The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 1, 1022 
85* 
The Henyard 
Feeding Sour Milk to Poultry 
Wo read in a poultry paper that, much 
of the bacteria found in the intestinal 
tract cannot grow and develop in the 
acid of sour milk or buttermilk. \\ ill 
semi-solid and powdered buttermilk do 
the same as the sour milk in regard to de¬ 
stroying bacteria? How does sour milk 
affect human beings? IIow much sour 
milk could an adult person drink daily 
without injury? W. R. 
Mangansville, Md. 
The lactic acid of sour milk or butter¬ 
milk, or semi-solid buttermilk, is said to 
be inimical to the bacterial life of the in¬ 
testines. and is further supposed to be 
healthful on that account. A few years 
ago, Metehnikoff, a Russian investigator, 
believed that be had discovered a method 
of prolonging life through destroying 
harmful bacteria in the intestines by 
means of the lactic acid of sour milk, and 
sour milk, accordingly, became a popular 
beverage among those who placed confi¬ 
dence ill bis ideas, There w»S probably 
considerable truth in bis notions; lip was 
a man of unquestioned attainments in bis 
line of work; but. somehow, like so many 
revolutionizing discoveries, this one didn't 
seem to be able to hold its own with the 
passing of years, and not much is beard 
of it now. Chicken raisers have about 
come to the conclusion that it is the 
milk, not the sour, that does chicks good, 
and milk has become indispensable to 
those who want the best results; any kind 
of milk, sweet, sour, whole, skim, or but¬ 
termilk, so long as i! is pare and whole¬ 
some. not stale or partially decomposed, 
when fed. 
The only way to find out how sour milk 
would affect any human beiug would be 
to try it out. It would act as a stimu¬ 
lant to kidney activity, would be a food, 
and might, or might not. agree with the 
digestive organs. Whether or not it would 
prolong the life of the individual tak¬ 
ing it could, of course, be determined ouly 
by experiment. If lie lived longer on sour 
milk than be did without it, the proof of 
its efficacy would be incontrovertible. The 
amount that any person could drink daily 
without injury would, too, be a matter 
for individual determination. Some could 
not drink any. others might take all they 
could hold. Observations of the effect, of 
sour milk ou the lower animals would 
seem to indicate that it is a wholesome 
food and one little likely to do any barm 
in the quantities in which it would be 
consumed. As to its killing, or inhibiting 
the growth of. bacteria in the intestines, 
we should remember that we do not want 
to kill all bacteria. If we did. we should 
soou die ourselves, fur bacteria play as 
important, a part in the process of nature 
as do plants large enough to be seen 
without, a microscope. There are but 
comparatively few families of bacteria 
that do any harm; the unseen world 
about us swarms with those that are bus¬ 
ily engaged in making and keeping (lie 
earth habitable for higher forms of life. 
Let's not get. a grouch against all bacteria 
because a few families among them are 
capable of producing disease in human 
beings. M. B. d. 
Sour Crop in Turkey 
I have a large White Holland turkey 
which has been ailing for about a week. 
He does not eat and has a swelling which 
upon examination seemed to be water in 
the crop. After having given several 
kinds of treatment, I held the bird with 
its head down and worked the crop with 
the fingers. There was easily half a pint 
of fluid which came from the month, of 
very offensive odor. I have repeated the 
treatment, but the fluid seems to form 
again. Can you tell what ails this tur¬ 
key. and is there a cure? c. g. 
Holly, N. Y. 
This turkey probably has “sour crop.” 
or a disorder of the crop that may occur 
as a result of digestive disturbances or 
other diseases. Place the turkey by itself 
in comfortable quarters, empty the crop 
as you have done, and give a little ‘‘soda’’ 
in water to sweeten the crop’s contents, 
as you might take it yourself in case of 
sour stomach. Then feed the bird lightly 
upon soft, easily digested food, until re¬ 
covery. Quinine is recommended as a 
remedy. Give a one-grain quinine pill 
each day if you want to feel that you arc 
doctoring the turkey. Simple cases of 
“sour crop” recover; if the condition is 
the result of other and more serious inter¬ 
nal disorders, however, the bird may die 
before you have cured the disease of the 
crop. M, B. D. 
The Truth About Geese 
Your preference for the goose, as com¬ 
pared with the turkey, on page 7S5, is 
quite borne out by my experience, yet at 
the same time it must be confessed that 
the turkey remains more popular in the 
public mind, so that it sells often for 
more than twice, as much per pound. We 
always used to keep a small flock of geese, 
but there being no particular market, no 
effort was made to raise many. As to 
turkeys, it was found to require an ex¬ 
pert to raise them at all, and we never 
had any. Geese, on the other baud, are 
perfectly hardy, except as goslings, till 
after pin-feather time, and they can he 
raised successfully on forage alone 
through the entire Summer, without more 
water than is needed to drink. 
I believe that the goose or duck is the 
happiest and perhaps the most fortunate 
of created beings, especially if it has ac¬ 
cess to water sufficient to swim on, 
commonly no parasites, few foxes, skunks 
or weasels, can live on grass if nothing 
better offers, no cares, only to paddle on 
the water, chatter and look handsome. 
Wo never paid any attention to the flock 
in Summer but to keep it out of the crops, 
and the straw stack or under the barn 
was good enough in Winter, getting some 
grain with the other fowls. 
This is, maybe, the undesirable extreme 
i.. goose culture, but it. shows what foun¬ 
dation there is to build on. On the other 
hand, the turkey is so difficult to raise 
that the supply is always short. Timid 
as a wild bird, which it is in reality, ex¬ 
cept for its need of food, a hen turkey 
owned by a neighbor remained back in the 
fields so long that she was so nearly 
starved to death when she finally came 
to the house that feeding could not save 
her. Dying, she left eight young ones, 
and though they were well started they 
every one died before Winter, though the 
best of food and care were given them. 
Some died from beiug shut up. and when 
the others wore liberated they followed. 
Make goose flesh popular and it will 
till the much-felt want of the turkey. 
Otherwise the Thanksgiving turkey will 
continue to bring up to 75c a pound, and 
the eater of gobse will feel small and 
shabbily treated. J. W. C. 
Piano Box Brooder House 
I have about 50 chicks which I plan to 
put into a piano box when they are about 
six weeks old and weaned from their two 
mother hens. I plan also a run to be 
used with this so as to be able to control 
them better, especially in the beginning. 
Will you advise me of the best way to fix 
this piano box for the purpose, aud safe 
from rats? I- c. 
Kingston, N. Y. 
A single piano box is too high and nar- 
now in proportion to its length to make 
n very desirable brooder house, though I 
have no doubt that you could use one for 
your little chicks until they outgrew it. 
The roof may be covered with prepared 
roofing and u cptivonient door and two 
small windows placed in one side. If the 
door is fitted well and the window open¬ 
ings are covered with small mesh wire 
netting, hardware cloth, rats will be ex¬ 
cluded. Plenty of litter should be used 
on the floor, and on cold, stormy days 
and cold nights a lighted lantern may’ be 
placed Inside to provide warmth. You 
will have to guard carefully against hud¬ 
dling and smothering if you place 50 
chicks not more than six weeks of age to¬ 
gether In an unlimited brooder house. If 
they become cold they are likely at any 
time to huddle iu a corner and pile Up, 
smothering those at the bottom. The sun 
will probably keep such a box sufficiently 
warm through the day, but there will be 
danger at. night until the chicks have 
learned to use perches, Place perches 
about a foot from the floor to encourage 
early roosting. This huddling and smoth¬ 
ering will be the chief danger to your 
young chicks after you have placed them 
in their brooder; look out for it. The pic¬ 
ture shows a better proportioned brooder 
house made front three piano boxes, or 
two with a center extension. The third 
box, with its front and back removed, is 
placed between the other two, and one 
end is made a door. M. u. d. 
Possible Depluming Mite 
My pullets have some trouble which 
causes a redness around their combs, and 
it keeps on spreading until it is all over 
their heads. I gave them a treatment in 
the Winter, on a mild day, of sulphur and 
lard, rubbed on their beads, and the feath¬ 
ers were very sticky and uncomfortable to 
look at. I never saw any bead lice on 
their heads at that time, but did see them 
around the necks of the pullets. m. k, 
Milton, Muss. 
If this redness of the head and neck is 
accompanied by loss of feathers, a mite 
known as the depluming mite may be at 
work in the skin at the base of the feath¬ 
ers. If this is the case, your treatment 
with sulphur and lard well rubbed in was 
good, though one application was prob¬ 
ably not enough to destroy these miles. 
There may have been some other disease 
present, however, the mere fact that the 
skin was red not being sufficient to enable 
<mc to make a diagnosis. If the Ileus are 
laying well and appear to be in good 
general health, the trouble is probably 
not. a serious one. though, it is likely to bo 
communicable and to make it advis¬ 
able to remove the affected birds from the 
flock and keep them by themselves until 
they have recovered. The depluming mite 
does not appear to injure the fowls seri¬ 
ously in anything but their appearance. 
M. B. D. 
Excess of Protein 
I have a flock of 440 White Leghorns, 
and would like to know if I am feeding 
too much protein. I am feeding the regu¬ 
lar Cornell mash and 24 quarts of sour 
milk a day besides. Can you feed too 
much protein? What is the Cornell mash 
for little chicks, aud how soon will they 
be able to eat same? I fed the regular 
ben mash (only left out ground oats, last 
year, till the chicks were six weeks old), 
and I fed sour milk the third day, and 
every day they have it. I raised 542 out 
of 5S0 chicks. MRS. 0. A. R. 
Randolph, N. Y. 
Yes, one can feed too mucli protein, 
both from the standpoint of economy aud 
health of the fowls. Protein is the ele¬ 
ment in food that goes largely into the 
production of the muscles, nerve tissue, 
the plumage of fouls, or the hair of other 
animals, and into the maintenance of I be 
other organs of the body. It is also used 
in the production of what may be termed 
the salable products from farm animals; 
the wool from sheep, milk from cows, and 
eggs from liens. Food belonging to the 
class termed carbohydrates, on the other 
hand, has as its chief function the pro¬ 
duction of bodily heat and the furnishing 
of the energy consumed in bodily pro¬ 
cesses and work. It must not be thought 
from this that there is any bard and fast 
line drawn between the uses of the two 
classes of foods, and that one cannot, iu 
any measure, replace the other, for pro¬ 
teins may be used in the body to produce 
beat and energy, the natural work of the 
carbohydrates, but they will be called 
upon for this work only in the absence of 
sufficient carbohydrates from the diet and, 
as the protein element is the most ex¬ 
pensive element in food, it is not eco¬ 
nomical to cut the carbohydrates short 
and make up with an excess of protein. 
That is the object of balancing a ration; 
giving all the protein that can be eco¬ 
nomically used for (he bodily needs and 
in Die production of milk, eggs, wool, etc., 
while completeing the bulk with the 
cheaper carbohydrates that are just as 
essential for other needs of the animal. 
An excess of protein in the diet, too. 
throws an unnecessary strain upon the 
digestive and eliminative organs, particu¬ 
larly upon the kidneys. ’Poo much is 
therefore uuhealtlifiil. and a flock of hens, 
or little chicks, given a large excess of 
protein in their diet, would, after a while, 
begin to break down from digestive dis¬ 
orders. 
The Cornell mash, fed with mixed 
grains, is well balanced in its proportions 
of proteins and carbohydrates and, if a 
high protein food, like skim-milk, is fed 
in large quantity in addition, same of the 
meat—a food very rich in protein—should 
he cut out of the mash, both from the 
standpoint of economy and of health. If 
all the skim-milk that the fowls will con¬ 
sume is fed, all the meat might possibly 
he cut out of the mash, though I doubt the 
advisability of trying t < > make skim- 
oi* buttermilk replace all of the meat or¬ 
dinarily found iu a good inush. Much 
depends, however, upon how much milk 
the fowls will consume. It should prob¬ 
ably amount to from 12 to 15 quarts per 
100 fowls daily. 
The Cornell chick mash is very much 
like their laying mash. Two parts of 
wheat bran, instead of one, and flour 
middlings instead of standard middlings 
are used, while the coarser parts of the 
meat scrap aud the oat hulls are sifted 
out for chicles under six weeks of age. 
The formula is: Two parts wheal bran 
and one part each of flour middlings, 
cornmeal or hominy, sifted ground oats 
and sifted beef scrap. This may be fed 
from the third day. while sour milk 
should be given from the time the chicks 
are taken from the incubator. M. u. u. 
Notes on Raising Peafowl 
Will you give me some information re¬ 
garding the care and raising of peafowl? 
Monroe, N. Y. a. r. n. 
The best way to “start” with peafowl 
is to buy a four-year-okl male, and from 
one to three three-year-old unrelated fe¬ 
males. When received the birds should 
be liberated in a roomy, wire enclosure, 
which is netted overhead. A perch should 
be provided which is sufficiently high from 
the ground and away from the sides to 
give the male plenty of room to “handle” 
his long train and prevent it from being 
broken. If the yard is well drained, no 
shelter will be required, but if the soil is 
very damp and mucky, it will be best to 
provide a simple, open-front shed, with 
board floor or gravel bottom, in which 
the birds may find refuge during a pro¬ 
longed rainy spell. At. night, however, 
they will probably go to roost on the un¬ 
protected outside perch, no matter how 
hard it rains. They should be fed once a 
day ouly on clean, sound grain, say, 50 
per cent hard wheat and the remainder 
equal parts of sound whole corn, barley, 
broken rice and buckwheat. During zero 
weather they may lie given cracked corn 
only. Grit, shell and gravel should be 
kept, constantly before them, as should 
fresh drinking water. About three times 
a week a little fresh green, such as let¬ 
tuce. clover, dandelion leaves or plantain, 
cut in small pieces. After the birds have 
become accustomed to their new sur¬ 
roundings. say in two or three weeks’ 
time, the door of the pen should be opened 
and_ the peafowl allowed to come out of 
their owu accord. On no account should 
they be hurried or driven out. Very soon 
after attaining their liberty they will se¬ 
lect a permanent “roost." possibly in a 
tree or ou the ridge of a roof. The birds 
may now be considered “planted." and 
are no more apt to wander than turkeys 
or guinea fowl. 
Once they have selected their roosting 
spot, they should never again be yarded 
or boused. Summer or Winter. Iu the 
very late Spring or early Summer the 
hens will go to nest. The dutch, which 
usually consists of from two to six eggs, 
should be left to the peahen to incubate 
undisturbed. The pea chicks will wander 
all day long with the peahen, and will 
subsist principally on an insect and veg¬ 
etable diet, which may ho supplemented 
with a little dry, high-grade chick feed 
or a mixture of cracked wheat, canary 
seed and millet in equal parts. Neither 
the mother nor chicks should be confined 
in any way. While peafowl eggs may be 
hatched and possibly reared with domestic 
hens or incubators and brooders, such a 
course cannot be recommended. The 
writer has reared peafowl with machines, 
but the result does not justify the neces¬ 
sary scientific care and labor. The do¬ 
mestic fowl will readily hatch the eggs, 
hut usually proves a deficient mother, as 
she naturally discards the young after a 
few weeks’ brooding, leaving the pea chick 
to look after itself at too tender an ag<*. 
The peahen broods her young for sev¬ 
eral months, and unlike the domestic hen 
is sufficiently largo to hover the peachicks 
properly against the elements until the 
birds can shift for themselves. The incu¬ 
bation period is 2S days. 
Two recognized species exist, the com¬ 
mon Blue and the Specifer. The Blue 
peafowl has a mutation of type in the 
Black-shouldered or Japanese bird, the 
male differing from the Blue kind in being 
somewhat darker in coloring and having, 
as its name denotes, black shoulders in 
place of barred gray. The females are 
very unlike the plain gray peahens of 
the Blue, being a rather dirty wfiite. 
mottled with black. The white, or the 
albino form, is most attractive and will 
breed very true. The eye is dark, but 
hill, feet and plumage pure white. The 
“eye” shows very plainly in tlu* tail feath¬ 
ers. like a design in white linen. When 
the white peafowl has its tail "spread" 
against a background of green foliage, it is 
superb, and resembles a gigantic lace fan. 
The Specifer species has a tail similar 
to the common Blue, but both sexes have 
greenish black bodies, and the neck scaled 
with green and gold. The crest is com¬ 
posed of long, stiff and fully webbed 
feathers. These birds, unlike the Blues, 
an* practically mute. I may hero men¬ 
tion that the scream of the peacock is 
very much over-estimated, During Die 
Spring mating season the males will 
sometimes "call” several times a day. 
but during the remainder of the year are 
perfectly quiet. Whether influenced by 
climatic conditions. I do not know, but 
some seasons the birds an* mute during 
Die entire year, The true tail of the pea¬ 
cock is composed of plain, short, stiff 
feathers, and what is commonly termed 
the tail, and which constitutes the chief 
beauty of the birds, is iu reality the elon¬ 
gated tail coverts. It is amusing to note 
that while of course the pen cock natur¬ 
ally displays or "spreads’’ his train to 
the peahen, if no mate is within sight he 
will display to a wheelbarrow, empty bas¬ 
ket or to a reflection of himself' in a 
glass. The first year both sexes are simi¬ 
lar. the males being distinguished by Dmir 
grayish shoulders and slightly blue tinge 
to the neck feathers. The second year 
tie* male shows a few "eyes” in his train, 
and the third season has a very present¬ 
able display of plumes. When four or 
five years old the tail coverts are full and 
perfect. Peafowl molt every season in 
midsummer, but it is not until midwinter 
that the train assumes its full glory, just 
a few weeks prior to the mating season, 
Q. D. TILLEY. 
