1208 
THE HENYARD 
The Quality of Eggs. 
At the close of last year’s egg-laying 
contest I was much interested in the final 
summing up, and I have wondered if you 
could not have taken the comparison one 
step farther. For instance: First, the 
Leghorns won in numbers, then the 
Wyandottes won in putting their eggs into 
the best market: again the Leghorns 
came out ahead in cost of keep. You also 
figured weight of eggs. Have you ever 
considered the different food value of fat 
and albumen in different eggs, or in eggs 
from different hens? If there is such a 
difference in cows, why not in hens? I 
have often noted the difference in the 
solidity of the albumen and the yolk in 
eggs from different hens. From these ob¬ 
servations I have guessed that there 
might be a difference in the food value of 
eggs of equal weight. If you have ever 
investigated along this lint* will you give 
us the result? joiix m. stii.es. 
We have gone into this matter again 
and again, always to find that there is 
practically no difference in the feeding 
value of eggs. At one time a breeder of 
Light Brahmas was willing to bet that 
eggs from his hens would analyze higher 
than Leghorn eggs. An impartial test 
showed no difference, and that is the ver¬ 
dict in every case we have on record. So 
far as food value goes “an egg is an egg.” 
It is true that certain foods will affect 
the flavor or color of the egg. but there is 
no such difference between breeds of poul¬ 
try as is noted in cows. The Jersey and 
(iuernsey have the inherited ability to put 
a large amount of fat into milk, as com¬ 
pared with Ilolsteins, but there is no such 
comparative difference with hens. 
Feather Pulling. 
About a month ago some <>f my flocks 
of pullets, which had been confined to 
yards rather longer than our usual cus¬ 
tom, on account of delay in getting the 
hay off their free range, seemed simul¬ 
taneously to lose their tail feathers, and 
pick one another's tails. This became so 
bad that not only the main tail feathers 
were either pulled out or broken off, but 
some of the smaller feathers about the 
tail were taken, too. In some extreme 
cases unripe feathers are broken off, 
blood starts, and considerable damage is 
done. This trouble I laid to lack of ex¬ 
ercise, and probably insufficient green 
food, etc., though the proportion of scrap 
used in the dry mash should not have 
meant any shortage in animal matter. 
As quickly as possible these pullets were 
placed on free range, about two weeks 
ago. I think the trouble has been 
checked, but once in a while I still see 
evidences of it; and of course it makes 
those birds whose tails are gone, or half 
gone, look -unsightly. I think that pre¬ 
vention of this trouble in future seasons 
is fairly simple, in the light of this ex¬ 
perience ; but what I wish to ask is 
whether there is anything more that I 
can do to positively stop this damage, 
and whether anything can really be ac¬ 
complished in hastening the growth of 
new tails. I have not had experience 
with this difficulty before. How long 
before new tail feathers will be devel¬ 
oped? As some of these birds are for 
my own use, and should shortly go into 
Winter quarters, and some are to be sold, 
it is of considerable moment. These pul¬ 
lets are mostly April (some March) 
hatched; and the trouble has occurred 
more with the White Leghorns than with 
the Barred Rocks. E. w. B. 
New Y’ork. 
I see no reason for believing that 
feather pulling is due to lack of any par¬ 
ticular element in the diet; it is common 
in closely confined birds of both the light 
and heavy breeds and in the well fed as 
in the insufficiently fed. Irritation from 
the presence of vermin may start picking 
at feathers and the taste of blood con¬ 
firms the habit. The best remedy is to 
give the birds freedom to range and busy 
themselves with other objects than their 
mates. In many flocks, it seems to.be a 
case of the devil finding mischief for 
idle beaks to do. I know of nothing that 
will really hasten the growth of new 
feathers: this process will have to await 
the ordinary course of nature. If the 
feathers lost by your chicks belonged to 
their immature coats, as is very likely, 
they will be quickly replaced and their 
ragged r, joearance will be repaired. 
M. B. D. 
Notes of Experience. 
I have noted references to the use of 
potassium permanganate in the drinking 
water of fowls; the amount that I have 
found to be best is from one-half grain 
to one grain to the gallon of water. 
I think that a good deal of poor laying 
of fowls may be caused by lack of grit. I 
didn't get a very good egg yield last Fall, 
but those to whom I sold pullets (that 
were put on new ground) reported ex- 
tTHlE L, rtf EJW-YOfeKHiK 
October 2, 1915. 
Cellent yields, so I held a post mortem 
on one I killed for table use and found 
entire absence of grit in the gizzard. I 
got some grit the next day and my egg 
yield commenced to increase within a 
week. 
We had an epidemic of chicken-pox 
throughout this section last year. One 
man told me he had lost over 50 chickens 
already and wanted to know what he 
could do. I gave him some potassium 
permanganate to put in the drinking 
water; I understand it stopped its 
further spread. I used it as soon as I 
saw that a few of my flock had it, and 
no further cases were noted. I lost only 
six. A peculiar feature was that the 
older fowls had it the worst, and the 
older the hen the worse she had it. I 
killed four of the six so as to beat them 
to it, as they seemed too sick to recover. 
Connecticut. S. ,T. GBIFFEN. 
Mating Young Fowls. 
Would you advise mating a cockerel 
10 months old to pullets the same age, 
allowing that all are well developed? 
New York. j. s. 
Other things being equal, it is un¬ 
doubtedly better to mate more mature 
birds than those of ten months of age, 
particularly in the case of the female. If 
circumstances seem to make the use of 
vigorous, well developed fowls under one 
year of age in the breeding pen advisable, 
however, I believe that there is no ser¬ 
ious objection to it. It is often practiced, 
and, while open to objections is probably 
not as serious a mistake as many writers 
upon poultry subjects seem to think. 
M. B. D. 
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Maturity of Breeding Birds. 
Is a eoek of much more value to mate 
with pullets, than a cockerel would be? 
I can get a cockerel for one-fourth what 
the mature bird would cost. 
Pennsylvania. g. s. w. p. 
A cock is of greater value than a cock¬ 
erel by reason of his greater maturity 
and his demonstrated ability to withstand 
the vicissitudes of life, which ability 
argues good constitution, stamina and 
vigor, all valuable qualities in a breed¬ 
er of either sex. It is the practice of 
many poultrymen to mate cocks with pul¬ 
lets and cockerels with hens, but I know 
of no good reason why a well developed, 
vigorous cockerel should not be mated with 
equally well developed pullets, it being 
understood that weaklings and immature 
birds have no p’ace in any breeding pen. 
In my own practice, this mating of cock¬ 
erels and pullets has never given me any¬ 
thing but good results and I do not hes¬ 
itate to practice it when circumstances 
seem to make it advisable; as a general 
rule, however, it is doubtless safer to 
make the use of older birds in the breed¬ 
ing pens the ordinary practice. There 
are some good reasons for this which I 
need not mention here. M. B. D. 
Ailing Chicks. 
I have about 100 chicks that were 
hatched in May in an incubator, and for 
the past week I have noticed that quite a 
number of them have the feathers on their 
heads “ruffled up" and do not act quite 
as lively as they should. They are yarded, 
except for an hour or two, just before 
dark every day when they have fine range 
in a fine clovevr field. I feed cracked 
corn, dry and wet mash of cornmeal and 
wheat middlings, scraps from the table, 
and some green food. I change their 
drinking water frequently. Some of them 
do not seem to feather out properly. 
Could you ascertain the trouble from my 
description? If so, what is the cause of 
it and what can I do to check it? , D. A. A. 
New York. 
Nothing in your description gives any 
clue to the trouble with your chicks, but, 
if they are apparently losing vitality 
without cause, I would suggest looking 
carefully for mites about their perches or 
brooder houses. Red mites are very nu¬ 
merous at this time of the year, and, un¬ 
less carefully looked for, may escape de¬ 
tection even though existing in countless 
numbers. Look in the cracks about the 
coops or brooder houses where the chicks 
stay at night, under bits of boards or the 
ends of the perches, and in all places 
where minute pests might hide during the 
daytime after having visited and sucked 
the blood of the chicks at night. A little 
kerosene squirted from an oil can into a 
crack may bring out a surprising number 
of these vermin where none were to be 
seen. If they are found, paint, spray or 
squirt kerosene and crude carbolic acid, 
three-fourths of the former to one-fourth 
of the latter, upon and into all places 
where the mites congregate, or use car- 
golineum in the same way; this latter 
wood preservative may be purchased at 
drug or paint dealers and is very effectual 
as a louse and mite killer, perhaps more 
so than any other liquid come only used. 
M. B. D. 
Destroying Woodchucks. —If W. S. 
A., page 107S. will try treating wood¬ 
chucks to a dose of gasoline, he will be 
surprised at the result. Saturate a piece 
of burlap with gasoline, push into the 
burrow as far as possible and quickly fill 
the opening with dirt. Unless the bur¬ 
rows are among stone piles or old walls 
very few will dig out; killed and buried 
at one operation. lewis f. allen. 
New York. 
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Your Hens 
Moult. Tone 
GILBERT HESS 
M. D., D. V. S. 
Here is 
My Guarantee 
So sure am I (hat Dr. 
Hess Poultry Pan-a-ce-a 
will make your poultry 
healthy, help them 
through the moult, 
start your hens and 
pullets laying, that I 
have authorized my 
dealer In your town to 
supply you with enough 
lor your Hock and it it 
doesn’t do as I claim, 
return the empty pack¬ 
ages and get your 
money back. 
' MAif* OS 
m'M 
The quicker 
you get your 
hens over moult¬ 
ing, the sooner 
they will get on the 
job laying eggs. 
Moulting saps a hen’s 
strength; to force out the old quills and grow new feathers 
needs lots of energy. Help your hens along with a tonic. 
In Dr. Hess Poultry Pan-a-ce-a you have a scientific prep¬ 
aration that puts vigor and health into your flock—it will 
aid their digestion, build them up, give your hens the 
vitality to ensure quick feather growth, tone up the 
dormant egg organs and help them lay. 
Dr. Hess Poultry Pan-a-cc-a 
A Tonic—Not a Stimulant 
Formula printed on every package 
My Pan-a-ce-a contains tonics, blood builders and internal 
antiseptics; it is formulated after a prescription of mine 
which has had a successful record for 22 years. In this pre¬ 
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culture; behind it is my long experience as a veterinarian, 
doctor of medicine and successful poultry raiser. 
My Pan-a-ce-a is easy to feed—put it In the mash wet or dry. 
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Dr. Hess Stock Tonic - 
Expels Worms 
It’s almost a certainty that your 
hogs are wormy right now. I 
guarantee that my Stock Tonic 
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worms, tone them up and help 
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horses, sheep and cattle as they 
go from pasture to dry feed. It 
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their blood, keep the bowels 
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feed my Stock Tonic now and all 
winter. 25-lb. pail $1.60; 100-!b. 
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Instant Louse Killer 
Kills lice on poultry and all farm 
stock. Dust the hens and chicks 
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in the cracks, or keep it in the 
dust bath, the hens will dis¬ 
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vines, cabbage worms, etc.. slugs 
on rose bushes, etc. Comes in 
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3 lbs. 60 c (except in Canada ana 
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DR. HESS & CLARK 
Ashland, Ohio 
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