The RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
Live Stock Notes 
The Bull and the Treadmill 
The Montana Experiment Station 
(Bozeman) issues Circular 93, in which 
are given accounts of some experiments 
in working bulls. As everyone knows, 
the billl needs exercise, and various plans 
for giving it to him are practiced. The 
Montana people found that a treadmill 
gives the bull what he needed, and kept 
him in good condition : 
During the Summer and Fall of 1917 a 
valuable two-year-old Holstein bull on 
the experiment station farm became quite 
unruly. To keep the animal tractable 
and in good phyeicial condition, it was de¬ 
cided to work him in a treadmill. A one- 
horse machine of the flat-treadle type was 
obtained, on which an extra strong rack 
was built for holding the bull. At first 
he objected to entering the rack on the 
mill; but, learning that he could not get 
away, he took liis place, and since then 
has not offered any resistance. By start¬ 
ing the mill slowly at first, by releasing 
the hand brake, he soon learned to work. 
As the treadmill was originally made for 
a horse, it was governed at a speed too 
fast for the bull. This necessitated mak¬ 
ing a governor that would be effective at 
low speed. A governor of an old self¬ 
feed threshing machine was reconstructed 
and proved quite satisfactory. After the 
bull had learned to work, the treadmill 
was belted to a line shaft, to which other 
machines were attached. 
During the first Fall and "Winter the 
bull was worked a few minutes almost 
every day at running a feed cutter and a 
root slice!’. 
In the Fall of 1918 a mechanical milker 
was installed, and the bull was given a 
trial at running the vacuum pump. Hav¬ 
ing been idle during the early part of the 
season, he was not able to stand the work 
for the entire milking period. A gasoline 
engine was used to relieve him toward 
the end of each period until he became 
accustomed to the task. For a time some 
trouble was experienced in keeping him 
working while the men were operating the 
milkers. He found that if he placed his 
toes in the cracks between the boards in 
the rack, the machine would stop. To 
prevent his doing this the cracks were 
filled, making the inside of the rack 
smooth. lie also learned that by backing 
against the cross-bar which kept* him in 
the rack he could stop the machine. For 
fear he would tear out his ring if his 
lead rope was tied fast, a light rope, 
snapped to his ring, was run through a 
imlley to a weight which rested upon the 
floor when he was in position, but this 
scheme failed to keep him from stopping. 
Then an automatic shipper was made. 
This device is set across the rack behind 
the bull (at A, Fig. 3S7), and is so ar¬ 
ranged that when he stops walking his 
thighs bring pressure upon the mechan¬ 
ism, which recoils and x-eleases a spring 
which gives him a sharp slap on the rump. 
As the bull hastens forward from the pun¬ 
ishment received, the flapper automatic¬ 
ally cocks itself and is ready for the next 
offense. After trying to stop the machine 
a few times, the bull learned the conse¬ 
quences, and since then no trouble has 
been experienced. 
For the past two years the bull has 
furnished the power twice each day for 
operating a vacuum pump for three single 
units. Three times during this period it 
was necessary to resort to a gasoline en¬ 
gine for power for short intervals because 
the bull became lame. The time required 
to milk the herd, which has averaged 
about 25 cows, has ranged from an hour 
to an hour and thirty minutes for each 
period. With the tread of the mill on 
a slope of 22.4 per cent, or 22.4 ft. rise 
in 100 ft., and the bull traveling at 
the rate of about one mile an hour, suf¬ 
ficient power has been generated to main¬ 
tain the required vacuum for operating 
the three units. At the time the bull be¬ 
gan running the milking machine he 
weighed 1,835 lbs. After 12 months of 
service in the treadmill he weighed 2.060 
lbs., a gain of 225 lbs. While no experi¬ 
ments w’ere conducted to determine just 
how much more feed was required to grow 
and maintain the bull while working, it 
would seem from our observation that the 
amount was very slight. The exercise 
and daily handling have kept the bull 
tractable, and in the very best physical 
condition. 
The time required to oil. start, operate 
and stop the treadmill was found to be no 
greater than that for a gasoline engine 
when the time required tQ keep the engine 
in condition was considered. The tread¬ 
mill is so simple in its construction and 
so easy to operate with a well-trained bull 
that the men doing the work have no de¬ 
sire to use the gasoline engine for power. 
It was found that the bull developed 
about three-quarters of one horsepower. 
Desirable Henhouse and Hoghouse 
1. How can I make a comfortable 
chicken house for about 200 birds? 2. 
Could you tell me how to make a paying 
pig house for about 30 pigs? d. n. 
New Brunswick, N. ,T. 
1j A poultry house 18x35 ft. will shel¬ 
ter up to 200 fowls. It may be built with 
ordinary double-pitch roof, with one of 
unequal span, the short rafters in front, 
or with a single pitch, shed rdof. Raft¬ 
ers for latter would have to be rather 
heavy, however, and the unequal span 
type is most popular. Such a house 
should face a little to the southeast, be 
8 or 9 ft. high in front and about 5 ft. 
high in the rear. All sides but the front 
should be wind-tight. If walls arc of 
matched stuff, single thickness is suf¬ 
ficient ; otherwise, double boarding or 
clapboarding over building paper will 
make air-tight walls. About one-third of 
the front should be open or filled by win¬ 
dows that can be removed in the Summer 
time and dropped back for about a foot 
at the top for ventilation during cold 
weather. To prevent the air from enter¬ 
ing- at the side opening when windows 
are so dropped back, V-shaped boards are 
cut to fit. against the sides of the sash, 
thus forcing all the air to enter over the 
tops. These, from their &hape, are called 
hopper sides. Windows should reach 
from within about 2 ft. from the floor to 
near the plate, and should’ be sufficient in 
number to flood the interior of the build¬ 
ing with sunlight. Concrete floors are 
best. 
2. I cannot advise as to buildings for 
pigs, but Bulletin 242, from the State 
Experiment Station at Madison, Wis., 
will give you some hints along that line. 
Your own station in New Brunswick will 
also be able to give you valuable help in 
advising as to poultry and hoghouses 
suited to your locality and conditions. 
M. is. D. 
A Discussion of Henhouses 
I would like to see a discussion on 
what would be the best height and depth 
of henhouses. I have a plan from Cor¬ 
nell of a laying-house 20x24; the studs 
are 9 ft. high in front and 5 ft. in the 
rear. One man has one house 9 ft. high 
.in front and 5 ft. in rear which he claims 
is too high and cold. Last Fall the same 
man built a house 20 ft. deep, 8 ft. high in 
front, and 4 ft. in the rear. Then there 
is another who claims 20 ft. is too deep, 
and must be too high, and that a 10-ft. 
depth is best. What really is best for a 
cold climate where one has as low as 20 
'degrees below zero? R. R. E. 
Monticello, N. Y. 
Opinions among amateurs and profes¬ 
sionals alike differ as to what is best, for 
there is no plan best suited to all con¬ 
ditions, apd each thinks well of what has 
proven desirable in his own experience 
or under his own observation. None ap¬ 
preciate better than those best qualified 
to speak with authority that the end of 
knowledge in poultry culture has not 
been reached, and that dogmatism is as 
much out of place here as elsewhere. Old- 
fashioned poultry-houses were made nar¬ 
row and long; why, I do not know. Not 
that they might better admit light and 
air, certainly, for they were usually dark 
and close. Probably that intangible thing 
known as fashion governed here, as it 
does in the matter of height of heels be¬ 
neath ladies’ shoes. A long, narrow 
building requires more material in its 
walls, for a given floor space, than a deep 
one does; hence is more expensive to 
build. It also keeps its occupants near 
the windows in front and in drafts that a 
deeper building would permit them to 
get away from. It does have the advan¬ 
tage, however, of permitting sunlight to 
penetrate to the rear without an unduly 
high front. It also gives a short span 
for the rafters. 
A deep building, from 16 to 20 ft. in 
depth, is cheaper to build ; warmer in the 
rear, where the perches are usually 
placed, and affords the advantages of an 
open front without exposing its occupants 
to cold drafts near the windows. It has 
the disadvantage of requiring a higher 
front to permit the direct sunlight to 
reach the rear, thus making the building 
coldey than a lower one would be; it re¬ 
quires heavier, or center supported, raft¬ 
ers; is not so well suited to a single 
slope, shed roof, and is more likely to be 
dark. My own preference is for the deep 
house, as I think that its advantages 
outweigh its disadvantages. What is 
known as the half-monitor style roof per¬ 
mits sunlight to reach the rear, and may 
be used if thought best. This is the saw¬ 
tooth style i-oof, with small, vertical win¬ 
dows in the front of the tooth. If such 
a roof is not used, the front wall neede 
to be S or 9 ft. high to permit of long 
windows, with their tops at the plate, so 
th'at the sun’s rays may strike well back 
toward the rear of the house. 
The poultry authorities at the Cornell 
Experiment Station would be the last to 
claim that they are infallible. They are 
making continual studies of the different 
phases of the subject, and. like other ex¬ 
periment stations, are working out prob¬ 
lems that private poultrymen can afford 
neither the time nor money for. The work 
of! all these stations is invaluable to poul¬ 
trymen, but none of them considers that 
they have said the last word on any 
feature of poultry keeping. M. B. D. 
Blind Hens 
What makes hens 'go blind? They are 
healthy, big birds, lay, have a farm to 
run over, have everything they ought to 
eat. We have raised chickens 12 years, 
and never had any such disease as this. 
What would you advise? h. a. c. 
Vernon, N. Y. 
I am wholly unable Co say why the hens 
you speak of go blind, and am inclined to 
think that what you take to be blindness 
is.simply a symptom of lack of muscular 
control through some disease of the cen¬ 
tral nervous system. The staggering gait, 
running into obstacles, and other evi¬ 
dences of apparent blindness may be 
caused by such nerve disturbances. Your 
fowls may suffer from worms. It will 
do no harm to administer a teaspoonful 
or two of turpentine to one of these sick 
birds, mixing it with an equal quantity 
of castor or other bland oil, and following 
this treatment with a dose of Epsom salts 
a few hours later. One to two teaspoon¬ 
fuls of the salts dissolved in a little water 
will constitute a dose. If worms in con¬ 
siderable numbers are found, the tobacco 
treatment spoken of in these columns may 
be given the flock. M. b. d. 
Worms in Fowls 
I find lately in the discharge of some of 
my chickens long, thin worms. Could 
you tell me what is the cause, and how I 
can get rid of them? A. o. 
New York. 
The tobacco treatment for intestinal 
worms in fowls is now much used. It is 
as follows: Steep 1 lb. of cut tobacco 
stems for two hours in enough water to 
cover. Mix liquid and stems with four 
quarts of mash. Feed in the middle of 
the afternoon to birds fasted since previ¬ 
ous day. Two hours later feed 1 lb. 
Epsom salts dissolved in water and mixed 
with three quarts of mash, seeing that 
each bird gets its share. Remove drop¬ 
pings with their contained worms before 
the fowls can reinfect themselves by piek- 
ing up the latter. This is the dosage for 
100 fowls ; smaller flocks should be treated 
with proportionate amounts. M. B. D. 
“Here is one respect in which a live 
business man isn’t like a tree.” “What is 
that?” “If he remains rooted to the spot, 
he can’t branch out.” —Baltimore Amer¬ 
ican. 
^ 939 v 
Epsom Salts for Hens; Hens with Fits 
1. What amount of Epsom salts is a 
dose for 50 hens? Did you ever hear that 
these could be fed at regular periods and 
no green feed fed and produce good re¬ 
sults? If this can be done, would eggs 
be as fertile to set as eggs from hens that 
had the green feed? 2. I have a very 
valuable Russian Orloff hen that seems 
to have fits. Can she be brought out of it, 
and is she fit for a breeder if I can? 
New Hampshire. B. a. J. 
1. A pound of salts to each 100 birds is 
the usual dose given for a general physic, 
and the occasional use of salts as a sub¬ 
stitute for green food has been advocated, 
the theory being. I believe, that the salts 
produced the same clearing out of the in¬ 
testinal tract that the laxative effect of 
green food does. I am unable to say how 
nearly correct this theory is, but it seems 
to me that it is defective. Green stuffs 
have other uses in the economy than 
serving as laxatives. I can see no reason 
why the use of salts as suggested should 
interfere in any way with the fertility of 
the eggs laid. 
2. These “fits” indicate some disturb¬ 
ance of the central nervous system of the 
bird, due, perhaps, to digestive troubles or 
to the presence of intestinal worms. I 
would suggest administering n teaspoonful 
of spirits of turpentine and following it 
a little later with another of castor oil. or 
the two may be given together. This 
would disclose the presence of intestinal 
worms if any are present. If physically 
vigorous, this hen may be used in the 
breeding pen. though she may presumably 
transmit a tendency to nervous troubles. 
Her progeny may even be weak-minded. 
M. B. D. 
Weak Chicks 
What is the reason my incubator chicks 
fail to get out of the shells? They are 
fully developed; some pipped and some 
nearly out when they die. MRS. V. E. C. 
New York. 
Chicks that reach full development but 
fail to emerge from their shells, granting 
that conditions of incubation have been 
proper, are those that do not possess suf¬ 
ficient vitality to fully complete the pro¬ 
cess of hatching. This lack of vitality 
may usually be laid at the door of the 
breeding stock, though there are some 
hens that are incapable under any con¬ 
ditions of producing vigorous offspring. 
If such hens eould be eliminated from the 
breeding floe'; such losses as you speak 
of would be much curtailed. All poul¬ 
trymen have the same trouble, many 
chicks dying in the shell, but those who 
keep their breeders under the most nat¬ 
ural and healthful conditions suffer the 
least loss. Close confinement and heavy 
feeding tend to reduce the vitality of 
hens, and consequently of their offspring. 
Free range and generally healthful con¬ 
ditions of living, on the other hand, pro- 
! mote vigor of the fowls and the hateha- 
bility of their eggs. An egg may be fer¬ 
tile, yet not hatchable, its embryo dying 
at any stage of incubation. M. b. d. 
Successful Treatment for Chicken Pox 
On page 211 J. V. speaks of swollen 
heads and sore eyes in his poultry. I 
had a similar experience with the same 
trouble in a flock of 150 yearlings and 
early pullets about the last of December. 
In some cases both eyes were closed, and 
some but one eye. A thick scab would 
form over the nostrils and sides of mouth, 
completely closing the nostrils. Yellow 
pus formed, and hens would sneeze and 
shake it loose. T looked for the nature of 
the disease in “The Business Hen,” which 
I got from The R. N.-Y. some years be¬ 
fore. Coal tar disinfectant is spoken of 
as beneficial in cases of cold. I took my 
chance it was not roup. I purchased a 
coal tar product, separated the affected 
hens, put them in a warm, dry building 
which has windows facing south, and fed 
dry, whole grains only, wheat, oats and 
corn. I put permanganate of potash in 
drinking water, as directed in “The Busi¬ 
ness Hen”; put a teaspoonful of the coal- 
tar disinfectant in a quart of lukewarm 
water in a small dish, took affected fowl 
by legs and wings, and soused its head 
thoroughly in the solution. It will gasp 
and be blinded for a minute from this 
treatment and probably swallow a small 
quantity, but it will do no further harm. 
Repeat operation once or twice a day for 
three or four days or a week. Keep 
plenty of good dry straw or litter in 
house. If any hens are totally blind force 
their mouth open and drop a few grains 
of corn or wheat in and see that they 
swallow it; also give drink same way. 
Give them the kitchen scraps—raw pota¬ 
to peelings, etc. My affected hens are 
now apparently all well and 50 per cent 
laying: in fact are doing better than the 
rest of the flock. j. j. c. 
Your fowls probably had chicken pox 
and your treatment was very good. This 
is a disease caused by germs of fungus 
nature that are killed by such germicides 
as you used. Painting the scabs and 
sores with tincture of iodine is a remedy 
of value and easily applied. In the North¬ 
ern States chicken pox is ordinarily a 
mild disease, but in milder climates it 
frequently becomes severe and causes 
heavy losses in production, if not in lives. 
It is now possible to vaccinate healthy 
fowls to protect them from this disease, 
very much as vaccination protects human* 
from smallpox. M. B. D. 
Automatic Slapper Attached to Bull Power. Fig. 387 
