The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1909-09-03
THE YOUNG FLOCK.

nin9 to feather, and look like grown
Ups.
Now's the time we. transfer them
1 from their coops, which are usually
100 small for their comfort, and ar
tango to have them roost in the reg
liar poultry-house.
1 But we are planning to make a
4 complete renovation of the entire
4 building before we consign these
i early birds, the most promising Of
the flock. to their new quarters. 1t
4 Won't do to run any risks at this
/ stage of the game
The old nesting will be carried
out, burned and replaced with fresh,
new nests. The roosts will be wash
ed thoroughly in ten quarts of
strong soapsuds into which one gal
Ion of brine and one quart of coal.
oil (kerosene) have been mixed. The
entire building will be sprayed with
like solution "a gill of crude car
bolic acid stirred into the mixture.
will greatly add to the effectiveness
of the work.
Then, after making sure that all
of the droppings are removed. the dirt
on the floor will be spaded up-ali
| of which will insure fresh, clean
quarters and the complete annihila-
! ton of both lice and mite pests. OF
course, We must be sure that the
| young chickens are free from lice be-
fore this change is made, even If
we have to dip them in order to do
/ SO. A little lard rubbed on the head
and under the wings may be suflcl-
ent to remove the few lice found on
them, but at any rate, they must
he gotten rid of.
Having once made these thorough
preparations, and installed the young
flock in their new home, they will
like it better than the close coops
| they have been budding into during
these hot nights. They will also de-
| velop more rapidly, and by the time
they are fully matured, they will
have become so accustomed to their
new quarters, that they will start
/ right in to laying, and keep it up al!
winter long.
Another important item: We keep
the very earliest and choicest of the
flock for layers. Don't allow the
high price paid for spring chickens
to tempt you to sell those which
would bring you the most money.
You simply cannot afford it. BY keep
ing your late-hatchedy chicks, you'll
! have to feed them through the win
ter for nothing. They will not lay
till the next spring. Then, too, one
wants to breed UP toward winter
layers, and late chickens won't do
that as well as the earlier ones.
So push the young flock right
/ along. A halt nowc may mean a
stttnted and Improbable flock. Give
an abundance Of pure, cool water.
! Furnish plenty of pleasant shade.
/! Until cooler weather sets in. feed the
lighter grains, rather than too much
heat-producing corn. Keep them
away from the older fiocks, if pos.
sible, for their young, rapidly devel-
oping bodies need more food and
ncurishment than those of the fully
matured fowls. Don't forget the egg.
producing qualities of green bone. In
short. keep sharp lookout for the
cleanliness and comfort of the young
flock. seeing that they are in prime
condition when they start through
the winter, and you'll find it little
time mighty profitably spent-M. AL
bertus Coverdell, in the Indiana
FARMER.
/ TRAP NESTS MAKE RECORDS.
| A trap nest is a simple device to
catch the hen when she enters to
lay. AS she passes into the nest she
presses against trigger which holds
up the door and it falls down be-
hind her. When she has laid the egg
| 1t is numbered to correspond with the
number on the hens leg band. This
enables the breeder to keep each
hens eggs separate with perfect ac-
curacy
! Attempts to improve the egg-pro-
ducing qualities of the hen date
to the domestication of the
hen, but it has only been within
the last few years that rapid pro-
| gress has been possible in this work
The inability to determine the good
layers has been the difficulty.
| With the perfection of the trap
nest this difficulty has been removed
and many poultry breeders are now
engaged in the production of egg
! laying strains of fowls
The great majority of people make
no selection of hens from which to
hatch their stock. The eggs of the
whole flock are kept together, and
when eggs are desired for Matching
they are selected from general bas-
ket
1t has been assumed and is shown
by trap nest records that eggs thus
selected in the spring of the year are
~.