'0 ■>> °°- - ■■--■- ,c- ^> o '. .\ •;- :> "- i v ' * x? v?' 'O0 ; & ^ < ^ ^ %• ^the feed box and is movable. The lamp is the "Gem" lamp, with a ■one. and one-half inch wick, being safe, as it has two inches of water over the oil, keeping it cool. The "Little Queen" will also answer. Fig. 4 is the brooder complete, the box being four by six feet, one foot .high at each end and 14 inches high in the centre, thus giving a slight incline to shed the water. The top is a door or lid, having hinges at the centre, and a handle at the right, and the feed box at the end. On . each side, front and back, is a window, six by thirty inches. B is the chimney. Fig. 5 is a cone-shaped arrangement to the boiler, showing how the .smoke is carried from the lamp, B is the pipe and O is the lamp. It is x$tlso shown as X.in Fig. 2. Fig. 6 shows how the flannel is fastened to the pipes and to the bottom of the tank. The brooder uses but little oil after once heated ; will hold 50 chicks, and a run can be attached to it for them. It being a hot water brooder, i^holds the heat uniformly and well. This brooder costs but little and can be made by any mechanic. MANDARIN DRAKE. POULTRY BOOK. ALL Chicks lived that were hatched, the poultry business would be a decided 'success from the start. The youngsters are the HJ greatest charge of the poultryman ; more anxiety and care are manifested for their wel- fare than is apparent to the observer. In the chick must be recognized the promises of the adult bird, which is to be the source of profit. All can testify that the care of them during early life is no small task, if good results are to be obtained, yet by close observance of the laws attached a greater per cent, of the chicks can be raised than is usual. The first impression to be formed in our minds, is that the chick is a weak little creature when hatched, and certain things are needed to promote its growth. This impression teaches us that warmth, feed, dryness and exercise are necessary to encourage their development into strong and hardy birds. When the chick is hatched the temperature is about ioo degrees before it leaves the shell; this warmth should be supplied as nearly as possible to prevent it being chilled during its first week. A good way is to confine the hen and brood in a close coop well protected from dampness and draughts. By so doing the liability of being chilled in the early morning is prevented, and the brood does not become wet from running in the grass before the dew is off or after the rain. Great loss is sustained by allowing the youngsters too much freedom. If once thoroughly chilled they seldom recover. Bowel disease results from exposure, and this is the fore-runner of death. i! In feeding chicks, keep in view the fact that they feather very rapidly. Chicks do not require any food for 24 hours after hatching. For the first meal feed dry rolled oats. This should be fed for the first day. Stale bread crumbs may be mixed with the rolled oats. Feed all that they will eat up clean but do not leave any food on the ground to sour. Keep in easy access to the chicks powdered charcoal, ground bone, sharp grit or coarse sand. A good food is made by mixing one pound of cornmeal, one-half pound of middlings, one-half pound' of ground meat, two ounces of bone-meal, a pinch of salt, and one tea- spoonful of bread soda. Moisten with milk or water and bake like bread ; crumble and feed every two hours. Another recipe is to bake a loaf of the following: Equal parts of bran, cornmeal, oat meal, and a small portion of linseed meal, seasoned with salt ; bake in an oven like other bread. Crumble and feed dry. Never let the chicks run outside of the pen unless the weather ij warm. THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S A good bill of fare for the chicks can be made from the following foods : Cracked wheat, cracked corn, buckwheat, oats, sunflower seed, |>read crumbs, lean meat chopped fine, steeped clover hay mixed with iDran, cornmeal (scalded) mixed with a little sand, green food — consisting of lettuce heads, cabbage, sugar beets — chopped fine, occasionally a few onions, changing about so that they will have different foods each day. Small chicks should be fed every two hours ; the second week the time of feed- ing can be made three hours, and FIG - r - sand. Change the drinking water twice after that three times a day. Al- ways keep plenty of litter in the pen, such as chaff or cut straw. Give plenty of clean and keep the coops a day, thoroughly cleaned and whitewashed. When feeding soft foods always use a trough for the same. Do not place it on the ground to sour and' mold. Such a trough can easily be made, as shown in the Fig. i, and is handy to clean after using. The proper housing of young chicks has much to do with their future. In the construction of coops, dryness and warmth should be first considered. The roof should be water-tight and the floor should be raised from the ground. Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5 are excellent de- signs for coops for young chicks. FlG - 2 - They are large and give plenty of room for the hen and brood. A very good way is to place them under a low open shed to protect them from driving rains. Other plans for coops, with runs attached are shown in Figs. jiT"^ '"\ 6, 7, 8 and 9. There are many advantages to these coops. By having the hen and brood con- lined in such pens there is no fig. 4 . danger of the chicks becoming chilled by rain and wet. The hen being confined, fig. 5. she is always in easy access to the chicks, and when they become chilled they can go to her. In these runs the chicks are free from molestation by older birds. A coop that anyone can make with little trouble is shown in Fig. 10. Take an old barrel and tack e very hoop on each side of the seam between the Staves with one inch wrought nails. After clinching the nails saw off on the seam. Then spread the barrel open, as shown in fig. 6. the cut, by cutting a board 20 inches long for the back of the coop, and two small pieces to tack laths to on the front. The upper section of the back is fastened with leather hinges, so that it may be opened at fig. 7 . pleasure. POULTRY BOOK. 4\ FIG. 8. FIG. g. When the chicks are a few weeks old a feeding p n should be pro- vided, as shown in Fig. n. Such a pen will prevent the greedy hens and larger chicks from rob- bing the little fellows oc their food. It is not good policy o allow the young Ichicks to run with the older ones. It would be well to separate them as early as you can and provide them with a roosting J| house, as shown in Fig. 12. This " house can be built at a small cost. It should be perfectly dry, with low FIG - 12 - roosts and a lattice front, facing the south. The house should be closed at night. From the time the chicks are weaned until late Fall they caa be kept in this house. This coop of our invention, published in the Americaa Ideal Coop. Agriculturist, is the most elaborate of its kind in this chapte*. In this plan the coops are built three in number, on the IDEAL COOP. 42 THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S (principle that poultry houses are arranged to contain a variety of fowls with separate runs attached. Each division is separate and can be used for one, two or three broods at a time, if desired. The general custom is to have individual coops placed promiscuously around the yard ; by this arrangement they are in one spot and easy of attention, saving labor when a number of broods are hatched. When the hens and broods are allowed to roam at will for the first three weeks, there is no telling how many chicks may be lost before they attain the age to resist the variations of the weather and to care for them- selves. By confining them for two or three weeks they are enabled to receive every attention needed for their rapid growth and development ; in the coops here shown they are free from the torments of the older birds, ■or the angry peck of an ill-natured hen as they scramble for food and drink. The mother hen has nothing to detract her attention from the young, and performs her maternal duties in a motherly way. The ground plan of the coop is six feet square, with three divisions two by six feet each. One-half of the frame is covered with matched boards:,to serve as a floor for the enclosed part. The highest part is three and one-half feet, sloping toward the rear; the open portions are cov- ered with one-inch wire mesh. The partitions of the enclosure are solid boards two feet high, with laths at the : to afford ventilation ; the partitions of wire runs are made of laths, placed one-half inch apart, to avoid fighting, between the hens, but permit a free pas- sage of air from one space to the other. 1 The roof should be made as clo^e as possible, and covered with tarred paper to insure dryness within ; the sides should be built of even t>oards and stripped over the cracks with one-half by three-inch strips. Place dry earth on the floors of the inclosed parts one inch thick, and a little straw in the rear for the hens and chicks to lie on. In the wired parts cover the ground to a thickness of two inches with white sand ; this prevents dampness after a rain. Keep the coop well cleaned and whitewashed ; sprinkle insect-powder in the corners to keep out vermin. Place water in fountains in the runs ; scatter the grain food on the ground and feed the soft food in pans to avoid the waste part souring on the ground. 1 _l Never feed or place the water fountains in the closed part, as this is intended for roosting only. After taking the hen and brood from the nest, they should be kept in the roosting part for a couple of days ; the lattice door separating the coop and the run should be closed during this time to keep the hen confined, but the brood may have free access through the lattice door to the run. After this, the lattice door may be kept raised, and the hen and brood can use the entire space of house and run. When the chicks have grown sufficiently strong, the outer door may be raised, Front Elevation. 3 ft ■-—*)* — 3 FT Ground Plan. POULTRY BOOK. 43 and the brood can range on the grass during good weather, and be cooped at night until the hen leaves them, when they should be tree to range to themselves and be cooped in a different house untd they are ready for the pens in the Fall. 44 THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S BLACK SUMATRA GAME COCK. POULTRY BOOK. 45 RfiSPtSiiffifiMMGi Elsewhere in this volume the subject of feeding has been treated at length to show the practical methods of using the foods to the best advantage. Under this heading the idea is to substantiate these methods by clearly defining the practices of some of the successful breeders of poultry, and give their experiences in this particular field. A careful perusal of the following recipes will prove of more than ordinary interest on the subject of feeding, by establishing a fixed formula for the preparation of the foods, and illustrating the manner of using them advantageously : An excellent combination is to use bran and clover Bran as Food, together, sprinkling the bran on the clover. The feeding of poultry on grain only is compelling them to subsist on concentrated food, which is lacking in many substances that are of im- portance in egg production. The cost of bran is small compared with its real food value, and poultrymen can make it a portion of the regular ration with advantage, as it is not only nutritious, but is also highly relished by poultry. Herewith we give the average of eighty- eight analyses of wheat bran, two analyses of corn bran, and, deducted therefrom, the percentage of nutritive elements contained in a mixture of two-thirds wheat and one-third corn bran : Ash. per cent. Protein, per cent. Carbohydrates, per cent. Fat. per cent. Wheat bran 5.80 16:45 9-35 15.40 7.12 12 .64 53-9° 50.38 5 2 -39 4.00 5.00 4-33 Corn bran Mixture A given weight of the mixture, compared with the same amount of pure bran, would contain nearly twice as much ash, 20 per cent, less protein, about the same amount of carbohydrates and slightly more fat. The digestible nutrients in 100 pounds of the wheat bran would be about 11.72 pounds of protein, 44.66 pounds of carbohydrates, and 2.58 pounds of fat. We are not prepared to say what they would be in the corn bran, as we are not aware that they have ever been ascertained. As, however, the fiber is left out in the statement of the contents of both by-products., and the question of "woodiness" is thereby eliminated, the digestibility would probably be about the same propor-tion of protein in corn bran digestible as in the protein of the wheat bran, which would make the corn bran contain about 5.25 per cent of protein, or, say, half as much as the wheat bran. This is the chief element for which bran is bought. The mixture would, therefore, be worth about one-sixth less than wheat. 46 THE AMERICAN! FANCIER'S The poultry raiser who is feeding ihe little chicks red Cooked Food, pepper, carbolic acid and turpentine should stop all that and bake the feed. Mix it up as if you were going to make corn bread for dinner, leaving out the eggs and sugar. Take sour milk, soda and salt,stir in your meal and then.bake. When baked, crumble fine, soften and feed the little chicks. Feed them baked corn bread until they are three or four weeks old, and gapes .will be a thing unknown in chicks. You can make enough to do two or three days at one time. Save all the scraps of bread, cake and scrapings of all kinds to feed for a change. A large amount of valuable material may be utilized if cooked. Pea pods, string beans, apples, squashes, and many other articles, if placed in a pot and boiled until tender, will furnish a quantity of food that is really more serviceable than too much grain. Ducks and geese may be kept at little expense by this mode of feeding, while turkeys and PAIR SILVER LACED WYANDOTTES. chickens will appreciate the change at once. Turnips and carrots, if cooked and fed to all kinds of fowls, will furnish a cheap and nutritious diet, promoting health and preventing too much fat. In feeding such material no grain is necessary except at night, when whole corn, wheat and oats should be given. One of the most valuable foods is cooked potatoes and sour milk. If this be fed, first thickened with ground oats, it will cause the hens to lay more eggs than when an exclusive grain diet is given. Fowls should have plenty of bulky food if they are to be made profitable. — Rural New Yorker. Green food, or some suitable substitute, is reckoned one Clover Chaff, of the indispensables for feeding poultry. The tender blades of grass and the crisp leaves of lettuce are not always to be had, but there are substitutes for these to be found, among which is the chaff that collects on the barn floor where large quantities of clover hay is fed. This is regarded by the average farmer as worth- POULTRY BOOK. 47 WHITE MINORCA COCK. less, and is unceremoniously scraped from the floor into the manure pit, or is used for lit- ter for the cows and hogs. Yet it really consists of the choicest parts of the hay, being composed of fine pieces of leaves, broken bits of heads, and a greater or less quantity of clover seed. It is too valu- able to waste. It should be daily gathered and stored in barrels or boxes for use. It may be fed in one of three ways. If it be placed in boxes, conveniently arranged for the fowls to get at, so they can not waste it, a large quan- tity will be eaten dry. It may be rendered more palatable by pouring boiling hot water over it in some Convenient recep- tacle and placing over the mass a cover to keep in the steam and allow it to swell and partially cook. The finest por- tions of it may be stirred into the soft feed and the fowls will eat it with relish. As clover is rich in the elements that increase the laying, there is every reason why it should be largely used. Many successful breeders are recognizing this fact, and clover, in one form or another, is becoming a staple poultry food. Larger quantities are used each year, and where the use has once begun it is seldom discontinued. It is by making use of the materials which are often considered valueless that poultry serves a very useful purpose upon the farm. The cost of keeping is reduced, and what was once considered pure wastes becomes converted into marketable products. — Poultry World. If you have a second crop of clover, cut it while green and Clover, tender, dry it carefully, preserving all the leaves and blossoms possible and store it up for poultry food in winter. To feed it properly, it should be cut fine and fed dry, but the best way of preparing it is to cut it in the afternoon. At night scald it in a tub or bucket by pouring boiling water over it ; throw a cover (old carpet or anything) over the tub, allow it to stand all night and in the morning it will be still warm, and possesses a savory odor that will almost tempt you to eat it yourself. To every bucketful of cut hay add one quart of the fol- lowing mixture : Ground corn, ground oats and bran, ten pounds ; lin- seed meal, one pound ; salt, one ounce ; mix well. Feed in a trough, and give the hens all they will eat, twice a day. Each hen will walk away when she has eaten all she wishes. The bucket of dry food (scalded at night, as mentioned) will feed about thirty hens and perhaps more, and they will relish it highly. No other green food will be necessary. A gill of wheat may be scattered in the litter, so as to induce the hens to hunt and search. — Poultry News. 48 THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S The usual way of feeding ground meat is to mix it with Ground Meat, ground grain of some kind. This is unnecessary. It should be fed as a variety, and in a way to afford a change. There should be certain meals, on special days, for giving it to the liens. For instance, give it at night on every other day in a trough, unmixed with other food, so that the hens will have nothing but the ground meat for that meal. The next morning give some other food, as corn, and the following meal may be of wheat or cut clover. The ground meat may be given plentifully if fed in this manner. Simply allow the hens to have all of it that they will eat, and they will relish it and find it beneficial. If fed on meat every meal it may cause bowel difficulty ; but given once every two clays it will not be in any manner injurious, and will prove of great assistance in inducing the hens to lay during the cold weather. — Farm and Fireside. One of the easiest ways of providing green and succulent Ensilage, food for the poultry during the winter time is to feed them ensilage, and the birds thrive so well upon it that their egg- producing capacities are increased nearly ten percent. The hens eat the ensilage greedily, and it acts as a fair substitute for green grass and vegetables which cannot be obtained in the winter. The im- portance of this preserved food for poultry has not been fully appreciated by farmers. Where the ensil- age is kept for cattle a little of it thrown in the poultry yard would hardly be missed, and very appreci- able results will be appar- ent in the egg basket. The ensilage for hens can be composed of almost any green food if it is cut and packed away properly. Farmers keeping ensilage for cattle can throw a little of it to the hens, but the poul- trymen must economize in filling the silc. Hens find nutriment and a stimu- lant in green grass, and this when stored in the silo is loved dearly by them during the winter season. Rye, when cut early enough, is cheap, and a good nutriment for the poultry. Oats, likewise, form a good crop for the silo when it is to be fed to hens, and a crop may be gathered early in the season, so that the land can be turned over to some other crop. Corn is not so valuable an ensilage for the hens as the others mentioned, for the tough stalks cannot be disposed of so readily as the grass. There is more waste to it unless cattle are also kept on the farm to eat them. The progressive poultryman will plant grass, oats or rye to fill the silo for the hens in the winter season. In the spring and summer there are SILVER SPANGLED HAMBURG COCK. POULTRY BOOK 49 plenty of green things for the birds, and they may even be allowed to range through the fields where the grass is growing. Their range in this way is not restricted, but the soil is growing their winter as well as their summer food. — Farmers' Review. PAIR HOUDANS. Many farmers do not realize the necessity of the fowls Cabbage, having green food in winter ; the fowls, if running at large, help themselves in summer, and nothing is thought of it. When the frosts have killed the grass and all annual plants, and the snow govers the ground, biddy can get nothing herself to take the place of the grass and other green food she ate so freely in summer. Hang a head of cabbage in each pen, and see how rapidly it will be pecked in pieces and eaten. If hung about 18 inches above the floor, compelling the birds to jump for it, all the better; the exercise is an additional advantage gained, and exercise quickens the circulation, stimulates digestion and promotes health. Green food is to fowls much what fruit is to a human being, toning and correcting the internal organs. Cabbage is particularly valuable, because it has a large proportion of nitrogen ; hence balances the carbon of the grain ration. If you want fowls to lay in winter, when eggs pay a big profit, feed them a nitrogenous rather than a carbonaceous ration ; and one of the vegetables richest in nitrogen is cabbage. — Farm Poultry. There is not much in a gill of millet seed, but there is nothing Millet, that entices hens and chicks to work more industriously over a pile of litter, such as cut straw or leaves, than a small quantity of millet seed. Do not give a full meal of the seed, but only enough to induce them to seek for it. As a food for young chicks, it is excellent. Prepare the food like this : Take equal parts of scalded bread and oat- meal with as little water as possible, to which add coarse corn-meal, about enough to make the mixture dry enough to crumble with the fingers. THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S Now, after the chick is 24 hours old, feed this food to it every two or three hours until it is about three days old, and then give it millet seed,, and as soon as it learns, to eat the millet, leave off the other food and, give it good fresh water in such a manner that it cannot climb into it. See that the chicks are warm enough to keep them from pushing up into,, corners and trampling each other down, and, above all, give them plenty of good, fresh air and sunshine. We have raised all the way from 100 to 800 chickens on nothing but millet seed after the second day. They will soon learn to eat and if you like to see anything eat, you will enjoy seeing a large bunch of small chickens eating millet. — Southern Planter. My front yard, on which I have raised a fine sward of lawn Lawn grass, is clipped once a week during the summer. I use a carrying attachment on the lawn mower, in which the cut Clippings, grass fell in one heap. The grass was dried in the shade and packed in sacks. When the snow began to fall and covered the ground, I gave my hens a portion of the grass every day, and it was relished like corn. There was an increase in the egg yield despite the cold weather. The grass being very sweet and succulent, I believe it makes a very r^ood substitute for clover, which is not accessible on a town lot poultry yard. The hens will eat it up clean, as it is free from stems, short, and consists of white clover leaves and tender blades of other lawn grass. — Correspondent to Farm Journal. Few poultry raisers really appreciate the true worth of the Sunflower sunflower. It is very easily grown and produces food of a rich and nutritious quality. When fed properly to fowls it Seeds. promotes laying and produces a luster upon the plumage and otherwise benefits the bird. When fowls learn to eat the seeds they become very fond of them, and I have found them excellent mixed and fed with oats. The sunflower has other merits also which BLACK EAST INDIAN DUCK. POULTRY BOOK. claim the attention of those who would be successful poultry raisers The one which we wish now to call special attention is their use as shelter for poultry. While fowls enjoy the sunlight at the same time they require shade, to produce the best results and we know of no better and cheaper protection to suggest than the planting of sunflower groves The seed can be planted at most any time in the spring when other seed is planted — often patches are self sown — and by warm weather afford a most excellent protection. They have large leaves which shield from the sun and the stalks grow so heavy that they form a protection in winter, when thickly planted. Fowls and chicks take readily to the protection thus afforded and enjoy it hugely. The ground is generally dry under them and fowls enjoy dusting and resting'under the stately and beautiful flowers — they are indeed the chickens' flowers. We would therefore in the light of these advantages advise those who can possibly do so to plant them — it will pay you to try it. — Western Rural. Hens should have all the milk they can readily drink ; no kind Milk, of food is better adapted to egg production. Some milk mixed with bran will not fatten them • but if given freely, the vessels in which it is fed will need frequent cleans- ing to prevent them from becoming of- fensive. With milk to drink, fowls hav- ing a range will do well enough on one meal a day, as this will encourage activ- ity in scratching and picking up what they can. Thisfeed should be given very early in the morning, and should be steamed clover hay, with a little corn and oat chop and bran mixed with it, and a little salt added to make it more palatable. The birds will have a ravenous appetite, and they can eat all of this feed they want without injury. Sour milk may be fed to hens, but not to chicks. Fresh milk is preferable for chicks, but the sour milk mav be used for mixing ground grain food. For ducklings it matters but lutle whether the milk is fresh or not, as they will use it in a short time. There is 12 per cent of solid matter in milk before it is skimmed, and from 6 to 8 per cent after. Fresh milk does not contain any more egg- producing material than skim milk, except carbon, which is easily PARTRIDGE COCHIN HEN. 52 THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S obtained from other sources. Give the hens all the skim milk or butter- milk they can drink. For chicks the milk should not be sour, as it may- cause bowel disease, but adult fowls may drink all kinds without injury. Curds are excellent for hens, and even whey may be used in mixing food. — California Cackler. As an egg food wheat is highly recommended, and is unsur- Wheat. passed as a basis for the grain diet. It contains more mineral matter and nitrogen than corn, and no grain food is better for pushing the growing stock ahead than wheat. When farmers are waiting for the new crop of corn, they will find it profitable to feed wheat to push the fowls and other stock ahead, for every day saved in feeding is feed saved. New wheat is especially good for fowls and every poultryman who raises wheat should place a small stack in the vicinity of the poultry house, unless the fields are close to where the fowls run. The town poultry raiser who can should buy some wheat in the bundle to feed to his hens, and let the hens thresh it out themselves. In our own experi- ence we have always found that new wheat started the j^SSM^ hens to laying afresh and this year we planted a little patch of wheat ourselves. As soon as it began to ripen we cut some with a scythe every day and threw into the yards, and it wasn't a week till the egg produc- tion increased. By this means we get the new wheat long before it is in market. — Colorado Fancier. While corn and Oats, wheat is fed more frequently to fowls than oats, yet, during the warm months and as a change of the grain diet in winter, nothing is better than oats. Keep a box of oats just inside the hen house door, that the fowls may help themselves when- ever disposed. We have no fear of feeding too many, for they never gorge themselves with oats as they will with corn. Sometimes they grow tired of them, though, and seem hungering for a change of food. Then remove the oat dish from before them for a few days at a time, throw them a little wheat in the morning and what corn you deem advisable just as they are going on to the roost at night, and the result of this watchfulness is a good supply of eggs. Ground oats are excellent at all times. When the hens are fat give them no grain, but whole oats and make them scratch for them. — Practical Farmer. There is considerable discussion over the value of corn, and we Corn, may also include wheat, as food for poultry. The advocates of corn claim that as long as it can be had at a low cost it is the best. BEARDED SILVER POLISH COCK. POULTRY BOOK. 53 of all foods, while others contend tha 1 : it has a tendency to create too much fat, and really retards egg production. The matter is one that may be discussed from several standpoints. If a hen is laying she neces- sarily uses a large proportion of carbonaceous material in producing the egg, the yolk requiring quite a large quantity; but if she is not laying she is liable to become too fat if corn or wheat is fed exclu- sively. The fact is that no grain is suitable as an exclusive food for laying hens. The pro- duction of eggs de- mands a va- riety, and Scorn is no ex- ception to the rule. It is the best of all grains to feed in winter be- causeitisheat producing and keeps the fowls warm ; but it is un- suit ab 1 e in summer. Feedingcorn, like everything else, must be done judiciously. If fed to fowls when not really required it is expensive because it leads to no results. That it will promote egg production when given in connection with other substances is well known, and the experienced poultryman can utilize it to the best advantage if he will study the requirements of his flock. The opinion that corn is very nourishing food for fowls is so universal that no further thought is given to the matter. If any one should suggest that corn would be easier of digestion if soaked or boiled, he would likely receive the answer that corn was nothing hard to digest for birds, which swal- lowed stones and other hard substances without detriment. A moment's thought, however, will convince that the mill stones and the grist are different things, and feeding hard grain, although not exactly like feeding the mill stones with pebbles, bears a certain likeness to it. The trouble attendant in the preparation of food, if it is to be cooked, may indeed seem very disproportionate to the advantage to be derived from such treatment, but in reality little need be spent, as before going the rounds •of the nests a little hot water may be poured over the grain, a tight cover put on the kettle and the whole placed over the stove, when by the time your rounds are completed the corn will have become steamed and mellow and have lost none of its good qualities. Remember, each hen has a certain amount of animal force to be expended every day in some direc- tion, and the less she has to give to digesting her food the more she will have to be expended in egg producing. The advantages of the warm food in winter when much food goes toward producing animal heat to -withstand the cold are twofold — from the direct action of the warmth PAIR SINGLE COMB WHITE LEGHORNS. 54 THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S and the slower action of the food itself, to say nothing of the fact that the content produced by nourishing- food will result in more eggs, for a hen thoroughly at home will lay more eggs than a discontented one. We have performed the ex- periment ourselves and know that feeding boiled corn does pay, and it is as the result of experience that we offer this plan to our friends. — Massachu setts Ploughman. The value of all Bones, foods depends up- on their digestibil- ity. The green bone, con- taining its natural juices, is digestible, especially by birds, and when in a very fine condition, it is also di- gested by animals, because andalusian hen. its particles are less dense; but the dry bone having lost its solvent agent, has become harder, its particles re-arranging closer together, and is only slowly digestible, if at all. Bear in mind that it is not the amount of food eaten that gives the- best results, but the amount digested. Nothing will make a chick grow as rapidly as will green bone — in fact, the growth seems marvelous. There are several bone cutters now in the market, and they are all that is claimed for them. The object of this is to im- press upon all who keep poultry the necessity and importance of utilizing the waste materials. 'Eggs are always cash in the market and especially in winter. Bones are more plentiful in winter than are some other valuable materials. The bone cut- ters are labor saving ; they permit the use of valuable bone, and they pay back their cost in short time. There are white crested black polish cock. s^ft^ POULTRY BOOK. 55 many things which cannot be explained, but which present themselves as facts. Take a bone, fresh from the butcher, go in your hen yard, pound the bone with a hammer on a stone, and although you may have fed your hens on dry ground bone, and have filled their troughs with grain, each will take the risk of a blow on the head with a hammer to secure a bit of fresh bone, and they will swallow pieces so large as to occasion surprise. The fresh bone serves a special purpose, for it contains the materials for the white of the egg, the yolk and the shell, all in a concen- trated form, and in a partially soluble condition, while the dry bones will remain untouched — that is, as long as fresh bone is supplied! Thus we have not only egg food, but also gritfor grinding the grain food in the gizzard. The cheapness of bones is another factor to be considered — many butchers give them away, or will sell them for a small sum. But the bone cutter is the agent that renders them valu- able, and converts them into the most desirable of all foods. With bone and cut clover, but very little other food will be re- quired, and hence there is rot only a gain in nu- tritious matter, but a saving of grain also. — Poultry Keeper. It is frequently Lime, recommended that the hens be supplied with oyster- shells, as a source from which to permit the hens to obtain the lime that forms the shell of an egg. This claim has never been supported fulty, for it is well known that thousands of hens are never given buff leghorn pullet. anything of the kind, yet they have no difficulty in securing the needed lime. The matter depends more upon the food than upon supplying substitutes. Grain is deficient in lime and abounds in starch, hence, hens that are fed almost wholly upon grain will produce eggs with soft shells at times, but if the hens can supply themselves with grass, and have a variety, they will secure all the lime desired from the food, and the lime will be in a soluble condition. If lime is to be provided in any shape, however, there is no better source than bones, which are phosphate of lime, and also soluble after being eaten, which is doubtful in the case of oyster-shells. Bones and clover will provide hens with all the lime required, while bran, linseed-meal and middlings are also excellent in that respect. The farmer who is careful to give his hens a variety and keeps them on a range, will seldom have his hens lay eggs with soft shells. There is plenty of lime in the food. Oyster-shells serve more as gritty matter 06 THE AMERICAN FANCIERS than as a composition of the eggs, although to a certain extent they may partially assist in that respect also, but if fowls are properly fed there will be no necessity for feeding lime in any form. When hens lay soft- shell eggs, or do not lay well, it is not for want of lime, but generally be- cause the hens are too fat, which obstructs the process of egg laying. If it is desired to feed lime, the most convenient form is in the shape of lime water, which may be used for mixing the soft food. Lime may be given, however, in any shape, if it is preferred, to place it before the hens. Old mortar (broken), bones, chalk, ground limestone, ground shells, or even plaster, may be used, but shells are sufficient. Unless the hens are in proper condition and not tob fat, all the lime they may eat will not prevent soft>shell eggs, though many persons suppose when hens lay soft-shell eggs it is because lime is lacking. — American Farmer. Linseed meal is highly nitrogenous, and readily fattens- Linseed fleal. While it may be dangerous to poultry if fed too frequently, yet it makes an excellent food if properly given. A pounl of linseed meal, fed fifty hens, twice a week, will promote in egg production and health, but if it is given more frequently it v"^^^^^^^^^^^^" may cause bowel disease. When the fowls are ; costive, and the hens do net ap-. pear brig : t in plumage,linseed ~v=__ meal is better ^^^^^^^^J^^^^^^^^:^^^^^^^-. '7Z& than any medi- cine that can be given. It is fed muscovv drake. mixed with the soft food in the morning, the soft food oeing scalded. In every ton of linseed meal there are over one hundred pounds of nitrogen, equivalent to five pounds in every one hundred pounds, while cotton-seed meal is even richer. It is an excellent substitute for grain, as the meal can be given every other day, alternating with bran and ground oats — New Hampshire Mirror. A. F. Hunter, flassachusetts Five mornings in the week we feed a mash made up of about a third cooked vegetables washed fine, an equal amount of boiling water, a heaping teaspoonful of salt to a bucketful, a heaping teaspoonful of cayenne pepper every other day, alternating with powdered charcoal; into this is stirred a mixed meal until the mash is as stiff as a strong arm can make it. The mixed meal consists of one part each corn meal, fine middlings, bran, ground oats and animal meal. The foundation of the mash is the cooked vegetables, which may be refuse potatoes, beets, carrots, turnips, onions, and potato, squash and apple parings well Feed this mash in troughs large enough for all fowls in the cooked. POULTRY BOOK. 57 pen to get about it at one time. When cold weather approaches, exer- cise must be stimulated, and we cover the pen floors throe or four inches deep with chopped meadow hay or chipped straw, into which the grain is scattered. Whole wheat is the best grain for fowls and whole barley is the next best. We make barley the noonday feed five days in the week, and wheat the night feed five or six days in the week. Monday we feed oats (or barley), wheat, whole corn; Tuesday we feed mash, barley, wheat; Wednesday we feed mash, cut bone, wheat; Thursday we feed oats, barley, wheat (or corn); Friday we feed mash, barley; Saturday we feed mash, cut bone, wheat; Sunday we feed mash, barley, wheat. Ground oyster shells are always accessible, and fresh water replenished three times a day, (warm in winter) and the water pans carefully rinsed ist, so the vvaeat will be quite softened up before the old hen gets to scratching in the m >rning. Don't bury this wheat all in a pile, but scatter it so they can only get a few kernels at a time. Now, if you have fixed this just right and just enough buried wheat, you need not feed them again for a whole and sometimes two whole days, except their morning mash and the cut green feed two and three times per day. Just as it happens I occasionally feed a little cracked wheat and sometimes a little corn. Be extra careful to never overfeed. Young chicks just hatched I feed for the first two or three days on dry bread crumbs. My laying hens get a feed of grain at noon and another at night, always fed where they have to scratch for it — either in litter of some kind or on a light piece of ground kept forked up loose. I mix cracked corn and wheat in about the proportion of three sacks of wheat to one of corn. Oc- casionally feed Egyptian corn and occa- sionally cracked barley. Now count your hens and measure out one heaping tea- spoonful of grain to each hen for their noon and evening feed. I feed the even- ing feed of grain at 4 or 4:30 o'clock, then just before they go to roost give a good feed of the green barley, or green corn --T^^^^^^^^^g^' answers the same purpose. Cut up so ideallight brahma pullet, they can eat it readily. I cut all my green 60 THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S feed with my jack-knife. It is very easily done when you know how. To make hens lay we must have : First, warm and dry Fannie Field, houses for them to roost in; second, alongside each pen there must be a shed for them to occupy during bad Illinois. weather; third, give corn only at the evening meal during cold weather to impart a warmth to the body; fourth, bury all grain among chaff, leaves or other litter or throw in scratching pens to induce exercise; fifth, mashes made from ground grain, fed scalded or dry, to which is added two or three times a week ground meat scraps, must be given every morning; sixth, there must be a liberal sup- ply of green food, such as cabbage; seventh, fresh water must be given daily; eighth, sharp grit and cracked oyster shells must be constantly within reach; ninth, there must be perfect cleanliness. Hens don't lay when they are lousy. They can't lay when they 'have not the proper material with which to make the eggs. They won't lay when cold. A lazy hen is a misery to herself. A hen that is continually scratching and keeping busy does not mind the cold and in consequence is the one which lays the eggs. Hens in crowded quarters breed sickness and sick hens are unable to lay. Fowls must be in good condition to yield a profit. PAIR PEKIN DUCKS. To get the best results from the food, give the warm 'By the Orange breakfast in the morning, then soon afterward scatter a little grain in the litter on the floor; give grain at noon J udd Farmer, and once .between noon and supper time. Just before the fowls go to roost give them a full supper of grain consisting of corn about two-thirds of the time throughout the winter. I know that many poultry writers object to the use of corn, but all the same whole corn is the very best food which can be given to fowls at night during cold weather. By cold weather I mean when the mercury is in the neighborhood of zero. Corn is a heat producing grain, and v/hen fed whole digests slowly, consequently is just the thing to "stand POULTRY BOOK. 61 by," and keeps the fowls comfortable through the long, cold nights. But don't feed that corn, or any other grain, cold. Warm it thoroughly and the hens will feel much more comfortable and thankful than they would with their crops full of cold grain. Let them eat all they want, for if they have had the scattered grain through the day, and green food where they could help themselves, there will not be the slightest danger of their eating too much, even of corn, for they will come to their supper with empty crops. When they are through eating, remove the grain which remains; for in the morning they have their cooked mash. Prof. A. Q. Gilbert, Otta\ya Experimental Station A hot morning ration may be fed during the winter composed as follows: Bran, three pounds, shorts, three pounds, and ground meal two pounds. Clover hay steamed and mixed in liberal quan- tity, a small quantity of salt and about three handfuls of coarse sand and fine ground oyster shells mixed. The whole to be mixed while boiling. Boiled potatoes and turnips may be substituted for the clover hay, and as a variety in diet is beneficial, at noon feed oats, and for the evening feed use whole wheat. Vegetables, such as cabbage, carrots and turnips, should be in reach of the fowls always. As far as feeding poultry is concerned the most Myron S. Perkins, common trouble is a lack of variety in diet. It should always be remembered that fowls are omnivor- flassachusetts. ous in their habits; their natural food comprises the whole three kingdoms into which matter is divided,, viz., the animal, vegetable and min- eral. If any one or two of these is supplied and the third is lacking, the ration is unta'anced, and conse- quently not ca culated to develop a perfectly healthful organism. When fowls are confined in houses or yards the various grains such as corn, wheat and oats, form too large a proportion of the bill of fare in many cases. Green vegetables and meat should be supplied in m ich larger quantities than they are ordinarily given. Have a cabbage or beet in the fowl house at all times, that the fowls may help themselves as they wish. Ground beef scraps, fresh raw meat and finely ground butchers' bone; contain much nutriment, and are ex- cellent to stimulate egg production Then oyster shells must be given to furnish lime, and gravel, pounded glass and crockery to aid in reducing the food. Furthermore, in feeding poultry it must be borne in mind that the feed is according to the ob- ject to be gained. Is it eggs or flesh? ^akk brahma hen. 62 THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S Are they young or old birds? Different cases require the following of totally different methods. For eggs we want such foods as bran, shorts, cotton seed, gluten and linseed meals, peas and clover. For the produc- tion of flesh feed corn, rye, buckwheat and oily foods. There is no definite iron-clad rule to be laid down upon this subject. It is necessary to determine what is desired always, and then act accordingly. It is absolutely necessary for hens to have meat during L. F. Scott, the winter if we-expect a return in eggs. Scraps of meat from the market are good, either raw or boiled, and when Connecticut, these are not obtainable take a piece of salt pork from the barrel and nail it up on the side of the hen house within their reach, and see how greedily they will demolish all but the skin. When I have an old farrow cow in the fall that is not worth wintering and is poor, I have her butchered, cut up and salted, just as if we were to eat it; this we boil all winter, a little at a time, and feed it to the hogs and hens (it needs no cutting). When I open the hen-house door with a pail of this meat, they smell it and will begin to sing, sometimes flying upon me to get hold of the meat. But this is only one of the cares for hens; they need something green, such as cabbage, boiled potatoes, new potatoes and whole apples to pick. I take rowen hay, run it twice through the hay cutter, pour boiling water on it, then pour out the water for drink, and it will astonish one to see how much of this green hay they will eat. Then every year or two I get a barrel of sea shells, keep them by the hens all the time, and for gravel, I get a flint stone and burn it until it will crumble, and then run it through a bone mill; this will make sharp material to grind their food. All these things are for them when confined by snow or cold. Then a large dust bath is neces- sary, but in open weather let them run out, if not too cold. I never allow their combs to be frozen. My hens are every one last summer pullets, and they have laid incessantly from October to the present time, March 15. I say nothing about grain feed, only that green corn as soon as it can be shelled will make pullets lay best. WHITE WYANDOTTES. Feeding is a subject which requires constant thought and care from the practical breeder to secure the best results. The conversion of grain and other kind of poultry foods into eggs and thence into meat necessi- tates a well regulated system of feeding.. Imprudent use of the grain foods retards the development of the properties that the eggs yield, and weakens the natural condition of the fowl. While grain may be considered the natural food of fowls, it has been shown-that grass and worms are just as essential. A fowl in the state of nature lives under entirely different conditions from one in confinement, and is therefore dependent upon the breeder as the master of the latter conditions. In its limited space the fowl must consume that which is given it. The wild fowl gathers its food, grain by grain, and its searching, roving tendency does much to induce good digestion; the bird must work for what it finds, so that all its functions are kept vigorous by exercise. A fowl in confinement needs a change of diet regularly to keep its health, and it is only when in a healthy condition that the egg supply will be at its highest. Many suppose that hens should lay merely if fed with a single kind of food, without considering the essentials for egg production. By a variety of foods the elements that are contained in the white, yolk and shell are produced. These are nitrogen, carbon and water, with certain proportions of mineral matter. Nitrogen is an ele- mentary gas which forms about four-fifths of the atmosphere, the remaining fifth being oxygen. Now in food, nitrogen is albumen, fibrine, flesh-forming, as the white of an egg. Carbon is oil, fat, starch, sugar, etc. — carbonaceous materials. The starch of feeding stuffs is known as carbo-hydrate, the hydrate signifying water in acrystaline state. During digestion all starch matter is more or less converted into sugar, and form* sugar into other forms, including fat, which exists in oil. The mineral matter consists of lime, soda, potash, magnesia, sulphur, etc., which is found by reducing the food to ash, permitting the nitrogen and carbon to escape in a gaseous state, though a portion of the mineral matter is sometimes left in the shape of carbonates and phosphates. Phosphoric acid unites with minerals and alkalies. When united with lime we have phosphate of lime, or bone; when united with soda, we have phosphate of soda. When carbonic acid unites with lime the result is carbonate of lime, as oyster shells, chalk, marble, limestone, eggshell, etc. The difference between a bone and an oyster shell in that while both have lime as a base, phosphoric acid and carbonic acid form each a sepa- rate combination under different conditions. « 64 THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S WHITE LEGHORN COCK. In the composition of the egg, which is divided into the white, yolk and shell, we find that water, fat, albumen, sugar and mineral matter are all in the white. Let us take a hundred parts and divide them. The result will be : Water, about 84 per cent; al- bumen, about 12^ per cent; mineral matter, about 1 per cent; sugar, etc., about z\ per cent. Grains or any other quan- tity to the number of 100 parts contain only 16 parts of solid matter, but this would make 96 grains of solid matter for each egg, which contains 600 grains of white or 75 grains of albumen. Water to the extent of 500 grains is also contained in the white: The yolk is composed as follows, taking 100 parts : Water, about 52 per cent; oil and tat, about 45 per cent; albuminoids, about 1 per cent; coloring mat- ter, about 1 per cent; mineral matter, about 1 per cent. The yolk contains 300 grains, more than half of which is water; nearly half is fat, and a portion of it is albuminous. Let us put the white and the yolk together; we then have, deducting 100 grains for shell, 900 grains, thus: Water, 650 grains; albuminoids, 80 grains; oil, fat, etc., 135 grains; mineral matter, 9 grains; sugar, coloring matter,etc, 26 grains. About fifty grains of salts of lime, or about 20 grains of pure un- combined lime, which is calcium oxide, and the remainder carbonic acid, water in crystalization, etc., form the shell. But some of the min- eral matter in the white and yolk is also lime, or the chick could not be produced for lack of bone. It must be borne in mind that the mineral matter is made up of sulphur, potash, magnesia, soda derived from salt, phosphate of lime, etc. One must know what to put in an egg before it is complete, and next how to gel the materials for that purpose. Having examined the egg and found the ingredients/ we should use the foods richest in these. The first white leghorn hen. POULTRY BOOK. 65 thing to be considered is the foods which contain the most lime for the shell. White clover hay is the richest in lime, containing in 1,000 pounds about 24 pounds of soluble lime. Red clover hay contains about 28 pounds of lime to the 1,000 pounds. Grain food is the poorest in lime substances, containing only about one pound of lime to the 1,000 pounds. This is clear evidence of the fact that hens lay soft shelled eggs when fed regularly on grain diet. Tops of turnips, beets and carrots contain a liberal amount of lime. Avoid too much carbonaceous matter. The birds should be caused to exercise, as the carbon is thus converted into heat and given off from the body; quick breathing throws off the carbonic acid gas, and a portion of the carbon is used to provide warmth for the body. In feeding endeavor to equalize the food and provide the fowls with foods in proportion for the object desired. The foods that are- intended for fattening purposes should never be given to laying stock; flesh form- ing, heat producing foods and foods rich in mineral matter, should be balanced to produce the results desired, and should not be fed indiscrimi- nately. The table appended, is of value for reference, careful study of it will add materially in feeding for desired results: Reference Table. Green Foods. Grains and Seeds. Dry Grass Foods. Root Crops. Beet leaves Cabbage Clover, red , Clover, white. Green rye Green oats , Timothy , Turnip leaves. Cotton seed meal. Linseed meal. Beans Peas Middlings Bran Buckwheat Barley Corn Oats Wheat vRye I Red clover hay.. J Meadow hay. . . .» J Timothy [ Salt marsh hay.. ( Carrots Parsnips Potatoes Turnips (^ Sweet potatoes. . . Dry Mineral Flesh. Heat. Matter. Matter . 2 . 2 5-0 IO. 7 2 . I 2-5 7.8 14. 3 1.4 3-6 9.0 19 8 i-5 4.0 8.9 19 8 i-5 3-3 II .O 24 1.8 2.4 7.6 18 2 3- 1 2 . 7 15- I 3 1 2. 1 2 . 1 5-6 11 6 2.3 41 . 2 32.0 80 7-i 28.1 42.3 78 6.4 2 5-5 46.5 86 3-2 22 .4 54-5 86 2.7 18.0 59-i 87 2.6 14..S 59-6 87 6.0 1 1 . 2 64-3 88 2.9 10.6 65-7 86 2 .6 10.4 72.6 89 1.9 12.9 59-8 87 3- 1 n-3 69.6 86 1.8 11. 4 67.8 35 1.8 11 .0 35-° 83 3 1-5 7-3 45-2 85 7 6.0 6.2 44-7 85 7 2. 1 6.1 41 .6 89 •3 7-b 1 .0 9-3 12 •9 0.9 1.6 8.2 1 1 •7 0.7 1.8 20.6 24 . 2 1 .0 1 .0 5-8 8 •9 0.8 0.9 26.3 3° •3 1 .0 66 THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S POULTRY BOOK 67 N THE construction of the poultry house be economical; avoid lavish dis- play and ornamentation, and use 'methods that will be of advantage to the health and comfort of the fowls. The house should be plain, substantial, free from dampness and draughts. Sun- shine should be provided for by windows in the" southern exposure; light and sunshine are tonics to-the fowls and will prove beneficial. Lack of sunshine is the cause of many diseases to which poultry are subject, and many cases of colds, catarrh, rheumatic affections and diarrhoeas are traceable to dark houses. During warm weather provide ample shade in the runs for shelter. Trees and bushes are natural shade, but when trees are not accessible, small sheds may be attached to the houses or large boxes scattered pro- miscuously will give shade and shelter from the storms. Poultry like fresh air, out-door exercise, and shady nooks to scratch in; it is akin to their nature and the provision of shade and out-door shelter will enable them to enjoy these things to their own satisfaction and benefit. Ventilation is needed. That is, it should be provided in a way to be of service to the fowls, and not as some use it. Poor ventilation, or too much ventilation, has caused many deaths. Avoid the use of ventilators which cause a draught on the bird while on the roost. If ventilation must be used, then a pipe at the end of the house farthest from the roosting place is best. This pipe should be about 12 inches from the floor and should have an exit in the roof. Do not use overhead ventilation of windows at the sides of the house as a means for providing fresh air; these methods will cause draughts and cannot fail to play havoc among the flock. A good method for providing ventilation, and it is perhaps the safest and best, is to build the house to accommodate only the numb^of fowls to be kept without crowding. If the house is well lighted it will need no other ventilation than is naturally provided. Build a house to suit the flock, or keep a flock to suit the house. No other ventilation will then be needed other than the pure air which is in the house. Build the house in a dry, well drained location, free from dampness. Have the floors raised from the ground and cover them with dry earth or sand. Keep clean and have everything in a neat, trim state. Do not be negligent in the care of the house. Be active and watchful and atten- tive to duty. The house is large enough for about 25 hens. It is A Cheap House, 16 feet long and 13 feet wide; 11 feet high in front and six in the back. The roosts are in the northeast corner, '68 THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S CHEAP HOUSE. placed over a platform, which is six feet long and three feet wide. The platform is placed on 2x4 poles in front, which are sharpened and driven into the ground so as to be 34 inches high. This leaves room in the west end to set a barrel under to scrape the droppings into. The roosts are set about eight inches from the edges of the platform, and there are two run- ning lengthwise, which gives room for 25 hens. The north and east edge of the platform is nailed into cleats. The roosts are 16 inches high. The nests are built by laying a Ibox eight feet long on stones near the ground, the box being divided •into four compartments each 12 inches deep. The box lays on the side, and there is a narrow board nailed across the front near the ground, and •has doors of laths to fill space above. This is for hens with chicks. The chicks can run out into the south room, which is four feet wide and eight ;feet'4ong. Above this box (the top to serve for bottom of one row of •nests) is built a double row of nests, six on each side, with a sliding par- tition between each nest. There is a standard set up at centre of each ■ end of box; across the top of these is a piece of 2x4 timber nailed the entire length of the box. Above this to the floor overhead there is a -wire partition. On each side of the 2x4 timber there is a narrow board ■nailed on to fasten the hinges of covers. ! In front of the nest there is a board 12 tfOAD INTO YARD w/w0Ow inches wide cut so that the hens can enter' the nests. The covers of the nests are half-inch boards, which are .put on slanting, resting on the edge of the board in front, so there is no chance 'for the hens to roost on and foul the •nests. The feed box is six feet long, nine inches high in front, and fourteen inches tback, with slanting top like the nests, with cover four inches wide on hinges. There are slats both in front and back, so the hens can eat from either side. ground plan. This box set about half its width under the north side of the nests, so there is room for the hens on both sides. This house is designed to accommodate about thirty 'A Double House, fowls, but can be made on the same plan to any size required by the builder. The loft is an addition which will meet the requirements of all who wish to keep pigeons to a •good advantage without occupying the ground space of the fowls. This •addition can be built on any shed or small lot, and the lower story can Ifoe utilized in many ways to suit the builder, if he does not intend to keep 'fowls. The plans may be varied in many ways, but for a combined poultry house and pigeon loft, every precaution has been taken to make it ^.complete in all particulars. POULTRY BOOK. The size of the ground plans are 10x12 feet for the building, and the flight is 5x10 feet. This makes 10x17 feet from out to out; the height is 14 feet to the square, and five fee.t more to the highest point. The ceil- ing in the poultry house is seven feet high. The foundation is laid upon cedar posts, four and a half feet long with one foot above the surface. The frame work is of 4x4 stuff en- tirely, the braces of 2x3 scantlings; the joists are of 2x6. The frame work also is of 2x3 scantlings, with a base board 12 inches around the three sides. The entire building is of stuff in the rough, with all the W A DOUBLE HOUSE. joints and cracks covered with three inch strips. There are five half win- dows, and two doors, the sash and GROUND PLAN OF POULTRY HOUSE. all doors open on the outside. Th« shingled roof and flagstaff complete the ornamentation of the exterior,ex- cept the flight, which is covered with one inch mesh. GROUND PLAN OF PIGEON LOFT. A substantial house House for for laying hens is shown in Figure. In Laying Hens, early spring, chilly days and nights re- tard the inclination of the hens to lay as steadily as they will in warm, nice quarters. This building is one which should suit the farmer, and the cost is much less than a more elaborate house. This building is 50 feet long, 21 feet wide, 10 feet high in its lowest point, and 8 feet where sash is shown. The pens are 9x10 NESTS FOR PIGEON LOFT. 70 THE AMERICAN FANCIERS feet with nests for the layers on either side of the hallway, which extends the entire length of the building, each pen being connected by a door with the hall. This house can easily accommodate ioo hens, but it would be better to put in a less number and allow them ample space. The floor is raised three inches from the ground to shut out dampness, 'and the dry earth and coarse sand are the only covering it has. The building is provided with a stove to keep it free from dampness. This is also used to heat the food prepared in a caldron or boiler before feeding the same to the flock in the morning. A stove is a great convenience where a large number of fowls are kept. The ventilators above the windows are opened for one hour in the middle of the day and are closed again to keep out the cold. In the ground plan. P are the pens; N are the nests. INTERIOR OF DOUBLE HOUSE. This building shows a structure somewhat different in its arrangement from a great many buildings for poul- try. It is practically three separate buildings in one. The first is entirely for hens; that is, nothing but nest- ing places are in this part. It is 30 feet long by 10 feet wide, and seven feet high, making ample accommodations for from 40 to Well Arranged House. POULTRY BOOK. 71 60 hens. Opening from the yard permit them the freedom of the yard when they desire to go out into it. The second part of the structure is given entirely to feeding quarters and roosting places. The entrance from the roosting rooms from the laying quarters is shown in Figure, the ground plan indicated by the letter E. This enables you to divide your flock at night, avoiding too much crowding on the roosts, and the doors leading to each roosting section can be thrown open, and they can either pass through there or go directly from the laying house through the door at the right end of the laying quarters. The doors are indicated by letter D, the roosts by R, and in the feeding quarters the feed bin work bench occupy a part of the room. HOUSE FOR LAYING HENS _ The building is 30 feet long by 18 feet wide bv 8 feet high. A stairs or ladder lead up to a large room in which pigeons may be kept. Two windows on the front give light to the lower floor, and the mansard cupola on the roof afford light to the upper room. The last building, is arranged for incubators, I and the brooders as well as the heater to cook feed, and keep the place warm in cold weather. This part is convenient and necessary and should always occupy a separate part of the poultry house. This section is just 15 by 18 feet, and is 7 feet high, with one window and two doors, one leading to the feeding quarters, and the others to the outside. JZl mil F£ED BINS TTTT N 1 1 1 1 1 1 mi 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 n U A/ e e e £ e GROUND PLAN OF WELL ARRANGED HOUSE. TO THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S «• v -^ WELL ARRANGED HOUSE. Although there are many buildings that can be made suit- A Roomy able for keeping a flock of fowls, yet some prefer to see a plan or two, in order that a proper selection as regards arrange- tlouse. ments be afforded when they contemplate building a house for their flocks. A house that is roomy and comfortable in winter weather should be just as comfortable in summer. They do not require so much shelter then as in wiqter; very often they prefer to roost outside on trees and fences where freedom from bad odors, often found in poultry building, is avoided, and they are none the worse for it, becom- ing hardier and more able to withstand the winter when it comes. Many farmers through the northern states give very little care to their fowls in the warm weather; they seem to do well, costing comparatively noth- ing to feed them, all being profitable to their owners. A ROOMY HOUSE. POULTRY BOOK. The illustration shows a very cosy laying house to accommodate from i'oo to 200 hens. It is built plainly, consequently cheaply, afford- ing, however, as comfortable quarters as houses costing far more. It is 90 feet long, 44 feet wide, and 15 feet high. This is a good size and suit- able for a flock of layers, yet you may change the proportions to suit your own ideas to accommodate just the number of fowls you desire to keep about your place The ground plan shows the interior arrangements. A hallway sepa- rates the four large pens, each of which is 35x20 feet. The letter D in- dicates all doors in and about the building, N the nest boxes, which will be noticed have been amply supplied in each pen. The nests are fastened in sets of three by hooks, and can be removed quickly and cleaned with- out any trouble. R, the roots, each pen being well supplied with low £ _t comfortable roots. D B,the dust box; F B is the feed bin; A, a heater; H does the work of cooking as well as heating. A work bench, W B, affords facilities for doing odd job of repairing, which is so often needed in such buildings. This main room is, or should be connected with all poultry houses for the convenience of the person who looks after the flock. This house is eight feet high in front and, six feet A Good House, high in the rear. It is 8x12 feet and the roof is covered with tar paper. The first floor is of boards, covered with leaves or cut straw. The nests are in the rear, a box being prepared for that purpose, so as to allow the hens all the floor room possible. The small step or board shown at the right, allows the hens to ascend to the second floor for roosting, a trap door being placed in the second floor to allow them access. This is closed at night. The door for the upper room, with steps is shown at the left. The entrances to the nests are plainly seen at the rear of the house, to the left. The rear view shows the nest boxes and the entrances to them. This arrangement permits the collection of eggs without entering the house*, On the upper floor is shown a drawer, under the roosts; the droppings fall from the roost into this drawer and are re- |||ll/r « * sillll N. Irs _ »w > .. 111 mini 11 1 l-l 1 1 1 1 1 1 0. D |,l 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ITTTnTTTo. Illli/? N - 1 Mllll GROUND PLAN. F/&. J, A GOOD HOUSE. moved by emptying- the drawer, which can be taken out without entering the building. This plan necessitates going into the upper apart- ment but very little, and the f/G. 2. 74 THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S !°T, r - u°° r aff ° rds ample Shelter from storms an d allows plenty of air and light to enter the building. The upper floor is three feet from the ground, and is simply a roosting place, the hens occupying the lower floor during the day, Dark Brahma Cock,. Ijght Brahma Qoct(. LIGHT AND DARK BRAHMA COCK. POULTRY BOOK. 75 PING l\W THE i THE attention of the poultry- man has for ,some time been directed to the methods of keep- ing, or preserving eggs. By so doing he in- creases his income, and realizes a winter price for summer eggs. In summer when eggs are cheap pays to market them; this is the time when eggs packed for higher prices. As an adjunct to in- dividual yards it can be made to pay well, but as a business of its own it is rather risky for many reasons. It is not because of the impossibility of preserving eggs in prime condition for several months, as it is not very difficult to do. Many families store eggs every fall for winter use, some by packing them in dry salt or in ashes, while others preserve them in lime water. While it may be possible for a family it may be impossible for a v merchant who buys eggs for the purpose of storing them. When the eggs are stored by the farmer's wife, she uses only those that are strictly fresh, discarding any that are the least suspicious, but when eggs are gathered from every source, it is impossible for the receiver to deter- mine their quality. The first consideration in the matter of preserving eggs is the quality of them. As ar farm industry it can be properly done under the best conditions and opens up a paying field to those who give it their attention. The rules to be observed for preserving eggs are : i. Use infertile eggs; 2. Keep them in a cool place; 3. Turn them twice a week. Eggs laid by .hens not in company with males will keep three times as long as those laid by hens when with the males. Infertile eggs left in an incubator at a temperature of 103 degrees at the end of three weeks were almost as fresh as when put in, while the fertile eggs were rotten in less than ten days. If eggs are in- tended to be preserved, the males should be removed from the pens. Eggs keep best in a cool place, and the temperature should be between 40 and 60 degrees. If exposed to too low a temperature they will freeze and crack open. They should be turned over twice a week to prevent the yolks adhering to the shells. The following processes for preserving eggs afford a valuable collec- tion foi the reader, and each method is given, with the authority attached, as a warrant of its reliability and practical use: Take a common starch box with a sliding lid. Put the The Sulphur eggs in the box and upon an oyster shell or other suitable substance, place a teaspoonful of sulphur. Set fire to the Process. sulphur, and when the fumes begin to rise briskly shut up the lid, make the box tight, and do not disturb it for half an hour. Then take out the eggs, pack in oats, and the job is done. If the oats or packing material be subjected to the same process it will be 78 THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S all the better. If a barrel full is to be preserved, place the eggs in a tight barrel two-thirds full, with no packing whatever. Fire a pound of sulphur upon a suitable utensil, on top of the eggs in the vacant space over them, shut up tightly, let stand an hour, and then take out the eggs. As the gas is much heavier than the air it will sink to the bottom, or, rather, fill up the barrel with the fumes. In another barrel or box place some oats, and treat in the same way. Now pack the eggs in the oats, head up the barrel, and turn the barrel every day to prevent falling of the yolks, using each end alternately, and they will keep a year, or, ac- cording to the efficiency of the operation, a shorter or even a longer time. Take 24 gallons of water, put it in 12 pounds of unslaked The Havana lime and four pounds of salt. Stir it well several times a day, and then let it stand and settie until perfectly clear. Process, Then draw off 20 gallons of the clear lime and salt water. By putting a spigot in the barrel about four inches from the bottom you can draw off the clear water and leave the sediment. Then take five ounces of baking soda, five ounces of cream of tartar, five ounces of saltpetre, five ounces of borax and one ounce of alum; pul- verize these, mix and dissolve in a gallon of boiling water,which should be poured into the 20 gallons of lime water. This will fill a whisky barrel about half full, and a barrel holds about 150 dozen eggs. Let the water stand about one inch above the eggs. Cover with old cloth, and put a bucket of sediment over it. Do not let the cloth hang- over the barrel. After being in the liquid 30 days the eggs may be taken out, packed in boxes and shipped. Do not use the same pickle more than once. You need not wait to get the barrel full, but may place the eggs in the pickle at any time. As the water evaporates add more, as the eggs must always be covered with the liquid. It does not hurt the eggs to remain in the pickle. It is claimed that this pro- cess will keep them a year. BUFF PLYM outh rock cock. Having filled a keg or barrel with fresh eggs, The Scientific cover the eggs with cold . salicylic water. The eggs must be kept down by a few small boards floating American Process, in the water, and the whole should be covered with a cloth to keep out the dust. If set in a cool place the eggs so packed will keep fresh for months, but they must be used as soon as they are taken from the brine. To make the salicylic solution, dissolve salicylic acid, which costs about three dollars a pound, in boil- ing water, about one teaspoonful to the gallon. It is not necessary to boil all the water as the - acid will dissolve in a less quantity, and the rest. POULTRY BOOK. 77 The Boston Globe Process. may be added to the solution cold. The solution of brine should at no time come in contact with metal. In a clean airy cellar one brine is sufficient for three months or more, otherwise it should be renewed oftener. For that purpose the kegs, etc., should have a wooden spigot to draw off the liquid, and replenish the vessel. Salicylic acid is perfectly harmless, and yet is one of the best and certainly the most pleasant dis- infectants in existence, with no color nor taste. An Illinois cor- respondent writes : Last summer I was induced to try pack- ing down eggs for winter use. I had in seasons previous limed them, but a limed egg is not -altogether to my taste. Last sum- mer I took sweet, clean kegs; set them in a cool, dry place, with a barrel of powdered dry earth near at hand. In the kegs I placed a layer of this earth, then a 1 lyer of eggs, small ends down, then another layer of earth, and soon until the keg was filled. These eggs were quite good six months after packing. By placing the small end down die yolk is prevented from silver spangled Hamburg hen. dropping down on the end and settling on the shell, while the dry fine earth keeps them from the air. I suppose ashes, bran or any other fine, dry substance is as good as the baked earth, but I write only of what I have actually experimented with. To keep eggs the "year round" take one pint of salt The Poultry and one quart of fresh lime, and slake with hot water. When slaked add sufficient water to make four gallons. Yard Process. When well settled pour off the liquid gently into a stone jar. Then with a dish place the eggs in it, tipping the dish after.it fills with the liquid, so that the eggs will roll out without cracking the shell, for if the shell is cracked the eggs will spoil. Put the eggs in whenever you have them fresh. Keep them covered and in a •cool place and they will keep well for one year. The plan of a French chemist for preserving eggs is The French as follows: While quite fresh they are gently struck against each other to see if they are "soTmd;" next Farmer Process, they are placed in a kind of earthen pitcher, having a very narrow bottom. When the vessel is full, a solu- tion of a quarter of an ounce of quicklime to one quart of water is poured in. The lime water permeates the shell till it reaches the first membrane, rendering the latter impervious. The pitchers are then placed in the cellar, from which all light is excluded, but a uniform tem- perature of from 44 to 46 degrees is maintained. In the course of a few days a pellicle forms on the top of each pitcher c (carbonate of lime) and this must never be broken till the moment for withdrawing the eggs. This process enables the eggs to be kept fresh for six to eight months, and not more than five eggs in a thousand prove objectionable. 78 THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S The keeping of eggs being almost wholly a question Prairie Farmer of temperature and the exclusion of air from them, it follows that that which will do both in the cheapest and Process. most effectual way, will be the best. Hence eggs are kept in very great numbers by cold storage — that is, by providing a steady low temperature of about 35 degrees. But this is expensive. When, however, the temperature can be kept down to 75 degrees, and below, if eggs are packed in some dry, clean subtance which will exclude the air, they may be kept in a comparatively fresh state for months. This may be done in the following way: Provide clean, dry packages, not exceeding in capacity the quarter or third of a barrel, and a sufficiency of common, finely ground land plaster, such as is used for agricultural purposes. Commence by putting a layer of the plaster two inches deep on the bottom of the package, and into this set the eggs small end down, so that each egg will be separated from the other. When the strata of eggs is complete add more plaster, then another strata of eggs, then more plaster and so on until the package is full. If the work is done carefully, all the eggs are sound when packed, and each egg is separated from the other, and the temperature is not allowed to get over 75 degrees the result in every case will be satisfactory. YOKOHAMA FOWLS. Melt one part of white wax to two parts of sperma- The Birmingham ceti, boil and mix thoroughly; or two parts clarified suet to one of wax and two of spermaceti. Take Process. newly laid eggs, rub with antiseptic salt or fine rich starch. ; Wrap each egg in fine tissue paper, putting the broad end down, screw the paper tightly at the top, leaving an inch to hold it by. Dip each egg rapidly into the fat heated to 100 degrees. Withdraw and leave to cool. Pack broad end downward in white sand or sawdust. POULTRY BOOK. The way I put up eggs is this: I take a new box that Mrs. Moore's will hold 20 dozen and put a thick layer of coarse salt on the bottom of the box; then every day as I gather in eggs Process, fresh from the nests, I take clean, sweet lard and grease each egg carefully all over, and then set it in the salt with the small end of the egg down, until I have a layer of eggs set on end, and then I take salt and put over the layer of eggs, being careful to fill in between each layer of eggs solid, so there will be no danger of them becoming displaced when the box is turned. Keep on in this manner, alternate layers of greased eggs and salt, until the box is filled, taking care to put a thick layer of salt on top next to the cover of the box, then nailing on the cover tightly. IDEAL PROFILE OP RED PILE GAME COCK. (Standard Profile for Exhibition Games). 80 THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S POULTRY BOOK. 81 This branch of the poultry business has becomegWell established, not only with the few who at first held the mystery, but it is universally recognized as an important factor of the poultry industry. A capon is neither a hen nor a rooster, and is nothing more or less than a capon. The capon is to the cock what the steer is to the bull, the barrow to the boar, the wether to the ram. They grow larger than cocks, can be kept at less cost, and produce more meat for the food con- sumed than other fowls. Their flesh is delicious, and they are considered a delicacy in the markets, bringing double the price the year around of any other birds. There are many advantages attached to caponizing which commend themselves to the poultryman. When poultry is kept for a profit, and we believe all fowls should be so kept, it behooves the keeper to be alert to every advantage which may increase the revenue from his yards. The farmer sees more weight in the steer than in the bull, and in the same proportion this applies to the cock and the capon. The art of caponizing has in a measure solved the question of caring for the cockerels. There is a tendency invariably for the males to pre- dominate in every brood hatched, and the practical poultryman knows the trouble and inconvenience of raising the usual number of cockerels hatched each spring They are continually chasing about the yard fighting, worrying the hens and pullets, and are in general a hindrance to the business. A cockerel is a ravenous eater, loses flesh almost as rapidly as gained, and, in fact, is a loss to the yard in the end. By caponizing these ills are averted; he becomes very quiet and docile, spending most of his time in quiet and contentment. His entire nature is changed; he assumes the characteristics of a hen, never quarrel- ing, and he may be confined with profit to a small space. This change of na- ture, and his quiet disposition causes him to increase rap- idly in weight, and his flesh becomes juicy and tender, ri- valing: in flavor and SET OF INSTRUMENTS. delicacy that of a spring broiler. Instead of carrying to the market a poor and fleshless cockerel, you supplant it with a bird that equals turkey in size and weight, while the cost of raising the capon is even less. 82 THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S The small breeds such as Leghorns, Hamburgs, Breeds for Capons. Bantams and common fowls should not be capon- ized as the gain in weight in these would barely- pay for the trouble. Large size birds with full, round breasts are the class that make the best capons. Always use such birds as the Brahmas, Cochins, Plymouth Rocks, Javas and Langshans. A fine capon is pro- duced by a colored Dorking cock and a Brahma or Cochin hen; an Indian Game male on Langshan hens, or an Indian Game male on Dork- ing hens. The best breeds to select males from are colored Dorkings, Indian Games, Grev Dorkings, Houdans and Langshans. The hen may be from the Brahmas, Cochins or Plymouth Rocks. These give size and hardiness. Hatch your cockerels early in the spring so that Time to Caponize. they may be cut before the hot weather begins; this is an advantage, yet good results may be had at any time duringr the year. The months usually taken for caponizing are June, July, August; September and October; at these times the young chicks from the spring hatches have arrived at the proper age and weight, and this affords ample time for marketing during January, February, March, April and May. Cockerels may be caponized when eight weeks old; the sooner the better. Remember the capon's comb does not grow like that of a cock, but shrivels away after the operation; its sickle feathers are not carried upright, and in appearance it is more like a hen. Cockerels should be caponized as soon as their combs begin to grow, as birds with combs will not sell so readily in the markets, and are likely to be taken for fowls. Before explaining the operation it would be well to study the instruments now in use for that purpose. They are as follows: No. i. Improved capon spreader, the best ever used for the purpose and very simple. No. 2. Old fashioned capon spreader, recommended by .some who know little about the work. This is apt to fly out when working. We do not ad- vise its use. No „ . NO. I. 3. Spring cup capon forceps. No. 4. Improved Chinese spoon and hook. No. 5. Steel wire capon canula. It is used NOi 2 - by catching the first and second fingers on the plate b b and pressing the thumb on a, the wire coming forth in the loop c ready for re- ceiving or slipping over the parts, and on removing the thumb it will return to its first position, holding the spermatic No - * cord firmly between the wire and the . end of the canula. No. 6. Old style Chinese whalebone spreader, which mo „, has been in use in China for many centuries. No. 7. Chinese capon spoon and hook. No. 8. Chinese horse- Instruments for Caponizing. POULTRY BOOK. hair canula. No. 9. Horsehair canula, improved. It is recessed out at the end just enough to allow the horsehair to fit the groove, freely coming out against the abutment, the horsehair or wire being ready to be pushed forward after each opera- tion. No. 10. This cut shows the method of holding the bird during NO. 6. NO. 7. the operation. No. 11. This shows the arrangement of the staples NO. Q. for holding the bird. It also shows* how a good caponizing board can be made by using improved staple A to slide over the bird's wings. The bar crossing the middle enables you to use the upper part as a handle. One point is longer than the other, to make its in- trod uc t ion , NO. 12. into the board easier. With seven holes in the board it will take any size bird. B is a strap loop, with a pin across the top to prevent the strap from falling through the board when in use .At the other end of the strap is a weight C for keeping the feet down No. 12. Steel wire caponizing canula. This has been used for a long NO. .15. 84 THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S time. No. 13. Capon spreader. This also has been in use for quite a while. No. 14. Capon forceps. In use for some years. No. 15. Cords- and hooks. No. 16. Capon knife and forceps combined. Caponizing is easily learned and successfully prac- How to Caponize. ticed by beginners by following directions, but more quickly and satisfactorily by witnessing the opera- tion. Birds apparently suffer but little pain from the operation, and the per cent of loss is quite small. The only birds that die under the opera- tion, as a rule, are those having developed combs. The old Chinese tools, when their use is understood, are very satisfactory. To avoid mak- ing slips in caponizing requires care and experience on the part of the operator. He must have a good chance to work, with plenty of sunlight and the chickens well emptied of food. Chicks that weigh one or two pounds are the best. Keep them from food 30 hours before you begin. Never try to caponize # chick with full intestines, as it takes more time, and the chances of success are not nearly so good. Supposing now that you have your chicks well emptied of food and plenty of sunlight; next take a flour barrel with the head uppermost, then take two strings with a slip noose at each end, fasten a half brick to the other end of each string, tie one end around the chicken's legs and drop the brick A over the other side of the barrel. Tie the other string around the wings close to the back of the bird, then drop the other brick over the other side of the barrel, as shown in fig. 17. Fig. 17. You now have your chicken on its left side ready for the operation. Pick all the feathers from over the last rib to the hip bone, then wet the feathers around the spot with ice water. This chills the part, thus pre- venting undue pain, and keeps all stray feathers out of the way. Now put your forefinger on the hip bone across the flank to the first rib, then introduce the knife between the two first ribs, as shown in Fig. 18, and cut down and forward to the end of the ribs, then turn the knife and cut be- tween these ribs to near the backbone, put in the spreaders and open the ribs. See Fig. 19. Take the spreader be- tween the thumb and first finger, press it until the two ends come to- §11 gether. Then insert the hooked ends in the incision, making sure to have =■ the hooks between the ribs. Hold the spreader in position with the left hand. FIG. 19. POULTRY BOOK. 85 Take up the knife again. See Fig. 20. Increase the opening by cutting toward the backbone, and forward on the line between the ribs, until I is large enough to admit the free passage of the scoop twister. Care must be taken not to go too near the backbone, and always cut on a line witn the veins instead of cross- ing them. See Fig 21. With the hoop end tear open the thin skin until you have the right testicle well in view, and plenty large enough to press the scoop twister through. This hoop must be used with care, or you may puncture an artery or the bowels. Take the probe in your left hand. With the ring handle push the bowels aside, and just below you will see the left testicle. In- troduce the scoop twister with the right hand. See Fig. 22. Catch the lower or left testicle endways in the scoop. Then begin to twist the testicle off. Now remove the right or upper testicle the same as the left. The left testicle should always be taken out first as it is the hardest to remove. If the bird be all right after the operation it will generally FIG - 2I - have a passage. There is no difference in the food given them and other fowls after the first few days. They are, of course, without food from 24 to 26 hours before being operated upon, and are quite hungry. They should, how- ever, be fed very sparingly for the first day or two, on cornmeal with a little salt in it. After that they can be given more. After the first week give them plent)r of food ; you will find them very ravenous for a month or two, then they gradu- ally ease up and eat much less. When they are Iplfk confined give Wii^Se=~ bone-meal, broken * shell, etc. Give plenty of fresh water. FIG. 22. Fig. 23 show's a capon dressed for the market. It will be noticed that the spurs are not developed as in the case of the cockerel shown in Fig. 24. The comb and wattles are also undeveloped, while the plumage is very brilliant. It will also be noticed that the head of the capon does not look like the head of either a hen or a rooster. The cockerel shown in Fig. 24 is the same age as the capon. A glance at the two illustra- tions will show the difference between the two birds, and the advantages of caponizing. The capon should be allowed to grow until at least Dressing Capons one year old, as, by that time it will have attained an imposing size, and becomes a beautiful bird. Some for flarket. keep them even longer than a year. There is a vast difference between the flesh of the capon and other THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S fowls for table purposes. When the capons are ready for market select such as you propose killing and confine them. Keep them without food or water for 24 hours that their crops may be entirely empty. Prepare the place for killing and dressing. Drive two heavy nails about one foot apart in the beam or pole overhead. Make two nooses of strong twine, each noose long enough to hold one of the legs of the bird. The capon should hang low enough to be convenient for picking. Next procure a table on which to dress the fowl. Make a frame on the same principle as a box without ends. In this lay the capon and remove the intestines. When everything is in readiness take the bird and suspend him by the legs. Catch hold of its head and with your killing knife cut the vein at the back of the throat through the mouth. Never do this from the outside. As soon as the vein is cut, run the point of the knife through the roof of the mouth clear into the brain. Begin plucking at once. In dressing, the feathers are left on the wings to the second joint, the head and hackle feathers and also those on the legs half way up to the drumsticks, all the tail feathers in- cluding those a little way up the back and the long feathers close to the hips are allowed to remain^ These feathers add greatly to the appearance of the bird when dressed and also mark him from other classes. The head should never be taken off. The capon can readily be distinguished from any other fowl, as its comb and wattles cease to grow immediately after caponizing. Do not tear in plucking. Now place the bird in the frame. Cut carefully around the vent and pull out the intestines. These will be found covered with fat which as they are removed should be pushed back. When the end of the intes- tines is reached, run your finger up in the bird and break it off, leaving everything else in. Let the birds hang in a clean, cool place until thoroughly cooled. For packing use new boxes of any size required, lined with white paper. Pack the birds, and they are ready for market. One other advantage the capon has over cockerels is that Capons as it can be used for raising chicks, while the hens go back to laying. With a little training the capon makes an excellent Mothers, mother, taking the best possible care of a brood of 25 or 30 chicks. They will care for young chicks all season and yet get fat themselves. Their large size enables them to care for twice the number that a hen would, besides he can scratch and protect them better. When a capon is nine or ten months old he is ready to assume maternal duties. If you have chicks ready catch the capon and pluck a few feathers from his breast, and at the same time switch him lightly with a cedar twig or anything that stings him a little. This will cause his breast to itch. Place him in a dark box, about two feet square and low FIG. 24. POULTRY BOOK. 87 enough to prevent him from standing. Then put two or three chicks with him. These he will probably kill; then he should be taken out and switched again on his breast, after which he may be placed back in the box, and more chicks given him. This time he will probably be glad to have them with him, as his breast will itch so he will be glad to have them huddle under him; he will cluck to them eagerly and treat them as kindly as an old hen. Keep him under the box 24 hours, with the chicks, giving them a few bread crumbs and a little water. Have just light enough for him to see the food and water, and be sure that he is far enough from the old hen to prevent the chicks hearing her call. The next day he may be put in an open coop and as many chicks given him as is desirable. They should be kept here for several days and then may be allowed to roam at will. Other chicks may be given him from time to time, but always at night, at the same time taking the chicks that are large enough from him. In this way one capon will bring up a great many chickens in a season, and the hen's time is not lost. HACKLE^HEN. BREASTofhEN. BREAST °f COCK. MACKLEofCOCK. SADDLE o,: C0CK, FEATHERS OP BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S POULTRY BOOK. The greatest drawback to poultry raising comes from diseases which affect the flocks. When fowls are in perfect health and yielding a good supply of eggs, poultry keeping is a pleasure to the keeper ; and yet, when many little ailments, so common with fowls, arise, there is a lavish disgust from all, and the industry is condemned. While it is proper to treat the sick birds, how much better is it to study the wavs of preventing disease in the flocks. Almost all diseases arise from neglect and mismanagement by the keeper, who overlooks the details and establishes irregularities which weaken the hardiest constitutions and invite disease among the flocks. Fowls are, as a rule, free from dis- ease, and it seldom appears without a discernible cause. Fully two- thirds of the sickness can be attributed to filthy houses, impure water and improper feeding. To these may be traced many diseases that should never appear in a poultryman's yard who professes to care for his feathered friends or has hopes of realizing an income through this source. The housing space should be in proportion to the number of birds kept, and over-crowding should never be tolerated under any cir- cumstances. Closely confining a number of fowls in a small space with no ventilation, and compelling them to breath over and over again the foul air which is always generated in occupied quarters, encourages the development of disease germs. Cleanliness about the coops and houses is necessary to avoid disease. The accummulation of droppings, vermin, lice, red mites, etc., which are found in badly kept coops or houses, are the generators of disease. The droppings should be removed, and dry earth spread on the floor and under the roosts. Coal ashes are excellent for this purpose, and when mixed with the droppings, become valuable as a fertilizer. The entire interior of house should be whitewashed and kept thoroughly cleaned. Carbolic acid is the best disinfectant for the poultry house; while it may not have a pleasant odor, it is the most healthy odor that can be had in the building. In the white- wash it would be well to use about a fluid ounce of carbolic acid to a bucketful of the wash. Pure, fresh water should always be at hand for the fowls to drink. In the stagnant ditch, the sink spout, and the leaching from the barn- yard may be found many germs of disease dangerous to the fowls There is not a single person who for a moment would think of giving 90 THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S such drink to other stock on the farm, yet they do not hesitate to allow the fowls to drink freely of the same. If other animals need pure water to keep in health, do not fowls need the same? This feeding of poison to the fowls is to be avoided by providing pure water for them regularly in clean drinking vessels. Another cause of disease may be found in the improper use of various foods. A regard for the digestive organs and the foods to be used in different seasons and conditions is an important factor, imprudent feeding, and the use of the wrong kinds of foods, is sure to weaken the constitutions of the birds and establish the foundation for disease. When you think a fowl diseased, remove it at once from the flock and place it in a clean, warm place, free from the molestation of the remainder of the flock. If it die from disease, it is' best to burn the car- cass and prevent contagion. Symptoms. In apoplexy the fowl appears to be dizzy; it Apoplexy, staggers and falls down without any power of motion. The disease may occur to fowls apparently in perfect health; the symptoms are occassioned by the rupture of a blood vessel in the skull, and the influx of blood into the brain may be so strong that the fowl dies. The pressure of the blood upon the brain produces the evil. The cause is overfeeding with un- natural and over stimulating food, such as Indian corn hemp, and pea and bean meals in too large pro- portions. The disease is common with laying hens — which are some- times found dead on their nests — when the blood vessel may be weak and straining causes the attack. Treatment. Little can be done toward the cure of this disease, while much can be done to prevent it. Feed judiciously. Hold the head of affected fowl under a stream of cold water, which will drive the blood from the brain. If this does not have an immediate effect, the WHITE FACED BLACK SPANISH HEN. bird must be bled Cut into the large vein under the wing; the incision should be made longitudinal, not across; let the blood flow freely.. If the bird shows signs of returning life, stop the bleeding with alum, or bv pressing on the wound with the fingers. Keep the bird on a light diet if it recovers. Symptoms, This disease is most common with the Spanish Black Rot. fowls, and usually commences with the blackening of the comb, followed by swelling of the legs and feet and emaciation. Treatment. Treatment is only efficacious in the earlier stages, and consists of a dose of calomel or castor oil, followed by some simple tonic, with warm and nourishing diet. Symptoms. The disease is distinguished by frequent cough- Bronchitis. ing and an aggravated catarrh. POULTRY BOOK 91 Treatment. Remove the fowl to a dry and warm place, and give sweetened water slightly acidulated with nitric acid. A stimulant of a little cayenne or ginger may be beneficial to the biid. Symptoms. This term is applied to the corn or abcess Bumblefoot. which follows from a bruise of the skin. It may be caused by too narrow perches, or by walking upon sharp gravel,, which bruises or irritates the skin, or jumping from high roosts. Treatment. In cases where the tumor is soft and full of pus, or in the form of an abcess, a free puncture may be made, the matter pressed out and the part washed with warm water. In other cases where the tumor appears hard, an incision should be made in the form of a cross. Until the bird is cured the perch should not be over six inches from the ground, and the floor where the bird is confined should be well covered with chaff or chopped straw so as to relieve the pressure on the bird's foot as much as possible. It would be better if the bird was com- pelled to set upon the straw with no roost at all. Symptoms. This has frequently been alluded to as ulcera- Canker. tion; it usually occurs about the head, commencing with a watery discharge from the eyes, as with roup, which by degrees becomes firmer in character, and offensive in odor. The disease frequently extends to the throat, covering the back of the tongue with an ulcerous formation, sometimes entirely filling the larynx with the diseased secretion, and killing the bird by suffocation. Treatment. Wash with a solu- tion of four parts of water to one part of chlornated soda or fluid car- bolate, and "swabbing" the throat \^ and tongue if affected with a solu- $)" tion of this strength. Give this treat- ment three times a day, and mix a .^^^^S? teaspoonful of powdered sulphur with the food. Symptoms. Most fowls Catarrh* suffer from and all are sub- ject to a common cold, Rouen drake. which is shown by the slight discharge from the eyes and nostrils. It is not dangerous, but if neglected may result in roup. Treatment. Place the fowl in a warm, dry place, and give three drops of No. i aconite in a half pint of drink. Feed soft food only, mixed with warm water, and seasoned with No. i mixture, under "Feed- ing of Condiments." In case the fowl does not improve in a few days, treat as for roup. Symptoms. The first symptoms of cholera is in the yellow col- Cholera, oration of the part of the excrement which is excreted by the kidneys, and which is normally of a pure white. This yellow color appears while the excrement is yet solid ; the bird presents a perfectly healthy appearance ; the appetite is good, and before there is any rise in the temperature. This excrement consists 93 THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S largely of urates suspended in a thin, transparent mucus, having a deep yellow coloration which may, in the later stages of the disease, change to a greenish, or even deep green color. With the beginning of the disease the temperature of the bird rises, reaching 109 to no de- grees, or from two to four degrees above the normal; the comb loses its brightness ; the appetite is lessened ; the wings droop and the bird becomes inactive. In the last stages the fowl loses in weight, is very weak, and walks with the greatest difficulty. Death frequently occurs without a struggle, but in the majority of cases there are convulsions and cries. Sometimes the bird dies within 24 hours after the first colora- tion. In most cases the bird is thirsty throughout the period of disease. The causes may be enumerated at great length, but only the more im- portant are given ; unwholesome food, impure and stagnant water, exposure in hot weather. Treatment. Separate the affected fowls from the flock at the first symptoms of the disease. It is the most contagious as well as most destructive disease of fowls. A regular supply of fresh meat is a preventative of the disease. To cure give the affected bird . one pill every four or five hours of blue mass, 60 grains; pulverized camphor, 25 grains; cayenne pepper, 30 grains; pulverized rhubarb, 48 grains; lauda- num, 60 grains. Mix and divide into 20 pills. After the pills have had time to act give half a teaspoonful of castor oil and ten drops of laudanum to each bird. Give as a drink scalded sour milk with a gill of Douglass mix- ture (see "Feeding Condi- ments) for every 24 fowls. Another recipe is as follows: Powdered garlic, one ounce; aromatic tincture of rhubarb, one-half ounce; tincture of capsicum, two drachms; tinc- tureof camphor,two drachms; oil of peppermint, three drachms; tincture of opium, one drachm. Mix and shake well until the powdered gar- c. Omitho lie is thoroughly suspended. Dose, six to eight drops in a teaspoonful of water three times each da> . A good recipe for mixing with the soft food may be found in the following: Cayenne pep-per, one- half ounce; alum, one-half ounce; resin, one-half ounce; sulphur, one- half ounce. Give one teaspoonful of this mixture to three pints of scalded meal daily. Or, two tablespoonfuls of Epsom salts, four table- spoonfuls lime and ten drops of tincture of iron in a gallon of meal. LOUSE OF THE GOOSE. A. Trinton lituratum. B. Dncoporus bius cygni. D. Goniodes stylifer. POULTRY BOO^. 93 Symptoms. The causes are confinement in cold, dark Consumption, and unhealthy places. The disease is strongly marked in a chronic cough with evident wasting and loss of strength, and an expectoration of matter. Cure is hopeless when the disease has developed to any extent. Treatment. Consumption may be prevented by wholesome, abundant diet and good housing; in its advanced stages it is incurable. When the disease is suspected, cod liver oil may be given with meal. The disease is hereditary, and the bird should not be used for breeding purposes. LOUSE OF THE DUCK, A. Llpeurus squaiidus. B. Trinoton hiridum. LOUSE OF THE PIGEON. A. Goni .des damicorius. B. Lipeuras baculus. C. Goniocotes compar. Symptoms. These generally come from exposure to cold and wet, running in wet grass, wet roosting places, etc. The symp- toms are leg weakness, stiff joints or contraction of the toes. The malady is hereditary and is most frequent among early chicks. \ Treatment. Place the affected birds in dry quarters, and give stimulating food; a little cooked meat every day. Rub the legs well with hot mustard water, and wipe dry. A half grain of opium for a chick over four months old, and a quarter of a grain for a chick under that age given night and morning will result in much good. Cramp— Rheumatism. LOUSE OF THE TURKEY. Lipeurus polytrapezius 94 THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S Symptoms. This is a form of Crop=Bound. indigestion. The crop becomes extended with hard grain, pieces of bone arid undigested food. It becomes swollen by the moist secretions intended to digest the food, and the outlet into the stom- ach is closed by the pressure. Treatment. Warm water should be poured down the the throat of the fowl, and the crop should be gently kneaded with the hands for an hour or so. If this fails make a cut in the crop about an inch long, at the top, and re- move the contents with the handle of a spoon. Then pass a greased finger, after having pared the nail blunt, into the crop and find if it is clear. Sew the opening of the crop with white silk or horse hair. Then stitch the ■outer skin in the same manner; taking care that the stitching be only through one skin at a time. Feed on soft cooked food for a week and give a limited supply of water. Symptoms. A sudden change of Diarrhoea- diet ; to much green food ; or a sudden change of weather may Dysentery, cause this disease. Treatment. If the looseness be observed early it can be checked at once by feeding boiled rice mixed with chalk powder. If this proves ineffectual, •give three times a day principal vicera ok young cock a pill of barley meal References —a. The under beak. with civ Hranc nf nam *• Membrane of the mouth at the Wltn SIX arops OI cam- side of the tongue c Muscles of phorated spirit. Give a the tongue (ossyoides) and lower jaw. f., . i • • ii i-i d. K thin salivary gland, entering little iron in the drink- the mouth by several small orifices. Ino" water e ' ^ small salivary gland, whose = " dnct passes through the membrane of the mouth at the side of the tongue Dysentary is really — the right one is turned outwards i • i • to show these ducts, f. A small Uiarrnoea in a Severe cartilage belonging to the os hyoides. form, and is evidenced 8- The fauces, h. The oesophagus , ' . above the crop. z. 1 he crop laid by the evacuations be- open. k. The upper orifice into the crop. /. The lower orifice, m. The lower oesophagus, n. The gizzard. o. First turn of the duodenum, p. Second turn of ditto, q. The other intestines, r. The basis of the liver, the body of it being cut out to show the six orifices of the vena cara hep- tica and vena portarum. s The gall bladder, t. The spleen, u. The two testicles, v. Attachment of the CANAL OR OVIDUCT. ing mingled with blood. When the disease has reached this stage it can rarely be cured. Give a dose of Castor //« and vena "portarum. oil, and every four or five hours a few drops pericardium, within which is seen £ ■, , T7- fh e heart, exposing the mouths ot Ot laudanum. Keep the vessels comin.e in and going out. the fnwlc rnnfined anH w - The nenve cavoe superioves. x. trie iowis connnea ana The two arotids and SU b-ciavians. at rest. y- The trachea, z. Suspensory mus- cles of the trachea. POULTRY BOOK. 95 Symptoms. This is caused by the egg being too large and Egg Bound, is especially common with Polish fowls. Eggs have been known to accumulate and form a large tumor. The hen comes off the nest without laying and walks about the yard as if dis- tressed, hanging down her wings ; sometimes she remains on the nest. Treatment. Give a tablespoonful of castor oil. If this is successsul wash the vent with warm water, and then pass in an oiled feather. An injection of an ounce of sweet oil may prove a better remedy in stubborn cases. This is an aggravating Egg Eating, vice and should be reme- died as rapidly as possible. Its influences are felt and spread through- out the entire flock if not taken in hand at the first appearance. There are vari- ous plans of nests arranged for fowls given to this habit, and the figures of some of them are shown in the illustra- tions. The vice may also be prevented by having the nest in dark corners and by giving the confined fowls plenty of work. Place their grain food under straw and cause them to scratch for it„ If these fail, it is advisable to dispose of the bird, before the entire flock become addicted to the habit. This vice is found among Feather all breeds, but more especially among the French and Malay Eating, breeds. It invariably appears in the hens. It may be traced direct- ly to thirst and idleness. Keep cool, fresh water always within the reach of the birds. Give as much exercise as possible. Many cases may be cured by a diet on animal food. Fresh meat and crushed bones should be fed liberally. Frost bites affect the feet, Frost Bites, comb and wattles. The large combed breeds especially suf- fer from it. If you detect the trouble before the frozen parts have thawed, thaw out by friction with snow or cold water, and keep the fowls where it is cold. After thawing, bathe the affected part with glycerine. Prevention is, however, better than cure, and in most cases may be insured by oiling the combs and wattles with a sponge every morning. This treatment protects the tissues and prevents water adhering and freezing on the wattles when the fowls drink. THE GAPE WORM. B and D. Full-grown gape worm, natural size, male and female. A and C. The worms largely magnified. GAPE WORM AND EGGS. i, The worm, life size. 2. The upper portions of the pair magnified. 3. The tail of the female. 4. The membran- eous sucker from the lower end of the body of the male, which attaches it- self to the female. 5. The egg of the worm. 6. The egg with the embryo in an advanced state of development. 96 THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S Symptoms. This disease is most common among young- Gapes, fowls, and is caused by the windpipe being infested with small reddish worms, causing the chick to gape for breath, and death ensues from suffocation. The scientific name of the worm is Syng- amus trachealis. The disease is not alone common with chickens, but attacks turkeys, ducks and all domestic fowls, besides many birds in their wild state. The worm is about three-quarters of an inch long, of a pale reddish color. It is always found double ; a smaller worm being forked on about one- fou th from the upper end, like the letter Y, which latter is the male. This parasite permantly attached to the female. Propogation is by means of eggs which are about one-two-hundred-and - fittieth part of an inch in diameter. The number found in one chicken varies from one to three dozens, when the bird strangles to death. Teatment. While no resem- APPARATUS OF RESPIRATION. This figure represents the apparatus of respiration of birds : — A. The solid lungs, wuioh are not movable. B, C. The bones of the body, the breast bone, C, extending the whole length of the body, i, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. The air cells , occupying the thorax and abdomen, which here form Dlance IS tOUnu Detween trie one cavity or series of cavities. These are dilated when f^crrr r\i th<=» n-anp ixrnt-m or\A the chest rises to the upper dotted lines. e SS or lne g a P e worra ana that of the louse, it has been found that the treatment of rubbing the bird's head with sulphur and lard for lice, has prevented, if not cured the affected birds. Cleanliness is to be always paramount in the poultryman's yards. The following ointment has been found very good : Mercurial ointment, one ounce ; pure lard, one ounce ; flour of sulphur, one-half ounce ; crude petroleum, one-half ounce. These should be mixed well and applied to the head of the chick. A common method of treating a bird affected with the gapes, is to take a feather which has been stripped of the web (see cut), except at the tip, (as shown in the cut), and dip it into sptrits of turpentine, or kero- sene, and thrust into the windpipe, turning the feather around several times. When the feather is withdrawn the worms will come with it, while others will be coughed out at once. Be careful while treating a bird this way to catch all the worms that may be coughed out on a piece of paper, and burn them. It is well to bend the feather as shown in the cut, when treating small chickens ; be sure to place the doubled point in the windpipe, and push it down gently as far as it will go; twist it around several times before pulling out. Place in the drinking water a few drops of carbolic acid, or camphor or lime to prevent infection. When a fowl is noticed sick, separate it from the flock and place it under immediate treatment. All fowls that die should be burned. Camphor in the form of pills has often been given with success. Alum and sulphur in the form of a fine powder blown down the throat will destroy the worms. POULTRY BOOK. 97 Symptoms. The fowl will be noticed running around in a Giddiness, circle; or it will sragger, as if drunk. This is caused by pressure of blood upon the brain. Treatment. Catch the bird and hold its head under a stream of cold water. It should be given a dose of Epsom salts. If the bird is neg- lected apoplexy may be developed. Keep it quiet and feed a low diet until it recovers. Symptoms: Some are like- Gout, ly to mistake this disease for leg weakness, but it may be distinguished by the legs and feet being hot, with evident swelling. Treatment. Remove the bird to a warm, dry place, and give a dose of calomel to open the bow- els ; after which give a half- grain pill of extract of colchicum twice a day. Rub tie legs and joints with sweet oii. Symptoms. The Indigestion, bird appears lazy and walks about in a sluggish manner. It is caused by neglect and imprudent feed- ing. It occurs after -the use of spiced food ; and is also caused by over-feeding. The bird loses its appetite and will not eat the OVARY - ordinary foods ; the droppings of the birds also show ill health. The liver is sluggish ; the stomach inflamed and the system generally debilitated. Treatment. Give daily five grains of rhubarb, and every fourth day one grain of calomel. Feed a small amount of well cooked food twice a day, and allow water only after eating. Give powdered charcoal in the soft food. Symptoms. This disease is most noticeable on account Leg Weakness, of the tendency of the birds to squat on the ground instead of standing or walking about. It is com- mon with cockerels of large breeds, and is evidently caused by growing too fast, and arises from muscular weakness or from a deficiency of bony matter. Treatment. Feed with foods that do not tend to produce fat. Some of the best are wheat, barley and meat. Use bone dust freely. A pill of the following, given three times a day, will produce good results : Sulphate of iron, one grain ; strychnine, one-sixteenth grain ; phosphate of lime, five grains; sulphate of quinine, one-half grain. The cure of leg weakness is not difficult in all cases, and by a prompt treatment you will in most cases be successful. Symptoms. This subject claims a goodly share of the attention Lice, of the poultryman. It is a serious matter when lice once get a start in the houses, and the losses therefrom are often very heavy. Many times in this work we have spoken of cleanliness in the houses and 98 THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S yards, and we earnestly admonish the reader on this subject again. It is a much easier task to prevent lice than to exterminate them after they get a foot-hold. Lice breed in dark and filthy places, cracks and crevices. They are sure to be found in such places — they are not cleaned regu Lipeurus va- riabilis. Goniocotes burn- etii Pack. Goniocotes ab- dominalis holo- gaster of Denny LOUSE OF THE HEN Menopon pal- lidum. Goniodes dissimilis. larly. This complaint is liable to lead the observer astray, and he will fear that his fowls are attacked with some grave disease. When vermin infests a fowl, it looks droopy, as if drawn up in a knot; loss of appe- tite is noticeable and the bird is generally debilitated. When you see a bird like this it would be well to examine it before treating for some other disease of complaint. Treatment. There are two points essential to treating fowls for lice, viz : the houses and the fowls. As regard the treatment of the houses, we refer you to the chapter on General Management. For treating the fowls, the most popular remedy is Persian insect powder. Other reme- dies are as follows : A bath of one part of carbolic acid to sixty parts of water, into which the birds are dipped ; suds of carbolic soap may be applied to the fowls, on all places underneath the wings, etc. This should EMBDEN GOOSE. be done carefully, and in cold weather care should be taken that the birds do not catch cold. Carbolic powder or powdered sulphur may also be used. Under the wings of full grown hens, an ointment of lard, kerosene and sulphur may be applied, but on small chicks never use kerosene. POULTRY BOOK. The treatment for red mites is about the same as for lice. In the application of remedies to the fowls, special care must be taken with the back of the neck, under the wings and over the vent. Keep the building thoroughly whitewashed. Symptoms. When Liver a fowl is affected with this disease, Disease, the head and comb have a sickly yel- lowish look. If neglected, mere indigestion may ex- tend to a serious enlarge- ment or other disorder of the liver. Treatment. Give a grain of calomel every other day and feed as directed for indigestion. Symptoms, It is dis- Pip. tinguished by a hard, horny substance on the end of the tongue. This arises from obstruction ol the nostrils which causes the bird to breathe through its mouth, thus drying the tongue. Indigestion may also cause it. The best authorities agree in consid- ering it a symptom of dis- ease elsewhere. Treatment. When treating for this complaint give a gentle purgative, and diet carefully. Two or three grains of black pepper may be given daily as a stimulant to the digestive organs. Symptoms. This dis- Rheumatisni. ease is marked by an evident weakness in the legs, stiffness in the joints, or contrac- tion cf the toes. It generally results from exposure to the cold or wet, wet roosting places, etc. Treatment. Place the affected bird in dry quarters, and give plenty of stimulating food. A little meat every day should be given. Rub the legs with hot mustard water, afterwards wiping dry. Symptoms. Among the most Roup, dreaded diseases is roup, and it is extremely contagious. The *^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ germs of this disease may be commun- Ig^^^T' icated by drinking or other contact — white crested black polish hen. SCALY LEGS. A. HeaUhy leg. B. Diseased leg. C. Female, front view. D. Back view of ditto E. The male. F. Six-legged larve. G. Rostrum ; m m, mandibles; p p, feelers ; j j, checks. H. Front leg of female. /. Ditto of male, nymphs and young females. too THE AMERICAN FANCIER'S through the characteristic roupy discharge. The symptoms are those of a very aggravated catarrh or cold of the head, with fevers, inflamed head and eyes, a dry cough and a dull wheezing. The fowl drinks eagerly; the comb and wattles are pale or dark colored. There is a yellowish dis- charge from the throat, nostrils and eyes; a cheesy mass collects around these organs and if not attended to immediately, will close them entirely. Death occurs within three to eight days from the time of the disease's first appearance. Colds, canker and ulceration are often mistaken or con- fused with roup; in these three men- tioned the discharges are usually thin and watery ; when roup is really the case, the discharges are thick and have a very offensive odor. Treatment. The bird should be iso- lated at the first signs, for fear of contagion ; the water vessels should be thoroughly cleaned, and refilled w ith water containing a few drops of carbolic acid. Place the affected bird in a warm, dry place and free from draughts, with dry sand on the floor. Give warm, stimulating food. Com- mence treatment by giving a spoonful of castor oil. Wash the nostrils, eyes and other affected parts with a Solution of Chlorinated Soda, diluted with twice its bulk of water. Repeat this several times a day. Give the following twice a day : Balsam copaiba, one ounce ; liquorice, in powder, one-half ounce ; pipeline, in powder, one drachm. Add magnesia enough to make pills, and divide into 60 parts. Generally under this treatment the bird will recover, if not too badly affected before treatment is com- menced. Another remedy, which is handy in form and is highly recommended, is Ger- man Roup Pills. It has long been before the poultry fraternity and has given satis- factory results. If the bird recovers, do not return it to the flock at once, but keep it on a tonic for some time. If possible, avoid breeding from a bird that has recov- ered from the disease. Symptoms. The disease Scaly Legs. known as scaly legs is dis- tinguished by the devel- (Elephantiasis.) opment of a rough, un- sightly scurf on the shanks