West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-04-24
POULTRY.
Evidences of the Owners Neglect and
CareIessness.

Evidences of the Owners Neglect and
CareIessness.
The "thOrns and tlIiStles" inflicted
upon our race pcrvadc the industry of
poultry-keeping quite rs much ~ that
OF the field and garden. ii by the typi.
cal "thorns and thistlcs" we NAV under.
stand the disappointm worries.
failures and corporations which we
meet in our various laborS, the poultry
Keeper certainly has his full share of
them. Aud a we consider the winter
feeding of flock of hens, it will be- well
to discuss the troubles which will surely
meet the young or ineNpert poultry
keeper at this season. Probably the
first trouble will be that the hens. il,
pursuit OF everything that will worry
their owner. will take to eating thcir
eggs. dearly purchased with all the
care given to them, and anxiouslv
looked for. This unnatural vice Is yer,
common. Eggs may be awaited aNious
~. and the hens may be LAYING. but no
eggs are found i'm the nests. They arc
eaten as soon as laid Some old hens
will turn around and deliberately breaF
the ncwly-iaid egg and dcvour it, All
the flock will assist, and will soon
learn the expensive vice The best wav
to stop such proceedings will be to
watch and catch the culprit and con
sign her To the pOtpic, or the pie pot.
just a one may think either term the
better An old hen Of this habit j. slv
exceedingly sly. She beats Mr.. Joey
BagstOck in slyncss. We have watched
such hen through gimlet hole i'm "A
partition for days until she was caught
in the act No discipline short of de-.
capitatiOu will cure such fowl. Some
poultry keepers commend eggs stuffed
with cayenne pepper a. strong hint
that such conduct is Objectionable; but
a with many other tricks and pccul-
iaritie- Of hens, ''thc game il not worth
the candle While on. is being cured
a score are being dcmoralizcd. and the
loss in "a neglected lock may be- large
One preventive j. never to keep hcn-
over the second laying season The
hens i'm their second year are the earli-
EST layers and the best mothers but
they should bee fattcucd in the fail and
disposed Of, and being foil grown. i'm
their prime, and not having vet con
tracted the tOughnc-- of older fowls. uu
other fowl is 20 choice % dish a. n hen
eighteen months old and fat Only
mail portion Of these need Ec kept. as
wcll-carcd for pulcls are Che best stool,
10 keep and with lwO-ycar-old cock
viii produce the largest number Of pull
Jet chicks
An effective prccautiOu against fowls
eating eggs IS ~ remove the eggs from
their nests frequently three or four
times day. a little girl or boy enlisted
iu this work viii leave very few eggs i'm
the nests tO boz cracked and eaten If
egg are left to- be frozen in the nests
and cracked that tcmpt- the hen to cat
| them, aud This should bc avoided. An.
other preventive u.s. 90 avoid overlooking
Che hens with corn. The use Of such
food as has been air ady mentioned will
| prevent The craving for an egg diet.
/ fparallelcd by the craving which impels
| Tgs 20 dcyOur their litterD. which is
] produced by adisordcrcd condition from
/ overlooking with heating food such as
corn Tho use of fresh crushed hone is
/ especially advisable. and since this has
/ been adopted we have bad mo- trouble
| in tle yards from lhis vice.
Nrrmu another trouble of the -ca-
-Ou. Tbs Is wholly incompatible with
egg. ~ can Doe avoided bv the free use
I Ot Kerosene oil on an the cracks and
creyice- Ji the rOostug frame at lcos
+ once we k by the use OF drv earth
HoOr liberal -prinklin0 of the rOOst. with
tresh air.sllcked lime. and scrupulous
. rioouline- The flock which Is troubled
/ With lieo needs no certificate that The
owner b. careless and neglected. Hcury
J sfcW01. we 81 i, Tunes.