jar covered to prevent evaporation. A cool cellar is a good place in which to keep the eggs. If the eggs be kept in a too warm place the silicate will be deposited and the eggs will not be properly protected. Do not wash the eggs before packing, for by so doing you will injure their keep- ing qualities. Probably by dissolving the mucilaginous coating on the outside of the shell. For packing use only perfectly fresh eggs, for eggs that have already become stale cannot be preserved by this or any other method, and one stale egg may spoil the whole batch. I can speak from my own experience, for I have packed eggs in it for twenty years and shall do so again. We are fond of fresh eggs and use a great many, and I find it most convenient to have a jar or crock full of nice eggs always on hand. I have kept them my- self for eight months and have no doubt but that I could have pre- served them still longer had we not eaten them, for I found them to all appearances as fresh as if not over a week old. It cost about \ J /2 cents per dozen to preserve them. The Kind of Vessels for Packing Prof. Ladd, of the North Dakota Agricultural Station, spoke of receiving a few complaints that barrels were not proving satisfac- tory, the water-glass appearing to dissolve some product which de- posited on the eggs. He thinks this might be attributed to the presence of glue, which had been used as a sizing for the barrels. In such instances, charring the barrel inside with thorough wash- ing thereafter, is recommended. Altogether, the preference seems to be for glass or stoneware vessels. Prof. Ladd's statement as to the satisfactory results of the water-glass method is very strong. He says : "This method has been tested in a commercial way, in nearly every state and part of our country, and we have not had to exceed eight adverse reports." One of the stations affirms that the failures reported are probably due to receiving water-glass of poor quality. It is also stated that these, like all preserved eggs, contain a little gas, and, when boiled, they will be likely to burst unless pre- viously pricked through the shell at the large end. As the entire processes of preservation are an effort to fence out germs, the recommendation not to wash off the mucilaginous coat- ing which nature puts on the eggs, and also to use only boiled water, appear very logical. When we know just what we are aim- ing at, we are less likely to omit the little precautions which other- PRESERVING EGGS 113 wise might seem like the whims of some fussy person. Too many people skip the essentials when trying to follow a formula. I have kept the eggs in tin receptacles, five-gallon kerosene oil cans and large lard pails. These kept the eggs perfectly, but after a time the water and silicate of soda rusted them in spots and the red rust formed a. sediment on the eggs. This did not injure them as far as I could see, except giving them a brownish tinge, and on asking the druggist, he said he did not see why the tin should not be used, as the silicate of soda comes from the East in tin cans. If tin is used, it is best not to paint the cans or oil them, at the soda has an affinity for oil and will eat through it and the oil or grease may impart a disagreeable flavor to the eggs. Remember the eggs must be absolutely fresh, for one bad egg may spoil the whole quantity in the receptacle. Preserving in Lime The process of keeping them in lime-water is as follows : Slack four pounds of lime, then add four pounds of salt ; add eight gal- lons of water. Stir and leave to settle. The next day stir again. After the mixture has settled the second time, draw off the clear liquid. Take two ounces each of baking soda, cream of tartar, salt petre, and a little alum. Pulverize and mix ; dissolve in two quarts of boiling water. Add this to the lime water. Put the eggs in a stone jar, small end down, one layer on top of another, and pour on the solution. Set the jar away in a cool place. This method is quite satisfactory, but not so good as the water-glass, as the eggs are liable to taste of the lime. CAPONS "Does Caponizing Pay?" We will consider the matter fully and from different points of view. In Philadelphia and New York, in London and Paris, capons are considered a great delicacy, and as we, in California, become more metropolitan, capons will be more and more in demand. Eleven or twelve years ago when I had capons for sale I could not get more per pound for them than for the uncaponized fowls, as the Ange- lenos had not been educated in taste to the excellency of capon meat. Capons are undoubtedly a more delicious dish at a year old than an uncaponized male bird of the same age. I had been Ted to sup- pose that a capon would be immensely heavier and larger than an uncaponized bird of the same age. This I found was not the case, the capons being rarely more than from half a pound to a pound heavier, if at all. My chief reason for caponizing was the desire to train capons for foster mothers of chicks. I wanted mothers that would not commence to lay as my hens did when chickens were two, or at most, three weeks old and then desert them. In this I was thoroughly successful. The trained capon will mother chicks just as long as the chicks will stay with him, and after a little rest will take another brood and mother it again, clucking to the chicks, feeding them, defending them, hovering them better than the hen. "Does caponizing pay?" Careful experiments have proved that the increase in weight is by no means so great as the public has been led to believe. It takes capons at least a month to sufficiently recover from the operation to catch up with their former mates in size and when they come to a marketable age they seldom weigh a pound more than the uncaponized birds of the same breed and age. The gain, however, in price is in their favor, for it about doubles that of the other. This sounds like a strong argument on the side of the capon, but again the cost of production is an essen- tial factor in the study of the question. It will cost as much to pro- duce a ten-pound capon as to produce three or four young chicks of the same combined weight ; in fact with food at the present price I really think it will cost more. "Does caponizing pay?" I knew a lady about three years ago who sold four capons for sixteen dollars. She was so much en- couraged by this, for they averaged 38 cents a pound, that the fol- lowing season she drove around the country buying up little cock- erels and caponizing them. She was very successful in operating, rarely losing any, but as she only stayed in the business one year, I think she did not consider it very remunerative. Easy to Learn The art of caponizing is simple and easy to learn. In France the farmers' wives and daughters have done the caponizing for cen- turies and practically without instruments except a sharp knife. In this country and age, we can buy a case of the best instruments, CAPONS 115 with full instructions for use, at a low cost, and the agricultural sta- tions of some states give free demonstration lessons to anyone within the state. The Rhode Island College gives lessons in capon- izing in connection with its poultry course and also sends out, free, a book of instructions. By following these instructions and ex- perimenting for the first time on a dead chicken, anyone that is deft can learn it. The operation is performed with apparently little pain to the subject, and the minute the bird is released it will eat heartily and walk around as if nothing had occurred. In foreign countries the art of caponizing has been known and practiced for ages, yet it is not so common nor are capons so plenti- ful but that prices rule high and capons are considered the choicest of viands and above the reach of any except the rich. In this blessed country there is no reason why the producers of poultry should not feast upon capons, besides having the satisfaction of produc- ing and marketing strictly high-class poultry. Favorite Breeds for Capons In New England the favorite breeds for caponizing are the Light Brahmas and the Cochin and Brahma crosses. They are chosen on account of their large size and slow growth to maturity. The Plymouth Rocks follow, together with the Orpingtons and Wyandottes. The smaller breeds make, of course, much smaller capons, still they are popular in small families where large size is not required. I have personally caponized only my White Ply- mouth Rocks. Nothing could be better than capons of this breed. At nine or ten months of age they are in their prime and the juciness and flavor of their flesh is superb. Among the advantages of caponizing are, the birds may be kept together in large numbers, will not quarrel or fight, will not harass the hens and pullets, will not misuse the little chicks, bear crowd- ing and take on flesh more rapidly than cockerels. They make, when trained, most excellent mothers for little chickens, sheltering them under their long feathers and great wings. Best Time for Caponizing The best time for caponizing is in the early fall, for the reason that the heat of summer does not then retard recovery and also because the late (June hatched) cockerels are then of the best size. The best size is from two and a half to three pounds weight and this would be about the weight of June hatched chickens of the American breeds which if caponized in September will be well grown and in good shape for marketing in March, the time of the highest prices. It is to the farmers, however, that the recommendation to caponize their cockerels for the family table should appeal most strongly, for they are the class that would be most benefited by hav- ing good capons to eat. It is a simple task to caponize forty or fifty birds and by that simple method a farmer can provide his family with dinners which will be the envy of his less fortunate friends. 116 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK The question, "Does caponizing pay?" may be answered, "Sometimes it does and sometimes it does not." Capons as Brooders Capons make excellent mothers when trained to it. Some breeds would probably make more affectionate and attentive foster mothers than others. I can personally answer for the Cornish Indian Games and Plymouth Rocks. I have also seen beautiful Brown Leghorn capons that had raised several broods of chickens. Cockerels hatched in November, December and January, make ex- cellent capons for brooding. They should be caponized at about three months of age. Should be gently handled and never fright- ened, when they will become perfectly tame. The capon with its changed nature is even more timid than a hen or pullet, and for this reason should be separated from any of the older fowls and kindly treated. Capons should be trained at the age of about six months. They are easier to train at this age than at any other time, generally, but I have trained them at ten months of age. To train them, I keep the bird in solitary confinement for a few days, placing him in a cracker box; place water, grit and sand in the box the same as though preparing for a hen and her brood. After two or three soli- tary nights and days I put two little chicks under him at night ; they snuggle up under him, and he is quite glad to have the little fel- lows for company. The next morning he will look a little surprised perhaps, but usually takes them immediately, and soon begins to cluck to them like an old hen. The following evening I put as many as I intend him to care for under him, and before going to bed at night see that all the little fellows are under his sheltering feath- ers. My object in using the cracker box is that it is about the proper height to make it uncomfortable for the capon to stand up- right and he will sit for comfort; the little chicks get closer and make friends quicker, and have an opportunity to nestle under the capon as they would a hen. This training should be done in pleas- ant weather, because the chicks will not be hovered at first as well by the capon as the hen, and I use only a few chicks the first time, because a young capon with his first brood does not hover them like a trained one. The Whiskey Treatment Hen-hatched chicks take to a capon without any trouble, but chicks which have been several days in a brooder seem afraid of the capon, and instead of running to him to be hovered, huddle in a corner, so it is best to put them straight from the incubator under the capon. A writer on this subject says: "Should one of the capons pick the chicks I would take him out of the box and swing him around in a verticle circle at arm's length until he was sick, then put him back again. If he attempts the same thing again, I take a small glass syringe and inject about one tablespoonful of good whiskey into his crop through his mouth, and after this treat- CAPONS 117 ment he is pretty sure to take to the chicks. He becomes so docile that he allows the chicks to pick at his face and will not pick back at them. When you notice this, you can rest assured that he is on the right road." I have never tried the whiskey treatment, and have never had any difficulty in training a capon. Capons have proved far superior to hens in brooding chicks, in fact they excel all other methods either natural or artificial. The hen, especially "bred-to-lay" strain, deserts her broods at too early an age, and some hens, especially the pullets with a first brood, are often very stupid at caring for them. I have known a pullet to hover her chicks in a thunder storm in a gully where the water rushed until they were nearly all drowned. Pullets do not seem to have sense enough to "come in out of the rain," while a good capon, when once he has been taught his way home, will bring the little ones to shelter without any trouble. The capon will defend his little brood most vigorously against cats, dogs or any animal. He seems to develop all the latent parental affection and lavishes it on his young charges as if his one and only object in life was to care for them. When Changing Broods When the chicks are old enough to take care of themselves, be- fore entrusting another brood to his care, he should have a rest of at least two weeks, especially if the next brood is to be of another color. During the two weeks' rest he will forget the color of the chicks he had and will not be so apt to object to the new ones. We all know that hens will sometimes object to chicks of a differ- ent color and will oftentimes kill them. When once trained, a capon is very little trouble and will care for brood after brood without any more training than I have mentioned. Capons can be kept over several seasons. I have heard of some being used for eight years, but mine were usually fattened and make a toothsome dish after two years' service. It is not difficult to learn how to caponize. The tools or instru- ments necessary are to be found at the poultry supply houses. The price for a set of instruments is from $2.50 to about $4.00, largely depending upon the case in which they are contained. The poultry supply houses have books of instruction for caponizing, and at some of them you can learn the names of persons who, for a small sum, will caponize for others. It would be a good plan for several neighbors to join together and have the person caponize 50 or 100 in the same day. In this way it would make the price lower. Capons are not much larger than cockerels of the same breed and age. The difference is in the table quality of the flesh. It is juicier and more tender, just as steer beef is superior to any other beef. TURKEYS AND HOW TO RAISE THEM Turkeys. — The turkey is the largest of our domestic fowls, and the only one that can be credited to America. To get its early his- tory, as far as civilized countries are concerned, it is necessary to go back to European records. Until a few years ago it was thought that its first introduction into Europe occurred about 1524-25, but in Brown's "Races of Domestic Fowls" there is a supplementary note saying that the librarian of the Royal Palace, Madrid, recently (in 1906) discovered that it was introduced into Spain as early as 1500, eight years after the discovery of America. Pedro Nino, a Spanish adventurer, discovered this fowl on the coast of Cumana, north of Venezuela, in 1499, and the next year took it to Spain, along with such other curiosities as parrots, monkeys and bright- colored birds of other kinds. Turkeys were bred in great numbers by the Aztecs and other nations of Mexico and Central America. The bird was not found further south than the mouth of the Ori- noco on the east coast, but on the west coast it was found as far south as Peru. How this bird got its name has been a matter of curious specu- lation and much traditionary lore has been put forward as authentic history. As a matter of fact not a single one of the old writers attributes its origin to Turkey, all agreeing that it came from Amer- ica. Wright thinks the name might have been given it from the red head and neck. Others suppose that the name comes from the domineering habits of the bird. Unfortunate as the name was, it has been accepted and speculations as to its origin are of no value. The turkey was brought into England in 1521 or 1524. In 1541 it was so highly esteemed that the Archbishop Cranmer prohibited the serving of more than one turkey cock at state dinners and the serving of turkey hens was forbidden altogether, as they were too valuable to eat. About 1570 the turkey became the recognized Christmas dish with the English farmer. It is said that the first turkey was eaten in France at the wed- ding of Charles XII and Elizabeth of Austria, June 27, 1576. A large number of the birds had been sent over from Boston to St. Malo and when the ship reached that port the provincial governor sent a dozen of them to the king's cook. The king was so pleased with them that he began to breed them, and the breed rapidly spread over France. Bronze Turkeys. — This variety as bred today is the direct de- scendant of the wild fowl, although seemingly it has decreased somewhat in size, as wild ones weighing 60 pounds are recorded. There were three varieties of turkeys in America at the time of the discovery: the wild turkey from which our bronze variety comes, a smaller Mexican variety, and still further south a variety which lacked the tuft of hair on the breast but has a crest or aigrette con- sisting of a single row of feathers on the head. The latter is in- digenous to South America and is called domesticated, but does not endure removal to colder climates. TURKEYS AND HOW TO RAISE THEM 119 Buff Minorca Pullet The bronze turkey is the heaviest of all the varieties. It re- quires two years to get the full weight, at which time it should weigh 36 pounds for cocks^and 20 pounds for hens. Turkeys have been called the "farmers' friend," and there is no doubt that turkey raising on a small scale is more profitable than any other branch of the poultry industry and that turkeys will bring larger cash returns than any other stock upon the farm. They cost very little to raise, they eat the waste grain in the fields and barnyard, besides the seed of many harmful weeds. They consume an immense number of grasshoppers, grubs, worms and insects which would otherwise greatly injure the farmers' crops, and they are not difficult to raise if they are not overfed. ^ One writer asks if chick feed is a proper and safe food for little turkeys, and another requests me to tell her exactly how I feed and care for the little turkeys. Chick food is neither a safe nor a proper food for little turkeys, although it is a most excellent food for little chicks. In fact, you may be sure of success when you feed it to chickens and failure if you feed it to turkeys. Later on I will try to explain this. Now, as to my way of rearing turkeys. I am glad to give it, be- cause now I raise every turkey that is hatched, barring accidents, as some will drown in the cows' trough and occasionally one or 120 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK two get stepped on, or the door blows on one, or the puppy wor- ries another. None die from disease. I do not pretend to say that mine is the only way, but I do say that not only do I succeed in raising turkeys, but those who have followed my directions were as successful as I have been, and those that met with failure did not follow my plans. I have been criti- cized as too fussy and particular about little details, but I think it pays to take good care of the little things for a few weeks, for tur- keys are delicate only when they are little, and if properly cared for they will be strong and hardy when they mature. If you would have success in raising young turkeys keep them COMFORTABLE. Shelter them from the chilling wind and give them access to the sunshine. A simple arrangement is to board the sides of an enclosure to a height of two or three feet. Fodder or brush make good substitutes if you have no boards. It is imma- terial as to the nature of the wind break, just so the little turkeys can be comfortable. By constructing the wind break triangularly or an open square the turkeys can enjoy the sunshine and at the same time be out of the wind. Much confusion and labor is eliminated if the little turkeys are kept in flocks of the same age. This is easily accomplished by set- ting the hens in groups. Collect the eggs in a cool place and care- fully cover them to prevent evaporation. When several hens be- come broody set them at the same time. This arrangement will bring the little turkeys off in groups of the same age. They will not interfere with one another as they would do if they were of different ages and sizes. It is possible to run 200 or 300 together. 4/ 5^V" " Typical Pair Bronze Turkeys TURKEYS AND HOW TO RAISE THEM 121 Grandmother's Recipe At my grandmother's the recipe for feeding little turkeys was as follows : "Leave them in the nest twenty-four hours or until the mother turkey brings them off; then give them only coarse sand, and water to drink. Meanwhile put some fresh eggs in cold water to boil; let them boil for half an hour; then chop them up, egg- shells and all quite fine ; add an equal amount of dry bread crumbs, and always, always, some green food chopped up finely." Lettuce, dandelion or dock were the green foods at grandmoth- er's, and the explanation given me was that if they are fed without having green at every meal, they soon become constipated, then get sick and die. The secret of her success was the tender green food and the grit, a pinch of coarse sand being sprinkled over the food of each meal. As the little turkeys grew, a little cracked wheat and later whole wheat was added to their food. That was the only grain given. This was grandmother's recipe for raising turkeys. The way I feed and have fed for years is as follows : When the little turkeys are twenty-four hours old I put freshly-laid eggs into cold water and boil them for half an hour ; chop them up fine shell and all ; add equal parts of bread crumbs ; sprinkle a pinch of coarse sand or Mica Crystal Grit over, feed dry taking away what they leave, feeding the mother separately. The next day I feed the same, adding very finely chopped let- tuce or dandelion leaves, or green young mustard leaves and tender young onion tops ; an equal part of this green food to the egg and bread crumbs, and always a pinch of Mica Crystal Grit scattered on every meal. This is their breakfast and supper, for dinner they have curd made from clabber milk (cottage cheese some call it) with an equal part of chopped up green food, and rolled breakfast oats added to it. In a few days I add cracked or whole wheat to their supper and if I am short of bread crumbs I add rolled breakfast oats to the egg and bread crumbs. I always chop up an onion a day with the egg and bread crumbs unless the onion tops are very young and tender. Onions are an excellent tonic for the liver and kidneys and prevent worms and cure colds, so I use onions freely for both tur- keys and chickens. In a few days I commence to add wheat to their food and at two weeks of age I gradually arrive at giving them wheat and rolled oats for breakfast ; in the middle of the fore- noon a head of lettuce to tear up and eat ; at noon cottage cheese, and about four or five o'clock their supper of egg, bread crumbs or rolled oats, lettuce and always the chopped up onion and a pinch of Crystal Mica Grit. I give them clean water three times a day in a drinking fountain. Drinking Fountain If I have not a fountain I make one out of a tomato can. Make a nail hole in the can about half an inch from the top, then fill the can up to the hole with water, invert a saucer over it and holding the saucer tightly to it, turn it over quickly. This makes a good fountain for the water comes slowly out of the nail hole into the saucer. I give the turkeys a similar fountain of skim milk. 122 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK In the event that sour skimmed milk or fresh churned butter- milk is not available, condensed milk which is sold in barrels, will be found a reasonably good substitute, provided it is diluted to a sufficient degree. As a rule, two per cent solution ; that is one part of condensed buttermilk to forty-nine parts of water will be about right where it is fed every day. Cottage Cheese Cottage cheese is an important feed for turkeys, I am very par- ticular in making it not to allow the clabber milk to become hot. I use either a thermometer letting the heat only come to ninety-eight degrees, or I keep my finger in the milk and as soon as it feels pleas- antly warm I take the milk off the fire, pour the curd into a cheese cloth bag and leave it to drain. If the milk scalds or boils the curd will be tough, like rubber and indigestible enough to kill turkeys or chickens. Never allow the heat of the curd to be over one hundred degrees. Lack of Grit Little turkeys as well as little chickens require grit or coarse sand with their food. This should be sprinkled in a small' quantity over each feeding. Overfed Little Ones When I lived in the home of the wild turkey, Oklahoma and Kansas, I learned much about the care of tame turkeys. There "corn is king," but I was cautioned never to give corn to the young turkeys until after they "sport the red." That is, until their heads and wattles become red, which happens at about three months of age. It was said that corn always sours on their stomachs. It was there I heard of a man who brought up his turkeys on nothing but onion tops, curd and grit, and they did well. One of my experiences in the land of the wild turkey may serve as a warning to others. I had a good old Buff Cochin hen who was mothering a brood of nice little turkeys. She was most as- siduous in her care of them; she clucked to them all day; called them up to eat all the time, and it was surprising .to see how those little fellows grew, when one after another they began to droop and die, till only one was left. The other turkeys under turkey mothers were doing well, so I took the lone little one one night and put him under a mother turkey out in the meadow and saved his life. The old hen had overfed the others. Chicken hens are too anxious to feed the little turkeys. They scratch for them, coax them to eat, and the little turkeys are such greedy, voracious little things that they overeat and in consequence die. I prefer to bring up little turkeys under a turkey hen or even in a brooder, rather than under a chicken hen. The best way of managing a hen is to keep her in a coop, letting the little turkeys run outside or else tie thehen under a tree by her leg. I only feed the little poults three times a day just what they will eat up clean in ten minutes. With a turkey hen I can leave wheat in a trough always accessible. TURKEYS AND HOW TO RAISE THEM 123 and she will never overfeed the young. The turkey mother will take a few mouthsful herself and then move slowly and deliber- ately away and her babies will follow her, having only taken one or two grains each. This is more like the nature of the wild tur- key, and the nearer to nature one can keep in raising turkeys, the better will be our success. Most people overfeed their young turkeys and it is a rule that may be generally followed that 50% of the turkeys' feed, even in the beginning, should be some sort of green stuff. Milk curd and boiled eggs may form a good percentage of their ration with either rolled oats or hulled oats and wheat added. Where at least 50% turkey feed is composed of green stuff the remaining part of the feed ii not so important, provided that it is freshly ground and absolutely free from mustiness or fermentation. Lice There is no bird that will carry as many lice as a young turkey. The best insect powder is Pyrethrum. This is called "insect pow- der" or in California "Buhach." It is made from the Pyrethrum Daisy, one of the Cinerarias. It contains a small quantity of essen- tial oil which asphyxiates every kind of insect but is perfectly harmless to animals and birds. I have used it effectively on the smallest canary to the largest turkey for lice, and on cats and dogs for fleas, and there is nothing better. The Government Experimen- tal Stations have recently found another effective insect powder. It is Sodium Flouride 75% and Talcum 25%. This is also effective as an anticide. As a general rule you will find that oil is a good prerentiye but be extremely careful that no petroleum oils of any kind are used. Any kind of petroleum blisters a turkey like a hot iron, therefore it is better to use olive oil or a salad oil of some kind. I add a few drops of sassafras, a pleasant odor and disinfectant. This may be applied with a sewing machine oil can ; one drop on the head of each little turkey, and drop on the top of each wing. I prefer dusting them well with Buhach before giving the little tur- keys to the mother to care for, and I continue to do this once a week until they are too large to handle. Look for lice on the head and on the quill feathers of the wings, and rub the powder well into them. The mother hen may be thoroughly dusted with Buhach. There are three chief causes of mortality in little turkeys — lice, overfeeding and soil contamination. Soil Contamination In raising young turkeys soil contamination must be avoided. Mark Butterfield, who was one of the most successful turkey men that ever lived, declared that it was not possible to keep ground clean enough for turkeys to roost on two nights in succession. While this view may be somewhat extreme, you will find that at least twice a week the shelters or coops should be moved a few feet so as to roost the young turkeys on new ground. When it is 134 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK not possible to move the brooders or coops thus frequently, good results can be secured by renewing the ground inside the brooder or coop. Remove the old soil an. inch deep before putting in the fresh. The moving of the roost place is a point to consider even with old turkeys. Turkeys of all kinds whether young, growing or ma- tured, are very susceptible to the influence of soil contamination. Keep Liver Healthy I can tell you just how overfed turkeys will die. First they will walk slowly, lagging behind the others, as if tired, then their wings will droop and they will look sleepy and will not eat, will look at the food as if they wanted it, but were too lazy to pick it up, then diarrhoea will set in, the droppings will become yellow and some- times green, and death will soon follow. If you hold a postmortem examination, as you should do over everything that dies in the chicken yard, you will find the liver of these little turkeys has yel- low or white spots on it, and on cutting into it, you may find that these spots are small ulcers that extend through it. Sometimes these ulcers are quite offensive. This comes from overfeeding, which gives the liver more work than it can do and it breaks down. The liver is the largest organ in the turkey's body, and it seems to be the most delicate. If you can keep that healthy, you will have healthy turkeys. Onions and dandelion leaves are tonic for the liver and the green food keeps it healthy, whilst the animal food and a small amount of cereal will make the frame of the turkey. Suppose you should see one little turkey in the brood begin- ning to walk slowly, what should you do? I will tell you what I would do. I would catch that little turkey and give a Carter's Little Liver Pill and follow this the next day with a little Epsom salts for the whole flock, and cut off some of the grain in the feed. You will probably save the flock, but they may be stunted in their growth, and their liver many months later may break down from being weakened by the first attack of liver trouble. Chick Feed Is Bad for Turkeys Chick feed is composed of a number of different grains. Some of these grains are extremely difficult of digestion for turkeys. The chief of these are cracked corn, Kaffir corn, Egyptian corn, sorghum seed, millet, etc. I could scarcely believe this until I had ocular demonstration of it. Then I discovered that cracked corn did not commence to digest in the crop ; the gastric juice of the crop does not seem to have any influence on it. It passes through the crop and on through the proventriculus to the gizzard, arriving there hard and not in the least softened or digested, and there it commences, to ferment, causing diarrhoea or else passing away without digest- ing. I am not scientific enough to know the reason for this nor why wheat should be softened in the crop and partly digested before reaching the gizzard, but I know that it is so. They told me in Kansas that corn soured on the turkeys' stomachs, but it does not TURKEYS AND HOW TO RAISE THEM 125 exactly sour, it ferments — and there is where the trouble comes in. Sour milk is sour, but this is from lactic acid, and lactic acid seems beneficial to turkeys, whilst the souring of grains, bran, cereals _ of _ any kind, or cornmeal is a ferment, and ferments are very injurious to fowls of all kinds, and especially so to turkeys. Mrs. Charles Jones, the best authority on turkeys in the United States, agrees with me about feeding turkeys. She writes : "A diet of part corn agrees with chickens, but I have never yet fed corn in any form to young turkeys but that sooner or later they would give up the unequal contest. A little neighbor girl that had a great deal of the care of turkeys said the least little bit of corn meal makes them die. She had learned this by watching them as she fed them." 1100 Gleaning Wheat It was my privilege to visit a turkey ranch in the San Joaquin Valley some time ago and what I saw there made me wonder that there are so few large turkey ranches in California. There were over 1100 beautiful turkeys gleaning the wheat over many acres of stubble. These great turkeys had been hatched near the barn in shed-like coops, under turkey hens. They were kept in the yard until about five or six weeks old, when they were driven out with their mothers upon the wheat stubble to rustle for their living, to pick up the wheat that would otherwise be lost. All these turkeys roosted in the open air and to this and the simple life, working for and finding their own living, may be attributed their healthiness. There are many beautiful valleys in California where turkeys may be grown to great advantage by the hundreds and even thou- sands, but even on small ranches a few may be kept. Turkey Lore With the coming of the fall our thoughts turn turkeyward and letters come to the writer telling of the fine success almost every one has had this year with their turkeys. However, some are also finding that the luck which has been theirs all the summer is now slipping away, and some of those want to know the reason why. Mrs. Chas. Jones, the turkey expert, explains this very plainly in one of her interesting talks. She says, "To understand any branch of poultry culture, one must know their nature and requirements. The turkey is the only bird or animal that has previously existed in a wild state that has been domesticated to the extent of being raised on farms from the Pacific to the Atlantic and from British Columbia to the Gulf of Mexico. They may be raised further north, but I have no authentic account of the fact. The prairie chicken has never been domesticated. Occasionally wild geese and ducks have been raised, but the turkey stands alone as a wild bird domesticated, and b'ecause people have not studied into their wild nature and what their diet consisted of in their wild state, they have failed to raise more than a small part that are hatched." 126 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK When the turkeys roamed over the forests at the time this country was inhabited by Indians, very little corn was raised. A few beans constituted the grain crop, and as the Indians were too lazy to raise the corn themselves, and put the work on the squaws, who had the young- braves in the form of papooses to pack around on their backs, and all the domestic duties to look after and keep their wigwams in order, they did not raise corn enough to glut the market and the turkeys had to look elsewhere for their food than to the corn cribs of the natives. The trees were their roofs to keep the young dry, the leaves beneath them made it dry for them to walk over, and the insects that had found their homes beneath the leaves made their food. Now we are confronted with a different problem. The forests are about gone, and during a wet season the turkeys must be kept near home for protection from the rain. When they have outgrown their baby feed, what shall we feed them? Corn as a steady diet it oat of the question; as they will eat large quantities, their livers Bronze Turkeys will become congested from such highly concentrated food, and you will notice that one goes a little slow. That will be the only symptom of anything amiss; it will walk a little slower, until it turns up its toes to the blue sky, a silent protest against letting them gorge themselves on the most highly concentrated food that grows. Wheat, where it can be had, is the best and safest grain that can be fed, but wheat here represents gold dollars and is too ex- pensive to feed. Oats has too many hulls. This year, on account of the high price of wheat, we could not get shorts. Shorts, mois- tened with water or milk, can be safely fed to turkeys. The tur- keys found that we had plenty of corn in the crib and they de- veloped a great liking for it and only wanted to loaf around the crib, until I lost two or three, and then I just turned them out and made them get their living in the fields, and they are all right again. Letting them live on corn is entirely against their way in their wild state, and they have to suffer the penalty. It is like raising TURKEYS AND HOW TO RAISE THEM 127 children on rich pie, cake and preserves. Their digestive organs get our of order, they become sick and often die. When turkeys find that they must stay out on the range and get their living they are soon content. By instinct or by personal investigation of the different fields they soon find where the largest number of grasshoppers are to be found. They are methodical in their proceedings, getting off the roosts just at daylight and going to the nearest fields, picking all the insects they can find, then com- ing to the house for a drink and starting out for the larger range for the day. At first, when turned out on range, I feed them at night, as an inducement to come home early, but after the habit is established I think it better for their health not to feed them, as they come home with full crops and any more crowded into the digestive organs impairs them. DISEASES OF TURKEYS There is no need for any sickness amongst turkeys whatever in California, if they are properly cared for, and I think eventually California will supply the Eastern States with their Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, for they have there a disease among turkeys which is so serious that it is decimating, and, in some places, wip- ing out whole flocks of turkeys. The disease is called "Blackhead," as the head in some instances turns black or dark colored before or at the time of death. The Oregon Experiment Station has recently issued Bulletin No. 95, by E. F. Pernot, on Diseases of Turkeys. This bulletin con- tains information of very great importance to the turkey raisers of the state. It treats the subject of Blackhead, explaining the cause of this disease, the symptoms, and treatment. This bulletin, which may be obtained free on application to the Experiment Station, Corvallis, Oregon, should be in the hands of every turkey breeder in the state. In sections of the East, Blackhead has almost wiped out the turkeys, and the same thing is liable to happen in this state if proper measures are not taken to prevent it. I give here a brief summary of Prof. Pernot's bulletin : Symptoms — Diarrhoea is the most pronounced symptom. The discharges are frequent, thin, watery, and generally of a yellowish color. This, however, sometimes occurs from other intestinal dis- orders, and does not alone signify the presence of the malady. The next symptom is the drooping tail, followed by a drooping of the wings, after which death soon ensues. When the disease is at its height, the head assumes a dark color, hence the name, Blackhead. Young turkeys are much more susceptible or they may be more delicate and cannot withstand the invasion of the parasites so well. They begin by moping and bunching up as though they were cold, diarrhoea soon sets in, the tails droop, then the wings droop, and they go about uttering a pitiful "peep," after which they soon die. A blackening of the. head does not always occur. <28 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK It is only by careful post mortem that the true cause of the dis- ease may be determined. The Cause— The disease is caused by animal parasites, which can be detected only by the aid of a microscope. Because of their minuteness and growth in the mucous membranes of the digestive tract, they are easily carried by the excreta to food, which upon be- coming contaminated, transmits them to other fowls. Remedies — Food given to fowls should never come in contact with their droppings,, as one bird with the disease will infect the feeding ground of others. Better sacrifice the bird at once than run the risk of spreading the infection to the whole flock. A sick bird should be removed from the flock and placed in close quarters, which may afterwards be disinfected, or the bird may be killed at once and then should be burned. Medical treatment is not very successful, owing to the difficulty of reaching the parasites at the seat of the disease; yet treating them with some of the following remedies is well worth the trouble : Sulphur, 5 grains ; sulphate of Iron, 1 grain ; sulphate of quinine, 1 grain. Place this amount in capsules and administer one night and morning to each turkey for a week. If the bird does not respond to treatment, kill it at once without drawing blood, and then burn the carcass, disinfecting the coop. A solution of carbolic acid prepared by mixing five parts of the acid to 100 parts of water makes a good disinfecting solution, or chloride of lime, 5 ounces to 1 gallon of water, is good. Corrosive sublimate in the strength of 1 ounce to eight gallons of water, is a strong disinfectant, and may be used with a broom or spray to wet every part of the coop and floor, but it is poisonous and must be handled with great care. To disinfect the entire premises when the fowls are running at large is impracticable; but lime should be used freely on the droppings beneath where they roost. When the dis- ease becomes seriously destructive, it is more than likely all the flock are affected, and it may be necessary to destroy all the re- maining birds and disinfect the premises thoroughly. In such cases it is better to suspend the raising of turkeys for one year. Liver Complaint Personally I have only met once with a case in California which might be called Blackhead. I have seen many cases of common liver complaint, and by my directions others have succeeded in curing many of these. _ _ Dr. Salmon tells us that the seat of the disease called Blackhead is m the caeca. The caeca is sometimes called the blind bowel ; it is a sort of "appendix" in the turkey, having no outlet. It is two lobes of bowel_ united by a ribbon of fat (the pancreas). In Black- head and also in some cases of liver complaint, an abscess forms in one or both caeca, but this can only be discovered after death, and I have only found it in a post mortem of one turkey. The fact is, I have been so very "lucky" in raising turkeys that now I rarely even see a sick turkey, and I have many letters from our readers MORE ABOUT TURKEYS 129 telling me they have cured their turkeys by my directions, so I will repeat them again for the benefit of newcomers. First, liver complaint comes from wrong feeding, or overfeed- ing, which has overworked the liver; secondly, Blackhead comes from a parasite ; thirdly, the symptoms of both diseases are almost exactly the same in the first stages. Dr. Cushman decided that when the bright yellow diarrhoea comes on, showing liver trouble, the remedy is "something bitter and something sour." He also recommends no food but green food. My remedy is first a liver pill, followed by quinine for a week and sour milk, and no food at all, except onions chopped fine and green alfalfa or lettuce; keeping this up until cured. I find that .Epsom salts in the water is almost a panacea for all the ills of tur- keys. Turkeys seem to prefer water with Epsom salts in it, tea- spoonful to a quart of pure water. This is a preventive as well as a cure and the turkeys seem to like the Epsom salts water better than pure water, so I frequently give this if I fear liver trouble. The Fattening of Turkeys At this season many letters are coming to my desk either asking how to fatten turkeys or describing the ailments and often the death of the turkeys on which hopes had been based of a rich har- vest of dollars for Thanksgiving and Christmas. One writes : "I have followed the directions in your book with great success in raising turkeys, for I have not lost one, but some that I have cooped up to fatten wont' eat and are not gaining in weight. Will you tell me how you fatten yours?" I will willingly tell you, but first always remember my maxim, "When in doubt, consult Nature." How do the turkeys acquire the fat that they require to keep them warm during the winter? All summer long and into the fall they have devoured grass- hoppers and insects but with the chilly fall weather these are be- coming scarce and the weed seeds are ripening, the nuts of all kinds are falling and the berries are at their best; Nature has provided with a liberal hand for the necessary winter fattening. There is a flavor belonging to the meat of a range-fed or wild turkey that cannot be found in one raised in confinement, for neces- sarily the food cannot be so greatly varied, and the wild berries and nuts, the seeds of the pine cones, the beech nuts, hazel nuts, acorns, berries and spicy seeds as well as the buckwheat, barley, oats, wheat, corn, etc., impart a flavor not to be excelled. All that a free •range turkey may need is a feed of corn at supper time. For turkeys on limited range, or on range that may be bare of insects, nuts and berries, we may have to assist Nature and sub- stitute for her fare the best thing that we can find and undoubtedly that is good hard corn a year old (so as to be ripe and dry) for there is something in new corn which may disagree with turkeys. If at the same time the turkeys can be in an olive yard, where they can pick up the few olives that are now falling or may help themselves to some on the branches, this with a little corn at night 130 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK will put them in fine market condition and is all the fattening they will need. The same will be the case if they can be in a sweet apple orchard, they are very fond of sweet apples, which agree with the turkeys and are also fattening. The walnut orchards would be good, too, but are usually picked so clean that there is nothing left for turkeys. The acorns in some places are as fattening to turkeys as to hogs and the wild nuts do not ever seem to disagree with the turkey's liver or digestion. Turkeys that have not the advantage of freedom or the wild nuts and spicy berries can be successfuly fattened in a yard. The way I feed is I take 2 parts of corn, and 1 part of barley, soak over night, and in the morning put on the stove to boil, let it cook slowly until it begins to soften, then take up and set aside covered till sup- per time, when it will be cool enough to feed. Give this three times a day as much as the turkeys will eat up in about fifteen minutes, then remove till next meal time. I add a chopped onion at supper time, as that is a stimulant to liver and digestion. Fresh water must be kept before them. One year I had most excellent success in fattening turkeys by feeding them the same food as for fattening chickens, that is, equal parts of heavy bran, corn meal and oatmeal (rolled breakfast oats), mixed with milk or with buttermilk, three times a day. Boiling the corn removes whatever it is in the new corn that disagrees with the turkeys, scalding the corn meal has the same effect. Adding a little ground charcoal will assist in the fattening and prevent indigestion. I have known it to materially increase the weight by enabling the turkeys to eat more or digest more food. One thing in fattening turkeys, begin gradually by feeding the fattening food only once a day, and that preferably at the evening meal. I only fatten turkeys from two or three weeks. The gain in weight depends upon the condition, size and age of the turkey, when commencing to feed. It will vary from one to, in rare cases, as much as six pounds. This last is claimed by feeders in Europe, where the cramming machine is used. Do not fatten the turkeys you intend to use as breeders, for the fat weakens the organs of reproduction in both sexes and the off- spring will be weak and small or the eggs infertile. This I have found almost invariably to be the case in many instances where people have had me investigate the cause of eggs not hatching. One word about turkeys getting sick when being fed for mar- ket It shows a lack in the constitution, and is often the result of a slight attack of liver trouble, which they seem to get over, in their early life. The best thing would be to turn them out on the range again, or to doctor them up bv giving them a dose of Epsom salts andthen following it with ten drops of tincture of Nux Vomica in a pint of water, allowing no other drinking water. Then give freely of chopped onion and bran mixed, as well as the fattening food, and eat them as quickly as possible. Do not breed from these turkeys, as, although they may be perfectly well, they will not breed a vigorous constitution into their offspring. MOKE ABOUT TURKEYS, 131 Turkeys should be kept at least twelve hours without food be- fore killing-. They may have water, but no food. This is to empty crop, gizzard and bowels, and prevent the food which would remain there from souring and giving the whole carcass a bad flavor. DUCKS AND THEIR VARIETIES In the springtime of the year in the East the big duck ranches hatch ducks by the hundreds of thousands, but in California, or at least in the neighborhood of Los Angeles, there are not such large ranches, and ducks do not seem as popular. Probably some farmers have had a few in their yard at some time, just to give them a trial, and have found them a continual nuisance, as they greedily eat the whole allowance of food from expectant chickens and dabble in their drinking vessels, so they have to be continually cleaned and replenished, and with great injustice to the ducks, they have let this prejudice them, where if they had kept the ducks separate, they would have found them easier to raise than chickens. Ducks grow faster and are ready for the market earlier than chickens ; they are not troubled by the diseases of hens, neither do ^^ .' *""%^^. ■ ^yj^ijpgiMP fe'~wSP ^.^H^B ^;,.- -;. '*'*'""''* /..-'"?■'* * - Aylesbury Duck they have lice, except if raised under a hen when very young, be- fore the feathers grow, the gray head-lice may get on their heads, crawl into their ears and kill them, but this is before they feather out. Mosquitoes, which are very troublesome in some places to the chickens, causing great mortality, never trouble ducks, neither do fleas or ticks. I think the reason for their immunity from vermin is that their feathers are very oily and thick and the down under the feathers is an extra protection. Hens require a dust bath, while ducks require a water bath to keep them clean and healthy. Most of the popular varieties of ducks can be raised and bred without water to swim in, but on the very large duck ranches a supply of running water, so that they may have fresh water to drink and a bathing place for the breeding ducks, is a great advantage. Ducks should be kept entirely away from chickens and turkeys, as they pollute water so badly it makes the other fowls sick. I 132 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK found on my small ranch where there was only water piped in, after trying various plans for watering the ducks, an easy and con- venient way. I had a barrel sawed in two, two-thirds and one- third. I knocked the head out of the larger end and buried that part, making it deep enough so the top of the barrel was just below the ground ; any box with no bottom would do as well. The one- third of the barrel had a bunghole in the bottom. This one-third barrel I placed over the sunken one. I had a broom handle which fitted into the bunghole and every day I let the dirty water run through it into the bottomless barrel and it soaked away. In this manner I gave my ducks fresh water and a clean bath every day. I found if I sawed the barrel exactly in half, it made the top part deeper than I wanted, and the bottom not deep enough. Pekin Ducks The Varieties I have successfully bred the following most popular breeds of ducks and think a slight review of them may be interesting and helpful to beginners: The Aylesbury, Pekin, Indian Runner, Buff Orpington Duck and the Muscovy. The Aylesbury The Aylesbury, called after a town in Buckingham, England, are about a pound heavier than the Pekin. The standard weights being, drake, 9 lbs. ; duck, 8 lbs. ; young drake, 8 lbs. ; young duck, 7 lbs. Their color is pure white, with pinkish-white beak and shanks. They are extremely popular in England and are hardy and vigorous. There are not many breeders of them in this country, but an Eng- lishman, Mr. V. G. Huntley of Petaluma, who has imported some exceedingly fine Aylesbury ducks from England, says he has a large demand for them, as they are a rarity in this country. He considers their flesh better than that of any other variety of ducks. DUCKS AND THEIR VARIETIES 133 In plumage the Aylesbury are a pure spotless white, with hard, close feathers that glisten in the sunlight like satin. The advan- tages claimed for this breed are the easiness with which it is accli- mated, its early maturing, its great hardiness, its large size, being heavier than any except the Rouen, its prolificacy and its beauty. The Pekin The Pekin is undoubtedly the most popular breed on the large duck ranches in the East, where thousands of them are fattened and turned off every season. This breed is variously called the Imperial Pekin and the Mammoth Pekin and Rankin's Pekin. It was brought to this country from China in the early seventies and immediately took the first place as the most prolific and rapidly growing duck on the. market. In shape and carriage the Pekin has a distinct type of its own, which by some is described as resembling an Indian canoe, from the keel-like shape and the turned-up tail. Though Pekin ducks may not merit all that is claimed for them by enthusi- astic breeders, it is certain that the duck business could not have attained its present proportion without the Pekin duck, and that as a market duck this breed takes the lead. They are hardy, quick growers, thrive in close confinement, and are ready to market at ten weeks of age. The plumage is soft, more downy than that of other varieties and is of creamy white in color. The beak is of a deep orange yellow, and, according to Standard, should be free from black marks. Th e shanks and toes are reddish orange. All ducks are of a timid disposition, and the Pekin more so than those of other breeds ; in fact, they will injure themselves so badly if frightened by cat, dog or a stranger, or by being caught up, that they may have to be killed. A fright, if not fatal, will take off several days' growth of the young, and stop the laying of the adults. Mammoth Pekin Drake 134 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK The Indian Runner Many years ago Indian Runners were brought from India to England by a sea captain, hence the name "Indian," while the "Run- ners" came from their great agility. They do not waddle like other ducks, but run more like a plover, and are very quick in their move- ments. In England their good qualities quickly captivated the thrifty farmers. Individual ducks there have made a record of 225 eggs per annum. Here in California I had ten ducks which laid 2331 eggs in one year. I think the climate of California more nearly resembles that of their native land, and their laying is never checked by cold or snow, so that here they lay better than in Eng- land or the Eastern States. In India they were bred for their lay- ing and table qualities, no attention being paid to the color of their plumage; all the Indians cared for was the eggs, and they laid eggs galore. English breeders claim that eight-year-old ducks of this breed will lay as well as yearlings, and on this account, and their capacity for foraging, they have become very popular in Eng- land and Australia. While the weight of the matured Pekin is greater than that of the Indian Runner, there is more meat in proportion to their weight in the Runners on account of the smallness of the bones ; the meat is also of a much finer quality, finely grained and juicy and re- sembling in flavor the much extolled canvas-back duck. The eggs of the Indian Runner are an ivory white in color, greatly resembling Minorca eggs, very delicate in taste, and in England their eggs are in great demand in the tuberculosis sanitariums on account of their delicate flavor, richness and nutritive value, and absolute freedom from tuberculosis taint, and there is a higher price paid for them than the hen's eggs. The standard color of the Indian Runners in this country is Utility White Leghorns DUCKS AND THEIR VARIETIES 135 fawn and white and pure white. In England they also have the black and white, the brown and white and the pure white. The pure white ducks are meeting with great favor in this country and are becoming very popular and are said to be as good layers as the fawn and white. The Rouen The Rouen duck, so named for a city in Normandy, where they are supposed to have originated, are still bred there in large num- bers. The Rouen duck is a fine market bird, but does not mature as early as the Pekin or Aylesbury. It is easily fattened, hardy and quiet in disposition and not as nervous as the Pekin. The Rouen drake is a magnificently colored bird. Neck and head are iridescent green, breast wine color and the lower part of the body delicate steel gray, penciled with very fine black lines. About June a remarkable change takes place in the drake. He begins to lose his lustrous feathers, those of the neck dropping out, being replaced by feathers of a russet brown. The magnificently colored drake is clothed in sober hues for the summer. In October he again resumes his gorgeous raiment. The Buff Orpington Buff Orpington ducks are a breed of Mr. William Cook's mak- ing. He named them as he did the Orpington hens, after his own place in Kent, England. The color of the Buff Orpingtons is a soft shade of buff, the drakes having rich brown heads. The Buff Or- pington has a good deal of the Indian Runner blood in it, and from this source its laying qualities are gathered. Mr. Cook claims they are better layers than any other of the duck family. Many of them lay a beautiful green egg, although a greenish-white is the usual color. These ducks weigh a pound and a half more than the Indian Runner, are larger and more plump birds, maturing early, and one of the best market birds. The Muscovy The Muscovy duck is not largely bred in this country. They are not like any other ducks and do not interbreed with others. It is a native of South America, where it may still be found in its wild state. It comes in two varieties, white and black and white. The males are much larger than the females. I. had one weighing fourteen pounds. Both sexes have caruncles at the base of the beak; these become larger every year, giving them a vulture-like appearance. Muscovy ducks are rather awkward in the water, pre- ferring to live on the land. They are pugnacious and ill-tempered, and, although they have web feet, they have very sharp claws that - can, and do, scratch in a most unpleasant way. They are strong on the wing, flying easily over the barn, and they like to perch on the roof. They are good setters, and their eggs take thirty-five days to incubate. 136 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK Hatching and Brooding The first thing the amateur needs is first-class breeding stock or eggs of the same. There is sure to be sad loss among young ducklings, bred from debilitated stock. Good stock should be secured to start with, and when properly fed and cared for, there need be no fear of loss. A good incubator, carefully operated without variation of tem- perature, should receive the eggs. They take twenty-eight days to hatch. Duck eggs will hatch well in any of the standard incu- bators ; they require more airing than do the eggs of the hen, and I have found that by sprinkling them every other day, after the first week, I was sure of a good hatch. Sprinkle the eggs, or moisten them thoroughly, with warm water, when they are out of the ma- chine, and do not put the water in the incubator. I found this much the best plan. I think wetting the shell of the egg helps to soften it and make it more brittle, enabling the duck to break its way out easily. I also do this when hatching duck eggs under hens. A brooder adapted to chicks will answer equally well for ducks. The little fellows should be at least thirty-six hours old before taken from the incubator and placed in the brooder, which should be previously prepared for them by placing a board about ten inches wide a few inches from the front of the brooder forming a very small yard with a little water fountain so arranged that they can get their bills in but not their bodies. The birds should be con- fined to this small space in front of the brooder for the first day, or until they have learned the way into the hover. Bed the little fellows with hay, chaff or cut straw. Keep the pens clean, both out- side and in. The welfare of the ducklings depends upon this. Be sure to give them shade. Mr. James Rankin has been called the father of the duck indus- try in America. He and a number of others in the East are now hatching by the thousands and tens of thousands. He writes: "With us it is the surest crop we can grow; it makes the best returns of any 'crop on the farm." As he is a noted expert in the business I cannot do better than give his directions for raising the ducks and his formulas for feed- ing at the different ages. I have tried them myself and do not think they can be improved upon. Feeding The first food should consist of bread or cracker crumbs slightly moistened and about 10 per cent of hard-boiled eggs chopped fine, shell and all ; mix in this food five per cent of coarse sand. Do not place grit by them and expect them to eat it, but mix the sand in their food and so compel them to eat it as it is the most essential part of the whole thing. Scatter the food on a board, place the young ducklings on it and they will be busily eating it within ten minutes. One hundred to one hundred and fifty ducks can be put in one brooder six feet long. When two or three, weeks old, not more than seventy-five DUCKS AND THEIR VARIETIES 137 should be kept in one brooder. The heat under the hover should be kept at about 90 degrees for the "first day or two, when it should be gradually reduced as the ducks grow older. In the climate of Southern California, ducklings rarely require brooder heat more than two weeks. The second day rolled oats and bran can be added to the food ; a little finely cut clover, lettuce or cabbage can now be safely used. At ten days feed one-fourth corn meal, the rest wheat bran with a little rolled oats mixed in, not forgetting the grit, about ten per cent of ground beef scraps, and the same of green food. At six weeks Quaker oats, grit and ten per cent beef scraps ; at eight weeks old feed equal parts of bran and corn meal with a little Quaker oats, grit and beef scraps, but no green food. The birds should be ready for the market at ten weeks old. They should be fed four times a day until six weeks old, then three times is sufficient. They should be watered only when fed until six weeks old, then they should be watered between meals also. Feed at each meal all they will eat up clean, then take the remain- der away ; keep the pens dry and clean and be sure you give them shade. For breeding birds, old and young, during the summer and fall, when they are not laying — feed three parts wheat bran, one part Quaker oats feed, one part corn meal, five per cent beef scraps ground fine, and five per cent coarse sand, and all the green feed they will eat in the shape of corn fodder cut fine, clover, or oat fodder, or alfalfa. Feed this mixture twice a day, all they will eat. For laying birds — equal parts of wheat bran and corn meal, twenty per cent of Quaker oat feed, ten per cent of boiled turnips or potatoes, fifteen per cent of clover rowen, alfalfa, green rye or refuse cabbage chopped fine and five per cent of grit. Feed twice a day all they will eat, with -a lunch of corn and oats at noon ; keep grit and crushed oyster shells before them all the time. Mr. Rankin adds : "I wish to emphasize several points. Do not forget the grit, it is absolutely essential. Never feed more than a little bird will eat up clean. Keep them a little hungry. See that the pens and yards are sweet and clean, for though ducklings may stand more neglect than chicks, remember that they will not thrive in filth. If anyone fails in the duck business, it must be through his own incompetency and neglect." Mr. Rankin has his yards swept twice a week. These sweep- ings amount to many tons each season, and are spread evenly over his grass farm, giving enormous crops of good hay, so that where, twenty years ago, only six tons of hay were cut, now the crop is 125 tons. On Long Island the method of feeding is as follows : From the time of hatching until seven days old, feed equal parts by measure of corn meal, wheat bran and No. 2 grade flour. This grade of flour is sometimes called "red dog" flour. To this add 10 per cent of the bulk of coarse sand. Mix with water to a crum- bly mass and feed four times a day. 138 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK From seven to 56 days feed equal parts by measure of corn meal, wheat bran and No. 2 flour ; 10 per cent of this bulk of beef scrap; 10 per cent of coarse sand and about 12 per cent of green stuff. Mix and feed as before. From 56 to 70 days feed 2 parts by measure of corn meal, 1 part wheat bran, 1 part No. 2 grade flour; 10 per cent of this bulk beef scrap ; 12 per cent green stuff. Mix and feed as before. It should be remembered that both green stuff and beef scrap are absolutely necessary to the best growth of ducklings, and no one should undertake to raise them without feeding both, as ducks deprived of them never make as good growth as those which are supplied with them. Mix the feed fresh for every day in a trough, and if the weather is hot, mix twice a day. Keep the mixing troughs clean and sweet. Feed in troughs, giving at each feed as much as will be eaten clean before the ducks stop eating, and no more. A little observation will show how much to feed. Ducks that are to be reserved for breeders should not be forced as rapidly as those to be sold in market. While the rations for breeding ducks should be rich in protein, they should not be such as to produce a surplus of fat. In raising breeding ducks the ob- ject is to secure large size, which needs a large frame, thick muscles and great vitality. For this reason less corn meal is fed. An ex- cellent ration for ducks reserved for breeders : Equal parts by measure of corn meal, wheat bran and green stuff, with 5 per cent of beef scrap and 5 per cent coarse sand or grit. Ducks are good grasshopper catchers and industrious insect hunters, but they should be given beef scrap regularly, even when they have their liberty. Ducks are profitable on the farm, as they are good layers, make weight economically and are always in demand in every market. Such a thing as overstocking the market with ducks has not yet occurred, and many farmers might keep a small breeding flock and raise 100 or more ducks every year to advantage. We cannot close the chapter on duck feeding without drawing attention to several important points. The first is, that with ducks especially, all food should be given on boards or troughs, at any rate not tnrown on the ground, or it will become very foul. When the trough or board is not in use it should be stood on end alongside of the fence, otherwise the birds will get it dirty. Fresh water must be provided for ducks, deep enough to im- merse their nostrils, and the vessel must be large enough so that the supply will not run out. Ducks must have water always before them; to go without even for a few hours is worse to them than missing a meal. One will never make a success with ducks with- out provision for a constant supply of water. Another matter that must be attended to is the supply of grit or coarse sand and crushed oyster or clam shells. One has only to experience the keen stoppage of eggs that follows the running out of the grit supply to realize its. vital importance. DUCKS AND THEIR VARIETIES 139 A feeding trough, a good sized water vessel, and a box of grit are about all the furniture necessary for the duck pen. Breeding Ducks In mating your breeding pens, special attention should be paid to the male. He is in theory and in fact half the pen. Every young duck reared will be half his blood and will to a great extent take after him. Where there is a faulty female, only her own progeny will be affected, with the male it is entirely different, consequently the male should be the best in health and vitality that you can get. You can afford to pay a good price for him if he makes every duck- ling worth only a few cents more than the ordinary ducks. You will find that it will pay to use young drakes (from eight to ten months of age), whilst the age of the ducks (especially Indian Runners) does not so much matter. The fertility is always better with a young male, especially early in the season. One great cause of infertility is overfatness of the breeding stock. A bird to lay well must be in good condition but not overfat. There may be said to be two kinds of fatness, one we might call soft and the other hard fat. When a duck has been fed a too carbon- aceous ration it is either passed away as waste or is stored up in the body as hard yellow fat, which may largely interfere with the sexual organs which become displaced or obstructed, with the re- sult of infertile eggs. The birds are too fat, that is they have had too much fattening food whilst they may be almost starving for nitrogenous food, which will if used in conjunction with the fat be manufactured into eggs. Improper feeding, not overfeeding, which is practically impossible if the food is of the right quality, or as we call it "properly balanced," means not only a loss of eggs but a loss of fertility. When the ration is too fattening it will often be noticed that the eggs are misshapen or are too small or too large. Lack of exercise is also a cause of infertility, and the best way of rectifying this is either to give the ducks a good grass run, or a pond in which to disport themselves for at least a portion of the day. The proper number of ducks to be mated to one drake varies according to the season and the breed. From three to six ducks for the Pekins and from eight to ten or twelve Indian Runners has been 'found the best number. Several drakes can be kept in the same flock, as they do not quarrel and fight as do the chickens. It pays best to sell off the males at the end of the breeding season, except in the case of special show specimens. In hatching duck eggs we have to rely either upon a good incu- bator or upon hens or Muscovy ducks, for the domesticated duck does not go broody, and the rare specimens that do want to sit cannot be relied upon. A good incubator, operated without varia- tion of temperature, is most generally used in this country. Duck eggs take twenty-eight days to hatch. They require more airing and cooling than the chicken eggs, and I have found it best to 140 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK sprinkle the eggs or moisten them thoroughly with warm water and not to put water into the machine ; I also do this when hatching with hens. By this plan I did not have ducks drowned in the shell which is usually due to having the water in the incubator and not airing the eggs enough. '• The proper airing depends greatly upon the weather, so no set rule can be given, but I generaly aired them the first week, after the first four days, for ten minutes ; the next week for fifteen min- utes a day, and after that for twenty minutes, whilst the last week up to the twenty-fifth day I aired them for a full half hour. It de- pends upon the heat of the weather. I have had the eggs left out accidentally for three or four hours and had a good hatch. I think that the principal cause of poor hatches is improper care and feed- ing of the breeders. Breeding ducks should have an abundance of green food daily. Muscovy ducks are most excellent incubators. They are used as incubators both in France and especially in Australia. In these and possibly in other countries they hatch turkey eggs, duck eggs and even chicken eggs. In some places in Australia five hundred Muscovys are kept fof sitting on duck eggs, as it has been found that they hatch out a much larger per cent of eggs and with com- paratively little trouble to their owners than either hens or incu- bators. Muscovy ducks eggs take thirty-five days to hatch, con- sequently they make very patient and steady sitters on eggs and will hatch duck, turkey or goose eggs without difficulty. In using Muscovys you will probably need one Muscovy duck on an average to every thirty youngsters you wish to raise. Actually, they will hatch and raise a great many more, but it is as well to give a low estimate. The Muscovys on this coast only need an open shed with straw ; you can keep the flock together. They will not interfere, but each female will build her own nest. They make their nests on the ground by hollowing out a hole with their bodies and lining it with straw. , When the ducks are about to sit, they pull feathers from their own breast and with these line the top of the nest, so that one may always know when a Muscovy duck is ready to sit. A Muscovy duck will cover from twenty to twenty-five duck eggs and will brood from forty to fifty little ducklings. When the Mus- covy duck leaves her nest to eat, which she will once or twice a day, she covers up the eggs with the feathers and down. Towards the end of the hatch she will often stay off the nest a full hour without injury to the eggs. Muscovy ducks make excellent mothers, or you may say brood- ers for turkeys, ducks or chickens, on account of their large wings and very warm bodies. SOMETHING ABOUT GEESE Geese are, of all fowls, easiest to raise where grass is abundant, for they are grazing animals. Among the various breeds raised in this country the Toulouse is the most profitable goose to raise. It grows the largest, matures the quickest and is not so much of a rambler or flyer as the other varieties, and as it does not take so readily to water it grows more rapidly and accumulates flesh faster than other varieties, and is not so noisy. There seems to be a steady demand for the beautiful large, gray Toulouse variety. They deserve every word of praise given them. They have been known to live to a great old age. I have had a friend in England who had a goose that had been more than a hundred years in the same family, and even at that age produced as many fertile eggs as any in the flock. In fact, that goose had more broods each year than any other goose in the neighborhood. There are many points about raising geese that can be learned only by experience and a little practice is worth a world of theory. Intelligent and systematic breeding is sure to bring both pleasure and profit to the breeder. Hatching and Feeding For hatching goose eggs, if setting hens are used, keep them free from lice by dusting with insect powder every week, and put from four to six goose eggs under every hen. After eight days test-out, leaving four fertile eggs under every hen to hatch. Goose eggs should be sprinkled every fourth day after the twelfth, with warm water. In hot, dry weather, float them in water for one and a half to two and a half minutes. If incubators are used, float always. At the last float hold the pip up so as not to drown the gos- ling inside the egg. If the gosling remains and dries in the shell, it should be helped out. Break away a little of the shell, and if the lining does not bleed the gosling is ready to come out. Wring out a cloth in water as hot as you can bear your hands in, wrap the egg in the cloth and leave for a few minutes. You will find the gosling will come out bright and clean. Keep the goslings warm until they are dry and can run around. When they are twenty-four hours old put them in a box, the bottom covered with sand, and feed them often with a crumbly mash of one-third corn meal, two-thirds bran and a pinch of sand. Goslings are Healthy No other young in the whole tribe of domestic poultry is so up- to-date and healthy as a young gosling. Given a tender grass plot and a bit of warmth, it goes merrily on its way, nipping a living and asking favors of no one. They eat daintily, preferring grass to all other foods. With their chatter they are ready to meet you, take a few mouthfuls of food, and, with the same old tune, they lazily saunter away in search of grass and more rest. Geese are turned out to pasture just the same as cattle, their bills having serrated edges which enable them to graze. They 143 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK never need a warm house. An open corral is much better in Cali- fornia for them and they are not given to disease. Goslings, how- ever, should be provided with shade, as they suffer from heat, get- ting a species of blind-staggers or sunstroke if exposed to the sun. One of the best items of profit to be derived from a flock of Toulouse geese is the feathers, which are clear gain, costing nothing but the trouble to pick them. Watch them in the fall and spring, twice a year, when they begin to pull out the feathers and throw them away. I know then they are ready to pick. I think it is cruel to pick at any other time. Make cheesecloth sacks which will hold two pounds of feathers. Make them large, as the feathers will cure better if they are not packed together. Hang the sacks on a clothes- line every sunny day for about two weks, then keep them in a well- aired room. Women living in the city will be your best custom- ers, providing you let them know you have good feathers for sale. One can get from 75 cents to $1.00 per pound, and can never supply the demand. The breeders should not be picked when they are laying. The Varieties There are a number of varieties of geese, but the most profit- able are the Toulouse, the Embden, and the China. Of the latter there are two kinds, the brown and the white. The color of the Toulouse is gray and white and the Embden is white. The Tou- louse and the Embden are the larger. A pair of Toulouse have been known to weigh 59j^ pounds, and an Embden pair has tipped the beam at 57 pounds.. They are great layers of large eggs, of which they will lay thirty to forty a year, although I know a woman who has a goose that laid 70 eggs without wanting to sit. In mating, allow two geese to one gander, though they gen- erally pair off and the gander will stay with his actual mate nearly all the time. The gander is the protector of the goose, especially in breeding time. He will defend her and her nest fearlessly. Hens as Mothers It is a good plan to put goose eggs under a hen. It takes thirty- one days to hatch them. Then you want to be on the watch. The hen will sit all right, but when the young ones break the shell and the hen sees a queer, green little creature, with a long, wide bill saluting her, she takes it for a freak of nature, and off comes its head. Not many hens will claim the young geese or hover them; so take the goslings away as they hatch and try the hens, giving the goslings to a good, slow, gentle hen. As soon as she takes them without any fuss there is no danger. If the weather is nice they should be turned out in a small enclosure, which can be changed every day or so. Use boards six feet long and twelve inches wide. After a week let them go, and their foster mother's trouble begins. The little goslings do not care for her calling; they are hustling for every spear of grass and she has to hunt them. Her business is to keep them warm at night and warm them in the daytime if they get chilled. Never allow goslings to get to water to swim SOMETHING ABOUT GEESE 143 until they are fully feathered, and then only let those go that you wish to keep for breeders. Many of them will do as well if they never go swimming. During this period you must keep the old geese away, as they will fight the hen and molest the young. You cannot raise geese as you do chickens and ducks, on a city lot. They must have pasture. It is a wrong belief that geese or their droppings will kill grass or pasture. If you have a large flock of geese and a small pasture they will clean it up ; that is, they will eat the grass as fast as it sprouts and give it no chance to grow, just as a cow on a city lot will soon have only bare ground and you will have to tie her in the road. If you do the same with geese you would find the grass growing again the same as before. Geese are easier to raise than any other young fowls. Muscovy ducks make excellent sitters for goose eggs. Cat and Hawk-proof Coop for Chicks and Ducklings PHEASANTS It takes time, patience and energy to raise pheasants success- fully. Any successful poultry raiser can succeed with them, al- though they are not as easy to raise as chickens, but by following as closely as possible to Nature's way we can have good success. Pheasants are hardy, strong, very prolific and when young are quite tame. Pheasants do not hatch their own eggs in captivity; when wild they make excellent mothers, but captivity destroys the hatching instinct except to a very limited degree. The price of the pheasants has a good deal to do with the choice of a breed. The Chinese, English and Golden are the most in de- mand. These are the heaviest egg producers. The Silver, Reeves, Amhersts and Swinhoes are close followers. The Chinese pheasant is usually the cheapest. The Golden is somewhat smaller than the Chinese, is tamer and more brilliantly marked. The English pheas- ant is very similar to the Chinese, but rather larger, has a less con- spicuous white collar and lays a larger egg. The English and Chinese bring about the same price. The other pheasants being less hardy and having a far less egg production bring higher prices. The building of the pens for pheasants should be carefully done. One-inch mesh should be used at the bottom of the fence for two or three feet up. Although some people prefer boards two feet high at the ground, this is a good idea, as it prevents fighting be- tween the different pens, also it keeps the young pheasants from wandering. The pheasant pens should be located in as dry a location as possible, for the birds love their sun and dust baths. There should also be trees or bushes in the pens, where they can shelter from the sun and also hide away from people. A brush heap is their de- light, and they will hide their nest in it in preference to elsewhere. The eggs should be gathered twice a day. They lay about twenty eggs at a clutch and then rest a little, in captivity. The pens should be covered over with two-inch chicken wire, as pheasants fly like wild birds, although where they- are kept for pets only the outer long pinion or flight feathers of one wing may be cut to prevent an extended flight. Care must be used not to cut the inner feathers of the wing, as these protect the bird's lungs. Pheasants are great runners and enjoy running about and slinking through the brush of their pens. The English and Chinese pheas- ants are polygamous, the same as chickens, and the male will even mate with wild grouse or with barn fowls. The natural food of the young pheasant is insects of all kinds, larvae of grubs, worms and especially ants' eggs, as. well as small seeds. In raising the little ones, use the same food as for the little turkeys at first, or, in other words, imitate the food that Nature provides for them. Be sure to give them chopped-up lettuce and onion, and a little later on the chick feed, but with a very small amount of corn in it, for corn does not agree with them. Corn is not their natural food. PHEASANTS 145 After pheasants are three months old they are very hardy, and at five months are in their full plumage. The proper food for grown birds is wheat, heavy oats, buckwheat, clover, alfalfa and grass. They also dearly love raw apple, potato, cabbage, carrot and let- tuce. Their preference, however, is flies, grubs, bugs, and worms. They need plenty of good, clean, fresh water. Anyone wishing to go into the pheasant business should write to the director of documents, Agricultural Dept., Washington, D. C, and get the Bulletin on the "Raising of Pheasants in the United States." GUINEA FOWLS Guinea fowls are becoming popular in this country and will be more so every year, as their excellent table qualities are more known. Guineas are used to replace pheasants at banquets and at the closed season. They are sometimes passed off as grouse or pheas- ants, although at some of the large restaurants they are often given their own name on the bill of fare. They lay a small egg, brown in color, with dots or little spots of darker brown, and quite pointed at one end. The eggs are con- sidered a great delicacy in Europe, for they are very rich in the color of the yolk. The guinea hen lays a great number of eggs, but she is wild and hides her nest and two or three eggs should be left in the nest as nest eggs. I have kept guineas nearly all my life, and after being well acquainted with their habits I never touch the eggs in the nest with my hand, as they so dislike the smell of a human hand that they will desert the nest and it is often a trouble to find them. I always use an iron spoon to collect the eggs. The male and female guinea are identical in color and can only be distinguished by the wattles of the male being a little larger and the "song" different. The female has a harsh voice, which calls "come back," "come back," whilst the male only seems to say "quit," "quit." This is when they both are comfortable and happy, but let a hawk appear on the scene and the scream of anger, de- fiance or warning will cause every chicken, turkey or guinea on the place to run to shelter. Guineas are as good as a watch dog, night or day ; they will give notice if a stranger comes on the place. I have had male guineas that would fly into the air to meet a hawk and give fight. . Guineas can be hatched under common hens, and, indeed, that is the best way to start with them, as' they are very "conservative in their habits. They can be raised exactly as chickens with one exception: they need food as soon as ever they are hatched, lhe eggs take 28 days to incubate and the little ones are exceedingly wild and will run away and get lost as soon as they are hatched if not closely watched. They should be confined in a tight pen, with sides at least fifteen inches high until they have learnt to fol- low the mother hen, which will be in a few days The guineas soon learn to love their mother and will never leave her, in fact they will 146 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK stay with her and roost with her even after they are laying eggs and are a year old. They are very peculiar in another thing, what one guinea does they will all do. If one flies over the fence, all will follow, a sort of follow my leader game is going on all the time. The mother hen is followed by the young even after she begins to lay they will all go on the nest with her, no matter how she may peck them. I have had them effectually break up a sitting hen. They will often, if brought up with or by hens, lay in the same nest with the mother hen, although if at liberty, as on a farm, she will usually hide her nest. Guineas are gradualy becoming polyg- amous, and the male will take as many as three or even four wives. The female makes a poor sitter and not a good mother. The wild nature is the cause of this, and if left to hatch her eggs and raise the young, she rarely brings more than four or five' to maturity, at least this has been my experience. In the West, guineas begin to lay about April and continue until August. They weigh about three to three and a half pounds, and there is a growing market for them. BANTAMS The popularity of the Bantam is becoming more marked every year. They have utility as well as fancy qualities. Quite often it is more practical to keep bantams where the space is limited than it is to keep the larger fowls. A few bantams in a small coop 30x 30x30 with a runway 30 inches wide, 27 inches high and 72 inches long in a back-yard will furnish all the eggs a good sized family can B. B. Red Game Bantam Male ALL ABOUT BANTAMS 147 use. The cockerels raised each season will supply many a fine chicken dinner. Bantams make nice pets for the children and they often make them more satisfied to stay at home in their own yard rather than playing elsewhere. A great many men become inter- ested in bantams and they derive a great deal of pleasure as well as a considerable profit from them. Take the bantam from most any standpoint and they are prov- ing a profitable and pleasurable addition to the home. Cochin Bantams By Edwin Brickert To my notion there are no nicer or more profitable breed of Bantams in the world today than the Cochins. There are four colors of them, Black, Buff, White and Partridge, which will allow us to still breed Cochins, and yet have four decisions at what color we like best. Personally I like any white bird the best. My second choice is Buff, and I like a black better than a parti-colored fowl, but many admire the rich mixture of the beautiful Partridge colored fowl. Other than colors there is not supposed to be any difference, and there will not be only when a person gets a hold of a good strain of one color and a poor strain of another. They are the ideal pet for the child in as much as they are very tame and docile and do not mind being handled. They make the best bird for the town lot in that they are not bad to fly over fences, and can easily be persuaded to stay at home. Bantams could be used a great deal more as a utility fowl than they are ; and with a great deal of profit if done right. They eat so much less feed than the big fowl, can be housed in so much less space, and their eggs are better than a half of a regular hen egg. There are a few things to remember, and in following them, there is no doubt but your Bantam enterprises will be profitable and enjoyable. When starting always buy good stock. It is better to buy a few good ones, than several cheap ones. Never buy more than you are able to feed and care for. Never neglect them ; don't be afraid you will give them too much care. Keep them and their quarters clean, as nowhere will cleanliness net you any more. Buff Cochin Bantams By A. W. Huskins The Buff Cochin Bantam, when bred true to type and color, is one of the most beautiful and attractive varieties in the Standard. To get color and type takes careful study and foresight and can only be brought about by small matings and pedigree records. The Cochin Bantams should have small, evenly and nicely serrated combs, broad chest, thick neck, with a short, broad back, with a nicely rounded cushion, with legs heavily feathered, right to the end of the middle toe. A good plan in mating is to have the body color of the hen the same color as the feathers on the cock's breast. 148 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK First take the male and go over him from head to tail, make a record of his weight, color in each section, undercolor in each sec- tion, head, color of eyes, shape of head, comb, neck, breast, back, tail, wings and foot feathering. The tail is one of the important sections and should be short, full and soft feathers. Now select one or two hens and have them particularly strong in type and color where the male is deficient. Know if possible each hen's eggs and set them separately and mark the chicks so you will know which hen produces the best stock. Do not be in a hurry about selling the old birds as they may produce some top notchers and you may w^ant to use this mating or part of it for next season's breeding. So much for the fancy part, and now for the utility, as layers, setters and mothers for chicks the Buff Cochin stands A-l. For eating purposes there is no better table fowl. They make plump broilers and roasters as their meat has a very fine flavor. With just a little care in selection at breeding time one can have an ideal family fowl in the Buff Cochin Bantam. Mating to Produce Buff Color First of all we must remember that light or lemon colored plumage is not buff, neither is a reddish brown buff — none of the shades found in Rhode Island Reds are buff. Buff is a clean, clear color just as printed in the Standard. One even shade of rich golden "buff throughout." No other shade will do for buff, nor will other shades than this produce the desirable shade. So we must use such colors only in the matings to produce it. It is a waste of time and expense to breed true buff either from lemon colored fowls mated together or by mating light and dark shades together. Realizing as you must that there is only one correct shade of buff plumage, it is necessary to acquaint yourself with the proper shades and to select for your matings fowls having the most perfect breed characteristics. The plumage of the fowl selected to be of this one desirable shade of golden buff. The male will have a slightly darker shade of color than will the females. The ideal mating for buff fowls will be hens in the second year that have the shade of color in their plumage that is most desired, mated to year- lings of the same variety that have true plumage color. If such matings are selected year after year and followed carefully without deviation therefrom, a strain may be built up that will not only possess the true shade of buff most desired but will produce it in their offspring to a considerable extent. Poultrymen are quite apt to be carried away with the appear- ance of a fowl that has beautiful form and that has light or lemon color plumage. This shade of color may be attractive when of good quality, but it is not buff. The temptation to mate such fowls with the best color specimens causes trouble because of the mingling of these different shades or uneven shades of buff. At times we may imagine that we have made progress from our matings of the different shades of buff in the breeding pen, later we see our mistake because when the fowls moult as yearlings and ALL ABOUT BANTAMS 149 liu^nmiV 116 ™ pluma £ e h is a Pt to have a bad shade of color. SS Trnrl K °T "^^ COl0r - C ° meS > We *™ ^ *° think that it comes from a bad or imperfect moult. The facts are they have returned to the shade of color that they have inherited from the unevenness of color mating in the breeding pen that produced them. The only way to produce good color of any kind is to select both males and females of the best type and color that can be selected and to mate such true form and such true color together continu- ously year after year until there has been established a line of buff fowls true to the breed and nearly perfect in the shade of buff in plumage. Another feature of great importance is that the under color shall be as described in the "Standard" of a lighter shade of buff than the surface color. Shanks, feet and skin should be a rich golden yellow and the eyes of buff colored fowls should be of a rich brilliant brightness, being even richer than blood red itself. Black Cochin Bantams Albert Brust, Jr. Black Cochins are the most popular variety of the Cochins, i although the Buffs rival them in this respect. Their popularity is due to their apparently clean appearance and condition ; however, they soil their plumage as easily as any of the other varieties but they do not show it on account of their black plumage. A disputed argument, continued for many years, is whether Black Cochins should have yellow or dark colored legs. The writer certainly prefers the yellow, although this is not taken with much consideration by the judges at the present time. Yellow legs are very difficult to obtain, without sacrificing many specimens. Of late years the writer has seen practically all dark legs on exhibition specimens, they being easier to breed and produce fewer culls. The comb, face and wattles should be bright red. Head small and neat in appearance. Eyes bright, and bay in color ; beak short, stout, and yellow, although most of them are horn color. Greenish and dark colored legs are a defect. Neck, full, short and arched. Hackle, very full and flowing fairly well on the back. Back, short, and covered abundantly with covert and sickle feathers. A point to achieve is to obtain soft quill feathers. Wings, small, short and slightly tucked up. Breast, broad, plump and full. Thighs, broad and set well apart to give the bird a cobby appear- ance. Hocks, abundantly covered with soft feathers, which curl inwards. Legs, short and well covered with feathers. Toes, straight and feathered out to the end of the middle toe and outside toe. Shape, cobby', short, full and deep to give the bird an appear- ance of being round like a ball of feathers. Plumage should be rich, lustrous, greenish sheen. To obtain this it is best to use two mat- ings to produce this color, although this can be accomplished by the single mating as I shall endeavor to explain. 150 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK To produce the cockerels or males select a male that is good in color, free from purple bars, and mate him to females that are devoid of lustre. This mating will produce good colored males. To produce females select a male that shows red or bronze in hackle wing bar or wing bow. Mate females to him that are very brilliant in color. This mating will produce good colored females. Many breeders have not sufficient space to use two breeding pens to produce birds by the double mating. The small breeder can breed very good specimens by the single- mating if he should matethem by the following mating: Select a male that is very good in color, mate two hens that are devoid of lustre and two that are very brilliant in color. This mating should produce many choice specimens. Game Bantams By F. B. Zinner Perhaps if the question "What Is the Most Desirable Quality in Game Bantams ?" was put to the average admirer of these inter- esting little birds, the answer would be spontaneous, "Station." We have come to this conclusion from our experience as judges for over twenty-five years, from conversation with scores of breeders of the different varieties of Game Bantams, and from visits to the yards of many breeders. We beg to differ with all those of that opinion. However, for the good of Game Bantams we are glad to say not all Game Bantam breeders or fanciers are of the sort that consider a leggy bird a good or typica] bird. Station, good length of thigh and shank, is a very desirable quality, but that requisite in connection with a bird with a long narrow body, long back or- long wings that reach past the body, often cross points under the tail, or in fact any one of these objectionable traits or qualities never should be considered a high-class specimen by a real judge or critic. Yet we have noticed many times the blue ribbon on Game Bantams at our best shows that were wider across the hips than at the shoulder and always this sort of bird is too long in back, and body, and most assuredly does not taper from shoulder to stern, or he could not be widest at hips, the center of the body ; but these winners had station, and were hard feathered, both coveted quali- ties, yet his body and back very objectionable, should have placed him below the bird standing next or a few cages from him with wider shoulders, short back, tapering body, and short wings, well ALL ABOUT BANTAMS 151 tucked up, that was not as long in thigh and shank. We claim that a Game Bantam with pigeon wings alone can never, or should never, be considered in that charmed circle called high-class. That no Game Bantam is really "classy" that is too long in any one of these sections, viz. : body, back or wings, regardless of how much station he may have or how grandly colored he may be. Nor short in neck, with loose or long hackle, but that a bird (Game Bantam) that has the heart shape, short body, short back, clean stern, short wing, long, clean neck and head, comes under the head of a really high-class specimen, regardless of the. fact that he is not just as "reachy" or exactly as clean in color as you would like, or as the Standard calls for "shape" makes him a classy representative of his breed. Old English Game Bantams By Alfred Mitchell This variety of Bantams came into popularity about the year 1898. It had fallen into obscurity for many years when the breeders began to take to producing the Modern or Standard Game Bantams. It is now about the most popular Bantam in England and it is steadily making headway here in the United States, especially the » Spangles, which cannot be beat for beauty. i They are also taking up the Wheatens, Pyle, Blue Duns, ' Blacks, Duckwings, in fact, all the colors of the Old English Pet Games. But the Spangles take everyone's eye that come around the fanciers' yards, and as stated, they are getting a strong hold among our American fanciers. It must be understood there is a great difference between the Modern and the Old English. Whereas the Modern calls for the long, snakelike head, short whip tail, close, hard feathered, tall and reachy. The Old English should run as follows: Head short or medium short, broad at the skull, neck short and heavily feathered, ', coming well down on shoulders and well around the throat. Broad across back and breast, tapering toward the tail. Saddle and hackle feathers should be plentiful, falling well down the sides of the tail. Tail big and flowing, wings coming well under tail, legs not too short or too long. Too short a leg makes the bird look too dumpy. TIERE we have the bllle eratorrau. ■ White Bearded Poluh bantam cock and M hen. Breed.™ heee itrlven to ret odd and novel form. In theae little bird., end they hive eueceeded quite well. There ire a» many breedi « of standard, end man, 152 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK In Spangles, white legs are called for. The hackle and saddle hackle feathers should run in color from crimson-red to beautiful orange-red and on the top of each feather should be a pendant- shaped white spangle over-laced with black. Breast should be as evenly spangled with white as possible, tail marbled black and white. Back and wing bow spangled with white. To the Fanciers who have not seen the Old English Game Bantam, must bear in mind not to get them mixed with the Modern. They are very much the same in build as the Black Rose Combed Cobby, but where the Rose Combed is concaved in the back, the Old English tapers like the Modern. Sebright Bantams By F. D. Lewis Golden and Silver Sebright Bantams resemble each other in black and white illustrations in all respects as they, are, except in ground color of plumage. Golden Sebrights, both cock and hen, should be exactly alike in color, the ground color of different strains show a good deal of shade from very yellow gold to the dark bay. We have always liked the medium color the best or, as the standard calls it, "golden bay." The ground color of the Silvers is milk white, or just a trifle shaded, called silvery white. The latter we prefer. The lacing of both varieties should be a rich green black or, as the standard calls it, "glossy black," and each feather should be laced all around evenly without outer fringe of gold or white. Sebright Bantams should be rather short-backed, short legged, compact bodies, with drooping wings, very prominent chests, head thrown back, tail carried rather high and feathers rather short. ■ ^T** .-f---"^ ''■""] •Srtf ■*"..-' C* - "'""- TTli Black Breasted Red Game Bantam Hen ALL ABOUT BANTAMS 153 _ All Sebrights should have slate blue legs and feet. In these varieties there is no need for different pens to breed males and females, as both sexes are in all respects alike as far as markings are concerned. At all Poultry Exhibitions the pens of these little beauties are continually surrounded by admiring visitors, not only from the ladies, whose eye for the beautiful is not to be questioned, but on all hands are heard exclamation of praise, which, were they not so truly deserved, would not be so willingly given. The originator of this beautiful variety of Bantams was Sir John Sebright of Eng- land, from whom they take their name. We have always been advocates of hatching bantams in May and June, but not later than July. Bantams bred after July may be a trifle smaller, but with good stock to start with the earlier birds will prove the more healthy, and prove more satisfactory. Rose Comb Bantams The origin of these beautiful little bantams dates so far back that I doubt whether any one ever knew the exact origin or how they were produced. Mr. Hutton was one of the earliest breeders of this variety in England. These he bred for over forty-five years. Under his care and persistence he bred one of the greatest strains ever produced. The greatest improvement was due to the introduc- tion of Hamburg blood. For many years all the good Blacks could be traced to his yards. During the early ancestry of these bantams much confusion and trouble was caused by breeders over the legs and wings carried closely to the body. While others desired the wings to be carried in a drooping position and the-degs to be short. Mr. Hutton was firm in his ideals and stated that they should have short legs and large wings carried in a downward position. It is needless to state that Mr. Hutton's suggestions were accepted. Since that time few alterations have been made. I shall dilate slightly, with a brief description of these beautiful little pygmies : Comb— Rose, broad at front and tapering to a fine point or leader. This should be straight or pointing slightly downwards, well serrated; color, red. Face and wattles, bright red. Wattles fine in texture and round. Head, short and broad. Eyes, ruby red and full in size. Beak, horn color in Blacks and white in the White variety and should be slightly curved. Ear lobes, pure flat white and almost round in shape. Neck, Sat, short and thick, with hackle feathers flowing abundantly over the back. Back, medium in ' length and broad. Tail, large, full and well spread, also carried quite high. It should be well covered with broad sickle feathers. Wings, large and carried in a downward position. Breast, broad, full and prominent. Thighs, very short. Legs, short and black in color. Color, in Blacks a nice greenish, lustrous black (free from purple bars) ; in Whites a pure pearl white (free from brassmess). 154 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK Light Brahma Bantams By Harvey C. Wood The venerable founders of the American Light Brahma Club planned wisely when outlining the aims and objects of the organ- ization, for they included Light Brahma Bantams along with the Standard Light Brahmas. They recognized the appeal the diminu- tive has in every fancier's heart and they knew that the miniature replicas of the magnificent larger fowls would surely interest many a youthful heart. Hearts of youths that would later grow into adult fanciers- and carry with them all the love of Brahma beauty, docility and all around utility and show room qualities possessed by these tiny Bantams. Glub officials are just as ardent in their insistence that show officials offer adequate cash and other specials on the Bantams as on the larger Brahmas. The Standard descrip- tions of the Bantams are identical with those for the larger fowls excepting for the weights; the cocks weigh 30 oz., hens 26 oz., cockerels 26 oz., pullets 24 oz. Birds that exceed these weights by 4 oz. are subject to disqualification. It is seldom, however, that any judge actually disqualifies a Light Brahma Bantam which slightly exceeds these maximum weights, because all realize the comparative difficulty of keeping the weights down. Now as to the characteristics of this variety of Bantam it is safe to claim for them all the many good qualities of the Standard Light Brahmas, excepting in the matter of weights. Many breeders have told me that they are the best layers they ever bred, either Bantams or Standard fowls. I also find constant demand for them for brooding pheasants and the several varieties of Bantams that are practically non-sitters. Black Tailed Japanese Banta ALL ABOUT BANTAMS 155 Silkie Bantams Albert Brust, Jr. Japanese Silkies are usually classed as Bantams on account of their smallness in size, although many class them with the miscellaneous breeds. Silkies derive their name from the peculiar- ity of their plumage. The plumage is unlike that of any other bird. The feathers do not possess any web and are more like silken hair. These Bantams can be classed among the most hardy of all the varieties of Bantams. They are excellent for setting purposes, especially when crossed with the Cochins. Many class their ten- dency to broodiness a drawback while others consider it an advan- tage. However, this depends much upon the breeder, and the purposes for which the breeder is producing them. Many of the most delicate varieties of Bantams and pheasants are reared by Silkies or the Silkie or Cochin Bantam cross. The successful breeders of Silkies supplies his birds with two or more inches of fine sand or gravel for his birds to scratch in. If this is not done the result will be scaly leg, and unsightly foot feathers. There are two varieties of Silkie Bantams, viz. : The White and the Buff variety, although the Buff variety is almost extinct and has never been very popular. Color specimens can be bred from one pern These Bantams breed very true to type and color. The description of Silkies will as usual commence with the head and then to the lower extremities. The description follows : The comb should be of the strawberry variety. Crest, i. e., the feathers on top of the head should be pointing backwards. Beak should be short and curved similar to a Cochin, and with a whitish blue in color. Eyes should be bright and very dark in color. Ear lobes, medium in size and blue in color. Wattles, rather long than medium. The hens being quite round as will be found in most varieties of fowl. The females' wattles always being much rounder than the males except where the male's wattles are extremely long, then the female's wattles will be rather long than round. Neck, medium in length and flowing abundantly with feathers. Back, very short and flowing with sickle and covert feathers so no -break at the base of the tail will be noticed. Tail, soft, small and short. Wings, short and carried closely to the body. Breast, full and well rounded. Thighs, short. Legs, short and well feathered, especially to the end of the middle toe. Toes, these should number five. Many people are prejudiced against these little bantams on account of the color of their skin, as well as their comb, face and wattles. The color being sort of a mulberry, while the ear lobes differ, these being light blue. The legs and toes are black or bluish black in color. 156 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK Bantams for Fancy and Utility By O. A. Ford The breeding of Bantams for either utility or fancy, and I would combine the two, presents just as good an opening to the student of Poultry Culture as the breeding of the larger Standard bred fowls. There are plenty of different types and colors to suit his taste; one will find it just as hard to produce a top notch show Bantam as anything else ; one can also breed for prolific egg production. To the man who has limited room, especially one situated on a city lot, I would say by all means try Bantams. Don't get the idea into your head that they are just something for children to play with. My Cochin Bantams hatched last Spring are shelling out the eggs and giving my Leghorns a run for their money. And Bantams when dressed are plump as a pigeon, all meat, with very small bone. They thrive when closely confined and if more people raised Ban- tams, we wouldn't hear so much of tainted soil and failures that are so common in the larger breeds. My experience has mostly been with the Buff Cochin Bantam, but barring the color question, what I may say about them will apply equally as well to the other varieties, as the breed character- istics are the same. The Cochin Bantam hen makes one of the best little mothers on earth. She will sit on her eggs with the patience of Job, and no tedious training to get her or her mates ready for the show room. They are right at home in an exhibition coop. Cochin Bantams are bred for extreme long and loose feathers, and if I was a judge on a class, I would eliminate all those that did not show fairly good Cochin type. Shape makes the breed, and a long-legged, long-tailed, tight-feathered Bantam would be more in his class if entered as a Langshan of Brahma, or whatever you might want to call it. There is too much pulling of tail and hock feathers among breeders now. The stiff hock and tail feathers could be greatly eliminated if breeders would pay more attention to the long, full feathering, the feathers would be softer, giving the bird a more rounded appearance. In Buffs I admire the soft, golden buff. Keep away from any- thing that shades to brick or chestnut 'color. I think the best way for a beginner to get started with Bantams would be to buy a trio of the best quality he could afford from a reliable breeder, asking the breeder to use his best judgment in mating the trio so as to produce show quality in a fair percentage of the youngsters. New Varieties By G. Irwin Royce The great secret of success in any kind of enterprise is no secret at all when brought down to the final analysis, the one who ALL ABOUT BANTAMS 157 has accomplished anything outside of the ordinary will tell you, providing you get into his good graces. In the first place, you must have an inborn instinct for breed- ing animals, if you make any degree of success of it. Very little thought can be given to the financial returns, only you can be cock sure that someone will want any rare or novel specimen that you may produce, even though you are some time in getting your just reward. The writer has developed nine new varieties of Bantams, three of large birds, and improved several other varieties in a substantial way. Starting in 1891, he made the first combination mating. A definite plan was outlined, a picture of what was to be made, well photographed on the brain, and it only remained for him to work out the combinations by careful matings with infinite patience, in- troducing the blood of about fifteen varieties before even starting to even up to complete a strain, and from this large variety, he developed a Blue Rose Comb Bantam, then followed other varieties until he had to discard the four large varieties for the more fasci- nating work with the Bantams. It is merely this in making up new varieties : you must have an artist's eye, a love for the novel in nature, make a close study of combinations, and must possess dogged determination and per- sistency. It must not be considered experimenting or an uncertainty. You must go about it with the understanding with yourself that you are nature's guide and you the artist whose behest nature must observe. Breeding animals is as near infallibility as can be understood, if certain principles are observed, and one becomes obsessed with a fascination that gives the keenest enjoyment and holds you close, particularly when you are producing something out of the ordinary. Space prevents our going into detail as to the methods em- ployed and we can only say, if you have any inclination to origi- nality, take a hand and see what intense pleasure you will find in the work. Mating Bantams Upon the skill of mating depends the success of the fancier. It takes study, thought and foresight to select and mate to produce standard type and color. Just recently I have seen old breeders select color and overlook shape. In mating bantams, as in mating large fowl, one must select type. Some of our most successful breeders believe the female the most important and will not sell the best females for any amount of money, but will sell some of their finest males. Great care should be exercised not to mate male and female with the same faults. For instance, if you have a fine male in most every way but carries his tail just a little high, be sure and select a female that is heavy feathered over base of the tail and carries her tail low and well spread. You may not get the ngh' 158 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK carriage in the tails of all the chicks, but you may get one or two that are good in this respect. These can be used to mate with your best hens. In this way you can overcome high tail carriage. In mating for buff color, select your typiest male with color nearest the standard. With him mate females that are strong in color where he is weak. If he has good even surface and a little light in undercolor, select one or two females just a shade darker and strong in undercolor. This mating usually brings good pullets. For cockerels select your best shaped and colored females and mate a cockerel somewhat darker in color but have him even as possible. Pay special attention to health and vigor in your breeding stock; never breed from birds that have been sick with roup and canker, and always use your best birds to breed from and keep a record of the matings so you will knqw just what mating produces the best stock. A Good Bantam House The best house for special breeding purposes is made out of half-inch lumber ; size 30 inches square, 33 inches high in front and slope to 30 inches in back. Have the roof on hinges in front so' it can be lifted up from the back. The roof should be covered' with water proof roofing paper and the cracks at the sides should be well covered with battons. There should be a runway 30 inches wide and 72 inches long and 30 or 36 inches high. Use boards 12 inches high on three sides so there will be no drafts and when used for a hen with chicks, will help to keep them in. These coops are very handy as they can be moved from place to place to fresh ground which is very essential for health. A Practical Fireless Brooder for Bantams A good fireless brooder is made as follows : Take a box of l / 2 - inch, smooth lumber, 18 inches square, 10 inches high ; saw out an opening 10 inches long and 4 inches high in front and on the two sides. The front opening should be covered with brooder felt cut in strips and tacked at top for the chicks to go in and out, the side openings should be fitted with glass. Eight triangular pieces of wood should be cut to fit in corners, one at the bottom and one up six inches from the bottom ; the front of the pieces should be fitted with pieces of tin, each having J^-inch holes one inch from the bottom ; also bore J^-inch holes five inches from the bottom on the outside near each corner; by putting in these corner pieces and making the holes as above stated, you get a good indirect ventila- tion. Now make a frame to fit into the box and cover with muslin, let the frame rest on the four corners, make some pads of muslin and cotton to fit over frame. Have the tinner make a can the size of a 1-quart tomato can with a cover to fit in like a milk can cover. Cover the can all around the sides with a pad so the chicks car. hover against it and not get burned ; fill can three-fourths full of hot . water and place in center of box under frame. This makes a warm, ALL ABOUT BANTAMS 159 light, well-ventilated brooder that chicks learn to go into readily and has been proven. Feeding Brooder Chicks Young chicks will not eat for from 24 to 36 hours after hatch- ing, and will not suffer if given no feed until the third day. The yolk of the egg, which is absorbed by the chick, furnishes all the nourishment required during this time. It is this provision of nature for the first sustenance of the chick that make it possible to ship newly hatched chicks considerable distances. At the start it is advisable to put before them in hoppers a good quality of Baby Chick Mash. This should be kept before them al- - ways, so they can run to it and eat at will. Feed Baby Chick Grain in a low dish or chick feeder the first two or three days ; after the third day feed this chick grain in litter to induce the chicks to scratch and exercise ; this will keep them busy, happy, and they will grow faster. Give them a head of fresh lettuce to pick at once or twice a day after they are three days old ; they enjoy it and it is good for them. Where chicks are with the hen the same method can be followed by making a little run 2 feet wide by 3 feet long and one foot high and covered with 2-inch mesh wire netting on all sides. The food can be put in the center of this run and the chicks can get the feed but the hen cannot, thereby saving a lot of ex- pensive chick food. White Leghorn Pullet CANARIES Canaries can scarcely be called "Poul- try," but all my life I have been a suc- cessful raiser of them and I so dearly love them that I want to give them a chapter in my book to let others know about the prettiest and dearest of "our little feathered brothers of the air." The wonder to me is that so few of them are kept and loved in Califoria. In England, in France, in Germany, and in most of the European countries, canaries are a source of income as well as of pleasure to the artisan or mechanic class. I have known personally shoe- makers, plumbers, harness makers, car- penters, who were really expert canary breeders. I have myself patiently turned a little bird organ for hours day after day to teach the youngsters to whistle a certain tune, and at one time I took a number to the forest of Mont- morency so that they could learn the nightingale song from the wild night- ingales of the forest. Canaries were brought to England about three hundred and fifty years ago from the Canary Islands. Since that time they have been extensively bred as household pets. During the three hun- dred and fifty years of its domestication the canary has been the subject of care- ful artificial selection, the result being the production of a bird differing widely in color of plumage and even in size and in form from the original wild bird. In England, as well as in other coun- tries, canary breeding is a hobby. There are hundreds of canary shows in Eng- land, and thousands of the lovely little pets are exhibited annually, but the cli- max show is at the Crystal Palace every February, when the champions from all over the country meet, and the judges have a hard time to select among so many almost perfect specimens the best canary in all England. The winner of each class in that Crystal Palace show means the choicest of ten to twenty thousand from over all England, Scot- land, Wales, and even Ireland. The en- thusiasm in England over these beau- tiful little pets is greater than in any other country, and it is not surprising when one realizes that the expense of feeding a canary is next to nothing, and the care of them only a pleasure. The price of canaries in England va- ries from one dollar to five hundred, for it all depends upon the beauty and the singing quality." In some places there are singing contests for some varieties. For show and singing and for general excellency the Norwich Canary carries the palm. It is the favorite breed in England. I have asked a canary expert breeder and judge to tell us more about the dif- ferent breeds of canaries that are popu- lar in England and in Europe. The judge (John Burrows) was for a number of years secretary of the Lei- cestershire (England) Ornithological Society and of the celebrated Leicester Shows, and knows more about the Eng- lish canaries and English wild and cage birds than any one I have met in Cali- fornia. His description of high-class canaries will interest many. The largest canary is the Lancashire "Coppy." This we place first because it is the giant of the canary family, of- ten measuring seven and a half to eight J inches long. As their name implies, i they are bred for their crests, "coppy" ; being the old English for crest or cap. : A good exhibition bird should have a : drooping crest with a well-defined cen- i ter, the crest feathers entirely covering • the eyes and beaks. Yorkshires — These birds are some- : times called the "Aristocrats" of canary- : dom. They are very straight, long and slim, with an erect carriage and feathers like wax, lying tightly to their slim bodies. Lizards — A bantam variety of the canaries with beautiful spangled coats and a clear (not spangled) cap, the yel- lows are called the Gold Lizards and the Silver Spangled have the tips of the yellow feathers just slightly tipped with white. They are both most charming little, tiny birds. Borders — These are another of the Wee Gems. They should be round in shape and as tight in feather for exhi- bition as though carved from boxwood. Cinnamons — A beautiful variety of the Norwich type is called Cinnamon. They should be of sound cinnamon color with dark penciling showing on their coats. This is truly a grand variety. Scotch Fancy — The Scotch Fancy is a great favorite in Scotland. They should stand with • the head over the perch and the tail under, forming a crescent like a new moon. Belgium — This variety should stand on the perch with the tail in a perfectly straight line with the back, head bent down so that the shoulders are the high- CANARIES 161 est point on view. They are trained to keep the head down and the shoulders up, so that they have almost the appear- ance of being hump-backed. Dutch Frills — These are frilled on the chest, which makes them appear rough, but they have many admirers.. London Fancy — This once popular bird, with clear, bright yellow body and dark wings and tail, seems to be getting quite scarce, now very few being bred, probably on account of the difficulty of breeding with the proper markings. Norwich — Last, but not least, we have the Norwich variety. This is without doubt the most popular and beautiful of the canary family, not only on account of the lovely and wonderful coloring, but also as singers they are second to none. In no other variety is there such i depth of color, and so large a variety of markings. The Norwich canary should have a full, round head with thick, short neck set on a chubby, round body, broad chest, short wings and tail. He should stand well across the perch with a bold, •jaunty appearance. They vary in color- ing and feather through all the various phases of marking from the green to the clear yellow, sometimes a specimen is seen with both eyes and wings marked alike, these are called 'even marked' and are highly valued, while rarer still is the bird marked on eyes, wings and each side of the tail, this is called a "six- pointed" bird. The Norwich is divided, as are the other varieties, into "yellows" and "buffs.'' Good exhibition specimens of yellows are of the brighest orange, al- most the color of red-hot iron. The "buffs," although as deep and bright in color, have the end of each little feather just tipped with white very lightly. The deep bright yellow shining through gives the appearance of being frosted, or as if a thin white lace veil were over the bird with the yellow shining through. The effect is almost indescrib- ably beautiful. Some of these birds are extremely valuable. They are good songsters, exquisite little birds, bright and intelligent. There are many shows in the differ- ent cities and towns all over England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland in the fall and winter and when these shows are over the owners of the prize winners send the champions (those that _ have never been beaten) up to the biggest and best show of all in the month of February at*he Crystal Palace. At the 52nd annual show last February there were in all 2600 cage birds competing for prizes. A prize there means a win- ning over about 26,000 birds from all over the country. In reply to the request of one of his customers for a few instructions in the management of canaries, Mr. John Bur- rows writes : I like a room with the window in the East or Southeast, so that the birds will get the sun's rays when it is not too warm in the morning, also we must remember that the birds feed their young at the earliest opportunity in the morning. I prefer a breeding cage as plainly made as possible, with just a wire front, every crevice must be puttied up, so there is no room for red mites, no ornaments or mouldings of any sort, it should be either limewashed or paint- ed, with a drawer at bottom to clean them out, sliding divisions in the mid- dle. Some fanciers use a slide with a few wires, so that the birds can get ac- quainted that way. Plenty of sharp grit in bottom of cage, the seed hopper in the center over slide, drinking water at each end, never put drinking water inside; four perches, two each side the slide, perches made big enough for birds to grasp firmly (no pencils). Hang nest box between perches when birds are ready to build. Size of breeding cage outside measure 36 in. long, 18 in high, 12 in. deep. When your cages are ready, place the female on one side and the male on the other, when the male bird is seen feeding the hen through the wires, they are then ready to begin housekeeping, but don't put them to- gether till March 1st, then you have plenty of time for three nests before the end of July. The male bird I sent you is a buff marked, he should be paired to a yellow hen. Don't feed anything but plain canary seed in the hoppers, just a pinch of the following every other day in rotation, maw, rape, flax, hemp, millet; never give mixed seed, just a little tender green food every alternate day. You will tell when the hen is about ready to lay, as she will finish her nest, and will not let the male pull it to pieces as perhaps he has been doing. When she has laid, take out the egg and put in a dummy; a small marble. She will perhaps lay every morning till the nest is complete, but if she misses a day don't worry. On the evening of the 3rd egg put them all back in the nest. She ought to start then and sit, they should all hatch together on the 14th morn. If 162 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK the male bird is quiet he need not be re- moved, but if he is too gay he had bet- ter be put on the other side of the slide until the young are one week old, when he can be put back and take his share in feeding and raising the family. As soon as the young leave the nest, the hen will be ready to lay again. By the time the second ones are one week old, the male bird can be returned again, as the first young ones will be able to feed them- selves, and must be turned into a long flight cage, where they will" have plenty of room for exercise. All the while the birds have young they should be fed on egg and bread food or ground crackers ; nearly all egg when birds are first hatched, then increase the crackers as the young get older, also plenty of green food every day. Don't take their other seed away. They are also very fond of wild seeds, partly ripe, which is one of nature's foods for young birds. Soaked seed is also good, but it soon sours in this country. Everything must be kept as clean as possible, scalding all nesting materials, and be always on the lookout for the red mite. It is a good plan to dust the nest, when she begins to sit, with insect powder, also a day before she hatches. The people who have devoted greatest attention to the rearing of canaries are the Germans. By them the cultivation of the singing qualities of the bird has been almost, the exclusive desideratum, no particular reference being made to beauty of plumage, shape or size. The finest ■ singers in the world are the trained German birds. The length of the Germany canary is about five and one-half inches, the color varying from pure yellow to a yellow- ish green. The birds are sometimes mottled or crested, for, as before stated, their breeding has entire reference to their song and not to their plumage. In many districts of Germany the breeding of canaries is the principel oc- cupation of the people, but the "Hartz Mountain" region surpasses all others in this business. The choicest breed is reared on the summit of the mountain in the little hamlet of "St. Andreas- berg," where the bird education is car- ried to a degree that can scarcely be understood by the general public in this country. Every facility is given for the young birds to acquire -the cultured notes of well-selected singers. Various mechanical devices are employed to in- troduce long trills, and flute notes and other oddities in song. From three to six months of constant training is needed to bring the young songsters to perfection. St. Andreasberg Rollers is the name of these canaries. German canaries being bred by thou- sands of small breeders all over Ger- many, no one can tell just how many are produced annually. Our eastern im- porters dispose of over three hundred thousand of these birds in this country every year. Personally, I cannot see why we do not produce our own birds. We excel all foreign countries in su- perior poultry, horses, flowers, and by giving the matter the attention required we should be able to breed in time as good, if not better, songsters than any of the imported. There are thousands of people in this country raising poultry that they are selling for $1 a head and think' they are doing well. Canaries can be produced for less than chickens, and will always bring more than a dol- lar. There is always a demand for good songsters and any one that will take up this matter on a sensible commercial basis can do well with it. The rearing of young birds is a task in which all will not be equally success- ful, but it is safe to say that by follow- ing a few simple directions success will be assured. The breeding of canaries may be commenced about the middle of February and continued till midsum- mer, one pair raising several broods if permitted. However, continuing the breeding season too long is not advis- able, as it will prove detrimental to the health of the birds. The cage in which the breeding takes place should be roomy, sixteen inches in length is the smallest and ten inches in width, but larger cages result in better, healthier birds. The\ cage should be hung against the wall or placed upon a shelf some seven or eight feet from the floor and facing the south. When once it has become the home of the pairing birds its position should not be changed, nor should it be needlessly taken from its place. The cage should be provided with a drawer, which must be kept clean and strewn daily with fine gravel or sand. Cleanliness is very necessary. Fresh water, both for drinking and bathing, should be supplied daily. Plenty of nutritious food should be given. Feed the egg and cracker mixture daily in ad- dition to the seed and some green food, such as lettuce or dandelion or bits of sweet apple. As soon as the male is observed to be feeding his mate, nesting material or a ready-made nest should be given to CANARIES 163 them. In about eight days after mating the female will begin to lay, and will deposit one egg daily until the whole number are laid, seldom less than four, occasionally six or even seven. The period of incubation is fourteen days. The male will assist in feeding the young; plenty of soft food should be supplied them. The egg and cracker mixture should be customary diet, on this they will thrive. They should also have plenty of succulent green food, such as lettuce, chuckweed, etc. In about three weeks the young birds will be able to leave the nest. They will soon learn to feed themselves if plenty of soft food is kept before them, and will soon eat the birdseed. When some four weeks old the males will be noticed swelling their throats, as if attempting to . warble. The birds will be in full feather when six weeks old, but soon thereafter begin to cast their body feathers, and two months may elapse before they are in perfect plumage again. During this period they should be carefully preserved from draughts, and fed the egg mixture daily, together with rape seed which has been softened in water, and a little crushed hemp seed, not forgetting green food. A young male's capacity to sing de- pends upon good breeding. He inherits this, but if he sings well it is by imi- tation. If you expect your young birds to become good singers you must place near them as good a songster as you can buy or borrow. A little money spent for a fine singer that can act as instructor to the young will be well re- paid. Bird fanciers in Germany put their canaries to school immediately after the moulting season is past, the birds being then about three months old. A large number of young males are placed in a half-lighted room, connected with an apartment above by an opening in the ceiling. In the upper room are placed the choicest singers that can be com- manded — nightingales, larks, etc. — which act as instructors to the young birds. The young canaries soon learn the les- sons so carefully set for them and in a few months become expert musicians. These two articles on both English and German canaries should be helpful to canary breeders and either of the writers will be glad to answer questions or supply stock to enquirers. Blue Orpington Female BASLEY FORMULAS (Tested) Basley Chick Feed Cracked Wheat 30 lbs. Steel Cut Oats 30 lbs. Finely Cracked Corn 15 lbs. Millet , 10 lbs. Rice 10 lbs. Pearl Barley 10 lbs. Rape Seed ■ 10 lbs. Granulated Milk 10 lbs. Granulated Dried Bone 10 lbs. Chick Grit : 10 lbs. Granulated Charcoal 5 lbs. Total 150 lbs. Basley Dry Food for Laying Hens By measure : Bran 2 parts Alfalfa Meal 1 part Corn Meal ' 1 part Rolled Oats or Oatmeal 1 part Beef Scrap 1 part A little pepper and salt. Basley "Egg Coaxer" Dose half a pint once a day for twenty hens when they are moulting or to encourage egg laying. This is an infallible egg producer. To be given in the mash, either dry or wet. Dried Blood 10 lbs. Beef Meal : 10 lbs. Bone Meal 10 lbs. Linseed Meal 5 lbs. Sulphur 2 lbs. Powdered Charcoal -. 2 lbs. Cayenne Pepper 54 lb. Salt J4 lb. Douglas Mixture Tonic and Disinfectant: Sulphate of iron (common copperas), eight ounces; sulphuric acid, one-half ounce. Put into a bottle or jug one gallon of water; into this put the sulphate of iron. As soon as the iron is dissolved, add the acid. When the mixture is clear, it is ready for use. Dose : One teaspoonful in one pint of drinking water. This is one of the best tonics for poultry known. It is an antiseptic as well as a tonic, and is a good remedy for many diseases. Basley Liniment for Rheumatism One cup of vinegar; one cup of turpentine; as much saltpetre as it will take up, about a heaping tablespoonful. Keep in a bottle, shake before using. Bathe the affected part twice a day. Excellent for bruises, sprains, etc.; also in the human family or animals of any kind. BASLEY FORMULAS 165 Epsom Salts, Purgative Dose Epsom salts is one of the most useful drugs we have in combating in- ternal diseases in poultry. An ordinary dose is 20 to 30 grains, administered in water. The dose for different ages, where quick purgative effect is desired, follows : Age of Bird. Amt. per Bird. 1 to 6 weeks 10 grains . . 5 to 10 weeks 15 grains . . 10 to 15 weeks 20 grains . . 15 to 26 weeks 30 grains . . to 12 months 35 grains How administered. In feed In feed In feed . . Dissolved in water .Dissolved in water 1 year and over 40-50 grains Dissolved in water One ounce apothecary weight is 480 gr.ains. One ounce is a quick purga- tive dose for 12 mature fowls. ' An ordinary dose is half this quantity. Epsom Salts Professor Quizzenberry recommends Epsom Salts for hens and pullets that .are not laying satisfactorily. His recipe is : One tablespoonful of Epsom Salts in one gallon of wet mash. Give this three times a week. I have tried this and find it excellent. The soil in some parts of the coun- try has not enough earth salts in it and the hens require salts in their food. The Epsom Salts strengthens the egg shell, purifies the blood, stimulates the egg- making organs, puts a gloss on the feathers and seems to be exactly what hens need in this part of the country. I give it for a week almost every month. Try it if your hens are not laying properly. Dissolve one tablespoonful in a gallon of water and mix the mash with it. Brooder and Chicks PART II. Questions and Answers CAUSE AND CURE OF SICKNESS Apoplexy— What is the trouble with my hens? They seem healthy and all at once they begin to gasp and fall over dead. I cut one open and it was in fine condition, fat and nice. I cannot make out what it is. — Mrs. C. S. Answer — Your hen had apoplexy from being overfat. The overfat condition weakens the muscle^, and the heart and brain give way. Give the whole flock a little Epsom salts in the water for a week, cut down the amount of grain, especially any corn or corn meal in their feed, and feed more green food and more animal food with, of course, char- coal and grit. Air Puff — Barred Rock about 6 or 7 weeks old. A few days ago it went to iimping and I supposed it was some of the others crowding, but I have since noticed its whole right side was puffed away out, just the skin, and I took a needle and made a small opening and there was nothing but wind in it. I repeated the same operation next day. It eats and drinks and aside from the limping, seems to feel all right. — Mrs. J. N. H. Answer — Your chick had what is called "Air Puff," and you did just right in puncturing the skin ; you saved its life by it. The trouble comes from a wound or abrasion of the lung tissue resulting from violence of some kind. After ca- ponizing a chick this trouble often de- velops. I have seen the poor little things almost as round as a ball and so light from the air under the skin that the slightest breeze rolled them along. Chicks that get trampled on by their mothers, or cockerels that fight, are lia- ble to suffer from injuries that result in "air puff." They become inflated with air. The treatment is a good nourish- ing diet. I resort to bread and milk in such cases. It is easily digested, and puncture the skin to let the air out. In slight cases where there is only a little air under the skin it will disappear gradually without treatment, but if there is a considerable amount of air it is nec- essary to prick the skin and let it out. Answer — Your hen has probably what is called "bumble-foot." It is something like a stone bruise or a corn in human beings. It usually comes from a corn or bruises of the feet, wounds with thorns, broken glass, hard stones or other sharp substances. The ball of the foot becomes swollen, inflamed, hot and painful. The fowl appears in pain. Corns are often caused by too small or narrow perches, which compel the fowl to grasp them tightly in order to main- tain their position. This firm grasp con- tinued night after night affects the cir- culation of the part of the foot that comes in closest contact with the perch. A similar condition may be caused by heavy birds flying from their perches and lighting upon a stony surface or hard floor. If it has not yet become an abscess, simply cut off the thickened skin or corn without causing bleeding and paint the corn with tincture of iodine. If pus has developed, soak the foot in warm water twice a day and poultice until the in- flammation is reduced. After thor- oughly cleaning the foot, if pus has de- veloped, open the abscess freely with a sharp knife and scrape out the diseased matter. Wash out the wound carefully with peroxide of hydrogen or carbon- ized water. • Stuff the wound full of iodine gauze and bandage it. Continue this treatment daily until the wound is almost healed, then apply a good oint- ment daily until it is entirely well. The bird must be kept on clean, dry straw until fully recovered. _ Bumble-foot — I have a lame hen; she linaps on her left foot. She eats as well as my other hens, her comb is read and looks healthy as the others. — Mrs. M. M. C. Bronchitis — Will you kindly tell me what ajls my White Leghorn hen? She sits around most of the time and squawks and slings her head and when I hold my ear to her side I can hear a continual rattling. Her comb is red and she eats well. I feed corn, wheat, Kaffir corn and table scraps. They run on plenty of green range. Her nostrils are clean. Age, 8 months.— C. C. S. The irritation of the bronchial tubes is sometimes the remains of an attack of roup. I have found a little honey one of the best remedies. I would ad- ' vise you to mix one teaspoonful of euca- lyptus oil or teaspoonful of turpentine (I prefer the eucalyptus) in one cupful of strained honey; mix thoroughly and give the bird one teaspoonful night and morning. At the same time give a nour- CAUSE AND CURE OF SICKNESS 169 ishing diet. A little red pepper and chopped onions in her food would also help the cure. Bald Head— Some of my hens are becoming bald headed. The feathers for half an inch and more back of the comb disappear. The hens seem in the best of health and lay well. There are no lice or mites on the chickens, on the roosts or in the nests. If you can give me a remedy I shall consider it a great favor -Mrs. E. E. C. Answer — This is not at all an un- common occurrence just before the moult. Those feathers have merely ripened a little earlier than the others, and, strange to say, it is usually the best layers that are so affected. You' can grease the bald spot with a little vase- line. This will hasten the growth of the new feathers. Blind Chickens — What is the matter with my little chickens ? They are about two months old. I find them with one eye shut and sometimes both, and when I open it a watery subs'tance comes from them. When only one eye is affected, they are perfectly blind in it, but can see all right out of the other, and when both eyes are affected, they are blind in both. Their mouths are perfectly clear and they have a rattle in their throat. They have been affected* now for about two weeks and several have died. It seems very contagious. — Mrs. A. L. S. Answer — The starting point of nearly all cases of blindness in chicks is in roupy breeding stock. A slight chill or cold is sufficient to start an epidemic of this blindness in a flock of chicks, if they already possess the inherited ten- dency to weakness of these parts from parents that were not in fit breeding con- dition. This blindness is a result of an inflammation of the mucous membrane of the eye and lids, which produces a sticky exudate, which gums the eyelids together. Sometimes the inflammation of the lids is excited by irritating substances like lime or sharp, dusty sand, insect powders or kerosene getting into the eyes. These causes may produce blind- ness in chicks that do not have roupy ancestors. That form of inflammation of the lids accompanied by hardening of the lids is not uncommonly caused. by irritants, kerosene particularly, Unclcanliness is another cause of blindness of this sort, and too many who attempt to raise chicks are careless in this respect. Lice and mites also do their share to cause the trouble. The best way to remedy such cases is to prevent them or remove the cause if possible. In cases where there is an amount of exudate it will be well to bathe the eyes with a solution of bo- racic acid, fifteen grains to a half cup of water, then dry with a soft cloth and apply a little carbolic salve. It is difficult to get satisfactory results dosing young chickens with medicine, but you might give them either a little bread and milk with a sprinkling of red pepper and sulphur on it, or rice boiled in milk with a tablespoonful of ground cinnamon for each pint of milk. Cancer — The writer wishes to know if poultry are subject to cancer. — J. H. Answer — Poultry are not subject to cancer, but they are to tuberculosis, which may be taken for the same. There is no cure for this but the hatchet. A thorough disinfecting of the premises must be made. The bodies of any fowl dying from this disease should be burned, or buried very deeply, as it is an infectious disease. Canker — I am anxious to know if the heavy Black Orpingtons are hardy. I have just bought a fine cockerel and four hens ; one of them has just got canker. What is the cause and remedy? —Mrs. M. N. Answer — The Black Orpingtons are very hardy. Am sorry your pen has canker. The cure for that is to paint the spots with sulpho-carbolate of zinc (four grains in an ounce of distilled water) night and morning. This will kill the germ, but in case it is diphther- itic roup, would advise you to paint it one day with the sulpho-carbolate of zinc and the next day with peroxide of hydrogen, as the latter kills the diph- theritic germ. The open front houses are the best for every kind of fowl in this climate. A change of diet will often affect the droppings of the fowls, when they are normal. You had better slightly change the foods, or if you feed them charcoal it will materially assist the di- gestion and you need fear no trouble. A little Epsom salts in the water, if the fowls are very fat and heavy, is also an 170 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK assistant, but by giving them plenty of green food, you will have no trouble. Cannibalism — I had a hatching of Black Minorcas three weeks ago of 115 chicks; today I have about 80. In the first place, the chicks are hearty and well, but will bite the rectum of the other chicks and in two or three minutes will just tear the bowels out and kill the little chicks. Every one will give it a nip, and if we are not constantly on the alert all would be dead. No one of whom I have inquired has ever heard of such a thing. I have raised these just as I raise my White Leghorns. I hatched 160 seven weeks ago, and today have 158 fine chicks. You would oblige me very much with a remedy. — W. P. H. Answer — The remedy for "cannibal- ism" is first, to keep all the chicks busy with exercising ; in order to do this, keep the floor of the brooder covered with chaff or finely cut alfalfa hay at least an inch deep and feed the chicks small grain (chick feed) in this ; the hay or chaff keeps the toes and feet covered, conceals them, and the busy little things are so occupied scratching that they do not get into mischief. Sec- ondly, give them a little more animal food or milk. The cannibals have a craving for animal food, and sometimes a bit of fat salt pork, whether fed to them or nailed up where they can peck at it, satisfies this craving. Thirdly, find the first leader of this mischief, and either kill him or isolate him and give him to a hen to bring up. This' bad habit is usually started by one chick', and all the others follow suit, and soon the whole brooder will acquire the habit, and it is almost impossible to stop it if it has got a good start. Warts on Combs and Eyes — I am in trouble and I know you can advise me. September 24th I hatched some Blue Ahdalusians. They have grown very fast, seemed extra healthy and vigorous, until a few days ago, when warts be- gan to appear on their combs and eyes. In one night they grew twice in size. I have nine, and they are all becoming af- fected. What in the world is it, and is it catching? They have run at large en- tirely and their feed in grain is mostly kaffir corn. They were such fine chicks, and I was raising them for breeders, but now feel discouraged. I have a younger litter, four weeks old, but they are all right .so far. .My old birds are fine stock and very healthy. These warts did not make their appearance un- til the chicks were eight weeks old. — Mrs. H. E. S. Answer — Your chickens have chicken pox in a very virulent form. Chicken pox is from a germ and it is very in- fectious. It is fatal to young chicks. In severe cases it goes into the throat and mouth, as you describe. The best home remedies that I know are first to grease the "warts" that are on the outside of the mouth or under the wings with a little carbolic salve. Then wash the mouth and throat with vinegar and salt (a level teaspoonful in a cup of vine- gar), following this the next day with swabbing with peroxide of hydrogen. Give germozone in the drinking water. Feed nourishing and easily digestible food, such as bread and milk. Chicken pox or sore head affects ordi- nary fowls, and more rarely geese. Young chickens are more susceptible than the older fowls. It is caused by a parasitic fungus. The bite of insect abrasions Of the comb, such as scratches from fighting in cockerels or turkeys, make conditions favorable for the para- site to get into the skin of the fowl. The bite of an insect, such as the flea or mite, will carry or give the disease. It is contagious. At first it has some ap- pearance of warts. These reach their full development in from five to ten days. The largest are found about the beak, nostrils or eyelids. These warts seem to run together and form yellow masses upon the comb and wattels. Chicken pox is more prevalent in damp weather than in dry. The cure is wash the warts in warm soap suds, dry" and apply carbolated vaseline or carbolic salve and feed a light, nourishing diet, one-third being cut green alfalfa, and give bread and milk, to which add half a teaspoonful of powdered sulphur. Disinfect the premises thoroughly. Catarrh — Can you please tell me what the trouble is when chickens cough and their nose runs, also state the best way to rid them of this plague? — Mrs. S. A. B. Answer — Your chickens have taken cold and may have lice. Try to dis- cover what is giving them their severe colds. It is probably some draught. Put a piece of bluestone in their drinking water (the size of a bean in a quart of CAUSE AND CURE OF SICKNESS 171 water) and give them a pill of the fol- lowing: Mix two tablespoons of lard, one each of mustard, red pepper, vine- gar; mix thoroughly, add sufficient flour to make a stiff dough. Give a bolus of this as big as the first joint of your little finger very night. One or two doses usually cures. Cough and Sneeze — Will you please tell me what is the matter with my birds? I have several that cough or sneeze. I do „not know which. They will shake their heads and "holler." One can hear them quite a distance. Will you please tell me the disease and rem- edy? — B. J., Tucson, Ariz. Answer — Your fowls have bronchitis and perhaps some influenza. Give them bread and milk for supper and a quinine pill and half a teaspoonful of red pepper mixed with butter. And see that they do not sleep in a draught or in a house where the rain comes in' on them. Also give them each five drops of eucalyptus oil on a bit of bread or in half a tea- spoonful of honey. Comb Discolored— I have a White Leghorn cock two years old; he has al- ways been healthy, but for the last two months I notice that his comb and wat- tles turned a deep purple and would remain so for days, then they would change to a natural color again, but only for a day or so, and then turn purple again. He seems to be healthy and vig- orous in every way. Now, can you tell me what can be the matter with him and what I can do for him, or if it would be wise to use him any further for breeding purposes ?— Mrs. U a. Answer— The comb tells quite a little story of what is going on in the organs of the whole body. Any change in the appearance of the comb is indicative of a disturbance in some other part of me The dark colored comb is an indica- tion of a disordered liver and indiges- tion The dark comb is one of the first symptoms noticed in congestion ot the liver and most cases of this come from an overfeeding of a ration too rich in starch elements, such as too much po- tatoes or bread in the table scraps, and insufficient exercise. I do not know how vou are feeding your fowls but I would ."recommend you to put a little Epsom salts into the drinking water or you can give him alone a small half teaspoonful in a tablespoonful of water, and put in the drinking water of the whole flock ten drops of tincture of nux vomica to a pint of water. Feed plenty of green food and more meat than you are now giving; keep this up for a week and then turn the birds out on a grass range if possible, otherwise give to the birds as scratching material the waste from an alfalfa hay mow and allow them only a little grain, wheat, and make them scratch hard for that. It would not be advisable to use the male bird for breed- ing. Breed only from the most vigor- ous stock you have. Why Combs Are White — We have two Buff Orpington hens that are sick. They mope around and do not eat. Their heads and gills are almost white, and sometimes one is almost blue. They look as though they have lice, but they have not. Can you give me some ad- vice as to how to treat them? Thanking you in advance, I am, respectfully. — A. G. O. Answer — The comb tells quite a little story as to what is going on in the organs of the whole body. The normal condition- of the comb presents a healthy look that the poultrymen call the "stand- ard red." Any deviation from this red is an indication of changed action in the workings of the organ, or -to a change in the vitality of the whole bird. The light colored comb shows an anemic state of the bird and is a sign of under- feeding, lice, poor ventilation, and ab- sence of green vegetable food, impure water and uncleanly surroundings. As you say nothing of the feeding and treatment of the birds, I am unable to say which of these conditions fits your case. I think probably they are infested with lice or their houses with mites, and the only remedy is the ex- termination of these. Crop Bound— I have about 100 Leg- horns; been very healthy all winter; laving good. Now about six weeks ago I lost eleven of the heaviest ones in six days They had yellow droppings ; lived only two days and died. Four others died after having a heavy crop hanging down ; they were apparently healthy and laying eggs regularly; cut the crops off three of them and found nothing but long strings of hay. Please oblige me by telling me the cause and what reme- edies.— A. F. H. 172 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN ^OULTRY BOOK Answer — Your hens are suffering from what is called crop-bound. They eat long pieces of hay, which forms into a ball in the crop and cannot pass through them. After a time this fer- ments and decays and poisons the chick- ens or brings on inflammation of the crop. Cases of impaction of the crop caused by cracked corn are not so common, and occasionally there is a case from some' foreign substance filling the outlet of the crop. Treatment — Make the bird swallow, by the aid of a funnel, some water in which half a teaspoonful of baking soda has been dissolved, then work the crop with the fingers until soft. Turn the bird upside down, and by working the crop if it is impacted grain, the mass will be vomited out. After treating the bird, give it at night a dose of castor oil and feed sparingly for a few days on soft food. When long pieces of grass or hay cause this trouble, as in your case, al- most the only remedy is to cut open the crop of the bird and wash it out. Have someone hold the bird so you can have both hands free to work. Pluck enough feathers from the breast to give bare skin half an inch wide by two inches long. Then with a sharp knife cut through the skin, lengthwise of the bird, an opening one inch long over the place of the swollen crop. Cut only the skin, leaving the crop untouched until the blood of the first incision has ceased to flow. Then cut through the crop a little over a half inch long. Half an inch may seem short, but you will be surprised to see how large the opening is after you have worked through it for awhile. In removing substances from the crop, be careful to let as little as possible slip between the skin and crop ; with a buttonhook or anything else handy, remove the contents. If filled with grass or hay, it is sometimes nec- essary to' cut the mass with scissors be- fore any start can be made. When the crop is apparently empty, push your lit- tle finger into it, feeling to know whether there is any obstruction at the outlet. If you find the opening clear, the last thing is to sew up the cut. With needle and white silk thread take two single stitches in the cut in the crop, then in the same way take three stitches in the skin, tying off the silk at each stitch. Be careful not to include the crop in the knot tied. After the opera- tion feed soft food, omitting grain for a week. Sick Chicks — I want your advice. My little chicks seem to be pert and healthy when they are first hatched and all right until they are two weeks old, and then they get all pasted up in the back; don't eat, just' drink and are sleepy looking, droopy and die. I have lost over a dozen that way and have a lot more now that are in the same con- dition. They have no lice or mites, for I have examined them, and I don't see how they take cold. I have barrels for them to roost in, with a screen in front to protect them from cats or rats, so there is no draught through the barrel, and I don't feed them anything but chick feed. I put copperas in their wa- ter this morning to see if that would check it. I am sorry to lose all my chicks after I have taken such good care of them. Please let me know as soon as possible what I can do for them and oblige. Yours truly. — Mrs. C. C B. Answer — Your little chicks have taken cold, probably from sleeping in a bar- rel. When little chicks have bowel trouble, it is almost always from taking cold. In mature hens a cold affects the head, throat, bronchial tubes or lungs, whilst with little chicks it affects first the bowels. A fireless brooder might have saved all your chicks. A barrel is very cold, unless it is well banked up on the out- side and the nest inside very carefully made. A flat box is much better. Cop- peras will not help them; the best thing for them is rice, boiled in milk, with a tablespoqnful of ground cinnamon to each pint' of the milk, added after cook- ing. Cinnamon is a good disinfectant and healing and warming to the bowels. Copperas is cold and chilling and is apt to give indigestion to small chicks. - '"Pullets Dying (Worms) — We have a flock of- incubator chicks that are not doing very well. The little pullets started to die when but seven weeks old and we lose one or two every day. They have the whole farm to run on. At first they hang their wings and act sleepy, then their heads turn blue and they die. We cannot find lice nor fleas on them. They are fed wheat, oatmeal and some onions and milk. Have plenty of water, grit and charcgal. — Mrs. T. L. CAUSE AND CURE OF SICKNESS 173 Answer— I think your chickens have worms; the wings dropping and their acting sleepy are two of the most promi- nent symptoms with worms. Cut open the next one that dies and examine it. The best cure that I have found for worms is ten drops of turpentine in a teaspoonful of castor oil. This is for the common round worms. For tape worms, which are not so common, the dose is ten drops of tincture of male fern on a piece of bread or a lump of sugar in the morning, fasting followed by a dose of castor oil in an hour. Be careful to clean up and destroy the drop- pings or the other chickens will eat them and the trouble will increase. Diphtheritic Roup — Having derived many useful ideas from your writings, I take the liberty to ask your advice re- garding a disease which has come upon my chickens. The first symptoms seem to be a sneezing or squawking sound, as if the chicken had a beard in its throat; then a white membrane forms over the windpipe and the eyes close up and lumps break out around the comb. The lumps finally break and the eyes and nose run. Both Barred Rocks and White Leghorns are afflicted. The Barred seem to suffer the most. — Mrs. R. F. Answer — I am sorry to say your fowls have diptheritic roup. .It is a very in- fectious disease and if you have children you had better keep them away from the fowls. Spray the mouth, throat, nostrils and cleft in the mouth twice a day with peroxide of hydrogen. Give the fowls a quinine pill, four nights in succession and once a day a bolus of the following mixture: Two spoons of lard, one each of mustard, cayenne pep- per and vinegar; mix thoroughly, add flour enough to make stiff dough; give a bolus as large as the first joint of your little finger once every twenty-four hours. Fatty Degeneration of Liver— I have noticed a hen moping and eating but little for two or three weeks, but as I had broken some up from sitting, thought it the result from broodiness. However, as she got no better I separated her from the others, but yesterday she died. This morning I did as you advised, and duly performed the autopsy. I saw at once on making an incision what was the matter. Her liver was so enlarged that it occupied almost the whole cav- ity I never saw one such a size, it was covered in blotches of pink spots, small as a pin point. There was fat around the heart and the intestines ; per- haps a fifth of an inch thick: There was plenty of grit in the gizzard, but no food. The heart seemed in good con- dition, the body a good color, and flesh firm. In the cavities of the back is a substance, of which I do not know the name, that seems to be enlarging and hardened. There were many eggs, but very small and undeveloped. Is this the kind of liver which is used as a delicacy and produced by overfeeding? My fowls were fed corn all winter and were much too fat this spring. In March they had layers of fat an inch in thickness. I did not suppose that a laying hen ought to have any fat inside of her. How should that be?— G. S. H. Answer — Your hens certainly had fatty degeneration of the liver, or the disease which the overfat geese have when their liver is considered a deli- cacy. She simply had been fed an un- balanced ration containing too much of the fat element, and being a Plymouth Rock had become overfat. The sub- stance in the cavities of the back is the kidneys. There are three lobes of these on each side. Your fattening ration had also affected them. So much fat will also affect the egg laying, will make small eggs and chickens will be weakly, as there will be preponderance of fat in the eggs from which they are hatched. A laying hen should not be anything like as fat as those you describe. Feather Pulling — Will you kindly tell me the cause of chickens pulling feathers from each other and eating them? We feed them wheat, cracked corn, etc., also ground bone. — G. H. T. Answer — Various causes have been assigned for this habit, the most prob- able being improper rations and idle- ness. In some instances it is caused by mites or lice. As in some cases, the habit is due to insufficient animal mat- ter in the rations, or to feeding too long on a single kind of grain, particularly corn, one of the first measures adopted should be a well-balanced ration, con- taining skim milk, meat, bone, vegeta- bles or green feed and frequently va- ried. The Geneva, New York, experi- ment station applied to the feathers lard or vaseline in which powdered aloes had been mixed. After continuing this treat- ment for some time the habit disap- 174 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK peared, due to the disagreeable taste of the aloes. The skin and feathers should be carefully examined for lice and mites and if these are found the remedies recommended for such parasites should be applied. Heart Trouble — I have a very fine rooster, two years old. For the past two months he has been troubled by some difficulty in breathing. At times his comb and wattles become purple for two or three minutes, then the color gets red again. I have looked for can- ker, but cannot find anything that seems wrong. Have used vaseline, but it has not done any good. It seems to me more like asthma or bronchitis. Wish I could cure him, for he is a valuable bird.— Mrs. I. G. !' Answer — I am sorry to say that your bird has heart trouble. This has been brought on by some great excitement, such as fighting, fright or being chased. It may possibly be fat on the heart, which weakens that useful organ. You might try giving him in the drinking water nux vomica and sulphur corp. 2x twelve tablets to each pint of drinking water. Be careful to give him plenty of green food and grit, besides his or- dinary food. Cases of this kind are al- most incurable, but the treatment I have indicated may help him and prolong his life. Hemorrhage of Oviduct — I wish a little information in regard to a Leg- horn hen that died yesterday. She ap- parently choked to death ; made a queer noise. We opened her and found at the bottom of her egg bag a large clot of black blood. Can you tell me what it was and if there is any cure for it? Answer — Your White Leghorn hen had a hemorrhage of the oviduct; this is excited by any of the causes which lead to congestion and inflammation any may be counteracted by green feed and' the suppression of egg foods, stimulants, red pepper, etc. . It sometimes occurs from trying to pass too large an egg. There is no cure that I know of, as death occurs before one finds out what is the matter. Answer — You have been overfeeding, and now your fowls have indigestion. Indigestion in fowls is the cause of many ailments. With your birds it has been brought on by lack of grit, with not sufficient roughness (or filling')' and too little exercise. How can indigestion be prevented? By dieting. Feed more bulky foods, such as alfalfa, and less solids. A continued grain diet of wheat, corn, barley, if few in quantities and not varied by bulky foods, vegetables, etc., will bring on indigestion, especially when but little exercise is taken. An insufficiency of clean water is also con- ducive to this trouble. Clover, alfalfa, any of the green stuffs or vegetables, usually fed to fowls, are absolutely nec- essary preservatives of health. Now, as to a remedy: Your fowls' indigestion has taken the phase of biliousness. Give each affected hen one of Carter's LTttle Liver Pills, and give the whole flock a teaspoon ful of baking soda in a quart of water every day for a week. Give no other water. Why do I recommend soda? Because it helps to emulsify the too much fat in the bowels. You might give a teaspoonful of Epsom salts in the water for a week, to carry off the bile which is overflowing into the in- testines and being taken into the system. It is not kindness to feed your fowls every time they come near you. It is far kinder to keep them working for it and so keep them healthy. Indigestion and Liver Complaint — My hens are on a strike and their faces and combs are becoming pale or yellow. What is it?— I. S. B. Inflammation of the Crop — I have a Buff Orpington hen that has a disease I have never seen before. Her crop is swollen to several times its normal size and is filled with wind or gas. She eats, but not as much as she should, and is getting thinner all the time. — H. Y. Answer — Your hen is. suffering from inflammation of the crop. This is like a very severe attack of indigestion. The causes of this are irregular feeding or too much food being taken at one time. Partially decomposed meat, or putrid food of any kind will also cause con- gestion and fermentation of the contents of the crop. The same disease occurs when birds eat substances containing phosphorus or arsenic, or rat poison. The feeding of too large a quantity of pepper or stimulating "egg food" in the mash will also cause inflamed crop as well as trouble with the egg function. Treatment — A clean, dry pen should be provided for the affected bird. Empty the crop of its irritating and" decompos- CAUSE AND CURE OF SICKNESS ■ 175 ing contents by careful pressure and ma- nipulation while the bird is held with its head downward. When the crop is freed of its contents; give two grains of subnitrate of bismuth and one-half grain of bicarbonate of soda in a teaspoon of water. The bird should then be Tcept without feed for eighteen hours and then fed sparingly upon easily digested food, such as bread and milk. Half a grain of quinine morning and night for two or three days will complete the cure. Influenza — I am in trouble with my chickens. Five of them have died since Monday. They open their mouths and gasp for breath and sneeze and their eyes are very water. I feed wheat, cracked corn, plenty of green stuff and table scraps, and they have a good run. I always wash out their drinking pans and rake out under their roosts at least every other morning. — Mrs. J. F. S. Answer — Your chickens have influ- enza. They are taking cold in some way. Either there is a draught in their house or the rain comes in on them; a few have had the cold and they are giv- ing it to the rest. Keep bluestone in their water, and give each of them a bolus of the following, night and morning: Mix two tablespoons of lard, one tablespoon each of cayenne pepper, mustard, vine- gar; mix thoroughly, add enough flour to make stiff dough; roll out; give a bolus as large as the end Of your little finger. Put carbolated vaseline up their nostrils and in the cleft of the mouth, and give them chopped onions in their food. couraged to work and scratch for their food. This strengthens their legs. The green food should form at least one- third of their diet and for such young chickens it would have to be chopped up finely. They cannot peck off sufficient green barley. It soot} becomes too tough for them. The cure for leg weakness is a little tonic (a few drops of iron in their drinking water) and plenty of green food and cracked wheat instead of kaffir corn. If it comes from over- crowding or overheating, either under a hen or in a brooder, you must rectify this. See that they have "chick grit and charcoal." Leg Weakness— I am in trouble over my White Rock chickens. I only have a few, so would like to save them. When they are about three weeks old they get weak in the legs, and after a week or so they begin to tremble like a person that is nervous. They eat well until the last. I feed boiled egg and bread crumbs. They have green barley to run on. I feed kaffir corn at night. During the day I feed onions and table scraps. If you could tell me what to do I would be a thousand times obliged.— Mrs. W. K. Answer— Your chickens are suffering from what is called "leg weakness. Leg weakness comes chiefly from wrong feeding, also from overcrowding at night and overheating. Young chickens should either be al- lowed free range with a hen or be en- Acute Indigestion — I am in trouble with some incubator chicks and I write to ask you to be kind enough to diag- nose it. The chicks are Black Minorcas and are fourteen days old. They seemed to be doing well till yesterday. One or two all at once got so they could not stand up or walk, but looked bright. This morning there are half a dozen affected the same way. I feed them a chick ' feed I have used for several years, curd, charcoal and plenty of grit and always give them fresh water three or four times a day. For the last three days they have run in a lettuce patch part of the day. I have a hot air brooder, plenty of fresh air at night. No sign of lice and I use a powder in the brooder once a week. I have raised chickens for several years, but have never had any trouble like this, and I would be greatly obliged if you can diagnose the case and give a remedy— Mrs. P. V. M., Sacramento. Answer— The symptoms you describe are those of poisoning or sudden and acute disgestion. I can only suggest that it may be that the chick feed has mouldy grain in it or there may be pto- maine poison in the beef scrap. I would suggest that you put a little bicarbonate of soda in the drinking water. Give all the succulent green food that you can persuade them to eat and to each affected chick administer without delay ten drops of castor oil. Try to find out where the poison comes from, change all the bedding in the brooder and brooder house and scald the brooder thoroughly with hot soap suds. When any sudden trouble like this comes, try to find the cause of it and remove it. I feel sure it is poison of some kma, 176 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK either ptomaine or fungoid, such as mouldy bread or mildewed grain. Limber Neck— We have between 200 and 300 chicks two months old that are badly afflicted with limber neck, and we cannot find out the cause. The first two or three weeks we fed them millet and Johnny cake, made stiff and dry, of coarse corn meal, but they began to get sick, so changed to dry food, consisting of cracked wheat; millet, beef scraps and grit, but the chicks got no better, so now we are using just wheat and grit. They have lettuce every day and often young vegetables — tops and all. Until about a week ago- they were kept by themselves in wire pens, but as an experiment my husband let them out to run, and still they get sick. They do not all die, as I bring them to the house as soon as we find the sick ones, but from one to seven die nearly every day. They have fresh water every morning. I do not try to doctor them, but just keep them warm. I have saved some pretty sick ones in that way. They are such a bother, and we have* lost so many in that way. The flock which is the most affected had a habit of huddling when they were small, until they would sweat and sometimes die. Do you suppose that could have anything to do with the present trou- bles?— Mrs. F. L. Answer — Limber neck is due to dis- order of the nervous system and is usu- ally the result of disturbances of the di- gestive organs from severe attacks of indigestion or from infestation with worm parasites. Chicks are sometimes affected in this manner by unusually hot days and nights. I think very probably their digestive organs were weakened by being overheated when they huddled, and I would give the whole flock plenty of charcoal to eat, with plenty of green food and animal food, and no millet, as millet is very hard to digest. Give the sick birds a small piece of gum asa- foetida about the size of a green pea. Repeat the dose the second day. This will usually cure. Feed them with bruised garlic or with chopped up on- ions. Give them grit or very coarse sand in boxes to assist in the digestion, and I think you will have no further trouble. It is possible that your chickens have worms. You had better open the next one that dies and examine it, and if you find it infacted, give the others turpen- tine in the drinking water, half a tea- spoonful to a pint of water (giving no other drinking water), or if you prefer it, give a teaspoonful of castor oil with ten drops of turpentine in it to each sick chick. The chickens dislike the turpen- tine in the water, but it will kill the common round worms if continued for a week. Liver Troubles or Poison — I want your advice and a remedy for my sick fowls. The symptoms are briefly stated : Grown chickens affected droop for two days, comb turns black and they die. Have lost nine in two days. My chickens have free range, fresh water and plenty of barnyard scratching with Egyptian corn every night. — C. V. N. Answer — The symptoms you describe denote either liver trouble or poison. In your case I think perhaps it is poi- son, either from rat poison, gopher or some poisonous weed. You had better hold a post mortem examination on the next one that dies and then you will be able to tell just what the trouble is. Naked Chicks — Thinking perhaps you can help us, I will ask you for a little of your time. Late in October we bought a hen caring for thirty chicks. We have fed them cracked corn, meat scraps, plenty of green stuffs, charcoal and grit. They feathered out, but since many of them have become bald, and the feathers fall from their neck and they are growing thin, still their wing feathers are long, making them look very queer. They are not incubator chicks, and we have examined them closely for mites, have dusted them for lice and they are quite free from either. What do you think is the cause and what can we do for them — H. A. S. Answer — Your chickens are huddling at night, crowding too closely together. This makes them sweat and their feath- ers fall out. Put a little carbolated vase- line on their heads and cut the feathers of their wings as close as you with- out making them bleed. Give them wheat and more meat in their food and try_ to prevent their crowding at night. It is the crowding and lack of wheat in the food, lack of protein, that prevents the feathers growing, and the sweating makes them fall out and will make the chickens thin. Ovarian Tumor — I had a nice Orp- ington hen; she had been laying each CAUSE AND CURE OF SICKNESS 177 day and appeared to be perfectly healthy; comb red, went round seem- ing quite well. I feed cracked corn and wheat, table scraps, and the chickens have good range and plenty of good food. About four days ago the Orping- ton appeared to be lame in the right leg I caught her, examined the foot and leg, could see nothing wrong and she continued lame, and with difficulty got on the nest. To all appearances the leg was broken, as it was harder for her to walk each day. Rather than see her suffer, I had her killed. I dissected her ; she was very fat with an abundance of eggs, one soft shell. I found in the right side of the back a growth about the size of a pigeon egg which appeared to be part of the egg bag. The liver and other organs appeared to be healthy. I hope that you may be able to tell me what the growth was and if there is a cure for it, in case any of the other hens have such symptoms. The hen was about two and a half years old. Would age have a tendency to hinder her? — Mrs. H. R. B. Answer — Your hen had what is called an ovarian tumor. The trouble is very common, and yet we don't know very much about it. I am inclined to think that if investigation covering a large number of fowls kept under a variety of conditions were made, it would be found that cases of tumor like this are more abundant among fowls kept closely con- fined, or fed heavily for egg production, than among those kept under more nat- ural conditions. It is quite reasonable also to suppose that the offspring of hens heavily forced for egg production would show weakness of the reproduc- tive system, resulting in diseases of this character. It possibly also may come from an injury of some kind. Undoubt- edly some strains or families are more subject to it than others. There is no cure for it and the only preventive is to keep the hens healthy and busy. To Remove Spues' — The English aiethod of removing spurs : To success- fully remove spurs from an old bird it is necessary to have a couple of baked po- tatoes fresh from the oven; first take a long strip of damp rag, wind this around the bird's shank, both under and above the spur, so that the potato will not burn the bird's leg. Next take one of the hot potatoes and place it upon the spur, driving the spur well home. Allow the hot potato to remain upon the spur for five or six minutes, then remove the po- tato and with a sharp pen knife nick around the base of the spur, then insert the point of the knife in the point of the spur and gently pull, when the whole of the outer shell will come away. The next thing to do is to shave off the point of the remaining spur and the bird will be much better and safer for breed- ing purposes. This English plan does not appeal to me, but as it is a novelty, I give it. The Eastern way of removing spurs, or young calves' horns: Take vaseline and oil around the root of the spur ; take a stick of caustic, moisten and rub the points thoroughly. This has to be done when the birds are young, say, six months old. The calves' horns are re- moved in the same way by clipping the hair off and rubbing the small horns. This has to be done when the calf is only a few days old. I have always removed the spurs by sawing them off and then filing down the rough edges. Overfat Hens — I have about two dozen Buff Orpington hens and have had no eggs for four months. They appear as healthy as can be. For some time I fed them wheat twice a day and the table scraps. I began to think I was not feeding the proper foods; then I got bran and an egg maker and also bought cabbage for them and still no eggs. They have lots of exercise and gravel and are so fat you cannot eat them. Please tell me what to do to re- duce the fat. The past two weeks I have been giving them just the scraps from the table. Tell me, is that the proper method to reduce fat? — Mrs. A. C. S. Answer — Your hens are so fat that they cannot lay. The whole inside of them is filled full of fat so the eggs cannot pass down the egg duct. The best plan would be to kill and eat, or sell the fowls, because they will not make satisfactory layers after being so fat. However, if you wish to keep them, your only plan will be not to give any grain, or any table scraps until they are reduced in fat; give only green alfalfa or lawn clippings for two weeks, then commence and feed half an ounce of meat per hen r per day and lawn clip- pings ; no gram or bread, and in about a month they may begin to lay. 178 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK Pendulous Chop — I have a hen, and its crop hangs down so far that when it walks its feet are always hitting it. We cut it open once and only the corn and feed it had eaten came out of it. I have thought I would kill it, but I was afraid it might be a tumor and that the hen would not be fit to eat. She seems healthy otherwise. Answer — Your hen has a pendulous crop. This is usually caused by over- feeding of mash at some time in her life. It sometimes can be cured by a surgical operation. I would advise you to kill and eat the hen, as in time the crop will become sore. You can easily see before you eat it if a tumor has developed, in which case bury it. Poisoning — For some time I have read your articles and know that you ire different from the majority of poul- try writers, in this, that you know, what you are writing about. I wish to ask you to please tell me what is ailing a fine White Wyandotte cock I have. He has been ailing about two months. He was just starting in the moult when he commenced looseness of the bowels which I cured, when one evening, as I came to shut them up, I found him on the ground unable to get on the roost; when I lifted him on the roost he fell as though dizzy, and tumbled over and over. Ever since that time he has been getting worse. Now, with the least ex- citement, he will squat on the ground and twist his head and neck entirely around, often with his bill turned straight up. Answer — The symptoms you describe are those of ptomaine poisoning. This is caused by bad meat or bad milk or spoilt beef scraps. Also any musty or sooty grain and formaline. The treat- ment is : Give a- pill of asafoetida about the size of a pea every night for a week; for the same length of time put bicar- bonate of soda in the water, about a tea- spoonful to a quart of water ; give him some charcoal in the feed and avoid feeding whatever is causing the trouble. The preservative which butchers put on the meat acts as a poison and many fine birds have been lost by this without the owners discovering the trouble. It seems to partly paralyze the bird. splendid White Leghorn chickens are dying like flies and I do not know the cause nor what to do for them. Today I lost ten and I am afraid I may lose the whole lot of them. I opened several to see if I could find the cause, but they look all right, with' the exception of the crop, which has noth- ing in it but wind or air. The chickens are seemingly all right and suddenly they will lie down, put their heads under their bodies, and after a while they will die. My chickens have plenty of exercise, lots of green food, grit and running wa- ter. They can run at will all over the ranch, and I feed them some every day. I am putting some pulverized asafoetida in their mash as a disinfectant. My chicken house is new and in good order. —Mrs. K. C. Polasky. Answer — Sudden symptoms such as you describe come from poison of some kind which brings on an attack of acute indigestion. The difficulty is to decide what the poison is and where the chick- ens get it. I think your chickens, being on free range, are finding and eating putrid ani- mal food of some kind and that they are suffering from ptomaine poison. Rotten vegetables or moulded grain or vegetables have the same effect, al- though that is from a fungoid poison. The treatment in either case would be about the same. First remove the poi- son from the ranch, look for any dead chicken, bird, gopher, etc., and bury deeply or burn. Continue the asafoetida in the mash, but also add a teaspoonful of castor oil for each chick the first morning, and in every mash for some time to come put powered charcoal and sulphur, a quarter of a teaspoonful to each chick. Ptomaine Poison — I am in great trouble and come to you for advice. My Poison — I thank you very much for your kind advice. I feed now as you direct me, with fairly good results. The beef scrap, of which I send you a sam- ple, I bought at , and it killed my chickens. I fed it to different flocks at differ- ent times, with the same result and I am positive it is this beef scrap and nothing else that poisoned my chickens. I wonder how many people have lost chickens through these same people who sold to me? Perhaps they sell good scrap sometimes, but this is bad and smells bad. CAUSE AND CURE OF SICKNESS 179 tn wVV he best wa ^ t0 feed rabbits c une e " S ca„ I irj? t H gnnd *"" fa * bone Answer—The beef scrap that you sent me certainly does not smell at all good. It often occurs in the summer that beef scrap that may have been good earlier in the year has become moist or heated and a poison has developed in it, so in the summer I advise poultry raisers to buy it only in small quantities and try to have it as sweet as possible. You know I feared it was the beef scrap and so advised you to use milk and wild game and to avoid the beef scrap. You will have to skin the rabbits or_ squirrels, and" then you can surely grind them up in your bone cutter, or if you cannot, you might hack them .up with a hatchet on a block of wood, or you can boil them and let the hens peck the meat off and then chop the bones up on the block. The hens will come run- ning when they hear that hatchet chop- ping. I have had them running a quar- ter of a mile to get the bones that were flying off the hatchet. The rabbit and squirrel bones chop very easily and the hens do love them. Poison— I want to know what is the matter with my friend's chickens. They are a mixed flock, one year old, all lay- ing. They are fed on scraps or garbage. The first thing she noticed they were on the roost hanging their heads down as far as they could stretch. Then they fall on the ground and run their heads out as far as they can, and die three or four days later. She has lost seven- teen. — Mrs. F. Answer — This is what is called "lim- ber neck" and comes from poisoning by bad (putrid) meat, fish, or garbage that is mouldy. Tell your friend to put a lit- tle bicarbonate of soda in the drinking water — a small teaspoonful to a quart — and to give also ground charcoal in the food and give each hen that is so af- fected a dose of either Epsom salts (half a teaspoonful) dissolved in water, or a teaspoonful of castor oil. Mildew Poison — Will you kindly an- swer the following questions : My White Leghorns are dying from bowel trouble. Two were sick for two days. I have noticed this since I began feeding a dark variety of wheat or mildewed wheat. The hens have not laid well and their combs are dark. I think it is the wheat. Will you please tell me a rem- edy? Do you think it is the wheat?— Mrs. J. W. H. Answer— Mildew is poisonous to fowls and the wheat you are feeding them is killing them. Stop giving them that wheat and give them a little charcoal in their food and also a little carbonate of soda in their drinking water, about a half teaspoonful of T bicarbonate of soda to a quart of drinking water. But there will be no use of doctoring if you keep on feeding them the poisonous wheat. Pip — I have read your remarks care- fully for over a year, but do not remem- ber anything about pip. All my flock have.it, one year and three days old. How do they get it? Is it hereditary? If so, is it in the strain or the breed, White Wyandottes? Is it fatal? If so, in what time? What is your treatment? Thanking you for your reply, I am, very respectfully. — W. H. Answer — I have not seen a genuine case of "pip" for many a long year — in fact, never in California. The poultry medical books here assert that it is only a symptom of a disease and not a dis- ease at all ; that it is only a dryness of the tongue produced by feverishness and rapid breathing. However, I well re- member the disease at my grandmoth- er's, in Europe, and there the cure was very simple. The pip there was a real disease. It was a small horn or scale that grew on the end of the tongue. The tip of it was quite sharp, almost like a thorn, and the edges were almost as sharp as a knife. The sharp point and edges seem to prevent the fowls from picking up and swallowing the grain and they die of starvation. When we noticed a hen which dropped the grain we examined her and if we found a hard, sharp scale on the tip of the tongue we would remove it with the thumb nail, .scaling it off, com- mencing under the tip of the tongue. Then we touched the spot with borax and honey and gave the hen a dose of Epsom salts, about a quarter of a tea- spoonful, or a lump of very salt butter. We fed soft food for a few days. The hens recovered quickly. Poisoned — Yesterday morning I found nine big chickens in my yard dead and about twelve more are dying. What is the cause? They sit on the ground, do 180 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK not eat and the head hangs loose on the ground. The comb is dark and in the throat is a sticky slime like white mucil- age. No bad smell; sometimes they jump a foot and lie down again. I fear they will all die. To a few I gave a tea- spoonful of olive oil, and to some others fresh milk. I cannot imagine what it is. Other fowls in the next yard are not affected and all had the same food. — • Mrs. F. C. P. Answer — Your chickens have limber necks from ptomaine poisoning. Give the whole flock hypo-sulphite of soda; dissolve one teaspoonful in a quart of drinking water. ' And to each chicken that is affected give a piece of asafoetida about the size of a green pea. Use the gum form, and repeat the dose the sec- ond day. This disease usually comes from severe attacks of indigestion, caused by eating bad animal food, or the decaying carcass of a dead animal. Putrid meat or putrid milk will cause it. Rheumatism — I have a White Ply- mouth Rock hen about eight months old, which seems to have rheumatism. She is very fat, and a few days ago she walked lame in one leg and the next morning she was lame in both legs and now she cannot stand erect, but walks and crawls on her legs, the legs being drawn up under her so that in moving around she does not seem to be able to straighten out her legs, but moves with them underneath, from the knee down being fiat on the ground. Can you tell me what is the matter, and a remedy? — W. A. B. Answer — I am afraid your hen has rheumatism from liver trouble, brought on by overfeeding, with insufficient ex- ercise, and I cannot hold out any hope of a cure at her age. If she is not feverish, she would be good for the ta- ble, but being very fat, and with this rheumatic tendency, she would never make a good layer, and the hatchet is the only cure for her. For the rest of the flock, give them Epsom salts in the drinking water for a week, and bicar- bonate of soda for a second week; in- crease the amount of green food and meat, and cut in half the amount of grain, and let all of the grain be fed in the scratching pen to induce exercise. Answer— Rheumatism may result from long exposure to cold, and moisture; it may be produced by overfeeding of meat; induced through the underfeeding of vegetable food and is helped along by previous rheumatic tendencies of an- cestors. Treatment — Bathe the feet and shanks with the following: One cupful of vine- gar, one of turpentine and a heaping teaspoonful o*'saltpetre, mix in a bottle and shake wefl -before using. For in- ternal treatment there is no better rem- edy than iodide of potassium. This is given in the drinking water, fifteen grains of iodide of potassium to every quart of water. Give in small dishes, so that it all m'ay be used while fresh and thus avoid waste from having to throw away any because it is mixed with dirt. Common cooking soda, one level tea- spoonful to each quart of water, or sali- cylic acid, one grain a day, has given good results, but the iodide is the best and most satisfactory. Give plenty of green food. Rheumatism in the Feet — I have a very fine Buff Leghorn rooster and he seems to have rheumatism in his feet. Do you know any cure? — Mrs. J. M. S. Roup, Bronchitis, Pneumonia — (F. M. C, California) — Can you favor me with a little information which I fail to locate in your valuable book and it covers the ground very well. On a cold and windy night, two weeks ago, a care- less boy left a window open in a house, allowing a strong draft to blow on my precious four-months-old-pullets. Con- sequence, about half of them (586 all told) came down with bad colds. Some developed roupy catarrh, others eyes swelled close shut. Sprayed nostrils with glycothermoline and carbolic acid. No good effect noted. Put roup cure in drinking water and dipped head in same. Majority are improving. There is one phase of disease that puzzles me, and of course it attacks the largest and finest pullets. They seem to have difficulty in getting their breath. Act like a chick with the gaps. Open their mouths and gasp with a strained, worried look on their faces. Live about twelve hours and die choking to death in one last con- vulsion. These so affected have not so much odor at nostrils as majority. No mucous spots in throat. Throat seems to be full of phlegm. Don't eat at all. Spraying throat with glyco-thermaline and acid, and painting with iodine or running feather saturated with coal oil down windpipe offers no relief what- ever. No one around me seems to know of any remedy. If you can diagnose it and suggest a remedy, will appreciate it CAUSE AND CURE OF SICKNESS 181 greatly, as I hate to lose chickens when they get this old, and I put great faith in your suggestions. Answer— I sympathize most sincerely with you in your trouble from your beautiful pullets taking cold, and wish I could help you. I think you have been doing all that was possible. You see, hens are very much like human beings. One person will have neuralgia from a draught, while another will have a sore throat, and while from the same cause one may have catarrh, in another the trouble will be bronchitis or. even pneu- monia. Now, I think with your pullets, some of them have catarrh, others swell heads, and with others the catarrh has gone down lower into the bronchial tubes and possibly into the lungs them- selves. Now as to treatment. If I remember rightly, the roup cure you are using is made principally of permanganate of potash and bluestone (sulphate of cop- per). Both of these are excellent germ- icides and by killing the germs of the catarrh or roup, they prevent their mul- tiplying, and give nature a chance to re- cuperate. I think, though, the roup cure is more effective than the severer medi- cines, such as turpentine and carbolic acid, so I now recommend that your roup cure be given in the drinking wa- _ ter, at the same time dipping the head ' in the same. Or you can put one cupful of kerosene oil into two parts of water. The oil will float on top; dip the fowl's head slowly under this, holding it there while you count three. It will sneeze Lnd cough and you must wipe off the mucus with a rag and burn the rag. With some of the fowls the catarrh will go deeper and for these I think the peroxide of hydrogen, spraying the throat well, is the best, giving always the permanganate of potash and blue- stone in the drinking water. For those that have developed bron- chitis or where you think the bronchitis may be just commencing, give aconite, one drop in a teaspoonful of milk, twice or three times a day. The symptoms you describe are exactly those of bron- chitis, so I feel confident in recommend- ing the aconite. Dr. Woods recommends the "Aconite, Bryonia and Spongis mix- ture," but I have not tried it. The mix- ture is "ten drops of the tincture of each in an ounce of alcohol. Use a teaspoon- ful of this in a quart of drinking wa- ter." I think this might be very useful, especially at the commencement of a cold or bronchitis. Dr. Woods says that two doses will often effect a cure. Or you can get this in tablet form at the drug store. The tablet (1-100 of a grain m strength) can be given one to each bird two or three times a day or twelve tablets in each pint of drinking water. I have found a teaspoonful of honey with five drops of eucalyptus oil, twice a day,_ to be an excellent cure. The honey is very soothing and is also nour- ishing and sustaining. Bronchitis is a very debilitating illness and the fowl should be fed only liquid nourishment, such as raw egg beaten up with half' the amount of milk, about two teaspoonsful every two or three hours. I have given a tablespoonful of milk or mifk with honey mixed. I have a small "invalid drinking cup ;" it is a narrow cup with a spout like a teapot, which I have found very useful and handy, as I could insert the spout a little ways down the throat of the hen and none of the liquid would be spilt. A child's toy teapot with a rather long spout will answer the pur- pose, but an invalid drinking cup, cost- ing ten cents, is extremely useful and worth many times its price for chickens. You can use a dropping tube also for administering liquid medicine. I realize that with the large number of fowls that you have you want an easy and quick way of doctoring, and the only way is by the drinking water. In cases of cold or the cold going deeper, as in to bronchitis or pneumonia, fowls need very easily digested, light and nourishing food. I have found noth- ing better than bread and milk. To this can be added a little bran, or a few eggs can be beaten up with the milk before putting in the bread if you think neces- sary. You did perfectly right to segre- gate the fowls. Cold of all kinds, even pneumonia, are infectious. I would strongly advise you to house your hens in open front houses. In this way there would be no draughts from windows left open. Open front houses are a preventive of both bronchitis and pneumonia. I have found that the pills or asa- foetida and quinine which I recommend in my book, if given at the very out- break of a cold, frequently cure with one dose; also the mixture, No. 5. This is Mr. Hunter's old remedy and has been found successful by hundreds of people. Roup — How to Cure It— I have over a hundred hens, all breeds. A good many of them are sick; I have tried 182 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK everything, but to date I have not found anything to do them good. A yellow, hard substance that has a very bad odor forms in their mouths and eventually in their windpipes and they drop over dead. I have lost about thirty inside of a month. I feed chopped corn and wheat, with plenty of Pratt's chicken food. Use Conkey's Roup Cure and bluestone. They run at the nose and their eyes swell shut; others look fine, combs red, and you would not know anything was wrong with them until they fall over dead. Can you tell me what is the mat- ter with them and what I am to do with them? I paid $1.00 apiece for my hens and it is hard to see them all die and not know what to do for them. — Mrs. R. B. Answer — I am very sorry to say that it is diphtheritic roup that your hens have — very like diphtheria in children. It is a germ disease. At first the hens take cold and the germ then seems to take root and the yellow leather-like spots commence to grow and continue until they choke the fowls. The first thing to do is to separate the healthy fowls from those that are sick and disinfect the premises thoroughly. Discover if possible what is giving the fowls a cold. The usual causes of cold are a draught in the sleeping room, a narrow draught that strikes on the fowls as they roost, caused by a crack or a knot-hole, or a house that has no venti- lation ; too much crowding at night, which makes the fowls hot and sweaty, and they take cold when they come out in the morning fresh air, or roosting outside in the rain and dew. Lice will also give them cold and will carry in- fection from fowl to fowl. When one fowl has a cold, the others are very likely to catch it from the water, from the food or from contact in sleeping on the same perch. I explain this so you may decide for yourself what is causing the trouble and may use preventive measures and stop- their taking cold. Now for some cures : See page 105. A bit of bluestone (sulphate of cop- per) as large as a navy bean, in a quart of water, is an excellent remedy and preventive. Blue stone is a germ killer and when it is in the water it will kill the germs that float off the chicken's nostrils, and that would infect another fowl. It also kills any germs that it may reach in the sick fowl's nostrils and so dries up the cold in the head. Of course it is a strong astringent poison and should not be given in stronger doses than I have indicated. Also keep those pretty bits of blue out of reach of the baby. Rub the heads of those that have watery eyes with carbolized vaseline and put a little into the nostrils and in the cleft of the mouth. For those that have the white or yel- low spots, spray the mouth or swab it with peroxide of hydrogen twice a day. Use it half and half water. The perox- ide of hydrogen Tails the diphtheria and will prevent its developing. There is a possibility that the spots may be canker in some cases (those that are apparently not very sick) in which case get four grains of sulpho-carbolate of zinc, dis- solve in one ounce of distilled water and paint the spots lightly. This will kill the germ of canker. It is not the same germ as the diphtheria, and the two medicines cannot be mixed, as they may be said to neutralize each other. If you are not sure which disease it is, you might doctor one day with peroxide and the following day with the zinc. Add to the diet of the fowls onions chopped finely, with a teaspoonful of cayenne pepper for a dozen hens, or if you can get them, grind up chili pep- ers and give a tablesoonful in the food or mixed with bran. Scaly Legs— Will you be so kind as to explain what kind of disease my hens have? I am a green man in the poultry business and bought the hens from sev- eral places, with the intention of having in the shortest time a sufficient number of egg producers. Among the purchased birds there were about sixty with scaly legs. I inclosed them in a separate yard, 30 x 40, fed them abundantly, and every morning they were urged to pass through a tray with coal oil. After ten days many of them had legs clean from scales, but some became weak and droopy. They walk with difficulty and keep their tails down. They grow worse every day. I killed two of them and found that about half their bodies were covered with yellow scales like a sort of bad skin which you can easily tear off. Is it a contagious disease, and what shall I do with the sick birds?— F. P. Answer — Poor hens; it is not a dis- ease. It is the coal oil that wets their feathers and that blisters the skin. Those that have been much wetted on the feathers with the oil are probably too badly burned to recover. The others CAUSE AND CURE OF SICKNESS 183 will get well in time, but it will greatly delay their laying. Do not try again such heroic treat- ment. It costs you too much. Next time mix one spoonful of lard with one spoonful of coal oil and one spoonful of powdered sulphur; rub the legs with that twice a week or with the Blue Oint- ment- 1 use for lice. See page 93. Paint- ing the legs with iodine is recommended by some. Scaly Leg — Scaly leg does not ap- pear without the irritation due to a parasitic insect. This parasite comes from another fowl, or possibly from an infected house or brooder, and works its way in between the scales of shanks or toes. Scaly leg passes from one dis- eased bird to another on the roost or is contracted by chicks when with the mother hen. A single case of scaly leg on the plant is a source of danger to every other bird. Scaly leg is so easily cured that no intelligent poultryman is excusable for having its presence on his place for over a week. Every bird bought should be examined for scaly leg, and any doubt- ful one receive immediate attention. If you at any time find several cases on hand I would advise the applying of the proper treatment to every bird on the place. This is not much trouble and prevents the cropping out of new cases in a short time. Paint the perches with lice killer or kerosene and naphthalene flakes. Scaly leg comes from the scale mite and is very infectious. Eyes Swelled Shut and Water— Will you kindly tell me the cause of sore eyes? My chickens' eyes swell shut and water. I also have turkeys; their eyes swell underneath.— Mrs. C. J.N. Answer— Your chickens and turkeys have lice and are taking cold. lhey are taking cold from either sleeping in a draught or sleeping in a place that is too close and hot, so they take cold when they come out in the morning. Remedy the cause and use one of the many roup cures, and also get rid ot the lice. Lice go to the eyes to drink and so spread the disease. Toe EATiNG-Can you tell me what causes little chicks to pick at each othet toes? The will pick at one tin the blood comes, then so many chase it that it dies. Then they start on another and sometimes they even eat the entrails out. I bought my chickens when they were a week old and fed them accord- ing to your directions. I first fed raw meat and cooked, then I tacked pieces on a board to keep them busy, but noth- ing seemed to stop them, and I took the one out with the sore toes. I gave lime and salts and charcoal. I hatched some dark colored chicks in my own incu- bator and with them I have not had any . trouble in any way. I trust that you can help me. — H. L. Answer — It is usually with the white or light colored chicks that we have this trouble. The little toes are so" at- tractive and look so very good to eat that a. lively chick will often try to taste his neighbor's toe and it tastes so good that he continues the performance and - soon teaches the others. Dark toes are not so attractive looking, hence their im- munity. You did quite right to add more meat and even a little salt to their diet, but the best way of preventing the trouble is to give the chicks chaff at least an inch deep in the nursery of their brooder. I have found that alfalfa hay or wheat hay cut in a clover cutter an inch in length make very good chaff for the chicks. I scatter the chick feed a little at a time, three times a day, in this, and the chicks scratch in it and find the grains and at the same time it conceals their toes from their hungry brothers. In this way you not only pre- vent this vice, but you make the chicks scratch many hours a day and that broadens their backs and developes the egg organs and strengthens their diges- tion, keeps them out of mischief, healthy, happy and busy. Try this plan and you will be surprised to find what extra fine layers you will have next year. Tuberculosis — A year ago I had the nicest Black Minorcas that anybody ever laid eyes on, but, alas, one after the other I had to kill. First they get lame on one foot, then their combs get very dark, almost black on the points ; their appetite is poor and they get as light as a feather, and when I cut them open their liver almost fills up their whole in- sides, and the whole liver is thoroughly sprinkled with little white kernels ; some- times as big as a good sized head of. a pin sometimes as large as five cents, and I attend to them so good. Now, can vou tell me what disease it is and how to prevent it after this? I feed lots of green 184 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK stuff, milk, meat, wheat, barley and ac- casidnally a mash of lots of carrots. — Mrs. M. R. Answer — I am sorry to say your Mi- norcas have chicken tuberculosis. You gave an accurate description of the dis- ease, and I am very sorry to have to tell you that there is no cure for it when once it has commenced. You may be able to prevent the young ones catching it by moving them on to fresh ground, and thoroughly disinfecting the yards and coops. Send a postal to the Experi- ment Station, University of California, for the bulletin on "chicken tuberculo- sis ;" it is free. Tumor and Dropsy — I had a White Leghorn hen die a week ago from an ailment which puzzles me. Have looked through what poultry books I have, but can find nothing touching it. The hen was swollen between the legs to an un- usual size and got so bad it could not walk. Finally it died, and, upon open- ing it, at least a quart of water came away. The intestines were joined to- gether in one solid piece. Can you tell me the cause and cure, as I have a Ham- burg hen developing the same symptoms and would like to save it if possible. — J. L. W. Answer — Your hen died of dropsy, combined with a tumor, probably ovar- ian. There is no known cure for this, as by the time it becomes visible, the disease has progressed too far and is Usually only discovered after death. Some hens seem more subject to this complaint than others, and I would ad- vise you to get in fresh blood and keep the hens healthy by feeding an abund- ance of green food. The cause is ob- scure. Vent Gleet — One of my hens and fine, large cockerel have a sort of di- arrhoea with a very bad smell to it. It seems to scald the vent, which is red and swollen and there are scabs on it. Can you tell me the cause and cure of this?— Mrs. J. F. Y. Answer — Your hen and probably the cockerel also have vent gleet. This is usually caused by an egg being broken inside the hen, which causes inflamma- tion. It is, I am sorry to say, contag- ious, and the birds should be at once iso- lated and treated. Prepare a warm bath of water as hot as can be borne on the wrists, in which has been dissolved a tablesgoonful of bicarbonate of soda to two quarts of water. Immerse the fowl's abdomen and vent in this hot water and hold the bird there from fif- teen to twenty minutes. Then dry the parts with a clean cloth and give an in- jection of an infusion of green tea with five grains each of sugar of lead and sul- phate of zinc to each ounce of the infu- sion, two tablespoons ful being one ounce. The sores and ulcers around the vent should be kept dusted with iodo- form or aristol. Repeat the treatment once a day until the bird is cured. A dose of thirty grains of Epsom salts will help cool the blood. Feed lightly and give plenty of green food. If not well after two or three weeks, kill the bird, as the disease is not quite free from danger, for if the operator should touch his eyes accidentally before cleaning his hands, the result might be a most vio- lent inflammation, and the disease is ex- tremely contagious among the hens. One cockerel may infect all the hens. White Comb — My fine Orpington rooster is developing a peculiar disease. A few months ago he was in the pink of perfection, but his comb has be^ come all covered with white spots, as though he had dandruff, and it spoils his appearance. I feed your well propor- tioned mash, wheat alfalfa, crushed green bone, lettuce and cabbage ; a mash every morning and corn or wheat for the evening meal. He is vigorous and active, the only trouble being with his comb. If you will kindly tell me how to treat him for this trouble, it will be highly appreciated. — E. R. T. Answer — Your rooster has what is called "White Comb." It usually comes from close air in the hennery and a total absence of all green food. It is a contagious disease and may be imparted from bird to bird, probably also from mice, rats, cats and dogs to birds. Young birds appear to be more susceptible to this disease than old ones. Put carbo- lated vaseline on the comb, and in the drinking water use twelve tablets of nux vomica and sulphur comp. 2X to each pint of water. Continue the treatment until cured. Wind in Crop — Will you please tell me the cause and remedy of my little chicks, from three to four weeks old, having a gas gather in their crops? When the crop is pressed, wind comes LICE, MITES, TICKS AND WORMS 185 from their mouth and they stand around and gasp>, but otherwise do not look droopy. They eat well, but in three or four days die. I lost quite a number last spring, almost every case being fatal. I have a hen with young ones and I would like to raise them without this trouble.— B. C. Answer — The wind in the crop comes from indigestion. Indigestion comes from lice, colds, dirty water, and chief of all from wet mashes or from wrongly balanced food, and lack of hard, sharp grit to grind the food. I do not think the chicks with the hen, if she is allowed free range, will get it, but if there are any symptoms of it, put some lime water into the drinking water and give them pounded up charcoal. Give them also sweet skim milk to drink, as well as water and plenty of nice, crisp lettuce to eat. I am sure if you keep them quite clean, feed clean dry chick feed with plenty of green lettuce, grass or clover, cut up fine, you will not have any wind on the stomach with your chicks. A little bicarbonate of soda in the drinking water will sometimes help, but prevention is the best cure. LICE, MITES, TICKS AND WORMS The Sand Flea — How can I rid my chickens from a small insect known here as the sand flea? I have^ tried coal oil mixed with lard without effect. The hens scratch their heads so they become sore and some have died; others have had to be killed.— Mrs. F. A. F. Answer — Those fleas are very hard to get rid of. Spray the henneries well with either the kerosene emulsion or good hot salt water, and while the ground is still wet, scatter on it air- slacked lime. Those hens that have sore heads should have carbolated salve put on them, after swabbing them off with corrosive sublimate. This will kill the fleas and cure the sores. Be careful not to let any of the corrosive sublimate get into the eyes or mouth of the fowls. Stick Tight Fleas — We have noticed a tick or louse on a few of our chick- ens and have discovered some of the in- sects on the perches. They resemble small black beads and are firmly im- bedded in the skin. On some of the fowls we have used for the table we no- ticed a few red blotches on the skin. We would like to know how to get rid of the insects, particularly how to get them out of the hen house.— An In- quirer. . , . , ^ Answer— You have the stick tight fleas in your hennery. They are very hard to get rid of, being in some places a perfect pest. A friend of mine lost 500 out of 700 chickens last fall from this. I told him to spray very thor- oughly with salt and water and he pur- chased 600 lbs. of salt, scattered it all over the hennery and yards and then turned a hose on them for several days in succession. He tells me now there is not a stick tight flea on the place. 1 ad- vised him to get some corrosive subli- mate diluted with alcohol at the drug store, take an old tooth brush and care- fully apply with it the corrosive subli- mate on any fleas he might see on the chickens, being careful not to allow any of the solution to get into the chickens' eyes (it would blind them) or into their mouths, as it is very poisonous. You can paint the perches with this ; it will kill everything it touches. A saturated solu- tion of salt and vinegar applied to the fleas on the chickens' heads or bodies will drive them away or kill them. Head Lice — This time I write in des- peration, hoping you may be able to give me a remedy. It is head lice I am fighting, and after working for almost five months, I am as far off from being rid of them as at first. I have done everything that I have ever heard of. I still find they have head lice and red mites besides. I hope no other beginner has had the trials I have had. — Mrs. W. F. K. Answer — The red mites live in the houses or coops, except when they are feeding off the chickens, usually at night. The cure for them is to spray the coops thoroughly and constantly. You can keep them out of the coops by spraying once every three weeks, but if they once get in, you will have to spray twice a week until you get entirely rid of them, then once every three weeks, to keep rid of them. The head lice live onthe heads of the chickens. They lay two or three white silvery knits (eggs) at the root of the feather. The eggs hatch m about five days after they are laid by the lice, consequently to completely destroy them, you should treat the chickens that have 186 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK them at least once a week. The best way I know of is to take an old tooth brush, a bowl with nice hot soap suds in it and a few drops of the best carbolic acid; brush the chicken's head with this, being sure to touch all the lice and eggs. This I know, is an excellent remedy, for I have tried it. Another given by a friend of mine is, get the druggist to mix some corrosive sublimate with the best pure alcohol, take the tooth brush and brush the chickens' heads with this, being care- ful not to let any of this get into the eyes (or it will blind them) or into the mouth, as it is very poisonous. This will not only, kill the head lice and their nits, but it will also kill stick tight fleas, ticks and any insects. It is very difficult when once the pests get into henneries or on chickens to get rid of them. It is far easier to keep the enemy out by constant and thorough cleaning at frequent inter- vals, especially in the summer time. I find using tobacco stems for making the nests of setting hens a good preventive; besides this, I see that all the fowls have good dust baths in mellow earth. Mites — We are fighting mites, but ap- parently with no success. We hired a man who makes poultry ranch spraying a business. We paid him $10 and he guaranteed to rid the place of the pests, but they are worse than ever. He uses lime, sulphur and carbolic acid. Is there any way corrosive sublimate could be used as a spray, and would it be safe for the hens in the houses ? How long would the hens need to be kept out after the spraying was done? Am having the worst possible luck with my chickens. Have probably hatched 550 chickens this year and have less than 200 now. When a week to ten days old they begin to droop, refuse to eat and starve to death. What is the matter ? No bowel trouble ; no cold; no lice, or only a few. Does cholera every attack such young chick- ens, and if cholera, would they not have bowel trouble? Would greatly appreci- ate an immediate answer, as the mites get all over me and drive me nearly frantic. — Perplexed. Answer — The thing that is killing your little chickens is not cholera, other- wise they would have bowel trouble ; it is only the swarms of mites. If they drive you nearly frantic, think how the chicks must suffer. The mites simply drain the life out of them. The cor- rosive sublimate can be put on with a spray, but it is dangerous to do so, as if it splatters into the person's eye^ who :s spraying, it may blind him for life, if you will spray your henneries thor- oughly with the Kerosene Emulsion as 1 told you, three times in succession; that is either every day for three days or three times, three hours apart, you will kill all the mites. You must turn the hens out of your henneries for sev- eral hours, or until the walls are dry. Insect Powder — Mrs. C. B. F., Los Gatos — I do not think the "flea powder" you mention would kill the little tur- keys, but as you ask what I use, I will tell you. It is here called "Buhach," and can be bought at any of the poultry sup- ply houses. It is made from the "Pyr- rethrum" daisy and is perfectly harmless to all fowls, from tiny canaries to mam- moth turkeys, but deadly to insects. It contains a small quantity of an essential oil which asphyxiates all insects, fleas, ants, lice, etc. It must be kept in an air- tight jar or tin box, as the essential oil easily evaporates. Next in value come the insect powders, the foundation of which is tobacco dust. The kind of lice that are so deadly to little turkeys are the same as the head lice of chickens. They are to be found on the heads and necks of the turkeys, and also on the large feathers at the edge of the wing. They seem to sap the life out of the turkeys. I always rub the "Buhach" powder well into the down on the head and at the roots of the wing feathers, whether they have signs of lice or not, for it is better to be sure than sorry. Ticks — In trouble again. We are renting a place until we can build on our own, and every building on it is sim- ply alive with little brown ticks ; they bury themselves in the heads of the chickens, the ears of the dogs, the feet of the animals and all over our bodies. What shall I do ? Please tell me and tell me quick. A neighbor says lard and car- bolic acid on their heads and spray with distillate, but neither seems to do any good so far. I am out of the chicken business since moving here, except a few for our own use. Yours sincerely. -J. J. W. Answer — The easiest way to get rid of them is to pour coal oil over the buildings and then set fire to them, but as you are in a rented place, that would scarcely be possible. The next best plan is to paint the place thoroughly with LICE, MITES, TICKS AND WORMS 187 corrosive sublimate; it is what I recom- mended to you for the plague mites at your other place. Ticks are one of the worst plagues in Southern California. They are so thin and flat that they hide between the shingles and boards. They really are not thicker than a bit of paper, and nothing kills them but the corrosive sublimate (bi-chloride of mercury). This can either be put on with a brush or be sprayed on the houses. You remember that it is very poisonous, and great care must be used in handling it. When once your coops are free of ticks, or other vermin, you can keep them so by spraying with kerosene emulsion that T have so often given. Distillate, liquid lice killer, coal tar and other prepara- tions of carbolic acid or creosote are all good to keep out vermin, but I know they will not drive out ticks. Depluming Mites — Two years ago I started to raise White Leghorns, com- mencing with two cocks and twelve pul- lets of as good strain as I could secure at the time. This spring I had a splen- did looking flock of 100 females and twelve males. They were beauties, but recently developed the feather-pulling habit and are now a sight. Never in moulting time have I seen poultry look worse. Many of the hens look as though plucked for market, and not one of the roosters has a vestige of tail. The hens still keep up laying as well as before (from fifty to sixty-five daily), but I cannot believe this will hold out in their present condition. I have them on a two-acre range and feed them cut green bone in large quan- tities four times a week~7n addition to all the other grains obtainable. My ex- perience can only suggest two causes for such a state of affairs : 1, Insufficient animal food. 2, Close confinement. But neither of these causes enters into the present state of affairs. Can you ad- vance a reason and suggest a remedy? By so doing you will greatly oblige one who is getting interested in raising fine looking birds.— F. S. S., Tucson, Ariz. Answer — Your birds have what is called "Depluming mites." The principal symptom of this trouble is a loss of feathers from spots of various sizes, sit- uated on different parts of the body. The feathers break off at the surface of the skin, and at the root of the feather is seen a small mass of epidermic scales which is easily crushed into powder. A microscopic examination of this powder reveals numerous mites and the debris which they produce. The disease appears in poultry yards as a consequence of the introduction of one or more birds already affected. It is readily communicated, develops rap- idly and in a few days a whole flock is contaminated. It usually begins on the rump and spreads rapidly to the back, the thighs and the belly. An infested cock will rapidly infest all the fowls in a poultry yard. Often the head and the upper surface of the neck are affected early in the course of the disease. The feathers fall off at all these points and finally the skin is denuded over a large extent of surface. The large feathers of the tail arid wings and the wing co- verts are generally retained. The denuded skin presents a normal appearance; it is smooth and soft, of a pinkish color and not perceptibly thick- ened. By pulling out the feathers which remain near the invaded parts, it is easy to find, with fowls, a mass of epidermic scales at the end of the quill, which con- tains a number of parasites. The gen- eral health of the birds is apparently not disturbed. They remain in good flesh and continue to lay as though they were not affected. It seems probable that much of the irregular moulting, feather pulling and feather eating are due to the irritation caused by the Sacroptes Laevis. The treatment for this is not very, difficult, but must be persisted in until a cure is effected. Carbolic salve should be rubbed over the affected portions of the skin and the adjacent parts, or a salve may be made by mixing one part of carbolic salve, one part of flour of sulphur, one part of powdered aloes with ten parts of lard or vaseline. A large surface of the body should not be covered with strong carbolic acid preparations, on account of the danger of absorption and poisoning. The af- fected parts of the body may be rubbed every fourth day until a cure is effected. It is well to finish the treatment by dip- ping the birds in a two per cent creoline bath and to whitewash the houses with carbolated whitewash. This will kill any mites which may be left in the feathers or about the roosts. Worms From Wild Birds — Some years ago my fowls became afflicted with a round worm, also tape worms, and ffl one article you mentioned several rem- edies, such as santoine, turpentine and tincture of male fern. I dug up the 188 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK yards and seeded to green feed, but all to no purpose ; it has practically driven me out of business. Last spring I in- vested in some outside stock (just hatched baby chicks), but they also be- came infested, although they were on new land. However, I managed to keep down those pests by occasionally dosing the hens with the above mentioned medi- cines. We do not feed anything unclean to our fowls and it always has been a puzzle to me where such worms came from. A few days ago our house cat brought home a small bird, which she began to devour on the house porch, but leaving the intestines, out of which crawled two good sized round worms such as fowls have. As we live in the woods, do you think this has' anything to do with it? I am almost afraid to start my incu- bators this season, as it may only result in future failure. — W. E. B. Answer — Your fowls undoubtedly get the worms as the wild birds do, from the droppings or eggs of worms from the other birds. By the persistent use of turpentine, using 60 drops in a quart of water, or mixing it in that proportion in the food, for a week at a time, you can get rid of them. Also disinfect the ground. The only thing that I can see is for you to keep up this treatment, for a .week every two months, giving turpen- tine either in the food or water. I would not be discouraged because that is a sure remedy and by watching and notic- ing the droppings, you need not fail in rearing the chickens. Worms From Pigeons — My chickens' gizzards are affected by red worms about the size of a pin. All the stock I raised last year seemed affected, al- though the eggs came from different places. I have the Brown Leghorns, Brahmas and R. I. Reds. I feed all the various grains, plenty of greens and good meat and bone. The only thing you recommend that I have not fed is charcoal, still as chicks they got it in the chick feed. I have given them tur- pentine in food and water at various times and it seemed to have the desired result, but today I learned different, the gizzard is penetrated and has a sore spot caused by these worms. All the stock in different yards are affected. I get plenty of eggs and the chickens look good, combs nice and red, never- theless I find them all affected the same way.— Mrs. G. S. L. Answer — I have been through the same trouble myself and so can help you. I found out that my chickens were getting the worms or the. eggs of the worms from neighboring pigeons. The droppings of the pigeons contained the eggs of the worms and in a short time the droppings of the chickens also had them and the other chickens ate them, and so on they kept increasing. First of all I gave the chickens the turpentine which I recommended to you. A tea- spoonful in a quart of water. Mix the food with that water, also put a teaspoon- ful in a quart of the drinking water and allow no other water for drinking. Keep this treatment up for a week. Mean- while clean up the yards by having them either ploughed under or dug up and a crop of some kind planted, something that will grow quickly, such as wheat or barley, and as far as possible destroy the birds that are bringing you the trou- ble, for I cannot but think it must be pigeons or some other wild birds. The worms will kill the young chickens, but they do not always kill the older fowls. Sometimes the worms come from un- clean or spoiled food, from "webby" grains and bad animal food. You will have to discover for yourself where they are getting the worms from and cut off the source of supply. Intestinal Worms — I wish a little in- formation and advice in regard to a val- uable Buff Orpington cockerel I own. He has become mopy and goes away under the trees by himself, and has lost over half of his weight in a month. He eats like a horse, though, of everything I give my hens, but shakes his head an awful lot, as though something was wrong, I looked in his throat and it looks all right. He has changed in color from a light buff to a very dark red since acting unwell, and has grown to be a homely, dopey bird, from a real beautiful lively one a short time ago. — M. J. Q. Answer — I think your Buff Orpington cockerel has intestinal worms. You had better give him 25 drops of spirits of turpentine on a lump of bread, or in a spoonful of water, and follow that im- mediately with two teaspoonfuls of cas- tor oil. Keep him shut up so you can watch the droppings and remove and burn or bury them deeply. If you do not find worms in his droppings, give him ten drops of tincture of male fern' on a lump of sugar, followed in an hour FEEDING IN GENERAL 189 by a dose of castor oil. This is for tape worms Both the remedies should be given after twelve hours or more fast- ing. Dr. Sanborn says : If you suspect worms, try to remove them. Dissolve in the water that is to be used for mix- ing the mash, two grains of santonine for each bird to be treated. Mix a small amount of mash, quite dry and add cas- tor oil, one-half teaspoonful for each bird. Feed this to the suspected birds, watching for the results of the '"worm treatment." All droppings should be collected often and put out of reach of the birds. Spray for Houses — Last summer I found a recipe in one of your articles for spraying hen houses. I used it to good advantage, but have misplaced the recipe and cannot remember the mixture exactly. It was composed of coal oil, carbolic acid and soap, with a certain proportion of water. If you will kindly send >it to me, I will appreciate it. — C. W. Answer — I gladly send you the recipe, which is excellent. I have used it for ten years or more. It will kill fleas, lice, mites or any insect pests in the henneries. It will also thoroughly dis- infect the premises from infectious dis- eases. Dissolve one pound of hard soap (or soap powder) in one gallon of boiling water, _ remove from the fire and add immediately one gallon of kerosene and one pint of crude carbolic acid. Churn or agitate violently for twenty, minutes or until you want to use it. If the oil and water separate on standing, then the soap was not caustic enough. Add to this ten gallons of water. I keep the stock solution on hand, dip out a quart and add to it ten quarts of water and use it for spraying the houses once every three weeks in summer and every month in winter. Putting it on hot in summer and slopping it well into dark and dusty corners will kill fleas, which are exceedingly troublesome on sandy soil in this part of the country. FEEDING IN GENERAL The following letters have been sent to me at different times during the last 10 years and as I think the replies to them may prove both interesting and helpful, I published them, but I would say that since then many supply houses or poultry associations have prepared mixed foods of grain etc., for feeding poultry as they need it at different times of the year. They have dry mash, moult mash, laying hen mash, breeders mash, chick mash with egg, chick feed, etc., and instead of going to the trouble of preparing your own different feeds and mashes I would advise beginners to inquire of the largest poultry plants near them what feeds they are using and buy the same feeds. . After more than a quarter of a century working with poultry in California this is what I myself am doing, as it is more stisfactory than mixing my own feed. The brand I am now using is fed daily to no less than 500,000 hens and pullets in Southern California alone. therefore is considered better in most cases. The beef scraps and beef meal are the refuse of the slaughter houses, heads, lights, etc., boiled down or cooked with steam, pressed, dried and ground, and are frequently called tank- age. If you have a good brand, keep to it, because some are no good, and if al- lowed to become damp or heated are in- jurious to the chickens. Animal Food for Fowls— Kindly in- form me as to the difference, if any, be- tween beef scraps, beef meal, meat meal and blood meal. Which is considered the best to feed laying hens and grow- ing chickens? I have fed beef scraps for nearly a year and had good results from it; at least I think I have. If some of the others are better I would like to know what one it is.— G. K. w. Answer— Beef scraps, beef meal and meat meal are the same, only the latter is ground finer than the former. Blood meal is made from the blood, cooked, dried and ground. . Pure dried blood contains more protein than the others, Bad Meat— I had twelve laying hens, they averaged seven eggs a day, were healthy and never were sick until I bought five cents' worth of green ground bone from a wagon- that passes my 190 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK door. It was wet and slimy, and smelled, but he said it was all right. I gave it to the chickens at noon; fed them nothing else then. At four o'clock I went out and found two dying and six more droopy and by eight that night had lost eight. Next day two large Buff Orpington hens died. I looked for some of your remedies giving asafoet- ida pills and the soda you spoke of in the water. I showed the bones to the butcher, and he said he never heard of such a thing as spoiled meat poisoning chickens. . He sold it when it smelled like that all the time.— Mrs. D. M. Answer — That meat poisoned your chickens evidently. It is called ptomaine poisoning. Butchers sometimes put formaline or some preservative on the meat, which has a very poisonous effect on chickens, but yours were undoubtedly poisoned by the putrid meat. You had better not buy any ground bone unless it is quite fresh. Blood Meal — Will you please tell me how much blood meal to put into the mash for thirteen hens, or in other words, what proportion for each hen? — ■ L. S. Answer — Half an ounce per hen every day at this spring season of the year is- about what they need of blood meal mixed in the mash. Weigh out enough for the thirteen hens and measure that in a cup or by a spoon, then you will know how much by measure. Beef Scrap — Is beef scrap, sold at the poultry supply houses, good for fowls ? What is ■ it and how much should be given per hen? — J. F. Y. Answer — Beef scrap is excellent for fowls when it is good. It is made from refuse of the slaughter houses, heads, lungs, liver, etc. It can readily be de- tected if unfit for food by pouring boil- ing water upon some and if the odor smells of decayed meats it is unfit for use. Some put it in dry mashes, others put it in hoppers and allow the fowls to eat of it as they like, either way is good. Examine also by placing a small quan- tity upon a piece of white paper and noticing carefully pieces which look more like dark broWn glass; these are hoof and horn, very rich in nitrogen but cannot be digested by fowls. Beef scrap, if kept in a warm or damp place, sometimes become lumpy. If you break open the lumps white threads may be seen in this. This is a very poisonous fungoid growth and will poison the fowls. If rats or mice are allowed to run over the beef scraps their droppings will also moisten the meal and render it poisonous. Thousands of chickens are lost each year by these poisons. Always examine beef scrap before buying any great quantities, and reject any that has fiber or hair, hoof and horn, as it is unfit for food. Beet Tops — Will you kindly tell me if beet tops are a good green food for ducks? Also for fowls and turkeys? Are they as nourishing as alfalfa? My hens are not laying well. The eggs have suddenly dropped off, and I did not know but what the cause might be beet tops.— J. S. Y. Answer — In September one is glad to get anything green for the fowls, ducks, geese or turkeys, to eat. Al- most anything green is better than noth- ing, but alfalfa contains more protein than any other green food, except white clover. The per cent of protein in white clover is 15.7, and in alfalfa 14.30, while in beet tops it is only 1.3. By this you will see that alfalfa is worth about 14 times as much as beet tops. There is about as much protein in alfalfa as in wheat bran. You complain that your hens do not lay. I think probably they are moulting. You cannot expect hens to lay all the time without taking a rest. Dry Hopper Methods — I write you regarding the dry hopper method of feeding. How much space do you leave at the bottom for the feed to come through, and how wide do you leave the space for the chickens to eat out of ? We made one, but it is not a success, for the box is bloody from their combs hitting against it. They stand and eat all the time and do not go and drink as you say yours do. — D. S. M. Answer — I had the same experience with hoppers injuring the combs of the fowls, and now I make my hoppers like those used at the Maine Experiment Station, simply a box with a roof over it. The box is twenty-four inches long and eleven inches wide. The sides are cut like a gable, the highest point being sixteen inches high. The gable roof keeps the food dry and the hens waste scarcely any of it. The roof lifts off or can be slid back to fill it. Exercise for Fowls — I was greatly interested in an article of yours on feed- ing. You say give a hen a chance to work and no matter how fat, etc. Now FEEDING IN GENERAL 191 what interests me most to know is just how you manage to give them plenty of work in a limited space. We, who occupy only a village lot, will be greatly helped if you will tell us how to keep the hens busy in such limited quarters. — G. P. C. Answer — To keep hens busy, give them what is called a "scratching pen." Put a 12-inch board across one corner of your lot and fill that full of good wheat straw or hay; scatter all the grain you feed in that, and the hens will work all day digging out the grain; every grain they scratch out they will bury two, and so will keep up the exer- cise. If you are feeding the hopper method, put the hopper at one end of the pen and the water vessel at th» other end; this will give them the exer- cise of walking back and forth. You can also hang up a cabbage for them to jump at, but scratching is the natural and best exercise for developing the egg organs. Tomatoes — Do tomatoes tend to make the hens quit laying? — J. W. Answer — Tomatoes will not do the hens any harm unless fed in very large quantities. There is not much nourish- ment to them and consequently they will not improve the laying qualities; other- wise a reasonable amount will benefit the hens. For Young and Old Stock — I am very much interested in your articles and would like to ask you for a little advice. Being away from home all day, I have to feed in the morning enough to do all day. This I can manage for the old stock by feeding scratch food in the litter and dry mash in hoppers. But how can I manage the growing stock? Please give a formula for dry feed. Do you consider the scratch food sold by the poultry houses good food for the young stock? My chicks will not eat the baby chick food after a week or ten days. I also give them lawn clippings or lettuce every evening. Is a handful of scratch feed to the hen once a day enough where they have the dry mash and table scraps? Is cracked corn good food to feed alone to young stock? I have Rhode Island Reds.— R. L. P. Answer — Your questions relate prin- cipally to ■ the feeding of the young stock, and you do not say whether you want to keep them for fattening for the table or for future egg layers. There is of course a difference in the way of feeding, or rather in the quality of the food to be given to them. However, I will tell you the way I feed for egg lay- ing. As soon as I think the little chicks will eat whole wheat, I add it to the baby chick feed, a small quantity. If they pick it up quickly I add more each day, and in a few days I give also some kaffir corn or finely cracked corn. It should be finely cracked, as it is difficult of digestion. When it is too long in digesting, the corn ferments in the giz- zard and that gives the chick diarrhoea, which often proves fatal. We never want to overtax the digestion of a chick, so I give corn carefully. This ap- plies to the last question in your letter — it is not good to feed corn alone. It has been clearly proven that chicks do better, grow more quickly and mature earlier if they can have a great variety of seeds to eat. This is the reason we prefer to buy the chick feed already mixed from the supply houses. They have greater facilities for getting a va- riety of grain than we have. When the young stock is old enough to eat the wheat and kaffir corn, they can be fed as you do the old hens, only remember to give them nice, clean lit- ter to scratch in. It will need renewing oftener than that of the old hens, for if it gets foul and they pick up some of their own droppings, you will soon have a set of sick chickens. Feed the grains in the scratching pen to the little chicks, and also give them in a hopper of bran, alfalfa meal, corn meal, ground bone and either granulated milk or dried blood in equal proportions. The little chicks will prefer the grains in the scratching pen and eat those the first, which is just what they want, but if they are hungry they will go to the hopper. Most of the poultry supply houses now make an excellent scratch feed ; they realize the need of it and are able to mix it scientifically. I always buy from them, and if I think there is too much corn and that my fowls will become too fat, I say, "Please economize on the corn." You will find most of the poul- try supply houses willing to mix the scratch food just as you want it. You are feeding the mature stock all right. One handful of the scratch feed in the litter is about right for the hens. The green food is quite important, the lawn clippings should be of clover or as much clover as possible, for the blue grass becomes so hard and stiff as the summer continues that there is not 192 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK much nourishment in it and the hens will not eat it. Lettuce is good, but sometimes quite expensive and difficult to get, but there is another green food that has been found excellent and is within the reach of any one. This is sprouted oats. Take half a bucket of oats, pour warm water on them and leave them covered all night, then spread them in boxes. Any box will do. Have the oats about two inches deep and keep them damp. In four or five days there will be a mass of tender green sprouts. The hens will eat eagerly of this. A friend of mine has also done this, with barley for many years with great success. This grfeen food is as good for the young stock as for the old. In your place I would feed as you do, throwing scratch food (a handful to each fowl) in the litter in the early morning, keeping the dry mash in the hopper, and feed the green food in the evening. Some of it may 'be left till morning, but will not wilt much, and they will eat it the first thing. Be sure they have plenty of water and have it shaded from the sun, either in a box on its side or in some sort of shelter. How Much to Feed — Can you tell me how much feed an average Leghorn should have in weight with a free range of two acres of alfalfa? Is green ground bone necessary all the year round or only in the winter? My hens will not lay and I may not be feeding right, al- though a few Wyandottes I have are too fat, but they get exactly the same food as the Leghorns. I have 72 hens and only got 12 eggs yesterday. Am not satisfied with the results and desire to have them do better. Answer — An average Leghorn hen should have in weight for every pound weight of hen an ounce of food. As Leghorns weigh about four pounds each, they would require about four ounces of food each per day. Animal food of some kind is necessary for hens if you want them to lay. If you can give them milk in large quantities, that will give them all the animal food nec- essary. Green ground bone is, of course, the best food, but is is very difficult to keep it fresh and sweet in the summer time, therefore dried bone and dried blood, or beef scrap or milk must take the place. A hen requires about half an ounce of green ground bone every day or of the dry stuff (bone and blood) half an ounce every other day. If the fowls have plenty of green food, and are not laying well, give them more animal food. Perhaps your Leghorns are two years old, in which case you had better get younger fowls, as their days of greatest usefulness are over. How Much Grain — I have been feed- ing three times a day, grain morning and night and a mash at noon. I feed a good handful of kaffir corn, wheat or Indian corn in the scratch pens. I have a mixed flock; I cannot well use the dry mash. How much of the grain should I give if I only feed once a day? I have fifty or sixty hens kept only for eggs and no good way of weighing grain, so please state quantity per hen and not weight. — C. A. B. Answer — It is a good rule to feed a quart of grain for every dozen hens, the grain to be buried in the scratching pens, so they will have to dig it out. Give all the green food, clover, lawn clippings, alfalfa, lettuce, cabbage, veg- etables, that they will eat, and one table- spoonful of green cut bone for each hen, three times a week. You do not men- tion how you make your mash. Re- member that a hen needs animal food, green food and cereals ; that is the bal- anced ration that will give plenty of eggs at all times. Broken Glass for Chickens — Have started in poultry in a small way. Have had very good success so far. How- ever, it is somewhat of a trial to get enough gravel or grit for a good sized flock on a small lot. Now, what I want to know is, is pounded glass fit to feed hens? Two of my neighbors have ad- vised its use in the poultry yards, but I am afraid it would act on the chick- ens the same as it did on foxes we used to poison with it up in the wilds of Wis- consin. — J. G. F. Answer — Broken glass or broken crockery make a very fair substitute for grit and gravel. It should be broken not smaller than a grain of wheat and have three sharp edges or corners to each piece. _ In using glass, be sure not to take pointed pieces like slivers, be- cause they may pierce the crop or giz- zard. For several years, when I could not get grit, I used broken crockery for the chickens, and I know it does well. Substitute for Green Food — Will you kindly tell me what would be the quickest and best vegetable for green FEEDING IN GENERAL 193 food I could grow for my poultry? I planted a patch of white clover, but it does not seem to grow at all. Is al- falfa meal a good substitute where green cannot be had? — G. K. Answer — An alfalfa patch is a good thing to have for poultry, but if you cannot have either clover or alfalfa, plant for the little chickens, lettuce, and for the older ones, kale, swisschard, cab- bage, beets, etc. These in the order in which I have mentioned them are the best foods that I know of. You, of course, must judge what will grow best in your section. Alfalfa meal is a very fair substitute for green food, but of course does not come up to the crisp, succulent, fresh-growing greens. Lack Green Food — I have three pens of White Plymouth Rocks and what bothers me is I only get from four to six eggs from them. They all look fine. I think they are rather fat. As to feed, I give them a small handful of grain in the morning in deep straw, either wheat or barley; about eleven a dry mash — eight quart's bran, four quarts middlings and nearly a quart of beef scraps ; at night I give them the dry grain again. Once in a while a table- spoonful of pepper in their mash. They are not troubled with lice or mites, and have grit, oyster shell and coal before them all the time ; also good clean wa- ter. Can you advise me how to feed them so as to get them down to busi- ness? — J. B. Answer — What your hens lack is green food. At least one-third of a hen's food should be green — clover, al- falfa or some succulent vegetables. They cannot do well upon the absolutely dry food you are giving them. Add the green to your present ration and you should get eggs. Millet Seed— Can you tell me what makes my chickens that are from ten weeks to three months old, droopy? Is millet seed good for little chicks for the 'first two or three weeks? I mean mil- let seed alone.— Mrs. P. E. N. Answer — When chickens are droopy is is a sign that they may have either lice, worms or indigestion. If you are feeding millet seed, that may account for it. Millet seed is very hard, round and slippery, and passes through the giz- zard and intestines without being di- gested and I have known of several chickens dying from it. A little used in their food may not hurt them, but an exclusive diet of millet is certain to cause trouble. Skim Milk — Will you kindly inform me whether skim milk is a good food for young pullets or laying hens ? Which is best, sweet, clabber or curd? Is there danger of feeding too much curd or skim milk? Is curd of more value to young stock or to laying hens? I have a bunch of ten-weeks-old pullets that I am feeding clabber and bran mixed until it makes a crumbly mash. Is it a fattening or muscle or bone mak- ing ration? How would it do to feed to laying stock? I give skim milk to my laying hens in troughs which set in the sun. Will that kill disease germs or not?— L. E. E. Answer — Skim milk is one of the best foods for chickens or hens at any stage of their lives. It can be fed either sweet, clabber or curd. By curd I mean cooked. If you cook it, be careful not to heat it above 100 degrees, or it will become tough and indigestible. There is no danger of feeding too much skim milk or clabber to fowls. The crumbly mash is good feed, but you would suc- ceed just as well by giving them the bran dry and letting them drink or eat the milk as they want it. It is a good bone, muscle and egg making ration. I give my fowls all the milk I can spare, pouring it into troughs and leaving it till they eat it. The sun does not seem to affect it badly when it is pure milk, but if bran were mixed with it, the sun might make it ferment and then it would disagree with them. Sorghum Seed— Will you tell me the value of sorghum seed for poultry? Is it fat producing or an egg food, and how would it do for turkeys?— C. B. C. Answer— Sorghum seed, broom corn seed and Egyptian corn have almost the same nutritive value. They can be fed to both chickens and turkeys with the same satisfactory results. One year when on the farm I had several tons of broom corn seed which was left where the threshers worked and the fowls had free access to it and the green-growing wheat; they got through the moult early and layed . all winter, eggs galore I never saw better laying, and the turkeys did well on it. Professor Jaffa in his most valuable bulletin ("Farmers bulle- tin 164) on poultry feeding, gives us the nutritive valiie of broom corn and of 194 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK sorghum seed as both the same. Kaffir Corn — Is kaffir corn the same as Egyptian corn, and is, it an egg food or simply a fattening food? Answer— Kaffir and Egyptian com belong 1;o.ithe same family and are very much, 'alike. They are both fattening grains, and I prefer mixing them with other grains, such as wheat, barley, oats or buckwheat. THE EGG QUESTION Egg-Bound — I have the White Mi- norcas. Have 15 hens and get from 12 to 14 eggs per day. I have a pullet and an old hen that seem to droop and sit around all day, and sometimes stag- ger; they had been laying all the time and their combs are still red, but they do not lay now. I feed them bran mash in the morning with alfalfa meal and egg-maker, and once a week chopped onions and red pepper, and at noon we give them green grass, and at night wheat, besides this they get lots of meat scraps from the table; they have oyster shell and grit before them all the time. They have not eaten anything since they felt this way, but seem to kind of gasp for breath, and they do not seem to have anything in their craws. Thank- ing you in advance for a reply, I re- main.— Mrs. J. w. s. Answer — Your hens certainly have been doing very well. Minorcas very often get egg-bound, as their eggs are so large they have difficulty in laying them. This may be the case with yours, and I would advise you to examine them. You might also give them some Epsom salts, half a teaspoonful in a tablespoonful of water. If it is indi- gestion, the Epsom salts will help that. I think your hens may not be getting green food enough. Egg-bound is most common in slug- gish birds, or those closely confined without opportunity to exercise. Active fowls, such as Leghorns, seldom take life easy enough to get fat, hence are not subject to this disease, which is largely owing to an overfat condition of the entire system, in which the egg pass- age is pressed upon by the accumula- tion of fat, hindering the passage of the egg. Not only are there large col- lections of fat in the abdominal cav- ity, but much of the muscular tissue is replaced by streaks of fat. This weak- ens the muscles of the egg passage, so that the egg may be arrested in the pass- age, where it sets up inflammation. This same egg-bound condition sometimes causes death from heart disease. The bird goes on the nest to lay, strains vio- lently to pass the egg, the heart muscles are decidedly weak from fatty degen- eration, the extra exertion is too much for the weakened heart, and it gives out, the bird being found on the nest dead. In the early stages, when the irrita- tion is slight, it is sufficient to inject a small quantity of olive oil and gently manipulate the parts. Afterwards give cooling green food, and if the hens are too fat reduce the ration. In case the expulsion of the egg cannot be obtained by the injection of oil, immerse the lower part of the body in water, as warm as it can be used without injury, and hold it there half an hour or more, until the parts are relaxed. Then inject oil and endeavor to assist the bird by careful pressure and manipulation or by gentle dilatation of the passage. It Cured Them — How long can eggs be kept for setting and do they require any special treatment ? I have a favor- ite hen and I want to set as many of her eggs as possible, but I do not know how long they will remain fertile, as I have no hen, wanting to sit at present. Sev- eral of my fowls had a touch of roup and I tried a remedy that you gave (castor oil, camphorated oil, kerosene, turpentine and a few drops of carbolic acid) squirted up her nostrils. I also mixed another remedy that you gave (cayenne pepper, mustard, vinegar, lard and flour) and gave it to the fowls, in pills, as you said. I happened to leave it where they could get at it, and found that I need not give it in pills, for they were eating it with relish. I have made the mixture several times since and they seem to be very fond of it. Their combs have become very red and although they are moulting, they are laying well. Would you advise allowing them to eat all they want of it? They are entirely well of the roup. — Mrs. H. A. H. Answer — In reply to your first ques- tion, it is well to remember that the fresher the eggs you set, the stronger THE EGG QUESTION 195 will be the chicks. I have aTways set them as fresh as I can get them, and I never sold eggs over a week old for setting. However, I have kept eggs from a favorite hen for three weeks and had a very good hatch. To keep them I always lay the eggs on their side on sawdust or on grain (oats or barley) to keep them from rolling, and I turn them every day. By this means the yolk does not adhere to one side, and I have a good hatch. Some advise standing them on the small end, but it does not suc- ceed as well as my way. I am glad your fowls have gotten over the roup. I would not advise you to let them eat their medicine, because that remedy is a very powerful stimulant, and although excellent for a cold, often curing it in one day, it will prove an irritant if con- tinued too long. It is even now stimu- lating the egg organs and digestive or- gans greatly, as is shown by the comb, and I advise you to discontinue it, in- creasing the animal food; and, as yours are Rhode Island Reds, I would advise adding some oil cake (linseed meal) to the food. This will help to give a fine gloss to the new feathers. Soft Shelled Eggs — Having read a great deal of your advice, I will ask of you a favor. Would you please tell me what can be the reason chickens lay un- shelled eggs? They sometimes drop them while on the roost or out among the brush. Mine have been very bad of late; I get as many as three or four a day, sometimes, from about thirty hens. I should be real thankful to find out what to do for them.— Mrs. L. E. L. Answer— Soft shelled eggs are not exactly a diseased condition, but may be a symptom of approaching danger It is usually due to a lack of shell-making material in the food, or to inflammation of the shell-forming chamber of the egg duct, which no longer secretes cal- careous matter. Overstimulation of the egg organs by the use of pepper or stim- ulating egg foods will have this effect. Worms in the intestines may also pro- duce the irritation that will affect the oviduct, and an overfat condition will "V^SSSd the »»U 3 ta,U B Give. the <™' ! '•»&■£*£: food; make them work for the grain, which should be wheat in preference to other grains. One heaping teaspoonful of Epsom salts to pint of drinking wa- ter, kept before the hens for a day twice a week, will help remove the layers of fat. Feed a properly balanced ration and do not try to increase the egg yield by using stimulants that irritate the or- gans of reproduction. Take freshly crushed oyster shell and sift through a rather fine sieve, giving the coarse part to the fowls and the fine use one tea- spoonful in the mash for each fowl every other day. Blood Spot on Yolk — I have 150 Brown Leghorn pullets just starting to lay, and I supply a few customers with eggs, and they have been complaining of finding a little blood spot on the yolk. I have plenty of nest room, so they are not crowded. I have been picking 70 to 80 eggs a day. They have abundance of green feed. I feed soft feed in the morning, wheat at midday, corn at evening, so if you will please let me know what the cause of this is, I will be very much obliged, because my cus- tomers are getting dissatisfied. — W. W. M. Answer — The small blood clot you describe results from a slight hemor- rhage which has generally occurred in the upper two-thirds of the oviduct. Such hemorrhages are the result of great functional activity and congestion of the blood vessels. They are excited by any of the causes which lead to congestion and inflammation and are to be coun- teracted by green feed and less animal food and by the suppression of red pep- per or any stimulants. Give » little Ep- som salts in the water and add about twice the amount of salt you are giving to the mash in the morning, leaving off the red pepper. Largest White Eggs — I am starting or trying to start a poultry ranch and would like to ask you a question _ re- cently asked by someone else, but in a little different way. Which of the good laying breeds lay the largest white eggs? My aim is for good city trade. — E. A. M. Answer — The Black Minorcas have the reputation of laying the largest white eggs. The White Leghorns are their close competitors. It very much depends upon the strain or family. For instance, one set of fowls may have been selected for beauty of feather and form and their owners may not have chosen 196 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK those that layed the largest eggs, whilst some have carefully chosen the largest egg layers, and bred from those, not car- ing for exhibition birds, and again a third party might have united these two qualities and have both prize winners and the best of layers. It depends upon the ability of the breeder and also upon his object. Black Minorcas do admirably in the climate of Southern California. I do not know how they would grow in a damper, colder climate. You would have to inquire of people who have had ex- perience in that kind of a climate. Egg-Eating Hens — Would you kindly tell me how to treat egg-eating hens? What will cure them?— Mrs. R. E. G. Answer — The best way is to cut the head off the offender and eat her, for she is certain to be fat. The informa- tion you ask for is as follows : Mr. Morse (a chicken expert) gives five remedies for the bad habit of egg-eat- ing. First: Fit up an arrangement whereby the eggs, as soon as layed, slide down and out of sight, into a sort of false bottom under the nest. The hens will not eat them because they cannot get them. Second: Have a lot of China eggs lying about promiscuous-like on the floor. Trying to eat such eggs is likely to discourage egg-eating. Third : Fix up a hollow egg with aloes. One bite is enough. Consult the corner druggist as to how to make the mess. Fourth: Have grit and crushed oyster shells about in abundance in self-feeding boxes. Fifth : Do not stuff your hens full of mash in the morning and let them sit around all day, like "Father," in the song, "Everybody Works But Father," but feed them grain in litter and make them hustle all day. This keeps them out of mischief. Mr. Morse's advice may be good, but I recommend using trap nests, by which means you will eas- ily discover the guilty hen, and if she is not too valuable, the verdict should be decapitation. Keep oyster shells, grit and charcoal before your hens and there will be very little egg-eating, for it is a vice which always commences with weak or soft egg shells. HATCHING WITH INCUBATOR AND HEN Chicks Dying in Shell — A large per cent of my chicks, fully developed, die the day they are due to hatch, even after pipping the shell. They seem to dry in the shell.— Mrs. D. D. Answer — Float the eggs in warm wa- ter. That will help the chicks to break through the shell better than anything I know of. Next time try sprinkling the eggs after the eighth day twice a week with warm water. I think you will find it is what is needed in your dry climate, and is likely to help matters. Fooling the Hen — Is it possible to fool a sitting hen into caring for some incubator chickens when "she has not hatched them herself? — Mrs. C. R. Answer — If your hen has been sitting for a week or ten days, she will "take to" the chicks as well as though she had hatched them herself ; especially if she is a Plymouth Rock or Buff Orpington. These two breeds have a greater affec- tion for chickens than some of the oth- ers. Be sure that the hen is entirely clear of lice, and if she is a large hen, put from 15 to 18 under her at night; a smaller hen should have from 12 to 15, not more, if you expect the chickens to do well. I have trained capons to act as mothers ; they do even better than the hens. Infertility — Will you kindly tell me what to do to make eggs more fertile? I have a fine pen of Columbian Wyan- dottes, eight pullets mated with a cock two years old. They are fed on dry mash of bran, ground barley, corn meal, alfalfa meal and beef scrap, with plenty of grit, shell, charcoal and ground bone before them all the time, and are run- ning in a corral of grass and clover; they have plenty of fresh water and the hens lay well. What chicks I do get are strong and healthy; out of fifteen eggs only two were fertile. I have another pen, four hens, two years old, mated with a cockerel one year old. Fed the same in every way; their shells are smooth, but full of clear spots. What shall I feed to make shells better?— Mrs. E. H. G. Answer — The usual requirements missing from the food when eggs are infertile are green food and animal food, therefore I would advise you to feed more green food, more animal food and HATCHING WITH INCUBATOR AND HEN 197 ?.. grea , t deal less barley and corn meal. Wyandottes are apt to get too fat to have good fertility unless they have plenty of exercise and the four old hens require more lime. Mix some fresh quicklime in water to the consistency of pancake batter; let it stand 24 hours, then pour out a cake of it on the ground. It will soon dry, and by crumbling a little of it every day the hens will pick it up. Add a teaspoonful of baking soda to a quart of their drinking water and keep this before them for a week. By this means I think your egg shells will improve. Cripples — Some of my incubator chickens are almost cripples when they are taken from the incubator. Some have crippled, crooked and crumpled up toes, others have one leg too short, or turned out the wrong way, and some of them are not able to stand up — they hold their head back so far that they fall backward.— A. H. S. Answer — The cause of cripples in- variably is irregularity of temperature in the incubator. Your incubator has been too hot at some period, probably the last week; this causes cripples. Those that hold their heads back do so from the eggs not having been turned sufficiently during incubation. As you do not mention the name of the incubator, I cannot tell you just where the lack is, it may be poor oil; it may be it is run in a draught and it may lack ventilation. Thermometer — Will you kindly tell me where I could get tested thermome- ter for incubator ; also where I could have one tested which I already have? -H. H. C. Answer — At any good drug store you can have your thermometer tested. If you want to buy a new one, go to the agent selling your make of incubator. Take the new one also to the druggist and have him test it thoroughly, be- cause the thermometers, as they are sea- soned, sometimes vary some degrees and even a new one cannot be trusted. Eggs for Hatching— Will you kindly tell me what is the matter with my eggs? They will not hatch well. Our hens are Brown Leghorns and Rhode Island Reds. I only go* fifteen duck- ens in my last batch. When we break the eggs after we know they w 11 not hatch we find the chicks dead, but fully formed and just ready to hatch. Per- haps the shells are too hard. Will you please tell me what to do to make a softer shell? Feed according to your directions. Is it necessary to put moisture in the incubator? Does it hurt the eggs to sprinkle them with warm water if we think the shells are too hard? I will be very thankful if you will answer this, as I want to know before I commence to save eggs for next incubator lot. I do not keep them over two weeks and keep them in a cool, dark place, turning them every day.— Mrs. G. A. M. Answer— I wish I could tell you for certain what causes chickens to die in the shell. I have my theories about it, and I believe it comes from the eggs not being aired and cooled sufficiently. Cooling them and then warming them up again seems to make the shells more brittle, and this is the same under hens. If I notice that a hen is sitting too closely, I take her off twice a day to cool the eggs. With an incubator I would air them and turn them three times a day, and either sprinkle them three times during the last ten days or float them in warm water two days before the hatch is due. Float them from three to five minutes, and then put them back into the tray while they are wet. I do not believe in putting moisture into the incubator unless the directions call for it. Poor Hatching — I should like very much if you can give me some informa- tion about my hatching eggs in an in- cubator. I bought a new incubator this spring. I have set it twice and had the same results both times. The chicks form fully and then most of them die in the shell. As the same eggs do fine when put under a ben, I think it must be that I make some mistake in my treatment of the incubator. I have, as nearly as possible, followed the instruc- tions that came with it. If you can give me any assistance, it will be appreciated very much.— Mrs. W. D. W. Answer — Your incubator is a good one. Its fault, for they all have some little fault, is that the ventilation is in- sufficient. Take the eggs out and air them after the first week three times a day. This will counteract the lack of ventilation. This cooling and then heat- ing up again of the eggs makes the shell more brittle, so that the chick is able to break its way out much more easily. 198 MRS. BASLEY'S . WESTERN POULTRY BOOK Another thing I found in using that in- cubator is that by taking the middle eggs out of the row, one in each hand, and putting them at the end of the row, and then pushing the others. along into the vacant places, I got a 10 per cent better hatch. I got the idea from Egypt. Of course, you must be sure the machine stands level and that the thermometer is correct. Natural Incubation — I am a reader of your articles and get much good from them. Am a beginner and have a great deal to learn. Will you kindly answer the following questions : 1. Should a setting hen be shut on the nest and be let off each day? If so, how long should she be allowed to stay off the nest? 2. Do the eggs get enough moisture in natural incubation? 3. Is it good to sprinkle the eggs with water? If so, how often and in what stages of incubation should this be done? 4. How long should chick feed be fed to chicks, and what is best after dis- continuing this food? — R. M. Answer — It is best not to shut a hen on the nest, but to allow her to get on and off as she pleases, unless there are other hens that can get to the nest to disturb her. It is a good plan to take the hen off the nest at a regular hour every day. I prefer about five o'clock in the evening, as then she will go back before, supper time. A hen can be off the nest in pleasant weather from twenty minutes to half an hour. She should be allowed to stay off long enough to eat all she wants and to dust herself. It is necessary for her to come off at least once every twenty-four hours. 2. Eggs usually get moisture enough from the perspiration of the hen. I like to float the eggs in warm water two days before the hatch comes off. I think it helps the eggs to hatch well and it also shows, by the eggs bobbing about on the water, which eggs have live chicks in them. 3. Chick feed should be fed about six weeks, but it is best to begin when the chicks are three or four weeks old to add wheat and kaffir corn to the chick food and make the change grad- ual. Commence by one-fourth of the larger grains and three-fourths of chick feed. Then gradually increase the kaffir corn and wheat until that is the prin- cipal feed. Brooder Chicks— I shall have to come to you for help about my little chickens, as I know that you know what to do. I am only a beginner. I have an in- cubator and hot water brooder, and be- fore I bought your book I could not make them hatch, but now, with its help, following your directions, T have a fine hatch. I turned and aired the eggs as you said. Now my chicks (White Leg- horns) are two weeks old and I have lowered the temperature in the brooder about one degree a day; but about every other day one will die. I have thirty- two in the brooder, so they are not crowded at all. I have put insect pow- der on them and they are fed chick food; they have plenty of fresh water in a fountain, which I keep in their yard. I make them work in alfalfa for their feed, as you instructed. They are not stuck up behind, as far as I can tell, but when one is about to die, it goes up into a corner of the brooder under the pipe. If you will give me advice about what to do, I shall be very much obliged, as I am afraid I shall lose them all. — N. H. H. Answer — I am glad you had a good hatch. The fault with that incubator is lack of ventilation, and of the brooder is that there is a draught on the floor; so that the chicks' feet are cold. I tried a good many plans with that brooder, and finally I built them over. How- ever, the best plan before I changed them I found was to put on the floor a gunny sack or bit of warm old carpet, and on that put nearly two inches of chaff or finely cut straw or hay. I also left the lid a little bit open. Before that the chicks' heads got too hot on the pipes and their little feet too cold. I am rather surprised that they have not been troubled with diarrhoea. Faulty Incubation — I am a begin- ner in the poultry business and would like to ask you a few questions that have been troubling me : 1. I have been hatching chickens and ducks in an incubator and they don't hatch as well as with a hen. I find quite a number dead in the shells. I do not understand it, as I follow the direc- tions that come with the machine. 2. A number of the chicks ''walk around on their knees." Some of their legs stick straight up and they flop along on the joint with the aid of their wings. They soon die. Why is this? Is there any way to avoid it? YARD ROOM 199 3. I had twenty ducks hatch with hens and have only eleven left. We first notice them to lag behind the rest, then as they grow more stupid they fall over with their heads thrown back as people do when they have spinal meningitis. Can you tell by this description what was the matter with them?— L. B. Cor- coran. Answer— The trouble is that the heat has been irregular in your incubator, and probably the eggs have not been aired sufficiently. 2. Cripples, such as you described, in- variably come from overheating, espe- cially the last ten days in the incubator. It may be only for a few hours. It is such a pity, for it always seems to be the biggest and best chicks. I have once or twice succeeded in straightening out the legs and setting the knee, fastening it with a rubber. 3. The trouble with the ducks is se- vere indigestion. It may be they have not had sand enough in their food, or they have eaten some animal food that was not fresh — was decaying. Lack of shade will give the same symptoms. The drinking vessel must be deep enough for them to get their entire bill under water, for they require to rinse their nostrils many times a day and will die if they cannot. Brooders — (Mrs. S. M, G.) — I would like to tell you about the brooders I made from your description of them. I have used the Fireless Brooder for five months and have had no trouble in get- ting the chicks to go inside when they are cold. When I first put fifty chicks into the Fireless, the weather was cold and at first I found, like others, that the little fellows did not know where to go when they felt cold, so on the third day I put a gallon jug of hot water in the center of the brooder, covering the jug with a hood made of several layers of newspaper. I took two or three chicks and held them against the jug until their happy chirping brought all the others; after that I had no trouble. I removed the jug at night and put it back in the morning for a few days, filling it with less warm water each morning. During the summer months I did not find it necessary to put any at- traction in the brooders, as the chicks seemed warm enough from the first to spend the entire day in the sun. This account from Mrs. G. will in- terest and help many of our readers. YARD ROOM How Many Chickens to KeeP on a City Lot — Will you kindly tell me how many chickens can be kept on a city lot seventy-five by a hundred and eighty feet? Do you think chickens will lay well during the rainy season in Seattle, Wash., if they are properly fed and housed? How big a house do we need for fifty chickens? Last September we bought thirty Ply- mouth Rock hens and thirty pullets. We got from ten to sixteen eggs from the hens per day, until about the middle of December, when they began to fall off. We are still getting that amount, but half of them are from the pullets. Do you think they are doing as well as we could expect?— Mrs. L. E. S. Answer— In your climate it would very much depend upon the shelter from the rain that you can give the chickens. Fifty chickens should be divided into two pens with two houses. Each house not less than ten by twelve feet in size. I would advise a good scratching pen to be made, either adjoining the house and covered with a roof, or else make the scratching pen to extend underneath the dropping boards. You might keep several hundred hens upon land 75 x 180 feet, if you have ample house room for them, so they would be well shel- tered from the rain. Hens that are wet every day will not lay well. Your fowls are doing well, considering the wet weather you are having. How Many on Two Acres — I have two acres of land, of which I will have a hundred feet by one hundred feet for an alfalfa patch, the rest for chickens to run around and have the patch for them to feed on for an hour or so before go- ing to roost. Kindly let me know how many chickens I can raise on the two acres at the most. — M. J. P. Answer — I think you can keep a thou- sand chickens on your two acres. You must be careful not to have more than fifty to roost in one house. " It is the crowded condition of houses at night that brings trouble and disease. Be sure to give them shade during the day and plenty of good fresh water, besides, of 200 MRS. BASLEY'S WKSIEkin fuuLiK.): uuurv course, the balanced ration. Allow them two hours a day on the alfalfa patch. Five Acres — Will you kindly tell me how many White Leghorns I can suc- cessfully raise on five acres of land? I want to grow alfalfa and some vegeta- bles for feed. Will you also tell me if I can hatch turkeys in an incubator? — J. W. L. Answer — You can raise a large num- ber of Leghorns on five acres of land. 1 know one party that has 3,000 Leg- horns on three acres, but it entirely de- pends upon knowing how to do and do- ing it right. Better begin with a small number and when you succeed with those increase your flock. Turkeys can be hatched in an incu- bator and raised in a brooder, but must be kept entirely separate from chickens or they will die. Answer — It all depends upon the care you give them; if you can supply them with shade, plenty of green food, clean water and a good scratching place and the proper food, it will be plenty large enough. Be sure to keep them clean and free from mites and lice. Yard Room — I want to raise about 60 pullets for next winter. I have about a hundred chicks hatched out. All the yard room I can spare is on a town lot about 50x75 feet. Do you think this would be enough room for them? — Mrs. J. F. Y. Burglar Alarm — I refer to the men- tion made by you of an electric burglar alarm to protect poultry houses, and would venture to inquire whether such an alarm may be installed by one not a professional electrician? Upon what principle is it based, and what are the materials needed? — H. M. Answer — I put in the burglar alarm you speak of myself. I am not a pro- fessional electrician, but I went to the electrical supply house, bought from them the ordinary alarm fixtures which are used at the door and windows of residences ; they explained to me how to set them, and I did it by their direc- tions. I did not find it difficult. None of the doors or windows in my hennery could be opened four inches without the alarm gong at the head of my bed ring- ing. I should think you would have to understand a little about it to put them in. MATING AND BREEDING Age for Mating — I wish to ask if- a cockerel should be mated after he at- tains a year in age or can he just as well stay till a year and a half or two years old before being mated? Also I wish to know if it is quite as advantageous to mate a rooster with a pullet of his own clutch, supposing the pullet and rooster are both a year and a half old? I would like to do that if you think it advisable. — M. S. H. Answer — The earliest age at which a cockerel may be mated should be about ten months, not earlier if you want large, vigorous chickens. I consider the best age for getting s'turdy chicks is for both parents to be about two years of age. You can keep a male bird as long as you wish without mating him, but he should be entirely out of sight and out of hearing of the hens, otherwise he will fret to get to them. I have known sev- eral to drop down dead from getting too much excited at seeing other young males in the pens with the hens. From a year and a half to three years of age is undoubtedly the best age at which to mate the fowls, but you can have very good results with older fowls. In your place I would certainly mate the year and a half male with the year and a half hen and expect good results, for they should both be in their prime. Mating _ Brother and Sister — Is there any objections to mating a rooster with hens of his own clutch if they are all old enough, say a year and a half or two years old?— Mrs. G. S. H. Answer — It is considered best not to mate brother and sister together, yet this is always done in making any new breed, and as yours comes from a three- hundred egg a year hen, I would advise you to do so. Breeding — I have a nice R. I. R. cock- erel. He is good shape and color, but he is not up to standard weight. If I breed from him, will he produce chicks larger than himself if they are well taken care of? Is there any chance of getting perfect specimens from fowls MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 301 under weight? I bought some very fine looking hens, but their breasts are un- even. I also got eggs from the same stock and the pullets have crooked breasts. Kindly tell me if that trouble will be handed down if I breed from them.— Mrs. C. R. Answer— As a rule, the chicks take their size from the mother. If your R. I. R. hens have a good size, the chick- ens will be larger than the cockerel, if you feed them for large frame. If the hens are under weight and size, you may have difficulty in increasing the size of the offspring. Some people think that crooked breastbones come from chick- ens roosting on a narrow perch when they are young. However, I think it is generally conceded that crooked breast- bones are often hereditary. You will know, if your chickens have roosted at too early an age. If not, it is hereditary and you had better change the strain. MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Castor Bean Bushes — I have been thinking of planting castor bean bushes in the chicken yard for shade, but was advised by a neighbor not to do it, as the beans would drop off and if chick- ens ate them they would be poisoned. Would like your advice, please. The bushes grow quickly and make good shade, so would like to try them. Do you think it would be O, K.?— J. H. S. Answer — Castor beans are poisonous to both ducks and chickens if they eat them, so I would advise you to plant something else. Get cuttings of fig trees, about ten inches long, bury the whole length except one inch, water well, and you will have shade in a few months and fruit in two years. I find figs ex- cellent in the chicken yard, and the chickens do not eat the leaves and bark. Would advise planting also other fruit trees and the quantities of fruit you will have will soon repay the trouble. In the meantime you might plant sunflowers. They make good shade and their seed is excellent food for the chickens. Painting Brooders— Will you kindly tell me if painting the brooder on the inside with crude oil will injure little chicks ? We have ordered 100 Brown Leg- horns for March 15, and have got a second-hand brooder. Of course, we want it perfectly clean, as we are be- ginners and are striving for success. A friend of ours gave us five gallons oi crude oil and insisted on our using it, but I thought it wise to ask someone more experienced. Thanking you in ad- vance, yours truly.-Mrs. G. S. McW. Answer— I would not advise you to paint the inside of your b r0 ° der ™ * anything as strong as crude oil It will do very well to paint the outside of the hen house and the outside of the brooder house, and will last for several years, preserve the wood and keep away ver- min, but is too strong for the little chicks. I will tell you what I would do were I in your place. I would take good hot suds and a brush, either a whisk broom or a scrubbing brush, and thoroughly scrub out the brooder. If I thought there were any mites or lice in it, I would add a cupful of crude oil (kero- sene) to the suds. I would then put it iij the sun to dry, and when it was dry I would wash it all over — hover, felt and everything — with a solution of bi- chloride of mercury. You can get tab- lets of it very cheap at any drug store. Put about four or six tablets in a pint of water and when it is dissolved wash all over the brooders with it. Or get corrosive sublimate ; have the druggist dissolve it in alcohol and paint that over the inside of the brooder. This will de- stroy all germs of any disease or any vermin. This way of soap suds, fol- lowed by the mercury, is the most per- fect disinfectant you can find. It will kill tuberculosis, chickenpox, cholera, etc., germs, and has no bad smell to in- jure chicks. How Long? — Would you kindly an- swer how long after the eggs have started in the hen does it take before the hen lays? Thanking you in antici- pation.— W. B. M. Answer — As soon as a pullet is three months old there will be found inside her a bunch of tiny embryo eggs. These are called the ovaries- or egg organs. If the hen is active, in good health and properly fed, these will, one after an- other, turn into eggs, but the hen must be fed the elements of the egg in order for her to make the eggs, and it all 202 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK depends upon the food how long it will take the hen to accumulate the proper proportion of each element to make the eggs, that is, the elements of the eggs rightly balanced, enough fat and protein to make the yolk, enough albumen and water for the white, enough lime for the shell, each in its right proportion. Soft Shell Eggs — Please tell me why my chickens and turkeys lay soft shell eggs.— R. A. D. Soft shell eggs come either from an insufficient supply of lime in the rations or overstimulation of the egg organs by the use of spice or so-called egg foods. Worms may increase in the in- testines to such an extent as to stimu- late the egg passage to push along the egg beyond its usual distance. An over- fat hen has a tendency toward laying thin-shelled eggs. Dr. Woods gives this advice : "Fowls kept closely confined in cold weather •and not given a sufficient variety of food are apt to lay soft-shelled eggs. The trouble may be due to some disturbance of the egg organs or to improper food, careless feeding and lack of exercise. It usually responds very promptly to treat- ment. See that the birds are supplied with plenty of good grit and oyster shell. Feed green food, scalded short-cut al- falfa or elover. Also give cabbage, beets and turnips fed raw whenever they can be obtained. Feed a variety of good, sound grain and some animal food. The grain should be fed in the scratching pen." Saw Off Long Spurs — I wish a little information in regard to a rose-comb Rhode Island Red rooster two and a half years old. He has very long spurs, which makes it difficult for him in scratching when I feed them in the~ scratching pen. Is there any way of taking them off? Answer — It is very advisable always to cut the long spurs off the male birds, as they are very apt to injure the hens with them. I find the best way is to saw them off with a fine meat saw about an inch from the leg. I do not saw them close enough to draw blood. You can also file them off, but sawing is quicker, and if the edges are rough, use a small file to make them smooth. Chicken Manure— Please answer im- mediately. How can chicken manure be preserved, and where can it be disposed' of, and at what price? Answer and oblige.— Mrs. M. 'A. S. Answer — The easiest way of preserv- ing chicken droppings is by placing dry earth or sand or kainit under the perches, sweeping this up two or three times a week and placing it in barrels or boxes. Anyone with a citrus orchard is glad to get it for fertilizing the trees. I know one man who pays $7.50 per ton for it. I do not know what the market value is, but I know that it is considered worth just four times as much as stable manure and that it is a most excellent fertilizer. Fireless Brooder — I make bold to ask you for a little information. Will you kindly tell me of the fireless brooder? Can you give me the plans for con- structing one, or tell me where I can get the plans? Can little chicks just hatched be put in the fireless brooder? —Mrs. W. W. G., Arizona. Answer — Take a box about ten inches deep, and from a foot and a half to two feet square. Rip the box six inches from the bottom to four inches from the top, so there will be two boxes, one six inches, the other four inches deep with- out coyer. Hinge them together, so they will close as they were before being sawed in two. Near the top make three one-inch holes in the two ends for ven- tilation. For the hover make a frame of one and a half by one-inch lumber, so it will fit inside the box. On the under side of this frame tack cloth loosely, so it will hang in the center nearly two inches below the frame. The cloth is to touch the chicks' backs. Nail cleats across the ends of the lower box to hold the frame in position. The top of the frame should be even with the top edge of the lower box. Cut a hole on the opposite side of the bottom box to the hinges for the chickens to go in and out. A friend who made this brooder tacked a piece of burlap on the floor and then filled it almost up to the cloth on the frame (the hover) with finely cut straw or hay. He then scooped out a nest in the center of it and put the baby chicks into it. The two-foot size is large enough to contain from one dozen to fifty chicks for one week, twenty-five till they are three weeks old, and twenty till they are six weeks old, or about that age. On very cold nights at first he put a little piece of blanket on top of the MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 203 hover. As the chicks grew older he lessened the amount of straw or chaff, when the chicks were large enough to raise the heat sufficiently.' After using this brooder (home made) all last win- ter, he said he would never be without it. Personally, I think it would be a good plan to let in a slide of glass at one side, as chickens do not like to go into a dark place. I do not know where you can get plans for making a brooder, but you can buy fireless brooders at any of the large poultry supply houses ad- vertising in this book. This is Mr. Kil- lifer's brooder. Broken Down Hen — There are two things I am anxious to know and I think you can help me from your experience. I have a hen whose hind part has been gradually swelling until now it nearly touches the ground. The feathers have all dropped out of her head. I think an egg may have been broken inside, but she seems so healthy that hardly seems possible. Please state cure, if any. — G. F. M. Answer — Your hen has what we call a "break down." This is the result of a too fattening diet or too much corn and too little of the muscle, bone-form- ing and egg elements. There is a large fat deposit in the abdomen, bulging and dragging down the skin and muscles, giving an ungainly appearance to the bird. It is a question whether to diet her or to eat her. I would advise the latter, as she will not prove a very good layer after this. The bareness of head also indicates an unbalanced ration and an insufficiency of "protein," the feather making element. A little carbolated vaseline rubbed in twice a week and more green food and more animal food in the ration will rectify this. sometimes started by lice. The hen sees one crawling on her mate's comb and tries to peck at it, wounds the comb, tastes the warm sweet blood, and keeps up the habit. The others imitate her until the poor henpecked husband is in a sorry plight. The preventive is plenty of green food, plenty of exercise and animal food.- The cure, the hatchet for the worst hens, or if they are too valu- able, let them run without the male bird, only admitting him to the pen for an hour a day in the afternoon. Give the hens a good run in a grass-covered yard. Feed plenty of green vegetables; onions chopped are particularly effica- cious. If the yard is small, prepare a scratching shed, covering the floor deeply with straw and scatter grain in the straw for the morning meal, so the fowls will be compelled to scratch and work to find it. Add bicarbonate of soda to the drinking water in the pro- portion of about 20 grains to the quart; put a small quantity of salt in the food, or nail up a piece of salt pork for the hens to peck. Henpecked Husbands — I cannot keep my hens from picking the combs of the roosters. Could you tell me the reason for it? Also a remedy for it? I have tried everything I know for it. I feed meat twice a week. — R. M. Answer— This habit or vice usually comes from a lack of green food or meat in the ration. Very often the habit is acquired by imitation and thus it may be introduced into a flock by a new bird which had contracted it elsewhere, or it is spread through the flock from a bird which is led to it by indigestion or other disease of the stomach. It is Testing Out Infertile Eggs — I note in the paper an advertisement for an egg tester which claims that it is pos- sible to test out the infertile eggs be- fore setting. Will you please tell me if you think this is possible?— Mrs. J. F. Y. Answer— The advertisement which you mention was misleading. The way in which it tested the eggs was by float- ing them with the instrument in water; if they proved heavy enough to sink to a certain depth it showed that the egg was rich enough to support the life of a chick, should there be a germ in that egg. The machine could not show whether there was a germ in the egg, consequently it could not show if the egg was fertilized or not. The little germ is so infintesimally small that it would make no appreciable difference in the weight of the egg. Packing Eggs for Hatching— Will you kindly answer the following : 1. How long can one keep eggs for setting? 2. How is the best way to ship eggs for setting so they will not get broken? —Mrs. C. D. D. Answer — 1. You can keep your 'eggs three weeks or even more by turning them every day, but you must remem- ber that the longer you keep them the fewer will hatch and they will not be 204 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK as vigorous chicks as if the eggs had been fresh when set. 2. You can now get egg boxes made for packing eggs for expressing, or you can pack them in common slat baskets or peach baskets. I really prefer the baskets. I put a layer of excelsior in the bottom of the basket, then wrap each egg in a piece of newspaper about six inches square ; set them little end down, packing excelsior between them, then put a layer of excelsior on the top, and cover with burlap, sewing it into the basket with twine. Mark plainly, "Eggs for hatching; handle with care." In the many thousands of eggs I have sent out, only two baskets had any broken eggs. TURKEY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Tomatoes foe Turkeys — I am feed- ing my turkeys a small ration of ripe tomatoes. Is this a proper food for them?— W. F. G. Answer — A small amount of ripe to- matoes will not do your turkeys any harm. They are very fond of them, and it will benefit them, although there is very little nourishment in the tomatoes ; the acidity seems to agree with them. Turkeys Have Chickenpox — What is the matter with my young turkeys, and what shall I do for them? All over their heads and bills there are lumps forming like warts. Some of them have just a few, while others have their heads covered with them. The turkeys are about half grown. They are not penned up and have plenty of green alfalfa. We feed wheat and meat scraps occa- sionally.— Miss M. M. Answer — Your turkeys have chicken- pox. The cure is to apply carbolic salve or carbolated vaseline. In three days bathe the affected parts with warm soap suds in which are a few drops of car- bolic acid, and again apply the salve. Add a little sulphur to their food. This will hasten the cure. They should be cured in a little over a week. Be sure to separate all the fowls affected from the flock. This will prevent the spread- ing of the disease. Dr. Haring of the University of Cali- fornia recommends to paint the spots or warts with iodine twice a week. This is rather a severe treatment, but a sure cure. Turkeys Lame — Will you kindly tell me what to do for my turkeys? My early hatches did fine, but of the late hatch four of them were troubled with stiff legs ; one died, and one got well, but the other two are still lame. The knee joints are swollen and kind of pink color. Their appetites are good. -K. C. Answer — Your turkeys have rheuma- tism. This comes from their liver being affected, by cold or damp weather. Give each of the affected turkeys a small liver pill, followed by a one-grain qui- nine pill every day for a week. Bathe the knee joints with the following: One cup of vinegar, one cup of turpentine, one heaping tablespoon of saltpeter. Mix, keep in a bottle, shake before us- ing. I think this will cure them. Be careful not to give them any corn or corn meal, and give plenty of lettuce and onion. General Care of Turkeys — I would like to ask a few questions about tur- keys. You mentioned raising them in a brooder. 1. How warm should one have the brooder when the poults are first put in? 2. At the end of the first week what should the temperature be lowered to? 3. Is alfalfa meal neces- sary or of any benefit to little poults or to little chicks if they have all the green barley they will eat, cut fine? — A Be- ginner. Answer — The heat under the hover should be about 95. The reason I say "about" is that on a very warm, sunny day it might be a little lower, but should the outside temperature be cold or the weather damp and gloomy, it might be up to 95 for the best results. 2. About 85, depending somewhat on the outside air and weather. Gradually lower the temperature till you get it to 70 or 80, according to the weather. 3. No ! Little turkeys require the succulent green, not the dried hay, ground up. Give them lettuce chopped up at first with every meal ; then either lettuce, dandelion leaves, onion tops chopped fine, or cab- bage or the tender leaves of beets. Any green vegetable that you would eat your- self will do, and also the green barley as long as it is succulent and tender. Barley soon gets tough and hard and then it is not suitable for the little tur- keys. TURKEY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 205 Keep Separate from Chicks — Will you kindly give me some information concerning newly hatched turkeys ? We have two hens and a torn. Would you advise keeping them away from chick- ens?— Mrs. C. B. Answer — Little turkeys do much bet- ter when kept away from chickens. They require, or do better, on different food, and when very young require to be kept quiet, whilst the chicks like to scratch and rustle. Turkeys move more slowly and need rest and quiet. Then, again, corn, kaffir corn and corn meal suit chickens, but ferment inside the little turkeys and give them diarrhoea, which is often fatal. Let the turkey mothers take cSre of the little turkeys and give them grass or alfalfa to run on and they will do well. Turkeys — I am glad if I have been able to help you with your turkeys, and will try to reply to your questions, but I wish you could give your turkeys free range, as they are the Bronze, for that most beautiful breed is nearer to the wild than any other and, therefore, need more than any a good wide, free range to keep them healthy. A turkey on the range eats a few seeds, then sees an in- sect, maybe a grasshopper, and chases after that, which i s good exercise. After a run he finds perhaps a nice little pebble or a few green leaves or twigs, and so on. He only eats a very little at a time and exercises between each mouthful, and this is the way a turkey should eat. The nearer we can come to copying nature in feeding turkeys, the better success we shall have. Now, with this prelude I will try to answer your questions to the best of my ability. 1. How much grain and what kinds should I feed? 2. Should I give them bran and beef scraps? 3. Or do you prefer granulated milk? 4. How much of the milk should they have? 5. Should I feed more than twice a day? 6. Is there any food which should be always before them?— Mrs. C. F. S. Keeping twenty young three-month- old turkeys yarded is a very serious proposition, unless your yard is an un- usually large one with plenty of shade and sunshine. 1. Wheat is the best grain for turkeys until about two or three weeks before you want to kill them. Then you can add corn. 2. You can give bran and beef scraps, but, 3. I orefer granulated milk and bran, as it seems to agree better with the turkeys. 4. About an ounce each per day. _ 5. Twice a day is considered about right for yarded turkeys. 6. Turkeys need plenty of fresh, green succulent food, such as clover, lawn clippings or lettuce, Swiss chard, beet tops, cabbage or the curly kale. They must have green food to do well and should have all they can eat of it, and grain only twice a day. Almost any kind of fruit or nuts or olives suits them. If you want to leave any food always before them you might leave a box of granulated milk and an- other of bran. Always keep charcoal, grit and granulated bone before them. If you had a walnut orchard in which they could roam I would say leave a. box of wheat where they can get to it and they will not overeat; they will roam away and only go to it when hun- gry, but in a yard with nothing to oc- cupy or interest them, I think the bran would be better. Give them at least three or four times a week onions chopped up and mixed wivh dry bran. The onions are a wonderful tonic to liver and kidneys and will do more to help you keep the turkeys healthy than anything. They are also a preventive to intestinal worms and roup. Fresh, clean water as cool as possible is also a necessity. A Lack of Green Food — I have a torn turkey that is sick. He was a year old last May and about six weeks ago he would not eat. He did not look sick, and would strut and gobble a little, but did not eat. I gave him Carter's liver pills and he soon got all right. About a week ago he began to get off his feed again, and I at once began to doctor him. Have given him liver pills and germozone, but he has not eaten any- thing since last Wednesday. Can you tell me what ails him and what to do for him ? He is a very valuable bird and I am anxious to have him get well. His usual feed is bran, barley meal, alfalfa meal and beef scrap in the morning and wheat and kaffir corn at night, with plenty of grit and oyster shell. — Mrs. G. H. B. Answer — I think your turkey requires more green food than you are giving him, as you only mention alfalfa meal. Give him now a quinine pill (two grains) every night for a week. Add charcoal and chopped onions to his mash in the morning and plenty of green food once or twice a day. Give him as large a range as possible, or if you cannot 206 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK give him range, let him out on your own lawn for two hours before sundown. What he needs is fresh green food and chopped onions for the liver tonic. either of these at the poultry supply houses in Santa Cruz. Turkey's Chicken Pox — I have some young turkeys several months old. On the heads of some are round things like warts ; on one they are sore looking and are also on each knee joint of the legs. The turkeys don't appear sick. We have rubbed the heads with axle grease, as once before that seemed to help. What is the cause of this disease? How can one cure or prevent it and are the fowls' good for food if they recover ? My turkeys have free range and have plenty of animal food in the shape of bugs, etc., all summer, also, of course, green food in as large a quantity as they cared for. I have only fed them wheat. Chicken ticks, these flat bugs, are bad here, but the turkeys roost outside, so should not be bothered much. — M. A. Answer — Your turkeys have chicken- pox. It comes from a microbe which gains entrance under the skin from some slight abrasion, such as a scratch, or the bite of an insect. It is very prevalent during the fall, but except in the case of very young chickens, is easily curable, and the remedies you are using will ef- fect a speedy cure. Carbolic salve or Kileroup is the usual cure — or you can wash the spots in hot soap suds to get off the scab and then grease just only the spots. The carbolic acid in the salve kills the microbe. The turkeys are perfectly fit for food. You had better be sure the ticks do not crawl up the trees to the turkeys. Pour a little stream of crude petroleum at the foot of the trees to keep off the ticks. Turkeys — Will you kindly tell how to raise little turkeys without any milk, or can't it be done? We value your writings very much. — H. D. C. Answer — The milk that we use in feeding little turkeys either as plain skim milk for them to drink or as a curd for them to eat, is given because it is found to be the best substitute for the insects that would be Nature's diet for the little turkeys. The next best substitute is hard boiled eggs, and after that ground-up meat, either raw or cooked. Here in Los Angeles we can get the granulated and the dried milk, and these make good feed, both for turkeys and chickens. I should think you could get Sick Gobbler — I write again in re- gard to a fine gobbler. He was hatched last May. He has been sick about ten days. Just sits around and does not walk much. Eats very little, and his droppings are nearly all white and small in quantity. His food has been rolled barley, wheat, and we have nine acres in green barley. He has plenty of clean, pure water and is not lousy, as I dust my turkeys with insecticide every week. When he first drooped around I gave him some liver pills, but he does not get much better. I hope you may be able to tell me something that will help him. as I should feel very ba'dly to lose him. —Mrs. S. H. J. Answer — I would advise you first to stop dusting that gobbler with insect powder, as it may be disagreeing with him. Secondly, I would give him small liver pills, and at the same time, for at least a week, a pill of one or two grains of quinine every night. Also notice his droppings, if possible, because he may have intestinal worms, although the symptoms are more like kidney trouble. Tapeworm in Turkeys — I have over 100 turkeys that seem to be healthy, but do not grow as they should. I find now they are full of long worms, probably tapeworms. What shall I do? — Mrs. L. B. D. Answer — If your turkeys have tape- worms, the best remedy I know is male fern (felix mas). It may be used in the form of a powder (dose, thirty grains to one dram), or of liquid ex- tract (dose, fifteen to thirty drops). It should be given in the morning and evening before feeding. Oil of turpen- tine is an excellent remedy for the com- mon round worm; dose, one to three teaspoonsful in an equal amount of cas- tor oil. Feeding stewed garlic or raw onions will help the cure. Hatching Turkeys — Can turkey eggs be hatched successfully in an incuba- tor or are they more apt to die? Will it hurt the little turkeys to be carried on the car any great distance? — Mrs. A. P. Answer — Turkey eggs can be hatched in an incubator, if you don't mix fhern with other eggs, otherwise they do bet- ter under the hen. They can be raised ABOUT DUCKS 207 in brooders, and it will not hurt them to travel on the cars if they do not get chilled. How Many Toms?— I want to ask you how many turkey toms I should have for 24 hens. I have two fine toms weighing about 22 pounds each. Their beards are well developed and they ap- pear to be very good birds. Will those two be enough for 24 hens? — Mrs. C. B. L. Answer- — It really would be better to have three toms, but under the circum- stances I would rather risk having two good toms than to buy a third of un- known quality. The rule is one yearling torn to ten hens. One torn will do for twenty hens sometimes, but ten hens is about the best number. Liver Trouble — We are in trouble with our little turkeys, and would like to ask you to help us. They were fine, strong fellows until a few days ago, when four of. them suddenly died. I just noticed two of them, a little droopy in the afternoon, and four were dead the next morning. There was the slight- est touch of diarrhoea noticeable; and I immediately put a little germozone in their water, and they have had it for several days. They have no signs of it now, but four more died last night, and several others are druuying. We made an examination this morning and found the liver all blotched and spotted all over in dark rings. That is all we could find wrong. The gizzard was healthy and full of grit and seemed perfect and in order. — Mrs. A. H. Answer— The spotted liver is all that killed them. It denotes congestion of the liver. This is usually brought on by wrong feeding, or overfeeding, but it also comes from their taking cold; either from being too warm at night, under the chicken hen, getting them hot and sweaty, and then coming out in the morning into the cool, foggy air, which gives them a sudden chill. This would affect the liver, and make even the proper food disagree with them. They may take cold and get a chill affecting the liver from running in damp alfalfa, or the chicken hen may drag them about and make the exercise too much, and this also would weaken their liver and make them susceptible to cold, which would affect their liver. I can only give you these suggestions, as I do not know all your conditions. One of the best remedies for diarrhoea in both chickens and little turkeys is rice boiled in milk, with a tablespoonful of ground cinna- mon to every pint of milk. Rice given even dry will help in a case of this kind. ABOUT DUCKS Duck Eggs vs. Hen Eggs— What dif- ference, if any, should there be in run- ning an incubator with duck eggs from hen eggs? I am very successful with hen eggs, but never succeeded very well with duck eggs ; the same eggs hatch 90 per cent under a hen, and the first test from the incubator is about 90 per cent and then they die in the shell.— J. W. L. Answer— Duck eggs require different treatment than the hen eggs. After the first test when you take them out to turn them, sprinkle them every day with warm water. Leave them out a few minutes to partially dry off, fan the stale air out of the incubator and then replace them. By this means I think you will have a better hatch. Duck eggs require more drying out than hen eggs and yet the shell must be dampened to make it brittle. Putting water into the incu- bator does not do as well as sprinkling. Food — Good and Bad — 1. Would let- tuce make good greens to sow in run- ways for India Runner ducks? 2. Will some whole wheat hurt them if they are provided with grit? 3. At what age should ducks hatched in March commence laying? 4. Will beef suet and chopped fresh beef do to feed them? — Mrs. F. H. Answer — 1. Lettuce is good for all fowls and would be good for the ducks as long as it lasts, but I am afraid the little fellows would soon pull it all .up. 2. Whole wheat is not as good for little "Hucks as bran and corn meal. See article in this book. 3. Indian Runners hatched in March will commence laying in September. 4. Beef suet is not the food for ducks, but if you want to fatten them, you might add a little of it to their mash. S08 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK Indigestion — What is wrong with my ducks ? They are almost full grown and they turn over on their backs and are unable to get up ; they are very weak ; their eyes scale over and some, of them have died. They act very much like chickens with the roup, only they do not swell around the head. — Mrs. J. G. C. Answer — Your ducks are suffering from indigestion and also from their heads being stopped up. The indigestion comes partly from their not having suf- ficient sand with their food, and their heads being stopped up comes from the drinking vessel not being deep enough so they can rinse their nostrils out many times during the day. If you remedy these two causes of trouble in the duck yard and feed them properly, giving but little whole grain, I think they will soon recover. Incubator Ducks — We want to know the proper way to operate an incubator to hatch ducks. I have had fairly good luck hatching chickens, but not with my ducks. I got only 40 out of 112 fertile eggs, and this time we should like to have a few directions to go by. Do they require as much as chickens as to moisture; do you sprinkle, also how often, and as to airing the eggs, what time of day and how long do you advise to leave the machine open; how often do you test the eggs? — Mrs. W. Answer — Duck eggs require quite as much heat as those of the chickens ; they require more airing. Should be sprinkled with warm water once the first week, twice the second, and every day thereafter, but do not put any water in the pans. Sprinkling the eggs helps to make the shells more brittle so the ducks will get out easier. Test the fifth day and again about once every week to take out the dead germs, as they putrefy and are injurious to the rest. When you air the eggs, which you should do twice a day, that is, every twelve hours, fan the stale air out of the incubator and then close up. Commence to air the eggs when you commence to turn them, that is, 48 hours after they have been in the machine. The air space in the egg should be at the large end. I think if you follow the directions from the maker of the machine, and these hints, you will have a good hatch'. to raise Indian Runner ducks and want to ask you how many ducks to put with one drake of this variety, so as to se- cure the highest possible fertility of eggs without keeping unnecessary drakes ? I have a flock of 20 ducks and within a few days will be ready to start my incubator, so if you will kindly re- ply as soon as possible, I will be very much obliged to you. — L. F. R. Answer — The number of Indian Run- ner ducks to one drake is ten. This has been found to be the best number for Indian Runners, although you can mate fifteen ducks to one drake and have good fertility. I want, however, to warn you that the eggs are not nearly so fertile in the fall and winter as they are in the spring, so you must not be disappointed if at least half of the eggs are infertile at this time of the year. To increase the fertility, would advise you to increase the amount of animal food you are feed- ing. You can tell in five days of incu- bation whether the eggs are fertile and those that are not fertile should be re- moved from the incubator. They are merely infertile eggs that have been kept in a warm place for five days, and are better than most store eggs. Duck eggs are infertile when the drake, the male bird, is moulting. You must beware of this. Weight at Ten Weeks— Will you please inform me what weight most of the duck men can put on Indian Runner ducks at ten weeks? — I. L. R. Answer — Indian Runners at ten weeks of age weigh as much as do the Pekins at that time, namely, about eight pounds per pair. They should be sent to mar- ket at^ from eight to ten weeks of age. After * that the pin feathers develop, making them very hard to pick. I think you will be greatly pleased with the ducks when you try them. Their flesh is very delicious, fine grained and the bones are small. They have very much the flavor of the canvas-back, and I have heard, are sometimes sold instead of them. They are also the greatest layers of any known fowl; the eggs are white and very delicious, with no strong taste like the eggs of other varieties of ducks. To Secure Fertility — I am starting Feeding for Eggs — I bought some In- dian Runner ducks, thirty-six in all, and six drakes. They were laying up to the middle of December; since that time have layed none. I feed them about everything that would come from a first- ABOUT DUCKS 209 class hotel— bread, meat, oat and corn- m ■ I 2H sh ' a11 kinds of vegetables and fruit. Three times a week I mix cracked corn and bran. I feed in the morning, twelve quarts, same amount at night. They have access to plenty of running water and keep perfectly clean. The pen is covered with forest leaves that makes it warm. What I want to know is, am I feeding right for laying later on ? Is it customary to pick them ? Does it affect their laying? I have over two hundred eggs engaged at 10 cents apiece. I want to raise all I can the coming season. — J. W. A. Answer — I think that your hotel waste may have rather more bread in it than is good for egg production. Indian Runner ducks usually stop laying in Oc- tober, commencing again in December, and getting into full lay in February. The best time for hatching Indian Run- ners is from the first of February to the end of July; the eggs are very fer- tile at such time. It may be that you are fattening the ducks too much, as overf at- ducks do not lay well. They re- quire much more animal food than chickens. In their wild state they live on grasses, fish, frogs and insects, with but very little grain. If you think they are getting too much bread, you might save some of it for chickens, and in- crease the amount of meat; keep them well supplied with coarse sand, grit and crushed oyster shells. Eggs, Goose and Duck — I would like to know what care duck and geese eggs should have when a hen is sitting on them instead of the goose or duck. Also, what feed should they have when first hatched ?— Mrs. J. A. P. Answer — Goose and duck eggs require more heat and a longer period of incu- bation than hens' eggs. Five goose eggs are sufficient to place under a hen, and be sure that she turns the eggs every day or the gosling will be a crip- ple. The goose eggs are heavy for a hen to turn, and for this reason, and also be- cause they require more heat, the hen should not have more than five to care for. From nine to eleven duck eggs are the number, for the same reasons, that should be given to a hen. Goose eggs require thirty days of in- tubation; duck eggs twenty-eight. Hens are apt to desert them toward the last and should be watched, as they get tired of waiting for their chicks to come out. I also have had hens that were so much afraid of the queer, green looking babies they hatched out that they would kill them. They seem to know that they are not proper chickens. I feed the little geese hard-boiled eggs, chopped fine, and cracker crumbs moistened with water, and sprinkle a little sand on the food. This is the first food. The next day they get the same, with lettuce chopped fine. After this I add breakfast oats with it and bran. As early as possible I put the geese out on the lawn, take the hen away from them and put them into a box in the woodshed or kitchen, if the nights are cool, or if I am afraid of cats or other marauders. They do not re- quire heat after a few days, sometimes not after the first day. It depends upon the weather. Geese are the easiest of fowls to raise. They are a grazing bird and must have a pasture of something green to graze on. When young, they should not have whole grain, but a mash of bran and corn meal with a little animal food in it, and always grass or alfalfa to graze on. Ducks do well treated in the same way, remembering to give them a little sand with each meal. Died in the Shell — I had two hens sitting on duck eggs and the ducks all died in the shell. The eggs were pipped, but it seemed as though the ducks could not get out. I dipped the eggs the last six days in lukewarm water once a day. I opened two eggs and there was jelly around the ducks. Could you kindly let me know why and how it is, as I have two more hens setting? — Mrs. C. F. N. Answer — Sprinkle your duck eggs, if the weather is warm and dry, three times a week after the first week ; let the water be just as hot as you can bear your hand in, and sprinkle it out of a little sprinkling pot or use a whisk broom to sprinkle the eggs with as you would clothes for ironing; leave the eggs damp for the hen to go on them. This is better than floating them in the water. Little ducks can be easily helped out of the eggs and still live and be strong; if they seem slow in hatching, bring them into the house and put a warm damp flannel around them and place at the back of the kitchen stove, and I think they will then come out without assistance ; if not, help them out. 210 MRS. BASLEY'S \fy fib i jikin fuulxkk buujv GEESE Geese — I have a few geese and just lately they have started to lay; gather from four to six daily. Do you think by turning them daily I might save them up for incubation? About what degree should be kept up for them? I put seven eggs under a hen. Would you also tell me what should baby geese be fed?— J. W. Answer — You can keep geese eggs, by turning them every day, for three weeks. They take thirty days to incu- bate. The incubator should be about 102% for the first week and 103 after- wards. Five eggs is plenty to put under a hen. See instructions in this book for hatching duck eggs in an incubator. Treat goose eggs in the same way. Feed baby geese the same as baby ducks for the first week, gradually adding chopped lettuce until at least half their food is green food. Geese are grazing animals and require plenty of green, succulent food. They are very easy to raise and do not require brooder heat more than a few days. Toulouse Geese — First, I have a few geese. I had eight Toulouse goslings. I fed them boiled eggs, bread crumbs, oatmeal (dry), and sometimes clabber cheese with a lot of fine cut grass and young rye from the rye patch, as I have no lettuce yet, plenty of gravel and a pan of water, but they all die from a week to three weeks of age. Now, what is the cause and what can I do to raise the others, as I hate to lose them so bad.— Mrs. J. B. M. Answer — You feed your young geese wrong. Geese are grazing animals and need grass or young tender clover to eat. Next time you have any give them bran (three cups full) and corn meal (one cup full) moistened with water, with a teaspoonful of sand sprinkled over it. This should be fed every two hours, after the first day, when they should have nothing at all to eat, they should be turned out on the grass or on a clover lawn. From the very first they must have grass or clover to crop from. After the first week leave all food where they can get it all the time and they will feed themselves without any trouble. Geese are the easiest of all fowls to raise. They must not have water to swim in until they have their mature feathers. CLASSIFIED INDEX Acute Indigestion 174 Age for Mating 199 Air Puff 167 Alfalfa for Food 37 American Class 15 Analysis of Hen and Egg '. 27 Animal Food . . . : ° iss Analysis of Foods and Grains. .31, 32 Apoplexy 167 Artificial Incubation 60 Asiatic Class 17 Aylesbury Ducks 131 B Bad Meat 188 Balanced Ration 102 Bald Head 168 Basley Formulas 164 Bantams 145 Bedbugs 91 Beef Scrap 188 Beet Tops 189 Blind Chicks 168 Blood Meal 188 Blood Spots in Eggs 194 Breeds and Classes 14 Breeding 38, 199 Breeding Chart I. K. Felch 41 Breeding Ducks 138 Broiler Ranches 83 Broilers, Ration for 34 Broken Glass and China for Grit.. 191 Brooders, Painting 200 Brooders, Fireless 70, 201 Brooder Chicks, Care of 66 Broken-Down Hens 201 Bronchitis 98, 167 Buff Orpington Ducks 134 Bumble-foot 167 Burglar Alarm 198 Canaries 160 Cancer 168 Canker 168 Cannibalism 169 Capons 113 Capons as Mothers 115 Catarrh 95, 169 Cat and Hawk Proof Coop 142 Caponizing 113 Castor Bean Bushes 199 Charts for Breeding 41 Chicks Dead in Shell 195 Chicken Pox • • 96 Choosing Eggs for Hatching 24 Colony Houses I 3 Comb, Discolored 169, 183 Comb, White ...••■ -169 Common Sense Poultry Houses .. 7-13 Composition of Hen and Egg 27 Congestion of Liver 99 Cough and Sneeze 169 Crippled Chicks 195 Crop Bound 169 Crop, Pendulous 176 Crude Oil 200 D Diarrhoea 72 Different Breeds 14 Diphtheritic Roup 96, 172 Diseases of Poultry 95 Douglas Mixture 164 Dropsy 183 Dry Feed System 31 Dry Hopper Method 83, 189 Depluming Mites 185 Ducks 19, 130 Duck Eggs versus Hen Eggs 206 Ducks Need Grit 89 Ducks, Died in the Shell 208 Ducks, Feeding for Eggs 207 Ducks, Weight 207 Ducks, Incubator 206 Ducks, indigestion 206 Ducks, Muscovy 134 Ducks, to Secure Fertility. ..:... .206 Ducks, Rations for 135, 206, 207 Economy in Different Ways 106 Egg, Analysis of 27 Egg Bound 193 Egg, Eating, Hens 194 Eggs, Testing 50-61 Eggs for Breeding 22 Eggs for Hatching 24, 65, 196 Eggs for Market, How to Get.... 25 Eggs, Thin Shell 194, 200 Eggs, 200 a Year 25 English Class 17 Exercise 26, 76, 189 Eyes, Swollen and Water 182 Fattening Fowls 35 Fatty Degeneration of Liver 172 Feather Pulling 172 Feeding Chicks 33, 34 Fattening Turkeys 128 Feeding Alfalfa 37 Feeding Problem 30 Feeding Methods 31 Feeding for Color . 105 Feeding During Moult 103 Feeding Ducks 135 Feeding in General 188 Feeding for Market 35 Feeding, for Young and Old 188 Feeding, What and How 188 Feeding Turkeys 120 Fertile Eggs 48 Fleas 91 Formulas, Basley, Tested 164 Feeding System 188 Fooling the Hen 195 Food, Good and Bad, for Ducks.... 206 Food Elements 30 French Class 17 G Game Class 18 Geese, Varieties 20 Grain, How Much to Feed 191 Green Food 109 Grit and Gizzard 88 Grit, Starved for Lack of 89 Geese, Hatching and Feeding 208 Geese, Toulouse 208 Guinea Fowls 144 H Hamburg Class 17 Hatch, When to 44 Hatching, Poor Hatches 196 Hatching and Brooding Ducks .... 135 Hatching Turkey Eggs 205 Hatching Ducks 135 Head Lice ■ 184 Heart Trouble 173 Helping the Hatch 195 Hemorrhage of the Oviduct 173 Hen-Pecked Husbands 201 Heredity 25 Hopper Feeding 83 Houses 7-13 Houses, on Town Lot 100 How Many on Two Acres, on Five. 198 How to Make Nests 55 How to Feed 23 How Long Before Laying 200 I Incubation, Artificial 60 Incubation With Hens 55 Incubators, to Disinfect 73 Incubators 51 Incubation, Testing Eggs for 50 Incubator Chicks Dying 197 ■Indigestion and Liver Complaint 173 Instrument for Testing Eggs 202 Indian Runner Ducks 133 Infertility 195 Inflammation of Crop 173 Inflammation of Liver 99 Insecticide 94 Insects 91 K Kaffir Corn 192 Keeping Eggs for Setting 24 Kerosene Emulsion 92 L Lame Hen 167 Largest White Eggs 194 Laying Hens, Ration for 34 Leg Weakness 174 Lice 93, 122, 184 Lice Eggs on Hen's Feather 93 Limber Neck 174 Lime for Preserving Eggs 112 Liver Disease 99, 175 Liver Complaint in Turkeys 205 Liver Enlarged 173 Liver Trouble or Poison 175 Location of Incubator 62 M Male Bird 23 Manure 201 Marking Chicks 58 Market Eggs 25 Market, Feeding for 35 Mash System 31 Mating 24, 199 Mating and Breeding 199 Meat, Bad 188 Mediterranean Class 16 Millet Seed 192 Mites 91, 185 Mixing Foods ., 188 More About Turkeys . . * 117 Moult 103 Mushroom Houses ." . 8 Muscovy Ducks 134 Mildew Poison 178 Methods of Feeding 31 N Naked Chicks 175 Natural Incubation 55, 196 Nests for Setting 55 O Oats Sprouting 29 One-Day-Old Chicks 79 Orpington Breeds 17 Ovarian Tumor 175 Over Fat Hens 176 Oriental Class 18 P Packing Eggs for Hatching 202 Painting Houses 13 Painting Brooders 200 Pekin Ducks 132 Pendulous Crop 176 Pests of a Poultry Yard 91 Pheasants 143 Poison 177, 178 Polish Class 17 Protecting Chicks 81 Preserving Eggs 110 Pip 178 Pneumonia 99, 179 Ptomaine Poison 177 Pullets Dying 171 Q Questions and Answers 166 Rations 33 Rations of Successful Breeders. . . 33 Rations for One Hundred Hens... 34 Records, Keeping 56 Rheumatism 178 Rheumatism of Feet 178 Roasters, Breeds for 21 Roosting, Teaching 82 Rouen Ducks 134 Roup :85, 179 Roup Remedies 97 Roupy Catarrh 95 S Sand Fleaa 184 Scaly Legs 181 Scratching Pens 26 Selection of Breed 20 Setting Hens 56 Shipping Turkeys 205 Sickness, Cause and Cure 167 Skim Milk 192 Sneeze 170 Soft Shelled Eggs 194, 200 Sick Chicks 171 Sore Eyes 182 Spray for Houses 92, 187 Spurs, to Remove 176, 200 Stick Tight Fleas 184 Summer Work 81 Swelled Eyes 182 Symptoms of Grit Craving 89 T Tapeworm in Turkey 205 Teaching Chicks to Roost 82 Testing Eggs, for Incubator 52 Thermometer 195 Testing Out Infertile Eggs 202 Ticks 185 Toe Eating 182 Tomatoes 189 Town Lot Fowls 100 Trap-Nest 84 Tuberculosis 182 Tumor and Dropsy 183 Turkey Questions 202 Turkey Breeds 19 How to Raise 117 How Many Toms 205 Lame 202 Keep Separate 203 Keep Liver Healthy 137 Chicken Pox 202, 204 Green Food, Lack of 204 Liver Complaint 127, 205 Turkey Sick, Gobbler 204 Turning Eggs 63 V Value of Economy 106 Varieties of Ducks 19, 130 Vigor Necessary 22, 75 Vent Gleet 183 W Warts on Comb and Eyes 169 Water Glass 110 Weights of Ducks 207 White Comb 169, 183 White Diarrhoea 74 Whitewash for Houses 13 Wind in Crop 183 Worms 186 r 187 Y Yard, Plan of 101 Yard Room 198 F-RiMtNG PRODUCTS CORPORATION — CHICAGO