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MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK 



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 hud- 

 dling at night, crowding too closely 

 together. This makes them sweat 

 and their feathers fall out. Put a 

 little carbolated vaseline on their 

 heads and cut the feathers of their 

 wings as close as you can without 

 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 pre- 

 vents the feathers growing, and the 

 sweating makes them fall out and 

 will make the chickens thin. 



Ovarian Tumor I had a nice Or- 

 pington hen; she had been laying 

 each day and appeared to be -perfectly 

 healthy; comb red, went around 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 Orpington appeared to be lame 

 in the right leg. I caught her, ex- 

 amined 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 abund- 

 ance 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 trou- 

 ble is very common, and yet we don't 

 know very much about it. I am in- 

 clined to think that if investigations 

 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 confined, or 



fed heavily for egg production, than 

 among those kept under more natural 

 conditions. It is quite reasonable al- 

 so to suppose that the offspring of 

 hens heavily forced for egg produc- 

 tion would show weakness of the re- 

 productive system, resulting in dis- 

 eases of this character. It possibly 

 also may come from an injury of 

 some kind. Undoubtedly 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. 



Over Fat 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 reduce the fat. 

 The past two weeks I have been giv- 

 ing 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 per 

 day and lawn clippings; no grain or 

 bread, and in about a month they 

 may begin to lay. 



Pendulous Crop 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. 



