SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VIII. 691 



D- -Regarding Poultry. 



POULTRY RAISING. 



Ethelyn Benson, Sidney, Iowa, before the Fremont County FarmeFs' 



Institute." 



Not long since a writer who was preparing a paper, called at the home 

 of a prominent women and made known his errand. "Madam," said he, 

 "I ann preparing a paper entitled 'How to Raise Children'; knowiag that 

 you are the mother of six, I hope you will aid me from your knowledge 

 and experience." "Yom are mistaken," the lady replied, "I am the mother 

 of siv children, but I do not know how to raise them. My old maid 

 sister knows all about it." Like the old maid sister of the story my 

 paper is based somewhat upon theory and observation. 



We count chickens many times— most often before they are hatched.' 

 Visions of the ma»y necessities and luxuries those yet-to-be-hatchecd 

 chicks will supply, feast our minds as we trudge wearily to and from tke 

 hen house many times a day. Alas! how those visions begin to fade and 

 disappear when the hen clumsily breaks half the eggs, leaves the n«et 

 just as the eggs begin to pip, or ruthlessly crushes the life out of thair 

 fuzzy little bodies in her anxiety to care for thena. 



Then when those surviving chickens have attained to 1>he age of 

 "fryers", how we count them when there is to be a family reunion er 

 a Fourth of July picnic and we wonder if there will be fried chicken 

 eno»gh. Yes, we count our chickens many, many times before they are 

 finally disposed of, anisl cannot be sure of them until they are delivered to 

 the poultry dealer. Tlie writer started for town with two dozen fat 

 fryers, and happening to look back, we beheld our chickens ta'king unto 

 themselves wings and escaping through an opening in the crate W/feere a 

 slat had slipped aside. We did not catch all of the truants. 



A chick's live is one ©f tribulation from the time it pips the shell until 

 we serve it. juicy and savory at our Thanksgiving^ or Christmas dinner. 

 Rats, weasels, skunks, 'possums, hawivs, mites, lice, and allr the dseasoB 

 chickens are heir to. 



fThen th« sudden summer showers. When it is over, we don naaekin- 

 toshe3 and rubbers and sally forth in search of the victims. Under this 

 goioeeberry bush we find six. There under the drip of the roof are tea 

 more that stood there with bills open trying the "water cure" until their 

 ■were "k>o full for utterance." Around tke corner we found five irfova- 



