Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1915-01-06
POULTRY
CONSULTING DEPARTMENT
Conducted by VI. w. HICKS
Small

Small
q. "Will you tell me if it is pos
sible to breed fowls from just the cock
or whether there must be several
cockerels OF full breed also? | have
pure bred r. l. cock, can | breed
from him through an inferior stock Of
Red cockerels? How many fowls can
l keep in house feet square and a
yard / 3 feet square, and not have ii
overcrowded ?"-L r. II.
A. We are glad TO tell you that a
strong vigorous cock bird is very often
preferred to a cockerel. Your house
will accommodate six or eight birds if
well ventilated and kept clean. Your
yard however, is very small and should
be at least four times as large for six
or eight birds.
The best thing you can do is to mate
your cock bird, which we understand
is better than your cockerels, TO the
five or six best females in the flock
and dispose Of the rest of the females
and all the cockerels.
Legality of Preserving Eggs
@. rs it legal 10 pack or preserve
eggs and what is the best method, and
how long will they keep"
A. 1t is perfectly lawful to preserve
eggs and in fact the only unlawful
business is selling eggs which are not
in good condition. Those packed in
May and June keep best and those in
July and August are the worst because
they contain more bacteria. Neverthe-
less If you pack them in water glass,
which is the best method, they will
keep seven TO nine months, if perfect
ly fresh and clean when packed.
A Balanced Ration
q. 'As I am a subscriber TO your
paper will you please give me a prop
erly balanced ration for mash for
Chickens. X
A. We have no great faith i'm the
exact balancing of any ration. We
believe that the needs of different
numbers Of any flock vary If you will
make up a mash consisting of two
parts bran, one part ground oats, one
part hominy, one part beef scraps and
a little oil meal and place it before
them in hoppers all the time they will
be able to pretty nearly balance their
own ration. Wheat, oats and corn may
be fed morning and evening in a litter
to induce exercise. Clean cracked
corn is better than whole because il
compels them to take more exercise to
obtain what they need. The amount
OF these three grains per week should
be about equal for wheat and oats and
about half as much for corn.
If you desire To moisten the dry
mash with milk or water and feed il
morning and evening as much as they
will eat up in short time, results will
also be satisfactory though successful
poultrymen are rather leaning nova
days towards the dry ration
Eye Troubles
q. Some of my chicks are affect
ed with eye trouble. one eye swells
and after a few days pus forms and
runs out of the eye. This pus has a
slight odor The chicks are on free
range, are fed a small per cent of
cracked corn. They are not kept with
the other chickens. Can you tell
what is the cause of this trouble -
j. T.
A. Almost all eye trouble in chicks
is caused by germs of some kind get
ting in the eye. When the eye becomes
affected these germs multiply rapidly
and in that way the trouble is carried
from one chick to another. Make sure
that their coops are well ventilated,
that not enough chicks occupy each
coop to crowd it. Next. get some good
disnfectant, like Zenoleum, or make
weak solution of Creolin, and thor
oughly disinfect the coops inside and
all feed and water dishes. This must
be done frequently, say every two days
and the coops moved to fresh loca-
ton.
All affected chickens should be re-
moved and kept in a coop and yard
where everything is disinfected daily
and their eyes should be washed twice
a day with a solution Of boric acid to
kill the poison and allay the inflamma-
ton. Be sure that the chickens do not
get anything that is mouldy and that
the grain you are giving them is per-
fectly fresh and clean.
Many Questions
Jackson, Mich.
O. "How many hens may be kept
in 1000 cubic feet OF room? What is
the proper temperature for hen
house? How many times a day do
you feed? What constitutes a good