1142 The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Henyard 
Wheat Substitutes for Poultry 
Having noted your comment on the use 
of wheat and wheat substitutes in poultry 
rations, I am glad to give you my experi¬ 
ence with same. Before the war, or be¬ 
fore wheat took the big jump in price, I 
used to regard it as very important in 
the poultry rations. But when the price 
and the limited supply cut me off I 
learned to do without it, and have no idea 
of taking it up again unless the price 
comes down on a level with other grains. 
Bran and middlings are the richest part 
of the wheat—for poultry—and there is 
always an abundant supply of them to he 
had, at a fair price. By the plenteous 
use of these and ground oats and barley 
I never miss wheat nowadays. 
T am now feeding my poultry this ra¬ 
tion. measured always in hulk: Dry 
mash, S qts.; bran. 6 qts. ; middlings. 6 
qts.; ground oats. 1*4 qts.; scrap; grain, 
morning, one-sixth of the bulk of mash 
consumed in a day. and night, one-third 
of a day’s supply of mash. This means 
that the bulk of mash eaten in a day is 
just twice that of grain, and that twice 
as much grain is fed at night as in the 
morning. The grain is about twice as 
heavy as the mash, so by weight they 
get about equal amounts of each. The 
morning feed is clear cracked corn, and 
(lie night, half cracked corn and half bar¬ 
ley. This makes the total grain ration 
about one-third barley, which is as large 
a proportion as I ever tried to feed. I 
think the birds would take more if starved 
to if. and thrive at the same time. 
The difference between wheat and bar¬ 
ley is analogous to the difference between 
buttermilk and skim-milk, inasmuch as it 
is found more in the looks and taste than 
in the food value. Barley and wheat an¬ 
alyze so closely alike that tlnwliffereuee 
in practical feeding could liem 1 be no¬ 
ticed. Since the difference lies almost al¬ 
together in palatability. it is a question 
of which the hens will eat. There is an¬ 
other difference to consider, too, on sec¬ 
ond thought, and that is the price and 
quality of each. A local grain store is 
now offering first quality barley for about 
$2 pei - 100 lbs., and very poor quality of 
wheat, labeled “Smoky,” a large per¬ 
centage of which is charred, and reeking 
with a burnt odor, apparently having been 
in an elevator fire, for $2.65 per 100 lbs. 
Before the war it was generally thought 
that hens wouldn’t eat barley in any con¬ 
siderable amount—to save their lives. 
Hence the lamentations among poultry- 
men when wheat jumped sky-high. But 
it worked out to be a matter largely of 
what the hens were used to. The case is 
the same with oats; it is the same with 
dry mash. Corn and wet mash they will 
eat without training. I assume a bit in 
saying this, for practically all birds are 
brought up on corn in some form, to a 
large extent. However. I have ever noted 
that when given any mixture of grain the 
birds will pick up the corn first, and if 
there is every anything left over it is not 
corn. 
The grain formula given above may 
seem heavy in cracked corn, but it will 
be seen that the mash contains no meal 
or corn product of any kind. The total 
feed is only about one-tliird corn by 
weight. I have used a portion of meal 
in the mash, in which case I fed a grain 
mixture of equal bulks of cracked corn, 
oats and barley. T have an idea that the 
people of Continental Europe have long 
relied on barley as a poultry food, for I 
have observed in more than one instance, 
in reading rustic verse, mention of feeding 
the chickens their barley. T never saw 
mention of feeding any other kind of 
grain. But in good old United States the 
poet would be quite sure to say ; 
“Fair Molly at the break of dawn 
Went out and fed the hens their corn. ’ 
Rhode Island. DAVID I,. STILLMAN. 
Loss of Young Turkeys 
I have three turkeys that seem to be in 
perfect health. I have 15 turkey poults 
which are seven weeks old. They have 
been growing fine, except every week I 
lose two or three with the cholera, and it 
is caused by eating green apples. _ I give 
them cholera remedy in the drinking wa¬ 
ter all the time, but it fails to do any 
good, as when they get it they always die. 
I only have 15 left out of 23 of that 
hatching, and I expect more will go. as 
they still eat the apples. If there is 
anything you can advise me I will be 
glad to learn of it. I hatched out 16 
more which grew and did well till they 
were two weeks old : they stopped eating, 
grew weak and died ; I lost 12 out of the 
16. I feel sure there are no lice on them ; 
I suspect blackhead. They seem to have 
a form of indigestion. The turkeys when 
hatched seem 'to be so smart and strong. 
Is listerine of auv use for cholera? 
New Jersey. MRS. c. g. 
Diarrhoea is one of the symptoms of 
blackhead*, in turkeys, and it is quite like¬ 
ly that you have this trouble in your 
flocks. There are other diseases, of course, 
that carry turkeys off at all ages, hut 
blackhead is so widely prevalent and so 
fatal in all poultry raising sections that it 
is a pretty safe guess that it is responsible 
for the losses when young turkeys, that 
iiave previously been healthy begin to 
droop, lose their appetites, drag behind 
the rest of the flock, have more or less 
diaridiom, become emaciated and finally 
die. Young turkeys are especially sus¬ 
ceptible to blackhead, it occurring as early 
as three weeks of age. It is a much more 
acute disease in young poults than in 
more mature turkeys, the latter often liv¬ 
ing for months and becoming carriers of 
the infection. The liver will be found to 
be more or less enlarged, sometimes to 
twice its normal size, and covered with 
round or oval spots of dead tissue. These 
spots vary in size and in color. They are 
sometimes rather faint and of a whitish 
color, and again are yellow. There is no 
known cure, and no practicable prevent¬ 
ive. If the turkeys could be raised upon 
new, uninfected ground, they might es¬ 
cape the disease, but all old poultry rais¬ 
ing sections are saturated with the infec¬ 
tion. Listerine is undoubtedly valueless, 
and far more efficient antiseptics have 
been tried in vain. ' M. b. d. 
Poultry Fit to Eat 
T have seen so much of the ignorance 
of city farmers and foreigners in regard to 
proper care of fowls after killed for home 
consumption that I feel like giving a little 
advice. 
I have often seen a neighbor family 
kill a fowl at feeding time in the evening 
and leave it lying on the table until the 
next forenoon before plucking or drawing. 
That warm fowl left for 16 to 18 hours 
in Summer time is not fit. to eat. Kill 
fowl, pluck and remove intestines at 
once; cool in cold water. 
After fowl is singed take a clean disli- 
pan of lukewarm water, soap and rag, 
and give the fowl a thorough washing. 
You will be surprised what dirty water 
you will have. Take clean, cool water 
and thoroughly wash and rinse. Then 
you have a fowl fit to eat. 
Here is a good way to prepare old hens 
or old male birds so they are tender and 
tasty. After same is cut up, instead of 
stewing , a tough bird, try roasting same in 
your savory roaster for three hours. Each 
part should be rolled in flour and laid in 
roaster; salt to taste; three-quarters 
cover chicken with water; turn once when 
slightly brown. If desired, egg dumpling 
can be laid around pan when chicken is 
done. They make a nice addition if slight¬ 
ly browned in the rich gravy. After 
chicken is removed no flour is necessary 
for gravy; just stir and let come to boii. 
Pennsylvania. B. .\r. kxepfinger. 
Worms in Fowls 
We killed a hen last week and it had 
worms; some of them were three inches 
September 17, 1921 
long, others were smaller, and they were 
eating their way into the backbone. Can 
you tell us what to do for the rest of our 
flock so that *' " will be free from para¬ 
sites? Do you think we should pick out 
those that are not lively and kill them? 
New Jersey. g. v. 
No, do not kill fowls that may have 
worms. These parasites are found in 
many fowls that, do not appear to be 
seriously affected by their presence. If 
occurring in large numbers, however, they 
may be disposed of by the tobacco treat¬ 
ment. Steep one pound of finely cut 
tobacco stems for two hours in water 
enough to cover and mix both tobacco 
and liquor with four quarts of mash. 
Feed wet in the middle of the afternoon 
to birds fasted since previous day. Two 
hours later feed one pound Epsom salts 
dissolved in water and mixed with three 
quarts of mash. Remove droppings to 
prevent birds from again picking up the 
worms. The treatment may be repeated 
later to get rid of any worms remaining. 
The dose above recommended is for 100 
fowls; it may be increased or diminished 
as the number of fowls to be treated 
requires. 
A schoolboy answering the question, 
“What, was the Sherman Act?” replied. 
“Marching through Georgia.”—Boston 
Transcript. 
» S B wl At 4# 
A Hog Conditioner 
Making a 6-months market hog calls for a stuffing and cramming 
process with corn and tankage or its equivalent. It means laying on 
fat faster than nature ever intended. 
Let your hog’s system clog, and your hog is in trouble. If there is 
any disease in the neighborhood, your hog gets it. 
DR. HESS STOCK TONIC 
A Hog Conditioner and Worm Expeller 
Always keep one compartment of your self-feeder supplied with Dr. Hess Stock 
Tonic. Make it half Tonic, half salt. Animal instinct will do the rest. Your hog 
will not only help himself to this great worm destroyer, but— 
He’ll be getting a Tonic that will keep his appetite on edge and 
his digestion good. 
He’ll get a Laxative that will keep his bowels moving regularly. 
He’ll get a Diuretic that will help his kidneys throw off the poi¬ 
sonous waste material. 
Then you will have a herd with good appetite—you will have a herd free 
from worms—you will have a healthy herd. Their systems will be free from 
poison—free from fever, because the bowels and kidneys are active,—throwing 
off and carrying off the poisonous waste material. 
Dr. Hess Stock Tonic can also be added to the swill or drinking water—any 
way just so they get it. 
Always buy Dr. Hess Stock Tonic according to the size of your herd. Tell your 
dealer how many hogs you have. He has a package to suit. Good results 
guaranteed. 
PRICES REDUCED 
25 lb. Pail now $2.25. 100 lb. Drum now $8.00. 
60c Package now 50c. $1.25 Package now $1.00* 
Except in the Far West. South and Canada. 
WHY PAY THE PEDDLER TWICE MY PRICE ? 
Ciioei:i Hfiss. M.D..D.V.S. 
DR. HESS & CLARK 
Ashland, Ohio 
