190 



MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK 



vaseline rubbed in twice a week and 

 more green food and more ariimal 

 food in the ration will rectify this. 



For Layers. Will you please an- 

 swer the following questions: Will 

 hens lay as well without the male 

 bird? 



Which would you advise me to keep 

 for breeders, pullets hatched last 

 spring, which are laying now, or the 

 one-year-old hens? 



Which is the best feed for them 

 to produce eggs, the warm mash in 

 the morning and corn at night or the 

 dry feed? Mrs. O. G. L. 



Answer 1. Yes, and the eggs will 

 keep better. 



2. Keep hens for mothers and pul- 

 lets for your winter layers is the best 

 rule. 



3. I prefer to give the mash, if I 

 give any, at night; then I can use 

 up the table scraps, mixing them with 

 bran, corn meal and alfalfa meal, giv- 

 ing the fowls either dry mash in hop- 

 pers or grain in their scratching pen, 

 to induce them to exercise for their 

 day meal. In this way I get more 

 eggs. 



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 floating 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 sup- 

 port 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 infinitesi- 

 mally 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 

 remember that the longer you keep 

 them the fewer will hatch and they 

 will not be as vigorous chicks as if 

 the eggs had been fresh when set. 



2. You can now get egg boxes 

 made for packing eggs for express- 

 ing or you can pack them in common 

 slat baskets or peach baskets. I real- 

 ly prefer the baskets. I put a layer 

 of excelsior in the bottom of the bas- 

 ket, then wrap each egg in a piece 

 of newspaper about six inches square; 

 set them little end down, packing ex- 

 celsior between them, then put a lay- 

 er of excelsior on the top, and cov- 

 er 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 for 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 

 tomatoes will not do your turkeys 

 any harm. They are very fond of 

 them, and it will benefit them, al- 

 though there is very little nourish- 

 ment in the tomatoes; the acidity 

 seems to agree with them. 



Turkeys Have Chicken-Pox 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 occasionally. 

 Miss M. M. 



Answer Your turkeys have chick- 

 en-pox. The cure is to apply car- 

 bolic salve, or carbolated vaseline. In 

 three days bathe the affected parts 



