1786 
Pie RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December G, 1919 
The Economy Nest. Fig. 587 
Some Handy Poultry Appliances 
The Maryland Experiment Station at 
College Park has issued Bulletin 230, en¬ 
titled “Poultry Appliances and Methods,” 
by Roy H. Waite. It gives in condensed 
form pictures and description of various 
handy appliances which will be serviceable 
to any poultryman. The pictures shown 
with this note are re-engraved from the 
bulletin. What is known as the economy 
nest is shown at Fig. 587. This nest ap¬ 
pears to be hung against the wall, the 
wall in fact forming the back part of the 
nest. As shown in the picture, it is sim¬ 
ply made, and can be closed if need be, 
thus preventing the hens from roosting 
on it as some birds are in the habit of 
doing. In order to clean the nest it is 
only necessary to turn it up or lower it 
down. Then as the back will be open, it 
can be easily swept or scrubbed out. The 
bulletin gives full details for building it. 
Then Fig. 589 shows a broody coop, 
where broody hens may have a chance to 
reflect upon the error of their ways. This 
is made with a slatted bottom, with the 
sides and top of fence wire. It is not 
only useful for keeping broody hens, but 
The Economy Nest Closed. Fig. 5S8 
also for keeping surplus males during the 
breeding season. 
Somehow we have had more questions 
about what to do for scaly leg than we 
have ever known before at this season. 
This may be due to a more serious out¬ 
break of the trouble, or perhaps the high 
cost of living has induced people to pay 
closer attention to their birds. At any 
rate. Fig. 592 show’s a typical specimen 
of the scaly leg, while Fig. 594 show’s how 
the disease is treated. In this bulletin 
kerosene oil is recommended as a cure. 
In applying it a tin can is nailed to the 
wall so as to hold it firmly. Then the 
bird is taken, as shown in the picture, 
and the legs are dipped in dow’n into the 
kerosene. This is said to be a cure, al¬ 
though other remedies are also suggested 
by other poultrymen. 
At Fig. 593 is shown a simple brooder 
coop, which is said to give excellent satis¬ 
faction. This, as we see, is simply a 
small box of a house with a sliding frame 
of w’ire cloth used as a door. When such 
a door is closed at night the coop becomes 
rat-proof; at the same time there is 
plenty of air. In the daytime the door is 
opened slightly at one side, as shown in 
Coop for Broody Hens. Fig. 589 
the picture, so that the little chicks may 
run in and out, W’hile the hen is kept con¬ 
fined. 
The two pictures at Fig. 590 and 591 
show a method of moving colony houses 
W’hich is practiced by Wm. Schrom, a 
Maryland poultry keeper. As will be 
seen, two holes are bored at each end of 
the house, so that iron pipes may be 
passed through them. The house is then 
jacked up with a w’agon-jack, as we see 
in the picture. After this is done the 
front and rear gears of the w’agon are 
fastened under the ends of the pipes, after 
which, of course, it may be handled as 
easily as a load of ray, and the house 
may be carried anywhere desired. 
This bulletin gives a good tip about 
using poultry roofing. It states that this 
roofing should lie in the sunshine for a 
few’ hours before putting it in place. The 
roofing will expand from this warming 
and lie closer on the roof when finally 
used. Under ordinary circumstances the 
inside of the roll is colder than the outside 
air, so that if it is not warmed before ap¬ 
plication the roofing is apt to W’rinkle 
from expansion after nailing down. 
Another point is made with reference 
to putting up diamond mesh wire fenc¬ 
ing. We are told that the top w’ire must 
be fastened in a perfectly straight line 
from end to end. After fastening the top 
for the entire length, begin at the bot¬ 
tom of the center post and work out to the 
end. If the ground is not perfectly level 
the wire will have to be buried or folded 
up at some places. After the bottom is 
finished in this w’ay the two ends may be 
fastened. 
Chicken Pox 
Can you tell me what ails my seven- 
weeks-old chicks? They did well and 
grew nicely until five weeks old, and 
then the trouble began. First there ap¬ 
peared on the side of the head, or at the 
base of the comb, or on the bill, a blistery 
growth somewhat resembling a boil. As 
this grew larger there was a discharge of 
yellow matter which as the chick rubbed 
its head over its body finally covered its 
back and neck until the whole back w’as 
covered. These boils or blisters often ap¬ 
pear on the eyelids, sometimes singly, but 
more often there will be one on each side 
of the head, and at the same time one or 
two or three on either side of the bill. 
As these spread over the w’hole head they 
become a mass of putrid sores, finally 
closing the eyes of the chick completely, 
so that it cannot see to eat and in a short 
time it dies. In every other respect the 
chicks seem normal and until thus at¬ 
tacked they were about the healthiest lot 
I ever grew. They are incubator-batched 
Rhode Island Reds and came to me in 
good condition. w. H G. 
Southei’n Pines, N. C. 
These chicks are probably suffering 
from chicken pox, a contagious disease 
frequently seen in the Southern States. 
and not infrequently, though usually in a 
less severe form, in the North. The con¬ 
tagion may be spread through contact 
with other fowls or by means of pigeons, 
and perhaps other birds. The outbreak in 
your flock seems to have been a particu¬ 
larly virulent one. Spread of the con¬ 
tagion should be prevented as far as pos¬ 
sible by isolation of the sick chicks and 
disinfection of quarters and utensils used 
by them. Mild cases usually recover 
spontaneously, but treatment is needed 
when the infection is severe or the sus¬ 
ceptibility of the chicks marked, as in this 
case. Various antiseptic applications are 
recommended, perhaps the most simple and 
easily applied being tincture of iodine. The 
sores are painted over with this liquid, 
after which they may be greased with 
some simple or antiseptic ointment. 
Crusts should be removed from the sores 
before the applications are made. Paint¬ 
ing with a 2 per cent solution of creolin, 
a 1 to 1,000 solution of corrosive subli¬ 
mate or dusting with iodoform are also 
recommended as curative measures. 
M. B. D. 
Hens Going Light 
I think that the reason for hens going 
light, as described by M. B. I)., is this: 
Some person who has a catarrh, nasal or 
bronchial, or who has tuberculosis, per¬ 
haps lightly, has access to the henhouse, 
or yard, or field where the hens are. lie 
spits, the hens eat the spittle, and in 
about three or four weeks afterward begin 
to show sickness, in about two more 
weeks die. The remedy is this: Exclude 
every person except the caretaker from 
buildings, yards and fields where the hens 
are. Provide the caretaker with paper 
napkins to carry in his pocket to spit in 
if necessary, or something else equally 
good and handy for the purpose. Impress 
it on his mind that he must not spit on 
the litter, floor, or ground where the hens 
can get the spittle. Now’, if you believe 
the guess w’orth the ink, you are welcome 
to tell it to the world. If anyone wants 
the reason why I make it', I will cheer¬ 
fully tell them in a personal letter. 
Summed up, however, it is experience. 
M. H. D. 
The suggestion in the above is that 
tuberculosis may be communicated from 
men to fow’ls by the way of human 
sputum. Many experiments have been 
conducted to determine the possibility of 
this, but these experiments have been in¬ 
conclusive and the question is as yet un¬ 
settled. There can be no question, how¬ 
ever, as to the advisability of the pre¬ 
cautions urged by the writer upon those 
who have, or may have, tuberculosis, even 
in a mild form. The sputum of these 
people is the one source of infection of 
others, and by its collection and burning 
on paper handkerchiefs or in other suit¬ 
able receptacles the spread of the disease 
may be checked. The liabit of properly 
disposing of their sputum may easily be 
acquired by sufferers from tuberculosis, 
and when rightly adhered to renders them 
inoffensive to others and a source of no 
danger to those with whom they associate. 
M. B. D. 
Cutting Down Bee Tree 
Recently someone cut a large maple 
tree in my sugar bush, which contained 
a large swarm of bees and several pounds 
A Typical Case of Scaly Leg. Fig. 592 
of honey. Has anyone a right to cut a 
bee tree wherever they find one? 
Castorland, N. Y. b. c. g. 
Speaking as a layman, rather than 
lawyer, I should say that cutting a tree 
upon another man’s premises, whether 
that tree chanced to be inhabited by a 
swarm of bees or not, constituted willful 
trespass and rendered the offender liable 
for damages. This fact will have to be 
taken into consideration, however; cutting 
bee trees in the woods has long been a 
custom, starting when woods were more 
open and less valuable than now, and 
custom, when well established, comes very 
close to having the force of law. On this 
account, it might be difficult to recover 
damages from the trespasser if he were 
brought into court. It is assumed that 
the land where this tree grew was not 
legally posted against hunters and tres¬ 
passers. m. B. D. 
Death of Hens 
Will you tell me what to do for my 
hens? I find one dead every few days; 
have never noticed any sick until this 
morning, when I found a large hen lying 
on her side. The droppings were yellow. 
They have free range in cornfields and 
work fields. We feed corn mostly. Do you 
think it is cholera? \v. F. t. 
Maryland. 
The mere finding of hens dead is not 
sufficient evidence upon which to base a 
diagnosis; there are many causes of sud¬ 
den death in the poultry flock. It is not 
uncommon, however, to find large, heavy 
hens dead under the perches or about the 
premises when no disease has noticeably 
A Simple Brooder Coop. Fig. 593 
been present. Apoplexy, or the bursting 
of a blood’vessel in the brain is probably 
the cause of many of these deaths, and dis¬ 
eases of the internal digestive organs 
which did not produce any striking out¬ 
ward symptoms account for others. Very 
likely this hen with yellow diarrhoea 
would have shown a large, diseased liver 
upon autopsy, but there is no indication 
here of cholera. m. b. d. 
Treating a Case of Scaly Leg. Fig. 594 
Moving Colony House. Fig. 590 
How the Henhouse Is Put on Wheels. Fig. 591 
