1900 
779 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
The Chicken Yard. 
ARE BUFF LEGHORNS NERVOUS? 
Why are the Buff Leghorns so much 
wilder than the Whites or Browns, when 
raised all together under like conditions? 
Why have my Buff pullets for the last 
two years matured and commenced laying 
first, when this Fall the Whites are in ad¬ 
vance of the Buff and are laying? They 
were all hatched at the same time, and 
fed together, the parent stock having 
equal pains taken with the breeding. 
Buffs are a “Made” Breed 
The Buffs are new, and are said to be 
“sports,” but my experience is that, for 
some reason, birds only “sport” when a 
new breed is wanted. The fact is that 
the Buff Leghorns are made up by dif¬ 
ferent persons ;that is, there are several 
kinds „of Buffs, from three-quarters to 
seven-eighths Leghorn, the other being 
any kina of Buff bird that will serve as 
a foundation for color. The Pyle Game 
has been largely used, also other single¬ 
comb, smooth-leg fowls that could be 
found. It is possible that surroundings 
may affect tneir habits. A fright at any 
time is not soon forgotten, etc., but the 
Buffs should not be more excitable than 
the Whites, though individual and fam¬ 
ily peculiarities may be at fault. Hens 
are more liable to fatten when three 
years old, which may have something 
to do with the falling off in the supply 
Of eggS. p. h. JACOBS. 
Hammonton, N. J. 
Good Laying is Hereditary 
Buff Leghorns do seem much wilder 
than either of the other kinds, even 
though they are treated the same; while 
some of them seem fairly tame a few of 
the others will startle all, and it is al¬ 
most impossible to go in their pen with¬ 
out a general stampede. I have no idea 
why they should be so, but think it 
might be the different blood in them 
from the White Leghorn, as they are a 
made breed, but I do not know what 
breeds are used to make them. I have 
never noticed any difference of any ac¬ 
count in time of maturing and laying of 
any of tne Leghorns, unless possibly 
the Whites leading. I breed the Brown, 
Buff and White, and find that they all 
mature and lay very early. They are 
very active creeds, and mature very 
fast, and with good feed and care one can 
have lots of eggs with any Leghorns. 
The only way I could account for the 
Buffs laying first for the last two years 
might be that they were raised from 
hens that were the quickest to mature 
and lay, and this year it might have 
happened that eggs were used from hens 
that did not mature and lay so quickly, 
which would be likely to make a differ¬ 
ence. It is not likely that all the pul¬ 
lets commenced laying at one time, and 
besides the pullets that were the earliest 
and best layers might not have laid so 
well at breeding time, so that the eggs 
were obtained from the later layers, 
which could easily happen. 
New Jersey. d. a. mount. 
Close Inbreeding. 
I have had no personal experience in 
the breeding of Buff Leghorns, although 
from my observations of them in other 
breeders’ yards I was inclined to think 
just the opposite of them; that they 
were rather larger and less wild than 
the Whites or Browns. This I have 
supposed was caused by the make of the 
breed, they being crossed with a larger 
and less excitable breed to get the color. 
It may be possible that the Buffs have 
been inbred more closely than the 
Whites or Browns, which may account 
for the change in their laying qualities. 
If a less number of them is kept, and 
no outside blood brought in, the differ¬ 
ence would be quite noticeable. The 
smaller the flock the faster they are be¬ 
ing inbred. Then again, it may be caused 
by just the ordinary variations of na¬ 
ture, the same as some persons are much 
more timid and excitable than others of 
the same family, and we find the same 
variations in all animals as well as hu¬ 
man beings. Some cows will be excel¬ 
lent milkers one season, and possibly 
the very next season milk very poorly, 
and occasionally the offspring from the 
best cows is almost worthless in the 
dairy. It would be interesting to know 
whether Buffs mentioned continue to 
be more wild and sprightly than the 
Browns and Whites, and whether they 
are all, or only a portion of them, that 
way; the size of the flocks of each that 
are kept, and to what extent the Buffs 
have led the others in early laying; and 
how much the Whites are in the lead 
this season, both the time and number 
of eggs. _•_ j. e. s. 
FEEDING THE HEN 
We have printed a number of articles 
from Prof. James Dryden, of the Utah 
Experiment Station. The following is a 
synopsis of a talk he gave before a farm¬ 
er's institute in Utah: 
The hen requires a variety of food, if 
for no other reason than to improve 
her appetite, so that she may consume 
food enough to produce eggs in abund¬ 
ance. A hen should no more be fed on 
wheat alone than a man on bread alone. 
A short study of the composition of 
wheat and of eggs will explain why a 
profitable egg yield cannot be expected 
from wheat alone. Supposing you feed a 
hen which weighs 3.5 pounds 3.25 ounces 
of wheat a day. Of course a hen of that 
weight would not long consume that 
weight of wheat alone. Supposing, fur¬ 
ther, that the hen uses 2.75 ounces of 
that for the maintenance of the body; 
that leaves half an ounce to be converted 
into eggs, assuming that all the food is 
digested, which, of course, is not the 
case. In half an ounce of wheat there 
is about .06 of an ounce of protein. But 
the egg, according to chemical analysis, 
contains about one-quarter ounce of pro¬ 
tein. So that, assuming that the hen 
consumes and digests 3.25 ounces of 
wheat per day and that she uses 2.(5 
ounces of that for maintenance of the 
body, there is then available each day 
just one-fourth enough protein for one 
egg. In other words, it will take four 
days to get the necessary amount of pro¬ 
tein for one egg. But the egg has other 
constituents; so has wheat. The half¬ 
ounce of wheat contains about one and 
one-half times as much carbohydrates 
and fat as one egg contains. The hen 
fed on wheat alone has a surplus of one 
material and a deficiency of another. In 
other words, she has enough carbohy¬ 
drates and fat to make an egg and a 
half a day, bu* has only protein enough 
to make one egg in six days. You place 
the hen in an awkward position by feed¬ 
ing her wheat alone. Wheat does not 
contain the egg-making materials in 
proper proportions. Corn is even worse 
than wheat in this respect. 
Is there any one poultry food that 
contains the egg-making material in the 
right proportions? Lucern or Alfalfa 
has the egg-making materials in the 
right proportions. It has a nutritive ra¬ 
tion of 1 to 4 or 5, which authorities 
recommend as a good ration for egg pro¬ 
duction. But Alfalfa is too bulky. A 
hen could not eat by any process of 
cramming enough lucern to produce 
eggs profitably. This shows the neces¬ 
sity of feeding the hen in such a way 
that she will have not only the mater¬ 
ials in right proportion, but in such 
shape that she can secure the necessary 
amount of materials. 
What constitutes a good variety? If 
not too expensive, let wheat constitute 
the principal item of the ration. It may 
constitute about one-half of the total 
weight of food. Next, there should be 
grit to grind that grain. Then, as a 
third item, they need green food, such 
as cabbages, lucern, etc. With those 
three things the hens will lay eggs. But 
the question with practical poultrymen 
is not how to get eggs, it is how to get 
them in sufficient abundance. It has 
come now to be the belief among suc¬ 
cessful poultrymen that the hen requires 
some sort of animal food for best re¬ 
sults, and cut bones or “butchers’ 
scraps” on which there is a considerable 
amount of lean meat are largely fed to 
supply this item. So that we now have 
four essentials for an egg ration: Grain 
(concentrated food), grit, green or bulky 
food and animal food. If the poultry- 
man having these four foods and feed¬ 
ing them in the right proportions and 
in the right way, there is something 
wrong in some other direction if a flock 
of 1,000 hens does not pay its owner a 
profit on the amount of food consumed 
of $1,000 a year. 
We fed a pen of Leghorn pullets the 
following amounts per bird during the 
year: Mash, 10 pounds; wheat, 27 
pounds; cut bones, 10% pounds; corn, 
6% pounds; oats, 14 pounds; barley, one 
pound; lucern, 4% pounds; cabbages, 4 
pounds, a total weight of 77% pounds. 
The mash was composed of two parts 
bran and shorts, one part each of ground 
oats and corn, mixed with water and 
seasoned with a little pepper and salt. 
The cut bones were a mixture of bones 
and meat. The method of feeding was 
as follows: Tne mash was fed the first 
thing in the morning. Toward the mid¬ 
dle of the forenoon a light feed of grain 
was given, wheat, corn and oats, alter¬ 
nating. About 3 or 4 o’clock in the af¬ 
ternoon wheat was fed, all the hens 
would eat up before roosting time. All 
grain was fed in a litter of straw six 
inches deep, inducing exercise. The cut 
bones were fed three times a week. 
During the Winter months a cabbage 
head was kept hanging in the pen all 
the time. In Summer the green food 
was green lucern or clover, principally 
lucern. This was cut and thrown into 
the pens. _ 
Hen Possibilities.— I met a man a few 
mornings ago who bought 10 pullets of us 
a year ago. They were part Game, and 
he claimed he has made $1 apiece on 
them; that if he were a younger man, and 
penniless, he would hire, if he could, $1,000, 
and buy an old farm where taxes were low. 
He felt sure he could get a living on 500 
hens. He would have a garden for his own 
use, fence it in, and give the hens the run 
of the farm. This man, however, lives on 
his income in a village. He buys new pul¬ 
lets each Fall and kills off last year’s in 
September and October, and has the house 
clean and empty November 1 for the new 
lot. D. D. 
Oats for Poultry.— In cases where oats 
are suspected of the foul work of killing 
poultry, the evidence is usually circum¬ 
stantial, and they should not be con¬ 
demned hastily. If thoroughly investi¬ 
gated and the evidence carefully weighed 
I think that there will be few convictions, 
and the evidence will more likely strongly 
implicate some other agent. My experi¬ 
ence with oats leads me to believe them to 
be an excellent food for poultry. I have 
fed hundreds of bushels of them to poul¬ 
try of all ages, feeding whole grains from 
the time they are large enough to swallow 
them readily, and feeding small chicks 
cracked oats or oatmeal, and always with 
good results. j. e. stbvenson. 
Poultry Diseases.— Bulletin No. 47 of 
the Delaware Station (Newark) discusses 
the common diseases of fowls. These dis¬ 
eases are described and brief suggestions 
as to treatment are given. A few facts 
are gleaned as follows: 
Garlic, onion or rue are useful for gapes. 
For bathing the affected parts in roup 
a two-per-cent solution of creolin or per¬ 
manganate of potash one grain to the ounce 
are useful. 
Oil of turpentine is one of the best reme- 
ies for intestinal worms. 
Atrophy of the ovary occurs in some 
hens. The ovaries fail to develop, or waste 
away. The hens cease laying, and re¬ 
semble capons in plumage, voice, spurs, 
habits, etc. 
A remedy for scaly leg is to soak the 
legs in warm water to soften the crusts 
and remove as many as possible without 
bleeding. Then apply an ointment com¬ 
posed of one pint carbolic acid and 10 parts 
lard or vaseline. 
Feather pulling may result from a scaly 
mite which irritates the skin. Rub in the 
carbolized ointment mentioned above. 
For cuts or cracks on the feet soak in 
hot water and use an ointment composed 
of one part boric acid and five parts vase¬ 
line. 
It Saves Five Times Its Cost 
in a single Winter—the Rochester Radiator.— Ado. 
In every town 
and village 
may be had, 
a the 
that makes your 
horses glad. 
Sharpen your own Horse. 
THE BLIZZARD 
the greatest of all 
HORSE ICE CALKS 
Agents Wanted. Address, 
S.W. KENT,Cazenovia,N.Y. 
Take Off the Horns. 
Th" quickest, easiest and smoothest way, is 
possible only by the use of the 
CONVEX DISHORNER 
< .s. and the Backer Stock Holder. I also hare a 
f dlshorner and all appliances for easy dto 
1 Illustrated 
hook free. 
homing. W«it’n trade supplied from Chicago 
George Webster, Box 64 . Christiana. Pa 
A QUICK, SHARP CUT 
hurts much less than a bruise, crush ortear 
flFHAPNINA Done with the 
ucnvKngnu keystone knife 
Msthe safest. Quick, siiarp cut. Cuts from four 
sides at once. Cannot crush bruise or tear. 
Most humane method of dehorning known. 
)Took highest award World's Fair. Write 
for free circulars before buying. 
M. T. PHILLIPS, Pomeroy, Pa., (Successor io A. C. BRQSIUS). 
COOK YOUR FEED and SAVB 
Half the Cost—with the 
PROFIT FARM BOILER 
With Dumping Caldron. Empties its 
kettle in one minute. The simplest 
and best arrangement for cooking 
food for stock. Also make Dairy and 
Laundry Stoves, Water and Steam 
Jacket Kettlea, Hog Scalders, Cal. 
drons, .to. Send for circulars. 
V. R. SPERRY & CO., Batavia. UR 
HEESEN’S! 
Feed Cookers 
cook feed of any kind for any por' 
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others. Made in 7 sizes—16 to 75 
j irals. and every one guaranteed full 
j measure. Sold direct.Free circulars. 
HEESEN BROS. & CO. 
2*- fcvans St., Tecuaiaeh.Mich. 
Profitable Cows 
.til quick!, be found by using our 
ADJUSTABLE DIAL 
HAND SCALE 
Weighs quickly and accurately in pounds 
and twentieths. Write for new catalogue. 
Everything for the Dairy. 
THE DAIRYMEN'S SUPPLY CO., 
1USJ Market St., Philadelphia. 
SHARPIES 
CREAM SEPARATORS 
ALWAYS THE BEST. 
> THI 8IURPLRS 00, P. H* 8IURPLRS, 
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uream Separators. 
Ob Laval “ Alpha ” and " Baby " Separators. 
First—Best—Cheapest. All Styles—Sixes 
Prloes, 9BO to $800. 
Sava 110 per oow per year. Send for Catalogue. 
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Randolph and Canal Streets, I 74 Cortlandt Street 
CHICAGO I NHW YORK. 
sojl 
The Most Profitable Separator to Buy is 
THE IMPROVED U. S. SEPARATOR, 
AS PROVEN DAILY BY ITS HSFRS 
Paid for Itself 5 Times in 3 Years. 
Richmond, VA., May 14, igoo. 
The U. S. Separator bought in 1807 is all right. It has paid for 
itself about 5 times. If I did not make a pound more butter, it is 
worth the price in labor saved. Anyone that lias four g>>od cows 
can afford to buy a U. S. Separator. L. H. CARLTON. 
For. full information regarding its money-making and money-saving 
write the VERMONT FARM MACHINE CO., Bellows Falls, Vt. 
