48 The Hen at Work 



He did not realize that all green food for hens 

 must be tender and brittle. 



We got some excellent grit from the grain store, 

 at once, dosed the suffering hens with a little olive 

 oil, and he was a happy man to see them recover 

 quickly, and start for the nests again. He had 

 studied his books with care, but was in a good way 

 to kill his whole flock. 



A yoimg man in Maine was anxious to make a 

 start with poultry. He wrote to me for advice. 

 I did the best I could by mail. 



"I can't get oyster shells, down here, " he wrote, 

 "will clam shells do?" 



"Yes, they are satisfactory, " I replied. 



The hens did not do very well. He had his 

 troubles. I visited him a month or two later, 

 and found he was feeding his clam shells whole. 

 Whether he expected his hens to suck the shells 

 or bite pieces from them I never found out. 



These incidents are merely samples of the 

 errors that are almost certain to occur. Where 

 grown fowls are concerned there is frequently 

 time to correct matters, but with chicks it is 

 all over usually before the doctor arrives. So 

 we had better begin with grown birds; and will 



