Poultry Keeping 235 



tobacco stems, but it requires good judgment as to the right strength 

 to use. The dips usually sold already prepared are safer, in my 

 opinion, because they give directions as to quantity. Get a can 

 of "zenoleum" or "creolium" — either is good — and have the water 

 a little over blood-heat to commence; be very careful that the liquid 

 does not get in the fowl's throat. If there are no directions with the 

 cans, put enough in to make the water quite milky and strong smell- 

 ing. It is best to make the hen sit down and with a sponge wet the 

 back and head thoroughly, then under the wings and breast; if there 

 are nits, don't be in a hurry to take the hen out, but let the dip get 

 to the nits and skin on the abdomen. If the water is too warm it 

 will be dangerous, as some fowls have weak hearts; that is the only 

 danger, providing you dry them quickly. 



Cure for Feather-Eating. 



What is the cure for feather-eating? 



Feather eating is the result of idleness or a shortage of green 

 feed. The best way to cure it is to furnish the fowls with exercise. 

 Boil some oats until soft, and when cooked stir in salt enough to 

 taste and about a quart of good beef scrap; feed this for breakfast 

 several mornings together. Make them scratch for the rest of their 

 food in deep litter and give them sour milk to drink if you have it. 

 If sour milk is not available, put a tablespoonful of flowers of sulphur 

 in the boiled oats. The object is to cool the blood and furnish 

 exercise. See that the fowls are supplied with mineral matter, such 

 ash shells, bone meal and some sand if it can be had. It is sur- 

 prising the amount of sand that chickens will eat when carried to 

 them in yards, so there must be a necessity for it, and if they cannot 

 get to it, it pays to carry a good box full once in a while. 



Cannibal Chicks. 



What can I do to cure my chicks of eating each other? 



Some kind of animal food is necessary when the chicks begin to 

 pick toes, wings and vents. But the meat must always be cooked, 

 the least bit of raw meat drives them wild as does the blood they 

 can bring on each other. For that reason a strict watch must be 

 kept to detect any case before blood is brought. Remove all weak 

 chicks as they always go for the weakest, and as soon as one 

 chick is picked on for a victim, remove it at once. Some people paint 

 the toes with tar or liquid lice paint, but I have had the best succe.-^s 

 with bitter aloes mixed with water. ./\. nickel's worth covers a lot 

 of toes. It is best to buy a powder, then dissolve in a little water 

 and paint wings, vent and toes. They won't take many pecks at 

 them when they find they are so bitter. 



Sunflower Seeds for Poultry. 

 What is the food value of smitlozvcr seed as a ration for fowls, mostly 

 laying hens? Should it be fed whole or crushed? 



