The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1880-03-04
FARM TOPICS.
NV Success in Raising Chickens.

poultry for several years, and think it
is very appropriate business for any
woman of delicate health, like myself.
! The business is both pleasura5le and
profitable. L have the Light Brshmas
and Partridge Cochins, and also the
pure White Bantams. My Brahmas
and Cochins are very nice and large,
/ got my Partridge Cochins from a
breeder in New jersey, and the Light
Brahmas, part from Ohio and part
from this State Qndiana). Of course
they cost considerable, but we can not
get pure fowl stock for mere song. l
have two pens of Light Brahmas and
one of Partridge Cochins, so as to have
the eggs pure for setting, and also to
sell. Last spring | sold eggs at one
dollar per setting of thirteen, and the
other day sold "a thoroughbred rooster
for one doller. At these rates | think
the business pays quite well. The way
L do is to save my eggs very carefully,
and each kind separately, and keep
them where they will not get chilled in
the cold nights of spring. For nests use
soap-boxes, or boxes about that size.
l put them in convenient, cool places,
little up from the ground, though
not too high. | sprinkle Stacked lime
in the bottom of each nest, and, after
the weather is warm enough, l place
ground in the bottom also. Then for the
nest-place L put well-mashed straw or
hay in the box, sprinkling sulphur over
the same. | find that nest attended
to in this way will not be bothered with
lice. Biddy will not be inclined to leave
such a nest before her brood is Matched,
as is often the case when such precau-
tions are neglected. When the brood is
Matched thoroughly cleanse the box by
burning the old straw in it; and then l
renew with lime and fresh nest material.
The box is now ready for the next time.
never sit a hen until she remains on
the nest after her mates have gone to
roost; and then l know she is in earn
est and means business. And it is quite
an item to know this when one has val
liable eggs to sit that cost dollar or
two. When | have hen sitting | al
ways close up the box so that there will
be no trouble with other hens laying in
the nest. also generally mark the
eggs which put under the sitting hen,
so if a hen should happen to get box
open and deposit stray egg, l will no.
tice it and take it out. l always select
the time when the chickens outside
have gone to roost to feed my sitting
hens. And those that will not come off
by themselves l lift off carefully. |
then see if the eggs are all right and the
nests in a right condition. When take
hen off with brood of young chick
ems, take little lard and mix it with
a little sulphur and coal oil, and grease
the old mother hen on the head, under
the wings, and wherever the lice are
likely to be found. grease the little
chicks, with pure lard only, the first
time; on the head and under the wings
using it sparingly, and then give them
coop in a dry, sunny place. And if
fed right and kept dry they will do well.
Never feed with sloppy, mushy stuff,
unless you want them to sicken and die.
| thoroughly scald the meal and mix it
moderately thick and dry. l usually
feed the meal warm. A great deal of
the time bake corn bread for my flock
1 also save all the small potatoes and |
potato-peelings. The way to do is to |
cook and mash them, and then thicken
with corn-meal or bran, seasoning with |
cayenne or black pepper, and occasion
ally mixing in small quantity of slaked |
lime. chop onions and turnips fine, |
and feed them raw once or twice week |
for green feed. For drink give all the |
milk have to spare, and plenty of pure,
clean water, with camphor gum &C.
casionally placed in the water. This
will prevent the gapes. l thoroughly |
clean the coops once every week or two,
and sprinkle lime on the bottom and |
around the coops. If any get droopy-
which they generally do when their
wing feathers are growing, which weak
ems them-I take the scissors and clip |
off the wing feathers and tail, and they |
will soon revive and be as lively as
ever. treat young turkeys the same |
way, and find it works like charm. I |
notice my young chickens when about |
the size of cartridges and larger; if |
they stand around much of the time |
picking themselves, it is clear sign of |
lice take lard, mashed sulphur and |
little coal-oil, and mix them, but am |
careful not to get this too strong. With |
this | grease them sparingly on the
head, under the wings, and wherever |
the lice are liable to harbor. After such
treatment / always clean the coops
well, sprinkling in and around them,
and they will be clean of lice. The
lime helps to prevent gapes, and chol-
era also. l creased $50 chickens at
one time. 1t was quite a job, but it
paid. Any one would have said so who
could have seen what a nice lot of
chickens had in the fall. l have win
dows on the south side of my poultry
house so as to give them plenty of light
and sunshine. Light find is detrimen-
tai to vermin. | also have my roosts
low for large fowls-not over two feet
from the floor. have my hen-house
cleaned once a week My husband
hauls the hen manure to the garden. 1t
is a No. l garden fertilizer and pays
largely. l sometimes put coal oil on
the roosts, but a cheaper and surer
plan is to build fire and draw the
roost- poles across the blaze slowly.
This is sure destruction to the parasites,
and this remedy is within reach of all
After the house is cleaned, throw lime
over the floor and roosts and up the
sides of the wall. Every two or three
weeks it is good plan to take sulphur,
cOpperas and corn-cobs and put them in
an old iron pot and set fire to them, sit
in the hen-house, close the doors tight,
and give it good fumigating. The
smoke will kill all the remaining lice.
l always open and air my house well
before it is time for the chickens 70 90 !
to roost. | also treat my coops for my
small chickens the same way. Bat, |
when burning sulphur and copperas, be
careful and inhale as little smoke "a