MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 



187 



one more experienced. Thanking you 

 in advance, yours truly, Mrs. G. S. 

 McW. 



Answer I would not advise you to 

 paint the inside of your brooder with 

 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 vermin, but is too strong 

 for the little chicks. 



I will tell you what I would cTb were 

 I in your place. I would take good 

 hot suds and a brush, either a whisk 

 broom or a scrubbing brush, and thor- 

 oughly scrub out the brooder. If I 

 thought there were any mites or lice 

 in it, I would add a cupful of coal oil 

 (kerosene) to the suds. I would then 

 put it in the sun to dry, and when it 

 was dry I would wash it all over 

 hover, felt and everything with a so- 

 lution of bi-chloride of mercury. You 

 can get tablets 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 alco- 

 hol, and paint that over the inside of 

 the brooder. This will destroy all 

 germs of any disease or any vermin. 

 This way of soapsuds, followed by 

 the mercury, is the most perfect dis- 

 infectant you can find. It will kill 

 tuberculosis, chicken-pox, cholera, 

 etc., germs, and has no bad smell to 

 injure 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 anti- 

 cipation. 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 another, 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 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 egg rightly bal- 

 anced, 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 ra- 

 tions or over stimulation of the egg 

 organs by the use of spice or so-called 

 egg foods. Worms may increase in the 

 intestines to such an extent as to 

 stimulate the egg passage to push 

 along the egg beyond its usual dis- 

 tance. An over fat hen has a ten- 

 dency toward laying thin-shelled eggs. 



Dr. Woods gives this advice: 

 "Fowls kept closely confined in cold 

 weather and not given a sufficient va- 

 riety of food are apt to lay soft- 

 shelled eggs. The trouble may be due 

 to some disturbance of the egg or- 

 gans, or to improper food, careless 

 feeding and lack of exercise. It us- 

 ually 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 alfalfa or clover. Also give cab- 

 bage, beets and turnips fed raw when- 

 ever they can be obtained. Feed a va- 

 riety 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 o 

 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 

 immediately. How can chicken man- 

 ure be preserved, and where can it 

 be disposed of, and at what price? 

 Answer and oblige, Mrs. M. A. S. 



