Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-06-12

the blazing rays of the summer sun.
During the hot summer, hens nat
urally drink more water and this
should be supplied at least twice daily,
fresh, pure and cool. The warm
weather also develops disease germs
more rapidly and this means that ex-
ira are must be given the drinking
as we'll as feeding vessels. Not only
should they be cleaned daily, but 1t is
we'll to wash them two or three times
a week in a good disinfectant-
Beware of Vermin
Lice and mites are two difficulties
attending summer egg production.
However, if the hens are given care
these drawbacks are not nearly as
serious as many people allow them
to become. 1t is another case of a
stitch in time saving many times nine.
If these pests are allowed to gain a
foothold, it will require very hard
work to eradicate them so they VIII
not affect the summer g yield.
Mites are more serious than lice be-
cause they breed much faster, Mites
live on the hens only at night, going
off onto the roosts and walls of the
buildings during the day. The lice
stay on the hens all the time. To Kill
mites, the roosts, nest boxes, dropping
boards, the walls of the building n
the floors must be sprayed with a
powerful disinfectant or kerosene oil.
If oil is used on the nest boxes, care
must be taken to allow it to dry on
before they are used or the eggs VIII
taste of the oil. All droppings. litter,
dirt, on the floors, In boxes and drop
ping boards must be removed. The
spraying should be repeated weekly
for several weeks until not a mite re-
mains. Lice are found usually under
the vent. on the hips and around the
roots of the tail of the hens. A dust
ing with a good louise powder will re-
move them. II the flock is too large
to handle, lice can be kept down be-
low the line of much harm by proVid-
ing a dry dust bath. In this the fowls
will cleanse themselves of most of the
lice.
The dust bath may be made of a
.low-sided dry goods box filled with
road dust into which has been mixed
some coal ashes, a small amount of
lime. and a few tablepsoonfuls of
powdered sulphur. Place this dust
bath in a dry sunny corner of the hem
house.
How to Treat "Broody'' Hens
A serious disadvantage to a good
summer egg yield is a broody hen.
Not only is she losing time when she
gets broody-time that she should be
producing valuable eggs-but If the
eggs carry a fertile germs, or the
males have not been removed, she is
damaging the eggs. For these rea-
SONS the most valuable producers of
eggs are those breeds known as o
sitters,'' because they. show little or
no disposition to become broody. The
single comb White Leghorn has dem
onstrated her superiority as a non
sitter and is now used by a large pro-
portion of the leading eg~g-producing
farms.
Where a hen shows a disposition to
sit, q coop must be provided and the
hen allowed to remain in 1T a day or
so to cool off the broody habit. This
coop should have a Slated bottom to
allow air to pass freely through and
prevent her making a comfortable
nest. She should be placed in the COOP
the first night she shows her broody
disposition and kept there for a day
or two, then released, and IL still
broody returned to the coop. AS all
this requires time and patience, 1t is
far better to use the non-sitter where
eggs are the object.
BY practiclng the best methods no
only can the egg producer get a bet
ter price, but he can get more eggs
and at a time when they are produced
easiest n at the least cost.