1024 
THE RUHA T_. NEW-YORKER 
Dairy and Poultry Notes 
Breeding and Developing Holsteins. 
f 
[Road by Irving M. Avery before the Chester 
Co. Holstein Breeders’ Association at Westtown, 
Pa.. June 12.] 
Part III. 
In the matter of A. R. O. work every 
live breeder of Holsteins should endeavor 
to put at least one full age record on 
each member of his herd, not only for h s 
own individual benefit but for the ad¬ 
vancement of the breed in general, for the 
comparatively high prices for Holsteins 
prevailing today are due to _ A. 11. O. 
work. Official records establish beyond 
controversy the status of the herd. Pri¬ 
vate records are of course far better than 
none at all but they merely satisfy the 
owner himself and add little or nothing 
to the market value of the herd. On the 
other hand A. It. O. records lift the en¬ 
tire herd far above the ordinary and 
stamp individual members with the mark 
of quality, meantime materially increas¬ 
ing the value of the young stock bred, es¬ 
pecially the bulls for which a market 
must be found. Many hold back from a 
start in A. R. O. work through ignor¬ 
ance of the rules and requirements; 
others because of a false or misconceived 
notion of economy. I grant you that 
there is added expense, but it is nothing 
when compared to the benefits derived. 
I grant also that there is considerable 
hardship, if you are to do the work your¬ 
selves, or apt to be considerable trouble 
with the help, if you are to hire it done. 
It is no sinecure to feed, milk and care 
for a bunch of test cows every six hours, 
besides attending to the regular work dur¬ 
ing the day, and occasionally getting a lit¬ 
tle sleep. It means sacrifice; but for the 
conscientious breeder whose heart and 
soul are in his business and loves lrs 
cows, there are many compensations in 
A. R. O. work of which the sceptic knows 
nothing. For him the joy of achieve¬ 
ment—forgotten are the hardships, an- 
i oyances and inconveniences when he 
sees his favorite cow on official test, un¬ 
der his faithful care and guidance, grad¬ 
ually increasing her production from day 
to day and finally perhaps vindicating 
herself and him, by setting a mark for 
milk and butter production for others to 
str've for ami for all to envy. 
This is our method of handling test 
cows. As stated before, we aim to have 
our cows drop a calf every year, but also 
aim to give them at least six weeks rest 
between calves, and prior to that a per¬ 
iod of equal length without grain, in or¬ 
der to clear the system of all stimulating 
food material and better fit them to relish 
and make good use of their test ration, 
when fresh. Sometimes it is almost im¬ 
possible to get a persistent milker com¬ 
pletely dry, as everything fed, no matter 
what, seems to go to milk and in this 
case we have to do the best w’e can. A 
cow should calve in good condition—not 
hog fat, but in good flesh, and with 
plenty of reserve to draw upon. To this 
end we commence feeding three times 
daily as soon as dry a small amount of 
the following ration ; equal parts of bran, 
hominy, crushed oats and oil meal. The 
quantity is gradually increased until she 
is receiving all she can promptly lick up 
clean. This is supplemented by a small 
amount of silage and hay “ad libitum.” 
About two weeks before calving silage is 
discontinued and beets or beet pulp sub- 
st' tuted. We find that as calving time 
approaches a cow will naturally slacken 
her consumption of grain, and we then 
gradually decrease the allowance of the 
hefore-mentioned mixture and substitute 
bran, and just prior to parturition give 
several doses of epsom salts—and again 
as soon as the calf has been dropped. 
The calf is allowed to be licked clean 
and to suck once, and is then removed to 
the calf barn and placed in a pen by it- 
s If. Meantime the dam has been disin¬ 
fected. lightly blanketed and given a lib¬ 
eral allowance of warmed water. Never 
permit a cow access to chilled water at 
ca’ving time. 
To avoid danger of milk fever we never 
milk out clean until at least 24 hours 
have elapsed; but in exceptional cases of 
absolute distress it is necessary to remove 
a small quantity from each quarter to 
afford relief. For the first 48 hours we 
feed nothing but bran and oats with salt, 
a few heets, and hay. After that if the 
cow is doing nicely we start feeding sil¬ 
age, with a small amount of whatever 
test mixture has been decided upon, 
gradually increasing the allowance by 
one pound every other day, and always 
feeding every six hours and before milk¬ 
ing. Every individual cow is a law unto 
herself and some can start in and pick 
up on a quantity that would stagger an¬ 
other of smaller capacity. The feeder 
must be the judge and make the decision. 
However, a very safe rule is to start in 
with say two pounds of feed, given four 
times daily. No one man can formulate 
an ideal test ration to fit all cows be¬ 
cause of the individual likes and dis¬ 
likes of different membeis of the herd. 
Some will greedily lick up anything and 
everything, while others are annoyingly 
particular and must be humored and 
coaxed. And so a conscientious feeder 
makes friends with and studies his cows 
and does his level best to satisfy them. 
In a general sense it may be said that 
the test ration should be narrow, that is 
rich in protein, figuring out say 1:3.5 or 
1:4 for seven-day tests, but for longer 
tests it should be widened gradually by 
the addition of hominy or corn meal, in 
order to maintain body weight. Perhaps 
the most satisfactory ration we have ever 
used and one which practically forms the 
basis of all our test mixtures is the fol¬ 
lowing: 250 pounds Ajax flakes, 200 
pounds wheat bran, 100 pounds hominy, 
100 pounds crushed oats, 100 pounds oil 
meal, 100 pounds cottonseed meal, and 
50 pounds charcoal. We give all of our 
animals, including the horses, at regular 
intervals a little of this homemade con¬ 
dition mixture: 100 pounds oil meal, five 
pounds charcoal, five pounds epsom salts, 
five pounds common salt, live pounds salt¬ 
peter, four pounds gentian, and four 
pounds fenugreek. 
Dipping Hens for the Depluming Mite. 
I will endeavor to answer your query 
in “Brevities,” page 042, in regard to 
dipping hens. In one house I have two 
flocks in separate pens. The one flock 
had been feather-pullers ever since they 
were a few weeks old. They kept get¬ 
ting more and larger bare spots all over 
their bodies; some were half naked, 
which we ascribed to continued feather 
pulling, although the worst offenders had 
been disposed of, and very little pulling 
could be noticed. Then the other flock 
in same house (in their second year) 
which had never been feather pullers, 
also developed the bare spots, as did still 
another flock in another house fully 50 
feet away, also non-pullers. Then we 
realized that the trouble must be caused 
by the depluming mite. We wrote to the 
State Experiment Station in regard to 
using a dip. They advised against it, 
but recommended (he use of an ointment 
to apply to the bare spots. As the catch¬ 
ing of over 500 hens, looking for the 
spots and applying ointment, seemed to 
us too big a task, we bought a can of dip, 
diluted a quantity 100 to one as direc¬ 
tions read, and dipped two of the flocks 
on separate days, pens being thoroughly 
cleaned and sprayed same day. We kept 
each hen immersed (all but head) for 30 
seconds, though directions read to do so 
a full minute. The hens dried off nicely 
before roosting time, and the next day 
the falling off in egg production was very 
little. But after that the production, for 
two weeks, fell off fully 65 per cent, of 
what it had been week before dipping. 
They are doing better now, but not yet 
anywhere near to what they were. Still 
the dip seems to have accomplished its 
object, as we can notice new feathers 
coming. It is likely that had we used 
an ointment the laying would not have 
fallen off so gently, but eggs laid would 
have been unsalable because they would 
have become greasy from contact with 
the ointment. So, from our experience, 
we believe it a hard matter to decide 
which method of getting rid of the de¬ 
pluming mite causes the least loss. Dip 
and get very few eggs; or use ointment 
and get greasy eggs, besides having far 
more labor. Perhaps some of your read¬ 
ers may have tried a large dust box with 
insect powder or flowers of sulphur mixed 
with the sand, or dust, and will give their 
experience with this method. E. E. B. 
New Jersey. 
Chicks With Colds. 
I have 300 chicks, March, April and 
May hatch. They seemed to be all right 
till about four weeks ago. They sneeze 
at night and water runs out of their nos¬ 
trils all the time. I have another lot 
about six weeks old; they start with one 
eye closed, then the other eye closes, and 
then they die. I feed mixed feed, wheat 
and dry mash. About two weeks ago I 
put permanganate of potash in the water 
in the morning, and the afternoon we 
give them clear water. The coops are 
airtight and dry, and they have free 
range. We had a hard time in getting 
these chicks to roost. F. H. 
North Haledon, N. J. 
Young chicks are subject to “colds,” 
which may be severe and which may be 
prelim'nary to the more serious affection, 
roup, if they become exposed to that con¬ 
tagious infection. Overheating in brood¬ 
ers or by crowding and then exposure to 
dampness or drafts may cause the ordin¬ 
ary symptoms of colds, and in weaker 
chickens, the symptoms increase in sever¬ 
ity until death supervenes. Prevention is 
more important than cure, which latter 
may be impossible. Chicks should be 
kept in clean quarters where older fowls 
have not run. They should not be per¬ 
mitted to huddle and sweat at night, they 
should not be overheated in stove or 
lamp-heated brooders, they should not be 
exposed to rain and cold winds; they 
should not be fed or watered from dirty 
dishes, or from dishes used by older 
fowls; and. finally, they should be 
batched from vigorous stock, free from 
disease, and should be gi*’en such care as 
will induce general vigor and growth and 
enable them to withstand such vicissi¬ 
tudes as they must necessarily meet. You 
will do well to remove the sick ones from 
your flock and confine them by them¬ 
selves. Keep permanganate of potash in 
their drinking water all the time, mak¬ 
ing as strong a solution as they will 
drink. Be scrupulously clean in caring 
for their drinking and eating utensils; 
see that they have fresh, clean litter 
often ; give them ample fresh air at night, 
but keep them out of direct drafts and 
do not allow sick chicks to run with 
those in good health. M. b. d. 
Weight of Chicks ; Oats and Buckwheat 
for Poultry. 
About what should Plymouth Rock 
chicks weigh at eight weeks? Also, 
what is your opinion as to feeding grow¬ 
ing chickens hulled oats? Do you think 
there is much food value for chickens in 
buckwheat or in sunflower seed? 
Pennsylvania. G. M. A. 
My own experience with the heavier 
b-eeds of fowls is limited but I should 
think that from one to one and a quarter 
pounds would be good weights for Ply¬ 
mouth Rock chicks at eight weeks of 
age. Hulled oats are valuable food for 
chicks, there being few, if any, grains 
seemingly so well suited for young stock 
of all kinds as are oats. Pinhead oat 
meal or rolled oats are an invaluable ad¬ 
dition to the ration of chicks from the 
time they are hatched until they are too 
old to be fed such expensive food; this 
notwithstanding that I have recently read 
a warning from some poultryman against 
the use of rolled oats for chicks. 
it. B. D. 
Hen with Cough. 
I have a White Wyandotte hen, one 
year old, weighing five pounds. She has 
been laying steadily since the beginning 
of December, and lays on the average 25 
eggs per month. Last Fall my flock had 
an attack of chicken pox, and this hen 
was also afflicted. Ever since she has 
been subject to a cough. She coughs 
while eating, and on rainy days; but at 
night it is most noticeable. At times I 
have also noticed a blood streak on the 
shell of her eggs. Will you advise me | 
what I can do for her, as I would not 
like to lose her? f. h. 
New York. 
Without knowing the cause of this 
cough, it would be impossible to pre¬ 
scribe intelligently for the hen; if she 
lays well and keeps in good flesh, there is j 
probably some local obstruction to breath- i 
ing that does not interfere with her gen- i 
eral health, but it would take a careful 
examination to determine what it is. The : 
fact that an occasional egg is blood 
streaked does not indicate any serious 
trouble. m. b. d. 
A Portable Henhouse. 
I wish to build a portable chicken- 
house 12 feet long, eight feet wide, six 
feet in front and 414 in rear, with three 
feet open front. Can you give me an 
idea of the way to build? I wish to have 
it as light, yet serviceable, as possible 
and easy to take apart. J. H. w. 
West Orange, N. J. 
A poultry house Sxl2 feet in size is too 
heavy to be easily portable, though a 
team could draw it over hard ground. 
No special skill is required to build such 
a house of the shed roof type, though, if 
it is to be made in sections iii order that 
it may be taken down, some care in its 
construction will be necessary. Hard¬ 
wood planks, 2x12 inches, should form 
the sills, running lengthwise of the build¬ 
ing. The lower corners of these planks 1 
should be chamfered to form runners 
upon which the building may be drawn; | 
2x4 inch scantlings, with centers not j 
more than two feet apart, should be j 
framed into these sills. Matched flooring 
should cover all to make a rigid platform 
upon which the walls and roof may be 
erected. The walls are probably best 
made of well-seasoned native pine match¬ 
ed stuff. This is light and a single thick¬ 
ness of boards is all that is required for 
warmth, if matched. The walls would 
have to be built in panels, if they are to 
be taken down. The boards should be 
placed vertically. A removable roof 
might also be built of matched pine floor¬ 
ing, in panels, and well painted. If your : 
own mechanical ingenuity is not equal to ! 
the task of devising means for fastening j 
the walls and roof together, you would j 
better employ a carpenter for this part 
of the work, but, if you are ordinarily 
“handy,” you will probably be able to do 
all the work yourself. M. B. D. j 
August 14, 1015. 
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