140 
S%ip;[jlemeni to the "■Tropical AqricnUvrisf. 
'AVC: h 1901. 
liver and fish food are the best for such time*. 
There are few thin-s more detrimental to the well- 
beiua of poultry than an excels of animal food. 
BirdI become listless and unhealthy and cease to 
lay regularly under such treatment. 
If {h'i poultry-keeper has no idea of raising his 
or her chicks to renew or increase his stock, no 
males whatever need be kept. Many people ima- 
aine that males are necessary for the production 
Sf eaas ; whereas the males are only needed tor fer- 
tilising the eggs for hatching Indeed, the hen wi 1 
do a trifle better in Inying if no male is presen 
This usele^snes of the male should be noted by all 
poultry -keepers who want eggs only, as some- 
times the male is an absolute annoyance and hin- 
ders eco- production to a much greater extent than is 
commonly believed. For egg production the so- 
called "non-sitters "should be chosen viz. Leg- 
horns Hamburgs, Houdans, Polish, Spanish and 
Minorcas. The white Leghorn, l\Iinorca, and Hou- 
: tiamburas the smallest of 
Minorca 
dan lay the largest eggs 
any of the breeds named. 
Tlie sterility of eggs may arise from various 
causes Over-feeding is a very common one, espe- 
ciallv over-feeding peuned-up fowls with Indian- 
corn If some of the eggs be fertile and others 
clear the cause may be, amongst others, either 
neclect on the part of the cock or some fault of 
the hen In some cases the average of the ferti- 
lity of the eggs may be improved by taking away 
to another pen those hens which lay fertile eggs, 
when they are known, for a day or two, and then 
putting them back for a like period, and so on 
until some improvement is noticed. The pens 
should be as much alike as possible, so that the 
fowls may feel at home, and obviously they should 
be kept isolated from a cock. This temporary 
absence is at times quite beneficial to some hens, 
which become weakened by the too constant at- 
tention of the cock, and they, in consequence, 
iiegin to lay clear eggs ' 
Sometimes one heu is the 
favourite of tlie'cock"; to the neglect of the others ; 
in this case the hen should be taken away for a 
time. This may be suspected if only a small per- 
ceutaae of the eggs are fertile, especially if those 
eeas look as if they had been laid by one hen, and 
otmi the question may be settled by watching 
the fowls in the pen. Sterility may sometimes be 
overcome by removing the cock during the day 
and putting him back at evening feeding time or 
keeping him away altogether for a couple of days 
at a time, and then giving only a few hours run 
with the hens. When all kinds of dodges have 
been tried, and the feeding and housing are not 
at fault, and yet the eggs are clear you may con- 
clude the fowls will not breed together in the way 
they are mated. Some cocks will not breed with 
certain hens, and some hens will not breed with 
certain cocks. In such extreme cases the sexes 
should be separated for quite a fortnight, and 
then an entirely different mating be tried, the 
fowls being put together even m a different pea 
if any way possible. 
la an article on the " British Egg Supply " in 
the lioya^ AyricuUuval Society's Journal, the 
writer class^ifies the breeds thus : — Non-sitting 
varieties are Hamburgs, Minorcas, C'lmpiups, Leg- 
liorns, Anconas, Andalusiaus, Redcap>, Houdaii.>--, 
Scotcl) Greys, and Barbezheux- General purpose 
varieties are Plymouth Rocks, Wyandottes, Lang- 
shans, Orpingtons, and Brahmas. 
Says an American Bulletin : — Poultry are quite 
su.=ceptible to diseases of the brain. Commonly, 
.symptoms of brain disorder are due to indigestion 
or intestinal worms. The removal of these causes 
may lead to recovery : otherwise no remedy can 
be applied. Vertigo, due to congestion of the 
brain with blood, shows itself in an unsteady, 
staggering gait, the bird walking backward, side- 
ways, or turning in a circle. Sometimes this giddi- 
ness is followed by epileptiform attacks. ks 
treatment, apply ice to the head until thoroughly 
cooled. Then open the bowels with a purgative, 
as Epsom salts .50 graii s, or calomel H grains. 
Keep the bird in a quiet, shady place. If this 
method is not successful, administer bromide of 
potassium in 1 to 5 grain doses three times a day. 
If the trouble is due to intestinal worms, treat the 
fowl for worms. Epilepsy, commonly known as 
fits, is occasionally seen in fowls. Birds attacked 
may. fall and may lie on either the back or the 
abdomen, the eyes opening and closing. After a 
time the attack subsides. Unless due to intestinal 
worms, no reliable treatment is known. 
W, B, Tegetmeier, the well-known authority on 
poultry, says: — One of the fallacies of the present 
day is that the production of eggs can be increased 
by the use of highly-spiced stimulating foods. 
These are consequently advertised by the makers 
very extensively. The -lightest acquaintance with 
anatomy and physiology would prove the absurdity 
of such a belief. Animals cannot be made more 
fertile by giving them an unnatural diet and 
irritating their digestive organs with food which 
they do not obtain in a natural state. Some of 
these substances which are sold as egg producers 
are fiery and stimulating to the highest degree, 
and cannot possibly tend to increase. I have 
recently received several complaints of the ill- 
health of birds that had been fed on spiced foods. 
If the natural diet of a fowl is taken into con- 
sideration, it will be found that the bird never 
takes voluntarily any substance of the kind. The 
production of eggs in quantity requires that the 
fowls shall be provided with the materials out of 
which they can be secreted or made, and certainly 
turmeric and cheap waste peppers do not furnish 
these substances. 
We give the following extract from Station, 
Farm, And Garden : — Much of the foraginjj done 
by fowls is more for grit than for food. Do not 
content yourself with the fact that your hens 
have a gravel run, for hens do not pick up gravel 
for grit unless it is sharp. They may be but a 
week on a gravel bed, and yet in that short time 
a large fiock will clear it of the material they 
require, as is shown by their constant search for 
sharp materia], which they always need. Yet 
there are those who have kept hens in large 
numbers on one place for years, without supply- 
