MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 



203 



inside with crude oil will injure little 

 chicks ? 



We have ordered 100 Brown Leg- 

 horns for March 15, and have got a 

 second-hand brooder. Of course, we 1 

 want it perfectly clean, as we are" be- 

 ginners and are striving for success. A 

 friend of ours gave us five gallons of 

 crude oil and insisted on our using it, 

 but I thought it wise to ask some one 

 more experienced. Thanking you in ad- 

 vance, yours truly.— Mrs. G. S. McW. 



Answer— I would not advise you to 

 paint the inside of your brooder with 

 anything as strong as crude oil. It will 

 do very well to paint the outside of the 

 hen house and the outside of the brood- 

 er house, and will last for several years, 

 preserve the wood and keep away ver- 

 min, but is too strong for the little 

 chicks. 



I will tell you what I would do were 

 I in your place. I would take good hot 

 suds and a brush, either a whisk broom 

 or a scrubbing brush, and thoroughly 

 scrub out the brooder. If I thought 

 there were any mites or lice in it, I 

 would add a cupful of coal oil (kero- 

 sene) to the suds. I would then put it 

 in the sun to dry, and when it was dry 

 I would wash it all over — hover, felt 

 and everything — with a solution of bi- 

 chloride of mercury. You can get tab- 

 lets of it very cheap at any drug store. 

 Put about four or six tablets in a pint 

 of water and when it is dissolved wash 

 all over the brooders with it. Or get 

 corrosive sublimate ; have the druggist 

 dissolve it in alcohol, and paint that over 

 the inside of the brooder. This will de- 

 stroy all germs of any disease or any 

 vermin. This way of soapsuds, followed 

 by the mercury, is the most perfect dis- 

 infectant you can find. It will kill tu- 

 berculosis, chicken-pox, cholera, etc., 

 germs, and has no bad smell to injure 

 chicks. 



How Long? — Would you kindly an- 

 swer how long after the eggs have start- 

 ed in the hen does it take before the 

 hen lays? Thanking you in anticipa- 

 tion.— W. B. M. 



Answer — As soon as a pullet is three 

 months old there will be found inside 

 her a bunchLof tiny embryo eggs. These 

 are called the ovaries or egg organs. If 

 the hen is active, in good health and 

 properly fed, these will, one after an- 

 other, turn into eggs, but the hen must 

 be fed the elements of the egg in order 



for her to make the eggs, and it all 

 depends upon the food how long it will 

 take the hen to accumulate the proper 

 proportion of each element to make the 

 eggs, that is, the elements of the egg 

 rightly balanced, enough fat and protein 

 to make the yolk, enough albumen and 

 water for the white, enough lime for the 

 shell, each in its right proportion. 



Soft Shell Eggs — Please tell me why 

 my chickens and turkeys lay soft shell 

 eggs. — R. A. D. 



Soft shell eggs come either from an 

 insufficient supply of lime in the rations 

 or overstimulation of the egg organs 

 by the use of spice or so-called egg 

 foods. Worms may increase in the in- 

 testines to such an extent as to stimu- 

 late the egg passage to push along the 

 egg beyond its usual distance. An over- 

 fat hen has a tendency toward laying 

 thin-shelled eggs. 



Dr. Woods gives this advice: "Fowls 

 kept closely confined in cold weather 

 and not given a sufficient variety of food 

 are apt to lay soft-shelled eggs. The 

 trouble may be due to some disturbance 

 of the egg organs or to improper food, 

 careless feeding and lack of exercise. It 

 usually responds very promptly to treat- 

 ment. See that the birds are supplied 

 with plenty of good grit and oyster shell. 

 Feed green food, scalded short-cut al- 

 falfa or clover. Also give cabbage, 

 beets and turnips fed raw whenever they 

 can be obtained. Feed a variety of good, 

 sound grain and some animal food. The 

 grain should be fed in the scratching 

 pen. 



Saw Off Long Spurs — I wish a little 

 information in regard to a rose-comb 

 Rhode Island Red rooster two and a 

 half years old. He has very long spurs, 

 which makes it difficult for him in 

 scratching when I feed them in the 

 scratching pen. Is there any way of 

 taking them off? 



Answer — It is very advisable always 

 to cut the long spurs off the male birds, 

 as they are very apt to injure the hens 

 with them. I find the best way is to 

 saw them off with a fine meat saw about 

 an inch from the leg. I do not saw them 

 close enough to draw blood. You can 

 also file them off, but sawing is quicker 

 and if the edges are rough, use a small 

 file to make them smooth. 



