112 
February 17 
A HEN BUSINESS. 
More About Lady Leghorn. 
Since writing the account of the Eureka 
poultry farm at Cobleskill, N. Y., we have 
had many questions about the house and 
the hens. Some correspondents think that 
the hens will be mixed up when kept in 
one long house. Mr. Greene, the manager, 
answers some of these questions in the fol¬ 
lowing article: 
The House.— The long house which 
we use as a laying house is built of good 
hemlock lumber, and is sided on the 
outside of the studs, and ceiled and 
papered on the inside, roof included. 
The space intervening is stuffed with 
swale hay or straw. It has cement floor 
and steel roof. The packing between the 
rafters keeps the house from getting too 
hot in Summer, as the steel roof draws 
the sun, and would otherwise make the 
house uncomfortably warm in hot 
weather. We think a house built like 
this is drier and warmer than it can be 
made in any other way. The house is 
15 feet wide by 345 feet long, 9 V 2 feet 
high in front and 5V£ feet in back. It is 
divided into pens 15 feet square by par¬ 
titions of wire netting, every third par¬ 
tition being solid, to prevent drafts 
blowing on the fowls. There is a double 
window, 2y 2 feet from the floor, in each 
pen, one sash containing 12 9x12 panes 
in each window. These are hung on 
hinges, and swing in. 
Inside Fixtures. —All ventilating is 
done with the windows. Every day the 
house is thoroughly aired, and when the 
weather will permit, the windows are 
left open all day, thus giving the fowls 
fresh air in abundance, which we think 
is better and cheaper than medicine, as 
we have had no disease in the house. ^ 
The roosts and nests are arranged along 
the back. First a platform 32 inches 
wide is built 18 inches from the floor. 
This is nearly as long as the pen, with 
a railing around the edge two inches 
high to keep the droppings from falling 
off. The roosts are one foot above the 
platform, and are two in number, hinged 
to the wall, so as to be easily raised out 
of the way for cleaning. The nests are 
set on the floor under this platfoi m, and 
a board 10 inches wide is hinged to the 
platform, so that when it hangs down 
it conceals the nests, and must be raised 
to gather the eggs. The hens enter at 
the ends, and as it is nearly dark where 
they lay, very little trouble is experi¬ 
enced with egg-eating hens. 
The water pans are common pressed 
milk pans, set on a rack 18 inches from 
the floor, so as to prevent the fowls 
from scratching dirt into them. A board 
covers the top of the pans, except about 
two inches on either side, where the 
fowls drink. It is necessary for them to 
jump up on to the rack to drink. We 
keep 40 to 50 hens in each room, and 
confine them to the house from early 
Winter until bare ground appears in the 
Spring, when they are allowed free 
range. 
Free Range. —People naturally won¬ 
der, when we let 1,000 hens out in one 
flock, how we get them back into their 
own pens at night, as no yards are used 
except for breeding yards, and in keep¬ 
ing only one variety (S. C. White Leg¬ 
horn), we avoid all possibility of mix¬ 
ing breeds. A hen knows more than 
people generally give her credit for. One 
thing in particular, she knows enough to 
come home to roost. We are seldom 
bothered with their crowding too many 
in one pen. If they do, it is not much 
trouble to go through the house just be¬ 
fore dark, and close the doors where 
there are enough in, compelling those 
that remain outside to come in where 
there is room. We like this much bet¬ 
ter than yards, as it saves the expense 
of building the yards, and also gives the 
fowls a chance to get for themselves a 
great deal that would otherwise have to 
be supplied. This means quite a saving 
of labor. Another labor-saving item is 
that the house is built without an alley- 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
way along the back, as is customary 
with many poultrymen. We seldom go 
through the house without doing some 
work as we go along, and it can be seen 
readily that to go from one pen into the 
alley, and another to enter the next pen, 
makes twice the number of doors to 
open and shut, and about twice the dis¬ 
tance to travel that is required to pass 
through a door hung with double-acting 
spring hinges, directly into the next pen. 
The Feed.— At present we are feeding 
for eggs, and the results show that our 
labors are not in vain. Fresh clean 
water, warmed to about 100 degrees, is 
given every morning. Whole wheat and 
oats and peas mixed, two parts wheat to 
one part oats and peas, are scattered in 
the litter on the floor as soon as the 
fowls can see to eat. The exercise they 
take in working for their breakfast 
warms them naturally, and gives them 
a good appetite for their mash, which 
is fed in v-shaped troughs 4% inches 
deep. The mash is composed of corn 
meal, ground oats and peas, wheat or 
buckwheat middlings and wheat bran, 
varying the proportions according to the 
condition of the birds, and one-tenth 
green cut bone, all mixed with boiling 
water, and allowed to stand a few min¬ 
utes, so that it will not burn them. 
This is fed at 11 o’clock. We feed them 
nearly all they will eat clean of this 
mixture, and at night a liberal feed of 
corn is given in cold weather, except to 
some that show a tendency to become 
too fat. These are fed oats and wheat, 
and are not fed all they will eat. We 
can keep fowls from becoming over-fat 
by giving less food of a carbonaceous 
nature, just as well as by feeding a 
nitrogenous ration, and at much less 
expense, providing the difference is not 
too great. Grit and oyster shells are 
always within reach. c. s. greene. 
A STONE POULTRY HOUSE. 
I am thinking of building a poultry house, 
next Summer, of stone instead of lumber. 
Would there be any objection because of 
dampness or anything else? e. f. c. 
East Onondaga, N. Y. 
While I have had no personal experi¬ 
ence with stone poultry houses, I can 
see no objection to them whatever, ex¬ 
cept the first cost, which would cause us 
to decide in favor of boards in this part 
of the country. I believe that the stone 
house would have some advantages over 
the single-walled wooden house, as it 
would likely be warmer in Winter and 
cooler in Summer, and there would be 
no cracks to cause drafts, which with 
leaky roofs are the most dangerous de¬ 
fects a poultry house may have. There 
would be no trouble from dampness if 
the roof does not leak, the house is not 
too densely populated, and is well ven¬ 
tilated. I do not mean that it should be 
equipped with a lot of loopholes through 
the wall, as though intended for a small 
fortress, or other fancy ventilators, but 
simply use the doors and windows for 
ventilators, and do most of the venti¬ 
lating during pleasant days. There are 
few days even in the coldest weather 
when some of the windows or doors 
may not be opened through the middle 
of the day to advantage, not only to ad¬ 
mit pure air, but also to help equalize 
the temperature between day and night. 
Close everything as tightly as possible 
at night during cold weather. Don’t 
worry about ventilation when the mer¬ 
cury hangs around zero, as every small 
crack is at work ventilating very fast 
at such times. J. e. s. 
DRY-PICKING POULTRY. 
1 would like to see an article written in 
detail by some of your hen experts, on how 
to dry-pick chickens without tearing their 
tender skin. Some of tiie best commission 
houses decline to handle scalded poultry. 
Sandy Creek, Me. e. c. c. 
In dry-picking poultry the trick is in 
the sticking. If this is correctly done, 
there is no more trouble in getting the 
feathers off, provided they are taken off 
quickly, than when the fowls are scalded. 
To loosen the feathers on a bird by stick¬ 
ing requires practice, and there will 
likely be many failures with the begin¬ 
ner. The ‘process can be much more 
clearly shown than described. Hang the 
fowl up by the feet, at a convenient 
height for picking, hold the back of the 
head firmly between the thumb and fore¬ 
fingers of the left hand, and with a 
sharp knife make a clean cut across the 
throat from inside the mouth, severing 
the veins, causing the blood to flow 
freely. Now turn the knife edge up¬ 
wards, and insert the point close to left 
side of bill, in the soft place noticed be¬ 
tween the side of bill and cleft in roof 
of mouth, aiming the point of blade di¬ 
rectly towards the center of back of 
neck, endeavoring to strike the spinal 
cord. When the exact point is reached, 
there will be a sharp squawk from the 
fowl, and a convulsive fluttering. Now 
is the time for quick action. Grasp both 
wings, close to the body, with one hand, 
to prevent fluttering, and with the other 
quickly remove the feathers, which may 
be taken off by the handiul if the stick¬ 
ing has been successfully accomplished, 
and you get them off quickly, before the 
bird ceases its death struggle, otherwise 
you will think the feathers have sudden¬ 
ly become well glued to the skin. The 
loosening process may also be accom¬ 
plished by forcing the blade through the 
hard part directly back of the cleft in 
roof of mouth with equal success, and 
many prefer this way. The point is to 
strike the spinal cord or base of brain, 
which must be done at once after bleed¬ 
ing, before the bird is too weak from 
loss of blood. 
This operation of plucking before the 
bird is dead is called cruel by some, but 
I seriously doubt its being as cruel as 
some methods of butchering. When the 
knife reaches the spinal cord or brain, it 
is supposed to cause insensibility at 
once, and the fluttering is the muscular 
action during the death struggle, and it 
is very doubtful whether the bird ever 
feels the least twinge from the plucking 
of the feathers. A convenient knife for 
the purpose is the ordinary two-blade 
jackknife, using the small blade, which 
should be about two inches long by one- 
quarter-inch wide. There have been few, 
if any, chickens scalded for market in 
this section for many years. 
J. E. STEVENSON. 
JACK RABBITS FOR CHICKENS. 
A reader In Washington recently wrote of 
feeding Jack rabbits as hen food. He now 
writes the following account of his opera¬ 
tions: 
How do I feed the jack rabbits to my 
chickens? I dress the rabbits, then with 
a sharp hatchet and a good big block 
I chop them into mincemeat and feed it 
raw. This part of Washington is a fine 
place to raise chickens, as there is no 
dew at night, and there is not much 
grass, as it has been eaten out by stock. 
I raised about 300 chickens last season; 
used an incubator. The roosters more 
than paid the feed bill. I sold them 
when big enough to fry from $2.75 to $3 
per dozen. Eggs have been a good price 
for over a year; they have not been be¬ 
low 20 cents, and are 25 cents now; 
wheat 85 cents to $1.25 per sack, hold¬ 
ing about 2*4 bushels; bran, 50 cents 
per sack, and shorts, 80 cents retail. If 
I bought my feed at Walla Walla, by 
the ton, it would come about 65 cents 
for shorts and 35 cents per sack for 
bran. Rolled barley is $1 per sack re¬ 
tail. I live 10 miles north of Wallula, 
3% miles east of the mouth of Snake 
River. Our nearest neighbors are five 
miles south. The only varmints that 
bother chickens are coyotes, but I have 
two shepherd dogs, and I have not lost 
any that way this year. I am going in 
the business of raising chickens. I built 
94 feet of house this year; 24 feet I use 
for a brooder house and to store feed, 
40 feet for a scratching shed, and 30 
feet for a roosting place. My house is 
eight feet wide. I have 200 chickens, 
and have always kept them that way. 
I intend to commence hatching the mid¬ 
dle of February, and hatch through 
March, April and May, then quit for the 
year. The kind I keep are Brown and 
White Leghorns, and a mixture of 
Langshan blood in the lot. I carry a 
small rifle when I go to Wallula, and I 
shoot the rabbits from the wagon, as 
they are not so afraid as when one is 
afoot. I get usually from two to four, 
and sometimes more. w. s. b. 
Wallula, Wash. 
The Texas Stockman says that of 800 
hogs recently sent to Havana from the 
United States, COO died within three days of 
hog cholera. 
FARMER 
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/T/ff IVY?, 
