58 



SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 



clover every alternate day, with very little exception. The 

 noisiest time in the hen house was from daylight until noon. 

 I thought sometimes they were trying to see which could 

 ■make the most noise. 



I believe they had a more jolly time than I did. Along 

 in the afternoon they turned their scratching into pecking 

 cabbage. This sobered them down somewhat and gave them 

 an appetite for supper ,at least they got in a hurry and tried- 

 to see which would get the first bite. Some of them were 

 so 'devoid of etiquette that they even flew up and lit on the 

 side of the feed bucket. They appeared to relish very much 

 boiled wheat and oats and some coarse bran, even if it was 

 quite hot. After supper they got lazy. 



Once a week the medicine man came around with his 

 jar of cay^ne pepper and made it a little hot for them in 

 the mash. I believe the pullets in 88 and 154 laid eggs be- 



cause they liked to do it. To cut it" short, a notion came 

 into the heads of these pullets in late summer or early fall 

 that nothing but a new dress of a, more gaudy kind woulS 

 suit them. So one day they huddled together and threatened 

 to strike. I took the hint and began to boil rye and oats 

 together and mix bran 'with them. Said'I to the biddies: 

 "This shall be your breakfast. As for scratching you will 

 be too lazy, so in its place I ^will give you all the meat 

 and green bone you need, but you must sup on hard taek 

 and all the sweet milk you can drink." So they supped 

 on corn and milk. They made a quick. job of it with slight 

 falling off of eggs. Pen 88 made a record of 6,645 eggs. 

 Pen 154, 3,139 eggs. Thoroughbred stock, good, wholesome 

 feed and plenty of it, good warm houses and good care will 

 make a success of poultry. Respectfully, 



Z. N. ALI/EN. 



A HEN CATECHISM 



Answers to Everyday Questions That are Asked of Poultry Paper Editors, 

 Poultry Lecturers and Poultry Raisers. 



(Answers by Mrs. Ida. B. Tilson, of the Minnesota Farmers' Institute Corps.) 



1. How many hens can be kept in a yard 75x100 feet, 

 and a house 12x20 feet, latter 8 feet high? Ans. Good 

 authorities recommend, per confined fowl, 100 square feet of 

 yard room, and 8 square feet of house room. 



, 2. We have a good, high hen house, built as a lean-tfi 

 on our barn. Would it be well to finish off the loft for our 

 hens to lay in? Ans. I have seen lofts furnished with nest 

 boxes, etc., but no such room was very accessible or easy to 

 clean, and cleanliness is the first condition of poultry suc- 

 cess. I should judge it would be a cold place in winter and 

 hot in summer; therefore not attractive to hens nor good for 

 eggs. The main room below, however, would be much more 

 comfortable with a small enclosed loft above it. 



3. When hen houses are built double walled, with an 

 air space between, do you find the latter a harbor for in- 

 sects?. Ans. Insects could hardly penetrate the building 

 paper which lines each side of air space in my house built 

 thus. Early, strict, constant cleanliness, by means of a 

 broom, whitewash, fumigation, sprayer, etc., prevents any 

 great accumulation of insects anywhere. 



4. Can a force 'pump be. used for cleaning the hen house 

 and for other purposes, too? Ans. Those who keep force- 



-pumps as window cleaners, fire extinguishers, etc., naturally 

 do not wish kerosene and whitewash used. Many emulsions 

 sprayed on fruit trees are similar to the insecticides for hen 

 houses. Some years ago I used the same pump for the last 

 two purposes. 



5. Should the perch for chickens be round or flat? 

 . Ans. A broad, flat perch prevents the breast bone ' from 



crooking while it is young and tender. Fat adults and large 

 breeds prefer the same, but smaller kinds seem to Jike a 

 round perch. 



6. Do you favor putting nest boxes on the ground? 

 Ans. Yes, for Asiatics. Egg eating prevails almost exclu- 

 sively among smaller breeds, like Leghorns, Minoroas, etc. 

 A nest box eighteen inches from the ground can not be 

 peered into as they walk about; and they are able to fly 

 up when they need to lay. 



7. In raising 200 or 300 chicks, would you advise the 



use of an incubator? Ans. I would rather raise that plum- 

 ber by hens; but if your fowls are wild, and you do not un- 

 derstand feeding them' to cause early sitting, and you like 

 machinery, and have safe, suitable places for incubator and 

 brooder, you may prefer the latter. 



8. Which is the best incubator and the best brooder, 

 and where are they made? .Ans. No one could answer that 

 who had not tried all. There are many well-tested ma- 

 chines. I have sucoesfully used an excellent hot-water one, 

 the "Reliable" incubator of Quincy, 111. 



9. Is it advisable to t^y artificial incubation by placing 

 eggs in manure beds? -Ans. A man lately selling directions 

 for such a scheme has been widely condemned by the poultry 

 press. That method, said to have been anciently and exten- 

 sively practiced in Egypt, is not practicable for our colder, 

 changeable climate. 



10. What is the best material to set a hen on? .Ans. 

 One year I tried several hens on widely different materials — 

 hay, sawdust, earth, etc., but with eggs of the same age, 

 kind, etc. Each hatched just nine chicks. The character of 

 the eggs is most important. A hot, dry country and season 

 require, however, more moisture about nests than under or- 

 diijary circumstances. 



11. What is the trouble with hens when they will not 

 sit their time out, or wish to change nests? Ans. Probably 

 lice, mites or bed bugs annoy them. Possibly they are 

 "new" hens, and want a larger sphere. 



12. Does a sitter merely turn her eggs over, or does she 

 also move them from outside in, and vice versa? Ans. She 

 is not perfectly^ regular about either operation, but both 

 turns her eggs over and moves them back and forth. The 

 latter is proved by watching a sitting composed of different 

 colored eggs. The iuciibators, therefore, which have their 

 racks taken out and inverted as a whole, thereby also chang- 

 ing the relative loftations of eggs, are scientific, but require 

 a warmer situation for such cooling operations, than do ma- 

 chines with an inside device to turn each egg in its place. 



13. Is a cellar a good place to put little chicks? Ans. 

 Not unless exceptionally light, dry and warm. I knew one 

 attempt where sore eyes and many deaths resulted. 



