644 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Henyard. 
Indian Runners; Hatching Laying Stock. 
1. If a flock of Indian Runner ducks 
lay well in the first part of the Winter, 
will they lay as well in the hatching sea¬ 
son? What would be a good feed for lit¬ 
tle Indian Runners? In what months is 
the best time to raise ducks for shipping 
to the city alive? 2. IIow early in the 
Spring may chickens be hatched to be 
kept for Winter layers. Is the first of 
March too early? Will they moult the 
same as old fowls hatched at this date? 
Calverton, L. I. e. h. h. 
1. Indian Runners that lay through the 
Fall will not always lay as well in the 
Spring. Much depends, however, upon 
the individual and the care. The best 
feed for ducks just hatched is rolled oats 
and bread crumbs in equal amounts, 
moistened enough to be crumbly, with a 
little fine grit added. Grit is very es¬ 
sential with any kind of feed, and should 
be continued till the ducks are nearly 
full grown. After that grit and oyster 
shells may be put in separate receptacles, 
and kept by the ducks all the time. When 
put into the mash two handfuls to the 
pailful is sufficient. When ducklings are 
two days old begin to add wheat bran 
and cornmeal in increasing quantities for 
a week, when the oats and crumbs may 
be discontinued. From this age a mix¬ 
ture of bran, cornmeal, meat scraps, and 
green stuff should be given. A good feed 
for adult ducks is vegetables, green stuff 
(in Winter cut clover or Alfalfa) and 
beef scraps, each one part; low-grade 
flour and bran, each two parts; cornmeal 
three parts. A pinch of salt should be 
put in each mess and a little ground char¬ 
coal once a week. The mash should al¬ 
ways be crumbly, not sloppy. Ducks will 
live on less variety. The earlier the ducks 
are hatched and prepared for the market 
the better prices they will bring. On the 
large duck farms the incubators are usual 
ly started in January. This means duck¬ 
lings in February and marketable ducks 
in April. 
2. The Brahmas and Cochins should 
be hatched in March, the American breeds 
in April, and Leghorns and other Medi¬ 
terranean breeds in May if we want eggs 
when they are the highest. There is such 
a thing as hatching pullets so early that 
they will begin to lay in the Summer and 
be ready to moult when we want eggs. 
In this case, however, they will event¬ 
ually get round to change their costumes 
when the other ladies do and be in style. 
w. II. HUSE. 
April 4, 
veloped chicks dead in the shell are not 
known. Moisture in the air of the incu¬ 
bator room is necessary, and could not 
have caused the loss of the chicks. 
M. B. D. 
White Diarrhoea. 
1. I have about 500 chicks, two weeks 
old, which I think have the white diar¬ 
rhoea. The chicks’ bowels becomes clogged 
with a white paste substance forming 
over the rectum. They take the disease 
when three or four days old, and new 
cases develop each day. They stop eat¬ 
ing and die in a day or two. I have 
them in a glass-front brooder-house 12x 
20 feet. The house is warmed by hot 
water pipes running about six inches 
from the floor, and is divided into four 
pens. I have been feeding them exactly 
according to a bulletin published by the 
Ohio State Agricultural Department. 
What can I do to stop this disease? To 
what extent is it contagious? Is it a 
germ disease? Can I clean the house so 
that other chicks put in it will not catch 
the disease? If so, how? I have 800 
eggs which I expect to hatch in about 
two weeks. What can I do to prevent 
these chicks from taking the disease? 
2. In my last hatch of 700 eggs I had 
about 150 chicks, which died in the shell 
after they were grown. What could have 
caused this? Room containing incuba¬ 
tors had about two quarts of water 
evaporated in it each day. Could this 
have made the air too moist? L. a. b. 
Ohio. 
1. You are evidently “up against” that 
scourge of poultrymen, white diarrhoea, 
probably of the bacillary type. This is a 
contagious disease caused by a specific 
germ which is transmitted from one 
chick to another through the medium 
of infected food and litter, and which is 
also passed down from infected hens to 
their chicks in the eggs. The only remedy 
is avoidance of hatching eggs from hens 
that are infected, destruction of all dis¬ 
eased chicks, and thorough disinfection 
of incubators, brooders and quarters oc¬ 
cupied by infected stock. As there is 
no way of demonstrating the presence of 
the disease germ in living hens, I should 
not hatch twice from a flock whose 
chickens developed bad cases of white 
diarrhoea. Incubators should be disin¬ 
fected by cleaning and washing the in¬ 
terior with a five per cent, solution of 
carbolic acid, or other disinfectant of 
equal strength; eggs should be dipped 
into grain alcohol of about 70 per cent, 
strength before being placed in the incu¬ 
bator, to destroy any germs upon the 
shell, and brooders should be given spe¬ 
cial attention in the matter of thorough 
disinfection. Only vigorous and thorough 
work will rid your premises of the in¬ 
fection. Burn all litter in infected pens, 
and use boiling water rreely in cleaning 
floors and walls. Ask the Connecticut 
Experiment Station, at Storrs, Conn., 
for Bulletin 74, which discusses this 
disease, and speaks or the value of early 
and continuous feeding of sour milk. 
2. The cause, or causes, of fully de¬ 
Roup and Breeding Stock. 
Can you advise me whether a good 
laying lien that had roup very badly 
18 months ago can be taken for breeding, 
or will the roup be carried through her to 
the chicks? She is the happiest and best 
hen in the flock, and I have selected her 
for breeding. g. 
Glen Mead, N. Y. 
It is not wise to breed from fowls that 
have ever suffered from true roup, not 
because the roup will be transmitted, but 
because such a fowl has received a severe 
check to her vigor which is pretty sure 
to lead to deficient vitality in the off¬ 
spring. Many cases of simple catarrhal 
inflammation of the eyes and nasal pas¬ 
sages are called roup, however, by those 
who have never seen the more severe 
disease, and it is possible that this hen 
which now seems so healthy did not have 
roup, after all. In that case, there is 
no objection to using her in the breeding 
pen. 
Stove-heated Henhouse. 
Is there anything objectionable in hav¬ 
ing artificial heat in a henhouse? I have 
a house 18 by 160 feet, with 700 pullets 
in it. I have a stove in the center, but 
it does not warm and dry it out well in 
the ends. How would it be to have three 
small coal stoves, one in the center and 
one in each end? j. b. W. 
New York. 
Artificial heating of poultry houses has 
been tried and found wanting, the results 
never having justified the cost. If properly 
ventilated, a henhouse should not be 
damp, and it will not be if by means of 
an open front, or other equally efficient 
means of ventilation, the air is changed 
with sufficient rapidity to prevent its 
becoming saturated with moisture and de¬ 
positing this moisture upon the walls and 
floors. Ventilation is cheaper than coal, 
and I would make sure that I had adopt¬ 
ed the best system possible for this before 
I installed more stoves. In most cases 
the open front style of building provides 
for the necessary exchange of air with¬ 
out detriment to the health of the hens. 
M. B. D. 
Skim-milk for Chicks. 
Will you give method of using skim- 
milk for young chicks? Should it always 
be sour? Can you feed it from the start? 
Can it be used freely? Is further animal 
feed essential in the mash? w. I. B. 
Massachusetts. 
Soured skim-milk is one of the best 
foods, that can be given young chicks, 
and if at hand, should be fed from the 
start. Its value lies not only in its nu¬ 
trition but in its power to inhibit the 
growth of intestinal bacteria which cause 
or predispose to white diarrhoea. If 
given in unlimited quantity, or all that 
the chicks will readily eat, it will meas¬ 
urably take the place of other animal 
food, but the addition of beef scrap to the 
rations is also advisable though it need 
not be fed. in as large quantity as if 
the skim-milk were not given, m. b. d. 
Suspected Tuberculosis. 
I enclose wing bone of a R. I. Red 
cockerel. You .will observe the unnatural 
or diseased condition. Will you tell me 
what it is, and its cause and cure or pre¬ 
vention? This bird was thin, but had a 
good appetite, looked a trifle pale around 
comb and wattles, but was active, seemed 
as healthy as most of the rest of the flock. 
New York. 
II. t. w. 
this bone suggests 
frequently affects 
organ of the body. 
It would be well 
organs, particularly 
fowls dying with 
see if the broken- 
down tubercles or masses of yellowish 
pus may be found. As to treatment, 
there is none, other than to remove 
evidently diseased birds from the flock, 
and to burn or bury the carcasses of 
those dying or killed. m. b. d. 
The condition of 
tuberculosis, which 
fowls, attacking any 
including the bones, 
to examine the other 
the liver, of any other 
similar symptoms, and 
Utilizing Old Hens. 
How do the large poultry farms which 
breed Leghorns dispose of their hens 
when they have outlived their usefulness 
as layers? If it costs 90 cents to $1 to 
raise them to the laying point, what do 
they do with them to realize the first in¬ 
vestment, as they must have hundreds to 
dispose of and a one or two-year-old Leg¬ 
horn cannot be the best of eating. 
Connecticut. g. m. s. 
With the exception of those sold for 
breeders, the number of which would vary 
with the reputation of the breeder and 
the efforts he made to dispose of mature 
stock in this way, I know of no other out¬ 
let for surplus stock than the general mar¬ 
ket for fowls. While a two or three-year- 
old Leghorn may not be the best of eat¬ 
ing, if in good condition, and properly 
cooked, she is not to be despised by any 
means. The turkey served the writer 
at a recent banquet was inferior, in his 
estimation, to a well-looked two-year-old 
Leghorn hen. ai. B. D. 
Newtown Giant Colony Brooder 
Coal-burning. Self-regulating 
Simple, safe, serviceable. Efficient, eco¬ 
nomical. Saves time, labor, fuel. Makes 
success sure. Heartily endorsed by prac¬ 
tical poultrymen. 
'‘After thoroughly testing the Newtown Giant 
Colony Brooder , we consider it a good stove in 
every respect and one that will save the poultry 
fraternity thousands of chicks and a large 
amount of money . R. Curtis & Co., 
Ransomville, N. Y. 
Made in two sizes for 300 to 1,500 chicks. 
Write now for catalog. We prepay freight 
if there is no Newtown dealer near you. 
NEWTOWN GIANT INCUBATOR CORPORATION 
74 Warsaw Street Harrisonbnrg, Virginia 
Do You Want to Save Money 
and Raise All the Chicks ? 
The Ideal Colony Brooder 
Coal Burning Self Regulating 
100 per cent efficient. Econom¬ 
ical and flafe. Superior to oil burn¬ 
ers. Large and small farms are 
using the Ideal with success. The 
only system giving perfect satis¬ 
faction. Write for booklet describ¬ 
ing the 
IDEAL COAL 
STOVE KKOODER 
Price,$ 1 7.00. With Regulator,$22.00 
LIBERTY STOVE CO. 
110 fl. Second St., Philadelphia,P*. 
MacKell ar*s Charcoal 
For Poultry is best. Coarse or fine granulated, also 
powdered. Buy direct from largest manufacturers ol 
Charcoal Products. Ask for prices and samples. Est. 1841 
R. MaeKELLAR'S SONS CO., Peekskill, N. Y. 
300 LICE 
Or More 
on One Hen 
I«by no means uncommon. No one would expect 
to fatten a steer with that number oG|ticks’’ suck¬ 
ing his blood, but many expectj 
the old hen to go ahead shelling t 
out eggs while lice and mites are 
sapping her very life. We have 
counted over 2000 dead lice under 
a row of ten hens, on a roost 
board painted the night before with 
Lee’s Lice Killer. Thisgreatkillerdoes ’ 
double duty—contact kills mites, lice,s 
bedbugs, etc. about the roosts; the' 
vapor kills lice on the chickens sitting 
over it. Put up only in airtight cans. 
For sale at over 10,000 towns. 
Three sizes—35 cts., 60 cts., $1.00. Poultry Book free. 
GEO. H. LEE CO. Omaha, Nebr. 
SHIP BY PARCEL POST IN STRONG, 
LIGHT “H & D” BOXES 
a n & T> ” Boxes are designed to carry farm products by Parcel Post. They 
a H requirements of new reguhitions and guarantee safe delivery . Made 
ot double-faced, corrugated Jute board—a perfect cushion for eggs and other 
fragile articles—protects from heat and cold. Waterproof, sanitary, light, 
iirm and strong. Shipped knocked-down, easy to set up and pack. 
“ H & D 99 Three-piece Egg Boxes—Five Sizes 
Safest, most convenient for mailing. Double thickness corrugated board on all sides. 
Sizes, one to six dozen eggs. A one-piece dozen-size box lor special trade. 
** H & D 99 Boxes for Dressed Fowls, Fruit, Butter, Etc. 
v\ o make lip slopping boxes for any kind of farm produce. Write stating size and 
weight of articles you ship for quotation on boxes. 
Send for Free booklet “How to pack it for parcel post 99 
“H &D” Chick Boxes and Fireless Brooders known and used by successful poultry- 
men everywhere. Write today for booklet. 
THE H1NDE & DAUCH PAPER CO., Dept. E, SANDUSKY, OHIO 
Save All your Chicks- 
Put Stamina into Them 
At Babyhood 
Gilbert Hess, 
Doctor of Medicine, 
Doctor Veterinary 
Science 
The annual loss of youngf chicks in the United States is staggering. 
More than one-half the yearly hatch die before reaching pullet 
age—die through leg weakness, gapes and indigestion. Talk about 
conservation think of the millions of dollars that poultry raisers 
could save by saving most of these chicks. 
Yes, most of them can be saved—saved by starting them on 
Dr. Hess Poultry 
PAN-A-CE-A 
Right jrom the very first feed. During my 25 years’ experience as 
a doctor of medicine, a veterinary scientist and a successful poultry 
raiser, I discovered that, by using a certain nerve tonic and appe¬ 
tizer, leg weaknesscould be absolutely overcome; that the use of another 
certain chemical that is readily taken up by the blood would cure 
gapes, by causing the worms in the windpipe (the cause of gapes) 
to let go their hold and helping the chick throw them off. By com¬ 
bining these same ingredients with bitter tonics and laxatives, I 
found that I could control and invigorate the chick’s digestion. 
My Poultry Pan-a-ce-a helps put stamina into the chick, strength¬ 
ens and cleanses its system and sends it along the road to maturity, 
hardy and robust. Most of the biggest poultry farms in the United 
States, where chicks are hatched out by the thousand everyday 
during hatching season, feed my Pan-a-ce-a regularly. 
Dr. Hess Poultry Pan-a-ce-a is the result of my successful poultry 
experience and scientific research in poultry culture—there is no 
guesswork about it. Ingredients printed on every package. Now 
listen to this 
Get-Your-Money-Back Guarantee 
You buy Dr. Hess Poultry Pan-a-ce-a of your dealer. If it does not 
help your chicks grow, keep them well, make your poultry healthy 
and your hens lay, he is authorized to refund your money; you 
can’t possibly lose—Pan-a-ce-a must pay or you get your money 
back. Costs a penny a day to feed 30 fowl. VA lbs. 25c ; 5 lbs. 60c ; 
25-lb. pail $2.50. Except in Canada and the far West. Buy of your 
dealer—Pan-a-ce-a is never sold by peddlers. 
DR. HESS & CLARK, Ashland, Ohio 
Dr. Hess 
Stock Tonic 
Your stock need this 
tonic now to harden 
and condition them aft¬ 
er the. confined heavy 
feeding of winter. 
There’s nothing better 
to put horses in trim for 
hard spring and sum¬ 
mer work. Milch cows 
need it badly just now 
to prepare them for the 
heavy milking season 
ahead. Dr. Hess Stock 
Tonic makes all stock 
healthy—keeps them 
toned up and expels 
worms. Sold under 
money-back guarantee. 
25-lb. pail $1.60; 100-lb. 
sack $5; smaller pack¬ 
ages as low as 50c. Ex¬ 
cept in Canada, the far 
West and the South. 
Send 2e. for my new 
free Stock Tonic book. 
Dr. Hess 
Instant 
Louse Killer 
Kills lico on poultry and all 
farm stock. Dust the hens 
and chicks with It, sprinkle 
it on the roosts, in the cracks 
or if kept in the dust bath 
the hens will distribute it. 
Also destroys bugs on cu¬ 
cumber, squash and melon 
vines, cabbage worms, etc., 
slugs on rose bushes, etc. 
Comes in handy sifting-top 
cans, 1 lb. 25c; 3 lbs. 6Uc. 
Except in Canada and the 
far West. I guarantee it. 
