THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
thirsty. Until the birds are old enough to help themselves they should 
be supplied with similar food, when that pest of the rearer, green scour, 
will seldom make its appearance. This is not usually seen until the birds 
are several days old, and the common cause of the ailment is too small 
a supply of green food from the very first, and when the birds are 
sufficiently advanced to pick it for themselves, they eat such an inordinate 
quantity, being unaccustomed to it, but craving for it, that they suffer 
in consequence. Sound small grain should also be frequently supplied, 
and plenty of grit, but at first they are better without water, and this 
should not be given to them until they are three weeks old. If the weather 
should be very hot, and the chicks appear to be drooping, a little water 
may be thrown in a spray on to the grass with a syringe, when the birds 
will pick the drops off the foliage. If they do not get water when they require 
it, they will be extra keen to swallow “ cuckoo spit ” in a dry time, 
and if the spittle insect gets alive into a young bird’s crop, and remains 
there exuding the “ spittle,” fatal consequences follow only too often. 
The best preventative is to add chopped up green food to the meal when 
mixing it, and to supply drinking fountains on the rearing field when 
the birds are sufficiently old. 
The value of bone meal, made from fresh unboiled bones, is not univer- 
sally recognized, but in the form of finest fiour it is easily added to meal, 
and is assimilated by the youngest chicks. New milk also is very desirable, 
when it can be obtained cheaply, and can be used for mixing the meal, 
when it takes the place of custard or curd. If a brood begins to fall off, 
and is ceasing to progress, one of the best of pick-me-ups is to mix a 
feed or two with a little fresh blood, obtained from the nearest butcher’s 
shop. During the second week of their lives little chicks may require a 
stimulant, especially if the weather is wet and cold, and many a life may be 
saved by the addition of the following mixture to the feed at night, when 
a stimulant appears desirable : 
Gallengall, 1 lb ; Cayenne, | oz. ; 
Cinnamon, J lb ; Powdered ginger, ^ oz. 
A tablespoonful of the mixture should be added for every twenty birds. 
At any time if a bird looks sickly a little of the powder mixed with a pellet 
of oatmeal, and put down its throat, will very likely revive it. 
If it is necessary to place a coop with newly-hatched chicks upon damp 
ground, a dry sack should be folded and placed under the hen. This can 
easily be washed afterwards, and a number of sacks should always be on 
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