284 



Kovember, 1913 



xiety to their mothers, never losing an 

 opportunity of getting put of the run, 

 to roam off and scratch on their own 

 account. As mothers the hens are ex- 

 cellent, and for young Partridges un- 

 equalled. It might be thought such 

 large birds might be clumsy, but they 

 take the greatest care never to put 

 their foot on a chick. A brood of 

 thirteen young Partridges was hatch- 

 ed off by a Coucou, one hen's egg be- 

 ing added to what she considered the 

 most puny eggs she had ever been 

 asked to sit on. These were put in 

 a coop with her, close to a shrubbery, 

 and every morning she took her little 

 family out all among the long grass, 

 seeming to know exactly the food 

 they required, and every evening she 

 brought them back to sleep in the 

 coop, and she never lost one. They 

 had a few ants' eggs, but beyond that 

 nothing but what they found for 

 themselves. 



The Coucous are most excellent 

 winter layers, and lay a large, pinky 

 brown egg. For breeding for show 

 purposes care should be taken to sel- 

 ect only the most perfectly marked 

 birds, as they certainly have a ten- 

 dency to "sport" — though, of course, 

 for table purposes this does not mat- 

 ter in the least. 



♦ 



Lice. 



About the first thought the poultry- 

 man has when the hot weather comes 

 around, is to look for lice. Now lice 

 are ever present where cleanliness is 

 neglected, but the hot days is the' 

 time they form into a grand army and 

 make their most serious attack. 



All sorts of remedies are offered: 

 Whitewash to which is added an 

 ounce of carbolic acid to every pail- 

 ful, hot salt water, kerosene (the last 

 two can be used in a spray pump), 

 and soap water left over from the 

 week's washing. 



The main point in fighting off lice 

 is to keep the houses clean. All 

 droppings should be removed at least 

 once a week, twice a week would be 

 better, and every morning would be 

 best of all. Use some tobacco waste 

 with nesting material, for both lay- 

 ing and sitting hens. Use plenty of 

 kerosene 6ver the roosts and in the 

 corners of the nest boxes. This 

 should be done at least once a month, 

 and twice a year the exterior of the 

 house should be whitewashed, using 

 carbolic acid in mixture, as noted. 



Poultry Notes. 



Hens' feel the warm weather as 

 much as other folks. Give them a 

 shady place to sit down once in a 

 while and rest. They will do all the 

 better for it. 



For table purposes Orpingtons 

 grow very satisfactorily and flesh 

 well; and being of a docile nature (a 

 ponit that they doubtless owe to the 

 Cochin and Dorking blood in their 

 composition) the birds lend them- 

 selves well to the cramming process 

 of fattening. The whiteness of the 

 skin and legs of the buffs, whites, and 

 jubilees renders these varieties first- 

 class marketable fowls, for they can 

 be most satisfactorily "dressed." All 

 varieties, the whites included, are of 

 exceedingly hardy constitution. They 

 are great foragers, and are equal to 

 most sitting and heavy breeds for 

 small places; and for the poultry- 

 keeper who has a large range and de- 

 sires a good all-round breed they pos- 

 sess all that is needed. 



Many persons suppose that the yolk 

 is more nourishing than the white, 

 but the reverse is the case. About 

 80 per cent, of the solids of the white 

 are flesh-forming, and only about 30 

 per cent, of the solids of the yolk. An 

 important advantage in giving infer- 

 tile egg to chickens is to prevent 

 waste. Meat and other animal mat- 

 ter stand next in importance, in this 

 respect, having a greater proportion 

 of flesh-forming elements — true food. 

 Meat and eggs will make up the defi- 

 ciency of flesh-forming matter in the 

 proportion of grain and meal that 

 may be in a diet. 



A cross between Plymouth Rock 

 and Brahma or Plymouth Rock and 

 Langshan will be found useful; but 

 perhaps the best of all is Indian 

 Game and Langshan; birds of this 

 cross produce eggs with a very deep 

 Ijrown shell. 



Avoid posts stuck in the ground for 

 perches to rest on, for two reasoi s — 

 they arc in the way when cleaning up 

 the droppings, and they afford a 

 transit for the red mite from the 

 floor to the perches. This pest, as a 

 rule, breeds in the floor among the 

 manure and then ascends to the per- 

 ches. Suspended perches are probably 

 the best, but one can affix battens to 

 the ends, or side walls of the houses 

 and let the perches rest on them, but 

 do not nail the battens tight up to the 



walls, but leave about a quarter of an 

 inch space, so as not to afford a har- 

 bor for the mite. 



Fowls do not get body lice if suffi- 

 cient dusting facilities are available. 

 Consequently, there is no necessity to 

 resort to dipping them, which is a 

 laborious undertaking when some 

 hundreds of birds have to be handled, 

 particularly as it must be done in 

 daylight and on a bright, sunny day. 

 Occasionally one will find an old cock 

 bird affected with vermin, in which 

 case a good dusting with insectibane 

 immediately settles the pest. Care 

 should always be taken to provide 

 good dust baths. If the runs are lo- 

 cated in light sandy soil the matter is 

 very simply arranged, that is by cov- 

 ering in a dry corner in wet weather 

 and always 'having a damp spot in 

 summer time. This is easily done by 

 throwing a few buckets of water in a 

 shady spot, under a tree for prefer- 

 ence. If the runs are located on hard 

 soil, a corner could be well broken 

 up, made as fine as possible, and sup- 

 plemiented with wood ashes. 



A good supply of coops is essential 

 for the chicken raiser. They should 

 be twenty-four inches square at the 

 bottom, and be built of stout wood, 

 tongued, and quite water-proof. It 

 pay^ in the end to have them really 

 serviceable. They will last many 

 years if the owner takes the . trouble 

 to paint and store them in a dry place 

 each season when not in use. Cheap 

 coops let in the water in bad weather, 

 and the test of a coop is that it gives 

 adequate protection to the inmates 

 when they most need it; and this is 

 exactly what makeshift coops fail to 

 do. 



The symptoms of roup are: — Eye 

 inflamed and closed and filled w'lh 

 offensive matter. Nostrils closed in 

 the same way. Face swollen. Off- 

 ensive smell. To treat the sick birds, 

 take a quart dipperful of v.'arm water 

 and color it purple wilh pcnnanga-/ 

 nate of potash; add a half tcaspoon- 

 ful of creolin to the rn'.tture. Souse 

 the head of every loupy bird in this 

 mixture, so that it reaches all the 

 passages in the nostrils and eyes 

 Keep the little finger of the left hand 

 between the bird's bills and keep its 

 mouth open. 'I'lacc s'ck a\^'ay 

 from the others' in vv^ll vrntila.e' 

 coops. Giv; nourishing food, seas- 

 oned with g'nger. 



The hen in preening itself, gives a 

 few hard digs or squeezes with the 

 point of the beak upon the spot 



