Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1878-11-15
The Rules for Poultry Novices.

OSIoiS .oul SHlSNNHS III
lets are always cheaper in the dusky
hours that prccedc the dawn.
2. If you buy fancy eggs for hatch
ing, do not buy any that were picked
last fall Hope springs eternal IN the
human breast" but an egg stays right
by the date of its birth, and is twenty,
four hours older and poorer at each sue
ceeding sunset.
3 Always consult the hens conven-
fence in the matter of setting Do not
insist upon her breaking any other en-
gagements or putting off baking or iron
ing day. for the purpose Of taking
charge of thirteen eggs, of unknown sex
or quality Better, far better, that you
should give up society and set on those
eggs yourselves, rather than entrust
them to a reluctant and descending
hen You might break the eggs, but the
tickle hen would break for the verbena
bed, the first thing in the morning
4. Build your nests wide enough for
COW to turn around in. If the nest
has an all-out-door. illimitable- waste
kind of look to it. where one hen will
feel so lonesome and lost that she will
wall and squawk with terror every time
she looks around and feels the burden
of her loneliness upon her, all the
wealth Of the Incas couldn't induce an
other hen to go in and keep her compa-
ny or gossip with her until bedtime.
But il you make nest just big enough
for one lean hen to squeeze into without
breathing, the nine biggest hens in your
flock will fight for that nest, and all
crowd into at the same time, flatten out
all the eggs, and then with gloomy but
patient cOuntenance, and their several
heads turned in nine different directions,
they will sit on the cold ashes of shat
tered ambition and wrecked dreams for
the next four months.
5. Sprinkle sulphur in the nests be-
fore the hen is allowed to enter upon
the performance of her incubation con
tract. The smell of the sulphur will
prevent the hen from imbibing the per-
nicious doctrines Of Ingersoll, and will
keep her from assuming too much, I'M
der the impression that a hen that can
produce a diurnal egg, and from that
evolve "a living, breathing, scratching
chicken, could, if she would give her
mind to it, create a universe and people
its planets with races Of lieing, thieving,
swearing men.
6. Boost the hen off the nest once a
day for exercise. Too much sentiment
and reflection, an excess Of self COM
munion, is apt to make the hen low
spirited and moody. Point her to the
dreadful effects of too long continued
and unbrokcn eXertlon OF the brain, as
shown in the sad fate of Sergeant Bates
and Dennis Kearney.
Z. About the time the young chicks
are coming out, borrow shot gun, and
tell your neighbor that some scoundrel
is shooting cats, and last night he killed
a cat that belonged to your wife that
you wouldn't have taken fifty dollars
for. This will pave the way for future
developments. a successful henery is
fatal to cats. A brood of thrifty, con-
tented young chicks is an infallible cvi-
dcnce that you can shut your eyes and
stick IA spade in the ground anywhere in
that precinct without disturbing the
eternal rest of some cat that has taken
parlors on the ground-foor of the win
dowless place Of rest.
s. If you have no grass lots or kitch-
en- garden or pansy beds for your chick
ems to range in, cut hole low down in
the fence so as to let your chicks in on
your neighbor, 1t will be perfectly safe
since the loss Of his cat. If ne says any
thing about chickens, tell him you told
Foreman (the other neighbor) that if
he wanted to raise chickens he must do
as you do, and keep them shut up. Do
not give your chickens unbridled liberty,
for sometimes brood of healthy chicks
go out in the morning when the dew on
the onion tops glitters in the sunshine
and like the baseless fabric of vision
they pass away, and like the stuff that
dreams are made of, leave not track
behind, and all the tears your burning
eyes can shed over the legs aud claws
and heads you find in the alley will not
call them back.
g. In raising fowls for the market,
remember there is the greater danger of
sending them out in an immature state
Chickens are not healthful food; nor do
they contain any of the perfect ele-
ments of nutrition, until they are fully
and completely developed physically.
Keep them about you, then, while pant
ing time tolls after you in vain Life is
at best but waking shadow, and your
chicks should have at least eleven years
of home care and training before they
rest their heads for one brief second on
the chopping block, and go to grace the
table of the happy boarding house.
For any further and more specific infor-
nation on this subject, send thrce-cent
stamp and your address. Burlington