500 
March 15, 1919 
THE HENYARD 
Hens Losing Feathers 
Could you toll me what to do for hens 
that are losing their feathers on necks 
and around the long tail feathers? I 
was told it was a depluming mite in un¬ 
der the skin. I have dusted them with 
insect powder; also rubbed them with 
salve. It seemed ’to kill the lice when 
• put right on them. I have 30, but found 
only a few of these large lice on about 
five of them, buit they all seem to be los¬ 
ing their feathers. They did the same 
last year. J. i>. w. 
Pennsylvania. 
The work of the depluming mite is more 
destructive to beauty than to health, hut 
it may be overcome by the use of grease 
rubbed info the skin over the affected 
areas. If simple lard or vaseline does 
not prove effective, sulphur ointment may 
be used. A dram of sulphur to the ounce 
of vaseline or lard makes a preparation 
of suitable strength. To prevent the 
spread of the trouble, affected birds should 
be removed from the flock until cured. 
M. B. D. 
Dry Mash Hoppers 
I am interested in dry mash and meat 
scrap hoppers for feeding chickens. I have 
never seen or used them, and would like 
to know sizes and capacities suitable for 
use with from 115 to 100 liens. Is it pos¬ 
sible to close them up to make them 
mouse and rat proof (at night), or close 
them to the hens when you wish? Seems 
to me all of them should have both these 
features. s. H. D. 
Virginia. 
Dry mash hoppers are usually home¬ 
made, there being nothing about them that 
anyone of ordinary ingenuity and skill 
with saw and hammer should find it difli- 
Homemade Dry Mash Hopper 
cult to construct. Metal hoppers are also 
sold by all dealers in poultry appliances 
and may be purchased in a variety of 
sizes and patterns. The accompanying 
sketch shows a homemade hopper which 
has been in use for a number of years 
and has proven satisfactory. It stands 
against the henhouse wall and opens only 
upon one side. One of similar pattern, 
but opening upon both sides and made to 
stand upon the floor where it could be 
reached from either side could easily be 
made. This one is 1G in. in width. 2 ft. 
long, and 2 ft. high, and holds 100 lbs. of 
dry mash. This is a convenient size, as 
feed is usually purchased in 100-lb. bags. 
It would be very easy to make, a cover to 
drop down over the feed opening at any 
time that it was desired to close the hop¬ 
per. This cover should be hinged at the 
top and held up by a latch when not m 
Mixed Grain for Poultry 
In making up a mash of the following 
grain, gro d oats, barley and cornmeal, 
what weight of each should be used? 
Would 100 lbs. of each 'be right? 
W. A. W. 
If these grains alone are to be used, 
equal parts of each is a suitable propor¬ 
tion. but. as they are all about the same 
protein content, and all too low in that 
element to make a well balanced ration, 
it would be better to combine some other 
high protein food with them. Equal parts, 
by weight, of cornmeal. ground oats, 
ground barley, wheat middlings, and beef 
scrap would make a far better mash, to 
be fed with mixed whole grains for the 
scratch food. M. n. D. 
Oyster Shells in Cement Floor 
How much cement would I need for 
floor in poultry house 20x60? Plenty of 
good sand, ‘hut no cinders or gravel. Could 
I use oyster Shells? a. a. r. 
Virginia. 
A poultry-house floor 20 ft. by GO ft. 
and 4 in. thick would contain 1.200 sq. 
ft. of surface. A barrel (four bags) of 
cement will be sufficient for GG sq. ft. of 
floor of this thickness when laid in the 
proportion of one part cement, three parts 
sand and six parts of gravel or crushed 
stone; 1,200 sq. ft. of floor, therefore, 
will require about 18 bids. _ of cement. 
The whole floor would require 72 bags 
Tht RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
cement, five double loads of sand and 10 
of gravel. I have never seen oyster shells 
used in concrete work, but judge from 
the fact that cement manufacturers advise 
against the use of soft, limestone that 
oyster shells would not be satisfactory. A 
poultry-house floor, of course, does not 
carry heavy loads and can be made from 
a leaner mixture of concrete than some 
other floors would require. If you have 
no gravel or crushed stone, why not make 
a well-tamped foundation of broken field 
stones and surface it with two or three 
inches of concrete made from cement and 
clean, coarse sand? The usual propor¬ 
tions of such a surfacing layer are one 
part cement to two of sand, but a much 
leaner mixture is often satisfactory where 
a fine finish is not specially required. Ex¬ 
periment with your sand and cement and 
see how lean a mixture will set hard and 
strong, or ask the local masons, M. b. d. 
Brier Story of Duck Culture 
Part IV. 
After the ducks have reached the cold 
brooder they are supposed to have reached 
a stage where heat is no longer required. 
The building for a cold brooder is con¬ 
structed on a shed plan, front about 8 ft. 
high, back about G ft., and 20 to 24 ft. 
wide, 20 ft. being better, as the pens can 
be made 20 ft. square, putting about 300 
birds in each pen. These houses have a 
yard of 75 ft. long and 20 ft. wide. Ducks 
are fed and watered outside, and in warm 
weather are let run on free range and are 
not closed up at night unless very stormy. 
This gets them accustomed to night air; 
if electric lights are used it is better to 
put the ligh .j in the house, so if a shower 
comes through the night the ducks will 
go in the house, as ducks will not go into 
the darkness. These ducks are fed with 
a feed car or horse and wagon. The feed 
is mixed with a feed mixer. Ducks can be 
kept in these houses for three weeks 
without doing harm. The feed is three 
parts cornmeal, three parts bran, one 
flour, fish or beef scrap, cut green wheat, 
rye, corn fodder. These ducks are fed 
three times a day; 6 a. m., 12 in., 6 p. m. 
It must be understood that the ducks 
do not all grow evenly, and when ducks 
are taken from the hot brooders they 
must be sorted and put in their class ac¬ 
cording to their size, and not their age. 
The next step is the water-front pens for- 
growing ducks. These are yards of about 
150 to 200 ft. deep and 30 to 50 ft. wide. 
They have what we call shelter sheds; 
these sheds can be under one roof, or a 
shed for each pen, but until ducks reach 
the fattening pens they need a shelter of 
some kind. The water pens are made of 
lattice, as this seems to stand best; some 
use wire, others lath. These ducks are 
fed the same as when in cold brooders. 
The ducks are kept in the growing pens 
until they have reached the age of eight 
weeks, which should be time enough to 
have grown the required frame. After 
then they are moved into the fattening 
pens or yards. J. A. titmus. 
Long Island. 
Bees on Shares , 
I have 12 colonies of bees that I do 
not have time to* look after properly. My 
nephew has agreed to take care of them 
and look after the honey. I am to provide 
all hives, supers, hive them when they 
swarm . He is to put in supers and take 
care of the honey. What percentage of 
honev would you consider fair for his 
work? c. h. w. 
Glassboro, N. ,T. 
I believe that the general custom in 
caring for bees on shares is for the owner 
to furnish all equipment and the care¬ 
taker all the labor, from the opening of 
the season until the bees are properly 
stored for Winter. If feeding has to be 
done, the owner furnishes the sugar, the 
caretaker feeds it. All increase in swarms 
belongs to the owner. The cost of neces¬ 
sary containers for the surplus honey, 
whether sections or cans, is divided 
equally. The crop of honey and wax is 
divided equally. This arrangement, of 
course, places the risk of loss rather more 
upon the caretaker than the owner for, 
if the honey crop proves wholly wanting, 
the owner still has his equipment intact, 
and his colonies, if skillfully handled, per¬ 
haps improved, while the caretaker has 
nothing to show for his labor. In view 
of this risk. I think that you can afford 
to share the labor to the extent of hiving 
new swarms. Otherwise, some provision 
should be made to at least partially com¬ 
pensate the caretaker for his work if no 
surplus honey is produced. M. B. D. 
have taught us this: 
§i( 
% 
A man earns every dollar 
he makes in the poultry 
business. There is no short 
cut to success, even to a 
chosen few. There may be 
such a thing as good luck, 
but with most men “good 
luck” is only one way of 
saying “good judgment.” 
You can't stuff up chicks 
with a feed that won’t di¬ 
gest and expect to raise a 
high percentage of the 
hatch. 
The difference between 
H-0 Steam-Cooked Chick 
Feed and some feeds is that 
H-0 was developed to meet 
a need, not create one. 
It was developed to meet 
a need for nutritious chick 
feed of extreme digesti¬ 
bility. 
so it was steam- 
cooked. 
H-0 Steam-Cooked Chick 
Feed is steam-cooked — 
thoroughly steam-cooked. 
The ingredients of this 
chick feed are clean, sweet 
grains (including oatmeal), 
scientifically selected for 
their bone, flesh and fat 
building properties in right 
proportion, all cut to pin 
point fineness, and then 
steam - cooked to change 
the starch in the grain and 
make it wonderfully easy 
to digest from the start. 
“Don’t feed chicks raw 
grain and expect good re¬ 
sults. It's hard enough to 
guard against losses in the 
poultry business without in¬ 
viting them at the outset.’* 
Raised on H-O 
Steam-Cooked 
Chick Feed 
Write for free sample of H-0 Steam-Cooked 
chick feed, prices and descriptive folder. 
THE H-0 COMPANY 
Feed Dept., Buffalo, N.Y. 
Members U. S. Food Administration 
License No. G-12996 
John J. Campbell, Eastern Sales Agl., Hartlord, Conn. 
H-O STEAM-COOKED 
ICK FEED 
