Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1878-04-19
Farm and Household.


Rules for Novices in Poultry Raising.
If you begin by purchasing eggs for hatch
ing, order them from some reliable breeder
nearest your own locality, and thus save the
perils incident to their transportation from a
long distance.
Always set your hens in the evening, rather
than by daylight They will be more sure to
stick to their nest afterward. And for two
or three days at first, be careful that they are
kept undsturbed.
Apply little dry sulphur upon the down,
and under each wing Of the chicks as soon as
they emerge from the nest. Keep mother and
brood thus free from vermin Give them food
when day old, and keep them dry and warm,
in a fresh clean coop.
Commence feeding with soaked bread
crumbs, rice, and hard boiled eggs. Follow
this up for a week then cooked soft food
and broken wheat; then corn, chopped meat
or scraps and always plenty of green food
until the grass starts.
Give the young ones sunshine, all you can
command If the weather is cold when they
IRE Matched look ont for the harsh winds
Give them dry shelter till the weather becomes
warm, and above all, save them from rain and
storms
At one to three months old they should have
ample range over the lawns or pasture. If
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a dry, gnvelly bottom, and give them cab
bage leaves, turnip tops, etc, and cooked
meat, daily, with dry grain and food
Always supply your young aid old fowls
with plenty of fresh, clean water. Into this
occasionally drop little cayenne pepper,
which is prime tonic, as we as preventive
Of gapes in chickens.
To 'cure roup," look out that it don't get
started in your hocks. 1t is helped on by colds,
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neglect. Prevent its presence by constant
care, good shelter, and dry, clean hen houses.
This is the surest method.
Wash your roosts occasionally with spirits
Of turpentine or kerosene. This prevents the
accumulation of lice in the poultry houses,
and the fumes permeate the feathers of your
fowls at night and drive the vermin from their
bodies
At from five to six months old, separate the
young cocks from the pullets and rear each
sex by themselves. When you wish to mate
them for breeding Cin December or January
is the time to allow them TO run together.
Permit all your hens so inclined to set and
hatch one brood in the year. 1t is better for
the fowls, and you will thus get Just as many
eggs from them in twelve months as if you
bothered your brains to break them up"
If you commence with fowls Cnstead of
eggs, buy of reliable men, who know what
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you. Pay such n man his pricc--get good
stock, of whatever variety it may bo-and
take care of it after you getit.
Keep but one kind at first, of whatever
kind you may fancy. When you can breed
that well, try something else if you get tired
of this But don't venture upon too much in
the variety line" at the commencement, or
you will fail with ALL
Don't attempt to raise five hundred birds
within limits fitting the needs of five dozen or
less. Crowding fowls into close quarters will
breed thousands of lice, but precious few
chickens, remember
Select the best of your progeny for breed
ers. Sell your patrons what you have to sell
honestly. If you dispose of eggs, send off
fresh ones, and pack them carefully. DO as
you would be done by every time, and avoid
the temptation to play the role of "huckster'
on any occasion.
In addition to the above rules, which. if fol-
lowed We believe amateur poultry raisers
will find of essential service, We copy the fol-
lowing paragraph embodying the results of
years of careful study and experiment by Il
German scientist The conclusions thus
summarized form, in fact, a complete code of
directions for either amateur or professional
poultry growing;
TO insure good strong birds, select eggs by
two-y ears-old hen by n one-year-old male
The largest eggs should be chosen and those
regular in shape. When dwarf birds are de-
sired get the smallest eggs possible. The
theory that pointed eggs yield male birds is
only confirmed when they are from hen that
usually lays round eggs, and on the other
hand round eggs from hen usually laying
pointed ones, are more apt to yield females.
When a hen always lays eggs of one shape,
pointed or round, the yield win be of both
sexes. The place of setting should be of me-
dunn temperature, well ventilated in a sub
dued light and away from noise. The best
time for setting is from the first of April till
the middle of July. Each hen must set by
herself and have pan of water and a trough
of food constantly by her. The nest and
eggs should be frequently cleaned during the
setting The same nest or the same box
should not be used a second time the same
year. Eggs not Matching ON time should be
left under the hen few days, as the incuba-
ton may have been hindered. As final test
place the unmatched eggs in warm water
Those which contain live chickens will float
The chickens should be removed from the
hen as fast as Matched, to prevent her desert
ing the remaining eggs, and should be put i'll
a basket or box upon some soft material and
covered with wooden cloth When all are
Matched they may be returned to the hen. un-
less it is preferred to rear them away from
her. Until at least six weeks old keep them
in a uniform temperature of about 60 degrees
Fahrenheit. After that gradually accustom
them to variations of weather to make them
strong and hardy. Feed for the first few days
on fnely-chopped hard-boiled eggs but do
not continue this food too long. Change from
that to millet or meal soaked in milk, and oc-
casionally chopped meat. After four weeks
give soaked wheat and potatoes and bread
soaked in milk Feed often, but not too
much at once, as fowls invariably take a dis
like to food of which too much is given at one
time. Now let them have plenty of exercise
in open air, and their special treatment is
soon unnecessary.
CurFant Cultivation.
The old red curfrnt in the hush form is