174 



MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK 



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 succeed 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 medi- 

 cine, because that remedy is a very 

 powerful stimulant, and although ex- 

 cellent for a cold, often curing it in 

 one day, it will prove an irritant if 

 continued too long. It is even now 

 stimulating the egg organs and digest- 

 ive organs greatly, as is shown by 

 the comb, and I advise you to dis- 

 continue it, increasing 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 chick- 

 ens lay unshelled eggs? They some- 

 times 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 calcareous matter. 

 Over-stimulation of the egg organs 

 by the use of pepper or stimulating 

 egg foods, will have this effect. 

 Worms in the intestines may also pro- 

 duce the irritation that will affect the 

 oviduct, and an over-fat conditkm will 

 increase the tendency to laying soft- 

 shelled eggs. This is the common 

 cause of soft-shelled eggs. 



Treatment Provided the cause is 

 an over-fat condition, it can be reme- 

 died by giving a ration low in fat-pro- 



ducing elements. Give the fowls 

 plenty of shell-forming material, such 

 as crushed oyster shells and grit, cut 

 bone and green food; make them 

 work for the grain, which should be 

 wheat in preference to other grains. 

 One heaping teaspoonful of Epsom 

 salts to a pint of drinking water 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 organs of reproduction. 



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 com- 

 plaining 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 mid-day, 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 customers 

 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 conges- 

 tion of the blood vessels. They are 

 excited by any of the causes which 

 lead to congestion and inflammation 

 and are to be counteracted by green 

 feed and less animal food and by the 

 suppression of red-pepper or any 

 stimulants. Give a little Epsom 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 start- 

 ing or trying to start a poultry ranch 

 and would like to ask you a question 

 recently asked by some one 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 



