Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1884-06-24
Stock and Poultry.

Chicken MiteS.-Beware of this pest.
They are very small black and gray insects.
If they once get foothold ON henhouse
they will soon cover the land round about,
people, dogs, cats, and everything else, and
are very annoying, particularly to fowls,
Chickens when first Matched should not
be hurried out of the sitting nest. For "a
hours at least from the time the earliest
| commence to show themselves, it is better
to leave them under or with the hen moth
er. They need no food for from day to
| day and a half usually. When they get
strong enough to venture from beneathh
! their mothers wings it is time to move the
brood.
Broiler Caicksns.-Now is the time for
broilers. Chicks of two or three weeks old
will be in time for the July trade. A broiler
| is simply q chicken six or eight weeks old,
and when broiled it is such delicious bit
of meat that people are willing to pay for
| it an extravagant price, which of course is
none of the poultry dealers business. You
don't want to try and fatten broiler, be-
cause you can't do it. The better care and
| food you give young chick the faster it
grows, and the faster it grows the more
! profitable for you.
| Fouls After Breeding-It is true with
fowls, as with all else OF animal life, that
| after the breeding season is over it is of no
benefit whatever to have the sexes together.
Let the male fowls be kept in q large run
by themselves, if practicable, and give the
females the free range. This does not ap-
ply to turkeys, geese, and ducks, however,
but solely to chickens. The first named re-
tain more of their wild nature and instinct,
and more closely follow the laws that gov
erned them in their mating and breeding
when in their wild state
To Cure ScrGtches-The following rem
edy is recommended for horse having
scratches: Place his feet and legs in bran
psultices for thirty-six hours, then wash
clean with warm water and CASTLE soap,
and when dry rub the pits of his heels with
the following: Take Goulard's extract and
olive oil, equal parts, mixed. Do not allow
them to get wet after the first washing,
but keep them clean by rubbing with a
coarse cloth. Give the following powders
night and morning in his feed: Take nitrate
of potash, five; pulverized resin, one ounce;
mix; make into twelve powders; give regu-
lar daily exercise.
Chicken Gapes.-Chickens affected with
the gapes show it by standing still, with
dropping head, which at frequent intervals
they throw up with a quick gasp as if
choking. Sometimes they recover without
any treatment, but usually die in few
days. The disease is caused by parasitic
worms in the windpipe, and if these worms
can be dislodged without choking the
chicken to death it will recover. The best
way to cure gapes is never to feed the
chickens on the ground; take away all
showing symptoms of the disease; scatter
slaked lime around the coops and remove
the latter to new ground, never using the
same spot for the home of two broeds in
one year or letting the coop remain there
| two years in succession.
| Fumigating Hen Houses.-This is an i'm
portant function for farmers and breeders.
The Poultry Bulletin lays down a very SIM
pie rule First drive all the hens out, see
| that none are in the nests or concealed in
side the building. Shut all doors and win.
dows, ventilators, &C., tight. Now take
an old iron or earthern pot, anything that
heat will not affect, and put handful Of
rosin into it, light the rosin, and when it is
burning freely pour over it pound or two
of sulphur, as soon as the latter is atire the
fun begins-for the lice. They, however,
can usually crawl away into crevices out Of
the reach of the pungent, suffocating
fumes; handful of tobacco leaves thrown
into the smoke pot will stir the pests up
greatly, though. Let the house remain
closed tightly for two or three hours, and
then open the doors and windows again.
and the room is fumigated.
Feeding Farm Horses-When the winter
is so severe as to suspend farming opera
tions for any length of time, the qualities
of the richer varieties of food given to farm
horses should be lessened, but when work.
ing they require full measure. A common
daily supply of oats per animal is from 10
| to III pounds in addition To a l;baroI 49,
| ply of straw or hay. The latter variety Of
fodder is decidedly the more nutritious. and
should be reserved during the winter until
the hard work of spring begins. Mixtures.
consisting of Indian corn, beans, peas. and
oats, all crushed and mixed in equal pro.
portion, make a commendable meal fo,
draught horses.