The Family Poultry Yard 



CONDUCTED BY EN OS WHITNEY 



Notes 



Leghorns are active birds, and require larger 

 quarters than other standard breeds. Twenty-five 

 or thirty can be properly raised on a lot about 

 thirty by forty feet. 



A bone cutter is an excellent thing to help 

 along the egg supply. Fresh cut bone stimu- 

 lates egg production. 



Always have a supply of grit, bones and lime 

 as in oyster shells pounded up, so the fowls can 

 help themselves. 



The fall is the best time to buy birds for 

 breeding purposes. They are cheaper too at 

 this season. 



Burnt corn is excellent to feed chickens, and 

 helps to keep them in good condition. 



Some breeds are better layers than others, 

 yet any breed can be made to lay more eggs by 

 careful selection, and in time a heavy egg pro- 

 ducing strain be obtained. 



It costs no more to feed pure bred poultry 

 than common stock or scrubs, but there is a 

 great difference in the value of the flocks. Eggs 

 frcm good strains are much sought after for 

 settii g and command a good price. 



Select from the many dealers one you can 

 trust, and buy at least a trio of some standard 

 breed. You will make no mistake if you take 

 either Plymouth Eocks or Wyandottes if you 

 want a general purpose fowl. 



Early spring chickens will begin to lay in a 

 month or two, but do not force them too much. 

 Let Nature take her course in this. 



All fowls in confinement should be given 

 green food daily. Meat scraps should be given 

 at least twice a week. Fowls having free run 

 on pasture catch a great many grasshoppers, 

 bugs, etc., which those kept in yards can not 

 obtain. 



Be sure to give the poultry house a thorough 

 cleaning, and give it a good coat of white- 

 wash. Be liberal with the whitewash and get it 

 into every place where lice might find a place. 

 Crude carbolic acid should be put in the white- 

 wash. 



Molting chickens should have plenty of wa- 

 ter, shade and a variety of food. Provide 

 plenty of green food also if they have no run on 

 grass. They need a liberal supply of grit too. 

 Pound up oyster shells for them, and give meat 

 scraps. Sunflower seeds are rich in nitrogen 

 and are very beneficial. A half a tablespoonful 

 of sulphur stirred in the morning mash every 

 other day helps to furnish material for feather 

 building. 



Feather plucking is a vice frequently observed 

 among hens kept in confinement. The habit is 

 difficult to cure. The exact cause is not known. 

 Idleness and lack of proper elements in the food 

 are given among various reasons for the ob- 

 jectionable habit. Hens kept busy or allowed 

 free range are seldom addicted to it. The most 

 effective method to cure this vice is to shave off 

 with a sharp knife, the horny edges of the beak, 

 so as to leave the points a litle apart when the 

 mouth is shut. The cutting hurts no more than 

 paring the nails. Be careful not to cut too 

 deep, and cause bleeding. In a few weeks the 

 edge will grow again, but by that time the bad 

 habit will be forgotten. 



Orpingtons 



There are seven varieties of this breed, 

 namely: Buff, R. C. Buff, Black, R. C. Black, 

 Diamond Jubilee, Spangled and White. They 

 are very popular in England, and are now bred 

 by many in the United States. The Buffs are 

 the leaders in popularity, as all Buff breeds 

 seem to be the ideal to the majority of fancy 

 poultry. These fowls can be relied upon to 

 produce eggs at a time when they are scarce, 

 and by careful breeding v^dll lay as many per 

 annum as the leading egg-laying varieties. 

 They are also par-excellence as a table fowl, 

 having large plump bodies and very attractive 

 when properly dressed for the market. It is to 

 these qualities that the Orpingtons owe their 

 popularity as a good all-around utility fowl, 

 besides becoming one of the most desirable 

 breeds for exhibition purposes. All the birds 

 which are useless as show birds can be turned 

 to good account— the pullets as layers and the 

 cockerels as table fowls, so that there is no 

 waste material. They are a made breed, pro- 

 duced by crossing from one of the original 

 Asiatic races, including in every case some 

 proportion of the Shangai element.— ^menmn 

 Poultry Advocate. 



QO VARIETIES. Any amount. PouUry, Pig- 



eons, Parrots, Dogs, Cats, 



— Hares, Canaries, etc. Eggs a specialty. Price 

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 Natural Colored Description 60 page Book of Rem- 

 edies and Infoi-mation and be convinced. Only 10c 

 mailed. Address, J. A, Bergey, BoxE. Telford", Pa. 



TEN DAYS' 



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of Mann's Latest Model 

 Bone Cutter. No pay un- 

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F. W. Mann Co. , Box 78 . M ilford . Mass. 



