THE HENYARD 
A “Back Yard” Poultry Flock 
I was very much interested in D. L.’s 
letter on page 109 and as I am a “back¬ 
yard” poultry keeper thought perhaps 
YOU would be interested in my fibres for 
1917. In my chicken yard were 35 hens— 
half White I.;eghorns and half White 
Wivandottes (Barron’s strains), and my 
records show that we gathere<l 3.989 
eggs. My poorest month was October, 
when I got 02—largest momth March, 
for which my figures wei’e 075. M e all 
know what sort of a month December 
—during that month we had 181. I 
try to raise about 50 chicks each year, 
and think I had about that number dur¬ 
ing 1917. During the latter part of 
September and in October and November 
we ate 26 and they were fine. 
bill amounted to .$128.18, against $66.oo 
in 1916. That year I had a few’ moi;^e 
hens and got 4.321 eggs. Notwithstand¬ 
ing the very high cost of feed, 1 am 
satisfied that we could not have pur¬ 
chased at the market rates in this town 
332Vo dozen eggs and 26 chickens for the 
sum'paid out for feed. The garbage col¬ 
lector gets nothing from my place except¬ 
ing orange and grapefruit skins, and 
Yvhile we are careful housekeepers we 
Certainly have (juite a lot of table 
scraps” every day. and, of course, have a 
lot of greens, such as cabbage, mangels 
and garden wastes from our large gaiden. 
As we are away from home for some 
weeks during the hot weather all eggs 
during that time are preserved m liquid 
glass, and consequently have to buy but a 
few dozen eggs late in the Fall or early 
Winter months, and we usually have 
enough fresh eggs for breakfast every 
nifirning. something which cannot always 
be ])urchased, no matter what you are 
willing to p.ay. My flock are in an open- 
front house and always have some mash 
before them. Their grain food is cracked, 
corn, scratch food and sprouted oats as 
well as the kitchen and garden wastes. 
1 hate to pay out so much money for 
grain, but am satisfied that I am .still 
ahead of the game so far. F. H. P- 
Montclair, N. .T. 
‘Uhe 
yourself unable to eradicate the disease 
from your flock, it might be best to dis¬ 
pose of it and stock up again. M. B. D. 
Capons, Nux Vomica and Hawks 
I notice someone wanting to know 
about capons carrying chickens, also nux 
vomica and hawks, and as I _ am pretty 
well experienced in both I will tell you 
what I know, and it may be will help 
someone. This is my own experience. 
I have been caponizing chickens for the 
last 10 or 12 years. I find it will add 
quite a bit to poultry profits. Right now 
they will bring 40c per pound. Bast year 
I had two capons, one Barred Rock and 
one Buff Orpington. In March I had a 
nice hatch with my incubator. I took 
the chicks out of the incubator and put 
in a small brooder I make myself, no fire, 
and let them stay until they are strong 
enough to stand up well; then they can 
keep out of the way of the capon’s feet, 
as some of them are a little awkward. I 
have a box or coop, have to have in a 
warm place for several days until they 
get used to the capon. I put the capon 
in the box and have a thick bag or cover, 
and cover him up; then I put the chicks 
under and press him on the back and he 
will soon sit down; then let the cover 
come down on his back so he hasn’t room 
to stand. Go back several times and 
take your hand and gently put the chicks 
under them, and it is surprising how soon 
they will know where the warmth is and 
will go to the capons as to a hen. In a 
short while they will cluck and feed them 
better than a hen. They can be made 
very gentle and will carry a brood until 
grown unless you take them from them, 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
which can be done, and another broody put 
with them the same way. Sometimes 
they will fight older chickens, not theirs, 
but not small chickens. I think the 
capons last year raised chicks better than 
hens. 
Regarding nux vomica and hawks, 
right in the beginning would say to your 
readers, never be misled or take time to 
use nux vomica. We have been so 
bothered with hawks that I almost feel 
like quitting, as often it seems they will 
take all the profit. I have bought bottle 
after bottle, until I fed my chickens 
so lots of them would die, .iust have the 
trembles and drop over, but I don’t think 
there were ever any fewer hawks. I 
have kept all chickens stopped up but one 
brood and fed them, and the hawks 
would get one or two each day, until 
nearly all would go, but no less hawks. 
It will surely kill your chickens if you 
keep it up, but I don’t think it will kill 
the hawk. Set traps on poles and get 
your neighbors to do the same, and use 
your .shotgun ; this is the only way. I 
tried a chicken powder which has a lot of 
nux vomica in it; it w’as fed to chickens, 
but no good. Finally we got a hawk in 
a trap, brought it to the house, put it in 
a coop and took about what would hold 
on end of knife blade and put it down 
his throat, and went to church, expecting 
to find him dead. My husband gave a 
double dose while I was gone, but the 
hawk seemed to thrive well on it. The 
next day we sent him to the druggist who 
handled the pow’der, also from whom I 
had bought the nux vomica. He kept the 
hawk for several days and gave him away 
live and hearty, mbs. fbank Johnson. 
Virginia. 
The Farmers’ Side of Selling Eggs 
(Continued from page 240) 
when eggs are generally^ ‘put down” is 
seeding and cultivating time, and it would 
not look like good business to me for the 
farmer to leave his field some fine day and 
hie him to town to deliver six dozen eggs 
or a dressed chicken, 10 miles away. If 
good help were obtainable this chicken 
side line would be very profitable, but 
peddling to customers necessitates at least 
two days per week in town, and cus¬ 
tomers have always entertained the idea 
that the farmer who supplies their but¬ 
ter and eggs must be ready to answer 
emergency calls at any time and for any 
amount of merchandise. And farm help 
is not available. 
My hen business has always been 
chiefly profitable from the sale of stock 
in Fall and Early Winter hut, as we are 
first of all, dairy farmers, and “hen 
folks” afterwards, it is up to us to con¬ 
duct this side line in the way that will 
turn out the best profit for the time and 
labor involved, all things considered. We 
know that in our individual case, the 
grocei’y solves the problem. At present 
we arc getting 70 cents per dozen for 
eggs—others are selling to customers at 
80, but the difference in price will not 
balance the difference in cost. 
New York. hakbiet h. wood. 
f' 
mm 
\ 
Poultry Information 
1 am enclosing you an advertisement 
cut from a poultry paper. I am very 
much interested in this book. Is it oi 
any assistance to a beginner? F. A. 
Delaware. 
The advertisement that you enclose is 
a fine sample of guff, isn’t it? "Natures 
secrets stand revealed. 
ture, to say_ the least. ^ ^at Burbank 
has accomplished in the field of horticul¬ 
ture”; well, what has he accomplishedj 
Let me give you a tip. When you read 
an advertisement of any kind mentioning 
the wonderful exploits of such men as 
Edison, Ford, Rockefeller, and other men 
of their class, and intimating that you 
can duplicate their _ exploits through 
grasping the opportunity offered you by 
the advertisers, put another rubber band 
about vour pocketbook and hand it w 
vour wife. These men didn’t make their 
monev fishing for suckers. But that isnt 
telling vou about this book. Well, i 
haven’t ‘ read it. The publishers have 
neglected to send me a copy for revmw, 
but if vou will turn to your file of 1 he 
R N.-Y., W’hich you keep, of course, and 
read the article on selecting the laying 
hens found on page 12.56 of the Novem¬ 
ber 3. 1917, issue, and also the one on 
page 1345 of the November 24 issue, I 
believe that you will find it unnecessary 
to pav $2 for a book giving a description 
of “A new discovery, revolutionary ^in 
nature, the result of a lifetime of in¬ 
vestigation,” etc., etc. M. B. D. 
Roup Infection 
Two years ago I became dissatisfied 
with the results from my hens, as they 
laid few eggs, so I purch.ased a cockerel 
and six pullets. The cockei^ cost .pd 
ami the pullets $25, White Wyandottes. 
Thev all arrived in good shape but in a 
few‘days one of the pullets was sick. I 
found that it had roup. It died aiid_ the 
seller replaced it, acting vei-y fairly. 
T'’p to that time there had never been a 
case of roup or colds on this farm, so 
I am sure that the germ was brought by 
the new stock. The pullets laid 
\vell. but the roup held on and after 1 
thought I had it eradicated it broke out 
the next Summer in my young chickens, 
but only four or five died. Again last 
Summer it broke out and a few died. 
Nearly all sneezed. I follow all advice 
for roup, but still you can hear the hens 
sneezing at night. I have muslin open¬ 
ings in chicken house and it is dry and 
clean, so I think it must be in the breed. 
Are White Wyandottes less hardy this 
way than others? I was thinking of 
changing to Barred Rocks. Wliat do 
you advise? At present my pullete are 
laying^ about 30 pei* cent, but I uo not 
like the roup. "W. A. a. 
Ohio. 
White Wyandottes are not less hardy 
than other breeds but some particular 
flock might have its vitality reduced by 
disease or lack of care and so become 
more susceptible to roup. It is hap to 
advise you in this matter, as you know 
the conditions in your poultry yarc 
better than I. If, however, you find 
Bid 
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a:;!’'... M 
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11 
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ADDRESS 
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* 
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.y*. 
