POULTRY KEEPING 195 



and this is the most likely supposition. Look well to your feed and if 

 you are not feeding anything that is likely to cause the trouble get 

 a trap-nest or two and find the culprits. Some beef scrap and fish 

 meal give bad flavors, so if you are feeding that, change the brand 

 and see if it makes a difference. 



Watery and Running Eggs. 



Why do my hens lay watery eggs? When I put the eggs in the frying 

 pan they spread all over the pan instead of standing up. The first I 

 noticed was last fall; they got all right during the winter, but now ai*e 

 watery again. When they are boiled hard the yolk has a green tinge all 

 around the outside where it fits into the white. 



The indications are that they have too much sloppy feed and not 

 enough good dry grain. Nothing makes firmer eggs than a good 

 hard grain diet. If the green feed is of a very watery nature and not 

 enough grain to offset it, the eggs will be watery. Again, if the nests 

 are in a warm, moist place, that might have a tendency to make the 

 eggs run; somewhat like eggs that have been a few days in the incu- 

 bator. It is impossible to be too careful in handling eggs, or in feed- 

 ing for them; for the food a hen eats makes all the difference in the 

 quality of the eggs produced. Give the hens a tonic and feed them 

 more grain until they get over this failing. The following tonic has 

 given very good satisfaction. It need not be continued for more than 

 two or three weeks. Probably you will notice a difference in just 

 one week: Tincture of red cinchona, one fluid ounce; tincture of 

 chloride of iron, one fluid drachm; tincture of nux vomica, four fluid 

 drachms; glycerine and water to make four ounces. Give one tea- 

 spoonful in one quart of v/ater, allowing 1 no other drink. This tonic 

 can also be used for indigestion, but hens do not like it: so care must 

 be taken to keep other water away or they will not drink that con- 

 taining the tonic. 



Mottled Shelled Eggs. 



Why do my hens lay a mottled shelled egg and what is a remedy? 



This is a characteristic of some breeds, but is sometimes caused 

 by either scattering scratch feeds in straw or by making them hustle 

 should be increased and the carbohydrates decreased and the hens 

 should be made to exercise more. This latter may be accomplished 

 by either scattering scratch feeds in straw or by making them hustle 

 harder for their feed in open fields. 



Wry Tail. 



/ have a hen with a wry tail, and as she is all I got front a setting of 

 costly eggs I sent east for, hate to lose her. Do you think she would breed 

 that kind of chicks? 



It is too bad a defect to take any risk with. Better lose her than 

 raise a lot affected with the same defect. Sometimes wry tails are 



