44« 
THE KURALv NEW-YORKER 
March 30, 
THE HEN MAN TALKS. 
Paint for Incubator. 
Would tarred paper and white lead paint 
affect the eggs if used inside an old incu¬ 
bator? Would it be good for brooder if 
not for incubator? What paint, if any, 
could be used inside an incubator to make 
it air-tight that would not affect the eggs? 
What could be used to take away the smell 
from paint? J. p. 
Warrenvillc, Conn. 
Tarred paper gives off such a strong odor 
whenever heated that it cannot be recom¬ 
mended as a lining for incubators. If the 
cracks in this incubator are sufficiently 
small to be filled with paint it may be 
given a coat of white- lead paint, allowing 
the same to become thoroughly dry before 
placing eggs in it. Or the tarred paper 
may be removed and ordinary building 
paper used instead, where no paint would 
be needed. It would be difficult to make 
over an incubator into a satisfactory 
brooder. m. b. d. 
Weak Chicks. 
What is the cause of my six-weeks-old 
chicks sitting all the time? They have not 
strength to walk, and finally die. I feed 
cracked corn, chick feed, beef scraps, shell, 
charcoal and grit; bran before them all the 
time. I have been feeding five times daily. 
Abington, Md. t. w. h. 
You do not describe the condition of your 
chicks with sufficient detail to enable one 
even to guess at the cause of your diffi¬ 
culty, as the progressive weakness and fatal 
termination which characterize the trouble 
from which your chicks are suffering may 
have one or more of several different causes. 
One of the several different forms of so- 
called “white diarrhoea,” digestive disturb¬ 
ances from improper feeding, improper 
brooding or even inherited weakness from 
faulty breeding stock may lie back of the 
malady. Only a detailed description of your 
methods of feeding and caring for your 
young stock will enable anyone to form 
an intelligent opinion as to the probable 
cause of your trouble. M. b. d. 
Building Paper Around Cellar Wall. 
How long before building paper would 
decay if placed around the outside walls of 
my cellar and covered with sand? Would 
coal ashes, put a few inches thick around 
the wall at the top, prevent frost entering 
better than clear sand? Is a cement floor 
over sand as dry as a sand floor? d. v. n. 
Peconic, N. Y. 
If the inquirer refers to the practice of 
covering the outside of a cellar wall with 
paper to render it waterproof, this is done 
after the wall is laid and tarred paper 
rather than building paper is used, this 
paper being given another coat of hot tar 
before throwing the dirt back against it. 
Paper so treated is said to last indefinitely. 
A cement floor over sand is as dry as the 
sand beneath it, and no drier, unless the 
floor is properly made by having a layer 
of tari’ed paper inlaid while the floor is in 
the process of construction. si. b. d. 
Questions About Breeds. 
You hear so many things about Rose 
Comb and Single Comb It. I. Iteds that I 
should like to know which are the better. 
What is the difference? Which are the 
better for Winter layers? Are the Barred 
Plymouth Rocks better than the Reds when 
you are breeding for size and meat? What 
do you think of mating a purebred S. C. W. 
Leghorn rooster with Reds when you want 
eggs? If you did this, the chicks would 
have the good qualities of both the parents. 
Holyoke, Mass. h. p. h. 
There is no difference between Rose 
Comb and Single Comb R. I. Reds save in 
the shape of their combs, they being of 
equal value as layers. The standard weight 
in Plymouth Rocks is about one pound 
heavier in both male and female than the 
R. I. Reds. I doubt your statement that a 
cross of Leghorn upon It. I. Reds would 
give you the good qualities of both varie¬ 
ties. Why should it not give you the poor 
points of ‘both ? As a matter of fact there 
is very little that can be said in favor of 
crossing two distinct varieties of fowls, 
and very much that can be said against it. 
M. B. D. 
Ailing Chickens. 
1. I have a neighbor whose young chick¬ 
ens nearly all die. When they are a week 
or two old they become dumpish, stand 
around with feathers ruffled and die, some 
in a few. days, some after a few weeks. A 
few survive, but never amount to much; 
they eat, but do not gain in weight. Who 
knows what is the matter? The symptoms 
are those of lice, but it is net lice. Last 
Fall my own chicks were similarly attacked, 
but I did not lose so many outright. My 
neighbor has had tins' trouble for years. 
The man who occupied the place before him 
had the same experience. 2. Who knows 
what beef scraps are really made from? 
After the various sausages, etc., are made 
for human food, what is left? Some that 
I have bought seemed better fitted for fer¬ 
tilizer than poultry food. 3. How many 
pounds of feed daily would be required by 
100 laying It. I. Red hens, fully matured, 
the feed to consist of equal parts of corn, 
wheat and heavy oats, or if half the feed 
is mash, composed of bran, middlings, 
gluten feed or something similar, how many 
pounds would be needed of each besides 
the green feed? d. m. 
New Haven, Ind. 
1. Your description of your neighbor’s 
poultry troubles points clearly to the fact 
that his chickens are suffering from some 
infectious disease, and the source of the in¬ 
fection might undoubtedly be traced to their 
immediate surroundings, brooders, coops, 
eating and drinking utensils, possibly in¬ 
cubators if incubators are used, and even 
the ground upon which his chickens run. 
While you do not mention the presence of 
diarrhoea, your description of the cause of 
the disease makes one think of that poultry 
scourge called by the Storrs Experiment 
Station bacillary white diarrhoea. While 
the term white diarrhoea is used by poul- 
trymen to cover various troubles incident 
to chick life, this particular disease has 
been demonstrated to be due to a germ 
found in the ovaries of the adult hen, and 
is transmitted by her through the yolk of 
the egg to the newly hatched chick, and by 
it in turn through the droppings to its fel¬ 
lows. For a further description as to its 
eradication you are referred to Bulletin No. 
61 of the Storrs Agricultural Experiment 
Station at Storrs, Conn. 
2. Hens will live and thrive upon a sim¬ 
ple diet, but they appreciate a variety in 
rations and such variety may be made a 
source of economy in feeding. Not all 
beef scrap upon the market is wholesome, 
and care should be used to select a bright, 
sweet-smelling and comparatively odorless 
product. 
3. The amount of food needed by 100 
R. I. Red hens would vary so much under 
different conditions as to make even an ap¬ 
proximate estimate difficult. At the Maine 
Experiment Station it was found that 100 
hens ate daily nearly 25 pounds of grain 
and mash, while the State Agricultural Col¬ 
lege of New Jersey recommends a ration 
giving each 100 fowls 40 pounds daily. 
Neither station would attempt to fix any 
definite amount as a standard to be ad¬ 
hered to in feeding. m. b. d. 
Sick Hens; Building Questions. 
1. About two weeks ago I found one of 
my S. C. White Leghorn hens unable to 
walk; she seemed to have lost the use of 
her feet and could get around only by hob¬ 
bling along. She did not eat and kept get¬ 
ting in worse shape, so I killed her. I 
thought perhaps she had been injured in 
flying from the roosts, which are high. The 
other morning I found another hen afflicted 
in the same way, only worse, as she was 
unable to use her legs at all, and only lived 
one day. These hens were in different 
houses. Now there is another one in the 
same way. I have examined their legs and 
can find no evidence of any disease. I have 
fed as nearly as possible the rations pre¬ 
scribed in “The Business Hen” for Winter 
layers, and they have done well. What is 
the trouble and how to remedy it? 2. 
IIow large a henhouse would I need to 
build so as to keep 300 hens, and how large 
a window would I want in each pen? I 
have been advised to use plaster board in¬ 
stead of sheeting on the inside. Which 
would be the better and cheaper? 
Rusliford, N. Y. H. L. A. 
1. l r our sick fowls are probably egg- 
bound, a condition arising from overfeeding 
of a too narrow or stimulating ration, com¬ 
bined with under exercise. If feeding heav¬ 
ily of meat in any form make a material 
reduction in the quantity fed. Feed dry 
instead of wet mash and all whole grain in 
deep litter, and by deep I mean from eight 
to 12 inches of dry straw or chaff. Do not 
be afraid that any small grain will be lost 
if your fowls are on a tight floor of any 
kind. Give your fowls outdoor range the 
year round. 
2. A henhouse should be built at least 16 
feet deep, and may be 20. It should be of 
sufficient length to give each fowl from 
three to six square feet of floor space, the 
former figure being the minimum and carry¬ 
ing with it the obligation to strict cleanli¬ 
ness. The usual rule is to allow one square 
foot of glass to each 12 to 16 feet of floor 
space, or the front may be about equally 
divided between wood, glass and opening 
covered by a swinging muslin curtain. A 
house 20x60 feet divided into three equal¬ 
sized pens would in my opinion be an ideal 
size for 300 fowls. Plaster board is more 
expensive than other forms of sheeting, 
and unnecessary in a henhouse. A single 
thickness of wall if airtight on all sides but 
the front is amply warm for this latitude. 
M. B. D. 
Keeping Hen Manure. —Toll A. R., page 
1224, that if he will use fine sifted coal 
ashes on the droppings boards, cleaning off 
the manure once a week or so, and storing 
It in dry barrels he will find It in good 
condition to handle next Spring, neither 
lumpy dry nor too moist. I understand 
that coal ashes do not cause the manure to 
deteriorate as wood ashes do. H. c. D. 
Connecticut. 
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