The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1888-06-01
FARMERS COLUMN.
coxpErrroRY ESSAY ON POULTRY.

Editor Register:
1t is with some feeling of dItfidenct
not to say timidity that I enter tn,
lists to compete for prize on poultry
raising, and nothing but the Growing
of Mr.. NOrtOn's rooster az he halls the
morning light with ''ork.a-doOdle doO'
would buy me up and carry me through
the trying ordeal. I am no chicken
myself, but have been present at the
birth and death of great number, and
at post norton examinations have
been something more than q passive
spectator.
1 have ransacked high, and low, au.
thorities on the subject of setting hens
and am happy to find that my obser-
vatiOns and past experiences are con-
nrmed in q manner that Is extremely
gratifying. 1 know you have not
space for lengthy quotations but one
from the pen Of the late Hon. Josh
Billings is so apt that 1 cannot forbear
asking you to reprint 1t. 1t IL as fol-
lows: "The time tn set hen IL when
the hen IL reddy tn Sit"
To discover "when the hen liz reddy
to sit" 1t Is necessary to keep a sharp
look after her when she has looked up
the location and found one to her taste
she will commence to deposit an egg
each morning and after this perform
ance she will chuckle over it immense
ly. Soon she will cease performing
this profitable task, her temper seems
s0ured, Der action at once irritable and
strange, she grows sulky, and refuses
to leave her nest (as the location Is
termed(. You may give her a cold
bath In the water trough, or throw her
of the nest, or do anything in fact, ex-
cept chop her head off,, she, with the
pertinacIty of her sex, will still cling
to her one idea and you may conclude
that:
.'If she will she will, you may depend ont;
And II she won't, she won't. and that's the
end On't.''
And it Is reasonable to suppose that
she "iz now reddy to Sit"
If she has only third or o half in
terest in the nest, it would be advis-
able to move her to other quarters.
When you make an attempt at this
she will throw her brislles up and pre-.
sent her bill, but if you are a lady, and
have husband, and he has a pair of
buckskin mittens you could perhaps
borrow them, and then put your hand
in the bosom of the hen i'm an insinu-
ating way and grasp her two feet. l
have witnessed a glove fight of this
description and l know it must be
much more amusing and less harmful
than to watch John L. Sullivan knock
the lifetime out of q man under Mar
quis of Queensberry rules.
"A bakers dozen of eggs is generally
the right number which
should be put somewhere where the
hen can get the upper hand Of them.
1t is not necessary to boil the eggs
first, it may aid the progress of the |
process Of incubation. but the chicks
will probably come out featherless If
they come out at all. To discover If
the eggs are good You should visit the |
nest about three weeks after the set |
ting, when the young chicks fall due,
and if there is chick to every egg it |
can be regarded as undeniable evidence
that the eggs were fertile. I do not
the use of an incubator, as |
the little birds are left orphans at q
lender age and there always seems to |
be cloud hanging over their birth,
which prevents their holding up their |
heads and looking the whole world in |
The face.
Some authorities assert that you /
should not count your chickens before
hey are Matched, but it would be
proper to count them as soon after as
and let it be q "fair count"
hOuld advise counting the black ones
irst.
1t is quite noticeable that the new
aid chick has very downy look for
me SO young.
Yours Ornithologically,
JAMES p. PRICE.