TltUATMENT (IF Mlli I1KXS 101 



Any birds of mine mentioned here or elsewhere have been subject (o 

 the conditions mentioned above. 



The Hasty Thinker who regards the exceptional owner-of-the-excep- 

 tional-hen who carefully nurses thai one hen with a view of making- 

 capital out of her performance, as being representative of all owners-of- 

 exceptional-heii8 is uncharitable. 



Various long-distance shots have been aimed at those who record 

 their 200-egg hens, by those who lack personal experience in the matter. 

 Some imagine that the 200-egg pullet must be early-hatched and receive 

 the best of care. This is not necessarily so. June is a good month to 

 hatch chickens if they can have plenty of shade. 



I have a flock of exceptional layers that were hatched in June and 

 were not taken out of the brooders until November. They were in the 

 way the whole summer. I had no suitable place to put them in and no 

 time to care for them. Some of these pullets began to lay in December 

 and nearly all were laying by February. 



The pen contained 40 birds during the winter and is practically the 

 same size as one that I recently saw limited to 10 birds in a leading 

 poultry paper. 



One of these pullets laid 202 eggs in a little over nine months, another 

 150 eggs in six months. I do not like to boast of egg records, but this 

 illustrates my point. Good care and proper maintenance are necessary 

 for the best results, and I am the last person to underestimate their im- 

 portance, but, as a champion of the Persistent Layer I wish to show 

 that she can and will lay a large number of eggs under unfavorable 

 conditions. Favorable conditions would enable her to do much better. 



The frequent references to my hens in this book are made solely for 

 illustration. These hens are far inferior in every way to many others, 

 I believe. They are not in competition, only with each other. 



TREATMENT OF SICK HENS. 



The best family doctor for the poultry yard I have found to be the 

 hatchet. 



A sharp hatchet is a quick, sure and safe remedy for the most serious 

 complaints to which fowls are heir. Divide the bird into two parts; the 

 head and the rest. Burn the body, or bury it too deep for resurrection. 

 This treatment for sick hens has long been recognized by practical 

 poultry keepers as being the cheapest and the best; hence I can recom- 

 mend it with the greatest assurance. 



Slight colds can be easily treated by giving four drops of Johnson's 

 Anodyne Liniment in a teaspoonful of sweet oil to the bird that has the 

 cold. Let the dose pass down the bird's throat slowly, or it may choke. 

 Repeat until the symptoms disappear. If they do not disappear I de- 

 strov the bird on the principle that a stitch in time saves several. 



