The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-03-22
ALL ABOUT HENS
Prof. 7. E. Nc Grew Tells
How To Care For Them
LECTURES ON INCUBATORS,
CHICKENS, EGGS, FOOD, DIS
EASES, THEIR CURES,
ETC.

evening in City Hall, under tne aus
pices of the Wayne County Poultry
Association, Prof. T. F. McGrew,
principal of the School of Poultry |
Husbandry at the l. G. s., Scranton,
delivered his popular lecture on IN
eubation and Brooding." The Asso-
citation is booming, and new mem |
bers are joining every week. The
President of the society, E. Kins- |
man, Cherry Ridge, presided and in
troduced the speaker.
The lecture in part was as fol-
lows:
Women Best Poultry Growers.
women have been the most sue
eessful poultry growers in the world.
Women are always careful and at
tentive of anything they take hold of.
Success in the poultry business
comes from knowing how. If you
know how to run it, you can make
money out of it. About nine out of
ten don't make it pay in our coun-
try. And yet how many thousands
of men fail during the year among
the grocerymen and other lines of
business.
The test of any persons ability in
handling poultry is how many eggs
he got in January. If anybody tells
I'll tell him he doesn't know anything
about poultry. There is an excuse
for December Everything fails
then. In February hens should be-
gin to lay, and in March everybody's
hens lay.
"Pickin' Hens"
In "pickin' hens" a mighty good
rule to follow is: First, hen with
plenty of breast development, where
she can store her food. narrow
breasted hen can't eat enough to
keep herself warm over night Sec
ondly, she must be wide between the
thighs, so as to have plenty of room
for the egg-producing organs to de-
velop in there. Thirdly, there must
be just as much of the hen back of
the thigh-line as before, so that she
may be evenly poised.
About an egg every other day is
about the best you can expect. If
you can get ten or twelve dozen eggs
yearly hen, you are doing the best
you can expect to do.
Never let the huckster come on
your place and pick out your best
hens Sell him what you don't want.
The natural outcome of careful Sc
lection will be fertile and hatchable
eggs, which are needed for incuba-
ton.
mo mother would think of feed,
ing little baby piece of fruit cake
and feeding millet seed to little
chick is just exactly like fruit cake
to little baby. They can't digest
it. A little cottage cheese fol
chicks is good; too much is death.
Bran middlings, corn meal ant
ground alfalfa is good, dry
as food value, but it irritates the in
testines and keeps up healthy con
dition there.
About Incubator thermometers.
If the temperature of your incu
bator waltZes between 1O1 1a anC
1913 degrees you're all right. Ii
cooling your eggs always use tn'
back of your hand. When the bacl
of your hand tells you those egg
have been cooling, it's time to pu
them back.
The seventh day is vital time be
cause the blood begins to circulat
in the veins at that time. If yol
burst one of those veins the chicl
dies.
Don't open the door of the incu
bator until that hatch is complete
If your little chicks get up close t.
the door and gasp for air, open tn
door a little and give them air, AM
take the risk and save what 'yo
have there.
Study the directions of your incu
bator and follow it. Learn to knoN
if there is enough moisture in tn
incubator. Don't trust to one theI
mometer in an individual incubator
Put a couple in. You may find ou
you got a cold corner. Waltz tina
thermometer around and test tn
corners of your machine.
81 see some people are paying SO
for Is eggs now. If you ever de
divide them up between Four Goo
Biddies, with health behind then
and they will hatch out $50 eggs bel
ter than any incubator.
After the eggs are hatched, say o
Monday morning, let them in ii
Wednesday morning. There is
great big yolk drawn into the adbC
men of the chickens which is plent
to keep them in fine condition, fort!
eight hours. When you get them
your brooder fix up wooden tray an
cover it with coarse, dry sand. Pou
tablespoonful of crumbs over tn
sand for every 25 chickens.
Teaching Chicks To Scratch.
If the chicks can all be induced
scratch they'll have learned the lie
son of exercise. Don't feed the
hard-boiled eggs, They are full {
egg. A man never gets so full {
they are. 1t will clog up the
crops. Two weeks is time enough
begin to feed them hard-boiled egg
Give them about one teaspoonful
twenty-five chicks. Don't try to Xxi
them with kindness.
For chick feed, three grains a.
plenty; corn, wheat, oats. Get son
oatmeal; corn grits, and sift out Il
fine particles of corn. That max
the incest kind of chick feed.