Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-12-13
Questions and Answers.

observation-disclosures may ] obtain in.
formation as to building UP a parcel
post egg trade?
Answer-Write to the division of pub
locations. Department of Agriculture.
for Farmers Bulletin 5s4, Shipping
Eggs by Parcel Post. which is pub
lished for free. distribution. Also write.
to Postma ster Praeger, Washington. D.
C.. for r list of persons using the par
eel post for the sale of eggs and other
country produce, as well AS a list of
city patrons of such persons
Question--When should an incubator
be started for the purpose of produc-
ing bro1lers for the early spring mar
best chicks for forcing as broilers for
such markets?
AhS"er--Start your incubator not
later than January | if you desire to
nave broiiers weighing from a pound
TO a pound and a half in time fo,. the
Easter market. Then push the chicks
along AS rapidly as possible Never per-
NIT them to have Il backset of even a
single day; chicks will not recover
from such backsets for weeks. Keep
them comfortably warm. in well yenti-
lated breeders: feed them regularly
four times daily, feeding just what the
chicks viii clean up in ten minutes is
about right: keep them clean and with
plenty of short cut straw or chaff lit
ter, plenty of clean. warmed drinking
water. in which permanganate of pot
ash is dissolved, and if possible give
them daily ration of sour milk or
buttermilk. Also to the proper breed to
use for this purpose. any of the heavy
breeds VIII answer Barred or white
Plymouth Rocks. Wyandottes, Orping-
tons-any of these breeds make fine,
plump broilers. The lighter breeds,
such as the I-eghorns. etc, are not
suitable for this purpose.
Quest ion-T am planning to start in
the chicken business, in a small way,
in the spring. Would you advise me to
buy day-old chicks, eggs for Matching
or mature stockc In case it seems adj
visab1e to hatch my own chicks, Is an
would it be better to use hens? I am
an absolute greenhorn, know nothing
about chickens except what I have read
and studied. and am wholly ignorant as
to the practical operation of incuba-
tors.
MISUNDERSTANDING in a small way, as
you indicate is your purpose, it would
be better if you bought dayold chicks.
BY doing this you will avoid the worry
of attending to an Incubator. the loss
machine. and the possibility of loss of
the entire number of eggs. Incubators
are, of course, used on every large
poultry plant. although for small
opera lions no incubator has yet been
devised that will equal the hen at
Matching strong healthy chickens In
cubators may be had of any desired
size. from the little fifty-egg machines
to the mammoths that handle thou
sands of eggs at IL time. Each make of
machine has its ntages-proml-
nently displayed in its literature-and
it's disadvantages, which are carefully
kept in the background. Each. also,
has it's own instruction pamphlet. If
you decide to buy an incubator, pur-
chase none but good one; cheap,
poorly built machines have put more
amateur poultrymen out of business
than any other one thing. AS to your
ignorance of the poultry business, that
need be no obstacle to success. Poul-
try literature in endless volume and
variety is available for beginners as
we'll as for those who have been in the
business for years. In addition to the
numberless magazines on the subject,
the Department of Agriculture pub
fishes a number of pamphlets each year
dealing with various phases of the
poultry industry, and these pubhca-
tons are to be had on applica ton to
the department. Your own state of
Maryland has poultry experiment
of Prof Roy Waite, who will be glad
to send you whatever literature you
desire.
Question: have flock of about
fifty year old hens. from which L am
getting only two or three eggs day.
The hens have all moulted: they seem
TO be in good health. with no lndlca-
tons of disease in the flock. But they
sit on the roosts. or stand around, ap-
parently too lazy to move teed them
as much shelled corn as they Will eat
twice a day. Why don't they lay?
Answer-The reason your hens don
lay is plainly apparent. You feed them,
a you say. as much shelled corn as
they will eat twice a day. That is your
answer. The hens. from your descrip-
ton, are plainly hog fat" In that con-
dition they cannot and will not lay. A
straight corn ration is too fattenlng
even for hogs. Feed one OF the ratlons
printed in The Star of last Sunday.
Give your hens all the green stuff pos
sible-cabbage. turnips. or whatever
green feed is available. Give little
epson salts, either in a moist mash or
in the drinking water. A tablespoon
full to each twelve or fifteen hens is
about the right dose, and this should
be repeated about every third day FOR
two weeks The moist mash may be
made of any of the dry mash MIX
lures given in last Sundays Star. III
sour milk or buttermilk is available,
moisten the mash with this, making
the mass Just wet enough to be crumb-
Nv. but never so wet as to be soft or
sloppy. Feed the mixed grains given
in Whichever of the formulas is suit
able. You do not mention .he oteed VI
your hens. but two gram MIXTURES
were given in this column last sunday,
one for the heavy breeds, the other for
the lighter fowls. Within a couple of
weeks your hens. fed in this manner.
should be laying in good shape. if the
general condition of the flock is what
f shor1d he. Chances are that if you
were to kill one of those lazy hens now
vou would find, on opening the car
cass, that the whole inside was lined
with a thick blanket of fat. So far as
that is the matter with your hens
they are so fat, from being kept on a
straight corn ration, that they simply
cannot lay.