repaid for your trouble, for this makes for fertile eggs. 

 Selection and good care will make a productive breeding pen. 

 Remember you cannot get something out of nothing, so it 

 pays to look carefully to the breeders, for this is the founda- 

 tion of your flock. 



Does it pay to doctor the sick fowls? This is a question 

 that is often asked — whether or not it is profitable to doctor 

 sick fowls. It all depends upon the birds and what their con- 

 dition is. If I possessed a very valuable bird that was sick, I 

 should endeavor to bring it out of the condition. While it is 

 true that such a bird should not be used to breed from, yet it 

 would remain a very valuable show bird and if it entirely 

 recovers will be still good for that purpose. On the other 

 hand if I saw an approaching cold or some disorder just 

 creeping in, I would make a big effort to stop the trouble be- 

 fore it progressed any further. Of course when a bird is 

 very sick with some communicable disease, the best thing to 

 do is to kill and burn it. To the poultry keeper who is watch- 

 ful and careful of his birds, it is no task to perceive the ap- 

 proaching trouble. If now and then you hear a bird sneeze 

 or rattle a little in the throat, you may make up your mind 

 that there is a cold there alright. If you can lay your hands 

 on the bird, give it a two grain quinine pill and put it by 

 itself until cured. If you will give such a pill for three nighte 

 in succession and then give a dose of castor oil — about two 

 teaspoonsf ul, you will stop the trouble undoubtedly. During 

 the colder weather, the birds are very apt to suffer from 

 colds, more or less, and we sometimes wonder where they 

 catch them. We wonder the same thing about ourselves, 

 and the bird does not try to take care of its health like we 

 do. A little draft of air here or there will do the trick in a 

 short time. It is well to look over the poultry house thor- 

 oughly .and see if there are any such places. Prevention is 

 about the best way of doctoring the bird if I may call it that. 

 If one is careful about the litter to see that it is kept dry 

 and clean, it will mean much. It is, however, a good plan to 

 have some of the various remedies on hand so that in case 

 you have some particular trouble among your birds, you can 

 give them something at once. I visited a place one time 

 where they never kept a thing in the line of home medicines 

 in the house and they were miles from a town where they 

 could get such things if they needed them. When you need 

 a simple remedy, you need it badly and it is the same way 

 with your birds. If they get sick, they need the medicine 



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