Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1909-07-30

FIG. xxIII-CORNER IN POULTRY YARD
express and refuse to accept them If
the seals have been tempered with.
These precautions are necessary If
you would be sure of getting what you
pay for. A basket with handle is
the best package for shipping eggs, as
It will be carried instead of thrown.
1t has been found by repeated exper-
iments that eggs Matched with an in
cubator do not produce chicks with Us
much vitality as those Matched under
hens. This is not very noticeable the
first season, but If continued year
after year will seriously impair the
vitality of the flock. 1t is q general
practice among successful poultrymen
to set few Of the best eggs under
hens and use the chickens thus OBJ
tanned to replenish the breeding flock.
Value Of Breeding Pen.
The plan of having n breeding pen
from which to select eggs for Matching
is very good one. In this pen doz-
en- or thirteen of the best hens in tho
flock are kept. If trap nest records
have been kept this will determine to
large extent which hens are to be
put into the breeding pen. With the
meat breeds the size and conformation
of the hens are the most important
points. For breeding pen of thirteen
hens one male is all that is necessary,
but he should be the best that can be
secured. Some breeders practice keep
ing two males, putting one in with the
hens one day and the other the next
In this way the males are kept in a
better condition, and the chickens are
likely to be little stronger. No roost-
ers will be needed in the general flock.
Indeed, the eggs will keep all the bet
ter for not being fortified.
The care and feed Of the breeding
flock should be much the same as those
outlined for laying hens in article No.
II. The main thing is to keep them
healthy. Do not overfeed, but keep
them in vigorous condition. If posi-
BILE the breeding pen should be large
enough SO as to include little green
feed, such as clover or rape. If this
p,nnot be done little forage cut and
put in the pen every day will be rel
ished.
The sitting hens should have q
small house or compartment to them
selves. This will avoid the great an
noyance of having nests broken. up
and fresh eggs laid in with those al
most ready to hatch. This house
should be provided with charcoal, grit
and oyster shells. A dust bath in
which the hens can roll will help to
keep them free from lice. Oats, wheat
and some sort Of green food make q
good ration. When very expensive
eggs are set 1t is best to keep each
hen in compartment by herself, as
there will be less risk of having the
nest broken up. Soon after the chick.
ems are Matched they can be marked
by punching hole through the wei
Of the toe. 80 that they can be picked
out from the rest of the flock in the
fall.
Selecting tho Incubator.
Although incubators are not well
adapted to raising chickens for the
breeding flock. they are indispensable
to the poultryman who ia raising fowls
for market. They are more reliable nnt
more easily cared for than hens. They
are ready to 60 to work at any time
10 TINT early chickens can DO raised
in much larger numbers than will
hens. The broody hens can be broker
up and will soon go to laying again
Not the least among the advantages o
the incubator is the fact that tn
chicks will be free from lice whel
Matched.
There are two general types of incu
bators, the hot air and the hot waite
machines. The heat in the hot MI
machine Is furnished by currents o
warm air which circulate around tn,
egg chamber and In the hot water ma
chine by hot water circulating through
metal pipes. The hot air machine Il
simpler and generally gives better sat