198 



MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK 



them. Am a beginner and have a great 

 deal to learn. Will you kindly answer 

 the following questions : 



1. Should a setting hen b» shut on 

 the nest and be let off each day? If so, 

 how long should she be allowed to stay 

 off the nest? 



2. Do the eggs get enough moisture 

 in natural incubation? 



3. Is it good to sprinkle the eggs 

 with water ? If so, how often and in 

 what stages of incubation should this 

 be done? 



4. How long should chick feed be 

 fed to chicks, and what is best after dis- 

 continuing this food? — R. M. 



Answer — It is best not to shut a hen 

 on the nest, but to allow her to get on 

 and off as she pleases, unless there are 

 other hens that can get to the nest to 

 disturb her. It is a good plan to take 

 the hen off the nest at a regular hour 

 every day. I prefer about five o'clock 

 in the evening, as then she will go back 

 before supper time. A hen can be off 

 the nest in pleasant weather from twen- 

 ty minutes to half an hour. She should 

 be allowed to stay off long enough to eat 

 all she wants and to dust herself. It is 

 necessary for her to come off at least 

 once every twenty-four hours. 



2. Eggs usually get moisture enough 

 from the perspiration of the hen. I like 

 to float the eggs in warm water two 

 days before the hatch comes off. I think 

 it helps the eggs to hatch well and it 

 also shows, by the eggs bobbing about 

 on the water, which eggs have live 

 chicks in them. 



4. Chick feed should be fed about 

 six weeks, but it is best to begin when 

 the chicks are three or four weeks old 

 to add wheat and kaffir corn to the 

 chick food and make the change gradu- 

 al. Commence by one-fourth of the 

 larger grains and three-fourths of chick 

 feed. Then gradually increase the kaffir 

 corn and wheat until that is the prin- 

 cipal feed. 



Brooder Ch'icks — I shall have to come 

 to you for help about my little chickens, 

 as I know that you know what to do. 



I am only a beginner. I have an in- 

 cubator and hot water brooder, and be- 

 fore I bought your book I could not 

 make them hatch, but now, with its help, 

 following your directions, I have a fine 

 hatch. I turned and aired the eggs as 

 you said. Now my chicks (White Leg- 

 horns) are two weeks old and I have 

 lowered the temperature in the brooder 



about one degree a day; but about ev- 

 ery other day one will die. I have 

 thirty-two in the brooder, so they are 

 not crowded at all. I have put insect 

 powder on them and they are fed chick 

 food ; they have plenty of fresh water 

 in a fountain, which I keep in their 

 yard. I make them work in alfalfa for 

 their feed, as you instructed. They are 

 not stuck up behind, as far as I can tell, 

 but when one is about to die, it goes 

 up into a corner of the brooder under 

 the pipe. 



If you will give me advice about what 

 to do, I shall be very much obliged, as 

 I am. afraid I shall lose them all. — 

 N. H. H. 



Answer — I am glad you had a good 

 hatch. The fault with that incubator 

 is lack of ventilation, and of the brooder 

 is that there is a draught on the floor, 

 so that the chicks' feet are cold. I tried 

 a good many plans with that brooder, 

 and finally I built them over. How- 

 ever, the best plan before I changed 

 them I found was to put on the floor a 

 gunny sack or bit of warm old carpet, 

 and on that put nearly two inches of 

 chaff or finely cut straw or hay. I also 

 left the lid a little bit open. Before that 

 the chicks' heads got too hot on the 

 pipes and their little feet too cold. 



I am rather surprised that they have 

 not been troubled with diarrhoea. 



Faulty Incubation — I am a begin- 

 ner in the poultry business and would 

 like to ask you a few questions that have 

 been troubling me : 



1. I have been hatching chickens and 

 ducks in an incubator and they don't 

 hatch as well as with a hen. I find quite 

 a number dead in the shells. I do not 

 understand it as I follow the directions 

 that come with the machine. 



2. A number of the chicks "walk 

 around on their knees." Some of their 

 legs stick straight up and they flop along 

 on the joint with the aid of their wings. 

 They soon die. Why is this? Is there 

 any way to avoid it? 



3. I had twenty ducks hatch with 

 hens and have only eleven left. We first 

 notice them to lag behind the rest, then 

 as they grow more stupid they fall over 

 with their heads thrown back as people 

 do when they have spinal meningitis. 

 Can you tell by this description what 

 was the matter with them.? — L. B., Cor- 

 coran. 



Answer — The trouble is that the heat 

 has been irregular in your incubator, 



