The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-04-21
RATS RAISE RIOT
Slaughter 81 Prize Chicks
and Mr.. Lord LamentS
WHITE LEGHORNS AND DANDIES
BUT THEY'RE ALL GONE
NOW.

Fall was the way Fred Lord, joint
proprietor with his brother of the
Allen House, and Vice-President of
the Wayne County Poultry Associa-
tion, consoled himself for the loss of
6fty-two fluffy little two-weeks' old
White Leghorn chicks.
A Citizen man, hearing of the
mysterious disappearance of the en-
bryonic pullets, went around We'd
nesday morning to see Mr.. Lord.
IN. B. Wednesday is always called
Blue Wednesday by the Honesdale
reporters, for they are caught be-
tween editions, and not able to get
out much news.
He found Mr. Lord in the base
ment, who obligingly took him to the
scene of carnage, and explained the
how and why of the death of the
full-blooded fifty-two Young" chicks
1t came about in this way:
Il had them in one of the sample
rooms, in Cyphers brooder," volun-
teered Mr.. Lord, right off the trunk
room. There was a hole in the
trunk room, and rats came Sunday
and Monday night, got in the brood
They took twenty-five away Mon
day night, and twenty Sunday night,
"When The Cats Away"
They were just two weeks old, but
the rats cleaned them all out. They
carried them off one by one. See the
blood-stained tracks! That's the
way we tracked them. / caught nine
rats this morning, regular wharf
rats. They came from a nearby
stable.
Il sent away and got these chicks
from "Young's strain"-the finest
stock in everybody knows
that / got them when they were a
day old
And Thirty-Five Cents Apiece Too!"
Those chicks were worth 35 cents
piece, too" mournfully continued
Mr.. Lord. II only had them two
weeks.
For the commercial end, and for
laying purposes, White Leghorns are
the best fowls" remarked the bereft
chicken fancier.
Il keep Buff Orpington's for my
speciality, ] keep several hundred
.tSf them.
"Yes. l am vice-president of the
Wayne County Poultry Association"
admitted Mr.. Lord, and then as if
seeking company in his misery, he
told of how Swartz (Swartz, of Ariel,
you know had a lot of hard luck
last Fall, too. He lost lot of chick
ems.
1T was a good thing, though that
it happened just when it did | had
hatch of 100 Buff Orpingtons.
They'll be off Friday I'm glad l
didn't have them out
mo, don't blame the brooder. II
was the rats. They came over here
in swarms. The floors of the hotel
basement are cemented. They must
have got in through some hole. They
were regular wharf rats, big fell
lows"
In response to the question What
did you feed them?" Mr.. Lord said:
on l give them the first few days
drled bread crumbs soaked in milk. l
gave them daily mash of pinhead
oats, corn meal, bran and several
other kinds of food"
Chicken-Raising Under Difficulties.
You can't keep chickens where
they're many barns around. To keen
bran and dry mesh before them all
the time is the quickest way to fatten
them up. l gave them a little green
food, lettuce"
Just then young man came in,
and hearing of Mr.. Lords misfortune
told of having several hundred three
weeks old chickens that he kept in
MS barn. But he had two big cats
100, and the rats didn't bother the
chicks bit.
Rats are the greatest thing to
guard against" explained Mr.. Lord,
alter the young man who had vainly
tried to sell him chickens for sixteen
cents pound, when the market
price was only thirteen, had left.
Around a hotel, cats get too fat.
They get too much to eat They
don't want to touch rats.
Counting Chickens Before They Are
Hatched.
"Oh, well, l got three machines.
lncubators, going now. I'll hatch
right up to August 81"
Mr.. Lord took a pencil and a piece
of paper, and began to figure up the
probable number of chickens he
ought to hatch out this summer. At
ter considerable reckoning he said:
ought to raise about a thous-
and chickens between now and Fall.
It's early yet. In fact, it's too early.
You can't put them out on the
ground before May /. This is
backward Spring you know.
Il have got about twenty hens
setting. They are better than the
machines II the eggs are fertile. 1t
doesnt I cost so much to raise them,
either"
The reporter gathered that after
his disastrous flyer" in White Leg
horns, the vice-president of the
Wayne County Poultry Association,
would in the future stick to his spec-
ialty, Buff Orpingtons." They are
a good breed too, but they don't be-
gin to come I'D to the White RnoLn |